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Forgiven





    I love this photo I ordered online. The artist did an amazing job capturing a seen from the TV series, The Chosen. If you have not yet seen it, I highly recommend you do. The creators, writers and actors do an incredible job bringing the Bible to life. This is the actor who plays Jesus and he is holding Mary Magdalene. Mary was demon possessed and Jesus heals her. In the show Mary has tried everything to deal with her battle. She frequents the local bar and is ridiculed by most of the men that hang out there. She is so desperate that she wants to end her life. But Jesus! He walks up to her in the bar, grabs her hand before she can take a drink and says, “This is not for you.”   She has no idea who He is. She flees the bar and He follows her. He goes after her and calls her by her real given name,  He recites the Words from Isaiah that she has put to memory,  “ Mary, Thus says the Lord  who created you, he who formed you, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine.’( Isaiah 43:1) Then He grabs her face and holds it close to his and she breaks down in tears.  I lose it in that scene. He frees her and she is drastically transformed. The public no longer recognizes this woman. In fact they ask her. “What happened to you? Why are you different?” She simply says, “I don’t know. I just know that I was one way and now I am completely different and the thing that happened in between was Him”. She knew it was Jesus that changed her. She follows Him from that moment on. 

I can so relate to this. While I wasn’t demon possessed. I was one way and going in the wrong direction. I tried a lot of different things to fight those battles. But Jesus! He grabbed ahold of me, I am completely different. All because of Him and I have been following Him since. Not perfectly. Thankfully, He still loves me and calls me His. 

Jesus is here for the saving. He loves you, He knows you. He calls you by name and when you put your faith in Him, He calls you His. This week we celebrate the death He took for all humankind and we will celebrate on Easter Sunday that He did what He said He would. He rose from the dead, offering us new life in Him. Redeemed. There is no sin He did not die for. There is nothing anyone has done that He won’t forgive. And there is nothing we could ever do to earn more of His love. Who dies for another? Love. Love does. And His name is Jesus. May you truly know Him and how much He loves you. Happy Easter!



Pressing On


photo credit :  https://instagram.com/emilybrookehogan?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 4, 2023 at 10:39 PM

    I haven't had the pleasure of watching the Chosen but I am so hopeful to watch it. Thank you for sharing Connie and for always reminding us how tangible Jesus is. (Right here with us❤️🙏🏻)

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