Walk Boldly With Jesus

Self-Control Is Important To Living A Virtuous Life2 Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”Today’s verse came from the Ascension press app. They have a daily devotional, which I never listen to. However, today, the subject is about living with virtue. We don’t really hear much about this in this day and age, so it got my attention. The person who did the devotional was Hudson Byblow. He is a Catholic Speaker from Canada. He talked about how our faith proposes that we strive to live a life of virtue.Hudson drew our attention to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) paragraph 1803, which says, ”Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.I like how this paragraph tells us to focus our thoughts on the things that are honorable, just, pure, lovely, or gracious—anything of excellence or worthy of praise. I also like that the description defines virtue in a way that we can all understand. It says a virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good. Do we have a firm disposition to do good? Do we focus our thoughts on those things that are good, or do we focus our thoughts on the fears and worries of the world? Do we focus our thoughts on those we don’t like and what they are doing wrong instead of focusing on ourselves and everything we could be doing right?The CCC says that when we have virtue, it allows us not only to perform good acts but to give the best of ourselves.The other part about what it says in the CCC is that The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory or spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. This part of what the CCC says ties back into the rest of the verse above.Remember the verse above says, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.” It starts with how we should supplement our faith with virtue, which we just defined. Then is says virtue with knowledge. How can we focus our thoughts on what is good if we don’t know what is good? We need to spend time in God’s Word and learn what is good and what is honorable because the world is telling us to live the opposite of how the Lord wants us to live. We need to seek knowledge if we want to live a virtuous life.Next, it goes on to say, “Knowledge with self-control.” Self-control is a big one. I don’t think we realize how big of an impact self-control has on our lives and our ability to live virtuously. l struggle with self-control. This is interesting to me because a few years ago, I did much better. I think it is always a struggle for us, but at some points in our lives, we do better than at other points in our lives. When I was doing great with self-control, I was listening to a lot of personal development podcasts I was listening to a lot of religious podcasts, and Bible studies. This truly helped me have more self-control. I was listening to people telling me every day that I didn’t need to give into my every whim. They were telling me I could do hard things. They were filling my mind with the truth and the light of God.Lately, I have been filling my time with other things, and I have not been listening to those same podcasts. I have not been in scripture as much as I was, and so it is no wonder I am struggling with self-control. I can really see what this verse is saying about how we need to supplement our knowledge with self-control and our self-control with endurance. I believe the enemy is tricking us all into believing that self-control is not important.I know he whispers in my ear that God doesn’t mind if I eat those cookies or if I drink that soda. He tells me God wants me to be happy. This is true; God does want us to be happy. This is why the enemy’s lies work so well. He tells us things that are half-truths or things that are true but not relevant to the situation. For instance, yes, God wants us to be happy. However, He doesn’t just want us to be happy. He is more concerned with the state of our soul than He is with our happiness. Also, God knows that eating a whole package of cookies and drinking soda all day won’t make us happy. We are searching for something to make us

2 Timothy 1:5-6 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”I was listening to some praise and worship songs this morning and I was looking for one song in particular because I just love it. I couldn’t remember the name but I remembered which playlist it was on, so I searched through and found it. It is called Start a Fire and it is by Unspoken. I love this song so much because I feel like it speaks to my soul. I feel it expresses how I feel so deeply. I love many praise and worship songs for this reason. I find the artists ability to capture how I feel about God and put it into words is remarkable. This is why I love listening to Christian music so much. I will hear a song and find myself nodding my head and saying, yes, that is exactly it. Sometimes I didn’t even know that was how I felt, I just couldn’t put words to it but as soon as I heard them I knew it was true. I want to share the words of this song with you:This world can be cold and bitterFeels like we're in the dead of winterWaiting on something betterBut am I really gonna hide forever?Over and over againI hear Your voice in my headLet Your light shine, let Your light shine for all to seeStart a fire in my soulFan the flame and make it growSo there's no doubt or denyingLet it burn so brightlyThat everyone around can seeThat it's You, that it's You that we needStart a fire in meYou only need a spark to start a whole blazeIt only takes a little faithLet it start right here in this citySo these old walls will never be the sameOver and over againI hear Your voice in my headThey need to knowI need to goSpirit won't You fall on my heart nowYou are the fire, You are the flameYou are the light on the darkest dayWe have the hope, we bear Your nameWe carry the news that You have come to saveOnly You can save There are so many things I love about this song. I love the part where it says over and over again I hear your voice in my head, let you light shine, let your light shine for all to see. I feel God is telling all of this. He wants us to let our light shine. It even says in the Bible, don’t hide your light under a bushel, put it on the table for all to see. I love the part where it says, am I really going to hide forever? As if we can hide from God. He sees us, He sees all of us and guess what, He loves us, just as we are. I love the part where it says, “Start a fire in my soul. Fan the flames and make it grow so there’s not doubt or denying. Let it burn so brightly that everyone around you can see that it’s you, that its you that we need.” This is what God wants from us. He wants His light to shine so brightly in us that everyone can see it. He wants us to be a reflection of Him and to pass His light on to others. This is my prayer for each one of you listening. I pray God starts a fire in your soul. Actually I pray He fans the flames on the fire He has already started. You would not be listening to this podcast if there wasn’t already a fire in your soul. I also love the part that says, “You are the fire, You are the flame, You are the light on the darkest day.” This is so true. I hope you know that. I hope you know that God is that fire you feel inside, He is the flame. God is the light on the darkest day. Your darkest day, that one where you felt alone, that one where you feel sad, mad, angry, or depressed. God is there and He is your light. He will light a way where you didn’t think there was one. The verse above starts by saying, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” I met with some of the ladies in my prayer group yesterday to review what we had learned at a recently attended conference. During the conversation we started talking about the faith that was passed down to us from our parents, who received it from their parents. Your faith came from some where and I think we underestimate how important it is that our parents passed our faith down to us. Maybe some of you listening didn’t have that. Maybe you found your faith on your own. Well, maybe God led you to your faith in another way. That is great if you were able to find your faith despite the lack of faith in your childhood. For those of you that grew up going to church, I would like you to take a minute to appreciate how great that is. Maybe you didn’t appreciate it at the time because, let’s be honest, most kids don’t enjoy the fact that their parents made them go to church. However, if you look back now, can you see what a gift that was? Can you see how your parents were giving you a firm foundation on which you can rely for the rest of your lives. I really don’t know if I would have made it through I made it through if I didn’t have my faith, if I didn

Jesus leaves the 99 (replay)Matthew 4:1-11 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.Have you ever had a time like this? A time where you felt like the Devil was right there by your side attacking you? Did you know what to say? Did you know what to do? I remember reading this and wishing that I knew scripture as well as Jesus did. I wished I knew the right thing to say when the devil comes to tell me the lies. That is what he is known for after all. Satan is the father of lies. Usually they are not bold face lies. Usually they have some sliver of truth that is twisted to make you question something. But in this passage Jesus was not deterred from his faith. He did not get drawn into a debate, defending himself, or His God. He simply quoted scripture to the enemy. This is one reason why it is helpful to read the Word of God everyday. The more we read God’s word the more we will know what to say to defend ourselves from the enemy. There are many reasons to read the word of God. Another one would be so that we know how God wants us to live. The Bible is full of stories, parables and laws that can help us govern how to live. Knowledge is power and if we know how God wants us to live, we can try to live in an upright manner. We can do our best to please Him. God does so much for us. The least we can do is try to obey his rules. We can try to live in a manner that honors Him and makes Him proud.Do you struggle with this, with living in a way that honors God and makes Him proud? I know I do. I often think of the passage from St. Paul in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” If St. Paul, who did amazing things for Christ struggled to live a holy life, then I think it is understandable that we may struggle at times as well. However, remembering this passages and turning over our struggle to God can help us struggle a little less. When we are struggling we need only repent and turn back to God. God does not need us to be perfect, nor does he expect it. God knows every step you are going to take before you take it. Nothing you do is a surprise to Him. He is our creator, He is the creator of all things. He knows how your story ends before it even starts. He can see all the roads you will go down. He knows the windy road that is your life. And you know what? He loves you anyway. He loves you even though you are not perfect. He loves you even though you will turn away from Him from time to time. Maybe you have turned away from him a long time ago and have not come back yet. Guess what? He loves you anyway! And He is ready for you to turn back to him. When you do, he will rejoice and celebrate. He won’t be thinking of all the things you did in the past. He won’t be holding your past sins against you. Once you repent and turn back to the Lord, He will rejoice that His son or daughter has returned home and He will welcome you with open arms. That is just one of the many amazing things about your Lord. He is filled with so much mercy and so much grace. He knows all of our flaws, all of our mistakes and yet He still loves us, flaws and all. There is nothing that you can do that is unredeemable in the Lord’s eyes. I know people who don’t understand how valuable they are in the Lord’s eyes. They feel that because of their sins they are worth less than others. Or, maybe they feel they are worthless. If you are one of these people that is struggling with your self worth in God’s eyes, I ask you to picture that you have 2 pennies in your hand, one of them is shiny and new and the other one is old, dirty, and looks like it has been found in the gutter. What is the value of each penny? Is the penny that looks shiny and new worth more than the penny that is old and dirty? No, they are both worth the same. This is the same with God’s love. You are not worth less because you have made mistakes, made bad choices,

Damian Stayne's Website with Testimony videos Click Herehttp://www.coretlumenchristi.org/videos.php#We have all seen God working in our lives, however, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at [email protected] or just click here. It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday. Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Great Is The Lord, and Greatly to Be PraisedPsalm 145:1-3 “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.”This is a great verse. I think if you know me at all by now, you know that I love to praise the Lord. I think He is truly amazing and I think it is so important to tell Him that. Our Lord does so much for us every day. He gives us so much mercy and so much grace. He forgives us again and again, even though we don’t really deserve it. His love is unconditional and unending. How many people can you say that about? He performs miracles for us, just to make us happy. He doesn’t need anything from us in return. Again, how many people can you say that about? How many people do you know that will do things for you without expecting anything in return? I hope you do know at least one, because there are people out there like that, but they are certainly not the majority. This is why I love praising the Lord so much. There is little that we can give God to repay Him. There is nothing He needs from us. He is complete and totally perfect just as He is. Even though He doesn’t need anything from us, He does like when we praise Him. Praising the Lord is something that costs us nothing but our time and is easy to do. Once you start to incorporate praising the Lord into your daily routine, you will wonder why you weren’t always doing it. It feels so good to say thank you to God for all that He does for us. The more you praise Him the more you realize how amazing He truly is. When I attended a Life in the Spirit seminar, they gave us praise sheets so that we could participate in the praise part of the meetings. You do not need a praise sheet to praise the Lord. There is no right or wrong way to do it. However, if you are new to praising the Lord, it may feel intimidating, especially if you are in a room full of people that have been doing it for a long time. If this is your first time intentionally praising the Lord it may feel strange. That’s normal, just keep doing it. If you are like me and most people who have never really spent time praising the Lord before, you are not really sure what to say. I understand this. I had no idea what to say at first and even though I have been doing it at least every Thursday for the last 3 years or so, I still use the praise sheet. I like the things that are written on the sheet. I do praise on my own, with my own words at home sometimes, but I really like using the sheet. Here are some of the things that are on the praise sheet I was given.Praise you our Lord and our God, Praise your holy name, we rejoice in your presence oh Lord, Jesus you are my strength, Jesus you are my rock, Jesus you are my fortress, Jesus you are my deliver, Jesus you are my refuge, Jesus you are my shield, Jesus you are my strong hold, Jesus you are my salvation, Jesus you are my healer, Jesus you are my teacher, Jesus you are my savior, Jesus you are my advocate, Jesus you are the great amen, Jesus you are the author of life, Jesus you are the beginning in the end, Jesus you are the blessed and only ruler, Jesus you are the breath of life, Jesus you are the captain of salvation, Jesus you are the good shepherd, Jesus you are the healer, Jesus you are hope and glory.You are the Messiah, you are the fountain of life, you are the vine keep us attached to you Lord, you are the holy one of Israel, you are the Christ, the power and wisdom of God, you are the Lamb who was slain you are the word made flesh, you are the holy one who sits up on the throne, you are the living word, you are emmanuel, you are the son of God, you set my feet are dancing, you are truth, you are loved, you are power, you are wisdom, you are the faithful one, you are our redeemer, you are the great “I AM” The list goes on, but those are several examples of the kinds of things you would find on a praise sheet. There is a great little book called “Opening The Gates of Praise” by Father John M. Capuci. The reason I say little book is because it is just 38 pages long. However, in this book Father talks about five things. First, why we praise. Second, what are our obstacles to praise. Third, ways to praise. Fourth, how to develop a spirit of praise. Fifth, He takes you through the steps so you can write out your own string of praise. This was a great book for explaining praise. In this book Father has 10 great reasons why we should praise God. I am not going to read them all to you as it is not my book, it is his. I will list a few that you may find surprising. One that I didn’t know is that praise breaks down the walls that are barriers to God’s grace. Father Capuci says, “When we praise, the walls of arrogance, self-hatred and low self-esteem begin to be broken down. God begins the healing process in us as we go before Him, praising His most awesome power!” Another reason we s

“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love”Jeremiah 31:3 “ the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”God loves us with an everlasting love. Did you know that? Did you know that there is nothing you can do to lose God’s love? Sometimes I know that we feel unlovable. Sometimes that’s after we have done something that we feel is wrong and sometimes that’s after someone else has done or said something to us. However, God never stops loving us. He loved us before we were even born and His love is everlasting, it never goes away. I remember hearing a story once, I think it might have been Jeff Cavins, in the Great Adventure Bible Story, but I am not sure. Anyway, whoever was telling the story was talking about how God does not need anything from us. This was vastly different from the other Gods at the time. The other Gods got more power the more people worshipped them. They were almost fighting for people to worship them. Some of them even required human child sacrifices. However, our God was completely self sufficient and did not need anything from us. I remember the person saying that this is the reason that some people turned from those other God’s to our God, the one true God. They turned to God because of His everlasting love. They turned to God because He loved them just for who they were. They did not need to do anything to earn that love. That love was just there. This was something they had not experienced before. The next line in the verse is also an important line. “Therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” This is important because God is always faithful to His word. This is something we talked a lot about last week but I think it is important to touch on it again as it is amazing. I think sometimes we may think that God stops loving us when we sin in some way. Or that he stops answering our prayers when we have sinned against Him. However, this verse dispels that belief. God continues His faithfulness to us, even when we mess up. Look how many times He was faithful to the Israelites after they messed up. In Matthew 18:21-22 it says, “Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” If Jesus is telling us to forgive seventy-seven time, then how much more will our father in heaven forgive us?There is a song called “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury. It is a great song about how amazing God’s love is. The song first talks about how good God has been to him. The chorus says, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99. And I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still You give yourself away” When he mentions leaves the 99 is talking about Matthew 18:12-14 when Jesus tells the parable, “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” God does not want to lose any of his sheep. He will not stop looking for us when we are lost. He will not stop loving us and hoping that we turn back to Him. Then the song goes on to say, “When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me. You have been so, so good to me. When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me. You have been so, so kind to me” This is so true, when we have sinned and pulled away from God, or fractured our relationship with Him, He is still fighting for us and still loving us. When we don’t feel worthy, God is still there doing all He can for us. This last part of the song is my favorite and it is a part I think we all need to hear because it the truth. “There's no shadow You won't light up, mountain You won't climb up, coming after me. There’s no wall You won't kick down, lie You won't tear down, coming after me.” There is nothing that God won’t do to chase after His children to try and save them. He gave His only son on the cross for us. There is nothing hidden in the darkness that will prevent him from finding you. There’s no wall He won’t kick down and lie He won’t tear down. I think I like that part the best because when I think of it I think of a father searching everywhere for his child. Have you even seen the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson? In the movie Liam Neeson is a father who’s daughter goes to Europe on vacation with a friend. However, in the movie his daughter is taken by sex traffickers. She calls her dad when she sees someone breaking into the house. Liam is some type of government spy in the movie and he stops at nothing to get his daughter back. He does whatever i

We All Stand On The Same Ground Before GodEphesians 3:4-6 “As you read over what I have written to you, you’ll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone across the board.”I really liked this verse when I read it in the Passion Translation, and then I read it in this Message Translation, and I felt like it expressed it in a way we could all understand. Let me read you the passion translations. “So that whenever you read it, you will be able to understand my revelation and insight into my secret mystery of the Messiah. There has never been a generation that has been given a detailed understanding of this glorious and divine mystery until now. He kept it a secret until this generation. God is revealing it only now to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit. Here’s the secret: The gospel of grace has made you, non-Jewish believers, into coheirs of his promise through your union with him. And you have now become members of his body—one with the anointed!When I first read it I was wondering what the secret was. I was wondering if I knew the secret. They when I read that the secret is that we are all coheirs to the promises through union with Jesus it got me thinking. I don’t think we do all know that. This is why I like the message translation. It says, “The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone across the board.”What great news that is, especially for those of us who have loved ones that don’t know Jesus. Doesn’t it give you a bit more hope to know that even those who have never heard of God and those of us who have all stand on the same ground? Before the apostles it was believed that the Jewish people were God’s people and the rest were not. Then Jesus came to reveal that God’s wants all His children saved, not just one group of them. What I love about God is that He truly loves us all equally. He loves the sinner just as much as He loves the Saint. He loves those who don’t know Him just as much as He loves those who visit Him in church each and every day.This is hard for us to wrap our heads around. We like to think that we are special because we go to church, we pray daily, and we do all the things we think God is calling us to do. We believe that this makes God love us more. One of the most freeing things I have learned is that there isn’t anything I can do to make God love me any more or any less than He already does. God doesn’t love me more because I go to church or because I spend time with Him each day. He doesn’t love me less because I eat too many cookies and sometimes choose to watch TV instead of spending time with Him. God loves our children who don’t go to church just as much as He loves us. This can be very freeing if we let it. This means we don’t have to strive to earn God’s love. We can rest in the fact that no matter what we do, God will still love us just as much as He did before we were born.Another thing we tend to think is that God favors some people more than others. For instance, if we need prayers for something important, we all have that one or two people we will ask because we feel their prayers go straight to heaven. We feel their prayers are more powerful. Yet, we all have the same Holy Spirit living inside of us, and so we all have the same power living inside of us. The people we go to for prayer do not have more power to pray than you do. What they have is the confidence to go to God and ask for what they need. They have faith that God answers their prayers, and they have this because of the fact that they keep going to God and asking Him. We tend to think their prayers are answered because of how holy they are. I have heard testimonies of people who are brand new to the faith and yet obediently prayed over someone when asked and they were healed.One instance was when a woman had breast cancer. She was at an Easter Vigil mass where the RCIA candidates were being confirmed. She felt like the Lord told her to get prayed over by one of the people who were just confirmed. She waited until after mass and then went up to a young woman, newly baptized into the faith, and asked her to pray for her healing of the breast cancer. She was cured right then and there. Another one was at an Encounter Ministries conference. This woman had stage four cance

