9 JUNE 2017 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS You’re A Priority, Not An Option Someone’s mom is in trouble, someone’s mar- riage is in trouble, someone’s child is in trouble. Someone is overwhelmed with their life right now… carrying a load that they feel like they’re going to drop. It’s a terrible thing to be in trouble, isn’t it? And it’s even worse when you’re in the church, because we make people think that when we’re in the church, we’re not supposed to be in trouble. In Luke 13:10, there was a woman who was in the crowd. Jesus was in the middle of His message, yet He “saw her in the crowd”…and He stopped preach- ing, don’t miss this, it’s significant. She was just a woman in the crowd, but He saw her. The first thing that you need to know, no matter what you’re going through, God sees you. He sees “you”…not who you pretend to be, not who you think you should be, not the worn out person that you’ve become, through years of abuse…He sees “you”. The person He made you to be. He see’s YOU. He sees what nobody else sees. When Jacob laid down with Leah, thinking she was Rachel, and doesn’t know who she is until morning, it’s an accusation against men; to think he can sleep with a women all night and not know who she is until morning. In the morning, he discovered she was not who he thought. Ladies, you can live with, eat with, even sleep with someone who has not seen you. Who’s completely oblivious to your real circumstance, someone who has no idea what your needs are. Living with some- one who has no idea who you are. One of the things that gives us affirmation and assurance is when people look at us. It tells us that we are important. It tells us we are a priority. Nobody had seen this woman in the crowd. She was an anonymous person in the house of the Lord. Nobody had taken time to know her. Most of the people who say they know you, don’t know you at all. The people who brag, “I know her!”…they don’t know you. The Lord saw her. He saw where she was, He saw where she’d been. He saw where she could have been, and He saw where she was going if He didn’t touch her. He saw what happened to her 18 years ago that messed her up today. Whatever He saw was so awesome, that He stopped in the middle of His mes- sage…stopped preaching and saw her. God’s atten- tion is on you because you are a priority. The stigma is that women are supposed to be beautiful…she wasn’t beautiful. She was twisted, she was hunched over in pain, she was marred by her condition, she had low self-esteem from the years of people staring and judging. I grew up in church…and the older I get, the more it occurs to me that most people really don’t want to see people get right. Just act like everything is all right, just dress right, just look right, just worship right, shout when they say shout, give when they say give, and do what they say to do. People want you to think you don’t have to be right, just act right. It bothered Him that this woman wasn’t right. She was twisted and hunched over in pain, it was on her face, it was evident in her body, she was unat- tractive. Ladies…you need to know today, that you are beautiful every stage of your life. Jewelry will never enhance what God has created. You are beautiful… exactly as you are. Your make-up will never make beautiful what God made beautiful. Thank God that Jesus is not afraid to deal with the ugly stuff. He didn’t look at her after she got it together, He looked at her while she was still a mess. He dignified her presence with attention, because in His eyes, she was a priority. He dignified her presence with His attention. In front of all of the people that looked past her, in front of all of the finger-pointers, in front of all of the people that would stare and do nothing…He looked at her. He saw her, He called her. When I was studying this out, it was interesting to me that He would call her, but He didn’t have to call her, to heal her. We’re talking about Jesus, He could have spoke the Word…and healed her. But He took the time to stop, and He called her. Your deliverance or your breakthrough is not guaranteed to be convenient. You may have to make some changes to get what God has for you. You may have to get up. People were pushing their way around her, nobody was helping her, she couldn’t get up, but He called her anyway. You may not run as fast as the lady next to you, but know that God called you. You may not drive what they drive, or live where they live, or wear what they wear, but know, that God called you. You may not have as much going on as they have going on, but you’ve got to understand, He called you. You may be dragging a broken heart, you may be dragging a past life, you may be dragging your bag- gage with you, you may be dragging a divorce, or dragging an abused childhood, or a sexual assault. It may take you longer to get where you’re going, but you’re a priority and He called you! By Michele Leonard INSPIRATION Ladies…you need to know today, that you are beautiful every stage of your life. Continued on Page 10