BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

You’ve been trying to make something work, but you’ve been failing. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you’ve done, it’s simply not working. It hasn’t happened and you’re losing hope of it ever happening now. Hopeless is a hard place to be. Hopeless can be a dangerous place to be. Hopeless can also be a miraculous place to be. When it’s humanly impossible, you’ll know without a doubt it was God who made it happen. When there’s no way it could have been you, you’ll know exactly who deserves the glory. When all hope is gone and the impossible happens, you’ll know it was never your doing. It was God’s. And sometimes God lets it get to the point where you can’t take the credit for what He’s about to do. Maybe that’s where you’re at – you’re at the point where God is going to do something and you will KNOW it was him. It wasn’t you – it wasn’t your hard work – it wasn’t your idea – it wasn’t your willpower or your tenacity – and it certainly wasn’t good luck – You’re going to know it’s GOD! How do you align yourself for a work of God? When is the optimal time for God to show up? How do you get in on what he is doing? Well we’re going to read about a miraculous fishing trip to find our answers. Luke 5: 1-11: One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. Here we see a miracle of Jesus making something work that had not worked before. We see Jesus doing something in a way that was no doubt his power at work. A miraculous haul of fish for fishermen who had fished the entire night and caught nothing. And here in this story, we get our directive on how to be part of the miraculous with Jesus. Notice the timing for the miracle. This came after a hard night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee where they didn’t catch a thing. Nothing. They had failed. And understand, these men were professional fishermen. They weren’t out fishing for fun – they were fishing for survival. This is how they fed their families. Their future depended on catching fish. They knew how to catch fish and they knew if the fish were there, they would have caught them. They simply weren’t there. No matter what they did, they couldn’t catch any fish that night. Now, it was morning and they were washing their nets. Let me tell you something, that’s not a fun job. It’s one thing to wash nets when you’ve had success, but it feels like a complete waste of time when you’ve caught nothing. They must have been frustrated. Maybe they were even worried about money because they certainly hadn’t made any with their empty nets and boats. And that’s when Jesus says the timing for a miracle is right. That’s when Jesus knows his power will not be denied. The perfect timing for a miracle is when nothing else has worked. The perfect timing for a miracle is when all hope is gone. When the boat is empty, the nets are empty and you have nothing to show for a whole lot of hard work – that’s when God knows he will get all the glory. Are you there right now? Yes, in this place of desperation you didn’t want to be in. In this place where everything has been harder than you ever imagined. In this place where you fought so hard to NOT be. Oh Sis, this may be the grounds for a miracle move by God himself! LOOK FOR HIM HERE! After disappointment and failure, in their monotonous work of cleaning their nets is where Jesus encounters them. He doesn’t show up with a bunch of fish, he shows up with an ask. A request. Jesus asks to use their boat. They must have been tired after working all night. We know they were discouraged. There’s a chance they were even worried. But when this man asks if he can get on their boat with them so he can teach this crowd of people gathered, they said yes. They didn’t know this man was the Savior of the world. They didn’t know he was the Messiah. They certainly didn’t know he was about to radically change their lives forever. But they said yes. The miracle God has for you will always begin with your willingless to let Jesus get in your boat. To let him into your disappointment. To let him into your exhaustion. To let him into the very place where you’ve been working so hard and seeing so little return. Before Jesus filled their boats with fish, they made room for him in their boats. And maybe that’s your miracle move today, girl. Maybe it’s not another frantic attempt to make something happen. Maybe it’s not another late night of trying harder, figuring it out, or forcing a door open. Maybe it’s simply saying, “Jesus, you can have this. You can have my empty boat, my failed attempts, my tired heart, and my plans that haven’t worked. Get in. I’ll make room for you.” The filling was his job. The invitation was theirs. What if the very place where you’ve experienced your greatest disappointment becomes the place where you experience God’s greatest demonstration of power? What if the thing you’ve been trying so hard to fix becomes the very thing through which God reveals himself to you? What if your empty nets aren’t the end of your story, but the beginning of a miracle you couldn’t have orchestrated if you tried? Now, with Jesus in their boat, he teaches – they listen. And after he finished teaching, he says to them, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” These fishermen knew that was ridiculous. They had already tried that water. And they had already washed those nets. However, there was a single decision that changed the trajectory of their lives and here it was – “BUT IF YOU SAY SO – I’ll let the nets down again.” Jesus, if you say so, I’ll try this again. If you say so, I’ll go back out to the place it didn’t work and I’ll try again. If you say so, I’ll do it – even when it doesn’t make sense – even when I’m tired – even when I’m frustrated – even when I think it’s kinda crazy. BUT IF YOU SAY SO – I’ll do it. There’s your miracle move, girl. Make room for Jesus, then do what he says. Could that be your prayer of surrender today? Jesus, if you say so, I’ll do it. I’ll go. I’ll try again. I’ll listen. I’ll obey. And here’s what happened this time when they drop the nets because JESUS SAID SO – “This time, their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!” Both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. From no fish to two boats overflowing with fish. From nothing in the nets to the nets tearing because a massive amount of fish all swam directly into those nets at just the right time. And imagine Jesus for a moment. Imagine him sitting on this sinking boat with all these fish just smiling saying, “Yip, I did that – and this is just the beginning, boys!” Jesus saw some ordinary men who were willing to listen to him – willing to do things that didn’t make sense – and willing to give him credit for doing what only he could do. And now he has an invitation for them – an invitation to follow him. Would you follow Jesus if he said, “Come?” Would you go? What an exciting adventure that would be – Yes, Jesus, I’m in! But let me tell you, sometimes following Jesus costs you something. It’s not always an easy yes. It’s an uncomfortable yes. It’s a shaky yes. It’s a yes when you don’t know where he’s taking you or what he’s going to ask of you next. It’s a yes that may require you to leave behind what feels safe, what feels familiar, and what you’ve worked your whole life to build. Because look at what happened next. These men had just experienced the biggest fishing haul of their lives. Their boats were overflowing. Their nets were breaking. This was the kind of catch every fisherman dreamed of! This was retirement money. This was the jackpot. This was fame. And right when they had more than they could have imagined, Jesus invited them to leave it all behind and follow him. And they did. These fishermen became the disciples we read about. They were the men who walked with Jesus here on earth. The ones who got to witness his miracles first hand and be part of them. The ones who Jesus trusted to continue his work after the cross. But in this moment, they were tired fishermen who had just been blessed with the catch of a lifetime and then asked to walk away from it all. Not only walk away from the fish, but walk away from their nets and their boats. Their source of income. Their livlihood. Their plans for the future. Everything they ever knew. And here’s the wild thing – they did! It says, “They left everything and followed Jesus.” That’s how Jesus knew he had the right people

We may not understand the story we’re living today. But we haven’t reached the end of the story yet. God’s not finished writing the story of your life – chapter by chapter, it’s still unfolding and God knows exactly how he will divinely guide those chapters to his glorious ending. Life is so hard to understand. Our highs are often followed by lows. We’re celebrating, then we’re crying. We’re believing for a breakthrough, then we’re battling disappointment. We’re making plans, then everything changes. One minute we’re thanking God for the beautiful story he’s writing, and the next we’re questioning if he’s even holding the pen. God, where are you in this? Life just got interrupted by an unexpected disaster or disappointment – but what you can’t see is this is the very thing God is using to redirect you. He faithfully protects you from chapters you were never meant to live. His delays are divine. His detours often get you to places you could have never reached on your own. Yesterday we read about Jesus healing the Roman officer’s faith in the authority of Jesus and as a result, Jesus healed his servant and saved him on his death bed. Yay! Big celebration. We LOVE that! Yay for healing! Yay for happy endings! But as Jesus continues on his way with his disciples, this celebration party meets a mourning people. A collision of joy and grief meet head on. The life of a Roman soldier’s servant has been saved, but the life of a boy has been lost. All at the same time. And so they collide in God’s mysterious ways. Let’s read the story – Luke 7, beginning in verse 11, “Soon afterward (remember this is soon after Jesus healed the servant), Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. (The crowd is following because they’re celebrating the miracle they just saw Jesus perform.) A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion.” Understand, this woman hadn’t only lost her child, but she had lost her entire future. She was already a widow, having lost her husband at some point, but now she’s lost her only son. Without a husband or a son, this woman was without hope. In that culture, her son wasn’t just someone she loved deeply. He was her provision, her protection, and the one who would have cared for her as she grew older. With his death, she was facing a future she could not have imagined and certainly had not planned for. Her life had been interrupted by a heartbreak she could not fix, change, or undo. And it’s funeral day – the final goodbye. Imagine how deep the mourning must have been. But the procession is interrupted by Jesus. The crowd following Jesus was still in celebration and here the collide with grief and desperation. This woman wasn’t searching for Jesus, but Jesus found her. He found her in her grief. She wasn’t chasing a miracle. She wasn’t making a bold declaration of faith. She really wasn’t even asking for help. She was simply walking through the most devastating moment of her life and JESUS SAW HER. Yes, he saw her and his heart overflowed with compassion. Did you know even when you aren’t happy and joyful and believing in the absolute goodness of God, Jesus sees you. He’s moved by your hurt. He’s shaken by your pain. And he wants to do something about this! He wants to interrupt the funeral procession of the thing that’s died within you. The thing that’s too far gone – the thing that’s beyond hope – the thing that just can’t be fixed or changed – Jesus wants to show up right in the middle of that with his interruption. Let’s keep reading, picking back up in verse 13: “‘Don’t cry!’ he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘I tell you, get up.’ Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Can you imagine that moment? One minute, she’s walking toward the burial of her only son. The next, she’s watching him sit up alive. One minute, she’s facing a future filled with grief and uncertainty. The next, she’s holding the son she thought she’d lost forever. The funeral procession was interrupted by the Author of Life. Now, I want you to see something here. The crowd was still celebrating yesterday’s miracle while this woman was burying her greatest heartbreak. Both stories were unfolding at the same time. One family was rejoicing, another was grieving. One was experiencing the goodness of God in a way they could see, while the other was walking through a darkness they couldn’t understand. And isn’t that just like life? Sometimes we’re the ones celebrating the miracle, and sometimes we’re the ones following the funeral procession. Sometimes we can see God’s goodness so clearly, and sometimes all we can see is what we’ve lost. But here’s what I love about Jesus: He is just as present in the funeral procession as he is in the celebration party. Wherever you are, he’s right there with you. He will interrupt your party, he will interrupt your funeral, he will interrupt your joy and he will interrupt your depression. Look for him. Wherever you are – look for him. Your heartbreak does not make you invisible to him. Your unanswered prayers do not mean he’s stopped caring. And the fact that you cannot yet see how God could possibly bring anything good from your circumstances doesn’t mean he’s absent from your story. Not every funeral procession turns around in this lifetime. But this story reveals something we can hold on to: Jesus sees our pain, his heart is moved with compassion, and even death itself is not beyond his authority. If God can give this little boy life again, don’t you think God can do the impossible in your situation? Here’s what hit my heart today – there’s someone listening who is in torment wondering if their loved one made it to Heaven. Before their final breath, you were uncertain of their faith, uncertain of their salvation, uncertain of their eternal destination. You’ve asked God for a sign to be sure, and maybe you’re still waiting on that sign. Well, I want you to see this story and understand God’s ability to interrupt time and radically change the outcome. If Jesus could breath life back into a boy at his own funeral, don’t you think he also has the ability to extend the final breath of the life of your loved one, reveal himself, and bring them to faith and salvation in a moment of suspended time allowing the soul work that hadn’t yet been done? Is that beyond God’s ability? I think not! 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord “is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” God can interrupt our life – and he can also interrupt our death. He can be the cause of our celebration and be the source of our strength in our deepest grief. If your life has been interrupted by something you never would have chosen, don’t believe the lie that God has abandoned you in this chapter. You may not understand what he’s doing. You may not see a way forward. You may even be standing in the middle of something that feels like the end. But the Author of Life is still present in your story. And sometimes, when you think you’re watching everything come to an end, Jesus is about to show you something about himself you’ve never seen before. Lord, for my sister listening today who feels like this is just the end – the end of everything worth living for, the end of all she worked for, the end of her dreams, the end of her joy – Show her how you’re working on something she’s never seen before. Interrupt her grief – interrupt her anxiety – interrupt her depression – interrupt her overwhelm with YOUR POWER. My Bible is filled with all sorts of notes. On the page of Luke 7 where this story of the widow’s son is, I have a yellow sticky note which says “Look up the story of the poet who wrote ‘God Works In Mysterious Ways’. Today, I actually looked it up! God Works in Mysterious Ways is a song written in the 1700’s by a poet named William Cowper. William was friends with the poet who wrote the song “Amazing Grace”. They’re basically cousin songs. Williwma Cowper was a talented poet who was plagued with chronic depression. On several different occasions, he tried to end his life. He hired a carriage driver to take him to the river where he planned to drown himself, but the driver was perpetually lost and couldn’t find the river. Then he planned to go to a river again to drown himself, but when he got there, there was no water in the riverbed. And another time, planning to end his life, he gets to the bank of the river and someone is standing in the exact spot where he was going to enter the water. Over and over again, he was interrupted and his life was saved. GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS. Here are the words of his song: God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill He treasures up His bright designs And works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head. William Cowper couldn’t see the whole story. In his darkest moments, he couldn’t imagine the hymns he would write, the lives his words would touch, or the hope his story would offer generations of believers. He could only see the pain of the chapter he was living. And that’s the thing about living in the middle of your story: you can only see what’s happening now. God sees what’s happening next. You may be frustrated by the interru

