Walk Boldly With Jesus

Submit Yourselves to God (Replay)James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”This is another one of those things that sounds much easier to do than it actually is. Submit ourselves to God. That doesn’t sound too hard, right? It doesn’t sound hard, but have you tried it? It is not easy to submit to God. What does it even mean to submit ourselves to God? Google's dictionary defines submission as "the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.” I think there are two parts to this. First, the action of accepting or yielding to a superior force. This means that we would accept that God is in control. We would do as He tells us to do because He is our superior force. He created all things, and He gives us a set of rules to live by, so we must live by them. The second part of this definition is accepting or yielding to the will or authority of another person. Submitting to God would be accepting His will as our will. It would mean that we accept His will for our lives. There are times when this is very easy. When we get the job we really want, it is easy to accept it as God’s will. When we meet the love of our life, we can accept that it is God’s will for us to be with this person. However, what about when things aren’t going our way? What about when God’s will differs from our will? What about if we don’t get a job because He has something better in mind for us? Can you think of a time when you really wanted something to happen and it didn’t? What about when you didn’t want something to happen and it did? How easy was it for you to submit to the Lord’s will? This verse tells us to submit ourselves to God. If we want to do this, we need to figure out where we are struggling and then ask God for help. We can ask Him to help us submit. He will always help when we ask. If we are struggling to see how God wants us to submit to Him, then we can always just ask Him. My spiritual director told me one time to model St. Teresa of Lisieux and explain to God that I am just a little child and I need Him to show me the way. I need Him to show me or tell me what He wants me to do. I want to follow His will, I just need directions, just as a child would. This really spoke to me. I sometimes, oftentimes, if I am being honest, I think I need to know what God wants from me. I think I am just supposed to know. It seems like everyone else knows, but why don’t I know? So, I try to guess, I try to listen, and I try to do all the things just in case that is what He was wanting. However, what I try to do now is to ask the Lord to help me understand. I ask Him to explain it to me as though I were a child. I ask Him to make it clear to me and to give me the courage and strength for whatever He wants me to do. We are all just little children in the eyes of the Lord. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” God wants us to become like children. I think he wants us to be like children because there is something so pure about a child’s faith. Children don’t get caught up in understanding every little detail. They don’t ask all the questions. Miracles are miracles because there is no explanation. If there were an explanation as to exactly how it happened, it wouldn’t be a miracle. Adults don’t really like to believe in things that they can’t see. Children, on the other hand, love to play make-believe. They have no problem believing in things they can’t see. If you are struggling to submit to God, ask Him to show you how. He has assured us that if we ask, He will answer, so let’s ask. The next part of this verse says to resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Again, something that sounds so easy and yet is so difficult. I would love to say I resist the devil. The problem is, the devil is always disguised as something else. For instance, he will be disguised as temptation. You know that you should spend time in prayer or in silence, and suddenly your favorite TV show is having a marathon and showing episodes all day. You decide to give up sweets for Lent, and someone drops cookies off at your house. You decide you are going to start running, and it rains for a week straight. Do you see how it is hard to resist the devil in these circumstances because you don’t know it is the enemy attacking you? Another way the enemy might show up is through distractions. You decide you want to spend more time with your children, and suddenly everyone in the family has something else to do, or your work suddenly gets really busy. You may want to spend more time with your parents, but something comes up to prevent you from spending more time with them. We find it hard to resist the other things that are getting in our way, and so f

The Holy Spirit Lives In YouActs 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the Holy Spirit.”I think when most of us read this, we focus on the repent and be baptized part of this verse. Repentance is so important, and it is something that we can read about all throughout the Bible. God is always calling His people to repentance, and sometimes they repented and other times they did not. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, they were a wicked people and they refused to repent. God sent fire down to destroy the towns. However, when God sent Jonah to Ninevah to tell them they needed to repent, they did, and God saved them. Did you know that Jonah was angry at God for saving Nineveh? We read in Jonah 4:1-2, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is it not this what I have said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” Jonah ran from the Lord when the Lord asked him to go to Ninevah. I had always thought he ran from the Lord because he was afraid of the people in Ninevah. However, this verse says that he ran because he knew God would have mercy on them, and he didn’t want them to be saved.This is a somewhat common thing for us to do. Maybe not running from the Lord, but definitely wishing people get what they deserve. Have you ever wished that someone got what they deserved? Have you ever seen a car speed by you, or weave in and out of traffic, and think to yourself, “I hope there is a cop ahead.” Or do you see someone cut in line and hope that someone notices and that they get kicked out of the line? Why do we do this? Why do we wish ill on other people? Maybe you are thinking that you are justified in thinking that you want the driver to get pulled over because you want them to learn their lesson and drive better. But, what if they did get pulled over and they just got a warning, would you be ok with that?Sometimes we can do this with our kids as well. Jonah felt that these people needed to be punished, and he knew that God would have mercy on them. Sometimes we can default to the thinking that when our children do something wrong, they need to be punished, and maybe that is true sometimes. But do we take the time to think about the situation first? Do we even consider giving them mercy? Sometimes our children need our mercy. Sometimes they messed up, did something they weren’t supposed to do, and they know it was wrong. They are truly sorry, and they learned a lesson from it. Times like these are times when we should consider mercy. Sometimes we think our kids will only learn if we punish them; however, I think they can learn a lot from mercy as well.As I said earlier, we tend to focus on the first part of this verse, Repent and be baptized. However, I wonder how many of you also think of the ending of the verse? How many of you truly know what it means? The verse ends with “and you will receive the Holy Spirit.” I am not sure that everyone, or even most people, knows how powerful a statement that is. Did you know that the power of the Holy Spirit is what raised Jesus from the dead? Did you know that the same power resides in you? Romans 8:11 "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”When you are baptized, you are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This means that when you are baptized, you receive the Holy Spirit. If you are Catholic, then you receive the Holy Spirit again when you are confirmed. This is all amazing to me. The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me. I just can’t get over that. I think if we all knew the power that we had through the Holy Spirit, and then used that power for good, the world wouldn’t know what was going on. Jesus said in John 14:12-14, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”Did you catch that? Jesus said we will do greater works than He if we believe. This is only possible because of the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us; we just need to call on Him. We need to believe in Jesus and believe when He tells us that He sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. That same spirit lives in you. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to just sit around and let all that power pass you by, or are you going to use your newfound power for good? Who do you know that could use some extra blessings? I am su

You Are Loved By JesusJohn 13:23 “One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,* was reclining at Jesus’ side.”This scripture verse was given at my prayer group, and the following words of prophecy were given: “You are also the one whom Jesus loves. So, your place is to be listening to his heartbeat when you pray. So, put your head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. Say I love you and be at peace.” Is there anything more calming than putting your head on someone’s chest and listening to their heartbeat? I pictured when I was little and if I was scared and I went to lie with my parents. Just putting my head on their chest and listening to their heartbeat would make me feel better. It seemed so rhythmic and soothing.“You are also the one whom Jesus loves.” How many of you believe this? Like truly in the depths of your heart believe this? You are also the one whom Jesus loves. Sometimes, it is easy to say that Jesus is love. It is easy to say that Jesus loves everyone. And yet, even as we are saying it, we are discounting ourselves from that love. We know He loves everyone and yet we don’t believe that he loves us? We don’t feel that love or even understand why He would love us. Who are we to be loved by Jesus?You are the son or daughter of the one true king. That is who you are. You were made in the likeness and image of God. You are deeply loved by Him. Why do you discount yourself from that love? Or maybe you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be worthy enough of God’s love. Maybe you think if you just do things perfectly, then God will love you. If you attend weekly mass and volunteer for every fundraiser, you will be worthy of God’s love. Are you constantly feeling like you are not good enough for God’s love?Guess what? None of us are. None of us are worthy of God’s love, yet he lavishes it freely anyway. You do not have to do anything to earn God’s love. Well, as I wrote that, what came to mind was we do have to accept it. God can tell us all day long that he loves us, but if we don’t accept it, then it doesn’t matter. Yesterday, I talked about abiding in God’s love and how abiding means acceptance. Can you accept God’s love? Can you accept that he loves you just as you are, with no strings attached?This is a new kind of love for so many. Some people have never had someone in their lives who loved them completely, with no strings attached. Unconditional love is not a thing they even new. If you are struggling to believe that Jesus loves you, just as you are, think about your childhood and your past relationships. What do you think of when you think about love? Did you have to earn love growing up? What did you feel you had to do to be loved? For instance, did you have to get good grades, be a certain weight, be quieter, etc? Did you feel like your parents' love was conditional on your behavior? If so, don’t worry. You are not alone. We live in a broken world and don’t know how to love each other unconditionally like our heavenly father does. I think everyone is doing the best they can. We can only love others to the extent that we are loved. If your parents do not know unconditional love, they can’t pass it on to you. The good news is, that you can learn to let Jesus’s love in. The good news is that Jesus does love us unconditionally. If we can learn to accept Jesus’s love, then we can learn to pass this love on to others, even if that is not the love we were raised with.If you struggle with accepting God’s love, I would love to give you some practical tips for how to begin to accept God’s love. I went online to see if others had already written about his subject. I found an article written by Kara J. Lovett called “5 Keys to Accepting God’s Love.” I would highly suggest you read this article. I will put a link for it in the description of this episode, but you can easily find it by googling 5 Keys to Accepting God’s Love. https://karajlovett.com/5-keys-to-accepting-gods-love/ In the article she goes into what God says about love and then a section on understanding God’s love. Her article mentions five was you can accept God’s love. They are as follows: Accepting God’s love with scripture, prayer, grace, and quietness & in unexpected places. Kara says in her article that “by digging deep into Scripture and spending time with God in prayer, I realized that I need to stop striving for love and instead strive to accept God’s love, which He has already graciously bestowed on me.” As I mentioned yesterday, reading the bible is a great way to get to know God’s love. You can see all sorts of examples of God’s love in the bible. 1 John 4:7-10 is a great example of love. It says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not th

Today’s witness is from my friend Bruce. Bruce reached out to me randomly back in November. He found my podcast and wanted to send in his testimony for witness wednesday. His testimony was about how he went to a healing service and regained his sight and then lost it again when he woke up. I offered to pray with Him, and he agreed. We have prayed together three times now. Bruce has not regained his sight, but something amazing happened each time we prayed together. You can find the testimony from the last two times we prayed together on the Witness Wednesday playlist on YouTube. You can also find them on whatever podcast app you are listening to right now. Today’s witness is about when Bruce and his lovely wife Alice came from Canada to visit Gloucester, MA, and my friend and I got to pray with them in person instead of over the phone. It was a great time, and I am so grateful the Lord brought Bruce, Alice, and me together. I know you will enjoy this witness as much as I enjoyed it. God is working in such miraculous ways!Dear Catherine,It is two months from today that we met with you and Nancy in Rockport. In the meantime, you have been to Scotland and back and I have had a new experience which I will tell you about. You may use it in your Witness Wednesday if you would like to. On July 23rd, my wife Alice and I had the pleasure of meeting with Catherine and her friend Nancy for lunch. This vacation had been planned well in advance before we met Catherine. It turned out that Nancy's home was just down the road from where we were staying. Sitting outside by the ocean, the four of us chatted and also prayed together for healing. There was no major change in my eyesight at that time, but I realized that the floaters and shifting debris that I normally saw, were gone. It felt like I had more life in my eyes - just a feeling. This visit was a real blessing and encouragement for us before heading for home a couple of days later.For some time I had been without any sight in my left eye and was able to see light and shadows in my right eye. After this recent change my right eye went completely dark but the movement of floaters was gone. I couldn't tell the difference between day or night. I couldn't see if there were any lights on in the house. Things were the same whether my eyes were open or shut. I had to make an adjustment to this. I found the darkness heavy and depressing. I also felt spiritually let down and more isolated. I heard someone talking about God's light of the world and I thought, we often ask the Lord to shine His face upon us in the Benediction. It was a Monday in August and I told the Lord how I felt. I wanted to somehow have more communication with Him. I didn't want to be in the dark anymore, and would He please shine His light upon me. The next day, Tuesday, I listened to Catherine's podcast which was about Jesus the Light of the world. This felt like my prayer was going somewhere and I became vigilant. That night I went to bed about 1:00 a.m. I was laying on my back in the dark. A small white light appeared in my head space. It seemed to sparkle and it began moving. It became brighter and larger and closer, shining with the brightness of lightning. I felt the light overtake me and I put my face in the pillow. The light was still there and I realized it was within me. It was beautiful and exciting. I began thanking and praising the Lord for this joyful experience. This light would move and pulse brighter then lower going on for an hour and a half until I fell asleep. I wanted to wake Alice but I didn't want to interrupt her sleep or the light. When I awoke in the morning, the light was gone. I figured this was a one time experience. Later that morning, I began telling Alice about it. I stopped and said, It's happening again right now. There was an arch of brilliant white light before me. Beautiful as ever. It stayed with me for a couple of hours, coming and going into the night. This continued daily much to my joy. I noticed whenever I sat at the table it would appear. Whenever I listen to my audio Bible or even thought about the Lord or spiritual matters, it would appear. I found myself talking with the Lord in this light. If I was praying it would appear. It was always with me when I went to sleep. I soon realized I could call on it by asking it to appear. I was quite amazed by the way this all happened, by the communication which took place , and the overwhelming feeling of God's love. There was nothing to do but simply enjoy the moment with the Lord and His light. As I write this, the Lord still shines his light upon me, every day and every night. This has been an unexpected and thrilling blessing for me, far better than I hoped for. I can't help but feel this is leading me somewhere good. My hope and faith has never been more confident than it is now. It is so easy for me to trust the Lord to love me and walk me where He wants to take me. He really is my guiding light. I have in the past

God Provides In Mysterious WaysPsalm 145:14-18 “The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”There are so many good things in this passage. “The Lord lifts up all who are bowed down.” How often is it that we need the Lord to lift us up, especially over this last year? It is so great to know that the Lord lifts us up when we pray to Him and ask Him too. When we are bowed down to the Lord is when we are praying and worshipping Him. When we spend this time with Him He is able to lift us up.“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.” This one is hard one for many of us. We do not want to wait for the proper time. We want things to happen on our time line, or maybe we think our time line is the proper time. Then we struggle when God does not agree. My dad told me a story one time that demonstrates how God will give those that look to him food at the proper time. My mom & dad have 11 children. They also had a friend that had several children, I think at least 7. This friend called up and asked my parents if they could watch their kids as something important had come up. My parents said yes because they were always there for those in need. However, my parents had just been talking about how they had no idea how they were even going to feed their own children dinner that night, and now they had 7 more mouths to feed. So, they did what they always did in these situations, they turned their eyes to God and asked for Him to provide.Shortly after their prayer, they received a knock at the door. It was a neighbor holding bags of groceries. It turns out that the neighbors father had to move in with him unexpectedly and they needed to combine his father’s household with his. They had just gone grocery shopping and so they did not have room in their cabinets for all the food from his Dad’s place. So, they asked my folks if they could use any of the food. My parents graciously accepted. When looking through the bags they notice that there was plenty of pasta. My parents prayed, “Lord, if we only had some meat, then we could serve spaghetti to all these kids.”Guess what? There was another knock at the door. It was a different neighbor. He had a cooler full of meat. He said that him and his friend had been hunting and they had too much meat. He explained that he and his friend had already stuffed their fridge and freeze and still they had no room for this left over meet. Again my parents graciously accepted. Then when they looked in the cooler, there was ground meat for spaghetti. They were so thankful. This was not a one time thing for my parents. My parents were faithful in their prayers, not just when they were in need, but even when things were going well. God was faithful in answering them.“You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” This is another great verse. I believe that God puts our desires in our heart. I am talking about our deep desires, not the desire to eat ice cream at midnight. The desires I am talking about are the desires to have a certain job, the desire to be married and have children, the desire to sing, or act, or whatever it is you feel you are called to do. As stated in this verse, God wants to satisfy the desire of every living thing. I know this can be hard to believe if you have a desire that you have been waiting for God to satisfy. Maybe you have been waiting for the right man/woman to come along so that you can be married and have children. I know it is hard when we want something and we have to wait a very long time. Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God has a plan for our lives and His plan is better than our plan. I know this can be frustrating because God does not always let us in on His plan for our lives. Sometimes we can be left wondering what is His plan and when am I going to understand it? If you have been thinking these things I want you to know that you are not alone. Many of us do not understand God’s plan, and do not understand why the things we have been praying for have not happened yet.It can be easy to lose hope when are prayers aren’t answered immediately. It can be frustrating when we are praying for something, and we don’t seem to get any answers. I found this definition of hope online and I really like it. In the Bible hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness. We know God is faithful to His children. We know He keeps His promises. Therefore we can confidently expect that He will answer our prayers. It says in Hebrews 13:8 it says, ”Jesus Christ is the same y

God’s Mercy & ForgivenessPsalm 51:10-12 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”These verses come within a series of verses addressing God. The person talking to God in this psalm is David. This psalm takes place after David had been visited by the prophet Nathan. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. This psalm includes a lot of David asking God to forgive him for his sins. One thing I love about David is that he is so good at realizing he did something wrong and then turning back to the Lord. He messed up pretty badly sometimes. It was not as if he was anointed, and so he always followed the Lord and never strayed. He broke some pretty big commandments. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thou shalt not commit adultery, and thou shalt not kill, being a few of them.No matter how big the sin was, David never seemed to feel too ashamed to turn back to the Lord. This is so great. This shows such a deep level of understanding or trust, or both. I think he was never afraid to turn back because he knew how much he was loved by God. I wish we all knew and could trust God’s love like David did. How great would it be to know with every fiber of our body that no matter what we did, God would still love us and welcome us back?Have you ever done something and then not turned back to the Lord because you didn’t think you deserved forgiveness? Have you ever thought that you did something so bad that there was no way that God would forgive you? I think that most people have probably thought this at one time or another. I wonder if we would still think it if we remembered in that moment all the things that God has forgiven over the years? David saw a woman bathing on the roof of another house in his town and called for her to be brought to him. Then he had relations with her. I doubt she had much to say about it, as that was not really the culture back then. After he did this, she was pregnant, and he was worried her husband would find out what he had done. He tried to trick her husband, and when that didn’t work, he sent him to the front lines to be killed in the war. Then he took Bathsheba for his wife.Take a moment and think of the thing that you have been trying to hide from God because you think there is no way he will forgive it. Is it worse than what David did? If God could forgive David, He will forgive you. What if it is worse than what David did? What do you do then? Is it worse than what Saul did when he was going around stoning to death those who believed in Jesus? Was it worse than what the soldiers did when they whipped Jesus and hung Him on a cross? Because if Jesus can forgive them, He will forgive you.Why is it that we worry so much about God forgiving us? We know He loves us, and yet we don’t want to turn to Him when we mess up because… why? Maybe we are ashamed and we don’t want Him to see that we messed up? Guess what, he has already seen your mess-ups and already loved you through them. Maybe we don’t want to bother Him with our mess-ups because we feel we should have known better in the first place. Guess what? He loves it when we turn to Him and ask Him for help to clean up our messes. Maybe we don’t feel like we are good enough to turn back to the Lord. Guess what? He is your Heavenly Father, and He made you in His likeness and image. You are better than good enough; you are perfect just as you are.In the verse, David asks the Lord to create a pure heart in him. He knows what he did was wrong, and he wants to do what is right. I think we all want to do what is right. I don’t think that any of us walk around all day wondering how we can sin against God. I don’t believe it is our intent to damage our relationship with God in any way. If we want to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, we can all pray for the Lord to create a pure heart in us. God knows what is in our hearts. As much as we may try to purify our own hearts, God is the one who can help us with this.It goes on to say, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” I think this statement can be an example of David’s humility. It shows us that even though David was brave enough and trusted God enough to turn back to the Lord, even after David did some pretty awful things, David was humble enough not to assume God would forgive him. In this verse, David is asking the Lord to please not cast him away or take the Holy Spirit from him. God loves humility. It says in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” This is what David was doing. He was humbling himself and asking the Lord not to depart from him.After David asks the Lord not to abandon him, he goes on to say, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” David know

