THE REAL JESUS

Today we celebrated both birthdays of our friends, Luke and Lori, from our Rooted Bible Study. What better place to go to but Cabelas (fyi where Jake works and who took the picture!) and finally get the group picture we kept saying we were going to get but never did. I made a keto lemon cake and they treated us to lunch at the Yard House. As we ate our lunch we talked about a lot of things. Recently I have been hearing horrific stories that some have gone through but found Jesus in the midst of it all. And Luke and Lori are no exception. What makes these friends so special is that they have persevered through all the pains of life, marriages, parenting, jobs, and still could say today that they are so grateful for Jesus. You see, its people who have truly experienced pain, sorrow, and yes, real evil, can say that celebrating Christmas is more than just opening up stockings and eating their ham dinners. They can say “ Jesus is real”. My friend Kathleen, who I wrote about last week, not only has survived Covid at its worse, but has survived a life of drugs, homelessness, and many other pains of life, only to say with certainty, “Jesus is real”. Another good friend just shared some horrific experiences where they were left for dead…but didn’t. Many will probably never hear their story but they live now with such conviction, JOY, for every day they are alive with one purpose…to share that Jesus is real. When my mom died , briefly, she met Jesus. She saw heaven and had a glimpse of hell. She didn’t ‘see” Him ( but she did make a joke that He was shorter than she thought he would be!) but rather, felt His overwhelming love..so much that it transformed her. She had a choice to go to heaven but chose pain to come back so that she could share about the love of God through His son Jesus. As our friends celebrate another year of gratitude, God continues to give them opportunities to share with others that “ Jesus is real”. What is your story? How has God shown you He’s real? Have you shared it with others? And for those who still are on the fence about Jesus, I encourage you this Christmas to just ask Him to reveal Himself to you, .and then hold on because 2022 could be the year that you too can say with great conviction and gratitude that Jesus IS real. Merry Christmas everyone.