Walk Boldly With Jesus

I Am Whole (Identity Series)Colossians 2:9-10 “ For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.”This episode will conclude our “I am who God says I am” series. I am whole is a struggle for many to believe. We have all sinned before; we all sin frequently, probably. It can be easy for us to think that sin makes us less than especially if we have had a really difficult past. Maybe we have had a lot of relationships in the past, and we didn’t show up as our best selves in them. Maybe we haven’t had a lot of relationships, but we have slept with a lot of other people. I think many people in this society feel used. I think we feel used by the other sex, used by our bosses, and used by big companies to sell more products. There is just this brokenness instead of the feeling that we are whole.What just popped into my mind was all the teenagers right now and how easy it is to feel broken when you are a teen. You don’t look the right way, your hair isn’t perfect, your clothes aren’t perfect. Life can be really hard when you are young. A therapist told me the other day that 15 was the most volatile age for emotions. At this age, you feel your emotions more intensely than you ever will again. Our minds are so easily persuaded by the enemy. Why is it so much easier to believe the negative than it is to believe the positive?I read a great article about this called “Finding Spiritual Wholeness" by Leanne Payne. Click Here for the article. I recommend you read the whole thing. What Leanne was talking about in this article is that God is perfectly whole, and we are made in his likeness and image. She said, “When “sin” (That which is against God’s character) entered the world, so did our brokenness, along with our broken ideas about how we view ourselves, God, and others. There is an intuitive knowledge of our personal brokenness that we are constantly attempting to fix, deny, or protect.” Isn’t this so true? We are always trying to fix, deny, or protect our brokenness.You might be wondering why anyone would want to protect their brokenness. I have talked with plenty of people who want to protect their brokenness because they have become comfortable with that brokenness. They have lived with that brokenness, so they have come to identify as a broken person. Changing that image would be hard and not something they believe they can do. One thing we don’t realize is that life is hard. Yes, it is hard to change, and yet, isn’t living a sinful life also hard? Eating healthy can be hard, yet isn’t being overweight and struggling to get around hard, too? Standing up to our loved ones and putting boundaries in place is hard, yet so is living without those boundaries in place. Quitting vaping is hard, yet so is living life addicted to nicotine and not being able to concentrate because you are thinking about the next time when you will get to hit your vape.The article I read talked about how sin distorts how we look at things. Here are a few examples she gave: Sin perverts our perception of God: God is angry with me - “He hates my sin, he must hate me.”God is disgusted with me - "I’m too dirty and damaged for Him to accept me” God is distant from me - “Why would he want to be with me when I’m like this?”God is unfair - “This is just one big setup...I couldn’t stop if I tried.”God is unhappy - “All the fun things are off limits!”Sin warps our self-perception: We become foolishly great in our own eyes when we hide from the reality of our sin, like the emperor with no clothes.We become worth - less in our own eyes when we become hyper-focused on our sins.Sin degrades or elevates (to unhealthy levels) our perception of others: We tend to do the same thing with other people that we do with ourselves - We make them out to be greater or less than we are. We serve them like gods or treat them like dogs.Payne goes on to say, "Sin brings disintegration of self while righteousness (living congruently with the character of God) brings integration of self or spiritual wholeness. This is one reason God hates sin so much - He doesn’t want our disintegration because He loves us! It must be said that any and all “righteous living” apart from God doesn’t get us to wholeness; it gets us to self-righteousness - a horrible disease that many Christians live with and perpetrates on others.”Now that we have talked about why we think we are not whole let's look at what makes us whole. Do our actions determine if we are whole? Nope! Payne says, “Spiritual wholeness is not dependent on our actions but on an acceptance of God’s acting on our part in the life/death/resurrection of Christ. Because of our faith in Christ and what He’s done on our behalf, God can pronounce us whole and remain a just God even though we often go on acting broken.” Jesus died to make us whole again. He took our sins to the cross with Him. We are no longer broken. Yes, we still act like we

I am Forgiven1 John 2:12 “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.”I decided to stick with some of the verses from the “I Am Who God Says I Am” Challenge from my Big Life mentoring group. I have talked about many of the verses; however, the next one that I had not talked about before is 2 John 2:12. I particularly liked this one because I am not sure this is one that most of us would agree with. Do you believe you are forgiven? I recently learned something that I thought was so interesting. I was at a meeting, and we were talking about the difference between Redemption and Salvation. The way they explained it was to picture that you are in jail. Redemption means someone has been paid for your freedom. This means you have been redeemed. You are now free to go, free to leave the jail in which you were held captive. However, the salvation doesn’t come until you leave the prison. You need to be the one to accept that redemption and walk out of the door. That is the hard part, that is the part that we struggle with a lot. We might understand on some level that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and yet we struggle to believe that he died for our sins in particular. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Do you believe there is nothing you can do that won’t be forgiven if you repent? Do you believe you don’t have to earn your forgiveness? This is something else that we struggle with. We think we have to be good enough to be forgiven. We mess up, and then we think we need to fix everything before we turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There is nothing you have to do to be forgiven other than to be sorry for what you have done. You can’t earn your forgiveness, Jesus already paid the price for you. He paid a high price, and when we try to earn our forgiveness, we are essentially saying what He paid wasn’t enough.Father Mike was just talking about this idea of earning our forgiveness the other day on the Catechism in a Year podcast when he was talking about the sacrament of reconciliation. When Catholics go to confession, we confess our sins, we say we are sorry to God for having sinned against Him, we receive absolution for our sins, and then the priest gives us penance. Sometimes, when we get penance, we think that it is not severe enough. For instance, we confess we committed a mortal sin, and the priest says that we should say 5 Hail Marys and 5 Our Fathers. We don’t see how that could possibly atone for our sins. That’s the thing: we are not atoning for our sins, our forgiveness is freely given to us because Jesus died on the cross. He already atoned for our sins. Penance is meant to help us turn our hearts back to God. Just as our sin was an active choice of turning away from God, penance is an active choice of turning back to God.What penance is meant to do is to help us get back on track. In an ideal world, your penance would have something to do with what you were struggling with at the time of confession. For instance, if you are struggling with being kind to your family, your penance might be to say three kind things to each one of them before going to bed that night. If you are struggling with pride, your penance might be, to say, the Litany of Humility. This would be in an ideal world. However, there are not enough priests, and the priest might not always be able to come up with a creative penance that has to do with your specific struggle or your specific sins. If you are given a penance that doesn’t seem to “fit the crime,” so to speak, remember that you are not earning your forgiveness; you are not trying to buy it, it has already been purchased for you. I read an article about doing penance after confession, and it said, “Just as sin wounds (or breaks) our relationship with God and makes our souls sick, penance is medicine that helps us turn our hearts back towards our Creator. Confession removes that sin from our shoulders. Penance helps us move towards a more holy future."The verse above says that our sins are forgiven on account of his name.” I mentioned earlier that sometimes we think we need to fix things before we confess what we have done. We think we need to be perfect before we approach God and tell Him what we have done. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He didn’t wait till we stopped sinning. He didn’t wait until we had all our ducks in a row, He didn’t wait until we had life all figured out. He died for our sins while we were still sinners. This shows us how much God loves us and also shows us that He doesn’t want us to wait until we are perfect because that day will never come. God told Paul that His power is made perfect in our weakness. We think we need to be perfect for God, and yet God doesn’t require that of us. He would rather we come to Him in our weakness and our brokenness. If we are perfect, we

I Am Accepted by ChristRomans 15:7 “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”I thought this one was especially important for us to know because it is one that might be hard for us to believe. It is also something that we are all desperately searching for. We all want to be accepted. We all need to be accepted. Sometimes, we will go to extraordinary lengths to change who we are just to feel accepted. This is not the kind of acceptance that we want. I think we all wish, down deep in our hearts, that we could just be who we truly are. Yet, we feel if we are our true selves, then we won’t be accepted. We fear to be ourselves because we worry that if we are, people will think we are too much or not enough.They might say we are not kind enough, silly enough, joyful enough, pretty enough, or anything else we might struggle with. They may also say that we are too loud, too excited, too peppy, too old, too young. Whatever our insecurities are, whatever the enemy is whispering in our ear, that is what we fear people will think of us. I know for me, I always think I don’t make an impression. I sit more on the outside of the circle and observe. I am always surprised when someone says that they remember me or that I did something that touched them in some way. If you know me, that may seem weird to hear. I think we all have these inner thoughts that our loved ones would be surprised to know we felt.I just read my word and mantra to a friend the other day. My mantra is a statement about who I want to be at the end of 2025, and I say it every day, well, at least all three days so far this year, to remind me of who I want to become. When I read it to my friend, she said it was funny to her because I already seemed like I was that person in her eyes. I understand what she means, as when I am talking to people and listening to their struggles, I am often surprised to learn what they are struggling with. Beautiful people who have no idea how beautiful they are. Kind people who have no idea how loved they are by others. Faith-filled people who have no idea what a beacon of light they are to others.This tells me that the enemy’s lies are working, and we need to change the game. We need to stop listening to him and listen to our Heavenly Father and listen to our friends and family. Why do we dismiss what our friends and family say as if they are just saying what we want to hear? Can’t both things be true? Can what they say be true and what we want to hear? We need to be able to believe the good things more than the bad things. Why are the bad things so much easier to believe?I pray at the end of this month you will start to believe some of the good things more than the bad things. I pray by the end of this month, you will begin to see yourself through the eyes of the Lord instead of through the eyes of this world.When we look at today’s verse, it is twofold. It tells us we are accepted by the Lord, and it also tells us to accept others as He accepts us. Listen again, “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” When I looked this verse up on the Enduring Word website, this is what the pastor had to say:Therefore, receive one another: (In other translations, it says to accept one another) Instead of letting these issues about disputable things divide Christians (especially making a division between Jew and Gentile), we should receive one another just as Christ received us – in terms of pure grace, knowing yet bearing with our faults.It goes on to say: Spurgeon on just as Christ also received us: “Christ did not receive us (or accept us) because we were perfect, because he could see no fault in us, or because he hoped to gain somewhat at our hands. Ah, no! But, in loving condescension covering our faults, and seeking our good, he welcomed us to his heart; so, in the same way, and with the same purpose, let us receive one another.”God doesn’t accept us because we are perfect. He doesn’t accept us because we are getting it all right, and we are doing all He asked us to do. None of us here on earth are getting it all right, or at least, not many of us. Most of us, even those who seem the more put together, are just doing the best we can. We all have things we struggle with and things we wish we could be better at. We all think everyone else is doing so much better than we are. They aren’t! We are all struggling. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it is not there. Do you let everyone see your struggles? No, most of us hide our struggles. Although, do you know what makes the struggle easier? Sharing it with others makes it easier to carry because we aren’t doing it by ourselves. It also makes it easier because sometimes others can see our situation with new eyes and may shed some light on it.You are accepted by Christ. You are also accepted by God. Some may think that is something I wouldn’t have to say. Of course, if Jesus accepts me, then God

I Am A Friend Of JesusJohn 15:15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”This month in mentoring, the theme is identity. I think it is so important that we know who God says we are because this world is so crazy, and it tries to tell us all sorts of lies about how we are. The devil also whispers in our ears who he thinks we are, or at least who he wants us to believe that we are. These are all lies. God is the one who created us, and He is the only one who can tell us who we truly are. This month, on the podcast, I will be going through different scriptures that show us who God says we are. The more we know, the easier it is to dismiss the enemy's lies.In today’s scripture, Jesus calls us friends. Did you know God thinks you are His friend? I don’t know how many of us actually know that. Many people I have talked to think of God as more of a disciplinarian. They see Him as an old man looking down on us from heaven and judging us for all we are doing wrong. We picture Him just shaking His head at all that we are doing. We think He is up there waiting for us to screw up like we always do so that He can punish us. Is this how you think of God? If so, you are not alone, I have heard this from many people.Maybe this isn’t the view you have of God. Maybe you know that He is kind and merciful. Yet, you still don’t think of yourself as His friend. I mean, He is God, and you are….well, you. You are just a human. What could you possibly have to offer to God or to this friendship? In this verse, God is telling us that he no longer calls us slaves, for slaves don’t know what the master is doing. In the time when the Bible was written and in the language it was written, the word that was used is similar to servant. This is a term we tend to be more comfortable with. It is easier to think of ourselves as God’s servants. We owe Him everything and we want to serve Him. We are happy to serve Him.However, Jesus tells us in this verse that we are not servants; we are His friends. In Jesus’s day, a slave or servant was somebody who repaid a debt to their master by serving them. Slaves didn’t necessarily make major decisions on important matters. They were workers who just did what their employer told them to do. They were not considered equal, and they were not told why they were doing what they were doing. They were just told what they needed to do. In today’s verse, Jesus tells us that he has called us friends because He has shared with us all things that He heard from His Father. Jesus is not calling us to do whatever He tells us blindly. He is telling us all the Father is telling Him, and then He is inviting us to help Him in His mission of spreading the Gospel to the world.I was a bit confused with the beginning of this verse because it says, “You are no longer slaves.” I was wondering what this meant. When were we slaves? What I found when I researched it a bit is that we were slaves/servants because Jesus sacrificed His life so that we might be set free. He took our sins to the cross for Him. That is a debt that we will never be able to pay back. As I said earlier, a servant was someone who repaid their debt by serving them. Jesus didn’t want us serving Him out of a sense of obligation. Jesus did not want to leave us in this Master/Servant relationship. Jesus invited us to be His friend. He invited us to follow Him and to be a part of all that He was doing. Not because we have to but because we want to.What does it mean to be a friend to Jesus? When I looked this up online, I found the following: To be a friend of Jesus means to love and obey Jesus and to love and be good to others. There, it listed four attributes of a friend of Jesus.Loyalty and obedience - Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14). Love others - Jesus said, "But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you" (John 13:34-35). Live a holy life - This means living a life that glorifies God, worships Christ, and rejects Satan. Serve your community - You can serve your neighborhood or community together with your church or a local ministry.I also an article (CLICK HERE for article) about a woman who was saying that she had forgotten how important friends are to a Christian. For a while, she forgot this, and she forgot who she was in a basic way. She was fully immersed in survival—moving four times in 5 years, having twins, homeschooling older children—she had no bandwidth to be concerned with anyone outside her immediate family. Then one day her daughter signed up to be in a production of the Wizard of Oz and this came with a mandatory 12 hours of volunteering from the parents. She resented this mandatory commitment, but soon realized how much she needed friendship and connection with other people.She states in the article that she learne

Choose Carefully!Romans 6:16 “Don't you realize that Grace frees you to choose your own master? But choose carefully for you surrender yourself to become a servant – bound to the one you choose to obey. If you choose to love sin, it will become your master, and it will own you and reward you with death. But if you choose to love and obey God, he will lead you into perfect righteousness.”The bookmark in my Passion Translation Bible happened to be in Romans today. Although now that I see the verse, I can see it wasn’t an accident. This is a great verse to end 2024 and begin 2025. I love the end of a year and the beginning of a new year. I get so excited to think about what this year has in store for me. I go through a process with God to select a word and mantra for the year. I am part of Big Life Mentoring, and Pamela Crim has put together some great worksheets that guide you in a conversation with the Lord to figure out your word and mantra.I believe my word for this year is going to be STEP. After praying with the Lord and asking what I want for next year and what is getting in my way, I feel as though the Lord is telling me this is the year to step out in faith more. This is the year to stop thinking about what I want to do and actually do it. Also, I would like to respond more when He asks me to do something instead of being too afraid of what others may think of me. This has been a problem in the past and I would like to overcome it this year. Here is my mantra for 2025:STEP- Every day I STEP out in Total Trust that God is leading the way. When He calls me to do something, I do it BOLDLY, without hesitation. I am FOCUSED and INTENTIONAL with my time because I know it is a gift from God. I have so much potential, and this year, I will PARTNER with God in a NEW way to achieve all he has planned for me!I mention my word and mantra for the year because I feel it is important to live intentionally. I think the beginning of the year is a great time to spend some time with the Lord and ask what He has planned for you this year. What would He like you to do? It is also a great time to let Him know what you would like to do and see if He is on board. Setting goals for the year is a great idea because it gives you focus and it gives you direction. If you set a goal and you don’t hit it, you will at least have gotten closer than you would have if you didn’t set a goal.I love goals. However, you may not be a goal-setting person, and that is great. We are who we are. If you are not someone that likes to set goals can I invite you to at least sit with the Lord and ask Him where your focus should be this year? How are you going to grow in your faith this year? Are you going to work on your connection with others? Are you going to grow in your love of others? Are you going to pray more? Are you going to read more? Are you going to say the rosary daily? Are you going to try to be less judgmental? Are you going to try to love your enemies? Are you going to work on forgiveness? Do you see how many different ways you can grow this year?However, a lot of times, we don’t focus on how we will grow. We aren’t intentional with our faith and how we live it out. Today’s verse is telling us to be careful about living without intention. It is telling us to choose carefully and not just go about our day without consciously making a choice. Did you know that you make about 35,000 decisions a day, and most experts say that the majority of them are made automatically or subconsciously? Some experts say up to 95% of our decisions can be made subconsciously. That means we aren’t actually even thinking about them. We just make them without thinking. Can you imagine that?The decision in this verse is so important. The verse says,“Don't you realize that Grace frees you to choose your own master? But choose carefully for you surrender yourself to become a servant – bound to the one you choose to obey. If you choose to love sin, it will become your master, and it will own you and reward you with death. But if you choose to love and obey God, he will lead you into perfect righteousness.” Who doesn’t want perfect righteousness? If we are making 95% of our decisions subconsciously, then what are the odds we are going to choose to love and obey God instead of choosing sin? It seems like most of our day we aren’t even consciously making the choices.This can actually be good or bad. This is where living intentionally comes in. If you are intentionally living your life as if you love God, then your brain is more likely to default to loving God. If you are staying close to God throughout the day, then your mind is likely to default to loving God. For instance, think about those who have given their lives for the Lord. I have often wondered how they did that. I wondered how they were strong enough to not waiver in their faith even when presented with death. And, it was not always a quick and easy death. Sometimes, it was a long, drawn-out, or very pai

The Furnace Of AfflictionIsaiah 48:10 “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”This is a verse that most of us probably don’t like. No one wants to be tested in the furnace of affliction. No one wants to face affliction at all, and yet this is where we grow the most. Do we need to have affliction and trouble in our lives to grow? No, God could just give us all that we need without affliction. God can do whatever He wants. However, He knows if He gives it to us, then we won’t appreciate it; we will take it for granted, and we will waste it.This is true with most things. If we are handed everything we ever need and want from our parents, then we won’t appreciate what we have, and we probably won’t appreciate all they do for us. We will take it for granted because we don’t know anything else. How do I know that God knows this? First, He knows everything. Second, He has seen it in his people time and time again. Remember the Israelites that were saved from Egypt? God saved them in a miraculous way from the years of slavery that they had endured. He saved them, and then he provided food for them every single day. However, because it happened every single day, they started to take it for granted. They decided they would rather be in captivity and have more variety in food than continue to be free and eat this miraculous bread from heaven.Can you think of a time in your life when you didn’t have to work for something, and you took it for granted? What about the opposite? You had to work really hard for something, and you appreciated it so much more. Another example that just came to mind was water. In America, everyone I know has more water than they know what to do with. Some pay for water, and some have a well. Either way, they don’t work super hard for their water. Because of this, I have seen a lot of waste when it comes to water, especially in my family. We don’t understand the value of water because we have never gone without water. It has always been right at our fingertips. We currently don’t pay for water either because we have a well. I have seen my kids turn the water on to heat up and then not get in it for 10 minutes or more. Can you imagine how much water we are wasting, just letting it run down the drain?I know we are not the only people to do this, either. What about all the water bottles we start to do but then don’t finish? I can just imagine what the people in Africa would say or think if they could see all the ways we waste water in America. Globally, more than 1 million people die each year from a lack of access to safe water and sanitation. Unsafe water is a leading risk factor for infectious diseases, including Cholera, Diarrhea, Hepatitis A, Typhoid, and Polio. I find it so hard to understand how there can still be this many people without safe water around the world. I think it can be so easy to think that everyone has the things that you have because you have always had them. You have never known anything different.I think if we lost power in our houses for a week, or if we lost water for a week, we would have a new appreciation for these things. If we had to grow our own fruits and vegetables instead of just buying them at the store, then we might appreciate them a bit more and not waste them. How many of us buy fresh vegetables with every intention of eating them and then wind up throwing them away because they went bad before we could eat them? I think if we had to do without them for a while, or if they were harder to get, we might appreciate them more.The same is true with the afflictions we encounter in our lives. Affliction means any pain or suffering we have had to endure. Today’s verse tells us that we are refined through the furnace of these afflictions. We all want to be refined. We want to grow closer to the Lord. We want to grow more into who the Lord is calling us to be, and yet we don’t want the afflictions. Who wants to endure pain and suffering? Who wants to be in a furnace? Can’t we just be refined without all that? Yes, but this is how God has chosen to refine us. This is for our own good.I was just listening to a sermon by Steven Furtick from Elevation Church the other night while driving home. He said that there was a false article written about their church a few years ago saying that they fake Baptisms. He was not happy about the article, and it was a really stressful time for him and the church. However, now that they are through it, He said he is glad it was written. The reason he said this is because the church was refined through this adversity. When the article was written, they were doing Baptisms at their church once or twice a year. Since that article was written, they now do Baptisms every single week. Was the affliction they had to go through fun? No! But they did grow from it, and God brought a blessing from their church out of it.Think back to some of the hardest times in your life. Are you different