There’s one thing you can do today that impresses Jesus. That one thing is your faith in him. Faith that he will do what he says he will do. Faith that he can do it. Faith that his word changes everything. Faith that he cares enough to move personally for you. Your faith is impressive to Jesus. And your faith in him beckons his power. Faith acts like a magnet to his miracles. Do you want to draw his miraculous power into your life and see him working all around you? Start believing he can and start speaking like he will. Instead of talking about how bad your circumstances are, begin talking about how powerful your God is. Instead of posting about your problems, pray about your problems and post about his promises. Let me tell you something, Jesus responds to your faith. 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.” He’s looking for your heart of faith, he’s listening for your words of faith, and when he finds you standing in faith, he personally shows himself strong to you. What does it mean when God shows himself strong – it means he unleashes his miracle working power in your life! He’s looking – his eyes are roaming – will he find your heart devoted to him? Will he find your mind and mouth filled with faith? If so – get ready to see just how strong your God is! Get ready to see him show up for you. Get ready to see him working in every detail, working all things together for good! And here’s what I want you to understand, sister: faith doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It doesn’t have to be complicated to catch the attention of Jesus. It simply has to trust him. Trust him when the circumstances don’t make sense. Trust him when the answer hasn’t come. Trust him when all you have is his word and a whole lot of reasons to doubt. Faith says, “Jesus, I don’t have to see how you’re going to do it. I just know that you can!” And that’s exactly the kind of faith that catches the attention of Jesus. In Luke 7, we’re about to meet a man who understood something remarkable about the authority of Jesus. He didn’t need Jesus to show up in person. He didn’t need to see a miracle in progress. He believed Jesus could simply speak the word, and it would be done. Oh, girl, what if we started trusting Jesus like that? What if we stopped putting limits on how he can work and started believing in the authority of his word? What if our mouth got filled with faith? Let’s look at the faith of a Roman officer that left Jesus amazed! Here’s what’s happening in the story – A servant of a Roman officer was very sick and near death. When the Roman officer heard that Jesus was passing through and he had been healing the sick and doing all sorts of miracles, he sent some elders to find Jesus and ask him to come heal his servant. When the elders reached Jesus and asked him to come to heal this sick servant, Jesus agreed and went with them. Just before they got to the house, the Roman officer sent out some friends and said, (verse 6-10) “‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.” This man didn’t have to understand how Jesus would heal his servant – he didn’t even have to see it for himself – he just truly believed Jesus held the power to speak healing, even from a distance, and it would happen. This is the faith that impressed Jesus. Jesus was literally “amazed”. Girls, let’s amaze Jesus with our faith today. Let’s stop rehearsing all the reasons things won’t work out and start remembering all the reasons we serve a God who can make a way! Let’s stop telling God how big our problems are and start telling our problems how big our God is! Let’s stop requiring Jesus to show us how he’s going to do it before we decide to trust him. We don’t need to know HOW he’s going to work. We need to know WHO we’re trusting! I’m trusting Jesus today – how about you? (Let your mouth speak your faith!) I’m trusting that he alone can do what I need done. He alone can heal. He alone can provide. He alone can restore. He alone can make a way. And he can do it absolutely any way he wants to. He can speak a word from a distance, and it will happen. He can show up in my living room at 3:05 pm, and it will happen. He can divinely rearrange things, he can change things, he can remove things, create things, rewrite things. He can do impossible things and make them look ridiculously ordinary and inconspicuous. He can do it in an impressive, undeniable way – or he can remove it before I even knew the threat of it. That’s my Jesus and I believe he can. Impressive faith. Amazing faith. Faith that doesn’t require it to be your way – faith that doesn’t demand an explanation – faith that doesn’t even have to see Jesus himself – faith that says, “Hey Jesus, if you just speak the word wayyyyy before you even get to my house, I know things will change in my house!” That Roman officer understood authority. He knew that when someone with authority gave an order, things happened. And he recognized that Jesus carried an authority far greater than any earthly commander. He believed Jesus didn’t need to be physically present, lay a hand on his servant, or even enter his home. Jesus could simply SPEAK, and the sickness had to bow to his authority! Oh, sister, do you believe that about Jesus? Do you believe his word still carries authority? That he is still the same Jesus who spoke and the sick were healed, the storms grew quiet, the blind could see, and the dead came back to life? Your circumstances may be beyond your control, but they are never beyond his authority! Somebody needs to speak to their circumstances in faith today. Somebody needs to have a mouth full of faith today. Somebody needs to say, “Circumstances, you may be beyond my control, but you are NOT beyond the authority of my Jesus. You must change when he says to change. You must obey his command.” And then, you must stand in faith KNOWING that Jesus has the final word. Not your fear. Not your diagnosis. Not your bank account. Not your past. Not somebody else’s opinion. Not the circumstances staring you in the face. JESUS HAS THE FINAL WORD! And until he speaks, you keep trusting. Until you see the answer, keep believing. Until the door opens, keep praying. Because your faith isn’t in what you see happening around you. Your faith is in the One who has all authority over it!   Now, let me be clear: faith isn’t a formula for getting God to do whatever we want. We don’t get to dictate how he answers, when he moves, or what the outcome will be. But we CAN trust his character, stand on his Word, and believe that nothing is too hard for him. Even when his answer looks different than we expected, he is still good, still present, and still worthy of our faith. So today, let’s stop living like we’re waiting for proof before we believe. Let’s start living like women who know WHOSE hands hold our lives! I know who’s holding me. I know who’s guiding me. I know who’s responsible for getting me here. I know who healed me. I know who blessed me. Come on girls, LET’S TALK ABOUT IT TODAY! Let’s talk about our Jesus! Let’s put our faith into words and speak it! Jesus was impressed when he HEARD what the Roman officer SAID. Yes, Jesus is listening – let him hear your faith spoken. Speak his promises. Pray with expectation. Take the next step in obedience. And when fear starts telling you all the reasons it won’t happen, remind yourself of all the reasons Jesus can be trusted. Your job is not to figure out the miracle. Your job is to trust the Miracle Worker! And here’s my question for you today: What situation have you been talking about with fear instead of bringing to him in faith? What if today you decided to say, just like that Roman officer, “Jesus, I believe in your authority. You don’t even have to say it twice. Just say the word! I don’t have to see you in my living room. You don’t have to come to my house to make it happen. Your authority over me, my life, my people, and every single circumstance surrounding me is under your divine authority. When you speak, anything and everything can change. Speak for me, Lord.” Let’s be women whose faith says, “Jesus, I trust you with what I can see, and I trust you with what I can’t. I believe you can, I believe you care, and I believe your Word is true. I’m going to keep believing, keep praying, and keep following you, even before I see the answer.” Let your mouth be full of faith! Now THAT is the kind of faith that gets the attention of Jesus! 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Is Jesus our healer? Absolutely? Is any sickness, any disease, or any disability out of his reach and beyond his power? No – nothing. Not even death. But, here’s what we often miss – there’s something even greater to be healed of. Something more important. Something much bigger. Have we forgotten that Jesus healed us of our SIN? We know the affects of cancer. We know the affects of diabetes. We know the affects of migraine headaches and chronic pain. We know what it looks like when a body is broken, when a diagnosis changes everything, when someone we love is suffering and we would give anything to see them made well. And we absolutely should pray for healing! We should believe Jesus has the power to heal. We should ask boldly, trust deeply, and never underestimate what our God can do. But, Sis, can we talk about the sickness that is far more deadly than anything that can happen to our physical bodies? The sickness of sin. Because cancer can take a body, but sin separates us from God. Disease can rob us of years on this earth, but sin threatens something far greater than our earthly years. Physical suffering is real and heart-breaking. But our greatest problem has never been what is wrong with our bodies. It’s what sin has done to our souls. And here’s the miracle: Jesus didn’t just come to make sick bodies well. He came to save our souls for all eternity! He came to rescue us from the power of sin, to forgive what we could never undo, to restore what we could never repair, and to reconcile us to God. He didn’t just come to give us a better life here. He came to give us eternal life with Him. If we’re talking about the miracles of Jesus, let’s talk about the greatest miracle of all-time. HE COVERS US. HE MAKES US HOLY. HE CREDITS US AS RIGHTEOUS. OUR SINS ARE COMPLETELY FORGIVEN. Isaiah 53:5 tells us, “By his wounds we are healed.” Healed of sickness – yes, sometimes. My life is proof of that. Healed of physical pain – yes, I’ve seen it, I know it’s true. But Jesus’ wounds healed something much more than just our bodies – By his wounds our SOULS are healed. Our souls are no longer bound by all we could never get right, and we are free from the punishment we deserve. Oh, girl, do you understand the magnitude of that miracle? The woman who couldn’t stop bleeding needed healing. The blind man who couldn’t see needed healing. The leper who was cast out needed healing. And Jesus met them with compassion and power. But every single one of us has a need we cannot fix on our own. We have all sinned. We have all fallen short. And no amount of good deeds, hard work, religious check boxes, or trying harder can erase our sin. We don’t just need a healer for our bodies. We need a Savior for our souls. And that’s exactly who Jesus is! We are healed from within FOREVER. If we only ever get one miracle, let it be that one! Let it be righteousness through Jesus. Let it be the healing of your soul. Let it be the forgiveness of every sin. Let it be the promise of eternity in Heaven where sin will never enter, sickness will never return and absolute perfection will reign. That’s the miracle of Jesus. And girls, do you realize WE ALREADY HAVE IT! We’re already walking around with the greatest miracle of all time. It’s already ours! As we study the miracles of Jesus and we see his power in these very personal encounters, it’s easy to wonder why you may still be left with a limp, or a tumor, or a disease. Why is my body still un-whole? Where’s my miracle? The miracle is that the creator of the Universe sent his perfect son to literally die to save you. AND IT WORKED. His blood worked for you. THAT’S YOUR MIRACLE!!!!! And while you walk it out here in your everyday life on earth, you may not fully understand it – but I assure you the moment your eyes open in Heaven and you take your first step in eternity, you will understand what an absolute miracle it is that you were chosen for it! Lord, forgive us for thinking you’ve never done a miracle for us – The biggest miracle of all time has my name and the girl’s name who is listening right NOW all over it! It was always for us. Specifically, personally, individually, divinely for us. The miracle of forgiveness. The miracle of righteousness. The miracle of redemption. The miracle of being fully known by God and fully loved by God. The miracle of having your past forgiven, your present filled with His presence, and your future secured for all eternity. Sis, WHERE’S YOUR MIRACLE? It’s right here! It’s in you! It’s already been done! In Mark 2, we see the faith of four friends tear the roof off a house to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They desperately wanted their friend healed and they knew Jesus held the power to make him walk. So, when they find the crowd is so big in and around the house that they can’t get their friend to Jesus, they tear the roof off, and lower the man down on his mat directly in front of Jesus. Wow – I have a few friends like that and it’s changed my life. They continually bring me to Jesus. And if I won’t walk there myself, they will carry me. But do you know what Jesus does before helping this man to walk? HE FORGIVES HIS SINS. Verse 5, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.'” That’s the biggest miracle. Don’t skip over that just to get to the part where the paralyzed man is able to walk – dwell in the part where the imperfect man is made perfect through faith. Dwell in the part where his sins are forgiven, his punishment is canceled, and he’s made forever good enough for Heaven. If we would carry our friends to Jesus for healing of a disease or sickness, then why in the world aren’t we carrying our friends to Jesus for healing of their souls that much more? Why aren’t we relentlessly pursuing Jesus for their sins to be forgiven? Will you tear the roof off for their salvation, or just for their cancer to be gone? I’m going to be honest with you – I would love for every one of you to live out your days in a healthy, strong beautiful physical body – but there’s something I want so much more for you – I want your sins to be forgiven, for the chains to be broken, for everything the enemy ever tried to lay on you to be released from you, and for you to walk to totally FREE all the way straight to Heaven. I want THAT MIRACLE FOR YOU. And I’ll show up every day telling you about Jesus, every day carrying your mat, every day tearing the roof off, just so that you get that miracle. You may still be waiting on a diagnosis to change, a body to heal, a pain to disappear, or a loved one to be restored. Keep praying, girl. Keep believing. Keep asking Jesus for the things that seem impossible. He is still our healer, and nothing is beyond His power. But don’t let the miracle you’re still waiting for blind you to the miracle you’ve already received. You are not forgotten. You are not overlooked. You are not a girl Jesus passed by while He was handing out miracles to everyone else. If you have put your faith in Jesus, you have received the greatest gift imaginable. Your sin has been dealt with at the cross. Your debt has been paid. Your eternity has been changed. And one day, when you stand in the presence of Jesus, every question that seemed so big here on earth will be swallowed up in the wonder of being with Him. Every tear will be wiped away. Every pain will be gone. And you will finally see the full beauty of the salvation He purchased for you. So the next time you find yourself asking, “Jesus, where’s my miracle?” I want you to remember the cross. Look at what He endured to bring you home to God. Look at the price He paid to forgive your sin. Look at the grave He walked out of so death would not have the final word. THAT’S YOUR MIRACLE, GIRL! And nobody can ever take that away from you! Let’s stop living like girls who are waiting for God to prove He loves us. The cross has already declared His love. Let’s stop believing we’re the ones who got overlooked. Jesus went to the cross for us. Let’s stop measuring God’s goodness only by what He changes around us and start celebrating what He has already changed within us. We are forgiven. We are redeemed. We are made righteous through Jesus. And we have a hope that stretches far beyond anything this world can offer. Now THAT is a miracle worth waking up and celebrating every single day! Jesus, forgive us for the times we’ve been so focused on the miracle we want that we’ve overlooked the miracle You’ve already given us. Forgive us for measuring Your goodness by whether our circumstances change, instead of remembering what You have already done to save us. Thank You for the cross. Thank You for Your blood that paid the price for our sin. Thank You that we don’t have to earn our way into Your presence, fix ourselves before we come to You, or live forever under the weight of our past. Through You, we are forgiven, made new, and given the promise of eternal life. Our greatest miracle has already been made possible through You. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Have you ever felt like maybe you’re bothering God with your prayers? Like perhaps at this point you’re just annoying with your needs and requests? And maybe you feel ignored or overlooked. Like you’re not worthy or important enough for God to stop everything just for you. Oh girl, let me tell you something – God will stop everything JUST FOR YOU. You’re that important to him, that valuable, that seen, that known, that heard, and that loved. GOD IS NOT TOO BUSY FOR YOU. YOU ARE NOT A BURDEN TO YOUR SAVIOR. Have you ever noticed in the gospels during the early stages of Jesus’ ministry, he would perform a personal miracle for one person and he would instruct them, “don’t tell anyone about this.” That always confused me. Why wouldn’t Jesus want them to tell everyone about his miracles and his power? Why wouldn’t he want the news to spread about who he was? Wasn’t that the whole point? Spread the news. Tell everyone. But instead, many times we see Jesus telling the healed to keep it secret. Why is that? Well, I experienced it first hand this past Saturday night at the BIG Life Retreat. Fame brings a crowd. Crowds are hard to navigate. You can’t get anywhere when everyone knows who you are! Picture this – 25 BIG Life girls all decked out as Dolly Parton. So much hair. So much fringe, rhinestones and sparkles. So much lipstick and balloons strategically placed. We walked the main strip of Gatlinburg, Tennessee as a pack, and the crowds swarmed. Cameras were everywhere. Cars were honking. People lined up for photos. We got all of 1 block down the strip in a matter of 2 hours. “Dollys, over here – Dollys, wait for us – Dollys, we want a photo too – Dollys, my little girl wants to meet you.” WE. WERE. FAMOUS. And in this moment, I understood why Jesus would tell the very people he had healed, “don’t tell anyone about this.” If Jesus were really known, if everyone knew he was God in human form, he would never get anywhere. The crowds would be so big and so overwhelming, that he would be bombarded. Jesus had a mission. He had divine appointments with places to be, miracles to perform, and people to bring along. The crowds would be a hindrance to his mission. Although he was God, he was fully human as Jesus. He required rest. He required refueling. He required quiet time with the Father. Hoards of people shouting his name, circling in for his touch would become unmanageable. Trust me, this 6 foot tall Dolly got a little taste of it. It was insanely fun for 2 hours, but taking off the wig and popping the balloons brought a welcome return to a quiet life of obscurity. Jesus was not obscure. The word was spreading. He would perform a miracle for a soul in need whom he met along his journey, instruct them not to tell anyone, but they would be so alive in their healing that they would run out and tell everyone they knew about this man who radically changed their life. The man who gave them sight. The man who made them walk. The man who freed them from their demons. So now there are crowds. Crowds following Jesus. Crowds shouting his name. Crowds pressing in. Crowds making it hard for Jesus to get where he was going. So many people. So many needs. So many requests. What if there was one in the crowd who felt their need wasn’t worthy of Jesus? What if there was one in the crowd who felt like a nobody, who had suffered quietly, who had been excluded for so long they became accustom to not being good enough? What would Jesus do for them in the crowd? Let’s see! In Mark 5, Jesus is being followed by a large crowd. An important man has interrupted Jesus begging for him to come to his house and heal his daughter who was dying. So, Jesus is going with this man. A little girl is dying, Jesus is going. The crowd follows. They’re pressing in on him. Making it hard for him to move forward. (Again, in my 2 hours as Dolly Parton in downtown Gatlinburg, I understand the pressures of the crowd. If a cheap imitation of Dolly gets that much attention, imagine how much the real Savior of the world got!) Jesus is needed in another place. He’s on his way to somewhere very important. The life of this man’s daughter depends on him getting there, and him getting there fast. But in this crowd is a woman who had been suffering. A woman who felt unworthy of being personally seen. A woman who dared to just reach for Jesus as he passed by. And Jesus stopped everything. When she reached for him, he stopped. In the crowd, he stopped for the one who reached for him. Let’s read it together beginning in verse 25, reading through 34: “A woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.’ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.” “Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my robe?’ His disciples said to him, ‘Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, your suffering is over.'” In this day, when a woman was bleeding, she was considered unclean. As unclean, she couldn’t attend worship, she couldn’t attend celebrations, she couldn’t touch others. She had not only been suffering physically for 12 years, she had been suffering emotionally. So she showed up desperate in the crowd that day and she reached for Jesus. And Jesus knew the difference between a touch of just someone in the crowd who brushed up against him and a touch from a reach of faith. A reach of faith released his power and this woman was immediately healed. Her 12 year problem was gone in an instant as a result of her reach of faith and the release of his power. AND JESUS STOPPED. He didn’t have to stop. He could have kept walking. Remember, he was going somewhere important. A little girl was dying and he was on his way to her house to heal her. But he stopped and he searched for the one who had reached out in faith. He acknowledged her. He made time for her. He showed her she was worthy of his healing. She was important. JESUS HAS TIME FOR YOU. HE’S NOT TOO BUSY FOR YOU. HE’S NOT GOING TO JUST PASS BY YOU WHEN YOU REACH OUT TO HIM IN FAITH. GIRL, REACH FOR HIM! He will stop for you – he will stop everything for you – you’re worth stopping for! No matter how long this situation has been unchanged and only getting worse, Jesus can change everything. No matter how many people have told you it’s pointless, no matter how many times you’ve tried and failed, no matter how long you’ve been waiting for your breakthrough, DON’T YOU DARE GIVE UP REACHING FOR JESUS! This woman had suffered for 12 years. Twelve years of pain. Twelve years of disappointment. Twelve years of spending money on solutions that didn’t work. Twelve years of watching life happen around her while she was forced to live on the outside of it. And then, in one moment, everything changed. Sis, what if your next moment with Jesus changes everything for you, too? I’m not promising you that Jesus will answer every prayer in the exact way you want or on the timeline you’ve chosen. But I am reminding you that your suffering does not make you invisible to Him. Your long wait does not make you forgotten. Your repeated prayers do not make you annoying. And your need does not make you a burden. YOU ARE WORTH STOPPING FOR. You don’t have to compete with the crowd for His attention. You don’t have to make your problems sound more important than someone else’s. You don’t have to clean yourself up before you come to Him. You don’t have to apologize for needing Him again. Come to Him tired. Come to Him disappointed. Come to Him with the same prayer you’ve prayed a hundred times before. Come to Him when your faith feels strong, and come to Him when all you’ve got left is a trembling hand reaching through the crowd. JUST REACH FOR JESUS. So today, stop disqualifying yourself from the attention of your Savior. Stop deciding your needs aren’t important enough to bring to Him. Stop believing the lie that He’s too busy with bigger things to care about the details of your life. He is the God who holds the universe together, and He is also the God who sees one hurting woman reaching for Him in a crowd. That’s how personal His love is. GIRL, YOU ARE WORTH STOPPING FOR! You are not an interruption to Jesus. You are not too needy for Jesus. You are not too far gone for Jesus. ——- And remember this, carrier of the Holy Spirit, one who is called to do the same things Jesus did – STOP FOR PEOPLE. MAKE TIME FOR THEM! Don’t allow yourself to be so rushed that you can’t stop for someone who needs the Jesus you have inside of you. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Someone listening is questioning if they could ever be enough for God. They’re afraid if they really give God their heart, something bad will happen – so they hold back. You’re exhausted from the yo-yo living – the ups followed by the hard downs. Feelings of shame, regret, guilt, of being unworthy and unseen. And Sis, there’s a reason you’re listening today. Please hear me – you are not alone in these feelings and these questions. Most of us have struggled with this surrender to something, someone unseen. OF COURSE WE HAVE. When you hear someone say, “God spoke to me about this” or “The Holy Spirit told me that”, you’re catching us YEARS into the journey of a relationship with an unseen loving Father who has patiently pursued us. You are being patiently pursued. Every day of your life, your creator has seen you, known you, cared about you. You have never been not enough for him, and never too much. The voice that tells you God doesn’t want you comes from one source – THAT IS THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL. Could you dare to believe that God is speaking through me directly to you in this moment and he’s saying, “My girl, I love you wildly, without boundary, without restriction, and without end. You are mine. I created you because I wanted you. I chose you and I’ve only been waiting for you to choose me back. Once you do, then our relationship begins.” Yes, a relationship. Not always some huge, miraculous earth-shaking moment. Not a booming voice from Heaven. I’ve never heard the angels break out in a chorus. Please, let’s be real for a moment. A growing relationship with God looks more like you giving him space, giving him time, diving into his word, pushing your worries and fears over to him – then do it again – and again – and again. Without the booming voice. Without the flashing signs. Without the immediate confirmation. That’s the part no one talks about. This silence in between that feels so uncertain. And in this space of silence where God is working in the unseen, aligning his every good plan for your life to unfold, that’s when the enemy swoops in with pokes and prods of unworthiness. “Would Jesus really care about you? Why would he want you? What makes you think he would ever have something better for you?” But, Sis, there’s another voice to hear. A voice that will not force its way in. A voice that keeps extending an invitation. A voice that is saying over and over and over again: “I AM WILLING.” Jesus wants you to hear him today, “I am willing. I’m willing to love you. I’m willing to save you. I’m willing to heal you. I’m willing to restore you. I’m willing to make something beautiful out of what you thought was beyond repair. I’m willing to lead you into a life better than you could have ever imagined.” But here’s the deal – you have to trust him! Trust him enough to ask. Trust him enough to surrender. Trust him enough to dare to believe he’s willing for you. Matthew 8: 1-3 is the miracle of Jesus healing the man with leprosy. This isn’t just a story of Jesus healing one man a few thousand years ago – this is a story for you and I today revealing his heart toward us. His offer to catch us. His willingness to reach for the person everyone else has pushed away. His willingness to meet us right where we are, without requiring us to clean ourselves up first. Listen to this short story, and find yourself in it. “Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him, ‘Lord,’ the man said, ‘if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.’ Jesus reached out and touched him, ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be healed!’ And instantly the leprosy disappeared.” To understand this miracle, you must understand the disease. In Jesus’ day, leprosy was devastating. It brought physical suffering, but it also brought isolation. People with leprosy would be separated from their communities, cut off from ordinary relationships, and treated as untouchable. Imagine not being able to hug your family, hold a friend’s hand, or walk through town without people moving away from you. The law for a leper stated they had to move through a crowd by yelling loudly, “UNCLEAN. UNCLEAN. UNCLEAN.” By announcing their disease, they were instantly avoided. The crowds would part. Nobody wanted to touch or be touched by a leper. So in this story, we know there is a large crowd following Jesus down the mountainside. And we know this sick man had to come out of the shadows, out of hiding and do the exact thing he was told he COULDN’T DO – APPROACH SOMEONE. And the someone he was approaching was Jesus. This was not only courageous, but this was dangerous. This man with the incurable and highly contagious disease of leprosy was crossing a boundary. He risked not only rejection, but he risked punishment. That’s what desperation does. Desperation says I can’t keep waiting. I can’t continue living like this. I have to do something and I have to do it now. Desperate is a powerful place to find yourself. And what this desperate man did was he hit his knees before Jesus. THIS WAS THE ONLY RIGHT MOVE. My friend, this is your next move. It’s the only right move. If you’re desperate, that’s actually the best news ever because you’re standing on the edge of your breakthrough. Come to Jesus and just HIT YOUR KNEES. There, on his knees, kneeling before Jesus, having come close in his desperation, he says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” That’s what faith sounds like. Faith that says Jesus, you can because of who YOU ARE, not because of who I am. You can because of the power you hold, Jesus, not because of my performance. This is the moment where he sees it’s all about Jesus, not about him. Are you there yet, Sis? Are you in that place where you finally realize this has nothing to do with your ability to change yourself, your past, your willpower, your self-control, or your diagnosis. This isn’t about you – this is about JESUS. Jesus meeting you right where you are and doing what you could never do. Recognizing he alone holds the power. And then Jesus did something extraordinary. Jesus didn’t back away. He reached out and touched him. He touched him while the sores still covered his body. While he was still unclean, contagious and dangerous. While he was still in the same state that had forced him into isolation. Jesus reached for him. This man had spent his life being told to keep his distance. But when he came to Jesus, Jesus closed the distance. James 4:8 tells us “Come close to God, and God will come close to you” – and here we see it in action. He came near Jesus and knelt in faith, and Jesus came right to him, reached out, closed the distance, filled the gap – and then he spoke three words … “I am willing.” Jesus is willing. Willing to come close to you. Willing to step into your mess. Willing to meet you right where you are. Willing to see who you really are and not turn away. WILLING TO HEAL YOU. We’re not just talking about physical healing. We’re talking about healing for your heart and mind. Healing of those past wounds. Healing of the very things that have kept you distant, kept you in the dark, kept you in feelings of brokenness. JESUS IS WILLING TO HEAL YOU. And Sis, here’s what I want you to understand. Jesus didn’t wait for the man to become clean before He reached for him. He reached for him while he was still unclean. Don’t miss that. You don’t have to get your life together before you come to Jesus. You don’t have to fix yourself or prove you’re worthy of His love. You don’t have to become a better version of yourself before you approach Him. You come as you are, and you let Him do what only He can do. You’ve been trying to get clean enough to come to Jesus, when Jesus is the One who makes you clean. You’ve been trying to become worthy of His love, when His love was never something you could earn. You’ve been holding back your heart because you’re afraid of what surrender might cost you, never realizing what holding back is already costing you. Oh, my friend, what if you stopped running from the very One who wants to heal you? What if you stopped hiding the parts of yourself you think would make Him turn away? What if today, you finally believed that when Jesus looks at you, He doesn’t see someone He wishes would get her act together. He sees someone He loves enough to reach for. And maybe your prayer today isn’t some beautiful, perfectly worded prayer. Maybe it’s simply, “Jesus, I’m scared. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know what surrender will look like. But I want to believe You love me. I want to believe You’re willing. So here I am.” That’s a beginning. You don’t have to understand everything about God to begin a relationship with Him. You don’t have to know what tomorrow holds to trust Him with today. You don’t have to hear a booming voice from Heaven to take the next step of faith. Open His Word. Talk to Him honestly. Tell Him what scares you. Ask Him to help you trust His heart, even when you can’t see what He’s doing. And when the doubts creep back in tomorrow, because they probably will, come close again. When you feel unworthy, come close again. When you don’t understand what God is doing, come close again. A relationship with Jesus isn’t built on one perfect moment of faith. It’s built as you keep bringing your imperfect, sometimes-questioning, sometimes-scared heart back to the One who loves you. Remember what happened in this story? The man came to Jesus with one question: “If You are willing…” Jesus answered him. “I am willing.” Today, let this be your declaration: JESUS, I BELIEVE YOU ARE ABLE. AND TODAY, I’M CHOOSING TO BELIEVE YOU ARE WILLING. I

