By Judy Villanueva

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

As I read the story of Bartimaeus I am immediately intrigued by his determination to have an encounter with Jesus…and he doesn’t seem at all self-conscious about begging! I imagine the crowd walking by and he, hearing the commotion, crying out “What’s going on? Someone tell me what’s going on?” And, upon learning that Jesus was coming he yells for mercy! “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Can you picture it? Jesus is coming! Hope is passing by!

Everyone tells him to “shut-up!” “Stop bothering Jesus!” “Be quiet!” “Go away!” Hope discouragers, people who don’t want Jesus bothered with a beggar. I love that despite the rebuke, Bartimaeus shouts all the more! I’m not sure why this both amuses and confronts me, but it does! This man’s desperation and heart to go after Jesus “all the louder” makes me glad for him, but also, sadly aware of my own reluctance to ask for the things I need.

I love that Jesus hears the beggar’s cry and cares! He is not too busy or bothered to notice “hope” crying out for help! And, Bartimaeus is ready for his healing! He throws off his cloak and jumps up the minute he is told that Jesus is calling! “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks. “I want to see.” And, Jesus gives sight to the blind man! I love Jesus!

As I watch Bartimaeus beg, I realize that I am out of touch with the fact that I am the beggar. Or, at least, I feel aware that my condition is no less desperate. I need the love of Jesus! I need His healing touch! I am desperate for His notice and never, never, never want to take for granted that, without Him, I lose the most joyous, beautiful, and blessed thing in my life. Watching Bartimaeus beg humbles me and encourages me in my helplessness…he inspires me to shout all the louder for all the healing and life that is found in Jesus.

“Jesus, I confess my pride and reluctance to know my blindness. Help me to cry out for the help I desperately need. Thank You that You call to me daily and ask me to tell You what I want You to do for me. Thank you that You always see me, always stop for me, and always meet me at my exact place of need. Amen.”

What about you?

Do you need Jesus today? Are you aware of what you need from Jesus?

Are you able to ask for what you need? If not, what keeps you from asking?

What is it you want Jesus to do for you?

This is what Jesus was “saying” to me as I read this passage. What is He saying to you?

By Judy Villanueva

Mark 4:36-40

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Someone very dear to me is in the midst of a storm today. As I pray, I frantically scoop out the water that threatens! “Lord!” I cry out, “Where are you? Don’t you care?” That’s how it feels when the rain pounds, the wind whips, and the water rises. It is truly frightening, not to mention disorienting!

So, what is this faith that Jesus speaks of? Faith in what? For what? That we’ll be rescued? That God won’t let us drown? That He’ll provide shelter from the storm? Anyone who has walked with Jesus for more than a season knows that God allows His children to face storms…big ones and small ones. And, quite honestly, it seems perfectly reasonable to be afraid because it is terrifying to be overtaken by a storm! Much as we pray and scoop out water, it can feel like we are at the mercy of unpredictable winds and a sleeping Savior!

So, how was it that Jesus could lay his head down on a pillow and sleep during the storm? How was He not afraid? What faith did He know?

I think it must have been a faith in Love! Jesus trusted in His Father’s love…completely. He could sleep because His trust wasn’t tied to the storm at all! His peace wasn’t contingent on a “quick fix”, a healing or the calming of a storm, necessarily. Jesus fearlessly trusted in God’s Love! He had faith in God’s power and knew that no storm was a match for God, but there is something else! I wonder… could His calm have had anything to do with the fact that Jesus had nothing to lose? Live or die, was there only One thing He really desired, One thing that mattered to Him, One thing that could possibly have stolen His peace… and One thing He knew could never be taken from Him?!!!

From all eternity Jesus knew the Love of the Father! How could anything else possibly compare??? Think of it! Jesus had existed in perfect union with perfect Love for absolutely forever. He knew this Love could not be shaken by any storm, and THAT is all He NEEDED to know! The boat could sink. He could drown… Or not! It wouldn’t change the one anchoring Truth that the love of God would always be His.

“Father, help me to know Your love like Jesus did! How I want to exist in this life convinced that there is only One thing that really matters, One thing that will calm my fears, and One Love that can never be taken from me. And, when I find myself in the midst of the storm, please oh please, draw near and help me to trust in Your amazing love. Amen.”

How about you?

Are you in the midst of a storm? Are you afraid? Do you feel like God doesn’t care?

Do you know the love God? Do you want to know it more? Ask for more.

As you read this passage, watch Jesus. Be a witness to how God’s love impacted Jesus…His freedom from fear, His peace in the midst of the storm.

God loves you and always will.

By Judy Villanueva

John 5:-2-9

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

Thirty-eight years! What a long, long time to hope for healing…to wait for healing! I can only imagine how utterly powerless this man felt…how hopeless. I wonder if he was so tired of hoping that he had, for the most part, given up on the life he’d dreamed of and yet, there he sat waiting by a pool that promised life.

What a beautiful moment that must have been when Jesus “saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition!” It touches my heart even now as I read it! To be seen and known is the soul’s deepest need! I know it is mine! I would guess that to the local people, he was probably like part of the landscape…day after day, lying by the pool, waiting for the waters to stir. And, we read that not only was there no one to help him get into the pool, but others would step in before him. Yuck!

But, not Jesus! “Do you wish to be well?” An odd question to ask a man who has been ill thirty-eight years unless it’s about more than the question…Unless Jesus was stirring a different pool! Can you hear the words? Stir! Can you picture the look on the man’s face? Someone sees him! Someone cares! Stir! Jesus confronts the sick man’s misplaced hope in a pool of water with a question that I think was meant to stir true hope in the true Healer! And, the man answers by telling Jesus about the obstacles that have kept him from entering the pool, to which Jesus responds, “Get up! Pick up your pallet and walk!” I’m trying to imagine what it would feel like to hear Omnipotence say, “Get up!” or Infinite Love say, “Walk!” And, I wonder what it does to a sick man’s soul to be seen, known, and loved by Jesus…or to my own!

