Today, we’re going to study a beautiful story turned tragic, then made miraculous. God has specifically asked me to share this story with you, his girls today. We will look at this story in 3 separate parts.

First, the beautiful part. 2 Kings 4: 8-17

One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. (Remember from yesterday’s devotional, Elisha is a prophet of God with a very special connection to deliver God’s messages and do God’s miraculous works.) A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for something to eat.

She said to her husband, “I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. Let’s build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by.”

One day Elisha returned to Shunem, and he went up to this upper room to rest. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared, Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?”

“No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”

Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?”

Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”

“Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arm!”

“No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”

But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.

My friends, you simply cannot out-give God. He sees the good you do, and he responds. God responds with blessings so overwhelming good that we couldn’t even dare ask for them.

But, know this … God sees the heart of your “good works”.

Are you doing good things just to be seen? Are you hoping good things will come to you as a result? Jesus warns us about this in Matthew 6:1, “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” Verse 4, “Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

This has been a a very hard lesson for me personally. If I did something good, I wanted everyone to know about it. I was intoxicated with the praise. I desperately wanted to be liked because of my good deeds. Then God asked me to shut down my public life, draw close to him, and be completely obedient in secret. I cannot tell you how good this has been for me. Maybe God is calling you to the same secretly good life of obedience where absolutely no one else will know of the goodness you do. This truly opens a door for God’s blessings on a whole other level!

This woman gave a room to Elisha not to be seen or praised, but out of pure goodness and obedience. As a result, God saw her private gifts and he rewarded her.

His reward to her was a blessing she didn’t even dare ask for. It was a gift so big she hadn’t even hoped for it. The thing her heart most wanted, but she hadn’t allowed herself to dream of … a son. A son when it was too late. A son when it was totally unlikely. And God did it for her.

She couldn’t out-give God, and neither can you. What if on the other side of your obedience and humble acts of kindness and goodness unseen by everyone else, God has a gift so perfect for you that you don’t even know to ask for it!

Now, part 2 of the story, this is the tragic part. How many of us know real life can be beautiful, and it can also be tragic? Tragedy is part of the human experience and eventually, it touches every single one of us.

2 Kings 4: 18-30:

One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters. Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!”

His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”

So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died. She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there. She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”

“Why go out today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.”

But she said, “It will be all right.”

So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”

As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehzi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming. Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?'”

“Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”

But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.”

Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

God showed me something tucked away in this story so many of his girls needs to hear today. This woman didn’t wait for her husband. She didn’t wait for him to pray. She didn’t wait for him to lead her family in faith. She didn’t wait for him to go with her. She sought God for herself. She sought God for her family.

For so many, we wish our husbands would rise up and be our spiritual leaders. But honey, if he won’t, then you be the one to rise up! Don’t allow his hesitation or his failure to become your hesitation or failure. Sometimes you have to go first. This woman went. She didn’t wait for her husband. He questioned her, even tried to discourage her, but she sought God anyway.

Maybe your husband won’t go to church with you, or maybe you don’t have a husband at all. Go alone. Maybe you don’t have anyone to pray with you. Pray alone. Maybe you don’t have anyone seeking God with you or for you. Seek alone.

This woman stopped and talked to absolutely no one else. She didn’t need anyone to join her. She didn’t need anyone to cry with her, pray with her, or understand her pain. She was on a mission. She was going straight to Elisha, the man of God.

Understand, because of Jesus, we no longer need a middle person to communicate with God for us. Jesus is our mediator. Because of him, we now have direct access to God. We can go directly to God … but are we? Or are we hoping someone else will do that for us?

God’s been waiting to hear from you! He’s given you access, now use it! Talk to him about this tragedy! He cares and he’s prepared to do something about it.

Now, the miraculous part of the story. I don’t know if you’ve gotten to the miraculous part of your story yet, but I assure you God has miracles aligned for you! He has not left you out of the miracles.

2 Kings 4: 32-37:

When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed. he went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord. Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again! Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!

Then Elisah summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!” She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.

This woman had to trust the man of God with her son. She wasn’t in the room. She was outside when the miracle happened. And what the Holy Spirit whispered to me reading this is, “You have to trust me and stand outside while I work my miracle.” Sometimes we want so badly to be part of the miraculous works of God that we get in the way.

Girl, get out of the way. Let God do what only God can do!

Once you’ve called God in, then trust him. Trust him to revive what needs to be revived, heal what needs to be healed, restore what needs to be restored, or take what needs to be taken. Your job is to seek God, trust God, and continue on with gratitude knowing he is working!

And that’s the whole story. Beauty, tragedy and a miracle.

With this story, I believe God is checking our hearts and intentions today. Why do you do the good things you do? Is it to be seen and liked? Then that is your only reward. Cancel the show and shut down the audience. God wants your acts of obedience to be private.

I believe God is reminding us to seek Him first and go alone if we need to. Stop wishing someone else would do it with you or for you. No, you have a connection with God, use it.

And I believe God is reminding us his miraculous works do not require our presence in the room. We seek him, then we trust him enough to work behind closed doors in ways we cannot see or control.

And for this, God’s girls say, THANK YOU, LORD – WE HEAR YOU!

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Have you ever faced an impossible situation and not known what to do? Have you ever had a debt so big you couldn’t pay it, or a problem so big you couldn’t fix it? Have you ever had God come through for you in unexpected ways to provide exactly what you need? I certainly have and I bet you have too.

2 Kings chapter 4 tells the story of the prophet Elisha helping a poor widow. Verses 1-7: “One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, ‘My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.’ ‘What can I do to help you?’ Elisha asked. ‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ ‘Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil.’ she replied. And Elisha said, ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when its filled.’ So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! ‘Bring me another jar,’ she said to one of her sons.’ ‘There aren’t any more!’ he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, ‘Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.'”

Wow. Isn’t that just incredible? You’re likely not facing your children being taken as slaves because of your debts, but you’re facing a hardship that is a threat. You don’t have the solution. You can’t do this on your own. But there’s one question you need to hear right now, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

It’s easy to become so negatively focused that all we see is what we’ve lost and what we don’t have. That won’t help you now. WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

This woman had only a small flask of olive oil. Understand, this was a very small container used for anointing, not even cooking. It was her only thing of value and her only thing left.