Today’s witness is a friend, Bruce & his wife, Alice, whom I met through email back in November of 2023. The Holy Spirit led Bruce to my podcast, and as he listened, he heard the call for people to share their stories, and he decided to do a Witness Wednesday. His first witness is episode #619. If you haven’t heard it, I invite you to listen to it today. It is really good. Bruce has made a career for the past thirty years as a head scenic artist, art director, and designer in the professional theatre business. For the past five years, he has also had a studio on James St. N., where he produced his own artwork. He is known and loved by many in the community for his work teaching the PMC art class for over a decade, as well as a more recent class for seniors at the YWCA. In the first witness, Bruce talks about how he lost his sight sort of gradually, and then he went to a healing service and was healed. However, in the morning, he could no longer see again. After hearing his witness, I asked Bruce if I could pray over him. He said yes, and I called him and his wife and prayed with them. His sight was not restored, but he felt encouraged by the Lord. I continued to pray for Bruce, and we kept in touch.Several months later, while talking to the Lord, I felt like the Lord told me it was time to pray for Bruce again. I had prayed that the Lord be with Bruce as he was frustrated and confused. I heard the Lord tell me that He would heal him, both his eyesight and his Spirit. He said that Bruce would have a personal encounter with Jesus, and then He would heal him, and He would go on to use his painting to bring God’s love to others. I asked the Lord if He could give me a word of knowledge, anything I could share with Bruce and Alice to build their faith. I heard that Bruce would wear blue pants and a red shirt.The Lord went on to tell me about what Bruce could do if he gained his sight back and then lost it like the last time. The Lord told me several things to tell Bruce to help put his mind at ease that this wouldn't happen again, yet if it did, what Bruce could do to get it back. I shared all of that with Bruce, and he was very encouraged. Below is His testimony as to what happened the night that I prayed over him for healing. In March, Alice and I were on an evening phone call with Catherine. Previous to this call, a week or so earlier, I asked the Lord if there was any information or help he could reveal to me as I was feeling somewhat stuck spiritually. I asked for something from scripture, a word of help, or knowledge from someone. I would then be open to receiving something in the near future. Within a few days, I received an email from Catherine in which she said she had received some knowledge to pass along to me. God had told her that I would have an encounter with Him regarding my healing. He also told her what color I would be wearing as a means of verifying the truth of this knowledge. We agreed to have a follow-up phone call. My immediate thought was to wear a red tartan shirt during the phone call, but I changed my mind because I second-guessed that God would not choose such a shirt. I went with a green shirt instead. On the phone Catherine said " red" and I explained my change of mind to her. I should have trusted my first choice. We then prayed. Catherine called on the presence of Jesus. Alice and I were sitting in our living room. I felt a change in the atmosphere in the room. I knew Jesus was there in spirit, and I had a sense that He was in front of me. Catherine's praying faded away as I entered a meditated state. I sensed someone sitting beside me. I leaned my head and shoulder into this presence beside me. It felt like a cloak around me. I was overwhelmed by a feeling of peace and love and felt like I was leaning into the safest place of all. It seemed to last for several minutes before it faded, leaving me in a state of joy. Although God did not speak to me audibly, He gave me great assurance of faith and presence with me. No, I was not healed of my blindness, but I have learned in faith to continue believing for healing with hope in the Lord. It is important for us to remember that God's ways and time are not the same as ours. I have been so blessed by these demonstrations of faith and love, which God gives me just when they are needed. I wish this to be everyone's experience as well. Wasn’t that an amazing witness? Imagine having the presence of Jesus sitting right next to you. Imagine being able to lay your head on His shoulder. I remember Bruce saying it was such an amazing experience that he didn’t want to move. He just wanted to sit right where he was. I was very happy for Bruce as he told me that he had always longed to have this sort of experience with the Lord. He knows God is always around, but he longed to feel his presence or to see him as others had. Tonight, that dream came true.I am going to be honest with you. As happy as I was for Bruce, I was also disappointed. I truly fel

Miracles Do Happen!Joshua 3:13 “When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a single heap.”This is a story that I don’t remember from the Bible. I have gone through the Bible in a year twice with Father Mike, so I am sure I have heard it; I don’t remember it, so I thought we would take a look at it today especially because I know a lot of people who need some reassurance that miracles do happen. God will take care of you no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. God is not surprised you are in these circumstances. He knew you would be in them, and He has prepared you for them. He has a plan to help you through them. Trust Him.This verse is taking place when Joshua is trying to get the Isrealites to cross the Jordon River to go into the promised land. Let me read to you this part of the story so you can see how it all unfolded. Remember Moses led the people out of Egypt but was not able to live to lead them into the promised land. This was left to Joshua as He was faithful and trusted God could conquer the people who occupied that land currently. I will read you Joshua 3:7-17 “Then the Lord said to Joshua: Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, “When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, there take your stand.” So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God.” He continued: “By this you will know that there is a living God in your midst: he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will cross the Jordan before you. Now choose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a single heap.”The people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. When those bearing the ark came to the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were immersed in the waters of the Jordan—which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest— the waters flowing from upstream halted, standing up in a single heap for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the Jordan riverbed while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the whole nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan.”Wow, the Israelites crossed on dry ground again! Remember, these are the ancestors of those who crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. These people were not actually there, but I am sure they heard all about it. So, why do you think God needed to show them again? Why do you think God parted the Jordan River for them to cross? It says above that it was to show the people that God was with Joshua the same way that He was with Moses. This miracle, like many others, is a testament to the power and faithfulness of our God. It amazes me how often we can see signs and wonders and yet still doubt the Lord will come through. The Israelites had seen miracle after miracle while they were in the desert. Their food miraculously showed up each morning. When they complained about not having meat to eat, Quail miraculously showed up. They walked across the Red Sea on dry land, and this is to name a few of the big ones.So, why would they need to see another miracle? I think it is because we sometimes think it is the person doing the miracle instead of God doing the miracle through those people. God knew the Israelites knew God was with Moses because He was the face of most of the miracles they had received. However, God also knew they weren’t sure if God was with Joshua. He was young and new to leading them. God understood that these people would need a sign to show them that He was with Joshua.How many times have we been like this? How many times has God called us to cross our own Jordan Rivers, and we have been hesitant because we don’t know that He is with us? How many times has He given us a sign, and yet we require another one? If we look back upon our lives, I bet we can all see how the Lord has been right here with us in each of the hard times. If we can see this, why do we still doubt He will be with us in this hard time? I am sure we have all seen miracles in our lives. If we haven’t, then we are not looking hard enough because the Lord is

A Spirit of SonshipActs 1:8 “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Yesterday was Pentecost. I have often thought about It and what it would have been like to be in that upper room. Whenever I prayed the glorious mysteries of the rosary, I would ask the Lord for my own Pentecost. I can’t imagine being that overcome by the Holy Spirit. I can’t even imagine the excitement in that room and then spilling out of that room to all those they talked to. I do know I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me. I have definitely seen it working through me. I have seen it give me boldness when I needed it. Often I wish I had more boldness. I wish I could say and do all the things I want to do without my insecurities getting in the way. I will keep praying and asking for more, and I know the Lord will provide exactly the right amount of courage that I need to do what He has called me to do.This morning I want to talk with you about something I just learned yesterday. In his homily yesterday, the priest explained the difference between the Holy Spirit of the New Testament and the Holy Spirit of the Old Testament. I thought this was really interesting because I knew the Holy Spirit was around in the Old Testament, and I thought some people were filled with it, but then I wasn’t sure. I wondered how the prophets could know what they knew without the Holy Spirit. But I also knew the Holy Spirit didn’t come upon all of us until Pentecost. It was confusing, and I never really understood it. So, in case you are like me, I thought I would give you the explanation the priest gave at mass yesterday as it was a great explanation. I will do my best to relay His message.The priest explained that it was a Spirit of Assignment or a Spirit of Function in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, it is a Spirit of Sonship. He meant that in the Old Testament, everyone was not filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was reserved for a select few people, such as the prophets who were spreading God’s messages. Those who were in charge of leading the Lord’s people, such as the kings and the judges. The Lord would give the Spirit to some people, and then He would also take it away. For instance, 1 Samuel 16:14 says, “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.”Everyone wasn’t blessed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was only given to some; if they misused their power, it would be taken away. This is why in Psalm 51:13, King David says, “Do not drive me from before your face, nor take from me your Holy Spirit.” David is aware that He is who He is because of the Spirit of God. He knows without that, He would be nothing. He would not be an effective king or an effective warrior; he wouldn’t be able to do anything without the Holy Spirit within him.In the New Testament, Jesus died on the cross for us. He took our sins to the cross, and there, He restored our relationship with the Father. Now we are adopted sons and daughters of God. When Jesus went to Heaven to be with Father, Jesus asked His Dad to send us the Holy Spirit, the advocate. An advocate pleads another's cause and helps another by defending or comforting him. Can you see why we would need this? Can you see what the apostles would need the Spirit? They were being sent out. Actually, we are all being sent out to proclaim Jesus to all those we meet. Can you see why we might need help defending our case?The Holy Spirit emboldened the apostles. They were hiding in a locked upper room when the Holy Spirit came to them. They were afraid and unsure of what to do or say. They were afraid their lives would end just as our Lord’s life ended. Yet, after the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were not afraid of anything. They boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus. The Holy Spirit not only gave them boldness, but they were able to speak in languages so everyone could understand them. They could do signs and wonders. They were given all the tools they needed to do the task the Lord gave them.You and I, my friend, have this same Holy Spirit living inside of you—the same one Jesus has, the same one the apostles had, the same one that raised Jesus from the dead. It still boggles my mind when I try to wrap my head around it, but it is true. What can we do with this Holy Spirit living inside of us? I think a better question is, “What can’t we do?” The answer to that is nothing. There isn’t anything we can’t do when we rely on the Holy Spirit living inside of us. If you want the Holy boldness the apostles had, ask for it, and the Lord will give it to you.Right now, I am asking for the gift of being able to speak Spanish so others will understand me. Actually, when I think about it, He was probably giving it to me because I was doing really well with Duolingo. But then I stopped. Whatever gift you are looking for from the L

Don’t Change! Become!Today, I felt led to start with this poem I read the other day because it beautifully demonstrates that we don’t always understand what God is doing. We think we are a mess, we feel like we are falling apart, we feel like God has abandoned us, and yet God is ALWAYS right there in the middle of it all! He knows exactly what He is doing and wants us to trust Him in the process. This poem gives us some insight into that process. I feel it makes it a little easier to trust when we have a bit of understanding. This conversation is between someone and God.Me: Hey God.God: Hello.....Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?God: I would rather not.Me: Why?God: Because you aren't a puzzle.Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go. Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it. Me: There goes another piece.God: Yep. Let it be. Me: So ... I'm not broken?God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!~Author John Roedel I know many of you are struggling right now. Whether it is with health issues, money issues, or in the process of losing old friends and making new friends, I think this poem shows us that God can use these hard times to help us step into the person we are meant to be. The person He knows we are capable of being. There are several things I love about this poem. The first is the gentleness of God. He is so good. I think this poem demonstrates the love that God has for us. He didn't say no when she asked if God would put her back together. He said He would rather not. He then went on to explain why He felt that way. Notice how He didn’t get short with her. He didn’t seem irritated or annoyed with her. We often imagine God feels that way about us. We tell ourselves that He is tired of us coming and asking the same thing. We imagine He wondering why we can’t seem to get it together already. If we are honest, we have felt that way about our loved ones before. God is not us. He doesn’t have to wonder why we can’t get it together. He knows. He made us. He knows everything we have ever done and everything we will ever do.I also love that God doesn’t tell her never again to pick up the pieces that fell off. He tells her to take some time and decide whether she needs them. Maybe you are going through this shedding process right now. Maybe you are losing friends, workers, loved ones, or even material things. God isn’t telling you that they are gone forever. He is saying take some time and see if you need them. Do they bring joy into your life? Do they make you a better person? Do they help you grow closer to the Lord? Are they helping you on your journey to heaven?If the answer to some of these questions are yes, maybe you can pick them back up again. Take the time to ask questions. Pay attention to the answers. Don’t pick them back up again because it is hard without them. Don’t pick them up again because it is easier with them or you miss them. It is normal to want to. When you are tempted to pick back up the ones that are not good for you, remember what the poem said, “What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.The last part that I want to draw your attention to is what the poem says about changing. Listen to that part again. “Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?

Waiting At Wisdom's DoorwayProverbs 8:34-35 “If you wait at wisdom’s doorway, longing to hear a word for every day, joy will break forth within you as you listen for what I’ll say. For the fountain of life pours into you every time that you find me, and this is the secret of growing in the delight and the favor of the Lord.”Man, I really love the Passion Translation of the Bible. It really speaks to me. If we are paying attention, God will highlight things for us. This is something I didn’t really know much about until I went through this Encounter Ministries class. I can look back on my life and see that He was doing it all throughout my life. I just didn’t realize it. I didn’t know it was Him drawing my attention to things. When the Holy Spirit highlights things for you, it just means that He brings them to your attention. For instance, we could both be watching the same movie, and yet different things might stick out to you and other things to me.I was surprised last year when a few of my fellow Encounter students and I got together after the conference to compare notes and talk about what we had learned. Listening to the ladies explain what stood out the most to them was interesting. It was as if I hadn’t even been to the talks they were discussing. Some of the things they felt were most impactful weren’t even in my notes, and the most impactful to me weren’t in their notes. I love how God does that. He can have an auditorium full of thousands of people and speak to each of us individually. He can speak right into our current situation. It is so amazing.The Lord has been highlighting wisdom for me lately and how I need to be asking and searching for it more. We had two speakers in Encounter, and they were both amazing, and they taught us so many good things. Yet, I remember most when they said to keep asking God for wisdom. God has also been highlighting the Saints to me. I feel as though I need to read so many books so I can gain more wisdom. The Lord tells me to come to Him, and He will give me wisdom. He points to our Saints like Thérèse of Lisieux and Saint Catherine of Sienna. Both of these saints were doctors of the church, and yet they did not have a lot of formal education.What they did have, was an amazing relationship with the Lord. They had an intimate relationship where they spent a lot of time in solitude with Him. I think this is what the Lord is calling me to, more time in solitude with Him. Yet, I don’t think this is just a call for me. I think He may be highlighting this for me so that I can share it with you too! Even yesterday in Witness Wednesday, the thing that was highlighted for me was when she said she is trying to get her knowledge for the Bible and not the world, social media, or personal development books.Now, don’t get me wrong. I love personal development books. I have read most of them and probably almost all the parenting books ever invented. Personal Development and self-help books can be amazing and really helpful. I am not saying you shouldn’t read them. However, the Lord told me several years ago that I was relying on those books more than on Him. I would bring my problems to Him, ask Him for help, and then go try to solve the problem myself. What God was calling me to do was spend more time with Him. He wanted me and still wants me to come to Him with my problem and then actually sit and listen to what He thinks I should do.I say He still wants me because I struggle with this, and maybe you do too. I struggle with listening to the Lord. I have been intentionally doing this for over 4 years now, so I am getting better at hearing Him, but I am not sure if I am better at listening to Him. I am grateful I can hear when God is talking to me. I am grateful I write down what He says so I can go back and look at it. Yet, I struggle with actually doing what He asks me to do, which is crazy to me because He has such good ideas, and they are solutions to problems I want solved. So, why don’t I do the things?This is why I love the famous verse from St. Paul in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” This is so true. I am not sure a truer thing has ever been said. I ask God what I should do, and then He actually tells me, and then I don’t do it. It amazes me every time I look back at my prayer journal and highlight things that God told me to do that I still haven’t done. These are not difficult things to do either. For instance, spraying holy water in my kids’ room while they are in school and blessing their rooms. I went to the store and bought the spray bottle months ago. Then I went to the church and filled it with Holy water a month or two after that. It has been sitting on top of my filing cabinet in my office for over a month, and I still have yet to do it.I say all of that to let you know that you are not alone if you are struggling to do what the Lord tells you to do. If you are one who doesn’t struggle to do w

Today’s witness is another friend from the Big Life mentoring group with Pamela Crim. Laura has been through a lot over the years, including several unhealthy relationships in her search for love. She lived with a lot of shame for many years. Finally, someone she loved pointed her to the Big Life Devotional podcast by Pamela Crim. She started listening and then joined mentoring. She went on retreat where Pamela baptized her in the ocean and her faith was renewed. Listen to her testimony, and you will see how God transformed her life. He can do the same for yours. Just keep turning back. It’s ok if your path isn’t perfect. Just keep getting back on the road to salvation. Take it away, Laura. We have all seen God working in our lives. However, we might not all be aware it is God working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience of how God has worked or is working in your life, please email me at [email protected] or click here. It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com CLICK HERE TO DONATE CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Freedom!2 Corinthians 3:12-18 “ Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor. But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”This verse powerfully reminds us of the stark contrast between our lives today and the time of Moses. When Moses communed with the Lord, his face radiated with divine splendor, an overwhelming sight for those around him, prompting him to veil his face. However, when Christ came, this veil was lifted. There was always a curtain between God and His people in the Old Testament. They couldn’t have direct contact with Him. There was a separation. This separation was necessary because of the fall of man.When Adam and Eve were created, God walked among them. Nothing was separating them. They were as close as they could be. However, when Adam and Eve ate the apple and betrayed God’s trust, they had to leave the Garden, and then there was a separation between us and God. This is not why God created us. He didn’t want there to be a separation between us. He didn’t want anything to keep us apart. This is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross in reparation for our sins so that there wouldn’t be anything between us and God.This verse mentions that the Lord is the Spirit and that there is freedom where the Spirit of the Lord is. We all need to hear that again. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Guess where the Spirit of the Lord is? It is inside of you and me. It is inside of all of us. That means that there is freedom inside of us. So, why don’t we feel free? Why are so many of us living under the weight of our sins and judgments? Why do we feel like we are held captive by our past or those who surround us? Why aren’t we living in this freedom?I wonder if we aren’t living in freedom because we aren’t cooperating with it? Is it possible that our chains are made by us? Is it possible that we aren’t free from our sins because we haven’t accepted that freedom? God makes it clear over and over again in the Bible that our sins are forgiven when we repent and turn back to Him. So why do we struggle so much to believe that? Why do we insist on holding onto our sins? Is God a liar? Does He tell us things that aren’t true? If God says we are forgiven, why can’t we accept that? Why can’t we believe Him?God sent Jesus, his only son, to die on the cross for our sins. Then He raised Jesus from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. God thinks we are worth it. He wouldn’t have done all of that if He didn’t want us to be free to have a relationship with Him. He wouldn’t have done all of that if he didn’t think we were worthy enough.This verse goes on to say, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” The Lord is changing each one of us little by little. Looking around, it may seem that the transformation is happening quicker with some people than with others. I have found that the more we cooperate with what the Lord is doing, the more quickly the transformation happens.When we fight God the whole way, it tends to take much longer. The process of becoming more and more like God means that we are becoming less and less like our worldly selves. God is trying to purify us, and that process can be painful. That process can consist of turning away from things we like that are not helping us grow closer to the Lord. It may mean we must walk away from situations or even people who are constantly leading us into sin. Or, maybe they aren’t leading us into sin, but they are definitely encouraging it. It may also take longer because we are unaware that the Lord is trying to lead us. If we aren’t paying attention to what the Lord is saying, we might miss it. That is not to say the Lord can’t get our attention; he definitely can. However, he honors our free will. So, if we want to continue to ignore his requests, then He will let us. God has so much more available for each of us. He really does. We have to want it. We have to be looking for it. If we expect more, we will get more.God is talking to you each and every day. Do you hear Him? Are you listening? How different would your life be if you turned to God more throughout the day and asked what He thought or what He wanted you to do? What if we paid