“Jesus, I thank You that you see and know me. You don’t cut in ahead of me and you don’t stand back and watch my suffering. You come to me! Stir up faith and revive a hopeful heart in me. Help me to discern where I’ve misplaced hopes in pools of water and let me hear Omnipotence say ‘Get up!’ and Infinite Love say ‘Walk!’ Amen.”

What about you?

Do you want to be well? Do you need God to stir up hope in you?

Have you been discouraged or worn out by a long time illness, trial, or deferred hope?

What is the object of your hope? Are you looking for the ripples in a pool with no power or at the Omnipotent God?

God sees and knows you. He cares about your life. He is with you in your places of need. He is infinite Love and all-powerful Hope.

By Judy Villanueva

Psalm 42:1-3
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

“It is not your idea, not your understanding, not your thinking, not your reasoning, not even your profession of faith, that here can quench the thirst. The home-sickness goes out after God Himself…It is not the Name of God but God Himself Whom your soul desires and can not do without.” (Abraham Kuyper, To Be Near unto God)

I love when I get a “secret clue”! When I read this, I thought, “Yes! Soul-quenching rest and here is a secret clue as to how to get it!” Ok, I admit that short cuts and “voila, poof, all done” strategies are part of my prayer life. “Just change me, Lord!”, “Just heal her, Lord!”, “Just fix it, Lord!”, “Just do it, Lord!”. I can’t help it…it’s what comes first. But then, in the waiting and in my annoyance that I have to wait, I eventually settle down and look up. I tucker myself out and finally quiet down enough to feel the movement of God urging me to look at Him.

“Child, look at me. Who am I? I am Wonder. I am Beauty. I am Power. I am Goodness. I am Holy. I am Kindness. I am Love. I am the breeze that just blessed you, the colors in all that surrounds you, the laughter that delights you. I am in all and through all. I AM. Ssshhh, quiet down now, you’re ok…come look at Me.” And, as I sit next to the world that God made, I feel Him draw near…as I listen to His still, small voice and sit up straight in full attention…as I look at Him as best I can, there comes a rest and a joy that fills my thirsty soul.

“Abba Father, help me to quiet down, slow down and notice You in, around, and through all of my life today. You are all that I need every day. Help me to want You more than I do! Thank You that you are the one, true ‘Secret Clue’— the Living God that came to quench my thirst and be my place of rest. Amen.”

What about you?

Do you thirst for God?

Do you ever feel an angst or restlessness that you cannot seem to fill? Can you describe it?

Do you need to slow down, quiet down and look at God? What helps you “look at God”?

Do you know that God desires to be your soul-quencher, your place of rest?

Slow down and, as best you can, notice God in, around, and through your life today?

By Judy Villanueva

Do you want to hear God? I do! For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to see and hear God☺ Sometimes, as a kid, I’d sit up alone late at night by the light of the Christmas tree and wait, so hopeful for a peek at God! I’d finally get tired and go to bed disappointed. I prayed hard and studied prayer as a young adult, certain that if I kept at it, I’d find the secret to hearing God. I read the Bible and had the sense that prayer wasn’t meant to be a one-way dialog but, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to tap into the Divine voice. I often felt like Zaccheus hanging out on that branch straining to see Jesus, until one day, the branch collapsed.

Life had gone from charmed to inexplicable. Circumstances had pushed my faith in God to a breaking point where I no longer felt the surety of Him under my feet. Life felt random and I felt hurt and disappointed with God. It was during this season of complete disorientation where God began to teach me how to hear His still, small voice. No longer able to pray and having lost my way spiritually, God began to sneak up on me from behind with tender words of love. I remember, for example, being on a walk one day during this dry season, and becoming aware of a sweet fragrance that seemed to enfold me. It was accompanied by a lovely breeze and before I knew it, I felt a hug from God! These gestures of love would catch me so off-guard that they’d make it into my heart before I could put up any defense against them, and once in, began their work of healing.

My prior concept of the sound of God’s voice included thunder-like encounters where the “boom” of His voice was loud and clear. I supposed that God’s voice might even be audible or at least, obvious. Many Christians, when speaking of hearing God, recount stories of Him telling them this or that in rather clear, definitive terms. My experiences of hearing God were expanding but remained more ordinary and required an openness to “count” impressions and notice when my heart seemed drawn by God to His goodness whether through a song, a person, in nature or a passage of Scripture.

In the years to follow, I began to appreciate how God speaks through ordinary things, like a smile, a Gerber daisy, a rainbow, through beauty, stars, a kindness or even dark chocolate! I had narrowed the sound of His voice to only include the extraordinary, but God started opening my eyes and ears to His divine voice that sings throughout the day and night. God was awakening a kind of “hearing” that helped me feel, smell, taste and see His voice! And, I began to “count” all of it as His voice of love around me.

I believe that God is always speaking and longs to have us hear His voice of Love. My sincere hope is that this blog will invite the reader to his/her own discoveries of hearing God. One of the sweetest places of encountering God, of course, is in His Word and learning to “hear” Him speak in and through the passages of Scripture is a wonder, a joy, and a life-changing encounter!

The format of this blog will normally be a personal reflection on a passage of Scripture and a few questions to help guide the reader into places of pausing, noticing God, and responding to the Word. I don’t know if this will mean anything to anyone, but I pray God uses this blog to help others tune into His magnificent voice of love.