Laurie Hopkins

The Word of the Lord will never return to Him void.  

It is sent forth with a purpose and its purpose will be fulfilled in the earth.  

Just as the rain and snow go out and water the earth, the Word of the Lord goes forth and accomplishes that which it set out to accomplish.  

What word has the Lord sent out on your behalf?  

What has He shown you in the dark nights, in the quiet hours, in that time you have spent together, just the two of you?  

That word is still going forth. 

It is working its purpose in you and in the earth.  

Don’t be discouraged.  

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways.  

His timing is perfect.  

He sees the whole picture, beginning to end, while we only see the piece we’re moving through. 

2019 will be a year of accomplished words. 

Words that have gone out which have come to fruition in our lives.  

Wait for it!

There were two things that stood out to me this morning when I read this.  

1) The woman with the issue of blood pressed through and pressed in, in order to encounter Jesus.  She went out in public even though she was bleeding (was considered impure) and required to stay inside; she pressed through the crowds in what we can imagine was a weakened condition; and she humbled herself, as she would have had to get close to the ground to reach out and touch the hem/border of Jesus’ garment.  

Sometimes we just need to get to a point where we are willing to press through and press in. 

2) When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem/border of His garment, Jesus knew He had been touched and that power had gone out of Him, despite the fact that He was in the middle of a crowd and being jostled by many.  

But the touch that pressed through and pressed in caused a reaction and Jesus recognized it as the power flowed from Him.  

Jesus knows when we press through and press in and touch the hem/border of His garment.  

Despite the millions of people in the world jostling for His attention even now, when we reach out and touch Him in faith, He knows our very touch.

Are you ready and willing to press through and press in today?  Jesus will recognize and know your very touch as you reach out in faith!

Rest is something that eludes many of us.  

We fill our time with tasks and time moves quickly before us. Even in the night our mind moves in and out and through those things left undone or still to accomplish. 

Jesus offers rest in the midst of our daily lives. 

He offers rest in the midst of our “to do” lists and schedules.  

He offers rest in the midst of our coming and our going.  

When we learn to yoke with Jesus rather than with the world, we will begin to seek and hear His direction for filling up that calendar; what tasks are necessary, what tasks can go and what tasks are negotiable.  

We will learn to manage our time wisely, allowing for those activities that reinvigorate as well as those that take time and energy. 

We will learn to say “no” to those things we can’t manage and “yes” to those things we can truly dedicate ourselves too wholeheartedly.  

Jesus doesn’t require performance or perfectionism.  

He won’t love us any more or any less for that which we “do”.  

As we learn to separate who we are from what we do, we will learn to be who we are and we will grow into who we were created to be.  

Jesus offers rest.  

Won’t you take Him up on this offer this year?