Do We Trust Jesus?Luke 5:4-5 “And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word, I will let down the nets.”I like this verse because it reminds me that I am not the only one who argues with the Lord. I am not the only one with a reply other than “Yes” when Jesus asks me to do something. Simon had been out fishing all night and had not caught any fish. He was tired and, I am sure, very discouraged. Then Jesus asked him to push his boat back into the sea a bit so that Jesus could stand on it and talk to all those on the shore. Simon did so.Then, after Jesus had finished teaching those on the shore, He told Simon to go out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch. Can you imagine how frustrated Simon felt and how tired he probably was? He was washing his nets out to call it a day when Jesus climbed on His boat, and who knows how long Jesus preached before telling Simon to go out into the deep. Then He tells Simon to put his net out into the water again. Jesus is a carpenter, and Simon is a fisherman. I am sure He didn’t understand why He should do what this man said, and yet He did it anyway and yielded more fish than their nets could hold, and the nets began to break. There were so many fish that they filled both boats so full that the boats began to sink.Have you ever been in a situation like this before? Have you ever felt like God or Jesus was asking you to do something you really didn’t want to? There could be many reasons why we don’t want to do what He asks us to do. Simon was tired and frustrated. He might have also felt that his efforts were in vain. But despite all these, he obeyed. This story reminds us that even when we are tired, frustrated, or feel like our efforts are in vain, we should still obey God's word, for He has a plan that we might not understand.In this verse, the Lord knew that if Peter obeyed him, he would catch more fish than He could have imagined. God knows the same thing about you and me. He knows that if we obey Him, he will provide more than we need, whether in our jobs, families, or friends. Where is God calling you? What has He been asking you to do, and yet you have been ignoring Him because you have tried it before many times, and so you figure it won’t work this time either? What areas of your life are you desperate to see change?In this verse, Peter is desperate to catch some fish and has tried all night with no luck. When he listened to the Lord and then saw how many fish they caught, he finally recognized Jesus for who he really was. Peter recognized Jesus as Lord. It says in verse 8, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Has Jesus ever helped you come face to face with your sinfulness? Has He ever answered one of your prayers in a way that there was no question it was God who answered that prayer?I have had this happen many times. I am grateful to my parents because they told us about times in their lives when this happened to them, and so I began to be aware of when it was happening in my life, too. We miss so much when we are not looking for it. When you intentionally try to see God working in your life, you will see God working in your life. Notice I didn’t say you might see God. I am 100% confident that you will see it if you intentionally look for where God is working in your life. This is the main reason why I do Witness Wednesdays on this podcast. If you hear how God works in other people’s lives, you will become more aware of how He works in your life, too!I can see how God worked his miracles in my son Noah’s surgery and recovery. Actually, how we even discovered he needed surgery. Noah was having headaches, and they were treating them with medicine, and that wasn’t really working. The neurologist ordered an MRI to ensure it wasn’t too serious. If she hadn’t ordered the MRI, she would have never found out that he had a Chiari malformation. You can only see them on an MRI. Then we were supposed to have surgery at a hospital that was an hour and 40 minutes away from our house. The surgeon could not get Noah on his surgical calendar until July. Noah wants to go to college in Europe at the end of the summer.We asked if they could put in a referral for Mass General Hospital, as it is less than an hour's drive. They put in the referral, and after we got the records transferred, they set up a pairing with a surgeon who does both pediatric and adult surgeries. They were able to get him scheduled within a few weeks. Also, they scheduled him for after spring break, so I was able to take Noah to England to look at some colleges. It was amazing timing that only God could have arranged.Then, on the day of the surgery, Noah had an awesome nurse who happened to be his birthday twin. She was so kind and distracted him from thinking about the surgery

Invite God Into Your HeartPsalm 24:7-8 "Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!”Psalm 24 was given at Prayer Group last night. Then, afterward, someone gets a word or prophecy that goes along with it. The word of prophecy is, “The Lord was just saying, yes, He is the King of Glory, and He deserves all the praise, all the honor, adoration, all the worship, all the fanfare that we would give in worship. But that He desires something even a little more than that. And what He desires is that He wants each of us to invite Him to be the King that sits on the throne of our hearts.” Psalm 24 came at the beginning of the meeting, and this Word came a bit later. I honestly didn’t put the two together.One of our other members confirmed this Word and said she didn't quite get those exact words, but she had a real feeling about that individual invitation to the Lord into our hearts. If the Lord takes the time to tell us the same message through three different people, we should probably pay attention to that message. The message the Lord wants us to hear is that we need to open the doors of our hearts and invite Him in. The Lord is a gentleman who will not come unless you invite him.In my Encounter Ministries Class, we looked at this method of evangelization called Jesus at the Door. There is a picture of Jesus at the door, and yet there is only a door knob on the inside of the door. Jesus can not come through the door unless you open it. There is a heart around the picture. When we show it to people, we tell them that Jesus is knocking on the door to their hearts. We ask if they want to invite Jesus in. That image is really powerful, and it is also very anointed. Many people have accepted Jesus into their lives just by looking at this picture and answering the few other questions that are asked with the picture.One thing we ask them to do after they see the picture is to imagine they have a backpack on their back. Now we tell them to imagine the backpack is filled with their sins. Would it be heavy? Most of us can say yes to that question. Then we asked them to imagine they owed the bank $100,000. What would happen if we gave them a check for $100,000 and they took it to the bank and deposited it? Their debt would be gone, right? This is what Jesus did with our backpack full of sins. He paid the price. He wrote a check out for our sins and signed it with His blood. Our sins have been forgiven, and we are no longer in debt.Isn’t that an incredible way to explain how our sins are forgiven? Jesus paid our debt for us. He took our sins to the cross with Him. So, why are we so afraid to come to Jesus and invite Him into our hearts? We were talking about this yesterday at prayer group, and we said that sometimes we don’t want to invite Jesus into our hearts because we know that Jesus will call us to live our lives differently, and we may not be ready to do so.If this is you, or if you know someone who might be struggling with this, you can take heart and remember St. Augustine of Hippa. He was an amazing Saint. He was also infamously known for saying, “Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet!” This infamous prayer of the young Augustine of Hippo (354-430) reflects the inner conflict of any soul who recognizes the virtuous thing to do yet fears the demanding struggle against human urges and passions.The first step is to invite the Lord into our hearts. He will take care of the rest. God is gentle with us, and He will not instantly expect a 180-degree change from you. Or, if He does, He will give you the grace and the power to do it. Look at Saul from the Bible. One day he was headed to a town to round up any Christians and put them in jail. Then he encounters Jesus, is blind for a few days, and completely transforms. He is a completely different person. His name was even changed. I don’t think this is the way that it works for most of us, though.Most of us struggle with the temptations of this world. We know what we should do, yet we don’t. God understands this. He knows that we get caught up in the wrong things and make the wrong choice more than the right one. He understands this, yet He calls us to invite Him into this struggle. He is calling us to invite Him into our hearts.Last week for mentoring, I was studying what scripture says regarding coming to the Lord as we are and not feeling that we need to change before we can come to God. This is what I talked about yesterday in the devotional as well. One scripture verse I found goes well with this idea that we want to follow Jesus, but we don’t want to stop doing everything we want. Jeremiah 13:23 says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” What the Lord revealed to me when I heard this verse is, why would we think we could change without Him

Truth Be ToldLuke 5:30-32 “But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”The theme for my Tuesday night mentoring group is “Come As You Are.” I chose this because too many of us feel we aren’t worthy to come to God as we are. We think we need to get it all together before we come to God. We think we need to clean up our lives and then we can come to God. I can see why we would think this because that is what society tells us. That is what it looks like on Social media. It looks like everyone else has it all together, so we need to get it together before we are good enough to ask God for anything. We can’t attend mass or church service because our kids don’t behave, or we don't have the right clothes, or because we make bad choices.I love a song called Truth Be Told by Matthew West. Let me read you some of the lyrics because I wish we all knew the truth.Lie number one you're supposed to have it all togetherAnd when they ask how you're doingJust smile and tell them, "Never better"Lie number 2 everybody's life is perfect except yoursSo keep your messes and your woundsAnd your secrets safe with you behind closed doorsTruth be toldThe truth is rarely told, nowI say I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not I'm brokenAnd when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not And you know itI don't know why it's so hard to admit itWhen being honest is the only way to fix itThere's no failure, no fallThere's no sin you don't already knowSo let the truth be toldHow true is this song. We think that we need to keep it all together because everyone else is keeping it all together, but that’s the thing, they aren’t keeping it together either. We are all just pretending. I love it when it says, There is no failure, no fall, there’s no sin you don’t already know. Why do we think we need to keep our mess from God when He already knows about all of it? There isn’t anything we can keep from Him, so why are we so ashamed to admit it? The song goes on to say…There's a sign on the door, says, "Come as you are" but I doubt it'Cause if we lived like it was true, every Sunday morning pew would be crowdedBut didn't you say the church should look more like a hospitalA safe place for the sick, the sinner and the scarred and the prodigalsLike me. Well truth be told The truth is rarely toldThis is where Matthew West reminds us what Jesus said in the verse above. Not what the world says, but what Jesus says. Come as you are. Imagine how filled churches would be if everyone knew they could truly come as they were. If we all knew that God wants us, even when we don’t have the right clothes or did the wrong thing. Even when we yelled at our kids or our spouse, even when we stayed out too late drinking, God wants us just as we are. No matter what it is, you can come to the Lord. The songs ends with…Can I really stand here unashamed, Knowin' that your love for me won't change?Oh God if that's really true Then let the truth be told This is the truth that I wish everyone knew. The truth that God loves us completely and fully before we are even born and that love never changes. It doesn’t matter what we do or even what we don’t do. He still loves us the same. We can do nothing to make Him love us more or less than he already does.When we see how the world sees us, we think God is the same. We think that we're not worthy of his love until we get it all together.However, in the verse above Jesus tells us something different. God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us while we were still sinning. If you want to know how much God loves you, it says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Hear that again while we were still sinners Christ died for us.This is how God demonstrates his love for us. This one statement shows us that we don't have to be perfect to come to God. Jesus didn’t wait for us to have our lives together before he died on the cross for us, so why should we wait until we figure things out to come to Him?The verse above says that those who are well have no need of a physician. Those who are righteous, those who are not sinning, those who are praying perfectly, and those who are getting it all right have no need for Jesus.Jesus died for us, for you, and me, and he did it strictly because he loved us. He did it because the Lord wanted us to come to him. The Lord didn't want anything to be in between us. When Adam and Eve sinned, there had to be a separation, and God hated that. He hated that we couldn't be with him.He hated that they brought this upon themselves and wanted to redeem them. God could have done that in any number of ways, and the way he chose to do it was to become h

We have all seen God working in our lives. However, we might not all be aware it is God working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience of how God has worked or is working in your life, please email me at [email protected] or click here. It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them. www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

God Will Give You The WordsLuke 21:13-15 “This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it, therefore, in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”I like this verse because it assures us that we don’t have to have all the right answers. The verse right before this one says, “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.” People will persecute you. People you love will question your beliefs. Sometimes the people that give us the hardest time are those in our family. I have many friends who feel persecuted by their loved ones.We expect our family to be loving and to treat us with respect. We expect that even if they disagree, they will still be kind and loving to us, and yet that is not what many people experience. Sometimes, our family members think they are doing us a favor. They think if they give us the cold, hard truth maybe we will forget our foolish ways and realize they were right. Sometimes they are just not kind people. We live in a broken world, and so just because someone is family doesn’t mean it is guaranteed that they will treat you well.Right after the verse above it says, “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” The Bible even tells us that some of our loved ones won’t understand. It says we will be betrayed by them. Most of the time our loved ones are not trying to hurt us. They do love us and they are doing what they think is best for us. They think they are saving us from delusional thinking, or false hope, or whatever else they are telling us. They think they know what is best.The verse above is telling us that we don’t have to know what to say to our family members and those who persecute us. The verse tells us that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. The verse says, “This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it, therefore, in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.” Have you ever tried to defend your beliefs on your own without asking for the Lord to give you the words? How did that work out for you? I always seem to get drawn into an argument and end up getting upset. However, when I stop and ask the Lord to give me the words to say, things always go better.God is telling us that we don’t have to spend time planning out what we will say to this person or that person. We don’t have to spend time figuring out what we will say when our brother asks about this aspect of the church or when our sister asks us why we believe Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. When our friend asks why we don’t believe we are saved or why we believe in purgatory. Or whatever it is that your family and friends always ask you about. We don’t have to plan our responses. What we need to do is to invite the Holy Spirit into our responses. When we are asked a question that we would normally get defensive about, we can ask the Holy Spirit to come and put the right words in our mouths. The words you use with your sister might not be the same words you would use with your brother or your friend.I love where it says in the verse, “I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.” How amazing would that be? How great would it be to talk with someone and have them not be able to contradict what you have to say? Most of the time, it is a back-and-forth, never-ending conversation where we each say the same thing over and over again, and neither one of us sees where the other person is coming from. I have had so many conversations like that with my boys. Conversations when they contradict everything I say. It would be great to have the words that they can’t contradict.It’s interesting that the first line in the verse says, “This will be a time for you to bear testimony.” There was a speaker at one of my Encounter Ministry classes. She said one thing people can’t contradict is your testimony. If you experienced something, they can’t tell you that you didn’t. You are not saying it is true for everyone. You are saying what is true for you. When you are talking about Jesus you can tell people what He has done in your life. What He means to you? What He has done for you? They can’t contradict these things because they are your experiences.The other important thing the verse said that I don’t think we realize is that God can give us wisdom. God can reveal things to us that we would have no other way of knowing. I remember a speaker who came to another one of my classes at Encounter said that someone asked him once where he g

Grace Empowerment 101 DevotionalsToday’s episode will be a bit different. My friend and fellow Toastmaster has just published a book titled Grace Empowerment 101 Devotionals. You can find this book on Amazon, and I will place a link in the show notes if you would like to purchase it. I met Marina through The New Life Toastmasters Group. She started this Toastmasters group over 10 years ago, and I am so thankful for it, as I learned so much from it.For those of you who don’t know, Toastmasters is an organization that trains people to do public speaking—or any kind of speaking. It is also really good for people who need to learn to communicate better at work or learn to be more calm giving work presentations. Marina is a volunteer work coach for many people, including college students just finishing up their degrees and looking to go out and find a job. Marina is also an integral part of her church family. She studied at the Chinese Semlink Theology Seminary College Certificate Program for four years and is now the Sunday School Coordinator at her church.Marina is a talented woman who loves Jesus. She has such a passion to bring Jesus’s love to everyone she meets. She also runs Alpha courses at her church. Alpha emphasizes the essentials that all denominations agree on. Alpha creators believe that what unites us is infinitely greater than what divides us. I hope you enjoy her devotionals as much as you do. She is a phenomenal woman of God. If you are on Facebook and would like to follow her you can find her at Author Marina Grace: Life Lessons, Panda Flash Cards. I will place a link for that in the show notes as well. Today I will be reading 5 of her devotionals to you so you can get a sneak peak as to what you will find in her book.#69: Just BelieveIn Luke 8, a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell down before Jesus. He pleaded with Jesus to heal his dying daughter. Without hesitation, Jesus rose and accompanied Jairus to his home. As they approached, someone informed Jairus that his daughter had already passed away, and there was no need for Jesus to see her. But Jesus comforted the grieving father, saying, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Ultimately, Jesus miraculously restored the daughter to life.Reflecting on this story, I realize that my faith in Jesus is essential for my job. When I encounter challenges in my projects, my heart sometimes feels overwhelmed. However, I remember that God, my heavenly Father, has a purpose for assigning these tasks to me—even when they are not easy. If the projects were straightforward, there would be no need for a Senior Principal Software Engineer like myself. This is my career journey.Dear God, please grant me unwavering faith in You. Open doors to help me resolve the issues I face. I trust that You will never abandon me, even in the most challenging situations. Your purpose is to shape me into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.# 70: My sole priority"When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He said: 'This, then, is how you should pray:‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matthew 6:9, NIV)This prayer sets the direction for my remaining life. Since God is my heavenly Father, He will provide all my needs on earth. I don’t need to worry about my possessions, my job, or my service for Him. My sole priority is to serve His kingdom so that His will is done on earth. May everyone hear His word and follow His teachings, leading them to be baptized in the name of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.Dear God, please empower me through the Holy Spirit to speak the right words at the right time and be Your hands and voice. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.#71: Little faithJesus taught His disciples not to worry:“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” (Luke 12:24, NIV)As I grow older, I find myself easily succumbing to worry. The realization that so much is beyond my control weighs heavily on my mind. I meticulously plan, fretting about work, time management, church responsibilities, and even my health.Two weeks ago, I reached out to my church’s prayer team, seeking their intercession for three sequencing Sunday events: facilitating a Sunday school class, delivering a children’s ministry sermon, and hosting a Toastmasters Club meeting. But life took an unexpected turn—I tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. Suddenly, I was confined to my home, relying on online conference tools. Yet, remarkably, everything unfolded smoothly. My church family rallied, setting up laptops and equipment to ensure the events proceeded seamlessly.In this experience, I learned a profound lesson: God anticipates our needs even before we voice them in prayer. He orchestrates every detail of our lives, weaving together circumstances beyond our comprehe

