2224 Spit, Mud & Miracles

Imagine being blind and receiving the life-changing miracle of sight from Jesus. This is a miracle Jesus offered the blind in scripture, and if it happened then, it can still happen now. He opens eyes, he restores vision, he enables us to see what we’ve never seen before. Every single one of us need that touch from Jesus. What’s really interesting is the different ways Jesus heals the blind. Have you ever wondered why with some he simply spoke healing from a distance and they were healed, for others he touched them with his hand, and even others he healed in very unexpected ways. If you dig deeper into the ways Jesus healed, you will understand something more about him. Jesus is personal – he meets us where we are and heals us individually. For the one who needs to be touched, he touches them. For the one who needs to hear him speak, he speaks. For the one far away, he sends the power of his word from a distance. For the one who would benefit from a more tangible method, Jesus uses something they can see, feel, and experience. He knows exactly what each person needs, and he is never limited to one way of doing things. Jesus doesn’t fit in our little box. There are no rituals we can repeat. No 10 step plan to recreate. It’s ONLY JESUS – His way – and his way can be different for every one of us! Once, Jesus encountered a man who had been blind his entire life. His eyes had never worked, they had never functioned, he had never seen anything. In John 9, we see Jesus spit on the ground, make mud with his own saliva, and spread that mud all over the blind man’s eyes. Then in verse 7 Jesus told him, “‘Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam’ (Siloam means ‘sent’). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!” Here, Jesus uses mud on his eyes and has him take a step of faith before anything had changed for him. Still blind, now with a muddy face, this man had to go to a pool to wash. He had to walk out his healing. While he didn’t feel it, while he was still blind, he had to obey. Imagine the faith that took! He had mud in his eyes, no sight to guide him, and nothing to prove that anything was happening. All he had was the word of Jesus. And, sister, isn’t that where faith gets real? It’s easy to obey when you can already see the results. It’s easy to believe when the answer is obvious and the breakthrough is unfolding right in front of you. But what do you do when Jesus has given you an instruction and nothing has changed yet? What do you do when you’re still in the dark, still waiting, still wondering how this is ever going to work out? You keep walking. Yes, today, you keep walking. Walk in faith that Jesus sees you and has made a way for you. Walk in faith that he is personally working for you and he’s not going to leave you the way he found you. But you can’t just stand there and stay where you’ve been. You’re going to have to walk this out in obedience, trusting his miraculous power is at work even when nothing has changed yet. You trust what He said, even when you can’t yet see what He’s doing. You take the next step, even when the circumstances haven’t changed. You stop demanding to see the miracle before you’re willing to move in obedience. The man didn’t have to understand how Jesus would heal him. He just had to trust Jesus enough to go wash. And when he came back, everything had changed. If you keep reading in the story, you find the Pharisees are deeply disturbed by this miracle and they begin questioning the healed man. “Who did this? How did he do it?” He didn’t know who Jesus was – he didn’t know his power – he didn’t understand how it had happened – he just knew this man named Jesus made mud with his spit, rubbed that mud on his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool – and when he did, for the first time ever he was given sight. The Pharisees wanted to argue about it. Funny how such a miracle was received with such drama instead of celebration. (Lord, please forgive us – we’re still doing that today!) Jesus comes back around to this healed man to reveal who he is. Verse 35-38, “Jesus found the man and asked, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.’ ‘You have seen him,’ Jesus said, ‘and he is speaking to you!’ ‘Yes, Lord, I believe!’ the man said. And he worshiped Jesus. What was the biggest life changing moment here – was it this man’s eyes seeing for the very first time – or was it this man seeing Jesus as the one worthy of his worship? Eternal impact was made with the later miracle. And really think about it – that’s our miracle too. Even though our eyes might have seen since the moment they opened, there was a time when we didn’t see Jesus as the one to be worshiped. But when he revealed himself to us, our eternity was changed. We were given sight too. We were once blind and now we can see! That’s our miracle. We can see Jesus for who he really is – our Savior, our rescuer, our redeemer! We have a step to take. Maybe your next step is to worship Jesus. Your obedience doesn’t make Jesus powerful. Your obedience puts your faith into action. And sometimes, the step you’re hesitant to take is the very step Jesus is asking you to take next. You may not see it yet, sister. You may not feel it yet. You may not have a single sign that things are changing. But don’t confuse not seeing with God not working. The One who opened the eyes of a man who had never seen a thing is still able to open your eyes, change your perspective, and show you what you’ve never seen before. So take the next step He has given you. Trust His voice. Follow His leading. Worship him. You don’t have to see the miracle to take the step of faith. Some say in order to receive healing from God you must first believe. This man didn’t believe in Jesus first. Jesus saw him and reached for him. Jesus went first! Girl, nothing you did brought Jesus to you – he went first. He saw you, loved you and chose you. His healing is his choice. You see him because he gave you spiritual sight to see him. But you can’t just stay the same now. You must move. Move in obedience. Do what he tells you to do. Go where he tells you to go. Live how he tells you to live. ——- Jesus didn’t always use mud. Do you know why? Because if he did, we would get hyper focused on the mud. We’d be walking around studying the dirt, trying to find just the right dirt, selling little jars of the magical dirt, spitting and stirring up mud, muddying up everything. Again, we have a special way of focusing on the wrong things and missing the entire point. The point wasn’t the mud – the point was Jesus. Jesus heals another man in Mark 8 in a different way. This time, a blind man was brought to Jesus and people begged him to touch and heal the man. Verse 23, “Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, ‘Can you see anything now?’ Imagine this scene for a moment. Jesus takes this man by the hand and walks with him. He leads him away from the village – away from the crowd – to a quiet place. The man had a choice to make here – trust this unseen healer enough to go with him, or not. Allow this unseen healer to guide is steps – or not. Because he walked with Jesus, he experienced his life-changing miracle. A miracle that came through spit. Jesus spit on his eyes. Woah. Why? Why would he do that? Well, what if it was actually very practical? This man’s condition had likely led to infected and sealed eyelids. Opening his sealed eyes didn’t require a miracle, so Jesus didn’t use his miraculous power for that. He used his practical power – a little spit. But his miraculous power was needed to then give those opened eyes sight and that’s why Jesus then laid his hands on him. The spit opened his eyes in a very practical way. The touch of Jesus gave his blind eyes sight. Same miracle, different ways. Isn’t that just like Jesus? He doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to our lives. He knows you personally. He knows what you need, how you need it, and when you need it. And he is able to reach you right where you are. The method may look different, but the miracle maker is the same. How he worked in my life may not be the way he works in your life – and it doesn’t have to be. My healing doesn’t look like your healing – my encounter with Jesus is uniquely my own – and yours is as well. How very special! And, sister, maybe that’s exactly what you need to remember today. Don’t get so caught up in how Jesus is going to work in your life that you miss the fact that he CAN work in your life. Don’t limit him to the way he did it for someone else. Your story may look different. Your healing may look different. Your breakthrough may come in a way you never expected. But the same Jesus who opened blind eyes then is still able to open eyes today. Here he is – can you see him? So, sister, don’t miss Jesus looking for the mud. Don’t miss him waiting for the perfect method or expecting him to work exactly the way he worked for someone else. Open your eyes to HIM. He is the miracle. He is the healer. He is the one who sees you, reaches for you, leads you, and loves you enough to meet you right where you are. And when he asks you to move, move. When he asks you to trust, trust. When he asks you to follow, follow. You may not understand what he’s doing, and you may not see the change yet, but keep walking with Jesus. Because the greatest miracle isn’t just that he can change what you see around you – It’s that he can change HOW you see EVERYTHING when you finally see HIM for who he really is. You were never meant to just see a miracle. You were meant to see Jesus! 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