A Conversation With The Lord About Mercy (replay)Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”Today I have something a little different for you. Yesterday at prayer group, my good friend Louise did a teaching on God’s mercy and Justice. She talked about something she had heard in a sermon years ago. The priest said something his spiritual director told him, “God’s Justice is God’s mercy.” After the Lord brought the sermon back to her mind, they had a little back-and-forth conversation, and I am going to share that conversation with you as I feel God was giving us a glimpse into how He thinks and who He is. God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. So, when He gives us a glimpse into his ways, I feel we should all pay attention. Here is what she shared with us.“I am merciful. I pour out mercy and forgiveness in torrents upon all of you, my children. I rain down mercy on every one of my children with no exceptions.” At that point, I found myself getting an image and looking at torrential rain. We've all seen torrential rain, and when it comes down, it comes down in buckets. It is heavy, and the Earth doesn't really have time to soak it all in. What can happen if it's a lasting rain is that things will accumulate, and it can create a little river and start really moving with a swift current. That is what I was picturing when the Lord said to me, “My children who love and praise me, honor me by their lives of holiness, know how to flow with the swift current. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they abandon their attempts to fight this current. And flow freely with it. Its power and speed may seem frightening, but they remain afloat by practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Isaiah gifts can be found in Isaiah 11:2-4a. “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” and the charismatic gifts can be found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”Those who don't know me or refuse to accept my existence. Those who no longer have faith in me, those who believe worldly philosophies are the way to live, and those deeply embedded in sinfulness struggle in this river. They fear they will drown. They fight the current of mercy and forgiveness, trying by their own strength and power to stay afloat. I need you to help them, my children. So I asked the Lord how do we do this? What are you asking of us? And he gave me two things. First, he said, "be an example of them of how to float in this current. Show them lives abandoned to God and his love and power, especially in your interactions with them." Then second thing he said to me was, and this I found way more challenging was, "Reach out your hand to them as they pass by you in this current. Help them to stop struggling in this current of mercy and forgiveness. Help to steady them by companioning to them as you float together to the large lake of my calming love that is the river's end.Wasn't that powerful? There is more I want to say about listening to the Lord’s voice, but I don’t want to detract from His message on Mercy, so I will talk about hearing the Lord’s voice on Monday. Today and this weekend, I hope you re-listen or re-read the Lord’s word and really let it sink in. There is a transcript of the message in the show notes, so you can read through it slowly and really absorb what God is telling us about His mercy.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, I thank you so much for the blessing Louise is to me personally, to our prayer community, and to all who know her. I thank you for her faithfulness, not only in listening to your word and writing it down but also in sharin

Confess & Be Forgiven (Yes, it is that simple!)1 John 1:9 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”This week, we have been talking about repentance. On Monday, we talked about how God is calling us to repent and turn back to him. The verse said, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.” The verse tells us that if we repent and turn back to the Lord, our sins will be wiped out. God literally forgets about your sins when you repent of them. I feel as though if everyone knew this, we would be more likely to repent of our sins.Today’s verse tells us that God will forgive and purify us if we confess our sins. I think these are two very important things, so I will address them individually. First, the verse says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. That is something to pause and really take in. If you confess, you will be forgiven. Can you hear that? Can you believe that? I mean, really believe that? If you confess, you will be forgiven.This goes against what we tend to believe. This definitely goes against what the enemy tells us. We are accustomed to thinking that our sins are too bad to be forgiven. The enemy tells us that although it is true that God does forgive sins, He won’t forgive our sins because they are too bad, or they are too many in number. This we can believe. The world is always telling us how bad we are and how perfect God wants us to be. There are impossible standards set, and so we fail them time and time again. All this so-called failure makes us give up on trying to be good. We figure we will never make it, so what is the point?We know we have messed up. We know that even if we confess our sins, we will just mess up again, so why bother even trying? This is all the enemy talking. He is trying to convince us that God wants us to be perfect, and if we stray from that, then we might as well give up because God won’t forgive us. We are not worthy of forgiveness. We keep messing up, and we aren’t changing. We will always be the same person who did that bad thing. We will keep doing the same things forever. Does any of this sound familiar? Do you find these thoughts going through your head? Yeah, me too.The good news is that we don’t have to listen to them. We know that God does forgive us because it says it right here in this verse, and we can believe all we read in the Bible because it is the Truth. It is not even complicated. It doesn’t say that if we jump through three hoops, stand on one foot, hop up and down, and then run around the building twice, we will be forgiven. It doesn’t say if we promise God we will never do it again, and then we are perfect from now on, we will be forgiven. It doesn’t say that you will be forgiven as long as you are a first-time offender. The only condition put on our forgiveness is that we confess our sins.I know it can be hard to confess our sins. The enemy makes us feel so much shame about things we have done. Then there is also our pride, which tries to convince us that we don’t have to admit what we have done, God saw it, He already knows, and if He wants to forgive us, He doesn’t need us to do anything. The enemy is good at using half-truths to confuse us and to take our focus off God. Yes, it is true that God already knows what we have done. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have to ask for forgiveness. If we ask, God forgives us. It is that simple. However, we do need to ask. We do need to be sorry for what we have done. But that is it. That is the extent of the conditions put on our forgiveness. If you ask me, that is a small price to pay for my sins to be forgiven. I just have to tell God, that’s it? That seems pretty simple.However, depending on what we did, it could be hard for us to confess. God is patient with us, and He will wait until we are ready. If we need His help, He will help us. We can ask the Lord to come in and help us confess our sins. We can ask Him to help us know and see our sins, as we might not even know all the ways we have offended Him or others. This is a big one. Sometimes we might do or say something to someone, and we have no idea the effect it has on them. We have no idea what is going on in their own life that may cause them to take offense at something you did, even though you didn’t mean it. It is good to check in with the Lord sometimes and ask Him if there is anything you need to confess.The verse next says that God will purify us from all unrighteousness. How great would it be to be purified? Imagine if all your sinful or wicked ways were purified. I would love to be free of my wicked and sinful ways. Those ways that get me stuck in sin. Those ways that get me stuck in choosing the wrong thing. Being purified sounds pretty nice to me. Again, this verse says God will do this if we confess our sins. Even though it may be hard, it seems like the good far outweighs the bad. So,

Today’s witnesses are from the Encounter Ministries Healing page on their website. Encounter Ministries has healing services that are different than all the other healing services that I have been to. I love them, and I am so honored that I was able to attend the Boston Campus for two years to become equipped and activated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I invite you to go to the Encounter Ministries website and check out some of the testimonies. They will often have people try to do something they couldn’t do before. It is incredible. Today, I have several of their healing testimonies for you. However, they have so many more! The testimonies below are from several different videos they have on their site.There was a man who went to the Encounter Conference in a wheelchair and then, after being prayed over, could walk out of the conference without his wheelchair. They asked him who Jesus was, and he said, “Jesus is the Saviour!”Next are testimonies from a healing service in Akron City. There was a woman who was in an accident 25 years ago. She had her back that had been hurting this whole time and was progressively getting worse. She had been going to the chiropractor but did not get relief. She went to the healing service with a knot in her neck. She said the condition is 80% healed after prayer, and the knot is gone! The next woman, Rose, fractured her humerus and cracked the ball of her shoulder. It didn’t ever heal right, and she couldn’t raise her arm high, and she couldn’t put it behind her back. But after prayer, she could do both. Also, the tendons and ligaments were always sore, but after prayer, she couldn’t feel them at all. Next is Matt, and he had a pinched nerve in his hand a few months ago. The doctor said it would get better, but it hasn’t. The team prayed over him several times, and it improved. Then Father Mathias came over and asked what was wrong, and prayed over him again, and it was completely healed. Next is a woman named Janice who walked up to the microphone holding her right hearing aid. She said she could hear without it, and she couldn’t believe it because she had been wearing it for a long time. Then Patrick prayed over her left ear and asked her to take her left hearing aide out and he whispered into her ear and she could hear him and she could hear the crowd cheering for her.Victoria was in a car that spun for half a mile going 80 miles per hour. She was then flying through the air. She prayed to God, and he appeared in her car next to her. She landed and hit a pine tree. Her body aches with pain, but I don’t want to take medicine all the time. My pain level is always about an eight, and I am pain-free after the prayer. Ellen has had a stiff neck for 4 years. Sometimes it is really bad, and sometimes it is better. I have right hip and back pain. I have been praying that she could see him work and heal. She has relief from all the aches, and the pain is almost all gone. Michael has been having pain in his heel for weeks. Right now, the pain is gone, and he can not make it work. Victoria, Ellen & Michael were all healed before they even did individual prayer. They hadn’t even touched anyone yet, they were healed just through worship & the Gospel teaching.Lyme disease causes constant pain from head to toe. It comes and it goes. I was sitting here thinking I wouldn’t make it through the rest of the healing service because I had so much joint pain. While I was sitting there, it felt like every joint was filled with the Lord. He filled me from head to toe. Then all the joint pain was gone. Another woman had something wrong with her shoulder. When she would move her arm, she would hear a bunch of cracks and noises. However, now she only has one little tiny click. She also has had a headache for as long as she can remember, and now she no longer has a headache. She couldn’t bend down and touch her toes before without doing it really slowly and being in pain. However, she demonstrated reaching down and touching her toes without any issue. She was in zero pain. Another woman lost my sense of smell 6 months ago. One time, the gas on the stove was on, and she didn’t know it because she couldn’t smell it. Luckily, her son came in and let her know. After prayer, now she can smell!Next was a man who had a problem with his lungs; every time he breathed, it hurt. He also had trouble with his knees. He had bad pains, and when he sat down, they were stiff. The pain is all gone. There is no pain in my knees. I can walk straight with no pain and no issue. I can breathe again with no pain. Then a woman talked about how her arm was so painful she couldn’t even move it, and then she raised her hand above her head with no pain!Thank you so much for sharing your testimonies. Your stories will help build the faith of others. Thank you to Encounter Ministries for continuing to hold these healing services and for helping people discover the love of Jesus! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DON

How Do I Repent?Ezekiel 18:30 " Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise, iniquity will be your ruin.”This first sentence is letting us know that we will be judged based on our own actions. At one time, it was believed that we would be judged based on the actions of our ancestors. This verse corrects this thought. When I looked up this verse on the Enduring Word Commentary, it said, “The error in believing in communal or family salvation or damnation is so serious and dangerous that God unmistakably emphasized the individual’s responsibility before God.“It may be true that in my physical being I have inherited tendencies to some forms of evil from my father, but in the fact of my essential relation to God, there are forces available to me more and mightier than all these tendencies. Neither righteousness nor evil is hereditary.” (Morgan)This is important for each of us to understand. We are not bad because our parents were bad. We are not good because our parents are good. We are responsible for our own actions. This is good news. This means we don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves. This also means all the responsibility falls on our own shoulders. I want to take a minute to look at one line in particular in the Enduring Word Commentary. It said, “In the fact of my essential relation to God, there are forces available to me more and mightier than all those tendencies we might have inherited.” In other words, we don’t have to do this on our own. Even though we will be judged on our actions, we don’t have to have the strength to make the right choices all on our own.Because we are children of God, we can call on Him to give us strength and to help us make the right choices. The second part of the verse above says to repent and turn from all your transgressions. The verse I discussed in yesterday’s episode told us to repent and return to the Lord. Today’s verse is telling us to repent and turn away from our transgressions. When I was trying to think about what to talk about in this episode it dawned on me that we might not all know how to repent. Repent is one of those words that we all kinda know what it means but we don’t necessarily know how to define it or how to do it. Repentance is more than just saying “I’m sorry.” It’s a heartfelt turning away from sin and turning toward God. Here’s a biblical and practical step-by-step understanding of how one repents:1. Recognize the SinRepentance begins with awareness. We often live unaware of how our choices, attitudes, or habits go against God’s will.Ask God for clarity. Sin can be obvious (like lying or cheating) or subtle (like pride, bitterness, or fear that blocks faith). Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart.Listen with humility. Sometimes God uses other people, Scripture, or conviction during prayer to expose what needs to change.Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”Reflection prompt: Where in my life am I resisting God’s way? What attitudes, habits, or relationships might be leading me away from Him?2. Feel Godly Sorrow (Not Just Guilt)This isn’t about shame. It’s about recognizing how our sin hurts our relationship with God and others, and it grieves us deeply—not just because of consequences, but because of love.Worldly sorrow says, “I’m sorry I got caught or hurt someone.”Godly sorrow says, “I’ve grieved the heart of the One who loves me most. I want to be changed.”2 Corinthians 7:10 “ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.”Reflection prompt: Do I feel sorrow because of what my sin cost, or just because it was exposed?3. Confess the Sin to GodConfession is honest communication with God. It’s naming the sin and agreeing with Him about its seriousness, without hiding or blaming.Openly admit your sin to God in prayer. Be specific and honest. No excuses or blaming.“God, I’ve been dishonest in my work,” or “I’ve held unforgiveness toward ___."Confession is not groveling—it's returning to a loving Father who already knows and still welcomes you.1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”Reflection prompt: What do I need to confess out loud to God today, trusting in His mercy?4. Turn Away from the Sin (Change Direction)This is the literal meaning of repentance: to turn. It means letting go of the old and moving toward a new way of living.Make a conscious decision to change direction.You may need to delete contacts, change your routine, stop certain conversations, or set up boundaries. This part is hard—but repentance without change is just regret.Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,”Reflection prompt: What do I need t

Repent & Have Your Sins Wiped AwayActs 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out”Peter is preaching repentance in this verse. He is not the first to preach about repenting and turning back to the Lord. There were many prophets in the Old Testament who preached about repentance. The one that comes to my mind first is Jonah. He knew the power of repentance, and he was asked to go and preach this message to Ninevah. However, Jonah didn’t want to preach this message to Ninevah because he didn’t think they were worthy of God’s mercy. He didn’t want God to save them. He thought they were too far gone for God to save.Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like you were too far gone for God to save? Maybe you have felt like someone else was too far gone for God to save. Jonah knew how great God was. He knew if they repented and turned back to the Lord that He would save them. Yet, he decided that they didn’t deserve this. He decided they were terrible people and they deserved what they had coming to them, so he fled this calling. He tried to run from the Lord. As much as I would love to judge Jonah and say how wrong he is, I think we can all relate to him.I think we have all had times when someone has done something and we don’t think they deserve forgiveness or mercy. We almost don’t want them to say sorry because we don’t want to have to forgive them. I think we have all also been in a place where we feel God is calling us to do something, and we don’t want to do it, so we try to run from that calling. We might try to hide from that calling. We know on some level that we can’t really hide from God, but on another level, we really don’t want to do what we are feeling called to do, so we try to hide anyway.Hiding from God won’t get us anywhere we want to be. When Jonah tried to run away from his calling and hide from the Lord, he was thrown overboard from the ship he was on, swallowed up by a huge fish, and stayed in the belly of that fish for three days before he was spit out onto shore. I don’t think the same would happen to us, but as you can see, nothing good will happen, that is for sure. A better idea is to talk with the Lord. Explain to Him why you don’t feel you can do what He is calling you to do, and then listen to what He tells you. God is smarter than we are. He sees everything, and we only see a small fraction of things. If he is calling us to do something, there is a very good reason, and who are we to judge it? Who are we to question it?Let me get back to the verse, “"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” There are three things this verse is pointing out to us. The first is to repent. What does this even mean? According to the Oxford language, Repent means to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin. The word repentance in the Bible literally means “the act of changing one’s mind.” True biblical repentance goes beyond remorse, regret, or feeling bad about one’s sin. It involves more than merely turning away from sin. Eerdmans Bible Dictionary includes this definition of repentance: “In its fullest sense it is a term for a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future.”As you can see, when Peter is talking about Repentance, he is not just talking about saying I’m sorry for my sin. He is talking about changing our minds. He is talking about realizing that what we did was wrong and then changing our behavior so we don’t do it again. It doesn’t do us any good if we apologize to God for our sin and then go back to doing the same thing. It also doesn’t do any good if we say sorry, but we don’t actually think we have done anything wrong.I feel a prompting from the Holy Spirit to take a quick moment to talk about what happens when we feel the Church has rules that we don’t believe in. Maybe you don’t agree with all of the Church’s teachings. You do your best to follow most of their rules, but some you don’t understand or don’t agree with, so you ignore those. You don’t bring them up in confession because you don’t feel you are sinning, because you don’t agree with that rule or that teaching. At my retreat in April, we had a speaker who was in this boat. She was a devout Catholic and followed all the rules and teachings. However, she did not agree with the teaching on contraceptives. She felt that the church had no right to tell her what she could do with her body.If you want to hear her talk, you can find it on her website, pattyschneier. It is called Prove it God… and He did. I put a link to it in the show notes. Click Here. I don’t have time to recount her whole talk to you, although I really encourage you to listen because it was so good! Even if that is not the thing you don’t agree with, her talk gives you a way to talk to God about the things you don’t agree with and let him teach you. Patty was set in her ways and was convinced of her stanc

A Place Of AbundancePsalm 66:10-12 “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.”This month in mentoring, we have been talking about what to do when we have to wait a long time for the answers to our prayers. I know a lot of people who have been sick for a long time, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. I know others who have been struggling for a long time, and there is no deliverance from that suffering in sight. Yesterday’s podcast addressed this, and I feel as though the Lord gave me a deeper understanding as to why sometimes our prayers aren’t answered immediately.Then I saw this verse this morning, and I thought it was a good one because of the imagery and because of the message. It begins with, “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.” The first thing that comes to mind is that not everything is a test from God. You are not sick because God is testing you. You did not get divorced because God is testing you. God does not create bad things in our lives so that He can test us. This is important to remember. Just like if you have children and they are going through hard times, you may let them struggle a bit so they can learn from the situation, but you did not cause the situation.God is for you; He is not against you. This is an important fact that can be easy to forget when all seems to be going wrong in our lives. If you are struggling to believe this, I urge you to write it down on a piece of paper or a sticky note and place it somewhere where you will see it multiple times a day. It is the truth. God is FOR you, He is NOT against you. He does not create illness, He is not the author of bad things happening in your life.All of that being said, God does allow us to go through illness; he allows us to go through hard times because He knows we will be stronger on the other side. He knows we will become different people in that struggle. Who we become in the struggle is up to us. We have to make a choice, or many choices, throughout our struggle to become who we want to be. Going through a really difficult season can help us rely on the Lord more. It can help us become more compassionate to others who are struggling. It can teach us patience and resilience. It can teach us to slow down and to pray more. A lot of good can come out of having to struggle. We have to choose that, though.Going through a really difficult season can also have the opposite effect. Some people turn away from the Lord when they are struggling. They are angry, they don’t understand why it is happening, and instead of leaning in, they turn away. It can also harden people’s hearts and make them angry and bitter. It can make them resentful because they are suffering and others aren’t. They might be frustrated that they can’t do all the things they want to do and they take it out on others.As I said, if you want to come out better on the other side, you have to make a choice. Actually, you will need to make a lot of choices throughout the difficult season. All day, every day, you will be faced with choices to lean into God or to turn away. You will be faced with choices of developing more compassion towards others or hardening your heart towards others. You can search for things to be grateful for, or you can find reasons to be jealous of those more fortunate. You can be bitter or you can be joyful.I want you to know that I am not saying any of this will be easy. It is not easy to choose to believe in God when you feel like He is taking everything away from you, or you feel as though He made you sick. It is not easy to be joyful when you are stuck in bed and are in so much pain, and you have been this way for months with no end in sight. It is not easy to find joy in the pain. It is not easy to be grateful when you feel like your whole life is falling apart. I know this, I have been in really difficult seasons when I had to make these choices too.Do you know what, though, it is also not easy to be miserable. It is not easy to be bitter and resentful. It is not easy to have everyone avoid you because you can’t seem to be kind to anyone. It’s not easy to have everyone avoiding you because you are so negative, and all you do is complain. It is not easy to turn away from the Lord and block all the healing, strength, and love He has for you. Life is not easy. No matter what choices you are making, life is not easy. You just have to decide if you are going to make the hard choices that will benefit you or the hard choices that will hurt you. What will you choose?The ending of the verse today is the part that I wanted you to hear the most. It says, “You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through wat

What Is Expectant Faith?Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”I heard this verse on the Elevation Podcast this morning. It was not this week’s sermon; it was from May 4, 2025. The episode was titled, “All You’ve Got To Do Is Don’t.” It was a really great sermon, and I invite you to check it out. There were a lot of things that he covered today, but one of them, especially this verse, spoke to my heart and answered a question that I had just been talking to God about while I was at Eucharistic Adoration. I was sitting there talking to the Lord about my disappointment when prayers aren’t answered when I think they should be. This is something I think we all deal with. Yet, I am not sure we all know it is ok to be disappointed.I am going to share my struggle with you this morning in case anyone else has been struggling with a similar issue. I have spent a long time getting to know God and learning about all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have spent a long time trying to understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit living inside of me. Trying to understand how to use the power that God sent to us with the Holy Spirit. I have been learning about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how to use them for at least 7 years now in the Charismatic Renewal. I have just spent 2 years becoming equipped and activated to use those gifts through the Encounter School of Ministry, Boston Campus.I tell you all of this to say that I have come to know God well over the last 8 years. I have come to know how much He loves us and how he wants us all whole and healed. He doesn’t want any of His children to suffer. He doesn’t want a single one of us to be lost or separated from Him. I know all of this, and so when I pray with someone for healing or for something else, and I don’t see results, I get confused. This may seem prideful, and this may seem like I am trying to take credit for the healing. I am not sure what this says about me. I am just being honest with you and letting you know how I feel.Here is what I wrote in my journal this morning when I was coming to the Lord for answers. “Lord, why do I get so upset waiting for your timing? Why do some people have to wait so long for relief? Why does my friend still need to have nightmares, and why is my other friend still blind? Why lord? What am I missing? I feel we do believe. I feel we are coming to you in expectant faith. We are asking in Jesus' name. So why the delayed answers? Why isn't everyone healed? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not doing something I should be? Is something else getting in the way? Please help me to understand.”Here is what I felt like the Lord said back to me. "My dearest daughter, it is not you. You are not the one healing. I am. I can heal through imperfect people. I can heal even if you don't say or do the right thing. I can use you even though you weren't perfect.”I replied in my journal, “What about when Jesus ' apostles couldn't get the demon out of that man's son, and Jesus said Oh, faithless generation, how long will I be with you? This is confusing to me because it does seem like it was the disciples' fault, almost. It seems like Jesus was saying that they didn't have enough faith or they didn't pray enough. What am I missing, Lord? Please help me to understand this better.” I also wrote down two verses from this section. Mark 9:23 “Jesus said to him, ‘If I can! Everything is possible to one who has faith.’” and Mark 9:24 “The boy's father said, ‘I do believe, help my unbelief.”This is when my hour of adoration ended, and I needed to get home to wake Ryan up for school. I figured I would talk to the Lord about this later, as I was still not sure what I was missing. Then I heard this verse on my way home; I felt like the Lord was speaking it directly to me. Here is the verse again, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” The words that the Lord highlighted for me were IN DUE SEASON. I felt like the Lord was telling me that only He knows when it is the right time for something to happen. I know his timing is best. I know He knows all, and that He can do all. I know all of this, and yet when I am praying for someone, I am expecting immediate results because I know God wants everyone healed. I know He doesn’t want to see His children suffer.I know all of this, and that is why I get so confused. I don’t understand why He won’t just take this from them. I know He can use it for good, and yet I also know He can do anything, so He could teach them what He wants to teach them in a different way. I just don't want to see people suffering. I want God to take this from them. I feel the Holy Spirit putting on my heart that this is the same in my own life. I want to take the suffering away from my kids or my loved ones, and yet sometimes that is not what they need. Sometimes they need to go through it to get to the other side.

