February 26^th - Jesus Heals a Man of an Incurable Disease

In Luke 5: 12-16 Jesus breaks with the traditional rabbinical rules regarding association with lepers and in a healing process, reaches out and touches a leprous man who deliberately sought him out. Some of us may be guilty of limiting our approachability or our willingness to 'touch' another person because we've set barriers based on race, education, social standing, physical appearance, lifestyle, or those whom society defines as untouchable. Jesus' touch to the untouchables was to provide an up-close and personal glimpse into the very heart of God. When God has changed your life, when it's Jesus who has infected you, it's hard not to want to touch others with that contagious joy.

 March 4^th - A Soldier's Faith Amazes Jesus

Jesus was amazed at the genuine faith of the Roman centurion who sought healing for his servant. The centurion understood authority both from being the authority and being under authority and he trusted Jesus, whose authority always started with a base of acceptance. Many in Jesus' day heard his words of grace and forgiveness and still refused to surrender to the authority and leadership of God. Likewise, today, many refuse to humble themselves to a holy authority. The key to real success in life is to move from reliance on self and our own strength to humility and surrender, which opens our hearts to the work of God. Surrender unleashes God's power and allows him the freedom to direct and correct our lives.

 March 11^th - A Sinful Woman Honors Jesus with Her Tears

Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to a banquet at his home, and then, along with his Pharisee friends, is totally taken aback by Jesus' response to the behavior of an uninvited and 'sinful' woman who wets Jesus' feet with her tears and then pours precious perfume on them. This woman, who accepted forgiveness of her sin, didn't hold back in her mastery of the most important command: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your

soul, with all your strength. We can be like the proud, self-righteous Simon, having no capacity to love because we have no sense of our need for forgiveness; or we can be like the woman, humbling ourselves and surrendering to the leadership and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

 March 18^th - Walk with Jesus

In the life of Bible characters, there is a constant occurrence with many of them. We find out for these people that they "walked with God" or "God was with them." We also can have God with us throughout our day. But it has to be intentional on our part. We call experience his presence in our waking up, or going down at night to sleep, our eating (especially with others, be they believers or seekers), in our waiting and of course, reading the Word. If we are to spend the whole day with Jesus, we need to know that He will be available to us if we take Him with us in everything thing we do.

 March 25^th -  "Here's Your Chance"

To re-arrange our life around a relationship with Jesus means that we are one of His disciples.  In the many things we do, we can become disciples by saying to ourselves, "here's your chance." In our work, we can say here's our chance to work as Jesus might work. We can also say here's our chance to learn how to relax and recreate with Him.  Here's our chance to be with him when we make lifestyle choices. Here's our chance when we develop relationships. If we live our mornings and nights intentionally living with Jesus, it will be the greatest chance we will ever have.