UnityRomans 10:11-13 "The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”When I read this verse this morning, I knew it was the one I should talk about. It talks about something very important that I think we forget about a lot. This verse shows us that the Lord does not get caught up in race or religion. It says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It says everyone, not just some. This was a letter written to the Romans in the early church. Back in the day, Jews definitely thought that the Savior was coming to save them. Even those who were followers of Jesus were stunned when He was ministering to everyone and when He would talk to anyone.Do you remember the woman at the well? Jesus made it a point to talk to her even though Jews and Samaritans were not allowed to talk, and men certainly weren’t supposed to talk to women they did not know. When Jesus came, it seemed like He turned everything upside down. He showed the apostles and the world that there was a new way of living. He wanted them to know they were no longer governed by a whole long list of rules. Now, they were governed by the Holy Spirit. If they weren’t sure what they should or should not do, they could consult the Holy Spirit, and He would lead them in the right direction. He would remind them of all that Jesus said and did while He walked on Earth.The same is true for us. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and He will guide us to doing what is right, and He will convict us when we are doing something wrong. The only problem with this is that we need to listen to Him, and sometimes we don’t want to. We all have that still small voice inside of us that tells us when we should do something or when something doesn’t feel right. Yet, we don’t always listen to it because sometimes we don’t want to do what we know we should do, and sometimes we want to do something we know we shouldn’t do.Before the Holy Spirit came down to live in them, the Jewish people were bound by a large number of commandments. When I looked it up online, it said 613 commandments, but then it said there is no universally agreed-upon number. It doesn’t matter how many, you get the idea that it was a lot of commandments that they were responsible for upholding. However, when Christ came, He said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus was showing his apostles that things had changed. It seemed like He was showing them that it wasn’t as important to focus on all the little things but more on the big things. It seems like Jesus was making it easier for people to understand what is important.For instance, in Matthew 15, the phrases and scribes came to Jesus and asked why the apostles broke the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before eating, and Jesus asked them why they broke the commandment of the Lord to honor thy mother and father. Here, Jesus is pointing out that the commandments were given to us by the Lord. None of our laws or our traditions should go against what the Lord has told us in those commandments.Going back to today’s verse, "The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This reminds us that Jesus didn’t just come to save one group of people. He didn’t just come to save the Jews. I think in our day and age, we can also extend this to He didn’t just come to save the Catholics, the Jews, and the Protestants. I think we can get caught up in the differences of our religion and forget all that we have in common. God wants all of His children saved. That means, no matter your race, religion, age, sex, God wants you to know and believe about Him.Do you believe in God? Do you call upon Him? It says right here in this verse that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I have had many discussions with many people about whether we know that we are going to heaven. This verse seems to say that if you believe in God and you call upon Him, then you will not be put to shame. There are more verses like this in the Bible. There are also verses that say you are not saved on faith alone, but faith with works. This does not imply that you have to earn your way into heaven. It is saying that you can’t just believe in the Lord and ignore all those around you, like the poor and needy. It is dangerous when we take verses on their own and don’t read them in the context of the whole Bible.I truly believe that none of us knows who is and is not getting into heaven because we do not know what is inside anyone else’s hear

Kind Mercy Wins Over Harsh Judgement Every Time!James 2:12-13 “Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.”That was the message translation. When I first read this verse this morning, it was in the passion translation. This is what it says, “so we must both speak and act in every respect like those who are destined to be tried by the perfect law of liberty and remember, that judgment is merciless, for the one who judges others without mercy. So, by showing mercy, you take dominion over judgment.“ I like both of these translations. The reason I thought it was so important to share this verse with you today is because it’s so easy for us to judge. It’s so easy for us to look at someone else and think they’re doing everything wrong.It’s easy for us to judge. It’s easy for us to look from the outside and see you so clearly that they should be doing this or that. It is perhaps most easy to judge our family as we think we know them very well. The thing I’ve discovered over the years is that we only know what people want us to know. I think the Lord has been really showing me this a lot lately. I’ve met so many people over the last year or two, and they look perfectly happy on the outside. They seem so close to the Lord, and it is clear that he loves them. Then, when I talk to them, I find out they feel so far from the Lord. I find out that even though they are beautiful and kind and loving, they’re insecure and feel ugly, unwanted, and not enough.I know it is cliché to say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and yet the Lord keeps showing me over and over again this year that you don’t know anything about someone just by looking at them or examining their life from the outside. I think this is true even with our family. We think we know what’s best for them because we think we know them. We grew up with them. We were around them all the time, and we knew who they were. The thing I am finding out is that people are not always their true selves around family or around anyone. Sometimes, we act like who our family thinks we are. We act in a way we know they will approve of or a way we think we want us to act. I have discovered this can start at a really early age. I wonder what would happen if we stopped assuming we know what someone else is thinking. We stopped assuming we knew what they liked or who they were, and we started asking questions.I wonder if we made it a point to be less judgmental if others would feel free to be themselves around us. I wonder what would happen if we stopped assuming intentions or motivations and just asked people what we were thinking. What if we stopped thinking we knew what was best for everyone? What if we trusted there was a reason they were doing what they were doing? What if we trusted God knew what he was doing with them and in them? What if instead of telling them all the reasons we think what they’re doing is wrong, we talk to God about it instead? No matter how much we want to and no matter how much we think we can. We cannot change people. The only one who can do that is God. So why do we waste so much time trying to convince someone to change? Wouldn’t that time be better spent talking to God about it?Take a minute and think about where all your advice (a.k.a. Nagging) has gotten you. Has it changed the other person? Has it improved your relationship with that person? Has it damaged your relationship with that person? There are very few relationships that improve as a result of nagging. Even if the person finally changes, they may feel resentful of you for making them change, or they may try to change, but it doesn’t last long because they didn’t want the change. Most of the time we don’t know the reason people do what they do. They might do something that makes no sense to us. For instance, we know someone, and they always push others away. We judge them, and we don’t understand why it seems like they ruin every relationship they find. However, if we could see inside them we would understand they have been hurt over and over again by loved ones. We would see all the important people in their lives have left them, and so now they always push others because they figure they will leave anyway, and they don’t want to get attached.We might look at someone who has a lot and doesn’t share well with others. We may think they are greedy and selfish. Yet when we look at their childhood, we see they grew up without anything, and we’re taught that there is never enough in this world. They worry if they share what they have there won’t be enough for them. We might look at someone and judge that they are mean and cruel. However, if we could see inside, we would know the truly terrible things they endured over their lifetime. We would see that the world has shown them over and over again that there is nothing to be happy about

Jesus’ Birth ForetoldIsaiah 9:6 “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”We received this scripture verse on Thursday during prayer group. I was researching how many years, before the birth of Jesus, this prophecy was given to Isaiah. While researching, I found this article that explains this verse very well. So, I thought I would read the article to you for today's episode. The article can be found on The Master’s University Website. It does not say who wrote it. CLICK HERE for the article.The Christmas story in the Bible begins several hundred years before that night in Bethlehem. One Old Testament prophecy after another promised a coming Savior—the Messiah, the Anointed One—who would redeem the people of God. The centerpiece of all the Christmas prophecies, Isaiah 9:6, was written nearly six hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah promised it would be a miraculous event unlike any the world had ever known, and the details Isaiah gave were fulfilled precisely by Jesus.For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.Isaiah 9:6 is the most familiar of all the Old Testament prophecies about the birth of Christ. Handel included it as one of the great choruses of his Messiah oratorio. Chances are you either sing it or hear it several times every Christmas season.Consider the rich truths in this one short verse and the attributes given to this extraordinary child. To the Jewish nation, Isaiah’s prophecy was news of a coming King. To the unsuspecting world, the prophecy promised a Savior, God incarnate, whose coming would dramatically and forever alter human history.Son of Man“A child will be born to us” is a statement about His humanity. He began life like any other human—as an infant. Isaiah doesn’t say more about this here, but we know from the New Testament that Christ experienced every temptation common to humanity, but He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). As a man, He felt everything we feel, hurt like we hurt, wept like we weep, and in His death He even felt the weight of sin as He took ours upon Himself.Son of God“A son will be given to us” speaks of the Savior’s preexistent deity. By saying “given,” not “born,” Isaiah suggests that Jesus existed before His birth. He was already God, the second Person of the Trinity, before He was given to us to be our Savior (Philippians 2:6-7). He came as the Son of God—God in a human body—to conquer sin and death forever. He is the perfect Son of God, the promise of the ages, the Holy One of Israel, the desire of nations, the light in darkness, the only hope for our lost world.King of Kings“The government will rest on His shoulders” looks beyond that first Christmas to a time still in the prophetic future when Christ shall reign over a literal, earthly, geopolitical kingdom that encompasses all the kingdoms and governments of the world (Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 2:44). In that day, the government of the whole world will rest on His shoulders, and He will reign as sovereign over a worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace. In the meantime, His government operates in secret. His kingdom and sovereign rule are manifest within those who trust Him as their Lord (Luke 17:20-21).Wonderful CounselorMessiah’s kingdom has the answer to the world’s confusion. During His incarnation, Christ demonstrated His wisdom as a counselor. When people came to Him, He always knew what to say, when to reach out to a seeking heart, and when to rebuke an impetuous soul. The testimony of those who heard Him was, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” (John 7:46). Christ is the source of all truth (John 14:6), and it is to Him that we must turn to make sense of life’s confusion. Jesus is the Counselor who knows everything. He knows all about you; He knows the needs of your heart; He knows how to answer those needs. And He always gives wise counsel to those who will hear and obey Him.Mighty GodThe King is the Mighty God and His kingdom is free from all chaos. “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33), which means chaos is antithetical to who He is. Christ the King loves to step into a life of chaos and not only provide wonderful counsel, but also display His divine power by bringing order. He not only tells His subjects what to do as a wonderful Counselor, but He can energize them to do it—because He is the Mighty God. In Jesus we have a sovereign Master who can forgive sin, defeat Satan, liberate us from the power of evil, redeem us, answer our prayers, restore our broken souls, and reign over rebuilt lives, bringing order to chaos.Eternal FatherWe tend to cringe at the word “government,” picturing an administrative labyrinth. But our Messiah’s kingdom is not like that. He requires n

Do You Have Questions Too?Romans 5:5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”Hope in the Lord does not disappoint has been a verse I have had to come back to over and over again. It is one that honestly I don’t really understand. I mean, I know plenty of people who have hoped in the Lord that their loved ones would be healed on this side of heaven, and they weren’t. They were surely disappointed. I have known people who were praying to get a certain job and they didn’t. I am sure they were disappointed. What about those who really want to be married and haven’t met their spouse yet, or those who want children and yet can’t conceive? I am sure they are hoping in the Lord to answer those prayers, and it hasn’t happened yet, I am sure they feel disappointed.I have discovered that the Holy Spirit has been asking me to go deeper when I read something I don’t understand, which is a lot. I will be reading a scripture and then a question will pop into my head. At first I thought it was the enemy trying to get me to doubt my faith, or doubt what the scripture says. However, upon more prayer I have come to believe that the Holy Spirit doesn’t want me to just question something and then move on without an answer. I think He is calling me to work with people who have left the faith, and left the Lord. He is calling me to work with those who have been hurt by religion and want nothing to do with it and so they also have given up on the Lord. Or, maybe they have just grown apart from Him, or never really knew they could have a relationship with Him.I think the Lord is trying to show me that if I am asking these questions, so are they. The answers that I have always been given don’t do it for me anymore. The Lord is asking me to go deeper. He is asking me to truly understand who He is and why He does what He does. I mean, we will never understand most of what He does until we join Him in heaven, as our brains are so limited as to what we can actually understand and comprehend. However, I do feel He is telling me to go deeper when a question comes up, like the ones today, and ask Him to help me understand. You can do the same with your questions. You can bring them to the Lord, and He will answer them. Do you struggle to believe that? I know I do sometimes. I am hesitant to ask the Lord a direct question because I always think I won’t get an answer, and then I will feel rejected. However, He always answers. Maybe not right away, and maybe not how you thought He would. I have one friend who said she always asks God questions, and she hears nothing. Then, later in the week, as someone is talking to her, she realizes that is the answer to the question she asked God. Sometimes, she will get an answer through the scriptures that are read at mass. I have another friend who said she doesn’t receive a lot of answers during her prayer time, but then when she is in the shower is when her questions are answered. If you are asking the Lord questions and feel He is not answering you, I want to assure you that He definitely is. It just might be in a way you are not recognizing. Be on the lookout for it, be expecting an answer in unexpected ways, and you will find themBack to today’s verse, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” I went back to read the verse before this because this verse starts with “this hope,” so I thought, what hope? What does “this hope” mean? The verse before today’s verse says, “But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressure will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” That was the passion translation, so today’s verse sounds a bit different in that translation.The hope we are talking about in this verse is one that we have earned. It is one that was hard fought. It is one that was forged out of the fires of difficult situations. It is a hope that we gain after we have developed patience and character. God never told us we wouldn’t have disappointments in life. He never promised us that our lives would be easy. He actually told us it would be hard. Yet He does promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be there with us in our disappointing moments. Ones where we cry out to the Lord and ask why He is not answering our prayers, why He took our loved one from us, why He put these desires into our hearts and now is not bringing them to fruition.I think we have all asked the Lord at least one of these questions, and I think we were probably justified in doing so. I don’

In Returning and Rest, You Will Be SavedIsaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused.”This verse was given at the prayer group yesterday. I really like this verse because it says, in returning and rest, you shall be saved. Have you heard this before? I don’t think that I have heard it at all. The world tells us that we will be saved when we save ourselves. It tells us that we will be saved if we do enough. If we figure out the right thing to do, then we will be saved. If we figure out how to be perfect, then we will be saved. If we figure out who God wants us to be and become that person, then we will be saved. This verse is a welcome change. It is telling us that if we return and rest we will be saved. How great would it be to just rest in the Lord and be saved? How great would it be to finally stop doing so much and yet still be saved?I had my Message Translation Bible out to look up a verse for someone else, and so I thought I would share with you what this verse says in the message translation. “God, the Master, the Holy of Israel, had this solemn council: "Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me – the very thing you've been unwilling to do.” When I heard this, it rang true in my soul. How many of us are trying to save ourselves or our loved ones? How many of us are wearing ourselves out, trying so hard to do all we can do? We are so tired, we feel so weary, and yet we feel like we are just running in circles. Nothing is really changing.This verse may be our answer. God Himself is telling us if we return to him and rest, we shall be saved. The question just came into my mind that I never really left the Lord, so why do I have to return to Him? If you were wondering the same, I think the returning is returning the issue to Him. We tend to pray about our problems, we hand them over to the Lord, and then we take them back. We get frustrated, we run out of ways we can help ourselves, and we turn back to God. Then we think of a new way we can help ourselves, so we take our problem back from God. Then we fail, and we give it back to God. Rinse and repeat over and over again. God is telling us to just rest in Him. He will save us.I love how the message translation says, “Stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.” I know it doesn’t feel like our efforts are silly. We are just doing all we can to save ourselves or our loved ones. Who could blame us? However, if we really think about it, isn’t it kinda silly to think we could do a better job than God? Isn’t it kinda silly to think we might have a better plan than he does? He is the Lord of the whole universe. He not only knows everything about us, including our innermost thoughts, but He knows everything about everything. It stands to reason that He would be about to come up with a better plan because He has more information.The verse also says, “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” It seems as if we are trying to find our strength in our own ability to save the situation. However, in this verse, the Lord is telling us that when we rest in him, we can find strength in that quietness and trust. Have you ever found strength in quietness before? Have you ever been really worried about something and just sat in silence with the Lord? If you haven’t done this before, I invite you to give it a try. You would be surprised how much comfort and strength you can get when you sit in silence with the Lord. God has told our prayer group several times that it is in the silence that He is healing us. This is when He is ministering to us. This is when He is comforting us and building us up.Matthew Kelly always talks about the “Classroom of Silence.” He talks about how much you can learn when you sit in the classroom of silence. It is a time when we don’t have to be thinking. We don’t have to be planning. We don’t have to know everything or do everything. We can just sit there and be with the Lord. I invite you to sit with the Lord today, even if it is only five or ten minutes, and see if you feel any different. Whenever I do it, which is not as often as I would like, I feel a lot more peace than I had before. It is as if the worry of the world melts away, and I am filled with peace. Sometimes, it is a lasting peace that I carry with me into the day. Sometimes, it is peace while I am with the Lord, and then I allow all the worries of the world to creep back in. Either way, I have peace for at least those few moments, and it is great!We can also find our strength in trust. When we trust the Lord, we feel so much stronger because we understand that He is in control and that we know that He is looking out for our best interests. Think of someone in your life that you trust completely. Maybe it is your spouse, or you

Why We Love Mary So Much!Today I thought I would do something different. Instead of starting with a scripture. I decided to talk to you today about my mentoring topic for this month. It is Why We Love Mary So Much! “Why do Catholics love Mary so much?” This is a question that I have been asked a lot by Catholics as well as other Christians. I have also been often asked, “Why do Catholics Worship Mary.” Let’s address that one first; it is a much simpler answer. We do not worship Mary. We only worship the Lord. We have a deep love and devotion for **Mother Mary** because of her unique role in God's plan for salvation, virtues, and intercession. Today, I will review some key reasons Catholics love Mary so much. Here are some key reasons for this devotion to Mary:1. **Her Role as the Mother of God**Mary is honored as the **Theotokos**, or "God-bearer," because she gave birth to Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man. This makes her central to the mystery of the Incarnation—the event through which God became human to save humanity. Catholics view her as the mother of not only Jesus but, in a spiritual sense, the entire Church.2. **Her Yes to God’s Will**Mary's willingness to say **"Yes" (Fiat)** to God at the Annunciation (Luke 1:38) is seen as a model of perfect faith and obedience. She trusted God's plan, even without fully understanding it, and her example inspires Catholics to follow her in surrendering to God's will.3. **Her Role as a Spiritual Mother**From the Cross, Jesus entrusted Mary to all humanity when He said to the Apostle John: **"Behold your mother"** (John 19:27). Catholics believe that Mary is a spiritual mother who cares for all believers, interceding for them and guiding them closer to Jesus.4. **Her Sinlessness and Purity**Mary’s Immaculate Conception (her being conceived without original sin) and her sinless life make her the perfect model of holiness. Catholics honor her purity and strive to imitate her virtues, especially humility, love, and faithfulness.5. **Her Intercessory Power**Catholics believe that Mary, being close to Jesus, has a unique role in interceding for humanity. Asking for Mary’s intercession is like asking a trusted and holy friend to pray on one's behalf. This belief is rooted in her role at the **Wedding at Cana** (John 2:1-12), where her intercession led to Jesus performing His first miracle.6. **A Deeply Personal Connection**For many Catholics, Mary is not only a figure of reverence but also a source of comfort, understanding, and maternal love. Devotions like the **Rosary** help foster this personal connection, allowing the faithful to meditate on Jesus' life through Mary's perspective.7. **Her Title as Queen of Heaven**Mary is honored as the **Queen of Heaven** because of her close association with Christ, the King. This title emphasizes her exalted place in heaven, where she continues interceding for the Church.The title **"Queen of Heaven"** is one of the many honorary titles given to Mary, reflecting her unique role in salvation history and her exalted position in heaven. This title is deeply rooted in Scripture, tradition, and theology. Here's an explanation of why Mary is called the Queen of Heaven:---1. **Mary as Mother of the King (Queen Mother)**In biblical tradition, the mother of the king in the Davidic kingdom held the role of the **queen mother** (*Gebirah* in Hebrew), a position of honor and influence. For example:- In the Old Testament, the queen mother often interceded on behalf of the people (e.g., Bathsheba in 1 Kings 2:19).- Since Jesus is the eternal King of the universe (Luke 1:32-33), Mary, as His mother, is honored as the **Queen Mother** in His heavenly kingdom.2. **Scriptural Foundations**The title is not explicitly mentioned in Scripture but is supported by several biblical themes:- **The Annunciation** (Luke 1:32-33): The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her son will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. If Jesus is King, Mary is logically the Queen Mother.- **The Woman Clothed with the Sun** (Revelation 12:1): In this passage, Mary is symbolically depicted as a woman crowned with twelve stars, representing her royal dignity and role as the Queen of Heaven.3. **Tradition and Early Church Fathers**- From the earliest centuries, Christians recognized Mary’s special status as the mother of the King. Titles like **“Queen of Heaven”** and **“Queen of Angels”** began to appear in Christian prayers and hymns.- Saints like **St. Ephrem** and **St. Augustine** wrote of Mary’s royal dignity, associating her with Christ’s kingship and her role in the divine plan of salvation.4. **Mary’s Coronation**Catholic tradition holds that, after her Assumption into heaven, Mary was crowned as Queen by Christ. This is often depicted in Christian art and is the subject of the **Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary**: *The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.*5. **Her Role in Intercession**As Queen of Heaven,

