She Stands

Seeing Jesus in the form of a man has been a life challenge for me. I know he is real. I know he walked on earth as a living, breathing flesh. But growing up, I could never connect to the reality of the flesh side of him. I could not understand how someone I could not tangibly see could really love me.   Until now... In my 50ish years, my journey has led me straight to the face of my Jesus. And my own well of sorts.   Relating to the woman at the well has not only become a reflection of my own brokenness but a source of my healing.  Jesus never intended for what broke me to have a lifetime hold on me. I did that. I was my own judge. And juror.  Daily trials, life's mishaps, broken pieces, and my lack of understanding continuously led me to the one face that loves me in spite of myself.   My. Jesus. The weariness of my flesh at times will overtake my thoughts in the attempt to remove any presence of Him. But yet He remains.  He remains in my m...

Colossians 4:6 (NKJV)   Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Speech with grace, seasoned with salt ...………… Admitting out loud the numerous times I have tripped and tumbled over my words in my younger years can be compared to eating a tablespoon of vinegar. Many times, my words have been less than desirable. Rank-smelling, mouth puckering, and eye-watering pain would be a better description. They held no salt, only the salty tones of my utterance. My salty tones were not spoken to encourage, lift up, or be a positive influence. They were the back tones of my own emotional injuries that I had selflessly chosen to share like an arrow hitting a target.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:13. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  I did not want the salt the Lord...