I'm lovin' it!

© 2018 Julie Crane All rights reserved

Look at My hands and feet, and see that it's really Me. Touch Me, and see for yourselves. Ghosts don't have flesh and bones, but you can see that I do. - Luke 24:39


My brother was a car salesman. Now put all the car salesman jokes aside. Because my brother had to develop a real skill in relating to people through their senses. Discover their preferred sense in a matter of minutes in order to match them up to a car they would truly enjoy.

A strong sense of sight? "Check out that paint job! And those racing stripes!"
A sense of touch? "Run your fingers across the buttery smooth leather on those seats!"
Sound? "Just hear that engine rev and roar!"(or purr)
And let's not forget that new car smell. And kicking the tires!

These are all ways people experience true enjoyment and appreciation. Buying a car can be an emotional event! Touch! See! How awesome! How perfect!

Isn't that also how we connect with God?
Sight - an awesome sunset, a field of flowers, blue sky with puffy white clouds
Touch - a comfortable sweater, an ice cold drink, a hand reaching out to take hold of yours
Sound - children giggling, waves lapping around your ankles, a gentle rain
What about the smell of coffee in the morning, lilacs and roses, a newborn baby

If you've been wondering where Jesus is - Touch! Taste! See for yourselves.
It is I.

I'm lovin' Him!

Goodness and Mercy

© 2012 Julie Crane All rights reserved

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23:6)

How often, when faced with something unpleasant, uncomfortable, unknown - do you start thinking about the worst that can happen - and how are you going to fix it?

Do your prayers sound like this:
Lord, please protect __________ from this
Lord, please don't let __________ happen
Lord, please stop __________
Lord, what if this ___________
Lord, what if that ___________

Why? Why do we assume the worst? Can we possibly derail that train of thought? Can we really believe more positively that things will turn out just fine - before it happens?

Help is certainly on its way.
This will certainly be resolved.
I can visualize tensions and struggles de-escalating; plans and dreams are coming together, not failing!
What if I fall? What if I fly!
What if it crumbles? What if it takes amazing shape!
What if I die? What if I live!

Satan at work or Jesus claiming victory yet again!
What if we claim Jesus' victories for ourselves - in advance?
The Lord's got this!
He is at work right now.
I can watch and wait - and see the hand of God move - for my benefit and the benefit of others.
Awesome God.
One awesome, present God.
Right here. Right now. In love like we've never seen before.

Goodness and mercy indeed.

Is there a lesson to be learned here? Before we put ourselves through the wringer yet again?

Lord, I know You will never stop being merciful to me. Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe. (Psalm 40:11 GNT)

Surely (adverb) - used to emphasize the speaker's firm belief that what they are saying is true and often their surprise that there is any doubt of this.

God's Word. God says through His servant David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23:6)

What if God's Word is true?
All of my days... all of my times ...

Expected Arrival: Right on time

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago. (Psalm 77:11)

I love running errands in my Bug convertible. But it seems like, more and more, we are ordering things online. For home delivery. We can even track its progress online. With a familiar site, a well-established, often-used site, our worries are minimal. They say three days and based on what we've experienced, it'll be three days.

Now consider the works and wonders of the Lord in your own life. Has God been faithful? Reliable? Has He delivered? How is His track record?

Oh, I remember God delivered Daniel from the lions in the den, parted the Red Sea for Moses, and opened the prison doors for Peter...

But even more so, I remember God delivering me from car troubles in the middle of the night, worries over a son in Afghanistan, carried me though divorce, unemployment, cancer ... and that's just over the last few years. God brought me through all of that and more. He's never failed me.

And here I sit. Sipping coffee.Looking out at a beautiful summer day. Resting in the peace of Christ. When the next trial of life comes, may my heart and mind remember the Lord's track record.

He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19)


How has His track record been for you? Those worries and trials. Those prayers and pleadings from last year, the last ten years - do you even remember all that you asked? Has He delivered you? In His own way. His own timing. Does everything He has done in your past now give you certain hope for today and your future? Have you arrived - to that point where whatever may come at you in this life - you can claim God's faithfulness, steadfast love and power over all?

Expect it from Him.
God is always - right on time.

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He Who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:4)

All of me

© 2018 Julie Crane All rights reserved

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? (1 Corinthians 12:17)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30)


That pretty much covers it, doesn't it? Every aspect of your body... your life,. It's all connected. All meant to stay together. Work in harmony. Continually. God bundled them all up together with His "and ... and ... and ..." Not one without the other.

Your heart's passion does not stand alone. What you spend the most time on affects what you love and do for love.

Your soul's spirit does not stand alone. What you hold reverent and dear affects what you decide is important and how you think and do in love.

Your mind does not stand alone. What you think affects what you love and how you live in love.

And your strength. Your energy. Your power. What you choose to expend it on affects your spirit beyond your loving acts and how you think about loving.

Feed your heart with Godly passions and desires.
Feed your mind with Godly truths.
Feed your soul with Godly mindfulness.
Feed your strength with choices that nourish.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)