THE HIGH ROAD By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah‬ ‭55:8-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ We don’t have to live on this planet very long to see how taking matters into our own hands and using human wisdom can lead to disaster.  One act of evil is countered with another, initiating a long line of falling dominos—each one larger than the last.  It leaves disaster in its wake.  And what appeared to be wisdom at first, leaves everyone in pain and rubbing their wounds. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” We can’t put an end to evil with more of the same, any more than continuing to dig will extract us from a pit.  We need the antidote.  Just as light dispels darkness, peace dispels chaos and love dispel...

LITTLE WHITE LIES By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.” - Psalm 36:3 Every day, it seems, we encounter lies.  Some are clearly bogus.  Others are cleverly disguised, using fear, greed or gossip in an attempt to lure us to spread them. Most of us have received that call from “tech support” offering to fix our computer, or announcing we have won a contest which was never entered.  We have an obligation to investigate these claims and not just take them at face value.  Those downstream from us trust us to be truthful.  And failure to do our due diligence can turn us into unintentional liars. Adam and Eve believed a little lie in the Garden, disastrously changing the course of human history.  The same serpent slithers in our garden, beloved. He designs cunning deceptions that strive to skirt detection, in an attempt to gain a foothold —solicitations, offhand comm...

MORNING:  THE SECRET TO MERCY & JOY By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” – Psalm 30: 5 NIV ‬ “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations‬ ‭3:22-23‬ ‭ESV‬‬ These are two of my favorite scripture passages, because I love the hope they promise.  This morning I was contemplating God’s endless bounty of mercy and joy, and I asked the Lord, “Why do joy and mercy not come as soon as I need them?  Why do You wait until morning to send them?” He responded, “Morning is the secret to mercy and joy.” So, I grabbed my concordance. The word “morning” in both cases has the same root meaning—the coming of dawn, first light, and it relates to the word “kneel.”  It was a lightbulb moment.  It is not saying that we have to wait u...

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly Have you ever worked really hard to change something about yourself, only to revert back to old habits?  If so, you are not alone.  Even the Apostle Paul struggled: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” – Romans 7:15 NIV And the struggle we feel controlling our physical habits, is the same struggle we can feel spiritually. Old habits die hard. We can dye a dogs coat to look like a tiger, and even teach it a couple tiger-like behaviors, but no matter how much we try, it will still do doggish things. That is the nature of the beast. So what is it about those couples who not only can complete one another’s sentences, but they even begin to look land behave like one another?  What causes them to change?  The answer is LOVE and QUALITY TIME TOGETHER. My parents always warned me to be careful about those I spent time with, because, there is a ...

 TAKING HOLD OF PEACE By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." - Revelations 21:4 NLT It is human nature to put high value on what we can see with our eyes.  We cling tightly to what promises joy or fulfillment.  It may sound like a crazy thing to say, but I am grateful for the trials and disappointments in life —not because I enjoy pain, but because I know that they help me to hold on to this world a little less tightly. Only God is solid and unchanging (Heb 13:8).  Everything else in life will shake, decay and pass away.  It is a wonderful thing to enjoy our blessings, but what a horrendous grief it is to have to have our fingers pried off of people and things that are taken away.  The tighter the grip, the more intensified the pain when we later have to let them go. No one can hold a candle to the immeasurable lov...

WHAT REALLY MATTERS By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” ‭– Psalms‬ ‭19:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬ It makes me feel so tiny to consider that we are wrapped in such an expansive blanket of stars.  The enormity of space stretches beyond the bounds of my limited imagination.  I am but a tiny speck—a wisp of vapor—a microscopic, fleeting particle of dust.  It's comforting to know, however, that in the midst of such vast emptiness, that I am never truly alone.  I know my Father.  More importantly, He knows me.  He remembers me.  He remembers you, too.  He is never farther away than our very breath. He has numbered the hairs of our heads and painted every freckle on our cheeks.  He knows our favorite color, what makes us laugh and what brings a tear.  He knows it all—every strength and ever...