What is Kingdom work? To put it simply, it’s partnering with God in what He is doing in the world. It’s the stuff that truly matters – FOREVER. And really, it’s the stuff Jesus did! Everything Jesus did was Kingdom work. Every encounter, every conversation, every step taken was his partnership with God to fulfill God’s good plans for the kingdom here on Earth. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” When we genuinely pray that, we’re essentially asking, “God, what would You want done here?” And then we become willing to be the ones who do it. Let that be your heart today – let that be your intention. God whatever it is you want done here today, I’m willing to do it. Could we just keep it that simple? As you’re dealing with a difficult daughter or a disgruntled son – God, what do you want done here? I’m willing to do it. With that perspective, it’s much easier to see it’s really not about the messy bedroom, the skipped assignment or the refusal to wake up on time. Isn’t it so much more about them knowing they’re loved, they’re capable, they’re set apart, they’re worthy, their design is perfect and the plans for their life are good?!!!! And if that’s what God wants to be spoken today, will you be the one willing to say it? As you’re dealing with that difficult person, that frustrating situation, that problem that just won’t go away – God, what do you want done here? I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to be faithful with little until there is more. I’m willing to see them through your eyes and remember how very much you love them. I’m willing to forgive. I’m willing to show love. I’m willing to serve. I’m willing to speak truth. I’m willing to pray. I’m willing to encourage. I’m willing to do whatever You put in front of me. Because this is Kingdom work. It’s the work Jesus did here on earth and asks us to continue. We get to partner with Jesus. We get to be His hands. His feet. His voice. His love. Sometimes Kingdom work looks BIG and miraculous. Sometimes it looks incredibly ordinary. Sometimes it’s praying for someone who is hurting. Sometimes its speaking someone’s name who feels forgotten. Sometimes it’s feeding somebody who is hungry. Sometimes it’s encouraging a discouraged friend. You may not see the eternal significance of the moment. But God does. Here’s the thing – you may be sitting in an eternally significant moment today and not even realize it. You have no idea what someone else is struggling with. You have no idea the impact of a small act of kindness. You don’t currently see how God placed you precisely in the position to have an encounter for his kingdom work and this side of Heaven, you may not know the difference your willingness makes – BUT IT MATTERS! Yesterday, we hosted our first stop on the BIG Life ROAM Tour. OH WHAT JOY to get to meet these beautiful women in person, some who have been listening for YEARS. First, we packed out 100 food boxes to be distrusted to families in need in the community. Then we went to downtown Atlanta to serve with an organization called Safehouse. Safehouse provides dinner to about 200 people every evening, but they don’t have lunch. YESTERDAY, THEY HAD LUNCH. Our BIG Life girls prepared and served a meal for the homeless community that had gathered for a meal they often miss. But it wasn’t just food – it was dignity. It was a genuine desire to connect, to encourage, to love. It was kingdom work. There were many conversations I’m not aware of. Many eternally significant moments I don’t know about. BUT LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE ONES I DO KNOW ABOUT. David accepted Jesus yesterday. Daniel took his first step in freedom yesterday. And then there was JJ. JJ was so overwhelmed, so discouraged and so hopeless had decided yesterday was going to be his final day on earth. He sat down at the table with absolutely nothing left to give. Our girls served him lunch and then sat down with him. They were not his solution. They were not able to fix his problems. But they carried the fixer. They offered Jesus. This man’s life was literally saved in the process of giving him a chili dog. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” And really that’s what happened – a few of God’s masterpieces encountered one of his broken masterpieces yesterday, and they did the good things he had planned so long ago. They pointed JJ in the direction of the maker who can put the pieces back together again. The one who can take the broken pieces of his life and use it all for good. AND WE GOT TO BE PART OF THAT?!!!! WHAT?!!!! Kingdom work – the good things God has planned for us to do – the things Jesus did! You’re invited. You’re wanted. There’s work for you to do here, Sis. KINGDOM WORK. Eternally significant stuff. Let’s look at one of Jesus’ miracles to see how he did it and how he invites us to be part of it. It’s one of my favorite miracles, the feeding of the 5,000. So, here’s the situation, 5,000 men plus the women and children had gathered in a remote area to hear Jesus teach. They had been there all day long and that evening Jesus’ friends point out that all these people needed to leave because they were going to be very hungry and there was nothing to feed them in this remote area. But Jesus said in Matthew 14:16, “That isn’t necessary – you feed them.” The friends reply with the obvious – Jesus, there’s no way! How could they possibly feed all these people? They have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. For a crowd of 5,000 men plus the women and children? That’s absurd. That’s ridiculous. That’s IMPOSSIBLE. But you know how the story ends – right? You know the miracle. You’ve heard it before. Jesus takes what was wayyyyyyy too little and he makes it more than enough. He multiplies and multiplies, and just keeps multiplying and the food never ran out. Yay JESUS!!!!!!!! But I want you to notice something. Jesus invited his friends to participate in the miracle. He didn’t need them, but he wanted them. He wanted them to be part of the miraculous. He wanted them to have a hand in the impossible. He wanted them to get to experience God’s power in provision. He wanted them to know what it felt like to give what little they had and watch God make it more than enough. It was Jesus’ friends, the disciples who divided the crowd of thousands into small groups and had them sit down. It was the disciples who spoke in faith to each hungry person that food was coming, knowing darn good and well there wasn’t enough food. It was the disciples who kept coming back to Jesus for the next handful of food to distribute to the people, seeing somehow there was still more food for that group, then the next and the next and the next. Imagine for a second being these friends of Jesus, these disciples. Imagine being in the middle of this miracle. Seeing it literally unfold. They had counted those little loaves of bread that were more like crackers – and those 2 fish – they were more like little sardines. This was actually the lunch of a boy in the crowd. Yet, the disciples are watching it become more and more and more. Jesus just kept supplying and supplying and supplying. The food never ran out. In fact, Matthew 14:20 says, “They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up 12 baskets of left-overs.” JESUS DID THAT! He took what there was and he made it more than enough. Now – how do we apply this in our lives? First, stop disqualifying yourself because what you have doesn’t seem like enough. The disciples looked at the need and looked at what they had and immediately concluded, “There is no way.” Five loaves. Two fish. Thousands of hungry people. But they were measuring what they had against what needed to be done. And that’s where we get stuck too. I don’t have enough experience. I’m not outgoing enough. I don’t have enough money. I don’t have enough time. I’m not qualified. I’m not good at talking to people. What difference could I possibly make? Sis, you’re looking at the wrong thing. The question isn’t, “Do I have enough?” The question is, “Am I willing to give God what I do have?” Jesus saw this as a setup for a miracle! You can have that same perspective! Oh, this looks impossible and I’m so NOT equipped for this – seems like a perfect place for God to do what only he can do!!!!!!! Here I am, Lord – I’m willing do to whatever you are doing! I want to be part of this!!!!!!!!! Here’s the thing – when you put what you have into the hands of Jesus, He gets to decide what it becomes. That little boy with the lunch didn’t have enough to feed a crowd. He didn’t need to. He simply had something Jesus could use. And maybe that’s all Kingdom work is today. You don’t need to have it all together – you don’t need to know what to do or what to say – you just need to show up believing JESUS DOES!!!!!!!!!!! Bring what you have. And put it in the hands of Jesus. You don’t have to make it enough. That’s His job. The disciples didn’t multiply the bread. Jesus did. The disciples didn’t perform the miracle. Jesus did. But they got to participate. They got to carry the baskets. They got to hand out what Jesus provided. They got to look into the faces of hungry people and say, “Here you go.” They got to be part of the miracle. And that’s what I want you to understand about Kingdom work. God doesn’t need you to accomplish His purposes. He wants you to participate in them. What an incredible privilege! The God who could do it all Himself chooses to invite us into the story. He lets us carry the basket. He lets us serve the meal. He lets us p

