Author: Bruce Marchiano
Located in: North Hollywood CA
Submitted: October 10, 2008
What was your motivation behind this project? There are two things that stirred this writing. It's too long a story to tell but as an actor who played Jesus in Matthew, during my preparation time of prayer and research I felt the Lord show me how deeply, specifically precious to Him, women are. You see, as an actor playing the role of Jesus, my quest was to look at every Jesus encounter and ask, "Lord, how did you feel toward this person? What was in Your heart that day?" And without going into the whole story, through prayer and the Word, I felt Him reveal to me this very deep and very special love for "His Father's Daughters" - you precious daughters of The King.
Secondly, since the release of Matthew and my first book, In the Footsteps of Jesus, I have been overwhelmed with letters and emails, testimonies to God's great workings in so many lives - even to this day. And I noticed that the vast majority of the testimonies came from women who'd endured hurts, loss, heartbreak, tragedy - love betrayed, fathers who were not fathers, trust broken, hardships, rejections, loneliness, abandonment, disappointments... and the bottom line often seemed to be, "I never before experienced the love of Jesus for me." "I've walked with condemnation for so many years because of my divorce/abortion... thinking Jesus was so angry at me." "I've walked with so much shame, rejection..." I discovered that so many women (as well as men, of course) just don't truly know His deep, deep heart... for them, just the way they are. How deeply precious you,as a woman, are to Him. And so Jesus, the Man Who Loved Women was born.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? My greatest hope would be for a woman to know so, so deeply and intimately the heart of passion, care, tenderness, respect - love beyond breathtaking love - that beats within Jesus - for her - for you - individually, all by yourself, no matter what your life has been or what it may or may not be. He loves... you, is what I would hope a woman would take into her heart of self-understanding, blossoming in dignity, joy, hopefulness, freedom, excitement for life - and rest, deep in her woman's soul. "Come away, My beloved. You are so very precious to Me." It's that whisper of Jesus that I pray every woman will hear, deep in her woman's heart.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? As a man whose job it is to "be" Jesus - to grow in His heart and ways and "handle" every woman in my life, no matter the relationship or encounter, just as He would - with care, respect, faithfulness, calm, gentleness, protectiveness, integrity... To have the constant awareness, "This woman is a daughter of The King." To say the least, I was deeply challenged. And in fact, Dr. Jack Hayford, in his endorsement of the book that you'll read on the back cover, pointed to this - that the book should be read by men so they (we!) would learn who He calls us to be in relationship to the women He's entrusted to our care.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: It can sound so trite because it is spoken so often. But the irony is that as often as it is heard, it so rarely is fully known and embraced... And so as I speak words that your readers have probably heard many times, I pray they fall so deeply in the heart, maybe for the first time ever...
He loves you. There is nothing you have done or ever will do that can change that reality or wash it away. His heart for you is specific, tender beyond tender, filled with hope and joy over you. You are His delight. He loves you. And His gentle whisper, and the smile in His eyes... "I love you, My precious one. Come away - come to Me!" Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
