Walk Boldly With Jesus

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

Mentoring Week #11 How to pray for your children (CLICK HERE for info on mentoring)Welcome to this week’s Mentoring Session! Tonight I will talk about how to pray for your children. If you do not have children, you can use these suggestions to pray for nieces and nephews. your friend’s children, or all the children of the world. All children need our prayers. We can see how badly our own children or those close to us need prayers. Now, imagine they didn’t have anyone praying for them. There are so many children out there who have no one praying for them. Tonight, I will start with our kids, or those close to us, because I know many of our hearts our heavy with worry for our children.First, let me begin by saying there is no right or wrong way to pray for your children. What I will be doing today is going over several things I have learned over the years while searching for various ways to pray for my boys. I have three boys who are 15, 18 & 19 right now. They are all stable compared to where they have been in the past, yet they could still all use prayers. I have learned over the years not to worry about them too much as I know God is looking out for them. This trust has come through growing closer to the Lord and also through counseling.I say counseling because sometimes you need someone else to point things out to you. When my boys were younger I would stress about their future. One of them was physically abusive towards family members and I would worry that would mean he would be an abusive husband and dad. I had another son that did many unsafe behaviors and I was worried he would accidentally kill himself. You can see how that would be pretty stressful. I had a counselor who explained to me that it doesn’t do any good to worry about the future because so much could happen between now and then.For instance, at the time, it would be at least seven years or more before my boys were adults. She said a lot can happen in those seven years. They could grow out of the behavior, get help for the behavior, or have someone come into their lives and change. Basically, why worry about something that may never happen? At the same time as I was learning this, I was also learning to trust the Lord more. When I let what my counselor was telling me really sink in and then I also realized God loves my boys more than I ever could imagine, I was finally able to release almost all the worry that I have for my children. It was truly freeing and I pray each of you listening learns how to turn your worry over to God and release it. If you want help, let me know.Now, just because I don’t worry about my children’s futures doesn’t mean I am not praying for them. I am still praying for them and for the things I would like to see happen in their lives. Tony and I wrote a prayer for the boys about two years ago. We said it daily for a week or two, and then I said it on my own for a bit, and then we slowly forgot about it. I found the prayer the other day and looked through it to see if any of the things we prayed for had come true yet. Almost all of the prayers had been answered. We have seen many positive changes in the boys and many of them were listed in our prayer. I hope you can see the power of our prayers for our children. When we ask, God answers. So start asking specifically what you would like to see. I am a big believer in praying specifically because then God gets all the more glory. It is much easier to see when God has answered a specific prayer than a generic prayer. For instance, if you are praying for your kid's behavior to get better, what is the measurement of better? How will you know if it is better, especially if the improvement is there, but small and you are around it all day? How about if you prayed that your child would go a whole hour or a whole day without doing a certain behavior? Then would you notice if that prayer was answered? What about praying that your child would make a really good friend at school? Would you know when that prayer was answered? Do you get what I am saying? The more specific we are with our prayers, the more we will be able to praise God when He answers them.I also strongly believe that we should write down our prayer requests—not just those for our kids but those others have asked us to pray for as well. When we write down our prayers, we have a record of all the things we ask God for, and then, if we periodically go through the book we wrote them down in, we can see all the prayers He has answered for us. This is extremely helpful when we are going through a really hard time. When we are struggling, and it feels like God isn’t answering any of our prayers, we can look through our book or prayers and see all the ones He has answered for us in the past. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” If He did it before He will do it again.A few years ago, I started a notebook with prayer requests in it. When I write a prayer request in the book, I l

Witness Wednesday #103 ESM Boston Healing ServiceToday, I will witness to you about the Encounter School of Ministry Boston Campus healing service that I attended this past Saturday. I love going to these healing services for many reasons. First, I love the praise and worship. We have adoration, so Jesus is there on the altar, and then there is a live praise and worship band that plays the most amazing music. You can tell the music is led by the Holy Spirit because it moves your soul. Then there is a proclamation of the Gospel, and who doesn’t love to listen to stories about Jesus and how He loved to heal all he came into contact with? After that Deacon Joe called up anyone who received a Word of Knowledge about a condition that God wants to heal that night. Sometimes just releasing these Words of Knowledge is enough for someone to be healed. You will hear this later when I am sharing the various healing testimonies. After the words of knowledge, we do corporal prayer, which means that Deacon Joe names a few body parts or a condition, and if you have that condition, you raise your hand. Those who are not raising their hands are the prayer team, and they find someone with their hand raised, and they go over to pray with them. This is awesome for a couple of reasons. First, it shows us that anyone can be used by God. Most people at the healing service have not been to the Encounter School to learn about healing. They are at the service because they either need healing or they know someone who does. Yet, they get to participate in the praying over of others. Second, it allows people to pay it forward. I know so many people who don’t want to ask for prayer because they don’t want to be a bother. However, if they have helped pray over other people, they don’t feel as bad asking people to pray over them. It’s also nice because there are always several people who need prayer for each thing so they see they are not alone in their suffering. They also aren’t the center of attention because everyone in the room is either receiving prayer or giving prayer. Corporal prayer is also nice because no one has to know what to say except the leader. In Corporal prayer, the leader, in this case, Deacon Joe, says the prayer, and we all repeat after him. The leader usually has us pray over each body part or condition twice because healing can be instant and it also can take a few times of praying. After each time we complete a prayer, Deacon Joe stops to ask if anyone has anything to report. This is important because we want to test things out and see if we are better. Often the healing happens when we take that leap of faith and test out our condition to see if it was healed. Also, the testimony of those who are healed builds the faith of everyone in the room. Hearing the testimonies is my favorite part because the people are usually so surprised. I think that makes Jesus smile up in heaven too. After corporal prayer, the ESM students line up in prayer teams of two around the church, and people who still need healing are invited to receive personal individual prayer. If you have never been to an Encounter School of Ministry healing service, I invite you to check one out. Even if you don’t need healing I guarantee you will have so much fun praying over the people that do need healing. God is so good and the Holy Spirit is so present at these services that you will come up with more faith than you had going in. If you are not local to MA, where I live, you can still probably find an Encounter Service to go to. They have 30 Satellite campuses. Also, I believe the main campus in Michigan has its healing services live-streamed, so you could join in that way as well. I am telling you, you want to witness one of these healing services for yourself. They are amazing and so alive with the Spirit. I know that was a lot of lead-up to the testimonies. I felt it was important to describe what happened at the services before talking about all the testimonies, and there were a lot this past weekend. I recorded 17 healings, and these are just the ones that I was able to record. I am sure there were others. This also doesn’t include any healings that took place in the days to follow, as sometimes you can receive prayer one day, and then the healing comes a few days later. Here are the testimonies from last Saturday night. A woman walked into the healing service with sciatica pain she had for a few days. It made the ride up uncomfortable. She didn't receive any prayer for it but was healed during praise and worship. She didn't even realize she was healed until she was driving home at night and realized she wasn't in pain.During praise & worship, Deacon Joe got word that God wanted to heal someone’s calf. He asked anyone with leg pain to raise their hand, and a team would come and pray over them. There was a young woman who was hesitant to raise her hand. She said she had just come from soccer practice. She is a coach, and she was working with th

You Are Not AloneGenesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”I wholeheartedly agree with this verse. We were not meant to be alone. This doesn’t mean that we all need to be married or have kids. It just means that we are all meant to have people we do life with. I have talked a few times recently about how important community is to a fulfilling life. There are very few people who were meant to go through life alone. I know there are hermits out there who dedicate their whole lives to being secluded and spending all their time with God. Most of us are not called to this life. Actually, St. Catherine of Sienna wanted to live this life when she was just a little girl. She ran away from home to go live by herself in the caves outside of her town. An angel appeared to her and told her she was meant to be a light in the world, not separate from it. The same is true for most of us.However, living in the world can be hard because it is often filled with heartache. How we deal with heartache is the key to our success. When we are struggling, we need to turn to the Lord for help. It also helps to turn to our friends for support. They can build us up and speak truth and light into the lies and the darkness. However, instead of turning to our friends for support, we tend to separate ourselves from others. We tend to pull away because we don’t want to talk about it or we know others won’t understand.A while back my heart was hurting for several ladies who I know that are struggling. Actually, every time I look at Facebook, there are messages from people who are struggling. However, that week specifically, there were two ladies who do not know each other or live near each other who had 15-year-old children who had to go to court. There are two other women who are not able to spend the holidays with their children for one reason or another. Then, I saw a post about a friend who was really hurting because she could not see her oldest child graduate college. While thinking about all the people who are hurting right now, the one thing I wish everyone knew, like really in the depth of their heart knew, is that they are never alone. I think so many of us think we shouldn’t talk about what is going on because no one will understand or no one else is going through the same thing. People think that they will be judged or that they deserve the bad thing that is happening to them. This is not true!There are 7 ½ billion people in this world. Whatever it is that you are going through, someone else is going through the same thing right now at this same time. There are also people who have gone through it already and can shine a light into your darkness. They can show you one way to get through your situation. They can also give you hope because if they got through it, you can too! Talking about the difficult things you are going through with people you know and trust can be so therapeutic. Sometimes, we don’t want to talk about our problems because we don’t want to bother people, especially if they have their own troubles. Our friends and loved ones want to help us. It is not a bother for them to hear how you are suffering. Sometimes it can even help them with their troubles as well. You will be amazed how much stronger your relationships can get when you are able to open up and let people in to help. Another reason talking about your struggles can be helpful is because you may be further along in your journey than someone else who has the same struggles. You may be talking with someone who is having the same issue but is afraid to talk about it. Hearing you talk about it can show them that it is ok to talk about what they are going through. I have seen this happen in numerous Facebook groups. Someone is vulnerable and shares their story and then someone else reads it and feels the courage to share their story. I truly feel that it is the work of the enemy to make us feel so alone. He is there whispering in our ears all the reasons we should not talk about what is bothering us. He wants us to keep our troubles to ourselves because when we feel alone we feel hopeless. I am not sure if you have read or seen Harry Potter, but there was a scene where the main character, Harry, was really struggling with feeling alone. Every time Harry was with his friends, he would push them away. Harry would tell them they just didn’t understand. They wanted desperately to be there for him, but he would not let them. Harry then went for a walk and ran into another friend. He explained that he felt like he was alone and no one believed him. She said, “I don’t think that is true. Although, I suppose that is how he wants you to feel.” When Harry asked what she meant, she said, “Well, if it's just you all alone, then you aren’t that much of a threat.” I believe it is the same with our enemy. If we are alone and not talking with our family and friends about how we are feeling, th

Pure Spiritual Milk1 Peter 2:1-3 “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”I really liked this verse when I heard it the other day. I loved the part where it encourages us to long for pure spiritual milk so that we may grow up into salvation. The message translation says, “So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.” I know I want to grow up mature and whole in God. I liked reading this version as well as I wasn’t really sure what it meant to grow up into salvation. However, I think it just means that we grow and mature in God.I also really liked the first part of this verse. How amazing would this world be if we could all put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander? Can you even imagine a world in which those things don’t exist? What this verse is trying to tell us is that if we have tasted that the Lord is good, then we should be longing for more of that goodness.Peter also warns them to watch what they consume. This is a great warning for us as well. If we want to grow into mature Christians, then we need to make sure we are consuming pure spiritual milk. This can be hard because the world likes to dilute teachings so that more people will like them. The world likes to take the things written in the Bible and interpret them any way they want to so that they feel ok about how they are living their life. However, the Word is the Word. We can’t change it or interpret it to fit our lifestyle.Jesus was great when He walked the earth. He didn’t come to condemn people. He hung out with everyone. He ate dinner with tax collectors and sinners. He had plenty of chances to condemn people as well as judge people. He had all the authority to judge and condemn people, and yet he loved them instead. John 3:17 even says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus came to show us that God is love. Jesus came to teach us more about His Father.However, even though Jesus didn’t come to condemn, He did come to convict us of how we should be living. He didn’t tell the adulterer that it was ok that she was sleeping around. He showed her unbelievable mercy, compassion, and love and also told her to go and sin no more. Jesus gave some pretty hard teachings, even though He knew they would be hard for people to accept. He stood by those teachings even when it meant that many of his followers would abandon Him.One of these hard teachings was that we are to forgive our neighbor seven times seventy times. We have a hard time forgiving when they hurt us the first time, and now we are supposed to keep forgiving them. This was hard for people to accept. This is probably hard for many of us to accept. Especially if someone is continuing to hurt us over and over again, we might wonder why the Lord wants us to keep forgiving someone who keeps hurting us. One thing I want to make clear is that you can forgive someone and yet still not let them keep hurting you. The Lord is not saying that you need to keep allowing someone to continue to hurt you. For instance, if there is someone who hurts you, intentionally or not, each time you see each other, then it is perfectly ok to forgive that person and yet not spend time with them anymore.Another really hard teaching was the teaching from John 6:48-51 which says, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” This teaching was very hard for many to hear and many of Jesus’ followers walked away.Jesus let those who couldn’t believe it walk away. He didn’t try to rephrase it to make others accept it, backpedal, or take it back. He stated the truth and let it sit there for people to either accept or not accept. The Truth is the truth, whether people agree with it or not. We need to find the Truth and learn from that. We need to be careful about the information that we are consuming. We need to question things that don’t seem right to us. We need to get our information straight from the source instead of from the world and the news. We need to be in the Bible, learning straight from the source. The verse above says we need to drink pure spiritual milk, and that means we need to make sure the world does not dilute the things we are learning in any way. The best way to do this is to go straight to the source. If you hear something that sounds like it may not be true, look it up.We l

