I am sorry, but…. Have you ever uttered those four words and felt completely justified in whatever you filled in the blank afterward? Sadly, I admit that I have done that. It might sound something like this: “I am sorry that I snapped at you; BUT, I’ve been waiting here for TWO hours!” Oh, we can feel that we have every right to feel that way….and act that way. Let it happen a few more times and we begin to become bitter about how that person makes us feel.

Bitterness flourishes in the soil of justification. The longer we hold onto bitterness the harder it becomes to let it go. The Bible calls it a bitter root and it doesn’t just impact us. In Hebrews 12:15 (TPT) we’re told, “Watch over each other to make sure that no one misses the revelation of God’s grace. And make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will only cause trouble and poison the hearts of many.”

I don’t think an apology is ever an apology if we include a ‘but’ in it. Letting go of anything that can become a bitter root means we must keep short accounts. Apologize when we’re wrong and forgive others even when they don’t apologize to us. It’s the only way we keep bitterness from taking root.

The space that you are in right now has something in it that you cannot see, taste or touch; but, with the right object it can bring you joy, make you laugh, lessen your anxiety and fill your heart with hope. The technical term for that something is radio-frequency electromagnetic waves. You and I might call it a signal. All you need is a radio tuned to the right frequency and you’ll be listening to your favorite radio station!

That signal is already there. It’s in your home, your patio, your vehicle, office and classroom. It’s in the doctor’s office, the treatment and hospital room, the playground and the prison cell. All you need to hear it is a tuner that is turned ON and tuned IN to that frequency and you’re instantly connected to hope.

In that same space you’re in, God is there. Jeremiah 23:23-24 (GNT) says, “I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only. No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?” All you and I need is to tune our hearts to the Father’s frequency. He is right here, right now. He has something to share with you. All you need to do is listen.

When my daughter, Abby, first started helping me in the kitchen she was only about 4 or 5 years old. I didn’t hand her the recipe card and the oven mitts and tell her to figure it out for herself. I started out with her helping me with things like getting the ingredients together and doing a little bit of the stirring. As she got older I’d have her read the instructions out loud. Do more of the food preparation herself. Finally, when I knew that she was old enough and understood the danger of the oven, she put on the oven mitts and retrieved the dish from the hot oven.

So it is in our faith journey. Little by little the Lord leads us, teaches us, and trusts us with more. Luke 16:10 (TPT) reveals this truth: “The one who faithfully manages the little he has been given will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities.” When we face the hard things in life, consider this; that God knows what we are capable of and nothing that comes our way hasn’t first passed through His Almighty hand.

The thing you are facing today may seem daunting. You may have thoughts running through your mind that try to defeat you before you even put your feet on the floor. But, that thing, no matter what it is, or how big it is, is not bigger than God. He is on your side and He knows you are able, not in your own strength, but through the power and the strength of the One who is in you.

Years ago I developed some severe back and neck pain. So I went to a chiropractor for help and he wanted me to come back three times a week for a while. I questioned having to come so often. And here’s what he told me. Your body has been making adjustments for its misalignment for quite a while. Over time it’s shifted to help you cope with the pain. Now that we’re working to get it back to normal it’s going to keep remembering where it’s been for a while. It will take some time and continuous adjustment to get your body to stop going back to the way it’s been.

Because I trusted this doctor I stuck with the plan. Eventually we dropped to two visits a week. Then one visit a week. Finally, I got to the ‘maintenance as needed’ stage. It was work… but it was well worth it.

We can find ourselves in the same place with emotional pain. Making adjustments to our life just trying to cope with the pain instead of dealing with it. In fact, sometimes we would rather live with the pain than work for the healing. The pain is the comfortable space that we know when we’re facing what life might be like when we’re willing to let go of it. When we say that out loud we know it makes sense to go forward toward being healed. But how often have we stayed where we were – because we were just too afraid to move on.

Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals, is waiting for us to bring Him our brokenness. Regardless of how we got to this point He wants to restore us to wholeness. Even when we find ourselves bringing it back to Him over and over. God longs to heal us and patiently walks us through it as often as it takes until we finally let go of whatever is blocking us from restoration. Exodus 15:26 (NKJV), “…For I am the Lord who heals you.” Would you bring Him your pain today?

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my favorite interactions written about in the Gospels. Jesus went where most would not – during the hottest part of the day when others might not – in order to meet a woman at a well about noontime. She went there at that time, most likely, trying to avoid everyone else who would have judged her for who she was and for where, and how, she was living. Jesus even sent the disciples on ahead to find food. All so He could have a destiny-changing, divinely appointed private meeting with a woman whose name is unknown to us so that He could tell her that He knew everything about her.

The Samaritan woman came at that time of day to avoid shame and judgment. He came to show her she had value and to change her life forever. In fact, this woman may have been the first evangelist! Her world was so rocked that she left her water jar at the well and ran back to her town telling everyone to come and see for themselves this man who knew everything she’d ever done. She must have even LOOKED different after her time with Jesus. Because they did come to see Him! Jesus stayed a couple of days and continued to share with them. John 4:42 (NLT)says, “Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.””