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Salvation Category. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, also. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your situation, He can help. I hope you enjoy these testimonies.Denice: My grandson, Elijah (age 19), was an unbeliever his entire life. I’ve been praying that he would find God. He was invited to a Bible study that 2 of his good friends started. He was resistant at first, but his friends never stopped inviting him. And finally, he gave in and went. I wept with joy.A few months into this study, Elijah asked me if he could host the study at my house. I couldn’t say “Yes!!” fast enough! 25 kids, aged 15 to 29, showed up that Wednesday night and filled my entire living room. I was so proud of this group telling them they are disciples on the ground – that we are living the year of the Lord’s favor today. I told them the Gospel is still moving, and they are a part of it. They are no different that the 12 disciples they are reading about in the Bible. Discipleship is still happening through you and me, and the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. The Kingdom will spread in you and through you. The Gospel works because of who Jesus is; not because of us. I am proud to be a seed.These young people take turns leading the study and I have had the pleasure to sit in on several of their studies. It blows my mind. My oldest grandson, Justus (age 29) has also joined this group and has never missed a Wednesday night. I can see the changes in both of them. God is so good… And to witness this is powerful. These young people, dedicated to the Lord, are now getting together on Thursday as well!They were studying sin, and I reminded them that the Living God does not hate sin because you broke a rule. He hates sin because it breaks you. Sin weakens you. And that sometimes we pray for our circumstances to change when maybe God wants YOU to change in the circumstance.I am so proud of this group of young people. It has become a great opportunity to share my faith and to watch God move in their lives.This is what prayer can do…. So don’t stop praying! Next is Brad:Hello West Family,I would like to share with you my testimony of opening my heart to Jesus Christ and how He completely changed my life.My mom left my father when I was around one year old. She soon remarried my stepfather, who she is still married to today. He had two daughters and one son. His son stayed with us more often than the daughters did, so I instantly gained a brother who I grew up with. He became like a blood brother to me.We were raised going to church, but as time went on, we attended less and less due to constant fighting between my mother and stepfather. My biological father was barely in my life and lived in California, while I lived in Kansas. As we stopped going to church, it felt like my mom and stepfather became increasingly strict with us, and discipline became harsh—belts and paddles, being slapped in the face, soap shoved down our throats, etc.Time passed, and we went through the typical phases—Boy Scouts, sports, family activities—and while at times it seemed harsh, there were good times as well. I was diagnosed with depression in my early teens and was quickly put on medication, as that seemed to be the only solution at the time.As we got older, my brother moved out after graduating from high school. For his 21st birthday, he invited me to the lake with his friends. But at the last minute, he told me they weren’t going to the lake anymore and that I couldn’t hang out with them, probably because they planned on going to bars and drinking. That hurt me deeply.So, on the night of my brother’s birthday, I ended up staying at a friend’s house. Strangely, I couldn’t sleep at all. I felt as if something wasn’t right. As I was tossing and turning, I heard my friend’s phone ringing in the middle of the night, which struck me as odd. His mom called downstairs to me, saying the phone was for me. I answered, and it was my mom. She told me something had happened, but she couldn’t talk and handed the phone to my sister. I was told that my brother Jason had been in an automobile accident and didn’t make it. My brother and his friend had both decided to leave an Applebee’s restaurant after drinking heavily and get into my brother’s friend’s brand-

Oh Death, You Are Dead To Me!Isaiah 25:7-8 "On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”This morning, I was thinking about using a song that I have heard a lot lately, which I thought would be really good and go with the theme of mentoring for this month. Then, while I was driving my son to school, this other song came on the radio, and I felt like it was a song we all needed to hear. The song is called “Oh Death” and is sung by MercyMe. I will go into the song in a bit, but first, let’s talk about this verse.It begins by saying, “On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers the nations.” It was believed that there was a veil of sorts over the whole land that prevented people from seeing and following the Lord and living the way He wants us to live. I would say this is still true today. The enemy tries to put a veil in front of us so that we don’t want to live the way God wants us to live. He tries to separate us from the Lord.Before Jesus died on the cross, there was a veil separating us from the Lord that was put there by God. After Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they could no longer have free access to God. From then on, only certain people could see God and talk with the Lord. However, once Jesus died on that cross, that veil was torn in two, literally. (Matthew 27:51). Now we have free access to the Lord. There is nothing separating us from talking with him. He did not want that separation anymore.However, the enemy likes to put up walls and make us believe that the Lord is too busy for us or that God is too great and we are not worthy to talk with Him. There is definitely some sort of veil over the world that tries to dim God’s light and separate us from Him. The enemy wants us to feel separate from God because when we feel apart from Him, fear can creep in and try to turn us away from God. This verse is reminding us that God will destroy that veil just as he did the other one.The next line is the one that reminds me of the song. It says that the Lord will swallow up death forever. I know so many people who are afraid to die. And that makes sense because we don’t want to leave our loved ones and our friends. We aren’t ready to say goodbye yet, or maybe we aren’t sure our loved ones are ready. Will they be ok without us? Will they be ok on their own? These are all questions that go through our minds when we think about death.We also might be worried about death because no one knows for sure what it is all about. No one knows quite what to expect. We hope that we will be in heaven with God, but then we have the enemy whispering in our ear, telling us we won’t be. He reminds us of all that we have done wrong and tells us there is no way that we will get to be with God, not with what we have done. The enemy is a liar! Don’t believe him. Yes, you may have done some pretty bad things, we all have. Yet, Jesus took all of that to the cross with Him, so don’t let the enemy pile it onto your shoulders again.The verse above also says, “The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.” God is so gentle and caring that He wipes away the tears from our faces. He not only takes away our pain, but he wipes our tears too! He also removes all disgrace that we have. The devil wants us to keep our disgrace and our shame. He reminds us of it so often that it seems like we will never forget. However, verses like this remind us that God does not hold onto the things we have done after we repent for them. So, if God isn’t holding on to it, why are we?I wanted to share this song with you today because I know a lot of people who are pretty sick. Several people listening to this podcast are chronically in pain. There are several who are listening who worry about loved ones who are sick. What I love most about this song is the upbeat music and the lyrics. When you feel down, or when you feel like you might be scared of death, or scared that the enemy might be winning the fight, listen to the lyric video of this song and sing along with it. I bet your fear will disappear. The song begins:You said my fate was sealed, you said my days were numberedCase closed with no appeal, my future six feet underMessin' with my head in ghost fashionMy heart was holdin' its breath (holdin' its breath)Terrified of takin' my last oneOh death, you scared me to deathThis is what the enemy does. He whispers all these lies in our ears and he does it so often that we start to believe them. This is why it is so important to spend more time reading the scriptures, and surrounding ourselves with people who speak light and truth into our lives. If we hear the lies more often then we hear the truth, of course we are

God Never Forgets Us!Psalm 10:12&14 “Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”I like these verses because they remind us that God does not forget us. He sees the trouble we are in. He considers our grief, and He knows how to help us. It reminds us that we need to commit ourselves to the Lord, that He is our helper. It can seem like God forgets us because the enemy makes us feel alone. It can also seem like God forgets us when we have been asking for the same thing for a really long time, and yet it seems like our prayers are going unanswered.There is a song that came on the radio the other day, and I knew I wanted to share it with you. It is what reminds us that God doesn’t leave our side. It reminds us that He always hears our prayers and He is always working for our good. God is for us, not against us. This can be something that is hard for us to remember for some reason. When we look at this broken world that we live in, it can be easy to believe the lie that God is working against us. He is punishing us for something. He is ignoring us. This is easy to believe at times because that is how we treat each other. That is not how God treats us. He treats us way better than we deserve. The song I am talking about is titled “Never” by Tasha Layton. Here are the words.When this broken world is breaking me downWhen my tears and knees both fall to the groundWhen my questions make me doubt You more than everYou remind me that Your answer is always neverWhen I first heard this song, I had no idea what she meant. We usually hear that God is a yes God. We usually hear that God will give us what we need, and a lot of the time, He gives us what we want as well. So, when I heard that God’s answer is always never, I was confused. Then I kept listening.Never forgotten, never forsaken.Never abandoned, not for a secondI am safe in Your hands always and foreverYou're never not working, my heart is the proofThere's not a broken, too broken for YouWill there ever come a day when You're not holding me together?You say never (oh-oh, oh-oh)After hearing this chorus, it all made sense! We are never forgotten and we are never forsaken. God is always with us. He never leaves our side. God does not just walk away and leave us up to our own devices. He does not throw His hands up and say that there is nothing He can do here. God is always working on our behalf. We might not see it because he might be arranging things in a way that takes time. But He is never not working. I love the line, “There’s not a broken, too broken for you.”We can definitely forget this fact all the time. Or, maybe we aren’t forgetting it, perhaps we aren’t believing it. Do you think that you are too broken for God? Do you believe He can fix a lot of things, but He can’t fix you? If you feel this, you are not alone. Many people think that they are too broken for the Lord to fix. We ask why he would want to fix us. Why would he bother when there are so many other worthy people in the world? We think we are a lost cause, and He should spend His time on other people who aren’t as far gone as we are. God created the entire universe with his words. If he can do that, why would we think we are too far gone for Him? Nothing is impossible for the Lord!I like the next line too. It says, “Will there ever come a day when you’re holding me together? You say never!” You are not going to wake up one day to find out that God has moved on. Maybe you have had that experience with people, but god is not a person. He is not going to leave you and there will never be a day when He is not holding you together. He will always be there with you. Even when you feel like you are broken into a million pieces, He will hold all of those pieces together for you. He is that good!!Next the song says,Every single time I look back, I seeThere's never been a promise You didn't keepYou don't waste the wounds, You use them for the betterWhen it comes to You, Your answer is always neverThat first line in this section is some good advice. When we feel like God might be abandoning us or leaving us, we can look back over our lives and ask ourselves if He was there. Was there a time when he had abandoned us or left us to our own devices? I am not saying that you can always feel God’s presence, but can you look back and see all the ways he arranged things for you in the past? Can you look back and see that even though it felt like God wasn’t there, He actually was there working in all those situations, too? If you can, this will help you have hope that He is there for you now, too!The rest of the song repeats the verses above, so I won’t read them all to you. I do think this concept is something that we really need to remember. I will just leave you with the chorus today. If this is something you struggle to be

MY 1,000TH EPISODE!!!Good Morning! Today’s Witness is about me and my journey with this podcast. Today is my 1,000th episode. I can hardly believe it! Back in 2019, I decided I wanted to change my career. I had my undergraduate degree in psychology and my Master’s degree in Special Education. I was a teacher at a DoD school in Turkey for 2 years when our son Sam was born. Tony and I had both decided before having kids that I would stay home with them when we did have them. So, from Turkey we moved to New Jersey, where we stayed for 5 years, and we had two more boys, Noah & Ryan. I stayed home with the boys through our stay in New Jersey, our move to Germany, and our move to England. When we moved back to Massachusetts, our boys were in 6th grade, 4th grade, and 2nd grade. I decided to try to go back to work.I was a licensed teacher in NJ, but needed to take the tests in MA to get my license. While I studied for the tests, I decided to substitute teach. Once I got my license, I applied for a few jobs, but all of my teaching experience was now at least 10 years old. I also realized that although our boys were in school they were struggling with things and I couldn’t really get a traditional teaching job because I never knew when I would have to go to school to pick our son up from school, or when one of our kids would refuse to go to school and I would need to stay home to watch him.I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I had done a lot of personal development stuff in the years from 2015, when we moved back to the states, to 2019, when I decided what I wanted to do besides being a wife and mother. I had been talking to a lot of people who were unhappy with some aspects of their lives, and yet they felt stuck. They felt like there was nothing they could do about it. I knew this wasn’t true. I knew there was always something you could do to either change the situation you are in or change who you are in the situation. I decided to become a life coach so I could help people get unstuck. I wanted to help them overcome their challenges so they could live a happy and fulfilling life.I looked through several programs. One day, I found the Life Purpose Institute. They had a program where you could become a life coach and a spiritual coach. This was perfect for me as my heart really lies in the spiritual coaching, but I also still wanted to help people who were stuck with life issues as well. The program consisted of 60 hours of training. I took the 5-day intensive with four follow-up classes. After doing peer coaching, practice coaching, and taking a final exam, I was finally certified in December of 2019. I made my marketing plan and I was all set to go out and do workshops at local churches and local libraries. I was all set to build this business, and then three months later Covid happened and we were all stuck inside. No workshops, not speaking engagements, my marketing plan went out the window.It was also difficult because as I was learning how to have my own business and work from home, I also had my husband and three kids at home with me. I figured it out, I got some clients, and I was on my way. In June of 2020, I started a blog. Each week, I would write an article, sometimes about life coaching, but they mostly turned out to be Spiritual in content. I found out that writing about Jesus and my faith came pretty easily to me, much to my surprise. I say I was surprised because just a few years earlier, I was asking the Lord why I was the only person in my family who couldn’t write. My siblings are all great writers. I have two siblings who have published books. My younger siblings are all really good at writing poems. It was just me who felt like I couldn’t write. Either God changed that, or I just hadn’t found what I liked to write about yet.In 2020, in the month of May, I decided to go on Facebook Live every day. I thought if I can’t go out and get the word out about my business, maybe I could do it on Facebook. At this time, my brother Danny reached out to me and said if I wanted to speak in Public, I should join the Toastmasters Club, which teaches people how to do public speaking and also gives you lots of opportunities to practice. I was nervous, but I decided to give it a try and found out I really liked it. I even won awards in their annual speech contest three years in a row.For Christmas in 2020, my brother Danny and his wife Jess gave me a Blue Snowball iCE microphone so that I could have it if I wanted to go online or if I wanted to do a podcast. I was so excited. I spent the next few months trying to figure out what to call my podcast, what type of podcast it would be, and so on. My friend Kim helped me come up with the logo for it. I was so excited to see that it was actually happening. At this point, I have been listening to the Big Life Podcast with Pamela Crim for over 3 years now. She does a daily devotional podcast, and it is amazing. You should definitely check it out. I decid

There Is Still Good Ahead1 Kings 19:3-9 ““Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once, an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.”I heard an episode of the Big Life Podcast last week, and it reminded me of the story about the prophet Elijah that I just read to you. As soon as I heard it, I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to share it with all of you this week.What came to mind when I heard this verse is that it might be helpful to know that Elijah wanted to give up. In case you don’t know who Elijah is, let me summarize who he was. Elijah was a prophet of God in the Old Testament, known for his bold faith, miraculous acts, and deep emotional struggles. He lived during the reign of King Ahab in 9th century B.C. Israel, a time when the nation had turned away from God to worship false gods like Baal. Here are some Key Highlights of Elijah’s Life:Confronted King Ahab and JezebelElijah boldly declared a drought as God’s judgment (1 Kings 17:1) and later challenged the corrupt leadership promoting idolatry.Miracles by God’s PowerMultiplied flour and oil for a widow (1 Kings 17:14–16)Raised her son from the dead (1 Kings 17:22)Called down fire from heaven to prove God’s power on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:36–38)Ran for His Life and Struggled with DespairAfter his great victory, Queen Jezebel threatened his life. Elijah fled, became discouraged, and asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4).God met him in a gentle whisper, showing that God’s presence isn’t always dramatic—it’s personal and close (1 Kings 19:11–13).Taken to HeavenElijah never died—God took him to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11), making him one of only two people in the Bible (with Enoch) who didn’t experience death.Symbol of the ProphetsElijah later appears with Moses during Jesus' Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3), representing the prophets alongside the law (Moses).Elijah did a lot for the Lord. He was close to the Lord, and the Lord used him to do amazing things! He knew how mighty the Lord was, yet he felt he wanted to die. He felt like what the Lord asked him to do was too great. Sometimes, when we feel like giving up, we feel weak. We feel like we have failed or let the Lord down because He trusted us, yet we feel we can’t go on anymore. If you feel this, I want you to know that you are not alone. There are several people in the Bible—deeply faithful, even heroic people—who reached a breaking point and felt like they couldn’t go on. Some even asked God to take their lives. These moments show that God isn’t afraid of our despair—He meets us in it, and He restores. Here are some of those people and where you can find their stories in the Bible in case you want to look them up and read more about them.Throughout Scripture, we see that even God’s most faithful servants reached moments where they felt like they couldn’t go on. Elijah,1 Kings 19:4 “He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” Elijah, after boldly confronting false prophets, fled in fear and isolation, collapsing under a tree and begging God to take his life. He felt completely alone—yet God met him not with punishment, but with rest, nourishment, and a quiet whisper of presence. Like Elijah, when we are drained and overwhelmed, God offers compassion, not condemnation.Moses, Numbers 11:14–15 “I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me…” Moses, exhausted by the emotional and logistical burden of leading a complaining people through the wilderness, cried out to God, saying he’d rather die than continue carrying the weight alone. God didn’t take his life—He sent help. For us, this reminds us that we don’t have to carry everything ourselves; God provides support in community.Job, Job 3:11 “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?”Job, who lost everything—his children, health, and livelihood—wished he’d never been born. He poured out bitter questions and deep grief. And yet, God patiently listened, answered with presence and power, and ultimately restored him. Li