Radical TrustDaniel 3:17 “If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, oh king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.”Radical Trust is something that was new to me when I attended a conference in March 2011. Well, I had seen radical trust in action many times, but I don’t think I had ever heard it called that. I was instantly in love with the phrase. I loved the idea of having Radical Trust in our God. I really enjoyed learning about that concept over the weekend. The speaker, Anne Trufant, asked us, “Do you trust God?” Not, do you trust in God, but do you trust God? Do you truly trust what he says to you, what he tells you? It was a different way to look at it. Do I trust all the things that God tells me when I read the bible? Do I trust that he is saying those things to me? Do I trust God? I definitely took some time to ponder that and to pray with that thought. After that retreat, I started to pray for radical trust a lot more often. I also tried to implement radical trust in my life. It’s not just about saying, “Of course I trust God,” it's about truly believing that with your whole being. Wouldn’t it be great if when we got a bill that we did not have the money to pay, we could say and truly believe, "God’s got this." "I don’t need to worry because He’s got this." What about when we see that our kids are doing something that we know is wrong, and we can see all the ways they can get hurt if they continue down that path? Can we truly say, "God’s got this," and not worry about it? Ever since this retreat, I have prayed so many times for radical trust because, in my experience, it does not come overnight. And it is not always universal. Over the years I have found myself having radical trust in one area, but then not in another. However, every day, I see the benefits in my life of praying for radical trust. I am much better about radical trust now. I have a supernatural trust that all will be ok. I do not tend to feel stressed out about the future because I know that God is in charge and I am not. Why should I worry when he is the one in control? I enjoy reading books about radical trust because every example I read strengthens my trust a little more. So, I thought I would give you a few examples. One from the bible is about our friend Peter. Matthew 14:26-31 “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once, [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Peter had radical trust! He did not think twice before stepping out of the boat onto the unsteady water, which was blowing strongly. Peter was able to walk on water for a few steps. So what happened to Peter’s trust? He took his eyes off Jesus. He took his eyes off Jesus and looked around at the sea and the wind and became afraid. The next two examples I have heard from people close to me. My mom and dad had 11 children. My mom stayed home with the kids, and my dad worked. He had a good job, but money was always tight because of the number of kids in our family. One day my parents’ friends had to go out unexpectedly. They asked my parents to watch their kids. They had 10 kids. My parents said, “Yes, of course we will.“ Then they thought about how they were going to feed all those 21 children when they did not have any food in the house. They had a radical trust, and they prayed to God, trusting that he would come through. They trusted even though they did not have any idea how he was going to show up or come through for them. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was a neighbor with bags of groceries. The neighbor’s father had just moved into their house unexpectedly, and they had nowhere to put the food from the dad’s house as they had just gone shopping. So my parents gratefully accepted the food. They looked through and noticed that there was some pasta and sauce in the bags. They then thought if they just had meat, they could feed everyone spaghetti. A few minutes later there was another knock at the door. A different neighbor had a cooler full of meat. They had just gone hunting and stocked their freezer and fridge with all the meat they could hold, and they did not know what to do with what was left. Again my parents gratefully accepted it. Then they immediately thanked God for providing for them as he always does. Another time a friend was sitting in her car. She was at the store trying t

I Will Set Your Prisoners Free!Zechariah 9:11-12 “As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today, I declare that I will restore to you double.”This verse was given in a Wednesday morning prayer group that I have joined. If you are an early riser and you are looking for an awesome way to start your mornings, I invite you to join in on this Zoom prayer group. It meets Wednesday mornings at 6:30 in the morning EST. The leader usually starts with a song of praise and worship. Then, sometimes we have a talk on a certain topic, sometimes we pray, and sometimes we share words of prophecy. The leader goes with whatever she feels the Holy Spirit is telling her to do. It is a great way to begin your day. Anyway, I will put the info for the prayer group in the show notes in case you want to check it out. It is on Zoom, so you don’t have to have your camera on if you don’t want to. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. You can just come on and see what you think. Someone on the call yesterday morning typed Zechariah 9:11-17 into the chat. When I checked it out this evening, verses 11 and 12 jumped right out at me. I will set your prisoners free is something that I love to hear. It seems like something I have been hearing a lot lately, and that is usually a sign that God wants you to pay attention to something. This is a good thing to notice. When you start to see or hear the same thing over and over again, it is good to notice it and to stop and ask the Lord if he is trying to teach you something or tell you something.I usually think the verses are pretty straightforward, but I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to look up its meaning. Guess what? The Holy Spirit actually knew what He was doing. I know, right?! The Holy Spirit, one of the three persons of the Trinity, knew what He was doing when He nudged me to look up the meaning of the verse. When I looked it up, I had a clearer picture of what the verse was saying. The article I read, for which I will put a link in the show notes, did a great job of explaining why they used the words they used and what those words or meanings would mean to the Israelites.For instance, the verses start off by talking about the blood covenant God made with us. I have done a few Bible studies in the past, so I have the benefit of knowing how important a covenant is and the difference between a covenant and a contract. However, not everyone listening has this information, and it is important that we understand why this statement God made is so important.Covenants are something we often find in the Bible. A covenant (similar to a contract) was a binding agreement in which covenant members had certain obligations and could expect certain benefits in return. What differentiates a covenant from a simple binding agreement (a contract) is that a covenant implies meaningful relationships. So, the language used here in Zechariah assumes a relational covenant was made between God and his people-- there was a binding agreement between God and his people.When a covenant was made, an animal(s) would have been slaughtered and cut in half. Both parties would then walk through the slaughtered animals, implying both parties saying, "May the same thing that happened to me that's happened to these animals if I break the covenant made today."In Genesis 15, we find God entering into a covenant with Abraham, promising to make him a great nation. However, a deep sleep falls on Abraham, allowing only God to pass through the slaughtered animals. So, on that day, God promised Abram that he would build him into a strong nation that would eventually bless all of humanity. The shedding of blood validated this promise.I have heard the reason God had Abraham fall into a deep sleep so that He wouldn’t have to walk through the slaughtered animals. Walking through the slaughtered animals would have been like Abraham saying, "May the same thing that happened to me that's happened to these animals if I break the covenant made today.” However, Abraham is human, and he is likely to break the covenant, whether on purpose or accident. If he doesn’t walk through the slaughtered animals, then he is not bound the same way God is bound. So, Zechariah is saying that their deliverance rests solely upon the shoulders of God's faithfulness to keep his covenantal promise.The next part of the verse says, “I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” This small sentence has two very important parts. First, it reminds us that God is speaking to fragile people. He's talking to people who have come out of Babylonian captivity in the past twenty years. The Lord is saying He will set them free. Most commentators agree that He is referring to those still stuck in Babylon as captives. So, God is promising deliverance and freedom to His people.Now, a waterless pit would have been a familiar reference to God'

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO TESTIMONYWasn’t that a beautiful witness of faith? What an inspiration to all of us on how to not lose heart in difficult times. You can tell how strong Jeanne was and how strong her faith was even after losing so much. Here is the written testimony that lead me to Jeanne’s testimony. The written one is from her brother in law. “Wonderful Life (the Matthew West song) is the same story as my brother and his wife, Jeanne. She passed away this past April 12 – Resurrection week! Jeanne and John both saw ALS as, ultimately, a gift from God. It afforded them an incredible opportunity to look at life differently and continue to talk about how God works in their life. It was incredibly painful, but for me it was probably the greatest act of love I have ever seen. My brother saw this as an opportunity to serve Jeanne. And he did nonstop for more than 3 years, the whole time with love and joy in his heart. Never saw him complain once; he always had a smile, grateful that the Lord gave him the time to be with Jeanne and serve her. John and Jeanne own Sola Coffee Shop in Raleigh Click Here for website – if you get a chance do stop by – unbelievable coffee and atmosphere – it is their ministry (don’t go on Sunday as they are closed). What an amazing story. Thank you Jeanne & John for showing us all how to rely on God and find joy in the middle of awful circumstances. Thank you for sharing your story and for being such great examples of Christ to others.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

Sowing RighteousnessHosea 10:12 “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will reap a crop of my love; plow the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower salvation upon you.”I heard this verse with this translation, which is the Living Bible (TLB) translation yesterday as the verse of the day for KLOVE radio. The person who mentioned this as the verse of the day yesterday said that often, we think of people who have a soft heart in this hard world as weak. However, she said they are brave. It is not easy to have a soft heart, yet in this verse, we are being called to do just that. Being vulnerable in this world is risky because it is so easy to get your heart broken. When I heard the DJ from KLOVE talk about being vulnerable I thought of Cory Asbury’s testimony is his song Reckless Love. In his song, Cory Asbury is talking about God’s Reckless love. He is talking about how God’s love chases us down and fights till we are found. It talks about how God loves us completely and would do anything to find us and bring us back to him, and yet we hurt Him over and over again. I will let him explain it since he does it best, and it is his song. Here is what Cory says about his song Reckless Love.“Many have asked me for clarity on the phrase, “reckless love”. Many have wondered why I’d use a “negative” word to describe God. I’ve taken some time to write out my thoughts here. I hope it brings answers to your questions. But more than that, I hope it brings you into an encounter with the wildness of His love.When I use the phrase, “the reckless love of God”, I’m not saying that God Himself is reckless. I am, however, saying that the way He loves, is in many regards, quite so. What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort, and well-being. His love isn’t crafty or slick. It’s not cunning or shrewd. In fact, all things considered, it’s quite childlike, and might I even suggest, sometimes downright ridiculous. His love bankrupted heaven for you. His love doesn’t consider Himself first. His love isn’t selfish or self-serving. He doesn’t wonder what He’ll gain or lose by putting Himself out there. He simply gives Himself away on the off-chance that one of us might look back at Him and offer ourselves in return.His love leaves the ninety-nine to find the one every time. To many practical adults, that’s a foolish concept. “But what if he loses the ninety-nine in search of the one?” What if? Finding that one lost sheep is, and will always be, supremely important. His love isn’t cautious. No, it’s a love that sent His Own Son to die a gruesome death on a cross. There’s no “Plan B” with the love of God. He gives His heart so completely, so preposterously, that if refused, most would consider it irreparably broken. Yet He gives Himself away again. The recklessness of His love is seen most clearly in this – it gets Him hurt over and over. Make no mistake, our sin pains His heart. And “70 times 7” is a lot of times to have Your heart broken. Yet He opens up and allows us in every time. His love saw you when you hated Him – when all logic said, “They’ll reject me.” He said, “I don’t care if it kills me. I’m laying My heart on the line.”To get personal, His love saw me, a broken down kid with regret as deep as the ocean; My innocence and youth poured out like water. Yet, He saw fit to use me for His kingdom because He’s just that kind. I didn’t earn it, and I sure as heck don’t deserve it, but He’s just that good. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.”Isn’t that an amazing way to think about God’s love? He doesn’t worry if He will get hurt, He opens himself up to us knowing we will hurt him over and over again. What if we were this bold. Maybe not with everyone we meet at first, but what if we just started with God? What if we were just able to open up and be honest with him? What if we let our guard down and invited God into the middle of our mess, into the depths of our hearts?The verse above says, “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will reap a crop of my love; plow the hard ground of your hearts, for now, is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower salvation upon you.” If we want to reap a crop of God’s love, we need to plant some seeds of righteousness. How do we do that?? I saw an article from Bethel AG Church (click here for the article) that said, “Sowing righteousness simply means doing the right thing in the sight of God. It’s obeying the Word no matter what the circumstances may look like. It means showing kindness even when it’s undeserved. It’s walking in love and keeping the peace when you really want to say something different.”The verse goes on to say that if we soften our hearts and seek the Lord then He may come and shower salvation on you! Who wouldn’t want to be showered with salvation? It’s the softening of the heart that is the hard pa

When Prayers Seem To Go UnansweredJeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?”I liked this verse for today because this idea has been on my mind lately. The Lord has been telling our prayer group a lot over the last several years that we are not asking for too much; we are asking for too little. Just last November, He said, "My children, I want you to call out to me. I long to bless you, to bless your families, to bless your communities, to bless your world. When you call to me, you open the floodgates of my love and my mercy. Ask for more; you are asking for too little. I have much to give you. I have much to bless you with. Trust in me.” Isn’t that amazing? The fact that God is telling us we are asking for too little. I have been thinking about this a lot lately because I don’t know about you, but I have been asking God for some pretty big things lately.Just recently, I asked God to heal my friend miraculously. He had a surgery that seemed to go well but then when taking the instruments out the surgeons nicked an artery. Then he seemed to be doing better and then all of his organs shut down and he didn’t make it. I was really surprised as God said we were asking for too little, and this definitely wasn’t little. If I can be honest with you, I don’t understand this. I don’t understand when we pray and our prayers aren’t answered. I wonder if you struggle with this too? I wonder if you have some pretty big prayers that seem like they weren’t answered either.When I asked the Lord about this, He told me my prayer was answered, just not in the way I wanted it to be. My friend Brian is completely healed now. He no longer has the disorder that was attacking his body and making life so hard for him. He no longer needs to be on oxygen and have surgery after surgery. He is no longer suffering. I understand that. I also know God could have healed all of that on this side of Heaven also, so that is where I get lost sometimes. I heard a speaker this weekend. Sister Tracy Dugas who is a nun with the daughters’ of St. Paul.She said something during her talk that helped me understand this a little better. She brought our attention to 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” Sister Tracy encouraged us to consult the Holy Spirit and ask Him how to pray for whoever or whatever we are praying for. For instance, before I prayed for my friend I could has stopped and asked the Holy Spirit how I should pray for this person. What should I pray for for this person? She reminded us that God knows so much more than we know. He can see the whole picture, whereas we can only see a tiny fraction of the picture.She reminded us of Luke 11:11-13 “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” The Lord knows what we need better than we do. If we try to give our kids the best we can in our flawed state, how much better will the Lord give us what is best for us?God’s ways are higher than our ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. Sister Tracy said God is probably looking down at us and thinking we are asking for a whole lot of serpents. We don’t see all the twists and turns that are ahead of us. We don’t realize that if we get that job we want, then we will be working more than we thought or commuting more than we thought. We don’t know that if we buy that house that we thought we really wanted, we won’t actually be able to afford it and will end up stressed out with no money. We don’t know that if we go on that trip, we will get into a car accident. We can’t see the future; only God can.When our prayers aren't answered in the way we want them to be, it is because God has something better planned for us, or because He is preventing us, or those we are praying for from something. God knows what He is doing. He is working all things for our good. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t allow bad things to happen. That doesn’t mean that we have to like everything that is happening. It does mean that we don’t have to lose all hope and fall into despair when something happens or when our prayers aren’t answered in the way we want them to be. It means that we can be sad and also be assured that God is in the situation, working it for good in some way.I heard an analogy once from Pamela Crim during an episode of the Big Life Devotional Podcast that really stuck with me. She said God uses all things for our good, but that doesn’t mean he makes that thing that happened good. Her analogy was using crap as fertilizer. It stinks and is not pleasant. Yet farmers use that crap to fertilize their land. It helps beautiful things grow. Fertilizers are applied to replace the essen