Honestly, I Think We Just Need Jesus!Acts 2:40 “And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”I chose this scripture verse today because where it says, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” There is a song that I have heard on the radio more and more recently, and these last few days, it is running repeat in my mind. I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I am not sure I want to get it out of my head as the words that are running through my head are Honestly, I think we need Jesus by Terrian. Since I can’t seem to shake this song, and then I read the verse above this morning, I think the Lord wants me to share it with you. I will place a link for the song in the show notes, as she does a much better job singing it than I do. I also love that she is young and yet can still see that we need more Jesus. I will go over the lyrics of the song with you today.The song starts with:I got a front-row seat to the madnessI pick up my phone every mornin' out of habitI've been fiendin' for the drama, yeah, I said itI'm addicted to the rush, need a medicHow many of us pick up our phones or turn on the news first thing when we wake up? How many of us want to know what is going on in the world before we even stop and spend our time with God? I use my phone for an alarm, so I would turn off my alarm, and then I would check my messages, emails, and Facebook before I would sit down with the Lord and spend time with Him. I have gotten better; now, I just check my messages, mostly to make sure my kids got home safely. Sometimes I still check my emails, but I am getting better and usually save that for later. I love how the songwriter points out that we usually pick up our phones out of habit. This isn’t just first thing in the morning. We do this all throughout the day. I bet we all spend more time than we would like on our phones. I also like how they bring our attention to the fact that we are “Fiendin’ for the drama” and “addicted to the rush.” It seems we are drawn to the conflict and the drama more than the good things that are happening. I don’t know if that is because we crave drama or because that is all the news tends to show us. Either way, there is good and bad going on in the world, and it is up to us to choose which we seek out and focus on.The song goes on to say:When I take a step back, I can see itAll the pain, all the fear we've been feelin'Losin' sight of the thing that we're needin'That we're needin’ This is a great reminder that sometimes we need to take a step back. When we do we see that we are focusing on all of our pain and fear that we are feeling instead of focusing on the one who can take all that pain and fear away. When we watch the news or listen to all that is going on in the world, we tend to get overwhelmed. We can also start to feel a sense of hopelessness. We can feel a sense that the world is going crazy, and there is nothing we can do about it. However, we are never hopeless because we are children of God, and we can always turn to Him, and He can save us. There is nothing too hard for God to handle. Next, the song says:Honestly, I think we just need JesusHonestly, I think we just need JesusHave we all gone mad? Have we lost our minds?What used to be wrong, we say that it's rightHonestly, I think we just need JesusThis is the part that gets stuck in my head. I can’t think of a truer statement. I can see how our country is falling apart because we keep removing God from more and more things. This country was founded with God. He was a part of the government; yes, Church and State were separate, and yet God and State weren’t. God was invited into the Constitution; he was invited into the Pledge of Allegiance. He was invited into our courtrooms. God was welcome everywhere. Now, it seems He is welcome nowhere. I also love how the song says, “Have we all gone mad? Have we lost our minds? What used to be wrong, we say that it’s right.” We have all thought this for a long time now and it is nice to hear it in a song so we know we aren’t the only ones who think it. This world does seem to have gone mad and it does seem like we are all losing our minds. Some of the things that seem to be ok in the world today still shock me. I think this song points out very real and honest questions. Have we all gone mad? Have we all lost our minds? Take a good long look in the mirrorSearch my heart and soul, make it clearerHelp me take your love, trade the bitterLeave it in the dust, help me leave it in the dust, Lord.I think it would be a great idea if we all stopped and took a good look in the mirror. What are we doing? Not what is the world doing, what are we doing? Are we staying true to God in this crazy world? Are we staying above all the drama and walking in the light of Christ? Are we being love and hope to everyone we meet? We are all called to be “little Christs” to all we meet. Are we doing so? Are we loving everyone, even those

Today is a short witness, however I think it is a very powerful one. This whole month in mentoring has been focused on Praise and Worship. I have gone to the Lord a couple of times over the last few years, asking Him what has increased my faith the most. What has increased my trust in the Lord? The answer He always gives me is praise. I am grateful He asked me to spend this whole month on praise because each week, I keep finding more and more reasons why we should praise the Lord. I was researching praise I found a miracle story of praise that shows us the importance of praise and that God really wants us to praise Him just as much as we pray to Him. I found this story on the Good Samaritan Health Center Website. I will post a link for it in the show notes. Here is the story: (Click Here for original article)“Miracles happen [when] we praise God. I once heard a story about a woman missionary in China many years ago. She contracted a deadly disease and was given up to die. For days she lay quarantined in her bunk, with no medical help—it was a hopeless situation. The only thing she could do was pray. So hour after hour, she pled with God to heal her. Then suddenly, the Lord gave her a vision. She saw an old-fashioned scale, the kind often seen on justice statues, with a fulcrum and plates held by chains on each side. This scale she saw was heavily weighted on one side, while the other side was way up in the air because it was empty. The scale was clearly out of balance. The Lord revealed to her that the heavy side was her prayers—she had certainly prayed many prayers—while the empty side was her praise. God quickened her that the praise side needed to be filled to outweigh the trouble she was facing. When the scale was balanced, her healing would manifest. So this desperately sick woman stopped pleading for her healing and started praising God. She praised Him for His greatness. She praised Him for sending Jesus and for all His benefits. She praised Him for being her savior, her healer, her provider, and for everything He’d ever done for her. At first, she was so weak that her praises were mere whispers. But as she continued to do nothing but praise and worship God all day and all night, she grew louder. As the people outside her room heard her fervent praises, they feared for her life, thinking that maybe she was delirious with fever. You can imagine how amazed they were several days later when she walked out of that room on her own, totally healed! She had taken “the praise cure,” and she was completely made well. There is power in praise! When we shift our focus from our troubles to God’s greatness by praising Him, miracles can happen.”Isn’t that amazing? Doesn’t that give you a visual of how important praise is? When I read this, my first instinct was to share it with everyone I know. I think most of us know to pray to God when we need our prayers answered. If we are sick, I think most of us turn to the Lord. If you don’t pray to the Lord when you are sick, I want to encourage you to do so. He really is a miracle worker, and He wants to heal his children. Now, we have another thing we can do when we are sick, and that is praise the Lord. Actually, not just when we are sick but anytime we feel we need answers to prayers. If we got in the habit of praising the Lord daily, even when we didn’t need something from Him, I wonder how different our lives would be. I bet our faith and trust in the Lord would increase exponentially. Let’s give it a try. www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

The Ephesians 4 GiftsEphesians 4:7, 11-12 “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”This was something we learned about in my Encounter Ministries class last week, and I wanted to share it with you this morning. We talked about what the nature of these gifts are and who gives them to us. Jesus is the giver of these gifts, and they represent the fullness of His ministry. He had all of these gifts. Jesus was the perfect example of all of these gifts. Let’s first look at what gifts I am talking about and go into a bit more detail on each of them. Then we can talk about the purpose of these gifts. The verse above says, “And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. Let’s go through each one of these individually. The first one mentioned is apostles. Some of us are called to be apostles. Apostles are those sent by God and given a major mission to advance the kingdom, God’s kingdom. If you have been given this gift, often you have also been given the grace to break through opposition, as you will definitely encounter opposition to your mission. The enemy does not want us to advance the Kingdom of God. He will put every sort of opposition he can in your way. However, if you have been given the gift of apostles, then you will also be given the grace to break through that opposition. The second one mentioned above is prophets. Prophets are those given a very strong prophetic anointing and operate at a high level of precision and accuracy. Peter Herbeck is one of our Modern-Day prophets. He has a prophetic gift and is often proved accurate. The Lord is talking to each one of us. We can all hear Him if we take the time to listen. However, that is not the gift of a prophet. A prophet is hearing words not only for himself or herself but they are receiving words to share with others, and those words are often proven accurate.The third gift is Evangelists. Evangelists are those anointed with the grace to seek out the lost and bring them to salvation in Christ with great effect. I like this definition because it puts evangelization in such a good light. Before taking this Encounter Ministries class I would hide when I would hear the evangelization. The thought of going up to people and talking about God or Jesus would make me so nervous. I would be worried about how they would feel and what if I was bothering them. This is why I love this definition so much. It shows us the real results of evangelization. We are seeking out the lost and bringing them home, bringing them to Salvation in Christ. People with this gift are really good at this. What it means when it says “with great effect” is that when they talk with people to try to bring them to salvation in Christ, a majority of people they talk with do come to Christ.The fourth one is Pastors. Pastors are those given the grace to disciple and accompany disciples into greater spiritual maturity. Again, we may all have some ability to disciple and accompany people into great spiritual maturity. However, that may not be our primary goal. If your gift is pastor, you will be more successful than most at this.The fifth one is the Teacher. Teachers are those given a special grace to instruct others in the Word of God and bring a renewal of the mind. These would be people who know the Bible, they know the Word of God and they use it to bring about a renewal of the mind. If we want to be good followers of Jesus, we need a renewal of the mind. This world has us all crazy, and if we watch the news, we aren’t sure what to think these days. However, God is raising up teachers who can instruct us in the Word of God and, therefore, bring about a renewal of the mind.Now that we have gone over what the gifts are let's talk about the purpose of these gifts. The verse above lists the two purposes of these gifts. We are given these gifts, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. The first purpose of these gifts is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. John 14:12 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.” The 'greater works' here refer to the potential for each of us, through the empowerment of these gifts, to reach more people and have a greater impact than even Jesus did during His earthly ministry. We are all meant to do the work that Jesus did, and even greater works than He did. However, we need people to teach us and disciple us as Jesus did for His followers. This is one reason for the Ephesians 4 gifts.The second purpose of these gifts is to build up the body of Christ. God wants to see all of His children save

Remember The Lord Is With YouNehemiah 4:14 “And I looked, and arose, and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”In case you are not familiar with this story, as I only recently learned more about it. Nehemiah felt the Lord called him to go and lead the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. He got permission from King Ar-ta-xerx′es to go and to do this. But when Sanbal′lat the Hor′onite and Tobi′ah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they derided us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” These people wanted to stop the rebuilding of the walls. They threatened to harm those building the wall. This is why Nehemiah is reassuring his people in the verse above.What stood out to me most about the verse above is the statement, Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible. I thought this was an interesting word to describe God. I have never thought of God as terrible. I was thinking maybe it meant he is great for His children, but terrible for those who are against His children. However, when I looked this verse up in various translations, it says other words. The most common wording is “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome. That I can totally understand this wording. God is definitely awesome.I also looked up the wording from the translation we use at the Catholic mass and it said, “Do not fear them! Keep in mind the Lord, who is great and to be feared.” I can see this as well. There are actually two meanings to this phrase. First, we should all fear the Lord, meaning have awe and reverence for Him. We don’t need to fear Him as be afraid of Him, but we can look to Him with Awe. The second meaning of this phrase is the traditional meaning. Yes, those who are trying to hurt His children should fear the Lord. They should be afraid because He will stop at nothing to protect and take care of His children.In the verse above, Nehemiah reminds the people of Jerusalem that they have no reason to be afraid. He is letting them know that they can rely on the Lord and that He will keep them safe.This verse is a good one for us to look to when we need to be reminded that the Lord is fighting for us as well. He is on our side. Sometimes we can forget this. Sometimes we can think we are in this alone. I mentioned something in my episode last week that I think is worth repeating. God is not surprised by anything we go through. He doesn’t look at our situation and say, “Oh no, Catherine is struggling; what should I do?” He knew I was going to be struggling, and He knew how I would get out of it. He will help me out of the situation I am in just as He will help you out of your situation. He is a good, good father, and he will not leave us alone in our struggles unless we ask Him to. Unless we push Him away.It is possible to close doors to God’s help. God respects our right to free will, and so if we decide we want to fight our battles on our own, He will let us. This is one reason it is so important to ask God for what we want or what we need. Yes, He knows what we need, but He is waiting for us to ask, for us to give Him permission. He is waiting for us to invite Him into the situation. God does not go where He is not wanted. He will not go against your free will.This verse above says, “Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” This is a great reminder that we need to fight for our families. It is a great reminder that there is a war going on for our souls—not just our souls but those of our loved ones as well. We need to be on the lookout and on the offensive.It is a great reminder that we are not in this fight alone. We have the Lord on our side. The Lord who is great and awesome, who is great and powerful. He is fighting with us. He is fighting for our children and for all of our loved ones. Whenever we feel like we are struggling, whenever we notice our loved ones are struggling, we can call upon His mighty name, and He will be there to fight for us. I first was going to write alongside us, and He will do that, but did you know He can fight our fights for us too? Did you know you can hand something over to Him, and He can take care of it? God doesn’t need your help to fight your battles.That doesn’t mean we don’t ever have to do anything. Sometimes He is calling us to do our part while He does His part. However, sometimes, especially those times when it is too big for us to fix or when we don’t even know where to begin, He can fight those battles for you. He can either take care of it completely without our help, or He will lead us to the first step, then the next step and so on. All we need to do is remember to turn to Him and ask Him. If you are struggling t

Christian Music Can Be Life ChangingPsalm 35:1-3 “Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, you that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for he is gracious!”Yesterday, I shared a personal experience about praising God through the hard times. I also shared this during my teaching at the prayer group. During prayer, we have a quiet time when we listen for words from the Lord, similar to the ones I share at the end of each episode. Yesterday, the Lord kept guiding us with scriptures about praise, like the one above. The Bible is filled with instances of praise. King David, for instance, was a great example of praise. Some of the most powerful Psalms of praise we have from David were not when everything was going well for him. Some of the most impactful ones came from him when he was hiding in a cave from his son or from Saul.One reason I suggested yesterday that we listen to praise and worship music often is because then that is what you will have running through your head. Whatever you surround yourself with is what you will think about; it is what will contribute to the thoughts running through your head, and it will have an effect on how you are acting. Think about how different things could be if you were constantly listening to music that told you how great God is, how He is always there for you. If you heard stories of how He has helped others and so He will help you too. What if you heard every day that God loves you and doesn’t make mistakes?This is the transformative power of Christian music. It doesn’t just uplift us, it changes us. When we listen to it, our hearts open up a bit, and our hearts soften a bit. When we listen to Christian music frequently, we begin to believe in an even deeper way that Jesus loves us and that we are His. We start to believe the things they talk about. We begin to believe that we don’t have to be perfect to come to Christ. We believe that we can be forgiven. We believe He died for us, you and me.My husband used to listen to WAAF radio station. The station number on the radio was 107.3. It has been around since I was a kid. It was a rock station and they also had a morning show that he liked. However, now 107.3 is KLOVE radio, which is a Christian radio station. I have never heard of a Christian radio station before. It is amazing. If you don’t have KLOVE near you, although it is all over the United States I believe, then they have a website and an app. So, even if you can’t get them on the radio where you live, you can still get their music. They also have all sorts of events. They have a part of their website where you can place prayer requests, and then they let you know when someone prays for you. They have pastors you can call and talk to when needed.Another reason listening to this music can be so beneficial is because, a lot of times, they will use words in the song that are right out of the Bible. When I first started listening to Christian music I remember being so surprised when I would hear the words to the songs in the readings at church. It helped me connect more to the readings because I had already heard the words before. This can happen when you read the Bible too, but that wasn’t where I started. I wasn’t there in my faith journey yet.One final benefit I will talk about today is the fact that the music can reach people that church can’t. There are many people who have either been wounded by the church or have preconceived notions about the church, and so they have no desire to ever step through the doors of a church. However, they could be flipping through radio stations and happen to hear a song about Jesus that really touches their heart. Music is a great way to touch hearts because people aren’t usually on the defensive when they are listening to music. If you start to talk about Jesus to someone, they might instantly go on the defensive. They might sense that you are going to preach to them. However, with music, people tend to listen without feeling like that. Music finds a way into people’s hearts and souls that is different than anything else.The radio station KLOVE is fundraising this week. They are listener-funded, so every quarter, they do a week of fundraising on the show. I will be honest, this is not my favorite week to listen because I don’t like that they are asking for money so much; I would rather listen to music. However, what I do like about their fundraising weeks is that they read so many testimonies about how KLOVE and the music they provide have changed so many people's lives. They talk about the power of the music they play and give real-life examples of how it has brought people to Jesus. I have heard some amazing testimonies from this radio station. I have taken a few from their website so that I can show you how powerful music can be. Here are a couple of the ways KLOVE and the music they play have

Praising Through Hard TimesMatthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”In my mentoring group this month, I have been focused on praise. The reason I decided to focus on praise this month is because praise is so important. It is especially important to praise God in the Hard times. I recall a time when I was going through a particularly challenging period raising my boys and in my marriage, and I found solace in praising God. It was a powerful reminder that my problems were not insurmountable and that God was with me. It is important to praise God when we don’t feel we have any reason to praise God. One of the most important reasons why it is important to praise God when we are in a difficult situation is because it puts the focus back on God instead of on our problem.One piece of advice that I love is when someone says, “Instead of focusing on how big our problem is, we should focus on how big our God is.” I have never forgotten this, and it is so true. God is bigger than any problem we might be facing. There isn’t anything too big or too hard for Him. When we praise the Lord, we bring our focus back to Him.Also, When we praise God, we are reminded of all the things He has done for us in the past. It reminds us that if He did it for us in the past, He would do it for us again. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) If we are in a difficult situation, we can look back to other times when we were struggling, and we can see how God helped us out of or through that situation. Sometimes God helps us out of a situation we are in. Sometimes He helps us through the situation. What I mean by that is that he doesn’t remove us from the situation but gives us all we need to get through it. He gives us the strength, perseverance, and peace to get through each day.While studying about praise from my mentoring group I read an article that mentioned something I hadn’t really thought of before. It said that praise reminds us that God is in control. When I was reading this article I read a line that made me laugh. The article said, "As I praise God during the difficult times, I am reminded that God is still in control. God is never surprised by the things that come into my life. God never says, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming, I hope Billy makes it through this.” This made me laugh because it is so true and yet it is something we don’t really think about. We can praise God in the difficult times because He knew we would be in this season of waiting. And because He knew we would be in it that means that He has a plan to get us either out of this season or through this season.It is funny to me that we would think we could ever catch the Lord off guard. It’s funny to think something could happen that He wouldn’t know about. Jesus says in Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” God knows everything about you, He knows about your situation, and He knows what you are waiting for.Praising the Lord during a hard season is telling the Lord that we trust Him and we know that He has a plan for us. Our job is just to wait and to keep trusting that God is in control. It is hard for us to let God be in control. We want things done our way and in our time. I saw a video on Facebook the other day of a woman who was showing what it is like when we try to let God be in control. She was all excited and told Jesus to take the wheel. However, she wasn’t happy when He didn’t take the exit she wanted Him to take. She wasn’t happy when he wasn’t driving as fast as she wanted Him to drive. She wanted to stop and pull over for a snack, but Jesus wanted to keep driving. Then she finally said, “I just thought that when I said Jesus take the wheel, we would take turns. You know, you would drive a little, I would drive a little. I thought this would be a little more collaborative.”It is hard to let Jesus take the wheel. It is hard to let God be in control, but it is always worth it. Have you ever tried to take the wheel, tried to run things your own way, and then had it not turn out so good? Abraham and Sarah tried to take things into their own hands, and Sarah had Abraham sleep with her handmaid so they could have a baby. It worked and then Sarah got jealous of her handmaid and sent her away. God told them He would give them a baby, but Sarah got tired of waiting. We get into trouble when we get tired in the waiting and we take things into our own hands.This is why praising can be so beneficial. While we are waiting, we praise God for all he has done in the past, all that He has planned for our future, and all that He is in control of so that we don’

