Robert Waddell III

She's kissing His feet. The prostitute is kissing the rabbi's feet. With her mouth. Her hair. Her tears. And every man at this table knows exactly who she is. Some of them have paid her. She knew Jesus. Simon the Pharisee just knew ABOUT Him. And there's a blood-soaked difference. Simon invited Jesus to dinner. Not to honor Him. To evaluate Him. Simon was a Pharisee. Didn't touch unclean things. Kept every law where people could see it. Jesus walked through his door. No kiss. No water for His feet. No oil for His head. Just the minimum hospitality the law required. Safe belief. The kind that doesn't cost anything. Then she walked in. That woman. The one they whispered about. She brought her alabaster jar. The expensive perfume. Some of them had smelled it before. Up close. In the dark. Tonight it meant something different. She didn't come to work. She came to worship. She fell at His feet. Then she did something that stopped every conversation: She let down her hair. First-century Jewish culture: A woman never let down her hair in public. Never. Grounds for divorce. Proof of adultery. Bound hair = respectability. Loose hair = available. Every man in that room knew the language. She let it fall. In front of the rabbi. In front of the men who'd paid her. Not seduction. Surrender. When you truly KNOW Jesus, you stop performing for Pharisees. Her tears fell on His feet. Sobbing. Ugly crying. Years of shame cracking open. She wiped His feet with her hair. The hair that marked her as "that woman." The hair men had touched in transactions. She used it to serve Jesus. Kissed His feet. Over and over. Poured the perfume over them. The whole house filled with her smell. Her past. Her trade. And Jesus let her. Simon thought: "If this man were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him." Here's the bomb: Jesus DID know. Her profession. Her shame. Every client. Every transaction. He knew. And He let her touch Him anyway. Because God doesn't keep His distance from unclean things. He gets close enough to be contaminated by our shame so we can be cleansed by His love. Jesus turned to Simon. Told a story about two debtors. One owed 500 denarii. One owed 50. Neither could pay. Both forgiven. "Which one will love more?" "The one forgiven more." "Correct." Then Jesus destroyed Simon: "I entered your house. You gave Me no water. She washed My feet with tears. You gave Me no kiss. She hasn't stopped kissing My feet. You gave no oil. She anointed My feet with perfume. Her many sins are forgiven—as her great love has shown." Simon knew ABOUT Jesus. Kept all the laws. Maintained distance. The prostitute knew JESUS. Brought shame. Tears. Hair. Everything. Simon calculated. She surrendered. Jesus said: She understands the Kingdom. Believing in Jesus doesn't make you a Christian. The demons believe. Know theology. Quote Scripture. Recognize His authority. James 2:19 — "Even the demons believe—and shudder." And they're going to hell. Because belief without surrender is just information. It's Simon at the table. Safe. Clean. Unchanged. Knowing ABOUT Jesus while never getting close enough to be changed. The woman's love WAS the evidence of forgiveness. Not the cause. The proof. Simon looked at her and saw sin. Jesus looked at her and saw faith. Simon kept distance to stay clean. She broke every rule to get close. Jesus said to HER: "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." Not your belief. Your faith. Not your knowledge. Your reckless proximity. Not your reputation. Your messy surrender. Simon went home still clean. Still correct. Still distant. Still unchanged. The prostitute went home forgiven. Transformed. Not because she was better. Because she came closer. Which one are you?

10 THINGS I STARTED DOING TO GET CLOSER TO GOD This is what changed me not overnight, but deeply: 1. I STOPPED RUSHING MY MORNINGS WITH GOD Before, I prayed 5 minutes. Now I sit. No phone. Just me and Him. Psalm 27:8 "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." 2. I STARTED TELLING HIM THE TRUTH, NOT RELIGIOUS WORDS I stopped saying "I am fine Lord" when I was bleeding. I started saying "Lord I'm hurt, I am angry, I am tired." Psalm 62:8 Pour out your heart before him. 3. I STARTED OBEYING THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME We keep asking for new instructions while ignoring the last one. I went back and obeyed what He told me 2 years ago. John 15:14 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." 4. I REDUCED THE NOISE Less gossip. Less scrolling. Less unnecessary conversations. I can't hear God when my spirit is crowded. 1 Kings 19:12 God was not in the wind, not in the earthquake but in a still small voice. 5. I STARTED WITHDRAWING WITHOUT GUILT Like you said teach my hands to war. I stopped explaining why I need to be alone. Jesus withdrew often Luke 5:16. If He needed withdrawal, who am I? 6. I STARTED READING THE WORD TO HEAR HIM, NOT TO FINISH A PLAN Not 10 chapters a day to tick a box. Sometimes one verse for an hour. Joshua 1:8 Meditate therein day and night. Meditate, not race. 7. I STOPPED FIGHTING EVERY BATTLE WITH MY MOUTH I learned: some battles are won by silence. Exodus 14:14 "The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." I let God defend me. 8. I STARTED FASTING NOT FOR SHOW* Not telling anyone. One day a week, just water. To kill my flesh so my spirit can be sharp. Matthew 17:21 Some things don't go out except by prayer and fasting. My discernment became fire after this. 9. I STARTED WORSHIPPING WHEN IT HURTS, NOT ONLY WHEN IT FEELS GOOD I put on worship when I wanted to cry. I sang when I wanted to complain. Acts 16:25 Paul and Silas worshipped at midnight, and chains broke. My chains started breaking. 10. I STARTED ASKING "LORD, WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING ME HERE?" Instead of "Why is this happening to me?" Every gossip, every betrayal, every delay became a classroom. Romans 8:28 started making sense All things work together for good. --- I didn't become perfect. I became closer. And closeness changed everything.

I will never get over Hagar giving God the name El Roi — “The God Who Sees Me.” There is something deeply prophetic about this encounter. Hagar was in the wilderness. She had been mistreated, rejected and sent away. She was carrying pain that nobody seemed to understand. But in the wilderness, God found her. She discovered something that every child of God must never forget: You can be forgotten by people and still be fully remembered by God. You can be overlooked by men and still be seen by heaven. You can cry in secret and still have a God who sees every tear. You can go through a season where nobody understands what you are carrying, yet God knows every detail. He sees the tears you wipe before anyone notices. He sees the prayers you whisper when you don't even have the strength to pray loudly. He sees the rejection. He sees the disappointment. He sees the waiting. He sees the battles you don't talk about. He sees the sacrifices nobody celebrates. He sees you. And what makes this even more beautiful is that God didn't merely see Hagar—He spoke to her, instructed her, and revealed Himself to her. Sometimes the wilderness is not evidence that God has abandoned you. Sometimes it becomes the place where you discover a dimension of God you had never known before. Hagar entered the wilderness as a woman who had been rejected, but she came out knowing Him as El Roi. And perhaps someone reading this needs to hear this today: God has not lost sight of you. The season may be confusing, but He sees you. The tears may be many, but He sees you. The waiting may be long, but He sees you. The doors that closed may have left you wondering what God is doing, but He sees you. And when you cannot understand His hand, trust His heart. This is why I cannot boast in myself. Who can truly say: “I am nothing without Jesus”? I am nothing without His grace. Nothing without His mercy. Nothing without His presence. Nothing without the blood of Jesus. Everything I have, everything I am becoming, and every testimony that will ever come from my life is because of Him. Jesus, You are not just part of my life. You are my life. El Roi, the God who sees me. The God who sees you. The God who sees every hidden tear. And the God who is still writing the story.