We are united as girls who dare to believe Jesus when he said, “Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done.” Maybe we don’t understand why us or how us, but this is the part where we believe what we cannot see and we cannot understand. We believe in Jesus, so we believe we are called and empowered to do the same works Jesus did. So, this is our devotional series on ‘The Miracles of Jesus’ – What exactly DID Jesus do? But we’re coming at this with an availability and a predetermined decision to dare to go out there and do the same things we read about Jesus doing. Somebody say it with me – I HAVE DECIDED. I have decided to take Jesus at his word. If he says that somehow ordinary people like me and you will walk in his power, shine his light, share his love and do the same works he did, then we have decided to show up for it and go. Here we are, Lord. Send your girls out! So, okay, now what do we do? I get all fired up about doing Kingdom work, but deep down I still question – I question if I’m qualified – I question if it will be awkward – I question if it will work – I question if I even have a clue what I’m doing. Anyone else? So, last night just as I was going to bed with all these questions, the Holy Spirit dropped something unmistakable on me. This is a game of Follow the Leader. Do you remember playing follow the leader as a kid? Whatever the leader does, you do. If the leader walks fast, you walk fast. If the leader jumps, you jump. If the leader stops, you stop. We all know the game. So that makes it very simple because guess what Jesus says – he says, “Follow me.” To each of his disciples, he simply said, “Follow me.” He didn’t tell them where they were going or how they were getting there, just that they would be following him. He’s the leader – DO WHAT HE DOES. And guess what, girls, the invitation and the directive is still the same. Follow the leader. Being a Christian is a label that can sometimes get a little used, a little watered down, a little tainted. What we really are is we are CHRIST FOLLOWERS. We follow our leader and seek to do the exact same things he does. A leader leads – that’s not you – that’s Jesus. A follower follows – that’s you. You follow Jesus. We are not just fans of Jesus. Not admirers. We don’t just learn about Jesus, know about Jesus or just agree about Jesus. WE FOLLOW JESUS. This following requires movement. If God says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that his eyes “roam the earth” looking for hearts turned to him so he can strengthen them with his power – THEN WE WILL ROAM TOO. Where he goes, we go. Where he looks, we look. Where he stops, we stop. Where he loves, we love. Where he sends his power, we boldly carry that power. Jesus didn’t say, “Believe in me and just stay where you are.” He didn’t say, “Believe in me and continue on with doing life your own way.” He didn’t say, “Believe in me and hope everyone else does too.” No, he said, “BELIEVE IN ME, FOLLOW ME, DO WHAT I DO!” Jesus noticed overlooked people. Jesus touched the untouchable. He ate with people the religious folks avoided. He forgave. He served. He stopped for interruptions. He spoke truth. He showed compassion. He prayed. He performed miracles. He went precisely where the Father sent him. And if that’s what our leader did, then that’s what we will do too. Jesus said in John 13:15, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done …” So, let’s get to doing. Girls, LET’S GO DO SOME JESUS-THINGS. How exactly do we do Jesus-things? We remember we have Jesus-power. God never expects us to do Jesus-things without Jesus-power. This is precisely why we are filled with God’s very presence. His Spirit dwells within us, empowering us to follow Jesus and do what he did. Miracles. Yes. Healings. Yes. Restoring the broken. Yes. Feeding people. Yes. Casting out demons. Yes. LOVING PEOPLE. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just follow the leader, he will show us how. I currently live on the coast in Southern California. Most every morning I put in a few miles running and walking through the harbor while the sun comes up. The harbor is filled with sea lions barking, beautiful boats, and plenty of broken, hurting souls who sleep near the docks. I’ve always loved the boats. I’ve always loved the sea lions. But recently God’s been teaching me how to love the homeless. My new best friend is Cindy. Cindy is 66 years old. She pushes a buggy filled with her treasures and sits all day, every day, leaned up against a trash can in the harbor. In the beginning, I would just shout out a friendly ‘good morning’ as I passed by. She wouldn’t even look up. Old me would have said, ‘Well, I tried” and kept running. But this version of me that is following the leader to do Jesus-things can’t just walk on by like I used to. The leader slowed down. I will slow down. The leader stopped. I will stop. The leader cared. I will care. The leader loved. I will love. So, I’ve been loving Cindy. It’s the highlight of my day. I’m so excited to get to her designated trash can in the harbor and stop for a morning chat. We talk about cross-word puzzles. We talk about beef jerky. We talk about the weather. We talk about how someone stole her teeth and life got a little harder without teeth. We just talk. This past Monday as I sat out on my walk to find Cindy, I was formulating all types of conversation starters in my head. Ways I could take the conversation deeper. What could I say that would really impact her. How could I talk about important things without making it awkward. And the Holy Spirit interrupted me and said, “Pamela, stop trying to think of what you’re going to say – Just follow me. Open your mouth, and I will give you the words.” Oh that’s just so uncomfortable, isn’t it – Opening your mouth and not knowing what will come out. But did you know we actually have a promise from God on this? Psalm 81:10, The Lord says, “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.” What if this could be more than just receiving good food from God, but about receiving good WORDS from God to speak?!! Good conversations to share. When you don’t know what to say, open your mouth wide and let God fill it with good things! So, on Monday, I approached Cindy with nothing to say, but an open mouth trusting God to fill it with good things. I could not have orchestrated the conversation that followed! It was so natural, so unforced, just flowing. In the conversation I told her how I didn’t grow up knowing God and my first prayer was at 15 when I asked God to please bring a new boy to my school – AND HE DID. So I knew God was real, and I knew God heard me, because the new boy moved to school that year and I married him! 32 years later, I’m still married to the new boy. Cindy’s eyes filled with tears. She told me that as a little girl she went to church and a man stood on the stage yelling that everyone was going to hell. He pointed fingers. He spit. He scared her. She said she decided she never wanted to go again. I shared with her that I understood and I’ve been church hurt in the past as well. Sometimes we get it really wrong when what we’re supposed to be doing is loving people. I said, “Cindy, I want you to know that God loves you.” She said – “Pamela, you know my name. Think about it. SIN-DEE. That’s who I am. I’m just SIN-Dee. Cindy with an S. I’m just filled with sin. That’s all I’ve ever been. There’s so many rules and laws, and I just break them all. I can’t be good enough.” She even told me that sometimes she signs her name with an S. Okay, so follow the leader. What did Jesus do in this situation? When he encountered a woman whose entire identity was the sin she lived in, what did Jesus do? That’s the story of the Woman at the Well. A woman who wasn’t welcome to go to the well to draw water when all the other women of the village went. She was the outcast. She was unwelcome. So, she went to the well alone, in the heat of the day. And one day, by divine alignment, Jesus was there at the well. In their encounter, Jesus reveals he knows everything about her. He knows her sin. He knows her shame. He knows her brokenness. He knows that she’s been married 5 times and the man she lives with now is not her husband. AND NONE OF THAT MATTERS. Jesus isn’t looking at her for her sin. He’s not dismissing her because of her past. He’s not judging her. He sees her for who she really is – a woman who needed the living water only he could offer. Jesus shows us how to see people beyond their sin. He shows us how to see people and think about how much God actually loves them. He shows us how to see people exactly where they are and know God wants to heal them. He wants to heal their entire lives. This woman at the well is who he chose to reveal himself to as the Messiah. This woman, living in shame, an outcast to society, a sinful woman with a hard past, SHE IS THE ONE JESUS CHOOSES. And this woman is so moved by the way he saw her, the way he knew her, the way he accepted her – that she returned to her village and told everyone she knew about this Jesus that she had met. Jesus pursues our hearts. He knows our hurts, and that’s where he chooses to love us first. Right there in our shame, in our struggle, at our absolute worst – he loves us. And if that’s what Jesus does, then we do it to. The leader loves them in their hurt – so we will love them in their hurt. My friend in the harbor gets to encounter Jesus because I CARRY HIM IN ME! Nothing more and nothing less. It has nothing to do with me, other than I’m willing to be a carrier of the presence of God. If I will open my mouth for the Lord, he will fill it with good things. I will love her in her hurt. I will show her love that knows her real name, her tr

