It’s always a little scary when you put anything out into the world, but being vulnerable and honest makes the top of the list. Thank you for handling my moment last week with kindness and understanding. And that it rang true for several of you and how God is moving in your lives is so amazing.

You guys! How wonderful is our God!?! He loves us so much and wants us to live in freedom and wholeness that He will walk through all our yucky parts with us. Jesus’ death on the Cross was not just for our eternity, He died so we can be free and whole here on earth.

“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows) ~ John 10:10 (Amplified Bible)

You know when you’ve been under water for a while then come up and take a gulp of air? It was like that for me after Monday’s eruption. I’ve been overwhelmed by God’s love and grace for me in the aftermath of my explosion.

Which got me thinking about His love and I’ve really been loving the Lauren Daigle song: “Tremble.” There is a section in there that talks about God’s jealous love.

Jealousy has a bad vibe attached to it, kind of like anger. We’re not supposed to get angry or jealous. But we do. So, let’s take away the stigma of those words and find out how we, as followers of Jesus, can better handle those emotions. God made us with emotions (so He’s not freaked out by them); Jesus dealt with them Himself and with the people He was surrounded by (hello disciples, who are just like us) and Holy Spirit is here to teach and guide us. I’m thinking we’re pretty well covered and understood.

Webster’s defines Jealous as: resentful or bitter in rivalry; envious; inclined to suspect rivalry; vigilant in guarding, arising from feelings of envy or bitterness; intolerant of infidelity. See, bad vibe.

So, what does God mean when He says that He is a jealous God or He jealous for us or His jealously burns? In all the Scriptures I looked up, the word for jealous is qinah (kin-aw’) = ardor, zeal, jealously, envy, anger, passion, rivalry.

Except for 2 Corinthians 11:2 (ze’loo’) where Paul is talking about his jealously for the church because of his love and pouring out his heart for them. He didn’t want anyone coming in with false teachings. But it does point back to God and His love/jealously for Israel.

For example in Deuteronomy 4:23 & 24 “Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

• How little would God actually care for us, if He was OK with sharing our affections and adoration with anything or anyone else? What if He was like “Heh, so what?” or “Maybe I’ll send Jesus, I’m not really sure if I want to deal with all that.”

• We get that we can make an idol out of anything, right? Anger, success, being a victim, kids, job, spouse, friend group, enemies, eating, exercise, etc. Our idols keep us from fully embracing God and the life He has for us.

• God’s jealously shows His passion for us. We are fiercely loved.

• Isn’t it comforting and reassuring to know His jealously is not out of a need, but out of His love for us. God needs nothing from us. He wants a relationship and will protect it with everything He is.

Can our jealously come from a place of protection, love and wanting the best for the other person, instead of rivalry or envy? Can we acknowledge our anger and deal with it in a way that brings clarity to the why behind it and healing?

Sometimes we have collateral damage with our anger and jealousy. I’ve had to ask for forgiveness, especially when my kids were young. If you have caused damage, model asking for forgiveness. If someone you love has an explosion, model grace.
Let’s interview our anger and jealousy next time we feel it, find the source and go to God with it.

Walk through your day knowing how much your God loves you and wants to be with you. Be amazing!!

All My Love ~
Jodi xo

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I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do! :)