A Personal Relationship With GodPsalm 91:4 “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”I love this image. I picture the Lord as a giant eagle and He puts his wing over us like we would put our arm around a child. When I think of this I am filled up with a sense of love that I just can’t explain. Sometimes I think we think of the Lord as this all mighty being that is so magnificent and is so busy that He doesn’t really have time for us. I guess I don’t really mean that he doesn’t have time for us. I think that we all know that He is listening to our prayers. I think we know that He spends lots of time on us. I guess what I mean is that we don’t really think that He knows us personally, if that makes sense. I don’t know, maybe I am wrong. Take a minute and think about your impression of God. What comes to mind when you try to picture Him. Do you think of a loving father, do you think of an almighty God that is kind of intimidating, do you think of someone that answers your prayers, but does not know you personally? How do you picture God? I think the reason I am asking this is because I think that many of us think of God as someone that is unapproachable. Yes, we can pray to Him and He will answer our prayers, but that is the extent of the relationship. I wonder how many of us know that God longs to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. Yes, even you. God wants to have a personal relationship with you. When I first heard this, I thought, what does that even mean? How does one have a personal relationship with someone that they can’t see, hear, touch, talk to, etc. This is when I began my journey to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. (Actually with all three members of the Trinity) So, how does one begin something when they have no idea how to do it? Lots of ways I guess. What I did was try to learn what it means to have a personal relationship with God. I read some books and talked to lots of people. Here is what I have learned so far. Although I am still very much in the learning phase.First, you can talk to Him. You can talk to God anytime you want to. He is always willing to listen. You can talk to Him about anything. Sometimes I think we feel as though God is busy and so we come to Him when we really need Him, but we don’t want to bother Him with our day to day stuff. Or at least that’s how I felt. God has time for you whenever you want. He is not bound by the same limits we are when it comest to time or attention. He can be there for each of us all of the time. He is not only willing to listen, but He wants to listen. He loves to hear about your day. If you are a parent, think about how happy you are when your children, no matter what age they are, take the time to tell you about their day. This is how God feels when you take the time to just sit and talk with Him about whatever is on your mind. Second, get to know who God is. If you are trying to develop a personal relationship with someone one you would learn as much about that person as you can. The same is true with God. The best way you can learn more about God is to read the Bible. Reading scripture and spending time in God’s word is a great way to feel closer to Him. The more you read about and learn about our Heavenly Father, the more you will begin to see Him in a different light. You will begin to see how much He truly loves His people. How much He has done and continues to do for us, even when we don’t deserve it. Reading scripture will help you to get to see several different sides of God. You will get to learn so many different things about Him. Yes, God is all mighty and He is also very compassionate. Trust me, if you want to feel closer to the Lord, spend time daily in scripture. Another way you can develop a personal relationship with God is to listen to what He has to say. Once you start to talk with God and tell Him all about your day, then you can also spend some quiet time just listening to what He has to say. You will most likely not get an audible voice that you can hear, however, some people have had this extraordinary gift. What I hear about most often is that you get a sense or a thought that comes to mind. For instance you are sitting there quietly and you tell God that you are available and listening. Then sometimes you will get a thought in your head from God. A sentence, a statement, some people get visions. It could be whatever you are open to. God is not going to force this on you. He will talk with you if you want to listen but only when you are open to it. I have had words of prophecy come to me in this way occasionally. How I usually listen to God is that I write Him a letter in my journal and then I tell Him that am listening and then I write down any thought that comes to my mind. I do not sensor it, I do not ask myself if this is really God talking, I just trust that I have told Him I am listeni

What If I Don’t Want To Forgive?Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”Jesus is our guide. He came down to earth to show us how we should be acting. He came down to teach us that the Lord our God is love. He is trying to guide us to springs of the water of life, but we keep wanting to do our own thing. We don’t want to follow in his foot steps. Why don’t we? Because it is hard. Jesus said to love everyone, even our enemies. Is this even possible? Jesus wants us to forgive, but aren’t there some people that just can’t be forgiven? Shouldn’t be forgiven? I wonder if we all realize what forgiveness is? Forgiveness is not telling the other person that what they did was right, or ok. It was not ok what they did. It is not forgetting what happened or excusing it in anyway. Forgiveness is admitting to yourself that this terrible thing did happen, that you can’t change it, so you are releasing any hold that it has over you. I know forgiveness is hard. In some cases it seems impossible. However, it is so necessary. God tells us right in the Our Father Prayer, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. God is going to forgive us to the same extent that we forgave others. Think about the things or the people that you are unable to forgive. Do you really want the inability to forgive them to get in the way of God forgiving you? There are some things that no matter how hard we try, we can not forgive. This is ok, we don’t have to do this on our own. God can step in and help us forgive. The only thing we must do is to ask him. To give Him permission to work in your heart to forgive. We had a word or prophecy given at our prayer group that I feel is so important to share.“I ask you to forgive my children. I know that is a difficult command and at times may seem very impossible for you to do. But I remind you that I am with you always, and with me nothing is impossible. Bring your inability to me. Allow me to work with my grace through you, so that you can be my forgiving heart for all the world.”In this word, the Lord is asking us to forgive. He is reminding us that even though we feel it is impossible, nothing is impossible in Him. In Matthew 19:26 Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It also says in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We are not in this alone. We have God on our side and with that we can do anything. I love how God always shows up to remind us of things when we forget. I like how God is reminding us that He is always with us and then asking us to bring our inability to him. He is asking us to allow Him to work with His grace through us, so that we can bring His forgiving heart to all the world. How beautiful is that? How great is it that God not only wants to use his grace to heal our heart, but he wants us to be His forgiving heart for all the world. God gave us free will. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be for Him to sit by and watch us squander all that he has provided for us? He would love nothing more than to rain down graces on us and yet we can’t be bothered to let him. God is not going to step in if we do not ask Him. He does not want to force us to love Him. The only way to ensure it is true love is to give us the choice to love him or not. Every day we have a choice to make. Are we going to choose God or are we going to choose something else? God has so much grace and so much mercy to give. He does not leave us alone to make these decisions. He is there for us every step of the way.But we do need to make that choice. Once we do make that choice, He will be there to help us overcome all of the obstacles. And there will be obstacles. The life that God is asking us to live is not an easy life. Especially in this world right now. Forgiveness and love are two things that we are being called to do that are not the norm in society today. We live in a culture that does not want to forgive. We want to stay angry, blame other, and not even talk to someone that doesn’t think as we think. This is not what Jesus wants for us. Jesus did not come to earth to be with people just like Him. He did not just hang around with those that believed like he believed. He didn’t find all the people that were getting it right in life. He came for those that were struggling. He came for those that needed Him. When he met these people, he did not meet them with judgement and unforgiveness. He met them with love and forgiveness. He accepted them as they were and encouraged them and helped them to become better. How great would it be if we could do the same. If we could greet everyone we meet with the same love and acceptance that Jesus had. You may be thinking that you are different. Jesus could do that because he was man and God, so he had the Holy Spirit inside him to help him make the right choice. Guess what? So do you. You have

Jesus Came To Seek & Save The Lost!Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”I felt led to share with you this morning a quote from our new Pope. It was one week ago today that the Holy Spirit chose a new Pope. Tony was asking me last week about the Pope. What do we know about him and his beliefs? What kind of Pope will he be, etc. I explained he had only been Pope for a few hours, and we should maybe let him get settled in a bit before we start trying to decide what kind of Pope he will be. The other day, I read this quote on Facebook, and I fell in love with it. This is exactly the message I feel the Lord wants to get out there. This is the message I think He wants us all to share. One that many may not like. Here is what Pope Leo XIV. said:" Brothers, sisters…I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think God has left.To those who are fed up with scandals, with misused power, with the silence of a Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.I, too, was angry with God.I, too, saw good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.And yes… there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo.But then I discovered something:God doesn't shout. God whispers.And sometimes He whispers from the mud, from pain, from a grandmother who feeds you without having anything.I don't come to offer you perfect faith.I come to tell you that faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.I'm not asking you to believe in everything.I'm asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to the God who waits for you without judgment.I'm just a priest who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son... and yet she cooked for others.That changed me.So if you're broken, if you don't believe, if you're tired of the lies...come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack.No one here will ask you for a VIP card.Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.God doesn't need soldiers.He needs brothers.And you, yes, you...are one of them."Robert Prevost (Leo XIV)I felt like the Lord wanted me to read this to you today as a reminder that God is merciful. His mercies never end. God wants us to call back His children. He wants them to know His love. He wants them to know how special they are. He wants them to know how much they are wanted. We live in a culture that always wants the newest and the best things. We live in a throw-away culture. We live in a world that thinks it is ok to sell people. Men, women, and children are stolen and sold into slavery. Marriages and families are under attack. Our children are sold drugs. Children at younger and younger ages are vaping nicotine. Before they are even out of middle school, they are addicted to Nicotine, and they don’t even want to stop because they are in love with the flavors, cotton candy, and sour apple.The world is searching for God. They just don’t know that He is the answer. The world is searching for love, and yet they can’t seem to find it. We need to show them the love they are searching for. We need to show them the unconditional love that God shows us. The love that does not judge. The love that accepts them for who they are, right where they are. This is what we are called to. We are called to be the face of Christ to those we meet. Are we doing this? Are we letting those who are not perfect know that they are welcome at church? Are we letting those who are struggling know that God is with them through it all?Do we let others see our flaws? Are we real with people? Sometimes we don’t want others to see that we aren’t perfect. We put on a good front. We let others see only the very best of us. We never let others see that we struggle. We never let anyone know that we have questioned God, or that we wrestle with some of the teachings of the Church. We don’t let anyone know that there have been times when we have felt abandoned by God, or that He wasn’t hearing our prayers.Jesus didn’t have a perfect life. He didn’t have an easy life. Sometimes I think we can get caught up in thinking that we have to be a perfect example of a Catholic in order to be an example of Christ. We have to show everyone how much we pray and how much we go to church and how religious we are, so that they can see we love Jesus. People don’t need to see our perfect lives to know we love Jesus. They need to see that we can still love Jesus when things are hard. They need to see that we can turn back to Jesus when we mess up, when we fall away, when we do things we are not proud of.People need to know the church is not full of perfect people, but that it is filled with people who are trying to be better. People who get back up when life knocks them down, not because they are strong but because God lives inside of them and He is their strength. They need to see that even the priests struggle with trusting the Lord, or

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families, and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families, but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, also. I pray you know that God wants to be there with you, and if you invite Him into your family issues, He can help.Zachary: 2016 started out as one of the most exciting years for me and my wife, Amanda. We were living in Calcutta, India; working at Calcutta School of Music and starting our own company to support local artists and musicians in the city. Amanda was expecting our first baby, Chloe West Ray, and she was due to arrive at the beginning of December. Amanda was in her third trimester when she became very sick one night. We admitted her into the hospital in Calcutta, India on a Monday night. Tuesday morning Amanda was feeling better and Chloe seemed to be doing ok too. Wednesday morning, before we were about to leave the hospital, we went in for one more ultra sound. I can still hear the doctor say, “We can’t find a heart beat” as if it was today. We found ourselves sitting in that hospital room broken and confused, with no idea of what the next steps would be.There were very few words of comfort that helped. Although people were praying and offering their words of comfort, it felt like a season of being abandoned by God. The dreams of holding our little girl were stolen and shattered. Grief is a funny thing. The initial sting and pain becomes dull over time, but the memories and dull ache continues. I don’t think our hearts are created for this world to overcome “grief” from tragedies or loss of loved ones; it becomes a part of our story, our life. We become a different person. The beautiful thing is that God stays the same and meets us where we are. I can honestly say God tangibly became my refuge in one of the darkest times in my life. He brought a healing into my soul like no earthly person could. We may never be the way we were before, but He shapes us into a new and often stronger person. I don’t think we get over grief until we leave this world.We found out the following year that we were expecting another baby. Due to the loss of Chloe, it was difficult to not allow our fear and worry to overwhelm our joy. We simultaneously jumped for joy, and breathed a sigh of relief when our son was born. Karina: When I think of my story, I think of pain, grief, overwhelming sadness, hurt, and betrayal. Then I think of hope, redemption, love, grace, miracles, and my salvation in Jesus.Five years ago, my entire world turned upside down. I experienced betrayal in my marriage after 12 years. I was in so much pain. My life seemed to have been one episode after the next of unfortunate events.I was so broken and so alone. I was in severe depression and taking depression and anxiety meds and using alcohol with it. I was doing anything I could to dull the pain I was in.I’m so thankful that God loved me so much that He pursued me in ways I’d never experienced before. I was blessed to become a part of a church. At a time when I was deeply hurting, I was shown the love of Christ over and over again. My pastor would say during his messages (and he still does) that I MATTERED to GOD. Honestly, I didn’t even know that I did. God never left my side and He revealed Himself and His love to me. I had never known love like this before and he poured it out on me in waves and waves. He walked with me through the trials and the storms and he saved me and restored me. Then God led me to become a part of a women’s group that has encouraged me, prayed with me and laughed with me. These women have become my sisters. We’ve shared a bond stronger than any blood relationship I’ve ever had. Words can’t describe the love in my heart that I have for each of them. God has healed me in ways I couldn’t see possible five years ago or even three years ago. He resurrected my dead marriage which is a miracle in a way because there was no way I could see this being restored or if reconciliation was even an option. That’s the God I serve. He is full of compassion, LOVE, mercy, and GRACE… He pursues us even when we turn our backs on Him. He loved me even when I didn’t love myself; He showed me I was His, that I was never forsaken; that

Catch Me When I FallPsalm 13:4-5 “How long, Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look upon me, answer me, Lord, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death, Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed,” lest my foes rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in your mercy. Grant my heart joy in your salvation, I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me!”The theme for mentoring this month is “How Long, Lord?” I chose this title because I know so many people who are suffering right now and who have been for quite some time. They have been sick for so long, and they can’t see an end in sight. Some have been going through struggles with their family, and they can’t see a resolution. It feels like things might always be like this. Many I know are struggling with a prodigal child, and they are waiting for them to come home, but feel like it may never happen.In today’s verse, David addresses this same sentiment. It begins with “How Long, Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How much I carry in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” I am sure that is exactly what my friends who are suffering are asking the Lord. I am sure they are struggling to understand why they are still suffering, what the purpose is, and when they will be through it. In mentoring this month, each week, I am going to examine a song that deals with these exact feelings. I really like music; it speaks right to my soul. I also like to use songs because you can always go back to them and listen to them and hopefully they will bring you comfort."When I Fall" by Katy Nichole is a song written out of desperation, reflecting a time when Nichole felt mentally, spiritually, and physically drained. She describes the song as a desperate prayer, expressing her exhaustion with trying to be "okay" and her desire to be honest with God. I think this is great. We should all be honest with God. I don’t know why we think we can hide things from Him. He is all-knowing. That thing you are too afraid to tell Him about, He already knows. That thing you don’t want to bother Him with, He already knows. There isn’t anything we can hide from God. Here are the lyrics for the song:Lord, I can't find You right nowAnd everything is crashin' downI'm losin' faith and fallin' into my doubtsHow long will I have to fightJust for me to stay alive?This is a true and honest song. This is something that I know those who suffer with chronic pain are asking the Lord. I am sure at times we all wonder where God is. We wonder why He is letting us go through the things we are going through, and when He is going to pull us out of it. It is hard to keep having faith and fighting, not to let our doubts get the best of us when we are so tired from all the fighting we have already done.I know You're there, God, pleaseJust meet me here tonightMy God, I'm tired of tryna be okayI've prayed all the prayers I have to prayPlease don't leave me lonelyMy God, I need You to hold meThis is the desperate plea of so many of us. We know God is there. We just need Him to hold us, even if it’s just for a minute. We are all tired of trying to be okay. We are tired of having to pretend to everyone that we are ok. One of my favorite sayings is, “It’s ok to not be ok.” I wish more people knew this. I wish more people would speak out and let others know they are not ok. I know so many people who seem so happy on the outside and yet are not ok on the inside. This world is a lonely place. Which may seem weird, as there are so many ways to keep in touch with friends and family. However, a lot of the relationships we have these days are superficial. We “like” or “love” people’s posts on social media, but we aren’t reaching out and having meaningful conversations. And, if we are being honest, we probably aren’t making posts that accurately reflect how we feel inside or what life is like on a day-to-day basis.My God, I'm losin' all the hope I gotI'm far beyond the point of bein' lostI've tried, but I can't let go'Cause God, You catch me when I fallYou catch me when I fallThis is like so many I know. They don’t want to lose their hope, but it is hard day after day when it feels like their prayers aren’t being answered. When you look around, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to find God. What is really good is that she knows that God will be there to catch her when she falls. If she can let go of all that she thinks is supporting her and holding her up, and just fully surrender to God, then He will catch her. He will always be there to catch us when we fall.There's hardly air in my lungsWith all the damage that's been doneLord, please sustain me nowI know You are enoughMy God, I'm tired of tryna be okayI've prayed all the prayers I have to prayPlease don't leave me

He Will AnswerPsalm 20:6-7 “Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.”I am increasingly realizing that this is hard for many of us. I know a lot of people who have lost loved ones lately. They prayed for their loved ones, they had expectant faith, they asked in Jesus’ name, and yet their loved one still died. Has this happened to you, too? I was telling a friend that I would pray for her, and she said that it didn’t work for her friend who died, so why would it work for her? She is not the only one who feels this way.I also had another friend who said she almost felt like she wanted to tell people to stop praying for her because she felt like things got worse every time someone prayed for her. She is not alone either. God is a mystery to us. We don’t understand why He does the things He does. We don’t understand why He allows the things He allows. There are some very specific things in the Bible that tell us how to pray and even what will happen when we do. For instance, John 14:12-14 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”When I read this, I think that anything I ask, “In the name of Jesus,” will be done. Jesus healed people when He was on Earth. So, when I read this, and it says that I will do the works that Jesus did, and even greater works than that, I believe that if I ask in Jesus’ name, then God is going to heal the person I am praying for. Yet, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes the person I am praying with and praying for still dies. This can be hard to accept and hard to understand.I am very much a follow-the-rules, follow-the-recipe, follow-the-directions kind of person. I like to do things correctly, even if there isn’t one correct way. I don’t like it when my mom tells me to put a little of this or a little of that into the recipe. I want to know exactly how much to put into it. I didn’t like it in my Dance Club when they would tell us to improvise for these next eight beats. I wanted someone else to tell me what to do. Our God is so good, and He has been gently working on this with me. I do better now with adding new things into my recipes or adding a little of this and a little of that. The other day, I was at a “Paint & Sip” event where we were supposed to ask the Lord what to paint and then paint it. I got the words “Heart on Fire,” so I looked it up online and found a great image to paint. However, I couldn’t get it to come out the same. My painting does not look like the original, but I can see what I was trying to accomplish when I look at it.I love that the Bible tells us things like this verse from John 14, which says, “Whatever you ask in my name will be given to you.” I like it because it gives me a framework of how to ask for things. However, I also get stuck at times because when I ask for something in Jesus’ name and it doesn’t happen, I get so confused as to why. I did what you asked me to do, and it didn’t work. Why not? I did what I was supposed to do, but why didn’t God do what He said He would do?The truth is, I don’t know. The truth is, God is so much smarter than we are. Sometimes we ask for things that won’t be good for us, or won’t be good for our loved ones. God knows the bigger plan. He knows better than we do what we need and what our loved ones need. For instance, we might not be ready for our loved one to leave us, but maybe they are ready. Maybe they are tired of fighting this disease. Maybe there are worse things coming for them down the road, and God is preventing them from that suffering. Maybe they are just holding on for us.My grandfather had a stroke at a young age. He was bedridden for a long time. He was alive, but I don’t think he could even talk. On Valentine’s Day 1996, my grandmother told my grandfather how much she loved him. Then she told him that he didn’t have to hold on for her. She told him that she would be ok and that if he wanted to stop fighting, it was ok. My grandpa died that day.Today’s verse says, “Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God.” I think what the Lord wants to tell us today is that He does answer our prayers. He doesn’t always do it in the way we want him to, and so sometimes we can miss the fact that He has answered our prayers. When we wish someone to be healed and they die anyway, this doesn’t look like an answer to prayers. However, there is no illness in heaven. So, even though they were not healed this side of heaven,

