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.”

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Dance Like No One Is Watching

2 Samuel 6:14-16 “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was belted with a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.”

I like this verse because it shows how happy David was that the Arc was coming back home.  It says that David danced before the Lord with all of his might; and that David was belted with a linen ephod.  I am not sure how much you know about David, so let me give you a quick recap.  David is the King.  He is usually dressed as a King in splendid garments.  However, in order to bring the Arc of the Covenant back into Jerusalem David had set aside his royal robes and was “wearing a linen ephod”—a clear indication that he was not naked. The ephod David wore was a garment usually reserved for priests and those ministering before the Lord. As David led the procession of the ark into the city, he humbly laid aside his royal garments and worshiped the Lord, in ecstatic joy, as the representative of God’s “kingdom of priests.”  

There is so much in these 3 short verses.  First, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.  When is the last time you danced in front of the Lord with all your might?  When is the last time you did anything in front of the Lord with all your might?  What amazes me is that David was the leader, he was the king and yet he humbled himself and set aside his royal robes to welcome the Arc of the Covenant back into the city.  David was the king and yet he didn’t care what others though of him.  He didn’t care that he was wearing very little clothing.  He didn’t care that he might look silly dancing around like a fool.  In fact, in a later verse one of his wives sees him leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. When he got home she called him on his behavior and he didn’t try and defend it, he didn’t feel he needed to explain himself to her, he simply said in 2 Samuel 6:21, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will make merry before the Lord.”  He is basically saying that he doesn’t care what she thinks.  The Lord has done amazing things for him, so he will praise him any way he likes.

I wonder what it would be like to have that kind of courage.  Actually I don’t think it took courage for David.  I don’t think it even occurred to him to stop and think about what others would think.  I bet his love for God was so great, he couldn’t help but be filled with joy!  I love that David was filled with joy.  I have heard it said that martyrs, those who die for the faith, don’t really have a choice.  Their faith is so strong, their love and belief is so strong that the option to stay alive as long as they denounce their faith, is not an option at all for them.  They couldn’t do it.  I think it similar with David and the way he worships.  I think his heart is over flowing with joy of the Lord and so the option to “tone down” his praise, it not really an option for him.  It is not something that would enter his mind.  I don’t think he is thinking of others at all.  I think his eyes are fixed on God and that is all he is thinking about when he is praising.

I wish this was me.  I wish I could freely praise God without worrying what the person next to me is thinking.  I wish I could just throw my hands up in the air or dance around the room without the fear of being judged.  I pray for a holy boldness all the time.  However, maybe I need to pray for a deeper faith, or a less distracted faith?  Maybe I need to pray for God to help me keep my eyes fixed on Him so I am not thinking of what others might be thinking.  It seems crazy to me that I would care more about what other people think than I would about what God thinks.  I know God would be smiling down at me if I was to let loose and just worship with a childlike  sense of abandonment.  If I know God would be smiling, why do I care what others will think?  This is my great mystery.  This is the thing I keep trying to tell myself and yet I still get nervous about what others will think.  

I am working on this and I hope to get to David’s level of praise someday.  I pray I will be able to just let the Holy Spirit lead me however He wants to.  I pray I will be able to give up that control and just follow the Spirit as He leads me in praise.  I pray I will have so much joy, like David did, that I can’t help but dance and leap for joy.  I pray I have so much joy I can’t contain it.  Sometimes I stand in the back of the church during praise and worship in my class. This way I don’t have to worry about being judged because everyone else’s eyes are straight ahead focused on Jesus.  I don’t know why I think people will judge me, I am not judging them, my eyes are fixed on Jesus too.  

The last verse says, “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.”  This is another thing I have been working on over these last few years.  I am learning to praise God out loud.  At prayer group I still use the praise sheets.  They are sheets of paper with a bunch of praise sayings on them.  When I first started going I had no idea how to praise and so these sheets were very helpful.  I still find them helpful, although I also think of them as a crutch sometimes.  I now know that Jesus talks to me.  I know how to praise Jesus and so sometimes when I use these sheets I think I am using it as a crutch instead of listening to see what praise things the Holy Spirit brings to mind.  I like all the things these sheets say and so I keep using them because I figure I am still new to praising out loud.  However, sometimes I do try to “wing it” so that I can practice doing it on my own as well.  I like both ways, but I prefer to read the sheets until I have more of them memorized.  

The thing that stands out in my mind the most about these 3 verses is the joy of David.  He was filled with so much joy it spilled out of him.  He danced so freely.  I just got a sense that the Lord was saying, “He wasn’t worried about what others thought of him because He knew who’s he is.  He knows that he belongs to the Lord God almighty and if God is pleased, then that is all that matters.  What can we do this week to be a little more childlike in our praise and worship?  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of those listening to this episode today.  Lord we ask you to help us all to approach praise and worship in a child like manner with no fear of judgement.  We ask you to help us care more about what you think of us than what other people think of us.  We ask you to fill us with the joy that David had.  We ask you to fill us with so much joy that it spills out of us and onto others.  We love you Lord, you are amazing. You are worthy of all our praise.  You are the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We thank you 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.   Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

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 children, you judge yourself as little, broken, sinful, useless, and you are. And it's a wonderful gift because it makes you rely not on yourself but on me. For I am great and loving and powerful and present and working. I am in you. Let me do my work.”

 

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Matthew 10:7-8 “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.”

I saw this verse this morning and I thought it was a great verse for today.  As you can tell, from a lot of the verses I have been sharing with you lately, the class I am taking talks a lot about the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I love to share this information with you because I am not sure how many of us really know or believe that the Holy Spirit is still working in a supernatural way in this world.  I am sure we all believe in the signs and wonders that occurred when Jesus walked the earth and the ones the apostles saw and did.  However, it seems most people do not believe these things are still happening today, or that they have been happening ever since Pentecost.  

Through the ages there have been times when the supernatural signs and wonders were less and less.  However, there was never a time where there were’t any signs and wonders.  If you read about the Saints you will see about the miracles they performed all throughout the ages.  I think because the Saints are attributed to a lot of the miracles that we hear about we assume that only Saints can perform miracles.  Do you want to know a secret about Saints?  They weren’t always Saints.  At one point every saint there is was just a regular human like you and me.  They didn’t always know they were going to be a Saint.  You may be on your way to Sainthood  and you might not even know it. All they knew is that they loved Jesus and wanted to do all they could to follow Him.  Do you love Jesus, if so you are well on your way!

In the verse above Jesus is telling us what we need to do. Remember the Bible is a living document, what we are reading in the Bible is just as much for us today as it was for the apostles 2000 years ago.  Jesus is telling you and me to go and proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”  People need to hear this, even today.  Today the enemy wants to fill us with worry and anxiety.  He wants us to spend our time looking around to the world and seeing what a mess it is.  He wants us to look around the world and feel like things are hopeless because that is what it looks like right now.  There is so much violence, so much hatred, so much craziness.  It is easy to get lost in worry and anxiety when we are looking at the world.  This is why we need to affix our eyes to Jesus.  He is our savior, He is our peace.  It is only when we take our eyes off of Him that we get wrapped up in worry and even fear.  

It seems more and more people are giving into fear and anxiety these days.  They are taking their eyes off of Jesus and turning them to the news, to social media and to the newspapers.  We need to be proclaiming the good news of Jesus.  We need to be helping people turn their eyes back to Jesus and what better way to do that than to show them signs and wonders.  Signs and wonders will not necessarily be enough to change the hearts towards Jesus, however, signs and wonders might get their attention and once we have their attention we can tell them all about Jesus’ love.  I think a lot of people are disillusioned with the Church these days.  They see all the division and the scandal and they think that is all the church is.  The Church is made up of people and since we are a fallen people there will always be people that don’t do as they are called to do.  This isn’t a reason to take our eyes of Jesus, if anything it should be  more of a reason to keep our eyes fixed on Him so He can help us not make those same mistakes.  

Be honest, when I mention signs and wonders, do  you instantly count yourself out?  Are you thinking the Saints could do them because they were Saints, but that isn’t something us ordinary humans can do?  Me too!  I used to think like this too.  Well, actually, if I am being honest I still have doubts, but they lessen with each step out in faith that I take.  If you are like me you don’t have doubts that God could do miracles through you, God is God, He can do anything.  However, when I start to think of God doing signs and wonders through me I think, “Why me?”  The enemy gets in my mind and he tells me God wouldn’t use me.  He tells me I am too boring, too weak, too sinful, not holy enough, not good enough and so on.  The thing is, Jesus doesn’t usually use those who are perfect.  He didn’t come to find “perfect” people to start His church.  He used 12 people who most of us wouldn’t have picked.  One of the reasons the Gospels start with the lineage of Jesus is to show us that Jesus did not come from a perfect line of people.  There were plenty of people in Jesus’ lineage that weren’t holy enough, weren’t good enough, weren’t even close to perfect by the world’s standards, and yet they were chosen out of everyone to be part of the lineage of Christ.  

Besides proclaiming the good news, Jesus is calling us to “Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.”  This is a pretty tall order. However, Jesus is not going to call us to do something and then not equip us for the call.  John 14:12 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”  When Jesus went to His Father, he sent us the Holy Spirit and this is the power we need to do even greater works than Jesus did.  It says in this passage “whoever believes in me” this is a tricky statement.  I say that because the faith required to do signs and wonders is not something we can manufacture on our own.  That type of faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit.  

This type of faith can be built up by reading the scriptures and seeing all the signs and wonders Jesus and the apostles performed. It can also be built up by witnessing or hearing about miracles that are happening today.  The more you witness these miracles the more your faith will be built up. This is another reason for doing Witness Wednesdays.  When you hear about how God is still working miracles today, it helps you believe it could happen in your life.  When you see it happening to regular, every day people like you and me, you start to think, “If it could happen to them, why couldn’t it happen to me.”  

There is a documentary called “Fearless” and this is what the executive producer said about the movie, “We have come to realize it is more than a movie, it is more of a movement that the Holy Spirit is using to spark an awakening among ordinary Catholics, like you and me, to be able to live their Catholic Faith in an extraordinary way, in an extraordinary, fearless way.  It has launched thousands and thousands of people on their own God adventures. You can watch this documentary for free by going to fearlessdocumentary.net (click here) You can also watch it on Youtube (click here).  I will put links for both in the show notes.  If you get a chance check it out.  

I am going to continue to talk about signs and wonders and my prayer is that something I say will be the one thing you need to hear to get you started on your journey to discovering what signs and wonders God wants to give you. God wants to call us to greater things.  No matter who you are, where you are, how old you are, God has more for you.  That will look different for each one of us, but He is calling you.  Abraham was 100 when He has Issac.  Whatever age you are, you are not too old to build the kingdom of God.  However young you are, you are not too young to build the kingdom of God.  There is young boy from Italy that was only 16 when he died and He is blessed and is being considered for sainthood.  This is the first millennial too venerated.   God can use you for His purposes, all you have to do is say yes.  I know it may feel scary to say yes to something when you don’t understand it completely, but if you say yes to the Lord, He will use you in amazing ways.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to the episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful for all the sign and wonders you have done and are still doing.  We ask you to show us how you want to use us Lord.  We ask you to give us the strength to say yes to you even if we don’t understand what we are saying yes too.  We ask you to give us the courage to step out in faith and trust that we are doing what you called us to do.  Lord, if we can’t hear your call we ask that you help open our ears, our hearts and our minds to whatever you are calling us to.  We ask that you help us be open to you and your will.  Confirm our will to your will Lord.  We love you, you are amazing.  We are so grateful for all you do for us 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.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

 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, “Know that I delight in you, my children, that I love you so very much. It's the time to grow. It's the time to take a risk. It's a time to take a leap of faith in me.”

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God Will Make A Way Where There Is No Way

John 16:33 “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

This is something that we can all take heart in knowing. We will all face persecution, but Jesus has conquered this world.  We don’t have to worry that the persecution will be the end of us. Sometimes it feels like it will.  There are times when the persecution seems like it is too much, like we are drowning and we can’t possible come up for air.  This is when it is important to remember this verse.  The enemy will definitely try to make you feel like he is winning.  He will make you feel like you are in a losing situation and no matter what happens you can’t win.

This is actually his specialty.  He loves to make us feel like we are in a hopeless situation.  He whispers in our ear that there is no way out.  No matter what you do, you hurt someone, you lose someone, you end up getting hurt, whatever it is.  I have had several friends that have been in this type of situation lately.  When we are in those situations the enemy may be right, there is no way out that we can see.  It is those last words that I want you to focus on.  No way out that we can see.  The thing is, we don’t have to see a way out.  God can see things that we can’t see.  He can make a way where there is no way.  God is really good at making a way in times when people thought for sure there wasn’t a way.  

I am sure when the Israelites were leaving Egypt and they were being pursued by the Egyptian army they thought there was no way out.  The army was gaining on them and all they saw in front of them was the Red Sea.  There was no possible outcome that they could see where they lived.  If they tried to cross the Red Sea they would drown.  If they turned back they would be caught and surly be killed for fleeing.  It seemed like they were in an impossible situation.  However, God made a way where there was no way.  In Exodus 14:15-18  it says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.  But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground.  Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”

I am 100% sure that there wasn’t a single person in that group of people that saw that way out.  God can make a way where there is no way.  Maybe you are in a situation where you can’t see a way out, hang in there, God has a plan.  Maybe you are in a situation where there is no good choice, God will show you which to choose if you ask Him.  If you are stuck in a situation and you can’t see a way out, I urge you to read Isaiah 43.  I found Isaiah 43:15-16, “I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.  Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,” when I was searching for a verse about God making a way where there wasn’t one.  However, when I went to the verse I decided to read the whole chapter and it is really good.  It talks about various things that the Lord has done for us over the years. Isaiah 43:19 says, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

The Bible is full of stories where God did the impossible, where He did something that no one saw coming.  Remember Daniel in the lion’s den?  Daniel continued to pray to our Lord, even when it was outlawed and so he was thrown in the Lion’s pit.  God sent and angel to keep the Lion’s mouths closed so they wouldn’t eat Daniel.  This can be found in Daniel 6.  There was also Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that refused to bow to King Nebuchadnessar’s golden statue and were thrown in the fiery furnace.  God sent an angel into the furnace to keep them from burning up.  This can be found in Daniel 3.  I am sure no-one involved in these two circumstances could have seen these two outcomes.  However, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all had the courage to stay in the fight.  They had the courage to trust God would get them out of the situation even when they couldn’t see how.  Can we be more like this guys?  Can we keep doing the next right thing, even when we don’t see how it will all turn out?  Can we keep going when it seems like all is lost?

This bible verse reminds us that all is not lost.  Yes, the enemy might be making your life miserable, just he was with Job.  Remember Job?  He lost everything.  His crops, his animals, his children, and eventually his health.  He could not see any way forward that wasn’t filled with misery.  And yet, he stayed in the fight.  He didn’t give up on God.  If you ever feel like your life can’t get any worse and you are sure that no-one understands what you are going through, read the book of Job.  Talk with Job, he understands what you are going through.  He understands what if feels like to suffer day in and day out with no relief.  He knows what it feels like to lose everything.  He will understand.  And if you are struggling to see any light at the end of your tunnel, read the ending of the book of Job.  Spoiler Alert, Job doesn’t end up dying in his misery.  The story ends with Job receiving his wealth back several fold, having another 10 children and living for another 140 years.  The enemy doesn’t win?  Why not?  Because God has already conquered this world.  He is in charge, He is the winner.  

You may feel beaten down, but you will not be broken.  You may feel as though you have been stuck in this impossible situation for a long time and you see no way out.  Hang in there, God will make a way out.  You may even wonder if God is hearing you or if God is there with you.  He is.  He is always right there with you.  He will not always take our struggles away from us or even prevent us from our struggles and we learned yesterday why that is.  In Romans 5:3-5 we learned that our struggles produce endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope.  We need to have struggles in our lives.  This is how we grow, this is how we learn.  This is how we learn to lean into and rely on God.  Think about the really great times in your lives.  Did you feel really close to the Lord?  Did you rely on Him and thank Him for all that good that you have?  If you did, awesome!  I bet you would be in the minority.  Many times when things are good, we forget about God.  We think we don’t need to rely on Him because all is going well.  Often times we feel the closest to God when we are in a place of suffering because this is when all other comforts are stripped away and we remember to turn to Him.  If you remember nothing else from this episode today I hope you remember God can make a way where there is not way.  You are not defeated, keep going, this struggle will not overcome you!  You can do this!  You are strong with the Lord by your side.  Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to know in the depths of our heart that you can make a way where there is no way.  Help us to trust that you have already conquered this world.  We will not be defeated.  When we forget help us to remember these incredible stories of those that came before us that trusted you would save them when they didn’t see a way.  Help us to not listen to the enemy who tells us that we are not strong enough, that there is no way out and that you will not save us.  Help us to only listen to you Lord.  Give every person listening to this episode a desire to read Your Word and find comfort in it.  You have done so much for us Lord and we are so grateful.  We thank you for giving us strength when we have none.  You are so wonderful.  You have done the impossible time and time again and we couldn’t be more in awe if we tried.  We love you 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.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

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, “I am the font of life, my children. Draw closer to me and drink of my rich treasures that I give each and every day. Just the fact that you wake up is a bonus. Think of me during the day. Spend time with me. The more time you spend with me, the more you will grow.”

 

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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 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 these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, also. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your situation, He can help. I hope you enjoy these testimonies.

Karen:  In 2004 my mom suffered kidney failure and started dialysis at 75. It was very hard on her while my older sister tested to be a donor and was ruled out. Then my older brother tested and was unable to donate. It’s important to note that they are both biological children and I was adopted. I was also a single mom raising two kids at 37, so needless to say I was scared to donate, but I prayed and my growth group prayed with me. Come to find out, a man sitting beside me had donated his kidney to his daughter and was doing great 18 years later. I also kept seeing signs to remind me that “greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another,” so I stepped up and was deemed acceptable but had to lose 40 pounds to do so.

Mom was getting more drained by the day. I lost the weight in 8 weeks and surgery was scheduled for October, but mom suffered a hematoma and surgery was put off till February for her healing. The waiting was tough. It made me second guess but I still did it.  In February 2005, she was able to stop dialysis after I donated my kidney to her and my prayer was that God would take care of us. It’s because of seeing the toll mom and my grandma went through on dialysis I knew I could never do that. Lesson learned. Never tell God what you can’t do!

Fast forward 14 years. I got kidney cancer and had a partial nephrectomy in September of 2019. Unfortunately surgery had complications and I had a collapsed lung, respiratory distress, and internal bleeding that resulted in a 34 day hospital stay including a medically induced coma for 2 weeks. My family was unsure if I would make it or not. I remember asking God to take me as I was on a ventilator and unconscious, but He said it wasn’t my time yet, He had great plans for me. My kids still needed me so I asked Him to heal me. Within 2 days I was awake, and the next day the ventilator came out. A few days after that I left ICU for a regular room. That only lasted 2 days before being discharged to rehab for 2 weeks where I learned how to walk again.

Unfortunately, my kidney never woke up after that surgery even though I still had 78% left, but they think the medications they gave me for the coma were too strong and could have damaged it further. Thus began my time on dialysis and boy was it miserable. Three times a week I would go in and be hooked up to a life-saving machine for 3 hours, then be exhausted after with muscle cramps, nausea, high blood pressure, headaches, and overall feeling miserable. I had numerous surgeries for peritoneal dialysis but it never worked. I had numerous hospital stays for high blood pressure, headaches, abdominal pain, and bowel obstructions. It was the roughest 33 months of my life.

I was finally approved for a transplant in April of 2022 and on Mother’s Day May 8, 2022 I got a new kidney! Praise God for only He could schedule that! After giving my mom a kidney in 2005, He gave me one on Mother’s Day- amazing! It’s now several months later and although it hasn’t been a picnic I am so thankful to be on the road to health and healing. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

We celebrated my parents 69th wedding anniversary this past Sunday and I’m so thankful for all that God has done and continues to do on a daily basis for me! To God be the glory!

Emily:  Hello, I’m Emily. I’m a 10 time Breast Cancer Survivor. Yes, you read that right, ….TEN.

It all began with a stomach ache in 2008. As I went to my doctor for a routine exam, she found the Cancer! Of course, I had to go through an ultrasound and mammogram first, but my doctor had saved my life by detecting this early, I thought.

I was 33, had 3 kids, (ages 6, 2, and 8 months) and a full-time job teaching 1st graders at a public school. Cancer? Who has time for Cancer? I was told it is an aggressive form and difficult to treat, because doctors don’t know much about it. I have Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I fought with everything I had through chemo, radiation and a lumpectomy.

God and I spent a lot of time talking about how I was going to win this battle and with His help, I did, for 4 1/2 years.

The Demon itself returned in March of 2012, just before my 5 year clear mark. I was devastated, scared, angry, frustrated and MAD at God. Why was this happening to me again? Why do I have to go through this again? This isn’t fair! God carried me through the second battle, just as He did the first with just as much grace and comfort.

Fast-forward to 2022. I’ve now had TWO double mastectomies, a lumpectomy, ten biopsies, a DIEP flap reconstruction surgery, 3 more rounds of chemo (78 total treatments), 3 different types of radiation (67 total treatments), and Proton therapy (35 treatments) to try and kill this cancer. It has reared its ugly head 10 times and this is going to be the last!!!

Just a month and a half ago, I learned about a new drug that people were having success rates with. It was a Godsend and true miracle. An email delivered to my inbox revealed something we’ve been waiting for for 15 years!!!! The product is working and I will have another scan in February to hear that there is NED (No evidence of disease)!!! I am positive after reading the success stories!

I tell my story to say this… God is the only reason I am still here!!!! Nobody survives Cancer 10 times without God. Period.  If you are battling Cancer of any kind, just know that God is on your side and He is the ultimate healer!!!! Without Him and our faith, we are nothing!! I’m still standing AND teaching for 15 years and 10 battles later!

God is so good and Matthew West, you’re my favorite!!! Your music inspires me and the children in my class from rough homes every single day!! Our favorite is “How Good Of God!”

Thank you both so much for sharing your stories. I know it can be hard to be vulnerable and share your story with other. When you are able to do so though it helps other people see they are not alone. It provides hope to those who hear it. Thank you!

