A NEW RELATIONSHIP Have you ever had a teacher that believed in you? If not a teacher, a parent, a friend, a boss, a co-worker, a peer...someone who extended belief in you prior to your rising to the occasion? Due to this belief that they had in you, you decided that you could stretch yourself farther than you believed. You saw your potential through their eyes. Well then, you have seen a bit of what this relationship with Jesus will feel like. But, let me encourage you. HIS IS MORE, much, much MORE. Jesus does not just encourage, He gets right in the middle of the situation with you, rolls up His sleeves and works beside you. Do you look over and "see" Him, no...but it almost feels as if you can at points. I have not been perfect in my life. I have made many a wrong turn and at points just stood in stubbornness against what Jesus was trying to do in my life. He patiently loved me through all of that, and He will do the same with you. A teacher, a boss, a co-worker, a pier... their belief in you is only so deep. Jesus' belief is so strong for you that He DIED for you. Stop a minute. Take that in for what it is. Jesus believes in you so strongly that He Died in order that you could live. It is that man, the one who has given all that you might live, that asks to be in a relationship with you. Not some angry, overbearing, heartless Lord...instead the one that was moved in His heart so heavily that He offered forgiveness knowing full well that it was going to cost Him EVERYTHING! If you knew that you were going to be put to death in order to save the lives of people who are currently seeking after everything you hold abhorrent, would you still die for them? Jesus did. He offered forgiveness to those who were societies worst, knowing full well that each time He offered it, it was going to mean His life. We are being offered that same forgiveness. For while we are sinning He offers love. It is that Jesus that we can be in a relationship with. Not a Jesus that sees the stains of life upon us first, but instead... a Jesus that sees the beauty underneath...FIRST. He sees the one He loves first. He has seen your hurts, He knows the damage they have done, and wants to start a relationship with you that offers healing that will far outreach your pain. Pastor Daniella