CLICK HERE for Kaila's BlogToday I was going to share a few stories from the Popewe website again, and I found this one woman Kaila who wrote a story but then included a blog post she had written, I decided to share the blog post with you because it is so real and it is something a lot of people go through. This woman lost two of her children. She found out while pregnant with them that they would not be able to survive after birth. She had one son, and he died in her arms. Then she had a daughter and son, and then her fourth baby, a son, also died in her arms. In this blog, the author also talks about that pain. She talks about the difference between how she dealt with the first loss compared to the second loss. She talks about how real her relationship with God is. She talks about how it is ok to be mad with Him. He will wait for her to come back; she doesn’t need to rush it. This situation is very sad, and my heart breaks for anyone who loses a child, never mind two children. I pray while you listen to her testimony, you say a prayer for all those who have lost children and that together, we can pray for God to heal their hearts. Here is the blog titled “Relationship Status: It’s Complicated.” "Tell me, what is the biggest difference between your grief journey with Sam and now with Gabriel?" My therapist asked me this question last week. I sat in silence. I think it's having Mira and Edward now...is it? Maybe it's not. "It's my relationship with God." When we had Sam, I couldn't wait to get out and share our story with the world. About how God had given us so much peace. How he had been there with us in the storm. How we didn't know how people could survive this much pain without him. And now... Now. I don't know. I really don't know. I wish I could say I still felt that way. I wish I could say I feel his presence strongly with me. I wish I could say I know that he is good and his plan is perfect, and that I know without a doubt he will redeem this great loss for the second time. I envy 6 year ago me who was so sure of those things. God gave his one and only son for me. That brought me so much comfort. Last time. I felt a kind of community with God that I hadn't really felt before. God is part of this child-loss community. He knows how I feel. He has the same sadness I do. But now I've given two. I can't even say that, actually. I did not give them back. They were taken. My arms have been robbed of two boys. Two perfect boys that never were able to open their eyes and look at their Momma. I know my loss is not unique. And there are people out there who handle it way "better" than I do. Their relationship with God is solid, they rest in his promises. They have peace. One day I hope to have that again, but today it is turmoil. My brow is furrowed at the wrongness and unfairness that is two dead babies. Two refrigerated bodies. Two tiny urns on my bookshelf. It makes no sense to me that two loving parents with a finally healthy marriage would have to do this even once, but twice? I'm currently reading several books, and one author said something that I really liked. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that as beings created in God's image, evil, loss, grief, injustice, and the unfairness of this world SHOULD perplex us. God is logical, and of course then so are we. And because evil does not make sense, we struggle greatly with the concept that it exists. Why does God allow evil to exist? Why? Why is he seemingly okay with all of this? It is healthy to ask these questions. It okay to talk about doubt. It. Is. Okay. Another book that I just finished echoed these sentiments, but the author warns to not stay stuck forever in the pit of "why"s. In her own testimony, she shares that she stayed there for years, but it wasn't until she asked her "how" that she started to climb out. "How will God redeem this? How will he use this for good?" I'm not there yet. I'm not even close. And it may be months. It may be years. I cannot and I will not rush this for the sake of looking good. For the sake of being a "good Christian." I love Jesus and I know that he loves me, but I am telling you in total transparency... I'm angry. I'm bitter. I feel abandoned. And I do not need someone to save me. I do not need platitudes. I just need to be loved. Not one person on this earth can fix my brokenness. I don't even want it fixed right now. It wouldn't be genuine of me to say, "God is good and I have peace." I said that last time. I meant it last time. But right now, I do not feel those things. I'm hurting. I'm tired. I yell at my kids because they are little and they need me and I do not want to be needed right now. And then I feel crushing guilt because I yell at my kids and they're the only ones alive. Half of my children are dead and maybe it's because I'm an awful mother that doesn't deserve to raise all 4. That last sentence? I know it's not true. I know. And I'm not asking for comments/compliments on why I'm a wonderful mother.

Living A Supernatural LifestyleActs 8:5-8 “ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samar′ia and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.”I love the Book of Acts. I love several books of the Bible, but I am particularly drawn to Acts because of its supernatural aspect. After Pentecost the apostles moved forward into a supernatural lifestyle. Jesus had equipped them twice before to go out and spread the Gospel message using signs and wonders. However, now they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them and they were forever equipped for this mission. It became a part of them. For instance in Acts 3:1-10 “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”Peter and John were going about their life. They didn't make a big show or say a ton of words. They were simply walking by someone in need, and they stopped and healed him. It was so simple and so easy. The reason it was so easy is because they knew the power they had living inside of them. They didn’t ask God to heal this man; they knew they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they could call on this Holy Spirit to heal this man in the name of Jesus. They commanded the man to walk, and he did.You and I have this same power living inside of us. The biggest difference is that they knew the power they had. Can you see what amazing things we could be doing if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the power we have living inside of us? They didn’t wonder if they could do it. They didn’t wonder if God would show up and heal this person. They didn’t wonder if it was God’s will to heal that person. They simply knew that the person needed healing and that they could provide that for Him. I wish we could all live this type of lifestyle. I wish we all knew the power we have living inside of us.This is the reason I named this podcast Walk Boldly With Jesus. Peter and John were walking boldly with Jesus. We can too. Each one of us has the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Yet, how often do we call upon that power? How often do we step forward confidently knowing we have that power? How often do we ask the Lord to do things that He has given us the ability to do?I am not saying we shouldn’t ask the Lord for things; we definitely should. However, we should also step forward with confidence that He has equipped us to help ourselves as well. For instance, we definitely should pray to God for healing for our friends and family. However, we can also pray over them for healing as well. We can command the illness to leave, we can command bones to be healed and we can command spirits to leave. We are not powerless. We often say, “All we can do now is pray.” I get the sentiment and yet prayer is the most powerful thing we can do. It is not a last-ditch effort. It is the best way to see results. It is the best way to move mountains. There is so much power in prayer.Imagine what this world would look like if we all started living the supernatural life we were meant to live. Imagine if we all realized the power we have living inside of us. The power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you and inside of me. (Romans 8:11) Can you even believe that? That is so crazy to me that God would give us the Holy Spirit. I am not just talking about the supernatural power to heal people, although I do wish we could all realize we had that power. There are so many people dying of illnesses, and if more of us were operating with the confidence that Peter and John had that the power of the Holy Spirit would work through us, we could save more people. Not just from their physical illness, but we could bring them back to Jesus, which is the real reason for the signs and wonders.The Ho

Who Are We To Judge?Acts 10:44-46 “While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”I think this verse is an important one to talk about because often, we can impose our own ideas on what God can and can’t do. This verse is a great reminder that we are not in charge; God is. This verse comes to us in a very interesting way. This story shows how God prepares our hearts and minds for what is coming. There was a man named Cornelius who was a centurion and he feared god with all his household. He gave alms liberally to the people and prayed constantly to God. One day Cornelius saw in a vision an angel of God telling him to send men to Joppa to bring Simon Peter to him. So Cornelius did as he was told and sent his men out to fetch Simon Peter.At the same time as this is happening, Peter is on the housetop praying, and he becomes hungry. However, while they are preparing the food, he falls into a trance. While in the trance, Peter has a dream where the Lord tells him to eat animals previously thought to be unclean. While Peter is refusing to eat unclean animals, the Lord tells him, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” Peter was confused as to what this dream might mean, and while he was pondering it, Cornelius’s men showed up looking at him. The Holy Spirit told Peter to rise up and go without hesitation with the men.When Peter gets there, he tells Cornelius that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation but that God had shown him that he should not call any man common or unclean. Then he asked why Cornelius sent for him. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Peter went on to proclaim the Gospel, and then we get to the verses above. While Peter was still talking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And those who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.This is a message of utmost importance for each one of us. Peter's words, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-35), challenge the notion of exclusivity. It was unlawful for Jews to associate with or visit anyone from another nation. Yet, God showed Peter that this isn’t what he desires. God wants us all united. He doesn’t want us to separate ourselves from those groups of people because we have labeled them, out loud or in our heads, unclean and unworthy. Instead of focusing on bringing our loved ones back to the church, why not focus on helping them know and love Jesus more?Why do we judge people and decide in our minds who is worthy of God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness? Who are we to judge? We are not perfect. We don’t have it all figured out. I mess up every day, and I rely on God’s mercy and grace to help me make it to the next day. We can all learn a lot from this passage. God gets to decide who is ready for the Holy Spirit. God will lead us and our loved ones to the next step. Cornelius was a great man, and when he was ready for more, the Lord guided him to Peter. God will guide our steps to grow closer to Him as well. It might not be as clear as sending an angel, but He will show you what the next step is if you are open to his promptings.God has really been putting it on my heart lately that we are so focused on bringing our family members back to the church when the church might not be the right place for them right now. If they have been wounded by the church, or offended by the church, then they may go to church but not be open to hearing the messages. What if we just started by trying to get our loved ones to know they are loved by Jesus? Let them know that He is always there for them. Let them know that He loves them just as they are. So many people are lacking love in their lives. They don’t know God as the loving Father He is. They see Him as someone who is sitting on his throne in heaven, just waiting for them to mess up so he can pass judgment on them.What if instead of trying to bring everyone back to church, we started by just bringing Jesus to them? What if we just started trying to help everyone feel loved and accepted? Did you know you can accept someone for who they are even if you don’t like something they are doing? You don't have to agree with their choices or condone their behavior to love and accept them. God loves and accepts us for who we are. He doesn’t love everything we do. I am sure we break his heart often. Yet He still loves us just as much. He doesn’t continually point out all we are doing wrong that offends him

Today’s episode will be a bit different. Today I will be reading one of the chapters in my new book titled Abandon Anxiety: Techniques to take back control. Yesterday in prayer group a lot of the ladies were saying they knew people who were struggling with anxiety, so I thought I would read this chapter as it is called Calming Our Anxiety In The Moment. There are lots of things that go into anxiety, and there are ways to decrease it. Yet some of them take time to learn and implement and become habits. I wanted to give people strategies they can use when they are in the middle of an anxiety attack and need some immediate help. I hope you find them helpful.I have talked a lot about our thoughts and the stories we tell ourselves. I discussed how important it is we shape those thoughts and are conscious of the stories that we tell ourselves. I have talked about the RAS, which serves as a filter for our brain, and how we can work on setting our filter so that we don’t worry so much. I have discussed scripture verses that you can turn to and different prayers that can help you both at the moment, such as the St. Michael prayer, and long-term in developing more trust in the lord, such as the Litany of Trust. However, all of these things, except for the St. Michael prayer, take time. You probably won’t change your thought patterns overnight. You won’t wake up tomorrow having forgotten these deeply held beliefs you have had for years. Worrying less is definitely possible, and I truly hope after reading this book, you are motivated to begin your journey to getting rid of your worry. I also know some people reading this book have anxiety/panic attacks. I know that some of you reading this are looking for answers to what to do at the moment. You don’t have time to focus on changing your thoughts because, at the moment, when you are overcome with worry or anxiety, you can’t think about anything. I thought it was important to address this matter as well, as I have several friends who suffer from panic/anxiety attacks, and I know how debilitating they can be. I know how scary it can be, and if I can provide any help to make it easier at the moment, I want to do that. I want to begin by saying I am not a mental health counselor. If you are having panic/anxiety attacks, it might be advisable to speak with a counselor, as they could help you out with your particular circumstances. I have seen a counselor for years, and I think everyone could benefit from seeing someone and talking about any issues. The techniques I am going to talk about in this chapter are techniques I have found over the years from research to help my friends. I also talked to my sister, who is a mental health counselor, to make sure I wasn’t steering you in the wrong direction or telling you something that wasn’t true. I have been told the important thing is to try to get back to the present moment. There is no anxiety in the present moment. When you are anxious, you are thinking about what will happen or what has already happened, but there is no anxiety in the present moment. In order to do this, you can try a variety of different things, depending on what feels right to you and what you can remember to do in the moment. I would suggest if you are prone to attacks, you have a list of techniques you look at often and even practice when you are not having an attack. From what I understand, you will not be able to think of much in the moment, so the more you have prepared in advance, the more likely you will be to think of these strategies in the moment you need them.This is similar to anything that you want to get good at. When you want to be good at something, you need to practice it. If you want to be good in a crisis, you need to practice the techniques when things are calm. Let’s think about it in terms of sports for a minute. If you want to be really good at baseball, you can’t wait until you are in the middle of a game to practice working on catching a ball or even throwing a ball. This is why athletes need to put in hours of practice before the game days. Think about surgeons. They need to go to school for a long time, and then they need to do a residency where they are under the supervision of surgeons who have been practicing for a while. We wouldn’t expect a surgeon to just walk into an operating room and know how to perform a surgery without lots of practice. We do not expect people to be good at things without practicing them. And yet when it comes to mental health, we just expect people to know how to handle it. When our children are little, we expect them to be able to handle their anger without hitting others. However, how much time do we spend teaching them and practicing other methods with them? Often times, when they are acting out, we try to give them options of what they can do to express their anger. Has this happened to you? Have you had well-intentioned people try to give you all sorts of advice on how you should handle your anxiety

The Certainty of God’s Promise (Part 2)Hebrews 6:16-20 “ Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute. In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”I started talking about The Certainty of God’s Promise on Monday. Today I want to finish the section as I think it is important that we all know we can count on God and all of His promises. God can not lie. If He says something, it is true. Today’s verse starts out by talking about how humans swear by someone greater than themselves. I am sure you have done this before. You were telling someone something, and you really wanted them to believe you, so you probably said something like I swear on my life, I swear to you I am not lying, or something to that effect. This first sentence in the verse is saying that when an oath is given as confirmation, it puts an end to all disputes. This means the person no longer questions if you are telling the truth or not. The next line is pretty long and covers a lot, so let’s break it down. The first part says, “ In the same way when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose.” This tells us that God is unchanging. It is not as if he was one God in the Old Testament, One God in the New Testament, and then a different God now. God is the same yesterday, today, and always. God’s character does not change. It also says that God wants to show us even more clearly this unchangeable character of His purpose. Change is not possible with God. He does not develop or grow. He always remains the same. Since God is an absolute perfection, no change for the better is possible since you cannot improve on perfection. Consequently, there is no inconsistency in God. The Scripture makes it clear that God does not change in his character or purpose, his fairness towards humankind, or in his promises. Next, it says, “he guaranteed it by an oath so that through two unchangeable things.” When I read it, I was wondering, wait, what two unchangeable things? I am not sure if you had the same question. When I read through on my own, I tend to skip over things I don’t quite understand. However, since doing this podcast, every time I stop and look up the meaning of something, I am so glad I did. When I looked this up, the two unchangeable things were the promise and the oath. Here is what the website said: “When God made His promise to Abraham since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. Then in the verse above it says, “Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.” So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. The author of this response also wanted us to “note that the oath to confirm the promise has validity because God does not change and His purpose does not change. Thus, the promise is confirmed by the oath which cannot change because that which it is sworn by is God Himself.” When God swears by Himself, it signifies the absolute certainty and unchangeable nature of His promise. God, being perfect and unchanging, is the most reliable and trustworthy entity, and His promises are, therefore, infallible. That may have been a lot of words, but basically, it says that God is always the same and that He wanted to make doubly sure we would believe his promise, so He swore it in an oath as well. This goes to show how mistrusting we are as humans. You would think the Lord almighty promising us something would be enough for us to believe it, and yet He knew some wouldn’t, so He also gave us an oath. That is how much God cares about us.Next, the verse above says, “In which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.” We covered the first part above. The second part says that we should be encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We can all seize the hope that comes with God’s promises because we know that God will keep his promises. He is not like us.

Witness Wednesday #107 More PopWe (Depression & Anxiety)Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today I chose four testimonies from the Depression and Anxiety Category. I know so many people who are struggling with this right now. Oftentimes, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we hear others tell their story it helps us to see we are not alone. We are not the only ones who have struggled with depression and anxiety. We aren’t the only ones who struggle with wanting to be alive. Other people feel as we do and when they are willing to talk about it, we feel less alone. I pray when you hear these testimonies, you can see not only how God has helped them in their life but how He could help you in yours and in your loved ones’ lives, too. Blair: My story begins in a very bad place, full of shame, regret, and sadness. I had a very overbearing mother who made my life miserable. There were many days of “walking on eggshells.” As I grew into a teenager, I started really feeling very low self-worth and self-esteem. I felt ugly. I was bullied and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. My family went to church but only to be seen. There was no Bible visible in my house and God and Jesus were not talked about. As my life progressed through college, getting married, and having kids, my faith remained surface level and weak. I developed depression and anxiety that I have battled with for 24 years! It’s taken many therapy appointments and appointments with the psychiatrist. It hurts me to say, but I spent several times in the hospital and had two suicide attempts before they finally got my medication right. My 4 children, all boys, were met with the most tragic event in all our lives. My husband and their father passed away suddenly in the ICU on December 24th, 2015. My boys were 17, 15, 11, and 9. Prior to his death, as well as after, I attended a contemporary service at a local church. The music was inspirational. I began listening to my local Christian music radio station. I began going to Bible Study. I felt like a sponge because I wanted to learn about Jesus and His life-giving strength, hope, and comfort. Along with doctors and medication, Jesus brought me out of the hole I was in and He led me to the Lord. If my life was going to end up like it has and I knew that it would, I wouldn’t change a thing, because it was that long and arduous valley that brought me to the mountain top with God. I still have days of sadness and grief, but with God’s unconditional love, grace, and mercy, I now know that every day my God empowers me to keep going step by step and minute by minute. I’m still on my faith journey as we all are, but through friends, my church, my pastor and the list could go on and on, I am stronger than anything that Satan tries to throw at me. The battle is the Lord’s and I am so happy that I let him into my broken world. All the trials led me to the Lord and He broke the chains of depression and anxiety, giving me hope for a brighter future and the knowledge that I am not alone. “There is another in the fire” with me and He will never, ever leave my side. Kaitlyn My name is Kaitlyn, I am from the Houston area and I finally got to go to a concert for the first time Friday (March 17th, 2023). And of course, I went to a Matthew West concert! I have faced anxiety my whole life (all 18 years of it so far). In 2020 is when I finally realized I needed to get control of how to handle it. I was a freshman when covid hit, which can explain a little bit more about why I wanted to try and find coping mechanisms to help me.I was on Spotify one day when Matthew West’s “Truth Be Told” started to play. Now at first, I was laughing because I was like, “wow, thank you for calling me out like that” but then I heard “Nobody” play and that is when I flat-out lost it. I couldn’t control the tears. I knew that I was struggling because when I had panic attacks at school, people just started to ignore me and made fun of me.Because I couldn’t really explain what was happening, it got to the point of just not wanting to go anywhere, including church. I started to listen to more of Matthew’s songs when covid really shut things down because I ended up going through a lot of issues with my hip and it just felt like no one really heard me screaming in pain. I have always listened to Matthew West, he was one of the people that played on the radio when I was little, but I never really LISTENED to the words until I became a teen because I was little and liked to sing the songs back then. Now I like to hear the message inside the lyrics.Jason: I wasn’t sure whether to put this under Broken Chapters or Anxiety/Depression but you now see which