Witness Wednesday #141 Healing of FibromyalgiaToday’s witness is from the internet. This morning in a prayer group, the leader talked about how her sister-in-law struggled with Fibromyalgia and suffered from migraines and the treatment wasn’t working. I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to do a witness on a healing of Fibromyalgia so that her sister in law could believe that if God did it for his person, He will do it for her too. Hope is such an important part of faith and it can also be so easy to lose it when you are in chronic pain for so long. Here is the miraculous story of Teresa’s healing of Fibromyalgia. Remember, God is the same yesterday, today and always. If He has done it before, He will do it again. We believe Lord, help our unbelief.In the fall of 2002, my wife Teresa started experiencing some pain symptoms in her back that we could not find an explanation for. Over the next few years, it spread over her whole body. After going to many different doctors, she was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. The diagnosis was confirmed by more than one doctor.Fibromyalgia has different levels of severity in different people. My wife’s condition was particularly severe, and her health deteriorated to the point where she was only able to walk about 50 feet or so, and she could only be on her feet for about 90 seconds. The pain was getting worse and worse.Three years later, in December of 2005, she was struck with another condition in her arms that was eventually diagnosed as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (also known as RSD). Because of the intense pain, she lost use of both arms and hands, and was no longer able to care for herself at all. Her arms hurt so badly that it was painful even for air to blow on her skin sometimes. Over time, not using her arms, and not being able to walk very well, she became weaker and weaker, and her hands actually started to close up into a fist.It was a very bad situation, and that is putting it lightly. And, it was getting worse day by day, month by month.The next year, in August of 2006, I found out about a prayer email list at the company I work for. I joined the list, and sent out this email:—–Original Message—–From: NealSent: Friday, August 18, 2006 11:07 AMTo: *****Subject: Prayer Request Hi everyone. I have a prayer request.Over the past four years, my wife Teresa has developed some chronic pain conditions that have baffled many doctors. The pain has become increasingly debilitating, and has left her very limited in what she is able to do physically.God has faithfully brought us through it this far, and sent many people to help us along the way. He has blessed us in many ways, and we are very thankful. He has also led us to some good physicians, and we hope and pray that she is on the road to recovery.I would like to ask you all to pray for her complete healing, and that God would use our testimony to bless others.Thank youNeal—————————————————————Someone replied to that email inviting me to a lunchtime study in one of the conference rooms at work. It was a study on divine healing. It was being led by a man named Bill Alsop. I came to the study. After it was over, I spoke to Bill briefly. He didn’t know me, but I asked him about praying for my wife. He invited me to his home that Friday night, August 25.So, that Friday after work I picked up Teresa and we drove to his home. On the way there I remember that I was somewhat excited, and I was expecting that we would receive encouragement and strength to go on. There had been many people praying for us over the years. We had a few times where people came by to pray with us, and there were other times when we had gone to different places for prayer. I know there were lots more praying for us that we were not always aware of. It always helped us to keep going, and that was pretty much what I was expecting.When we arrived, we talked with Bill and his wife Cathy for a short while, and then we started praying. Teresa was actually lying down on the floor at this point, and we were all praying in the name of the Lord Jesus. Some of the time they were praying in tongues, some of the time they were praying in English.After a few minutes, he told my wife to stand up. He took her to the front door, and he told her to walk to the end of his street, turn the corner, walk up the hill to the mailboxes, touch one of them, then walk back. He told her to talk to God while she walked. (Bill later shared with us that the Holy Spirit had instructed him to do all of that in a vision he received while they were praying).In my mind, I was thinking “What? She can’t even make it to the end of the driveway”…but before I could say anything, she took off walking out the door and down the street. I knew that unless something supernatural happened, she would collapse within two minutes of walking out the door.However, before I had time to object, Bill turned to me and said this: “You have been praying to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and spe

Heal Our Lands2 Chronicles 7:14 “ If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”I was at an Encounter Alumni event last night, and my friend Theresa was sharing with the group about her new book that she just published on Amazon. His book is called Weapons of Our Warfare. In this book, she identifies thirteen spiritual weapons and how to use them, as well as some amazing results she has seen when these spiritual weapons are employed in the present-day spiritual battle we face. I am excited to read her book and I hope you will get a copy and check it out as well.When Theresa was giving a talk last night, she mentioned 2 Chronicles 7:14, and when she did, I felt the Spirit prompt me to write it down and check it out for today’s episode. She received this verse while she was driving around Boston after the Boston Marathon Bombing had taken place. She felt like the Lord told her that if we prayed for 1 hour a day in the Spirit, then the Lord would protect our land from attacks. I know that everyone listening to this podcast does not have the gift of tongues and some may not even want this gift.First, let me just say that I was right there with you at one point. I wanted nothing to do with the gift of tongues. I had heard people in my dad’s prayer group who had that gift, and it just sounded weird, and I didn’t want to be weird. Then I heard a speaker, Anne Trufant, talking one time, and she said how she felt the same way. She would pray for the Lord to give her all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but not that one because that was weird. Then she said she was counseling troubled teens, and one of them backed her up against the wall one day with his hand on her throat. She said after he left the room, she prayed to the Lord to give her all He had for her, even the gift of tongues.I would also like just to take a minute to talk about the gift of tongues. When you are speaking in tongues, you are just praying in another language, a language that only God can understand. So, God and God alone will hear and understand whatever you are saying. Unless you are speaking in tongues with a group and someone asks for God to interpret what was said. What I love about praying in tongues is that it is I don’t have to know what to pray for. When you are speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying straight from your heart to God the Father. How many times have you been in a situation where you didn’t even know what to pray for or what to say? When you speak in tongues, the Holy Spirit prays a perfect prayer for you.In case you were wondering where this idea of tongues came from and if it is backed by scripture, it is. There are several references to speaking in tongues in the Bible. Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” This explains that we don’t know how to pray as we should. However, the Spirit can intercede on our behalf, and the Holy Spirit will intercede for us according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just know what we want, it knows what God wants as well and can intercede for us according to that will. How amazing is that?Now that I have explained a bit about the gift of tongues let's get back to the verse. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” this verse is saying that if we humble ourselves, pray, seek the Lord’s face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear us and will forgive our sin and heal our land. How badly do our sins and our lands need healing right now? When I think of our lands, I think of our houses, our cities, our states, and our country. Our country especially needs healing. It is so divided and so angry. That is the United States of America, at least. I know not everyone listening is from the United States. What about your country? Does it need healing? What about our cities and states, do they need healing?What about our families, do they need healing? I know mine does. I think the whole world needs more Jesus. We need more love in the world. I am sure you can agree with that. The verse says, “If we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.” Can we do that? Can we turn from our wicked ways? Can we say sorry to the Lord for all we have done? What about humbling ourselves? Can we admit we don't know everything? Can we admit we can't do everything on our own? Only you can answer these questions. I am just pointing them out so that we can stop and answer them. I know a lot of us complain a

Still Waters (Psalm 23)The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in the right path for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”I've been hearing this song called Still Waters (Psalm 23) by Leanna Crawford on KLOVE Radio a lot these past few days. Before leaving for Prayer Group, I saw that the leader was using the song Psalm 23, although it was a different version of it, as one of the songs for the meeting. Yesterday afternoon, I got this deep feeling that that's what I was supposed to talk to you about it because there's a lot of anxiety and worry going around these days. And I just talked to someone who lost her husband, and she said she's paranoid these days. She's worried about all the financial aspects of your husband dying. She's worried about her future. She is worried about a lot of things.And I know she's not the only one. I know that we all have fear and worry over different kinds of things in our lives. I was really struck by the beginning part of the Still Waters song when it said, “Great Aunt Maurine said at a hundred and three, write scripture on your heart for when you need it.And it also really struck me when she said, “Cause anxiety hates Psalm 23. So just say it to yourself 'til you believe it.” And I just thought, isn't God so good? Isn't it amazing how he gives us exactly what we need found right there in the scriptures? I have to be honest, I don't know a lot about the Psalms. I know Robert from our morning prayer group always asks people what their favorite Psalm is because he's memorized a bunch of them. And I think what a beautiful thing.And also, I have no idea what my favorite Psalm is. And also, I didn't know that some of the Psalms have a specific purpose. I knew there were Psalms of praise and Psalms of lamentation. But I didn't know that there were Psalms that anxiety hated. And I didn't know that there were Psalms of protection like Psalm 91. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about Psalm 23 today because I think it's one that we've heard often. And yet, I don't know if we really know how powerful it is. I know I didn't know how powerful it was. And honestly, I didn't even really understand what it meant.I never found it super powerful when I would read it, or even when I would hear it. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.” I didn't know what that meant. And I don't know if I still know completely what it means. But what the Lord pointed out to me when I was listening to the song today was he leads me to still waters. Even in the storm, there's still water. Even in the valleys, when you're at your lowest, he can lead you through that valley right next to still waters. To me, this verse is telling us that no matter what we're going through, if we let the Lord lead us, he'll lead us by still waters. He won't lead us into the eye of the storm.He won't lead us by chaos and confusion. If our eyes are fixed on him, and if we follow his path through the storm, there will be still waters that we can follow. And don't we all need some still waters in the craziness of the storm? Also, what stuck out to me today was when it said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.I think we all want for things. I've heard from people in my prayer group, and from my parents, as we get older, we want for less. But I think there are all things we want, even if those things are peace, health, safe passage, or maybe it is material things. Whatever it is, we all want for things.And yet this is saying, the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. We can rely on him to give us all that we need, and all that we want. The Lord knows the desires of our hearts. He knows what it is we want. And he not only cares about the things that we need, but he cares about the things that we want too. He cares about the little requests, just as much as he cares about the big requests.I know sometimes we don't want to feel greedy, and we don't want to ask God for the little things, because we love him, and we know that he's already given us so much. So why should we ask for more? And yet the Lord tells us in our prayer group, in the words of prophecy, over and over again, “I have so much more for you, but you're not asking.” So ask the Lord, we shall not want, he will give us what it is we need, he will give us what it is we want.I feel like the Lord is saying there is no “too much.” Just ask. It can't hurt to ask. And that he wants to give us so much more. And we're not asking. An

God Is For You, Not Against You!Psalm 139:5 “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”I heard this verse at the prayer group yesterday, and I instantly liked it. It made me think of when I was little, and my dad would tuck me into bed at night. He would make the covers all tight around me so I felt safe and warm. It was such a cozy feeling, and all those feelings came flooding back when I heard this verse yesterday. God is our heavenly Father. He is always there for us in a way that our real fathers might not have been. I am lucky enough to have had a great father growing up. And I am lucky enough to have him still around to be a part of my life. However, even if you didn’t have a great father growing up or in your life right now, you have a heavenly Father who is amazing.I know sometimes it can be hard to believe that our heavenly Father is amazing, especially if we didn’t have a great earthly father. It can be hard when we look at the Old Testament and see all the things God did to see God as a caring and loving Father. I know my kids always get stuck in the book of Noah with God flooding the whole world. There were times when God’s judgment required him to do some things that I am sure He didn’t want to do. It is hard, at least for me, to reconcile that God with the God of the New Testament. The God who sent His only Son to save the sinful world. The God who would have sent His son even if it was only to save one person.When I talk with people about how they picture God, often it is not as a loving Father. They see Jesus as loving and kind and pretty easy to talk to. However, they see God as the disciplinarian. They see Him as an older man who is sitting up in heaven on his thrown, feeling pretty high and mighty and looking down on us and waiting for us to screw up, so He can say, I told you so! It breaks my heart to hear that because I know how much God loves us. I know how much He wants us to succeed. He is not waiting for us to mess up. He is routing for us to be wildly successful. He is up there cheering us on. When we do mess up, He is there to help us through it. His heart breaks when our heart breaks.God is rooting for you. He wants you to win. He wants you to be successful. He wants you to be able to spend eternity with Him. I think this is something many of us have trouble believing because I have heard many songs lately that have the words, “He is for you, not against you.” I don’t think it would be in so many songs if people didn’t have a hard time believing it. Songs usually speak to common areas of struggle. I promise you God is rooting for you. He wouldn’t have sent his song to die a horrible, painful death just so He could sit up in heaven and judge you, waiting for you to mess up so He can say, “I told you so.”There are many songs that I love that show us how much God loves us. One of my favorite’s is Cory Asbury’s Reckless Love. If you don’t know that song, I highly recommend you look it up. You can even google the version with his testimony in it. He explains the Bible verse for that song and why he wrote that song. It is so beautiful. However, the song I feel the Lord wants me to share with you today is another favorite called Drops in the Ocean by Hawk Nelson. It is the song that came to mind when I wrote that God is for you, not against you. Here are the words to that song.I want you as you are, not as you ought to be. Won’t you lay down your guard and come to Me? The shame that grips you now is crippling. It breaks My heart to see you suffering.God does not need us to wait until we are perfect to come to Him. He is not waiting for us to be someone else, some better version of ourselves. He wants us just as we are. I love how it is asking us to lay down our guard and come to Him. How many of us struggle with that? We have our guard up, and maybe it is for a really good reason. Maybe we have been hurt a lot in this world by people who should have loved and protected us. God knows why we have our guard up, and yet, with Him, we don’t need it. He is asking us to let down our guard and just come to Him as we are. He can see the shame that has a hold on us and it breaks His heart to see us suffering so much. It breaks His heart to see us holding onto shame when He could take it all away if we just let Him.The song goes on to say: Cause I am for you. I’m not against you. Why do we think God is against us? Why do we think He is hoping we fail? Where did this idea come from? If we look at the Bible as a whole, there is far more in there about God being a loving God who saves his people than there is about God rooting for His people to fail. Even when it comes to Sodom and Gomorrah, He was willing to save them if even ten of them were righteous, and yet none were to be found. God does not want even one of His children to perish. He is not wanting us to fail. He is for us, not against us. He is for you, not against you! Don’t believe the lies of the enemy. God is for you!!M

Don’t Stop PrayingJeremiah 29:12 “Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.”I heard this song on KLOVE this morning called Don’t Stop Praying by Matthew West. I was wondering if I should use it for my podcast this morning, and then I saw on Facebook the verse above, and I figured it was the Holy Spirit telling me you should use it. A week ago today, I did an episode about how we don’t have to fear and we don’t have to despair because God is always there for us. He will bring us back from faraway places, and He will bring our children back, too. I know this brought people some comfort as they are really struggling right now and that episode was definitely words of encouragement for them.This morning, when I heard this song, I thought that it goes well with the episode about not fearing as Jesus hears our cries and answers our prayers. He tells us this often: I think we just struggle to either hear Him or maybe we just struggle to believe Him. I am not sure which, but I think this song can help build us up especially if we are feeling down this holiday season. If this is your first holiday season without a loved one, then you are probably trying to figure out how to navigate feeling so many emotions at one time. Feeling happy for the holiday season with the family you do have but sad you can’t share it with the ones you have lost. Feeling angry that they are not still here with you and yet grateful they get to be with Jesus. There can be so many other emotions as well.I thought this song seemed to touch on a lot of the things we may be feeling right now, so I wanted to share it with you. The song starts off by saying:What's your impossible? Your "I need a miracle"What's got you barely hanging by a single thread?What looks so hopeless now? What weighs down your heart with doubt? What is your impossible? What is that thing you are praying for that you just can’t see a way out? You can’t see a way through. You can’t see any solution, and yet you really need a solution. What is that thing that you are looking at and saying, “I need a miracle.” What has you barely hanging on by a single thread? What are you so upset about that you are ready to give up? You are trying not to; you are trying to hold on, but it is getting too heavy, and you are afraid you will have to let go. What looks so hopeless, and what is weighing your heart down? We all have things in our lives that we struggle with. I do believe some have it harder than others, but none of us have it easy. We all have something we struggle with. We all have heavy burdens; some are just heavier than others.The song goes on to say:You beg for a breakthrough, but no sign of breakthrough yetWhen you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dryThe answer won't come, and you don't know whyAnd you wonder if you can bow your head even one more timeIf this is you, know you are not the only one. God’s timing can take a really long time sometimes. We beg for a breakthrough, and yet we don’t see any signs of any movement in the situation. God is working in your situation; you just haven’t seen it yet. It reminds me of the story of Bamboo. A Chinese bamboo tree is planted, watered, and fertilized daily, but there are no visible signs of growth for the first four years. In the fifth year, the bamboo tree grows rapidly, reaching heights of up to 90 feet in just six weeks. Sometimes, our breakthroughs are like that: there is no progress, and then all of a sudden, we have a huge breakthrough.Have you been crying and crying so much that you feel you can’t cry another drop? Have you looked for answers, and yet they don’t seem to come? Do you feel like you can’t pray anymore? Like you can’t even bow your head just one more time? Do you try to pray, and yet no words come? You are not alone. If this is you, don’t give up. As the song says:Don't stop prayingDon't stop calling on Jesus' nameKeep on pounding on Heaven's doorAnd let your knees wear out the floor Even when all seems pointless, even when you feel like your prayers aren’t being heard, don’t stop praying. Don’t stop calling on Jesus’s name. Jesus promised us that whatever we ask for in His name will be given to us so that His Father in Heaven will be glorified. So, don’t stop asking. We are told over and over again in the Bible: ask, and you shall receive. We don’t know when, where, or how we will receive, but God promises us when we ask, we shall receive. I love how it says, “Keep pounding on Heaven’s door and let your knees wear out the floor.” This paints the picture of someone who is desperate for their prayers to be answered. How badly do you want your prayers answered? Are you asking the Lord every now and then, or are you pounding on Heaven’s door and letting your knees wear out the floor?Don't stop believing'Cause mountains move with just a little faithAnd your Father's heard every single word you're sayingSo, don't stop praying Don’t stop believing, and He will come through for yo

Today’s witnesses are from the Encounter Ministries website. Encounter Ministry has healing services as well as several conferences throughout the year. These testimonies are all from people who attended either a healing session or their conference. I love that Jesus is still healing today. I don’t think everyone knows this or believes this. This is why I think it is so important that we are constantly reminding people of that amazing fact. Nothing is too hard for Jesus to heal. It is also important that we remember it is not just physical healing but emotional and mental ones, too! If you have a loved one suffering right now, it is not too late, and it is not too severe. God is the God of the impossible. He can heal them, just ask.Diana- In June 2017, I was diagnosed with Relapse Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. My symptoms started in December of 2016 when I got my first lesion in my neck. From that day until the healing session, I had not had a single moment without extreme discomfort from itching, burning, shocks, buzzing, twitching, weakness, etc. Since the healing, I have had none of those. I have been able to reduce my medications to the levels they were pre-MS. I am scheduled for MRIs and am looking forward to seeing if the lesions are still there or if they’ve been healed, as well as my symptoms. I will admit I was highly skeptical going into the session, having been anointed by a priest and several other healers praying over and for me throughout the years. Praise God, I agreed to try. He has worked a miracle. I am not 100%. You try laying in bed all day, every day for 6 years, and see how much stamina and strength you have. I had to relearn how to walk without my previous balance issues from MS. I still fall down occasionally, but I get back up with a laugh and a joke.Joan- During the Healing Session with Father Mathias, he mentioned Autoimmune Disease. He also mentioned eyes. At that precise moment, my eyes were flooded with moisture. Previously, I have been treated for chronic eye dryness from Raynaud’s Disease. My eyes were so dry that I instilled drops 6-8 times a day. I was not asking for that, but that is what happened to me. I’m so grateful. God is good and faithful. It was an unforgettable conference!Karen- Before attending the North West Encounter Conference in 2019, I had a vision while praying of Jesus on his knees, washing my feet, and looking up at me with a look of completeness (meaning total absolute or fully carried out, thorough). Jesus then stood up and placed a white heavenly cloak/mantle around my shoulders. I had this vision several times during the weekend conference. While this was going on, during the sessions on Saturday, I was suffering greatly from a migraine. I have suffered migraines since I was a little girl. (I am currently 58). Sometimes lasting 2 to 5 days and up to 7 days at a time. It had been a miserable experience. However, it was especially challenging at the Conference as I was trying to stay focused and open to the Lord. By the time Saturday night came, I was physically sick and in tremendous pain from my migraine. While being prayed over earlier by the Encounter Team, I saw Jesus declaring over me that I no longer need to carry two crosses. One of the crosses was that of my own, and the other was that of my daughter, who is in a wheelchair. The vision allowed me to see two crosses lying side by side. Immediately, I felt lighter by recognizing this! Also, I was taken back to a childhood memory of falling, and I thought, perhaps this is the root of my migraines. Having talked to one of the team members, I was encouraged to consider staying until Saturday night instead of going home because of the pain. I believed that Jesus had something more in store for me. I decided to stay and press through the pain. During a time of praise and worship, Fr. Mathias came through and placed hands on my head, and prayed for more of the Holy Spirit. I knew then I was to receive Grace upon Grace from Jesus. I began to experience chills while also experiencing an inner warmth. Even after I went home that night, I continued to experience the presence of God in my body for some time. And, then I noticed it – my migraines disappeared and have not returned since that day in June 2019. I am writing this Testimony of Healing nearly a year to the day later to testify and give all the Glory to God for my personal healing, both physically and for the special love that he has for me and you! Though I do get headaches occasionally, they are less frequent and short-lived as I continue to pray and claim Jesus’ healing over my life, and sure enough, they go away in his precious name. Praise God for the Grace of Jesus living in us! Many Blessings and Love to and for the Encounter Ministries.Jeremiah 17:14. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.Alexis- I had an incredible encounter with God! I was physically healed, internally healed and spir

