Author: Bre

never overlooked.

But Jesus said, โ€œSomeone touched Me; I know that power has gone out from Me.โ€ Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, โ€œDaughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.โ€ - Luke 8:46-48

This woman’s story & her interaction with Jesus amazes me. She had lived for 12 years with an issue of blood that, in the Jewish culture, made her unclean. To be unclean (much like being a leper) meant you were isolated, outcast, overlooked, & ignored. She was looking for answers & longing for hope. For 12 years she searched for a solution and used all her resources on Doctors: all to no avail. Then, when she hears about Jesusโ€•she must’ve thought: “Who is this man? He’s healed the blind, cleansed the leper, cured the sick & restored the lame…Maybe He’s my answer. Maybe He can heal me too.” Maybe she was used to being an exception: accustomed to others getting help, but not her. She’d grown used to holding onto hope, only to be let down. She had faith that Jesus could heal her; but also didn’t want to be noticed: “Maybe it would be enough if I could just touch the hem of His garment.” She wanted to slip-in, slip-out, & move on without causing a disruption. But what she didn’t know is that:

In Jesus’ presence you cannot go unnoticed.

After she touches the hem of Jesus’ garment He stops, turns towards her & she falls trembling at His feet. Then she does something amazing…in front of a crowd of onlookers she shares why she touched Jesus. Shame no longer silenced her. What she had never shared publicly before, she now testifiesโ€•voice shakingโ€•she tells of the years of brokenness & isolation and how Jesus healed her in an instant. And Jesus’ response, so kind and reassuring, is: “Daughter.” With a single word He identifies as her Father and speaks belonging, acceptance, safety, & security over her. Then he tells her to “go in peace,” because fear, worry, hopelessness, and anxiety no longer had a place in her life. She would never be the same after this encounter with her Savior, Healer, Comforter, and Father.

I can relate to this woman. It’s easy to feel unnoticed or want to be unnoticed…to want to cover-up & stay superficial. We try to hide many things: it’s easy to allow guilt, pride, or condemnation to keep us from the feet of Jesus. Maybe we believe lies about His character: thinking that He won’t accept us, forgive us, love us, or be able to restore us.

But, just like this woman, I’ve learned that whenever you go to Jesus in humble faith there is no condemnation in His eyes: only compassion, mercy, forgiveness & healing.

He does not condemn you
& He certainly does not overlook you.

Nothing in your past, present, or future can keep you from the love & forgiveness He died to secure for you. In His eyes you will never go unnoticed. While you may try to hide, keep your distance, or slip-in & slip-out HE SEES you to the fullest & proclaims:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are mine.” – Isaiah 43:1


Go to the feet of Jesus.

Reach out in faith.

And let Him bring restoration like only He can.

โ€œTo be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. 
To be known & not loved is our greatest fear. 
But to be fully known & truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. 
It is what we need more than anything. 
It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.โ€ 
 โ€• Timothy Keller

the One who gave all

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” –Ephesians 2:13๏ปฟ

I’ve been revising a book I read last year & wanted to share a portion that has stood out to me; especially in light of today being Good Friday. May it remind you of Jesus’ great love & lead you to be in awe of His sacrifice โ™ฅ 

The excerpts below are taken from pages 33 thru 39 of
“True Worshippers: Seeking What Matters to God” by Bob Kauflin.

“The first couple lived in a world ablaze with God’s presence & glory. Adam & Eve instinctively knew why they had been made. They breathed, ate, slept, played & labored to exalt the goodness & greatness of God. There was no need to exhort human beings to worship โ€” their entire existence revolved around the God who had made them. When they ate the forbidden fruit their worship was redirected. Duped by a serpent, they rejected the gift of worshipping God and chose to worship themselves.
… the Old Testament ends not with jubilant celebration but with the painful realization that all our efforts to bring glory to God result in failure and condemnation [and yet] God continues to invite & pursue. Our inability and God’s grace are on full display. Diety becomes dust, the Maker becomes the maligned, the Creator becomes the cursed. God comes in Christ to restore the relationship that was rejected in the garden. We learn that the greatest gift God gives us is Himself.
… Jesus provides the ultimate statement that He will provide a way for us to worship Him; not only in this life but for all eternity.
Where our offerings are tainted with self-reliance and self-exultation, Jesus empties Himself to bring glory to His Father on our behalf. Jesus’s perfect life, substitutionary death on the cross, physical resurrection, & glorious ascension accuse once and for all that those who trust Him can be numbered among the worshippers of God. … In His sovereign mercy, I turned out to be one of them.
Jesus came to die in my place to give me a gift. Not something I had to earn, prove myself worthy of, or labor to keep. A gift.

He cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” so I would never have to.


Worship never begins with us; it is always a response to the truth. It flows out of an understanding of who God is and what He has done for us in Christ. It begins with His revelation & redemption.ย โ™ฅ”

steadfast.

