IN SEARCH OF GOOD MEDICINE By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly Scientists and researchers around the world are scrambling to create a vaccine, and to find medications that can effectively treat the COVID-19 virus.  I am not telling you anything new.  Unless you have been living under a rock, you likely know all about it.  Awareness is a good thing.  It can help us to focus our prayers and to respond with wisdom and compassion.  But there is a difference between being aware and marinating ourselves in the negativity.  When we are young we learn to turn off scary movies that give us nightmares.  As adults we can see that too much negativity makes us anxious and evaporates our joy.  Like food, what we take in with our senses either hurts or heals us.  We may think information goes in one ear and out the other, but the truth is that what goes in changes us. We are wise to be selective in what we pay attention to. Because we might gain copious amounts of information, but it c

 HOPE IN THE WILDERNESS By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly We all spend time in the wilderness— seasons of testing when God is quiet and times are tough. We pepper God with questions, but often He is silent, and we can neither see nor hear Him.  If this sounds familiar, I want to assure you that you aren’t alone. Abraham spent time in the wilderness and became the Patriarch of the Jewish people. Moses spent years in the desert and went on to lead God’s chosen people on the Exodus from Egypt. David spent time in the wilderness and later became king. Jacob, Elijah and John the Baptist also spent time in the wilderness and went on to do great and mighty things.  Even Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. He exited victorious and empowered for miracles, the saving of souls and the conquering of sin and death for all mankind for eternity. He became King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It may be unpleasant, alone with snakes with your tongue stuck to the roof of your mo

HISTORY IN THE MAKING By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly Which biblical characters are you looking forward to meeting in Heaven?  After finally seeing the Lord face-to-face, I am going to look for Queen Esther.  As I read her story, I am inspired by her obedience in unprecedented, faith-rattling circumstances.  I want to hear the story behind the story, about how her faith rose up to defeat her fear and doubt. I need faith like that.  We are living in faith-rattling times, too. I suspect when we get to Heaven that while we are looking to find our heroes of the faith, we will also have saints of old who will be looking for us.  They will want to hear about our challenges and the faithfulness of God.   Just as we read biblical history, I believe all of our stories will be recounted in Heaven.  We are characters in modern day his-story —His Story.  We are His workmanship—a beautiful living tapestry of interwoven lives that come together to tell the story of infinite love an

GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly There is a whiteboard in our pantry.  On it there is a note my husband wrote for me probably three years ago.  I can’t bear to erase it.  The words are short and sweet, but they came from his heart and they touch me. It is amazing how powerful words can be.  With them we can bless or curse, heal or hurt, inspire or crush a dream. Recently, I commented on a friend’s article.  Her response to my comment was, “Thank you! You just made my day!”  When I read her response, her happiness made ME happy in return. When we make someone else’s day, in the process we can also make our own. “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” – Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬ We will reap what we sow.  What we pour out on others will eventually come pouring back on us. I Thessalonians 5:11 instructs us: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up...” – ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬. If we are w

 THE DEAD SEA By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly The Dead Sea is dying.  Serial overhead photographs demonstrate what has been suspected for years—one of the lowest and saltiest of places on Earth is drying up. This landlocked body of water is fed by the Jordan River and a scant 2.5 inches of annual rainfall.  Making matters worse, water resources have been diverted from the Jordan River and there is very little outflow from the Sea itself.  As a result, the Dead Sea is so salty, that the only thing able to thrive in its waters is bacteria.  If things remain unchanged, the Dead Sea will one day cease to exist. Our lives can be like the Dead Sea.  When we primarily only receive, but fail to adequately release back out what we have been given, we, too, can become toxic.  Our once flourishing walk can become stagnant and eventually kill the life within it. It has been encouraging lately to see selfless people stepping up to the plate to serve others.  Homemakers and even inmates

THE WAKE By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14 NIV At 17, I remember losing a friend to a fatal car accident.  I sobbed as I realized a life-altering lesson about the brevity and fragility of life, and how many things I should have said while I had the chance, but I didn’t. I learned the enormous risk taken when we hold our, “I love you,” “ I’m sorry,” “Forgive me,” or “I forgive you” for some more convenient date. Major events in life have a tendency to awaken us from life’s slumber. The fog lifts to momentarily allow us to see more clearly about what is really important. Today I was contemplating the meanings of the word, “WAKE”:  a vigil after death, during which people reminisce about a person’s life, or the unsettling of water in the trail behind a boat or ship.  In both, the passing of something causes a stirring and churni

SEVERE MERCY By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck them with a very severe plague.” - Numbers‬ ‭11:33‬ ‭AMP‬‬ The children of Israel were in the desert and unhappy with their circumstances.  So, they prayed and asked God for something besides manna to eat.  He sent quail as meat.  Instead of gratefulness, while the meat was still between their teeth, they grumbled to God.  His goodness to provide was met with whining, grumbling and ungratefulness.  His response was a great plague.   Looking at our current circumstances, I can’t help but wonder if this “plague” is an allowed discipline for the peoples of the earth for ungrateful, rebellious hearts and grumbling lips?  A godly parent does not discipline to harm, but rather out of love, to bring about a change of heart.  Our world is sick.  Perhaps what appears as punishment is actually