Do I Know Who I Am?John 8:14 “Jesus responded, “Just because I am the one making these claims doesn’t mean they’re invalid. For I absolutely know who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going. But you Pharisees have no idea about what I am saying.”This was not the verse I thought I would be using this morning. I first went to look at John 8 for verse 12, which says, “Then Jesus said, “I am light to the world, and those who embrace me will experience life-giving lights, and they will never walk in darkness.” Is that a great verse, or what? I think we all know Jesus is the light of the world. We have probably even said that before. However, I am not sure we all know that means we will never walk in darkness. Some of us may feel like we are walking in darkness right now. However, this verse is telling us that if we embrace Jesus, we will experience life-giving lights and will never walk in darkness.Why do we feel like we are walking in darkness, then? Is the enemy blocking out this life-giving light? Are we looking for this light in all the wrong places? Why isn’t this life-giving light shining through into our darkness? I know some people who are very close to the Lord, and yet this year has been really tough for them. They feel they are walking in darkness right now, and they feel like they can’t even pray. Maybe you are in this place too? If so, I want to assure you that the Lord is with you, even in this darkness.I have studied something called the Dark Night of the Soul in depth this year as some of the women in my mentoring group really wanted to learn more about it. One big thing that I learned is that even though the Lord seems really far away from you when you are going through it, He has actually never been closer to you. I learned sometimes it is necessary for us to go through a dark period where we receive no consolation from the things that used to bring us consolation so that we can learn to rely only on the Lord and not on the feelings we get from Him. We need to continue to have faith in doing the things we are used to doing, even when they don’t bring us great joy, comfort, or even peace.The people who have gone through a Dark Night of the Soul all have at least one thing that helped them: being faithful in their prayers and their spiritual habits, even when they received nothing back from them. People who are going through a Dark Night of the Soul feel extremely far from the Lord. They can’t feel His presence, they don’t hear His voice, they don’t feel any consolation. Yet, God is right there by their side, giving them the strength to persevere, and when they come out of it, they will be so much stronger and closer to the Lord.I thought that was what this whole episode was going to be about. They I read on a bit further, and I saw the verse for today. When I read it, the words just pierced my heart immediately. Let me read it to you again. “Jesus responded, “Just because I am the one making these claims doesn’t mean they’re invalid. For I absolutely know who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going. But you Pharisees have no idea about what I am saying.” the words that pierced my heart were, “For I absolutely know who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going.” As soon as I read it, I heard that voice inside me say, do you? Do you absolutely know who you are, where you’ve come from, and where you are going?”I knew those questions were ones that I needed to share with all of you because they are great questions. I was praying with some youth over the weekend, and identity seemed to be something they struggled with, too. There is so much confusion and chaos in the world today. That is from the enemy. God is not the author of confusion and chaos. He is the author of peace. The enemy wants us to question who we are. He wants us to question where we came from and where we are going. If we are looking to the world to help us define who we are, then, of course, we would be confused. Our identity doesn’t come from the world; it comes from God. He is our creator. He knows exactly who He created us to be.We tend to associate our identity with our vocation or our jobs. For instance, I am a mom and a wife. I might think that is my identity. However, my most important identity is that I am a child of God.There are so many songs out there that remind us of who we are in God’s eyes. They remind us of our identity. There is a Lauren Daigle Song called I Believe. The chorus of that song says, “ You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing. You say I am strong when I think I am weak. And you say I am held when I am falling short. And when I don't belong, oh You say I am Yours, And I believe (I). Oh, I believe (I). What You say of me (I). I believe. The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me. In You, I find my worth, in You, I find my identity.As you can see in this song, God’s truth is contrary to most of what we hear from the world. God says we are loved. He says we are s

What is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception?Today, I decided to do something a little different. I usually begin by sharing a scripture verse with you. However, today is a very special day, at least in the Catholic Church. There is a lot of confusion about this day and so I wanted to explain what we are actually celebrating today and why we are celebrating it. Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception. When I was growing up I never understood how Mary could have immaculately conceived Jesus on the 8th of December and then delivered him on December 25th. It didn’t make sense to me and yet I didn’t really question it. It was not until I was an adult, I am not sure how many years ago, that I learned what we were truly celebrating. I found this great article that explains what we are celebrating and why. It is called, “8 Things You Need to Know About the Immaculate Conception,” by Jimmy Akin. I will put a link for the article in the show notes. (Click Here) for the article. This is where I found the information for this episode.The Immaculate Conceptions is not referring to Jesus’ conception, it is referring to Mary’s conception. Mary has a human mother and father, her conception was not the same as Jesus’. However, it was special in another way. Here is how the Catholic Church explains it:CCC490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”. In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.CCC491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. This means that Mary was not only free from original sin, but she was also free from person sin as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:CCC493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. “Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”The next question Akin asks is, “If Mary was free from sin, does that mean she didn’t need Jesus to die on a cross for her?"He answers, “No. What we've already quoted states that Mary was immaculately conceived as part of her being “full of grace” and thus "redeemed from the moment of her conception" by "a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race."The Catechism goes on to state:CCC492 The “splendour of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.CCC508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace”, Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.The next question Akin asked is, “How does this make Mary a parallel of Eve?” His is answer is: Adam and Eve were both created immaculate--without original sin or its stain. They fell from grace, and through them mankind was bound to sin. Christ and Mary were also conceived immaculate. They remained faithful, and through them mankind was redeemed from sin. Christ is thus the New Adam, and Mary the New Eve.The Catechism notes:CCC494 . . . As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”Another question Akin asked was, “Was it necessary for God to make Mary immaculate at her conception so that she could be Jesus' mother?”Akin writes, “No. The Churc

Let’s Not Sleepwalk Through Life1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 "But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.”Just before these verses, St. Paul was talking about how no one knows when Jesus will come again. The time is not for us to know. However, he is saying that we are not in the dark because we know that He is coming, so how can we be taken off guard by any of this? We know the Lord will come again to judge the living and the dead. We say this each week in the Nicene Creed. This should not be a surprise to us. What Paul is saying in this first part of the verse is that we are at an advantage. There are people who do not believe; they do not go to church, and they do not follow God and all His ways. We are not those people. Even though we don’t know exactly when the Lord will return, we believe He will return at some point. This means we can always be ready for His return.The when He is returning is not as important as the fact that He is returning. We know this to be true, and so we can be prepared. We can make sure whenever that day comes, we are ready to go. The verse goes on to say that we are sons of light and daughters of day. We live under wide, open skies and know where we stand. I am such a big fan of the light. I love thinking of God as the light. I like thinking about how we are children of light. We walk in light and not in darkness.I know some of you feel like you are walking in darkness right now. You feel like you can’t see the light. If this is you, I want you to remember that you are a child of the light. The enemy can try and hide the light from you. He can try to cast shadows, so you think you are living in the darkness. However, He can’t take all the light away because the light lives inside of you. You have the Spirit of God living inside of you, and that is all the light that you need. When you feel like you are surrounded by so much darkness, call on the Holy Spirit to light your way.I love the next line in these verses, “So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart.” This is such great advice. How many of us have been sleepwalking through life? I am part of Big Life mentoring with Pamela Crim, and this is a big reason many people join this group. They feel they are sleepwalking through life. We are meant to live life to the fullest. It says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” God does not want us to waste this life that we have. He doesn’t want us to go about our days in a fog. If we are not careful, we can just fall into a routine and go through life on autopilot.Did you know that 40-45% of your decisions are automatic based on your habits? That is almost half of all our decisions. That is a lot. What if we don’t have good habits? Does that mean we are not making good decisions? Frequently, yes. For instance, I used to be in the habit of eating pretty healthy. That meant when my husband took out the package of Oreos, I didn’t instinctively reach over and grab one. I knew that was not going to be good for me, so I didn’t take any. However, right now, I am not in the habit of eating healthy, and so when he takes out the Oreos, I grab one, ok, more than one.St. Paul is warning us about doing this in our spiritual life. We need to be intentional in all of life, but especially in our spiritual life. It can be too easy to put things off and think we will just take care of them later. You know you need to spend time with the Lord, but he will always be there, and this movie you want to go see won’t be. You know you need to go to confession, but you could go to confession anytime, but your friends want to meet for lunch today. We know we need to love our neighbor, but that is hard, so we figure we love the next neighbor that comes along. Do you see how easy it is to “sleepwalk” through life, as St. Paul says?We know God is coming. We need to be ready because He could come at any moment. The only thing the Bible assures us of in regard to His coming is that no one will know when He is coming and that we will be surprised and taken off guard. The verse says to let us keep our eyes open and be smart. This is great advice. Let’s not sleepwalk through life. Let’s live our lives intentionally with passion and purpose for the things we care about. The things we know are important.The verses end with, “People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.”

Have No Fear, Don't DespairJeremiah 30:10 “‘So fear no more, Jacob, dear servant. Don’t despair, Israel. Look up! I’ll save you out of faraway places, I’ll bring your children back from exile. Jacob will come back and find life good, safe, and secure.”There are several things I like about this verse. Do you remember a while back when I talked about how you can personalize scripture? You can put your name in Scripture verses so you can see that God is talking to you, too! When I was first taught this, I was told whenever you see the word “Jacob” or “Israel,” you can replace it with your name. Today’s verse has both of these words right at the beginning. I love this because it helps make it more personal when we substitute our name. Let’s try that with the first two lines of today’s verse.“So fear no more, Catherine, dear servant. Don’t despair, Catherine.” Now you try it.“So fear no more, Joanie, dear servant. Don’t despair, Peggy.”“So fear no more, Jo, dear servant. Don’t despair, Nancy.”“So fear no more, (insert your name), dear servant. Don’t despair (insert your name).”Did that make it more personal for you when you put your own name in? I know it always does for me. How many of us really needed the Lord to give us that personal message today? How many of us needed the Lord to tell us not to fear anymore? How many of us needed the Lord to tell us not to despair?The holidays are such a happy time for so many people. They are a time to celebrate and a time to be grateful for all that we have. It is a time to see our loved ones and hug them tight. It is a time to eat too much food and share presents. It is a time for decorating Christmas trees and watching Hallmark movies. It is a time to celebrate the amazing miracle of God sending His only son down to earth to save us. The birth of Christ is something to celebrate for sure. There is so much good this time of year. People are generally filled with the giving spirit and you will see a lot more acts of kindness if you are on the lookout.The holidays are also a really sad time for a lot of people. I have a friend whose daughter just died from cancer a week or two before Thanksgiving. She was in her 30’s with two small children. I can’t imagine the sadness these holidays will bring for her. My nephew’s dad is in the hospital and may have brain damage; they won’t know until he wakes up. I can’t imagine the sadness they will have this holiday season as they wait to find out if their dad will be home to celebrate with them. If their dad will ever be the same again. What about all those on the streets? All those who don’t have family or don’t see their families.As happy of a time as it is for some of us, those lucky enough to have friends or family to celebrate with or a warm home to celebrate in. It will be just as sad for so many others. I am not sure why the Lord put that so strongly in my heart this morning. I guess because the verse was telling us to fear not and to not despair. If you are someone who is having a really difficult time this holiday season for whatever reason, I hope you know the Lord is talking to you, too! Fear not; do not despair. He is there with you. He knows this is a really difficult time for you. He is right there in the hard times with you.I was looking through all the words of prophecy that my prayer group received in the month of August this morning, and this one just came to mind. I think the Lord wants me to share it with you. “I hear your cries, my children. Come to me, come to me in your brokenness. Do not be afraid to come. I will help you. But in my time. Wait patiently, and I will show you a way out. Know that all is possible when you trust and believe. I am here. Do not doubt it. I do hear your cries. I do feel your pain. Continue to trust, continue to believe, and I will help you.” God hears your cries, and he feels your pain. Don’t ever doubt that. There is always hope with the Lord. We just need to wait on His timing, which I know is really hard. You can do it, though, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.I also love the end of this verse, and I don’t want to leave you today without discussing it. The verse goes on to say, “Look up! I’ll save you out of faraway places; I’ll bring your children back from exile. Jacob will come back and find life good, safe, and secure.” The first two words are so important. “Look up!” Are we doing that? Are we looking up, or are we looking all around, trying to find the solution ourselves? Are we too busy looking at how big our problem is, or too busy looking down in shame to look up and see where our help comes from? God is our answer; He is our help. He always has been so stop looking around, stop looking down, and just look up!!Next, it says, “I’ll save you from faraway places; I’ll bring your children back from exile.” Yes, please, to both of these. Sometimes, I feel so far away from the Lord. This promise to bring me back from those faraway places is such a

Witness Wednesday #139 More PopWe Stories (Healing)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 Healing 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 this testimony, 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.Diane: I have been a Christian since the age of 16 when I accepted Jesus into my heart. I got breast cancer in 2009. I was having a lot of pain in my right breast, and I thought I was having a heart attack. My husband told me to make an appointment with my doctor he sent me for a mammogram. It came back that everything was okay, but I knew that it wasn’t. The pain continued and grew stronger than ever. I called my doctor and told him that there was something terribly wrong with me. I kept praying to God to please let the doctors find out what is wrong. The doctor sent me to a surgeon who did a biopsy. He called me the next day and told me to come in and see him and bring someone with me. I knew it was bad.When my husband and daughter and I arrived, the surgeon told me that I had stage 4 breast cancer. We then went to an oncologist who told me I had 16 weeks to live and that I had to have surgery to remove my right breast. I also went through chemo radiation. I never stopped praying and believing in my God. I had a clinical trial and in 2011 I was told that my cancer was gone and I had reconstructive surgery.Now it’s 2024 and Matthew West his songs helped me so much. I recently lost my husband and Matthew’s song, “Don’t stop praying” has brought me through.Diane: On April 2, 2024, I awoke at 5am, on the floor in terrible pain. I could not get up. It felt as if my hip was broken. I laid there for 12 hours until my family came home. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Tests showed that nothing was broken. However, the muscles in my leg were all torn. They also discovered that my kidneys had stopped functioning. Also, my potassium was dangerously high and causing an erratic heartbeat. The doctors asked me if I wanted CPR if my heart stopped. But I refused three times. Each time I refused, I closed my eyes and prayed God’s will over my life. I was filled with peace that truly is beyond understanding. The doctors have no explanation for me surviving that night. Six days after my fall, I returned home. My kidney function’s higher than it had been in the past three years. I know God spared me. I have work to do for His kingdom!Honey: My husband was hospitalized in 2021 at the age of 40 for severe COVID. He nearly died. We have 3 children who were at the time 13, 11, and 4. He was in the hospital for 3 ½ months. Fortunately, I was the only one working at the time, so we didn’t lose income. However, driving to see him 60 miles every other day used a lot of money.And since I was basically a single parent, any time my kids had appointments or got sick I had to miss work. God in His infinite wisdom had blessed me with a job at a Christian school, so I didn’t have to worry about losing my job. But He didn’t just stop there. Throughout the almost 4 months of emotional struggle, God provided for our every need. God provided Christmas by having one of the members of our church take me to the store and told me to pick out 3 gifts per kid and stocking stuffers. God provided tires by having someone gift me a $300 Walmart gift card just before my tire went flat. But He didn’t just provide financially.I live in rural Kansas where hitting deer at night is a very real issue. Neither of our cars would have survived if we had hit a deer. But God protected me the entire time by always allowing me to see the deer and stop in time with no damage to me or my vehicles. He protected me from speed traps and tickets by either slowing me down or having the cop busy with someone else when I passed speeding by to get back home to my children.He strengthened me day after day and showed me almost every day that He was with me through the darkest time of my life. My husband’s miracle is his healing, but my miracle was an everyday occurrence. I never would’ve had the strength to go to work every day, go to the hospital and hear bad report after bad report, and be home present and active with my kids if it weren’t for God’s never-ending strength and peace. He showed me His presence in songs that played, friends at church,

Keep Your Eyes Fixed On JesusMatthew 14:26-31 “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once, [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”I love this story. I remember the first time I remember someone talking about it was a speaker at a retreat in England. The theme of the retreat was Radical Trust. I loved that theme from the moment that I heard it. I instantly knew that was what I wanted. I wanted to have radical trust in the Lord. The speaker was talking about how she loved Peter because he was always ready to follow the Lord. It seemed as though he didn’t always think before he did things, but that was part of what made him so special.Just before the disciples were on this boat, they had just been with Jesus as he spoke to a large group of people, and they got to be a part of the miracle of feeding the 5,000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish. They just not only witnessed a miracle but got to be a part of it. Afterward, Jesus told them to get in the boat and go ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. Once the crowds of people had left, Jesus climbed the mountain to be alone to pray with his Father. He stayed there late into the night. Once he was done, He decided to catch up with His disciples on the water. However, it was the middle of the night and all they saw was someone walking towards them on the water. They didn’t know who it was and they were afraid.I think we all would have reacted this way if we saw someone walking on the water towards us. However, when they called out to Him, He answered them and told them they had nothing to be afraid of, that it was Jesus. Then I love what Peter did next. He told the Lord if it is really you, command me to come out on the water with you. Jesus said, Come. What happens next is remarkable. Jesus invites Peter out onto the water and Peter gets out of the boat onto the water. I wonder how many of us would have the courage to ask the Lord to invite us to join Him, and then when He did, how many of us would actually be brave enough to get out of the boat.I have asked the Lord for many things. I have asked Him to use me for healing, and then I have absolutely had times when He said ok, and yet I was too afraid to do what He called me to do. Has this ever happened to you? You asked the Lord for something, and then when he said yes, you were surprised, and also you were afraid? I love that Peter just stepped out of the boat, and He was walking on the water with the Lord, at least for a bit. That is amazing. Imagine the opportunity Peter would have missed out on if he hadn’t asked or if he hadn’t gotten out of the boat. I wonder if all the other apostles were sad they hadn’t asked the Lord to call them out of the boat?The next part is a part I think we can all relate to. Peter got out of the boat. He was walking on water to the Lord, and all was great, and then he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the world around him. Instead of keeping his eyes fixed on Jesus, he looked around and saw how [strong] the wind was, he became frightened and began to sink. I think we have all been here before, too. We had our eyes fixed on Jesus, we knew we were doing what He called us to do, all was going great, and then we started to look around us. We noticed others talking about us, we noticed the circumstances around us were different, we got enticed by our surroundings, and we stopped doing what we knew we should do.God is not always calling us to do something that is easy. He is not always calling us to do something that will feel good, or that will please others. Remember, Paul was thrown into prison while he was doing the work God called him to do. He was not in prison for disobeying the Lord, he was following the Lord’s direction and was imprisoned for it. You may know that you are doing the right thing, and yet if you take your eyes off Jesus and look around you, it may seem like the circumstances around you are overwhelming. If you start to listen to those around you, you may start to sink, just as Peter did.I think it is important for us all to remember what happened to Peter so that if we are in a similar circumstance, we will know what to do. When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and he started to sink, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord saved Him. It says in the verse above, “He cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand, caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” It does n

Be Ready At All TimesLuke 12:40 “So keep being alert and ready at all times. For I promise you that the Son of Man will surprise you and appear when you don’t expect him.”This verse reminded me of a conversation I had with my confirmation kids one year when I was teaching the confirmation class. We were talking about confession and why it is so important to go to confession. We were also talking about how God always forgives us when we ask for forgiveness. No matter what we have done or how long ago it was. The kids were asking, what if someone sinned their whole life, they did really bad things, and then on their deathbed, they asked for forgiveness? Would God forgive them? I said yes. They said that didn’t seem fair.Then I asked them, “If someone was sinning their whole life. If they did one bad thing after another. Did they think that person would actually ask for forgiveness in the end?” They said probably not. The thing about sin is that it drives a wedge between you and the Lord. It fractures your relationship. The more you sin, the further away you feel. You might start off with a plan to sin as much as you like because you know that at any point, you can ask God for forgiveness, and He will give it to you. And yet, the more you sin, the more you harden your heart. By the time you get to the end of your life, you don’t care if God forgives you because you are so far away from Him, you forget what it is like to feel His love.This verse is telling us to be alert and ready at all times. I think we can all slip into a comfortable feeling where we know we may need to go to confession at some point, but it's okay to put it off a bit. Or we know we need to give something up or stop doing something, and yet we figure there is always tomorrow. Guess what? There might not be tomorrow. None of us know the day and the time that we will die. None of us know when the Son of Man will return. What the Bible tells us in more than one place is that it will be when we least expect it. Today’s verse says, “For I promise you that the Son of Man will surprise you and appear when you don’t expect him.”It doesn’t say you might be surprised, or I think the Son of Man’s coming might be a surprise. It says, “For I promise you that the Son of Man will surprise you and appear when you don’t expect him.” This is a promise. Jesus is coming, and we have no idea when, but we do know that we won’t expect it. This means we should always be ready for it. We shouldn’t put things off until tomorrow. If we truly lived this way, I believe our lives would be transformed!Imagine a life where you didn’t procrastinate. Where you didn’t put off calling that person you have been meaning to call but haven’t. Imagine a world where you didn’t hold a grudge because if you did, it meant God was going to hold a grudge against you. You do know that is what the Bible says, right? Do you know that is what it says in the prayer Jesus taught us to say? “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” God is going to forgive us to the same extent that we forgive others. Learning that truly was life-changing for me.As soon as I learned that, I made a decision to learn how to let things go. I made a decision to no longer stay or hold onto a grudge. Whatever it is that someone did to me, it is not worth my eternal salvation. Forgiveness is not easy, especially if someone hurt us deeply. However, missing out on eternal salvation or spending eternity in hell because of that unforgiveness would be a lot harder. I have heard stories of people going to hell because of unforgiveness in their hearts, and I don’t want that to be me.Today’s verse is a great reminder not only of how we should live our lives in order to get into heaven, but it is a good reminder that none of us know when we will leave this earth. It is a good reminder to not leave things unsaid and not wait for our loved ones to make the first move. What if we all lived our lives like this was our last day on earth? What would our day look like? What would our lives look like? How much more fully would we live our lives if we knew we wouldn’t see our loved ones again?Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I love Thanksgiving. It is one of best holidays with my family. My siblings and I gather at my mom and dad’s house the day before to help cut up the veggies and make all the desserts. It is a time of so much fun, love, and laughter. Then we get together on Thanksgiving and eat amazing food and talk, laugh and usually play games or watch movies. I love it. It is probably my favorite holiday. I was really looking forward to it.Wednesday night, one of my sons got in trouble at the mall. We were unsure what that meant for his job as he works at the mall. Thursday morning, he was really upset and wanted to go for a bike ride, and we said no because it was pouring rain out. He went anyway. Then Tony and I fought about whether we should go to CT or not while he was out on his bike ride. I decid