BROKEN VESSELS By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ I have come to learn that my infirmities, while unpleasant, are a gift from God that cause me to rely upon Him.  They make clear, that anything of value is the work of God within me, and not me myself. Scanning scripture, apart from Jesus, there are few used more mightily by God than Paul, who had his own thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7).  Even Moses had a speech impediment that he felt disqualified him from speaking on behalf of God. Like Paul and Moses, we too, are mere lumps of earth —broken jars of clay.  And we can falsely believe that our brokenness renders us unusable by God. He is the potter.  We are the clay.  We may feel broken beyond hope, but He has put His Spiri...

  A CUP OF TESTING By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not." - Deuteronomy 8:2 MSG Are you being tested?  God’s people were tested in the wilderness.  So was Jesus.  I used to think that it was the devil who lured us into the desert, but scripture tells us that is was the Spirit of God who led Jesus into the desert to be tested.  The purpose was to prove what Jesus was made of and whether He would be obedient to the Father’s commands. Jesus later prayed in the garden, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” – ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:39‬ ‭NIV‬‬ His anguish poured out as great drops of blood.  On the cross, with the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders, He poured out love and forgiven...

FIGHTING TEMPTATION By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly When life becomes stressful, temptation rears it’s ugly head.  It whispers promises of relief or silencing of tormenting thoughts, if we will just give in to it. If we are without our armor and engage the enemy in a battle of wits, he will attempt to coerce us into taking back the burdens that we have given to the Lord.  He knows that if we do, the temptation will become stronger.   The enemy is crafty, but HALLELUJAH, the Lord has provided a way of escape:  “Cast your cares (burdens) on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” – Psalms‬ ‭55:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Other versions replace “shaken” with “fall, fail or stumble.” What a remarkable exchange.  When we hand our cares to the Lord, He keeps us from falling! Father, we bring to You the burdens that You never intended for us to carry. We admit that without You we are powerless to change.  Lord,...

A BUCKET OF FAITH By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” – Matthew‬ ‭8:26‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Sometimes in the middle of a storm at sea we can become preoccupied with merely surviving.  We bail water with our leaky bucket, and we lose sight of God.  The calm moments in a sea of glass feel like mere seconds compared to lengthy days of bailing water, panic and wondering where God is. Storms reveal our schisms—the hairline cracks between our words and what we truly believe.  They start off as small, but when false beliefs are allowed to persist and aren’t countered with truth —they widen and our faith begins to leak out through the cracks, leaving us empty. The Lord can help to restore our integrity; His Word can bind our words and beliefs together as one. Two thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit inspired scripture to be penned to remind us that w...

HOLY UNFAIRNESS By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly We didn’t have sweets in the house very often in my childhood.  I remember my mom occasionally bringing home a Hostess fruit pie for me to share with my brother.  One of us would cut it in half. Then the other got first pick of the piece they wanted.  You can bet that pie was cut into two even pieces! As humans, we crave balance and “fairness.”  While the desire to fairly cut a pie in two may be clever parenting, expectation of fairness, evenness and symmetry in all relationships is a setup for trouble. When we look at nature, we see that symmetry is not the rule, but rather, the exception. No two snowflakes are the same nor are two trees or mountains the same or symmetrical.  In our bodies, every fingerprint is different, and most of us have a dominant hand, foot and eye. We accept our own imbalances, but grace for unevenness dries up when it comes to others.  In relationship, whether business, frie...

TENDRILS OF DISCONTENTMENT By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” - Philippians 2:14 I used to love ivy.  My old backyard was absolutely gorgeous.  The thick carpet of lawn and the grove of lush trees reminded me of the Garden of Eden.  The first ivy peeked over, and eventually flowed down, the fence from the neighbor’s yard.  With time, the leaves created ground cover and the curly tendrils began to weave their way up into our trees. It’s amazing how time flies when you aren’t paying attention.  I came home one day to find that my once delicate ivy had morphed into a monster.  The wispy ringlets were replaced with heavy, woody branches resembling tree trunks.  They crawled up into our trees, pulling them down, and along with them, our power lines. Ivy covers and eventually chokes the life out of other plants, creating an “ivy desert” where nothing else can grow.  Had I known, I would have eradica...