DOORPOSTS OF THE HEART “Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.” – Exodus‬ ‭12:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Things are heating up in our world.  A while back, I came across a photograph of a road sign indicating a sharp right turn ahead.  The sign was riddled with gunshot holes, and beneath the image was a caption which read, “Keep right and get shot.”  Thinly-veiled threats were attempting to intimidate and silence those who held a difference of opinion. Intimidation is nothing new.  During  Passover, the children of Israel were instructed to put the blood of an unblemished lamb on the outside of their doorposts and lintel, as a declaration of faith that the Lord would protect and deliver them. It required faith and great courage, as their actions could have been punishable by stoning (Ex 8:26).  It was in that declaration of faith, by the application of blood, that each household was passed over and spa

LIVING STONES By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “As you come to him, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:4-5 NIV At this time of year my gratefulness is always refreshed for having found my way to the cross.  What a comfort and security to know forgiveness.  What a joy to be welcome in His presence. Mixed with these blessings can run a thin vein of sorrow, however.  As His children, we are loved and embraced by the Father, but with that acceptance can come the rejection of man. A heart in dogged pursuit of holiness and obedience, even without a look or single spoken word, can evoke anger, rejection and cruelty by those who still love their sin. The Lord remembers how we are made.  In the garden He said that is was not good for man to be alone.  So He created Eve

A RARE OPPORTUNITY By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly We are living in strange times.  If you are like me, you keep waiting to wake up from this dream.  And the anxiety of the unknown can have us searching for comfort and security in a decidedly uncomfortable season. We all struggle with self-medicating in one form or another—the things we do to soothe ourselves when under stress.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying our blessings.  However, when our dependence upon God and thankfulness for our blessings are exchanged for a dependence upon our blessings and mere thankfulness for God, we lose our peace. Toilet paper runs out, jobs dry up, banks fail and, sadly, people die.  When our trust and dependence are invested in temporary things, our peace, hope and comfort disappear when they do. We have been given a rare opportunity.  This strange intermission is a gift of time to examine and rearrange our hearts—to put things back in their proper places and regain our peace.

CONTRIBUTING TO WORLD PEACE By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly Not too long ago I had an interesting chat with the Lord.  I had gone to the grocery store to pick up my parent's groceries.  As I came out of the door, I could see that the woman parked next to me was struggling to put her walker into her car.  I decided to help her, but before I could get to her, another woman trotted over, and asked her if she could give her a hand. The second woman cheerfully folded up the walker, and said she used to help her mom with things like that, and had loved doing it.  Right about then, I was putting my groceries into my trunk, and I said to the second woman, "That was so thoughtful of you!  What a sweetheart you are!" She thanked me and smiled.  I could see on her face that my words meant something to her.  As she walked away, I heard her whisper to herself, "I'm a sweetheart."  I finished loading the car and got in to drive away, and the Lord asked me, "

INCONVENIENT MIRACLES “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.” – Luke 4:40 The Lord once gave me an assignment to page through scripture, paying close attention to how many times Jesus was interrupted in ministry. He was interrupted a lot! What I realized in the process, was that those annoying interruptions were not pointless encounters, but opportunities for everyday people, like you and me, to cross paths with the divine and receive a miracle. Years ago, a friend’s husband became gravely ill.  I desperately wanted to lay hands on him and pray for him, but I had no way to contact them.  So I asked the Lord for an opportunity to lay hands on his wife and pray for him through her. The following day, I was running errands, and I found myself repeatedly making wrong turns.  Three times I ended up on the freeway, on a route that should not have invo

EVERY BREATH By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly A few days ago we were on our way to the emergency room. My husband drove as I reminded him where our important documents were.  I wasn’t sure that I would be returning home. My asthma had taken a bad turn.  Between my own heavy breathing and the noises of a busy emergency room, the earworm I could tell had been playing in my head since the attack began, was pushed aside.  Once we returned home, I could finally hear the song in my head.  The Father had been singing over me the entire time. The words were from a song by “The Police”: *“Every breath you take And every move you make Every bond you break, Every step you take, I'll be watching you” My Father was with me and watching over me.  He sang over me in my distress.  He saw my choice to trust Him in spite of my fear, and faith broke a bond of fear that had held me back.  When God speaks it is a powerful thing. In Genesis 1:26 God spoke mankind into being. He didn’t

THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly For twenty years I played the role of the woman who was healed from the issue of blood, in our church drama productions.   Considered unclean, she timidly worked her way among the crowds. From bended knee she stretched out her arm to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, and was healed.  Jesus felt power leave Him and said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace.” – Luke 8:48 NIV The anointing oil that was poured out upon Jesus in Mark 14:3-9, poured over His head, and flowed down His beard to collect in the hem of His garment. It is there, in the lowest place, that the greatest anointing can be found. Christ Jesus, our anointed One, calls us to come, bow down, touch the hem of His garment and find, not only salvation, but our purpose and receive an anointing from His fullness. Beloved, in this season of uncertainties do you find yourself desperate—desperate for hope, peace or rescue—a reassuring whisper from God th