Is there shame that is keeping you from talking with Jesus? Do you believe that you’re not worthy of a life-changing encounter with the King? Jesus knows all about you and would go to the ends of your world to tell you that you are loved. In fact, He already did. There is a destiny-changing, divinely appointed moment with Jesus waiting for you. Just say yes!

You know what happens when you throw a rock into a lake? It creates a ripple. That ripple can travel for quite a while depending on the size of the rock and everything in its path will be touched by it.

Every day you and I create a ripple of one kind or another. The places we go, the people we see, the things we do and say… all create a ripple. Sometimes we are part of a larger ripple that carries us along for a bit. Every ripple impacts those around us, bringing us closer or pushing us away.

We can’t always choose the ripples that affect us. Some things are just out of our control. We do have control over the choices we make and the ripple effect we create. Find encouragement in Psalm 119:1-3 (NLT). “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.”

Let’s jump in the ripple of God! Where do we see Him moving around us? In our church or community? Be part of the ripple effect that makes Him known to the world around us. That kind of ripple is world-changing and the Lord is calling us to be world changers for His Kingdom!

When I was a kid, my mom and I would make biscuits. We would roll out the dough and use the rim of an upside-down water glass to cut out the circles. We didn’t put the glass down in random places. We edged the circle right alongside each other so we wasted as little of the dough as possible. The closer the circles were to each other – the more biscuits we got out of the dough.

After we did the first run of biscuits we would pick up all the leftover dough, the scraps would be all different shapes, sizes and slivers, and we would knead them all together and roll it out again to cut more biscuits from the leftover. Even if what was leftover was little or oddly shaped we still baked it along with the other because we didn’t want to waste a single thing!

Jesus fed a very large, very hungry group of people and his starter was a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. When He was done and everyone was fed this is what Jesus told His disciples, “now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” (John 6:12, NLT)

…so that nothing is wasted. Not a single thing! Every scrap… every wonderful, beautiful moment… and every heartache, tear and disappointment. God doesn’t waste a thing in our lives. The One who is writing our story has a miraculous way of working all things together for our good and for His glory. Every. Single. Thing!

She came running up to me, tugging on my sleeve to get me to lean over so she could whisper in my ear. My daughter, Abby, cupped her hand between the side of her little mouth and the side of my head. She giggled and danced a little and quietly told me her secret.

I loved everything about that – every time it happened. That she came to me and leaned in. That she wanted to share something with me that only she and I would know; and, everything within me wanted to reciprocate her proximity and honesty with her.

There is a precious promise in the Bible that perfectly reveals the heart of God toward us. James 4:8 (NLT) tells us, “Come close to God and God will come close to you.” Every time we lean in to our Father, God, He does the same with us. He longs for us to want to be close to Him and tell Him the secrets we hold inside our hearts. When we are that close to God we are in the perfect space to hear Him whisper back. Lean in today and listen. He knows the revelations your heart longs to hear.

One of my favorite coffee shops has a new board on the wall by the pick-up counter. It has three columns. One for new orders. One for beverages that are being made and one for orders that are ready and waiting. It’s the middle column that caught my attention that day. The name of that middle section is “In Process”. I could see my friend’s name in that column and I kept watching for it to move to the ‘ready’ column. Waiting… and waiting.

There were any number of reasons to make her order sit in that middle column for what seemed like a very long time. Maybe the number of other orders? Maybe running out of an ingredient needed? Perhaps they were short-staffed or there was an equipment malfunction? There was no telling what was causing the prolonged wait time but one thing we knew for sure. There was absolutely nothing we could do from the waiting area to speed up the process!

We’re ALL in the ‘in process’ column. Each of us ARE a work in progress and here’s the promise that we have from our Maker, God. We find it in Philippians 1:6 (ESV), “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” There are any number of adjustments, lessons, hold-ups and accomplishments that we must each go through and there isn’t anything we can do to speed up the process. So be kind to one another and hold on to the promise that God is at work and He WILL complete us in His time!

Words matter. Proverbs 18:21 (NLT) is very clear. “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” So one day as I was in conversation with someone, I said, “oh, I can’t remember the name of that place,” I felt a little nudge from the Holy Spirit. How often I have said that phrase when I couldn’t immediately think of someone’s name or the name of a place?!! He reminded me of that verse in Proverbs and from that day on I have tried to replace that negative speech with this word of declaration: “I’ll think of it in a bit” or “It will come to me”.

Last week I was telling somebody about a restaurant. When I drew a blank I told her “It’ll come to me”. Later that afternoon I was praying for someone and I remembered that earlier chat with a friend so I included in my prayer, “thank You Holy Spirit that I have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16) Guess what popped into my mind as I was finishing that prayer? The name of that restaurant from earlier in the day!

It seems like such a simple, small behavior change. But it can change the course of our day. Speaking life to ourselves as much as toward anyone else is life-changing! God’s Word tells us we CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13) It’s time to change our profession of can’t to can and thank Him for bringing those things to our remembrance!