Who is Jesus?

Jesus is God.

Jesus is Freedom.

Jesus is alive and well, ready to meet us where we’re at...

Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us...

Jesus is Love.

He is the Way.

He is Truth.

He is Life...

EVERYDAY!

I want to share who Jesus is.

And Jesus is not a religion.

There are those who say, “I’m not religious so leave me alone with your Jesus, live and let live.” I can’t. Because Jesus is love (and because I love people) I want to share with everyone the love I know and experience…everyday (I can’t help it). I actually like it when people say, “I’m not religious.” Because then I can respond right back with, “Oh good, I’m not religious either.”

Dennis who styled my hair for the photos you see on this site responded that way as I sat in his chair and began to share what Everyday Manna was all about. After I explained that I was NOT religious but in a relationship with Jesus I proceeded with, “Dennis, I’m not going to sit here and tell you what you should and should not do because Jesus is not a kill joy, He’s a bring joy and He can be the One to tell you the dos and don’ts in your life. But I am here to tell you that God is real and He loves you without measure. You can play your guitar in a band, cut hair or whatever. But once you begin a relationship with Jesus you’ll understand that what He has for you is an abundant life now and forever and it’s by simply being the person He created you to be. He is LOVE and that’s why life is worth living!”

I don’t want a religion because there’s no freedom there. I want a relationship with God because from that I have something that’s real, personal and filled with unconditional love. I have freedom. And Christianity without Jesus is just another religion as my friend Eric Metaxas puts it. www.ericmetaxas.com Eric is so witty and wise.

Once I began my relationship with Jesus (and I mean a real relationship where I could talk to Him and He talked to me) I started to be free. I started to trust God and believe that He created me uniquely, where I could express my individuality and for a purpose. Life got exciting as I began to see what that purpose was. But I also realized life wasn’t all about me and I was “self-addicted” as Don Miller describes in his book, Blue Like Jazz, “No drug is so powerful as the drug of self. No rut in the mind is so deep as the one that says I am the world, the world belongs to me, all people are characters in my play. There is no addiction so powerful as self-addiction.” Don adds, “I discovered that my mind is like a radio that picks up only one station, the one that plays me: K-Don, all Don, all the time” www.donaldmillerwords.com. After reading that I cried to God, “ARGHHHHH I want help with this problem! Make me more like You!” And let me tell you…God answers prayer.

While reading the chapter, “Humility” in the book, Inner Virtue, Outer Expression by Barb Smith www.barnesandnoble.com (who is a friend and mentor) I came to the top of page 26 which says, “How can we who have a natural tendency toward pride and self advancement learn humility?” And she lists some practical ways that will help a person so I circled number three, “Pray for God’s Spirit to mold your character. Then accept the humbling experiences He allows in your life as His loving answer.” Two days after my circling I was hit with a situation that caused me such pain and anger that I wanted to seek vengeance and attack but I knew better so I surrendered my will, once again, and asked God, crying in the middle of a dark living room to remove all my ugly sin, to change me, to mold and make me more like Him. I didn’t ask this time that He make the situation right or that He even change the other person but instead I knew the only real solution was that my heart be changed. I didn’t understand why this heartache was happening but it isn’t always for me to understand. It’s more about knowing the answer to the question, “Can God be trusted?” And fortunately I’ve always been able to answer; “ABSOLUTELY!” I asked Him to extend His hand of grace and comfort and of course He did and met me right where I was at. In the end I humbled myself and did what He asked by swallowing my own pain and pride. Yes, pruning hurts but the growth it yields is so good. 1 Peter 5: 6 & 7: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

And because God cares and loves me He’s given me Himself…the Word. A.W. Tozer wrote in, The Pursuit of God; “If you would follow on to know the Lord, come at once to the open Bible expecting it to speak to you. Do not come with the notion that it is a thing which you may push around at your convenience. It is more than a thing; it is a voice, a word, the very Word of the living God.”

But if I didn’t have a relationship with God where I understood His unconditional love for me then I wouldn’t have much interest in obeying Him and following His Word. Oh how true the statement which says, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Without my relationship with Jesus I’d want to rebel. I’d only want to do the things that brought me happiness and pleasure and if God’s rules got in the way of what I thought would bring me my happiness and pleasure then I most certainly would disobey. Without Jesus I wouldn’t understand that His commands for my life are given out of His love for me to be free! Of course there’d be times I’d want to be “a good girl” to please others but mostly I’d want to do what pleases me and follow my plan to serve self. I’d have bought into the lie that the most important thing in my life was to be happy.

Happy is good but let me tell you, there's real joy and excitement when you know that life on earth is not your final destination. And because there's the GOOD NEWS of Jesus dying on the cross for all garbage and sin and then coming to life three days later we only need to accept His sacrifice, His gift of grace (which no one deserves, that’s why it’s a gift) and we can look forward to a perfect "happily ever after" life. And so let's, “Focus not on what is seen but what is unseen for what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4: 18

This life is just a shadow of the life and adventure that is yet to come. I love the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis for those books have made the understanding of Jesus, relationship and heaven so vivid for me. The Last Battle which is the final book in the Narnian Chronicles reads on the last page, “And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

When speaking about heaven, one of my favorite authors and speakers, Nicole Conner asked an audience, “If you look at the pictures of heaven who wants to go there? Sitting on a cloud…playing a harp? That’s hell.” Nicole understands who Jesus is and the freedom He brings. Her book, The Journey to Freedom: A Guide to Living Life the Way God Intended is a must read. www.markconner.com.au 800-444-4484.

One last thought: While there is freedom in Jesus it does not mean there is freedom from problems. I have a dear friend who everyday has such physically pain that it's difficult for her to even get out of bed...but she does and God is there and He's good. My uncle has a malignant tumor and as he journeys through the land of Cancer, he knows God is with him and He's good. My sister-in-law is experiencing heartache over her husband and his unfaithfulness and yet God is her comfort and He's good. I've sat in a pit of depression and anxiety where emotionally I could barely cry out to God but I did and God was there and I could say, "God is good."

In life there are disappointments, heartaches, sufferings, grief, anger and pain but through it all there is a God who is good and who paid the price so we could be set free. Therefore, I have the freedom to believe God even in the midst of life's contradictions that come my way. I have the freedom to lose my life for the Kingdom of God and I have the freedom to love God and to be eternally loved by Him. And I have my favorite freedom, the freedom to laugh because I know how much God loves me...for He, the Bible tells me so...everyday.

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