Today, I have two witnesses that I have heard about from friends in this last week. The first one is from my friend who has been struggling with hearing loss. I did a witness about her last year also. She had a ringing in her ears, and she said it had gotten pretty bad. I reminded her that we were at Encounter School of Ministry, where they teach us and encourage us to pray over people for healing and where we see a lot of healing. I prayed over her for healing that night, and then later in the night, two other people prayed over her, and there was no change. However, when she woke up the next morning, the ringing was 90% gone. Praise God! She said it was the quietest her mind had been in a long time.My friend also found out that she has a tumor in her ear. They said they are going to need to operate. The operation will leave her with permanent hearing loss. The last time she had her hearing tested, the intelligibility in that one ear was 39% when someone was yelling. That means that even when someone was yelling or speaking loudly into her ear, she could only understand 39% of what they were saying. We have been praying over her ear for over a year now. Besides the ringing that stopped she had not seen much change.When she was on the way home from an Encounter School of Ministries event the other day, she felt something weird going on with her ear. It felt strange, and I don’t remember if she said she heard a noise in it or what. I do remember she said she felt like her hearing was suddenly improving. When she got home, she decided to test it out. We have learned in Encounter School of Ministry that often, the healing doesn’t come when the person is praying, but it comes when the person takes that leap of faith and tests it out to see if a healing has occurred. In order to test it, you would try to do something you couldn’t do before, or you stop and evaluate the pain and see if it's less than it was before the prayer started.For my friend, she decided to put YouTube on her phone on a song that she didn't know the words to. She turned her volume all the way down until it was just one bar away from being on silent. She put the phone up to her ear and hit play. She could understand all of the words. Even the words in the commercial at the beginning. When she called me to tell me, she had the phone up to that ear that previously wasn't able to hear very much at all. In the past, when talking on the phone, she would have to have the phone to the other ear in order to hear the person on the other line. Praise God! He is so good! My friend's hearing is not perfect. It's not back to normal. And that's OK she's happy with the healing that God has done so far, and she knows and has faith that God's not done yet! Thank you Jesus!The next one I heard was at the prayer group last week. Recently, there was a Men’s March for Life in Boston. It was peaceful; they were just walking the streets with signs in support of saving babies from abortion. Here is what the woman said.Well, a dear friend of mine went on the walk and took her 11 year-old son. He was wearing a black suit, and carrying a sign the whole way saying, Why should we kill our babies? They encountered resistance. There were hate-filled faces all around them.There were knives. There were guns. There were people being thrown on the ground. There were people throwing urine-filled balloons. It was awful. There were police around, but the police couldn’t keep up with the amount of people who were against the march. The people who were marching were scared for their safety. My friend's son got hit with one of these urine-filled balloons.So my friend turned to her little son, who is, like her, very anointed and said, What do we do? He said, We call on Michael. He was, of course, talking about Saint Michael the Archangel. He started yelling, Michael! And people all around started chanting, Michael! And they were already doing the rosary. Some people kept on saying, Mother Mary, you're going to help us. As many were calling out to Michael there was a flash overhead. There was a flash. And then there were sparks of light, people were getting out their cameras to document the flash of light and the sparks. They knew St. Michael had heard their calls and came to answer them. The next thing they knew, they were completely surrounded by a blockade of military looking police. The police were standing shoulder to shoulder, and there were enough of them to surround everyone marching in the parade. The march was able to continue because everyone now felt safe and there were suddenly enough people to protect them. Thank you, St.Michael.I'm not saying these were angel warriors because the report online said that the police did call for reinforcements. But it was a miracle that they were immediately after the flash in the sky and the sparks.Thank you to both of my friends for sharing their miracles with me so I could share them with you! I am so grateful, especially with this bei

I Sought The Lord, And He Heard, And He Answered!Psalm 34:4-5 “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”When I saw this verse this morning, I thought of an elevation song that is on the KLOVE radio station a lot. I know I have mentioned it before, but if you haven’t checked out KLOVE, you really should. You can google what the closest station to you is, or you can get the KLOVE App and listen from there. Not only do they have great Christian music, but the DJs are great, too, and they are always talking about uplifting stuff and not the news or politics. It is great!Anyway, I thought I would share this song with you as the Lord does answer us when we seek Him out. He can deliver us from all of our fears if we let Him. I also like how the verse says that those who look upon him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. Imagine if you could live your life never being ashamed. Did you even know that was possible? All things are possible through Christ!The song is called Trust In The Lord and is sung by Elevation Worship. Here are the words:… Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mineHe's been my fourth man in the fire, time after timeI love this line. He’s been the fourth man in the fire, time after time. Do you know what they are talking about here? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are three Jewish men from the Bible's Book of Daniel who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship a golden statue set up by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had his servants turn the furnace up so that the fire was white hot. These three men were bound up and thrown into the fiery furnace. The king was watching the whole thing. But after they were thrown in, those watching didn’t hear screams or anything. When the king looked in, he saw that the three men were standing in the fire, untouched by the flames and that there was a fourth man in the fire there with them. This is such a great story of God’s power.My favorite part of that story is that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t seem to be afraid at all about going into this fiery furnace. I love what they said before going into the furnace. Daniel 3:17-18, "If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Can you imagine how brave these men were? They weren’t afraid to die for what they believed in. I love that they knew God could save them and yet they also knew that might not be what God had in store for them and yet were willing to risk it all anyway. What an incredible faith and trust in the Lord!Next, the song says,Born of His Spirit, washed in His bloodAnd what He did for me on Calvary is more than enoughI just had a conversation about this yesterday with a friend. Do we believe this? Do you believe that what Jesus did on Calvary is more than enough? We tend to get caught up in our sins and our past, and we can’t seem to forgive ourselves. My friend said she had a conversation with the Lord once. He asked her three times if she believed He died on the cross for her. Each time, she said yes. Each time, God said that she didn’t believe that was true. Finally, she asked the Lord why He kept saying it wasn’t true, and He said that if she did, she would forgive herself. Isn’t that powerful? God wants this freedom for all of us. He died to free us from our sins, our past mistakes, and all we have done. When we hold onto those mistakes, when we hold onto that sin, when we can’t forgive ourselves, we are telling the Lord that what He did for us on Calvary wasn’t enough. Is that what we really believe? If it was enough, why can’t we forgive ourselves?Next the song says… I trust in God, my SaviorThe one who will never failHe will never failWe can trust in the Lord. He will never fail us. This can be hard for us to believe because people fail us all the time. However, God is not a person. He will never fail us. We can count on Him to be there for us. He is there in the good times, and He is there in the bad times. He is always there. He never leaves your side!Next, it says… Perfect submission, all is at restI know the author of tomorrow has ordered my stepsDid you know that God is the author of tomorrow? He is helping you write your story. He has ordered your steps. Does that mean you will never take a wrong step, no. God has laid out our steps before us, but we have free will, and sometimes we take the wrong path. However, God can always turn us around and get us on the right path again. If we are looking to God for direction. If our eyes are fixed on Him, we will see the path He has laid out for us, and we will follow it. We get lost when we take our eyes off the Lord.Next, the song says,So this is my story, and this is

Never Let Anxiety Enter Your HeartsLuke 12:22-23 “Jesus taught his disciples, saying, “Listen to me. Never let anxiety enter your hearts. Never worry about any of your needs, such as food or clothing. For your life is infinitely more than just the food you eat or the clothing you wear.”Wow, Jesus could not be more direct with us. He is not calling us to a fear-free life; He is commanding us not to fear. He is not telling us that sometimes anxiety is ok and sometimes it is bad. He is telling us to never let anxiety enter our hearts. Never is a pretty strong word. He is telling us never to worry about any of our needs, like food or clothing. I don’t know if you ever had to worry about these things before. If you haven’t, then I can see why it would be really hard not to worry. I mean, you have to eat to survive, and you need clothes to get through the day. At least now we do. Before the fall, we didn't even need clothes, Adam and Eve walked around naked and were perfectly content. They saw nothing wrong with it. It wasn’t until sin entered the world that shame entered the world. Before sin, there was no shame.When I was growing up, we did have to wonder sometimes about where our food or clothes would come from. I still, to this day, do not know how my mom was able to pay for all the special shoes and socks that we all needed to go with our cheerleading, football, color guard, or band uniforms. I am 100% sure that I don’t even know a fraction of the sacrifice my parents made for us 11 kids while we were growing up. They are probably still making sacrifices. I am sure there were countless times when they went without so we could have what we wanted. I am so grateful to them.I feel extremely lucky because my dad is a Deacon in the Catholic Church, and one of their responsibilities or jobs is to give the Homily/Sermon at Mass about once a month or so. My dad often used stories from our home life in his homilies because my dad knew that people learned best when they had real-life examples to help them understand the scripture. I feel lucky because I am not sure if I would know half of the stories that I have heard if it weren’t for my dad recounting them for the church.My mom and dad were very faithful in counting on the Lord to provide for all of our needs. I am not sure if they prayed, trusted, and worried or if they just prayed and trusted. Either way I do know that the first thing they did when they were in need is they turned to the Lord. Most of the time, they had little choice as they were desperate for food, clothing, or money. However, there are many people who are desperate, and they still don’t turn to the Lord. My parents always turned to the Lord, and He always showed up in such big ways.We were one of the biggest families in our small town. There was one family about the same size that had older kids, and there was another family that was the same age as our family. One of my best friends in school was in the other large family in my town. That was it, just 2-3 large families. This meant that we frequently had clothes and other things dropped off at our house. If people had clothes that their kids outgrew, they would drop those clothes off at our house as they knew we probably had a kid that was just that size. Most of us were just a year or two away from the next sibling, so if they didn’t fit one of us, they would fit another one. We never had to worry about where our clothes would come from; the Lord took care of it.We also never really had to worry about where our food would come from either. God always took really good care of us. I am still astonished at how many grilled tuna melts my mom can make with two cans of tuna! One of my favorite stories is when my mom and dad were talking one morning about how they didn’t have any food in the house, and they weren’t sure how they were going to feed all of us kids. Then they got a phone call, and it was their good friends from a few towns over. They had an emergency come up, and they wanted to know if my parents could watch their kids. Now my parents had about 10 kids at this time, and this family had ten kids as well. My parents had no food in the house, but they knew they needed to help their friends out. They said yes and then immediately started praying to the Lord. They were asking the Lord what He wanted them to do for food. They were telling Him that they were counting on Him to provide the food as they knew He could.Before they were even done praying, their next-door neighbor knocked on their door. She said that her father-in-law had to move in with them unexpectedly. He had just gone grocery shopping and so he brought all of his food with him. However, they had just gone grocery shopping, too, and they didn’t have room for all of this food. They were wondering if we could use some food. My parents were so grateful, and they said yes, that would be nice. They looked through the bag, and they found several packages of pasta and tomato sauce.They

Thanks so much for that amazing teaching, Tina. I told you guys that you were going to like it! I don’t know about you, but I don’t know a ton about the angels, and I always jump at the opportunity to learn more about them.Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember Jesus loves and accepts you just as you and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in May 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is more of a vision from the Lord, “As we were singing the songs, I saw us in a huddle with Jesus. We're all in this huddle, we're all surrounding each other, and He says, okay, and He points to each one of us, and He's given us the play, so what He wants us to do, you go do this, you go do this, you go do this” 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 Carefree in the Care of God!Luke 12:24-27 “Take the carefree birds as your example. Do you ever see them worry? They neither grow their own food nor put it in a storehouse for later. Yet God takes care of every one of them, feeding each of them out of the abundance of his love and goodness. Isn’t your life more precious to God than a bird? Be carefree in the care of God! “Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more year or even one day? So, if worrying adds nothing but actually subtracts from your life, why would you worry about God’s care of you?”This is a verse that we often hear when we talk about how God will provide for us, and we don’t have to worry about anything. There is a lot in these short verses. First, it tells us to take the carefree birds as our example. We don’t ever see birds worry about where they will get their next meal or if they will be able to eat that day. They don’t grow their own food; they don’t store food. Each day, the bird goes out and looks for what it will eat that day. If it has babies in the nest, it will look for food to feed them every day as well. However, they don’t seem to be worried if they will find food.What I read in this verse that I don’t remember seeing before is that it says, “Yet God takes care of every one of them, feeding each of them out of the abundance of his love and goodness.” I am not sure if I haven’t seen that before because that is only included in this translation or if I just never noticed it before. However, I think it is a really good thing to think about. God feeds the birds out of the abundance of his love and goodness. Did you know God had an abundance of love for all of His creatures?This world tends to operate from a scarcity mindset. The world teaches us that we should get what is ours now before it runs out. We should strive to make more and more money because what if we don’t have enough for all we need? When we approach things from a scarcity mindset, we won’t be grateful for the things we have because what we have will never seem like enough. When we approach God with a scarcity mindset, we may think He does not have enough for us. That might be enough love, enough provisions, enough mercy, enough grace. Whatever it is that you think you need.I like how this verse reminds us that God doesn’t scrimp together all he can to provide for us. He provides for us out of His abundance and His goodness. God will not ever run out of provisions for us. He won’t ever run out of mercy, grace, or love for us, either. God has an abundance of all things. Next, the verse says, “Isn’t your life more precious to God than a bird?” If God is providing for the birds every single day out of His abundance, don’t you think He will provide for you, too? Humans are God’s greatest creation. He likes us the best. If He is making sure the birds don’t go without, then He is making sure you won’t go without, also.The last part of the verse says, “Be carefree in the care of God! “Does worry add anything to your life? Can it add one more year or even one day? So, if worrying adds nothing but actually subtracts from your life, why would you worry about God’s care of you?” I think we all know this on some level, and yet we aren’t really sure about how we can change it. The verse reminds us that worry won’t add anything to our lives. It won’t add another year or even one day. So, if it adds nothing to our lives, why do we do it? I think we do it because we live in a society that trains us to worry. All of the news that we watch on TV is designed to get a reaction out of us. It is designed to make us worry so that we will keep watching it. It is also designed to keep us worrying so we will vote for a certain candidate, or vote a certain way on a bill, or anything else they want us to do.Even advertisements have capitalized on the fear, worry, and anxiety of our world today. When people are trying to sell us something, they tell us how bad life will be if we don’t buy their product. Instead of leading with all the good things their product will do, they lead with all the bad things that happen if you don’t buy the product. I was listening to one of my life coaching teachings the other day, and they said fear of the consequences if people don’t change is a much stronger motivator than the positive rewards they will get when they do change. The world is full of fear, and yet you don’t have to be. You can learn to trust the Lord and know that He will protect you. He will provide for you. He will always come through for you. God has an abundance of love for you that you can count on.Lastly, something I don’t know if we realized is what it says about worry adding nothing but actually subtracting from your life. How does worry subtract from your life? How many times have you missed out on important moments because you were stressing about something instead of enjoying the moment? How much of your life has been taken away because of panic attacks? When you look bac

This morning’s witness is about my day last Saturday. I had the privilege of joining a group of young adults in the Boston area who belong to a ministry called Encounter. This is different than the Encounter School of Ministry that I attended. This ministry is a group of Catholic young adults that get together as a large group on the third Saturday of the month. They meet at a church in Boston, and they gather for Mass. Then, they head downstairs to the church hall for breakfast and fellowship. After breakfast is over, they gather in groups. One group is for those who have been there before and they meet and do formation. They learn a topic or something that will help them when they go out and minister. Last week they talked about Mother Theresa I believe. They also have a group for newcomers where they explain all about the ministry. They talk about what you should and should not do while you are out there. They give you tips about what works and what doesn’t. Then, they show you a video about the group in Colorado that they designed their group after. This group is called “Christ in the City.”When you go to their website, the first thing you see is a quote from Mother Theresa that says, “Many people talk about the homeless, but few talk to them.” Mother Theresa talks about something called the Poverty of loneliness. The approach of “Christ in the City,” and also this Encounter Ministry in Boston, is Healing through Relationship. These two ministries spend time each week building relationships with the homeless on the streets. It is through seemingly small interactions—the disarming power of eye contact, a genuine smile, stopping to say hello and learn someone's name—that the seeds of friendship take root, and a journey of healing begins.There are lots of homeless ministries in Boston, and they are all a little different. I know two people from my class who go out on Saturday mornings in Boston and pray over people. They head to Mass Ave and another place where there is a large homeless population, and they pray with them for healing and for conversion. They pray for an end to their addiction, and whatever it is they need prayer for. There are also other groups that bring the homeless food, clothing, or other material things they may need. Encounter’s primary goal is to build a relationship with the homeless. They walk the same paths each week so that they really get to know the people on their path. They become friends with them, and then they pray for their friends during their prayer time.After this group time, they meet up in the church again to break into small groups. They usually only have 2-3 people in a group, and they try to have at least one male and one female in a group, as males and females both offer something unique to any situation. Before heading out, the priest will say a prayer. Then, everyone heads out to their specific section of Boston to minister for about two hours or so.This weekend was my first weekend joining this group. Mostly because I did not know about it before but also because it is for young adults, and I am no longer a young adult. However, I have had the privilege of spending time with 6 of the ladies in this group lately, and so I wanted to see what it is they do for ministry. They invited me to join in this week. I was in a group of four going out for ministry. We decided to walk to our area. As we walked, we talked and got to know each other a bit. Once we got to our area, we decided to split up into groups of two as larger groups can be intimidating, and also, we can reach more people if we split up.I was with a young man named Duke. He had been doing this ministry for a few years, I believe. He was great at initiating conversations with those we met. I was nervous because I had never done this before and also because I am not always great at starting conversations or keeping them going. However, it was a great day. We first met this man who Duke has seen around a lot. We talked with him for a while, and he seemed happy to have the company and to have someone listen to him. He said he always has a goal each day for what he will spend the money that he makes on, this way, he doesn’t waste it on just cigarettes. I thought this was a great idea. Saturday, he was trying to make enough money to buy a cheap watch as he doesn’t have a phone anymore, and it is really hard getting through the day without knowing what time it is. Especially if he has to be back at the shelter at a certain time.What I loved about the first man we talked to is that he seemed happy. He talked about how he knew God was always looking out for him. He was thankful to God for all he had. He was grateful that he wasn’t sleeping on the streets and that he had a shelter to stay in. He said he was sleeping on the floor at the shelter, but that was better than the streets so he was grateful. He said he was waiting for disability to go through so he could maybe get an apartment. He seemed very optimistic