Have Mercy on Those Who WaiverJude 22-23 "And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.”I was looking up the meaning of these verses in Jude this morning and I found an article that explained it really well. I will read that article to you this morning. The name of the article is title Jude 22-23 A Call to Rescue the Wandering and the Lost. Matthew Breeden wrote the article. Click Here for the article.IntroductionThe letter of Jude is a letter of warning and of exhortation. The warning is that there are those within the church who are opposed to the truth. Jude spends much of the letter describing those who are threatening the church with their misuse and distortion of the Gospel. But Jude’s primary reason for writing is to exhort the church to stand strong and to contend for the faith.After spending a good deal of time considering the opponents, in verses 17-23 Jude begins to give some attention to what it looks like to ‘contend for the faith.’ In verse 17-21 we saw that we are to remember the warnings that have been given regarding false teachers and then to keep watch on our own hearts; or to use Jude’s words, we are to remain in the love of God.In vv. 22-23 we come to a third aspect of what it looks like contend for the faith. Jude issues this exhortation: Rescue those who are wanderingand lost.How do we respond to those who are tempted to doubt or wander from the truth?We must act with mercy toward the doubting (Jude 22)The presence of doubt– The first thing Jude acknowledges is that there will be those who doubt. Of course, as false teachers infiltrated the church it would be natural for there to be those who would fall prey to their teaching. The same is true today. There will always be those who are tempted to question the truth or to wander from the faith. Responding with mercy– Jude’s exhortation is to respond to those who doubt with mercy. As we consider what it means to show mercy, we should remember that this is the way God has dealt with us. We are all sinners who have rebelled against Him, and yet He has responded mercifully. God sent Jesus to come and die so that we can be forgiven. And even still, as we continue to sin He is mercifully sanctifying us.Understanding this response– While showing mercy is characterized by compassion concern and patience, mercy can also include correction and even rebuke. Showing mercy does not mean that we ignore sin or justify doubts, but it does mean that we approach our erring brother or sister with meekness and love. In summary, we are to deal with others as God has dealt with: hating sin and calling for repentance – all the while showing compassion and care.We must act with urgency on behalf of those who are walking toward hell (Jude 23a) The consequence of unbelief– In order to understand Jude’s exhortation, we must first be clear on what he means by ‘fire.’ The Bible consistently describes the consequence for those who don’t believe as eternal fire (Jude 7, Matthew 5:21-22; Matthew 18:8-9). It’s this ‘fire’ that Jude is calling us to ‘snatch others from.’The seriousness of the situation– While Jude has called for mercy, it becomes clear that our mercy must not negate or ignore the seriousness of the situation. The stakes are high. Those who reject God will be subject to His judgment.The urgency of the situation– Jude’s use of the word ‘snatch’ is an indicator of the urgency of the situation. We must not be complacent or idle – souls are at stake and we must take our call to help them seriously.Application: As a church we believe that we are called to watch out for one another and to help protect one another from the dangers and the deceitfulness of sin. Passages like Matthew 18:15-17 and Galatians 6:1-3 make it clear that we are to be active in helping those around us identify and repent of sin. We are also told that that God uses our efforts as part of His plan for ‘keeping us’ (James 5:19-20)We must act with caution as we show mercy toward those who are committed to their sin (Jude 23b)Garments stained by the flesh– The Scriptures refer to the natural man or the sinful man as ‘the flesh.’ When we are reconciled to God we are given ‘the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:17-21). In this verse Jude describes people who are living in the flesh and indicates that their opposition to God is so prevalent that even their garments are ‘stained by the flesh.’Showing mercy with fear– While Jude has been clear that we are to go hard after those who are wandering and lost, now he adds this caution: show mercy with in fear. We are to be ever mindful of our own weakness and frailty. As we interact with the doubting and the one committed to sin, we must be watchful that we are not tempted (Galatians 6:1).Summary – While Jude is clear that we are to contend for the faith and warns us about those who would distort the truth, here we also see that we are

The Power of SolitudeLuke 5:16 “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”The other day, I was listening to the Abiding Together podcast. The episode was called Living in Tension: Solitude and Community. This was a really interesting idea. It is important to keep in mind that we need both solitude and community. Today I want to talk to you a bit about why you also need time for solitude. No matter if we are an introvert or an extrovert, we all need both community and solitude. The solitude is not where we spend time by ourselves watching Netflix and eating ice cream. We all may need that sometimes too, but the solitude they were talking about on the podcast was that time when you go away from everyone and spend time with the Lord. Jesus did this often in the Bible. He fed the 5,000 and then went off to be alone with the Father. He did this so often in the Bible that people would go after Him and try to find Him. They wanted to know what He was doing.No matter how close we get to the Lord, this solitude will always be necessary. There is always more with the Lord. We can always go further in with Him. We can always grow closer to Him. Encounter Ministries says you can always go further up and further in. This alone time with God is essential. This is the time when He can fill us up. This is a time when He can show us what He has planned for us. God will use us if we allow Him to. God will help guide us in our lives if we allow Him to. If we never stop and spend some time with God, just us and Him, when do we learn about His plan for our life? When do we learn about what He wants us to do?Things in our life will go much better when we spend quiet time with God, asking Him what we should do before we do it. In order to recognize the Lord’s voice, we need to make sure we are spending time regularly with Him. In order to have an intimate relationship with him, we need to spend time with Him. Maintaining our relationship with God is similar to maintaining our relationship with others. We need to invest our time and our attention to it, or it will fizzle out. I found an article that talks about the 6 Benefits of Solitude with God by John (Click Here for full article)Here are 6 benefits of solitude with God1.) Exposure to God’s wisdom God is all-wise and all-knowing. You can’t spend time alone with Him and remain ignorant. Acts 4:13 says that when the religious leaders saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled; and they realized that they had been with Jesus. You can’t spend time with the LORD and not be wiser than you are now.2.) Recipient of divine perspectiveThrough Scripture and time with the Lord, God gives His people the capacity to see all of life from His vantage point. Having God’s perspective allows us to rise above the daily grind of life and the petty actions of others and realize there is a sovereign God who rules over His creation and directs the activities of mankind.3.) Renewal of physical and spiritual strengthWhen you spend time alone with God, you not only gain renewal of physical strength, but you also enjoy spiritual refueling and refreshment. Isaiah 40:31 says “those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” According to Psalm 68:35a, the God of Israel is “He who gives strength and power to His people.” Spend time alone with God, and He will give you power and strength.4.) Beneficiary of Godly guidanceGod promises to guide us all the way through our lives. The psalmist writes, “For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” (Psalm 48:14). But how do we receive this guidance? Psalm 48:9 says: “meditating on your unfailing love.” The secret of guidance is alone time with God – meditating on His word. Wow, what a gift we receive in our alone time with the Lord!5.) Experience conviction and correctionPsalm 17:4-5 says: “I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people. My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.”One of the great proofs that the Bible is really God’s inspired Word is its unique ability to convict men and women of their sins. Often God will use his word to correct us and lead us onto a steady path gently. 6.) God’s great rewardGod rewards time spent alone with him in prayer. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)God’s will, His nearness, His goodness, His love – rewards freely given to those who commune with him. Make solitude a priority! All of the mon

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.Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. (Click Here) 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. I will link it in the show notes: Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today I chose from the Marriage/Family category as I think we all know someone whose family is struggling. There is definitely attack on our families these days.. I have chosen four stories to share with you this morning. Although they all deal with family and marriage, each one is unique. I hope 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.Janet: (Click Here) God has been so good to me and my family, even through my wrong choices. Quick story: I married someone I chose (not God). I have 2 beautiful daughters, now ages 37 and 34. Their dad walked out of our family when my oldest was 7 and my youngest was 4. He left for my girlfriend who lived next door who also was married. They were having an affair. Eventually he moved into her house and every day, my kids saw their dad pulling into her driveway, not ours. Of course I played the blame game and blamed God. I had a choice: Was I going to trust God or do this myself and walk away from Him? I chose God. I had to get a job, etc. That ride was not easy.A couple of years later, we were in a horrific car accident and I said, “God, when will this end?” I am here to tell you I would not choose a different road. What God did and taught us is my story. I can write a book on miracles through the storm. You really may not see the miracles clearly at first but when you look back at your past.. I can only say, “wow God! You’re great.” By making that choice to trust God and raise my girls in church and pursue Him, my kids never got involved with drugs or alcohol. They were A+ students. They waited till marriage. I am so blessed with 5 beautiful grandchildren and 2 sons-in-law that are wonderful. My family lives right by me. I see them all the time. They are financially blessed.Only God gets all the glory for this story, but the best thing about this story is how much my family loves Jesus. Thank you for allowing me to share a little bit about my story. God bless, JanetLife is Sacred (Click Here)I just listened to your song “Untold” and was greatly moved by emotion. As a young girl, I was raped at 18 by the boy I was dating (whom I met at church). I was so naive. I didn’t even know what was happening to me at the time. It took me four months and a few trips to the library to figure out I was pregnant. My greatest fear was having to tell my parents. When I did, my father refused to speak to me for weeks. I never told anyone about the circumstances of the pregnancy, and my father never let me forget how I shamed the family.Since my mother made it clear that I could not stay at the house if I chose to keep the baby, I thought I would give it up for adoption, but by that far in the pregnancy, I began to feel the baby move. I had always wanted to be a mother, just not so soon. So, I decided to marry the person who did this to me so I could keep my baby and save embarrassment. Abortion was not an option. I had always supported the pro-life movement and never wavered from my stance, even in my current condition.After five years and a second child, we split. Shortly after, I remarried and had two more children, but marriage to an abusive alcoholic proved impossible. At 29, I was single with four children, but I was committed to raising the best children possible. That one decision to keep my baby laid the path for a life of struggle, but with blessings along the way. I have never regretted that decision. I gave birth to a strong-willed, independent baby girl who became a teacher, principal, and leader who has affected the lives of so many people, particularly children. She says she wouldn’t change our life of financial struggles and other challenges as it has made her the person she is today. She has greater compassion for other children experiencing similar challenges in their lives. I often think of what life would be like for the many if she hadn’t been born. She is a strong Chr

They Will Know Us By Our LoveJohn 13:34-35 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”This is an excellent reminder of our calling. There are 10 commandments we are asked to follow, and yet, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Did you catch that last part? If you are doing these two great commandments, then you will be doing the rest. They all hang on to those two commandments. So, our calling is to love.I just went to an awesome Lenten Day of Reflection on Saturday, and the theme was bringing God’s light into the darkness. Can you guess how we can do that? We can bring light into the darkness by being love to other people. This is what people are craving in the world, and they are looking in all the wrong places to find it. I believe behind every cranky, mean person is a child of God craving love. They don’t know how or where to find it, and they certainly don’t know how to ask for it.Often we give love as we received love growing up. If we received a lot of love growing up, then we can give a lot of love. If we didn’t receive a lot of love, or if we needed to earn that love, then we might not have a lot of love to give, and people may need to earn that love. There is a saying “hurt people” hurt people, meaning if someone is hurt, they may lash out and hurt other people. They may not even know they are doing it. They are just doing what they are taught to do. It might be subconscious. They get into a relationship and act like they witnessed it growing up and don’t realize it is hurting others.We need to love people. Not just the ones that are easy to love, but we need to love all those we meet. I was thinking we should think of everyone we meet as our brothers and sisters in Christ. However, I am one of 11, and I know brothers and sisters don’t always like each other. So, instead, let's think of everyone we meet as a child of God. I think we all know the love one can have for their child. Or, if you don’t have a child, I bet you still know the love you have for a niece, nephew, or best friend’s child. We love our children even when we don’t like their behavior. We love them even when they aren’t being kind. This is how God feels about His children.I wonder if we think of everyone we meet as a child of God if that will help us love them more? It may help us see them as more than just what we see on the outside. My kids can seem pretty terrible on the outside at times. Well, they did when they were younger, anyway. However, I always knew they were kind, loving children on the inside somewhere. This is true with all of God’s children too. You may look at them, and all you can see is their sin. However, inside, maybe buried deep inside, is that loving child God created. Can we look past the outside and show them love?The verse above says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” Jesus is not asking us to love one another. He is commanding it. Are we really going to say no to that command? Are we really going to keep doing what we want to do and ignore the commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us? How did Jesus love us? He loved us unconditionally. He loved us with a self-sacrificing love. He gave it all for us.I don’t think Jesus is asking us to give our lives for others in the same way that He did. However, there are other ways we give to others. I think even if we start small and work our way up to loving others better. What if we just started with eye contact and a smile? People are craving love and to feel seen these days. What if we just started looking at people and smiling? This shows them they are seen. This shows them that somebody noticed them. I have heard that this is especially important when you pass a homeless person on the street. So many people walk past them and don’t even look at them. They act like they don’t even see them. What if you saw them? What if you made eye contact and smiled?The verse says that everyone will know that we are Jesus’s disciples if we have love for one another. If people saw the way you interacted with those you meet in a grocery store, those you interact with in traffic, and those who live in your house, would they know you were a disciple of Jesus? There was an episode about this verse on the Big Life Devotional with Pamela Crim, and she talked about how this verse applies to us, too. If we always talk badly about others or about ourselves, do you think people are going to want to f

Is There A Right or Wrong Way to Pray?Luke 11:1 "He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”Prayer has been part of my life ever since I can remember. When I was young, my mom or dad would come to my room at night and say prayers with me. We said the same prayer every night, as far as I can recall. “Dear God, please bless my mother and father, my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles, and my cousins and friends.” Sometimes, we would add, “Please also bless everyone we know and everyone we don’t know.” This was a very simple prayer, and yet it covered everyone. If you are wondering why we did not name our brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, or cousins, it was because I come from a very large family. There are 11 children in my family, and my mother is the oldest of 10 children. So, if we were to name everyone, I would have never gotten to sleep. Growing up Catholic, prayer was also part of our mass. We say the same prayers at mass every week, so we have plenty of opportunities to learn several prayers to use even when we are outside of mass. These prayers were our staple, and it felt great to have them when we wanted to pray. However, they did not tell us how to pray for specific ailments one might have or specific needs people would ask us to pray for. Well, that is not entirely true. If someone asks you to pray for them, a Hail Mary or an Our Father is an excellent choice. They did not give us much room to personalize them. I would hear other people I knew that would spontaneously come up with a prayer off the top of their head, and I thought that was amazing. Also, when people would say grace, and it was personal and individualized, I loved it. I wished I knew how to do that. I know there is no right or wrong way to pray. The definition I just found for prayer when I looked it up online is the following: Prayer: a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship. So, if we are requesting something from God, or expressing our thanks, how can there be a right or wrong way to pray? Do you wonder, when we are saying thanks to your friend if you said it the right way? I doubt it. Do you question if you requested your combo meal from the fast food worker the correct way? Nope. Then why do we question how to pray? I am asking this question as much to myself as I am to you. Until a few years ago, I felt really uncomfortable praying out loud unless it was a prayer I had memorized, like the Our Father. A few years ago, I joined a charismatic prayer group, and I remember the first time they asked us to put our hand on our neighbor’s shoulder and pray over that person. I felt bad for the person I was praying over because they had me praying over them. I felt like I was not good enough to pray over them and that someone else’s prayers would be better. This may sound silly, but I am betting that many of you know exactly what I was feeling that day. Why do we struggle so much with wanting to say the right thing? I take comfort in knowing that I am not the only one who feels as though I do not know how to pray. Even the disciples, who were in the presence of Jesus, were unsure how to pray. In Luke 11:1, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I have been listening to people pray out loud at my prayer group for several years now, and I have realized that everyone prays differently. There is not just one way to pray, and there is no secret formula to say the correct prayer so that God will listen more closely. Do you ever feel that way, like God hears other people’s prayers more than he hears yours? No…it’s just me. In my family, we always say that my dad’s prayers go straight to heaven. We think that because he prays more often, that God hears his prayers more than ours. He is a prayer giant, and I am sure you know someone like this. I am sure you know what I am talking about. The truth is God is always listening. He listens to everyone’s prayers, not just those who are faithful to pray every day. It says in 1 John 5:14, " This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." The Bible goes on to say in 1 John 5:15, “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." God is listening to your prayers, even if you did not word them eloquently, even if your prayer was quick, non-specific, etc. He hears you! Now, having said all that, I do not expect that you will all of the sudden feel comfortable praying out loud just because someone told you that there is no right or wrong way to pray. Here are some of the ways that I became more comfortable praying out loud for people or even just praying to myself, but branching off from the prayers that I had memorized as a child. · I started writing in a prayer journal. I started writing down what I want