Who May Abide In Your Tent, O Lord?Psalm 15:1-5 "O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.”This verse resonates with me as it directly addresses the question of how to stay in God's favor. I appreciate the clear instructions, as they allow me to ensure I am following them correctly. The Psalmist's inquiry to the Lord about who can abide in His tent sets the stage for the list of actions we can take to secure an invitation to the holy hill. Let’s explore these requirements to abide in the Lord’s tent.First, there are those who walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak the truth from their hearts. Is this you? Are you walking blamelessly? No, me neither. We all mess up, and we all sin. But when we do mess up and sin, are we going to confession? Are we turning back to the Lord and asking Him to forgive us, or are we just living in that sin? Are we taking that sin on as our identity and getting comfortable with it? If we want to be invited into the Lord’s tent we need to do our best to walk blamelessly and to do what is right. This means going to the Lord, confessing, and repenting so you can be reconciled with Him.This first point also states that we must speak the truth from our hearts. How often are we doing that? How often are you speaking the truth from your heart? I know I get stuck at times. I want to speak the truth, but I get nervous, and I don’t say what I am thinking. I let peer pressure get to me at times and I don’t say the thing I really want to say. I even get sucked into gossiping at times. That is not speaking from the heart. When I just looked up what it means to speak from your heart, it said to speak from your soul. It is said to really know what the message you are saying means for you and for the person with whom you are talking. Are we stopping to think before we talk? Not thinking before we speak can get us into some real trouble, and we end up hurting people even when that isn’t our intention.Second, the verse mentions those “who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors.” This can be a tough one. I have talked before about how devastating gossip can be. Our words have the power to make someone's day or ruin someone’s life. Our words are very powerful. We need to make sure we are using our words for good, to build people up, and not for slander or harm. I would hope it would be easy not to do evil to our friends. I mean, they are our friends, after all. However, sometimes the enemy can get in and spread seeds of discontentment and division. He can tell us things that are not true that make us lash out at our friends. I see if often with my oldest son and his friends. We need to be on the lookout for this and correct it as soon as we realize it.The second point also points out that we shouldn’t take up a reproach against our neighbor. This one was a bit unclear to me. I looked it up; one place said it means to gossip, another place said it means disgrace, and another place said to say or show that you are disappointed, upset, or angry because they have done something wrong. I think what helped me understand this one the most was looking at synonyms for the word reproach. Those are blame, censure, condemnation, disapproval, and rebuke. Does this give you a better picture of the meaning of the word reproach? If we are following the commandment to love our neighbor, then we won’t have to worry about reproaching them, as none of those synonyms match up with love. They are more the opposite of love.Third, those who are despised in the eyes of the wicked, but who honor those who fear the Lord. Those who stand by their oath even to their hurt. It is no secret to Christians that they may be despised for their beliefs. It seems like in the world today, it is perfectly acceptable to be anything you want to be, except Christian. If you believe in Christ, you are automatically in the wrong. You are automatically labeled as unaccepting of others and unloving. It is a really crazy time we live in right now. Jesus was despised in his day, so why should we be any different? Why should we suffer less than our Lord and Savior?It also says, but those who honor those who fear the Lord. It’s ok if the world despises us, but we must not despise each other. We must not let our differences get in the way of loving and respecting our fellow Christians. There is only one Jesus. The same Jesus all Christians love. The same Jesus that died on the cross for ALL of

The Certainty of God’s Promise (Part 1)Hebrews 6:13-15 “ When God made a promise to Abraham because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise."I was going to talk about his whole section of the Bible today, and then when I got writing, I seemed to spend a lot of time on these first few verses. I will talk about the other verses in this section tomorrow. The title of this section in the Bible is called “The Certainty of God’s Promise.” This sounded like something we could all use. I know a lot of people who are not doing so well physically right now. They feel discouraged because their bodies seem to be failing them. I also know a lot of people who have financial struggles right now and could really use some help. I know a lot of people who are struggling emotionally also. If you are struggling in any way, or you know someone who is struggling in any way, this episode is for you.This verse begins by saying, “ When God made a promise to Abraham because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” God is saying this to Abraham, and He is also saying it to us. He is saying it to Abraham and all of his descendants. I know many of you are waiting for God to bless you, and some are waiting for him to multiply you. You can count on this promise by God. It says he swore by himself. This means it is an oath, and God always keeps His oaths. It is like a promise from your heavenly Father, and unlike anyone we know here on earth, our Heavenly Father does not lie, and He does not break His promises.The next line definitely stood out to me. It says, “And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.” When I read it, I wondered two things. First, is this the key that many of us are missing? Are we missing out because we are not waiting patiently? Second, how does one wait patiently when they have so much on the line? For instance, what if they are really sick and they are waiting for a healing? What if they have been waiting to get married and have children their whole life, and now it is looking like they might be too old to have children?Did you know that Abraham had to wait a long time for his answer to this promise as well? God told Abraham and Sarah that He would make his descendants number more than the stars in the sky. He promised they would be the parents of nations. Now, remember, he promised this was when Abraham was already 75 years old and Sarah was 65 years old. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for them to believe in this promise?Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for this miracle to happen. Can you imagine how long that must have felt to them without knowing the plan? Each year, wondering if this was the year. Each month wondering if she would be pregnant. 12 months a year for 25 years is 300 months. If you have ever wanted a baby before, you know how devastating it is to hope each month that you are pregnant, and then you find out you aren’t. This happened to Sarah 300 times after God promised her that he would bless her and multiply her. I don’t know why she had to wait so long, but I am sure that was one of the first things she asked God when she got up there in heaven with Him. I am sure you are asking yourself the same things as well.One thing we can start to tell ourselves in the waiting is that God isn’t looking upon us, and/or He does not favor us because it has been so long, and we don’t see the answers we wanted. We aren’t seeing the answers that we feel God promised us. This is a lie from the enemy. He wants you to believe that God isn’t looking out for you. He wants you to stop believing God will answer your prayers. He wants you to take matters into your own hands.If you have already taken things into your own hands and messed it all up and are now worrying about whether God will still bless you, the answer is yes. Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands as well. It is hard to wait 25 years for the answer to a promise. The enemy gets in your mind and tells you all these lies. He tells you God doesn’t like you. He tells you if God were going to do it, He would have already. He tells you that you don’t have to wait for God. You can do it on your own. He is very convincing, and we want to believe that we can do it on our own because waiting is hard.Sarah persuaded Abraham to try to have a child with her maidservant. They were successful, and Abraham and the maidservant had a child together. However, this was Sarah’s plan, not God’s plan and Sarah got jealous of the maidservant and was not very nice to her after that. Do you see how we can mess things up when we decide to stop waiting on God and do it ourselves without God?However, even though they tried to take things into their own hands, God still kept His promise. Twenty-five years after he promised to ma

His Blessing for A Thousand Generations!Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.”I really liked this verse for today because it reminded me of one of my favorite songs. Originally I was just going to start with verse 5 as that is what was given at prayer group. However, it started with You shall not bow down before them or worship them and in my mind, I wondered who we were talking about. This is why I included verse 4 as well.If we look at verse four, we see that God is telling us not to make idols. He is saying it doesn’t matter what we make the form/idol to look like. We just shouldn’t make them. Now, I remember hearing this and wondering about all the statues, pictures, and medals we have of Mary and Jesus nowadays. I mean, it says, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.I remember Father Mike talked about this during the Bible in a Year podcast. I couldn’t remember exactly what he said, and I didn’t want to give you misinformation, so I looked it up online this morning. I found an article called Do Catholic’s Worship Statues? It was found on the website Catholic.com. The author states, “People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues. For example: “And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat, shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex. 25:18–20).” He gave a few other examples.He goes on to talk about the religious use of Images. He said, “During a plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the exodus, God told Moses to “make [a statue of] a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Num. 21:8–9). One had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent to be healed, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decorations.”Catholics use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to recall the person or thing depicted. Just as it helps to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it helps to recall the example of the saints by looking at pictures of them. Catholics also use statues as teaching tools. In the early Church, they were especially useful for the instruction of the illiterate. Many Protestants have pictures of Jesus and other Bible pictures in Sunday school for teaching children. Catholics also use statues to commemorate certain people and events, much as Protestant churches have three-dimensional nativity scenes at Christmas. I had no idea I was going to mention that today, but that is where the Holy Spirit led me. It is important to stop and explain things when they come up. If I had a question, I am probably not the only one who had the question. If you want more info on this topic or more detail, I will place a link for the article in the show notes. It was really interesting to read.Moving on to verse 5, it says, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me.” When I first read this, I was thinking how it didn’t seem fair that God would punish children for the iniquity of their parents. I looked up the meaning of this verse to see if someone else had the same thought that I had, and it turns out others thought the same thing.Here is what BK Shiroma had to say in the article DNA of Sin. “Now, at first glance, this seems unfair. It seems as though God is saying he punishes children for their father’s (or mother’s) sins. But God makes it very clear later that this is not the case. In Deuteronomy 24:16, God commanded the people, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.” In Ezekiel 18, God rebukes the people who quoted a proverb that seemed to imply that God would punish children for their parent’s sins. So if God doesn’t punish people for their paren

Proclaim The Message! 2 Timothy 4:2-5 “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.”I was surprised when I read these verses this morning. I had just finished writing some declarations from my Encounter School of Ministry class. Last quarter was called Power Evangelization, and it was all about how we can go out and share the Gospel with our spheres of influence. We even had a street ministry practicum where there were at least 30 of us going out 2 by 2 or 3 by 3 onto the streets of the North End in Boston, MA. The declarations that I was writing were all about going out and sharing the Gospel, and then I read these verses, which were given at prayer group by someone who is not in the class with us. It’s funny to me how God provides information even if we don’t want to hear it. He tends to tell us something and then reinforces it in many different ways. Even just this first line in the verse is something that He has been telling us in class and in Prayer Group. “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time be favorable or unfavorable.” This is telling us that it is not ok just to proclaim the message when it is convenient for us. Sometimes, we might hear the Lord telling us or urging us to share the gospel with someone, and yet we don’t want to because we already have plans, we are going to be late for something, or we don’t feel we know what to say. There could be lots of reasons why we tell the Lord, I am sorry; I just can’t do that right now.However, this verse reminds us that when we hear God prompting us to do something, we need to do it when asked whether it is a good time for us or not. Another verse I always go back to is “God’s ways are not like our ways, and His thoughts are not like our thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8). God knows more than we do. Yes, you might be late to where you are going, but would it be worth it if you were saving this person’s life, or better yet, their soul? God knows what He is doing.Deacon Joe, the director of the Boston Campus of Encounter, told us a story the other day. He has a friend who was out with his wife this past weekend. They were out of a walk and the Lord told him to go into McDonalds and buy this specific meal for the homeless person they just passed on the street. This man is used to listening to the Lord, so he told his wife what he thought he heard the Lord say, and she told him they better do it if the Lord said it. So they went into McDonald’s and bought the meal they were supposed to buy. As they were walking over to the man, he got excited when he saw the McDonald’s bag. He told them he loved McDonald’s. Then, when the homeless man looked inside, he said that was his favorite meal there! He was surprised that these strangers knew his favorite meal. This gave them the opportunity to tell him about Jesus and show him just how much God loves him. As the couple was walking away, the Lord revealed to this man that he was the 37th person God asked to buy that man a meal. What if he had been too busy to listen?The verse above goes on to say, “Convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.” This can be hard for us. We can be so passionate about saving our loved ones that we forget to be patient. If you have been praying for your children or other family members for a long time, you might be frustrated with the lack of progress. You might be frustrated that after all this time, you don’t see any changes. In this frustration, you might try to rebuke their ways or what they are doing. God is reminding us in this verse that we must approach everyone with the utmost patience. If we are trying to convince, rebuke, and encourage when we are in a state of frustration or anger, they won’t hear us. If we expect to make a difference, we need to do it with patience.The verse goes on to say, “ For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.” I would say we are currently in this time. Maybe there have been other times in the past as well. However, this definitely speaks to our current times. People believe what they want to believe right now, whether it makes sense or not. As the verse says, people are looking for teachers who suit their own desires instead of listening to the truth. People are searching for someone to tell them that what they are doing is right, even when they know in their heart it is wrong.

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today I chose four testimonies from the Salvation Category. I love to hear about how people found Jesus and what their journey was like. Oftentimes, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we hear others tell their story it helps us to see we are not alone. We are not the only ones who have struggled with God, faith, and religion. We aren’t the only ones who have been mad at God, frustrated with life, and so on. I pray when you hear these testimonies, you can see not only how God has helped them in their life but how He is helping you in yours and in your loved ones’ lives, too.Bob: My story is so trivial compared to those you share at concerts and on TV, but I wanted to share. In 2014, after 35 years of marriage, 2 grown boys, and several grandgirls, I faced an unexpected divorce. During those days, I relied on a long-distance friend I knew from my job who would listen to my daily drama and provide feedback. At one point, she asked if I listened to Christian Music radio. I told her I did a little around Christmas, but otherwise, I did not. She recommended your friends at K-LOVE for support and a lift. I’ve been obsessed with CCM and K-LOVE ever since.Since then I’ve joined a new church, which included a new member class and presentation of my faith journey. I was preparing a small visual aid to use with my journey, and I turned on the TBN app, and the first icon was YOUR Ryman concert. The title of my presentation appropriately became “My Story-Your Glory”. WOW, what an experience to share my life with others I barely knew.After attending your awesome concert in Grove City (Columbus), OH, in October, I had a southern trip on my calendar. When I saw you were going to be in Ashland, KY, I contacted that long-distance friend who helped me years ago, who lived nearby, and asked if she would attend the Paramount Theater with me. On November 2, together, we sang and prayed and had a great time with you and Micah! The prayers you and your father presented were perfect and your interaction with the crowd was amazing. Definitely different crowds in Columbus and Ashland!!!! Thank you for sharing your music. Blessings to you and your beautiful family.Melissa, My testimony is that I finally believed God’s truth enough to receive the miracle I have been hoping for my entire life (and I’m already 42) : “To know God’s truth without a doubt and to clearly see the face of God in ALL things.” This happened while listening to the CD “My Story Your Glory” shortly after buying it at the Crystal Lake, IL concert. I was listening to “Miracle” in my car and realized for the first time God’s perfect goodness despite my traumatic sufferings (and that God makes all things good, and in turn, I was good enough to be HIS) and this knowledge was completely transformational, something that spoke of the “kind of healing that comes swiftly” and it drenched my soul with joy in Him. It was as if suddenly I knew God’s every word to be true and that I could clearly express it in writing. I felt compelled in a way I never could have guessed to forever display this holy love to others as best I could.Awestruck, I wrote the following poem:If only you knew the beauty I see, not just in you, but in everything, you’d come sit awhile and ask what it meant and I’d happily tell you it was heaven sent. Now, I’m just a girl, no one would guess, deserved such a treat to be so thoroughly blessed. And I’d tell you it’s true, cause I was way worse than you, just a wandering wanderer, not sure what to do. And here is the answer, the thing that you seek, to step into God’s power, you’ve gotta be weak. And so thoroughly so, you’ve got nowhere to go, but to sit in your mess, and just endlessly weep. You may not believe it, but trust me it’s right, that looking and looking, will never give sight. But there is sight for the blind, BUT God’s gotta speak. And as soon as you listen, you’ll find all that you need.Thank you, Matthew West. Your music was the missing piece that gave me the wisdom I needed to finally put all the missing pieces together. I had been struggling to do so forever. I know others are sure to experience this beautiful shift from your wonderful songs as well. May all glory be to God, the author of all good things, and to the wondrous keeper of my heart, Christ Jesus our Lord!Sammie: Ever since God entered my life, there has been healing, love, joy, celebration, restoration, peace, & His presence. The more that I’ve let Him into my life, the more of God I’ve gotten to see, know, experience, & share all of these things! This means through elementary school, middle school, high school, & now into college. When

Prayer For VictoryPsalm 20 “The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion. May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your victory and, in the name of our God, set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.”I don’t usually do a whole Psalm. I usually just pick a verse or two. I went to this Psalm because Psalm 20:6 was used for teaching at my prayer group just before Easter. However, when I went to read it, I liked the whole thing, and I thought you would too. What I liked most about it is that it is a prayer for Victory. I feel as though we could all use a little victory in our lives right now. My mother and father-in-law came over for Easter, and my mother-in-law mentioned that she has 25 different people she prays for each morning. I bet she could use a little victory with those prayers.Every time I go on Facebook, there are lots of people asking for prayer requests. In the Facebook group I am in, there are so many women who feel as though they are struggling. They feel as if they just can’t catch a break. It feels to them like the whole world is against them. They are experiencing one disappointment after another. There is one woman who has two young girls. Out of the blue, her ex-husband, their dad, died. Then she took her daughter to the ENT doctor to have her ears checked because the tubes came out. They said she has 10 % hearing loss in one ear and 20% in another ear. That is not what any mom wants to hear.This Psalm is all about victory. It begins by saying, “The Lord answer you in your times of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion. May he remember all your offerings, and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.” This is a great prayer. It is asking for the Lord to answer our prayers when we are in trouble and also to protect us. We could all use some of our prayers to be answered and some protection from our Dad in heaven.Psalm 20 could be a great prayer when you don’t know what to pray. Have you ever had a time when you just didn’t really know what to ask for? Either things were so bad that you couldn’t see a way out, or you were so angry, sad, and upset that no words would come to your mind. If this happens to you again, you could keep Psalm 20 in your back pocket and pull it out when you don’t know what else to say. This Psalm touches on all the important things.The next part is my favorite part. It says, “May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy over your victory and, in the name of our God, set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.” Yes, please! I pray he grants my heart’s desire and fulfills all my plans. I pray he grants yours too! I also love that it says, “May we shout for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God, set up our banners.” When I hear it, I picture a parade. I picture people waving around banners and flags and shouting for joy. It is important that we are joyful when our petitions are granted to us. It is important that we rejoice and we thank God for it.The last part of the Psalm says, “Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. They will collapse and fall, but we shall rise and stand upright. Give victory to the king, O Lord; answer us when we call.” I like that it says he knows the Lord will help his anointed. It says He will answer from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Who could use a mighty victory right now? Who is waiting, praying, and hoping for something important right now? This verse says that the Lord will help his anointed. Guess what? You are His anointed. The Lord will answer your prayers with mighty victories.The verse also points out where our pride should be. It says some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God. We have a God who answers our prayers. We have a God who grants us great victories. We have a God who grants our heart’s desires and fulfills all of our plans. We definitely have a God we can take pride in. God has done so much for us. This psalm is definitely one to write down somewhere and remember where it is so we can take it out and pray it w