On the final night of Jesus’ life, he gathered the 12 men who he had spent the past 3 years personally teaching and training, and he had one final meal with them. He washed their feet. He prepared them for what was about to happen. Yes, he was about to be betrayed, and yes, he was facing an agonizing death on the cross, but something more was about to happen. The Holy Spirit was about to come. With the coming of the Holy Spirit everything was about to change for them and for every believer to come. That includes us. You and I today are included in what Jesus shares on his final night of life. Jesus says in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” John 16:7, “It is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” Who is this ‘Advocate’ Jesus speaks of? This is the Holy Spirit. Other translations call Him the Divine Encourager, the Friend, the Helper, Comforter, Intercessor, Strengthener. This is the very presence of God dwelling within us. After Jesus’ death on the cross, he appears again on earth for 40 days, instructing his disciples of their next steps for the Kingdom of God. Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.” Now, Jesus’ followers have the power of the Holy Spirit living in them – God’s presence guiding them, strengthening them, interceding for them, working through them. And it’s time for them to step into what Jesus told them they would do. Remember what Jesus said, “ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL DO THE SAME WORKS I HAVE DONE, AND EVEN GREATER WORKS BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BE WITH THE FATHER.” Because Jesus has gone to the Father, completed his mission here on Earth, given his life, and made a way for the Holy Spirit, now each of his followers walk in the same power he did and will do the same works and even greater works! Does anyone else find that almost scary? Slightly hard to believe? What, Jesus – we are supposed to do the same things you did? Somehow we’re going to do even greater things? How in the world are we supposed to do that? Oh yeah, he told us – through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Now, it’s time we ask one very important question – DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT? Do you believe Jesus when he says he’s given us something greater than him actually walking this Earth in the flesh like he did with the disciples? Do you believe the Holy Spirit strengthens and empowers you? And do you really believe you’re supposed to be doing the things Jesus did here? I’ve spent 50 years of my life dismissing that. I’m just here trying to be a good person, trying to live a good life, trying to make it to Heaven. And because I’ve dismissed the very words Jesus spoke on the final night of his life, I’ve settled for playing little all while I have a great big power inside of me. Maybe you have too. Mercy Me has a song called “Say I Won’t” – I often play this song on our Adventure Retreats before we go do wild awesome, daring, thrilling, adventurous things. But there’s an opening line that says: Yesterday, I didn’t understand Doing thrity-five with a rocket inside Didn’t know what I had And now it hits me … what’s the rocket inside? It’s the Holy Spirit Jesus promised us. And here we are with all this inside, still going 35, moving in slow motion, getting nowhere, totally not realizing what we have. BUT TODAY, that changes. It begins right here. It’s time to take Jesus at his word and run with this. Jesus, if you say you’re giving me something better than actually having you right here on Earth walking this out with me, GREAT, I receive that. Jesus, if you say the Holy Spirit will strengthen me, guide me, help me, intercede for me, and empower me – I WANT IT! Jesus, if you say with the power of the Holy Spirit, even I will do the works you did here on earth – Well, I dare to believe you. That doesn’t have to make sense. That doesn’t have to fit in your little box. You simply have to believe what Jesus says, then do something with it! It’s time we start recognizing the rocket we have inside of us and start doing what Jesus wants us to do with it. He wants us to do what he did! Yes, DO WHAT JESUS DID! Soooooooo … what did Jesus do? Remember the movement of WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? So powerful. It was a reminder to stop in our ordinary moments and consider how Jesus would have responded, then align our response with his. Life-changing, no doubt. Yes, keep doing that! All the WWJD up in here! But also, WDJD – What DID Jesus Do. If we’re going to show up with the power of the Holy Spirit living in us and fulfill Jesus’ call to get out there and do the same works he did, then we need to know what he did! So, we’re beginning our series on “The Miracles of Jesus.” We’re going to walk through the gospels and study each miracle, the healings, the casting out of demons, the restorations, the storms, loving and reaching people with the offer of salvation. Kingdom work! And with each miracle we study, we will remember Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” It won’t always make sense, but we will lean in and dare to believe we are chosen, we are called, and we are equipped to DO WHAT JESUS DID. I don’t want us to just study the miracles of Jesus. I want us to start believing that the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus’ followers is alive and working in us today. I want us to stop living like we’re going 35 with a rocket inside and start recognizing what we’ve been given. Let’s open our eyes. Let’s stretch our faith. Let’s take Jesus at His word. And then let’s get out there and DO WHAT JESUS DID! The rocket is already inside you. The power is already there. The Holy Spirit is already at work. The question isn’t whether God has equipped you. The question is whether you believe Him enough to use what He’s given you. So let’s stop playing small. Let’s stop dismissing the impossible. Let’s stop settling for 35 when there’s a rocket inside. It’s time to believe Jesus, follow Jesus, and DO WHAT JESUS DID! And what would it look like for us to DO WHAT JESUS DID? Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

