Zebra Ministries: Beautiful Women

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Beautiful Women

1 John 4:19

We love because He first loved us.

Good morning Zebras,

Don't you just love it when God shows you that you have grown?

This morning I was doing my quiet time before church worshiping God for His love when I started thinking about today's verse. In my mind it has always been I love Him because He first loved me. But suddenly I had doubts. Is that really what it said? So I looked it up.

What it actually says is that we love because He loves us. Not that we love Him, but that we love. John had already written in the same letter: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. So it is obvious from the context that the love he is talking about is not just our love towards God, but really the ability to love at all.

I have always had a thing against beautiful women. To be honest it was just jealousy and my own personal insecurity, but I could never get past their looks long enough to feel totally comfortable around them. I couldn't love them as God commanded because I was too focused on my own sense of inadequacy.

Last week at church I met a beautiful woman. Someone who in the past would have made me feel ugly, fat, and stupid just by standing next to her. But for some reason I didn't feel like that at all. In fact it didn't really register until later how pretty she was.

And I have been thinking about it ever since. What's changed?

This morning God gave me the answer: I have learned that God loves me. He loves me just the way I am. He does not expect me to be like anyone else. He only expects me to love Him back with all my heart, soul, and mind, to put Him first above the things of the world and to grow in my walk. When I do that He will enable me to love others.

If you struggle with loving others or feeling inadequate or insecure go and spend some time with Jesus. Let Him tell you how very much He loves you and then you will be able to love others with His strength instead of your own.

Love,
Jill

2 comments:

AfroTinaAugust 11, 2010 at 7:32 PM
zebra's are some of the most beautiful animals! Love the concept here.
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Jill GetchellAugust 17, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Thank you-it was directly from God. Come join us on Facebook!
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Why Zebras?

In the summer of 2008 I was looking at a herd of zebras in a wild animal park and commented to my son that I didn’t understand why the lions didn’t just eat the zebras because their markings make them so obvious. He told me that the opposite was actually true. God has marked zebras so when they hang together in a herd, their stripes create the illusion they are one large animal and therefore too big to attack. It is the lone zebra that is usually eaten. The same is true of Christians; we must hang together and encourage each other to fight off the lions. The lone Christian is easy prey.

1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Therefore:

Zebras was started to encourage women who desire to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, who want their lives to be transformed to honor God and who are willing to be “zebras” in a world of “horses”. Zebras exists to reassure you that you are not alone and that God has called you to be peculiar. As a peculiar person you should look different than the world

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Pastor Endorsement

Jill Getchell speaks from her heart and from God’s word in a way that brings encouragement and hope to God’s people. I’ve been blessed to hear her at Awana conferences, a women’s retreat, and from the pulpit of our church. I am confident your people will be equally blessed by spending the day with Jill at We Have Hope...your church will be blessed as well.

Pastor Al Marks

First Baptist Church Vallejo

I have known Jill for many years now. She truly desires to encourage the churches in our community and to strengthen the believers that attend our churches. Her passion for Jesus comes out in her ability to speak, and her heart is to encourage all those that attend to go back into their churches and be a blessing.

Pastor Kelly Patchin

New Harbor Community Church, Benicia

I believe women are vital to the unity and health of the church. They bear the image of God and serve Him in a great way within His church. Zebras has the ability to unite and excite women to grow in their faith and in their relationships with each other. In John 17:20 Jesus says, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” One of Christ’s last prayers for His church is that they would be one as He is with the Father. And through our unity the world can come to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Unity is essential for a healthy church and healthy relationships between women. Zebras can stimulate healthy growth in the spiritual lives of the women in your church too. It is a blessing at New Harbor and I believe it would be a blessing for any pastor to have in their church.

Kelly Patchin, Pastor
New Harbor Community Church

Testimonies

The Zebra herd has given me the opportunity to be myself. I think we all have a face we put on for others, especially on Sunday. We don’t want to let anyone see the pain or hurt we’re suffering because we feel that it’s a reflection on our walk with Christ. I now have a group of loving Christian women with whom to share the joys and sorrows equally… Without the Zebras, I’d still be wearing my Sunday face. ...............Dawn C.

The Zebra ministry has deepened my relationship with Christ and the women at my church beyond what I thought possible... Most importantly, it has given me a safe place to be very, very real… I have learned how to be transparent and allow my fellow Zebra sisters to support me in prayer and God to minister to the deepest part of my soul--the part that needed it the most.................... Jennifer H.

When I came to New Harbor Church I was so lonely. I knew I needed the fellowship of other Christian women but did not know if I could break out of my self-imposed isolation. I felt unworthy of anyone’s friendship, let alone" godly people"... But Zebras has made me feel the true acceptance of these wonderful women. I have slowly opened my heart to them, with their encouragement and love! I don't have that heavy ache of solitude anymore. ................Barbara B.

I was with you in the beginning meetings of the herd and watched it evolve into a place where we as sisters in Christ could share our burdens without judgment. Being a Zebra helped me through a very trying time- Leap of Faith– leaving a relationship, selling my home and trusting in God. It was encouraging to know that I was not alone and being a part of a group where women could feel understood, comforted, and lifted up spiritually. .................Tracy M.

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