Our Heavenly BankLuke 12:33-34 “Now, go and sell what you have and give to those in need; you will be making deposits in your account in heaven, an account that will never be taken from you. Your gifts will become a secure and unfailing treasure, deposited in heaven forever. Where you deposit your treasure, that is where you fix your thoughts—and your heart will long to be there also.”Yesterday after school, I went to the church near me as it is always open. I wanted to sit there with the Lord and ask Him what he wanted me to teach about in mentoring tonight. I took out my Bible and asked Him to give me a scripture verse. I don’t do this too often, but I asked for a verse. I told the Lord I was going to just open the Bible, and I asked Him to show me a verse on the page I just happened to open up to that would either be relevant for mentoring or for life in general.I picked a random part of the Bible to open up to, and it happened to be Luke 12. What is amazing to me is that there is a whole section on the page I opened up to that is called in my Passion Translation, “Don’t Worry.” the theme for mentoring this month is “Be Not Afraid.” I love it when the Lord does that. He just has you open up the Bible to the perfect page. What was interesting to me is that I have heard and read that section several times before, and yet today, a few things stood out to me that I don’t remember ever hearing or reading before. One of those things is the verse above.I have heard before that Jesus wants us to sell what we have and give to those in need. He tells this to the young man who asks what he needs to do to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. However, I have never heard of it as making deposits into our account in heaven. I love that imagery. It reminded me of when I was reading a book one time. I think it might have been The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, but I am not sure. Whatever book it was, it talked about how we need to make emotional deposits into our loved ones. The idea of "making regular deposits into our loved ones' emotional banks" means consistently building a positive relationship with your loved one through kind gestures, praise, and supportive actions so that when you need to say something negative or critical, they are more likely to trust your intentions and not feel overly hurt because of the strong foundation of positive interactions you've already established; essentially, it's like having a "reserve" of positive experiences that can buffer against occasional negative feedback.This is what I thought of when it comes to our heavenly bank. We can store our treasures up there as they won’t do us any good down here. We can’t take our treasures with us. We can’t take our material possessions with us. It makes sense that we could sell those things to make a deposit into our heavenly bank. To be honest, after having this thought, I started to wonder if it was the same as with our kids. We make regular deposits into our heavenly bank so that when we do something bad, we are still ok because we have all the other deposits to cover this thing we just did. However, I don’t think this is what the Lord is talking about. If this was the case, then it would be as if we were earning our way into heaven. It would be as if we needed to do more good than bad, and there was a scale in heaven that was making sure we put in more good than the withdrawal due to the bad behavior.I know this is not the case because we don’t have to earn our way into heaven. Jesus died on the cross for us so that we may be saved. Our getting into heaven isn’t based on how many good things we do on Earth vs. how many bad things we do on Earth. After realizing this, I wondered why the Lord highlighted this section for me and why he brought that story up about depositing into our loved ones’ banks. First, I think he reminded me of that story because I think we all needed that reminder that it is important to continually be investing and depositing into our loved ones banks. Second, I think God highlighted this section for me because of the last line.The last line of the verse above says, “Where you deposit your treasure, that is where you fix your thoughts—and your heart will long to be there also.” I think God wanted us to take some time today and think about where we are depositing our treasures. Where we deposit our treasure is where you fix your thoughts. So, where are your thoughts fixed? Are they fixed on the Lord, or are they fixed on the world? Are they fixed on all God has done for you, or are they fixed on all the things going wrong in your life? What about our time? Time is the most valuable resource we have. Where are we spending our time? Are we making regular deposits of our time with the Lord, or are we spending our time elsewhere? For me, I feel as though I am not spending as much time as I would like to with God. I am allowing myself to be distracted by TV and other things.The verse above says, “Where you deposit your tr

Sanctify Them In The TruthJohn 17:17-18 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”The beginning part of this was the verse of the day today. I liked this verse because it talks about sanctifying them with the Lord’s truth. I wasn’t exactly sure what this verse meant, so I turned to the “Enduring Word Bible Commentary.” I always learn a lot when I look to the people who write Bible commentary for more information.The verse above starts with, “Sanctify them in the truth.” Sanctify means to be set apart for God’s special pleasure and use. It implies holiness, being set apart from the corruption of the world and for God’s use. We have all been set apart from this world. Yes, we are all meant to live in this world, but we are not meant to be of this world. I know that probably just sounds like fancy rhetoric that you hear people say but don’t really know what it means. What it means is that although we are living in the world, we must not conform to its ways.The world’s view and the Lord’s view are very different, and we must be careful not to get lazy and just start believing what the world believes. It can be hard not to fall into the trap of believing what the world believes because what the world believes is so much in our faces. We are surrounded by it. They try to convince us that the things they are doing are not as bad as we think they are. The world will try to normalize all the things that the Lord says we should not be doing.The world tells us that it’s ok to tell “little white lies” because they really aren’t hurting anyone. The world tells us that it is ok to take what is ours, even if it doesn’t technically belong to us. The world tells us so many things that just aren’t true. Yet their justification seems to make sense to us. This is why I said earlier that we have to be careful not to get lazy and just start believing what the world believes. It takes work to examine their reasoning and their justification and see right through it.Another thing that just came to mind is that we need to know why God says what He says. We need to know why the church says what it says. Before I started learning more about my Catholic faith, I would have people ask me why I believed what I believed, and they would quote scripture to me and tell me why I was wrong or why the Catholic Church was wrong. Their arguments seemed to make sense, and I would start to question what I believed. This is when I started learning all I could about my beliefs and why the Church teaches what it teaches. I learned so much, and I began to realize that most of the things that my friends were saying about the Catholic Church were not actually true. They had issues with what they thought we believed or what they thought we were doing, but that wasn’t what we believed or what we were doing.One instance is when they asked why we worship Mary or the Saints. We don’t do either of these things. We definitely give Mary the respect she is owed as Mother of our Lord and Savior, but we don’t worship her. We also don’t worship the saints. We do talk with the Saints, and we do ask them to bring our requests to the Lord, but this is no different than when anyone would ask you to pray for their family. We aren’t asking the Saint to fix our situation; we are asking them to bring out a request to the Lord. The more people praying for our situation, the better!Back to the verse. Jesus didn’t just leave the disciples to sanctify themselves. He prayed for their sanctification. This process is not left to us alone; it is a work of God in us and through us. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth: The dynamic behind sanctification is truth. The word of God is read, heard, understood, and applied. “Sanctification is not effected apart from divine revelation.” (Morris) “The more truth you believe, the more sanctified you will be. The operation of truth upon the mind is to separate a man from the world unto the service of God.” (Spurgeon)The verse goes on to say, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”Jesus gave us a mission to go out into the world. The reason Jesus asked for our sanctification was not primarily for personal holiness, although that is included, more so being set apart for God’s service and mission. “He does not merely leave them in the world, but sends them into it, to witness to this same truth of God.” (Alford) “The word ‘mission’ comes from the Latin verb mitto, mittere, misi, missum, which means ‘to send’ or ‘dispatch.’ A mission is a sending forth.” (Boice) Jesus gave us each a mission, and we need to start living out this mission. “Christ was the great Missionary, the Messiah, the Sent One; we are the minor missionaries, Sent out into the world to accomplish the Father’s will and purpose.” (Spurgeon) “Christ’s commission is on a higher s

You Are Chosen!John 15:16 "You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.”This was the verse that the praise leader talked about at the prayer group yesterday. Her talk lined up so much with yesterday’s episode of the podcast. Then we had a bookmark yesterday at a prayer group, and her talk and my episode both lined up perfectly with the bookmark. Our bookmarks are a compilation of the Lord’s Word for the month. The month we happened to be going over was October 2023. I love how God does that. He takes His word that we have discerned from a year ago, and he fits it right in with what we are talking about today. God is so good. I guess that is a good reminder that God’s word is timeless. It is always relevant, no matter when He gives it to us.What I love about this verse is that it reminds us that we are chosen. We didn’t choose God; He chose us. We are the chosen ones. How great is that? Even if you feel rejected by everyone else in your family or all those who surround you, you can rest assured that you are chosen by God. You are chosen by the one true King. You are chosen by the creator of the universe. God could have chosen anyone, and He chose you. That is something to hold onto. That is something to remind yourself of when you are struggling. God chose you!The praise leader did an excellent job of explaining what it means to be chosen and what it means to bear lasting fruit. I would like to share this with you today. The audio quality is not great because I recorded it on my phone in a room full of people. However, it is too good of a teaching not to share just because of the audio quality. Here is Louise giving her teaching on the verse above.Do we really know what it means to be chosen? I did a little bit of background reading in my commentaries, and a particular person that I read mentioned a few things about being chosen, and one of the things that he mentioned was that when Jesus chose us, He chose us for joy, and joy we find in doing the right thing, and joy we find and exhibit when we recognize that yeah, we're sinners, we make mistakes, we do things wrong, but we are redeemed sinners, and that brings joy, that allows us to be joyful in the midst of us making a mess. We are chosen for love.Jesus wants us to live in such a way that we show love to our fellow men and women, and that's not an easy task, but what we can remember is if we look at Jesus, His whole life, He lived that. He always was showing love to men and women, always. They came first.He focused on them. He met their needs, whether they needed healing, whether they needed forgiveness, whether they needed a word of encouragement, He met their needs, and that's the kind of life He wants us to live. He's also called us to be His friends, and one of the things this commentary shared, which I've never thought about is, you know, when back in the Old Testament, when He said this to His disciples, this would have really struck home with them, because the Old Testament way of thinking was that to be a slave of God, to be a real servant of God, that was one of the highest honors you could have.That was one of the highest honors you could have. You know, people strung for it. The prophets, they were called, you know, servants of God, slaves of God.Well, Jesus then takes it a step further and says, I no longer call you slaves, I call you friends. And being friends and not being a slave means that you know what the Master is about. A slave doesn't. A slave just does what he's told. He doesn't know the intimacy of a relationship with his Master. He doesn't know his Master's thinking. He doesn't know why his Master wants to do something. He doesn't understand. He just does what he's told.Well, Jesus wants us to be friends. He wants that intimacy with us. And one of the things, too, that I read was Abraham was called a friend of God. He wasn't just called a servant of God. Abraham was a friend of God. And why was Abraham a friend of God? Because he intimately talked with God and listened to God and followed God even when he didn't understand what God meant and how things could happen.So one of the things we need to remember is that you know what? Jesus didn't choose us for a series of tremendous privileges. Although he does give us those. Joy and peace and you know, they're all ours. He gives them to us. But that isn't the main reason he chooses us. He chooses us to be partners with him. That, when you think about it, is phenomenal. I know I'm not what I consider a good partner with Jesus. But I believe that God looks at each one of us and says, you are a great partner. And you're a great partner because you have an intimate relationship with me. And you try to listen to me. And you praise me when you can. And you try to do what I'm telling you. And yeah, okay, you mess it up. But you're still a great partner. And that's what he

God Knows You, The Real You!John 1:47-48 “When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”If you have not seen the chosen, I invite you to watch it. The series is amazing, and it helps you to understand the various things in the Bible. I love how it takes something that may seem small in the Bible and helps you to remember it forever. In Season 2 Episode 2, The Chosen depicts the story of Nathanael. Because it is a show and is also for entertainment, they added things that I don’t know if they are factual or not.In the show, Nathaneal was a contractor, and he finally got his big shot, He was helping build something, I think maybe a temple, but I don’t remember what he was building. His dreams were coming true, and then something happened, and he got fired. He was sitting under a fig tree, crying out to the Lord. He was doing what we all do when something bad happens. He was asking the Lord, “Why?" He was asking the Lord, “Where were you?” He was asking the Lord, “Why have you abandoned me?” He was lost and sad and searching for the Lord, and he couldn’t find him. He truly felt alone and abandoned by God. Who hasn’t been there before?I love this scene in The Chosen because it brings these verses to life. The story of Nathanael in the Bible is told in just nine verses. It is something that could easily be overlooked or read and forgotten. However, watching it unfold on the screen, you can see what a powerful encounter it was between Jesus and Nathanael. You can see the love the Lord has for him. The Lord has that same love for you! The Lord sees you in your dark times, too. He knows who you are.I love when Jesus sees Nathanael coming up and says, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Can you imagine someone you have never met saying something so nice about you? Can you imagine someone you have never met searching for you and seeing the truth of who you are? I can imagine Nathanael was confused, and I bet he probably had trouble believing what this man was saying to him. We always have more trouble believing the truth than believing the lies. Jesus saw right through Nathanael to the heart of who he was and then called it out.Jesus knows who you are, too! Jesus knows the real you. Not the you that you want everyone else to see. Not the you that you pretend to be so that you can protect yourself from getting hurt. Not the you that you pretend to be so that you can fit in with others. Jesus knows who you really are, the you that you keep hidden for fear of getting hurt. The you that you keep hidden because you are afraid people won’t like you or they will tell you that you are too much or not enough. Maybe they have already said that to you, and that is why you hide the real you so deep down inside.I wish Jesus was walking around on earth today calling out our identity. I wish when we met Him He would state our identity so matter of factly like He did with Nathanael. What popped into my head when I wrote that is that we can be the face of Jesus to others. What if we called out the good that we saw in people? We had a meeting with the leadership team of my prayer group the other day. I mentioned how great it felt when I first got involved and someone in the group would call out something that they saw in me and invite me to grow in some way.For instance, they would ask me to join the discernment team because they thought I would be good at it. That meant the world to me. It felt so good for someone to notice something good about me. At the time I joined the prayer group, my family was in turmoil. Everyone was angry all the time, and all I heard at home from my kids and my husband was what I was doing wrong. I heard how everything was my fault; I was an awful mom, an awful wife, a terrible person, and so on. I know they didn’t mean it, and they were just angry, and yet it still hurt.However, at the prayer group, people would notice the good things in me, and that felt amazing. Have you ever had someone call out the good in you? Have you ever had someone say something about you that you didn’t know or realize before? Has someone ever told you that you were good at something? Have you ever had someone ask you to do something and felt honored that they thought you were capable of doing it? It is an amazing feeling when other people show their faith in us when they believe in us.What if you were that person for someone? What if we all started trying to be the face of Jesus for those around us? There are enough people in the world to tell us what we are doing wrong. What if we all focused on calling out the good we see in people? What if we had a goal to say one nice thing about each person we interact with throughout the day? I wonder how different our day would be? I wonder what an impact we would make on oth

The witnesses today are from the Global Awakening Website. Randy Clark is An international itinerant minister birthed from a 4-day meeting in Canada; Randy Clark illustrates perfectly the aphorism, “Don’t despise small beginnings.” The son of an oil field worker, Randy, like most from his generation, learned the importance of perseverance. After his miraculous healing from a car accident when he was eighteen, he felt led to go into the ministry. Since that day, November 20, 1970, Randy’s involvement in ministry soared. Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Religious Studies in 1974, Randy went on to receive his Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, in 1977.Randy Clark travels all over the world to conduct healing services and teach people the power of the Holy Spirit. This morning, I went to his website and pulled some witness testimonies to share with you. There are so many; I just chose a few that I thought you would enjoy. The Lord truly is still miraculously healing today, and the more we hear about it, the more we will believe it. I pray when you hear these witnesses, you will know it is possible for you and your loved ones to be healed, too.Lucas was blind in the left eye. completely blind. He was at a healing service, and there was a word of knowledge. He closed his eyes and said Jesus, please open my eyes I want to see. Then, when he opened his eyes, he didn't feel anything, but he could see. They checked back in four years later, and they were told this healing really caused ripples not only there in that state in Brazil but in other states as well,Another man was shot in the chest, and then he had a problem with his spine, and he couldn't walk. He was in a wheelchair. He went to a healing service on a Friday night with Randy Clark. The man prayed over him, and he couldn't feel anything. And then he just stood up and gave them a hug, and now he's walking again. He hadn’t walked for 2 months. When I was healed, I was relieved because I could stand.There was a woman at a healing service with Randy Clark. He had a word of knowledge about a motorcycle. He asked if that meant anything to anyone, and a woman raised her hand. Randy went over to her to pray for her and she was shaking and shaking. She had been in a motorcycle accident, and her foot was so bad the doctor said in one week they would need to amputate it. Her foot was healed. She was up on the stage dancing and jumping around.There was a young girl who was run over by a motorcycle a month and 8 days before the healing service. The paramedics said she was dead for 30 minutes. Everybody around the girl said she was done, and prayer wouldn't help. The mom refused to believe it. She touched her daughter's chest and said I rebuke the spirit of death. She touched her daughter's hand and commanded the Spirit of life to come back into her. Her mom asked the Holy Spirit to please breathe life into her again. As soon as she said that, her daughter took a breath and came back. When the girl went to the healing service, she came in a wheelchair. She had an open wound on her head, she had pain in her head, and she had double vision. After prayer, the wound and her head closed up. She had no more pain in her head; she had no more double vision. She was also able to walk again without the wheelchair.Next, Randy Clark interviewed a man who has seen over 100 resurrections. He talked about the last one he saw. He and his wife went into the hospital, and they saw a woman who was lying there with her eyes open. She had her mouth open too, and she had food in her mouth that she had eaten two days ago, and there were worms all in the food and coming out of her mouth. The man and his wife prayed over her. Then, just as the man was about to go get someone to move this woman's body to the morgue, she coughed out all the food and worms and was alive again.Beverly | Birmingham, AL said, “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 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 such that 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 had stopped preaching and became afraid to teach. SO PRAISE BE TO GOD for the healing. I had been experiencing progressive deterioration for 14 years!”Darenda | Harrisburg, PA – Physical Healing said, “I sat next to a b

God Is Holding My HandIsaiah 41:13 “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”Since the mentoring theme this month is “Be Not Afraid!” I thought I would look up some verses along these lines and talk about them. Today, I found the one above. “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” I think we hear this a lot. Either from church or from our loved ones, we hear that God will help us, so we don’t need to be afraid. I wonder how many of us believe this. How many of us believe God is there for us and will help us when we need help?Today’s verse says that He is the Lord our God who takes hold of our right hand and tells us not to fear because He will help us. I like this because it is so gentle. The Lord our God is taking us by the hand and protecting us so that we don't have to be afraid. This morning, I was reminded of a word of prophecy that we received at our prayer group about the Lord holding our hand. The word was received in January 2024. Here is the word, “I am He who can help you each step of the way. You need only to hold my hand, and I will pull you through everything that bothers you in life, no matter what it is. Continue to trust, for I am your God.”God is there for us each step of the way. We don't have to worry about anything. We just need to hold His hand, and He will take care of everything else. God tells us this again and again, but we struggle to believe it. Today, instead of me talking about why we should not fear, I am going to let the Lord tell you. The following words were all received in the same month at my morning prayer group. These were received in May of 2024. My prayer is that one of these words will speak to your heart about whatever it is you are afraid of right now.We all fear something, but it is not the same for each one of us. In these messages, God addresses many different things we might fear. If one or more of these words from the Lord speaks to you, feel free to pause the episode and write them down. There is a transcript of this episode, so you could go there and read them and copy down whichever ones speak to you. Here they are:“Trust more, surrender more, love more, and I will make you stronger.”My Holy Spirit falls upon all peoples of all times. My Holy Spirit seeks a resting place. Open your hearts and souls to provide fertile ground for my Spirit to plant and bring forth fruit for your times. Let go of your wounds and hurts. They are covered by my Spirit who is doing new works in you and for your world.Sacred children made in my image, I love you so desperately. You can never understand the depths of my love. You are mine, mine. I am here with you in this room, in this moment, in this day, hour, minute and second. All will come, I promise you, all will come. You will see. Never feel abandoned, never. It's not possible. I am with you every step. Remember every step. I am a complete God, complete. Fear nothing. My Spirit is your warrior, your strength.Fear not, my children. Move forward. My Spirit will lead the way and He will tell you what to say and what to do. If you move forward, you will find joy. Do not be a coward. Do not lay back. Know that I am the Lord and my Spirit is there to bring joy as you do what He says. Be convinced that I am with you. Fear not. Again, I say, move forward.I got the impression that there are people the Lord is telling them to do something, but they are timid and they are afraid. But the Lord is telling them that He will be their strength and that the Spirit will guide them and there is nothing to fear if they do what the Lord says.I am your daily bread, so you can also be the bread for others. I use you so they may come to me, become the bread of hope, joy and peace to others. Fear not to be broken in pieces so that you can bring my unity to all. My children, I love you and I count on each one of you to become the bread of life to others. As I give life to you, you in turn must share this life with all those you meet.Some of you are too hard on yourselves. Immerse yourself in my all-encompassing love. Walk in confidence. Walk proud. You are children of the King, the sons and daughters of the Most High God. You've nothing to fear. You are sealed in the blood of the Lamb. Your Father loves you. He loves you. You're His babies. His. His. Remember that always. No matter what you face, you are my sweetness. My sweet song of love. Precious children, remain in my love.I keep getting, you are the blessing that I send to the world. Spread my joy. Fear not to partake of all that I offer you so you in turn can share it with others. Again, I tell you, you are my blessing to the world. If you do not move forward, others will not receive the blessing that I wish to partake with others through you.I got the impression that we each, in our way, a blessing. And there are certain things that he wants to use each one of