I find it remarkable in her state of desperation that she even remembered she still had something so small. After losing so much, she still knew she had that small flask of olive oil. Perhaps that morning, she had made a list of her gratitudes and all she had left to be grateful for was her 2 sons and that tiny bit of olive oil. She knew she had it because she was grateful for it.

Gratitude. It costs you nothing, but it makes everything more. Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. This woman had taken an inventory of what she still had to be grateful for, so she immediately knew, I HAVE THIS FLASK OF OLIVE OIL! And her gratitude for so little made a way for so much more.

Good ol’ Willie Nelson once said, “The more you practice the art of gratitude, the more you have to be grateful for.” How many of us know that’s true?

Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. This widow woman facing the threat of losing her 2 sons had spent time in gratitude for what she had left. And that gratitude brought a richness she could not have expected.

My sister, what have you been complaining about? It’s making you a poor woman. You simply cannot be grateful and be complaining at the same time. You cannot be fully aware of your blessings while you’re complaining about the details.

Gratitude is a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice of entitlement and expectations. It’s a sacrifice of control.

Complaining is also a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice of blessings and provision. It’s a sacrifice of seeing God’s power to take what little you have and make it more than enough.

You choose your sacrifice because it comes at a sacrifice as well.

Lord, I don’t need the false illusion of control. I release my entitlement and my expectations, and I offer my gratitude for every little thing I have. Forgive me for complaining and open my eyes to see what I do still have here.

You know what I really love about this story? I love that it totally doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t make sense that a tiny flask of oil would pour out and fill every large jar brought in. It doesn’t make sense that debts could be paid with something that started so little. It doesn’t make sense that her future provision could be found in the one little thing she still had.

This reminds us that it doesn’t have to make sense. Stop trying to understand how this is going to work, and trust that God can and will make it work.

But do you notice how God makes it work? He makes it work through this woman’s WILLINGNESS, not her WISHING.

There’s a big difference between wishing and willing. Just wishing for money wasn’t solving her problems. Just wishing someone would help her didn’t change things. She was WILLING to act in faith. She was WILLING to do what didn’t make sense. She had to commit herself in faith to God’s provision. Her active participation was required. No one just did it for her. She and her sons found God’s powerful provision in their willing movements of faith.

God’s powerful provision invites our hard work and never excuses our laziness. Wishing isn’t enough. God says you must be WILLING. Willing to do what doesn’t make sense. Willing to put in the work. Willing to get up when you don’t feel like it. Willing to sacrifice without complaint. Willing to take an inventory of what you do have and actively pour out your gratitude.

Take your inventory. What do you have to be grateful for? How can you pour it out? How can you actively use it in faith of God’s supernatural provision? I don’t have that answer for you, but God does if you seek him.

Here’s what I know – God will supernaturally fill everything you bring to him in obedience. He will provide supernatural energy to the tired and spent spirit. He will provide supernatural creativity to the empty soul lacking new ideas. He will provide supernatural peace to the troubled mind who will lay it all at the foot of the cross.

Empty yourself completely, then be filled. Maybe your problem is you’ve been holding back. You’ve been saving a little emergency reserve because you fear being completely emptied. You don’t really give God all your worries because you want to hold on to a few to ponder over. What in the world would you think about if you really emptied yourself of ALL your worries and fears? You’re not empty – you’re holding on to some of that.

Well Sis, the borrowed jars had to be EMPTY first, then they were supernaturally filled.

If you’re constantly holding back, then you never get completely filled.

I learned God’s supernatural filling in the most ordinary way … energy. I have God’s supernatural energy pulsing through my veins. I can go and go and go. I wake up with energy. I spend my days with overflowing energy. My secret is I don’t save it up. I use it. I give all of me in every moment. I don’t save it for something else that may be coming – no, I give it all now and God refills my emptiness without fail.

When I’m hosting retreats, I’m always the first one up and last one to bed. That often means I get maybe 2 to 3 hours of sleep. Energy is important to me. I have women spending a few days there with me and I want to give them nothing but my best. I want to be fully engaged, all-in for everything. So, this is my prayer when I finally go to sleep at night. “Lord, I’ve given my all and I’m emptied. Please refill me. Multiply the benefits of these few hours of sleep to benefit my body. For these few hours, double them, triple their effects so I wake up with a fresh supply of energy to give in the morning.” AND HE DOES!

If I’m complaining, I miss the filling. If I’m holding back, I miss the filling. However, if I give everything I have in gratitude, I’m supernaturally filled to overflowing and I can give and give and give.

What is it you desperately need more of right now? Think of it. Be specific.

Now, God is asking, “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

In gratitude, pour it all out Sis. Receive your supernatural filling!

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I love me a good success story. A story of doing it right and beautiful things coming together.

I don’t necessarily have one of those. Instead, I have a story of God’s unfailing patience towards me as I I did it wrong, failed, tried again, messed it up, gave up, came back, and stepped into a future I could never dream of or deserve.

My sister, do you know God is patient with you? Not because of your performance or your goodness, but because it’s his nature.

The Lord once came down in a cloud and stood with Moses and he said in Exodus 34:6, “I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love and I can be trusted.” Patient is who God is. Continually requiring God’s patience is who we are.

This morning, I sat alone on the sunkissed patio of a rural farmhouse in Tuscany, and I began to think of how God brought me here. It wasn’t all the things I did right that led me to this place in life. It wasn’t a brilliant business plan or extreme talent. Rather the complete lack there of. Every step of the way, the only continual thing has been God’s undeniable, unwavering patience with me.

I look back on my own journey and I almost feel embarrassment. Those early years were shamefully humble. Those first steps were so incredibly flawed. I was wrong. I did it wrong. I lead wrong. I planned wrong. Yet God was patient with me and continued to give me opportunities. Opportunities to learn and grow. Opportunities to fail and then get better. Opportunities to come to the end of my self and meet Him for the impossible next steps leading to a place I could not see.