 

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Today’s guest speaker is a very special guest because he is my dad, Pierre D. Pierre is a deacon at his church, he is a husband and father to 11 children and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. My mom and dad raised us all in the Catholic faith and I am so very grateful to them. They didn’t just send us to religious education classes and bring us to church on Sunday, they lived the faith all day every day. They were so faithful and they showed us how to rely on the Lord. Having 11 children means there is never enough money for all your needs and yet we never went without all that we needed. God was so good to my parents and I am excited to have my dad share some of his experiences with you. Today he will be talking about how a life in the spirit seminar changed his life. I know you will enjoy this as much as I did! We have all seen God working in our lives, however, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or just click on the link below. It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday. Have a blessed day! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com CLICK HERE TO DONATE CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring  CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Struck Down, But Not Destroyed

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

I saw this verse written on a page in my book today and thought to myself, man if there was ever a time that we needed to hear this.  The world is crazy right now.  There is so much tragedy and pain.  It seems like it all keeps coming in waves.  It is like one thing after another.  Life seemed like maybe it was beginning to calm down a bit and then all the violence in Afghanistan and now the hurricane in Louisiana.  It seems to be nonstop these days.  If you watch the news a lot you can easily get overwhelmed and scared.  I think it is important to stay inform and I also think that we need to protect ourselves at the same time.  

If you find that watching the news makes you anxious and fearful then maybe watch less of it.  You can be informed without having the news on 24 hours a day.  Remember that we are in charge of protecting our thoughts.  We get to decide what we allow to influence our mind.  There needs to be some balance between the craziness of the world and the grounding influence of God.  For instance, if you are watching an hour of the news, maybe watch an hour of something that makes you remember all is not bad.  Maybe listen to a podcast or read a spiritual book.  

Anyway, back to this scripture.  It does seem right now like we are “hard pressed on every side.”  It seems like bad things are coming at us from all sides.  Like in those movies when the walls start closing in and the room gets smaller and smaller.  Life can often feel like that.  It can be hard to breathe sometimes because we feel squeezed on all sides.  It is important to remember when we feel like this that although we feel pressed, we are not crushed.  We are still here, the trouble has not gotten the better of us.  God will not let that happen.  He may let us fall down with the weight of it all, but he will not let is crush us and he will be there to pick us back up again if we do fall.  

The next part says perplexed, but not in despair.  I don’t think there is a single person in the world, or at least in this country that is not perplexed right now.  Trying to understand what is going on in the world right now leaves us all confused.  A global pandemic, how does that happen?  Why does that happen?  All the systemic racism in this country, how did we let that happen?  How do we begin to change it?  Why all the natural disasters, the wild fires, the hurricanes & earthquakes, the flooding?  What is going on in this world?  Although this is all very confusing, hopefully we are not in despair.  

What is despair?  Despair is the complete loss or absence of hope.  I can see how it could be easy these days to fall into despair.  I could see how many could be starting to question if we have hope.  What about the people that are in Louisiana right now.  The last two years have been awful for everyone and I feel as though our country was just starting to come back to life a little.  People seemed to be looking towards the future with a little more light and hope.  Then this hurricane comes and devastates so many people.  Or what about those that have lost people in Afghanistan, or what about the refugees of Afghanistan.  It is easy to understand why people might be falling into despair. We must fight these feelings of despair.  Yes, times are incredibly hard right now.  Yes it seems like it is coming at us from all angles and we can’t seem to catch a break.  But there is always hope.  If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it.  

The last part of the verse says persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  Is this how you are feeling?  Are you feeling persecuted?  I know many in this country are feeling this right now.  If this is you, know that you are not abandoned.  God never leaves your side.  He is there with you even when you are feeling persecuted.  God actually told us in the bible that we would be persecuted.  Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  God is there with you through this all and He even states that your reward is great in heaven.  

If you are feeling struck down right now, know that God will not let this situation destroy you.  It may feel like you are destroyed, but God won’t let that happen.  You may be down, but you are not down for the count.  God will help you get back on your feet again.  Trust that He is there for you and lean into Him when you feel like you don’t have the strength to do it on your own.  He is strong.  He can handle the weight of your problems.  Sometimes we don’t have to lean on God because we feel like He is too busy or because we don’t want to bother Him.  He is your heavenly Father, He would like nothing more than for you to “bother Him” with your problems.  He is up there just waiting for you to do just that.  

You may be thinking to yourself, that all sounds well and good, but you don’t know my situation.  You don’t know what I have been through, or what I am going through.  How can I not be in despair when I have lost someone, or I have lost my home, my job, my health, etc.  You would be right.  I don’t know your situation.  I don’t know what you are feeling.  I do understand how easy it is to fall into despair and lose hope that things will change.  I can tell you a few things I did to keep myself from despair when things seemed really bad.  Hopefully you will find something useful in these ideas to either keep you from despair, or help you climb out of it if you already find yourself in despair.  

First, I prayed a lot.  I kept a journal and I wrote to God a lot telling Him all the things I was thinking, wondering, praying for, wishing for, all the things.  

Second, I listened to praise music that reminded me of God’s promises and that He is always there for me.  It was uplifting praise music that would lift my spirits when I was sad.

Third, I didn’t dwell on the situation.  I did not spend a lot of time thinking about what may or may not happen in the future.  I dealt with the immediate problem at hand and tried to plan for what may come up but I did not focus on all the ways things could go wrong.  There is always time to deal with that if it happens.  Although, most of what we worry about never happens.  Even if it seems like you know where the situation is headed, things may change.  So much can happen in a short amount of time.  I did not try to predict the future.  

The fourth thing I did was to study scripture and I was reminded about all the things the people in the Bible went through and how God was always there for them.  If He did it for them He will do it for me.  After all, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” Hebrews 13:8. 

The last thing I did was I chose to be hopeful.  I don’t think hope is just something that you either have or you don’t have.  I think Hope is a choice.  Actually at our prayer group we were giving a word that said just that.  I think I will leave you with these words from our Heavenly Father.  "Trust in Me, do not be afraid. You must choose to hope and trust in Me. It is a choice, it is not a feeling. When darkness comes choose hope, love, and trust. Choose me.

Dear Heavenly Father I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord we ask that you bless everyone that is struggling right now. Lord we ask you to help us know that we may be persecuted but we are not abandoned.  We may be stuck down but we are not destroyed.  Lord Jesus, please keep us from despair.  When darkness comes help us to choose you Lord Jesus. Help us to choose hope and love and trust. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Help us to feel that strength Lord.  Help us to not feel defeated.  Lord we pray for all those affected by the natural disasters going on in the world right now.  We also pray for those in war torn countries.  Lord our world is hurting and we need your help.  We thank you for all that you are doing for us Lord.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

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 beloved children, let me transform your minds. Let me change your ways of thinking. I am pouring into your minds my graces. As I do, your minds will start shifting from old ways of thinking to new ways of thinking.”

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The Tree House

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.”

All God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “yes!”  How great is that? All God’s promises have been fulfilled.  There is not one thing that God promised that He has not followed through on.  That is amazing.  I wish I could say the same.  There is a house down the street from us that just got renovated.  The new owners built a whole new second floor to this house.  They also did a lot of renovations on the outside of the house and in the yard.  One thing they built in the yard is a beautiful tree house.  It looks so awesome and even has a climbing wall on one side so if they didn’t want to take the stairs, they could take the more difficult way up.  

I feel like life is like this.  I feel like God provides us the stairs to make it to the top, but often times we choose the climbing wall.  We could choose the path that was pretty well laid out for us where we just need to put one foot in front of the other and climb one step at a time.  We know the next right step and we continue to take each step until we reach the end.  However, sometimes we choose the difficult path.  Sometimes we choose the climbing wall.  We chose the path where we don’t know what the next step is.  We need to feel our way through and look for where each new step is. We can’t find the next step until we take the first step.  And depending on where we step, we will have limited options for our next step.  

The reason I thought of this tree house when the reading was talking about promises is because we told our middle son, Noah, that we would help him build a tree house.  And yet that never happened?  Has this ever happened to you?  Have you ever told someone, promised someone, that you would do something, and then not done it.  It is an awful feeling to not keep a promise and to let someone down.  I am not sure why it never got done.  I am sure I can find a whole list of excuses.  However, none of them make me feel better when I see the beautiful tree house this family built.  

Regret is a terrible feeling.  I am definitely not a fan.  It is definitely an opening for the enemy to get in and destroy some people.  I have seen it numerous time on TV and movies.  Can you think of anyone you know that just can’t let go of something that happened in the past?  Sometimes we can get stuck on something in our past and we let it bother us for far too long.  I am not saying we shouldn’t feel bad if we broke a promise to someone.  I wish we were like God and we could keep every promise that we make.  Unfortunately, we are a broken people and so occasionally, we will break promises.  

What is important is what we do after we break a promise.  Do we repent and ask the person for forgiveness?  Do we forget about everything and start over again?  Do we pretend it never happened and just move on?  What is the right protocol in this scenario?  I would say we should go back to the golden rule.  How would you like someone to act towards you in this scenario.  I think repentance is important.  Tell the person you are sorry you did not follow through with the action you promised you would do.  Try to make it up to them in some way.  If you can’t make it up to them then apologize and move forward from there.

What is not a good idea in this situation is to sit and think about what you did over and over again.  Regret is not good because it eats away at you slowly from the inside.  I read a book once called Miracle Mornings.  It is a book by Hal Elrod.  It is an excellent read in case you have not heard of it before.  It is a book about how to start a really helpful morning routine.  Anyway, the author talks about a 5 minute rule that I feel could be really helpful here.  He used to see Cutco knives.  He would get really upset when someone would cancel their appointment with him because he worked off commission.  His boss told him about the 5 minute rule.  This is a way to not get stuck in the negative feelings.  He said when something upsets you take a minute and think about whether or not you can change the thing that just happened?  For instance, someone calls up to cancel and appointment with you at the last minute.  Can you change the fact that this customer canceled?  No.  In this case, where there is nothing that you can do to change it, you set a timer for 5 minutes and that is how long you allow yourself to be upset.  You have 5 minutes to yell, scream, cry, etc and then you need to move on.  

Hal found this 5 minute rule to be very helpful in his life.  At first he said it took longer than 5 minutes.  He said after 5 minutes if you still can’t let the emotions go, set the timer for another 5 minutes.  Eventually you will train yourself to let things go sooner.  If there is nothing you can do about a situation then there is no reason to keep dwelling on it.

This is what the enemy wants.  He wants us to dwell on what is going wrong in our lives.  He wants to keep us in a state of unhappiness.  Unhappiness with who we are and what is going wrong.  When we are thinking about all that is going wrong, then we are not praising God for all that is going right.  When we are focusing all our energy on what we did  and who we let down then our focus is inward on ourselves instead of our focus being on God, which is a much better place for our focus.  The next time you are regretting something you did or did not do, take a minute and think about the 5 minute rule.  Can you change the situation?  If not, give yourself some time to be upset and then move on.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I know you love us and don’t hold our mistakes against us.  Lord, I ask that you help us to forgive ourselves.  Why is it that we can forgive others more quickly than we can forgive ourselves.  Lord, we ask that you teach us to not regret past mistakes.  We ask that you help us learn any lessons we need to learn from it and then move forward.  Father, we ask that you help anyone that is suffering from regret right now.  We ask that you free them from this feeling.  Lord, we know the enemy is looking for any way to get into our lives and we don’t want to give him an open door.  Close all doors of regret and cover us in your protection oh Lord.  Lord we thank you for being so amazing and wonderful.  You are the God of all things and we are nothing without you.  Living a life without regret is not easy, but we know it is possible because all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us.  We love you Lord and we ask all these things in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

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, “I take you in my arms as a father caresses his child. I find so much joy just being near you. I whisper in your ear, I love you.”

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God Will Fulfil Every Need!

Philippians 4:19 “I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ!”

This was in a letter from St. Paul the Philippians. When I read it this morning I wondered, are we convinced? I know St. Paul was convinced, he had seen God come through time and time again for him and his followers. However, what if we haven’t seen God come through? What if we have never really been in a situation where it felt like we needed God to come through? How do we become convinced that God will satisfy our every need?

What comes to my mind first is that if you haven’t seen God provide for you then you aren’t looking hard enough. I would argue if you have never had a time when it felt like you had to rely on God then God has blessed you even more because you never went without. I do think if you have little and you have no idea where your next meal or the money to pay the bills is going to come from, then you learn to rely on God more and you get to see Him work more in your lives. That does not mean that He is working more, it just means that you see it more.

God is working in each one of our lives. There isn’t a single one of us that He puts on earth and then just forgets about. He knows everything about each one of us. He not only knows your needs but He knows your wants and your desires too. He put them in your heart. He will take care of providing for you all that you need. However, He will also help you get the things you want as well. Oftentimes it is not in the time that we want.

For instance, we may have wanted to get married when we were 20 and instead, it happened when we were 40. I don’t know why this happens but what is coming to mind right now is two different scenarios. First, maybe we weren’t the person we needed to be earlier in life. Maybe if we had gotten married earlier it wouldn’t have worked out because we weren’t ready. The second is that God allows us to make our own choices so maybe we weren’t listening to Him and we were doing our own thing. God's ways are higher than our ways so I have no idea why things don’t happen in our timing. I wish I did. I wish I had an answer for every person who wanted a child and didn’t have one, or wanted to be married and hasn’t found the right person yet. I wish I could tell you why sometimes you have desires that weren’t realized. I honestly don’t have answers for that.

I do know it says in Romans 5:5, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Hope in the Lord does not disappoint so we don't have to be scared or afraid to hope in the Lord for our dreams and desires to come true. I don’t think we have to be afraid our dreams are not His dreams for us either. I believe He put our dreams in our hearts and as long as we are close with Him, as long as we are doing our best to listen to Him, then we don't have to be worried about them not being His dreams for us too.

I just spent some time talking about how God will provide all we need for our heart’s desires. What I want to talk about now is something that I am not sure many people know or believe. God can and will provide for your everyday needs too. Did you know that God can give you money, food, cars, or whatever you need in miraculous ways? We tend to put God in a box and we think He has the same constraints that we have. We look at our situation and we don’t see a way and we assume there isn’t a way. However, God is a way maker. He doesn’t need to follow a path, He can create His own path. Just as He did for the Israelites when he parted the Red Sea.

However, it doesn’t have to be that dramatic. Sometimes He can create a miraculous answer to your prayer without a big show, without fanfare, without you even realizing it is Him doing it. My dad is a deacon and so I got a front-row seat to hear him talk about all the ways God helped our family. Honestly, I feel like he could talk about them all day every day and we would never run out of miracle stories. I don’t think my family is unique in this way. I think God is working miracles in many of our lives. I think there are two differences with my parents that others may not be doing.

First, they always went to God with their needs. They didn’t try to solve it first on their own. They didn’t save prayer for the last resort. Luckily they both knew the power of prayer and so it was their first response to a problem. Second, they were on the lookout for the miracle. They have this faith that they are absolutely sure God will provide. It is amazing to watch. They never told us growing up that we should pray and that if we were lucky, God would provide for us. They never told us God might come through. They taught us that God is a God who provides and if we ask He answers. I am more grateful for that lesson than for anything else they taught me. Sitting in the pews at church listening to my dad tell miracle story after miracle story, this belief was cemented in my mind.

In case you weren’t lucky enough to see or hear about all the miraculous ways God works in the everyday stuff, let me share a few so you can start to believe in his miraculous answers to our prayers. I know I have probably told these before but in my mind you can never talk about God’s glory too much!

One day my dad's car broke down on the way to work. He needed that car to get to work in order to make money to provide for the family as my mom stayed home with the kids because there were so many of us. My dad got home from work and decided to tell my mom after dinner so we could have a nice dinner together. In the middle of dinner a neighbor knocked on the door. My dad knew this man, but they were not friends. They had actually exchanged words over some thing the kids had done. This neighbor handed my dad a set of car keys. My dad asked what these were for and he said you need a car right? My dad agreed that he needed a car but asked how the guy knew as he hadn't even told my mom yet. The guy said he just got this feeling he was supposed to give my dad the car. His wife can't drive anymore so she doesn't need it. He's not lending it to my dad and he's not selling it to my dad he just is giving it to him with no strings attached. That is a miracle only God can do.

My parents were looking in the cupboard and realized they didn't know what we were going to eat for dinner that night. Then Friend called up and said there was an emergency and asked if my parents would watch their 10 kids. My parents said yes even though they didn't know how they were going to feed everyone. They knew God would provide and so they asked him for the food needed for all these kids. They were barely done the prayer when the neighbor knocked on the door and asked if they needed any groceries. He said his father-in-law moved into their house over the weekend but it was unexpected and so he had just gone grocery shopping at his house and so had they. There was no room in the cupboards for all the food and so my parents gratefully accepted. They noticed there is spaghetti and sauce in the bags, enough for everyone at the house. They were so grateful. They thought to themselves if we just had some meat it would be perfect. Another neighbor knocked on their door just after they had that thought and asked if they needed some meat. The neighbor had just gone hunting. He stuffed his fridge and his freezer and there just wasn't room for all the meat so he offered it to my parents and they gratefully accepted. Do you see how God works? If we are not looking sometimes we may miss the miracle.

Another time a friend of mine was sitting in her car with her daughter. She was making a shopping list sitting outside the dollar store. She only had $75 for a whole weeks worth of groceries for her family of five I think. She was writing down what she needed and realized if she only had 50 more dollars she could actually get all that she needed. I'm not even sure if she prayed about it or if she just thought about it. The next thing she knows her daughter open the door runs out into the parking lot and then comes back to the car. Luckily the store was not open yet and there was not another single car in the parking lot. When she asked her daughter why she got out of the car she said she saw something fly by the window so she got out to get it. When she gave it to her mom it was a $50 bill.

God created the entire universe with his words, he can create a $50 bill out of nowhere and send it to you when you are in need. I love these recounts of God's miracles because they show us that sometimes he uses regular every day things like other people to provide for us and other times he can do it just out of thin air. One of my witness Wednesdays I think it was Jasmine talked about how she didn't have enough money to pay her bills one month. She had checked her bank account and there was no money in it. She prayed and asked the Lord to provide and something inside of her told her to check her bank account again and she did and there was money in it. She called the bank and they didn't know who put the money in that account. It just showed up. God can do the same for you.

I am telling you about these miracles today so that if you don't have any miracle stories now you do. You have now seeing how God can work in your life. God is the same yesterday today and forever. You can look at the miracles written about in scripture and know that he can do that in your life too. It is true that God will fulfill every need! We just need to ask. Yesterday at the end of prayer group people were sharing the little ways God is working in their life. One lady was saying her grandson wanted to switch from flag football to tackle football now that he is in high school. She was nervous for him and just prayed that God would find a way for him not to be hurt in this new sport. She went to dinner with her family the other night and her grandson said he decided to do golf instead of tackle football. Do you see how God cares about every little prayer we send to him, even the things we might consider little.

I could go on and on as I love to talk about God’s miraculous power to provide for us. However, I know you all have things to do and this episode is already on the longer side. I want to invite you to take a look at the things that have happened in your life, in the light of these miracle stories and see if you can recognize God’s hand in them. I want also to invite you to be on the lookout more going forward to see how God is orchestrating all things to help provide for you.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, you are amazing and we are so grateful for all the ways you provide for us. We ask that you help open our eyes to these ways. We ask that you help us to see all the ways you are working in our lives. Help us to be more aware Lord! I ask that you reveal at least one miracle you have done in the lives of each person listening to this episode. 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 look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the favor and grace 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 children, I reward the little things done with great love. It's the great love that I look for. People think they must do grandiose things for me to notice. I notice even the littlest things that you do out of great love.”

 

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The Example of Jesus Christ

Philippians 2:6-8 “He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead, he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion!

What jumped out at me in this verse was the line that says, “He emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant.” Jesus did not just enter existence when He was born into this world. I guess I never really thought of that before. Have you noticed that God reveals things to us slowly? Or maybe it is just that it takes us a while to come around to being curious enough to be taught. I am not sure. I do know that I am always learning new things. You would think being Catholic my whole life, going through all the religious education classes as a kid, teaching them as an adult and even participating in RCIA, I would know all there is to know. However, I am always learning something new.

I am sure it is the same with you. The Bible is so vast, our Catholic religion is so rich, there is no way anyone can know everything. Even if we think we have it all figured out, the Lord opens up an old favorite scripture in a new way. That is so amazing to me. God is so good!!

It says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is true. What is also true is that Jesus volunteered for the job. I sort of had it in my mind for the longest time that there was God, and he was alone. Then he decided to give us Jesus through Mary and the Holy Spirit. But I never thought about Jesus existing before He walked the earth. I never thought of the fact that He had a say in the matter. We read about Jesus in the garden the night before he was crucified. We read about how He was in agony because He knew what He had to go through and yet was willing to do it anyway. However, we don’t really talk about how it was His choice to live this life. Yes, God gave Him to us, but not without His permission.

Can you imagine, Jesus was up in heaven with God. He was/is God. He is sitting up there surrounded by the angels. He is being praised and worshipped all day and night. Everything is great, everything is perfect. There is no illness, there is no anger or hate, there is only love. Can you imagine sitting up in heaven and looking down at Earth and seeing how much we are struggling? Not only that though, He could see the brokenness of the world. He could see how cruel people were. He could see how much greed and jealousy there was. He could see all the pain and suffering. He could see all the violence. He could see all of that and yet His desire to save us was greater than His desire to stay in Heaven where all was perfect.

He decided to enter into a broken world. He decided to come down and join a world that He already knew would hate Him, mistreat Him, and eventually crucify Him. Can you even imagine that? I can’t. I know some people have died and gone to heaven but then were brought back to life. I can’t imagine being that close to heaven and then having to come back to this broken world. Heaven was His home. He was at home with His dad and the Holy Spirit and agreed to leave all that behind to save us.

We live in a world that emphasizes fame and fortune. Everyone wants to be on top and many are not afraid to step on others to get there. We definitely don’t see a lot of humility. We don’t see a lot of people who are willing to let others take the credit for the things they have done. But Jesus didn’t want the glory. When He first started healing people He would tell them to go in peace and not to tell anyone what He had done. He was happy to live in the shadows and not get credit for the work He had done.

I am not a big Olympics fan. I am not sure why I never really got into it. Maybe because my parents weren’t into it. Or maybe they were but we didn’t have a TV for a lot of years when I was growing up so we couldn’t have watched it if we wanted to. I did not watch the Olympics this year unless I happened to be out and about and it was on the TV. For instance, I was at a retirement celebration at a restaurant and they had the Olympics on the TV. It was a trampoline competition which I had no idea was even an Olympic event. They were awesome though. Most of what I learned about the Olympics this year came from my children filling me in or clips I saw on YouTube when I was uploading my podcast episodes.

There were so many good stories that I heard. One was about the second and third-place gymnastics winners bowing to the first-place winner to show her respect and show they honor her. Another one was not at the Olympics but at a different race. There was a runner from Kenya who mistook a line on the track for the finish line and he stopped running. The next runner came up behind him and instead of passing him showed him the finish line and allowed him to finish first. He could have easily passed him and took first place for himself but he didn’t. Everyone was shocked. What does that say about our world if everyone was surprised he did the right thing?

How about us? Are we going through life wanting to be in the limelight? Do we get upset when someone else gets credit for something we did? Do we want to be served or are we willing to be the servants? The verse says, “He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead, he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion!”

Jesus didn’t want his perfect existence up in heaven if it meant we couldn’t be with Him. He was willing to sacrifice it all and suffer immensely on our behalf so we could join Him in heaven one day. When I think about that, I mean really think about that, it makes my suffering less. It makes me want to be more humble. It makes me want to follow Christ’s example. I want to empty myself and become a lowly servant as Jesus did. I want to risk being vulnerable and I want to be obedient. I want to be able to follow God’s will even if it is the opposite of my will. I want to follow God’s will even if I don’t understand it. I want to follow God’s will even if I may suffer. What is one thing we could say yes to today that we have been avoiding because of our own will?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we want to follow your example, please show us how. Please give us the resilience and perseverance it takes to be humble and be a lowly servant instead of the one who is served. Change our will Lord, help our will be more and more like your will. 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 want to remind everyone that retreat registration for the Oct. 11-13th retreat is open. Also, the theme for September Mentoring is “Trusting in the Waiting.” If you feel you have been waiting for a long time then this may be the month for you to join mentoring. Click on the link below for more information on the retreat and about mentoring. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you, 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 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, “Oh, my heart burns that the good news of my love for everyone will be inflamed throughout the whole world.”

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God is Good,

All the time.

All the time,

God is Good.

This very popular saying of ‘God is good all the time and All the time God is good’ has come up many times recently. Many people have embraced this and taken this thought as their own. And for good reason – God is the ultimate Good and He does it all the time and in every situation. We all know there is evil, and we question where God is when something bad happens. The answer is: He is there helping us in some manner to get through it. Sometimes the “Footprints” story comes to mind. But we know the ultimate evil of Christ being cruelly beaten and even more cruelly killed on the cross was changed from being evil to being our redemption. God has a way of doing this in every evil that happens if we accept the Graces that He wants to give us. Even that grace of Redemption we must accept if we want to go to Heaven. God the Father’s answer to evil is that He sent us His Son. His Son lived, suffered, died and rose to replace or remove the effects of what is evil with what is good- He saved us! He saved us from evil.

Another way of saying ‘all the time‘ or on all occasions is the word always. So, our God is a God of Holiness and takes every bit of time and any occasion to ultimately make something Holy come from it. And He does. All the time. He makes Holy moments. All the time God is with us. This was his promise. See Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” It is different with everyone because we are all different. God will take an evil; a bad accident or a sickness, and thru His grace for us He somehow makes a Greater Good come from it. Most of the time we do not see this or find out why until we are on the other side of the vail but if we continue in our beliefs and accept Gods graces, we will be as fortunate as Job. If you are unfamiliar with the story of Job and how all of his great blessing were taken away from him and then given back twice as much because of his great belief, please see the Book of Job in the Bible. 

There is another ‘always’. "All ways" or "all the ways" means every manner possible. What happens when we think the same thing with God with this ‘all ways’. It is now a more complete picture of what God is. God is all the time good and every possible good. Can we say, “God is good all ways and all ways God is good”? God is in every manner possible good and in every manner possible God is good. God constantly is pouring out Graces on us. Does He ever give us something bad? No, He gives us everything we need. This is why we find that the saints had Joy no matter what. They say Saint Francis of Assisi was one of the saints most like Jesus. Not only was St. Francis poor like Jesus but he was Joyful like Jesus to a point of Loving Lady Poverty. He felt this great joy in his state of life because of the Blessings he received from God. In every manner possible God took care of him as he does now with us.

Joy is the work of the Holy Spirt. The Holy Spirit has many Fruits. St Francis and Jesus have the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave His Holy Spirit to St Francis and now He gives Him to us. The same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus and the Saints fills us today if we ask Him and accept His graces. Ask for many graces. Ask all the time for Graces for every possible need. Ask for all the graces Jesus wants us to have so we and the others we pray for get all graces always and all ways. We ask for too little. Ask for more. More Jesus, More Jesus. All of Jesus, all of His body, blood, soul and Divinity. It is ours; we receive all of Him in Communion. We receive these graces in Adoration.

More Jesus, More Jesus,

Shalom

 

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Making Scripture Personal

Habakkuk 3:17-19, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  

Have you ever personalized scripture before?  Have you ever replaced the word Israelites for your name?  Have you ever just inserted your name into scripture to make it more personal to you?  What do you think about this idea?  If you haven’t done it before, why haven’t you?  Is it because you never thought of it before?  Is it because you think it is wrong to add your name to the holy scriptures?  Is it because you can’t see how the Bible and the scriptures apply to you in your life? Take a moment and really think about this idea of personalizing scripture.  I will be honest with you, I haven’t done it a lot.  I have heard of this idea before and I though it sounded like an awesome idea, and then I just never really did anything with it.

When I was reading a book titled Built Through Courage by Dave Hollis, the author talked about something I think can really help us not to worry so much.  Dave talked about  his mentors and how they had tragedy hit and he said they relied on a specific scripture verse to get them through it.  He said they took a scripture verse and personalized it to their specific circumstances.  That scripture verse is Habakkuk 3:17-19, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  

There is a lot going wrong for the people in this verse.  The things mentioned here are not small things.  It might not seem like a big deal to us, as how many of us eat figs anyway?  However, it was a bid deal at the time.  The people who wrote this depended on those crops not just for food, but also for their lively hood.  If they did not have figs, grapes or olives, what would they sell at the market to get the other things they needed.  The verse says the fields produced no food.  What could they eat, if they had not fruits or vegetables?  Normally I would say at least they have animals to eat.  However, the verse also says, no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.  

I can’t even imagine what I would do if I were in their circumstances.  This verse is basically saying they had nothing.  They had no food, they had no animals, and if they didn’t have any of that, then they didn’t have anything to trade with to get the other things they needed.  I know we often think our situation can’t really get any worse, however, for these guys I would say that it really couldn’t get much worse.  How did they react to these dire circumstances?  Did they yell and scream at God?  Did they question Him and ask Him how dare He take it all away?  Did they turn away from God? No, they didn’t do any of those things.  In that very same sentence, they said “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Wow, that is incredible.  Don’t you wish you had their strength?  Don’t you wish you felt the same way on your worst days?  I will rejoice in the Lord.  Not, I will trust the Lord, not I will be ok with the Lord, I will rejoice in the Lord.  What did they have to rejoice about?  Then it goes on to say I will be joyful in God my Savior.  I was about to ask you what they had to be joyful about, and then the words “in God my Savior” rattled around in my head.  They weren’t joyful because of their circumstances, they were joyful because of God their Savior.  They knew God was going to save them.  They didn’t know when and they didn’t know how, but they relied on the fact that God was their savior and if He saved them before, He would do it again.  

Why is it so hard for us to remember this?  What came to mind was, maybe we haven’t seen Him save us before.  What if we have never needed saving before and so we don’t know He will save us this time.  If this is what you are thinking, rest assured whatever God has done for those who have come before us, He will do for us.  If He has saved His people in the Bible, then He will save us.  Those are our people.  Remember Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  Because Jesus saved His people in the Bible over and over again, we know He will save us.  We also know that because of His promise in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  

God will use all things for our good.  The problem is, we don’t want to wait for it.  We want things to happen when we are ready, or when we think we are ready.  When are we going to come around to the fact God’s timing is perfect?  If things are going wrong for us, God’s got a plan.  He might not have planned for you to get yourself into this trouble, but as soon as He saw you headed there He came up with a plan to fix it. That is what He does.  We mess up and He fixes it.  I truly hope He doesn’t get tired of doing that.  We would be lost without Him.  

Let’s say we are able to come to grips with our situation.  We acknowledge God is doing His thing and although we don’t know how it will work out, we know it will work out. Then what do we do?  We still need to figure out a way to lesson our pain so we can live to make it through to the other side.  The people in this verse decided although these terrible things were happening they were going to rejoice in the Lord.  Do you think you could persevere in this difficult time?  Do you think you could not only keep hope in the Lord, but to rejoice in the Lord?

What is it you are going through?  Whatever it is, would it help you to write your own version of this verse?  Would it help you to read that verse daily to remind yourself that God is your Savior?  Let’s not forget that important part of the verse.  I will be joyful in God my savior.  Reading this every day can give you a reminder that you are not alone and that you are not in charge of fixing everything yourself.  God is your savior.  Here is an example of how I rewrote this verse to fit my particular circumstances at one point in my life:

Habakkuk 3:17-19, “Though my marriage is falling apart and there doesn’t seem to be a way we can stay together, though the children are really struggling at school and at home, though our home is filled with anger and violence, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  

Personalizing scripture can not only help you get through a difficult time, it can help you grow in your faith.  The Bible is not just a collection of words or a collection of stories that are nice to read.  The Bible is one of God’s ways of communicating with us. Using the Bible God is teaching us how to act, how to interact with each other, what to do, and what not to do.  He is also teaching us about Him and His ways.  He is teaching us about His love and His forgiveness.  He is communicating with us and if we can make that communication more personal then we will connect to it more.  When you were in school did you pay more attention when the teacher was talking to the whole class, or when she was talking to you individually?  What about at a work meeting?  Would you pay more attention if your boss said your name before he started talking, or if he was addressing the whole audience?  I think we can all agree that we would pay more attention if someone was talking to us directly.  It is the same with the Bible.  If you put your name into the Bible verse you will pay more attention because it will feel as though that verse was written directly for you.

There are many ways you can personalize scripture.  Rick Warren, author of A Purpose Driven Life, suggests that we can replace any pronouns or nouns in scripture with our name.  For example, if he were personalizing John 3:16, He'd write something like this: 'For God so loved Rick, he gave his one and only Son so that Rick would not perish but have everlasting life.”  Or, "Or, for Philippians 1:6: 'He who began a good work in Rick Warren will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’"  Warren went on to note that if one uses the "personalize-it method," the results will "strengthen your faith and encourage yourself. Do this, and many passages of Scripture will literally bring tears to your eyes. You'll start to read the Bible as God's love letter to you," continued Warren.

There are articles out there that can give you more examples of how to do this.  I just wanted to introduce you to the idea today.  If you think it sounds like something you would like to try I say you just go for it.  There is no right or wrong way to do it.  Take a scripture verse and see how it can apply to your exact circumstances.  Instead of reading the Bible as if it is a collection of stories completely unrelated to your life, start reading it as if God is talking to you, right where you are, in the circumstances that you are in.  I bet the Bible will come to life in a whole new way.  Give it a try, if you don’t like it, no worries.  However, what if you do try it and it is life-changing?  Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing and we are so grateful for all you do for us. Lord, I ask you to increase our desire to read the Word of God. Help us to read Your Word and see ourselves and our situations in what we read. Don’t just let it be words to us, help it take root in our hearts. We ask 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 pray you will take some time the next time you read your Bible and try adding your name in, or personalizing the scripture in some way. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow with another witness. Wednesday. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the favor and grace 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, “Every single time you come to me in prayer. I kindle that fire. I feed it with new fuel. I make it burn bigger and brighter. That fire is my Holy Spirit, which I share with you.”

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Today’s episode is a bit different. I will be reading a chapter from my book, Total Trust in God’s Safe Embrace. Today’s chapter is called The Power of The Saints. I hope you enjoy it!

I love the saints! We can learn so much from them. I think we tend to put the saints on a pedestal and think that they were perfect and that we can’t really learn anything from them because they weren’t like ordinary people. We tend to think their lives were easy and they didn’t struggle with the things that we struggle with so we can’t relate to them. I am not sure how much you know about the saints, but I am not sure any of them had it easy and I know for sure that none of them were perfect because no one on earth is perfect. We are all human and we all struggle with human behaviors and sins. No matter what you are going through, there is probably a saint that has gone through the same thing in their life.

If you are struggling with parenting, or if you have a child who has turned away from the faith, and/ or is getting into all sorts of trouble you could look to Saint Monica. She is the mother of St. Augustine. Saint Augustine is a doctor of the Church now, but before the age of 31 he was known for running around with women and having mistresses. His mother would not give up on him and his conversion. She prayed for him and his conversion everyday.

Saint Monica was a Christian, but her parents married her off to a pagan. He husband wasn’t all bad, but he did have a violent temper and he was promiscuous. Saint Monica also had a mother in law that lived with them that was bad tempered and uncooperative. Even though her husband criticized her for her faith, she never gave up on praying for him and his mother. Her prayers finally proved fruitful and her husband and mother in law both became Christians. Her husband died one year after his baptism.

If you are struggling with a past that you are not proud of you could look to St. Augustine, or Saint Mary of Egypt who ran away from home at 12 and spent her years living on the streets as a seductress. She did her best to sleep with as many young Christian boys as she could. One day she went with some men to Jerusalem. They were on the way to see the life-giving Tree of the Cross that was being shown at the temple. She pushed to the front of the line, but when she tried to step over the threshold she could not get in. It was as if there was an invisible barrier was preventing her from getting in. She tried this several times and the same thing would happen.

Mary was too tired to keep trying to get in. She stepped aside and just stood there. She wondered why she could not get in. Suddenly she felt the word salvation and it occurred to her why she was not allowed into the temple. Her unclean lifestyle was the reason she could not enter the holy place. Upon realizing this she because to cry and was filled with grief and sorrow.

While she was standing there she looked up and saw an icon of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She begged Mary to let her into the temple to see the Tree of the life-giving Cross. She promised Mary as soon as she had seen the cross she would no longer take part in her unclean lifestyle and that she would renounce the world and its temptations. Mother Mary allowed her to enter and once she left that temple she crossed the Jordon and lived by herself in the dessert.

Maybe you are the mother of boys and you are not sure how to lead them with love through all their difficulties. You can turn to St. John Bosco who took care of all the boys in his town, most of them lived on the streets. He had them in church every Sunday. He never yelled at the boys he just loved them.

If you are struggling to forgive someone who has hurt you unforgivably you can turn to St. Maria Goretti. She was a child of about 12 I think when her neighbor tried to rape her. She tried to convince him that God did not want him to do that to her. He took out a knife and stabbed her several times because she refused to let him rape her. She was rushed to the hospital and before she died, she forgave him.

Are you struggling with a lack of faith? Do your prayers feel unanswered, or maybe you can’t even pray right now? Maybe you feel a complete lack of faith, and feel as though there may not even be a God. You could look to Mother Teresa. Most people do not know a lot about her story. She had a deeply personal encounter with Jesus on a train early in her religious life. She had a vision of Jesus and she told Jesus that she would do whatever he asked of her.

As time went on she began to feel this deep darkness. Almost as if she were in a pit. She did not feel the love of Jesus, she did not feel anything. She was such a powerful ambassador for God’s love, and yet she did not feel any of that love. This did not just go on for a year or so it went on for a very long time. She experienced this darkness for over half her life. She knew that there was a God because of her encounter on the train. However, she did not feel this for such a long time. She would go to her spiritual advisor and tell him she felt nothing. If you are struggling with your faith, you are not alone. Look to St. Teresa of Calcutta to see what she did and how she dealt with her struggles.

I was listening to The Jeff Cavins Show Podcast one day and he was talking about how everyone should have a saints posse. A group of saints that you can really get to know well. You can read about them and get to know who they really were, the good and the bad. They could be a like a group of friends that you rely on. You can talk with them, maybe start your mornings with them.

He said he got a small medal for each one of the saints in his posse and that he wears them around his neck so that they are always with him. That necklace can also serve as a reminder throughout the day of the person that you want to strive to be. I have photo cards of the saints in my posse on the wall by my desk. I see them every morning. Sometime I say hello and ask them to help me throughout the day and sometimes I forget. I also have a necklace with several medals on it as well.

I love this idea of having a group of saints that you can pray too. There are more than 10,000 saints that are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. That would be a lot to learn if you learned about each one of them. However, if you focused on the saints that had similar struggles as you, that number would be more manageable. I have already talked about a few saints at the beginning of this chapter, there is not enough room in this book to talk about all my favorite saints, so I will finish with three of the saints in my posse.

St. Maximillion Kolbe is my patron saint, meaning he died on my birthday. I was told, that whether we know it or not, we have a special connection with the saint that is honored on your birthday. Before learning this, I had already been introduced to St. Maximillion Kolbe through the Marian Consecration that I participated in. Kolbe dedicated himself to bringing the whole world to know God through Jesus under the guidance of Mary. He started a newspaper called the Immaculate that was widely distributed throughout Poland.

St. Maximillion Kolbe was not always a well behaved child. One time when he was young he got into some some trouble at school. His mother told him that “She did not know what would become of him.” This shook him to the core. He went into their home prayer area and prayed. Mother Mary appeared to him holding two crowns, the white crown of purity and a red crown of martyrdom. She asked him which crown he wanted and he chose both.

He did a lot of amazing things in his life. One of the most amazing was when St. Maximillion Kolbe was put into a concentration camp. One of the prisoners in his cell block escaped. In order to deter that from happening again, the guards randomly picked 10 prisoners left in that block and sentenced them to death by starvation. One of the men that they picked was a husband and father and he begged for mercy. St. Maximillion Kolbe volunteered to take his place. It is reported that he sang songs and praised God the whole time he was waiting to die. Kolbe lasted more than 14 days in a starvation bunker with no food or water. The Nazi’s finally killed him on August 14, 1941 by lethal injection.

Saint Teresa of Liseux is know as the little flower. She was always saying that she was too little to do anything on her own. She told Jesus that she would do anything that he wanted her to do, but that she would need Him to lift her up. She said it was as if she was at the bottom of a huge staircase and that she was too little to even climb up one step. But that if she could climb in Jesus’s hand and he could be her elevator and lift her to the next step.

A lot of people relate to Saint Teresa of Liseux because it is easy to feel like we can’t do much. It is easy to relate to someone who was called to do more, but felt she wasn’t capable. Saint Teresa is known for her “little ways” of trusting in Jesus to make her holy and relying on small daily sacrifices instead of great deeds. I think people like this idea because it is a way to holiness through your ordinary life. Saint Teresa did not go on mission trips, she was a cloistered nun, she did not go out into the community to help the poor. She made lots of small sacrifices throughout the day and she did it without complaining and often without recognition.

Saint Rita of Cascia, I just love her. Saint Rita is known as, “The Saint of the impossible.” Saint Rita wanted to become a nun, but her parents did not like that idea. Saint Rita got married to a man from a prominent family in her town. He was not a nice man and she struggled with not wanting to stay in the marriage. However, she kept praying for him and eventually he left that lifestyle. The two of them moved away from his family and they had twin boys. They were finally living a happy life, when her husband was murdered. Saint Rita forgave her husband’s attackers publicly at the funeral because she was afraid her sons would seek revenge.

Saint Rita ended up sending her boys away to try to keep them safe. However, they got sick where they were and they died. She was very sad that they had died, and also relieved that they died of natural causes and did not have the stain of murder on their souls.

Rita wanted to joint the Augustinian convent but her applications were always denied. She was not able to join until God stepped in and cleared a way an obstacles. Saint Rita once asked for a rose from the garden to be brought to her. The only problem was that it was the middle of winter. The person she requested it from went down to the rose bush and to her surprise she found a rose in full bloom. This same thing happened one time when Saint Rita requested a fig from the fig tree.

Saint Rita loved the Lord and she never gave up her faith in him. She had plenty of heart ache in her life and she certainly did not have an easy life. She had plenty of reasons why she could have given up her faith in God. She had plenty of chances to blame God for the terrible things that happened in her life. She did not do either of these. She continued her pursuit to follow His will with all that she had.

As I said earlier, I could go on about the saints for an entire series of books. I just love them. I love how much they loved the Lord. I love how dedicated they were to their mission. I know we could learn so much from them if we took the time to read about them. I remember how uncomfortable it felt to read in the Marian Consecration book that we are all called to be saints. I was not sure I was up to that challenge. However, reading about the saints gives me hope that if I just keep doing the next right thing, I can get there some day. What saint are you going to start learning about?

Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you would like to buy my book you can get it on Amazon or on my website walkboldlywithjesus.com. If you would like me to write you a personalized message you can order it from my website and I will sign it before I send it out to you. 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 favor and Grace 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 children, I say to you, here I am. And oh, how I love to hear you respond, here I am, back to me.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Live A Cheerful Life Without Complaining

Philippians 2:14-16a “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then, you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life.”

When I read this verse this morning, the part that jumped out at me was that it says, “For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe.” I had re-written this part in the margins of my Bible. I started doing that a few years ago. Whenever I am reading a book or my Bible, and there is something I really like, I will underline it, but then also write it in the margins, so if I am flipping through the pages, I can see it more clearly as sometimes I underline a lot. Then, the essential stuff can get a bit lost.

After I read that part of the verse, I decided to go to the beginning of the paragraph and see what else it said. That is when I read the first line, “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves.” I instantly thought, “Yep, we need to hear that today.” And by we, I mean me and probably you too. Complaining is so easy to fall into. A lot is wrong with the world today, and we notice it daily. I have noticed I am complaining more in the car lately. I am talking to the other drivers. Yes, I know they can’t hear me.

However, I comment, “Really, you couldn’t get over?” or “You are not a very good driver.” I don’t think I used to do this, and I believe the Holy Spirit has been bringing it to my attention lately, as when I notice it, I don’t like that I am doing it. I feel I am focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Also, if I have kids in the car, they will hear me say these things about other drivers. I realize the things I say aren’t terrible and could be much worse, yet they are still not kind. Sometimes, I call the driver an idiot. They can’t hear me, so why am I doing it?

I don’t know why we feel the need to complain so much. Some of the people I spend the most time with complain about everything. They complain about drivers, co-workers, fast-food workers, and apps. They are never really happy. This is no way to live. I know a lot is wrong with the world right now, and I also know there are things to be cheerful about. There is a saying, “Where focus goes, energy flows.” The kind of energy we have is based on where our focus is. If we are focused on all the negative things happening in the world, then we will be negative. If we are focused on the positive things going on in our lives, we will be positive.

God is asking us to be his shining light in the world.  We can’t do this if we focus on everything wrong with the World. Instead of focusing on all that is wrong, the enemy's work, let’s focus on all that is right, God’s work. The way we can be a shining light in the world is to be a representative of Jesus. Jesus had a lot to complain about in His life. His dad died; we don’t know how old he was, but we know it was before he was 30 years old. Many people hated him and wanted to kill him. He was put to death for no reason. He was whipped and beaten. He was mocked and made to wear a crown of thorns. He was hung on a cross even though He was blameless. He had a lot to complain about, and yet He didn’t complain.

If we want to be a shining light in the world, which the world definitely needs, then we need to do things differently than the world does. We need to focus on the good in the world. We need to spread hope, not fear, worry and anxiety. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world, especially with an upcoming election. The country is worried about who will be running this country in a few months. I understand that this is important. Yet, worry never changes anything. We can change our focus from worrying about who will get in to the fact that the true ruler of this world is God, and He is all-powerful. He created this world with words and has power over every aspect. There is nothing too great a feat for our God.

What our country needs right now is hope. Hope that God is here for us. Hope that regardless of who gets in, we will be OK because God is on our side. Hope that no matter what we are going through, God can and will use it for our good. This is not the end. Whatever situation you are in right now, if it is not good, it is not the end. Keep going, keep moving forward, and there will be a happy ending for all of us. We don’t know when that happy ending is coming, but we are assured it with God.

The best way to be the shining light that God asks us to be is to live our lives so that people will see us and say to themselves, “I want what she has, or I want what he has.” People will notice if we can be filled with joy, no matter our circumstances. They will see when we are filled with peace, no matter the circumstances. They will notice if we love all those around us, even those considered “unloveable” to the world. They will notice if we are cheerful and not complaining. Joy, peace, and love are all gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are not dependent on our circumstances. I have had incredible peace and joy in tough circumstances.

If you are wondering how to have this peace, joy, and love in impossible circumstances, the answer is simple: ask the Lord. Pray for peace, the peace of Christ. Pray for a loving heart. Pray to see those you struggle to love through the Lord’s eyes. Pray for joy in all circumstances. Joy doesn’t mean you are laughing and having a grand old time when everything is falling apart. Joy means you have the joy of the Lord in those circumstances. Joy is often hard to explain. It is a feeling you get inside, knowing all will be ok. The dictionary defines joy as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. Pray for joy; you will see how amazing it is and how hard it is to describe.

The verse above says, “Live a cheerful life, without complaining or division among yourselves. For then, you will be seen as innocent, faultless, and pure children of God, even though you live in the midst of a brutal and perverse culture. For you will appear among them as shining lights in the universe, holding out the words of eternal life.” Live your life so that when people look at you, they want what you have. What we don’t want is to be a negative example of Christ. We don’t want people to look at our lives and think, if that is what our lives are like with Jesus in them, then I don’t want Him. If we are constantly complaining and miserable, why would someone want what we have? Whether we like it or not, we are all representative of Jesus. If people know we are followers of Christ, then they will look at our lives to see the fruit of following Jesus. What is the fruit of your life? Is it peace, joy, and love? Is it complaining, worry, anxiety, and hate? If it is any of the negative things, how can you begin to change that so you can be a shining light to the world?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening today. Lord, you are amazing, and we want to be a shining light to the world. We want others to look at us and see you. We want to bring people to you. Please help us. Please put on our hearts all the ways we are not doing this now. Please purify us, Lord, so that some can be entirely yours. Help us to focus on your beauty in this world instead of the destruction of the enemy. Help us not to complain, Lord. Help us to talk about your miraculous ways. 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. If this podcast is helping you in any way can I ask that you share it with at least one person today? It would really help getting these devotionals to more people. I look forward to seeing 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 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 children, hear my whispers of joy and love. Hear everything I say to you and then go out and put it into practice. It is not enough that you hear. You must obey. It is so important to obey.”

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Letting Go Of Our Past

Philippians 3:7-8 “Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them, and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord! To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embracing him as Lord in all of his greatness.”

This verse stood out to me this morning. The words, “To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past,” really stuck with me. I got to thinking about how great it is when we discover Jesus. At first, I thought that it must be so great for people who don’t know Jesus at first and then come to discover Him later in life. There must be such a stark contrast in their lives. I wonder if it is easy to tell what moment Jesus came on the scene in their life. I wonder if it was as if one day they were one person, and the next day they were completely changed? Or, maybe it was more gradual, and they slowly changed their lives as they got to know Jesus more and more. I am sure this journey is different for everyone.

I was a bit envious of people who didn’t just grow up knowing Jesus because they seemed to be more on fire for Him. It's like when you enter into a new relationship, whether a friendship or a romantic one. Everything is new and exciting; you can’t wait to learn more about the other person. You make time for that person and you ask questions, you get to know them and what they like, what they don’t like.

Those of us that have know Jesus our whole lives don’t seem to have that same awe and excitement about it. I know that is a generalization and I know plenty of people who have know Jesus their whole life and still have amazing awe and wonder about Him. They still spend time with Him daily and they learn more and more each day through conversations with Him and through reading His written Word. But that’s the thing, they are putting in the times. They are working at their relationship with Him. Are we?

I had a colonoscopy at the end of July. I work up during the procedure and the medical staff were talking about the difference between Catholics and other Protestants. I heard one of them say that the difference is that Catholics don’t read the Bible and Protestants do. I spoke up and let them know that wasn’t true, but then they put me back to sleep as I was not supposed to be awake. However, as much as I wanted to complain that they thought this, this is not an uncommon belief. When I first joined the Catholic Woman’s groups on the military bases we moved to, there were not a lot of Catholic Bible Studies. Sometimes we would join up with a study the Protestants were doing.

As Catholic’s we get to hear the Bible every week at church. Every three years, the Church has covered almost the whole Bible. So, to say Catholics don’t know the Bible is not true at all. However, I think Catholic Bible studies is fairly new, at least in my experience.  However, this is a great way to get to know the Lord. To develop a deeper relationship with the Lord. If you want to get to know someone, you learn all you can about that person. The Bible is a great way to get to know who God is and what He is all about. You get to see all the various parts of His personality and the many ways He loves us and has saved us over the years. This is important because if He did it then, He will do it now.

I said earlier that I was envious of people who newly discovered Jesus because they seemed more on fire for Him. Then, one day, I realized we all had that turning point. Whether we have been going to Church our whole lives or we have just learned about Jesus today at the grocery store, we all have a point where our relationship with Him changes. There comes a time when we realize we need more Jesus in our life. There comes a time when we don’t just know about Jesus, but we know Jesus. We enter into a relationship with Him. This is where the fire comes from.

Those who just learned about Jesus aren’t on fire because Jesus is new to them, they are on fire because they have been personally touched by Jesus and they know what it is to be with Jesus. They know Him on a personal level and that makes you hungry for more. You want to read scripture because you want to know and understand Jesus more. You want to know what makes Him happy. You want to see how He has helped others so you can see how He can help you too!

Whether you have know Jesus your whole life and now have discovered a personal relationship with Him, or you have just found him, the verse above is the same. “Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them, and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord! To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embracing him as Lord in all of his greatness.” Once you know Jesus on a personal level, you no longer care about all you have done.

If we want to truly know Jesus we need to let go of all that is in our past that is holding us back. This means our past beliefs of who we thought Jesus was and what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. This means all of our past hurts. This means anything in our past that might get in the way of our future. When we first start to grow closer to the Lord, the enemy is going to attack us. He will tell us that we are not good enough to have a relationship with Jesus. He will remind us of all the bad things we have done in the past that make us unworthy. It is important that we don’t listen to Him. Jesus took our past sins to the cross with Him so that they would no longer have hold over us. Don’t let the enemy drag them back up again.

The person writing this verse was St. Paul. His name used to be Saul, and he used to persecute Christians. He would lock them up in jail or, worse, have them stoned. He had a past that would have been easy for the enemy to use against him. However, he didn’t allow it. He threw his past on the garbage heap. All he had done before was nothing compared to the reality of knowing Jesus. You can do this too. No matter where you are in your relationship with the Lord, you can grow closer to Him. It’s straightforward: read His word and spend time with Him. I know that may seem too simple, but think of all those you spend time with, whether you want to be with them or not. You will inevitably learn more about them when you spend time with them. Jesus is no different. If you want to know the Lord truly, give up your past and focus on Him. He is your future.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening. Lord, we love you and we want to put you first. We want to have a more intimate relationship with you. We want to know you more and more with each passing day. Help us make time for you. Help us to make time to read Your Word. Help us to let go of our past so we can focus on our future with you. You are amazing Lord. You are so powerful 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 want to encourage all of you to check out the website for the upcoming retreat. I know many of us think retreats are for holy people. This retreat is for you and me. It is a time to get away from life and focus on Jesus for a bit. There were several people who had never been on a retreat before who came last year and they loved it. It will be laid back and fun and you will leave so refreshed and ready to get to know Jesus more. I hope you will consider joining us! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! May the peace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. Have a blessed day!

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, “I will always work in and through my children. I will never abandon you, not for one minute ever. You are my flock, and I love my flock.”

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I Am Anointed (Identity Series)

Psalm 23:5-6 “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”

There is a lot to like about this verse.  First, it starts out by saying that God will prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  I don’t have to be worried about my enemies as God has got me.  He is my shield and my refuge.  Now he is saying we will prepare a feast for me.  When someone is preparing a meal for us, they are not usually stressed out about it.  They don’t worry about all the things going on around them.  Picture this: there is chaos all around you, and yet in front of you is this beautifully set up dining room table.  You have a seat, and God is bringing you a feast, one course at a time.  He is not concerned with your enemies because He knows they can’t touch you.  You are not concerned either because you just feel so at home, so taken care of.  Isn’t that a beautifully relaxing image?  

Next, the verse says that God honors us by anointing our heads with oil.  Did you know that you have an anointing in your life?  We all do. Did you know through your baptism you were anointed to be priest, prophet, and king?   It’s true, just as Christ was all three of these, you are also anointed to be these three things to your community.  What does that mean for us?  

Let’s start with the priest.  Drawing on the priesthood of the Old Testament, a priest is one who offers sacrifices (see Genesis 14:18; Exodus 29:38- 42; Leviticus 23:6,8). Some sacrifices are personal, and some are on behalf of others. These sacrifices will look different for each one of us, depending on our circumstances.  However, sacrifice, to some degree, should be a part of our everyday life.  I have tried to embrace this a little more this year, so I am fasting from one thing each month.  I will switch it up each month, but there will always be something I am fasting from.  I think this will help me to appreciate things more and it will also show me that I am not a slave to that thing.  For instance, if I feel like I just can’t stop eating chocolate, then I will fast from that for a month.  By the end of the year, I will have shown God and myself that I do not need these things.  I will have also made a small sacrifice each month for 12 months.

Next, we have a prophet.  A prophet is a spokesperson for God or one who speaks on God’s behalf (see Exodus 4:30; Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 42:19). In the Old and New Testaments, prophets called people to a different way of life.  Can we be a spokesperson for God by how we live our lives?  Can we live in a way that when people see us, they think to themselves, “I want what they have?”  Can we call others to a different way of life, not necessarily with our words, but with our love?  Can we love others as Jesus did? Can we speak love and light into the world, into people’s lives?  Can we be prophets?

Lastly, we are anointed as kings.  What are kings called to do? Usually rule over others.  We are called to rule over ourselves first and foremost. We are all responsible for making sure we are living our lives according to God’s laws.  Most kings are called to rule over others; however, as Christians, we are called to servant leadership.  A servant leader leads by serving others. In other words, servant leaders place the interests and needs of their followers ahead of their own self-interests and needs. Generally, they value the development of their followers, building their communities, acting authentically, and sharing power.

Now that we know what each one of these means, hopefully, we can apply this to our everyday life.  God has anointed us in our everyday tasks, too.  For instance, I was anointed to be a mother and a wife.  That was where God called me, and that is what He set me apart to do.  Maybe you are anointed to be a doctor, a lawyer, a pharmacy tech, a garbage collector, a grandmother, a teacher, whatever it is, God has anointed you to do it.  Your baptismal anointing is not meant to replace any of those other calls on your life.  You are anointed to be a priest, prophet, and king in the life you are already living.  Think about your day-to-day life; how can you incorporate sacrifice into your days?  How can you be more of a prophet spreading the Lord’s Word in your daily lives?  How can you be more of a servant leader right now, right where you are?

The verse then goes on to say my cup overflows with blessings.  This is also great imagery.  I love to picture a teacup as we grew up drinking tea in my family.  Although I don’t picture a regular tea cup, the image I am getting is an English fancy tea cup from a china set.  The tea is being poured into it with a steady stream, and the cup is overflowing and running all over the table and even onto the floor.  This is how many blessings God has for you. He wants to rain down blessings upon blessings on all of His children.  Sometimes, we get in the way of God’s blessings.  Sometimes, we don’t appreciate the blessings that we have, so why would God give us more?  Sometimes, we find ourselves complaining about all that is going on in our lives instead of praising God and giving thanksgiving.  God has ridiculous blessings for you.  All you have to do is believe that and then praise God for any blessings, even if they are small.  If you can be faithful to the small, He will increase your blessings.  He is a good, good Father!

The ending of this verse is beautiful.  “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  We had this word pursue the other day.  I love that word.  This verse is saying that God’s goodness and unfailing love will pursue us all the days of our lives.  Isn’t that wonderful?  We don’t have to chase after God because He is already chasing after us.  All we have to do is let ourselves be caught by God’s goodness and unfailing love.  Unfailing love is not like any love we can find here on earth.  It is an incredible love that knows no limits, that knows no boundaries.  God’s love never leaves us.  No matter how much we may try to run from it.  No matter how much we try to reject it or send it back.  No matter how much we might mess up.  God’s unfailing love will pursue you every single day of your life.  How incredible is that?  

And the very last part of the verse says, “I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  Yes, please!  I want to live in the house of the Lord forever. I think we all do.  It is so amazing to me that God has an open-door policy to heaven.  All are welcome.  Come as you are in your broken and wounded state.  You do not have to earn your way. You don’t have to do anything to get there.  Jesus has earned you your right to be there.  All you have to do is surrender to God and let Him help you. Let Him give you the strength to follow Him.  Following God is not always an easy road but it is a rewarding road and one that leads to spending eternity living in the house of the Lord.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today.  Lord, we thank you for loving us like you do.  We thank you for preparing us for a feast in the presence of our enemies.  We thank you for the ridiculous blessings you want to give us, and we are sorry if we get in your way of doing that.  We thank you for anointing us priests, prophets, and kings, and we ask for your help in discovering what that means for each one of us and how we can incorporate that anointing into our lives.  We love you, Lord, and we can’t wait to live in your house forever!  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. I hope to see you this evening on mentoring. I look forward to meeting you here again 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, “My children, I call you by name. I know each and every one of you. Let your light shine so that you can help remove the darkness.”

 

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Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Did you all notice that before she received the healing she took a leap of faith and started testing out to see if she was healed? Sometimes, that is when we are healed, when we step out in faith to test the healing. Testing the healing means trying to do something you couldn’t do before. Like in Caitlyn’s case, she tried to see outside without her sunglasses on. This would have normally induced a headache, but she tried it anyway, and she did not get one. She also put her feet in hot water, which again would have usually been really painful, but there was no pain. She trusted that God gave her the healing she asked for, and He gave her the healing she asked for.  St. Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Caitlyn believed she was healed despite no evidence of that healing. She stepped out in faith and tested the healing that was granted to her. I know praying for healing, even just hoping for healing, can be scary because what if we are let down? However, Romans 5:5 says, “ and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” I am so proud of Caitlyn. I am proud she was brave and went to the healing service. I am proud that she took the leap of faith to test her healing when nothing indicated she had been healed. I am proud of her for signing up for the class to learn to be the Lord’s instrument and help heal others. I can’t wait to watch her light get brighter and brighter and to see all the amazing things God has planned for her. I am so grateful he brought the two of us together. I know he has great plans for us and all those at the Encounter School of Ministry Boston Campus. Look out, Boston Diocese, a revival is coming, and we are here for it!

 

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Light To My Soul

Ephesians 5:11-14 "And don't even associate with the servants of darkness because they have no fruit in them; instead, reveal truth to them. The very things they do in secret are too vile and filthy to even mention. Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul. This is why the scripture says, "Arise, you sleeper! Rise up from your coffin. The anointed one will shine his light into you.”

I liked today’s verse because it talks about the light. I love to talk about the light. However, you can’t talk about the light without talking about the darkness as well. This is why I included the first part of this verse. It says, “And don't even associate with the servants of darkness because they have no fruit in them; instead, reveal truth to them. The very things they do in secret are too vile and filthy to even mention.” I like that the verse tells us not to associate with the servants of darkness. We spend too much time associating with the servants of darkness, and I am not talking about people you know who might be doing something you don’t like.

This verse is talking about the evil forces at work in this world. How often do we engage with that voice in our heads that fills us with worry and anxiety? That voice that tells us this bad thing will happen or that bad thing will happen. How often do we listen as the enemy tells us lies about not being worthy enough and the lie that no one likes us? This verse tells us that we should expose the lies and the darkness. This includes the lies the enemy is telling us. These consist of all of our thoughts that are unkind to ourselves. We must bring our thoughts into the light and see if they still hold up.

My favorite line in this verse is, “Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul.” Could your soul use a little more light right now? I know mine could. When we hold our thoughts up to God’s light, they don’t hold up. Have you tried bringing your thoughts to the Lord and asking if they are true? The enemy wants us to keep our private thoughts private because he knows we can see how ridiculous they are when exposed to the light.

The enemy tells us we are unworthy, yet when we shine the revelation-light on that lie we know it is not true because Jesus died on the cross to make us worthy. We are worthy, not because of our merit but because of what Christ did for us. The enemy tells us that we are not loved, yet when we hold that up to the light, we know it is not true because God repeatedly proves His love for us in the Bible. Especially in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” And Romans 5:8, "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” There is no doubt that God loves us.

In the darkness of our mind, the enemy can get in and tell us the lie that, yes, God loves most of his children, but he does not love you. Your sin is too great. We need to hold this up to the light, and we will see that it is a lie. When we examine this statement in the light of day, we can see it is an absurd thought. If this statement were true, that would mean Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, all he went through, was not enough. Do you really believe that? Do you believe there is anything you could do that is so big that Jesus’s suffering on the cross isn’t enough to cover it?

This is why the enemy whispers this stuff to us in the darkness of our minds and why he makes us too ashamed to voice these thoughts out loud. He makes us feel as though we are all alone, and if we share our thoughts with others, they will make fun of us, yell at us, or whatever it is you think will happen if you share your vulnerable thoughts with others. The enemy knows his lies start to fall apart when you bring them out into the light. This is why he makes us afraid to say them out loud. This is why he whispers them instead of shouting them. He doesn’t want anyone to overhear them and shine light on them.

I think it is essential to focus on the part of the verse that says, “Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct.” When we bring the enemy’s lies to light, they will be corrected. Once we know the truth, the lie is harder to believe. Once we know the truth, we can ask the Lord for the strength and courage to replace that lie with the truth. We know He will do this because the verse says that whatever the light exposes, it will also correct. Wouldn’t it be great not to have all those lies in your head anymore? What if you just said them out loud and then asked the Lord what truth he would like to replace those lies with? This activity does not take very long, yet the rewards can last a lifetime.

Take a moment, quiet your mind, and ask the Lord, “What lies am I believing right now?” Then, write down all those lies. Then, go through each lie individually, saying, “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that…” Once you have renounced all the lies, take a moment to sit with the Lord again. This time, you will ask him, “Lord, what truths do you want to replace these lies with.” Then, write down whatever comes into your head. Once you have a list, you can go through the truths like you did with the lies. You can say, “In the name of Jesus, I declare the truth that…” and you list each truth individually.

I did this activity with several people, and they each felt more free afterward. The enemy wants you to feel stuck, like you will always feel how you feel right now. You don’t have to feel like this forever. You don’t have to believe the lies forever. If you let the revelation light into your mind and your situation, it will reveal what needs to change and help change it. The Lord is the one who changes our situation, and yet he often requires us to help. How can we let more light into our lives?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we want to let more light into our lives. Please help us. Help us figure out what lies the enemy is whispering to us, and help us expose those lies to your truth. Help put on our hearts the desire to sit and list our lies for you so that we can renounce them and then ask you to replace them with Your truths. We love you, Lord, you are amazing. You are the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You are the almighty one, 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. Tonight is week #3 of our Grief Series in mentoring. I hope you will click on the link below to learn more about it and join us for tonight’s session. It is on Zoom at 8 P. M. EST. I hope to see you tonight. If not, I look forward to bringing you a new witness 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 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, “It is you that I say, share all that I tell you. Share of my love. Share of your time, your joy, and your hope. It's all you share that will also bring these people to my banquet. But you must dare to share, to step out in faith, to proclaim my name to all those you meet. Thank you!”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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God’s Armor (Part 2)

Ephesians 6:17-18 “Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-Sword of the spoken word of God.  Pray passionately in the Spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray blessings of God upon all his believers.

Today, we are finishing up the discussion on the armor of God. In case you missed last week’s episode on Thursday, we were told we would be victorious if we put on all the armor God has given us. However, we can’t put something on if we don’t know what it is. So, on Friday and today, I am going over what the armor of God is and how we can put it on so we can be ready for the enemy when he comes. And make no mistake, he is coming.

Today we are discussing three things that I am passionate about. First, we are delving into the profound concept of protecting our thoughts. The reason I am so fervent about this is because I understand its transformative power. It may sound like an exaggeration, but if you can master the art of guarding your thoughts, you can truly change your life. This is not just a claim but a truth I stand by. I wish everyone could grasp the significance of our thoughts. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Saint Paul says, “ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” This verse is a powerful reminder of the control we have over our thoughts, and the potential for transformation it holds.

We have the power to take captive our thoughts. You have the power to take captive your thoughts. The enemy doesn’t want us to know this. He wants us to be a slave to our thoughts. He wants our worry and anxiety, or anger and resentfulness, to get the best of us. He wants us to sit and let those thoughts take over our minds. He wants us to act out of that fear instead of acting out of the truth of who God is and what we know He can do in our lives.

God knows how important our thoughts are, so he tells us to take control of every thought and put on a helmet to protect them. In the verse above, God tells us to “Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance.” Deliverance is something I have learned a lot about in the last two years of encounter. Did you that God wants to deliver you from any hold the enemy has over you? Did you know that He has given you this power as well? You do not need someone else to deliver you from the hands of the enemy. You don’t need someone else to deliver you from the worry or anxiety that you have. You don’t need someone else to chase away the demons in your life. God has given you all the power you need to deliver yourself from the enemy.

This is something the enemy is for sure trying to hide from us. He wants us to remain helpless and dependent on him and his lies. He wants us to think there is nothing we can do. He wants us to believe we are just anxious people; it is who we are, and we can do nothing about it. This is a lie straight from hell. God did not create us to be anxious or worried. This is why it tells us over 365 times in the Bible not to be worried and not to be anxious. God created us in His likeness and image, and we have a right to stand by that identity.

What the devil doesn’t want us to know is that we have the power to banish him from our thoughts, and not just our thoughts, but from our lives. The enemy is bound by free will. He needs our permission to be in our lives. Sometimes, we don’t realize all the ways we can give the enemy access to our lives, and yet regardless of what open door he walked through, if we tell him to leave, he has to go. There are no “ifs,” “and,” or “buts” about it. If you tell the enemy to leave, he must leave.

So, what might that look like? It can be as simple as, “In the name of Jesus, I command worry to leave now.” “In the name of Jesus, I command anyone or anything not of God to leave now.” “In the name of Jesus, I command sadness to leave now.” “In the name of Jesus, I command fear to leave now.” Whatever thoughts or feelings are taking over your mind, you can command them to leave, and they must go. Then, you can ask the Lord to replace them with peace, love, or hope. Whatever you need, you can replace the unwanted thoughts with the thoughts you would like to have. I invite you to try this and see how it can change your life. Don’t believe the enemy’s lies that you don’t have control over your thoughts. You are more powerful than you know because you have the Holy Spirit inside you. The enemy knows how powerful you are, and it is time we all start realizing it as well.

Next, the verse tells us, "Take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-Sword of the spoken word of God.” This is something I talk about a lot. It is so important that we read the world of God. We must not only read it but also study it and know what it says. The enemy is full of half-truths, and he will take the very word of God and try to twist it and use it against us. Or, at least, use it to try and convince us of something that isn’t true. He tried this with Jesus in the desert, and Jesus knew the scripture and put him in his place. We can do the same, but we must be armed with God's Word.

There is so much in sacred scripture. If you haven’t read it before, you might think it is just a book full of rules. Something to tell us what we can and can’t do. However, that is not it at all. The Bible is full of so much. It has love stories; it has mystery and adventure. It does have some rules, but it also has tales of heartache and tales of miraculous things happening. The Bible is full of every kind of story you can think of. You can read the actual words of God and Jesus in the Bible.

If you have tried to read the Bible before and you started at the beginning and you didn’t get too far, you are not alone. This is what trips many people up. May I suggest, if you want to read the bible cover to cover, that you read along with someone, like Father Mike, and his bible in a Year podcast? I suggest that because there are many interesting things at the beginning of the Bible, but you might miss them if you are reading through it on your own. I know that when I read through it with Father Mike, he explained everything, making it much more enjoyable. Even the things I had previously found boring now had more meaning because I knew the significance and why it is in the Bible.

If you would like to begin reading the Bible on your own, may I suggest you begin with the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or any other New Testament books? The Psalms can be a good place to start as well, especially if you like poetry. It honestly doesn’t matter where you start. What matters is that you start. You could even start by just looking up the verse of the day. I have also seen various scripture-writing plans. This is where you would write one scripture verse in a notebook or journal daily. Often, the scripture writing plans have themes. For instance, in one month, all the verses would be about joy, love, peace, and other topics. I did this for a while, and I really enjoyed it. At the beginning of the month, I just searched for scripture writing plans and then picked the one I liked the best. However you decide to do it, I hope you dive deeper into scripture. You will see a change in you and your life.

The last thing mentioned in the verse is prayer. The verse says, “Pray passionately in the Spirit as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray blessings of God upon all his believers.” I don’t have time this morning to go over how to pray in the spirit. However, I would like to mention that everyone who wants to pray in the Spirit can pray in the Spirit. It just takes a little practice, which can be challenging, as giving up control of our voice while doing it can be scary. Praying in the Spirit means the Holy Spirit is praying straight from our hearts to the Lord’s heart.

Praying in the Spirit is great because it is a direct conversation with the Lord. It is straight from the heart, so none of our human impure motives get in there. It is the most perfect prayer we can pray. However, it also says in this verse that we should constantly be interceding with every form of prayer at all times. This means we can use our voice; we can pray scripted prayers, we can pray unscripted prayers, we can pray the rosary, we can pray novenas, and we can pray however we like. God wants us to be praying all the time.

This may sound like an overwhelming call as we have to eat, sleep, and care for others. We tend to think that praying unceasingly is for those cloistered nuns and monks who dedicate all day to the Lord. This is not true. The Lord is calling us to pray without ceasing as well. This doesn’t mean we must be in an audible prayer with the Lord 24 hours daily. It means we are called to invite the Lord into every aspect of our day. We can offer each activity we do throughout the day up for the intercession of someone. We can think of people who need prayers as we vacuum the floors, do the dishes, or do the laundry. We can talk to the Lord while driving to and from wherever we go. We can turn our everyday tasks into prayer. I did an audio training on this, including some ways to turn the things you are already doing into prayer. If you would like to hear it, sign up for my newsletter below, and it will be sent automatically to your email.

As you can see by the three pieces of armor we covered today, the Lord is not sending us into battle without the tools we need to win. However, God can give us all we need, and it still won’t help us unless we put on the armor and learn how to use it. When David went into battle against Goliath, he didn’t put on the King’s armor because it was too big, and he didn’t know how to use it. He used what the Lord gave him, and he defeated the enemy. Take time to discover the armor the Lord has given you, and then make sure you wear it into battle. We are all in a battle right now between good and evil, and we will be victorious if we put on all the armor God gave us!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, help us put on your armor. Help us to gain a greater understanding of what each piece of armor is and how it can help us protect ourselves against the enemy. Help us take captive our thoughts, Lord. The enemy has been in control of them for far too long. Help us to intercede for others more. Help us to understand what that means. Help us to pray unceasingly. Help us hear that as a call from you and not as a judgment that we aren’t doing enough. We love you so much, Lord. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are the almighty one, and we will be forever grateful to you. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your word and 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 and think you want more, I invite you to join me for mentoring on Tuesday nights on Zoom at 8:00 PM Eastern time. This month’s mentoring series is all about Grief. If you would like more info, you can click on the link below.

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 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, “Come, my children, and prepare for the banquet that I have prepared. I have prepared it especially for each one of you. But before you come, you must make me known to each person that you meet. ”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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God’s Armor (Part 1)

Ephesians 6:14-16 “Put on truth as a belt to strengthen you to stand in triumph. Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart. Stand on your feet alert, then you'll always be ready to share the blessings of peace. In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming from the evil one!”

Yesterday, I talked about how we will be victorious and how important it is to put on all the armor that God has given us. Today, I thought I would go over what that armor is because it can be hard to put something on if we don’t know what it is. The verse above tells us to put on truth as a belt to strengthen us to stand in triumph. We have truth on our side. God is truth, and the enemy is a liar. We must stand in that truth. We must know the truth, and we must also tell the truth. Our actions can either make it possible for the enemy to gain a foothold in our lives or keep him out, and it is up to us to decide. I said yesterday that the enemy is bound by free will. He can’t come in unless we open a door for him. Sometimes, we leave a door open by accident. Sometimes, we do wrong things, and we don’t know that by doing so, we are making an opening for the enemy to come in.

We not only need to stand in the truth, but we also need to tell the truth always. Lying will open a door to the enemy in so many ways. If you lie about something, the enemy will call you a liar. He will use that lie to make you think you are a liar. He will make you nervous that someone will learn about that lie. He will make you feel bad about that lie and then start telling you lies. He will tell you you are not good enough for God’s love because you are a liar. He will tell you God won’t forgive you because you are a liar. He will tell you others will find out you lied, and then they won’t like you either. He will tell you that the person you lied to will find out, and they won’t like you either. Do you see how we are opening a door to the enemy when we lie? The enemy is the liar. He is the one who is not worthy of God’s love. We need to put on the belt of truth because telling the truth will not only strengthen us but also protect us from opening the door to the enemy.

The next piece of armor is the breastplate. The scripture instructs us to wear holiness as the protective armor that shields our hearts. We must guard our hearts. The enemy takes pleasure in assaulting our hearts with his deceitful lies. He revels in telling us we're unworthy, inadequate, unloved. He spins so many falsehoods. But your heavenly Father loves you unconditionally, regardless of your actions. Even if you weren’t worthy, He would still love you. But you are worthy because Jesus made you worthy when He died for you. This is the power of holiness, a shield that assures us of God's unwavering love and protection.

So, what does it mean to wear holiness as a breastplate to protect our hearts? Does this mean we need to be perfect? No, it means we need to be close to God. We should do what we can to grow closer to the Lord daily. We must strive to do the right thing and live the right way. Remember, our actions give the enemy a way into our lives. He will take any opening, no matter how big or small. We don’t want to give him an opening. If we stay close to the Lord, He can protect us. If we try to grow in holiness more each day, the breastplate protecting our hearts will grow stronger and stronger.

I just looked up at the wall in front of me, and I have post-it notes and pictures hanging on that wall. When I looked up, I saw a post-it note that said, “Holiness is saying yes to the will of God.” We are all called to live a life of holiness, and sometimes we can shy away from that because we think that means it is calling us to a life of perfection. It isn’t. God asks us daily to learn to say yes to His will instead of our own. He knows we are not perfect and that it will be a lifelong goal, and yet he is still asking it of us. He is not expecting us to get it right each time. He is just asking that we try to say yes to Him more than we say yes to ourselves. Since He is God and knows what is best for us, can you see how if we grow in holiness, saying yes to His will, His perfect will, then we will protect our hearts?

Next, the verse says, “Stand on your feet alert, then you'll always be ready to share the blessings of peace.” It is important to be alert. The enemy will come more easily if we are sleepy, distracted, or not paying attention. I like this one because we get to share a blessing of peace. Did you know you had the power to impart peace to other people? This is one of my favorite things to do. I pray for peace over people. There is so much worry and anxiety in this world, and peace can combat it. It is not a worldly peace but the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. If you see a loved one struggling, pray that the peace of Christ fills them up. If you see a stranger and you can see they could use some peace, pray for them. The peace of Christ is unlimited. It will never run out. We don’t have to conserve it or use it sparingly. There is an endless supply, and if you see someone that needs peace, pray for them.

Next, it says, “In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming from the evil one!” Faith is important. Faith can make all the difference. I just looked up the definition of faith to make sure we are all on the same page. The first definition I found was “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Do we have complete trust in God and in His promises? If we do, we can wrap that faith around us, and the enemy won’t be able to get in. As we talked about yesterday, God says we will be victorious. So, if we have complete trust in what God says, then the enemy can’t touch us because we know that God has us covered.

The second definition I found is found in Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This is similar but goes into a bit more detail. This means that we have complete trust that God is in the things that we hope for and also that we can believe even if we can’t see. We can believe in God, even if we can’t see Him. We can assume that our hopes and dreams will come true even before they do. This is so powerful against the enemy because He doesn’t understand why we would believe without seeing. He doesn’t know how we can have faith when all looks like it is going wrong if we wrap that faith around us like a blanket and trust the Lord, no matter what, then the enemy's flaming arrows will bounce right off of us.

When I started this episode this morning, I was going to go over all the armor of God today. However, this episode is getting long, and I really don’t want to have to rush through the last two verses, as they are also significant. I will end here for today and pick back up on Monday morning with the last pieces of armor. On Monday, I will cover the helmet, the sword, and prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each of us listening to this episode. Lord, show us how to put on this armor and defeat the enemy. Teach each of us in a way that we can understand how each piece of armor fits in our lives. Show us how we need to change. Lord, help us grow in holiness. Help us to say yes to your will more than we say yes to our own will. Help us spread Christ's peace to all who need it. Lord, help us to be truthful. Put on our hearts anywhere in our lives that we are being less than truthful and help us remedy the situation. We love you so much, 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 so excited that some of you have already clicked the link below and signed up for the “Come as You Are” Retreat in October. Registration just opened on Wednesday, and it is exciting to see people signing up. It will be a fantastic weekend, and I hope you will join us. There is a link below with all the details.

I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. 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 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, “Living water I give to you, my children. You call me font of all holiness. And that is true. That is who I am. And I give to you the water that flows from that font. For you truly are a holy people. A people set apart to be different. Not that you may boast of your difference, but that you may share your difference. Because your difference will lead people to my heart, to my font of holiness, of life-giving water. And that I long for more than you can ever imagine or dream about. I once again this morning pour out upon you my living water. I ask only that you open your hearts and allow it to flow freely to others.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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You Are Destined For All Things And Will Rise Victorious

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, it 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 truths 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 would be over if all of God’s children started 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 any more.” 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. 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 luke warm or those whose soul 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 will pay your bills when you 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 mind 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 am so excited to announce that the registration site for the retreat is now open and ready for you to register. I will put a link for the registration below the show notes. (Click Here) The link will have all the information. The retreat is October 11-13. Columbus Day weekend. It will be Friday to Sunday this year. It will be $250. That will include a two-night stay at the Holy Cross Retreat House. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. It also includes tea, coffee, and water throughout the whole retreat; there will be mass, retreat talks, and so much more. I hope you will join us. It was an amazing retreat last year, and I pray it will be even better this year. The theme this year is come as you are. We tend to think we need to wait to turn back to the Lord or to sit and pray with the Lord until we are all cleaned up. This isn’t what the Lord wants. He said come to me all who are weary and burdened, not all who are perfect. Come and spend the weekend learning about how much the Lord loves you. Learn to sit and talk with Him and hear Him talk back. I hope you will give it a try. Retreats are not just for those who are super holy, they are for those of us who want to be closer to the Lord. 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 the Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!

Thursday: 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, “Arise, I say, arise. Declare my works, declare my love, declare my glory and majesty. For as my majesty is, so is my tender mercy. Arise and stand and declare my love and mercy to all you meet.”

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Today's witness was from the book "From Grief to Grace" By Jeannine Ewing. 

Click here to check out the book.

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Don't Let The Passion Of Your Emotions Lead You To Sin!

Ephesians 4:26-27 “But don't let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not even for one day. Don't give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!”

I know we have already talked about anger recently and how even God got angry at times. However, I really liked today’s verse because it is something many of us struggle with. The passion of our emotions can be so strong that it can often lead us to sin. Not just anger, but a lot of our emotions can be strong.

We live in a world that tells us we should follow our passion and that the most important thing is that we are happy. This is not true. Yes, it would be great if we were all happy. God would love for us to be happy, but not in ways that would put our eternal salvation at risk. If you have children or have spent time with them, you know you can not always say yes to them. Children ask many questions, and sometimes, they don’t know what is good for them and what is not.

For instance, they might want to eat cookies every day for breakfast. Occasionally, you might be able to say yes to them, but every day would not be a good idea. They want to stay up late and watch TV every night, and yet you know that they will be tired the next day and be super cranky and unhappy. They probably know this, too, but the passion with which they want to stay up overrides the part of their brain that knows they need sleep. They rely on us to set boundaries so that they aren’t cranky and miserable the next day.

God has done this for us as adults, too. We are not exempt from the passion of our feelings. Our passion can get us into a lot of trouble. This is why when the Israelites were led out of captivity, the Lord gave them the Ten Commandments. They had been living outside their culture for so long that they weren’t living in the way God had asked them to live. He gave them the Ten Commandments so that they would have guidelines. They would have something to think about when their passions told them they should do something.

Even today, our passions can get the best of us. The divorce rate is 42 %, which is actually down. It used to be that 1 in every two marriages would end in divorce. The reason that 75% of the individuals and couples cited for their divorce was lack of commitment. This comes back to passion. If we think that we deserve to be happy above all things and we are not happy in our marriage, then we start to look outside of our marriage for that happiness or that passion. We are always looking for that thing that will fulfill us, that will make us happy, and that will make us excited to get out of bed each day. It can be easy to put that responsibility on our spouse. It can be easy to expect the person we married to fulfill all of our needs and desires. That is not their job.

We all have a place in our hearts that can only be filled by God. He can bring us the joy that we seek and give it to us in all situations. You might not be feeling fulfilled in your marriage or in your job because you haven’t let God into those areas of your life. Have you invited Him in? Have you asked Him to be a part of your life? He is a gentleman and does not go where He is not invited. If you feel you are missing something in your life, in your marriage, or in your job, ask the Lord to come in and show you what you are missing. Ask the Lord to fill that empty space inside of you, or in your marriage or your job. God will always come where He is invited.

There are other ways when the passion of our emotions can lead us to sin. It is not just in marriages. We can also let our emotions control our behavior in all different circumstances. The most prevalent, I think, is probably anger. We have talked about anger before. Anger is not universally good or bad. It has its place and its purpose. Notice this verse doesn’t say don’t feel all your emotions. What it says is don’t let the passion of your emotions cause you to sin. It also goes on to call out anger specifically. It says, “Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not even for one day.”

I can see how anger can get in your head and make you do or say horrible things. One of my sons is angry most of the time. Anger has a real hold on him right now, and he hates it. When I listen to him talk, I can hear the anger in his voice—not usually at me but at most of the people he interacted with that day. This can happen to all of us to some degree. I know when I get angry, sometimes my voice gets louder, and I find myself yelling. I have worked hard on this, and I have gotten so much better at not letting the passion of my anger take over. Yet, sometimes, I still yell. It is a process and God is not looking for perfection, but he is looking for progress. He does expect us to notice when we need to work on something and then actually work on it.

I invite each of you to pay close attention to the passion of your emotions this week. Are you letting the passion of your anger cause you to sin? Are you letting the passion of your loneliness cause you to sin? How are you doing with your emotions? Are you controlling them, or are they controlling you? If they are controlling you, reach out. I can send you the mentoring sessions where I talked about emotions and how we can get better control over them.

I love the last line of this verse. “Don't give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!” I love this because it reminds us that the devil is a slanderous accuser. He will accuse you, and he will accuse others just to get you to sin. He will tell you all sorts of lies about yourself and about others. He will tell you that the person who cut you off in traffic did it on purpose because he thinks you are a loser who will not do anything about it. Just so that you will get mad and do something about it.

It is important to remember the devil wants the opposite of what we want. He is never trying to help us get to heaven. Even if he seems to be saying something that makes sense and doesn’t seem too bad, it is always designed to make us lose eternal life with God. Remember when he was talking to Jesus in the desert, and he was quoting scripture and seemed to be saying things that weren’t too bad? It was scripture, so he wasn’t lying. However, they were half-truths, and he took things out of context. He will do the same for you. He will tell you things that seem true, he will pretend to be nice, he will pretend to be looking out for you. However, if he is leading you to sin, and he is not looking out for you. This is why it is so important to know what the scriptures say. Then, when he says a half-truth, like he did to Jesus, you will know he is lying.

It is important to know that our emotions are not bad. Yet, we can let our emotions get the best of us. When this happens, we may even allow them to lead us to sin. We must stay in control of our emotions and not vice versa. This is impossible if we are doing it on our own. However, with Jesus, all things are possible. Invite the Lord into all the areas you are struggling with and ask Him to help you. Ask Him to help you put Him first. Ask Him to help you control your passion so it doesn’t lead you to sin. Invite Him into your situation, and He will come. He is waiting there for your invitation.

Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you so much. We invite you into our mess, Lord. We invite you into our emotions. Help us gain control, Lord. Help us to see where the passion of our emotions is leading us to sin and help us gain back control. Help us put a stop to sinning, Lord. You are the almighty one. You are the all-powerful, and we can do all things through you! We love you, Lord, you are amazing! We ask all 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. I will be opening up registration for the retreat soon. If you are not on my mailing list you can sign up below. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor or 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, “Life is short, my children. Now is the time to prepare. Don't wait until tomorrow. You do not know if that day will be yours. I tell you again, now is the time to prepare.”

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Be Imitators of God

Ephesians 5:1-2 "Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your father as his beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God like an aroma of adoration – a sweet, healing fragrance.”

I was looking back over Ephesians this morning. I reviewed Chapters 5 & 6 and decided I couldn’t move on yet as there are several things I want to talk about. I may have talked about them before; I am unsure, but even if I did, they are worth repeating. Every time in the past, I have repeated a scripture because the Holy Spirit revealed something new about it, so hopefully, these next few days will be the same.

I love today’s verse because it reminds us to be imitators of God in all that we do. It reminds us that because everyone knows that we are Christians, then they will be watching what we do to see how “Christians” act. We essentially represent Christians to those we know—especially those who are not Christians. Our actions matter, and so do our attitudes and words. I had a friend who stayed away from attending church for a long time because she didn’t like how those at her church acted. She said on Sunday, they would come to the service and praise the Lord, then sit around and talk about the latest gossip. This did not give her a good picture of what we should do as Christians.

She is not alone, and neither are the people sitting around gossiping. We all fall short of the call to live a holy life. That doesn’t mean we can stop trying, though. This verse is a good reminder of our call. We should be trying to imitate God in all we do. What is the best way to imitate God? What is the simplest way to imitate God? To love our neighbors as we love Him. I think we can all agree that we love God. Now, we just have to figure out how to love those around us and those we meet, and we will be all set.

Loving our neighbor is not easy. People are difficult. They aren’t always nice, and they are sometimes downright mean for no reason. Jesus encountered these people, too. He had people that hated Him for no good reason. They hated Him for who He was and what He stood for. It wasn’t anything He did; they didn’t like who He was. We can’t change who we are, and God wouldn’t want us to. You will encounter people who don’t like you simply because of who you are, which is ok. You don’t have to try to be friends with this person, yet we are called to love them. Can you show love in your interactions with them?

When I wrote that, I got this overwhelming feeling in my stomach that we all need to hear that today. There may be people that we don’t like. There may be people who drive us crazy, like we talked about the other day—those who get under our skin like no other. I really feel like the Lord is calling us to love them more today.

I feel like He is asking us how we could interact with them more lovingly. He is asking us to stop venting about them to others. Stop complaining about them. Stop focusing on how much they annoy us or make our lives harder. I feel as though the Lord is calling us to bring that to Him instead of to others. He is asking us to think about how we can love them more. How can we be an imitation of Christ to them? Think about this, you may be the only interaction with Christ they ever have.

I was praying with someone the other day, and she asked what prayer requests I had. I told her I prayed that my boys would each have an intimate encounter with Jesus. She said she used to pray this for her children, too, and the Holy Spirit told her one day that she was that encounter with Jesus for her kids. They are encountering Jesus through her. I thought this was a beautiful reminder to pay attention to our actions as they may be the only encounter those we meet have with Jesus. Are we being good representations of Jesus? How could we work on this so we can do better? How can we spread love to all we meet and interact with?

The verse says, “And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God like an aroma of adoration – a sweet, healing fragrance.” This is great because it reminds us of how much Jesus loved us. He loved us so much that He gave his life for us. God is not asking us to give our lives to those we meet. He is not asking for that kind of sacrifice, but he is asking for sacrificial love. A love that cost us something. Maybe that something is getting over what we want to be there for someone else. Maybe that means we need to forgive someone for something. Maybe that means we need to stop getting so defensive when those who irritate us talk to us. Maybe we need to stop taking offense so easily. I think God was talking to me for those last two. I have been defensive and taking offense a lot lately, and that is not what God wants. What about you?

I can’t tell you what God is calling you to. Well, He is calling us all to holiness. I don’t know where you are struggling with that. That call to holiness is a call to love God and to love others. Sit with the Lord today for a bit and ask Him how He would like you to love others more. Ask Him where you are struggling and how He wants to help you change that. We must do it with God; we can’t do it alone. Just sitting and asking Him how we can change will make Him happy. Just admitting we are struggling with loving some people is a big first step. God doesn’t ever expect us to change things on our own. He just wants us to come to Him, admit we need to change, and then ask Him to help us. It sounds simple because it is simple. God is constantly calling us to Him. When we come, He answers our prayers.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we want to come to you. We want to be good imitators of you, please help us. We want to be your face to all we meet, and we really struggle with this. We struggle to love the unloveable. Please ask Jesus to show us how. Please give us the strength to overcome our weaknesses and to love others as we love you. Help us on our path to holiness, Lord. Show each one of us where we are struggling, and then help us change. 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 look forward to meeting 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 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, “For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Rely on me.”

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Humility & Quiet Patience

Ephesians 4:2 “With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience.”

This is a profound reminder of the challenging path we are called to walk. We are summoned to be gentle and generous towards others, a task that is far from easy. People can be difficult, and they can test our patience. St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, was well aware of this. Hence, he emphasized, “Especially those who may try your patience.” St. Paul's intention was to underscore that our love should not be limited to those who are easy to love or reciprocate. We are called to love everyone and treat everyone with gentleness, a challenge that requires our utmost dedication.

If we take a minute to think about those who try our patience, I am sure we will all have several people who come to mind. Now, let’s take a minute to think about how we interact with those who try our patience. When we are annoyed, we tend to be short with people. It is not easy to demonstrate gentleness when we feel people are annoying us. I think the key to being gentle and loving with people who try our patience is what it mentions in the beginning of this verse.

We need tender humility and quiet patience if we want to demonstrate love and gentleness to one another. Why humility? Humility allows us to get past ourselves, think of others more, and avoid offending too easily. Humility is not easy. It is something that we need to pursue actively. What does humility even mean? When you look in the dictionary, humility means a modest or low view of one's own importance. However, I like what Rick Warren said about humility. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” I think we need to be careful when we read the dictionary definition is we may read it and think that humility means we are supposed to have a low view of ourselves. I don’t think God would want us to have a low view of ourselves especially since we are made in His likeness and image. But what the definition is actually saying is that we have a modest or low view of our importance.

This is why I resonate with Rick Warren's perspective on humility. It's not about thinking less of yourself but about thinking of yourself less. This challenges the misconception that humility means having a low opinion of oneself. Instead, it suggests that true humility is about shifting our focus away from ourselves and toward others. It conveys that genuine humility involves selflessness, empathy, and an orientation towards serving and caring for others. It inspires us to transcend self-centeredness and egocentric thinking and cultivate a mindset of humility that prioritizes the well-being of others. It's a powerful transformation that can reshape our hearts and lives.

C. S. Lewis also talks about humility. According to Lewis, the first step in pursuing humility is recognizing and admitting how proud and conceited you are.  A solid second step would be to confess this to God and ask God for help.  The third would be to cultivate the practice of praying for other people.  Don’t pray for others like you’re reading over a laundry list to God, but offer deep, imaginative, caring, and concerned prayers like you are holding someone else’s life, their existence, their well-being in your hand and holding that person up to God.  Pray for others like you pray for yourself or your children and see what God does in your heart.

That last line is powerful. “See what God does in your heart.” I think we would all be amazed at what God will do in our hearts when we start trying to be more humble, when we try to put the needs of others before our comfort. I am not saying to never think about your needs but often we put the needs of others behind our wants and desires. For instance, someone asks us if we can help them with something important on Thursday night, but that is when our team plays an important game. They need us, and we don’t need to see the game; we could watch the replay, but we want to see it.

We often talk about the importance of self-care, and rightly so. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t take care of others. However, we can’t be solely focused on ourselves and ignore the needs of others either. I believe God created us to look out for one another. He wants us to care for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, and so on because He tells us so in the scriptures. When we shift our focus away from ourselves and towards those in need, we can grow in humility.

The verse says, “With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience.” If you are struggling with this, as I think we all are, it's okay. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect or to get it all right. However, now that we know what we are called to do, we also can’t keep going on like we were without changing anything. Once the Holy Spirit points out that something needs to change, we must set about to change it. Once we are aware, we can no longer claim ignorance.

If you want to change the way you interact with those around you, especially those who get under your skin, you must work on cultivating patience and greater humility. Once you do that, it will be easier to love and be gentle with those around you. If we follow C. S. Lewis’s advice and have a conversation with God about our current level of self-centeredness and then ask Him to show us how to be more humble and more patient, I think we will be surprised at the ways He will show up for us. God is so good!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode right now. Lord, we love you tons! We ask that you help us grow in humility in a gentle way. We ask you to help us grow in quiet patience as well. We thank you for showing us how you want us to live and then helping us live that way. We thank you more than words can express for sending each one of us the Holy Spirit as our guide. Help us to invite the Holy Spirit into our situations more and help us to rely on His power more. 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. If you have experienced loss in some way and are grieving right now, I invite you to join mentoring this month as we cover the topic of “Grief.” I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just the way 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 February 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, “Arise, my people. Do not be afraid to arise from wherever you are, in whatever circumstance you're in. I am with you. As the Father has raised me, so I raise you.”

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The Supernatural Fruit of His Light: Goodness, Righteousness, and Truth

Ephesians 5:8-10 “Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light! And the supernatural fruits of his light will be seen in you-goodness, righteousness, and truth. Then you will learn to choose what is beautiful to our Lord.”

Have I told you recently how much I enjoy reading through Ephesians, especially in the passion translation? Everyday I find myself underlining almost the whole section. Yes, I am aware that if I underline all of it, then there is not much point to it because nothing will stand out. Yet, I can’t help myself. There is so much wisdom in this book. I am sure they are all probably like that. I am pretty sure I said the same thing while reading Philippians.

There were many things that stood out to me today while reading Chapter 5. It was hard to choose one thing to talk about today, so I may stay in Chapter 5 for tomorrow’s episode to. We will see. I chose this verse for today for a few reasons. First, I love how it begins. “Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him.” This is a great reminder that we are not who we were.

Yes, we might have sinned in the past and been filled with the darkness of sin, but that is in the past now. That is no longer who we are. The verse says that because of our union with the Lord, we have His very light shining through us. How amazing is that? God’s light shines through you. His light shines through me, too—not because we are special but because we chose to be in union with him.

Sometimes, we can get caught up in our past and be tempted to live there. We can take on our sins and that darkness as our identity. We can forget that God has already set us free from that darkness. No matter how bad we think our past is, not matter how bad of a person we think we are, God is bigger than all of it. If you have accepted God, if you have repented for yours sins, then God has already forgotten about them, so why do we hold onto them? I know it is hard to believe that God can forget our sins, but it says so right in the Bible. Actually it says it more thank once in the Bible. Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” And Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Scripture is truth. You can hang your hat, as some would say, on anything you find in scripture. You can stand firm on scripture. When scripture says that God does not remember our sins, then you can believe it. I know you don’t think you are worthy, none of us do. However, that is what the cross is for. By holding onto our sins, we are basically telling Jesus that we don’t believe His sacrifice was big enough to cover our sins. Is this how we feel? Do we feel Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was enough? Was it enough to cover all of our sins? What it enough to cover other’s sins, but just not yours? What will it take for us to believe we are forgiven and that God has already forgotten all that stuff we are carrying around with us?

The next line says, “Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light!” I love the idea of living as children. Children are so carefree and full of energy, and they are also full of God's light. Kids tend to shine so much brighter than adults do. I know some kids have had a pretty hard life, and you might not see the light shining as brightly in them because this world has tried to snuff that light out. However, kids can hope and believe in a way that is different than adults. They can believe with an innocence that is hard for us a adults.

Children can believe with wonder and awe. They can look at the world and see all the good things, they can see the beauty, the can see the potential. As adults, our view of the world is filtered through the lens of all of our experiences over the years. I think in this verse, God is calling us to come back to Him as little Children. I think he calls us to live in His light and let his light shine into all the dark parts of our lives. The verse tells us that our mission is to be flooded with this light, His light.

The final line in this scripture says, “And the supernatural fruits of his light will be seen in you-goodness, righteousness, and truth. Then you will learn to choose what is beautiful to our Lord.”

God is not just telling us to live as children but He is explaining what will happen if we obey. If we live like children and allow ourselves to be filled with the light, then the fruit of that light will be seen in us. The supernatural fruit of God’s light is goodness, righteousness, and truth. Who couldn’t use more of those in our lives? Do you long to see goodness, righteousness, and truth in your life? If so, how could you live more as a child who is flooded with the Lord’s light?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to live as children who are flooded with Your revelation-light. Help us to choose what is beautiful to you Lord. Help us to realize our lives are not filled with the darkness of sin. Help us remember that we now have the very light of our Lord shining through us because of our union with You. 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 look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed a day and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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 raise you to be my people. Waging war under my standard, and my standard is the cross. It seems very foolish to so many, but it is power, and it brings great glory to my Father—a glory I share with you, a glory that is yours for all eternity with us together in heaven.”

 

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I Am Not A Mistake

Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

God created everything about us.  I like this verse, though, because it reminds us that He created even our inmost being.  I like the visual of God knitting me together.  One stitch at a time.  I am not someone who knits, but I have family and friends that do.  When you are knitting something you can make it look however you want to.  If you are the person doing it, you get to pick the colors, you get to pick the pattern, and you even get to pick which stitch or combination of stitches you are going to use.  You are the creator of whatever you are knitting.  

Now, imagine that God is knitting you together.  He chose all the specifics about you.  He got to choose what color hair you have and what color eyes you have.  Do you ever take time to think about this, to think about the fact that God created everything about you?  I was at a personal development conference this week, so that may be why it is on my mind more than usual.  I love attending these conferences because it is so great to be gathered in a room with like-minded people.  I don’t mean that we all think the same way or even believe the same things, but in this instance, we were all there because we knew God had a bigger plan for our lives, and we wanted to figure out what that plan was.  

It was an amazing weekend, and I learned so much.  This happened to be a women’s conference, and there were so many women gathered together, all wanting to improve themselves in some way or another.  This is a beautiful thing.  One of the things that usually comes up when you have so many women gathered together is the idea of insecurities.  Insecurities are something that I believe everyone has.  We don’t all have them about the same things or to the same extent, but I do think we are all insecure about something.  We all have that one thing, or some of us have more than one thing that we wish we could change about ourselves.  That thing that we really don’t like about ourselves.  Some of these things affect our lives in a big way, and some do not.

When you look at yourself and your life, what are your insecurities?  What are the things about you that you don’t like that may be getting in your way of living your best life?  Maybe you are struggling because you are living the life that everyone around you wants you to live, but inside, you feel like it's not right for you.  For instance, you have a really good job, and you are making good money, but in your heart, you really want to be doing something else.  Maybe you have insecurities based on your appearance.  This is a big one with women.  We feel too tall, too short, too thin, too fat.  Or we feel our hair is too long, too short, too light, too dark.  It seems like no one is happy in their own skin these days.  

I wonder why this is.  I wonder if people throughout the ages have always felt like this or if this is new.  I don’t think it is new that people don’t like something about themselves.  I am sure that has always probably been a thing.  However, I wonder if it was as widespread and commonplace as it is today.  I am not sure if I know a single woman who is so happy with her appearance that she wouldn’t change anything if you asked.  I wonder if all this unhappiness has to do with social media and marketing.  Once upon a time, before TV, magazines, movies, etc., you didn’t have so much access to everything.  You could compare yourself to those who lived around you, and maybe those in paintings or in books.  However, you didn’t have the kind of access you have today.  

Today, you could spend five minutes online and you could scroll through hundreds of images of whatever you want to look at.  Also, if you have social media, you can just scroll down your feed, and you will see plenty of posts from people.  The internet can be a very dangerous place for those who have insecurities and are looking for proof that those insecurities are real.  If you think you are too heavy and then you search for proof of that online, you will find it.  That is how the internet works.  You ask a question and it searches all the data and gives you an answer to the question that you just asked it.  Your brain is the same.  If you have an insecurity and you ask your brain to find proof of it, your brain will.  The awesome thing about your brain is that the opposite is also true.  If you ask your brain to prove to you that your insecurity is not true, it will do that as well.  For instance, if you ask your brain why no one at work likes you, it will search all your memories and come up with reasons why your co-workers don’t like you.  However, if you ask your brain to prove to you that people at your work do like you, your brain will come up with an answer to that question as well.  If you do not like the answers you are coming up with then you need only ask better questions.  

The main speaker at the conference said something this weekend, and I think it would be great if everyone in the world heard it.  She said that when she was sitting in the audience at her first personal development conference, she had a realization wash over her.  She felt it was divine intervention.  The realization was, “What if I was on purpose?  What if God made me exactly like I am for a reason?”  I think this is so important because I think so many of us feel like there is some part of us that is wrong.  We feel like we would be better if that part of us didn’t exist.  I always wished that I wasn’t so emotional.  I have thought this more times than I can count.  I cry at happy things, I cry at sad things, I cry at spiritual things, I cry for someone else’s happy times and someone else’s pain.  I am just a mess sometimes.  I always thought this was a character flaw.  However, now I know that God gave me that ability.  I don’t know why He made me that way, but God doesn’t make mistakes.  So, there must be a reason.  

The same goes for you.  You are not a mistake. You were made on purpose.  God knew what he was doing.  He designed each part of you for a reason.  He pays attention to detail.  How would your life be different if you could hear this and really take it in?  How would you feel about yourself if the next time you started to feel insecure about something, you reminded yourself that God made you this way on purpose?  You are perfect, just as you are.  You are loved just as you are.  You are enough just as you are.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to see ourselves through your eyes. Help us to see everyone through your eyes. Lord, help remind us when we feel insecure that you made us on purpose.  Remind us, Lord, that you created our inmost being. You knit us together perfectly and completely. And if you made us on purpose, Lord, then that means we can't be a mistake. That means our hopes and desires aren't a mistake. That means our character isn't a mistake.  We love you, Lord Jesus, and we thank you for making us who we are, and we ask that you help us learn to love who we are. We thank you for making us in your likeness and image. You are amazing, 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. Tomorrow is Week #4 for the Identity Series in Mentoring. If you have been enjoying the I Am series in the podcast, you will really enjoy mentoring, where we go deeper into who God says we are. When you join, you will have access to all previous weeks as well. Click on the link below to check out mentoring and see if it is right for you!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in July 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, “Stop, my children, and think. You've been set apart. You are separated from many because I have a plan for this body to be my honorable presence in the lives of others. Go forth and be the word.”

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Witness Wednesday #122 More PopWe Stories (Anxiety/Depression)

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 Anxiety/Depression Category. I know so many people who are struggling with anxiety and depression right now. Suicide seems like it is increasing as well. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray 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 anxiety and depression, He can help.

Jenna: I grew up in a Christian family. We went to church every Sunday and Wednesday and were a part of almost everything; Awana, Elevate teen group, and even school there. Two and a half years ago, I lost someone who I was close to because she felt the need to commit suicide. I was heartbroken and I felt like I lost everything. 2022 was a challenging year for me. I had daily panic attacks and felt like I was worthless. My eating habits went down significantly, and I was stressed all the time. As exams neared, I was super stressed and ended up passing out.

Months passed and I still felt worthless. I planned to commit suicide when I got a text from a friend, and it was like a text from God. She said she heard I was going to camp and hoped to see me there. I thought if I waited til after camp, and then committed suicide it would be okay. So I went to camp and it changed my life. I met so many new people and was able to share my hurt with my church and they told me that I was not alone. Camp was my blue couch moment as I sat there in service Thursday night, I realized that I needed God in my life more than ever. I had already been saved, but I realized I hadn’t been living like Christ wanted me to.

Around late February early March, my friend introduced me to someone…we immediately hit it off and became great friends. A month or two later, it was revealed that he liked me. We started dating in June and have been together ever since. I tell you that little story because sometimes when you need it most, God has someone in mind who will help you grow in faith and support you through it all. They can also help you overcome the hardships in your life.

I still deal with anxiety and eating habits, but they have gotten so much better since camp and I am so thankful for all that my church has done for me. Also, I have my three closest friends with me right by my side and the Lord has blessed me with an amazing boyfriend who I love and who has helped me through a lot.

GOD’S NOT DONE WITH YOU OR YOUR STORY! HE STILL CARES A LOT AND WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. YOU HAVE A PURPOSE – TURN TO GOD TO FIND THAT PURPOSE AND YOU WILL BE FOUND.

Brianna: From the age of 10, I was stuck with the label “child prodigy,” winning piano competitions, featured in local newspapers, and recognized as a passionate, fiery recitalist. Yet, even as a youth, I was severely depressed. I was insecure, seeking affection, and perpetually in pursuit of attaining “good enough.” Right before my 16th birthday, my world suddenly turned upside down. In an unexpected turn of events, I faced a close encounter with death, had my innocence taken, and watched helplessly as my mother’s health began to rapidly fail. Too ashamed to ask for help and blaming myself for the situation, I despairingly turned to self-harm, eating disorders, and eventually, planned my own suicide. One day, I heard the song ‘Broken Pieces’, and I found something onto which I could cling to – Truth, even when I could not feel it and it failed to make sense.

Through involvement with an organization called Csehy Summer School of Music, I came to personally know Christ. For the first time in my life, I experienced peace, hope, and true joy. Dedicating my life to God, I went back home with a different perspective. My life was still intense – balancing high school and conservatory studies, living between home and the hospital, while being a full-time caretaker for my undiagnosed mother. By the grace of God, I managed to graduate as Salutatorian and get accepted into music school. However, shortly before college began, my mother passed away.

I started my B.A. in piano at Charleston Southern University, using every spare moment to pour my heart out into the keys as a wordless prayer. Yet, a lingering pain in my right hand soon became constant. A few months after my mother’s funeral, I was diagnosed with severe damage in my right hand, incited by the physical strains from being a caretaker. The only option left was surgery, followed by excruciating therapy, without guarantee of returning to the keys. My doctor strongly advised me to quit and choose a different career path. But I fought back.

Over the next several years, I fought through recovery – from both surgical and emotional scars. I realized that though I had given my life to Christ, I hadn’t fully “surrendered” it. In those precious years of undergrad, I experienced the freedom found in surrendering to the grace of God, the beauty of vulnerability, and the power of learning to fly again.

Then, nearly four years to the day the doctor said it was over, I found myself sitting onstage, performing at Carnegie Hall. When I turned to the audience to see a standing ovation, I burst into tears, because I remembered the words, “With You I can attack a barrier, and with my God I can leap over a wall.”-Psalm 18:29

Today, despite the formalities infused in classical music, I get to use the concert stage as a platform to share my story and encourage others to seek help and experience the peace of God. I perform and travel internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, frequently being sought after to premiere avant-garde piano works, and I am actively involved in youth and collegiate ministry. Although healing is an ongoing process, by the hand of God’s work in my life, the label of “Victim” has been replaced with “Victorious,” “Hopeless” has been covered by “Confidence,” and what was “Impossible” is now a living, breathing, walking “Miracle.”

Bubby: Hey, I just wanted to thank Matthew for his book, “Hello My Name Is” and for all he does for us! I’ve met him a handful of times and he is such an awesome child of God. On page 58, I believe, he talks about the story of the 11-year-old who asked for the hug and shared about his anxiety. It took me back to my childhood. I didn’t come to faith until I was 14. A man!! (Lol. I thought…) But I can remember being 5-10 and suffering through anxiety and panic issues every night and throughout the day. I won’t go into it, but it was messed up. Family life was messed up. When I read how this little boy thinking of God holding him when listening to Matt’s song, it brought tears to my eyes. I’m 58 and still have memories of my childhood that can hurt if I dwell in them, but I very seldom do…only when things like reading or seeing or hearing someone else’s experiences. I looked back at how God was there for me all along even though I was not His child yet. His love is so totally encompassing!! It fills every void in my soul. At 12 I was prescribed some medicine that helped, but it was addictive, and when my mom took me off them abruptly, I turned to drinking and drugging heavier then I had already started a year or so earlier. It was a long road I went through, but thank God, I will have 19 years of sobriety this month. My name is “Saved,” in so many ways.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with the world. It can be hard to be vulnerable and talk about the hard things we have gone through.Yet when you are brave and do it even when its hard then we help others who are suffering know that it is ok for them to talk about it too! I am so grateful God saved each of you and thank you again for sharing your story!

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Let’s Build Each Other Up Instead!

Ephesians 4:29 “And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.”

I love this version of this verse because so much of what I hear coming from people’s mouths these days is ugly or hateful. The NRSVCE says, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouth.” That is pretty accurate, too. Why is there so much hate in the world right now? I am sure there always was hate. All you need to do is look back at all the awful things that happened over the years, and you will see that hate. However, right now, I feel like there is so much more.

It seems as though it is ok to say whatever is on our minds, even if it is ugly or hateful. I think most people had a filter once upon a time. They may have thought ugly or hateful thoughts, but they didn’t share them with everyone. They didn’t just blurt them out. However, now I feel as though people feel they can say whatever they want and do whatever they like. I don’t know what has changed, but it is still not ok to treat people badly just because you don’t agree with them.

I am not a fan of politics. I don’t like the division it causes, and I don’t like how it tends to bring out the worst in people. The last two elections especially. I am glad that people really like the candidate they are voting for, and yet that doesn’t give the license to say ugly or hateful things about the other candidate. I have seen some of the worst signs, shirts, and hats about some of the candidates. I wonder if people even care about the example they are setting. There is a house that I used to pass by a lot when I was running more. They have two signed up. I can’t remember them both but I do remember they are both very unkind. One of them says F*** Biden.

I get it; you don’t like Biden. You are entitled to your opinion. You may not like him as a person, or you may not like what he is doing in his presidency, and that is your right. You can like or not like whoever you want. However, when you post a sign like that out in your yard for all to see that is just wrong. You might think you are just expressing your opinion, but you are also being a terrible example to all who pass by and see your signs. You are showing others that it is ok to say whatever we want, even if it is ugly or hateful. You are showing everyone that we don’t have to have self-control over our emotions. It’s ok to say whatever we think.

President Biden, Former President Trump, Kamila Harris, and J. D. Vance are all just people like you and me. Yes, they chose politics and that means they are in the limelight. That doesn’t mean that it is open season for us to say or do whatever we want. They deserve respect whether we like them or not. With social media the way it is today, one little mess up can be turned into a meme for all to see. One misstep, and you are mocked endlessly. I think we tend to forget that politicians are real people with real feelings. When dealing with all people, politicians or not, the words in this verse are great words to live by. “And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.”

Let’s discuss the second half of this verse. Instead of saying ugly or hateful words about others, what if we let our speech be filled with words that bless others? Let our words be gifts that encourage others, not tear them down. I saw a beautiful post on facebook yesterday. My friend had reposted something from the page Shower Arguments with Emily Solberg. Let me read it to you now.

Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles literally bowed down to Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade on the podium as she claimed first place in the gymnastics floor final.

Apparently Simone said that Jordan asked Simone, "Should we bow to her?" And Simone replied, “Absolutely." “It was just the right thing to do.”Can you just imagine?

Can you just imagine if women ALWAYS cheered for each other so enthusiastically, so boldly, so unapologetically, so joyfully, so selflessly? Can you just imagine if women didn’t feel threatened by each other’s successes and used them instead as motivation?

Can you just imagine if women supported other women, simply because “it was just the right thing to do?”This. Is. Everything. And this is why I love the Olympics—because we don’t look to them just as an example of what we could be as athletes, we look to them as an example of what we could be as humans.

Isn’t this a great post? I thought it went perfectly with today’s verse. I think we can apply it to all people, not just women. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we didn’t have jealousy? Can you imagine what the world would be like if we had healthy competition where everyone was respected? Imagine how different politics would be if we did what it said in this verse and did not let evil come out of our mouths. Imagine how different it would be if, instead of saying unkind things about the other candidate, everyone just told us their plan and what they plan to do. Wouldn’t it be a breath of fresh air if everyone worried about their own campaign and wasn’t saying ugly and hateful things about those running against them?

Wouldn’t it be great if the signs people put in their yards supported their candidate instead of insulting the other candidate? This isn’t just in politics, either. You get this everywhere. It is the same with music artists, movie stars, and anyone who is well-known by a large group of people. There is a pastor that I really like listening to, and people even have really unkind things to say about him. Why can’t we focus more on using our words to build people up instead of tearing them down? My boys used to make fun of me because when they were being unkind to each other, I would say, “Is that build-me-up language?” I know we can’t change the whole world by ourselves. What if we just started with ourselves? What if we just made sure that our language was good and kind and full of encouragement? What if we used our words to build people up instead of tearing them down? Those who we are building up will see how good it feels and will hopefully start to return the favor. We can change the world one person at a time.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening today. Lord, help us guard our words. Help us to pause before we say anything and ask ourselves if it will be passing on your goodness or if it will be spreading evil. It is so easy to get sucked into spreading evil. Protect us from this, Lord! Help us to build each other up and encourage each other. Help protect us from jealousy and hate. We love you so much. You are pure love; help us to be like you, Lord! We love you so very much, 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 will be sending retreat information out soon. If you are not on my email list, click on the link below and join so you don’t miss out on any of the information. 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 favor and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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 children, always remember I am your one constant in this life. I never change. I am your rock.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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15 Promises to those who say the rosary.

Today’s episode is a bit different. Today there is not a scripture verse. Instead I am going to explain about what the rosary is and then list the 15 promises given to those who pray it regularly. There is a lot that is going on in the world right now.  In our country and all around the world. Our country is pretty divided. We are kicking God out of this country one decision at a time. During this truly difficult time, I look to strengthen my faith and lean into God’s grace, strength, and protection.  Who couldn’t use a little more grace and strength right now?

I have found a number of structured prayers that have really helped strengthen my faith.  The first of these is the rosary.  When I moved to New Jersey, one of the wives in Tony’s squadron had started a home rosary group.  I did not know what that even meant, but I had just moved to a new place and I did not anyone.  I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and meet some new people.  I also knew I needed something more, as I had a new born baby and was just learning how to be a mom.  A home rosary group is a group of people that gather at someone’s home and say the rosary together.  One person leads either the whole rosary, or you can switch leaders each decade, whichever you prefer.  Whoever is leading the rosary says the first half of the prayer and then everyone else says the second half of the prayer.  It was so nice to be gathered with a group of women that all wanted to say the rosary each week.  The rosary is a group of prayers that you say, usually using a set of rosary beads. 

I knew there were many benefits to saying the rosary.  I have read them before.  There was a time, probably after I first read these promises, that I was saying it every day.  However, the enemy has a way of putting things in the way so that you are suddenly “too busy” to say the rosary, or he convinces you that if you can’t do it perfect, then you shouldn’t bother.  Remember that the enemy is a master at half truths and lies.  He does not want us saying the rosary because he knows how powerful it can be.  As soon as you begin to say the rosary faithfully you will notice that things will begin to come up during the time you set aside for rosary, or you will find yourself forgetting about the commitment.  I decided to talk with you about the Rosary today because I came upon the promises that Mary gave to us and I remembered why I was saying the rosary every day. I know the rosary is a longer prayer than most of us might be use to, but it is only 20-30 minutes out of your day.  If you get a full 8 hours of sleep at night, that means you are still awake for 16 hours.  That is 960 minutes in your day.  The rosary takes 20-30 of them.

The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that “Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.”  She left for all Christians Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary.  They were imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan.

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 

4. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. 

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. 

6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church. 

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise. 

9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. 

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 

14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ. 

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

I cannot believe all that is promised to us if we say the rosary.  I read through those this morning and just kept saying to myself, yup, I need that too.  Who couldn’t use help destroying vices, or for their good works and virtue to flourish?  Mary, the Mother of Jesus, promised special protection and the greatest graces to those that say the rosary.  I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use some special protection and all the graces I can get.  I know that I probably won’t start saying the rosary every day without fail, because I am human and I often fail.  I have been reminded today what a blessing it is to say the rosary and I am going to do my best to incorporate it into my daily routine.  After all 20 minutes a day is less than the time it takes me to watch one episode on TV.  I have the time, I am just using it doing other things.  You do not have to say the rosary every day, even if you say it once a week, or once a month, or one decade a day, I bet you would see a change in your life.  Give it a try, what do you have to lose?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord we love you and we ask you to help us in our time of need. We ask you to put on our hearts a desire to say the rosary. Lord, help us to see the importance of it. Help us to understand the importance of Mary in your plan for redemption. Help us to find time in our schedules to set aside to say the rosary. Thank you Lord, 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. If you would like to join me for mentoring this month we start our new series tomorrow night at 8PM ET. There is a link below if you would like to sign up for mentoring or get more information. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you 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 February 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 beloved ones, your desire for me unlocks my heart of bounties for you. Your desire overcomes your weakness. I am delighted in your desire for union with me. Feed that desire for me.”

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God Will Exceed Your Wildest Imagination!

Ephesians 3:20 “Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”

Wow, I think this is something we should all put on a sticky note and put it on our bathroom mirror. Actually, put it on several sticky notes and place them all around your house. It is such good advice. “Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this.” This is something we do often, or at least I do often. I doubt God can work in me. I don’t doubt it because I doubt God’s mighty power. I doubt it because I know I am broken. I know I sin. I know I am not worthy. I know I am not enough, and all the other things we tell ourselves when we hear that God wants to use us.

What just came to me is that when we think like this, our focus is on ourselves. Listen to what I said above again and try to count how many times I say I. “I doubt God can work in me. I don’t doubt it because I doubt God’s mighty power. I doubt it because I know I am broken. I know I sin. I know I am not worthy. I know I am not enough, and all the other things we tell ourselves when we hear that God wants to use us.” I used the word “I” 12 times within those six sentences. Yes, when our focus is on us, or when our focus is on the task we are being asked to do, we will always fall short in our minds. We won’t believe it can be done because we know our limitations.

However, if we focus on God and how powerful He is, it is easier to believe He can use us because He is God, and He can do anything. There was a woman at the Encounter Summer Intensive yesterday and she had a problem with her leg. She hurt it in a skiing accident when she was younger, and the doctors glued it all back together. However, it started hurting again. She is now 83 years old. The doctor told her the fix they did when she was younger was all disintegrating, and there was nothing they could do. I reminded her that although there might not be anything that the doctors could do, there is always something God can do.

This verse is a great verse for anyone who has a great ambition to do something great someday. Maybe you want to be an extraordinary painter, or maybe you want to start a non-prophet to help people. Maybe you want to climb mountains all over the world. Maybe you want to be the best mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa you can be. Whatever it is that you would like to do, it is important to know that God can work in you and through you. It is important we don’t doubt this because God is powerful, and He can do anything!

The next line in the verse is just amazing. It says, “He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination!” Can you believe that? This gives us permission to dream big, to ask for big things from God, and to let Him help us accomplish our dreams. This verse shows us what a good, good father God is. He doesn’t just give you the bare minimum. He doesn’t just give you what you need to survive. He is not stingy with His mercy and His blessings. He lavishes them upon His children.

The last sentence is great, too. It says, “He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.” This is definitely something we forget, or maybe we never knew it in the first place. God’s miraculous power constantly energizes you. Did you know that? Did you also know you can pray for supernatural energy when you don’t feel like you have any? I prayed this with my friend of mine, and she said she felt so much more energized for the rest of the day.

We need to stop putting God into a little box. We need to stop telling Him what He can and can’t do. We tell Him He can’t use us because of this reason or that. We tell Him we can’t do this or that because we lack energy. We give up on our dreams because we figure they are not going to come true. We don’t doubt God’s power, but we doubt our ability to be a part of His plan; however, by doubting that, we are also doubting God’s power. We are putting a limitation on that power. We say, “Yes, you are all-powerful, and you can do all things, but you can’t use me.” Do you see how that is a contradiction? Either God is all-powerful, or He is not. Either He can do everything, including using you, or He can’t do any of it. We don’t get to pick and choose what God can and can’t do.

God tells us so often in my Charismatic Prayer Group that we have to stop doubting Him. He constantly says, “If I tell you that you can do something, believe that you can do it.” If he says this each week, then you would think we would listen. However, our pull to not believe in ourselves is great. If we want to change this, we must shift our focus away from us. We need to focus more on the power of God and less on our own feelings of unworthiness. God is more than enough!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord I ask that you help us to turn our focus on you. Please help us to believe everything in this verse. Please help us believe that you will achieve infinitely more than our greatest request, our most unbelievable dream, and exceed our wildest imagination! Thank you that your miraculous power constantly energizes you.” Thank you for being so amazing. Thank you for constantly energizing us. We love you so much 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 hope you have an amazing weekend and I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. 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!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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 little children, come and sit with me awhile. And I will teach you all you need to know. Give me all your fears. Give me all your burdens. Give me all that bothers you. I am the Lord. I will take care of it all. You only need to sit with me. I am the Lord. I will bless you each in my will. It is as easy as that. Sit with me. I'll give you each the treasures you need for yourselves. Just come.”

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God’s Endless Love

Ephesians 3:18-19 “Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences – the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding – this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!”

Man, I am truly in love with the passion translation right now. It helps me understand the Word of God in a deeper way. Last night, I was talking to Deacon Joe, the director of the Boston campus of Encounter’s School of Ministry, and I told him that I feel like my mission is to bring God’s love to others. I want every person in the entire world to know and understand how incredibly loved they are by their heavenly Father.

Love is lacking in this world. It is absent in so many areas. The love that we do have is nothing like the love of our Heavenly Father. People are desperate for love these days. Maybe we always were; I’m not sure. I do know that people feel unloved and unwelcome right now. Most people don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. They wish they were different in many ways.

With social media and how easy it is to see what everyone else is doing, it is easy to compare yourself to what they look like, what material possessions they have, what vacations they take, and how many friends they have. When we start to compare ourselves to others then we start to be unhappy with who we are and what we have. Yet, who we are is who God created us to be. He gave each one of us unique strengths and weaknesses. How many of us can only see our weaknesses?

Matthew 22:36-40 says, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” I think we all know this first one and find the first one of these two commandments the easiest. It is easier to love God than it is to love others, at least most of the time. If you are going through a really hard season then you might be angry at God, but for the most part, we can get on board with loving God the Father with all that we have.

However, the second commandment listed here is one that many people struggle with. First, loving our neighbor doesn’t just mean loving the person next door. It means loving everyone we meet. It means loving our enemies or those who have wronged us. There seem to be a lot of unlovable people in the world—people who are angry or unkind. How are we supposed to love people who treat us badly? How are we supposed to love people that we don’t even really know? How are we supposed to love people who know exactly what to say to get under our skin?

In order to understand how to love others, let’s take a closer look at how the Lord loves us. The verse above starts with, “Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences- the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions.” When I looked up the word astonishing, it said, “causing a feeling of great surprise or wonder.” That is the Lord’s love for us. It is full of surprises and wonder. Have you ever been surprised by God’s love?

I spoke with a young woman last night at an Encounter event who was blown away by God’s love. She had been suffering from concussions and a condition where her feet couldn’t sweat. She had gone to a healing service a while back and did not see a lot of relief from her symptoms. Then, after a day and a half or so later, she was completely healed of both conditions. She just couldn’t believe the love of her Heavenly Father. She couldn’t believe that He healed her of not just one condition but of both of them at the same time. She definitely felt the astonishing love of God that evening.

Next, the verse says, “How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! Wow, this is incredible, too. God’s love is far-reaching. I have seen this far-reaching love in my life. My husband and I had been struggling for a long time in our marriage. It got to the point where I felt like we needed to get a divorce. I do not believe in divorce but us living in the same house just wasn’t working. We have three boys, and the constant fighting was not good for anyone. Although there was no doubt in my mind that we needed a divorce or at least a separation, I still didn’t want it. I went to God often, and I asked Him to fix our marriage. I asked Him to change our hearts. I asked Him to keep our family together. This was for sure a far reach as we were pretty broken. Yet, God fixed us. He changed our hearts and helped fix not just our marriage but our family, too. There is no questioning God’s love for you when you can see Him work so powerfully in your life.

Next, it says, “How enduring and inclusive it is!” This is something I think we often forget. God’s love is inclusive. Jesus did not come to save the righteous. He came to save the sinners. Jesus ate with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and the sinners. Jesus met everyone right where they were, and He showered them with love and respect, and then He told them to sin no more. He didn’t meet people with condemnation and judgment. His love was and is inclusive. His love is also enduring, which means long-lasting, which seems like an understatement as His love is forever; it never goes away. You could live to be 500 years old, and He would still love you.

Next, it says, “Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding.” Do you ever wonder why God loves you? I mean, none of us are perfect. We all mess up, we all make mistakes, and we all hurt God in a variety of ways. So, why does He love us? The answer is that His love transcends our understanding. His love is not dependent on us understanding it. Also, as I mentioned earlier, his love is endless. It is like a circle. There is no beginning or end to God’s love. He has always loved us, and He always will. Isn’t that incredible?

Do you see now why I love this translation of the Bible? It has this amazing way of describing things. I love how it describes God’s love. It puts into words what really can’t be put into words. It helps me understand God’s love at a whole new level. I mentioned above how we are called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It is easier to love ourselves if we understand how loved we are by our heavenly Father. If we love ourselves then it is easier to love others. I invite you to take some time today and reread this translation of the verse above. You can look it up online or go to the Bible app on your smartphone. This is the passion translation. I invite you to sit with the Lord and thank Him for loving you so well. If you struggle to feel the Lord’s love, then I invite you to sit with Him and ask Him what is getting in the way of you feeling His love because I assure you His love is there.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, help us understand how much you love us. Help us learn to love ourselves and our neighbors. Thank you, Lord, for being such an amazing example of love. Thank you for the way you love us so unconditionally. Help us do the same with all those we meet. 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 will be opening registration to my October retreat soon, so be on the lookout for an email in your inbox. If you are not on my email list you can click on the link below to sign up and I will send you an audio training on how to invite God into your everyday life. I know we are all busy and feel like we can’t add one more thing into our schedule. In this audio training I teach you how to add prayer into the things you are already doing so it is not adding anymore time to do you day but adding a lot of value. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. May the favor and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon you! Have a Blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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, “Nothing will ever separate us. Nothing—no suffering, no sin, no pride, no willfulness—can undo the bond of our love except unbelief. Believe in my words to you this day. Remember my love and mercy for all. For this is the day that I have made. Be glad and rejoice in it.”

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Witness Wednesday #121 More PopWe Stories (Marriage/Family)

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 Marriage/Family Category. Satan is attacking our families and I think it can help us to see that God is looking out for us. Satan wants to destroy families but God wants to preserve them.  Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also. I pray you know that God wants is there with you and if you invite Him into your family issues He can help.

Zachary: 2016 started out as one of the most exciting years for me and my wife, Amanda. We were living in Calcutta, India; working at Calcutta School of Music and starting our own company to support local artists and musicians in the city. Amanda was expecting our first baby, Chloe West Ray, and she was due to arrive at the beginning of December. Amanda was in her third trimester when she became very sick one night. We admitted her into the hospital in Calcutta, India on a Monday night. Tuesday morning Amanda was feeling better and Chloe seemed to be doing ok too. Wednesday morning, before we were about to leave the hospital, we went in for one more ultra sound. I can still hear the doctor say, “We can’t find a heart beat” as if it was today. We found ourselves sitting in that hospital room broken and confused, with no idea of what the next steps would be.

There were very few words of comfort that helped. Although people were praying and offering their words of comfort, it felt like a season of being abandoned by God. The dreams of holding our little girl were stolen and shattered. Grief is a funny thing. The initial sting and pain becomes dull over time, but the memories and dull ache continues. I don’t think our hearts are created for this world to overcome “grief” from tragedies or loss of loved ones; it becomes a part of our story, our life. We become a different person. The beautiful thing is that God stays the same and meets us where we are. I can honestly say God tangibly became my refuge in one of the darkest times in my life. He brought a healing into my soul like no earthly person could. We may never be the way we were before, but He shapes us into a new and often stronger person. I don’t think we get over grief until we leave this world.

We found out the following year that we were expecting another baby. Due to the loss of Chloe, it was difficult to not allow our fear and worry to overwhelm our joy. We simultaneously jumped for joy, and breathed a sigh of relief when our son was born.

Pam: My husband and I had 7 kids – he had 3 and I had 2. Then we got custody of our 2 nephews. Less than a month after we received custody papers, our nephews’ dad passed away. Their mom lived nearby, but didn’t have much to do with the children. That has always caused its own set of problems.

When we were going to get the boys out of foster care, we had no idea how we’d provide for 2 more, except for the fact that God had always provided for the 7 of us!  We were fully trusting in Him to provide for all 9 of us. He did just that! We always attended church with the kids. We served in the church and paid our tithes. God never let us down.

Recently, we had been praying for a job that would allow us more time together and get a lot of debt off of us. Biblically, we felt this was right. God is answering our prayers through a job we now have. We can work closer together and prayerfully begin to make more money and to pay off our debt.

Even though life with a triple blended family was tough, and there were times we wanted to give up, we didn’t. God saw us through. He is faithful and trustworthy. We hope and pray that our kids will remember that we gave and served, and that God was faithful. We are thankful!

Most of our kids are grown now and one is in the service. We pray they will always remember that their relationship with God is most important!

Theresa: In my past relationship, I walked on eggshells, was hyper-vigilant, and lived in fight or flight mode every day. His behavior was a constant up and down. He would ignore me, then act nice to make me think everything was okay, then abruptly follow it with rage. He would manipulate and gaslight me, keep me exhausted, and criticize me frequently. He’d make excuses for his behavior, never took accountability, and blamed me for everything. Nothing I did ever seemed right, and I slowly lost confidence in myself. I was lonely, unloved, and felt like a nobody. Any sign of me leaving resulted in violence. I was trapped in a trauma bond and I didn’t see a way out. Some nights I would pray just to make it through another day.

For years I endured financial, physical, mental, verbal, and emotional abuse. I had lost all hope but God had other plans for me. When I began focusing on the word of God and reading the Bible every day, I gained a newfound confidence that gave me the courage to seek help and find freedom. For the first time in a long time I am safe, hopeful, and looking forward to my future. I am blessed that God is giving me a second chance in life. Trials and tribulations are a part of this life, but with Christ, you can do all things!

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. I pray you continue to rely on the Lord and that He continues to bless your families. I know it can be hard to share your story with the world and yet when you do it helps other’s see God working in their life as well.  Thank you again!

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Even God Gets Angry

Exodus 4:14-15 “Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.”