Get Up, Get Dressed & Follow Me!Acts 12:6-8 “The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, ‘Quick! Get up!’ and the chains fell off his wrist. Then, the angel told him, ‘Get dressed and put on your sandals.’ And he did. ‘Now put on your coat and follow me,’ the angel ordered.”In this passage, God is telling us three steps we can take to break our own chains. I know some of you may be saying that this is great for some people, but my chains are too strong for such a simple solution. Although this may seem simple, I am not saying it was easy. Peter was asked to get up while he was still wearing the chains. His chains did not come off before he was told to stand. His getting up while he was still chained took courage and trust. He needed to trust that God was telling him to get up for a reason.We all have some responsibility in getting out of our chains. Peter did not know what was coming next. He just knew that he had first to get up before anything else could happen. Can you do this step? Can you get up and get out of bed even if you don’t know what is coming next or what the next step is? Can you trust that God is there with you and that if you get up, he will take the chains off of you?Next, the angel told Peter to get dressed and put on his sandals. When we are in the midst of a challenge, this may be the hardest step. It may take all our energy to get up out of bed and getting dressed is another step that may seem impossible. This is when we need to rely on God. He is there for us, and He is there to give us the strength to get up when we don’t feel like we can. Why is it important to get dressed? Getting dressed means that we are ready to go somewhere. We are ready for God to take us to a new place, a new situation. We need to be ready for anything to happen.Just the act of getting dressed can help change our mood. Even if we accomplish nothing else the entire day, we at least accomplished that. Also, depending on what you wear, it can change your mood as well. Are you getting dressed in clothes that tell your body that you are ready to go for the day, or are you dressing in clothes that tell your body to go back to bed? I have heard many people say that we should dress like we want to feel, not as we do feel. If you want to feel beautiful, then do not wear your yoga pants that are worn and have lots of holes, dress as if you already feel beautiful, and that is how you will start to feel.The last step the angel said is to follow me (God). We may not know how we can get out of our chains or what we can do to get out of the current situation. This is when it is important to be still and listen. Sometimes it is easier to hear God than other times. I have had times in the past when I rarely took the time to stop and spend quiet time listening to God. I talked an awful lot to him, but I struggled with the being still and just listening part. I have worked on this and grown in this area over the last several years. Often times we know what God is telling us by the little voice inside our head that tells us what we should do. Are you listening to that voice on a regular basis, or are you shutting it down?I often do not listen to that voice and then always regret it as it usually knows the right choice. Once you are ready to go, stop and listen and see if you can follow God. Where is he leading you? What does he want you to do next? If we ask God to direct us and lead us, He will. Listen and see what step he is leading you to take. No matter how small that step is, if we take one step after another, we will break free from our chains. There were many instances in the Bible when people had to act first before seeing the results. At the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), they ran out of wine. Jesus told the stewards to fill up the wine jugs with water. Then, he asked them to take to the chief steward. They had to act in faith before they were sure of the miracle. They had to take this cup of what they thought was water to their boss and ask him to taste it. This required their action and their faith. In John 5:2-9 Jesus met a man at a pool, waiting for someone to help him into the healing waters. He had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. This required the man to answer. Then he told the man to rise up and take up his mat. This man had not been able to walk for a long time. Before he was healed, he was told to rise and take up his mat. He needed to trust that when he tried to stand, he would be able to. His faith and action were required before the miracle took place.God does amazing things every single day. Yes, God could save you without requiring anything from you, and sometimes he does. Sometimes, He saves people who do no

Walk In LoveEphesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”This verse is calling us to a higher calling than we realize. I mean, it starts by telling us to be imitators of God. That is a very casual statement that carries a lot of responsibility. How are we supposed to imitate God? He is almighty; He is all-powerful. He is omnipresent. He is with each one of us all the time. How are we supposed to do that? It would be cool if we were completely present with each one of our kids at the same time. There might be a lot less sibling rivalry if the kids didn’t have to fight over their parent's attention. However, we can’t emulate those qualities from the Father. We are not omnipresent, all-powerful, or almighty. However, the verse goes on to say that we should walk in love. That is something we can do. It might not be something we can do easily, but we can do it. Love is so important. Love is the way to someone’s heart; it can provide God with an opening He can use to go in and heal it. How do we walk in love? Especially if we don’t know what love is or we are surrounded by people who are really hard to love. Walking in love is hard if we haven’t been shown love. Maybe we lived in a family whose parents struggled to love us. They were too wrapped up in their own issues to be able to love us. We might have a husband or a wife who is too wrapped up in what they want to love us. Or, maybe they were never shown love, and so they don’t know how to love either. There is definitely a lack of love in the world. I’m not really sure the reason for this, but if I had to guess, I would say it is because the focus of society these days seems to be personal pleasure. It is important that we are personally happy, and it doesn’t matter who we hurt for that happiness. If we don’t know what love is, we can turn to God and ask Him. We can turn to Scripture and see what it says about love. We can read all about the life of Jesus and see what He did. Jesus definitely walked in love. Every time He interacted with people, He showed them love. He didn’t just show love to those who were upright citizens and those who were obeying God’s laws. Anyone could do that. He was nice, kind, and loving to everyone, even the sinners.This is what the Pharisees and Sadducees couldn’t understand. They didn’t think He should be associating with sinners. Back then, they felt if you touched a leper or someone who was unclean, you would then become unclean. That probably was true for most people back then. If you touch someone with leprosy, then you might get it. However, when Jesus touched the unclean, instead of their disease spreading to Him, what He had inside of Him spread to them, and they were healed.If we are going to be imitators of God, then we, too, need to love everyone, not just those who are easy to love. It says in Luke 6:32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” Verse 35 goes on to say, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” Do you see how we have to love everyone, those who love us, those who are hard to love, even our enemies? Do you see why I say being an imitator of God is really difficult?It is difficult, and yet it is not impossible. Nothing is impossible with the Lord. If we are willing to ask the Lord for help, He will help us discover how to love. He will teach us what love is and what it looks like. God is not expecting us to be perfect at this right out of the gate. He knows our hearts. He knows our history and where we are coming from. He knows what our family life was like growing up. He knows how much we have been loved and not loved over the years. He knows the trauma we might associate with love. God knows it all and is happy to work with us to get through all of it. All we have to do is say yes and be willing to do what He asks us to do.Can we say yes to God? Can we invite Him into our hearts and show us how to love even our worst enemy? Can we say yes, even if it will be hard? Can we say yes and then watch as God changes our hearts? God can do all things. If He could change Saul’s heart in the Bible, He can change your heart. Saul was rounding up all those who believed in Christ, and he was locking them up in jail or worse. He had an encounter with Jesus and had a complete conversion of the heart. You can too.The verse is asking us to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. That is a tall order. Can we sacrifice our needs and our wants to love others? This is something that is contrary to what the world is telling us right now. The world is saying we should take care of our wants first and then worry about everyone else. It is important to take care of oneself

I want to begin today’s episode by thanking everyone who had done a Witness Wednesday for me and shared their story. Today is the 100th Wednesday since I started doing Witness Wednesdays, and it wouldn’t be possible without people being willing to share their stories. So, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I truly feel testimonies really do help people open their hearts to God, and then He comes in and changes hearts! Today I am sharing more witnesses from the popwe.org website. I love that Matthew West and his dad have this website where we can go and read all these testimonies of how God has changed people’s lives! Today, I chose to do healing testimonies because Encounter School of Ministry Boston Campus is doing a healing Service at St. Margaret’s Church in Burlington, MA, at 6:30. So I thought healing testimonies would be good for today. There are five different testimonies, and although they all have to do with someone being healed, they are not all the same. I hope as you listen to more and more testimonies, it will build your faith as to what God can do in your life too. He can heal your loved ones. He can bring your loved ones back to the church. He can take away that illness, that disorder, that anxiety, that alcoholism. Whatever it is, God can help. Bring it to Him and believe He can help. I hope you enjoy the testimonies this morning and if you get a chance, go on the popwe.org sight and read some of the testimonies. Share some on your social media pages so we can build other people’s faith too. God is doing so many good things, and people are not hearing about them.GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE: When I was a baby, I was diagnosed with RSV. If you are unfamiliar with this disease, it is a cold for adults but can result in a baby’s death. After spending a long time on a ventilator in the hospital, the doctors said that there was no hope. They said I wasn’t supposed to live. They said I wasn’t supposed to breathe. They said I wasn’t supposed to walk. Well, guess what? Seventeen years later, I’m a living, breathing, walking miracle redeemed by His love, power, and grace! In the words of Matthew, “We serve a God who turns impossible into living, breathing, walking miracles!”IMPERFECTNESS: Hi! I am a 15 year old (almost 16). I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder when I was in 7th grade. Since then, I have had so many breakdowns and freak-out moments when I spiral and get into my own head and can’t get out. I have obsessive thoughts. I finally got out of counseling, and after much hard work, I have been able to shut off my thoughts. And that makes me very happy. I finally feel like I have some level of control over my life and my feelings.Trusting God and learning about Him always makes me feel better. I turn to him in hard times and pray. He hears me and comes to help me. I listen to Matthew West's songs daily. Me and my twin brothers are big fans. We LOVE his songs, and as someone who wears her emotions on her sleeves, I really feel everything. From his song “Imperfections” to the first Matthew West song I ever heard, which was “Truth Be Told.” At the time, I was going through having obsessive thoughts and breakdowns and a lot of self-doubt. His music really helped. I’m a much healthier and kinder person to myself and others all thanks to fellowship and God and Matthew’s music. And I am always gonna be thankful for music and God.KORINA: My life is one that I am truly grateful for. God, I know He has brought me through many turbulent times, and He has never failed me. I came from an abusive background as a child. I dealt with mental, physical, and sexual abuse. I made it through those years. I married and had my first child at 18. My son suffered a brain injury at birth. I did my best to raise him with little help.I had another child at 21, and life just moved along. When I was 25, I had a lump in my neck that kept growing. I went in to have surgery to have my thyroid removed. They thought I had a goiter. Turns out I had a malignant tumor. Further tests showed that it was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Cancer! I had little support from my husband through my treatments. Other families tried to help when they could. After many surgeries and treatments, I was cancer-free.I then divorced my husband and started over with my children. I met someone a few years later and had another baby. A girl that the doctors said I would not be able to have after my treatments. But God said, “Yes, you can!” Life moved on. Cancer struck again. I was 45 and was diagnosed with Nodular Malignant Melanoma. I was devastated. “Not again!” I screamed, I yelled, and I had a pity party for myself. I told God I couldn’t do this again. I had already been through enough! I couldn’t do treatments again. I then wiped my tears and moved on. The surgery was all I needed for this cancer. It hadn’t spread! Thank you, God. Today I am grateful for my life. My first cancer was found early enough for survival. It’s been 30 years now! I’m a grandma to 2

Can We Control Our Tongue?1 Peter 3:10-12 “He that would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile; let him turn away from evil and do right; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those that do evil.”I feel like today’s verse is a good lesson for everyone. Yesterday I was talking to a friend who is not really sure what she believes about faith. She has had a pretty traumatic history with faith, and so she is just finding her way back. Anyway, she asked what verse I was using yesterday for my podcast, and when I shared it with her, she said, “The Bible really does have some pretty good life lessons in it.” I thought this was funny because it is so true and yet I don’t think most of us think, “I should check what that Bible says about that,” when we are trying to decide what to do. There is so much wisdom and practical knowledge in the Bible.Today’s verse is good because who wouldn’t want to love life and see good days? I think we can all agree those would be good things. So, let’s see what Peter has to say about how we can love life and see good days. First, he says to keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking guile—man, that right there. If we could just do that, I think all of our lives would be improved greatly. I wish my kids could hear this. I wish they could see how much better their lives could be if they talked better in general but also if they didn’t talk about others. They think that they are just venting about other people, but it puts them in a bad mood and affects their lives, too.When we take the time to speak evil about people, then that puts our mind on evil. If we are constantly judging others, then that is where our mind will go to first. If we are constantly saying bad things about others, then those bad things are where our mind is going to focus. Soon, all you start to see is the bad in everyone around you. Imagine if we could control what we say. Proverbs 18:21a says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Did you know your words were that important? Our words affect people far longer than we think they will. Do you remember that old saying we heard when we were growing up, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” It is so misleading. Sometimes names can hurt more than any stick or stone could. If we are hit with a stick or stone, the wound will heal. Sometimes the wounds from things said to us when we are young never heal.Our words have the power to change someone’s life. I still remember that my 8th-grade teacher told my mom I should be a lawyer because when doing a group project, I had a way of getting people to do what I wanted and making them think it was their idea. I still remember every teacher that was kind and built me up. I still remember some very unkind things that kids said to me when I was younger. If you believe in someone and you tell them how great they are, they will rise to the occasion. Likewise, if you don’t believe in them and you tear them down with your words or even your actions, they will live down to those expectations too.We have to do better in this area. We have to stop and think before we say things. We, as a whole society, have to do better about what we are saying to people and how we are treating them. We will not change society with our words. The way that we have an impact on society is by living our life in a way that those around us notice the change and the grace God gives us for changing, and they decide they want that too. We need to lead by example, and we need to lead with love first and everything else second. If you take anything from this episode today, I hope it is that our words are so important, and we need to really think about what we are going to say and how it will affect the other person.Next, it says, “Let him turn away from evil and do right; let him seek peace and pursue it.” We can probably all say that we know if we want to love life, we should turn from evil and do the right thing. However, in this world, it can be hard to know what the right thing is. Also, the world makes is seem like it is so great to do the wrong thing. If we listen to the world, all we hear is that if we want to love life, we need to do what we want to do. We need to do what makes us happy. We don’t need to be concerned about others; we just need to be concerned with our own happiness. It’s ok to have an affair if that is what makes you happy. It is ok to leave your family to pursue your dreams. The world is contrary to so many things the Lord is calling us to.We need to turn away from evil and do what is right. If we aren’t sure what this is, we need to pray about it. We can ask the Lord to show us if there is any evil in our lives, and then we can work to change it. We can ask the Lord what he wants us to do to replace the evil in