Do you see God’s patience in your own story. Through the wrong relationships, the wrong choices, the wrong paths, God patiently worked it all out for you personally. He didn’t will for that wrong in your life, but he made space for it all so you would come to a place and space of seeking him fully. Your story is not a story of success, it is a story of God’s patience. A story of him never giving up on you. A story of him allowing an imperfect journey to work out his perfections in you.

And that story is still unfolding.

Within your Bible is the most beautiful story of God’s patience with a man who was dreadfully wrong, then put on a path of eternal righteousness. That man is Paul, the author of the majority of our New Testament Bible. A man God used to teach through the past 20 generations of the saving grace of Jesus. But, never forget, Paul was first Saul. Saul, the persecutor of Christians. The man on the wrong mission to stop the message of Christ. But an encounter with God on the Road to Damascus changed Saul’s name to Paul and forever changed him. Changed not because of his behavior or performance, but changed because of God’s patient work within him.

That’s why Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1: 15-16, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they too can believe in him and receive eternal life.”

Paul didn’t have to live in the shame and regret of his journey because he saw God’s patience all through that journey. That’s what God is showing me now. I’m being humbled. Through it all, he has been so patient with me.

And through your journey, as wrong or as long as it may have been, God is so patient with you, my sweet sister.

Now, here’s what the Holy Spirit has whispered to me so gently today to share with you: Slow down, stop rushing and punishing yourself. Hear God say, “I am patient with you, Beloved.”

God has never been in a rush with me. He’s allowed my every wrong turn to lead me to the right place eventually. He’s patiently allowed life to touch and teach me. The delay has been my own, but the destination has always been divinely God’s.

You may have delayed things along the way because you’ve been on a few detours with the wrong pursuits, the wrong people, and the wrong priorities, but through it all, God has patiently aligned your destiny. Not because you’ve been deserving, because Honey, you really haven’t been deserving, but because you’re simply his daughter. You’re his beloved.

Paul says again in Romans 2:4, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” This is all your redemption story. God’s patience with you, redeeming you through it all. Restoring you and bringing you into a right place with him and his intended purposes for you. How absolutely, undeniable extraordinary.

Woah. That’s really YOUR story, isn’t it? Your redemption story of a flawed journey and a patient God.

And guess what – you know that person you’re frustrated with – that person you want so desperately to change – the people you’re growing impatient with … God is choosing to be patient with them! Today, he is showing you the fullness of his patience with you personally, so that you can now show others the One who has been patient with you.

As the unworthy recipient of God’s patience, you are now called to allow that patience to flow through you, knowing God is being patient with everyone to bring them to salvation and change. Their redemption story is now in the making. And you – well, don’t get in the way of the redemption story God is writing for them. Girl, get out of the way of God’s patience for them. Your rush and your push is not necessary here.

I know it’s frustrating watching someone you love to struggle, make poor choices and seemingly waste time. But God wastes NOTHING. He will faithfully use it all in their own redemption story. Stop trying to save them from their testimony and let God work this out! Maybe you’ve been getting in the way with your pushing and rushing. Hear God whisper to your soul – “Beloved, I am being patient with them. Get out of the way of my work.”

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The MSG translations says it like this, “God is giving everyone space and time to change.”

Isn’t that what he has done with you? Don’t you see his patience in your life through the years? Now trust that is what he continues to do for you personally and everyone you love. God is not willing, wishing or wanting a single one to be lost from him, so he is patiently giving them space and time to change.

Ahhhhhh. God is never rushing. He holds all time in his hands. He has seen the end from the beginning and he is patiently letting each of his beloved children find their way to him and his best plans.

May you recognize his patience in your redemption story, and may you trust his patience in the story of others without rushing or pushing. Ridiculous patience is what God has shown towards you, now he is asking to show it to others through you.

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The separation between life and death is a hard one for us to understand. You lose someone so dear to you, then somehow life goes on. On the worst day of your life, the rest of the world is still living. They’re celebrating, gathering, traveling, vacationing, laughing and living, completely oblivious to your life altering pain and loss. It seems almost cruel, yet it’s true for every one of us. When my time of loss comes, your life will be going on untouched. That’s simply the way it is.

This devotional is specifically for your moment of loss. For that hard day that awaits us all when life is forever changed here on earth and we’re left without someone we love. My friend, I have the most beautiful message for you today. I will be sharing God’s direct words to guide you in re-imagining the time of separation that awaits us all.

Have you seen the movie Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey? I’m not typically a fan of space movies, but this one is particularly spiritual to me. Watching this movie, it was like an ah-ha moment helping me understand the separation between life and death. Earthly time and heavenly time are radically different!

In the movie, the astronaut played by the ever charming Matthew McConaughey, lands on a distant planet rotating near a black hole. There, every hour on the planet is 7 years on earth. While he is remaining perfectly ageless, his family is growing up and growing old. To him, only 3 hours and 17 minutes had passed, but 23 years had passed on Earth. His son had aged to be older than him by the time he returned. Time simply passed different in a far away place.

Heaven is a real place, and it is far away with a very different time.

In the hospital room with my Daddy, he held my Mama’s hand and struggled to let go. He didn’t want to go on without her, he wanted to stay. He wanted to stay with all of us. The thought of the separation his death would bring was so painful to him. That’s when I remembered that movie. I explained to him that in Heaven, time passes on a different plane and he will have just gotten the tour of his heavenly mansion, then we will all be there. Yes, we’ll be there in a matter of hours, Daddy. He closed his eyes in peace, knowing that in Heaven’s time, we wouldn’t be separated.

Now, let me share God’s word on this theory of heavenly time.

Peter said in 2 Peter 3:8, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends; A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” Did you know Peter is actually quoting scripture from about 1,000 years before? He knew this truth because of Psalm 90:4, “For you, Lord, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.” And this truth carried him through years of imprisonment and even his own death in crucifixion. This time is so minimal when viewed from an eternal perspective.

