Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail. What’s Your Exodus Plan?

Did you know that the author of Exodus, the man who led the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, spoke to Jesus about HIS exodus?

I didn’t make the connection until this morning. Jesus is on a mountain top to pray when suddenly before Him appear Moses & Elijah! 👉🏽The Lawmaker & The Prophet!

Why  them, I wondered? Of ALL the people God could’ve allowed to break the bounds of death to return to earth, why these two?

Jesus came with one resolute aim in mind…not just to minister, heal, preach & teach. They were all means to an end: to become the ransom for all, past present & future!

These men already made their exodus from earth & now stood with Jesus to talk about His. The prophet speaks to the Fulfillment of ALL prophecies & the deliverer of Israel speaks to the Deliverer of ALL people about, “His exodus from this world”!!!

The certainty of the cross had always stood before Jesus, but His death day is distinctly drawing near. In this mountaintop moment with Moses & Elijah, the Father once again speaks favor over His Son, “This is my Som, my Chosen One. Listen to Him.”

I can picture it like a giant movie screen & it makes me weep…the favor of the Father, spoken so boldly for all to hear, is priceless. The Son of God, as the Son of Man, is facing the most brutal kind of death he described in detail to his disciples just 8 days before.

& yet, here, now, the Father surrounds His Son with The Lawgiver & the Prophet as a reminder & encouragement that His coming death & resurrection are about to end that law & fulfill prophecy!

Jesus came for one purpose alone: to fulfill the Law & the prophets SO THAT He might become the ransom for all who believe!

There is no other religion on God’s green earth that promises eternal life for “free”! It costs us nothing, but cost Jesus everything!

We all have a day of exodus distinctly drawing near. Do you know where you’re destined? Because of the cross you CAN! Jesus died so you might live eternally with Him. Will you accept His gift & follow him as Lord? You’ve got nothing to lose but a life without divine guidance & an eternal death apart from God & all things good. Try Him & see that He is oh-so-good!

#OneYearBible

April 1st One Year Bible Readings

DEUTERONOMY 18:1-20:20

LUKE 9:28-50

PSALM 73:1-28

PROVERBS 12:10

How to Avoid Matching Crabby with Crabby

If I were to name a reaction that I’m tempted to go to when dealing with someone crabby it’d be this:

Putting them in a mental, “I’m-done-with-you box.”

I’ve been presented 3 such opportunities this week alone! If I were to grade my response, I’d say I passed the 1st with flying colors, the 2nd with a salty B & then the last? I failed miserably.😞

Every time we are presented with a crabby person, it’s EASY to react, matching their crabby with our crabby. It’s a little harder to remain silent & shove them into the “I’m-done-with-you-box”. The hardest response, however, is just that 👉🏽 a decision-based response vs. a flesh-filled reaction.

When someone comes at you with short, staccato-like words & biting remarks, choosing to let Christ IN you rise up in response & letting your gut reaction lay dead is H-A-R-D!

When I let my spirit lead my mind, will & emotions, (instead of vice versa) a visual of an extension cord usually surfaces. Instead of the dreaded I’m-done-with-you box, if I stay plugged into my Source of all things, I need nothing from the person ranting before me. I can instead become an extension cord of the Lord, loving them right where they’re at!

Jesus also gave us a visual about this! He said if anyone wants to follow Him, we must turn from our selfish ways, take up our cross daily & follow His lead. It’s not one & done, but DAILY!

Think about it, if I carry His cross, then I can’t carry mine. If I carry His Presence, I must turn from my own. When we follow His lead, the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness & self-control) will rule our response instead of our own gut reaction!

In case you’re wondering, I failed the last test with my husband. He arrived late to dinner & was crabby. I didn’t know why because I didn’t ask. I immediately became offended & matched his crabby with my crabby…right in front of our friends.😑

We’ve both apologized & all is now well, but my spidy senses are on high alert because I want to pass these crabby-people-tests with flying colors, staying plugged into my Source of peace, so I can love them right where they’re at with His love!

I’m SO thankful God didn’t put us in an “Im-done-with-you box”! Aren’t you?

#OneYearBible

March 31st One Year Bible Readings

DEUTERONOMY 16:1-17:20

LUKE 9:7-27

PSALM 72:1-20

PROVERBS 12:8-9

What am I Deliberately Touching & How Will it Impact my Life?

“Someone deliberately touched me.” 

Jesus said that as throngs of people press in around Him.  They’d been waiting with great anticipation for this man who could perform mighty miracles. As He made way to heal a girl who lay on her deathbed, He stops.

MANY people were touching Him, but only one DELIBERATELY touched Him.

How did He know?

Because, He says, “I felt healing power go out from me.”

The word for “touch” is worth understanding. It’s a dynamic definition that carries far more meaning than any of us have been taught, because it encompasses what happens AFTER the touch!

Háptomai Is the root word  & the simple definition means, “touch that influences.” The longer version says, “touching something or someone in such a way that it alters, changes or modified them.

There was a woman in that crowd that had bled for 12 years & couldn’t find a cure. It kept her in a constant state of “unclean”. The passage doesn’t tell us her thoughts, but it does tell us that she came up behind Him & touched the fringe of His robe. And when she did? The bleeding immediately stopped!

I wonder if she thought, “If I can JUST touch His robe, maybe then I’ll be healed…”  She had been hoping for healing for many years, but now she hopes on the help of this man she’d probably never met.

Y’all, there are many things that we touch throughout the day, many things that vie for our full attention, but here’s a question to ponder:

What am I deliberately touching that will have a transformational impact on my life & on the lives of those around me?

Do I have the faith of the bleeding woman? 

All it takes is faith & just one touch.

Father, there is so much that “touches” our lives each day & sometimes changes or influences us towards the wrong direction.

Jesus, You are Emmanuel, our ever-with-us God! So often, however, we can be just like the crowds of people who surrounded You, forgetting that we can stop & deliberately touch the hem of Your robe in faith to experience sudden & immediate transformation!

Sharpen our minds to remember the power that is in You! Power to heal bodies, marriages, emotions, finances & relationships…with just one touch!

#OneYearBible

March 30th One Year Bible Readings

DEUTERONOMY 13:1-15:23

LUKE 8:40-9:6

PSALM 71:1-24

PROVERBS 12:5-7