If we’re honest, some Christians are CRAZY and leave us wondering, if "that" is what it means to follow Jesus, I don’t want it. The good thing is, we’re not supposed to want “it.”We’re supposed to want Him. But what does that even mean? How can we know Jesus or “want Him” when we can’t see him? Jesus himself said to people who actually met him in person, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:29 Do you believe without seeing? Then you’re BLESSED! And if you struggle with unbelief, Jesus can still do miracles and answer prayers in your life and for those you love. In the Bible, in Mark 9:24 we read about a father who brought his son to Jesus to heal him. Jesus asked if he believed. The father cried out to Jesus “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.” Then, Jesus healed the boy. This dad wasn’t some kind of spiritual guy. He needed help believing. But Jesus helped him anyway. Getting to know Jesus in spite of our unbelief is a process. And He’s right there with us, revealing himself to us, sometimes in ways we never expected. But a lot of things can get in the way of us knowing Jesus. Like those Christians I mentioned earlier who give Christianity a bad name. How about we try to leave them out for a minute and consider this: Imagine someone in your life who makes you feel happier and loved whenever you’re with them. This person is a breath of fresh air. Job 33:4 (ESV) “…the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Imagine that the next time you look in the mirror, instead of hearing your own voice in your head picking at all the things you hate, you hear a loving voice that says "HEYYYYYY! You’re looking GOOD today!” Genesis 1:31 (ESV) “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Can you think of a time when things felt like they were an absolute mess, everything was falling apart, but something reminded you that it would be ok. Something helped you hold it together. Colossians 1:17 (ESV) “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Honestly, a lot of us have people around us who are NOT a breath of fresh air. All we get is constant criticism and negativity. The last time you looked in the mirror, maybe you looked away because you can’t stand yourself anymore. You can’t seem to fix things on the outside enough to make you feel good on the inside. And maybe when things in your life felt like they were falling apart, they actually did and you felt alone and abandoned. Oh, my friend. I wish I could give you a hug right now. I wish you had someone to affirm you, encourage you, speak life over you and show you love at every moment of your life. And you CAN! We can all have that person in our lives. It's Jesus. Even if you have amazing people in your life who love you and have been with you through hard times and make you feel better about yourself, we have imperfect relationships with those people. And we imperfectly love them back the best way we can. But it’s all imperfect and broken. We all want love. And to know true love, we need to start by knowing Jesus. 1 John 4:8 (ESV) “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This Holy Week, as we get closer to Easter, we invite you to come closer to Jesus. And know His love. With imperfect, but honest love, Coppelia NGEN Midday Show host Would you like to know Jesus personally? Check this out!