In Heaven, we will be with God, living on his eternal timeline. My human mind cannot comprehend 1,000 years that pass as quickly as a few hours, but if God’s word says it, then I choose to believe it. I trust it. I hold on to it. Then the separation between life and death is just a minute moment in time and we can continue with an eternal perspective.

Trying to understand it, calculate it or control it will only leave you frustrated. This isn’t for you to control. This is for you to believe. Faith is required here, and it is our faith in what we cannot see, cannot understand and cannot control that pleases God. The Lord says in Isaiah 56: 8-9, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” This is where faith comes in.

What’s happening for our loved ones in Heaven is eternal … it’s beyond our ability to even imagine, but it’s real, and in a moments time we will be there with them. Forever. That’s what awaits us. So, yes, this broken journey through life is temporary and it’s worth it. With Jesus, it’s worth it!

Here’s our promise, Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Then the one on the throne said, Look, I am making everything new!”

Time is new in Heaven. Hours, days, and years pass on a completely unearthly plane, unrestricted by any potential end. It is endless. It is perfect. It is bliss. And with Jesus, it is OURS!!!!!

So, to my sister who is grieving with a separation created by death, take heart because Jesus has overcome this separation and a reunion is just moments away in Heaven’s time!

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There are no limits on what God will do for you. I’m here to remind you this morning that God wants to give you a ridiculous story. A story so against the odds that He is the only explanation. Have you been coming to him with your requests to seize the ridiculous story with extraordinary details and wildly unreasonable life available to you?

Today is a special celebration in my world. Coach Lonnie and I are celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary. We have a ridiculous story. One of those “against all odds” stories. One of those, ONLY GOD stories. Maybe you’ve heard our story, well here it is again.

I grew up in a tiny little country town in Missouri. When you live in a town with the population of 2,000 people, by about the 7th grade every boy in your school is either your cousin, or you already dated him … or worse … he’s both – he’s your cousin and you already dated him. So, each summer before school would begin, I would gather a few girlfriends at my house, we would stand in a circle holding hands and pray the following prayer – “Dear Lord, please bring new boys to our school. Amen.”

Now let’s be clear. I didn’t know Jesus. I didn’t grow up in Church. At that point in my life, it was really the only prayer I had ever prayed. Lord, bring a new boy to my school. Silly. Childish. Selfish. AND HEARD.

At the young age of 15 God clearly heard my prayers and uprooted an entire family from Dallas, TX and planted them smack dab in the middle of Douglas County. Our population jumped from 2,000 to 2,004 and rumor had it one of the new residents of Ava, Missouri was a 17 year old male. Can you say heart flutters and radars set on high sensory. We didn’t even know his name – we referred to him as new boy. There were more girls than just myself on the quest for new boy’s attention, but I walked away the proud winner of his affection and I promised I would one day marry that boy.

That one day came 6 days after my high school graduation. Yes, somehow my parents let me get married immediately after graduating HIGH SCHOOL. And new boy was forever mine. We married, went on a 1 week honeymoon, then very unlike all the fairytales, he flew away to Germany to finish his tour in the Army there for 1 more year.

After that 1 year apart, he was stationed in Georgia, and we were finally able to be together. A few short months into the dream life of living on love and ramen noodles, surprise surprise, trouble hits. A blood clot was lodged in my brain stem, causing a major stroke. I lost my ability to walk or talk and my newlywed husband was prepared for his bride to never be the same. He never left my side. He never broke down and cried. He was just there. A strong and steady rock. He fed me, he bathed me, and he even shaved my legs.

And God healed me.

We have since ran marathons together, adopted children together, started businesses together, traveled the world together, and made life one big old adventure together.

And it all started with a ridiculous prayer. A prayer for God to bring new boys to my school. God gets all the glory for this ridiculous, big, beautiful story that was against all odds. I believe our God is the God of the ridiculous.

The Bible is filled with ridiculous stories. Stories of floods and rainbows, stories of wine made out of water, dead men raised, the blind made to see, a man in a whale’s stomach, a talking donkey, and people walking on water. It’s totally ridiculous. And you know what I think … I think God wants to give you your own ridiculous story.

Won’t you be willing to pray ridiculous prayers out of ridiculous faith? Won’t you invite God to move mountains for you? God loves to show up and do the impossible. He loves to do things that only he could do so we all stand in awe and give him praise and honor.

If a teenager who didn’t even know Jesus yet could ask God to bring new boys to her school, what could a girl like YOU ask for today? Could you ask him for your special person? Could you ask him for your own family? Could you ask him for that business? Could you ask him for that opportunity? Could you ask him for that healing? Could you ask him for your own ridiculous story?

Psalm 96:8, “Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!” God’s glory is in your story. It’s your testimony of the story only God could write, and he wrote it for you!

God simply wants to know if you will give him the glory when he gives you that story. Will you remember it was him that did that for you? Will you still give him the credit 31 years later?

The greatest, most ridiculous story of all is that the maker of the universe would give his one and only son for you and I. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He sent him to Earth for us, knowing he would sacrifice his life. He died because he didn’t want to live without us.

That’s ridiculous. I don’t understand that kind of love. I may love you and I may be willing to sacrifice for you, but I’m sorry there’s no way I would be willing to give one of my 3 children for you. Sorry bout ya … that’s not happening. But it happened for us. The most ridiculous love story included YOU.

In John 10:10 Jesus says “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” A full life even when so much has been taken. A full life even when so much is still wrong. A full life in the midst of the struggle. Yes, even when it’s ridiculous to think life could still be full. A full life is often ridiculous. Ridiculous – that means absurd and wildly unreasonable.

Will you be willing to pray a bold and totally unreasonable prayer to a big God who loves you wildly? A God who loves you so much he gave his son for you?

Hasn’t he proven there are no limits on what he will do for you? So why wouldn’t you come before him with your requests and seize the ridiculously absurd, wildly unreasonable story available to you?

A story of mountains only God could move. A story of the impossible happening right before your eyes. A story of miraculous proportions. Get out of the boat and step out on the water where God has a ridiculous story and big life waiting for you.

Then just make sure when you tell the story that you give him the glory. It’s all because of him.