Don’t Worry, I Will Explain It1 John 3:8 “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”I read this verse and thought, “Nope, I don’t want to go there.” Actually, I read this verse and then read the next two verses after it. 1 John 3:8-10 says, “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.” Ok, after hearing all that do you see why I didn’t want to touch this verse? First of all, I didn’t really understand it. If I sin I am a child of the devil? What does that even mean? We all sin, don’t we? Then it says Those born of God do not sin. But wait, I am born of God and yet I do sin? It is definitely confusing and not something I felt qualified to talk about. Secondly, I didn’t want someone to hear this verse , or read it in the transcript and then think they weren’t a child of God because they sin. Because let's all be honest, we all sin. So, I was happy to skip this one and go on to find another verse. I felt the Holy Spirit stop me and ask, what does this verse mean? What if someone already read it and didn’t stop to ask what it means? What if someone is walking around thinking they are no longer my child just because they sin?I am always humbled when the Holy Spirit reminds me of the purpose for this podcast. It is not to talk about all the things I understand. It is not to talk about things I really love talking about. It is to help myself and you, all those listening, to understand scripture a little better. My purpose is to help you walk a boldy with Jesus one verse at a time. The only way to do this is to take difficult scriptures, ones I don’t understand and figure them out, examine them, research them, and then share that with you. I may not alway get it right, but I do try my best and I ask the Holy Spirit to take care of the rest. I am sure I will keep needing to be reminded to stop and examine a verse if I don’t understand it because the enemy loves to try and stop me by telling me I am not qualified to talk about the scripture. He tells me I don’t know what I am doing and so I can’t help others. Do you see how he takes a kernel of truth and twists it? He is right, I am not qualified and I don’t always know what the scriptures mean. However, the way he twists it is because I am not sharing just my thoughts on it. I am researching and looking to those that do know the answers. I am taking the time to explore the meaning and then sharing what I learned from those that are qualified so that you don’t have to take that time. If something I say is confusing, or you still don’t understand the verse, I urge you to reach out and let me know. I would be happy to explore it in more detail with you. Or you can explore it on your own as well. I just type “What is the meaning of 1 John 3:8” or whatever verse I am looking at in the search bar on the internet and usually a list of articles come up. Whatever it is in the Bible we are trying to understand, there are probably plenty of other people that have come before us that have asked the same question. Look for the answers they found. I will put the links to two of the articles I read in the show notes in case you want to read the full articles.Now that I explained all that, what did I discover? What does this confusing verse mean? From what I found, I understand it to mean that when we are sinning we are a child of Satan, meaning he is influencing those behaviors. When we are following God’s ways, God is influencing those behaviors. I feel the Holy Spirit just gave me an analogy that made me smile. It is one that if you have kids you have probably said it and even if you don’t you probably heard your parents say it. When our kids are not behaving I tell Tony they are his kids and when they are behaving I say they are my kids. Of course they are all both of our kids all the time. However, when I say that I am implying that his DNA is what is influencing the kids misbehavior and my DNA is influencing their good behavior. It made me smile when this thought came to me because I could just picture God up in heaven shaking his head, looking at Satan and saying, nope, they are your kids today. I know He doesn’t do this, but it made me smile remember all the times, Tony and I went back and forth, nope, these are your kids. One thing everything I read agreed on is that this verse is not determining your salvation. This verse is not saying because you sin you are a child of Satan and you are g

Mutual AffectionRomans 12:9-10 “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”This was not the verse I thought I would be using today. I was planning on using the next two verses in this chapter. However, when I clicked on the whole chapter and read these two verses, the last part jumped out at me. Has that ever happened to you? When you are reading a verse, it just jumps off the page or sticks in your head. Honestly, it doesn’t happen that often to me. This is how I knew the Lord was trying to talk to me about this specific verse today.What stood out to me was where it says, “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” I think this part jumped out at me because I have been really thinking a lot about how Tony and I interact, especially when other people are around. I have been noticing lately that he has changed. It used to be that the two of us were pretty sarcastic towards each other and would kinda give each other a hard time. We argued all the time. Sometimes, I think we argued just to argue because it was rarely over something important.I used to think that those who spent time with us must have wondered how long we would stay together. We love each other; I guess we just liked to argue, too. Anyway, lately, in the last several years, I have noticed that we don’t argue as much over silly things. I have also noticed that Tony has changed the way he talks about me to others as well. For the most part, when he talks about me to others, he is very kind and loving. I noticed when I went out with Tony and the people from his work a month or so ago I was still very sarcastic, and it did not come out very lovingly. The reason I am telling you all of this is because I doubt I am the only person who could speak nicer to my spouse or loved one. Maybe for you, it is not your spouse. Maybe you need to work on how you speak to your parents, your siblings, your co-workers, your children, or whoever it is in your life that you spend a lot of time with. The Lord has been putting this on my heart a lot lately, so I wanted to share it with you as well if you are struggling with this.Let’s look at this verse and see what the Lord is telling us. It begins, “Let love be genuine.” This is harder than it may seem. In order to let love be genuine, we have to be our true selves. This means not hiding behind any facade that we may have put up to protect ourselves. This means being the real you with those you love, including God. Why do we try to hide things from the Lord? He already knows everything about us and loves us anyway. People can’t genuinely love us if they don’t truly know us. Genuine love also means that we are honest and truthful.The verse goes on to say, “Hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” This can be really hard. The world teaches us to love sin. It teaches us that what we want is good and that we can have all that we want, even if it is not according to what God wants. The Bible tells us differently. the Lord says to “hate what is evil.” Do we do this? Do we hate sin? Do we hate the things that the Lord says are wrong, or do we just accept them as good because the world tells us that they are good?The verse says to hold fast to what is good. What is good? God is good. The things He tells us are good. Loving the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, and soul is good. Loving our neighbor as ourselves is good. There is a lot of good in the world; we just need to look for it. We need not be seduced by the evil in the world, and we need to look past it to see all of the good.Next it says, “ love one another with mutual affection.”Are we doing this? I know I talked about this one a bit earlier. I also want to say that this is not just talking about your spouse. God wants us to love everyone with mutual affection. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Are we doing that? Are we loving our neighbor as we love ourselves?I think this commandment gets overlooked a lot. We love God, but we struggle to love Him with our whole hearts, minds, and souls. We also have to love our neighbor, but there are a lot of not nice people out there. How can God expect us to love them? Surely God doesn’t mean I have to love my co-worker who is always throwing me under the bus? Surely, God doesn’t mean I have to love my neighbor who is always stealing my paper and talking about me behind my back. Guess what? It says in Matthew 5:44, “ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” So, yes, God wants us to love everyone, even those we would consider our enemies. Can we love those we meet in life with mutual affection? Can we at least work on it? I am sure we all know a few people in our lives that we struggle to love. God is not asking for perfection. He is asking for progress. Can we at least try to be nicer to them even if we aren’t

The Fruits of the SpiritColossians 1:9-10 “For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.”I was at a conference this weekend on Saturday, and the speaker, Walter Matthews, talked about this verse. He started with verse 10, “So that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” I like this verse as it talks about bearing fruit in every good work as you grow in the knowledge of God. However, I thought verse 9 was important as it says that they were praying they would all be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. I think this is the key to the verse 10. If we don’t have wisdom and knowledge, then I believe we will struggle to bear fruit with our work. Do you know what it means to bear fruit in your life or in your work? I am fairly new to this concept, so in case anyone else listening is like me, I will explain. Bearing fruit is another way to look at the outcome of the things you are doing. Are they good vs. bad? Are you getting good results at work? Do you feel good, do others around you feel good after interacting with you? What about at home? Are you happy with who you are at home? Are others happy with who you are at home? Is your home and your family growing in a positive way? These would all be good fruits.When we want to judge if something is truly from the Holy Spirit, we look for the fruits of the Spirit in our work. There are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. My mom actually got me a box set of books that talked about each of these fruits of the Spirit. It was cool to read about them each in more depth. One day when I was talking to my spiritual director, actually the first day with this spiritual director, he said something that helped me realize I could use these fruits as a gauge to see how I was doing in life. I can’t remember what he even said, and yet I remember a lightbulb went off in my head.I am constantly wondering if what I am doing is pleasing the Lord. Am I getting this thing called life, right? Am I hearing what He is saying to me, and am I doing the things He is asking me to do? These are questions we should all ask ourselves from time to time. I tend to ask myself this often. After speaking with my spiritual advisor, I realized I could look at my life and see where the fruits of the Holy Spirit are showing up. For instance, where in my life can I see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? If I am seeing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, then I am doing something right. When I look at my life, I do see the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The extent to which we see them in our lives can be an indication of how well we are doing walking with God if we have a lot of love in our lives, a lot of peace and joy, if we have a lot of patience in our lives, along with kindness and goodness. If we have faithfulness, gentleness & self-control, then we are probably doing pretty good. There are things that can also show us the areas we need to work on improving. For instance, lately, I have been struggling with self-control. I used to be doing pretty well, and now I struggle more with it.The fruits of the Spirit are not something that we can earn with our own efforts. The fruits of the Spirit increase when we live according to the Holy Spirit. The more we listen to the Holy Spirit, the more we do as we feel the Holy Spirit is leading us to do, and the more we will exhibit these fruits. So, what does this look like for us practically, that is the question I am wondering right now. How can we increase in these fruits of the Holy Spirit if it is not through our own efforts? First, we rely on the Holy Spirit more. We stop before we do something and ask the Holy Spirit if that is the path we are supposed to go down. Or we ask if there is a problem going down that path. Second, we remember we have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and it can give us courage and strength to do things we might not do otherwise. For instance, we might speak up against the injustice that we see a little more if we remember that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us.Another way to grow in the gifts of the Spirit is to help others. Jesus told us what we have done for others, you have done for me. In Matthew 25, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus wants us to help the poor, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. If we want to grow in the gi

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 God Stories 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 this testimony, 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.Sarah-Jane: I’ve been going through many trails the past several months. I faced a breakdown in my marriage due to mental and financial abuse. I was depressed and life in general was getting a hold on me. I started to shut down and isolate from people and life. Best to do things on my own, or so I thought. But it didn’t work out great.I eventually shared my struggles with my close friends and family. They were the ones who cared for me and loved me. I was so ashamed and embarrassed of the situation that I was in.But I am fortunate to have a loving church community that has been on my journey with me. I have handed everything to God. I have forgiven people that have hurt me.I believe that since I’ve opened my heart more to God, He has filled me to overflowing with the Holy Spirit just at the times I needed it. Whether it was through a worship song, a sermon or a Bible verse. He has the spirit pour over me in the past few weeks. One day at church, we were invited to come to the front before the mercy seat, I couldn’t speak, but within seconds, I just lost it and was crying tears of joy and trembling with laughter.God has shown me so much mercy and grace and it is good to know that I’m never alone. I’m forever blessed to have such a loving God who has made me whole, and He has given me peace and comfort in my trials. If God wasn’t in my life, I don’t know where I’d be today. He has opened many closed doors. He provided a nice home and my children visit often. He has helped my anxiety and depression to be manageable. I am a much stronger woman and I’m grateful for God’s love.1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 – “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”Jenelle: I had the next chemotherapy treatment today. It was number 4. I had a PET-CT scan last week which showed that the metastatic ovarian cancer has reduced in size, and nothing new has grown since the last scan in June. This is the 7th time I have had chemotherapy in 13 years. It has been quite a journey.Because of my experience I can speak with authority to others who are experiencing metastatic cancer and encourage them that God has not forgotten them, and that He always has a purpose for us.Kathie, a fellow traveler, needs prayer. She has metastatic bowel cancer and is questioning not only her doctors, but God. I keep encouraging her to trust God. I have told her that most people don’t consider what will happen when they die. I’ve sent her Bible verses to encourage her. We are the privileged ones because God has given us time.I’ve had 13 years to plan my funeral! This life is just the shadow. We look forward to the real world that will go on for eternity.For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain! For me, Kathie, and everyone who submits their lives to Jesus, cannot lose! It’s definitely a win-win situation! And I for one cannot wait to get to heaven!Jon- My name is Jon, and I want to tell you a story about how the Lord challenged me to trust Him during trials where I frankly thought it would be easier to just end my life. About 15-16 years ago, I blew out a disc in my lumbar spine. At the time, I had never experienced that type of pain, yet I didn’t know it that God was giving me a practice session for what was to come. I was treated and it got better but then it came back with a vengeance, and I was taking pain medication like they were Tic Tacs, just to stay functional.I ended up having surgery and praised the Lord when I woke up, because the pain was gone… Again, the Lord was just giving me a break, before the big game started.Six months later, I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was in a blue funk for a long time. RA is incurable. They don’t really know what causes it and all the different medications were only to prevent more damage from happening.But God… He used this time to take someone who really had little patience with people and change that. God made me thankful for the blessings that I

God Is In The Practical Things Too!James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”I read this one and I really liked it because I think wisdom is something that we might not think to request from God. I think we all feel pretty comfortable praying to God when we are sick or when a loved one is sick. I don’t know if it is because we know God can heal people or if it is because we know there is nothing we can do and so we hope God can do something. I think we tend to go to God as a last resort. We try to solve things on our own, and then if we can’t, we turn to God. Why do we save him for last?God can do anything. He created this whole Universe; he can surely help us with whatever it is we need help with. Yet, we don’t always think to ask him unless it is something we know we can’t do ourselves, like healing a sickness. It’s interesting because when you have to rely on God for more, you see him more. My husband and my boys didn’t really see a lot of miracles from God when our kids were growing up. Luckily, my husband had a great job, and he is really good with money. We never really struggled with money, and my kids never lacked anything with regard to food, clothing, or a roof over their heads. We always had great medical insurance. We were blessed with being able to live in other countries and travel to see things. I am grateful that we didn’t have to struggle with those things. I am grateful, and yet, at times, I wish we did not have to struggle. I know that probably sounds strange, and I understand why it sounds strange. Why would anyone want to have to struggle? I don’t think I truly wanted to struggle; I did want the faith that comes with having to struggle, though. I wanted my kids to be able to see that God will always provide for us. I wanted them to know that God would always be there to take care of their needs. My parents struggled when I was growing up. I mean, they had 11 kids to take care of, and my dad had a great job, and yet money only goes so far. Imagine paying the mortgage, electric, and heating bills for a house that fits that many children. Imagine the food bill and then the clothing and the shoes. Think about how much it costs for you to have one child play a sport, do dancing or theatre, and then multiply that by 11. My parents sacrificed a lot to have all of us kids. There were months when they had to decide which bill they were going to pay and which one could wait until next month. My mom was constantly on the phone with the bill collectors, telling them she could send $5 a month or whatever it was she had. I know it was hard on them, and I don’t wish that on anyone. And yet, I do wish everyone could have the faith that they have that God would take care of what they need. They knew without a doubt that they could call on Him for big things and small things. They knew He would help with practical things, like food and a car, just as much as he would heal my sister of a mysterious illness. I know, and God knows, that I didn’t really want to experience the pain of not having enough, but I did want the faith that comes with it. I feel the Holy Spirit is pointing out to me that although I did not have to worry about resources like food, shelter, or clothing, I did have to struggle. My boys were pretty difficult at times and I did learn how to trust that God would be there in all the different ways. I had to trust that God would save my child from being hit by a car when he would run down the middle of the street. I had to trust that God would save my children from each other when they were at their worst. I had to learn to trust that God would not let my children take their own lives. I did have plenty of ways to build my trust, and you do, too.Maybe you don’t have such drastic things in your lives, but we are all struggling with something. What causes you the most struggles, and how can it help you trust God more? Has your faith grown because of those struggles? Can you look back at the past few years and see how God was there for you in the struggles? I can look back and see that God placed the perfect people in my life at each and every base where we were stationed. I was never alone. I may have felt alone in my house, but I always had really good friends who would listen to me, build me up, and support me. They would also take the boys when I needed a break, or they would take me away for the weekend, and Tony would keep the boys. God also provided me with a strong Catholic women’s group or the strength to start one if there wasn’t already one. If you are not part of a Christian woman’s group or men’s group, you should find one. I cannot tell you the strength you get from seeing others living their faith. It is incredible. God can use your struggles to help build your faith; you just have to let Him. If you look closely over your struggles, you will see Him there. You will see He has always

Be Not Afraid!Jeremiah 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid.”This morning, when I read this verse, the words that jumped out at me were, “Do not be afraid.” The Lord is constantly telling us this, and yet it seems we can’t seem to help ourselves. I get it; there is a lot of scary stuff going on in the world right now. There are countries at war, with no end in sight. They just seem to be escalating. In America, we have an election coming up. It seems no matter what side you are on, Republican or Democrat, you are terrified that the other person will win, and if that happens, it is the end of the world as we know it.If we aren’t worried about politics, we are worried about something. There is so much that we tend to worry about. Many of us have children or marriages we worry about. Some don’t have children or a spouse, and they worry about that, and they worry if that will ever happen. Some worry about their jobs and whether they will lose their job or they worry about changes within their job. Others worry about growing older and all that entails. I know some people who are sick and are worried about what will happen. Will they get better? Will they die? Will they be sick for a long time? Can they handle all the pain and the not knowing how long it will last? As you can see, it seems like we have plenty to worry about.However, The Lord is constantly telling us not to be afraid. He tells us “Fear not” a lot in the Bible, and He also tells us almost every week in our Prayer Group. Here are some examples of what the Lord is telling us in our prayer group. These were all received in just one month, August of 2024.“My children, all I tell you to do know that you can. My spirit empowers you. It puts my words into your mouth so that you can reach the hearts of others. It's not you. It is my spirit empowering you to say what I wish you to say. Do not fear to go out, I keep telling you, fear not. My spirit is with you, and He will provide whatever you need to succeed. I am your God. I am all powerful. There is nothing that I cannot do. Trust in my word. Trust that what I say is true and go about your way and make me known, my children. How many times must I tell you, you can because I send you. You can because I am your God, and I provide the power; whatever you need, I provide. It is as simple as that, my children. Be not afraid to move and do what I tell you.”The very next week, We received the verse that I picked for today, and then we received the following words and scripture.“I just had a deep sense from the Lord that he's saying to us. Well, I guess what he's always said to us is that we have nothing to fear and that we need to put our hope in His word and what He has promised us. No one will put an end to us. He has come to save us. And He will save all of our offspring as well. He's going to call them back from their lands, and we need to keep that in the forefront of our thoughts and our thinking as we thank Him every day for what he's doing because He is the victor of the world.”Then some else said, “I just want to confirm all that's been said so far because I come up with three psalms and each one said the same thing that everyone has said in a different way.”Psalm 91:9-16 “Because you have the LORD for your refuge and have made the Most High your stronghold, No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent. For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You can tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon. Because he clings to me I will deliver him; because he knows my name I will set him on high. He will call upon me and I will answer; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and give him honor. With length of days I will satisfy him, and fill him with my saving power.”Then someone different received the word, “There is no fear. We live in fear. We allow fear to creep in. I hear the Lord saying, every time a negative thought, a fear creeps in, send it to the feet of Jesus. Do not allow it to consume you for one second, and when you've done that, call the Holy Spirit into your life to show you how to combat the enemy faster.”Then, another week in the same month, someone received this Word, “I hear your cries, my children. Come to me, come to me in your brokenness. Do not be afraid to come. I will help you. But in my time. Wait patiently, and I will show you a way out. Know that all is possible when you trust and believe. I am here. Do not doubt it. I do hear your cries. I do feel your pain. Continue to trust, continue to believe, and I will help you.”All of these Words from the Lord and the scripture verses were given in the sa

Sacrifice Is The Heart of WorshipPsalm 95:6-8 “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!”This verse was received at prayer group yesterday, and when I read it this morning, I thought it would be a great one for today’s devotional. It talks about worshiping the Lord and hearing the Lord’s voice. These are both things I love to talk about, so it seemed perfect. I also think they are great topics to end the week with. I believe the world could be a much better place if more of us were worshipping the Lord instead of all the things in this world that we worship.I was listening to Father Mike Schmitz's sermon from Sunday, October 27th, yesterday on Spotify, and I really enjoyed it. He talked about how the heart of worship is sacrifice. He said you can tell how important something is to someone by what they are willing to sacrifice for it. I thought this was interesting and also challenging at the same time. Everything involves a sacrifice or at least a giving of something. For instance, if you want to eat healthily, you need to give up your soda, your junk food, and your comfort foods. If you want to watch TV, you need to give up that time that could have been spent doing something else. If you want to worship God, you need to give Him your time.Father Mike talked about one of the biggest times to Worship the Lord int he Jewish culture was Passover. He described how the Jewish people would sacrifice a lamb to the Lord at Passover. However, they wouldn’t just buy a lamb and then sacrifice it. They would buy a lamb the Sunday before Passover and they would bring this lamb into their home. They would live with this lamb for a week. They would begin to care for this lamb, they may even love this lamb by the end of the week as they have just spent the week taking care of it. Then, they would carry this lamb upon their shoulders and bring it to the temple to sacrifice it to the Lord. They would do this every year.All this talk about sacrifice being the heart of worship really challenged me. It challenged me because I am in a season where sacrifice is hard for me. Well, true and meaningful sacrifice is hard for me. These days, it seems I am all too happy to sacrifice my productive time so that I can watch TV. However, what am I getting from the TV? What is that saying about what I am worshipping? I am really struggling with sacrificing for the Lord. My heart wants me to fast, and my brain finds all these reasons why I can’t. My heart wants to spend more time alone with the Lord, and yet I find myself watching TV instead.I am not sure why sacrifice is so hard for me right now. Sometimes, it comes much easier. I used to be pretty good at fasting or not watching TV. I am not sure why it is more of a struggle these days, other than the fact that life is not always linear. I heard this term when I was teaching about the dark night of the soul, and I think it not only applies to that, but it applies to all of life. Sometimes, we can think that life is like a mountain we are climbing, and we climb this mountain slowly and steadily, and then we reach the top. However, have you ever really climbed a mountain or seen someone climb a mountain? Yes, slow and steady is a good pace, but you aren’t always moving forward. Sometimes, you slip and fall. Sometimes, you catch yourself right away, and other times, you slide down a bit before getting back up again. Sometimes, there will be a big cliff you can’t climb directly, so you need to take another path, which might not be headed up the mountain, but rather around the mountain until you find a safe way up the mountain.Do you see how walking up the mountain is probably not just a straight path up? Life is like this. It is not linear, meaning we go from one step to the next to the next. Sometimes, we go to the next step, and then we regress back three steps, then we take the next right step. Life is a process. It is one we all go through, and I am sure if you look over your life, you will see that it didn’t always feel like you were moving forward. Sometimes, it felt like you were moving backward.I think going into this weekend; we can remember what Father Mike said about the sacrifice being the heart of worship. How can we worship the Lord better this weekend? What can we sacrifice in order to show our love for the Lord? If we look at what we are already sacrificing in our lives, that will show us what we are worshiping right now in our lives. What are you worshiping? For me, I think it is food and TV, but I wish it was the Lord. This weekend I will spend some time talking with the Lord and seeing what He thinks I should be sacrificing.Which brings me to the second part of this verse. The last line of this verse says, “ For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would