Don’t Be Bossy!1 Peter 5:1-5 “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. In the same way, you who are younger submit yourselves to your elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”Most of us have people under our care, whether our children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, friends, or family. We also have people who aren’t necessarily defined as those under our care, but they do fall within our circle of influence. The way Encounter Ministries has described it is that your circle of influence includes those people around you that you interact with on a somewhat regular basis. Those who look to you for direction. Those who, when they see how you are living, might want to make some changes in their own life as well. These verses give us some instruction on how we are to behave with those under our care or in our circle of influence.The first thing it says is to watch over them not because we have to but because we want to. This can be hard sometimes if you have a loved one under your care that is difficult. It might not even be their fault that they are difficult. Maybe you are caring for an elderly parent they have dementia, and they are difficult, but it is not their fault. They don’t understand what is going on, and they don’t have the mental capacity to remember what you are saying. When this is the case, sometimes it can be hard to want to care for this person. Not because you don’t love them but because it is hard to see your loved ones in that state. You would rather remember them how they were before they got sick.It can also be hard when you are a new mom and you have a baby that cries all the time. You love that baby with your whole heart, but sometimes you are caring for that baby because you have to, not because you want to. What you really want to do is get some sleep. This is similar to the last scenario because, in both cases, the person you are caring for didn’t really have a choice. They weren’t trying to be difficult, and yet they were still difficult. God is asking us for a perspective switch when this happens. He is asking us to change our mindset, so instead of thinking that we have to take care of our loved ones, think of it as we get to take care of them. As difficult as it is to take care of them, we will miss it when they are no longer here with us.Peter reminds us in this letter that we are not to take care of people for false reasons. For instance, we shouldn’t take care of our parents or our loved ones because we expect something in return. It also says we shouldn’t lord it over them, either. The message translations of this verse say, “Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.” I like that translation for two reasons. The first one is that it reminds us to be tender when we are caring for our loved ones. This can be especially important if we are dealing with our parents.Our parents raised us, and they are used to being the ones to tell us what to do and doing everything for us. Then, as time goes by and they get older, they need to ask us to do things, or we may know how things work better. However, if we are bossy and tell them what they need to do, that doesn’t go over very well, and that doesn’t make them feel very good about themselves or about us. We need to be tender with them and not bossy.The second reason I like that translation is that it reminds us to show them the way. Actually, the translation above is good for this reason too. It says to be an example. If we live our lives in a completely different manner than what we are saying to others, we wouldn’t be a very good example. It wouldn’t make sense to tell our children they are not allowed to do something and they we do it. It wouldn’t be good to tell our children to be kind to everyone they meet and then yell at the guy who cut us off in traffic and be rude to the person in the parking lot. Our words are important, but our actions are even more important.The verses go on to say, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” All of the things I said are good reminders and yet can be very hard. However, when we get to this line, I think it makes all that hard work worth it. Can you even imagine a crown of glory that never fades away? God never promised us that life in this world would be easy. He did promise us we wouldn’t ever be alone in it, though. When things get

In Old Age They Still Produce Fruit2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”Today’s prayer point for the healing service is prayer for our old and retired priests. While reading the passages, I got to thinking about all those I know who are getting older. My parents are getting older. They are in their 80’s, although if you looked at them, you would never guess that. They still go out dancing several nights a week; they are on the board of the square dancing group, and they do so much in church and out of the church. They have a busier schedule than most of their kids, who aren’t really kids anymore. I get the pleasure of being around the ladies in prayer group weekly, or sometimes many times a week, and many of them are getting older, too. Well, I guess we are all getting older. Many of them are feeling it more and more.There were a couple of verses that I really liked this morning—the one above stuck out the most. I hear a lot of older people losing heart because their bodies can’t do what they used to be able to do. They are tired more easily, and they might even need to take naps. They used to be able to get up and go first thing in the morning. Now, even though they can’t sleep that well and are probably awake early, they can’t get moving and get out of the house too early. I liked this verse because it reminds us all that no matter what is going on with our bodies on the outside, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. It also says this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.Can you imagine that? An eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. There is no way to measure how much glory we will encounter if you think of your best day or if you think of your favorite thing. If you think of the prettiest thing you can think of or the most expensive thing you can think of, the glory of heaven is even greater than that. Tony and I are watching a show called Billions. The eternal weight of glory is greater than billions and billions of dollars and all that money can buy you. The verse says the weight of glory is beyond all measure.I know that might not make you feel better about your aches and pains. You may be going through some really difficult medical stuff right now, and it is hard to think about eternal glory. It might be hard to hear the part of the verse above where it says, “slight momentary affliction,” when it feels like you have been sick forever. Or maybe you aren’t sick, but you can’t walk the way you used to, or you can’t get around the way you used to. I am sure it is hard to wake up one day and not be able to do something you could do the day before. I don’t know if this verse brings you any comfort or not, but I thought it was a great reminder that no matter how much our human body fails us, God is renewing our inner nature every day.Another verse that I thought might be helpful to hear is Psalm 92:12-15 “The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age, they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” I know some of the ladies question what they can still do for the community. The prayer group I am blessed to be a part of has been around for over 50 years. Many of them joined when they were young and they did all the things they could do. They led the prayer group; they were on all the different teams, they went to conferences, and they did it all. Now, it is hard to do any of it, and they feel bad they can’t do more. I wonder if you are feeling this way too. Your heart wants to help more, but your body won’t cooperate.If this is you, I want you to really hear what Psalm 92:14 says, “They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.” You will still bear fruit. Your prayers bear fruit; your efforts bear fruit, and you are still bearing fruit after all these years. We often say, I guess all I can do is pray as if prayer wasn’t the most powerful thing we can do. Prayer is more powerful than anything action we can do on our own. Mahatma Gandhi said, "Prayer is not an old woman's amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” It is ok that you can not do all the things you once did. It is ok that you can’t go to all the things you once went to. It is not the time for that. You have moved on to a new stage. Not a better or worse stage, just a different stage. It is ok that you need to take naps. If we are all being ho

We Have Been Set Free1 Corinthians 6:12 “ All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”The prayer point for the healing service team today is to free the captives. This instantly made me think of my friend who I am praying for this week. I have asked those I know to give me a Bible verse, and I will assign a different verse to each week of the year. Then I will pray for that person during the week I have assigned their verse.This week, I am praying for my friend, and instead of praying for herself, she has asked for prayers for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and for food and medical aid to reach the sick and injured. When I read free the Captives this morning, I thought of all of those who were captured in the Gaza Strip many months ago. Then, when I started reading the scripture verses we were given, I realized there are many ways that we can be held captive. Some of us are physically held captive, like those in war-torn countries, those who were abducted and forced into human trafficking of all kinds. There are also many of us who are held captive by our own beliefs, addictions, or wants and desires. This morning, while I was reading over the various verses, I asked the Lord to highlight the one he wanted me to talk about. I asked Him to make it clear to me. He actually highlighted two verses. The first one that jumped out was the verse above. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” I thought this was particularly fitting for today since yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and so Lent has just begun. Lent can be a difficult time of year because it is a time of sacrifice. It can also be a sad time of year as we remember all Christ went through to save us from our sins, to save us from ourselves.Lent is also a great time of year to show ourselves that we don’t have to be controlled by our wants and our desires. We get the chance to show God that although we love chocolate, wine, alcohol, beer, swearing, desserts, TV, or whatever else we decide to give up, we don’t let them as much as we love HIm. We get to show ourselves that it is ok to deny ourselves something we want and that when we do we will be even more stronger for it. I have a friend named Sarah Jane. I remember she came over to my house one time, and I asked if she wanted a brownie. She said she gave up chocolate for the month. It wasn’t lent so I asked her why she gave it up. She said each month, she gives something up for the month to show herself she can and so that she does not get too attached to anything.This is an awesome idea. I actually did this for a few months last year, but I don’t think I made it past May. I do think it is important that we know that just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should do it. It also doesn’t mean it is good for us. If we want to be holy, we must go beyond the letter of the law. This is what the Sadducees and Pharisees were doing. They were following the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law. They were so focused on doing things perfectly that they lost all sight of what God was really about. They forgot about the love God had for His people. They forgot about His mercy. They got caught up in all the laws and the rules and somehow got lost.What I felt the Lord wanted me to remind you of today is that you do not have to become slaves to things of this world. The second scripture He highlighted to me is Galatians 5:1, which says, “For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” This shows us that we have a choice. Before Jesus came to save us, we had less of a choice. Before Jesus came, we had the laws to tell us what we should do, but we didn’t have the Holy Spirit inside of us to give us the strength to resist the things that were not good for us. Then Jesus came, and He died on the cross to set us free from sin. Then He went to be with His Father, and they sent the Holy Spirit to be with us so we would no longer be left on our own. Because of this, we no longer have to accept the yoke of slavery. Because of this, we have been set free.However, this does not mean that we are all free. We must make a choice to be free. We have to decide that our freedom in Christ is worth more than that cookie, that drink, that drug, that extramarital affair. Christ died so we could be free, but we still have to choose to be free. God has given us free will and He won’t force us to follow Him or to love Him. He won’t force us to choose Him. We have to do that on our own. Well, not really on our own because He gave us the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We can rely on that power. We do need to make the choice, but then we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us keep that freedom. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us stay on th

Website where I found these witnesses: https://popwe.org/category/addiction-deliverance/Katie: So it’s Sobriety Awareness Month, and I feel led to share a testimony. My drug of choice was methadone. I thought it was okay because it was prescribed. I got on it to get off opioids but ended up being on it for almost 6 years. So me, and my mother were in addiction together. A very toxic relationship. When the methadone got too expensive, she turned me to meth. I lost everything within two months…On December 31, 2020, me and my mom were going through withdrawals pretty bad so she begged me to find something. I ended up getting some and split it with her and the last words I remember her saying was, “if this doesn’t help I’m going to sleep.” Two days later, I called 911 and they rushed her to the hospital and I had to make the hardest decision I ever made. I called and told my sister about my addiction and begged her to take my daughter so she would be happy and safe and I could get help. The hardest thing in my life was watching my baby girl get in that car with all her toys and clothes and drive away.Fast forward to January 4, 2021. I was put in St. Bernard’s Behavioral Health and found out over the phone that my mom was on life support and wasn’t gonna make it. I would have to sign to remove care. The dope had cut the oxygen off to her brain. I was taken to see her. She had wires in her head, her hand was cold and stiff, her feet were purple and molded. I couldn’t stay 15 minutes with her. As soon as I got back to SBBH, they faxed me a paper to sign and on January 6, 2021 they removed care. She took one breath and died. Two days later I went to Restoration House Ministries and not only got sober but encountered God and I’ve never been the same. September 17th I’ll be 17 months clean from the bondage I thought I could never escape. This is so hard for me to share but I pray it opens someone’s eyes. I handed my mom her death sentence just for one more high. It ain’t worth it. The guilt, shame, self hatred you feel ain’t worth it. We do recover and it’s through Jesus.“We do recover and it's through Jesus.”Christopher: I was blessed to see you in Beaumont, Texas recently. I live in a town called Lumberton and my youngest daughter was my plus one that night. We got to be part of the blue couch and the meet and greet. The thing is, it never should have happened because I honestly shouldn’t be alive today.For 37 years, I had a severe alcohol problem. I was drinking no less than 2 fifths of vodka a day. I sit here and cry because I can’t remember most of the childhood days of my kids. I have 3 daughters and one son that are all grown today. I got to the point that I could drink what is called Everclear (95% alcohol) straight from the bottle. Only by God’s grace I don’t have any issues or side effects today.The day He turned me around, I had flown into New Orleans, Louisiana for work and landed around 11:00 AM. I bought a bottle of vodka in the airport and finished it before I had walked the 200 feet to the rental car location. At the rental car outlet they told me all they had left for me was a Dodge Challenger called a Hellcat, so I took it. Now here I am in a ridiculously fast car, drunk, and headed for a bad day. I was on the interstate and decided to see how fast this car was. I was driving in excess of 140 MPH and I lost control of the car. It went into a spin. After it came to a stop, I crawled out of the car without a scratch and a voice in my head said, “how much more proof do you need that I have plans for you?”After that I called my wife and poured everything out to her. I was an alcoholic when we got married, so my wife and kids had never seen me sober. Now, today (4 years later) I have 3 beautiful daughters, 2 grandchildren and a son who is an amazing man and a decorated US Marine. I am an ordained minister and I love nothing more than talking to people about my life. If God could take a wasted case like me and do what He has done, there is nothing we can’t overcome with Him.At your recent concert in Beaumont, Texas during the blue couch session I asked you to sing “Broken Things” and you did. You have no idea what that meant to me and my daughter that night. So much of your music centers around how God takes the broken and makes something amazing and you are such an inspiration to me. Sure, I have tough days and it would be so easy to slip back into those old ways, but then I remember my God uses broken things!“God takes the broken and makes something amazing.”Adrienne: In 2014, I began praying to God to remove these addictions from me. My life was a mess and all I cared about was my cigarettes and alcohol. God led me to the right resources, and I did manage to quit smoking and drinking (although not at the same time and I experienced some slips.)In 2018, with the help of God and a stop smoking community, I gave up cigarettes for good. Then on June 23rd, 2020, God helped me once again and both my husband

God Is Our RefugePsalm 46:1-3 “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in times of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. Pause in his presence.”Today we are praying for those with mental health challenges. This covers a wide range of things. It seems mental health challenges are everywhere these days. The world can be a pretty scary place at times. However, in these last few years, I would say it has gotten particularly scary. Most people were pretty anxious during the 2020 pandemic. Everything was so uncertain, and the news was not very helpful. I am not generally an anxious person. However, when I would watch the news during the first few months of the pandemic I could definitely see why so many people were so anxious. I do believe the news was at one time meant to inform the citizens of what was going on in the world. Now, it seems like its sole purpose is to appeal to people’s emotions in whatever way necessary. How else do you explain two competing news channels giving the complete opposite news?The key to us staying sane in this crazy world is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Whenever I see that, I am reminded of the scene in Matthew 14:22-33, which was depicted in the series The Chosen, where Peter steps out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus. Peter is doing great and actually walking on the water while he is looking right at Jesus. However, as soon as he turns away, as soon as He looks at all the chaos around him, he starts to sink, and Jesus reaches out and saves him. It is when we take our eyes off Jesus that things start to go awry.The first line of the verse states, “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!” God is our refuge. We can always turn to Him, no matter what we are going through. Even if it is something you think He would be disappointed in you for doing. Turn to Him. It says in the Bible that God will rejoice more in heaven over the one sinner who repents than the 99 righteous who don’t need to repent. We will worry less when we realize that we don’t have to be perfect to go to God. We can go to Him always, no matter what we have done.Thinking we have to be perfect to come to God is something the enemy wants you to think. He wants you to think you aren’t good enough to talk to God because He knows how powerful you will be when you turn to God and allow Him to help you. Jesus didn’t wait for us to stop sinning and be perfect to die on the cross for us. He died on a cross for us while we were still sinners. No matter what you are feeling or thinking, you can bring it to God. He is our refuge. There will never be a time here on earth where you can go to the Father and ask Him for help. He loves when His children come to Him and ask for help.The next line says, “You’re a proven help in times of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you.” This reaffirms what I just said, God is available whenever you need Him. It also says you are a proven help in times of trouble. If you look back over your life, I bet you will be able to see this statement is true. Can you look back over your life and see all the ways God has helped in the past? Can you see that He has proven time and time again that He is a great help in times of trouble? When you call upon Him, He will be there.I like how the verse specifies that God is more than enough. Sometimes I think we forget this. We don’t bring things to Him because we think they are either too big, and we can’t see how he would make it happen, or they are too small, and we don’t want to bother Him with it. Neither of these is true. Nothing is too big or too small for God. God wants us to bring everything to Him. He can make a way where there is no way. He is the God of the impossible. He also cares about all the little details of your life, so nothing is too small for Him.The verse goes on to say, “So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you.” This shows how deep our trust can go when we have our eyes fixed on Jesus. When it feels like every structure of support is falling away, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and he will be your refuge. When it feels like you are in the storm of a lifetime, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.It occurred to me that saying to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus might not be that helpful. What does that even mean? To me that means keep looking to Him for help. When you are feeling lost, read the Bible. Ask the Lord a question, and then you