I’m an ordinary girl, living a ridiculously good life because my mighty God heard the prayers of a 15 year old girl asking for a new boy to move to school. And so it began. And it continues in the most ridiculous, unlikely ways because that’s how our God works.

And remember, Psalm 96:8, “Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!” God’s glory is your story!

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Whatever Jesus says about you, that is your truth. He never says anything to give you false confidence or just make you feel better in the moment. His words about you are true, you can count on them, and build your life on them.

This is what he said about you … he said you would do even greater things than him.

Whoa … say what Jesus? Yip, that’s what he said.

John 14:11 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”

This wasn’t some sort of rah-rah pep talk to puff us up with false hope. This was Jesus’ final teachings to his closest circle of friends right before he went to the cross. This was his final message. His passing of the torch. If you believe in me, you will do even greater things than I have done. Why? Because Jesus went to be with the Father. What happened when Jesus went to be with the Father? We were given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

God’s spirit comes with POWER, and girl as a believer of Jesus, that is what you have been offered. The power of the Almighty dwells within you, empowering you to do the things Jesus did, and even greater.

That’s hard to believe though isn’t it? Me? I’ve been empowered to do these great things? I’m just ordinary.

We all put our stretchy pants on the same way. Nothing really magical about me and you. But girl, never forget what is INSIDE. The power to move mountains is in us. The power to change anything that needs to be changed is in us. The power to do the impossible is in us.

This is what Jesus says about you … You will do even greater works than him!

And as my friend Bob Goff reminded me, Jesus wouldn’t have told us we’d do greater things than him if he didn’t think we could. Why not take him up on his offer?

It’s not too bold or cocky to say “Alrighty then Jesus, I want to do something great with my life.” In fact, that’s obedience.

Lord here I am with the power of your spirit in me, I’m ready to do those great things.

Why have I always read this scripture and dismissed myself of this truth? Why would I assume these great things were for someone better than me to be doing? Why would you assume the same? The only qualifying factor here is if we believe in Jesus. Okay, you believe in Jesus, then you have the power to do some radically awesome things with your life! That’s it. There’s the exchange.

NEVER FORGET WHAT IS LIVING INSIDE OF YOU.

Romans 8:11 “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” That’s the impossible. That’s life altering power. That’s the ultimate show of overcoming, and that is what lives in you! Your mind should be blown right now and girl your confidence should be through the roof.

I love watching documentaries. Everything from a documentary on an unsolved mystery to how dogs think. I love it all. I recently watched a sports documentary showing the relationship between a coach and his players. I love the words a coach speaks to draw out potential within a young man. Coach said “Boy, you have a whole world of potential inside of you, you just have to live up to it.”

This player was struggling, showing up as a lesser than version of who he was capable of being. The coach saw something in him he couldn’t see for himself.

Isn’t that us? Aren’t we the player in life sometimes struggling, showing up as a lesser than version of who we are capable of being? And Jesus is the coach who sees in us what we can’t see for ourselves. We not only have a whole world of potential inside of us, but we have the power of God in us!

With God, all things are possible. When God is for us, who can be against us?

And we have been given a charge, LIVE UP TO IT!

Stop holding back. Stop backing down. Stop sitting it out. Stop discounting who God has empowered you to be. Get out there and do some great things with this one life you have been given.

I know the conversation going in your head at this moment. “But I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to start. I’m not really that good at anything. I don’t have any support.” Oh, I know the conversations because I have them in my head too. There’s a negative committee that meets in my head and talks me out of some really big and great things. At some point we have to tell the negative committee to sit down and shut up so we can hear what the Spirit of God is saying.

The Holy Spirit is saying ‘I support you, and that’s all the support you will ever need’. The Holy Spirit is saying ‘you may not be good at anything right now but you have no idea what I can empower you with the ability to do’. The Holy Spirit is saying ‘you don’t know what to do, oh come on girl, I give you those holy nudges on the daily! Start following them!’

You don’t have to show up and do great things under your own power, you are powered by God! And his power is unstoppable, unlimited, and unmatched. You’ve just forgotten what’s inside of you.

His power never fails, but sometimes you forget to turn it on. Sometimes you think it’s all up to you to figure this out. Sometimes you think you past failures and struggles disqualify you from doing something great now. YOU’RE WRONG.

TURN ON THE POWER INSIDE OF YOU. When Jesus died on that cross and was resurrected to return to the Father, he left behind a parting gift for every single one of us who would believe in him. That gift is the Holy Spirit, the power of God to dwell within us. And that power is what enables ordinary girls like me and you to boldly step up and do something extraordinary with our lives.

Don’t you play little here. Don’t you dismiss yourself from this truth. Coach Jesus is saying ‘girl, look what is inside of you – live up to it!’

What could you do with this one life, living with all that power inside of you? Well my mind can’t even imagine what is possible for someone like you with a power like that, but I sure would like to know! How about you believe what Jesus said about you and buy into it? That’s what Jesus thinks about you, so how about you start thinking it too?

Jesus, I want to do something great with my life. Lord here I am with the power of your spirit in me, I’m ready to do those great things.

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You did not wake up today to be mediocre. You weren’t given this life to live little. This is your opportunity to step into your destiny and become exactly who you were created to be … and honey that’s not average.

There is something incredibly special about you. Something totally unique to only you. It is by great design you are where you are at this moment in history to do your thing. Now, do it. Live the life only you can live. It is what you are here to do.

I wonder what God had in mind when he designed you? When he imagined you at your fullest potential and equipped you perfectly for the mission, I just wonder what he was up to. Don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to experience this life he designed for you?

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.”

One of my favorite ways to study God’s word is to look at different translations of a scripture. I do that by using the Google. (Genius, I know.) So, let’s take Ephesians 2:10 and look at it from a few different angels to dig deeper.

Voice translation: “For we are the product of His hand, Heaven’s pottery etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.” Honey, you are Heaven’s pottery, and you’ve been etched onto a life meant to do the good works of God. When this brief life is over, you remain Heaven’s pottery.