/หˆstedหŒfast/  adj.
  a.   to be firm, stable, established.
  b.   firmly fixed in place.
  c.   not subject to change, determined.
I entered into 2019 with the word “steadfast” echoing in my heart and when I read this verse in Psalms it was confirmation. It’s my prayer that the Lord change my heart & make this verse a reality in my life this year.

It can be easy to lose sight of the purpose in the day-in-day-out routine of life. God desires for us to walk into each and every day remembering that there is eternal weight and significance in the good works He has predestined for us (Eph 2:10). Whether it be at home, in your workplace, your church, or your school there is nothing insignificant or without purpose. Today’s culture is constantly telling us to chase entertainment, distraction, and comfort โ€” so the temptation is to become complacent, discouraged, undisciplined, or lazy in our daily routines and habits. In Galatians 6:9, Paul exhorts the believers:

“Let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart.”

What we sow today we will reap in the future, which always leads me to ask myself the question: are the habits, thoughts, choices and routines I’m creating today pushing me towards Christ or away from Him? There are always consequences for our actions & we must be aware of them โ€” not unobservant bystanders!

God’s Word talks so much of the fact that we are soldiers in a spiritual battle: called to be courageous, vigilant, and alert. Just as a soldier prepares, trains, and anticipates warfare; we are called to do the same!

Instead of becoming frantic, confused or paralyzed like the world when things are uncertain or trials and doubts come God desires His children to be confident, steadfast, and abiding in the love & victory that belong to us thru His victory. And while I desire those qualities to characterize my life I know that I frequently fail. The Lord has been challenging me to lean into those hard questions & identifying those areas in my life where I am complacent, allowed compromise, or have settled for lessโ€ฆ

Iโ€™ve read my Bible; but have I sought Him diligently & wholeheartedly?
Iโ€™ve prayed; but have I waited patiently in His presence for His peace? 
Iโ€™ve worshiped; but have I surrendered? 

I know who He has promised to be and believe that He is โ€”but do I believe that He will be that to me?

Thru His Holy Spirit, He has given us all we need to walk in faith and boldness. Like the verse at the beginning of this post says: we do not have to fear bad news! Our hearts can be steadfast, trusting, secure, and fearless because:

“everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the worldโ€”our faith.”
– 1 John 5:4

You were never meant to hide.

But the LORD God called out:
“Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9

โ€” After Adam & Eve sinned in the garden their first reaction was to hideโ€ฆbecause their spirits’ died and they realized their sin & unrighteousness.  They felt the gravity and reality of death: something they had never felt or experienced beforeโ€”they knew nothing would ever be the same. Shame, guilt, & regret plagued them. So they hid. 

But what they thought they could hideโ€”God knew. And as they huddled, dreading the thought of being found, God calls out โ€œWhere are you?โ€ โ€” not because He couldnโ€™t find them, but because He wanted Adam and Eve to know that He was pursuing them. He wasnโ€™t going to leave them. Their sin now separated them from Him and they forfeited being able to enjoy unhindered fellowship with God, but He hadnโ€™t forsaken them.

Do you know that feeling of wanting to be alone, wanting to hide because the weight of condemnation and sin is too heavy โ€” wanting to just disappear because you’re thinking: โ€œIf they only knew.โ€ You’re scared they wonโ€™t accept you or will look at you differently. We’ve all been there. Feeling like we’d rather hide than step into the light and be known…

But you know the freedom that comes when someone calls out: “Where are you?” โ€” God’s voice to Adam and Eve in the garden must’ve brought dread to their hearts and yet I imagine His voice also brought a sense of relief and amazement to their hearts. The fact that God โ€” who is all-knowing โ€” was calling out for them. He was still pursuing. He knew and that didnโ€™t stop Him.

They hid & God called out. 

That’s the whole narrative of the Bible; God’s unrelenting pursuit of sinful and rebellious man and He never-ending desire to save us and restore fellowship. Thatโ€™s the gospel:

When I was without hope, destined to live a life dead in my sin: ashamed, condemned and hiding โ€” God called.

When I thought my world had ended and I had ruined any chance of redemption. When I believed I was too far gone and God could never forgive me… โ€” God called

He called with a voice of love, forgiveness, grace and mercy: “Where are you?” A voice that told me: โ€œI see you. I know where you are and where you’ve been and Iโ€™m here. Let Me lead you out of this place and give you life where there’s been death and light where there’s been darkness.”

His voice is never one of condemnation.

We must come out of hiding &
stop believing that He has given up on us. 

Because we can never hide from His love.

"But when God, who set me apart from my motherโ€™s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach Him ..." - Galatians 1:15-16a
" What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, wonโ€™t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one โ€” for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one โ€” for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at Godโ€™s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christโ€™s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from Godโ€™s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow โ€” not even the powers of hell can separate us from Godโ€™s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below โ€” indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. "
                       - Romans 8:31-39 (NLT)