So, where are you from? Where do you claim citizenship? Wherever your citizenship is, is where you belong. You may travel other places, but home is always where your citizenship is. Think about how where you are from has made a radical difference in your life. How different you would be if you were from somewhere else. You would talk different. You would have totally different customs. Your view on the world would likely be different. What you know is what you know, and to you it’s what is normal. Some cultures eat with their hands. Other cultures would consider you downright barbaric if you dug into your bowl without a spoon or fork. Some cultures kiss when they meet – for others that’s just weird. In some cultures you take off your shoes before you enter someone’s home – but not everyone was taught that. We’re not being rude, we’re just different. Our culture shapes what feels normal. With that perspective, think about what Paul says in Philippians 3:20, “But we are citizens of heaven.” As a follower of Jesus, you’ve been set apart and your citizenship has changed. You’re not from here. You actually don’t even belong here. Your culture has changed and what used to be normal is no longer normal to you. God has been doing a work in you, changing your identity and reassigning your citizenship. You’re now a member of the Kingdom of Heaven. You know what that means – that means everything is changing for you. You’re undergoing a radical shift. It’s why you just can’t do the things you used to do and feel the way you once did. It’s why you now desire such different things. Sis, you’re not from here! You belong to a different culture. Yesterday I met a woman with a beautiful accent. I knew she was from somewhere very different than me. I asked and she said South Africa. Oh, everything she said just sounded so incredibly fancy to me. I really just wanted to have tea with her. And really, as citizens of HEAVEN, that’s the way it should be with us. We should sound different when we talk to people who don’t yet have their citizenship in Heaven. We should be attractive, intriguing, inviting, irresistible. Girls, we are here representing Heaven – make everyone want to come visit! And once they visit, they will want to stay! The girls from the Kingdom of God do things differently than the rest of the world. Instead of looking out for ourselves, we’re out here loving the heck out of our neighbors. We’re refusing offense, resisting bitterness, and continually choosing forgiveness. We’re stepping down from pedestals, canceling the performance, and learning to embrace humility. Our priorities have shifted from, “What can I get?” to, “What can I give?” Kingdom girls walk in victory through surrender. Now, what a radically uncommon concept that is! In every other kingdom, surrender means defeat. If you wave that white flag, you’re giving up. You’ve lost. But in the Kingdom of God, surrender is not losing—it’s winning. Surrender is the highest act of trust. It’s laying down your need to control, your need to be right, your need to be seen, your need to win, and saying, “Jesus, I trust You more than I trust myself.” Paul tells us in verse 19 about the world culture. “Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.” Welp, can’t you see how that was you? I was that person – weren’t you too? What I wanted was all I craved. I made my desires my god, my goal, my focus. That’s natural in the world. Every marketing strategy tells you get what you want, and what you want is what they have to sell you. Wake up, Sis – we have to remember we are different! We don’t belong here so we can’t fall into that culture. We belong to Heaven and in the Kingdom of Heaven our King is our God. Paul says when we are in the world’s culture, we brag about shameful things. Do you want to really see that? Ask God to open your eyes to see what that looks like. Then, scroll through your facebook memories and look at your posts from past years. I make my own self wanna gag! The things I used to brag about are shameful. The photos I used to post just hoping someone would see me. I’m embarrassed for myself. It didn’t used to bother me at all, but my citizenship has changed. How about yours? When you finally know where you really belong, there’s a shift because you realize you no longer have to prove your worth. You’re a citizen of Heaven! World culture thinks primarily about this life—what’s happening here, what’s happening now, what we can have, accomplish, experience, and enjoy in this moment. But Kingdom girls remember that this life is only a tiny fraction of our existence, with eternity stretching out before us. So where are your thoughts? Are they consumed with what is happening here, or anchored in what is coming there? Are you making decisions based only on what feels good right now, or are you considering what matters forever? Because when you know you’re a citizen of heaven, eternity changes the way you live today. Suddenly, what looked so important yesterday may not seem nearly as important anymore. The applause fades. The possessions lose their grip. The need to prove yourself starts to loosen. And the things that last forever begin to matter a whole lot more. Girl, don’t let a temporary world distract you from an eternal Kingdom. You belong somewhere bigger than here. Your circumstances are temporary. Your citizenship is eternal. You are here to represent the place you belong to. So if heaven is your home, your life should increasingly look like the King you belong to. You belong where Jesus is, so his way becomes your way. Jesus says to pray like this, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Have you ever thought about what that means as an action plan for you? You’re walking out God’s kingdom here on earth. You’re bringing the culture of heaven into this world where God has temporarily placed you. You’re living here, but you belong there. You have an earthly address, but a heavenly identity. You participate in this world, but you don’t have to be shaped by this world. You represent another Kingdom. And everywhere you go, you get to give people a little glimpse of what your home is like. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Just how important is your image to you? The more you are driven by image, the more you are enslaved to performance. Do you deeply need everyone to see you win – is there a constant need for triumph – to look good – to be praised – to come out on top? Tall pedestals […]

If you were to die today, what would happen to you after your final breath? Really – I want you to think about that. What comes after this life for you? Would you say Heaven comes next? And what is it that makes you think you would gain access? What is it that qualifies you? […]

Girl, let me tell you something – God is working in you! You live with you every day, so you’re likely too close to the situation to see it, but I’m telling you, God has been doing a work in you. Deep within you, there’s been a shift. And this shift has been changing you […]

You and I are called to have the same attitude as Jesus. That sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? And then you get out of bed. Someone has already left a mess in the kitchen. You have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Someone says something that rubs you the wrong way. […]

The enemy has been trying desperately to intimidate you. Intimidation through means of fear, through means of overwhelm, through means of anxiety, even through thoughts of not wanting the very things God has been revealing to you. Check yourself – how successful have his ploys of intimidation been? Have you been quietly giving up? Have […]

Something is happening within you as you surrender your life to God and grow more in Jesus – You are becoming so incredibly attractive. You have a certain glow about you. You stand out. There’s something magnetizing about you. There’s a deep joy within you and it just seeps out of your pours. Others are […]

Today, there are 100 days left in this year of life. Just 100 days, and we all know how quickly those final days go. As of yesterday, we stepped into the new season of Fall, next will come Winter and we will be in the Holidays, then boom … the whole year is over … […]

Wherever you are, wherever you live, wherever you work, imagine how the atmosphere would shift if Jesus walked into the room. The energy, the conversations, the focus would be completely altered by his presence. There would be no complaining, no moping, no worry or fear, no gossip, no drama – everyone would be absolutely mesmerized […]

The book of Philippians is a letter written by Paul to the Church in Philippi. And there’s a few important things to know about that – this church was the very first church in Europe. It was started by Paul about 20 years after Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. The church all […]

Jesus says we will be known by our love, and our love is to make Him known. But let me ask you a question: Who is the hardest person for you to love? Oh, I know exactly who it is. It’s someone you live with. Someone you work with. Someone in every one of your […]

Today we’re living in the middle of a story that’s already promised an eternal ending, but we’re not there yet. We’re here – in the middle. In the middle of real life with real problems, real threats, real pain. Every day we are closer and closer to what is promised, but we’re not there yet. […]

Did you know in Jesus’ time of walking this earth and preparing his disciples to spread the gospel and reach the ends of the world with his offer of salvation, he never once taught them how to preach. He didn’t teach them how to organize a mission. He taught them this one thing … HOW […]

One day while Jesus is teaching, an expert in religious law asks a question – “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life.” Today we think of eternal life solely as life after death – heaven. But this word ‘eternal’ was used as a particular QUALITY of life that comes from God. Eternal life […]

Sometimes, to understand the meaning of a story Jesus told, you have to back up and understand the entire scene. For today’s parable, we can’t just jump into the story without looking at what happened right before it. The situation leading up to the parable is actually the key to understanding why Jesus told it […]

Luke 13: 6-9, “Then Jesus told this story: ‘A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it […]

The Bible can be confusing – It can also be so powerful it will radically change your life. There are some books in the Old Testament you can flip to that seem so rigid and so impossible, that a life following God is unattainable. Then there are books in the New Testament filled with overflowing […]

Matthew 7: 24-27, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is build on bedrock. But anyone who hears my […]

Luke 18: 9-17 “Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, […]

Luke 18: 1-8 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this […]

This story told by Jesus is quite different. Unlike all his other stories, this story includes specific names. This tells us it’s a true story of real people living real lives with a real destiny. These are true events. I’m a documentary junkie. It’s the only TV I ever watch. So imagine this story as […]

This could be one of the most confusing and easily twisted stories Jesus told. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve read it before, said “well that doesn’t make sense”, and quickly moved on. On the surface this one doesn’t make sense. However, if you really seek, you will find a deep message that truly does […]

Jesus tells us a story of 2 sons. One was the prodigal, and one was not. Of course the prodigal, the one who struggled, the one who messed up is the one who often gets the focus in the story. Afterall, he is the one who was lost and was found. He was the one […]

This is the final of the trilogy of stories Jesus tells to explain the worth of a single soul to God. We had the Parable of the Lost Sheep where the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1 who has been lost. We had the Parable of the Lost Coin of the woman who […]

When Jesus tells a story, you listen. When Jesus repeats 3 stories with the same meaning, you REALLY listen. Every story he told during his time here on Earth was of important purpose, but to repeat the same lesson 3 times in 3 ways tells us Jesus desperately wants us to get this message. Today’s […]

Luke 12: 16-21 Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough […]

Jesus tells a little story with big impact. Luke 8: 16-17, “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually […]

If there’s one of these stories that Jesus told that has most impacted my life, it is this one. It’s a guide for daily living and it will meet you exactly where you are every day of your life. The moral of the story – JUST BE FAITHFUL. What happens when you are faithful with […]

Before we read this story Jesus told, I want you to do something. I want you to see it. Don’t just read the words on the page. Step into the story. Picture the wedding. Picture the bride. Picture the bridesmaids. Picture the anticipation of the groom’s arrival. To really understand what Jesus is saying, we […]

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! So he sent other […]

Today we will study a parable that seemingly has nothing to do with us. It’s easy to assume Jesus just told this story so the Pharisees who were in the crowd realized how bad they were. But haven’t we learned if Jesus told a story then, it applies to us today? Haven’t we discovered so […]

Matthew 21: 28-32 But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he […]

Jesus has great news for us today: We can be screwed up and late to the game, but if we will simply be available and show up, God has grace for us, work for us to do, and a great reward in store. Matthew 20: 1-15: For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner […]

Jesus is serious about forgiveness. He gave his very life to forgive you. And … he asks you to forgive every other soul who has hurt or offended you. Yes, everyone for everything. Now I don’t know, but maybe that’s a nearly impossible task. Forgiving them – what? They aren’t even sorry. Why should you […]

Matthew 18:12-14, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more […]

Matthew 13:52, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” Well what on earth is Jesus trying to show us here? Being a teacher of religious law means you know your Bible. […]

Matthew 13: 47-51, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. that is the way […]

Yesterday we studied the Parable of the Treasure. Now, Jesus continues his teaching with another similar story tied to it. They go together, so let’s read them together. Matthew 13: 44-45, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and […]

Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” I want you to imagine for a moment coming to the end of your life, and standing before your […]

Have you ever made homemade bread with yeast? How much yeast do you put in with the flour and water? Just a tiny amount. How much of a difference does the yeast make? ALL THE DIFFERENCE. As Jesus was teaching, he knew everyone listening understood this because bread wasn’t something they picked up at the […]

The next parable Jesus tells is one of the most debated in Scripture. Unlike some of the other parables, Jesus never explains this one. That means faithful Bible scholars have reached different conclusions. Let’s read it for ourselves. Matthew 13:31-32, “He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain […]

In our study of the parables of Jesus, we find the next story he tells. Remember, that’s what a parable is – it’s a story along with a teaching. It’s earthly stories with heavenly meaning told for a purpose by Jesus. Matthew 13: 24-30 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is […]

While Jesus walked this earth, he taught us the truths of God and the secrets of living well. In just 3 years of ministry he said everything he needed to say, and he said it perfectly. Now, over 2000 years later, his words are our perfect guide for life. Some of Jesus’ teachings were on […]

It’s back-to-school time. Today, I have friends walking their baby into kindergarten for the very first time. And I have other friends helping their baby move into a college dorm. Those two days feel worlds apart… until you’ve lived them. Those of us a little farther down the road know the truth. One day you’re […]

Is there something from your past holding you back? It could be 50 years ago, or 5 days ago. Regardless, past regrets, guilt, and shame have a way of holding on to us. We replay the stories we have no way of changing because what is done is done. You can’t go back. You can’t […]

Maybe you’re living out a story that doesn’t look like you imagined. You had dreams, you had desires, you had plans … and your life seems to have fallen flat. You’ve been left wanting – left waiting – left wondering. When will things change for you? How much longer do you have to wait? What […]

Last week we talked about valleys and mountains. Valleys being those dreaded low places in life, and mountains being those beautiful highs. We all want to stay in our mountaintop experiences, but we can’t. Do you remember why? Because nothing grows on top of a mountain. If you go high enough, the view is breathtaking, […]

Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Here’s what Jesus didn’t say – “Only a select few, super spiritual will hear my voice.” No, he said, “My sheep listen to my voice.” Jesus calls himself our Good Shepherd. What does that mean? In ancient […]

Have you ever questioned if God really likes you? We’ve been told over and over again that Jesus loves us … but does he like us? Is he pleased with us? How does he see us when we fail? When we struggle? When we wander? I met a beautiful woman at our Colorado Retreat named […]

God has promised He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11), but wouldn’t it be nice if He included turn-by-turn directions? I mean REALLY nice. Not some vague “trust Me” and “walk by faith” business. I want GPS. I want step-by-step instructions complete with an arrival time and the occasional heavenly notification saying, “There’s a […]

This week, I watched a simple video of a man in a suit with a strong Irish accent explain something so beautifully and so clearly. He talked about how easily we twist salvation into being faith plus works. He posed one question: If you were to die tonight and stand at the gates of Heaven, […]

Life is full of mountains and valleys. One day we’re standing on the mountaintop, taking in the view and thanking God for how good life feels. The next, we’re walking through a valley we never saw coming, wondering how we got here and how we’ll ever make it through. That’s life. No one gets a […]

What do you do when it’s over? Not when it’s hard. Not when it’s uncertain. Not when things could still work out. What do you do when it’s OVER? When the divorce papers are signed. When the prodigal still hasn’t come home. When the doctor’s report confirms your worst fear. When the bank account is […]

Here’s my prayer for you today: May you be led by what is in you, not by what is around you. Because what is around you is loud. Distractions. Drama. Disappointment. Fear. Bad news. Negative people. The invitation to live a small, defeated, mediocre life is everywhere. But daughter of God, you were never created […]

There are probably things you do every day without really knowing why you do them. Think about it. When we meet someone new, we shake hands. But why? The original purpose was to show that your weapon hand was empty and that you came in peace. Most of us aren’t checking each other for concealed […]

In Scripture, there is great significance behind a name. A name was much more than a label or a way to identify someone. Today, names often carry little significance beyond what sounded good to our parents at the time. We choose names from baby books, family traditions, or popularity lists. Most people never stop to […]

Under the direction of the Spirit and his inner influence, you live DIFFERENT. Absolutely nothing changes a person like the Spirit of God. This is change from within, change at the very core of who you are. It is lasting change that makes you into a radically new person. The Holy Spirit leaves nothing untouched, […]

Here it is—today we study the final fruit of the Spirit. And isn’t it just like God to save a grand lesson for last? The one fruit every one of us knows we desperately need: Self-control. In mentoring women to pursue their God-given goals and live the life they were created for, I hear this […]

As God’s presence takes up residence in you and becomes your guide, that harsh outer shell begins to break away. The walls you’ve built crumble. And what grows like fresh ivy taking over that old exterior is GENTLENESS. Gentleness is not weakness, nor is it passive. This word translated into ‘gentleness’ was used to describe […]

Faithfulness isn’t something our culture celebrates very much. We celebrate talent, success, influence, and achievement. But heaven celebrates something different. Heaven celebrates faithfulness. In the life of someone not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, faithfulness is a constant struggle. But in the life of someone filled with the Spirit, faithfulness begins to grow […]

When we are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, our very character changes. From within, we become different. Girl, you’re simply not who you once were. Have you noticed as you change and grow it almost puts a spotlight on our loved ones who are NOT. Maybe someone you love is NOT under the […]

In our study of the fruits of the Spirit, we’re understanding this isn’t a list of attributes to strive for, it’s not a checklist for being a follower of Jesus, it’s the tangible results that grow in our lives when we’re connected to God. FRUITS of the Spirit. Fruit grows. Fruit is the natural outcome […]

Patience is actually NOT something you lack when the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Patience is something that naturally grows within you and is produced in your life. It’s a byproduct of the presence of God. Just as an apple tree naturally grows apples, as God’s girl, you naturally grow patience. So why do you […]

The fruits of the spirit are the direct results of God’s presence in our lives. It’s the natural byproduct produced from within us when God’s Holy Spirit lives in us. Today we study the 3rd evidence that grows like fruit on a tree. Galatians 5:23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in […]

Joy is one expression of the life of Jesus growing within us. What exactly is joy? It’s deep, not surface level. It is permanent, not circumstantial. It’s a settled confidence, not a mood. It’s a spiritual strength, not a changing emotion. And this joy, according to Nehemiah 8:10, is the source of your strength. Joy […]

Galatians 5:22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: LOVE …” God isn’t asking us to manufacture love. This isn’t about trying harder. God invites us to connect with him and grow in him, and as we abide in him, his love naturally flows through us. Jesus says “Apart from […]

Returning to our study on the Fruits of the Spirit, this is part 6. So far we’ve looked at living on the wrong side of the list – what happens when we live WITHOUT the direction of the Holy Spirit and under the influence of the world and our flesh. We see all those things […]

(This is an unscripted devotional sharing the story of a 7 year miracle in the making.) Story of the Prodigal – Luke 15: 11-24 Waited for 4 years – began to run out of hope – tried in desperation to do it my way – to regain control – to force, manipulate Story of Waiting […]

This week we’ve studied what our lives looks like without the Holy Spirit. Without God’s influence, without God’s direction over our life, we naturally drift toward dysfunction, selfishness, broken relationships, and sin. Left to ourselves, our sinful nature becomes the driving force behind our decisions, our attitudes, and our actions. That’s exactly what Paul describes […]

Today, we’re wrapping it up – the yuck list of what our lives can become when we are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit and following his guidance. So far in Galatians 5: 19-21 we’ve seen the sexual sins we so easily fall into, then the attitudes and behaviors that damage our relationship […]

Open up your Bibles to Galatians 5 and we’re going to add a few more to the list of yuck – Yes, the left side of the list under the label “Without the Holy Spirit”. We’re looking at what we do and who we naturally become the Holy Spirit isn’t given room in our lives […]

When you live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, beautiful things naturally grow in your life. However, when you lack the things that grow in our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit it’s because you’re NOT under the direction of the Holy Spirit. You’re not connected to Jesus. You’re connected to the […]

There is something directing your life. You’re not doing this on your own. You’re either under the influence of the world and the flesh, or you’re under the influence of the Holy Spirit. One of these guides your thoughts, your attitude, your perspective and your actions – and your life looks radically different depending on […]

Luke 13:10-13: “On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set […]

God isn’t looking for the strongest, the smartest, the most experienced, or the most qualified. None of the things we place such importance on are on God’s list of expectations of us. God asks for something specific from us … believe. Simply believe he will do what he says he will do. Believe he can […]

Is there a decision you’ve been avoiding because you’re afraid of getting it wrong? How long have you been waiting for certainty before taking a step? Here’s the problem: Certainty rarely comes before obedience. When you make a choice, you stand a chance of being wrong, and who likes being wrong? I’ve never met a […]

Have you ever been on a boat in a stormy sea? Have you ever seen waves so big they can swallow your boat? Have you ever felt the panic of beginning to sink? I haven’t, and I must say, I’m quite grateful. I love living through an adventure to get to the other side with […]

Life has a way of convincing us that nothing will ever change. Faith reaches for Jesus anyway. Jesus specializes in restoring what looks lost. Mark 5: 21-43 (two separate stories intertwined) Has the vibrant, joyful woman God created you to be been buried beneath years of disappointment? Have the circumstances of life pressed down so […]

Alright, my armored up sister – we have a battle all around us – what are we going to do about it? Well, here’s what we’re NOT called to do – we’re not called to run head first into battles with the enemy.  We’re not told to sneak into enemy territory and plan an attack.  […]

Now that we have all 5 pieces of our armor, the belt of truth around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness covering our heart, the shoes of peace for our ready feet, the shield of faith in one hand to protect us from the fiery arrows, and the helmet of salvation protecting our mind, we […]

In the halls of our Venice, Italy retreat house are priceless paintings and works of art. Clearly, the owner is a serious collector. But one piece stopped me. It hangs in a second-story hallway—gold-framed, almost sculpted into the canvas itself. It’s not just a painting; it has depth, dimension, movement. Figures seem to step forward […]

Here we are, God’s daughters, under attack. Every day the enemy attacks with the hopes of distracting us or distancing us from God. That’s why we must put on the full armor God has offered us. He doesn’t want his girls vulnerable to the devil, he wants us victorious. Last week we studied the first […]

There are 3 pieces of God’s armor we are to “put on”. 1. The belt of truth. 2. The breastplate of righteousness. 3. The shoes of peace. In getting dressed for the unseen spiritual battle, the final thing we put on are our shoes. And think about it, you’re not ready to leave if you […]

Part of your armor against the ploys of the enemy is a bulletproof vest for your heart. If Satan can twist your heart, if he can harden your heart, if he can damage your heart, then he renders you ineffective. Nobody looks at a cynical, irritable, negative, grouchy Christian and says, ‘wow, I gotta have […]

When you really know about the unseen spiritual battle happening, you then have a choice … stand with God in the battle, or sit down and dismiss yourself from it. Sadly, most of us either refuse to acknowledge the battle happening at all – or – we refuse to allow our self-centered little lives to […]

Yesterday we studied the importance of becoming strong in the Lord before we try to armor up for battle against our enemy, the devil. Again, what good is the best armor in the world if the soldier has no strength to stand? God is strong and he wants his girl strong. God is strong and […]

Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” This comes BEFORE you put on the armor in verses 11-17. Putting even the best armor on a weak soldier does no good in the battle. The soldier must be strong to use the armor. Maybe you’re weak right now – girl you […]

Remember how yesterday we talked about Jesus and Peter needing to pay their taxes, and Jesus tells Peter to do what he’s always done – go fishing. But this would be a completely different fishing experience because this time, Peter was fishing with Jesus – and Jesus is the difference maker. God had perfectly aligned […]

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to miss God when life feels ordinary? We pray for miracles, yet overlook the countless ways Heaven is already moving around us. We beg God for provision while standing in the middle of prayers he’s already answering. We ask him to open doors, never realizing the door […]

Have you ever listened to someone tell a story and thought, “Please get to the point.” Some people include every detail, every side story, every random moment. And when they say, ‘To make a long story short,’ you know the story is about to get longer. Now, when it comes to your Bible, long stories […]

Today in Venice, I will take my retreat girls to a church most tourists will never enter. Not because they can’t—but because they pass right by it. There’s no line wrapping around the building. No admission ticket. No crowds shuffling through with cameras. It’s not treated like a museum or a famous attraction. Years ago, […]