The Passion translation, “Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!” God not only has a destiny for you, but he has all the good works you will do to fulfill it already aligned for you. You don’t have to create the good works yourself, you simply need to step into what God has specifically for you. And when you do, it’s such a perfect fit you can’t deny it.

Amplified translation, “We are spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used for good works, which God prepared for us beforehand taking paths which He set, so that we would walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us.” Did you even know there is a good life made ready for you? Did you know the Almighty God has a path set for you and all you have to do is walk in it?

God created us for a way of life. A good way of life. How does a masterpiece such as you live?

We have an enemy in this life. That enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy all God created. As God’s finest creation, of course you are the target of this enemy. His sneaky ways are woven into our everyday lives and we often miss his greatest attacks. Attacks that we have become accustom to as ordinary, but nevertheless have certainly kept us from our mission.

I’m talking about attacks to consume you with nonsense, distract you with chaos, and strip you of the confidence to be who God says you are.

Have you fallen victim to his attacks?

Have you been consumed with nonsense? Wrapped up in things that quite simply don’t matter? Have your priorities been out of alignment? It all happens so easily without our awareness. We’re giving our most treasured ones nothing but our leftovers. Strangers get our best attitude, our jobs get our best effort, then we go home and treat those we love most with impatience and carelessness. Daily we’re wasting countless hours of this short and precious life on things of zero importance, then wondering why we never have enough time to do the things we need to do.

Yes, this is totally normal. BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WERE CREATED FOR. God designed you to rise above the nonsense and be better than average. He created you with the power to overcome the pull of the world and live BIG. Will you? Will you examine your priorities today and give first place back to what’s truly important?

Have you been distracted by the chaos? There’s an abundance of chaos these days … how much of your life does it get? Really think about that … you’ve been given this one beautiful life to live. Time is not standing still for you. Your life is being used up and your days are numbered. Oh how the enemy works in the chaos to keep you from living your days intentionally. He doesn’t have the power to shorten your days, but he certainly has the power to distract you in your days. Are you letting him?

Are you waiting for life to calm down before you start actually living it? Understand the rhythm of life is the ups and downs. It’s your very heartbeat, up down, up down. Look at an EKG of your heart and you see a roller coaster of living. You think you want to eliminate the downs and create a straight and predictable line, but honey that’s not living. That’s flatline … that’s death.

When will the chaos end … when you die. Plain and simple, don’t spend another moment of your life waiting for the chaos to pass. Show up in the middle of it all and give your best. This is what God has put within you. You were made for such a time as this. God designed you to stay focused on your mission and not be distracted by the chaos.

Remember who God says you are. He says you are loved. He says you are chosen. He says you are an overcomer. He says you are a champion. He says you are set apart. He says you are his most treasured creation. Armed with this truth, NOTHING should hold you back. But the enemy has been at work on that confidence hasn’t he? He’s been chiseling away at you, telling you something is wrong with you. Whispering his nasty lies that you are not enough of this, and too much of that.

The enemy is a liar and there is zero truth in him. Why would you listen to him? You choose today to banish his lies, look in the mirror and believe exactly what God says about you. Find your confidence in his truth. God designed you with your destiny in mind and you are lacking absolutely nothing. Live boldly my sister. This is what you were created for.

Today is not the day to be mediocre. Now is not the time for you to shrink back and play little. This is your life and you’re invited to live it as only you can. Let’s ask God what he had in mind when he created us. Let’s seek the life he created us for. Let’s get our priorities back in line, stay focused, and be confident in who we are.

This is how we will live today. This is who we will be. Enemy, you lose. You don’t get our time or our attention today. God gets it all! I will not be consumed by the nonsense. I will not be distracted by the chaos. And I will not allow my confidence to come from anything other than who God says I am.

Ciao Bella!

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela

Today is an invitation. An invitation to get away with God and allow him to renew your spirit. My sister, I don’t know what has your burdened, or weary, worried, or rushed, but God wants to revive you from the inside out with a personal encounter with him.

My prayer for you today is that you are swept away by the presence of God in the sweetest, most indescribable and unexpected ways. You know, God created this whole magnificent world so that you would be in absolute awe of him. Romans 1:20 says, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Psalm 33:8 says, “Let all the inhabitants of the earth stand in awe of God.” His entire creation is calling you to the awe of your Creator. With this miraculous beauty surrounding you, you have no excuse for not knowing there is a God behind it all.

When is the last time you stood in awe of God? When in the past week were you swept away by his divine existence in the details of your life?

Yesterday I arrived to our Retreat house in Venice, Italy. WOWZERS. A little back story on this house – it looked entirely too good to be true. And how many of you know when it looks to good to be true, you should run the other way? That was this house. Online, the photos looked AI generated. Entirely too perfect. Every detail was simply unimaginable. And the tell-tell sign, it had no reviews of previous tenants. Listen, I’m a pro … you DON’T DO THAT!

6 months ago while planning this retreat, I contacted the owner and basically said, “I need proof this house is for real because obviously those photos are not real.” The owner kindly explained he had spent the past 10 years meticulously remodeling this 3 story home in the heart of Venice to be a dream piece and we would be among the very first to stay there. Then he offer to do a facetime from the property to prove it was real.

So, I was in. As the date of this retreat grew near, I became more excited and yet more nervous. Was it real? Walking down the winding ally ways that are the maze of Venice, I arrived to the front door and I was absolutely swept away. The house was literally EVERYTHING. I stood in the private garden and wept. How was this real life? How do I get to be here? How do I get to bring 14 strangers together to experience this perfect paradise together? God met me in that garden in the sweetest way and said, “My girl, what I have for you is too good to be true, it’s impossibly perfect because I am your God of the impossible. You can believe it.”

I’m swept away by his divine existence in these details. How sweet of God to hand create experiences for his girls that are too good to be true.

But how often are we invited into these encounters with him, but we’re too busy, too rushed and too distracted to even notice. How many times have you dismissed yourself from opportunities God declared possible for you, but you couldn’t imagine stepping far enough out of your little comfort zone to show up for the experience. He wants to sweep you away girl, but you’re going to have to lose your footing and take a flying leap of faith.