Wake Up!Revelation 3:1b-3 “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know when I will come to you.”Yesterday I started to read the book of Revelation. Over the last few months, I have heard people reference it, and I don’t remember ever reading it. I know I have at least listened to it because I have been through the Bible in A Year Podcast with Father Mike twice, and about 12 years ago, I did a study program with my friend called Read the Bible in 90 days. We read the Bible, I listened a lot as I bought the audio Bible, and then each week we would meet and watch a video explaining all about the part we had just read. Because of all this, I know I have heard Revelation before, and yet I had no idea what my friends were talking about when they mentioned things in Revelation. So I decided to check it out this week.A little side note here, if you have never done a Bible Study, can I invite you to give one a try? There are online ones, and I am sure there is a church in your area that also has one going on right now. Bible Studies are amazing for so many reasons. The Bible is complex, and it is deep. There are so many layers to everything you read in the Bible. It can also be confusing because of the language it uses and because of the difference in Biblical times vs now. I love learning about the Bible and what is actually being said in the various chapters. A lot of times, the people who are doing the Bible study will also tell you what the various words meant in Hebrew or Greek. It is fascinating!Back to today’s verse. I chose this verse because it scared me a little. The first line in today’s verse says, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up!” This really hit me. I think it hit me because I think most people think they are pretty good people. I think if we asked most people if they thought they were going to heaven or hell, they would say heaven. I want to believe that most people are going to heaven. Yet, in the Bible, that is not what it says. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”I don’t think it would be good to constantly be thinking about whether we will be going to heaven or hell or not. I do think we should think of it from time to time and evaluate our lives. There are a lot of different opinions about what you need to do to get into heaven. Some believe you need to receive the Eucharist in order to go to heaven. Some believe you need to say out loud that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Some believe you need to be born again. These are all found in different parts of the Bible. There is so much found in the Bible, and I definitely am not an expert.All I know is what the Lord is putting on my heart. I feel the Lord wants me to tell you today to remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘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.” Are we doing this? Are we loving God with our heart, mind, and soul?That question is much easier to answer than the second question. Are we loving our neighbor as we love ourselves? This is something to think about. We must remember that when Christ says love your neighbor, he doesn’t just mean the person who lives to the right and left of you. He means, do you love everyone else in the world? Do you love those in your town and your state? Do you love those who run the country? Do you love those who run the churches? Do you love those who are hard to love? Luke 6:32 says, ““If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”This verse made me sit up and take notice this morning because plenty of people in the past have had a reputation for being a good person, a holy person, and yet later it comes out that they were not. This could be all of us. Maybe we haven’t done some truly terrible things, but are we harboring unforgiveness in our hearts? Are we despising some people who live in this world? Do we struggle to love those who are hard to love? Struggling to follow the Lord’s word is ok. We can bring Him that struggle and He will help us with it. I think we run into trouble when we aren’t struggling with it because we have decided not to pay attention to it, or we have given ourselves permission not to follow certain

Do Not Quench the Spirit1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.”I was looking through my prayer group notes this morning to see which Bible verses from the prayer group I had already used in a previous devotional. When I looked, I could see that I used 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in one episode and 5:21-22 in another. However, I have not used 19-20 before. When I looked at it, I saw that it said, “Do not quench the Spirit.” I figured I didn’t use it because I didn’t understand it. I tend to skip over things I don’t understand or avoid things I don’t know how to do. Do you ever do this? I am sure I am not the only one.However, when I started doing this podcast, I promised myself that I wouldn’t skip over Bible verses that I didn’t understand because if I don’t understand it, then other people probably don’t understand it either. This podcast isn’t about me telling you all the things I know about God, scripture, and everything else. It is about us learning about those things together and encouraging each other to keep walking boldly with Jesus.I was intimidated by this scripture verse because of the word "quench." The only context I have ever really heard or used that word in is when talking about thirst. We want to quench our thirst. It is a good thing. So, when I saw that the verse said, “Do not quench the Holy Spirit,” I was confused and skipped over it. Then I reminded myself that I don’t do that anymore. I pause and take a few minutes to look up the things I don’t understand online. There are plenty of people out there who have made it their life’s mission to study the Bible and to have a deeper understanding of what it says. Luckily for us, some of them have decided to share their findings online.There are many ways that technology is bad and not good for us. This is an exception. This is one of the fabulous things about technology. It took me less than a minute to understand what this verse was saying. And now that I know what it means, it makes so much sense. I guess I just didn’t stop and think about what that word meant. The word quench has two meanings. The first one, according to Oxford language, is to satisfy (one’s thirst) by drinking. This is the definition I was thinking of, and didn’t understand how that applied to the Holy Spirit. However, the second definition is to extinguish (a fire). This makes sense in the context of the verse above. Basically, it is telling us not to extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit. Or another way you can look at it is to not stifle the works of the Holy Spirit.How can we stifle the works of the Holy Spirit? Was that your next question? I am such a rule follower. When I read something in the Bible that tells me not to do something, I instantly want to know how to avoid doing that thing. I think the answer to this question is found in the rest of the verse. The verse says, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” If we want to make sure that we are not quenching the Holy Spirit, then we need to pay attention to what the prophets are saying. We can’t ignore what they are saying because we don’t like it or we don’t agree with it. We can’t ignore what they are saying because it might be hard.For instance, this morning I was reading the first two chapters of Revelation in the Bible. In these chapters the Lord is giving John a message for the 7 churches. He is praising them, but he is also telling them what they are doing that is wrong and calling them to repentance. Repentance and changing our ways can be hard. And yet if we don’t then we could stifle what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us and through us.In the verse, it says, “Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything.” This means that while believers should be open to receiving prophetic messages, they should also discern if those messages align with God's word and are edifying for the church. Paul is advocating for a balanced approach: respect for the Holy Spirit's guidance through prophecy, but also a discerning heart that evaluates the validity and authenticity of those messages. "Do not despise prophecies" (1 Thessalonians 5:20): This emphasizes the importance of valuing prophetic utterances, which are understood as words of instruction, exhortation, or warning from God. It cautions against dismissing prophecies as silly or unimportant. "Test all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21): This instruction highlights the need for discernment. Believers are not to blindly accept all prophetic words, but rather to examine them carefully. Why test prophecies? There's a potential for false prophets or messages that are not aligned with God's will. Testing helps to ensure that the prophetic messages received are authentic and edifying to the church. How to test prophecies? Several ap

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Anxiety/Depression Category. I know so many people who are struggling with anxiety and depression right now. Suicide seems to be increasing as well. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, too. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your anxiety and depression, He can help.Blair: Every story has a beginning. Even God’s Word says “In the beginning” Genesis 1:1. So here’s how my beginning led me to where I am now. I was born into a “Christian” home. We went to church, we went to Youth Group, and we participated in missionary activities at the church. But there was not a Bible to be seen in our whole house. I’m the first of three children, the Type A, do everything right, be the perfect kid. That’s great, but try being that way with a mother who was emotionally, psychologically, verbally, and sometimes, very rarely, physically abusive.I didn’t have a traditional mother-daughter relationship doing things together. I was a good student- no- I had to be a perfect student. When my brother was born, the last child, it was made very clear who the favorite child was. My sister and I were knocked out of place because we were girls. So, in the beginning, I was not the gender my mother wanted me to be. As the years went by, it was more of the same treatment with little in the way of any faith journey or building a relationship with Jesus. When I began having children, the stress of that sent me over the edge. The depression and anxiety were debilitating. I felt like I was in a valley and didn’t know how to climb out. My husband was a pastor and even then my faith was very shallow.Things continued to spiral out of control and I ended up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital three times. Sadly, some of those times were because of suicide attempts. The whole of 2011 I basically spent in bed. I felt hopeless, useless, exhausted, unworthy, scared, anxious, and I could go on. I finally got a doctor who tweaked my medication so that I could go about “normal” life. Two weeks after my last stay in the hospital, my husband of 18 years passed away at the age of 44 on Christmas Eve. My boys were 17,15, 11, and 9.This is where the story of my new life in Christ began. Just like there were medication changes, there were also church changes that led to soul changes. I could actually hear God. I wanted to learn everything about Him. The more I began leaning into Him, the more He leaned into me. I lost my dad two years before my husband and my mom three years after my husband. But I was as ok as ok could be given the circumstances life has, is, and will be. That’s life. I am so thankful for the valleys because then I was able to enjoy the mountain tops. God has a reason for me being here. Understand that my life still hasn’t been perfect. I’ve had many financial difficulties. I’ve had difficulties being a man to four boys not knowing what it means to be a dad. But I know 100% that all of these “tragedies” and “valleys” led me to “triumphs” and “mountain tops” because God has a plan that I can’t see. He is with me ALL the time. He puts people in my life that help me grow- friends, pastors, and family. He inspires me through music. The words hit me in just the right place and at just the right time. I’m thankful for the music of Matthew West, Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, Toby Mac, Zach Williams and so many other talented musicians that bring God to me. I love music but I love my Savior even more. And so my story continues until God takes me home to live with Him in glory. My past doesn’t dictate my future and my past doesn’t change my relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m so very loved by a God who loves me unconditionally. Guess what? He loves you that much, too.Jenna: I grew up in a Christian family. We went to church every Sunday and Wednesday and were a part of almost everything; Awana, Elevate teen group, and even school there. Two and a half years ago, I lost someone who I was close to because she felt the need to commit suicide. I was heartbroken and I felt like I lost everything. 2022 was a challenging year for me. I had daily panic attacks and felt like I was worthless. My eating habits went down significantly, and I was stressed all the time. As exams neared, I was super stressed and ended up passing out.Months passed a

God Is Not Punishing You!Psalm 103:8-10 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”This month’s theme for mentoring is “How Long, Lord?” The reason I feel the Lord gave me this theme is that I know a lot of people who have been waiting a very long time for their prayers to be answered. Some of them are in excruciating pain while they wait. I am really struggling to understand this. I am struggling to understand why they have to wait so long. I don’t think I am the only person who is struggling with the question and other questions like it. I asked ChatGPT what kids of questions people were asking when they are feeling like their prayers aren’t being answered and over this month in mentoring I will answer some of those questions. Today’s episode is about the first question I addressed. That questions is:Is God punishing me? I might not know the answers to all the questions that come up throughout this series, but I am 100% sure of the answer to one. The answer is No! God does not punish us. God is only good. If you want proof that God does not punish us, you can look at Psalm 103:8-10, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” God does not create the bad things that are happening in our lives. You did not get cancer because you had an affair. You did not have a miscarriage because you don’t go to church. God is not punishing you. God did not do this bad thing to you.God is all-powerful and all-knowing. If he wants you to learn a lesson, he can teach it to you in a million different ways. He doesn’t have to have you get sick before you turn to Him. Just because God can use this awful tragedy or the illness for your good doesn’t mean He gave it to you. God does not create illness. He is a healer. God is love and mercy. God blesses people, He does not curse them.If you need another scripture verse, look at Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Condemnation (punishment) is not for those who belong to Christ. God does not punish His children—He saves and restores them. John 3:17 states, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The central message is that Jesus's mission was not to judge and punish humanity, but to offer a way to be freed from sin and its consequences.It is easier for many of us to believe that Jesus wouldn’t punish us, but harder for us to believe that God does not punish us. God is a good and loving Father. Regardless of what our own father was like, God is always good and always loving. It is hard for us to believe things if we have no frame of reference for them. I think part of the reason I can believe that God is a good Father who loves me and doesn’t want to punish me is because my own father was a good example of God’s love to me. I am not saying I never got into trouble as a kid. I did occasionally do things that weren’t ok. I did get in trouble. But my parents did not condemn me or make me feel shame for what I did. They gave me consequences so I would learn not to do it again, but they didn’t punish me.I know that I am lucky and that so many kids don’t grow up with a loving, caring example of a Father. In the United States, 1 in 4 kids grows up without a dad in the home. That means 25% of kids in America are growing up without a dad. In the 2020 Census, there were 18.4 million kids who were living without their biological dad. It is easy to see how the view of God got so distorted. We are living in a world of broken people. We are all just doing the best we can, and yet the best for so many of us is not good enough. These are just the kids who grow up without a dad. We also have the kids who grow up with an abusive dad. If so many people have no reference for a father who loves you unconditionally and who would never hurt you, then how are they supposed to understand that God could actually love them like that?If none of those other scripture verses convinced you that God is not punishing you, hopefully this one will. Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”Jesus took the full punishment, so we don’t have to. What we receive now is peace, not wrath. Do we deserve to be punished? Absolutely. Every single one of us has done something wrong, deserving of punishment. However, that is why God sent Jesus to us. Jesus came to save us from the punishment we deserved. "Jesus died the death we deserved, so we might live the life he earned.”Why would God send his only Son to earth to die a gruesome death

Give Someone Else A ChanceActs 5:38-39a "So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”I read this verse in the daily readings today, and it reminded me of the time I spent at retreats at the Schoenstatt Retreat Center in Vallendar, Germany. Here is a bit of background on Schoenstatt. Schoenstatt is an apostolic Movement of renewal, born in the bosom of the Church. Its spiritual center is the Schoenstatt Shrine, where Mary shows herself in a special way as the Mother and Educator who gives birth to Christ in us, conforming us according to her image.The Schoenstatt Movement encompasses various communities that form the Schoenstatt "Family". As a renewal movement, it has a marked apostolic and lay character; its pedagogy and spirituality are particularly suitable for those who live in the world and must face an increasingly de-Christianized and materialistic environment. Its purpose is to form a new community based on a new person who overcomes the massification of our times and forges a new culture permeated by the spirit of Christ.The reason today’s verse reminds me of Schoenstatt is that this principle was applied to the founder. His name is Fr. Joseph Kentenich. He was exiled from the church for a while, and from what I was told, it was similar to the thinking of this verse above. From what I understand, the church wanted to see if the Schoenstatt movement was of God or not. They figured if they removed Father Kentenich from the head of the movement, and it was not of God, then the movement would dissolve and go away. However, if it was from God, then even though the leader was gone, the movement would still continue to grow and flourish. This is what happened: the movement started spreading to other countries. In 1965, Pope Paul VI restored him to leadership, just as the Second Vatican Council was drawing to a close.I am not sure why the Holy Spirit reminded me of this story today. I do know that this verse can apply to our individual lives as well as the Church as a whole. In our lives, we can look at the things we are doing and we can ask if they are from God or not. Is God in all that we do? We can use this verse as a good measure to see if the things we are doing are from God or not. Do you often over-commit yourself to helping out? Do you sign up for things you don’t really want to do because you think, or maybe you know, that if you don’t sign up, then no one will? If this is you, then this verse might be life-changing for you.If you struggle with over-scheduling, I want you to reread the verse above. “If this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.” I know that you are worried that if you don’t sign up or if you don’t volunteer, then no one else will. If you don’t say yes, the project or the event will not happen. However, that is putting a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. It is not your job to ensure every event goes off without a hitch. If the plan or the undertaking is of God, then He will make sure to get the people needed to make sure it happens. If it is of God, then it will not fizzle out because of a lack of participation.Also, maybe our always saying yes is hindering someone else from saying yes. I had a project once, and we needed to have a leader. We were all just sort of looking at one another, and no one really said anything, so I said I would be the leader. I had zero desire to be the leader for this project, as the leader had to submit all the paperwork. However, I assumed no one else wanted to do it as no one else was speaking up. I then found out that someone else wanted to do it, but felt funny saying they would do it. To them, it felt like nominating themself, and they felt that was wrong. So luckily they mentioned it in a roundabout kind of way, and I didn’t have to lead the group, and they got to lead the group. I am sure this is happening more than we think.I think there are people who would volunteer more, but they don’t feel they have anything to offer. They need others to call out what they see in them. They need other people to reassure them they can do the job, especially if they are stay-at-home moms. Often, we, as stay-at-home moms, tend to forget that we did lots of stuff before we were moms. Since being a mom is our full-time job, we tend to see ourselves as “just moms.” When someone looks at us and personally invites us to volunteer in a position that they think we will be great at, that means a lot.Who do you know that you could be inviting to join you in your tasks? What job do you know you have to give up, but are afraid no one else will take it on? Trust that God has a plan. Trust that He has the perfect person in mind. Then ask God to highlight someone

God Made You On PurposePsalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”God created everything about us. I like this verse, though, because it reminds us that He created even our inmost being. I like the visual of God knitting me together. One stitch at a time. I am not someone who knits, but I have family and friends that do. When you are knitting something you can make it look however you want to. If you are the person doing it, you get to pick the colors; you get to pick the pattern, and you even get to pick which stitch or combination of stitches you are going to use. You are the creator of whatever you are knitting. Now, imagine that God is knitting you together. He chose all the specifics about you. He got to choose what color hair you have and what color eyes you have. Do you ever take time to think about this, to think about the fact that God created everything about you? I was at a personal development conference this week, so that may be why it is on my mind more than usual. I love attending these conferences because it is so great to be gathered in a room with like-minded people. I don’t mean that we all think the same way or even believe the same things, but in this instance, we were all there because we knew God had a bigger plan for our lives, and we wanted to figure out what that plan was. It was an amazing weekend, and I learned so much. This happened to be a women’s conference, and there were so many women gathered together, all wanting to improve themselves in some way or another. This is a beautiful thing. One of the things that usually comes up when you have so many women gathered together is the idea of insecurities. Insecurities are something that I believe everyone has. We don’t all have them about the same things or to the same extent, but I do think we are all insecure about something. We all have that one thing, or some of us have more than one thing that we wish we could change about ourselves. That thing that we really don’t like about ourselves. Some of these things affect our lives in a big way, and some do not.When you look at yourself and your life, what are your insecurities? What are the things about you that you don’t like that may be getting in your way of living your best life? Maybe you are struggling because you are living the life that everyone around you wants you to live, but inside, you feel like it's not right for you. For instance, you have a really good job, and you are making good money, but in your heart, you really want to be doing something else. Maybe you have insecurities based on your appearance. This is a big one with women. We feel too tall, too short, too thin, too fat. Or we feel our hair is too long, too short, too light, too dark. It seems like no one is happy in their own skin these days. I wonder why this is. I wonder if people throughout the ages have always felt like this, or if this is new. I don’t think it is new that people don’t like something about themselves. I am sure that has always probably been a thing. However, I wonder if it was as widespread and commonplace as it is today. I am not sure if I know a single woman who is so happy with her appearance that she wouldn’t change anything if you asked. I wonder if all this unhappiness has to do with social media and marketing. Once upon a time, before TV, magazines, movies, etc., you didn’t have so much access to everything. You could compare yourself to those who lived around you, and maybe those in paintings or in books. However, you didn’t have the kind of access you have today. Today, you could spend five minutes online and you could scroll through hundreds of images of whatever you want to look at. Also, if you have social media, you can just scroll down your feed, and you will see plenty of posts from people. The internet can be a very dangerous place for those who have insecurities and are looking for proof that those insecurities are real. If you think you are too heavy and then you search for proof of that online, you will find it. That is how the internet works. You ask a question and it searches all the data and gives you an answer to the question that you just asked it. Your brain is the same. If you have an insecurity and you ask your brain to find proof of it, your brain will. The awesome thing about your brain is that the opposite is also true. If you ask your brain to prove to you that your insecurity is not true, it will do that as well. For instance, if you ask your brain why no one at work likes you, it will search all your memories and come up with reasons why your co-workers don’t like you. However, if you ask your brain to prove to you that people at your work do like you, your brain will come up with an answer to that question as well. If you do not like the answers you are coming up with then you need only ask better questions. The main speaker at the conference said something this weekend, and I think it would be great if every

