Zebra Ministries

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Good morning Zebras,

If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, go back and read it before you continue.

Yesterday’s post originally contained this:

God doesn’t “need” anything but He deserves everything. And even if He never gave us another thing He has already given us more than we deserve when He rescued us from hell.

It felt right on Sunday afternoon when God wrote it but it felt a little “harsh” in the cold light of Monday morning. I wouldn’t have wanted to get up and read it, so God had me go back and soften it just a little to this:

God doesn’t “need” anything but He deserves everything, including our gratitude and worship for having given us eternal life.

Which Illustrates so many wonderful things about God that I don’t have time to go into because what He wants me to talk about is Psalm 51:15-17, a verse that got cut from yesterday’s post.

Psalm 51:15–17: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Can you see how encouraging those verses are?

God does not want us to busy ourselves trying to “do things for Him,” nor does He want us making big sacrifices just to prove how much we love Him. What He wants is our broken and contrite heart. He wants us to quit thinking so highly of ourselves and start thinking more highly of Him. He wants us to realize we are dust.

My husband once said to me, “You don’t realize how bad you are.” And he was so right! I didn’t! I probably still don’t but I’m closer.

Job 42:5–6 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Giving up your “self-esteem,” your need to “prove yourself” and your desire to always be right is so freeing!

You’re a mist that’s here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14,) everything you do without the Spirit of God is dirty rags; wood, hay, and stubble; or at best incomplete (Isaiah 64:4, 1 Cor 3:12, Rev 3:2) and God is the only one who is always right. I’m not thinking this one needs a backup verse.

But on the flip side, when you really understand that you are nothing, God gives you everything including a sense of self-worth unrelated to the world and its values.

Oh, if all of us would only have eyes to see that truth and remember it, because it’s a truth that will set us free to just abandon ourselves to the task of loving God, from which every other action will flow.

Love,

Jill

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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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