Friday 10 List! Who My Jesus is to me.....

Why do we love Romantic movies, books and shows? I am a huge sucker for a happy ending and yearn to cry over a sweet romance. I long for the shoe to fit and prince charming to carry me away to be the princess I was meant to be. In my mind I am Elizabeth Swan fighting a pirate battle along side of the man I love and sailing off into the sunset with him to share in many grand adventures. Oh, to be rescued from peril like Maid Marion crying out to Robin Hood to save the day. To be pursued through time like Edward is to Bella by an invincible protector with super human strength to share a love together for eternity. Weather it be Noah & Allie, Romeo & Juliet, or Rhett & Scarlett. We long for what these lovers have and try to escape into these worlds when our lives don't measure up. But I have been on a journey and have been completely inspired when I was swept away in the Twilight Saga. We as Christian women can have it all. I bought into the line that I was married and needed to live in reality. Life was not a fairy tale and I was a wife and mother now. It was time to grow up be mature and put aside those silly school girl fantasys. After all good Christian women should not need any further romance right? We should be satified with what we have. I felt silly and was inside crying out "Is this all there is?" What I discovered after listening to a Beth Moore teaching was that, those seeds of forever have been placed into our hearts and those desires are a need that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. He is the rider of the white horse that is coming back to rescue us. His love is forever, it is unending and he will never leave us or forsake us. When I began to project that role onto it's proper place for Christ to play in my life. I released my husband from a lot of undue burden and found and earthly romance with him that began to blow me away. In just a short time I was 18 again and in love with the boy who wooed me so long ago. The boy that pursued my heart before the weight of the world came crashing down on him when took on the role of being a provider for a wife and kids. Then I read the book Captivating, it backed up everything I was feeling. One quote I wrote down form it was,

"Christianity changes dramatically when we discover that it, too is a great romance. That God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy and adventure with us."

I have gushed on here about the love and respect I have for Darin and my kids but I have not gushed on the other love in my life. So I thought I would devote my 10 list to some of the characteristics I have been searching scripture for and what I came up with.

1. The Lover who has searched through the ages for me, his love is timeless and forever.
" I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving kindness." Jer. 21:3

My thought: The idea that captured me into the Twilight books (and the romanticism behind the Vampire story) is the love story behind it. The idea of a searching through time for the love of his life. The idea that this man has waited for his love, hunted and searched for her and wooed her to him. I love the process of finding the love of your life.

2. He is the lifter of my head, and restores me from the pit I was put in.
"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me & heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud & the mire. He set my foot on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Ps. 40:1&2

My thoughts: I am the maiden that was meant for better things than this life can offer. There is a villain who is hunting me, roaring like a lion to steal kill and destroy. Cinderella's shoe fit when I accepted Christ into my life. There is a hero who defeats and will destroy the monster that is hunting me.

3. He is jealous for me, my attention and my love.
"I am a jealous God...." Ex 20:5

4. He bestows Glory on me.
"But you are a shield around me, o Lord. You bestow glory up on me & lift my head." Ps. 3:3

My thoughts: Like in the movie The Prince & Me, When Julia Styles is in the crowd in Denmark trying to get Edwards attention. He is the prince riding through the crowd andwhen he hears her he turns his horse around and races back to her. Then in one swift movement pulls her up on his horse and races to get her into the walls of the castle. He chose her from the crowd of many and lifted her out of it and placed a crown upon her head by asking her to be his Queen.

5. He is my help....
" I lift my eyes to the Hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord maker of Heaven and Earth." Ps. 121:1 &2

6. He watches over me even as I sleep.
"He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber: indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you-the Lord is the shade on your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life,the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more." Ps. 121 3-8

7. He knows me and what I need better than I know myself
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart:"
Jer. 1:5 a

8. He will never leave of forsake me
"Those who know your name will trust in you. for you, Lord, never forsaken those who seek you." Ps. 9:10


9. He is my protector & shield from the battle of life and delivers me from it.
" O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle." Ps. 140:7

My picture: The mental picture of a man moving the heroine behind him with one arm to protect her from battle and fighting to protect her with the other.

10. He is my great provider.
"Forget the former things: do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The Wild Animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." Isaiah 43:18-21

"I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my spirit on your offspring, and my blessings upon your descendants."

My thoughts: I bawled in Fire Proof when she realized that her husband had been the one who provided the medical equipment for her mother and never told her.

My thoughts: This released my fear of Darin being the provider to me. I could release him to His ministry and take the stress off of him because he was not dealing with the stress of my fears and doubts on top of his own weakness.

11. His Compassion and gentleness for me.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eye.." Rev 21:4a

My picture: The beauty of a man lifting a burden woman's face and cupping it in his hard. Then wiping the tears away with his thumbs. That is what I see Jesus doing.

12. He has already given his own life for my sake, he has redeemed me

"But now he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26b

I wanted to inspire the wives that may read this that this thought process changed my marriage. When I began to fall in love with Jesus and seek these things out in scripture and prayer I began to fall in love with Darin again just like the days when we were dating.