Because Somebody Prayed1 John 5:14–15 “And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.”I love this verse because God is reminding us that we can trust Him. He reminds us that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us, and if we know that he hears us, then we know we have obtained the request made of him. I don’t know about you, but I can get caught up in the part that says, according to his will. I have asked the Lord for many things, and I don’t think that he has given them to me. I get frustrated when I am praying for someone, and I remember that God said if we ask in Jesus’ name, then anything we ask for will be given to us.I know that God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts greater than our thoughts, and yet it is still frustrating when we can’t understand what is going on. It is frustrating when we think we know exactly what we need or what we want and we ask the Lord, we beg the Lord and it just seems like He is not listening. If you have struggled with this, let me share with you what has helped me understand it a little better.Have your kids, your nieces/nephews, or your friends' kids ever asked for something that seemed really important to them? They asked for something that they really want, and to them, it is something that they have to have. They have given it thought, and they know it is the best thing for them. Yet, you know it is not good for them at all. You only know this because you have been where they are and things didn’t end well. You have seen where this thing will take them, and it isn’t anywhere good.For instance, your child, or a child you are close to, wants to drop out of school. They have given it thought, and they will get a job at the local grocery store or fast food restaurant. They are tired of all the work they need to do at school and don’t want to do it anymore. However, you can see that it is not the best choice for them. You can see how that one choice will limit so many other choices about their future. They are begging you to let them drop out, and yet you know it is not really best for them.This is what I think of when I think of God answering our prayers. Good thing He doesn’t give us everything we ask for because sometimes, just like our kids, we ask for some things that are not good for us. We ask for things that we think we want, but God knows we don’t really want them. For instance, we might think we want a new job, but then we find out the new job has a lot of travel, or the boss isn’t a nice person. God shields us from so many things that we aren’t even aware of because he is shielding us from them. He does this because He is a good Father.I heard a song on the way to adoration his morning, and you know how much I love songs. I wanted to share the lyrics of this one with you today because it talks about how important prayer is. The song is titled “Somebody Prayed,” and it is sung by Crowder. The song begins:Every night there by your bedYou fold your hands and bow your headThrowing out another prayer in faithWhen you're wondering if He's hearing youLook at me, I'm living proofI'm only right where I am todayBecause somebody prayedThese lyrics remind us that when we pray and do not see results, we can look at those around us and be confident that if God answers their prayers, He will answer ours, too. I think it is vital to remember that the answers to our prayers may not look like we want them to and may not come in the timing we want them to. I like how Crowder can realize that the reason he is where he is today is because his mom prayed for him a lot. So I hit my knees 'cause I'veSeen all Heaven move (don't matter if you hit rock bottomMy God pick you up when you call Him.)I pray, "Father, please" 'cause I'veSeen what He can do (don't matter if the storm cloud comingMy God come through when you call Him)I love this verse too because it says that it doesn’t matter if you hit rock bottom because God will pick you up when you call Him. This reminds us that we are never too far down for God to pick us back up again. It also says it doesn’t matter if the storm cloud is coming because God will come through when we call Him. Crowder says he has seen all heaven move, and he has seen what our heavenly Father can do.You might be in a storm right now, or you might be at your lowest point yet. Either way, you can rest assured that when you call on the Lord, He is going to answer that call. He is going to lift you up out of that pit or get you safely through that storm. That is just who He is. If you wonder if this is true, look around you at all the people you know who are struggling, or the ones who were struggling and have made it through to the other side. They were not alone. God helped them, and if he helped them, he can help you too!These hands have no powerThere ain't an hour He don

Today’s witnesses come to you from the Global Awakening Website. If you are not aware of Randy Clark or Global Awakening, let me read you the description from their website. For all believers everywhere, we present an opportunity to receive power from God. We offer ourselves as evidence that God uses the unqualified when we’re willing to take a risk. We strengthen each other through community & theology, and we call out to all those who feel ill-equipped, isolated, and hungry, saying: you belong. To the sick, we offer a community of faith that will believe in your healing. To the skeptic, we offer our stories and our lives as fruit of Jesus’ work. Come receive from God what you need, come learn how to take risks in your faith, and come join us as we each fulfill God’s dream for us. We are a global community of believers empowered to awaken the world. On their website, they have various types of testimonials. Today, I chose to bring to you the physical healing testimonies. They also have Impartation, Emotional Healing, Activation, and Prophecy. I will share the others with you another day. Today, you will get to hear about physical healing. I pray that when you hear these testimonies, it builds your faith to know that you can be healed, too!First we have – Gineff | Woodbridge, VA – “I took a step of faith and came to the conference being released from the Hospital on the previous Friday. I was radically healed at VOA. My tribe(VOA attendees) were encouraging me and praying over me. I received multiple healings. The first was the ability to walk(Bookstore Bob was there), inner healing with the Agape Freedom Fighter team, and the word of knowledge from Dr. Clark about lower left abdominal pain(this specifically was for me, as I had left the hospital with a drain tube in my lower left abdomen). I will tell you that I was in shock when He said my condition. My niece and those around me were like That’s you. When Dr. Clark called up those to share their testimonies, I ran up to the stage. While I was on stage, something amazing happened. I felt like I was being straightened and felt this rod on the right side of my body, it was amazing!!! I left there healed and I write this looking forward to my appointment tomorrow when I get to see the doctor's face!!” Next is – Michael | Richmond, VA “I stood after Randy had a word of knowledge that God was healing hearts. I had been treated for afib for over 14 years and on medication. I believe God has healed my heart. I am 72 years old and am no longer on any heart medication. My heart rate is normal, I go to the gym regularly and have no problems doing yard work or any other activity. God is Good!Next is – Beverly | Birmingham, AL “I was healed of a voice infirmity known as spasmodic dysphonia (SD), identified by a Word of Knowledge as a sharp twisting of the muscles around the larynx. I knew the Word was for me because the disorder is very rare. I actually experienced a creative miracle. The nerve from the brain to my larynx was regenerated. It grew back!!!! SD is a neurological condition in which the nerves affecting the muscles around the larynx deteriorate and stop working. Loss of the nerve stops the muscle flexibility of the laryngeal muscles, thereby preventing ordinary identifiable speech/language sounds. The voice quivers and has spasms. I had reached a point in my life where I was ashamed to even talk. People could not understand my speech. I happen to be a preacher and trainer… so, needless to say, I became so discouraged that I stopped preaching and became afraid to teach. SO PRAISE BE TO GOD for the healing. I had been experiencing progressive deterioration for 14 years!”Last, but not least, we have – Darenda | Harrisburg, PA “I sat next to a blind man on the plane on the way over who was also going to the conference. He was called out by Bob Hazlett and prophesied over in his main session. Then on the way back, I was again seated next to the same man, still blind. Have you ever been seated next to the same person twice on two different airplane trips? Well, I never have. So I prayed for him to receive his sight, and progressively over the two hours, he did. He has been completely blind for 4 years (diabetic retinopathy) in his right eye and has some light shadows in his left. Before deboarding, he could see his hands, some things in front of him, my eyes, and my hair. He mostly wants to see his 4-year-old grandson’s face, whom he’s never been able to see. In a follow-up text this week, he said his grandson’s face is getting clearer and clearer. Praise God for this wonderful, creative miracle, so amazing to witness.”Weren’t those testimonies amazing! Thank you to all who have been brave enough to share your testimony. It is because of people like you that other people’s faith is built up. It is not always easy to be vulnerable and share your testimony. It is not always easy to put into words what the Lord has done for you. Yet, when you can, it helps so many

John 17:11-12 “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.”I love this passage because it is Jesus talking to God. It is Jesus talking to His Father and our heavenly Father. I love how Jesus is asking God to protect us. He is also letting His dad know that things went well while He was here on earth. At the beginning of this chapter in the Gospel of John, Jesus told his Dad how we heard what He was telling us, and we believed Him. He is telling God about how we believe where He came from and the messages He gave us.Jesus also lets His Dad know that He did a good job protecting His disciples and that He didn’t lose a single one, except for Judas, who was destined to be lost, so that scripture may be fulfilled. I love that Jesus is talking to His dad just like we might talk to our dad. He is letting Him know He did what He was supposed to and did a good job with all He was supposed to do.Jesus was going to be with God up in heaven, but we needed to stay here on earth. The disciples couldn’t join Jesus in heaven; they had a mission here on earth, and so do we. Their mission was to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, to make sure that the whole world knew about Jesus and his love and forgiveness. Our mission is the same, and yet we don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth. We can start here in our own families with our siblings, spouses, and children. We can start with our friends, neighbors, and those around us.You would think that in the day and age we live in, everyone would already know about Jesus. With the access to technology that people have in this country, we might think that everyone has already heard all we have to say about Jesus. However, this is not the case. Many people have been hurt or offended by the church, and so they no longer go. Many times, instead of just quitting the Church, they walk away from Jesus and God, too. This often means they don’t pass down anything they know about God to their children. My friend was raised by two parents who both went to Catholic School. They didn’t like it, so they decided not to teach their children anything about God.This is more common than you think. In this day and age, we can not assume that anyone knows about God or Jesus. Even if they know something about them, we can’t be sure that what they know is true. My kids tell me all the time they are not Catholic because they don’t believe this or that. However, what they say they don’t believe isn’t something I believe either. There is a lot of confusion as to what the Catholic Church actually teaches. I think a lot of people who have a problem with the Catholic Church aren’t actually upset with something we do; they are upset with something they think we do. For instance, many are upset that Catholics worship Mary. However, we don’t worship Mary; we only worship the one true God.What we really need to share with everyone we know and everyone we meet is that God loves them. Jesus loves them too! God is love. He loves each one of us so much, and I don’t think people realize this. I don’t think people believe this. There is such a lack of love in this world, and if people knew how unconditionally God loved them, I truly think this world would start changing. I think people feel a void in their lives and try to fill it with all the wrong things. The only thing that can fill that hole is God.We cannot show people how much God loves them just with our words, though. We will have to be an example of that love to them. We will have to love like Jesus loved, and then they will feel that love. They will see that love and know it is possible to be loved in our messiness. It is possible for someone to love us even when we feel unlovable. This is not the kind of love that we are used to finding in the world. The world is full of broken people, so we love in broken ways because that is all we know. However, if we pray for God to give us the ability to love others with His love, we can begin to change the world one person at a time.Back to today’s verse. Jesus is asking God to protect us. If we look at all the apostles had to go through to spread the word of God, we could see why Jesus would be praying for their protection. Most of the apostles of that time were killed in some way for their beliefs and for passing on the Word of God. They needed God’s protection. However, we still need God’s protection today as well.We are fortunate in our country that it is not illegal to talk about God, at least not yet. However, it is illegal in many parts of the world. According to Asia News, a Vatican-affiliated news agency that reports on Christian communities, more than 800 p

Fearless ConfidenceActs 4:29-31 “And now they’re at it again! Take care of their threats and give your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message, as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of your holy servant Jesus.” While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence.”I love how this verse ends, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence. How great would it be to speak God’s work with fearless confidence? How great would it be to just say what you wanted to say without feeling like you had to censor it for the world? How many times have you thought something and then not said it because you weren’t sure what others would think? How many times have you not mentioned God because you didn’t want to be different or because you didn’t want to be ridiculed? I love how the disciples weren’t afraid. The stakes were high for them, and yet they couldn’t be silenced. For them, it wasn’t a case of worrying if someone would be angry. They were threatened and told they could not speak about Jesus to anyone. They were thrown in jail, and they were beaten. One of Jesus’ disciples, Stephen, was stoned to death for his preaching. I was drawn to this passage for two main reasons. The first is because I love that they prayed for fearless confidence. I pray for a holy boldness a lot, and now I can pray for this too! The second reason is because of something Father Mike pointed out that I didn’t really notice. Does that ever happen to you? Something is right there in front of you, and yet you don’t realize it until someone points it out? Father Mike was talking about how remarkable it was that these disciples asked God for fearless confidence instead of asking God to take away the danger. As I mentioned earlier, at this time in the early church, it was really difficult to preach about God. There were rules and laws against it. People were told that if they talked about Christ Jesus, they would go to jail. They were beaten, they were put in jail, they were stoned to death. They did not have the religious freedoms many of us have today. They could have prayed for the threat to their safety to be removed. They could have asked God to protect them from all dangers. They could have asked him to change the situation they were in. They could have asked God for anything, and instead, they asked God for fearless confidence in preaching His message. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could all make this our prayer? Wouldn’t it be great if instead of praying that God changes our circumstances, we ask God to change us? We can ask God to give us more strength, more courage, more love, more patience, more whatever it is we need to make it through our current circumstance, instead of asking God to change that circumstance. Tony was talking to his friend once when I was pregnant with one of our boys. We didn’t find out the gender of our baby until they were born. We wanted to be surprised. Tony was telling his friend that he didn’t care if it was a boy or girl, he just prayed our baby was healthy. Tony said he will never forget what his friend replied, “I used to pray for a healthy baby, now I pray for the strength to take care of whatever baby God gives me.”Tony was moved by this statement. He thought it was great that his friend was bold enough to pray a prayer like that. When we are able to pray something like Tony’s friend prayed, or like the apostles prayed, we are truly trusting in the will of God. We are trusting in the sovereign power of God. We are asking God to equip us for whatever circumstances He has laid out before us. A lot of times, we want to take the easy way out. Sometimes everything in life is so overwhelming that we can’t help but ask God to take it away, and that is ok. It’s not bad to ask God to remove your heavy burdens. Turning your worries and cares over to God should be the first thing we all do. I think asking God to take away your struggles is a good thing. I think praying for God to change you, instead of asking Him to change your circumstances, is a deeper level in your relationship with the Lord. I long for that close of a relationship with my heavenly dad. I long for the type of relationship where I have complete trust in God and His plans. I long for a relationship with Him where my will and His will line up perfectly. How awesome would that be?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing. Please help us desire for you to transform us instead of us asking you to take away our circumstances. Help us to be open to your will, Lord. Please give us the words to say when we pray. We love you, Lord, you are the almighty one and the Lord of all. We are so grateful, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and i

Live Unoffended By GodMatthew 11:6 “And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.” This is a tiny sentence in a great big bible. You may have heard it many times before and not even noticed it because it is so small. Also, you may have heard and it not understood what it meant. This had definitely happened to me before. I have read something and for one reason or another I did not understand what it meant. Sometimes I will look at the footnotes and will get a better understanding of what the statement meant. To be honest, I am not sure if I heard this verse before or not. I know that I definitely did not understand what it meant or take any notice of it. That is, until I read about it in that book I keep talking about The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You really must read that book, it is so good! Anyway, as soon as I heard about what this verse meant, I knew I wanted to share it with people because I had never thought of it before and I know it is something that we can all do. In the book Mark talks about this couple he knows that are prayer warriors or prayer giants. You know the kind of people I am talking about, right? The people who seem to have a direct line to God. All of their prayers seem to get answered. My mom and dad are prayer warriors. They have had so many answered prayers and witnessed numerous miracles. If you know my parents, they are the first people you call when you are in need of prayers. Mark talked about how the couple’s prayers for others were often answered, however, prayers for their own lives went unanswered. He said they took a leap of faith and went into the world of filmmaking and they lost their life savings because the financial backing promised to them never came through. They lost their home in a fire. The lost three out of four parents in four years. And a rare genetic condition has taken a toll physically, emotionally and financially. It seemed like God was answering everyone else’s prayers, except their own. Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt like God was answering the prayers of everyone around you, but yours were going unheard for some reason? This couple said there had been moments when they have been tempted to throw in the towel, but the promise above has kept them going. “And Blessed is he who takes no offense to me. Here is the context of that promises as Mark Batterson explains it in his book The Circle Maker:Jesus is doing miracles right and left. He is healing diseases driving out demons and restoring sight to the blind, but John the Baptist misses the miracle train. It seems like Jesus is rescuing everybody except His most faithful follower, who is in prison. And John is his cousin, nonetheless. It seems like Jesus could have, and maybe should have, organized a rescue operation and busted him out before he was beheaded. Instead He sent a message via John's disciples. He tells them to tell John about all the miracles He is doing, and then He asks them to relay this promise: "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”I had never thought of this before. I had never thought about how John the Baptist might have felt seeing his cousin performing miracles all around him and yet he was stuck in jail. I wonder if he did feel offended? My first instinct is to say that he didn’t because he seemed like he was so close to God and I think we tend to put anyone who we think is that close to God on a pedestal. We think that because they were devoted to God that they have it all together and that that following God and His ways comes easy to them. When I start to think like this, I need to remind myself that they are human and we all struggle with our thoughts and actions. I don’t know if John the Baptist felt offended by Christ or not. I do know that this is a completely normal human response.If you are feeling offended because God is answering the prayers of all those around you and not yours please know that this is completely normal and understandable. We can be happy for others and sad for ourselves at the same time. I know I may keep mentioning that you can feel two things at the same time, but that is because I keep talking to so many people that are feeling guilty for being upset about something because they should be feeling grateful. Or, they feel guilty because they should be feeling happy that their friend just got pregnant, but they feel sad that they have not gotten pregnant yet. You don’t have to feel guilty about your feelings. It is ok to have two competing emotions at the same time. It is not just ok, it is completely normal. I wanted to share this verse because I know some people that have been feeling offended by God lately. They are wondering why everyone else seems to be more favored or more deserving. If this is you, I hope you take comfort in this passage. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” God does not favor others more than you. God is a mystery. We don’t know why He does what He does. We know He has a plan for our li

With God All Things Are Possible! (Replay)Revelations 7:17 “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”Jesus is our guide. He came down to earth to show us how we should be acting. He came down to teach us that the Lord our God is love. He is trying to guide us to the springs of the water of life, but we keep wanting to do our own thing. We don’t want to follow in his footsteps. Why don’t we? Because it is hard. Jesus said to love everyone, even our enemies. Is this even possible? Jesus wants us to forgive, but aren’t there some people who just can’t be forgiven? Shouldn’t be forgiven? I wonder if we all realize what forgiveness is? Forgiveness is not telling the other person what they did was right, or ok. Forgiveness is telling yourself that this terrible thing did happen, that you can’t change it, so you are releasing any hold that it has over you. I know forgiveness is hard.In some cases, it is impossible. However, it is so necessary. God tells us right in the Our Father Prayer, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. God will forgive us to the same extent that we forgive others. Think about the things or the people that you are unable to forgive. Do you really want the inability to forgive them to get in the way of God forgiving you? There are some things that no matter how hard we try, we cannot forgive. This is okay; we don’t have to do it on our own. God can step in and help us forgive. The only thing we must do is to ask him. To give Him permission to work in your heart to forgive. We had a word or prophecy given at our prayer group last October that I feel is so important to share.“I ask you to forgive my children. I know that is a difficult command, and at times may seem very impossible for you to do. But I remind you that I am with you always, and with me, nothing is impossible. Bring your inability to me. Allow me to work with my grace through you, so that you can be my forgiving heart for all the world.”In this word, the Lord is asking us to forgive. He reminds us that even though we feel it is impossible, nothing is impossible in HIm. In Matthew 19:26, Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It also says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We are not in this alone. We have God on our side, and with that, we can do anything. I love how God always shows up to remind us of things when we forget. I like how God is reminding us that He is always with us and then asking us to bring our inability to him. He is asking us to allow Him to work with His grace through us, so that we can bring His forgiving heart to the whole world. How beautiful is that? How great is it that God not only wants to use his grace to heal our hearts, but he wants us to be His forgiving heart for all the world. God gave us free will. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be for Him to sit by and watch us squander all he has provided us? He would love nothing more than to rain down graces on us, and yet we can’t be bothered to let him. God is not going to step in if we do not ask Him. He does not want to force us to love Him. The only way to ensure it is true love is to give us the choice to love him or not. Every day we have a choice to make. Are we going to choose God, or are we going to choose something else? God has so much grace and so much mercy to give. He does not leave us alone to make these decisions. He is there for us every step of the way.But we do need to make that choice. Once we do make that choice, He will be there to help us overcome all of the obstacles. And there will be obstacles. The life that God is asking us to live is not an easy life. Especially in this world right now. Forgiveness and love are two things that we are being called to do that are not the norm in society today. We live in a culture that does not want to forgive. We want to stay angry, blame others, and not even talk to someone who doesn’t think as we think. This is not what Jesus wants for us. Jesus did not come to earth to be with people just like Him. He did not just hang around with those who believed as he believed. He didn’t find all the people who were getting it right in life. He came for those who were struggling. He came for those who needed Him. When he met these people, he did not meet them with judgment and unforgiveness. He met them with love and forgiveness. He accepted them as they were, encouraged them, and helped them to become better. How great would it be if we could do the same? If we could greet everyone we meet with the same love and acceptance that Jesus had. You may be thinking that you are different. Jesus could do that because he was man and God, so he had the Holy Spirit inside him to help him make the right choice. Guess what? So do you. You have the Holy Spirit inside

