If you have a play list or listen to the radio, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard Christian singer and songwriter Zach Williams singing with country legend Dolly Parton, \u2018There Was Jesus.\u2019 Zach, after years as a heavy rocker with drug addiction, turned to God. It was his \u201cThere was Jesus\u201d moment because from that moment on, he has been using his gift of music to give praise to God. Remembering his many struggles, he realized that Jesus was with him the entire way. That realization led to the creation of \u2018There Was Jesus.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment
Of where I been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know it
Or couldn’t see it
There was Jesus.
For this man who needs amazing kind of grace
For forgiveness at a price I couldn\u2019t pay
I\u2019m not perfect so I thank God every day
There was Jesus\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This song continues to catch me off guard. The chill bumps and often the tears flow when I hear it. I know those \u201cthere was Jesus\u201d moments. I think of the many times when hope seemed lost; when the pain seemed unbearable, when comfort couldn\u2019t be found, when disappointment overwhelmed me, when tears were my best friend, when my world seemed so broken and there was no way to pick up the broken pieces\u2026\u2026.BUT, then, THERE WAS JESUS. He was there all along. In the waiting, in the searching, in the hurting and the healing. There was Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There He was. There He is. Right beside us even in the darkest, most depressing, most disheartening, and most discouraging moments \u2013 there IS Jesus. I type this blog in the wee early hours of this morning when I ponder those who are in a world of concern about our new president and his administration. I read comments on my recent blogs about praying for our new president and trusting him to God. But, some comments include the concerns and worries about what our future holds. I just can\u2019t, and won\u2019t, go there. I know Jesus hasn\u2019t \u201cleft the building\u201d. And neither has He departed from our Country. In the words of that inspiring song, \u201cThere was Jesus\u201d and in my words, \u201cThere IS Jesus\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The disciples were huddled in fear behind locked doors, THEN, there was Jesus. Their boat was taking in water in the fierce storm. Fear gripped them. THEN, there was Jesus. Peter\u2019s day of fishing was disappointing. THEN, there was Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was God\u2019s Master Plan for Jesus to be human so that you and I have someone who gets us \u2014 who gets our needs \u2014 who understands our pains \u2014 who SHOWS UP for us when we need Him most. I encourage you to take your eyes off anything that takes your eyes off of Jesus. Let His human example of loving despite pain, refusing to sin in spite of temptation, forgiving in spite of rejection \u2014 be our example to others, too. Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. That\u2019s how He shows up and how He will finish up. Let Him be God with us for in letting Him be God with us, will we make it through tough times, tough seasons and tough places. Are you huddled in fear today? Remember, \u201cThere IS Jesus!\u201d Let Him SHOW UP in you and your world today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! \u201cPeace be with you,\u201d He said.” John 20:19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you have a play list or listen to the radio, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard Christian singer and songwriter Zach Williams singing with country legend Dolly Parton, \u2018There Was Jesus.\u2019 Zach, after years as a heavy rocker with drug addiction, turned to God. It was his \u201cThere was Jesus\u201d moment because from that moment on,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19691,19690],"tags":[1210,1769,485,3804,3306,15773,12168,491,19687,40,19689,2301,19688,118,19685,19686],"class_list":["post-13798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-master-plan","category-there-was-jesus","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-comfort","tag-disappointment","tag-disciples","tag-dolly-parton","tag-example","tag-god-with-us","tag-hope-seemed-lost","tag-inspiration","tag-jesus-shows-up","tag-music","tag-pain-unbearable","tag-peace-be-with-you","tag-there-was-jesus","tag-zach-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13800,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13798\/revisions\/13800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}