Just the way you are!!!

Do you have a laundry list of things you want to fix, change, renew or begin for your life?  Do you have a list of things you need to do before the beginning of the New Year? 

You are not unlike many people we see every day.  Most of us have a list running in our heads, or if you are like me, you make a list for what you want to achieve, change, renew or get rid of.  I personally have lists for my lists and keep them with me in my phone.  

If you saw the lists they probably wouldn’t make any sense to you, as they are personal to me.  You would see Bible verses that have been written into a list.  You would see a shopping list, and then a list of things I would like to purchase, but honestly never do.  You would find my list from God.  You would find the words and direction that God has given to me, and you would find lists I’ve made for the people I love, to remember important things about them.

I personally think that these kinds of lists are perfectly fine, and are ways to help channel our thoughts, feelings and ideas.  I think that when you are in a season of change, keeping lists helps facilitate the change.  It’s like acknowledging to God what you know is broken, and asking for Him to help fix it, but in a one through ten kind of way.

In Mark 4:36 we see another phrasing that stopped me immediately after re-reading it from last night.  It opened my eyes in another way.  It always amazes me how I can read something and then re-read it and get a completely different meaning or understanding from the same words. 

Tonight’s ohhhh I see moment was brought from the phrase, (just) as He was. 

Now, this is referring to Jesus and how He was in the boat as they were traveling to the other side, from the large group of people gathered to hear Jesus speak.  Jesus was now leaving and traveling to the other side, when we see in verse 36 these four words.

Just as He was.

This is so good!  This is life changing for some people, including me!  This is packed with such promise, and hope that I think is easy to miss.

Just as He was.  I know this reference is to Jesus, but you see the Bible is created by words that are alive, and ever changing, thanks to the Holy Spirit.  Just as He was, is a reference to how they were taking Jesus, and how Jesus will take us!!

Jesus, my friends, doesn’t need you to complete all the lists in your phone, or in your mind.  Jesus doesn’t need you to lose ten pounds, or stop smoking, or even to stop doing drugs, before you come to Him.  He will accept you Just the way you are!

This is so good!  This gives us the ability to say to ourselves, its ok I am a mess.  It’s okay if my heart is broken, and I am sad.  It’s okay if I have been doing drugs and have no direction in my life… its okay!

Why is it okay? 

Because He, Jesus, will take you just how you are! 

Jesus doesn’t want to be the reward at the end of your to do list, Jesus wants to give you the list.  He wants to take your hand and walk you through the things that He thinks you need to fix.  The things that He knows you are struggling with, and then He will give you the ways to do it!  He will walk you through your healing, your struggle and bring you to the other side.

Yes, I know this all sounds so easy and pain free.  Its sounds too good to be true, like it’s a hoax or a scam.  I know, I thought the same thing too.  These are lies that we believe to keep us from surrendering our lives to Jesus.  From accepting the free gift of life that He has given to all of us.

Satan doesn’t want you to finish your before I come to Jesus list, so that list will keep getting bigger, or will never even be started.   That’s why it is so wonderful to know that we never have to be fixed to come to Jesus.  

Actually, we can’t be fixed to come to Jesus, because Jesus is where we get our healing from. 

Jesus is where the fixing, the help ,and the salvation come from.  We are not capable to ever pay or atone for our sins, which is why we needed a Savior, hence Jesus.  

When you put off accepting Jesus because you are making or have made bad decisions in your life, you are putting off accepting the only thing that can make all of those things right.

Jesus is the only way you will ever be healed from your abusive past.  Jesus is the only way that you can find the ability, through His strength, to stop doing drugs or abusing your body with wrong decisions.

These four words should give your heart hope and your soul freedom.  To know that the pressure to have a forgiven life, where your sins are washed clean and they are forgotten and remembered no more, has to give you hope for a better future.  It has to stir something inside of you that says I want that.   I know it did ,and still does for me.

When you say to yourself, I need to fix this, or that about myself before I come to Jesus, you are saying you are a big enough sacrifice to save yourself from all the sins and poor decisions you have made in your life.   I am sorry to tell you that is just not true.  There is not one person on this earth, or has ever been on this earth, other than Jesus Christ Himself, that is capable of taking your sins, and mine, and washing them white as snow, with His blood.

Now is the time, your list, while it may be a long one, will never be completed, because you are not capable on your own to complete it, so stop trying.  Stop listing your faults and your failures and start asking for Jesus instead.

Stop looking for your freedom, help and relief in another pill, another line, or another drink.  You will never find your freedom in any of those things, but you will, I promise you, find your freedom when you say to Jesus, please, take me just as I am!

He will hear you and I know for a fact, because it has happened to me, He will take you exactly the way you are, and He will make you into a person you never imagined you could be. 

There isn’t a to do list long enough to list all the amazing things Jesus will do, when you allow Him to take you just the way you are!