In The End, I Am Still With YouPsalm 139:17-18 "How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.”This is a great verse! It reminds us that the Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts. In this verse, David reminds us that God’s thoughts are worthy of spending some time pondering. He is also saying that if we were to count God’s thoughts, they would outnumber the sand. We could spend all day thinking about God’s thoughts and how much He knows. I mean, He is the God of the universe. There are over 8 billion people on the earth, and God knows each one of us by name. Can you even imagine that?If we truly sit down and think about how amazing God is, we could get overwhelmed. When we think about all the thoughts He has to keep at one time, it can seem impossible. Over 8 billion people, and he knows your name. He knows everything about you. He knows about your marriage, your kids, your divorce, your struggles with your job, your struggles with your kids, the abuse you have received, and the successes you have achieved. God knows all of it. There isn’t anything about you that God doesn’t know.He even knows about all the things we try to hide from Him. He knows about that shame we keep stuffing down deeper and deeper. He knows about that anger we are holding onto because He took our loved ones, and we can’t see the reason. He knows about the hurt that was caused by someone or something in the church. He knows about that thing that we did that we don’t want anyone to know about. He knows. There isn’t anything we can do that God doesn’t know about. And that is a great thing!The reason we don’t want God to know certain things is because we think He will judge us. We think He will stop loving us if He knew the real us. Who we are down deep inside. The one that we don’t show anyone because we are afraid if we do show anyone, they won’t like us anymore. This might be true for some people, but this is not true for God. He made you who you are. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He hand-picked you to be you. God doesn’t make mistakes.I know there are parts of you that you wish you could change. This is true for all of us. Yet, God made us who we are, and he put those parts in us, and I am sure He had a reason for it; instead of looking for the reasons we want to change all the things we don’t like, how about if we ask the Lord why he gave us those things and how He wants us to use them. God has a plan, he has way more thoughts that we could ever imagine.Nothing is ever by chance with God. God made you specifically like you are. There is a purpose for each and every detail about you. That is how magnificent God is. Even though there are 8 billion of us, God knows each of us individually and intimately. We could ponder all day and night and not truly understand or grasp that, and that is okay. I don’t think we are meant to understand everything God does. There are some parts of God and the things that He does that will always be a mystery, or at least they will be on this side of heaven. I believe when we get to heaven, the fullness of God will be revealed to us.The second part of today’s verse says, “I come to the end—I am still with you.” This is a short sentence, and yet it is an important one. King David was secure in his relationship with the Lord. He knew he was never far from the Lord. If we look at the Psalms David wrote, He knew God was always with Him. He knew no matter what he did, God was still with Him. David excelled at repenting and turning back to the Lord. He knew God was always by His side.The same is true for us. God is always right there by our side. He is helping us, loving us, and being there for us each step of the way. When we mess up, when we sin, when we do something to hurt our relationship with Him, He does not go anywhere. We are the ones who turn away. We turn our backs to Him because we don’t want Him to see us in our sin, our shame, or our guilt. We turn away, and yet He still stands there waiting for us to return. This is why I love this verse so much. It shows us the confidence that David had in his relationship with the Lord. It shows us the confidence we can have too.“When I come to the end—I am still with you.” This can be true for each one of us. All we have to do is believe it, and then, when we mess up, repent and turn back to the Lord. He is there waiting for us with open arms. God never leaves us. He is always right there by our side. It is up to us to repent and turn back to Him. He is always right there, just waiting for us to come back to Him. Can we do that today? Can we turn back to the Lord and repent?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for never leaving our side. We thank you for knowing each one of us intimately. We thank you for knowing so much more than we ever could. We know we know so little compar

What About The Waiting…1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.”Today is a very sad day. I know that without Good Friday, we have no Easter Sunday, and yet today is still a very sad day. Thinking about all the Lord went through for us is a bit overwhelming. To think about all he suffered and the fact that He never sinned. He was completely blameless, and yet He suffered immense pain for all of us. That can be overwhelming, too, if we really let it sink in that it was our sins that killed Jesus. My sins and your sins. That is a lot to take in.I remember Father Mike saying that he was at an event once, and someone came up to him and asked him two questions. The first was, why do Christians blame all Jews for Jesus’s death, and the second one was, if you believe that Jesus’s death saved you from sin, shouldn’t you be thanking us? Father Mike wasn’t sure what to say, so he called upon the Holy Spirit. Then he explained that, yes, some of the Jewish people conspired with the Romans to put Jesus to death. However, the Catholic Church does not blame the Jewish people for Jesus’s death. Jesus would not have had to go to that cross if we were blameless. Jesus went to that cross for my sins and your sins. We are the reason Jesus was crucified.This wasn’t news to me. Of course, I knew that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. However, it did hit me in a different way when Father Mike said that our sins are the reason Christ went to the cross. I don’t know if those sound exactly the same to you or not, but for me, they were slightly different. It was almost as if I was recognizing the redeeming factor of Christ going to the cross without realizing the blame I had for it. I don’t know if I can explain what I am thinking in a way that will make sense, but I am going to try, so please bear with me.I know Jesus died from my sins. I am so grateful that because of his sacrifice, we have been set free from sin and bondage. I focused on that part of it in the past. Good Friday was about Jesus taking our sins to the cross. The focus was on Jesus and what He sacrificed for us. And the focus should be on Jesus. However, I don’t think I allowed myself, or I don’t know if I ever thought to think about my part in Jesus going to the cross. I don’t know that I ever really felt the guilt of sending Him to the cross. I don’t know that it really sunk in that it was my sins that caused Him to go to the cross. I am not sure if that makes sense, and it may be a subtle difference but it is an important one.Another thing that I am reminded of each Good Friday is something I heard about at a conference in Germany. I unfortunately didn’t get to see it. I was at a conference in Ettal, Germany. This is not far from Oberammergau, Germany, where they hold the Passion play every 10 years. In 1633, the Oberammergau villagers promised to perform the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ every tenth year, in so far as no one was to die of the plague anymore. God answered the villagers, and therefore, in 1634, the first Passion Play took place. The promise has been kept until today. During some free time at the conference, some of the people took a ride to Oberammergau to walk around the village.One of my friends went to this town. Her friends walked into a church, and she was outside. She entered just a few minutes after them, and she walked in, and they were all crying. She wondered what she missed, what had happened. Then, they pointed to a display at the back of the church. It was Jesus waiting in a cell, and it hit her, too. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to wait in a cell for the time to arrive? We tend to think of the physically demanding times, such as the scourging at the pillar, the carrying of the cross, or the actual crucifixion. But what about all the times in between all of that? What about the times when He was all alone, left with His own thoughts?We know that when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, thinking about all He would have to endure, His sweat became like drops of blood. We know the pain of thinking about all of our sins was overwhelming to Him. What about when He is waiting to meet Pilate? What about after the scourging and before the crucifixion? Was He waiting alone in a cell somewhere? What was going through His mind? Did you ever take time to meditate on that? I know I haven’t because I never really thought of it before. The quiet part, the waiting part, isn’t really talked about.I just looked up Jesus’s waiting to see if maybe it was talked about but I didn’t hear about it. I found an article from a woman named Christina. Christina has visited Israel and was telling about what she saw when she went. Here is what she said: (Click Here for full article)"On our trip to Israel, we went to that courtyard where a statue of a rooster now stands. We then went to an underground prison benea

"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"Matthew 27:46 “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).I just opened the Bible to a random place this morning, and this is what I read. I found it fitting since it is Holy Thursday today. I also found it fitting because I am listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast again this year, and Father Mike just talked about this line in the episode I heard yesterday. Father Mike explained that although Jesus asked God why He had forsaken Him, it is essential to know that Jesus was not actually rejected by His Father. God never turned His face away from Jesus. Jesus always lived and continues to live in the eternal gaze of love with His Father. “At the same time, in the redeeming love that always united Him to the Father, He assumed us in the state of our waywardness to sin to the point that he could say in our name from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He had such solidarity with sinners that he experienced what we experience when we are away from the Lord. He experienced what it was to be rejected, but he was never rejected. He experienced what it is to be cut off from the Father, although he never was cut off from the Father. His solidarity with us was so real, was so great that his experience and his humanity was that of he could say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But we recognize that he never, never, was away from the Father. He was never disconnected, just like in so many ways; I mean, we can have analogies here, right? We can experience this distance from the Father. We can experience the silence of prayer. We can experience dryness in prayer. That does not mean God is absent. His silence does not mean that His is absent. But we experience that. Jesus experienced what it felt like to have lost his Father, but He never lost the Father, and the Father never lost Him.”Father Mike goes on to say, “God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love. He talks about paragraph 604 in the catechism and how it says by giving up his own son for our sins, God manifest that his plan for us is one of benevolent love prior to any merit on our part that is a mission of love. This is what God wants for us because he loves us. And so we just recognize that Christ’s redemptive death is in God’s plan of salvation. Yep, here’s God’s predestination and here’s God’s will working with our free will. Here’s our grace working with our brokenness. And yet grace still is operative and our free will is still operative. That Jesus Christ took upon himself the guilt of us all in such a way that he had this solidarity with sinners. He identified himself with sinners, although he himself never sinned, in order to reconcile us to God and that is God’s initiative. That is God’s prerogative that we did not deserve it, we did not do anything to merit it and we could never do anything to merit it. But God himself takes the initiative, which is just an incredible, incredible note.”The Catechism has so much that I would love to share with all of you. It is so good! I recommend that you listen to this podcast if you have ever wondered what Catholics believe and why we believe it. I want to take a minute to read you paragraphs 604 and 605 in the Catechism, as I believe we all need to hear this, especially today, the day before Good Friday. It will give us more perspective tomorrow.604 By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins." God "shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus recalled that God's love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." He affirms that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many"; this last term is not restrictive but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”Did you catch that last line? "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.” Do you know what that means? That means that the devil is a liar. It means that when he tells you that God forgives people but that your sins are too great, he is a liar. It means that when the devil whispers in your ear that Jesus died for other’s sins but not for yours, he is a liar. It means that when the devil whispers you couldn’t possibly be forgiven, accepted, or whatever else he is telling you, he is a liar. Jesus died for your sin

Click Here for websiteToday’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today I chose the three they had on the front page. I don’t think they are all in the same category. The first one is about a young girl who had enough disappointment from her earthly Father but found her heavenly Father. The second one is about a mom who survived a car accident and her journey to find God. The last one is about a young man and his journey to find the Lord as well. I guess they are all about the journey to find God. However, they all have their different twists and turns. I pray when you hear them, you can see not only how God has helped them in their life but how He is helping you in yours and in your loved ones, too.Reyna: My head fell into my hands and I was crying uncontrollably. I was about 6 years old when I learned what prison was. The guards had just brought my dad out and between the thick glass separating us I could see his hands and feet in shackles. I felt hopeless, and ashamed. I spent the rest of my childhood watching my dad go in and out of prison due to his alcohol and drug addiction. When I was about 10, someone invited me to church. It was there I learned about my Heavenly Father; the one who would never leave me and who had a purpose for my life. It was on a Sunday when the nice church people gave me a ride home that I found Christian music on the radio. The songs breathed life into my chaotic world and taught me the depths of God’s love. In my teen years I fell away from God and at 17 became a teen mom. A few years later my dad came out of prison and met my now 2 young daughters. I had high hopes that despite him not seeing me grow up, now he’d be the best grandpa to them. That dream was short-lived. A few years later he was back in prison and was handed a 35 year sentence. The pain became too much and I vowed to close that chapter of my life. I wrote my dad a final letter letting him know how much of a disappointment he was and that I would never visit him in prison again. Over the next few years God spoke purpose into my life. I rededicated my life to Him, and became the first in my family to graduate from college. I landed a good job and life was full. One day while I was thanking God for all he had blessed me with, I heard the still small whisper, “It’s time to go see your dad”. It had been 6 years. I went to see him and began telling him about Jesus and what he’d done in my life. After every visit we’d pray that God would allow my dad to come home, to our surprise my dad received a pardon. Today he’s home and has surrendered his life to God. As for me, the girl that vowed she’d never walk into a prison again, today I do prison ministry. I go to maximum security prison yards all over and tell prisoners about the freedom that can only come from a life fully surrendered to Jesus.Tammy: In 2019, God saved me and my son from what should have killed us. We were in a really bad car accident that left me with a broken hip and a blood clot in my neck from the seat belt that all of the emergency personnel said I was “lucky” to have survived. I told them, no, I wasn’t lucky at all, I am “blessed” by a great Big God who loves me so much to save me! This accident had me off my feet for a few months, in which time I felt depressed, sad, and worthless. I felt like I didn’t deserve anyone’s love, especially the love of God. I felt like such a burden to my family and church family because of all they were doing for me to help me recover. During this time of recovery, I heard the song “Truth be Told” by Matthew West. I heard the lyrics and I related so much to this song. I was broken. Not just bone broken, but emotionally broken. Spiritually broken. I felt so far from God. Whenever anyone would ask how I was doing, I’d always say, “I’m fine” but deep down, I wasn’t fine, I was so broken. BUT GOD!!!!God led me to listen to more of Matthew West’s music and the more songs I’ve listened to, the more I started to feel healed! To this day, Matthew’s music is on replay on my Spotify! 🙌 God picked me up from my deepest darkest thoughts and He took those thoughts of worthlessness and turned them into worthiness! I started reading my Bible more, I started praying more. I knew my healing was a gift from God! I am now almost four years from our car accident, and I’m still living my life with a great outlook on how far God has brought me and am so thankful for God’s protection that dreadful night. I may have lost my car, lost my job, and my sense of independence at the time, but I gained my relationship back from Jesus, and for that I will always be grateful for my car accident! God is good ya’ll! He just wants the best for us. He loves us so much!

Just Ask, You Are Not Bothering The Lord Mark 11:24 “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”I saw this was the verse of the day today, and then I heard a brief description of it, and the man talking said that Jesus said this to his disciples on the Tuesday before Good Friday. Since today is Tuesday before Good Friday, I thought it would be a good verse. It is a verse I rely on often, and it is just after a verse that I love and struggle with. It is just after verse 23, which says, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.” I struggle with that one because I have a hard time believing I could have enough faith to throw a mountain into the sea. I have also prayed for things that I truly believed would happen, and they didn’t, or they didn’t happen the way I thought they might.However, today’s verse says, “Whatever we ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” So, this verse is not much different than the verse right above it. Here the Lord is telling us in two different ways that if we pray with expectant faith, our prayers will be answered. What really piqued my interest about this verse today is when Brad, from Passion, the man who talked about the verse of the day on the Bible app, said this verse came right after Jesus was explaining why the fig tree that he cursed had shriveled up and died. In Mark 11:12-14 it says, “On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it” When they passed by the fig tree the next day they noticed it had withered away to its roots. This is when Jesus started talking about our prayers being answered when we truly believe.What this made me think of this morning is how powerful our words are. Actually, not just our words, but our prayers. Do you know you can ask for things that might seem impossible? Did you know you can pray for amazing miracles? Did you know that God loves it when we ask for big, amazing things? God is constantly telling our prayer group that we are not asking for too much we are asking for too little. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t care about the little aspects of our life. He cares about every detail. I think we get stuck in our heads too much when we are thinking about prayer. We don’t want to ask God about little things because we don’t want to bother Him. We don’t want to ask God for big things because we don’t want to ask Him for too much. I think we are too afraid of offending God or inconveniencing God.What if we truly thought of God as our Dad? Is there anything too big or too small to ask your dad? I know we have all had different experiences with dads. Maybe yours was great, and you could ask him anything. This was my dad. I wouldn’t feel bad asking him to come over and fix a lightbulb, and I wouldn’t feel bad asking him to come watch my kids for a week. It’s not that I don’t know that would be inconvenient for him, but I know he would love to help in any way he can because he is my dad. Maybe you didn’t have that experience with your dad. Maybe you couldn’t rely on him to come through for you. If this is the case I want you to know our heavenly father isn’t the same.He was not born with original sin. He was not a part of this broken world. He can be there for us in ways that no person ever could be. The closer we get to our heavenly Father, the more we will trust that we can ask Him anything. If you are still tentative with your prayers. If you are still thinking you are bothering the Lord with your prayers, you are asking for too much, or coming to Him too often, I invite you to take that to the Lord today. I invite you in this very holy week to ask the Lord what is getting in the way of your relationship with the Father. What is preventing you from trusting Him fully?When I say trusting Him, I don’t just mean trusting that He will answer your prayers. I mean trusting that He wants to answer your prayers. Trusting that He loves you and that nothing you could bring to Him would be a bother because He loves you that much. Trusting that He cares about all the little details of your life. Trusting that you won’t be asking too much of Him if you ask for the impossible. Trusting that He isn’t too busy to deal with the things you consider little things in your life. God wants us to bring Him everything. He doesn’t get tired of us talking to Him. He could listen to us talk all day and not get bored, not get annoyed. When I just thought that I got this strong impression in my Spirit that some of you are thinking tha

You, Too, Have The Power To Choose God’s WillLuke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”This is the beginning of Holy Week. We are getting closer and closer to the day Jesus died on the cross for our sins. In today’s verse, we see that Jesus struggled with this. If you have ever doubted Jesus’s humanity, this is a great witness to it. Jesus knew what was in front of Him. He knew the pain, the agony, the betrayal, the mocking, all of it. He knew, and He really didn’t want to go through it. He asked the Father if He was willing to take this cup from Him. He asked His dad to save Him if He was willing to. Yet Jesus said, “Still, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus, even though He knew what was coming, He still submitted to the Father’s will. This is the ultimate witness of obedience and of love. The reason I say obedience is because Jesus was still willing to be obedient to the Father’s will, even though the cost was great to Him. I say love because Jesus was doing this for not only love for his Father but also for His love for us.He asked the Father to let this cup pass from Him because He knew how awful it would be. Yet, He also knew it was the only way to free us from our past mistakes, to put things right, and to repent for our original sin. Ellen G. White said, “Christ was treated as we deserve that we may be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “By His stripes, we are healed.”When I read this verse, I immediately thought of how many times we are not willing to do God’s will. I thought of how many times we know what God wants us to do and choose to do something that we want to do. I am talking to myself as much as I am talking to all of you today. Take a moment to think about it. If you are honest with yourself, I bet you can think of plenty of times when you knew God wanted you to do something, and yet you chose to do something else.I will give you some examples that come to my mind. When I was in college, I knew God wanted me to be at church on Saturday or Sunday, yet I wanted to be doing anything else but being in church. Or when I first got married and we would want to sleep in, even though we knew God wanted us to be in church. When it was a Friday during Lent, and someone invited us over for some sort of meat dish. Or, we decide to go out to eat, and the meat dish looks better than the fish dish. When I knew the Lord wanted me to fast an hour before communion, and yet I really wanted to drink a cup of tea or have a quick bite to eat before mass. These are just a few of the many examples that I can think of when I knew what the Lord wanted me to do and I didn’t do it. These are a few examples of many when I decided my will was more important than the Lord’s will. I am sure you have your examples too.What I find amazing is that these are all instances where following God’s will really wouldn’t have cost me any great sacrifice. At most, I would have been inconvenienced or inconvenienced someone else. There would not have been anything more than a bit of discomfort on my part, and yet I still chose my will over the Lord’s will. I would like to claim that I was young and really didn’t know what I was doing. However, I can remember distinctly knowing what God wanted me to do and choosing to do what I wanted to do, so I can’t even claim ignorance.Yet, Jesus, who knew exactly what was coming His way, was able to say, Yet, not my will but yours. This was at a great cost to Jesus. He was going to have to suffer pain; I hope none of us have ever known. He was going to have to suffer humiliation like I pray none of us have ever seen. I am sure he suffered heartache as well. I can’t imagine what it was like for Him to watch as one of His very own disciples betrayed Him. I can’t imagine what it was like for Him to watch as those who followed him now yelled crucify him. I can’t imagine what it was like for Him to know His beloved Peter, whom he made the cornerstone of the church, would deny Him 3 times.Christ knew all of that was coming, and yet He was still able to say, not my will but yours be done. I think sometimes we can minimize this because we tell ourselves things like, “Of course, He could do God’s will; he is fully God and fully Human.” The thing is He did not use his divine powers while He was on earth. The only divine powers He used on Earth were those he received from the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of Him. And guess what? We have that same Holy Spirit living inside of us. Do you know what this means? This means we are capable of choosing to do the Father’s will also.The only difference is that Jesus knew His identity and His authority in the Father. He knew He was the Son of God. We are still learning this. We tend to believe

