His Crown

Above pen and ink by Justin Bee

The Carpenter's Sons continued...

If you missed the last blog from Justin's story, Jesus the Carpenter, Making a Heroin Addict a Hero, take the time to read it, it's so powerful and touching!

Every week that my family and I go to visit Justin, we are blown away by the changes that God is making in his life. Jesus the Carpenter is speaking to him daily, hourly, with every heart beat, turning and shaping him into the man, the Carpenter's Son he is called to be. He faces challenges everyday, and yet he does so head on with the knowledge and power of God behind him, spurring him forward. I told him the other day that the race he is running is swift and I'm picking up my own pace just to keep up. The following is an experience with the Lord that Justin had this past weekend, it touched him so much he wrote it down. We invite you to share in this beautiful sunny day with him...

"After breakfast this morning, I wanted to go outside and just be with the Lord, so I took my Bible with me to the prayer garden on the hillside. With the sun shining bright overhead I sat down on a bench

and started to read, but I couldn't get comfortable. I needed a back rest so I started looking around, looking for a way to maybe innovate something into a back rest. I didn't have much luck, seeing as I was in the woods on a hillside. Then I saw a bench that was built like 7 inches from a tree, so I went to it and thought "ahh", but in no time it too became uncomfortable, so I thought, "I'll just pick up and clear out some of these fallen limbs."

I began moving large limbs and came across an old beefy piece of wood that had been sawed long ways on one edge maybe used for a fence post at one time. I noticed it had some old square head nails in one end of it, so I pulled on one and it was loose... I

pulled it out, then pulled out 3 more- the 5th nail wouldn't come out. I thought, "these are neat, I should restore them, but only with what God supplies." So I headed down to the stream and I knelt down in the mud, then started using the sand in the creek to sand off the caked on dirt and rust.

I could't get it all off, so I started looking around for a small rock to scrape the nails with. I looked around for a minute disappointed thinking, "there are no rocks..." then I looked to my far left and saw a ROCK! I retrieved it from the stream and it happened to be just what I needed, just the right size with a sharp edge on one side, and round on the other.

I scrapped the nail clean and thought, "I have to do something with these..." So I got an idea that I could find some kind of bush or tree and make twine out of to tie God's nails together and as I was searching for twine I came across some thorns... This gave me the idea to use it for something. What would I use thorns for to represent God? Well of course a crown, to represent His Son.

So I kept God's nails and used God's rock to cut off stringy foliage from the brush and thorny branches from the bush. I gathered up about 5 foot sections

of a few different types and sizes of each. I sat down and began to braid this twine together and wrap it into a crown. I then twisted some of the thorned branches around it and it began to take shape. I kept on going but it wasn't until I saw blood dripping off of some thorns that I realized how awesome of an experience this was...
After I made the crown, I used a thin piece of string like vine that I had gathered and stripped down bare to make it more flexible. Then, I tied 3 of the 4 nails up together to represent the nails in Christ and tied them up to hang in the center of the crown.
I held it up and my flesh said, "it's not perfect", then God said, "It Is." I thought, "well, the crown that the high priests' servants made probably wasn't perfect either." Then God said, "or was it?" Wow, I meditated on that for a minute. I thought how machinists used to tell me there is no such thing as perfect, but after this experience with the Lord, I'm beginning to think that perhaps everything certainly is perfect. God provided me with everything I needed, absolutely perfectly, on a small scale, to reveal that when you want all five nails, the Lord will give you only what you need, and when there are no tools around, there is a perfectly cut stone for the task. Whether the thorns are too sharp, or you lose your cutting tool, there is always something that God can give you to overcome. And when I thought the Lord provided me with 4 nails when I only needed three, He provided once again with an extra nail to hang up His crown..."

As always, remember, Jesus is that beautiful Light that expels all darkness!

Justin's completed project,
hung with the 4th nail...

The above photo was taken of Justin with the painting "Calvary" by Stephen Sawyer, www.art4god.com it has literally save Justin's life- and countless others' I'm sure.

Steve posted this on his Facebook page along with the following:

A YOUNG MAN NEEDING SPONSORS

"Justin is a 24 year old guy, who has been secretly battling a severe heroin addiction for the past 5 years.

After accepting Christ in Nov. ’13 he saw the painting "Calvary" posted on a friend’s blog. He was overwhelmed with emotion, he couldn't stop staring at it and felt the Lord speak to him saying, “It’s time”.
He sat his friends down, opening up to them about his past. They got him "Calvary" for Christmas and it has become one of his most prized possessions. As a result of that chance glance, he has entered the Teen Challenge program- in his own words- he wants to come out, “looking like Jesus, acting like Jesus and talking like Jesus.”
This painting has literally saved Justin’s life; you can see with the huge smile on his face he is doing amazing! Justin is in desperate need of sponsors to help finance his stay in what they call the “Jesus Factory”.
If you are interested, you can send a donation in the name of Justin Bee to: Teen Challenge Cincinnati, P.O. Box 249, Milford, OH 45150 or for more information e-mail Masfaith3@aol.com "
Thank all of you for reading this and considering helping someone.
They contacted me, thanked me for my work, and hoped for some assistance in a very difficult and brave recovery. The photo and comments in quotations are from them.

Stephen