When we are young, we hear stories about princesses and the warriors who save them. Little girls want to be the princess whom the warrior defends. Little boys want to be the warrior who slays the dragon. Then we grow up. It becomes harder and harder to believe we are a princess worthy of defending or a warrior courageous enough to win the fight.

But you and I…we are royalty. We are the King’s kids. Yes, the world can be frightening and cruel. Yes, there will be hard days…that may turn into hard months…and even harder years. Some days will feel like a dream. Other days will seem to never end. But there is One who never leaves our side. He is our Victor. His name is Jesus. He is strong and mighty to save us. Whether we are a princess or a warrior…or maybe a warrior princess….we all need our Warrior Jesus to save us. And indeed He did!!

Colossians 1:13 tells us “for He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.”

What does God say about you? You are rescued.

I am the queen of saving coupons and gift cards. I like to tuck them away for a ‘special’ occasion…and I can’t begin to tell you how many coupons expired and businesses closed without me ever using them for the savings they were meant to bring me. There’s no one to blame but myself. I fully had the capability to enjoy the benefits of those gift cards and coupons. I chose not to use them. Maybe not intentionally, but putting off using them is still the same.

Romans 3:24 tells us “ALL are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” ALL means every one of us…and justified freely means…well, it means that the cost of our freedom was paid for…our redemption from the bondage of sin…is available to us through Christ. But there is a choice to be made. And no one can make it for us. We have to choose to receive that redemption. We can hear about it, learn about it, consider receiving it on some other day, but unless we choose to accept His grace, freely given for our redemption, we choose to stand unjustified…separate from God. When you choose Him, you are taking full advantage of the gift that Christ Jesus paid for with His life.

What does God say about you? In Him, you are redeemed.

Growing up on the east coast it was always easy for me to get my bearings. The ocean and the spectacular sunrise served as a type of compass for me. Later, when my husband, Ken, and I went on a Caribbean cruise we spent several days at sea between ports. I’ll never forget walking the deck of this enormous ship. No matter which direction I looked, or how hard my eyes strained to see land off in the distance, there was no land in sight. What direction were we heading? In the middle of the day when the sun was directly overhead it was impossible to know without an actual compass.

The one thing that struck me that first day was that there was no dividing line from east to west. I could turn around 360 degrees and only see the ocean. There was no way to tell where the east ended and the west began! I was reminded of that promise in Psalm 103:12. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” There is no dividing line between what kind of sin or how often we’ve sinned. The truth is that we were born sinners….in desperate need of a Savior. His name is Jesus; and because He lived a sinless life, died on a cross for every one of us – taking on our sin, and then rose again, we can be saved. Jesus made a way for our relationship with God to be restored. The only way for imperfect us to be reconnected with the one true and perfect God is through Jesus and because of Him, we are saved.

What does God say about you? When you receive Christ as your Savior…You are forgiven.

Isn’t it crazy that we can receive a dozen compliments…and yet a single negative or critical comment can totally derail us??!! Sometimes it’s not anyone else’s voice that causes us to shut down. It’s our own voice that leaves us diminished and feeling inadequate.

We need to remind ourselves that we are made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) That’s right. You and I bear the image of God within us! The enemy of our soul wants to discredit God’s work in us. Don’t let him do it! To everything God created He said, ‘It is good’. And when He formed man and then breathed life into him, God said, ‘It is very good.’

What we see as weakness in ourselves, God sees as strength. That’s the very point that we must lean in to receive His strength and because of Him we ARE enough. The very places in us that are lacking are exactly where the power of Christ can shine brightest. 2 Corinthians 12:9 in The Living Bible says “Each time he said, ‘I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities.”

What does God say about you? You are enough.

My earliest memory of feeling loved was when I was 3 years old. I know I was 3 because my brother was just a baby and we were coming home from my grandmother’s family Christmas Eve dinner. It was a treasured tradition in our family to gather at her home for dinner and gift giving. That year it snowed so hard that on our way home that night we got stuck in it. Within walking distance, mom and dad decided to leave the car and walk home. What they couldn’t see was some sort of pole or tree across the road buried beneath the snow. Down they went..and because they were carrying us…so did we!

What I remember about that night was being really, really cold. Dad started a fire in the fireplace and then let me curl up in his lap by the fire…and mom brought out hot chocolate to help warm us up. Safe. Warm. Loved. That’s the first time I remember feeling comforted and at 3 years old…that felt like the best kind of love.

Life is full of unexpected circumstances. We can be caught off guard, even stumble and take a spill because of unseen obstacles in our path. But we can be sure that our Heavenly Father never lets go of us. We are never separated from His care.

Romans 8:38 from The Message is His promise that we are loved. “I’m absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

What does God say about you?!….you are loved.

This morning as I was getting dressed I noticed a small white circular sticker stuck to my knee with the number 25 on it. I knew it had come off of the inside of the new pj’s I’d worn all night and was now stuck on me.

Those pj’s had been inspected by “Inspector number 25”. Who was that anonymous person? How many inspectors are there? Are all their standards the same? Is that the occupation they claim on their tax return?…Inspector 25.

Immediately I had this thought…I’m so thankful I know my inspector personally. Intricately formed. Creatively crafted. The Psalmist said we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And we are completely known by our Master Designer.

If you could see the tag on the inside of our soul it would read…Made in the Image of God. And when we receive the good news that we are saved through Christ, we receive His special seal. There is no number because there is only One who gets to do the final inspection and put His seal on us.

Ephesians 1:13 (GNT), “You heard and believed the message of truth, the Good News that He has saved you. In Him you were sealed with the Holy Spirit whom He promised.”

“This is for you, LaLa!” My grand-sweet, Macey, held out her fingers to lay a stone in my hand. It was a small tan-colored stone. Nothing remarkable about it. But she is remarkable. Her sweet smile, petite hand, twinkling eyes…and more, her tender heart just makes mine melt. To this day, that stone sits on my kitchen windowsill. I see it every day. And every time it takes me right back to one of my favorite memories. Just her and I…on the porch steps…together. I remember how much I love her and how precious she is to me.

There are several other stones on the ledge in my kitchen. One from my trip to La Union Abajo in the Dominican Republic reminding me of how precious the people of the village are, of how much I want them to not have to struggle to eat or have clean drinking water, to be safely off the streets, and how I long for each one to know Jesus. Each day I look at that Dominican stone and feel a bit of a hole in my heart because I left a part of mine there. And I pray for them.

Sometimes reminders aren’t tangible things. I have a few memorial stones in the shape of a song. Sometimes we call it the right song at the right time. The lyrics break through the clutter and chaos of a thousand numbing anxiety producing voices to speak one singular message that is a direct hit to our mind and heart with a message of hope. Undeniably reminding us that God is with us…and that His presence brings us peace.

The morning after we heard the diagnosis that my husband, Ken, had stage 3 cancer, I started my car to go to work and I heard these words in a song on my radio ~ “I’m not gonna fear the storm. You are greater than it’s roar. Oh, I’m not gonna fear the storm. I’m not gonna fear at all. Peace be still…even when my eyes can’t see. I will trust the voice that speaks. Peace. Peace over me.” And, instantly, I knew peace. Intimate, fully immersing peace that only comes when we know our Father God and know that we are known by Him. To this day, whenever I hear Hope Darst sing “Peace Be Still” I am transported back to that morning, that experience of God’s presence, and I remember His faithfulness to never leave us.

Whether its a stone, maybe a photograph or a right song at the right time, it’s important to set reminders for ourselves of those times when we felt deeply the impact of a single moment or an answered prayer. Because sometimes life gets hard. The cacophony of voices threaten to drown out that still, small voice that resonates deep in our soul. We need a reminder that it won’t always be this way. That there is hope. It’s not the thing; the stone, or picture, or even the song…its the reminder of how it made us feel in that moment…when we knew we were loved. And we are still.

I didn’t recognize the number so I let it ring. I mean let’s face it…most phone calls these days are telemarketers…or worse…scammers. So sorry, not sorry, if I don’t recognize the phone number, I’m not going to pick up.

In the middle of something I completely forgot to check back and see if the caller had left a message. Until this morning when I noticed there was a message waiting.

When the message began I was actually sorry for a few seconds that I hadn’t taken the call. I knew the caller. Not personally except to say that we had met a time or two but I admire his work and his heart for Jesus and would love to have had few moments of conversation with him.

His words were full of hope and encouragement and so timely for my heart. I listened to his message several times and because he had prayed for my husband, Ken, and my family I shared the message with them as well. We were touched by his compassion and his faith. At that moment I was thankful his message was recorded so I could share it to encourage the ones I love. At the end of his call, he said, ‘this is my cell phone so feel free to call anytime’.

It reminded me of this.

God left us a message. The most miraculous thing about His message, His Word, is that it is new and fresh every single time we read it or listen to it. It’s full of hope and encouragement, compassion and faith. Examples of great faith to help us grow ours.

His message in Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV) is “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wonderful things that you could never figure out on your own”. Notice there’s no caveat…only call during business hours…or when it’s an extreme emergency…or once you’ve tried everything else on your own strength. Nope. Just… call…and I WILL answer you. Oh, and I will encourage you and give you the secret sauce to life…what you could never figure out by yourself!

And when His message touches our heart we will want to share it with others. Just like the message I got from a fellow traveler, reminding me that God is faithful and very near, I want you to know that where you are and what you are going through is no surprise to God. And even more, know that if you will let Him, He will tell you the things your heart desperately wants to know. That you are loved, really loved, and that there is nowhere you can go in this life that He won’t walk with you through it. Just call.

We love things we can set and forget, don’t we?! Why else do we want electronics with multiple user settings and pre-sets on our radio? It’s one less thing we have to think about. Just set it…and forget it!

But not everything is made to set and forget. Like US, for example! Living day to day on autopilot isn’t healthy. Yes, it’s important to maintain good habits; but even good habits may need to be tweaked from time to time. What’s good for us at age 20 may not be the best for us at age 40. Setting life goals is excellent but without taking time to re-evaluate things regularly we may end up way off base down the road.

Making time to evaluate and re-set our routines is critical to the fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives. Because LIFE happens. Relationships shift. Jobs end and new jobs begin. Health crises arise. Financial situations upset the bank account. Anxiety. Loss. Unforgiveness. All of these are life situations that create change. Some forced. Some necessary. But change requires response. Even ignoring these situations (aka doing nothing) can cause us to drift or move away from where we need to be.

We all need a “re-set” moment. The moment we recognize where we are and where we need to be…and set a determined course to get back to center. Not necessarily to the place we were before but always to the place God created us to be. Exactly in the center of God’s will for our lives. That’s our sweet spot!