Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: FRESH START (01/05/17)
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TITLE: And Jesus Dwelt Among Them | Previous Challenge Entry
By Pamela Hill
01/09/17 -
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After praying, Shellie looks up to see all eyes on her. Forty women, looking to her and hoping to hear something that will help them. She scans the room looking back into their eyes. All these women, searching for answers, longing for hope. Shellie knows; she is powerless to fix their lives or meet their needs.
Devotions at the Women’s Homeless Shelter are two times a day. Before breakfast and before dinner. We like to say, “We feed them, and then we feed them.â€
“Jesus is on the steps of the Temple,†she begins. “He’s talking to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. These are His people, His chosen people. They’ve tried everything they can think of to trick Him into exposing Himself as a charlatan or a demon, which is what they believe Him to be. So far, Jesus, after responding to each of their attempts, has turned and walked away. But now, He’s going to show them that He has much to say to them.â€
Such a captive audience. So precious to Him are each of these ladies, her roommates.
“I used to read this portion of scripture and see an angry Jesus,†she continued. “I saw Him pacing and pointing His finger as He ranted on about all the things He found wrong with them, one after another. But, as I’ve gotten to know Him, I see it much differently now. I think He was grieved, His heart was broken. He was giving them a chance to see themselves as He saw them.â€
“What changed my thinking? It was seeing myself in the warnings to the Pharisees. I began to let Jesus show me that in all of these areas, I too was lost and confused and broken. I saw Him crying over me, just as I’m sure He was mourning their lost state. The only difference between them and me. . . I agree with Him, whereas they said, ‘How dare you!’ The Pharisees refused to look within and see that He was reading their hearts. Their pride wouldn’t let them repent. Their self-righteousness demanded that they hold their position and not admit any fault or flaw.â€
These ladies, her audience, are street people. Shellie knows that their lives are dependent on the invisible suit of armor that protects them, not only from the elements but from each other. Even from her. They can’t afford to show weakness.
“As we look at Jesus’s accusations to the Pharisees, don’t be deceived by thinking; ‘He is talking to someone else’. Remember, all have sinned and fall short of perfection. Each one of these areas that Jesus is going to address is sin. Sin is not to be hidden but confessed. Agreeing with God is what sets us free, nothing else. If we confess our sin He forgives us and we can have a clean slate, a fresh start. Today can be the beginning of a new forever. Don’t be like the Pharisees and miss what Jesus offers.â€
Five years. That’s how long she’s been living and working at the Shelter. It’s not an easy life. It’s not an easy job. The Mission provides hot showers and meals, warm beds and clothes, but most importantly; ‘The Answer’ that changes lives, just as it changed hers.
Shellie listens to the chatter as the gals go to the dining room for dinner. One of them hangs back. Her name is Gloria, her parents were street people and she knows no other life. “Miss Shellie, you was talkin’ to me,†she says quietly. “I think I’ve been like the guys you was talkin’ about and I don’t wanna be like that anymore.â€
She looks at Gloria and sees a beautiful butterfly about to come out of its cocoon. Shellie wouldn’t trade places with anyone else in the world, and not many people can say that!
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