Today, we will look at the story of Jesus’ first miracle. Do you know what his first recorded miracle was? He turns water into wine at a wedding. Isn’t that crazy? That’s where he decides to reveal his power first? That’s always confused me – but there is so much dept to this miracle and it brings us so much hope today. The first miracle tells us so much about Jesus. It tells us he took time to attend a wedding and cared enough to make it a success. Let me tell you something, sister, Jesus is taking time to show up to every single situation you invite him into and he cares about your details. We often don’t invite Jesus because we assume he must be too big and too busy for our little things, but we’re wrong. Always invite Jesus. He will be right there in the middle of it. And no doubt, when Jesus is there, things just go down different. John 2: 1-2: On the third day a wedding took place in Canan of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. (Notice, Jesus was invited! That’s important. Have you remembered to invite Jesus? I’m being serious. Is Jesus invited to your family gathering, your vacation, your meeting, your commute, your appointment, your celebration, your Monday? Just in case you forgot to invite him, do it right now. For real, stop everything and invite Jesus to go with you today wherever you are going.) Verse 3-4: When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” (Yes, Mary asked Jesus to get involved in a situation that really had nothing to do with him. Did you know you can do that too? Maybe the problem you’re facing isn’t Jesus’ problem, but you can still get him involved! And girl, when you get Jesus involved, everything changes! Jesussssssss, I’ve got a problem!) Verse 5-8, Mary says to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. (Mary is asking for Jesus to fix the problem of wine running out at the wedding. Jesus’ response was to take the jars that were available and fill them with what there was, which was water. Water wasn’t what was wanted, but water is what Jesus would use. All the servants had to do was take what was available and fill it with what there was. The rest was up to Jesus.) I think today, Jesus is asking his girls to take what is available and fill it with what there is. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems insignificant. It doesn’t matter if what you have seems undesirable. Jesus isn’t asking you to focus on what you have, he’s asking you to focus on him and put what you have in his hands. Verse 9-11: When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from – though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believe in him. Do you understand the magnitude of the miracle here? It’s literally just slipped in like an insignificant detail in parentheses (after the water had become wine). This is a big deal of impossible magnitude. Let’s do the math. There were 6 stone water jars each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus had them fill each of the jars to the brim. Not just a little. Not just enough. Not half way. All the way. Oh girl, don’t you know when Jesus is invited, he goes all the way for you! He doesn’t kinda sorta, barely, maybe, do a little something for you … no, he does it big! He made 120 to 180 gallons of wine! There are 5 bottles of wine to each gallon, that means Jesus made 600 to 900 bottles of wine! Jesus offers abundance. Jesus offers overflow. Are you living in his abundant overflow, or have you settled for less and failed to ask him for more? Jesus is not limited. Heaven’s storehouses are overflowing. Angels are awaiting their mighty command. This IS being made possible! Think about the miracle itself, turning water to wine. Water is the most basic of all liquids. It’s clear with no flavor. It’s two hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, with a total absence of all other things. Water does not and cannot become wine. That’s impossible. Yet, that’s precisely what Jesus did. And here’s what that tells us today: Jesus will take what you think is nothing, and he will make it into something. He will take what would require way more time than you have, and he will make it happen precisely when it needs to happen. Substance and time are not a limitation for Jesus. You think there’s not enough time for the things you need to change to really change. Jesus says, think again! About 6 months was required for grapes to ferment and become wine. But that would have been the low quality wine. The best wine would require more time for aging. That’s the wine Jesus made … the best. And how long did it take him to make it? Only as long as it took the servants to fill the stone jars with water. Stop dismissing the miracle you need because of the time you think it will require. Jesus holds time. He can and will do the impossible. Time will not be a limitation! And when Jesus does the impossible for you, it will be the best of the best. It will be the finest of the fine. He will come through with greater than you ever imagined. It will be more than you hoped for! I bet you already have an experience of Jesus coming through and giving you more than you imagined. I bet he’s already shown up in the middle of your human need and done heavenly things. He’s already proven he will get personally involved when you invite him. So, girl, just invite him! He’s going to ask you to use what you have even when it seems insignificant. Use it. Be obedient in your faith. Your questioning is getting in the way. I know it looks like you don’t have what it will take to meet the need you’re facing, but never forget you have WHO IT WILL TAKE. This will take Jesus, and he’s right here for you! Yes, this problem you’re facing, this issue you’re dealing with, this circumstance that hasn’t been getting any better … this takes Jesus. When you step into it today, make sure you invite Jesus to come with you. He will always accept your invitation and he will always get involved in anything you ask him to get involved in. He cares about you. He cares about your family. He cares about the things that concern you. And he has a solution that defies science, defies time, and defies what everyone else says is possible. But you know … you know your Jesus does the impossible for you because you’re his girl! 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