Together, we’ve been studying the life of Elijah in the Old Testament. Where we last left off was Elijah had come to his breaking point and wanted to curl up and just die. God so sweetly sent an angel to give him a nap and a snack instead. Then that nap and snack supernaturally strengthened him for the 200 mile journey to a scheduled encounter with the Almighty on Mount Sinai.

Now, we read about the encounter Elijah had so your heart and head can be prepared for the encounter God has waiting for you as well. 1 Kings 19: 11-14, “As Elijah stood on the mountain, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, bu the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'”

Elijah had been stressed and depressed. He was overwhelmed by the journey of life. So, God took him to the mountain to get away for a personal encounter. And there, God first showed him where he was NOT. He was not in the chaos. He was not in the obvious. He was not in the noise. He was the still small, gentle voice that whispered.

God has been whispering to you, my friend. He’s been whispering, “Come, be swept away by me. Come, let me renew and strengthen you. Come, listen for me, seek me and find me.”

He whispered to me in that private Venetian garden yesterday. I could have missed it in my rush. He was there waiting for me with the reminder of his presence in the details. And my sister, he’s been whispering to you too. Will you be still and hear him?

What I find interesting is what that still small voice gently whispered to the depressed and overwhelmed Elijah. God whispered, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Why would God do that? Did God really not know what Elijah was doing? Did he not know his fears? Did he not know his feelings? Did he not know his thoughts?

I’m learning when God asks a question it is certainly not because he lacks wisdom. His question invites us into conversation and connection with him. This is what your soul needs! This is what you’re here for!

Psalm 139:

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

THIS IS YOUR TRUTH, my friend. On the days you feel it and on the days you don’t. He knows precisely where you are and where you’re going, even when you don’t. He absolutely delights in his miraculous creation of you and undeniably loves who he made you to be. His presence is here and he is whispering to you. There’s a call on your soul to come connect with him.

Will you listen for him today? Will you stop looking for the dramatic manifestations of his power and recognize his greatest power has manifested in the smallest of details all around you and in you.

Let me tell you something … you are absolutely too good to be true. You with your miraculous heart that secretly pumps blood over 12,000 miles every single day of your life. You with your eyes that take in more information than the largest existing telescope, and you don’t even have to think about seeing. You with your lungs that have the surface area of a tennis court, all tucked away inside your chest to take in the very breath of God, giving you life. And just weeks after your microscopic little body started forming, you were given your own unique fingerprints unlike any other human to ever live.

Girl, you are simply too good to be true. Your life is unbelievable in every way. God’s been gently whispering to you every day of your existence, calling you to live in awe of him.

Psalm 23:6 says, “Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.” Let him catch you today. He’s whispering to you, be still so you can hear him. He’s not going to fight for your attention. He extends his invitation for a connection with him that will supernaturally strengthen and guide you.

Yes, it’s all too good to be true. But that’s our God. Believe it!

Let’s meet with God in awe and humbly pray Psalm 139 together.

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

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I don’t know what you’re going through right now, but I know this isn’t how it ends. There’s life beyond this. There’s beauty and blessings and immeasurable goodness on the other side of this.

But there are days in the middle of it where you wonder. You wonder where God is. You wonder why he’s not doing something. You wonder why he doesn’t just fix this. And maybe you wonder how much longer you can take it.

Isn’t it incredible how God can speak to your situation through a complete stranger like me? Isn’t it remarkable how sometimes the messages are nothing short of divine timing to arrive at precisely the time you most need it? Let’s be real clear … the only way that happens is the work of the Holy Spirit. I have no special powers. I’m a radically ordinary person with an extraordinary God, and I’m simply honored to get to speak with you.

Sometimes I’m grateful I don’t know exactly what you’re going through because I feel totally inadequate to help in any way. I don’t have the right words. I have no idea how to guide you through some of those dark days. So I’ve learned that God, in his wise and clever ways, keeps me clueless to the details so I don’t get in the way and his words flow.

No, I don’t know what you’re going through, but God says he has life for you beyond this.

A beautiful woman named Robin came to our Bali Retreat a few weeks ago. She hugged me and said, “Your devotionals have gotten me through my darkest days.” I knew nothing about her dark days. I knew nothing about the unimaginable terror she had endured. But God knew, and he talked to her just as he has been talking to you.

Robin had many days of hiding in fear in her own home. God spoke to her on those days. Robin had many days of hoping things would change as they only got worse. God spoke to her on those days. And on the day that Robin was shot 6 times by her husband in domestic violence, God spoke to her. He spoke to her in ways only he could know through people who didn’t know.

Robin’s survival is truly miraculous. 6 bullets ravaged her body. The bullet in her neck was like threading a needle, a milimeter either way and it would have been instant death. The bullet through her chest, her abdomen, her back … all deadly. Yet, she survived. Miraculously she remained calm, feeling the presence of God assuring her she would survive for her children.

Now, 2 years later, Robin walks with strength, dignity, peace and a testimony of God’s goodness. Through it all, God spoke to her. And he was right, he always had life beyond this for her. There’s beauty and blessings and immeasurable goodness for her and her children.

Did you know within your Bible there’s a story of a man who was so overwhelmed with life that he simply didn’t want to live anymore? His days had become so dark that he wanted to die. You need to know the story because you need to know God’s response of kindness and care. God didn’t rebuke him, he personally attended to him. Who was he? Elijah.

We’ve been reading about the life of Elijah, a prophet of God. Things had been hard for Elijah. People wanted to kill him, blaming him for a drought that lasted over 3 years. Now there was Jezebel, an evil woman who vowed to kill him because of his acts against her false God. And this was his breaking point. He had had all he could take. He was over it.

Have you ever been there? At your breaking point. Maybe you’re there now. You’re just ready to throw your hands up and quit. You’ve hurt for so long and you don’t want to hurt anymore. You don’t want to care anymore. You don’t want to live like this anymore.

1 Kings 19:4, “Elijah went alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die, ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

“Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, ‘Get up and eat!’ He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.”

