“Who touched me?” Jesus asked while surrounded by a large crowd. Jesus’ disciple Peter told him what clearly Jesus already knew. The whole crowd was pressing in toward Jesus as they walked. Yet Jesus asked the question for a different reason. He knew that the woman had suffered for 12 years. He also knew that she had been an outcast because of her condition and needed more than a healing. To let her slip away outside of the throng she would have missed the second miracle she needed that day. Restoration.

In Luke 8:46-49 (TPT) we learn how Jesus felt the difference of the touch between the crowd and this woman. “Jesus replied, “Yes, but I felt power surge through me. Someone touched me to be healed, and they received their healing.” When the woman realized she couldn’t hide any longer, she came and fell trembling at Jesus’ feet. Before the entire crowd she declared, “I was desperate to touch you, Jesus, for I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your garment  I would be healed.” Jesus responded, “Beloved daughter, your faith in me released your healing. You may go with my peace.””

While Jesus was always gentle and kind to women this woman is the only one that He ever called daughter. This precious lady had been cast aside for twelve years and Jesus lovingly called her ‘daughter’…. in front of the whole crowd, the disciples and local leaders of the church. He didn’t just want HER to know, Jesus made sure the entire town knew that she had been healed. That’s what restoration looks like.

Jesus knows exactly what we need today. Press in to touch Him and believe that He will do it. Be ready to receive not only the healing you are praying for but also the restoration that you need. After all, you are His beloved.

There are seasons in our life that we experience deep pain. It might be from loss or injury. Whether it was accidental, self-inflicted or intentional the pain cuts us deeply and can leave us staggering to hold up under the weight of it. God is the One whose strength prevails in our weakness. Giving up cannot be an option when we know that God is for us and He is with us.

It’s not unusual to fall into a rut of despair when we are going through a difficult time. It is part of the journey to go through them and it is good for us to learn from them. We don’t fully appreciate the good places until we’ve gone through the hard ones.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (MSG) has brought me hope so often. The Apostle Paul said, “Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.”

Quitting is not an option. We are never counted out. When the hard times come, and they will, lean in closer to God. That’s where our strength and our hope are found.

Results may vary. It’s the final sentence on advertisements we see on television and in magazines. Whether its fitness equipment, weight loss systems or skin care regimens, the manufacturer can put everything into it except for one thing: consistent usage. You and I can sign up for or purchase the exact same thing but if we don’t follow the guidelines and use it consistently for an extended amount of time we shouldn’t be surprised because… results may vary.

We have received the same promises of God and the same opportunity to have a daily, on-going, rich relationship with our Heavenly Father. But we will not have the deepest, most satisfying connection with Him if we don’t consistently show up. Every day. Multiples times a day. Leaning into our friendship with Jesus brings us so much joy and peace. Those around us will recognize that we’ve spent time with Jesus the more that we invest that time with Him.

In John 13:35 (NLT), Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” We will love more when we’ve embraced His love for us. And Jesus said it, the world will know that we belong to Him by how we love each other. Consistent time spent with Him will impact our lives with better results. Because apart from staying connected to Christ….results may vary.

If there was a fountain near you that produced the most crystal clear, fresh water and you were able to stop and fill up your water bottle every day with refreshing water from this fountain you would probably stop by often, wouldn’t you? What if it offered clean water some of the time… and some of the time the water was polluted? Toxic even? Would you keep going back or would you look for a different source for good water? Of course you would go somewhere else. No one wants to drink bad tasting water!

New York Times Best-selling Author and Proverbs 31 Ministries Speaker Karen Ehman said, “When we open our mouths, let’s think praise…not put-downs.” When I read it I immediately thought of our water source. We wouldn’t keep going back to a source that constantly put out horrible water. So why would we expect people to keep coming back to us when our conversation is laden with negative, toxic comments?.. and yet we do!

Proverbs 18:21 in The Message declares, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.” What if we measured every word that we spoke as life-affirming or life-robbing? We don’t just pollute others with our negative conversations. We pollute ourselves. Words of life are like little gift boxes of hope. Let’s choose to speak life today like little gifts of hope. Let’s look for ways to make our conversations with one another more sweet.

You are loved. You were formed in the image and likeness of your Creator. Long before your parents laid eyes on you for the very first time…in fact, long before your heartbeat was heard or your mama felt you move for the first time in her belly…God knew you. Jeremiah 1:5 (MSG) is such a beautiful exclamation from the Lord. “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.”

Have you ever known someone so well that you know how they think and how they respond? You may even finish each others sentences you know them so well! I was thinking about that recently and had this thought: what if I allowed God to finish my sentences for me? What if, instead of saying, I can’t do this, I let God finish my conversation with “you can do all things through Christ because He strengthens you.” (Phil 4:13) When I begin to say I’m not smart enough, I give the Lord space to say “If you need wisdom, ask Me, your generous God, and I will give it to you. And I will not rebuke you for asking.” (James 1:5)

The more we know God the more we know how He finishes His sentences…His promises to us. What if today, when we find ourselves tempted to finish our sentences the way the world has spoken them over us, we allow God to finish our sentences with what He has spoken over us… from before we were born?! Allowing God’s Word to finish our thoughts and conversations will change the course of our day…maybe even our life!

I watched a man take a giant pickle jar and pour a bunch of sand into it. Then he added a tray of pebbles that filled the jar almost to the top. So when the man tried to add in the big rocks there was no room to fit them all into that jar. It was impossible to do it. But when he started over and put the big rocks in first, followed by the pebbles that found their way in and around the bigger ones. It was amazing how they managed to fit together. Finally as the man poured the sand into the jar, the sand filtered around all of it and filled in the spaces that were left in the jar. ALL of it fit in that jar.

