Come As You Are
- Madi Gold
- Nov 21, 2016
- 7 min read
Come as you are
When someone says “come as you are” before hanging out or an event, do you do it?
Do you come in that favorite baggy t-shirt that you probably wore twice this week already for lounging purposes, and has a little stain towards the bottom?
Do you come with your hair up in a messy bun, no makeup on, and your favorite robe?
Do you come bearing your struggles and fears?
Or, do you pull yourself together, make yourself look at least half-way decent, and head out the door with a smile on your face?
If we were 100% honest with ourselves, we would probably say we fix ourselves up and put on a show.
I’ll be the first to admit that that is what I do.
I pretend that I can tame my frizzy hair and have (some) parts of my life together.
Simply because I do not want to face any opportunity of judgement.
I don’t want to be turned away for being at my lowest, so I pretend to be at my highest.
Now, I will say I don’t do this with everyone.
I have people in my life that have seen me in my 7th grade basketball shorts (oh yes) and bed head (another ooohh yes), and if you are one of them, thank you for never passing judgement.
I have people in my life who have seen my ugly cry and have heard all about my nights spent eating a gallon of ice cream and binge watching Bones, again, if this is you, thank you for not turning me away.
These people, they know me, the real me, and they support me and love me through my bad hair day and help me wipe my eyes dry.
And, these people are wonderful to have.
It’s nice to have someone to release onto one day and know that they will still be there the next day.
This is because we have formed a great relationship with them.
We have formed trust, a closeness, and specifically for me, an understanding about my awkwardness (y’all are saints).
But, did you know that we have someone else in our lives who we always have this type of relationship with?
Someone who is ALWAYS there no matter what?
Yep, we have God.
In John, chapter 6, verses 35-40, it reads:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Let’s look back at verse 37, “All those the father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
This is powerful.
This something that is so crucial to understand.
Whoever turns to Jesus, will never be turned away.
So does this mean you can come in your favorite pajamas?
Yep.
Does this mean you can come with mascara running down your cheek?
Yep.
We can come to God as we are, who we are, what we are going through, and whatever we are dealing with mentally, physically and emotionally, and He will never judge us or drive us away.
Jesus doesn’t care.
Jesus accepts us.
This week we will begin a new visual study: Come As You Are.
This study is different and will challenge you in certain areas of your life.
Because, remember those people we come to in our lives during the tough days?
The ones we let see us as we are?
Well, this week I am challenging you not to turn to them, but to turn to God instead.
Come to God as you are.
Look to God in every situation in your life for your answers.
Not the world.
Not close friends.
Not family.
Not your surroundings.
The verse from John said that Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever comes to Him will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty.
So this week, we are not going to go hungry or thirsty.
We are going to look to God and look to His word for answers.
I don’t know what you are all going through right now.
It might be stress, something going on in your marriage, a friendship, family, work, school, or at home.
But, I do know that we all have a common denominator named Jesus that is able to heal us in those areas this week if we focus on Him.
I know He will reveal answers, provide peace, and make promises to each of us as we go through this study.
Our help comes from the Lord, not from others and it is important to remember that.
So this week let’s come as we are, come with what we are, who we are, where we are in life, and look to God instead.
Come as we are, look to God, and then, take what we need.
And this is where the visual study comes into play.
If you were here in my apartment you would see that my walls are covered with notecards.
Notecards with different scriptures written on them that are separated into different categories.
Self-image.
Loneliness.
Gossip.
Finances/ Materialism.
Hope.
God’s Will.
Trust.
Love.
Strength.
Anger.
Inspiration/ Encouragement.
Finding Rest
Forgiveness.
Marriage.
Temptation.
Stress.
Adversity.
Grattitude.
Different areas where we might struggle or feel stuck.
Areas where we may need improvement.
And, if we were here, I would ask that you walk around and look at the different notecards, but through this study that is what you will be doing, essentially walking through my apartment.
And as you walk, you will find scriptures in the different areas and take what you need.
Keep the ones that you find helpful close to your heart.
And no one is going to pay attention or judge you, clearly because right now it is just you, your laptop or phone, and God.
Then after you walk through and find scriptures, I want you to do a few things..
First, I want you to add your own scripture!
And this is another reason why this study is unique because it is interactive and ongoing.
Together we are creating a resource of scriptures.
But, I want you to add a scripture or two to the areas that they have helped you in your life.
This is another important aspect of this study because it helps us understand how impactful sharing our faith can be.
Through a simple scripture we can make an impact on someone else in a specific area.
His word is strong and especially so when we not only equip ourselves, but also help equip others.
Then, after you add a scripture, I want you to think about who God is to you after this study.
Define what He has been for you throughout this whole thing.
Maybe it is one simple word, or maybe it is your own personal definition.
Regardless, I want you to share that in the Who Is God section.
Then, this too can be a way for others to see how God has not only impacted themselves, but also others in unique ways.
It is a way to see that God can be multiple different things at different times in our lives.
He is able to be who we need Him to be.
Now, all of this will be explained further as the week goes on.
Today is just an introduction to prepare you for what the rest of the week.
Tomorrow we will do an exercise on prayer and ask God to reveal which areas in our lives are ones that we need to focus on Him in.
Then on Wednesday we will “walk” through my apartment and digest a whole lot of God’s word.
Thursday we will focus in on one or two verses.
Friday, apply them to our lives.
Then, Reflect.
Define.
And Share.
Each day is a different exercise that will help us practice coming to God in every one of life’s situations.
Each exercise will remind us how important it is to understand that we are able to come as we are.
Now, we will wrap up today’s post with a little challenge.
Well, more like an acceptance to the challenge of choosing to come as you are this week.
If you are choosing to Come As You Are and complete the study…
Post on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter a status, picture, or tweet using these words: “This week, I am choosing to come as I am! #ComeAsYouAreStudy
Tag Lines Of Faith, too!
Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about this week’s study.
I hope that the visuals and interactive activities will help you to get the most out of this study.
And, I hope that you will all not only participate, but share your progress with me.
I love hearing from you and hearing about how the writing and studies that God has placed in my heart are impacting you.
Each day there will be a new hashtag for you to use when sharing about that day’s activity.
Keep an eye out for them!
Or, if you don’t wish to share your journey with Come As You Are on social media, please email me at: at madi@linesoffaith.com & use the hashtag as your subject!
Make sure to follow me on…. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/linesoffaith/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LinesOfFaith/
Twitter https://twitter.com/Lines_Of_Faith …to keep up with this week’s study!
Looking forward to being who I am this week with you and with God to see what a difference turning to Him can really make in my life.
MKG
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