This is miraculous. God showed up with a snack during his little nap. Oh how God cares about the details. He cares when we are weary. He draws close when we are struggling.

After Elijah’s nap and snack, he was given strength to travel for 40 day and nights to Mount Sinai where God had aligned for a personal encounter with him. A renewal of hope and strength would be there. Then he would give him a personal friend to share the journey with. God renewed his purpose and guided him to his legacy.

And that’s what God does. That’s what he’s doing during our darkest days. He’s aligning a personal encounter to strengthen you. He’s preparing people to share your journey with. He’s renewing your purpose and guiding you to your legacy.

For Elijah, there was life beyond his breaking point. Beauty, blessings and immeasurable goodness were still ahead for him and God so faithfully carried him through it all. Just as he did Robin, just as he will you.

Hear God now as he lovingly and personally says to you, “My girl, I have life life beyond this for you. There’s beauty and blessings and immeasurable goodness on the other side of this. I will carry you through. I have so much more for you. You can trust me.”

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Jesus is not impressed by your show. Everything you do to impress others is repulsive to the God who’s eye never leaves you. His loving eye is always on you, is he pleased with what he sees?

The lyrics of the song Jireh by Elevation Worship speak directly to my heart. It says, “It doesn’t take a trophy to make you proud. I’ll never be more loved than I am right now.” I don’t know why I’ve tried my entire life to earn some kind of trophy to make my Father proud, but I’m finally realizing I’ve already won with God. I’m already loved. My performance is not required.

Lord, reveal our show. Move in our spirits to make us sick over the showy things we do that make you sick. Strip it all down so we can see you are our audience of one and you desire our presence over our performance.

The very last public sermon from Jesus warned against the show. Even in those days, they had a celebrity culture. Human hearts wanted to be admired and exalted, so there was a show to create a celebration of followers around them. Putting on the show of the day were the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees. They were the ones who looked spiritual, but inside they were spoiling.

Spiritual show. Gag. We’ve all seen it, but where are we guilty of doing it? Have you ever bowed your head to pray, but it was more to be seen praying that to actually talk to God? Have you ever pretended to praise but it was a physical show of something you never felt spiritually? God doesn’t need you to “show” a single person how to perform. Exit stage left, Sis! Your performance has been cancelled.

This last public sermon of Jesus is found in Matthew 23. Starting in verse 1, “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The teachers of religious laws and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called Rabbi.'” Then, verse 11, “The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus is telling the Pharisees to stop the show, and he’s telling his people to stop following the show. Yes, did you hear that? Stop following the show. If it’s become all about them, then it’s not all about Jesus, and it’s not for you. Have we become so entertained by the show that we’re following the very things Jesus said, “don’t follow.”

Girl, who are you following? For real, who’s life do you follow? Who’s reels do you watch? Who’s videos flood your feed? Who’s posts do you read? Are these people with an impressive show, but they’re not showing you Jesus, they’re just showing you them. (And it’s all really just a show.) Their show is to impress you, and that’s a problem. Jesus says, “Everything they do is for show. Don’t follow them.”

Unfollow. Delete. Disconnect. Seriously.

Now, look at all that space you have for Jesus again!

I’ve become a geek about God’s word. I love to dig deeper and understand the time and deeper meaning of words that we may be missing. So, what are the prayer boxes and tassels Jesus refers to? He says in verse 5, “Everything they do is for show. On the arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.”

These prayer boxes were called a phylactery. PHIL-LACK-TURY (There’s a new word for you!) It was a small leather box with long leather straps to tie onto your head and your arm. Inside the small box were tiny scrolls of scripture. Moses instructed men of God in Deuteronomy 6:8 to “Tie God’s commands on your hands and wear them on your foreheads as reminders.” It was a physical way to keep God’s word close.

That’s a good thing, right? Yes, until it becomes about the show. The Pharisees made their boxes bigger and bigger. You know, kind of like our hair in the 80’s kept getting bigger to be seen, their phylacteries kept getting bigger. It was ridiculous how big they made these boxes to tie on their heads and arms to impress everyone who saw them with their spiritual superiority.

And they did it with the tassels on their robes too. The Lord told Moses in Numbers 15: 38-40, “Make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God.”

Tassels were a good thing, but the Pharisees took this good thing and made it about themselves. They began making their tassels extra long for a more dramatic show. The longer and more elaborate those tassels were, the more spiritually impressive they must have appeared. And Jesus said, “STOP FOLLOWING THEM!”

The show must be stopped. The performance is repulsive.

Are you following someone who is trying to look better than everyone else? There’s your red flag.

Are you trying to look better hoping someone will follow? Huge red flag.

My brother was a pastor for many years. A ridiculously good pastor. He started preaching in a tiny country church in Missouri, then he moved to Tampa Florida to be a staff pastor at a mega church. There, he was put through a class of how their staff pastors were to appear on stage. He was taken to the mall, told to purchase a $300 pair of jeans, and keep them in the freezer so they always looked sharp. That’s right, pastor, wear these expensive, frozen jeans, and don’t wash them. I couldn’t make that up! It was all a show to impress the right people. He left there as soon as he could.

Your show and your performance is not impressive to Jesus. Remember the story of him going to Martha’s house for dinner? While Martha was working on an impressive meal for Jesus, her sister Mary just sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his every word. Imagine Martha in the kitchen, all mad. She’s being extra loud with the pots and pans. Have you ever done that? No one is helping you, so you start being all extra about it? Then Martha throws some extra flour on her face and comes out to get Jesus involved.

Luke 10: 40-42, “Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was focused on performance. She wanted to deliver an impressive meal for Jesus.

Mary was focused on presence. She just wanted to sit close to Jesus and be with him.

Where have you been performing, but you’ve lacked presence? All that show will be taken away. It will come crumbling down. Decide now you just want to be present. You don’t need to wear frozen jeans, big prayer boxes on your head, or extra long tassels to be admired by anyone. Jesus isn’t impressed.

Hear him now as he says, “My girl, I’ll never love you more than I do right now. You don’t have to perform for me.”

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