Stay Close To Christ, He Is The Living Water! Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought, it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”I really like this imagery. I can see this tree being planted by the water and can envision it sending its roots out to get the water. It doesn’t have to fear when it gets hot because it has ready access to water. It is not worried when water is scarce as it has its very own supply. I think this is a great metaphor for our trust in the Lord. When we trust in the Lord and trust the Lord, we have access to the Living Water that Jesus talks about to the woman at the well. Jesus is all the spiritual nourishment we will ever need for our souls to thrive. Yet, we need access to it; we need to be close to Him. The tree in this water was planted near the water. However, it still needed to send out its roots to get the water. We need to do the same if we want the nourishment that God is happily willing to provide for us. We live in a time where access to Jesus is easily accessible, at least in the United States where I live. We are free to worship as we like. Bibles are not that expensive, and if you have a smartphone with apps, you can get the Bible App for free. This will not only give you the Bible, but it has almost all, if not all, the various translations. It also has the bible in 130 or so different languages. On this You Version Bible app, there are also countless Bible studies for free. Then you also have rosary apps to help you say the rosary. There is a Divine Mercy app that helps you say the Divine Mercy Chaplet. There are numerous apps to have prayers, meditations, talks, etc. There is no shortage of ways that you can connect with God through His Word and through prayer. There are also daily masses where you can go and receive the body and blood of Christ every day. You can also go to Eucharistic Adoration when it is offered at your church. There are also more and more Perpetual Adoration chapels opening. Perpetual Adoration means that you can go and love on Jesus any time of the day. These chapels are open 24 hours a day. However, some have a policy only to let scheduled adorers go throughout the late night hours, so call ahead and let them know if you want to drop in during the middle of the night. Then there are also YouTube and Podcasts. You can find someone talking about pretty much any subject you want to hear about on these two platforms. You can find podcasts where priests and ministers put their Sunday sermons for all to here. You can find podcasts that talk about Scripture, almost like a Bible Study. Exploring My Strange Bible is a great one for that! YouTube, you can just put the topic into the search bar, and you will find several videos to watch on each topic you type in the search bar. As you can see, we have access to many ways to connect with God. It is not difficult, and yet we still need to reach out, just as the tree above needed to send out its roots. If the tree had just stood tall right where it was and hoped that the water would reach out to it, then it would have died. We can have all this free access to information and yet do nothing with it. The information is there but we need to read it, watch it, go to it, whatever it may be. It doesn’t matter how often they offer masses if I am not going to them or how many translations of the Bible I can get if I am not even looking. We need to actively search for ways to connect to the Lord. He is our nourishment, our peace. He will provide us with what we need to get through the storms, but we need to be prepared. We need to have our roots set down deep, right next to Him. We need to be in God’s Word, whether it is a printed Bible you hold in your hands or if it is in the Bible app. Or you could do the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike. He reads a bit of the Bible to you each day and then describes what he just read. He explains in a way that is easy to understand. I listened to that podcast for the first two years it was out, and then I switched to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That is also a great one to help you learn more about the Catholic Faith. We need to be connected to the Word of God. We need to read it, study it, and memorize some of it. The Word of God helps us learn more about God; it helps us understand Him better. We can’t trust His promises if we don’t even know what He promises us. One easy way to connect with God is to just talk with Him. Bring Him all your cares and worries. When you are trying to make a decision about something, bring it to the Lord and ask Him what you should do. Then listen for what he says you should do. If you ask God, He will answer; we just have to be ready to listen. You can talk with the Lord anywhere. You don’t have to talk ou

Chapter 8 Pray without Ceasing“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)I don’t know about you, but I am sort of a perfectionist and rule follower. I like to do things the way they are supposed to be done. I am not a fan of recipes that say add a little of this and a lot of that. I like recipes that lay out the instructions step by step with exact measurements. I do not like to add things that are not in the recipe, and I don’t like to leave things out. I like to follow the instructions exactly. This is why, when I first heard this passage, I was stuck on the pray without ceasing part. How does one pray without ceasing? What about work, sleep, taking care of the kids? How can I pray all of the time and still do everything that needs to get done for my family? Have you ever had thoughts like these?Over the years I have heard various ways to pray without ceasing and I thought I would share a couple with you to help encourage you, and to help you realize, especially any fellow perfectionists, you are probably already praying without ceasing. And if you are not already doing it you will see you could easily begin doing it.In preparing for this chapter, I read a few articles and looked back at some sources I had seen before. They all pretty much agree it is not formal, audible prayer you need to do all the time. It is more of a “heart attitude.” Psalm 34:1 says “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praises will continually be in my mouth.” Isaiah 26:3 says “God will keep them in perfect peace whose minds focus on Him.”Praying without ceasing is about shifting your thought process and turning every day moments into prayer. There was one analogy I found that said, “It’s like keeping the radio playing in the background.” It is not that you are audibly praying to God 24 hours a day. It is more that you are thinking of God, and he is in the background of all your thoughts throughout the day.After reviewing all the things and getting ready to write, I reread the verse at the beginning and realized the answer is contained in the 1 Thessalonians verse. Rejoice always, is having an attitude of joyfulness, and in everything give thanks, is having an attitude of thankfulness. How do we rejoice and give thanks? Through prayer! Therefore, effective prayer is a proper heart attitude: a mental outlook of joyful thanksgiving.Now some of you may hear that and instantly know you are already praying without ceasing. You may know you have a heart for God and you are praising and thanking him throughout the day with your thoughts and words. However, some of you may be like me and may be thinking, yes, that is great, but what exactly can I do to pray without ceasing. I am someone who likes exact steps to follow to make sure I am doing something correctly. This is why I will give you a few examples of ways you can pray without ceasing.First, I will summarize a video I watched called “3 Steps to Unceasing Prayer” by Father Mike Schmitz. If you google this, you can watch the video yourself. It is just over 5 minutes long. In the YouTube video, Father Mike Schmitz lists three steps he learned from St. Francis DeSales that you could do to transform everything you do into a prayer.Ask God to be present. Yes, God is always present and attentive to you, but by asking him to be present, you are letting him know you will be present too.Offer this moment to God. Offer him all the joy, the suffering, whatever you may be feeling, offer it to God.Accept –Resolve to accept whatever comes out of this moment.This will not only transform your relationship with God, but it will also transform how you live. When you ask God to be attentive to you, you allow every moment to be a sacrament. You invite God into that moment, which makes it a channel of Grace. Then, when you offer the moment up to him, you make each moment a sacrifice. When you choose to accept the outcome, you make every moment a moment of surrender. For instance, you can do this when you go to bed at night. God, I ask you to be attentive to me, and I am attentive to you. I offer this night’s sleep to you as a sacrifice, as a gift to you, and I accept whatever comes out of it.Another person I admire, Matthew Kelly, in his book Resisting Happiness, also talks about transforming every moment into a prayer. He suggests you pause for a brief moment before a new task or before another hour of work and offer that work to God as a prayer for a specific person. For instance, God, I offer you this task of doing the dishes as a prayer for my husband, or my parents, etc. He also mentioned if you are studying or reading, you could write the initials of those you know who need prayers on the top of each page, and before you read or study that page, you can offer it up for that person.There is also something called the Jesus Prayer. This is something you can train yourself to have playing in the back

Today’s witness if from my friend Jess. I have only known Jess for about a year and a half and yet it is clear to see how much the Lord loves her. She has a very intimate relationship with Him and spends a lot of time cultivating this. She spends time talking with Him, praying with Him, and in Adoration with Him. She has been a part of the unbound ministry for 20 years, which sounds crazy to me because she definitely doesn’t look old enough to have been doing it that long. I asked if she started Unbound when she was 10, she did not. Jess has a very kind soul and is a powerful prayer warrior. Her testimony reminds of of at least two very important things. First, everyone is going through something, and you never know what someone is going through. Just looking at Jess, or even spending time with her and getting to know her, you would never guess she has been through all that she has been through. The second is that we are never too broken for God to use. Sometimes, we think we have been through too much, we have done too much, and God can’t use us. God can and will use any of us if we are willing. Listen to this witness and how, even in really hard times, Jess knew God was looking out for her. I will read her testimony to you. There has always been someone watching out for me, sometimes more than one person watching out for me. This is how I know God has big plans for my life and will be using me many times over. I have always felt like I am on borrowed time, and maybe I am. Borrowed time to do the work of the kingdom and bringing it to earth. Before I was born, my nana had consecrated me to Mama Mary, that would explain why my birthday is a Marian feast day! My parents divorced when I was a few months old, and When I was about six months old, I was sitting in a chair at my Grammy and nano’s house in the living room. My nano was cleaning his gun, and it went off and missed my head by mere millimeters. I had fallen and split my head open on a brick fireplace by the time I was 1 year old. I started having seizures shortly thereafter. One seizure nearly killed me. My temperature 🤒 got to 104.5*F, at 105- your brain turns to green jello and it literally starts frying from overheating. I was thrown into a cold bath of ice 🧊. It took a long time to cool me down. At this point, I was too “young” to comprehend that I had a spiritual target on my back- because the devil didn’t want me to grow into my full authority and potential in Jesus! My life over the next 12-16 years was going to be a tug-o-war, a version of a real life Cinderella, physical, verbal, mental and emotional abuse. But I found out how to handle most of it, just let go and let God and Jesus take care of it! But my mom and I wouldn’t get along. My mom was Catholic, she remarried and had two more kids and I got pushed on the back burner. My biological dad was Protestant, and would eventually pass away when I was 19. My mom was the abusive one and still is to me, even as an adult. Some things my mom did to me were threatening my dad if he didn’t have me home by exactly 5pm on Sunday, I wouldn’t eat (there were many Sundays I didn’t eat because I was home at 5:01 or 5:02 pm), get into physical fights and make me bleed, went to school with bruises and hand prints on my face, walk 15 miles to school as a 13-year-old. There were more, but these were some biggies. They didn’t phase me; they didn’t bother me…. Why, you ask? I lived in the shadow of the most high… all the evil things my mom did to me didn’t affect me because I gave everything to Jesus! But some days, she got to me… and there were a few days that I tried to kill myself just to get away from her. The first time I tried to kill myself, it was a Friday night. I was on 300mg of a certain med. I researched this med, and I knew how much I had to take to make it kill me- I would basically have a seizure that I wouldn’t recover from, and I wouldn’t wake up the next day. In order to accomplish this, I took about 2550mg right before bed. And wasn’t planning on waking up. When I woke up the next day, disappointed, to say the least, that I “failed”, I felt like I was totally drunk. The room was spinning and turning sideways. I got up and walked into the living room, holding onto the wall and walking sideways down the hall. When I got to the living room, I saw my stepdad on the computer with headphones on, and my sisters were watching Barney on TV. I looked to my left and saw the clock on the stove; it read 10:32 am. The next thing I remember is my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I blacked out and fell backward. I remember hearing a huge thud when I hit the floor. After that, I remember waking up, still feeling drunk. I saw my dad was still on the computer, and my sisters were still watching Barney. No one had noticed me; no one seemed to care if I lived or died… I looked at the stove, and the time was 11:32 am. ONE HOUR HAD ELAPSED! I crawled on all fours back to my room; I was a freshman in hig

Trust & Thanksgiving In The Hard TimesPsalm 3 “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”Yesterday, I was listening to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a Year podcast with Father Mike. He was talking about this Psalm. He was talking about how usually we are good at thanking God and trusting God when things are going really well in our lives. We thank God for giving us the answers to our prayers. We thank him when things go our way and when we are seeing success. However, how often do we praise Him, thank Him, and trust Him in the hard times?David and God have a very intimate relationship. God chose David to be king when he was a very young boy. Even before he was chosen, David knew how powerful the Lord was. He used this knowledge to kill a giant named Goliath. He knew God was more powerful than anything on this earth. David was a great king most of the time, although he made some pretty bad choices as well. He was not a great father, and at one point, he was on the run from his son Absalom. It was at this point that David wrote this Psalm of Thanksgiving.It wasn’t when he was safe in his castle, and God was giving him everything he wanted. It wasn’t when his armies were conquering all the other nations. It was when his own son was trying to kill him. He was fleeing his castle, his land, and his people, all so he could remain alive. This is when David wrote this Psalm. This is what David was saying about God when he was in trouble.What do we say about God and to God when we are struggling or when we are in trouble? What about when our child is sick, and it feels like we haven’t had any prayers answered in quite some time? Are we still talking about how God is our protector? What about when we have been out of work for a long time, and there is no money coming in? Are we still talking about how God is our provider? How would we react if we were told that we needed to flee the country because a family member wanted us dead? I don’t think we could truly know how we would act until we were in that situation.I would love to praise God and say how much he has done for me. I hope to be able to trust that the Lord will get me out of whatever circumstances in which I find myself. Let's take a look at the way David was praising and thanking the Lord. “Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”First, David asks the Lord how many enemies he has. How many have risen up against him? Then David explains that these enemies are saying that God will not deliver him this time. I am sure this made God sad. He has saved His people time and time again, and there are some who still doubt that He will show up. David goes on to say, “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. This is a great part of the verse because it shows us that even though David is running for his life, he still believes that God will protect him. He still believes that God will answer his prayers.I wonder if we can say the same. Can we still say that God is our shield when we feel we are under attack? What if it feels like we have been under attack for years now? Do we still believe that the Lord is our shield? Do we still believe that He answers our prayers? Next, David said, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.” David is showing us here that the Lord is sustaining him. I believe he is also showing us that he knows if he wakes up each day, it is because the Lord willed it. None of us are guaranteed to wake up each day. If we do, it is a gift from the Lord! David knew this. This part also shows us the trust David has in the Lord. He is being chased by an army led by his son. He has tens of thousands of people on every side of him, and yet he does not fear because he knows he has the Lord on his side.Do you see how strong and fearless we are able to

The Lord Will Fight For You! Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”I heard this verse the other day, and I thought it would be perfect for an episode, as I know so many of you listening are going through some pretty hard stuff right now. Being still is not easy for most of us. We are doers, and we want to go, go, go. This is compounded by the fact that we live in a world that never stops. I know so many people who are doing so much, and they never have time to rest. They have jobs that are so busy they can’t finish all they are supposed to finish in the allotted 40-hour work week.Being busy is not a bad thing in itself. Benjamin Franklin said, “Idle hands are the devil's playthings.” If we sit around doing nothing, we get bored, and who knows what we might get ourselves into. However, being too busy becomes a problem when we no longer make time for the Lord. Being busy becomes a problem when we stop recharging our batteries with the power of the Holy Spirit and start relying on our own power.Something we have been learning in Encounter Ministries is that all fruitfulness flows from our intimacy with Christ. Fruitfulness means success. The success of all that we do flows from our relationship with the Lord. Think about this in terms of your other relationships. Let’s look at family life. Doesn’t it seem true that the fruitfulness or the success of your family depends on your relationship with those in your family? What if you never talk to your spouse, you never spend time with him or her, and you just go about your day? It is not necessarily that you don’t want to spend time with them, it is just you don’t seem to have the time. You don’t make the time because there are so many other things you have to do. How successful would that marriage be?What if you never had time to spend with your children? They have sports games or dance recitals, but you don’t have time to go because you are always working. When you are at home, you don’t spend time with them because you are trying to catch up on all the things to do around the house. If you never make time to spend with them, if you don’t ever talk to them, how successful do you think your relationship with them will be?The same is true with your relationship with God. We need to make time for Him, and He will take care of all of our worries. When we spend time with Him, we can tell Him all that is going on. We can give Him our stresses, our cares, and our worries. We can hand them over to Him and let Him take care of them. Who else can we entrust our cares and worries to?The verse above says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” After we talk to the Lord about what is going on in our lives, we can sit there in silence and let Him come into our hearts and heal us. The Lord has told us many times in our prayer group that He is coming in during the silence and healing our hearts. It is great to talk to the Lord. It is great to pray to the Lord and to do the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and all the other devotions that we do to grow closer to the Lord. These are all amazing and will help develop a more intimate relationship with the Lord.The Lord is also calling us to a time with Him that is spent in silence. He just wants us to sit with us and minister to us. God can do all things. He can minister to you anywhere and anytime. Yet, He likes to come in the stillness. He likes to come to us when we make the time just to sit and be still with Him. I know it feels like you don’t have any more time left in your schedule. However, if you spend quiet time consistently with Jesus, I am willing to bet you will see more time open up in your schedule. God can’t be outdone in generosity. If you give him 20 minutes, He will give you 10 hours. He is that good.God's math is not the same as our math. It doesn’t make the same kind of sense that our math does. If he can feed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, then he can certainly replace the 15 or 20 minutes during the day that you gave to Him in quiet time. My sister Dee gave me a plaque once with a poem on it and I feel like it is the perfect poem for reminding us how important it is to start our day with the Lord. It shows how important it is to check in with God before starting our day. Here is the Poem: The Difference By Alan Grant. I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day; I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. Problems just tumbled out about me, and heavier came each task.“Why doesn't God help me?” I wondered. He answered, "You didn't ask.” I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak; I wondered why God didn't show me; He said, “But you didn't seek.” I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock.God gently and lovingly chided, “My child, you didn't knock.” I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day. I had so much to ac

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in November 2023 by a member of the Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group during one of our meetings. For more information about the prayer group or these words, please email [email protected]). The Word is, “My children, I am the incarnate God. Incarnate in the person Jesus Christ, and I continue to be incarnate through the Eucharist in you. I am with you in your joys, in your sorrows, in your sufferings. Place your trust in me. I am full of mercy, love, and help.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace