Walk Boldly With Jesus – Détails, épisodes et analyse

I Am Redeemed!

Isaiah 44:22 “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

“I am redeemed” is something I think we all need to hear. We tend to live in our mistakes. We tend to think about our transgressions a lot. We look at all we have done over our lifetimes, and we decide that God can’t possibly love us because we are a bad person. We judge ourselves so often. I have discovered this is not something that just a few of us do. It is something that all of us do. The more I pray with people, the more I see that we are all struggling with the same things. We struggle with thinking we are enough. We struggle with thinking people don’t like us. We struggle with thinking we are ugly. We struggle with self-hatred.

You might be surprised how many people hate themselves. I was at a personal development conference once, and the speaker, Rachel Hollis, said she asked the audience at her last conference to raise their hand if they hated their body. Not if they didn’t like one part or another, but if they hated their body. She said that over 90% of the people in the audience raised their hands. If you hate something about yourself, I hope you know that you are not alone.

The problem with hating our body or hating something about ourselves is that God created us. He made us in his likeness and image. He loves us just as we are. He wouldn’t change a thing about us. This is really hard for us to believe. Actually, what just came to my mind is our sin. He would change that, I am sure. I am sure God does not love when we sin. However, that doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us. Have you ever said that to your children? I love you; I just don’t love your behavior. I have said that lots to my kids. It is actually something they have repeated back to me. My sons have told me that they know I will love them no matter what they do.

If we, as humans, can say this to our children, why don’t we believe the same could be true for God? God loves us more than we can imagine. He loves us no matter what we do. It says in Matthew 18:12-14 “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

God doesn’t love when we mess up, but he knows we are going to mess up. He knows everything about us. When we mess us up, God leaves the 99 to come and find us and bring us home. He doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t give up on us. He just gently comes to find us and bring us home. The verse ends with, “It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” I have heard many describe God as an old man sitting in heaven just waiting for us to screw up. I can tell by this passage and so many others that this is not what God is like at all. He is rooting for us. He is rooting for me. He is rooting for you!

Today’s verse says, “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” In today’s verse, the Lord is calling us back to Him. He is telling us not to worry about all we have done. He has swept away our transgressions like a cloud and our sins like mist. This is a great visual. We can imagine our transgressions, and then we can picture them sitting on top of a cloud and blowing away in the wind. Take a minute, close your eyes, and picture some situation, transgression, or interaction that you are not proud of. Most, if not all, of us have situations or interactions that we look back upon from time to time and wish we would have acted differently. Maybe we wouldn’t have said that thing or done that thing.

Think about those interactions that you have had that you wish you could change. Now, close your eyes and imagine you can put that situation, interaction, or transgression on a cloud and just watch the Lord sweep it away. That seems so peaceful. Do you feel any lighter? Were you able to let those things go? Let’s hand them over to God; they aren’t doing us any good.

Next, the Lord says that our sins turn to mist. This is another great vision. You can picture the sins you have committed. The ones you think could never be forgiven. Those that you confessed at confession and are still holding on to because it is so hard to believe the Lord can forgive you for them. Close your eyes and picture those sins. Then picture them exploding into a very fine mist. It doesn’t have to be a huge explosion. I picture the sin as bubble letters describing the sin, and then I picture the letter popping and turning into a mist. What are you picturing? Are you able to see your sins turn to mist? Why are you struggling to forgive yourself? The Lord has redeemed you. You are no longer your sins.

There is another verse, Galatians 3:13, which also reminds us that we are redeemed! It says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” The reason we know we are redeemed is because Christ took our sins with Him to the cross. When we refuse to accept the Lord’s forgiveness for our sins, we are telling the Lord a few things. First, we are telling Him that His son’s sacrifice was not enough. We are essentially saying, “We know Jesus died for our sins, but my sin is too great. His sacrifice is not enough to cover my sins.”

Is this something you believe? Do you believe Jesus’s sacrifice was not enough? If this is not something you believe, then why is it so hard for you to accept His forgiveness? Why do you hold onto your sins and your mistakes when God has already redeemed them? He has already redeemed you! God loves you! He created you. He knew all you would do before He even created you, and yet He still chose to create you. I heard Father Mike say something in a podcast one time that really struck me and it is something I think we all need to hear.

Father Mike is The Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota. He said that he often asks the students in his campus ministry if they know that God loves them. He said they can kind of blow him off or minimize it and say things like, “Yeah, yeah, I know God loves everyone.” Father Mike agrees and affirms that is true and then goes on to say, “But do you know that God loves you individually?” He explains to them that there was a time when God made the conscious decision to make you and to bring you into this world. He decided the world would be a better place with you in it. He didn’t have to create you; He didn’t have to create any of us. Yet He did. He created you just as you are, in his likeness and image. He not only created you, but he redeemed you long before you were even born. You are Redeemed!! No matter how checkered your past is. No matter what you have done, God has redeemed you. You are not your sins. You are not the same person you were. You do not have to live in hatred and shame. You are Redeemed! If you struggle to believe this, write it down on a sticky note somewhere that you will see it often. Then read it every single day, multiple times a day, because it is a truth and a promise that you can stand on. YOU ARE REDEEMED!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode. I ask that you come into our hearts and help us believe that we are redeemed. Help us to forgive ourselves. Help us to accept your forgiveness. Help us to release anything that is keeping us stuck in our sin and shame. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with our will and with Jesus’s holy name. Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with a friend. Also, if you could leave a review, that would help more people find this podcast. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “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 and because I am your God. I provide the power. Be not afraid to move and do what I tell you.”

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Today’s witness is my brother-in-law Billy. On Thanksgiving, he did not show up at his mom’s house for dinner. His family was concerned. He lives right next door, so they went to check on him. He wasn’t there. When they still hadn’t heard from him after some time, they went to check if he was at a friend’s house down the street. This is where they found out that he had fallen down the stairs and hit his head.

They called an ambulance, and he was rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, they found out that he had a brain bleed. He had surgery, and they were able to repair the bleeding. However, they said he had been lying there for at least 12 hours before he was found. They were unsure how much damage the bleed had done to his brain. Billy needed to be on a ventilator, and he was in a medically induced coma while the swelling went down. We instantly sent out a request for prayers from everyone we knew. They tried to wake him a few times from the coma, but it didn’t go too well.

When I checked in with my sister on December 4th, she said Billy was not worse, but he wasn’t any better either. He was still on the vent. He was still heavily sedated. When the nurses would lighten up the sedation, Billy would respond to cues. They find out that he can move both of his legs and his arms. The next update I had was on December 10th. Billy was still in the coma and still not the vent. However, they were trying to wean him off the vent.

The doctors were predicting that he would be in the hospital for at least a week and then he would be in a nursing home, then after the nursing home, when he was strong enough medically, he would need to go to Rehab to relearn how to walk, talk, possibly even have to relearn how to swallow and eat. The doctors were predicting his road to recovery would take at least 2-3 years, and even they couldn’t promise he would ever be able to leave the nursing home. They did not know how severe the damage was and if he would ever be able to do anything for himself.

I went to the hospital with my sister on December 15th to pray over Billy for healing. When I was there he was awake, but had the breathing tube in, so he could not talk. He was definitely tracking you when you walked in the room. He seemed to be aware of what was going on. He seemed to react to things going on. For instance, the nurse was doing something, and you could tell he didn’t like it. He seemed to be doing better. However, he did look a bit like he was trapped in his body. His eyes seemed to be trying to communicate, but I am not sure what they were saying.

Billy did finally wake up out of the coma, but he was still on the ventilator. The doctors wanted to take the ventilator tube out and put in a trach. My sister knew from previous talks with Billy over the years that he would not want a trach. She remembered sitting with him and looking at photos of people who had to get a trach because of cancer due to chewing tobacco, and he had said he wouldn’t want that. The doctors were really pushing for it as they said that it is not good to have the breathing tube in that long.

As you can imagine, with any tragedy, the family did not all agree as to how they should proceed. My sister knew what Billy would want as they had been married for over 25 years at this point. However, others were worried that if he didn’t get the trach, he would die, and they, of course, were not ready for that. No one is ever ready for this. My sister was also worried that if they put the trach in, Billy would be alive but not be able to do anything. She did not want him stuck in his own body for the rest of his life; she knew Billy wouldn’t want this either, and the doctors couldn’t tell her the extent of the brain damage. At this point, they did not know if he would ever talk again, get out of bed again, or remember anything. They had no idea of the extent of the damage.

The doctors told my sister they wanted to have a family meeting on December 20th to know whether they could put the trach in or not. My sister knew she didn’t want it and that the rest of the family did. She knew it was going to be a hard meeting and that she was going to be the enemy, the one everyone was mad at. However, she really felt like that is what Billy would want. I called her, and we prayed for clarity and for God to help me make the decision. We prayed for peace in the meeting and for everyone to get along for Billy’s sake. Before the meeting, tensions were high, and people were already fighting and being unkind before even going into the meeting.

However, at the meeting, everyone was able to get along. Tensions were calmed, everyone apologized for the bad blood between them, and they all hugged and prayed at the end of the meeting. My sister agreed to taking the breathing tube out the next day and see if Billy could breathe on his own. If he couldn’t, she would allow him to put the trach in and then reevaluate how he was doing in three weeks. Everyone was on board with this plan.

She went to the hospital the next day, and they took the breathing tube out, and Billy was able to breathe on his own. Hallelujah! Praise God, He is so good! This was on December 20th. Once they took the breathing tube out, Billy was able to talk, and they were able to see how he was doing mentally. For the most part, he seemed to be doing pretty well. He knew who people were when they came to visit. He would be able to have conversations with people. Sometimes, he gets confused as to where he is or gets mixed up in conversations. However, he is returning more and more to his old self.

He is now able to walk. He is unsteady and needs some support, but he can do it! He is able to move around. He is able to eat by himself. He is able to do things for himself that they thought he might not ever be able to do. It is now February 12th, 11 weeks after he was found at the bottom of the stairs, and the doctors are sending him home. They said he does not need to go to a nursing home because he is medically ok. They said he didn’t need to go to rehab because he could do all the things by himself. (walk, talk, feed himself, etc).

Mentally, there are still prayers needed. Although he can do all those things himself, he still gets confused as to where he is and what he is doing. He will need someone to stay with him 24 hours a day to make sure he is safe. He can not drive. However, he has made amazing strides in his health, and I have no doubt that God is going to continue to heal him. I am sure God is not done healing his brain, his memories, and all of his cognitive functioning.

I want to praise God for all he has done so far in this situation. I want to praise God for healing Billy physically and for helping him to go home, as I know how much Billy hates hospitals and hates being away from his home. I am so grateful to God for bringing Billy home to his parents, his sister, and his children and grandchildren. I thank You, Lord, for giving them their son, brother, father, and grandfather back. I thank you for all the healing you have already done, and I pray for more. We pray that you continue to restore his cognitive functioning. We pray you heal him completely. We pray he is able to live on his own again, work again, drive again, and do all the things that he could do before. We love you so much, Lord, and we thank you for this miracle. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen.

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I Am Victorious (Identity Series)

Ephesians 6:13 “Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you're protected as you confront the slander, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious.

I looked at several different scriptures for this morning's devotional. There are so many good ones in Ephesians. I don’t know why I never saw them before. Or maybe I did, and the Lord is just showing me them again in a different light. I am not sure, but I love it! I saw this verse first this morning, and then I went back and forth on a few others, but my eyes kept being drawn back to this one. I know a lot of you are going through some really hard things right now, and what I felt when I kept being drawn back to this verse was that God wants you to know that you will rise victorious!

He wants you to know that this thing you are going through, the situation you are in, will not take you down. This illness will not be the end. These financial matters won’t be the end. Your estranged loved ones, this is not the end. You will be victorious. You will be healed. Your loved one will be healed. The Lord will provide for you to pay your bills. You won’t be estranged from your loved one forever. Whatever it is you are struggling with this morning, I feel the Lord wants me to tell you you will rise victorious.

The last part of this verse made me think of a song I saw in a movie called Pitch Perfect 2. The song was sung by a group of Germans who were competing in an a cappella singing competition. This song came into my mind because their performance was so powerful. They projected such strength when they performed this song. This is what we must do when we are dealing with the enemy.

The verse says that we must put on the armor that God provides us so that we are protected when we confront the slander. Make no mistake, the slander is the devil. Of course, he won’t look like the devil. He will look like someone who cut you off in the traffic. He will look like the person spreading lies about you. He will look like your co-worker or your boss. He might look like your children or your siblings. Whoever is causing strife in your life, the enemy is working through them. I want to read you the words to the song that popped into my mind, as I know it is not a coincidence that when I read this verse, this song came to mind. If you want to see the video on YouTube, you can type in Das Sound Machine  Car Show, and it should come up.  Here are the lyrics:

They will not control us. We will be victorious

[Verse 1]

Paranoia is in bloom

The PR transmissions will resume

They try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down

And hope that we will never see the truths around

Come On!

[Verse 2]

Another promise, another seed

Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed

And all the green belts wrapped around our minds

And endless red tape to keep the truth confined

Come On!

[Chorus]

They will not force us

They will stop degrading us

They will not control us

We will be victorious

At first, these lyrics might not seem to make much sense. However, if you think about them in terms of what the enemy is trying to do to us, they make much more sense. The first line goes perfectly with the verse. They will not control us; we will be victorious. The enemy and his evil henchmen will not control us. We are God’s children, and we are protected. However, we must put on our armor of protection. We must call on the Lord. We need to give Him permission to protect us. We need to read the scriptures so we know when the enemy is lying to us. We must stand in truth.

The next verse in the song says Paranoia is in bloom. The PR transmissions will resume. They try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down. And hope that we will never see the truth around. Come On! This may not fit perfectly, but when we really think about it, we can see that the enemy is trying to make us feel paranoid. All we have to do is listen to the news for a few minutes, and we can see all the craziness going on in the world today. Also, it says they try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down. And hope that we will never see the truth around us. How many of us know someone who has struggled with drug or alcohol abuse? We know it is all around us, yet do we know that the enemy is the one who is pushing it on us. Do we know he is trying to keep us on drugs so we don’t see the truth all around us? When we use drugs, when we drink, it alters our state, and we don’t see things as they really are.

The next verse of the song says, “Another promise, another seed, another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed. And all the green belts wrapped around our minds. And endless red tape to keep the truth confined. Come On!” How many people in our lives have promised us promise after promise and yet not kept them? How many times have people in the government, or in any authoritative power, promised something, and yet it never happened? I like how it says, “another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed.” This is so true in the world today. The enemy will tell us anything we want to hear to keep us trapped in greed. The world is all about how much we have and how much we can get. It is not about giving to others. It is about making sure we have what we need despite others.

Next, the song says, “And all the green belts wrapped around our minds. And endless red tape to keep the truth confined.” Do you ever feel like this? Do you feel like the information we get from the news, social media, and YouTube are all just feeding us what we want to hear? Sometimes, I feel like the truth is impossible to find. It is always hidden in someone else’s opinion about what happened. It is very hard to find the facts about the actual incident. The truth is harder and harder to find these days.

The chorus of this song is one that I recommend we use as a mantra anytime we are having a rough day or anytime the enemy seems to be overtaking our thoughts. It says, “They will not force us. They will stop degrading us. They will not control us. We will be victorious.” We know this is true because the Lord tells us this in Ephesians 6:13. We will be victorious. The enemy can not force you. This is one of those things that the enemy doesn’t want us to know. If God is willing to be bound by free will you better believe the enemy is also. He likes us to think he can do whatever he wants to us, and yet if we tell him to leave, he must leave. That is a fact he doesn’t want us to know.

You are so much more powerful than you know. The enemy is trying to keep this from us because He knows the game will be over if all of God’s children start living in the power that the Lord gave us. If we all stood up to the enemy and said, “No more! I am done with your games. I know you can’t hurt me because I am a child of the one true God. I know you have no power over me. I know you are a liar, and I refuse to believe your stupid lies anymore.” Can you imagine what type of world we would be living in if we were all able to do that? It would be glorious!

I don’t want to leave this verse today without addressing the beginning part of the verse. My eyes first went to the part that says, “You will be victorious,” and I think that message was what God wanted me to focus on today, yet I also want to make sure you all heard the first part, too, so I will end with that today. The verse above says it is important to wear the armor that God provides because “You are destined for all things.” You have a destiny and it is an amazing one. Do you know how I know it is an amazing one when I might not even know you? Because the enemy is attacking you. The enemy doesn’t care about those who are lukewarm or those whose souls he thinks he has already won. The enemy attacks those who he is worried will do great things for the kingdom of God. The enemy only attacks those who are powerful warriors for the Lord.

You, my friend, have an amazing destiny, and you will be victorious. I know things are hard right now. I know you can’t see a way out and you think all is about to come crashing down on you. You don’t see how your loved one will come back to you. You don’t see how the cancer will be defeated. You don’t see how you will pay your bills when your paycheck can’t possibly cover it all. I get it. We can’t always see how, and we don’t need to. All we need to do is believe the Lord when He says we will be victorious. We can just thank Him, praise Him and wait for Him to work all things for our good.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask you to protect our minds from the enemy. I ask you to help us to believe that we will be victorious. Show us how to put on the armor of God, Lord. Show us how to protect ourselves from the slanderer. Help us walk in our victory, Lord. Help us have hope that even though we don’t see how you will arrange all things for our victory. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus! I have enjoyed this month of Identity, and I pray you have learned a lot about who God says you are! I will be putting together a book of 31 different scripture verses about identity and making it a 31-day devotional. I hope you will look out for it in the coming months. My prayer is that it will help you grow in your identity as a child of God. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am love. I am joy. I am hope. You must go out to the world and share all that I share with you. You are my children, and I love you so dearly.”

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Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Addictions & Deliverance Category. Our family has been touched by addiction and I don’t think we are the only ones. One of my sons is desperately trying to quick vaping nicotine, which he was addicted to before he was really old enough to understand how addicting it is. I think these stories will offer some hope and encouragement. 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. Hearing how God worked in their situation gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also.

Adrienne:  In 2014, I began praying to God to remove these addictions from me. My life was a mess and all I cared about was my cigarettes and alcohol. God led me to the right resources, and I did manage to quit smoking and drinking (although not at the same time and I experienced some slips.)

In 2018, with the help of God and a stop-smoking community, I gave up cigarettes for good. Then on June 23rd, 2020, God helped me once again and both my husband and I stopped drinking. The freedom and joy I feel from having both of these substances out of my life is amazing and like nothing, I’ve ever known. The “buzz” I get now from a life well lived is so much better than any buzz I received from cigarettes or alcohol.
I am so incredibly grateful to be free of those chains. If you are struggling with overcoming an addiction, my advice to you is don’t give up on yourself and trust God. You may not break free immediately but with patience, perseverance, and the love and help of our Savior, you can overcome even the toughest addiction.

With God, ALL things are possible!

Chris: My name is Chris, I’m 32 years old and I’m from Houston, TX. I’m married to my wife, Keyla. We have 2 daughters Kaylee and Madison and a dog, Charlie Boy. As a child, I grew up in a loving home. I’m the youngest of 5 siblings. I grew up with mom and dad at home. We always had a tight bond. The thing is we didn’t know Jesus. Our lifestyle was that of sinners. Alcoholism and drug addiction were creeping around my family. At the age of 7, I was molested by a family member who was on drugs at the time. Years later, he committed suicide. But I forgave him. Mentally and emotionally it messed me up. At the age of 13, I myself started using drugs. I tried cocaine in the 7th grade, then started smoking marijuana. This was the beginning of a drug addiction that would last for a period of 18 years. At the age of 17, I went into a restoration home by the name of Outcry In The Barrio, founded by Pastor Freddy Garcia. By this time I was now using pills. My father was an alcoholic, my older brother, Jr., was selling drugs and was also addicted to drugs as well as my brother, Jerry, and sister, Brenda. My brother, John, was the only one in my family (along with my mother) who didn’t care for drugs or alcohol.

So, I walked into this small duplex 1 bedroom house with about 15 guys living there. The leaders and the Pastor of the church told me Jesus would change my life if I would only surrender. As I began my journey of sobriety, every day for the next 6 months was hard and I wanted to leave. But I started to notice something- I noticed my family was coming to church. My brother, Jr., was the first in my family to give his life to Jesus and decided to make a change within himself. He was tired of the lifestyle he was living. Little by little my entire family got saved. By the fifth or sixth month, we were all getting baptized and living for Christ. As I graduated my program at the age of 18, I wish I could tell you that was it- that I have lived a clean sober life. But that would be a lie.

The next 13 years were a battle, but it was no one’s fault but mine. After meeting my wife and getting married and having children, I thought that would help. But unfortunately and sadly it didn’t. I was selfish, stuck in my own ways, or addicted. My wife had enough. She moved out and went back to live with her parents, along with my daughters and Charlie Boy. By this time I couldn’t keep a job and I lost my house. I wrecked my car, lost my job, and found myself homeless on the streets and now addicted to crack. I literally lost everything. I was alone, in the streets, at times cold, at times wet because of the heavy rain, I lived like this for 3 long weeks. During the last week, after 6-7 days straight without food or anything to drink, I found myself in a prodigal stage. I cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord!!!!! What have I done? Look at me!! I have nothing!!! I’m alone in the streets. I have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters and I’m not there for them.” This was the rock bottom point in my life. It couldn’t get any lower than this. As I was walking, talking to the Lord it was late, sometime around 4 am. I began to tell the Lord I was tired and very hungry. I wanted something to eat. Before I could even end my sentence, I saw 2 birds picking at a fry and it was then that The Lord spoke to me and said, if I feed the birds of the earth, how much more you that I call my son? I wept and thanked the Lord because I knew I was about to get something to eat. A few hours passed. I walked into a restaurant by the name of Shuttle Burger and asked for a cup of water. The owner looked at me and said, “Mijo, are you hungry?” I looked down and nodded my head “Yes, ma’am”. Some tears ran down my face as I whispered in a soft voice, “Thank You, Jesus.”  Because I knew it was Him. After the meal, this lady sat next to me and said, “I’ve seen you walking around here lately. You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

I said, “Yes, ma’am. I am. I’ve lost my way due to addiction, and now I’m in the streets.”

She looked at me and said, “Well son, you know what you need to do. Surrender your life to Jesus and He can set you free!”

I said, “Amen. He sure can. I’ve seen and tasted of His goodness before.”

She said, “You can again.”

As I left this restaurant, I walked a few more hours and was able to work up the nerve, humble myself, and call my brother, John. He answered, happy to hear my voice. I said, “Bro, I’m tired, I need help, man. I’m homeless and I don’t wanna live like this anymore.”

He said, “Okay, bro. Where are you? I’m picking you up.”

He picked me up and took me back to his house. I showered, got some rest, and decided the next day to go to rehab. I was there for a month, got cleaned up, started working, bought a car, got an apartment, and my wife started to see the change in me. She and my daughters moved back in. I was attending church and everything seemed fine until I found myself getting tempted and falling into temptation. There’s a scripture in the Bible where Jesus tells the disciples to pray they won’t get tempted by Satan. That’s exactly what happened. My prayer life was not consistent. The very next day, May 24, 2020, I got on my knees and prayed, asking God to please forgive me, to please give me another chance. I said, “Lord, I know what will happen if I continue. I’ll lose everything and end up in the streets.”

I finally surrendered my life to Christ on that day 5/24/2020 and praise God, I’m going on 18 months of sobriety!! I give Jesus Christ all the honor and glory for the salvation of my soul and the forgiveness of my many sins. I now live a life of prayer, consistently praying, thanking, and praising the name of Jesus. In these 18 months, many things have happened. My wife and I bought our first home, I’ve been able to keep the same job, and I’m now writing music for God. I’ve learned that surrendering your life to Christ really works. He really loves us and wants the best for us. So with all that being said, this is my story. I hope it encourages and brings hope to everyone who reads and listens to my music. Amen.

Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I am sure it wasn’t easy, and yet it will help so many people know that they are not alone. I hope that anyone struggling with addiction hears your testimonies and believes that God can help them just as He has helped you! Thanks again for sharing!

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We Are Saved By God’s Grace

Ephesians 2:3-5 “The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life. We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else. But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!”

I love verses like this because when the Bible points out the things I am doing wrong, I know I am not the only one doing them. If I were the only one, or if only a few of us were living by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, then God wouldn’t put it in the Bible. The verse starts by saying, “The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life.” We were all born with original sin. Adam and Eve were born into a perfect world. There was no sin; there was only love, and they got to stroll through the garden at night with the Lord. Their heavenly Father would come to visit them and talk with them.

However, they were tricked by the serpent and ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil. I don’t know if they were misled or just enticed. The devil was laying out a pretty good picture of how God was trying to control them by telling them not to eat that fruit. The serpent told them they would be like God if they ate the fruit. Who wouldn’t want to be like God, right? So they ate the fruit. The interesting thing is that they were already like God. God made us in His likeness and image. They were already like God. However, once they ate that fruit, sin entered the world, and it didn’t want to leave.

This is the corruption from birth that the verse is talking about. We are all born with original sin, and that is why Catholics believe you should be baptized as soon as you are born. Once you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, sin can’t say, it must leave. However, because we are human, our choices can allow sin to creep back into our lives. This sin that creeps back into our lives is expressed through our deeds and desires of our self-life. When sin creeps back in, we tend to live for ourselves instead of for God.

I was listening to an Encounter Ministry talk yesterday, and the teacher talked about how she had a niece or a friend’s child whom she spoke to often. When the girl was little, my teacher would say things like, “How did you get to be so beautiful?” or “How did you get to be so nice?” and the little girl would say, “That’s just the way God made me.” There is such an innocence in this response. However, once we get a bit older and the world corrupts our thinking, and our sin crowds our minds, then we forget that this is how God made us and that He made each one of us just as we are for a reason.

Once we allow sin to creep back in with our deeds and desires, our thoughts get distorted. We start to hate who we are, what we look like, what we sound like, and everything else about us. I was at a women’s conference once, and the speaker said that she asked everyone in the audience who hated their body to stand up, and 90% of the women stood up. She didn’t ask, who would change something about their body if they could? She didn’t ask, who dislikes something about their body? She asked who hated their body, and 90% of them stood up. This is the work of the enemy. We are not born hating our bodies. We are born with so much love, and then this broken world pollutes our minds and bodies.

The line in the verse says, “ We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else.” This pretty much sums up my struggle. I have so many cravings and thoughts in my life that seem to dictate my life. Some things seem like they are not really a big deal, but when we really examine them, we see that they are not good for us. Do you have any cravings that take your focus away from God? You have thoughts that take up all your focus and that you are thinking about all the time. If you have ever had an addiction, you know exactly what I am talking about. I am lucky in that the addictions I have had have not been life-threatening, like drugs or alcohol. I am lucky that my addictions have not affected my life in ways like losing my family or losing my job. However, that doesn’t mean they were damaging.

When I was addicted to TV, while I still am, but now I manage my addiction, I would watch TV all day long. I would not get anything done while the kids were at school, and I wouldn’t do anything after they went to bed, either. I would watch hours of TV a day.  I can only imagine how different my life would be if I had spent that time growing closer to the Lord, growing my spiritual life, reading books to further my knowledge, or really anything else that would have been productive. The enemy kept me sitting there watching TV because he knew what would have happened if I had spent that time with the Lord.  He knew how different my life would be if I weren’t addicted to TV.

Now, let's look at the last part of this verse because I don’t want to leave you today thinking about all you may be doing wrong or all you could have done differently. This is not the point of today’s episode. The point of this episode is to let you know that even though we have all sinned. Even though we don’t live perfect lives, we are all saved by God’s grace. The ending of this verse says, “But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!”

It is so important that we all know this. No matter what we are struggling with, God loves us with such great love. All those reasons the enemy is telling you that God can’t possibly love you are complete garbage. God still loves you with such a great love. There is nothing you can do to stop Him from loving you. There is no losing that love. I know I say that a lot, and I will keep saying it until every single one of you believes that God loves you just as you do, and there is nothing you can do to lose that love. It is your forever. Whether you want it or not, whether you deserve it or not. God is so rich in compassion and mercy. He knows why you did what you did, and his mercy covers it, covers you. His mercy is enough to cover anything you have done.

The last line is awesome, too. “Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!” This means that even though God knows all we have done. Even though we did some pretty terrible things, God united us with Christ and saved us by his grace. God’s grace is enough for you and all your sins. Jesus’s sacrifice was big enough to cover all your sins. God loves you with such a great love. He is full of compassion and mercy. That is what I want to leave you with today. God saved us by His wonderful grace!

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much. We don’t want to be dead and doomed in our many sins. We want to be free of them. Please help us. We want to put you first and to show you our love by our actions. Please help us. We want to be able to live by the Spirit and not the flesh. Please help us. Help us to see where our sin is getting in the way of our relationship with you, and then give us the strength to change. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “You say I have no more to give, I am tired, I don’t know what I can do. I say, "Stop worrying, you don’t have to do anything but trust in me, lean on me, realize it’s me in you that gives you strength, trust in me, I will give you what you need, trust. Move forward in my love.”

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He Gives All The More Grace

James 4:6 “But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Continuing on with our grace series, I wanted to share this verse with you. This is a pretty popular saying. I have heard it often. So let’s explore what this verse is telling us. First. God gives us all the more grace. If we are trying to live the way the Lord wants us to live, He will give us the grace to do so. Remember, grace is the power to do the right thing. Grace teaches us the right thing to do and then allows us to do it. So, why does the it mean for God to oppose the proud and give grace to the humble. Sometimes I know what a word means, like I could use it in a sentence and yet I don’t understand exactly what it means.

In case this is you too, I want to break this verse down and share with you what I have learned about it. When the verse says God opposes the proud it is talking about those who strive to live by the world’s standards instead of the ones He has given to us. Do we strive to live our life according to the life God has set out before us, or do we strive to live the life the World tells us that we want? The world says that we should care about how much money we make and how much stuff we can accumulate. The world tells us that we should look out for ourselves first and everyone else second. The world tells us family values are a thing of the past. We are being good parents by providing for our family, we don’t have to spend time with them. It tells us that our children don’t want to spend time with us anyway.

The world tells us who we are and who we should be. It tells us that we don’t deserve God’s love, we aren’t good enough for his mercy and grace, so why even bother trying to obtain it? Or it tells us that we have to strive and strive in order to earn God’s love. I know those are two contradicting things, but that is because the enemy is smart, and he will tell you whatever he thinks you need to hear. If you are someone who feels you have to earn love and affection, the enemy will tell you that you need to earn God’s love on your own merit. He will tell you that you have to work harder and harder, and yet you will never really feel like you have worked hard enough. If you are someone who feels like you are never good enough, the enemy will convince you that you shouldn’t even bother to try to earn God’s love because it is too far out of your reach. You simply aren’t enough, good enough, worthy enough, whatever it may be.

What I have learned about this verse is that the proud are the ones who feel they have to earn God’s love on their own. They do not turn to the Lord and ask for His grace to help them change. They feel they can change independently, and then they will come to the Lord. This is prideful. Thinking we can do anything on our own is pretty prideful. We need the Lord to do all things. Well, we need Him to do all things correctly. We can do things on our own, but they definitely don’t turn out how they could if we invited the Lord into everything we do. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you ever thought you needed to do it all on your own? Have you ever felt like you needed to earn God’s love and acceptance? I am pretty sure we have all gone through times when we felt like this.

Hopefully, we have also gone through times of humility. Being humble means that we come to God just as we are. We acknowledge that we are sinful and prideful, and yet we know that because He is all-powerful, He can help us change. We come to the Lord in our weak and broken state with the confidence that His grace can redeem us. God has already redeemed us. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we may be redeemed. Humility is accepting this forgiveness and turning to the Lord to help us change.

I would like to say that being humble is something you decide to do and then that is the end of it. You decided to be humble so now you are a humble person. Being humble is something that you need to continually decide. You will be faced with many choices as you go throughout the day and you must keep making the choice that will help you grow in humility instead of pride. The enemy is good and he will try to trick you into choosing things that will actually help you grow in pride instead of humility.

This is where grace comes in. Remember, grace is the power to do the right thing. Even in the face of evil, grace has the power to help us do the right thing.  So, how do we call upon this grace? We just ask for it. We just come to the Lord and let Him know we need His grace. It can be as simple as, “God, I know I need you to come into this day with me and help me make the right choices.” It could be as simple as “Come, Holy Spirit, come.” What you say is nearly as important as it is that you do say something. You must acknowledge your reliance on the Lord. Let God know that you invite Him in and that you need Him and His grace.

Without God’s grace, without the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we would be lost. Many of us are lost because we don’t know the power we have living inside of us. We don’t know that we have this grace that we can tap into. We just go through our days relying on our own power and strength and wondering why we are struggling. We wonder why things are so hard.

God is not withholding grace until we become worthy. We are worthy now. He made sure of that when he redeemed us. God has filled each one of us with a reservoir of grace, and all we need to do is call upon that grace. All we need to do is realize that we need that grace, and it is ours. We need to constantly be turning back to the Lord and relying on His grace to help us get through whatever we need to get through.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to rely on your grace. We ask that you help us realize the grace we have inside of us. We ask that you help us overcome our pride and to be more humble. We ask all of this in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Mentoring this month is all about trusting in the waiting. If you would like to join us, CLICK HERE. Mentoring sessions are on Tuesday evenings at 8 PM EST. on Zoom. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor our of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Vision: We were all in a group, in a circle, doing praise and worship with the tree of life in the center. And the more we prayed and worshiped the Lord, the tree of life grew taller and taller and just became more brilliant and bright.”

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Where Sin Increased, Grace Abounded All The More

Romans 5:20-21 “Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that , as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Today’s episode is one I wrote over a year and a half ago and yet goes perfect with this series on grace so I will re-read it for you today. When I read this verse this morning I knew it was the one to talk about because one of the speakers mentioned it in their talk last week at the conference and I thought he made a really good point.  I will see if I can help you see the beauty in the time we are living in.  Let me begin with the first line of this verse because I didn’t understand it.  It was one of those lines that I just want to skip over to get to the part I can explain at least a little better.  However, my commitment to you is that we will really examine these scriptures and we will gain a better understanding of what they mean.  We can not do that if I skip over the ones I don’t understand.  So, instead I decided to see what those who do Bible commentary have to say about this verse.  

The reason I don’t understand it is because it sounds like it is saying God gave us the law so that we might sin more.  Do you see why that would be confusing to me?  Why would God want us to sin more?  Figuring out what scriptures like this is really saying is why I love doing this podcast.  A few years ago, if I was reading that on my own, I probably would have just moved on, I don’t know that I would have looked it up to see what it was saying.  This is another reason I am grateful for each of you listening to this podcast.  You push me to learn and to grow because you are willing to learn and grow with me.  Thank you!

What I found out about this verse is that ever since Adam and Eve took and ate of the apple, sin came into the world.  It is not that people were sinning more, it was that they were noticing their sin more.  In this verse, Paul is not saying that God introduced the Law because He wanted to make us sin more, but that He wanted us to be more aware of our sins and the fact that we had a totally sinful nature.  We were already sinning, we just didn’t realize what we were doing was a sin.  The analogy I read said its like accusing a kid of stealing a cookie before you even tell him what stealing is.  If there is no law against taking a cookie then he is not stealing it.  However, once there is a law and once he understands it, then any cookies he takes after that is willful disobedience.  God was helping us to see all the ways we were not living how we were meant to live.  They say the first step to change is acknowledging that you need to change.  How could the Israelites be expected to change if they did not know what they were doing was wrong?  This was the point to the law, to show them their sins, not to make them sin more.

The next part of the verse above says, "but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”  This line explains to us that God didn’t just give them the law, but He gave them grace as well.  Here is a quote from an article titled, "Pastor: What the grace of God does in us” by Rev. J. Patrick Street.  I will place a link for it in the show notes (click here for article).  This is what the pastor said about grace:

“You see that the grace of God is more than salvation but also everything we need for life and godliness. The definition of grace could be “God's life, power and righteousness given to us by unmerited favor.” It is through grace that God works effective change in our hearts and lives. Grace gives us a new life which is not condemned by God. Through God's grace we are forgiven, transforming our thinking, resulting in the renewal of our mind and heart. Through grace we live the kind of life that God would like every one of His children to experience.”  The grace of god is essential for us to live the way God wants us to live.  We need God’s grace.  

One of the speakers at the conference was talking about how the world is crazy right now.  He was talking about how the devil is having a hay day with the world and that sin is running rampant.  He also said we shouldn’t be afraid because where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.  God’s grace is alive and well and is within all of us.  We received a word of prophecy almost six months ago in our prayer group and I think it fits well with what we are talking about today.  Let me read it to you:

"How often I tell you my people to listen. To listen to my word, to not harden your hearts, but to listen to my voice. How often I tell you parables, parables that compare to life, to the life you live. You look around you and you think the world has never been in worse shape than it is now. For you that is true for others that have come before you they felt the same. But the world is in the best shape it has ever been in because I was born into this world and I gave my life for each one of you and redeemed you and set you free. So do not look at the world, look at me and do not listen to the world, listen to me, to my voice. I am faithfulness itself and I am faithful from the beginning until the end of time. You have nothing to fear. You have NOTHING to fear. You have a grand and glorious God who has fought the battle and won the victory. Listen to what I tell you. Do not look at the world, look at me. Open your hearts, listen to my Word, and I give you life.

Grace is abounding today just as it has so many times before.  God knows all that will happen.  He is not surprised by any of it.  He will give us grace according to our need.  God knows what we need and when we need it.  We can trust Him to take care of us.  I think it is important to know what is going on in the world.  I think we should be walking through life with our eyes wide open, and at the same time I don’t think we need to be scared of what is coming.  God is prepared, and He is preparing us.  It can be daunting to see all the craziness that surrounds us, all the mayhem.  There is so much we could worry about and yet God is calling us not to worry.  He is calling us to trust him and to rely on His grace.  I believe the reason we are seeing so many people that God is using in miraculous ways right now is precisely because of all the evil in the world right now.  God’s grace is all around us and we just have to rely on that instead of relying on the world.  

God is telling us in the word of prophecy that He gave to my prayer group that we need to not look at the world, but look at him.  He does not want us listening to the world, but He wants us listening to His voice.  He is telling us we have nothing to FEAR, so why aren’t we listening to Him?  Why are we so fearful and anxious all the time?  Why are we so worried about the future when we know the ending to the story?  We know what happened, death was defeated, sin was defeated, the enemy was defeated.  It doesn’t matter what it looks like here on earth.  It doesn’t matter who seems to be winning.  God has already won the war and He as already defeated the enemy.  I will leave you with the Lord’s words today, “You have nothing to fear!”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this podcast today.  Lord, we know you are amazing and we know you have already won the war, so why are we so anxious and scared.  We ask you to take this anxiety from us Lord.  We ask you to fill us with your grace and help us to live the life you want us to live.  We are so grateful for the grace you have already given us and we ask you for more Lord.  Lord, we ask you to help us to see the world through your lens.  Helps us to see what you see.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you haven’t signed up for the retreat yet, please do so soon, time is running out and you don’t want to miss out on all the fun!  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Unbind yourselves from your past ways. Although this world may try to bind you, do not be afraid. I have unbound you from sin and death so that you may walk with me in my kingdom.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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What Does Grace Even Mean?

Titus 2:11-12 “God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.”

I had someone reach out to me and ask me about God’s grace. I talk about it a lot and so I thought I would take the next few days and look at what Scripture has to say about God’s grace. The verse above is a great place to start. It begins with God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person brining salvation for everyone. Jesus was God’s grace manifested in person. Jesus came to bring salvation to all of us. He died on the cross so that we would be saved. He took all of our sins, all of our shame, all that is not right and brought it to the cross with Him. He healed us from our sinful nature. He saved us from ourselves. He set us free from the hold the enemy had over us ever since sin entered this world.

He saved us and set us free and yet it is our job to walk in that freedom. How does one do that? How do we walk in our freedom? The second part of today’s verse addresses that. This same grace that brought us salvation also teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles. If Jesus was the grace that set us free then how can that same grace teach us how to live our lives? Jesus is not longer on earth. He went to be with the Father. In John 14:18 Jesus said, “I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you!” Then in verse 26 it says, “But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the One like me who sets you free, he will  teach you all things in my name. And he will inspire you to remember every word that I’ve told you.”

Jesus was here on earth and yet His time teaching us was not very long. He did a lot of teaching while He was here. He gave a lot of hard teachings that shaped the way we understand God and what God actually wants from us. He also did a lot of signs and wonders while he was here teaching. However, His main purpose for coming was to set us free. His main purpose was to redeem us so we no longer have to be separate from the Father. Once He did that, His job was over and He went to be with the Father. However, you can see in John 14:18 & 26 that He did not leave us alone to our own devices. He asked His Father to send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

The Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us walk in our freedom. He was sent to us to teach us all the things that we need to know and to inspire us to remember all that Jesus taught us. I don’t know exactly how to define grace. However, I do know that the verse above says, “This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.” I wonder if Grace is the Holy Spirit?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines grace as a free and undeserved gift from God that enables people to respond to God’s call to become children of God. The CCC also describes grace as a participation in the life of God. The CCC distinguishes between two types of grace. One is habitual grace: A permanent disposition to act and live in accordance with God’s call. Second is actual grace: God’s intervention, such as when someone is tempted to do something wrong, but God sends actual grace to help them choose what is right.

It sounds to me like grace is a power that God gives us to resist what is bad and to do what is right. Who doesn’t need more of that in their life? It also sounds like grace teaches us right from wrong. We don’t need to look to the world for that, as the world often teaches us the opposite of what God teaches us. Isn’t it great to know that we don’t have to remember everything on our own? Isn’t great to know that when we aren’t sure what to do, which is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do then we can rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s grace to show us what to do.

I find it comforting to know that I don’t have to do the right thing in my own power. In personal development, you often hear a lot about a person’s willpower. Do they have the willpower to stick to the diet? Do they have enough willpower to keep going to the gym? It’s all about a person’s willpower. I love that it is not all up to me. I know that I am weak and if we are just relying on my power, not much will get done. Yet, we aren’t just relying on our own power. We have the power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead living inside of us. This power was given to us so that we could be taught right from wrong. This power was given to us so we could overcome our challenges, our weaknesses, and our chains.

Jesus died on the cross to redeem us. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us to help us walk in that freedom. That means we are no longer captives. We are no longer slaves to sin. We, you and me, have the power to stand up to sin and say we will no longer be letting it run our lives. This is because of God’s grace. This is because God wants us to live in the freedom he sacrificed so much to achieve.

I don’t know if grace is different than the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us or not. I don’t know that it matters. I do know that grace is freely given to us by God. That means that we don’t have to earn it. We don’t have to do all the right things to get it. We don’t have to be strong or perfect to get grace. Grace is given to us freely because we need it. Grace is something you can request from God. Grace is something you can rely on. You can trust that if you need the grace, then God will give you the grace. You can also trust you already have that power living inside of you because we all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. That is the same power Jesus had inside of Him. Next time you feel like you aren’t sure what to do, look inward and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you. I simply say, “Come Holy Spirit Come.” You can also ask God for the grace to do the right thing. Next time you feel like you can’t overcome the enemy, remember about the power you have inside of you and all the grace God wants to give you and call upon it. We are no longer slaves to sin. Jesus died to set us free, lets live in that freedom!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to understand more about your grace. Help us to lean in and rely on your grace more. Help us to be ok with being weak because when we are you weak you are strong. Help us to rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us right from wrong instead of this world. Rain down your graces on us, Lord, not because we are greedy, but because we are needy! We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Remember I am hosting a retreat from Oct. 11-13th. If you would like to join me you are running out of time to register. I have to the let the retreat house know a count of how many are attending in three weeks. There is a link below if you would like more information. I know going to new things can be scary. I promise you won’t regret going to this retreat. Also, retreats aren’t just for super holy people. There is nothing you need to know before coming on this retreat. I promise you won’t be the only person there who things they aren’t holy enough, religious enough, worthy enough to be there. Everyone is welcome and will feel right at home. CLICK HERE for retreat info.

I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “You must come, and once you come, and I share with you, go out and share with others. Make me known in love. I count on each one of you, my children. Do not delay to come.”

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Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Broken Chapter Category. We all have times in our lives when things don’t go as we thought they would. I think we have all had tragedy strike in one way or another. Some are worse than others but I don’t think anyone has had a tragedy-free life. The witnesses today are no different. They have had some truly terrible things happen and yet they are able to testify to how God was with them through it. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your situation, He can help.

Jasmyn: Matthew, I loved getting your letter years ago when I wrote to you! Your music is so awesome! “Me On Your Mind” touches my heart because I was in a near-death experience 2 years ago when I was hit by a car crossing the street with my long white cane since I’m blind and Jesus had me on His mind. I suffered some injuries such as a fractured pelvis, abrasions on my stomach, arms, and legs from where she dragged me on the pavement, a fractured wrist, that were non-life threatening, along with high blood pressure and fatty liver. I had to stay in the hospital for a day to make sure my injuries weren’t life-threatening. I was lying in my hospital bed asking Jesus why did this older lady decide to drive if she didn’t know how to and why me? I had anger towards this older lady for taking away part of my independence, since walking was my only thing I could do because of my visual impairment from glaucoma which means I can’t drive at all. The hospital said I had to be on bed rest and get physical therapy to strengthen my pelvis since it was fractured. I was depressed and angry at this woman for putting me in this situation because I couldn’t go anywhere according to the doctor’s orders . I felt worthless, “Great! Not only can I not drive if I want to get out of the house, now, I can’t walk around independently because I have PTSD that this will happen. Again!”

I was even asking Jesus, “why did you rescue me? I am worthless now that I can’t walk around and my family has to drive me everywhere because of this accident. What good am I now that I’m blind and physically impaired now?” But I could feel Jesus telling me, “Jasmyn, there is a reason why you didn’t die from being hit by a car, you have a mission to complete on earth which is helping children who are blind and visually impaired to be everything they’re supposed to be through me. I will use you to do this and your story of your accident to help other people in your shoes to get to know me.” I’m glad that I listened to the voice of my Lord and Savior who rescued me because He wasn’t done with me yet. I have been blessed with a new church where I volunteer with children teaching them about Jesus, I am a volunteer Braille teacher at my blind center here in Pennsylvania, I go to the gym and library to take care of my physical and mental health, and I’m in grad school studying to be a teacher for the visually impaired. Last year, my church let me share my experience with God about my accident. My speech touched a lot of hearts in church and I even had some people that were crying. I have had the opportunity to share my story with my blind center to get donations to make it better. My pastor has told me that my accident is a great opportunity to get more people to Jesus and tell people what He could do for them like He has done for me! I feel like I’m living. I feel like I’m letting Jesus use my story for His glory!

Susan: My story is a story of healing and restoration. I accepted Christ at the age of 19 and floated along until I was three days from a divorce. The Lord restored our marriage and we have been married for 35 years. He called my husband to preach and we went to seminary and have been in the ministry since 1998. We have been hurt multiple times by different church members but we have gotten back up.

My mother passed away in 2018 and that tilted my world in a way that I never could have imagined. If only I would have known that my world would totally fall off the axis when my 6 month old granddaughter was shot and killed by her own mother who then shot and killed herself. My son was on the phone with his wife when it happened. I did not see the Lord through that time but I know He was there holding my family up. I see Him in every single moment of my story and I know that no matter what He is there.

It has taken months and months of counseling and anger and tears and crying out to the Lord to get to this point but I have no doubt that He is all I need. He is my story and everything I go through is for His Glory!! Thank you Jesus!

Chloe: My story is also the story of my town. We are a small town of around 1,500. A few miles away, a small village sits. No one would have ever heard of us, unless you had a reason to hear about us. I have always had a fear of storms, although it was getting better. The evening of April 4th, 2023, I heard my parents discussing the chance of storms. I didn’t think anything of it, as I slept safely in the basement until 3:30 A.M when my family came rushing down the stairs, the dreaded alarm sound ringing. Upon further investigation, a tornado warning had been issued. A tornado had been spotted in the village, just miles from my house, and looked to be heading straight for my town. It missed us, but hit three small villages. Grassy, Scopus, and Glen Allen, MO. 5 people died, all from Glen Allen.

Jesus worked in many ways from our town, broken from this disaster. Despite the hurt, people came to Christ. My church helped to rebuild, to clean up the debris, to fix the broken villages, as well as spreading Jesus’s name. But the story isn’t done. On August 14th, 2023, the creek that runs through Glen Allen and my town flooded. Houses filled with water within inches of the ceiling fans. No one was hurt, thankfully, though there were a few close calls. Now, this mess we had just fixed was broken once more. We’re still working, 2 months later. Still praying. Still believing that God will help us through this. Despite the hardships, God has worked through these duo disasters, bringing people back to church, back to Him. We have touched lives that might have never heard Christ because of it. I have found a renewed faith because of the work that has happened because of God.

Thank you all for sharing your testimonies. When we share how God is working in our lives it helps others. It is not easy to be vulnerable and share about a time when things were so hard. We appreciate you opening up and sharing you struggles. It is really important that we all know we are not alone. Thank you!

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He Sees You As Holy, Flawless, and Restored

Colossians 1:21-22 “Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored."

There was no way that I could read a verse like the one above and not share it with you. This is something I think God wants us all to know. We usually assume the opposite. We believe when God looks at us all He sees is our mistakes and our failures. We are sure that when He looks at us He finds us unworthy and not enough. How many times have we thought that? How often have we thought negatively about ourselves and assumed God felt the same way? We all do it. Yet this verse says something very different.

I love the word choice in this verse. First, it says, “Even though you were once distant from him, living in the the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, He reconnected you back to himself.” I love this part because it emphasizes our role in our redemption. It doesn’t say that if we do everything right and fix our relationship with the Lord, He will welcome us back. It says He reconnected you back to himself. God does the hard part. All we need to do is say yes and let Him in.

We don’t need to fix ourselves. This is where we go wrong a lot of the time. We want to do it all on our own. We want to fix ourselves up all nice and pretty before we come to the Lord, and what He is telling us is that He already sees us all fixed up and beautiful. The verse says, “He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence.” Due to original sin we were no longer allowed to dwell in the Lord’s presence. Now, because of His sacrifice we are allowed to. His sacrifice made us worthy. Are we going to accept that worthiness, or are we going to continue to tell the Lord that His sacrifice wasn’t enough to make us worthy?

The last part of the verse says, “And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored.” This part blows my mind. I know the Lord loves me. I know He thinks I am special. I know this because I take the time to sit and talk with Him. You could know this too if you take the time to listen to all He wants to say to you. However, reading this verse in this translation hit me in a new way.

God, the all-powerful, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, sees me as holy, flawless, and restored. Can you believe that? I imagine not. I imagine that is not what the enemy wants us to believe. He whispers lies in our ears all the time about how unworthy and not enough we are. He tells us God couldn’t possibly love us or forgive us because what we did is too bad, it’s too much. The devil is a liar. God sacrificed his only son for you! Jesus died on the cross for you! Are you telling me there is something you could have done that is too big for this sacrifice to cover?

There is a song called Flawless by Mercy me and I think the lyrics really get across what the Lord is telling us today. Here are the lyrics:

There's got to be more

Than going back and forth

From doing right to doing wrong

Cause we were taught that's who we are

Come on get in line right behind me

You along with everybody

Thinking there's worth in what you do

This is what we think. We think we need to be good enough to earn God’s love, to earn his mercy and his forgiveness. We think we need to fix ourselves. We need to clean ourselves us and get all pretty before we come to the Lord. This is hard on our own and we do good for a bit and then we mess up again. As the song says, there has to be more than this back and forth. Then the song says:

Then like a hero who takes the stage when we're

On the edge of our seats saying it's too late

Well let me introduce you to amazing grace

Amazing grace, this is what we don’t count on. This is what we many not even know a lot about. I am going to be doing a series on grace soon. I will be using scripture verses to explain what grace even is and why we should all know all about it. I love this part of the song because it reminds us that even when we think it is too late, it is never too late for God. No matter how far gone we think we are, we are never too far gone for God. There is no darkness to dark for Him. There is no place to distant for Him. Wherever you are, however far away you think you are listen to the words of the verse above, “he reconnected you back to himself.” Just call out and He will reconnect you back to Himself! The song goes on to say,

No matter the bumps

No matter the bruises

No matter the scars

Still the truth is

The cross has made

The cross has made you flawless

I know you think I don’t understand. I know you think you have too many scars and too many bumps and bruises to be redeemed. You absolutely believe that God looks at some people and sees them as “holy, flawless, and restored.” However, He knows the truth about you and that is that you are too damaged, to far gone. This is the enemy lying to you. He tells you these lies because He knows you will believe them. He tells you these lies because He knows the truth is too crazy to believe. The truth is that God loves you, scars in all. He allowed those scars so because they made you stronger. He allowed those scars because He knew he could use them to make you into the person you are today. He loves the person you are today.

He doesn’t see the damaged person you see when you look in the mirror. He sees someone who has weathered the storm and is still standing. He sees someone who has had so much trauma in his or her life and yet is still persevering. He looks at you, yes you, and sees his son or daughter whom He loves so much. This scripture verse gives us all the proof we need to see that God doesn’t see us as broken, He sees us as redeemed! The last verse of the song says:

No matter the hurt

Or how deep the wound is

No matter the pain

Still the truth is

The cross has made

The cross has made you flawless

I know this is hard to believe. It is contrary to what the world wants us to believe. The world wants us to think we have to earn everything and that we are only loved and adored when we deserve it. When we do things that earn these feelings or this respect. The enemy tells us the opposite as well because he knows it is easier to believe. He knows it doesn’t take any effort to believe we are worthless and not enough. He has convinced the world to reinforce this over and over again with the media.

However, God’s ways are not our ways. He never meant for us to be like the rest of the world. He created us to be set apart. He created us to live in this world, but not be of this world. He sacrificed His son for us and all we need to do is accept this amazing grace that He lavishes upon on. All we need to do is allow Him to come and reconnect us back to Him. I want to leave you with the verse today as it is powerful and I hope you write it down somewhere and read it often. I hope any time you start to feel like God doesn’t like you, or that He feels you are unworthy or not enough, you will read this verse and be reminded of the truth of how God really sees you!

“Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, I ask that you help each one of them understand how loved they are by you. I ask you that you help them move this information from their head to their heart. I ask that you help us to see ourselves through your eyes. I ask that you help us to know how you really see us. I ask that you help us to understand your amazing grace more! We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I am happy to be back safely from my trip to Scotland. I am sad I had to come home without Noah, but I know this will be an amazing adventure for him! I am grateful we ran into another young man studying over there while we were at a store. They are both engineering majors and both in the same dorm, so I felt a bit better leaving. I just sent out the September newsletter with a photo of Noah and me with all the details about our trip and the various ways I can help you grow in your faith. If you are not on the list to get my newsletter you can click on the link below or email me at Catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching and I can send you that newsletter and you can stay up to date with all that is going on in my world. I want to remind everyone that the retreat is coming up soon. If you have not registered please do so as I have to give the count of how many are coming to the retreat center a week ahead of time. There is a link below for more information on the retreat as well! I look forward to bringing you a Witness tomorrow for Witness Wednesday. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 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 CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My dear children, I would love for you to see yourself as I see you. I have forgiven you. Now it's time to forgive yourselves. I have made you whole, righteous, pure, and given you dignity. See yourself as I see you, full of love, joy, compassion. See yourself as I see you.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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