For The Lonely, For The Ashamed, The Misunderstood, And The Ones To BlamePsalm 102:1-2, 6-7, 27-28 “Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. … I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. … But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”Today’s prayer point is to pray for those with a spirit of loneliness. It surprises me how we can live in an age with so much technology and yet have so many people who feel lonely. It is easier than ever to stay in touch with people. When my mom and dad were dating, my dad joined the military. They would write each other letters and then have to wait for them to arrive in the mail. Now, you can send an email, and the other person can get it instantly. You can also send a text message on your cell phone; you can send a Facebook message, an Instagram message, a Snapchat message, and so many more messages that people will get immediately. Our teens are on their phones all day, every day, and they are on social media often. They have hundreds of friends online, and yet they feel so alone. I was talking to someone the other day who said she can be in a room full of people yet feel alone. Why is this?It is because that is how the enemy wants us to feel. He wants us to feel alone so that we pull away even more. He wants us to feel like no one will understand what we are going through and no one likes us. He wants us to feel like we are different, don’t fit in, and are awkward. He whispers these things in our ears even when we are in a room full of people. That way, we don’t take a risk and meet someone new. He persuades us not to talk about what we are going through for fear of judgment because he knows if we talk about it, we will find others going through the same thing, and then we won’t feel so alone.Even though we have more ready access to communication, it is not meaningful communication. My kids have Snapchat, where you send messages, which they call snaps, back and forth to each other. The app has a streak system to count the days you “snap” back and forth with each contact. The kids obsess about getting and keeping these streaks. In theory, this might be good as it motivates the kids to stay in contact with their friends. However, they aren’t actually writing anything important. They can snap a photo of the wall, the ceiling, or the floor and send that. So, it is not actual communication; it is just something to keep the streak going. I think this is why they feel so alone. They see how many “friends” they have on social media, yet most don’t know them.There has been a song in my head all morning since I read what the prayer point for today was. The song is called God Only Knows by For King and Country. I want to go over the lyrics with you. It begins with:Wide awake while the world is sound asleep andToo afraid of what might show up while you're dreamingNobody, nobody, nobody sees youNobody, nobody would believe youThis is what the enemy tries to get us to believe. He convinces us that we can’t talk to anyone about our feelings because they won’t believe us. And sometimes our loved ones can make us feel this way. It is hard when a loved one tells you they feel all alone and depressed. If they are good at hiding it, we might disagree with or downplay it. We might say they will be fine. We might tell them things will be ok and that they need some sleep. We might tell them things aren’t as bad as they think. We might tell them they have nothing to be sad about. I am not saying these are things we should say; I am saying these are things we do say at times, and they don’t help the situation. They make the person feel more misunderstood and alone. If someone comes to you and tells you they are sad, lonely, or depressed, then they have probably been suffering in silence for a long time before coming to you. Do all you can to take them seriously and get them the professional help they need.Every day, you try to pick up all the piecesAll the memories, they somehow never leave youNobody, nobody, nobody sees youNobody, nobody would believe youThose who are lonely and afraid try each morning to pretend they are fine. They try to get out of bed and put on a happy face so no one knows what they feel inside. They do their best to smile while around others. However, inside, they still have all the bad memories of what happened. They still have all those negative voices from the enemy telling them they aren’t good enough, don’t fit in, and don’t measure up. They truly feel like nobody sees them, and nobody would believe them.God only knows what you've been throughGod only knows what they say about youGod only knows how it's killing youBut there's a kind of love that God only knowsThis is wha

Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins1 Peter 4:8 “Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].”Today’s prayer point for the healing service preparation is to pray to strengthen marriages. This is something that is so needed. Marriages are something that is definitely under attack. Satan is working hard to destroy our families. He is attacking our children, and he is attacking our marriages. I went to a marriage retreat in Germany when we lived overseas. The retreat was sponsored by the Military Arch Diocese but was put on by a German organization. I can not remember their name right now. They told us that Germany was trying to pass a law so that marriages would have a time limit or an expiration date. I don’t remember all the details, but I think they said it because they thought there would be fewer divorces if people just got married for 10 or 20 years, and then they could decide if they wanted to continue being married.This is crazy. When we say “I Do,” we are saying it forever. However, this doesn’t tend to be the case these days. The divorce rate in America for first marriages is 33% within the first 10 years; for second marriages, it is 60-70%. That is pretty high. We definitely need to be praying for our marriages. The reason I say that Satan is attacking our marriages is because I believe he is behind all the pornography in the world. He is behind the normalization of many things that weren’t normal once upon a time. It seems like cheating on your spouse used to be something you did privately and hoped you didn’t get caught. Now, it seems as though “open” marriages are something that is accepted. In an “open” marriage, the couple can sleep with other people.The act of sexual intercourse is no longer a special bond between a husband and wife. It is shared with others outside of the marriage. It seems more common to have an affair. I know adultery was happening long before Jesus came into the world. Back then, it was not something to be celebrated, though. Nowadays, it seems like it is normalized. It seems like if you hear someone is cheating on their spouse, it is hardly shocking. You almost expect it. It is really sad.What I love about the verse above is that it reminds us to have intense and unfailing love for one another. This is something that takes intention and is not always easy to do. When we talk about love, we talk about falling in love. We talked about how we met and fell in love with our wife or husband. However, after you fall in love, you must stay in love; that is where the work comes in. When you first get married, everything is new and exciting. You are deeply in love and can’t imagine anything changing. However, as the years pass, you settle into a routine. You both get busy with work and if you have a family, that keeps you busy as well. If you are not careful, you start to grow apart. There is nothing major that happens and yet you are slowly growing apart.It happens so slowly that you hardly even notice. Your schedules are different, so you don’t see each other as much. You are both working so much you are like ships passing in the night. You make sure one of you is home to be with the kids while the other is working or doing what they must do. You are both exhausted at night and so you go to sleep. There is no time for talking, let alone any intimacy of any kind. When this happens, the enemy gets in there and starts to point out all the annoying things about your spouse. All the things that didn’t really bother you before because you were so in love with this person. However, now you see all the flaws as if they were highlighted.Everyone listening knows exactly what I am talking about. The reason I picked this translation is because of the language it uses. It resonated so much with me. It says, “Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].” Did you catch that last part? It says our intense and unfailing love for one another forgives and disregards the offenses of others. Did you notice when you first met your husband or wife that their little idiosyncrasies didn’t really bother you? You either didn’t even notice them, or you did, but you were so in love that you thought they were cute.We are who we are. I doubt you or your spouse have changed that much since you married. It is more likely that we have forgotten to have intense and unfailing love for one another, which is normal if we are not intentional about it. We need to nurture our love for our spouse and even our kids with intention, just like we would nurture anything we want to grow. This verse is straight out of the Bible. God is showing us what is needed for a good marriage. God is showing us how important love is. Not just any love, either. We need intense and unfailing love. If you have noticed lately that you ar

Our Youth Need Prayers1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”Today’s prayer point for our healing service prep is to pray for the youth. When I read this verse, I liked it for a couple of reasons. First, I like that it instructs our youth not to let people look down on them. We can often dismiss our youth and their contribution simply because of their age. We look at them as children and question what they could know about God or any situation. We sometimes exclude them from the conversation because we assume they don’t know as much as we do. We assume we are wiser than they are because of our years of experience. However, this is not always the case.I also like this verse because it tells our youth to be an example of speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. I love that it does not tell the youth to fight back or stand up to their elders. This verse does not tell them to argue and explain all the reasons why they are worthy or why they should be taken seriously. It tells them to show what they are capable of with their actions. I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words, so I love this idea.Another thing I believe this verse is teaching our youth is humility. It shows them that they don’t have to justify their age. It is ok if people don’t see what God sees at first. It doesn’t matter what others think of them; what matters is what God thinks of them and what they think of themselves. This is hard because knowing others think you are too young can be hard. It is hard when others judge you on what they see on the outside when they don’t really know you.I have run into this often over the years. I have always looked younger than I am. People would look at me and think I was a child, even as a young adult. People would think they knew me just by looking at me. When we were at meetings, people wouldn’t listen as much to me as they would to others because they felt I was so young. My suggestions weren’t always taken as seriously as others were. I did not yell and scream. I did exactly what this verse says. I showed them I knew what I was talking about with my actions instead of my words. Let’s take a closer look at his verse and how it tells our youth to be an example.The verse says, “But rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” So first, it says speech. We need to pray for our youth when it comes to their speech. Not speech, as in bad language, although I definitely need to pray for my kids to clean up their language. I think it is more important for us to pray for our kid's speech about themselves and to others. We can pray that the youth see themselves through God’s eyes. We can pray that they start to be kind to themselves. Our brains believe whatever we tell them. If we are constantly saying we are not enough, we are ugly, no one likes us, no one will ever love us, then that is what their brains will believe. If teens start changing how they talk to themselves, they will be an example to all of us, as this is not something just teens struggle with.Also, we could pray that teens start paying attention to how they talk to others; how they talk to each other these days is awful. A common saying these days is, “Kill yourself.” They say it nonchalantly as if saying, hi, how are you? It just almost slips out of their mouth. I am sure this is a tactic of the enemy. He has made them think this is not a big deal. He has taken away the shock of this phrase so much that kids always say it and don’t even feel bad about it. Our youth are struggling and they need our prayers!The next thing the verse says is conduct. We can definitely pray for our youth’s conduct. I would love to pray for a return of innocence to our youth. Too many of them are forced to grow up too early. I pray that kids can be kids. We can pray that they make good choices and have loved ones in their lives to help them make those good choices. We can pray for protection over our youth. We can pray their conduct and their actions don’t harm them. Suicide is on the rise in our youth, and we have to pray against this. More than 50,000 Americans died by suicide in 2023, more than any other year on record. These were not all youth, but it shows we have a real problem. We need to pray for our youth. We need to pray they do things to help themselves instead of things that harm them and those around them. We need to pray the find interests and hobbies they can join.The verse next lists love. This is a big one with our youth. They want nothing more than to be loved and accepted, yet this world tells them they are neither. With social media, they are constantly comparing themselves to others. They have constant access to each other yet feel more alone than ever. We can pray they feel the love of God. We can pray they have a personal encounter with the Lord and never again

CLICK HERE to read Jennifer's letter and see the photos.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.I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow, and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. 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

Pride Is The Utmost Evil!Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” The definition of pride, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired." Do you see how it says you have a deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements? We have no achievements that we have done completely on our own. Everything we have is because God is so good. We owe everything to Him.Yet, we often try to take credit for the things that we do. We congratulate ourselves on a job well done, all the while forgetting to acknowledge the part that the Lord played in our success. God doesn’t want us to be unhappy with the things we have done; He just wants us to remember His part in all of it. When we start to take credit for everything we do, we start to think about God less and less. We put ourselves first and Him second, or maybe even further down on the list.This can be dangerous. If we decide we want to do things on our own, God will let us. He is not about to force Himself on us. The reason things go smoothly in life is because God is working all things for our good. He is in the details. He is opening up some doors and windows, and He is closing others. You wonder why that meeting at work went so well. He was there preparing the hearts of the people in the meeting so they were ready to hear what you had to say. What if He hadn’t done that, though? What if we were truly on our own?God is behind the scenes so much of the time. Sometimes, we are aware of what God has saved us from; however, sometimes, we have no idea the things He saved us from. Our teacher mentioned in class yesterday that she thinks she probably doesn’t praise God enough because she doesn’t know all the things He saved her from. She was talking about how joyful and praise-filled the 33 workers were when they were rescued from the mine in Chili back in 2010. They were buried 2 miles underground for 69 days. They truly knew what God had saved them from. They knew their rescue and their survival underground was not their own doing.When we are just going about our everyday lives, we don’t realize all the things that God is doing for us, especially if nothing extraordinary is happening. If we have a disease or an illness, we might get to see the Lord working powerfully in that situation. There can be plenty of times when we can see the Lord working in our lives. However, in the good times, in the times when all seems to be working in our favor, these are the times when we can start to fall for the lies of the enemy that are in all of us. When we are killing it at work, we can start to get prideful and think that it is all because we are really great at what we do. When we are killing it as a parent, we can start to think that our children are doing so well because we are such great parents.When things are going great, we tend to take our focus off of God and put it on ourselves. I don’t even know if we do it consciously or if it is just an unconscious thing we do. I think it is human nature, almost like our default setting. When things are bad, when we are struggling, and when we need something from God, we turn to Him and ask for help. When we receive the help we asked for, we can see it came from God, and so we find it easier to praise Him and give Him the Glory.However, when we are in a good place, we tend to feel like we don’t need God. We feel as though we have it all under control. This is where our pride starts to rear its ugly head again. God is always in control. We always need Him in good times and in bad. It is important to stop and realize that the reason things are going so well is because God is working all things for your good. Yes, you can probably gain some success on your own, but not nearly as much success as you can have if you partner with God. C. S. Lewis said, “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.” Wow, that is quite the statement. What stood out to me about that statement was that unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere flea bites in comparison. Can you imagine?The article I found (CLICK HERE for the article) said that everyone should read the chapter called Pr

