Finding Hope And Love In Jesus
I’m just a little excited to introduce you to a dear friend of mine. Tabitha gave me a firsthand look into what it was like to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Her example of finding hope and love in Jesus dramatically changed my life. (Someday I’d love to share my full testimony of how Jesus changed my life, but we’ll save that for another day!) You can read how my faith has impacted my career here.
Tabitha’s personal relationship with Jesus, as well as her diverse experiences in churches around the globe, make her someone we can learn from. We have big plans to do some future articles and YouTube discussions on faith, following Jesus, where Christians have gone wrong (myself included), and more. If you can’t tell by this article, she has a HUGE heart for people and Jesus. I hope you’ll be able to feel it through her words to you today.
Happy reading, friends!
Hello SIE community!
Let Me Introduce Myself
My name is Tabitha Jordan. I am a friend of Jen’s who may pop on SIE from time to time. Jen was my college roommate for four years and volleyball teammate. I hope you all know how blessed you are to have this amazing woman in your life, she is one of the greats!
Before I get into the guts of the discussion on Jesus and being loved, I will give a brief introduction of myself. I will also share what Christians call my “testimony” which is a fancy way of saying my story of how God changed my life forever. You will notice the two are closely intertwined. It wasn’t so much one event of this big saving moment as it is a long love story of God’s constant love and presence.
My Story
Here’s my story of finding hope and love in Jesus:
I grew up in a strong Christian home and God made Himself known to me at a very early age. I have always known God, believed God is real, and was with me. I would have dreams of things in the Bible, would always just talk to God, and was always aware God was with me in many ways. I never heard an audible voice or anything, I just had a sense of awareness of God’s presence.
I have a very diverse theological background and church experience which I am so grateful for and love. Having this has helped me relate to people who think and believe differently from me. My Dad grew up Catholic and his side of the family still is, so I grew up going to Catholic mass often. My parents first attended a United Methodist Church when I was born. However, the church I remember growing up in the most was a Non-Denominational Church that was a typical Evangelical church with Pentecostal influences. I have some crazy fun church stories and experiences of God showing up, healings, and so much more…but that is another post for another day!
College And Beyond
I went to a Christian College and worked at an Evangelical Friends Church during my college years. I got my Master of Divinity at Asbury Theological Seminary, which is a Wesleyan Seminary. I then worked for and got ordained in the United Methodist Church. I guess you could say I was born into the Church and just have always served in the Church. Not out of obligation, but out of a passion for my relationship with God! My desire is for everyone to know the hope and love of Jesus.
Where The Church Has Gone Wrong
This present season of my life is the first time I am not serving in a Church in any official capacity. This season has given me a chance to reflect on the experiences and community of the Church and how it relates to the rest of the World. It’s where the idea came from for our future articles and discussions with the SIE community called, “Where The Church Has Gone Wrong”. Jen and I both have a passion for people to know and experience the love of God and live a life surrendered to Him. We’re going to flesh out some of the barriers that people encounter when it comes to meeting Jesus and how the church has contributed to this dilemma.
This comes from someone who deeply loves the Church and plans on serving the Church again after this season of family life. However, having been in the depths of Church life and having another foot in what church people may call “the world” (aka life outside of the church), I have seen many ways of how the Christians have pushed away from what I believe God wants Church to be and why “the world” isn’t attracted to going to Church.
It’s Not About Us
The largest reason I see people being turned off by Christianity is the inward-focused nature of most churches today. The Church is not, nor was it ever meant to be, all about the Church itself. It’s not about bigger numbers, bigger buildings, a thriving community, or stellar personal and spiritual growth among members of the church. It was, is, and will always be all about Jesus.
What do I mean by that? Well, Christianity and “the Church” exist BECAUSE of Jesus. We are meant to be Christians aka “little Christs” that live and love like Jesus. But deeper than that, and before the living and loving like Jesus, we are made to BE LOVED by Jesus and Love Jesus. RELATIONSHIP is the foundation of the Christian faith. We were made to find hope and love in Jesus alone.
My Encounter With God
And this is where my “testimony” comes in. I was always a fan of Church and loved being a part of the community when I was little. But, when I was eight years old I had an encounter with God that forever changed my life and heart towards God and the rest of the world. Call it a vision or a dream or simply an experience with God, but it was life-changing.
In my dream, I was in a castle with lots of people. It was so full one could hardly move. Everyone was in the courtyard or inner castle, but no one was going in these big doors that were cracked open. I pushed through the crowd and opened the doors to see the largest throne room with God sitting on the throne. Without hesitation, I ran with wild abandon to God and jumped on God’s lap. There God held me, played with me, and showed me mountains with deer jumping across them.
My mom later explained my name, Tabitha, which means gazelle, (deer who jump across mountains and hills). God was spending time with me! It was about His presence, being known, and being loved. I was fully known and fully loved and genuinely enjoyed being in God’s presence. There was nowhere else I would have rather been.
