Dear Heavenly Father, Good morning, thank you for a fresh new day. As I come before you this morning, I am so thankful that I can seek you in all that I am. The good, the bad, and the ugly. As I come into your courts this morning, I am praying for your great hope and forgiveness to cleanse and refresh my heart. It’s so exciting to know that you are taking down the walls I have built up around my heart, and replacing them with your open arms..
I love you, Jesus
Amen
After spending everything she had, exhausted, and beaten by this sickness, there she stood. In the presence of all she hoped for;
Freedom
Is God calling you to lay it all at His feet? Have you heard Him say,
“Who touched me..?”
No?
It can be so super easy to just accept that you’ve sinned, or that you messed up, and move past it..
But….
Sometimes, “the reaching” out can be the hardest part!
When I think of this day, the day she decidedly sought after Him, I wonder what she must have known about Jesus? What made her seek him out, even to the point of making those who were around her ceremonial unclean? That was a huge risk. She sought Him out against all odds…
As I recall this day, the day I too “decidedly” sought after Jesus. I can remember waking up that morning, bringing my kids to school, coming home, and just needing to feel close to God. I don’t think there was anything particular on my mind, I just had this feeling of emptiness… I can remember opening my Bible, and knowing that whenever I had looked for Him, He was always there. While I didn’t know what I was looking for, He did. Looking back, I know it wasn’t by chance that I came upon this story. He knew me better than I knew, and know, myself.
And
He knows you, better than you know yourself..
He knew that, I too, had spent all that I had… Maybe I didn’t understand it, but I was desperate…It came upon me as an emptiness. A quiet aloneness. I had known enough about God to believe and want to be close to Him. I knew that He loved big, forgave sins, cut down the pride of the Pharisees who were ‘religious”, and drew the poor in spirit into His presence..
I knew I wasn’t religious, quite the opposite, I was poor in spirit…
So I opened my Bible
And just like this sweet woman, I made a conscious effort, I was going to reach out to Him. I didn’t know what He was going to say to me, I didn’t know if I was going to feel condemned, unworthy, or afraid of what I might learn… but I can tell you this… all of those feelings totally crossed my mind! Can you relate to that at all? Have you, in a time of quietness, felt God’s tender nudge to draw to Him? Does it scare you to think that if you do, He may want more from you than you can give? Has the thought crossed your mind that you aren’t good enough to come before Jesus, you need to maybe “get it together” before you do?
When I think of this woman, and all that she had to lose, she went for it! She had already tried everything else, she was already alone, shunned, and living a lonely existence…This could have gone bad in so many ways, right?!
But there was Jesus. Meeting her, and meeting me. Right in the middle of our pain, who knew!
What is your pain? heartache? fear? regret? failure? hurt? emptiness?
That’s where He wants to meet you..
Did you take the time to lay it out? All of it?
I soo hope so!
Today, in the middle of this woman’s story, let stop. I would like to encourage you to open your Bible… maybe for the first time, or even the first time in a long, long time. Even if you read your Bible daily, the Beatitudes will comfort, refresh and inspire you to live a life of freedom and hope.
Matthew 5: 1-12
As you are reading, I pray will you let God near.. invite Him to sit with you, and help you to know that He is near, drawing you to Himself and refreshing your heart, mind and soul..
He wants you to know that Blessed are the poor in Spirit…
Yes, you are Blessed…
He wants you to be free. To live a life of passion, hope and beauty…
So today after you reach out, and you hear Him say, “Who touched me?..”
You will be able to say,
“I did!..”
He has a new beginning for you…
Are you ready?
Heavenly Father, there are no words that I can think of to explain how your love penetrates my heart. it’s beautiful, and I thank you so much. Please open our hearts to your forgiveness as we release our failures and sin knowing that we are forgiven, and loved. We are beautiful in your eyes today, tomorrow and forever. You make all things new, and we are sealed forever in your blood. Oh, Lord encourage our hearts to know that we have been set
Free..
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.. “
Read Galatians 5:1
We love You, Heavenly Father,
In Jesus, Name,
Amen
Live In Love :)