No More MasqueradeColossians 3:7-9 "That's how you once behaved, characterized by your evil deeds. But now it's time to eliminate them from your lives once and for all – anger, fits of rage, all forms of hatred, cursing, filthy speech, and lying. Lay aside your old Adam self with its masquerade and disguise.”There were two things I liked about these verses this morning. The first is that they tell us it is time to eliminate certain behaviors from our lives once and for all. These behaviors are anger, fits of rage, all forms of hatred, cursing, filthy speech, and lying. I was drawn to this because those are things I think we would all get rid of if we could. I don’t think any one of us likes being angry or having fits of rage. Many would love to give up hatred, cursing, filthy speech, and lying too. However, it is what we know. We might think it is who we are. If this is the case, then how do we give these things up? How do we stop doing something that we feel has become part of who we are?The first step in changing anything is acknowledging the need for change. If we don’t think anything needs to change, then nothing will change. Once you realize something needs to change, your brain will subconsciously start to think of ways it can help you change. However, that doesn’t mean you will implement these new changes immediately. It often takes us a while to make changes, especially if there are changes in things that we have done or have not done for a while. For instance, I know I need to work out every day. I want to work out, and yet I can’t seem to fit it into my schedule.It takes time to change things about ourselves. We can’t just stop doing the thing we want to change. We need to replace that behavior with another behavior. For instance, if we usually curse when we are mad, we will need to find something else to do instead. This will be much more effective than just trying to stop doing it altogether. My dad used to tell us this when we were younger. He would try to tell us that we should pick a replacement for the bad words we would get into trouble for saying. Then, when we would say the bad word, immediately after saying it, we would say the word we wanted to replace it with. This seemed to work for us, at least a little.How do we stop getting angry, though? How do we stop experiencing rage? I don’t think the people who experience them do it because they want to. I think the people want to act this way; they just can’t help it. I think the solution to this is to live more intentionally. We need to be proactive instead of reactive. We need to go through life deciding how we want to act instead of just reacting to everything that happens.My kids used to push my buttons like it was their job. They knew just what to say to make me yell or get really upset. I would get so mad and occasionally would say things I didn’t mean but felt like I couldn’t help it. However, I finally learned how to resist reacting negatively to their words or their actions that were meant to upset me. If I can do it, you can too. It was not easy, but it is doable! Which thing listed in this verse is something you need to stop doing?The second thing I liked about these verses is when they say, “Lay aside your old Adam self with its masquerade and disguise.” Adam and Eve brought sin into this world, and it was shared with all of us. However, Jesus brought that sin to the cross so that we could be a different person. Why are we still acting like our old selves, full of sin and shame? Also, why are we hiding ourselves? When I saw the last line in this verse today, it made me think of a song. I know you are not surprised, as I tend to always think of songs. However, there is a song that talks about how we are all masquerading and what if we just took our masks off. I believe that is what this verse is calling us to do.The song I thought of is called Cages by We the Kingdom. Here are the lyrics.What if I got real honest?What if I took a risk?What if I opened up my heartAnd let you see in?What if I took my mask off?Trying to fit inI don't wanna be a mannequinWhat if we took our masks off? What if we were just who God created us to be? What if we let go of all the anger, fits of rage, hatred, cursing, filthy speech, and lying? Why do we do those things anyway? Do we enjoy them, or is it so that we will fit in with those around us? Do we do it so we will feel normal?What if I let my guard down?What if I took a breath?What if I wasn't perfect?What if I was just a mess?What if I bled my soul outGivin' all I could give?What if we let our guard down? What if we weren’t always trying to be perfect? What if we just let the world see us for the mess that we really are? Would that really be so bad? Can you imagine how freeing it would be to just feel comfortable being yourself? That is what this verse is calling you to do. Stop pretending and just be you.I'm so tired of pretendingI'm comin' out of my cagesI'm steppin' down from my stagesI'm sick an

Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose four testimonies from the Addictions and Deliverance Category. Today's witnesses are about how people who were addicted to drugs and, through the intervention of God, their lives were changed. I know people who are really suffering right now because of drugs or addictions, and so I thought these witnesses might give all those affected by addiction some hope and encouragement. God is not done in your situation or your loved ones' situation. If it’s not good, God’s not done! 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 this testimony, 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.First we have Jim: The story I have is 100% God!!! In the darkest days of my opiate addiction, I went to jail. Then, I received a three-year sentence. I had never been in trouble as a teenager or a young adult. At one point, I overdosed and if God had not put air in my lungs, I would have died. Nobody was around and nobody would have been there for days. God knows our hearts and I went to Greater Cleveland Teen Challenge and completed that phase. Then, I went on to Cape Girardeau Missouri where I completed an additional ten-month program. Jesus Christ set me free from the bondage of drugs and alcohol! Thank you, Lord, for your sovereignty and for calling me out of the darkness and into Your marvelous light!Next is Jane: God hears you when you cry out to Him, and I can tell you that it’s true! When I was deep in the trap of addiction to alcohol and cocaine, I would cry out to God in desperation to remove it from me because it was literally killing me. He heard my cries, and in perfect timing, through a car accident, He released me from my addiction! The night of the accident, I wasn’t under the influence of any substances, and the accident was caused by the other driver. We were both injured, but God took away my addiction that night and at that moment! It was a true miracle, and I hope that someone who has these struggles will be encouraged by my story. God is a way-maker, and He will remove your addictions if you keep crying out and believing in the power of Jesus! There have been many more miracles in my life, but I chose this one in hopes of helping a brother or sister in need!The third one there is a story of a girl whose family did not protect her. I grew up in an abusive home where I was sexually trafficked by my mother to other family members. I told my pastor, my teachers, doctors, and nurses. No one did anything. So I grew to believe that I was unworthy, unlovable, and useless unless the person had an ulterior motive. I became seriously depressed to the point that I was diagnosed with medically-resistant depression. I was suicidal and thought of ways to kill myself daily. I sought counseling but it always failed to benefit me. I attended a depression and anxiety recovery program in November 2018. I had a gun in one hand and pills in the other and told God if He didn’t get me in the program that I was done. I met a man named Paul with a ministry called “Straight 2 the Heart” who taught me about Jesus’s suffering and being tempted with my negative thoughts. In the prayer process, receivers listen for God’s still small voice and encouragement. So often that encouragement has come in Matthew West’s songs as God reminds me of my identity and value. I’ve been sober and off of narcotic prescriptions and hard liquor for just over 2 years. Thank you for letting me share.Last but not least we have Karryn: I grew up in a good family, but I’d never felt loved. I didn’t know why. I was also a very good liar since I was young, and I never understood why about that either. I have been listening to Matthew West’s music since the first time I went into rehab in 2015. That was the first time I was introduced to Christianity. I was a bad methamphetamine addict. After rehab, I had my ups and downs. I had two beautiful sons, Jaz and Lucas, but I never put them first. In 2019, I went back into rehab, a Christ centered facility. But, I ended up leaving to be with my boyfriend, Dallas, whom I really loved. He was about 700 miles away from me. I got pregnant soon after we reunited, but we continued to use drugs. We lost everything. We were living in a tent, and were hurt both physically and mentally by the people in that scene.

How Fleeting Life IsPsalm 39: 4-6 ““LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.” Selah “Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.””This was a verse that was received during my prayer group last week. I wanted to get a deeper understanding of what the verses meant, so I went online to the Enduring Word Bible Commentary that I learned about not that long ago. I believe it is a minister who has compiled a commentary on the different books of the Bible. He helps to explain it so we can all understand what is being said in a little more detail. Sometimes it is nice to know what certain things meant back in the time when they were written. Yes, the Bible is a living Word that is just as true today as it was the day it was written.However, sometimes it is nice to be able to understand why they chose to use certain words or if those words had a different meaning back when the Bible was written. Also, the Bible was not originally written in English, so sometimes the word that was used in the Greek or Hebrew edition is not an exact translation into English, and I love to hear what the word they actually used meant and how it is different than the English word. This stuff is discovered by theologians who study scripture and the ancient times and fill us in on all that they learn. I love learning more in-depth explanations of what the Scripture is really telling us. Today I will share with you the explanation I found on the enduring Word Commentary website as I think He explained it very well.First, it says, LORD, make me know my end: David’s silence was broken in the best way – by humble prayer to God. He would not speak his fears and doubts before the wicked, but he would pour them out before His God. Here, David asked God for wisdom – specifically, the wisdom to know the shortness and the frailty of his life (that I may know how frail I am).We might have expected David to break his silence by telling off his enemies or by defending his own righteousness. He did neither; he sought God for wisdom. “It is well that the vent of his soul was Godward and not towards man. Oh! if my swelling heart must speak, Lord let it speak with thee.” (Spurgeon)Next it says, Make me to know my end: “This was not a prayer inspired by a desire to know when life would end; it was not a request to be told the date of death. It was a prayer for an accurate apprehension of the fact that life quantitatively – that is, as to the number of its days – is as nothing.” (Morgan)Then, You have made my days as handbreadths: “He compares it to a ‘handbreadth,’ one of the smallest units of measurement in ancient Israel. It is equivalent to a couple of inches.’” (VanGemeren)“Life is very short, but a great deal may be done. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in three years, saved the world. Some of his followers in three years have been the means of saving many and many a soul.” (Spurgeon)Next, Certainly, every man in his best state is but a vapor: David was a champion, an accomplished Special Forces warrior, a leader, a celebrity, a skilled poet, a musical genius, a survivor, and a king. If anyone might have thought more highly of himself, David had the right to. Yet he understood that he, like every man, is – at his best state – merely a vapor, a puff of steam or smoke.“He learns that, since life is short, the only real meaning of a man or woman’s existence must be in his relationship to God, for God is eternal.” (Boice)Next, the word Selah: The idea in Hebrew for this word (occurring 74 times in the Old Testament) is for a pause. Most people think it speaks of a reflective pause, a pause to meditate on the words just spoken. It may also be a musical instruction for a musical interlude of some kind.This Selah is an appropriate call for each one to pause and think of the shortness and frailty of his life. It should drive us to great dependence upon God and great earnestness about life and doing good in the short time we do have.It goes on to say, Surely they busy themselves in vain. Sounding very much like the later Book of Ecclesiastes, David thought about the mass of humanity who lived, ignoring the shortness and frailty of life.· Each of them walks about, but like a shadow, living a life with no substance.· They are busy but in vain, being blind to eternal things.· Each of them works hard and heaps up riches, yet does not think beyond his own short and frail life.This is the land of shadows. Heaven is the land of reality, of true high definition.“Every man that exists is vanity. All his projects, plans, schemes, etc., soon come to nothing. His body also molders with the dust, and shortly passes both from the sight and remembrance of men.” (Clarke)I know today was a bit more tech

Keep A Tight Rein on Your TongueJames 1:26-27 “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”There were two things that really stood out to me in this morning’s verses. The first one is when it says, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” I think we all know people who claim to be religious and yet say all sorts of unkind things about other people. Sometimes, I don’t think they even know what they are saying is wrong.They may think they are just saying things that are true, so it is not a big deal. However, sometimes that is gossiping about others. We need to stop and ask ourselves, does this person need to know this thing about the other person? Why am I telling them them? Is it so they know this person a bit better? Is it because I don’t agree with it, and I want others to reassure me that I am right and this other person is wrong? Am I just talking about this other person because it makes me seem like I know things others do not know?We might get caught up in gossip not because we want to but because everyone around us is gossiping, and we don’t know how to avoid it. I have been in this situation before where those around me were talking about someone, and I didn’t want to participate, and yet I also felt like I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to seem like I thought I was better than anyone else, and I didn’t want to speak up and then make them feel judged. However, what I am realizing right now is that it is more important for me to think about how God is thinking about me than it is about those who are around me. Also, I am doing them a disservice if I don’t speak up, as God is not happy when we gossip. If we love our friends and family, we should do all we can to get them into heaven. This means if we see that they are gossiping, we can let them know that we don’t want to participate and that God doesn’t want us to gossip.I do think how we tell them this is important. I think whenever we see something, and we feel called to speak up, we must always speak up out of love and genuine concern for their soul. We should speak with nothing but love in our voices. We shouldn’t be filled with judgment or condemnation. When Jesus was here on Earth, He saw all sorts of wicked things, and yet he didn’t condemn people; he convicted them, and many of them changed their ways. He did not talk down to them, although He could have because he was fully God and fully human. He did not make them feel bad about what they were doing. He made them feel loved. Jesus loved them completely just as they were, and that was something people had never felt before. They did not change because He yelled at them and told them what they were doing was wrong. They did not change because of his judgment or condemnation. They changed because of His love for them. Those around you deserve the same. They need your unconditional love for where they are right now, and then they will begin to move towards where the Lord wants them to be!The second thing that stood out to me in this verse is the last line. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I love this because it reminds us that religion is not just a set of beliefs. It is a way of life. It is not just a set of words and prayers, but it is action as well. We can’t just talk a good game and not live it out. We can’t talk about how important it is to take care of those who don’t have anything and yet do nothing to help those in need.The verse says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by this world.” We have to take care of the orphans and the widows in distress. What does this mean? Does this mean if we see a homeless kid on the street we need to pick him or her up and take them home? No, but it does mean we should do something, not just walk buy and pretend we don’t see them. That seems to be what most of us do. It is too hard to look at them. We don’t have to give them money because we heard that is bad because they will just use it for drugs. So, we don’t know how to help them, and so we ignore them and pretend we don’t see them. This hurts them. Have you ever had someone walk right by you and pretend not to see you? It is not a good feeling.There are plenty of ways we can help those in need. We can physically go out and help them. For instance, I have a few friends who go out to the streets and talk with the homeless. They learn their names, spend time with the

The Lord Is My RefugePsalm 91:9-13 “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.”These verses were given at one of our evening prayer group meetings last month. When I saw it in my notes and looked it up this morning, I thought it was a great verse to talk about today. The first line is great. “Because we have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.” This is amazing. Yet it also makes me wonder, have I made the Lord my refuge? I feel like I have had evil befall me, so what does that mean? Does that mean that I haven’t made the Lord my refuge?I think when we read certain passages in the Bible, we can wonder things like this. This is why it is super important not to take verses out of context. It is also important to look at everything the Bible says as a whole when trying to understand scripture. Psalm 91 speaks about God's protection, but it doesn't suggest that believers will never face hardship or experience evil. Instead, it emphasizes God's presence, care, and protection in the midst of difficulties. Verses like Psalm 91:2-3 declare:"I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence."However, this protection doesn’t mean that nothing bad will ever happen. Instead, it points to God being a refuge during difficult times and offering ultimate protection, even when facing dangers or evil. The psalm uses symbolic language to show how God can shelter and protect from harm, but that doesn't imply that no adversity will ever come into a believer's life. In fact, other parts of Scripture acknowledge that faithful people can suffer (e.g., Job, Jesus' teachings, and the Psalms of lament).Psalm 91 reminds believers that even when evil befalls them, God is their refuge, and they can trust in Him for strength, comfort, and, ultimately, deliverance. It also speaks of spiritual protection—preserving the believer's soul, even when physical or material harm occurs. Therefore, facing adversity doesn't mean God is not your refuge, but rather it may be a time to deepen your trust in Him.Next, the verse says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands, they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” Can you even believe that God commands his angels to guard us in all our ways? I have heard many stories of when people have been saved by angels. One of them was from someone in my prayer group. She was out driving her school bus in a snowstorm when her windshield wiper stopped working. She pulled over to the side of the road. She didn’t have any kids on the bus because she was about to park the bus for the night at the bus lot. She didn’t know what she was going to do because she couldn’t drive without windshield wipers, and the snow was really coming down. She prayed for the Lord to help her.Right after she finished praying, she saw lights in her rearview mirror. Another bus had pulled in behind her. The driver got out and fixed her windshield wipers. They both got back on their way. When my friend got to the lot to park the bus, she asked them who the driver was and who stopped and helped her. They said there were no other drivers. She was the only one still out. She said she knew it was an angel that helped her. Here are a few that I found online:A young woman was saved from a home invasion when something prevented the attacker's hands from touching her. A hospice social worker was able to avoid a large van with a metal ladder on top after hearing a voice say, "Both hands on the wheel." A mother was praying in her room when she read a verse that said, "And the Lord will provide your wages." A young lady knocked on the door and handed her an envelope containing a good amount of cash. A couple were about to miss their flight to Bermuda when an attendant found a packet of landing papers on the counter. The attendant called the plane back to the gate, and the couple was able to board. A man on a bicycle almost hit someone walking down a hill in Jerusalem, but his bike seemed to hit an invisible wall, and he fell over. I think sometimes we think our problems are too practical for God. We don’t ask for things because we can’t see a way that He could help us. We think He is up in heaven, and sure, He can orchestrate big things to happen, but He can’t really help me with my practical problem of needing $50 right now so I can pay my bill. I believe He can help me find a job, but how is He able to make sure my car

Today, I want to tell you about the retreat I had a few weekends ago. I felt like I would have more people at this retreat than last year. I did have many more people I invited who said they were interested in coming. However, most said they wanted to go but could not make it for the weekend that I booked the retreat house. Three weeks before the retreat, I asked the retreat director, Nancy, a question, and at that time, I only had four people signed up. She told me that she could not pay her staff to come in for just four people. I totally understood this and yet was devastated that I may have to cancel the retreat.Nancy was super sweet and said that I could still use the retreat house to have the retreat, I would just need to provide the food. She said she would reduce the amount of money that I needed to pay to use the retreat house and that she and her husband would take care of reheating the food, picking up takeout, or helping with whatever we decided to do for food for the weekend. She said she didn’t want me to have to cancel on those who had already signed up. I prayed about it and felt like the Lord still wanted me to have the retreat, even if it was just for four people.Over the course of the next few weeks, I had four more people sign up, so we were up to 8. Then, two of them had things come up, and they were unable to come. We were down to 6, but with me, that was seven, and I thought that was an ok number. I had wanted more to come, but I understood that people had things going on that weekend. About a week before the retreat, I talked with a friend of mine, and she said she was able to come. This brought us up to 8, including myself. I thought that was a pretty good number. Then, the Wednesday before, another friend asked if she could come. She said she didn’t originally sign up because she needed to cover for someone at church, but that person came home from her trip early, and she was free to come. Then, on Friday morning, another friend called up and asked if it was too late for her to come. She really needed a retreat weekend and was wondering if she could come. I checked with the retreat house, and Nancy said it was not a problem. So, the final count was 10 of us at the retreat. I thought this number was small, but those in attendance were happy that there weren’t too many people because it meant they didn’t have to be nervous spending the weekend with 40 other women that they didn’t know. They all got to know each other pretty well. By the end of the weekend, they were hugging each other, exchanging numbers and Facebook profiles, and promising to keep in touch. It was such a great weekend, and it was really great to see the beginning of what I know will be some amazing friendships. I think that is part of the magic of retreat. There are so many nice parts about the retreat: the talks, the activities, and the food, but one of the best is the fellowship with others going through the same kind of stuff. We may not all be going through the exact same stuff, but we are all going through stuff, and to get the opportunity to spend a weekend with other people who are going through stuff and who also love Jesus is a great thing!Remember above when I said Nancy said I could still use the retreat house, but I would need to provide the food? I was trying to think of what I should do for food. I thought maybe I could do takeout, like pizza and pasta, or maybe grinders. However, now there were ten people, and takeout would get expensive. And what would I order that everyone would like? I decided it would be good to do casseroles. This way, I could make them ahead of time throughout the week, and it wouldn’t be a lot of work for Nancy and her husband. They could just put them in the oven to reheat them.I spoke with my sister Liz, who is a master party planner. Well, her day job is as a counselor, but her passion is party planning, and she is so good at it. She also loves meal planning and meal prep. She said she could come over the weekend before, and we could make stuff and freeze it. She and another sister, Dee, came over the Sunday before, and we made four quiche, two nondairy egg casseroles, beef stew, chicken noodle soup, and two ranch chicken and potato casseroles. It was amazing because it only took a few hours, and yet we had both days of breakfast taken care of; we had one dinner and one lunch taken care of. I had decided the other dinner would be a chicken and stuffing casserole that I couldn’t make in advance because it is not great to freeze stovetop stuffing. I was also going to cook up some hamburger meat for the second lunch so we could have tacos. What seemed like it was going to be really difficult turned out to be really easy, and everyone ended up really happy with the food.When it finally came time for the actual retreat, it was amazing! Everyone hit a lot of traffic, so we started late, and yet no one seemed to mind. We started with introductions, and then we ate dinner together.