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families, and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families, but God wants to preserve them. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, too. I pray you know that God wants to be there with you, and if you invite Him into your family issues, He can help.My name is Becky, and I want those struggling to know there is hope where there is faith, even if it’s a small flicker of faith. I always believed in God, but didn’t go to church. When my son was in his teens, he was in an accident and injured his back. Fast forward to his late 20s, he was given pain medication and eventually progressed to stronger pain medications, leading him to addiction. His addiction became my addiction in the fact that I kept trying to help, but was only enabling him. He went through several treatment programs only to relapse, but I was always there for him, good or bad, and there was a lot of bad. He was my son, and I loved him unconditionally, just as God loves us unconditionally.I remember picking him up one time, and I was afraid to be in the car with him, so when we stopped for gas and he was done pumping, I drove off and left him there. I will never forget the look on his face when I looked in the rearview mirror and drove away. What kind of mother does this? I drove straight to the church by our house and just went to sit inside and talk with God. A pastor came up to me, and I broke down. He sat with me and prayed. I was a complete wreck. On the way home, I heard Matthew West’s “Truth Be Told,” and I couldn’t stop crying. This was me, saying I was fine and I wasn’t. Things were definitely out of control. I believe God spoke to me through this song. I played the song for my husband, then I spilled my faults and all the things I had done to try to get our son sober to my husband. Later, even though God heard me with my husband, I confessed the same to God privately, and then some.I was broken and ashamed. I read scriptures, started going to church, and created a Christian playlist. My son got to a point where he did get sober, went to church, and Bible study with his daughter. He was baptized as a baby, but chose to be baptized as an adult, making a conscious effort to follow God’s plan in April 2021. On June 7, 2021, I left for work, hugged him, told him I loved him, and was glad he was my son, not realizing this would be the last time. He relapsed that day with an accidental overdose that turned out to be 100% fentanyl. We had to make the decision to remove him from life support on June 12, 2021. In the beginning, I questioned why God would allow this, but I know in my heart God knew that if my son had survived, he would have been back suffering again, and that was not His plan. My son always said if anything ever happened, not to blame myself, that everything I had done, both good and bad, had kept him alive longer than he had anticipated. I was planning his 40th birthday, but he never made it. I gained some comfort that he was able to donate his kidneys- one to a 70-year-old grandmother and one to an 18-year-old named Luke, who wrote the most beautiful letter explaining his gratitude and sympathy for our loss. My depression spiraled the remainder of 2021, and the only thing that kept me going was the songs from Matthew West and my fumbled prayers with God. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I fall down, but I get back up. I tell God I am not perfect, I neglect to pray some days, but I try to be sincere and get back on track. I recognize when God puts people in my life to share my story and experience. To this day, the words of “Truth Be Told” remind me of where I started and how far I have come on my journey. I am forever grateful.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 the circumstances of the pregnancy, and my father never let me forget how I shamed the family.Si

God Has A Watering Can (Flowers)Psalm 5:1-3 “Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.This was another verse from my prayer group. I picked it today because I know so many who are struggling with what feels like unanswered prayers. Although they trust God will answer those prayers, they find it harder and harder to trust. They want to believe that God has a good plan for them. They want to believe God is going to put an end to this suffering on this side of heaven. Yet they haven’t seen it yet. They still have to suffer with the pain every day, or the heartache every day.Last night, I went to an Encounter Ministries Alumni event at the Boston Campus, and my friend Hugh and I were praying over another friend of ours. She has been struggling with something for over 30 years, and it has been daily for over 10 years. I was telling them that I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why someone would have to go through something like that for so long. She has prayed for God to take it away. She has had lots of people pray over her for God to take it away, and although he has made the problem less severe, He has not taken it away from her.She is coming to Him each day with expectant faith also. I feel like she has checked all the boxes of what God has told us to do, and if we do, He will answer our prayer, yet they seem to go unanswered. Why is that? Do you feel like this, too? Like you have done all you can do, and yet your prayers still haven’t been answered? You aren’t alone. I wish I could say that I had the answer for you. I talked to the Lord about it this morning, and He put this song on my heart. I believe He is trying to help me understand His ways more with this song. I pray that this song and the words He gives me today to share with you will give you the strength you need to keep asking God for whatever answer you have been waiting for. He hears you, keep asking!!"Flowers" by Samantha Ebert was written during a period of intense physical and emotional pain caused by Lyme disease. Ebert, bedridden and feeling like her hope was fading, found inspiration in the "get well soon" flowers on her nightstand, realizing that beautiful things can grow in the darkest places. The song became a reflection on faith, gratitude, and the idea that God can turn even the hardest parts of life into something beautiful. Here are the words to the song:Well, blue skies and hillsides feel so far awayAnd I wrote in my notebook that I've seen better daysThan the ones as of lateI can't bear the weightThe rain won't stop pouring out my windowpaneAnd I haven't left my bedroom in 76 daysI wish something would change'Cause I'm losing faithI think many of us have been in a situation where it went on for a lot longer than we wanted it to. I think we all have had a time when we felt like things would never change, never get better, never go away. We have felt like we would never be healed, we would never get out of that relationship, we would never find a job. Whatever you never were, we have all had one. It is easy to lose faith when it feels like God is ignoring your prayers. When we are tired and worn out, it is harder and harder to resist listening to the lies of the enemy. He is a liar, and yet he uses half-truths, so that they seem to make sense to us when we are tired and feel like we can’t fight the darkness anymore. When we feel like the weight of our problem is too great for us to bear any longer.Next, the song says:So I brought it up in a desperate prayerLord, why are you keeping me here?Then He said to me, "Child, I'm planting seedsI'm a good God and I have a good planSo trust that I'm holding a watering canAnd someday you'll see that flowers grow in the valley”I am sure we have all brought our situation up to the Lord in a desperate prayer. Probably many desperate prayers, however, this time she heard an answer from the Lord. I want to pause and reinforce this point. The Lord is talking to you. I know I say this all the time, and that is because I don’t think many of you believe me. You may believe He talks to people, but you don’t believe He is talking to you. I promise you, He is, you just have to listen. So, if you are in a desperate place, ask the Lord why. Ask the Lord what He wants you to do. Maybe he will just say Wait. But what if He tells you something you can do while you wait? God is talking to you, I promise you that!In the song, the person struggling cries out to the Lord. She asks why He is keeping her there, and He tells her. He answers her question. He will do the same for you. God said, "Child, I'm planting seeds. I’m a good God and I have a good plan. So trust that I'm holding a watering can. And someday you'll see that flowers grow in the valley.” Isn’t that amazing? This is not only true for her, but it is true for you too. Our G

In Parched PlacesIsaiah 58:11-12 “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in."This scripture verse was given at a prayer group meeting recently. This morning, I was looking through my prayer group notes since we have finished the Be Bold Series, and I thought I would get back to using those verses for a bit. When I read today’s verse, I knew it was perfect because I know so many people who are struggling right now. I know so many people who have been praying for relief from physical ailments and feel as though their prayers have not been heard. Or maybe they have been heard, but they are not sure they have the strength to wait for God’s timing.This scripture verse tells us that God is continually guiding us and that He will satisfy our needs in parched places. How many of us feel like we are in parched places? How many of us feel as though we are in a desert and relief is nowhere around? We look out as far as we can see in all directions, and there is nothing. We are all alone with no end in sight. Sometimes we feel as though there is no hope in sight either. We want to be hopeful, we want to believe that God is going to heal us, and yet each day that goes by, we struggle more and more to believe it might happen.I have a friend who has a son who lost his job. We prayed for her son for a very long time. He struggled to pay his bills. He had to move out of his home. He had to give his dogs away because he had to move in with a friend and sleep on their couch. I am sure he struggled believing that a job was coming his way. I am sure he had moments when he doubted he would ever find a job again. I am sure he questioned where God was in all of this. He knows his mom was praying for him that whole time, so what was taking so long? Why wasn’t God answering the prayers that he knew people were praying for him?He now has a job and things are going well. God did answer his prayers and those of all who were praying for him. The thing that is hard for us all to understand is why it took so long. I am sure you have your own version of this story, too. Maybe you have many versions of this story. Why did the adoption process take so long? Why did it take so long to get pregnant? Why did I have to struggle so long with cancer? Why did I have to suffer in pain for so many years? Why, Why, Why?If you are asking God why for something right now, I want you to know that it is ok, and that you are not alone. None of us understands God’s ways. No one here on earth knows why He does what He does and why His timing is what it is. The one thing we do know is that he is all-knowing and all-powerful. We can be assured that He does have a plan. We don’t understand the plan because we don’t have all the facts. We don’t know what is to come. We know our story, but we don’t know anyone else’s story. We don’t know how God might use what we are going through to help someone else. We don’t know how God will use what we are going through to help us become the person we need to become.When we are confused, when we feel lost, we can turn to Scripture to find answers, to find promises. If it is in scripture, then you know you can rely on it. You can stand on it as truth. Today’s verse says that, “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong.” How many of us needed to hear that today? How many of us needed to hear that even though we feel like we are in a desert, God is actually there with us, and we are not alone. God is not only there with us, but He is forever guiding us, and He will satisfy our needs. I know this verse was meant for me to use today, too, because the next line is oddly specific. He will make your bones strong. How many of us feel like that is exactly what we need today? I know several of you listening are struggling with your bodies. You are struggling with physical ailments, and you definitely need God to make your bones strong. Some of you feel you are fading fast and can’t fight anymore. If that is you, I hope you hear God talking to you specifically today. I hope you hear Him telling you that He will give you the strength you need, the nutrients you need, the healing you need. He will make your bones strong so you can continue to stand and fight whatever it is you are fighting. HE IS THERE WITH YOU!!Then it says, “you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.” I feel as though this is God reassuring us that even though we feel as though we have nothing left to give, we will never run out. He will give us exactly what we need for that one day, that one hour, that one minute. When you feel like you have

You Are Loved By JesusJohn 13:23 “One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,* was reclining at Jesus’ side.”This scripture verse was given at my prayer group, and the following words of prophecy were given with it: “You are also the one whom Jesus loves. So, your place is to be listening to his heartbeat when you pray. So, put your head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. Say I love you and be at peace.” Is there anything more calming than putting your head on someone’s chest and listening to their heartbeat? I picture when I was little, and if I was scared, I went to lie with my parents. Just putting my head on their chest and listening to their heartbeat would make me feel better; it seemed so rhythmic and soothing.“You are also the one whom Jesus loves.” How many of you believe this? Like, truly, in the depths of your heart, believe this? You are also the one whom Jesus loves. Sometimes it is easy to say that Jesus is love. It is easy to say that Jesus loves everyone. And yet, even as we are saying it, we are discounting ourselves from that love. We know He loves everyone, and yet we don’t believe that he loves us. We don’t feel that love or even understand why He would love us. Who are we to be loved by Jesus?You are the son or daughter of the one true king; that is who you are. You were made in the likeness and image of God. You are deeply loved by Him. Why do you discount yourself from that love? Or maybe you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be worthy enough of God’s love. Maybe you think that if you just do things perfectly, then God will love you. If you attend mass every week and volunteer for every fundraiser, then you will be worthy of God’s love. Are you constantly feeling like you are not good enough for God’s love?Guess what, none of us are. None of us are worthy of God’s love, and yet he lavishes it on us freely anyway. You do not have to do anything to earn God’s love. Well, as I wrote that, what came to mind was we do have to accept it. God can tell us all day long that he loves us, but if we don’t accept it, then it doesn’t matter. Yesterday I talked about abiding in God’s love and how abide means acceptance. Can you accept God’s love? Can you accept that he loves you just as you are, no strings attached?This is a new kind of love for so many. Some people have never had someone in their lives who loved them completely, with no strings attached. Unconditional love is not a thing they even knew. If you are struggling to believe that Jesus loves you, just as you are, think about your childhood and your past relationships. What do you think of when you think about love? Did you have to earn love growing up? What did you feel you had to do to be loved? For instance, did you have to get good grades, be a certain weight, be quieter, etc? Did you feel like your parents' love was conditional on your behavior? If so, don’t worry, you are not alone. We live in a broken world, and we don’t know how to love each other unconditionally like our heavenly father does. I think everyone is doing the best they can. We can only love others to the extent that we are loved. If your parents did not know unconditional love, then they can’t pass it down to you. The good news is that you can learn to let Jesus’s love in. The good news is that Jesus does love us unconditionally. If we can learn to accept Jesus’s love, then we can learn to pass this love on to others, even if that is not the love we were raised with.If accepting God’s love is something you struggle with, I would love to give you some practical tips for how you can begin to accept God’s love. I went online to see if others had already written about his subject. I found an article written by Kara J. Lovett called “5 Keys to Accepting God’s Love.” I would highly suggest you read this article. I will put a link for it in the description of this episode, but you can easily find it by googling 5 Keys to Accepting God’s Love. https://karajlovett.com/5-keys-to-accepting-gods-love/ In the article, she goes into what God says about love, and then a section on understanding God’s love. Her article mentions five ways you can accept God’s love. They are as follows: Accepting God’s love with scripture, prayer, grace, quietness & in unexpected places Kara says in her article that “by digging deep into Scripture and spending time with God in prayer, I realized that I need to stop striving for love and instead strive to accept God’s love, which He has already graciously bestowed on me.” As I mentioned yesterday, reading through the bible is a great way to get to know what God’s love is like. You can see many examples of God’s love in the bible. 1 John 4:7-10 is a great example of love. It says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into th

Be Bold & Say Yes!1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these, I am the foremost. But for that reason, I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.”Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is something that the Pharisees and Sadducees could not understand. Actually, many people couldn’t understand this. Jesus was the savior. The Jewish people thought He was coming to save them from the Roman Army. They did not understand that He was coming to save them from something much more important. He was coming so that we would have eternal salvation. He came to walk among us so He could save us from ourselves. God had a perfect plan, and Adam and Eve, being human and imperfect, messed up that plan. God sent His son to us to set things right again. The beginning of this verse talks about “him who strengthened me.” This sounds an awful lot like Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It is true that we get our strength through Jesus Christ. Paul is thankful in this verse because Jesus considered him trustworthy in appointing him to the ministry. He talks about how he was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. If you were designing this world, if you had to choose who would lead God’s people, would this be the type of man you would choose? Does Paul sound like the ideal candidate? He was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. He is not who I would pick. And yet He is exactly who God picked. Why do you think He does this? Why do you think God chooses to use less-than-perfect people for his ministry? I think He does it because of exactly what He says to us in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows that if he only uses perfect people, we won’t listen to them. It is hard to connect with someone you can’t relate to. Also, we tend to believe what we see more than what we hear. It is one thing to have someone who has never struggled with an addiction come and tell you that Jesus can heal your addictions. It is quite another to see someone who you know had an addiction problem and is now cured of it. Which would you rather, someone to tell you that Jesus can forgive your sins, or to see Jesus sitting with those who have sinned? We as people don’t like listening as much as we like seeing. Jesus took a man who was not a very good person, someone who didn’t even believe that Jesus was who He said He was, and used him to do extraordinary things. This is because of God’s mercy. I bet that every time Paul told the story of his conversion, he won over more people than the leaders in the church preaching about God’s mercy without ever having experienced it. It even says in the last sentence of this verse why Jesus chose Paul. He said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these, I am the foremost. But for that reason, I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.” Paul was chosen, not despite his past sins, but because of them. He was chosen to be an example of Jesus’ patience to all those who would come to believe. Don’t you find it easier to believe that God will forgive your sins when you know He forgave Paul? What about Saint Peter? Peter loved the Lord, he followed Him for three years, and yet when Jesus needed him the most, he abandoned Jesus. He not only abandoned Him, but he also denied even knowing Jesus. And yet, knowing all of this, Jesus chose Peter to be the rock upon which His church would be built. If the Lord can use Peter, who denied Him three times in His time of need, and He can use Paul, who was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man, don’t you think He can use you? Sometimes we count ourselves out, and we don’t listen when God calls us because we don’t think we are good enough to serve the Lord. He is almighty and powerful, and we are little and useless. He is perfect, and we are full of sin. How could He possibly use us when others out there are so much better than us at everything? God doesn’t want better, God wants you. If you are willing, God wants

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Broken Chapter Category. We all have times in our lives when things don’t go as we thought they would. I think we have all had tragedy strike in one way or another. Some are worse than others but I don’t think anyone has had a tragedy-free life. The witnesses today are no different. They have had some truly terrible things happen and yet they are able to testify to how God was with them through it. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your situation, He can help.April: I was saved when I was 10 years old. There have been times in my life when I was walking closer to Jesus and times when I have drifted from Him.I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’m ashamed of and I have a lot of regrets. I’ve felt that God has punished me for my sins, especially on the night of September 24, 2021.My oldest son Cole was killed by a drunk driver. Nothing “bad” ever happened to my family and this was totally unexpected. My husband and I were doing everything “right”, raising our kids in church and feeling like we were leading them in the way they should go.When Cole was killed, it was and is still the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. I felt it was my fault. I felt God was punishing me for all the shameful things I’ve done. I still struggle with this.I know Cole is with Jesus because God shows me and tells me all the time that Cole is with Him. He does this in many different ways. I’ve learned to be looking for Him and listening to His voice, because if I don’t I start to believe the lies of the enemy.I know that what happened to Cole isn’t my fault because Jesus took my punishment for me when He died on the cross. I’ve asked God so many times “why did you let this happen? “Why did it have to be my Cole?” “Why not me?” Well, the answer is that as Christians, we’re not called to understand why. We’re called to trust. I choose this every day.My faith has grown stronger since Cole went to Heaven. I have more joy in my heart than I had before. I know that sounds weird and I do wish that my Cole was still here with me, but I know that given the choice to come back here, Cole would say “no.” It gives me joy knowing that Cole is with Jesus and that one day I will be there too.I am working on forgiveness, forgiveness for the man who killed Cole. I don’t want to live in a cage of anger, so I have to choose forgiveness. It hasn’t been asked of me by this man, but it has been required of me by God. “Father forgives them, for they know not what they do.” Please pray for me to forgive as my Father forgives me.Many times, when I’m driving down the road I will be crying and feeling sorry for myself and then “Don’t Stop Praying “will come on the radio. This is not a coincidence; it’s God telling me to keep trusting in Him and to continue to bring everything to Him and lay it at His feet. He goes before me. If He is for me, who can be against me?Thank you, Matthew, for being obedient to what the Lord calls you to do. Your songs are reaching many people for Jesus and giving Him all the glory. Robin: My entire life is one broken mess after another. I grew up abused and broken and then I married someone who left me even more broken. I have struggled with depression and anxiety and often thought that the world would be better off without me. And so would my kids. I never wanted them to walk away even a little broken; if I was not there, I couldn’t hurt them. I was on the edge and ready to break and I just stopped and gave in. For years people tried to lead me to God and all his promises and I would not, could not believe them, no one had ever kept a promise before and God doesn’t have time for this broken-down sinner. I looked at my aunt and sister-in-law and saw the peace and love I longed for. So I gave in. I listened. I prayed for really the first meaningful way. Then I understood. I am not broken, just cracked but I was still whole. I picked myself up and God led the way to my next chapter. I am still cracked and I always will be, but now I know I will not fall apart. Wendy: When I was 17 yrs old, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life so I took a year off from college to volunteer while I figured it out. I found a mission organization out of San Diego called Amor Ministri

Be Bold & Be ObedientLuke 1:38 “Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.”This month in mentoring, the theme is “For Such A Time As This.” Last week, I talked about Joseph and Moses and how they were in the perfect place at the perfect time. It wasn’t an easy road for them to get there. They were both broken and then they were positioned. Then I talked about Mary and Deborah. I explored how they went from being obedient to Empowered. This morning, we will look at how saying yes to God can change everything.“Obedience isn’t about perfection. It’s about saying yes to God—even when it doesn’t make sense.” Often, God will ask us to do something, and we have no idea why he is asking us to do it. We don’t feel qualified. We don’t understand the plan, and sometimes, we just really don’t want to do it. Also, God often asks for our 'yes' before He reveals the full plan. This is why obedience is so important. Our yes allows God to work within us and through us.Obedience is the bridge between calling and empowerment. So what this means is that being called to do something isn’t enough—you don’t just instantly arrive at empowerment. The way to get from calling to being empowered to carry it out is through obedience: taking steps in faith, even when it’s hard, unclear, or uncomfortable. In other words, “You may have a purpose, but your obedience activates the power to walk in it.”Let’s talk about Mary first. Mary was a young, willing vessel. Let’s listen to Mary’s Yes to the Lord in Luke 1:26-38. “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born[c] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then, the angel departed from her.To Summarize:- God chose a young, ordinary girl to carry the Savior of the world.- Mary responded in faith, not fully understanding. Do you think if Mary had known the complete story, she would have said yes? This could be why we don’t always know the full story before we have to answer, either. The person we are when we say Yes to the Lord is probably not the same person we will be at the end of the story. Mary was young when she said yes to all the Lord had planned for her. She was not the same young girl when she was sitting at the foot of the cross. She had many other experiences in her life that prepared her and trained her to be the woman she was at the foot of the cross.Mary's obedience unlocked the miracle of Jesus entering the world. Mary had free will, just like the rest of us. What if she had said no? Where would we be right now? Thank goodness for Mary’s obedience!Now, we will talk about Deborah. Deborah was a prophetess and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Her story is found in Judges 4–5. She led Israel during a time of oppression under the Canaanite king Jabin and his army commander Sisera.Her position was that of Judge and Prophetess of Israel during the era of the Judges before Israel had kings. She provided wisdom, judgment, and spiritual leadership. People came to her for decisions and guidance. She summoned Barak, a military leader, and told him God commanded him to go to war against Sisera. (Judges 4:14) Barak agreed—but only if Deborah went with him. She did.Israel defeated the Canaanite army, and Sisera was ultimately killed by a woman named Jael. Deborah was a worshipper and Poet: Judges 5 records the Song of Deborah, a victory hymn celebrating God's deliverance and the bravery of those who fought.To Summarize:- She was a prophetess and judge in a time when women had little influence.- Her obedience in speaking and leading brought victory.- She led with courage, wisdom, and worship (Judges 5).What Obedience Looks Like1. **Saying Yes in the Unknown** - Mary didn’t have all the answers. Yet she said yes anyway. - Ob