It was astounding how much more he could fit into that giant pickle jar by putting the big rocks in first. And so it is with us. What are the most important things in our lives? Hopefully, they are not things. Our relationship with God, with our family and others God has placed in our circle should be the big ‘rocks’ in our life. How often do we find ourselves trying to fit them in after pouring in all the pebbles and the sand that fill our day? What if every day was our giant pickle jar and the rocks, pebbles and sand represent all that we attempt to fill it with? What should go in first?

Matthew 6:33 in The Message says, “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” The Passion Translation tells it this way: “So above all, constantly seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.” We need to put God in our day first, followed by His priorities, His Kingdom come in our lives. Then He will pour in the rest.

We can get so overwhelmed trying to fit everything into our day, when God tells us to put HIM in first! He will help us to prioritize the rest…and on top of that…He will pour in His abundance of blessings that He has established for today.

The best leaders I’ve ever worked with – were followers first. They learned to follow well and understood the importance of being a good follower. We can’t be leaders until we are followers. Perhaps the better way to say it is – we shouldn’t be a leader until we are a good follower.

You may be thinking that you aren’t a leader. But the truth is, we are all leaders in one way or another. If you are married – or a parent – you are a leader. Maybe you lead a small group or you have a group of people that you work with who look to you for leadership. God has given each of us a circle of influence and we are to shepherd them wisely.

Proverbs 21:1 from The Message says, “Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; He directs it to whatever ends He chooses.” Instead of focusing on being the best leader, if we focus on doing what God wants us to do, that action of submitting to God’s will, opens the door for God to use us in ways we never thought possible. It changes us and it impacts those people with whom God has given us to work.

What happens when we are willing to put God’s will above our own will be beyond our imagination!

I received a call one day to audition for a Christian music group called Sound of Joy. The group was based in Pensacola, Florida and had gotten my name from a group I had traveled with previously. I politely declined. Little did I know that call would change the course of my life forever. A year later I found myself embarking on a three year tour with Sound of Joy.

It’s true that God can move mountains (a.k.a.) anything that stands between us and God’s plan for our lives. The man who owned the ministry, Art Crane, had been a Marine Officer, flew fighter jets, served his country well and for his twilight years felt called to begin a ministry and put together a group of young musicians who loved Jesus and tour them around the country. There were many easier ways to serve the Lord, but Art and his wife, Sue, followed this calling and impacted so many lives for the Kingdom.

My husband, Ken, and I learned so much from Art Crane and our hearts were broken when he suffered a heart attack and died while we were away on tour. His funeral included military honors. The 21 gun salute. A solitary bugle playing ‘Taps’. The American flag folded with precision as the military guard leaned toward his wife and said, “On behalf of the President of the United States, the United
States Marine Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”

Honor. That act to honor Art’s military service was beautiful but it pales in comparison to the honor King Jesus will bestow on him for the number of lives changed for the Kingdom of Heaven because he said ‘yes’ to serving God. Regardless of age or experience he accepted the call.

Regardless of career choice, how young or old we are, or how equipped we may feel…when we say ‘yes’ to the voice of God…all of Heaven pays attention to the ripple of impact that changes lives for eternity. Whatever He is asking you to do, say yes! We have the power of God’s Word in Philippians 4:13 (NIV) to back us up! “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

My husband, Ken, and I were sitting out on our back deck one afternoon enjoying a beautiful day when I pointed out how strange it was to see a variety of leaves on the giant pine trees that run along the back of our yard’s property line. There were plenty of pine tree limbs with pine cones on them. But there were also leafy vines that stuck out in various places all the way up the trees. They were green and blended in but just looked different from what pine trees are supposed to look like. Ken said, ‘those aren’t supposed to be there’. He went to get the large gardening shears and disappeared inside the tree line.

I had no idea what Ken was doing once he literally stepped inside the tree branches to get to the trunk of the tree. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him clipping away. When I hollered out, ‘what in the world are you doing in there?’ he answered, ‘I am cutting those vines off at the root. I can’t pull them off the tree but I can cause them to die so they don’t invade these trees anymore.’ Do you know that within a week, those weeds that had grown all the way up inside those trees, that were green and almost blended in, had turned brown…lifeless. They’d been cut off at the root.

Oh my goodness. What a spiritual lesson that spoke to me. We can work so hard to extract ourself from things that don’t belong in our lives. They may even blend in but in the end they can bring us harm. The answer often is finding the root of it…and cutting it off. We may need to find the courage to do it ourselves. Sometimes we need the Holy Spirit to do the cutting. The Bible is very clear that God will show us when we ask. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5 (ESV)

Be aware that when we ask God to help us cut away anything in our lives that keeps us from growing fully in His plan for us, things could get complicated. It might be messy. It could even hurt. But the end result will be a lush life that thrives in the presence of our Savior. And that is the goal!

What do orange juice, coffee, peanut butter and lemonade all have in common? You can’t get them without a lot of work first! There is a lot of energy that goes into the process before we are able to enjoy the finished product. The picking, inspecting, sorting, squeezing, crushing, mixing, tasting…it all has to happen first. There may be many involved in the journey from start to finish but always there is a master or supervisor that watches over the entire operation. Guarding, guiding and providing all that is needed to make the very best.

We are a work in process. Becoming more like Jesus doesn’t happen overnight. We know that we are chosen. (Colossians 3:12) Psalm 139:5 (NET) says, “You squeeze me in from behind and in front; You place Your hand on me.” Psalm 34:18 (NIV) tells us, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God is right there with us, saving us, when we find ourselves being crushed. Jesus told us in John 16:33 (AMP), “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.”

Finally, we can be confident that our Master is with us in all of this journey. Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20 (NLT), “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” From beginning to end, as we are being perfected into the image of our Lord, He is with us, guarding, guiding and providing because HE is making the very best.