Forgive One AnotherEphesians 4:32 “Has God graciously forgiven you? Then, graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love.”There is a healing service coming up for the Charismatic Renewal Service of Boston. The team for this healing service starts preparing two weeks in advance. The scripture verse I am using today is from that preparation. Today’s topic for the prayer team is “Dealing with unforgiveness.” I know I have talked about God’s forgiveness a lot and also how important it is that we forgive. The reason I repeat this often is because of how incredibly important it is.It is important to know that God forgives us for all of our sins because if we don’t believe this, if we don’t know this, then we find it hard to let Him in. Instead of being able to talk freely about anything, there will be certain things we don’t talk about. We don't talk about them because we are ashamed of them. We don’t want God to know about them. We don’t think He would still like us or love us if He knew what we did. On one hand, it makes sense that we feel this way as the enemy is constantly whispering in our ears that God could never forgive that thing we did. The enemy whispers in our ears that God could never love us. He tells us we should keep that thing hidden in the dark so God and other people can never find out about it. However, on the other hand, God already knows; he has already forgiven you and will always love you no matter what you do!It is also important for us to forgive others. This is the harder of the two. Actually, I am not sure if that is true. They can both be very difficult. The verse above says that because God has forgiven us, so we must forgive one another. How do we forgive one another, though, when those who have hurt us are not even sorry? How do we forgive them when they have already moved on and don’t give what they did to us a second thought? How do we forgive them when we are still hurting from what they did? These are all great questions.Let me take a minute to explain what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness is acknowledging that the thing happened and that you can’t change it. It is deciding that you are no longer going to give that thing space in your brain. You aren’t going to think about it anymore. Forgiveness is turning the judgment over to the Lord. You don’t have to be the one to make sure that they pay for what they did. Hanging on to that idea will not help you move past it.Forgiveness is not saying that what happened was okay; it wasn’t. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. Yes, you are not thinking about it all the time, but it doesn’t mean you have to forget it ever happened or that you need to forget all you learned from it. Forgiveness also doesn’t always mean reconciliation. You can forgive someone for what they have done and still not let them back into your life. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to trust them ever again.Forgiveness is not about the other person. It is about you. Forgiveness is a gift you can give yourself so that you aren’t holding onto all that anger, revenge, hate, and all the other emotions that go along with it. Unforgiveness eats you on the inside. Yet, the person you are not forgiving moves on with their life. Most likely, the thing you are not forgiving is not causing them any sleepless nights. They hurt you, and then they just moved on. Sometimes they don’t even know that they hurt you.Now that we talked a bit about what forgiveness is and what forgiveness is not, we can go back to the verse above. The verse says, “Has God graciously forgiven you? Then, graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love.” One thing we can do to help us begin to forgive is to accept the forgiveness that God has graciously given to us. When we realize all that God has forgiven us for, it makes it a bit easier to forgive others. A person who cannot forgive has forgotten how great a debt God has forgiven them. I heard this quote once, and it really hit me. Romans 3:23 says, “ Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned, and if we want God to forgive us for our sins, we need to forgive others. It is that simple. It’s not that easy, but it is that simple.Another thing we can do is ask God to help us forgive. We can’t forgive anyone on our own. We can just make a choice to forgive and then allow God to come in and do the hard work of changing our hearts. That reminds me of something I forgot to mention earlier. Forgiveness is NOT a feeling. Forgiveness IS a choice. It is totally possible for you to choose to forgive someone and yet not feel any differently at first. This is because, as I mentioned, God is the one who changes our hearts, and He doesn’t always do that instantly. Sometimes it takes time to feel the forgiveness. That is ok. We don’t have to feel it. We just have to decide to do it, and then God will help us with the rest.I get so passionate about helping people see how important forgiveness

Friendship With God Proverbs 27:9: “Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.”I heard this verse last night at my prayer group meeting. The leader was talking about different types of friendships. The first one was an association. You know people through work or your neighbors. You might wave to them or stop and talk to them. Your friendship with these people is not usually as deep. The second is association plus loyalty. These are people you would be willing to self-sacrifice for. The friends, you would offer to pick something up for them at the store or bring the soup when they are sick. You spend more time with them, and your friendship is probably deeper than that of mere association. You have a deeper level of connection. The third is association plus loyalty plus affection. This is often found in family love. It can also be found in other places. This is where you would have the deepest relationships because there is not only loyalty but also affection. I also looked online and found an article titled Aristotle On the 3 Types of Friendship (and How Each Enriches Life) that explained Aristotle also has three “species” of friendship. (Click Here for the article) These are: The friendship of utility. These friendships are based on what someone can do for you or what you can do for another person. It might be that you put in a good word for someone, and they buy you a gift in return. Such relationships have little to do with character and can end as soon as any possible use for you or the other person is removed from the equation.The friendship of pleasure. These are friendships based on the enjoyment of a shared activity or the pursuit of fleeting pleasures and emotions. This might be someone you go for drinks with or join a particular hobby with and is a common level of association among the young, so Aristotle declared. This type of relationship can again end quickly, dependent as it is on people’s ever-changing likes and dislikes.The friendship of virtue. These are the people you like for themselves, who typically influence you positively and push you to be a better person. This kind of relationship, based as it is on the character of two self-sufficient equals, is a lot more stable than the previous two categories.Friendships are important. Especially this last type of friendship. Aristotle says these are the people who typically influence you positively and push you to be a better person. This is why it is important to have friends who are striving to be holy. Friends who are striving to please God and who seek a close and intimate relationship with God. If you surround yourself with people who are moving in the same direction you are, it is so much easier to get to where you are going. You will see what others are doing to move ahead, and you can do the same.Our friends can help make us or break us. If all of our friendships fall into the utility category, then our friends probably aren’t helping us get to where we want to be. If you surround yourself with people who just want something from you or you want something from them, then as soon as they get what they want, they will leave, and you will need to find new friends, or you will be left alone. If all your friends are in the pleasure category, then you may also lose them if your hobbies change, if your likes change. Maybe you always go out drinking with the same group of people, but then you give up alcohol. Do you still stay friends with this group of people? What if you have a group of ladies that you always knit with, and then you stop knitting? This has happened to me recently. I made several friends when I joined Toastmasters, a public speaking club. I haven’t been attending the meetings lately, so I have essentially lost those friends.You are likely to do what your friends do. This is why I said if your friends are moving in the same direction as you, it will be easier to get there. It is hard to go against the grain. If your friends are all going out several nights a week to party, it will be hard for you to stay home and do what you want to do. Many of us wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun. If your friends are all going to brunch on Sunday morning at the same time you would normally be at Mass, you might be more likely to miss Mass because your friends are all going out. However, if your friends are all going to mass on Sunday morning, you will be less likely to skip because you will want to see them. If your friends are all joining a Bible Study, you will be likely to join, too. Do you see how who you are friends with really matters?The other important thing the leader of the prayer group wanted us to know is that God wants to be our friend. Crazy, right?! Why would God want to be our friend? Did you know God wanted to be your friend? She cited many people in the Bible who were God’s friends. First, in St. James 2

Forgiveness Is Hard But NecessaryMatthew 6:15: “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” I know a lot of people that are holding on to un-forgiveness. I get it. Forgiving people is hard! It is especially hard if they did something unspeakable to you, and they aren’t sorry and are not even asking for forgiveness. Here is the thing I have learned about forgiveness, though: it is not about them; it is about you. You are not forgiving them so that they feel better. You are forgiving them so that you feel better. You’re not forgiving them because they deserve it or because it is not bothering you anymore. You are forgiving them because each day that you refuse to forgive and hold onto that resentment, it eats you up inside. I heard a saying once that helped me to visualize and understand this so much better. “Un-forgiveness is like drinking poison every day and expecting the other person to die.” When you forgive someone, you are not saying that what they did was okay. It was not. What you are doing when you forgive someone is acknowledging that the event happened, that it is in the past and you are no longer going to let it have power over your emotions. You are moving on from it. Forgiveness is about acknowledging what happened, learning what you can from it, and moving forward so you can live your life in the present.I know this is not an easy thing to do. I know that it takes work and it takes time. It is such an important thing to do, though. I remember the moment I learned that God forgives us as we forgive others. I was sitting in a bible study, and someone mentioned it rather nonchalantly. I was like, “What, hold the phone. What did you just say?” If I don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive me. Is that what you are saying? Matthew 6:15 says, “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” The reason they said it as if everyone knew it was because any Catholic, or any person who has said the Our Father prayer, has said that exact statement. Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…There it is, as plain as day. And yet, that thought had never occurred to me. I have said the Our Father almost every Sunday for my entire life. I have said that prayer thousands of times over the course of my life. How is it that I never really understood that line? I am writing this because I thought, what if that thought had never occurred to you either? I don’t know about you, but I definitely need God’s forgiveness. I would love God to be very forgiving as I am human, and so I make all kinds of mistakes. So, if I need God to be very forgiving, then I must be forgiving to others. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others…” How do I forgive others? Am I very forgiving? Do I keep grudges? Am I too hard for people who have wronged me? We have all heard the saying, “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.” But I feel like this brings it to a whole new level. Do unto others as you want God to do unto you. Wow, learning that was very powerful for me. I set out to learn how to forgive better. If that was the standard I was going to be held up to, I had some work to do. As far as I can remember, I was not really one to hold grudges, at least not for long. However, I would get angry often, and sometimes it was for things that were not really a big deal. I am trying to think about what I did to learn to forgive more easily. I honestly am not sure. For me, I think that just knowing that God was going to hold me to whatever standards I had was enough of a push for me to start working on forgiveness. I prayed that God would help me with forgiveness. I went to confession and confessed when I felt I was not doing well with forgiving. There are lots of resources out there to help people learn to forgive better. I started looking for them and reading them. Forgiveness is something that most people, if not all, struggle with. No one wants to be hurt, and when someone hurts us, we want them to suffer like we suffered. We do not want to forgive them, and we do not want to let go of that pain because we feel like if we let go of the pain and anger, then we are saying that it either didn’t happen or that we are somehow ok with it happening. This is not what you are saying when you forgive. You are saying, yes, it happened; yes, it was awful, and no, it was not ok; and yes, I am going to stop giving it power over me. I am going to stop spending time thinking about the person who did it. I am going to forgive that person and move forward.Forgiving also doesn’t mean forgetting. You do not have to forget what this person did. You should remember all that you learned from this situation. You also don’t have to be reconciled with this pers

Today, I would like to witness to you about my Encounter Ministries project. If you have been listening for a while, you know I am in a two-year program with the Encounter School of Ministry. Year 2 students need to complete a ministry group project before they can graduate. I travel to class each week with 4 other ladies from my prayer group, so we thought it would be best to do our project together since we are always together anyway. We also had another student from class join us who lives close to where we met.When we first got together to discuss what we wanted to do, we all had the same thing on our hearts. We wanted to do something to help teenagers. We had several people in our prayer group who were personally touched by teen suicides last summer. I think there were 6 people in a two-week period. We also have been getting a lot of words of prophecy at prayer group over the last year or two that are urging us to pray for the children of the world. With these two things combined, we knew we needed to do something to help teenagers have a renewal of their minds. We knew we needed to come up with some way to help them see how loved they are by the Lord.This world is a rough place, and it is even harder for teens. With social media today, their bullies have easy access to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It used to be we might be bullied on the bus, at school, or right after school. However, if they wanted to call us up and bully us, they needed to go through our parents, and they weren’t likely to do that. Now, they can call, text, or send a message on social media any time of day.Then they also have to deal with the need to compare themselves with everyone they see on social media. Social media portrays the best of the best. Very few people put the real stuff on social media. They take 20 photos and post the best one. They act like they just rolled out of bed and snapped a photo when, in reality, that was probably the 10th photo, and it had a filter to put makeup on and get the lighting correct. No one looks unhappy, and everyone’s life is perfect. I know people who seem to be knocking their lives out of the ballpark on social, and then when I am talking to them, they are sad, lonely, and really struggling.I get it. No one wants to air their dirty laundry on social media for the world to see. However, making it seem like all is perfect, when it is the opposite, really messes with people's perception of how the world should be. Imagine if you are a teen and everyone in your social media feed, everyone in your life seems so happy all the time. How do you reconcile that with your life? How does it make you feel to know that your life is not perfect? You are not happy all the time. You don’t roll out of bed looking like a model. You don’t have it all figured out. Then you start to think, what is wrong with me? Why is everyone else so happy, and I am so messed up?I know adults who struggle with comparison on social media. They see everyone posting about their kids, their spouses, their jobs, and their vacations, and they wonder why they don’t have those things. They wonder why they always feel like they are 5 steps behind and the rest of the world seems to have life all figured out. If it affects adults, imagine how much more it affects teens.So, we knew we had to do something. We just weren’t sure what. We prayed about it and talked about it, and we decided to come up with a program to talk about their identity in Christ. We wanted to answer this question for them. Who does God say that I am? We talked with the confirmation formation team, and they were happy to have us come in and talk with the confirmation candidates and their sponsors. It all worked out pretty perfectly, actually. They were looking for a candidate/sponsor event, and we were looking for teens to present to.We typed up a proposal for our teacher of how we wanted to run the event. We decided we would first let the kids know how ridiculously loved by God they are. Then we would talk about the lies that we all come to believe about ourselves. Lies like I am not a good mom. I am a loser. I am ugly. No one likes me. No one understands me. I can’t do anything right. I am not a good Catholic. God doesn’t love me. God will never forgive me. We all tell ourselves lies like this, and we thought it was important to show the kids that these are not true. The world doesn’t get to tell us the truth about who we are. Our identity comes from Christ.Next, we decided we would have the students and their sponsors write these lies down on paper and nail them to the cross. We wanted them to know they don’t have to carry these lies with them. They can hand them over to Jesus, and then they can replace these lies with the truth of who God says they are. After they do this, we talk about the truth of their identity. We talk about where their true identity comes from and how they can learn more about their true identity. We go on to teach the teens and their s

What If We Just Met People With Love And Acceptance? 1 Corinthians 12:3 “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit."I think this is a great verse because I think sometimes we can get too caught up in things that don’t matter. We can get caught up in the religion of it all and forget about the person. We can see someone who is of a different Christian denomination, and we don’t want to talk to them. We are cautious and skeptical of being friends with them because they don’t believe the same things we believe. However, if they are Christian, then they believe in the same God, the same Jesus, and the same Holy Spirit.When Jesus walked the world, He did not just hang out with those who were similar to Him. He hung out with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and anyone who wanted to hang out with Him. He came to save the lost, not the righteous. In Luke 5:31-32, “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.” We have to have a renewal of our minds if we want to be more Christ-like. We need to think more like He did and less like the world does.The world tells us that we need to get our act together before we can go to Christ. We have to change our ways. We need to stop sinning. We need to be perfect, and then we can go to Christ. This is not the case. Christ wants us to come to Him now, just as we are. Yes, He wants us to repent, but we don’t have to do that before we come back to Him. Repentance is only possible through Him. Philippians 4:23 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners. He doesn’t need our perfection. He doesn’t need us to have it all figured out. He just wants us to come to Him with an open heart, and He will do the rest.According to Matthew 22:37-40, the two greatest commandments are, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” I think we put all of our attention on the first one of these and forget about the second one. However, it says all the laws and the prophets depend on these two commandments, not just the first one. We need to figure out how to see people the way Jesus saw people. If we want to love our neighbors, we need to figure out how to accept people for who they are. Jesus did not put conditions on his friendships. He did not say you could come to dinner with me if you promised to change the way you were behaving. He invited them to dinner and treated them with love and respect. He showed them the love of the Father, and they couldn’t help but change after an encounter like that. The love of our heavenly Father is more powerful than anything else. If we can give people an encounter with His love, He will do all the work.What people are desperate for right now, maybe always, is acceptance. Jesus offered that. He accepted all those He met, even if they didn’t believe as He did. He loved them and accepted them. I think sometimes we think it is our job to correct people when they are living in a way that we don’t believe in or that is contrary to the way Jesus taught us to live. Jesus laid down some pretty hard truths while he walked the earth. It wasn’t as if He was a pushover who said whatever the people wanted to hear. He said some things that were so hard for people to hear that a lot of His followers left after He gave certain teachings, yet He still gave them. However, when He was dealing with people one-on-one, He loved and accepted them as they were. This is what changed people the most. When you feel loved and accepted, you want more love. When you have a personal encounter with the love of the Father, you realize it is like nothing you have ever felt before, and you would do anything to feel it again. To have that love surrounding you.What if we could do this? What if we could be friends with those who are not like us? What if we could see people as the Lord sees people, as Jesus saw people? What if we saw people for who they are and not what they do? What if we started to look at each person we see as a beloved child of God? Would that change the way we interacted with them? What if we took a moment to think about how much we love our children, our nieces and nephews, or our friend’s kids and then realized God loves this person even more than that?We don’t just love our kids when they are perfect; we love them no matter what they have done or how awful they have been. They are our children, and we still love them. The same is true for God. He loves His children no matter what they have done. So, shouldn’t we do the same? I think a lot of people are turning away from the Catholic Chu