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

Be Bold & Start With LovePsalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”When I read this verse, I thought it did a great job explaining our yearning for God. We all need God in our lives. We are desperate to have him in our lives. This verse shows this in a way I don’t think I could. It also helps me realize how much I need God. Have you ever read something and then realized that was exactly how you felt, and you didn’t really know it before you read it? I knew I loved God, and I knew I longed for God. However, I couldn’t describe it until I read this verse. My soul thirsts for Him. My flesh faints for Him as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. There is no water if God is not in my life. My life is a dry and weary land when I don’t call upon God. Carrie Underwood has a song called “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.” I have not heard this song before and yet I found it today while looking up something. This song was not written about Jesus. I believe it was written about her child, judging from the other words. However, the chorus speaks to how many of us feel about Jesus. The chorus says:I finally found what I never knew I always wantedI couldn't see; I was blind 'til my eyes were openedI didn't know there was a holeSomething missing in my soul'Til you filled it up with your loveI think so many people are walking around this world right now, and they don’t know God is what they have always wanted. They know they have a hole; they know something is missing in their soul, and yet they don’t know what it is. I like the line; I couldn’t see; I was blind ’til my eyes were opened. How can we help them open their eyes? The next line in this chorus might be giving us the answer to that very question. I didn’t know there was a hole, something missing in my soul, ‘till you filled it up with your love. What if we worked on filling people up with love? What if we showed people so much love that they realized that it was what they had been missing in their lives? We can’t fill them up with our love, though. Our love is broken and judgmental. Our love is not perfect love; it is flawed, and it can hurt others, even when we don’t want to. However, if we filled them up with God’s Love, the love of Jesus, they would feel an unconditional love that would fill the hole in their soul. I know you are already asking yourself, how do I do that? How do I love with Jesus’ love and not my own love? I know you are asking this because I am asking this, too. We are all called to be a reflection of Jesus. We are called to love like He loved. How did Jesus love? We can’t be expected to love like Jesus if we don’t know how He loved. The best way to know this is to look back at scripture. Jesus Christ set a perfect example of kindness and love. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus showed His love for others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick, and the distressed. Jesus did not run away from the leapers as most people did at the time. He touched them, and He healed them. He did not turn away anyone who needed help. How can we show Jesus’ love to others like this? How can we bless and serve the poor, the sick, and the distressed? Some people listening to this can go out and volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry. Maybe you would rather volunteer at a hospital or somewhere you can help out with people who are sick. Maybe you would like to be a hospice volunteer and sit with those that are dying and have no one to be with them. However, others are listening, and you are thinking your days of helping the poor or the sick are over because you can’t get out of the house to volunteer anywhere. I assure you, your days of helping are not over. They have just changed. Now, instead of going and doing the volunteer work by hand, you can pray for those in need, and you can pray for people to answer God’s call to go and help. St. Terese of Lisieux is the patron saint of missions, even though she was never healthy enough to go on one. She didn’t let her health stop her from praying for everyone who could go on missions. Jesus also showed his love for others by not making people feel bad for their actions or who they were. God didn’t condemn the tax collectors or the Roman soldiers. He didn’t condemn the woman who was caught in adultery or the woman at the well who had been married several times and was living with a man she was not married to. In the beginning, the Love Jesus had for everyone brought people to Christianity. People found a love they had not known before when they found Jesus. They were used to rules and judgment. They were used to following God, which required so much of them. They found this new religion fascinating. A religion where God just wanted to love you and to be loved. He did not require much on your part. People could come as they were. They were not expected to be perfect because Jesus set the bar wh

Be Bold & Keep asking!1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the suffering of my people because their outcry has come to me.”The very last line stood out to me when I read this verse. In this verse, God talks to Samuel right before Saul shows up. God said that He will save His people from the hands of the Philistines because He has seen the suffering and because their outcry has come to Him. That is the part that stood out to me. He heard their outcry. I have been encountering more and more people who don’t pray for what they need unless it is a huge deal. They aren't asking God for anything if they don’t need a miracle.I understand this sentiment. I mean, God is busy; He is doing important things, and we don’t want to waste His time with our small issues. When we do this, we are saying that God has a finite amount of power. We are assuming that He won’t have enough time or enough power to deal with the more significant issues and our smaller issues. God’s time and power are infinite. There are no limits to time or power for God. We never have to worry that our request will take God away from someone else. He is with each one of us 100% of the time.Not only can God take care of the little things, He wants to. He cares about every aspect of our life. When we ask Him to help us and take care of things, we show Him that we trust Him. We show Him that we want Him in all aspects of our life. There are so many areas where I see people suffering, and they aren’t asking God for help. I understand and believe that redemptive suffering is a thing. I believe our prayers can be more powerful when we are in the midst of great suffering. I believe that if we can offer our suffering up for others, that is a powerful and beautiful thing. I don’t believe that God wants us to suffer for the rest of our lives. I don’t believe that if we have asked God for healing once or twice and it hasn’t happened, then that means that God isn’t going to heal us.I don’t know why some people have chronic pain and have been suffering for a very long time. I don’t know why it seems like God heals some people, and yet it seems like He doesn’t heal others. His ways are higher than ours, and His thoughts are higher than ours. I do believe God wants us to ask for healing. I believe He wants to hear the words coming out of our mouths. God believes in free will. If we aren’t asking Him for healing, He will probably not be healing it. From all that I have learned, God wants us to actively engage in our relationship with Him. He doesn’t just want us to sit back and have a hands-off relationship with Him. I don’t believe He wants us to hold anything back from Him. I don’t believe He thinks anything is too big or too small for Him.We have been told in our Encounter Ministries class that God cares just as much about our hang nail as He does about someone else’s cancer. It is not one or the other with God. It is everything. At the Encounter summer intensive, a woman was saying that she had pain and stiffness in her hips. When she sits for any length of time, she has a hard time getting back up and a hard time walking afterward. For a year now, she hasn’t been able to wear shoes with laces because of the stiffness in her hips. She couldn’t bend down to tie them. She was prayed over at the end of the healing night for the summer intensive, and the next day, she could bend down and tie her shoes again. Do you see? God even cares about what kind of shoes you want to wear.In the verse above, God sent Saul to save His people from the Philistines. He did this because He heard them crying out. Are you crying out? Are you asking God for help? I am not saying that we need to sit around and always cry out to the Lord. I am not saying we should be complaining about our pain or our circumstances either. I am saying that we don’t have to be afraid to ask God for something. We don’t have to feel like we are bothering Him. When we don’t ask Him, we deprive Him of the opportunity to help us.Think about how good you feel when you help someone out of a difficult situation. Think about the satisfaction and the joy you get when you help others. Now, think about how God might feel when He gets to be your savior and when He gets to save you from whatever it is you are going through, big or small. If you have chronic pain, you may be praying to God all the time, and yet you are not seeing healing. If this is the case, I am so sorry. I wish we could understand why God does what He does. However, if you are in chronic pain and you used to ask for God to heal you and now you have given up asking, I ask you to start again.I don’t know why He hasn’t healed you yet. I don’t know His plan or when He wants to heal you. I believe with all my heart that He wants to heal you. I do believe He wants you to k

Today’s Witness if from my friend Jess. Yes went to a healing room at Faith Worship center recently and she received an amazing healing. I will read to you what she posted on Facebook because she was there and can describe it much better than I can. Here is her testimony.Ok so now everyone at church knows what happened! I AM GOING TO TELL EVERYONE!!!!!I went to healing rooms at Faith Worship Center yesterday, there were some AMAZING HEALINGS yesterday, but I am going to give my Testimony to the GLORY OF GOD AND WHAT HE DID FOR ME YESTERDAY! I went in for healings of different things and BY GODS GRACE WALKED OUT WITH A SUPERNATURAL HEALING!!!!So I need to give a back story:In December I hurt my arm and my right arm, bc of me not going to therapy, was a bit shorter than my left arm. Basically my fingers on my right hand were about an inch shorter than the left, they didn’t meet tip to tip. So I went to healing room yesterday, and after the ladies prayed with me and then left me to soak in the prayer I was given, I had my eyes closed. My palms were facing up on my lap, and I could feel my right arm being dragged across my leg. I opened my eyes and no one was near me, the closest person was three or four rows in front of me, or all the way on the opposite side of the room. So I closed my eyes again and began soaking again. I had a sweatshirt on, and it felt like someone held my hand, my right hand and pulled it. I opened my eyes again right after this! Still no one around me, in fact less people than before! I ran to the closest bathroom and tried something. I measured the way I measure for archery, put my hands straight out in front of me, when I looked at my hands, MY FINGERTIPS WERE EXACTLY THE SAME LENGTH! I was able to put them together and the tips of ALL fingers matched up perfectly!!!!! God had healed me!!!! I was so excited and filled with the Holy Spirit I was literally shaking for HOURS after this (Holy Spirit shaking- the good kind)! I literally felt like a little kid at Christmas! I was so giggly and bubbly and to the point of being so excited I could hardly get the words out straight! I was so excited and happy I literally said I feel like getting on the floor and making snow angels!!!!So today at church when Pastor Daryl Nicolet asked about being whole and imagining what that would feel like, I turned to my friend behind me and said “JUST LIKE MAKING SNOW ANGELS ON THE CAFE FLOOR!”So I Just want to Give thanks to God and Jesus for this unexpected, and incredible healing that they honored me with! I lost my voice this morning before church because of all the people I told and all the praising I have been doing and continue to tell in the last 29 hours! Thank you Jesus! Thank you for reading my testimony on the amazing love of God! May you also be blessed in ways you don’t expect!!!!!!Thank you so much, Jess, for sharing your testimony. I think it makes God so happy when we share the miraculous ways he touches our lives with everyone. God is amazing, and it's great when we remember to give Him all the Glory!! If you are in need of healing, you can check out the Faith Worship Center in Pepperell, MA, on the first Saturday of the month from 10 am to noon. 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

Be Bold & Be Like DanielDaniel 6:10 “Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously.”This verse may not make much sense if you don’t know the context. Once you do, you can see Daniel's bravery in continuing to pray. This situation boils down to greed and envy, which is the cause of so many bad decisions. Daniel 6:1-5 says, “ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, stationed throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three presidents, including Daniel; to these, the satraps gave account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. The men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”Daniel was a good man. He loved God and was faithful to God. He was also faithful to the king. God was blessing Daniel, and so Daniel was excelling at his job, and the king noticed it. He was about to give Daniel a promotion and put him in charge of the whole kingdom. However, the others were jealous, and they wanted to discredit Daniel. However, they couldn’t find anything that he was doing wrong. Has this ever happened to you in your life? Have you ever had people who were jealous of you or what you have tried to discredit you? It is not a very good feeling. I remember hearing a story once of a woman who my dad worked with. She made an advancement towards my dad, but he was happily married with several kids, and he said he was not interested. She was upset and felt rejected, so she made up lies about my dad to the boss. Luckily, God was looking out for him, and the truth came out.The people who wanted to get Daniel in trouble went to the king and convinced him to sign something saying that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. They knew Daniel was faithful to his God and that he would continue to pray, even when told not to. The king did not know this. He probably wasn’t even thinking of Daniel when he signed this into law. Once he found out, he was so upset and tried to rescue Daniel, but it was a law he could not revoke.Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, and the king was so upset he fasted that night, hoping that Daniel’s God would save him from the lions. And, in case you don’t know the end of the story, God did! Let me read it to you in Daniel 6:19-23. “Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then, the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God.”Can you imagine what a witness Daniel is, not only for the king but for all those in the kingdom, as well as all those who hear the story later? Can you imagine the bravery Daniel must have had? He knew if he prayed to God during those 30 days, he would be thrown in the Lion’s Den. Or, at least, he knew it was a possibility, and yet he did it anyway. I wonder if I would have done the same. I wonder if I would have been brave enough or if I would have convinced myself that praying to the Lord in secret was ok. That God would understand because he wouldn’t want me to die, either. And this might be true. I am sure God would understand. And yet, Daniel didn’t pray in secret. He did pull down the curtains. He could have gone into his bedroom to pray or to any other room that might not have had windows. However, he didn’t. He continued his prayer routine as though nothing had changed.When I think of how brave Daniel was, I wonder if I would have been that brave. We live in a society right now where being Christian is not popular. When many people talk about Christians, especially Catholics, they say we are intolerant, unloving, judgmental, and hypocrites. It is sad that this is how Christians are portrayed. Sometimes, it is easier not to stand up for what we believe bec

Be Bold & Listen To God!Acts 18:9-10 “One night, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid. Continue with your preaching, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack you or try to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”I always get a bit jealous when I hear verses that say the Lord appeared to so and so in a dream or an angel visited them. Then I remembered that although I am not getting visited by angels, that I am aware of, although if you listened to the episode on angels last week, you know we aren’t always aware when we are visited by an angel. Although I am not aware of any visits from angels or the Lord in my sleep, the Lord does show up and talk to us each and every Thursday during prayer group. He also talks to me during my prayer time, so I really have no reason to be jealous. I don’t know if you ever felt like I did. Have you ever been jealous that some people seem to hear the world of the Lord and you can’t? If this is the case, I want to assure you that He wants to talk to you. God is always talking to His people; we just struggle to listen sometimes. If you are struggling to hear the Lord. If you wish you could ask Him a question and really hear an answer I want you to know you can. It is possible. If you cannot hear Him, it is not because He is mad at you or because He is punishing you. There could be a number of reasons why you can’t hear Him. Maybe you are harboring unforgiveness to others, which can block all kinds of graces. Maybe you don’t believe you can hear Him, so you are afraid to sit in the silence and give Him time to talk. Maybe you don’t have any quiet time in your day? Think about how hard it is to hear someone that you are intentionally trying to hear when you are in a crowded restaurant or on a subway train. Look through your day. If someone was following you around trying to talk to you all day, would there be any times when you would hear them? The world we live in is busy and noisy. It is not often that we sit and listen to the Word of God. This can change. If you want to start hearing from God, all you have to do is listen. He is already talking to you. I know that this may sound weird to some of you, and yet I think it is important to tell you. I often talk with the Lord. I write Him a letter, and then I write one back to myself and let the Holy Spirit lead what I write in the one back to myself. I feel the Lord is constantly telling me, “Thank you for listening; not many do.” God is not mad; He is not punishing you, He is patiently waiting for you to come to Him and ask Him what He thinks. He is waiting to tell you how much He loves you until you take a minute to listen. Can you give God 5 minutes of your time today to just listen? If you are quiet, if you are asking the Lord to talk, and you can’t hear anything, then you can command the spirit of deaf ears to leave immediately. You can command your spiritual ears to open. You can ask God again and expect that He will answer as He always does!I am not sure that had a lot or anything to do with the verse, and yet when I feel led by the Holy Spirit, I just agree and go along for the ride. Back to the verse. It says, “One night, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid. Continue with your preaching, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack you or try to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” I think this verse is a testament to God’s love for Paul. He knew He was afraid and He came to talk to him and to reassure him. It sounds like Paul wanted to leave the place where he was. Paul was in Corinth and that was not a nice town. Its nickname is “Sin City.” I have heard Father Mike liken it to parts of Las Vegas. Paul was preaching at the synagogue to the Jews & the Greeks, but they didn’t really want to hear what he had to say.When they started to oppose him and hurl insults at him, he decided to leave the synagogue and search out the gentiles. In case anyone listening is like me, and you are not sure who the gentiles were or what that word means, let me explain. You were considered a gentile if you were not Jewish. It was not a certain race of people or a certain tribe of people; it was all people who were not Jewish. God came to Paul in his dreams and told him not to be afraid, that He was with him, and that he would not be attacked or harmed. God is saying this to us, too! He is with each one of us, and He is protecting us from all evil. I was typing up the minutes for my prayer group, and we had several prophecies that seemed to confirm this. There were two that I thought were especially good to go with this verse.The first one says, “I watch over you, my children. All of you are my children. I break the sword of the enemy who would come against you. You have nothing to fear, for I am there for each and every one of you in each and every trial. I will never forsake my children or leave my childre

Be Bold & Experience Signs & WondersMatthew 10:7-8 “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.”I saw this verse this morning, and I thought it was a great verse for today. As you can tell from a lot of the verses I have been sharing with you lately, the class I am taking talks a lot about the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. I would love to share this information with you because I am not sure how many of us really know or believe that the Holy Spirit is still working in a supernatural way in this world. I am sure we all believe in the signs and wonders that occurred when Jesus walked the earth and the ones the apostles saw and did. However, it seems most people do not believe these things are still happening today or that they have been happening ever since Pentecost. Through the ages there have been times when the supernatural signs and wonders were less and less. However, there was never a time when there weren’t any signs and wonders. If you read about the Saints, you will see the miracles they performed all throughout the ages. I think because the Saints are attributed to a lot of the miracles that we hear about we assume that only Saints can perform miracles. Do you want to know a secret about Saints? They weren’t always Saints. At one point, every saint was just a regular human like you and me. They didn’t always know they were going to be a Saint. You may be on your way to Sainthood and you might not even know it. All they knew was that they loved Jesus and wanted to do all they could to follow Him. Do you love Jesus? If so, you are well on your way!In the verse above, Jesus tells us what we need to do. Remember, the Bible is a living document; what we are reading in the Bible is just as much for us today as it was for the apostles 2000 years ago. Jesus is telling you and me to go and proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” People need to hear this, even today. Today, the enemy wants to fill us with worry and anxiety. He wants us to spend our time looking around the world and seeing what a mess it is. He wants us to look around the world and feel like things are hopeless because that is what it looks like right now. There is so much violence, so much hatred, so much craziness. It is easy to get lost in worry and anxiety when we are looking at the world. This is why we need to affix our eyes to Jesus. He is our savior. He is our peace. Only when we take our eyes off of Him that we get wrapped up in worry and even fear. It seems more and more people are giving in to fear and anxiety these days. They are taking their eyes off of Jesus and turning them to the news, to social media, and to the newspapers. We need to be proclaiming the good news of Jesus. We need to be helping people turn their eyes back to Jesus, and what better way to do that than to show them signs and wonders? Signs and wonders will not necessarily be enough to change the hearts toward Jesus. However, signs and wonders might get their attention, and once we have their attention, we can tell them all about Jesus’ love. I think a lot of people are disillusioned with the Church these days. They see all the division and the scandal, and they think that is all the church is. The Church is made up of people, and since we are a fallen people, there will always be people who don’t do as they are called to do. This isn’t a reason to take our eyes off Jesus; if anything, it should be more of a reason to keep our eyes fixed on Him so He can help us not make those same mistakes. Be honest, when I mention signs and wonders, do you instantly count yourself out? Do you think the Saints could do them because they were Saints, but that isn’t something we ordinary humans can do? Me too! I used to think like this, too. Well, actually, if I am being honest, I still have doubts, but they lessen with each step out in faith that I take. If you are like me, you don’t have doubts that God could do miracles through you; God is God; he can do anything. However, when I think of God doing signs and wonders through me, I think, “Why me?” The enemy gets in my mind, and he tells me God wouldn’t use me. He tells me I am too boring, too weak, too sinful, not holy enough, not good enough, and so on. The thing is, Jesus doesn’t usually use those who are perfect. He didn’t come to find “perfect” people to start His church. He used 12 people who most of us wouldn’t have picked. One of the reasons the Gospels start with the lineage of Jesus is to show us that Jesus did not come from a perfect line of people. There were plenty of people in Jesus’ lineage who weren’t holy enough, weren’t good enough, weren’t even close to perfect by the world’s standards, and yet they were chosen out of everyone to be part of the lineage of Christ. Besides proclaiming the good news, Jesus is calling