Jesus ... with some skin

Yesterday was a challenging day –

If I am honest, it has been a challenging few weeks – with my mom taking ill and all of us having to adjust to a new normal – it has been hard. She is still doing physical therapy three times a week and has some lingering gaps with her short-term memory, a result of the mini-strokes which she suffered.

Added to that is the fact that my blood pressure has been quite high for the past couple of weeks. My doctor placed me on blood pressure medication Thursday to help get it under control.

And all of it has left me simply exhausted

So, when I awoke yesterday morning, the first words out of my mouth were, ‘GOD I NEED YOU … I NEED YOUR STRENGTH.’ More than desiring a response to the countless physical and material needs that are present in my life, my cry was, ‘God I need Your presence. I need to hear you and to feel You ... here.’

I know that He is present with me always. It is just that there are times when I need it be more than an internal knowing, I need an outward manifestation.

I finished praying and got ready for work. And, while I was at work, one of my co-workers stopped by my desk briefly. She was sharing how she went on a walk with Jesus that morning – how she was needing His presence. And as she spoke, she started to encourage me, telling me, ‘God is right here with you and every promise He made, He will fulfill … and is fulfilling.’ She went on to state that I should not grow weary but understand that, even if I cannot see how it is all coming together, He is doing everything He planned for me.

And I realized in that instance that God had done just what I had asked that morning …

He sent me Jesus with some skin –

To encourage and uplift, to offer hope and give strength

 

He let me know that He was present –

Still working, still caring, still loving

 

And He did it through a person



Just as He had stirred me many times to be His heart and hands and voice in the earth, He demonstrated His faithfulness to His Word, causing me to reap what I have sown on countless occasions.

Today – you may be the person needing ‘Jesus with some skin’, just like I was on Friday. You may need a hug more than you can describe. You may be in need of help, a financial miracle, a word of encouragement or someone to listen … truly listen. It is OK to honestly acknowledge your true feelings. He designed us with feelings. And while He does not desire for us to be ruled by emotion, I do not believe that He encourages us to deny the reality of those feelings either.

Know that God is attentive to everything that concerns you.

I am not telling you things you do not already know. However, it is easy to lose sight of the truth when challenges persist and the answers seem slow in arriving.

Yet Jesus is alive, and active and present.

Today – He also may be inviting you to partner with Him. He may be presenting you with the opportunity to be ‘Jesus with some skin’ to somebody else. It is an incredible thing which occurs when He uses you in that capacity. I know the times He has blessed me with that privilege, it always yields a result that goes so far beyond anything I could have ever done on my own.

You see, when the love of Christ compels you to touch the lives of others – it is the heart and the very presence of Christ which is heard and seen and felt by the recipient.

Practical Example (and I hope it is ok if I am completely transparent):

I am not a ‘hugger’. Despite those moments when I desperately need a hug [the hug-and-hold type of hug], I generally do not like to be touched by people. I mean, I hug my children and give them lots of love, but outside of that, I have had to work very hard at tearing down the invisible (but very tangible) walls that sometimes surround me. I have to make a conscious effort to let people into my world or to delve into theirs without their expressed invitation. Well, one day we were praying for a woman who had recently lost her husband and, expectedly, she was experiencing heartache and extreme loneliness. As we started to pray, I felt God nudge me to give her a hug and unexpectedly [in view of my struggles with physical closeness], I responded immediately and asked her if I could give her a hug. She responded affirmatively and as I hugged her, I started praying for her and speaking words of encouragement. And, I instantly knew God’s Holy Spirit was moving. I could not let her go for good while – and that is so unlike me. Later, someone shared with me how blessed she had felt by that experience. She wanted to know who that lady was that hugged her and she said, ‘It felt like Jesus was hugging me, and praying for me and speaking to me. I could feel His love.’

There are so many people out there who need something more than clichés thrown their way. They are hurting in a way that cannot be explained and they are needing a faith that is tangible, a God who is tangible. And we have the awesome privilege of working with the LORD, allowing the love of Christ to shine through us so that we can respond to those (often silent) pleadings. We can be ‘Jesus with some skin’ through our giving, through words of encouragement, through serving others, through hugging others, through listening (truly listening) to others who are in need.

If you are in need of ‘Jesus with some skin’,
My prayer is that He will send someone your way TODAY.

If He is calling you to be ‘Jesus with some skin’,
I encourage you to answer that call.

He is alive … He just shows up in unexpected ways sometimes

TODAY – May you experience the wonder and power and reality of His love

Here is a song I heard Friday as I was driving home. It touched my heart and encouraged me. I pray it will do the same for you.

Blessings!

Natalie Grant - Alive