I loved being there so much, but then I looked at the empty room and begin to cry. All the other people didn’t know they could have this too. All the other people were just outside and were missing being with God…the One who fully knows them, fully loves them, and who simply just wants to do what I was doing …just being with God! I yearned for them to know the love and hope of Jesus like I did.
Jesus Made This Possible
Before Jesus, this would not be possible. God was unapproachable because humanity chose and continues to choose loving ourselves and our wants more than God. But as the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.” (MSG)
A priest was someone, one person, who went before God on behalf of everyone else. That person had to do A LOT perfectly to be in the presence of God. If they messed up even one detail, it could equal them dying in the presence of God. God was off limits. God was unapproachable. Jesus Changed that! Jesus took that role of High Priest, lived a perfect life, fulfilled the law, and made it about a relationship.
“So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the
help”. And more so than just getting mercy and help don’t miss the first part of the reality
found in those verses. Jesus gives us ready access to GOD, the creator of EVERYTHING. The all-
powerful, almighty God. Access to be with Jesus himself the one who is God, who put on skin
and bones and moved into our neighborhood.”
John 1:14 MSG
Start With Jesus
Jesus knows and understands what it feels like to be human, to have limitations, and emotions, to experience sickness, loss, and death. “We do not have a priest who is out of touch with our reality.” But God didn’t stop at just understanding us. That wasn’t enough. God wanted and wants TO BE WITH US. Jesus did what He did to end the, “do good get God” belief out of religion. Jesus did good so we could get God! You don’t have to wait to get all cleaned up and perfect to be with God. All one has to do is get to know Jesus, One who already knows and loves you. Jesus knows the number of hairs on your head, your strengths, flaws, and all the yucky stuff you try to hide from others and God. Jesus loves you JUST AS YOU ARE. True hope and love are found in Jesus.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:31
And you know what the GOOD NEWS of the story of Jesus is? Jesus took all your stuff you are trying to hide or are ashamed of to the GRAVE WITH HIM. When Jesus died and said, “It is finished” that meant IT IS FINISHED. Done. Taken care of. Taken care of and gone, not so we can just get out of jail free, but for the sole purpose of RELATIONSHIP. You don’t have to find your way to Jesus. Jesus is already right there
with you. With you in your hard things, with you in your bad stuff. Nothing can separate you from the LOVE of God (Romans 8:31-39).
God’s Presence Is Possible Here And Now
So now, simply getting to know the One who fully knows and fully loves you, (which when you get to know Jesus, it is inevitable you begin falling in love with who He is!) equals access to God. Relationship with Jesus is the good news, the goal, and will be eternity aka “heaven”. Jesus taught His friends to pray this way, “On Earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-13).
God’s presence is possible here and now. Being fully known and fully loved is possible here and now. Go through the open door, my friends! Jesus opened that throne room door. Go meet Jesus. “Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD” (Psalm 34:8). If you feel put off by “The Church,” try JESUS. If you have met some bad examples of Jesus through other Christians, try to have some grace. They are only human.
We’re Going To Mess Things Up
Only Jesus will EVER be the perfect example of what religion should be. Humans are going to mess up, but Jesus never will. So try Jesus. He’s already there with you knocking at the door of your heart. Crack open the Bible and read stories about Him. Talk to Him while you do it. Ask Him the hard questions. Talk to trusted friends who live a life as Jesus did. Jesus is the only way to experience true hope and love, through a relationship with Him.
My story of encountering God and having a hodgepodge theological background has shown me everyone does “Church” a little differently. But, every Christian Church believes in Jesus. Every Church believes in His life, death, resurrection, and the GOOD NEWS of the access and relationship to God that humanity now has through Jesus. The nitty gritty details about how Christians should do church are what Christians like to fight over (which is silly), but the BIG TRUTHS ARE THE SAME. We have common ground in Jesus that should cover our differences in preferences.
All of us were created to BE LOVED BY GOD, love God, and love others. We were not all created the same and our differences reflect different aspects of God. Differences should be celebrated not debated (another post for another time!)
What About You?
So just my like dream, start by walking in the door and spend some time with God. Start by spending some time with God through Jesus. Jesus says if you have seen me you have also seen the Father (John 14:9). Give Jesus a chance… the one who fully knows and fully loves you just as you are. But who will also love you through the process of loving and living more like Him. (That also is another post for another time!)
For now, just go through the door…go sit with God and be loved. Just be loved. Start there. Or if you have “walked through the door,” but haven’t felt that fire of love for Jesus in a while, go back and “sit on God’s lap”. Return to the basics and realities found in this post and scriptures. God loves you friends, and so do I.
About The Author
Tabitha Jordan has been married to Charles Jordan for eight wonderful years, currently a full-time mom of two fierce and fun daughters who are 1 and 3. Graduated from Malone University with a degree in Youth and Sports Ministry. Graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary with her Master of Divinity. Ordained and served in the United Methodist Church. Tabitha currently lives in Indiana and is working on her first children’s book to teach children the basics of the Christian faith.
