This Is For You

/ February 14, 2017
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  (Psalm 34:18)

This is for me.
This is for you.
This is for the lonely, the tired, the alone, the single.
This is for “where are all the godly men and I’m not spending another dime on Christian Mingle.”
This is for the girl who huddles in the corner late at night hoping daddy won’t come home drunk and horny… again.
This is for the child whose parents sold her to a con man who promised them she would get an education.
Now she walks dusty streets trading her body for a few rupees.
This is for the boy who is afraid, with good reason to go visit his uncle’s house.
This is for the lapsed Catholic who wonders why that priest is not in jail… or at least defrocked.
This is for the abused.
For the one who has been told all their life that they are no good and now they believe it.
This is for the girl, the boy, whose heart has been stolen by that one who will never give them the time of day.
This is for the ugly. For the shy.
This is for the one who hated school because everyone there hated them.
This is for the girl who thinks she can find attention and affirmation by exposing herself to the eyes of strangers.
Or perhaps it is the only way she knows to pay for college.
This is for the man who has spent so long chained to the late night screen of his computer that he no longer knows how to interact with a real woman face to face.
This is for the man who is still chained.
This is for the career man who has spent his life climbing the ladder and now wonders if he has waited too long to focus on what matters most.
Now he wonders if he is destined to be alone.
This is for the woman who sits at home waiting to see if that career man will ever come home tonight.
The food on the table has long ago gone cold.
This is for all those who are sick and tired of all the hoopla surrounding this day.
This is for those who mock but inside are jealous of their married friends.
This is for those who watch as everyone around has a Valentine but know that it will never, will it ever be their turn?
This is for me.
This for you.

There is a man.
He was raised, lived, and died single. Alone. He knows.
He is engaged to a faithless bride.
Time and time again he woes her back but time and time again she cheats on Him.
He wonders night after night if she will have time for him while His bread grows cold.
He knows.
He was mocked. He was beaten. He was spat on and abused.
He carried a heavy burden down a lonely road.
Though he did not deserve it he willingly took the stripes so that
He would know the abuse, the torment you have suffered.
Finally, He was raised before the throes.
Naked.
And the whole world looked on while His shame was exposed.
He knows the torment of that late night.
He has walked that dusty street.
He has felt an unrequited love.
He who knew no sin became sin.
He knows.

And finally, he died of a broken heart.
But he did not stay dead.
He took everything hell could throw at Him but it was not enough.
He kicked down those gates and now…

He is coming for You,

He is coming for me.

He is willing to restore our crushed spirit.
He sees the pieces of your broken heart and is willing to put them back together.

Will you give them to Him?

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103 thoughts on “This Is For You”

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  5. Once again, beautiful devotional. Grateful that God speaks through you and has blessed you with the gift of being able to express your heart and the courage to share it with others.

    Reply

  6. Love it! I clung to that verse when my first husband left me (for another woman). I like your rawness and realness. (Great song, too!)
    Excellent Valentine’s message.

    Reply

  10. This is so honest… Thank you! The Lord in spite of us and because of His nature will always bring us out of the captivity we find and put ourselves in. Praise God that His business is love and restoration!

    Reply

  12. the video and music are like the title beautiful but the scripture quote at the end was on the screen too briefly to catch. Perhaps that was done on purpose so that people would play it again in an effort to read it I don’t know but it completes the message better if there is time to read it in my opinion. Ga 5:1 we are to stand fast in the liberty, do you live free? I think I need to blog something to address this. Seems there was a book “Real Christians Don’t Dance” by John Fischer that got started on that.

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  26. My husband left us for a year & his girlfriend went with him. He spent a whole year of blissful, passionate love with her. He did come back and I tried to live with a miserable, broken man for my children’s sake. After 4 years of therapy, I have been cleaning up the wreck that was my life and continue to heal. He lives by himself. He lost his girlfriend, his wife, his home and sees his kids when he can. I sure hope that year with her was worth it!

    Reply

  29. Thank you for this and for your post “Love and Hate” which I can’t find, about how God hates divorce. I don’t think I can reconcile with my husband but I have forgiven him and pray he forgives me. I found a small ornament I purchased from kids selling to raise funds for school, two blue dolphins encased in a clear plastic globe. It always, no matter what, represented me and my husband. And the two small crystal roses. I forgave him. I asked him to forgive me. I asked the Lord for the sacrament of marriage to bind us for all time. The marriage was always in question, we married for a green card and didn’t even have any witnesses. But we grew to love each other. I remember his tears. I wish I could go back…

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  31. May I tell the truth? This is the most beautiful post I have ever read. You touched and called everyone to look to Christ in a beautiful way. I think this is the most beautiful gift that we can give on Valentine’s Day: A true love of God
    May I translate this post in Indonesian and then upload it on my blog?? With your permission of course…
    By the way, thank you so much for the “liked” my post, i am so honored.
    i will wait your permission about translation this post in indonesian, if you don’t mind 🙂 Thank you

    Reply

  34. wow, that was just heartbreakingly bittersweet… yet so beautiful. Wish I’d seen it on valentines day, so I could repost it… maybe I will anyway…. people feel this way every day! 🙂 thanks!!!

    Reply

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  37. BJ, I lied. I commented on a post earlier today that it had touched me more than the others. Then I come across this.
    No, THIS post, this post has floored me. Plain and simple.
    Everyone, EVERYONE needs to hear this message.
    It’s pure and simple. Thank you for the truly incredible gift God has given you for being able to express in words so clearly how He loves us.

    Reply

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