Be Specific In Your PrayersColossians 4:2-4: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”This year I decided I was going to focus on one scripture verse a week during my morning prayer time. I asked my friends on Facebook to give me their favorite scriptures, and during the week that I focused on the scripture they gave me, I would pray for them in a special way. I was reviewing the verses I received this morning, and the one I chose for this week is John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” I thought this would be a great verse for an episode, as I love reminding people that the enemy wants to keep us in the dark. However, if we bring his lies and tactics into the light, we see him for who he really is. I truly believe there is no darkness too dark for the light of Christ to break into. All we need to do is invite the light into the darkness. While I was thinking about this verse, I looked it up and found out I already did an episode on it. It was episode #568, titled “The Darkness Will Not Overtake You!”After realizing that I had already used this verse, I moved on to the next verse someone gave me, which is the verse above. My friend Lela gave me this verse, which I think is perfect as she was such a great friend when we lived in England. She and her husband were some of the first people we met, and we got along right away. We hung out a lot on Friday nights as we had kids similar in age. We even went on vacations together. It was great! This verse talks about being thankful, and I am so very thankful for their friendship.The verse above begins by saying, “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” These three things are so important. Prayer is as simple as talking to God. You can do it formally, as in scripted prayers like the Our Father, or you can do it informally like you are having a conversation with your best friend. It doesn’t matter how you pray; it matters that you pray. That time you spend with the Lord is important. Whether it is 5 minutes or 5 hours, it doesn’t matter. Just spend time with Him.After it says to devote yourself to prayer, it says to be watchful. I wasn’t sure what this meant, and I didn’t want to lead you astray, so I looked it up. I am glad I did, as this is something I talked about a few minutes ago, and yet it didn’t even occur to me when thinking about being watchful. We need to be watchful of the enemy. The devil is constantly trying to steal, kill, and destroy us. He doesn’t make a full-on frontal attack, though. He comes at us from all sides, and his attacks are usually masked with lies or with temptation. He temps us with things He knows we want, and he lies to us about things he knows we already questioning. In Matthew 26:41 it says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This is us. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. We fall for the enemy’s tricks more easily if we are not on the lookout for them.Lastly, the first line says to be thankful. You would think this one would be easy. It isn’t. We often forget to be thankful when things are going well. When things are tough, we ask God to come in and fix them. Then, when He does, we often forget to say Thank You. Gratitude is something that can help us in many ways. If we have an attitude of gratitude, then we are more focused on the positive. We are looking for things that we can be grateful for, and so we naturally notice more good than bad. Our focus is important. Are we looking for all that is going wrong, or are we looking for all that is going right? What are three things you have to be thankful for this morning? I start off each day, well, most days, by writing 5 things I am grateful for. I tried to make them as specific as I could. For instance, instead of saying I am thankful for my boys, I write down I am thankful Sam made it home safely in the snow, I am thankful for the conversation I had with Ryan, I am thankful Noah got to see his friend he hasn’t seen in over a year. Do you see how specific I get? Now it’s your turn.I didn’t want to just stop with this first verse, as I think the next two verses are important as well. They say, “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” This is important because it shows us something important to pray for that might now have occurred to us. Did you ever think of praying for God to open a door for you to proclaim the mystery of Christ? It’s interesting to me the things others pray for that didn’t even occur to me. In this verse, St. Paul is in prison for proclaiming the Word of God, and yet He is asking for

God’s Way Is Perfect Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”I love this verse because it shows us the goodness of God. However, some of us may argue with the first line. “This God —his way is perfect. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is struggling right now. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is sick and whose prognosis looks dire. His ways might not seem perfect if you have lost a child, a spouse, or a family member way too young. My son’s girlfriend said she could not believe in a God who lets little children get cancer. Honestly, I get that. I don’t know what to say to her about that. I do know that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true. When the Bible says that God’s way is perfect, then I know it is true. The reason it doesn’t seem like it is true a lot of the time is because we can’t see all that God can see. We think God took a job away from us, but really, He was preparing us and freeing us up for a better job. We think God is responsible for our son getting kicked out of school, but really he is removing him from a bad situation. It is also important to remember that in many circumstances, God did not cause the bad thing to happen. God did not give the children cancer. God did not give your loved one the thing that is causing their death. God did not cause you to lose your job. God did not cause you to fail that class or lose that friend. God does not need to make bad things happen to us. We are very good at doing that to ourselves. God does, however, take the bad things that we get ourselves into and use them for our good. For instance, He may not have given you the cancer, but He can use it to make you stronger. He may not have taken your job away from you, but He might have allowed that door to close so you could walk through a better door. This happened with my husband Tony. He was in the Air Force, and for two years straight, he applied to every federal job he could find. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the Air Force; he just wanted to be a civilian and not have to move around so much. He really wanted to be a criminal investigator. However, he could not get hired as a civilian because there were so many others applying who had veterans' preferences. He would have had this if he had gotten out of the Air Force and then applied for these jobs. At the time, we had 2 small children, and I was pregnant with our third. there was no way he was going to quit one job before he had another job. How would we pay our bills? What would we do for medical insurance? Tony decided to stop applying and just stay in the Air Force. Our next assignment was to Germany. We were only in Germany for a little over a year when Tony found out he needed to separate from the Air Force. They had too many majors in his career field. Tony was devastated. He had come to terms with staying in the Air Force and retiring after 20 years of service. Now, at 11 years of service, they are telling him he has to separate. This was devastating to him. However, He was able to pick up a civilian job that was right up his alley. It was actually the perfect job for him, and it was a promotion from where he was in the military rank-wise. We were able to rent a really nice house in England, and everything work-wise was great. God knew what Tony wanted. He knew what would ultimately make him happy. He helped him get to where he wanted to be. He is not a criminal investigator, but he does have a civilian job that he really likes. Sometimes, oftentimes, God’s plan doesn’t look like we would like it to. Tony wanted a transition to civil service that was full of assurances and security. This is not what it looked like. He was let go with 4 months notice. They gave him 4 months to find another job. They also said he could keep medical insurance for up to either 6 months or a year. So, even though it didn’t look like Tony wanted it to, it did provide him with some security.Did something similar happen in your life? Were you looking/searching for something, and you finally got there, but the road to get there looked nothing like you thought it would? Yep, me too. This verse tells us that God’s way is perfect and that His promises come true. God has said in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We can get ourselves into some pretty interesting situations, and I, for one, am glad that God is there to turn those crazy situations into good ones. I am grateful that I don’t have to fix it on my own. I am grateful that his way is perfect. This takes the pressure off of us to be perfect.The last line says, “He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” God can and will protect us. He is our shield. However, it is important to point out that this verse says, “For all who take refuge in Him.” It is our choice w

God’s Anger Was Kindled On My Behalf!Psalm 18:7-10 “The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for his anger was kindled on my behalf! Fierce flames leapt from his mouth, erupting with blazing, burning coals as smoke and fire encircled him. He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense. Swiftly he rode to earth as the stormy sky was lowered. He rode a chariot of thunderclouds amidst thick darkness; his steed was a cherub, soaring on outstretched wings of Spirit-Wind.”In the last two episodes, I talked about Psalm 18. I explained that God is our rock and that we call on Him when we are in a time of need, and He is there for us. Yesterday, we talked about how our cries go right up to heaven and pierce the Lord’s heart. Today we are talking about how He responds to that cry.The first line says, “The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before Him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for His anger was kindled on my behalf!” Can you imagine that? Close your eyes and imagine the whole earth shaking and shivering. Imagine the mountains trembling and then just melting away. Can you picture it? Now, imagine that all happened just because you cried out to the Lord. His anger was kindled on your behalf. There are billions of people on this earth, and the Lord hopped in a chariot of thunderclouds because you cried out to Him. That is pretty amazing!I think the fact that the Lord cares for each one of us individually escapes us a lot of the time. We think of how big God is and how many people there are in the world, and we think that God loves us in a general way. Kind of like how a priest might say he loves his parishioners. He probably does love the people who attend the church. He would also probably help anyone that came and asked for it. However, the priest probably does not know every detail of every person’s life. This is how we can think of God sometimes. Yes, He loves us. He is our heavenly Father, and also, he has billions of children, so he can’t possibly know me personally. The reason we think this way is because the reality of God is so far beyond anything our mind can comprehend. His vastness is too much for us to understand truly.God created you. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13) He knows every hair on your head. God acts for each one of us at the same time. He can be solving your problem at the same time He is helping someone else on the other side of the world. He is not bound by the same things we are. He doesn’t have to obey the rules around time and space. He made time and space. There was nothing before God; He created all of it, so He is in control of all of it.One line in the verse above that I really like is the one that says, “He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense.” I like this because it gives me a good visual. The whole verse is pretty easy to visualize, actually. It is a pretty descriptive verse today. However, I love thinking about there being a curtain to Heaven. Kinda like in Wizard of Oz, when the Great OZ was behind a curtain. I like to think of a curtain that God can just pull back to come to our defense. It’s not a wall, it’s not a door, it’s a curtain. A curtain isn’t hard to pull back. It isn’t hard to get through. A curtain provides pretty easy access.I have never seen God, but I like the thought of Him getting so angry on my behalf that he would do half the things listed in the verse above. I think this verse shows us how powerful our prayers are. We call out to God, and He acts on our behalf. This is also a good reminder that we don't have to seek revenge; we can turn that over to God, and He will do what is right. God knows all that is going on in our lives. He knows all that has gone on in the past. He knows when someone offends us or does something bad to us. It angers Him when His children are hurt or mistreated. All we need to do is call out to the Lord, and He will come to our assistance.This verse is a great reminder that we can call on the Lord and that He responds. It is a great reminder that He cares about each of us individually. Yes, God loves us all, and also He loves each one of us. He cares about all the little things in our lives. He knows all about those things you didn’t want Him to know about. He saw that thing that happened to you that you were too ashamed to tell Him about. He sees you, and He loves you. He wants to be there for you. He wants to take care of you. He just needs you to let Him. He just needs you to cry out to Him, and He will come running! That is how much God loves you! I will reread the verses above again. Close your eyes and imagine the verse is talking about you and what God is doing for you.“The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for his anger was kindled on my behalf! Fierce flames leapt from his mouth, erupting

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. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. 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

You Are Not Who You WereRomans 3:23-24 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.”We have all done things in the past that we are not proud of, and sometimes we get stuck thinking about those things. We replay them over and over again in our minds and think about how different our lives would be if we had not done them. Some of us think that the things we did were so bad that there is no way God could ever forgive us or love us. Regret is a terrible thing. It sucks the life out of the present moment if you let it. Our minds are powerful, and we will believe what they tell us. We may know in our hearts that God will always forgive us if we truly repent. We know in our hearts that God will always love us no matter what we do and that we do not have to earn his love. However, sometimes, that little voice inside of us will listen to the enemy, and our brain will believe the lies that he tells us. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The evil one likes to take this phrase and use it to whisper things in our ears like, “See, no one is good enough,” or “No matter what you do, you will always fall short of God’s standards.” He tells us that we shouldn’t even bother because we are not enough. Do you ever feel that way, like you are not enough? What many of us may not know is what the very next verse, Romans 3:24, says, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.” Yes, we all sin, but God’s grace “makes us right in his sight.” Another way the enemy likes to get to us is to tell us that we will never change. That we are still the same person who did that thing we regret. If we strive to change, he tells us that we can’t change. He reminds us of the things we have done in the past and whispers that we will do it again. There is a song I heard for the first time on the Big Life Devotional, and it is “Slave to Nothing” by Zach Williams. In this song he says:You can tell me what I did You can show me who I was before Where I fell short Hang it over my head But I'm not the same anymore One thing's for sure The shackles have fallen So I'm showing shame to the door Make no mistake I'm a slave, to nothingIf you get a chance to listen to this song, I highly recommend it. click hereJust because you have acted a certain way in the past does not mean that you have to act that way forever. You can decide to repent and change your ways at any point in time, and God will be there to forgive you and welcome you in with open arms. Think about the many saints that have had beginnings that were not so great. One of the most illustrious saints, I think, is St. Augustine of Hippo. He was a man who was known for having not one but two mistresses. He ran around for years before having a change of heart and settling down at 31. St. Augustine went on to become a Doctor of the Church. Then there is also Saint Mary of Egypt, who ran away from home at 12 and spent a dozen years living on the street as a seductress. According to Craughwell in an article in Live Science, “Nothing made her happier than corrupting innocent young Christian men.” Saint Mary went to Jerusalem looking for young Christian boys to seduce. At the doors to the church, she felt a strange force repulsing her, and she immediately changed her ways. There was also Saint Camillus de Lellis, a priest from Italy that founded one of the first healthcare organizations for the needy. He started out as a cardsharp, con man, and mercenary. There are also lots of modern-day examples of people who had a rough start. Jennifer Aniston, who is one of the most famous actors because of her role in the sitcom Friends, had 4 failed sitcoms in a row before she landed the role on Friends. Tim Allen, who starred in Home Improvement, is now starring in Last Man Standing and was also the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story Movies. In 1979, he was caught with many illegal substances and went to jail for over 2 years. Then he got his life together and became the actor we know and love today. Oprah Winfrey grew up in poverty and did not have the best childhood. She was molested during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her son was born too early and died in infancy. Can you imagine the things the enemy was trying to tell her? What was he trying to tell all of these people? What if these people would have believed the lies that they could not become anything different? If they believed that the version of themselves that was not enough or prone to sinning was all they could ever be? What if they stopped reaching for more because they believed they could never achieve more? What lies do you believe? How much more could you accomplish or become if you stopped believing the lies? You