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. They were willing to leave everything and follow him. Does he know that about you? Would you be willing to leave the big house? Would you be willing to leave your current job? How about your current location? WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO LEAVE THE BLESSING TO FOLLOW THE ONE WHO BLESSED YOU? My friend, I’ve been stuck before – stuck in all that God has given me and missing what he’s calling me to. The best thing I ever did was drop it, walk away and dare to follow Jesus where he was leading me next. Was it scary? YES! Was it devestating to our business? No doubt! Was it worth it? Well, I’m never turning back! Are you willing to follow Jesus when it means letting go of something you love? Are you willing to trust him when you can’t see the whole picture? Are you willing to say yes to the next step even when you don’t know what the next ten steps will be? Sometimes we’re so focused on asking Jesus to fill our boats that we miss the greater invitation to follow him. We want the miracle, but Jesus wants our hearts. We want him to change our circumstances, but he wants to change our lives. We want the blessing, but he wants us to discover that the greatest blessing is being with him. God doesn’t need you to have it all figured out. He needs you to be willing to follow where he leads. Your miracle may begin with an empty boat, but don’t be surprised if it ends with a whole new life. 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

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 interruption, confused by the change of plans, or heartbroken over how a chapter has unfolded. But don’t assume God has abandoned the story just because you don’t understand the plot. God is still working. He’s still guiding. He’s still redeeming. And even when you can’t trace his hand, you can trust his heart. Sometimes God’s greatest kindness isn’t letting us get where we were determined to go. Sometimes it’s interrupting our plans because he sees what we cannot see. Your story isn’t over. God is still writing. And the chapter you’re struggling to understand today may one day become part of the testimony that helps someone else keep believing. 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

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! 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

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’m willing to let You love me. I’m willing to let You lead me. I’m willing to trust You with the things I cannot control. I’m willing to stop trying to heal myself and let You into the places that hurt. I don’t have all the answers, Jesus. But I’m done keeping You at a distance. I’m coming close. And Jesus, I believe You are willing. 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

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 pray the prayer. He lets us make the phone call. He lets us sit beside the hurting person. He lets us encourage. He lets us speak the name of Jesus. He lets us give what we have. And then He does what only HE can do. That’s Kingdom work. Are you willing to really ask, “God, what do You want done here?” And then whatever He puts in front of you—do it. You may think it’s so small and insignificant. Like your smile, your hello, your encouragement, your time wouldn’t possibly make a different – BUT Jesus may see the beginning of a miracle. There will be Kingdom work you do that you won’t see the results of this side of Heaven. You may never know who was changed because you stopped and listened. You may never know how your kindness affected someone. You may never know what your prayer set into motion. You may never know what your obedience opened up. We may never know what a chili dog did for some of the people we served yesterday. But God knows. And it matters. So today, don’t worry about whether you have enough. You have something. Give it to Jesus. And then watch what He does with it. Sis, you are invited. There is Kingdom work waiting for you today. So let’s pray the prayer Jesus taught us: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” And then let’s live like we mean it. God, what do You want done here? I’m willing. Use what I have. I’ll carry the basket. 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

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 true identity, her value and worth. My sister, will you dare to believe that YOU are a carrier of the presence of Jesus? That you don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t have to know exactly what to say. You don’t have to feel qualified. You don’t have to understand how God could possibly use you. You just have to FOLLOW THE LEADER. Love them in their hurt. Start there. Jesus is still looking for people who will slow down when he slows down. Stop when he stops. Love when he loves. Speak when he speaks. Go where he sends. See people the way he sees them. Maybe your Jesus-thing today is to be part of a miracle. You have the power of God inside of you and if he says today is the day for a wildly awesome, undeniable miracle that radically changes some lives, then get in there and be part of that by being available as his vessel!!!! But maybe your Jesus-thing today is simply stopping for the person everyone else walks past. Maybe it’s buying or serving someone a meal. Maybe it’s praying for someone who is hurting. Maybe it’s forgiving someone. Maybe it’s opening your mouth and trusting God to fill it with good things. Maybe it’s seeing a life that is full of sin and not calling them by their sin, but loving them because Jesus does. Maybe your miracle is simply letting someone encounter Jesus through YOU. Because that’s what following Jesus looks like. We don’t have to manufacture miracles. We don’t have to make something happen. We FOLLOW. And when we follow the Leader, he leads us right into the places where his love, his power, his compassion and his presence are needed. So, girls, let’s stop asking, “Am I qualified?” Let’s stop asking, “What if this is awkward?” Let’s stop asking, “What if it doesn’t work?” Let’s stop asking, “What am I supposed to say?” Let’s ask one simple question: “Jesus, where are YOU going?” And then let’s FOLLOW. Because we have decided. We have decided to take Jesus at his word. We have decided to follow the Leader. We have decided to believe that the same Jesus who changed lives 2,000 years ago still changes lives today. And maybe—just maybe—the next person who encounters Jesus will encounter him through you. So open your mouth. Open your hands. Open your eyes. Open your heart. And follow the Leader. Let’s go do some Jesus-things. 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