In mentoring this month I have been teaching about our emotions and how our emotions aren’t universally good or bad. This is something that is easy to say and hard to believe. There are definitely some emotions we think are good, and some we think are bad. For instance, we don’t think it is “Christian-like” to be angry. When we are angry, we are probably not going to share that with our Christian friends because being angry isn’t what God wants from us. It isn’t just anger, either. There are a whole host of emotions that we struggle to reconcile with our faith.

We might think, how can I be disappointed in this situation when God has given me so much? How can I be angry when God has blessed me and my family? How can I be impatient when I know God’s timing is best? How can I be sad and grieve the loss of a loved one when I know they are in a better place now? Do you get the idea? We struggle to understand how we can feel what we are feeling. We also tend to feel guilty for some of our feelings, and then, on top of our original feelings, we now add guilt and shame to them.

Emotions can be tricky. I am not trying to say they are easy. I do believe we should let ourselves feel all of our emotions. Emotions are our body’s way of warning us of something. They bring something to our attention so we can deal with it. However, if it is an emotion we don’t like or that makes us feel uncomfortable, instead of exploring it to see what it is trying to tell us, we ignore it, stuff it down, and pretend it is not there. Stuffing our emotions down can be bad for a few reasons. One of them is that when we stuff our emotions down over time, they build up, kind of like the pressure in a volcano. Then, one day, they explode all over someone, and usually, it is not the person who gave you those unwanted feelings. It is usually some innocent bystander who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and said the wrong things. Unfortunately, I think we have all been in that situation at one time or another and we have all regretted it.

Another reason stuffing down our emotions can be bad is that if we ignore them, we can’t hear what they are trying to tell us. Our emotions might be telling us we need to get out of a situation, that something needs to change, or any number of other things, and yet if we ignore them, we are not getting any of their messages.

This can be avoided in part by not stuffing down our emotions. We can give ourselves permission to feel whatever feeling comes up. We can examine our feelings and see what they are trying to tell us. We can bring our feelings to the Lord and ask Him to help us understand our feelings. Our feelings are not bad. It is ok to feel all the different ranges of feelings. God felt a wide range of feelings, and so did Jesus. God is only good. If he felt angry, then how could anger be bad?

It says in the verse above that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” Just before this verse, God was telling Moses that He wanted Moses to go to Egypt and free the Jewish people. Moses, like many of us, had lots of reasons why he was not qualified to do the job God asked him to do. What if they didn’t listen to him? What if they didn’t believe God had sent him? God gave Moses all sorts of answers to these questions. Every excuse Moses gave him, God responded with an answer. Then Moses continued to ask God to send someone else, and God got angry.

I love this because I can relate to God’s anger in this situation. It makes me think of my kids when I ask them to do something, and they have a million excuses for why they can’t. It doesn’t matter if you shoot down 1 million excuses; they will always have just one more. It is so frustrating, and I can imagine it would be even more frustrating for the Lord. I mean, He is God. He knows everything. If He says you can do something, you can do it. So, I can see why He would be angry that Moses didn’t trust him.

In verses 10 & 11, it says, “But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”  Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” The Lord is telling Moses, I know you, I made you. I know what you can and can’t do. However, I am the Lord, and I can do all things. If God can make the deaf hear or the blind see, then don’t you think He could give you whatever you need to do whatever He is calling you to do? That is a lesson for another day, though.

Today we are talking about how God was angry at Moses. This is not the only time that God got angry in the Old Testament and Jesus also got angry in the New Testament as well. If you are struggling with shame or guilt for feeling certain emotions, look them up and see if they appear in the Bible. You could do a quick search on the internet for what verses in the Bible talk about anger, sadness, guilt, shame, joy, happiness, jealousy, or whatever emotions you are feeling. You will see you are not alone.

I did want to mention that although our emotions aren’t universally good or bad, our actions definitely can be. It is ok to be angry, it is not ok to sin in that anger. It is ok to be sad, it is not ok to sin in that sadness. We must learn to deal with our emotions in an appropriate way. It is not ok to stuff them down and not think about them. It is also not ok to act out of them and hurt others or to sin against God. There are many ways to feel our emotions and then deal with them without hurting others. This is something God can help us with if we take the time to invite Him into the situation. I invite you all to sit with the Lord this week and ask Him to show you where in your life you might be avoiding your feelings and then ask Him to help you change that. Ask Him to help you begin to deal with those feelings in a healthy way.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, please help us to learn to feel all the feelings, even the uncomfortable ones. Help us to learn to process our feelings and emotions more appropriately and in a healthy way. Lord, help us to feel free to share our emotions with others so that we are not alone. Help us to release any feelings of guilt surrounding our emotions. We ask you to help us to not sin because of our emotions as well. 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. Our last session for the July mentoring series, Our Emotions is tonight. We will be going through the Bible and examining the wide range of emotions that God & Jesus felt. It is not too late if you would like to join us! If you want to see what it is all about before joining, just email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com and I will send you the link to join the zoom tonight. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the favor and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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 trudge the earth as I did, bringing hope and blessings to those I send you. You continue my incarnation. I feed you in my Eucharist each day. You must be me now.”

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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 hope to open up registration for my retreat in October on August 1st. Stay tuned for details. It is going to be a great retreat. The theme is “Come As You Are.” I hope you will join me! I will have more information soon. 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 February 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, “Cast your net into the sea when I tell you because I tell you. Your obedience pleases me. Your fruitfulness of the cast is mine to give or not to give each time.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Be An Advertisement of God’s Immense Power

Ephesians 1:19-22 “I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God's power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!”

I love this verse and the translation. I am really enjoying reading the passion translation. There is so much passion in what is said. I try not to use the same verse more than once as I think there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible, so it will take us a long time to get through them all. However, when I read this translation of this verse, I felt called to use it. This verse might just be my life verse. It is definitely one I will write down on a sticky note and look at often. This verse sums up the goal of this podcast and my life. I want my life to be an advertisement of God’s immense power. I want everyone in the world to know and understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit living inside of them.

Can you even imagine if just 10% of the people in the world knew the power they had living inside them? If just 10% of the world’s population knew the power they had living inside of them, that would be 790 million people. Can you imagine that? Now imagine every Christian in the world knew the power they had living inside them. That would be over 2.4 billion people. Can you imagine how much change could happen if we had 2.4 billion people walking around experiencing the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available through their faith?

But we don’t need to start with 2.4 billion people. Let’s start with you. Do you truly understand the power you have residing within you? Do you comprehend that the Holy Spirit dwells within you? The verse states, this is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm. If you have been baptized in any Christian denomination, then you have the Holy Spirit within you. If you have doubts, you can read all about it in Acts 2:1-13. When Jesus was preparing to ascend to his Father, He promised to send us a guide.

I don’t know if you know this or not because I didn’t know it for the first 40 years or so of my life, but the Holy Spirit that Jesus asked the Father to send to us is the same Holy Spirit that Jesus had inside of Him when He walked the earth. It is the same Holy Spirit that helped Jesus heal all those people. It is the same Holy Spirit that helped Jesus multiply all that food. It is the same Holy Spirit that helped Jesus perform all the miracles He performed. It is also the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.  This verse reminds us of that. It says, “This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead.”

Can you believe that? I don’t know about you, but when I first heard that, my brain kept repeating it as I tried to wrap my head around this idea. I found it so hard to believe that I had the same Holy Spirit that Christ had flowing through my body. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of me and it lives inside of you too! How amazing is that? The next thing that came to mind is a question I want to invite you all to ask yourself. What am I doing with that power? How am I using the Holy Spirit? Or, I should say, how am I allowing the Holy Spirit to use me? It's a personal responsibility we all have, to utilize this incredible power within us.

Have I given the Holy Spirit permission to work in my life? Have I invited the Holy Spirit into my life? Have I asked the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and my words? Have I asked Him to guide my actions? God believes so strongly in free will that He won’t push His way into our lives. He waits to be invited, and He comes where He is welcomed. Some of the things we may be blaming God for may be things that happened because we didn’t invite God in. Some things may happen because we thought we could do it all on our own. Or, maybe you didn’t know you needed to invite God in. Either way, I want you to know now so you can ask Him from now on.

I said earlier that my goal for my life is to be an advertisement of the immense power of God as it works through me in my life. For me, this means being used by God to heal people, to be His instrument to restore the blind and open deaf ears. To be His instrument to  heal cancer, MS, fibromyalgia, and all sorts of diseases, for there is no cure. I pray the Lord uses me for creative miracles such as growing arms and legs. I pray the Holy Spirit works through me to multiply food, resources, and any other way the power of the Holy Spirit wants to work through me. I pray the Holy Spirit tells me what to do, and I do it.

However, this doesn’t have to be everyone’s goal. You can have the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life without a goal of performing all sorts of miracles. We can all aim to be an advertisement of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power without having to go out and pray over people to be healed.

Can we all just start by inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives? Can we just give the Holy Spirit permission to work in our lives? This can be a straightforward statement. Holy Spirit, I invite you to work powerfully in my life. I give you permission to guide all my thoughts and actions. Holy Spirit, lead me. We can be an advertisement for the power of the Holy Spirit whenever we show restraint. When we are in traffic and get angry, we can ask the Holy Spirit to come and give us peace. We can ask the Holy Spirit each morning when we get up to protect us from any plans the enemy has for us that day. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to see others through His eyes. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us love the unloveable.  We can ask the Holy Spirit to show us who needs prayers, and we can pray over or with those people.

We don’t have to make grand gestures to be advertisements of the greatness of God. We live in a world right now where kindness and love are not the default. We can simply ask the Holy Spirit to help us show kindness and love to the world right now. Our simple acts of kindness will show the world the power of the Lord living inside us. I invite you all to talk with the Holy Spirit this week. Ask Him to show you where you could use more of His power in your life. Ask Him where in your life you have not invited Him into. Ask Him for any situations or circumstances in your life that you have not invited Him into. Invite the Holy Spirit into all aspects of your life and see how your life changes.

There is one more thing that just popped into my mind that I didn’t mention. The Holy Spirit comes where He is invited, welcomed, and expected. I talked about the first two, but I didn’t talk about the last one. We need to expect that He will show up when we ask the Holy Spirit to show up. I am sure the Holy Spirit will show up each time I pray with someone. Now, that doesn’t mean I always get the outcome that I want; it doesn’t mean everyone I pray over is healed in the way I want them to when I want them to. God has His plan, and I know it is better than mine. However, the Holy Spirit always shows up and leaves things better than they were. For instance, when people weren’t physically healed the way I wanted, they still felt something, whether it was a partial healing, a peace coming over them, the love of God, or many other things.

We need to expect the Holy Spirit to show up. He always comes when invited, so invite Him in and expect changes. Be on the lookout for changes. What is different since you invited Him in? They might be subtle changes at first, but if you are on the lookout, you will see them. Are you more loving towards your family? Are you more patient in traffic or at work? Are you more patient with your kids? Are you more joyful? Do you have more compassion for those in need? Be on the lookout for what changes when you invite the Holy Spirit into your life. Remember, it’s the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, so yes, He can handle whatever you are going through!

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we want the Holy Spirit in our lives. We want the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us. Lord, we ask you to help us to see this power at work in our lives. Please help each person listening understand the power of the Holy Spirit and help them to invite that power into their lives. Help us to expect that power to work in our lives. Give us a hunger for more of you and the Holy Spirit in our lives. Give us a hunger to be an advertisement of your power, Lord. We love you so much, 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 on Monday.  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 weekend!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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, “Many of you say, I want more of you, Lord. And you long for more. But you do not ask for more. Longing and wanting will get you nowhere. Ask, and you shall receive. But then believe that you have received and move on. Don't stay stuck. Move on and believe that I have given you more when you have asked for it. But you must ask. And I wait and long for you to ask. I call you now. Ask, and it shall be given. But believe that it is given.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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I Am The Least Of All The Saints

Ephesians 3:7-13 “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power.  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.  This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

It was tough to pick a verse this morning. I have been reading Ephesians, and there are so many good verses in there. I kept reading and re-reading chapters 1 and 2, and so many things were jumping out at me, but I didn’t feel like any of those verses were the ones I was supposed to talk about today. Then I went on to chapter 3, and this verse jumped out at me. I felt the Lord wanted me to speak to you about evangelization today. If you are like me, that word might scare you a bit.

When I hear that word, I want to look around and see who else the Lord might be talking to. When I hear that word, I instantly feel inadequate. Why is this? I know several Gospel stories and parables, so it is not as if I don’t know what’s in the Gospel. I know that God is love, which is the most important word to get out there. I know it is essential that people discover the love God has for them. I know these things, so why do I feel so afraid when I hear someone say that we are all called to share the good news with everyone we meet?

St. Paul was an extraordinary man and a great evangelizer. He is credited with writing about half of the books in the New Testament. Yet, in this opening verse, it says, “Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power.  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, to preach to the Gentiles.” St. Paul knew he was called to be an evangelist as well. He knew his calling was to spread the word of the Gospel to all he met, but he really didn’t feel qualified.

I take comfort in this. I take comfort in knowing I am not the only one who gets nervous when I look at the call the Lord has placed on my life. I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but God has also put this call on your lives.  We are all called to bring the Gospel to all we meet. Does your stomach feel funny when I say that? Do you get nervous when you realize God calls you to spread His word? If you do, you are not alone. I don’t know anyone who is only excited to go out and share the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who are excited to share the Gospel with others; however, they are nervous about doing it and feel inadequate to do it. I don’t know anyone who sets out to evangelize, thinking they know everything and that it will be easy.

This is why the next line is so important. It says, “This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.” This verse says we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. Jesus can give us the boldness we need. Let me read you this part in the message translation. “I have been made a messenger of this wonderful news by the gift of grace that works through me. Even though I am the least significant of all his holy believers, this grace gift was imparted when the manifestation of His power came upon me. Grace alone empowers me so that I can boldly preach this wonderful message to non-Jewish people, sharing with them the unfading, inexhaustible riches of Christ, which are beyond comprehension.”

I love that this translation says, “by the gift of grace that works through me.” Grace is a gift from God. Grace can help us do things we could never do on our own. The verse also says, “Grace alone empowers me so that I can boldly preach this wonderful message.” God is calling us all to share the Gospel with all we meet. This means that He will equip us with all the grace we need to do so. If you feel inadequate to share the Gospel, join the club; we all feel inadequate. However, that doesn’t mean we get to excuse ourselves from doing it. How we feel doesn’t stop us from fulfilling our calling.

There is a podcast I used to listen to called “Do It Scared.” This is what we are called to do. We are called to step out in faith even when we don’t think we are the best person for the job. Who are we to question God’s judgment? We are called to step out in faith even when we are scared. We are called to trust that God’s grace is enough to empower us to do what He has called us. We are called to step out with a holy boldness. Sometimes, that boldness won’t come before you step out, but it will help you say what He wants.

If you are like me, you may think, “That is great, Catherine. I get that God’s grace is enough. Yet, I still feel inadequate and need something more practical to help me step out in faith on this journey.” If this is you, I have you covered. In one of our Encounter Ministry classes, they gave us a list of declarations that we can say each day to help us begin to believe that we can go out and evangelize. If you say or write these declarations often, they can help build your confidence. They can also replace your negative self-talk around the word evangelization and your ability to do it. Declarations work best if said daily, out loud, and while looking in a mirror. However, if that doesn’t work for you, do what does. I write these declarations most mornings. Writing seems to work well for me, although now that I say that, I will probably start saying them out loud and writing them. Here are the declarations:

1. Everywhere I go, I am overwhelmed by God's love for people, and that motivates me to share the gospel.
2. It is easy and normal for me to articulate the gospel.
3. I have an anointing for evangelization.
4. Today, my mind and spirit will tune in to the people around me and find those who desire to be saved. I will lead those people to Jesus.
5. I am fearless and courageous, and I live with an understanding that people are hungry for Jesus.
6. I am creative in my evangelization and I adapt well to bring powerful God encounters to different kinds of people.
7. I love evangelizing!
8. It is easy to share the gospel with others because they want to know the God that is inside of me.
9. When I feel afraid to share the gospel with someone I will remind myself that on the other side of fear is a testimony.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much. You are amazing. We thank you for giving us the grace we need to fulfill our mission. We are sorry we question you and feel inadequate for all you call us to do. We believe you will equip us, Lord. Help our unbelief. Please help us feel more confident in the call you have given each of us. The call to share your Word and love with everyone we meet.  Help us step out in faith and try to do this Lord. Help each one of us try to let one person today know that Jesus loves them. 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. Can I ask you a favor today? Would you forward this podcast to someone you know today who would be blessed by it? I would really appreciate you helping me spread the Word of God to more people. If you don’t think this would be the right episode to send to someone, they pick your favorite one and send that one to them. Thanks so much! 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 February 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 can turn all who oppose you and all your enemies. I can turn their hearts of stone into hearts for me alone, but it is through you, my children, that I choose to use as instruments to turn those hearts.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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I Am A Child of God (Identity Series)

1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

This verse is so powerful.  What great love the Father has lavished on us, isn’t that powerful?  Can’t you just picture the Father lavishing us with Love?  Or maybe you can’t.  Maybe you struggle to believe that you are a child of God.  Maybe you struggle to believe that the Lord loves you, and the thought that He lavishes love on you is something that you just can’t wrap your head around.  If this is you, you are not alone.  Love in this world is so complicated, and a lot of things can get in the way of us loving and feeling loved.  There is a song by Matthew West called “Hello, My Name Is.”  This song has the beginning line of the verse above in the lyrics, along with some reasons why we can’t feel this love.  I want to go over some of those lyrics with you.  Also, there is a link to the song in the show notes if you want to listen to it.

The song starts out by saying:

Hello, my name is Regret

I'm pretty sure we have met

Every single day of your life

I'm the whisper inside

That won't let you forget

This is true for so many of us.  We struggle to feel God’s love because we have so many regrets.  Regrets over things we have done or things we have said; regrets over things we didn’t do and didn’t say.  When we have regrets, the enemy takes those, and he whispers them to us over and over again so that we feel like we aren’t worthy of God’s love.  The enemy doesn’t let us forget about them.

Next, the song goes on to say:

Hello, my name is defeat

I know you recognize me

Just when you think you can win

I'll drag you right back down again

Till you've lost all belief

Does this sound familiar?  Things are going well and then we start to get a voice in our head telling us that things will go wrong.  Sure, it seems like all is going well, but things always get messed up in the end.  Things have gone wrong so many times in the past that you start to think you don’t deserve to win.  You don’t deserve the happiness or the love that God has planned for you.  When this happens, we can start to self-sabotage.  We don’t even know we are doing it.  The enemy just keeps telling us that we have failed in the past, so we will fail again.  He drags us back down over and over again until we have lost all belief in ourselves and sometimes in God.

Then the song goes on to say:

Oh, these are the voices; oh these are the lies

And I have believed them, for the very last time

Hello, my name is child of the One True King

I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free

Amazing Grace is the song I sing

Hello, my name is child of the One True King

This is a verse that we may want to write down and read often.  I know I say this about a lot of verses from scripture, and you may have a lot of Post-it notes or index cards.  I really think this one could help us all when we are feeling defeated or when the enemy is telling us lies.  As much as we want to believe that God loves us and that we are His children, sometimes, the things of this world get in our way.  Sometimes, we let the enemy's lies get to us and convince us that we are not worthy, that we are not loved, that we are unlovable, and so many other things that are not true.  For me, when I heard this song, I loved it.  I have listened to it a million times or so.  Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I have listened to it a lot. And guess what?  Now I hear this chorus run through my head when I need it to.  When I start to feel down on myself, I literally tell myself, “Catherine, you are a child of the one true king!”  When I hear this, I can’t help but smile.  When I start to doubt myself, when I start to have regret, or when I feel any of the enemy’s tactics, I tell him, sorry, but I am a child of the one true king.  You’ve got nothing on my God; He is my one true king.  I have even started saying this to my friends when they are struggling.  When they are feeling down and also when they are feeling attacked, I remind them who they are and who they are.  They are a child of God, the one true King, and He won’t let the enemy hurt them.  He won’t let the enemy win.

The song goes on to say:

I am no longer defined

By all the wreckage behind

The One who makes all things new

Has proven it's true

Just take a look at my life

We all have things in our past that we are not proud of.  We have all said and done things that weren’t great.  Whether we did them on purpose or not, none of us are perfect.  We live in a broken world, and this means that we hurt people sometimes.  Regardless of what you have done in your past, you do not have to be defined by it.  I think it is good to reflect on any areas that you are not proud of.  If there are things you regret in your past, then take stalk of them and hand them over to the Lord.  Ask Him to help you forgive yourself.  Ask Him to help you move past them.  We can not change the past, no matter how much we want to.  If we want to find peace with our past mistakes, we need to turn them over and ask God for help.  As these lyrics say, He is the one that makes all things new.  I also like how the lyrics say that he Has proven it true: just take a look at my life.  I think if we all took a look at our lives over the years, we would see plenty of examples of how God showed us His love, how He protected us from things, how He saved us from things.

The song ends with:

What love the Father Has lavished upon us

That we should be called His children

Hello, my name is child of the One True King

I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free

Amazing Grace is the song I sing

Hello, my name is a child of the One True King, yeah

These are the words from the scripture verse above.  Can you imagine how much the Lord loves us to call us His children?  Think about how much love you have for your children.  Now, multiply that by a bazillion, and that is how much our heavenly Father loves us.  My hope is that when you start to doubt this, you remember this song, you remember this scripture verse, and you remember that you are a child of the one true king.  You remember that you’ve been saved, you've been changed, you have been set free.  You are not who you were, and you don’t have to let your past mistakes define you.  God has saved you, changed you, and set you free from everything.  All you have to do is live in this freedom.  Don’t let the enemy drag you back to your old self.  Anytime he starts to whisper lies in your ear, just tell him, “I am a child of the one true king, I am not listening to you.”  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful for all the love that you lavish on us.  We are sorry if we find it hard to accept it sometimes.  Please help us with this.  We want to accept all that you have to offer us freely.  We want to live in the freedom you have given us.  We don’t want to live with any chains that the enemy tries to weigh us down with.  Please help us release anything that we need to release to live in your freedom.  You are so amazing and you give us so much, help us to accept it.  Help us to know that we are your children and that you love us.  Help us not to believe the lies of the enemy.  We are grateful for all you do for us, Lord.  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. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in July 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, “The day is washed in Light, my children, washed and bathed through your hand, an extension of my hand. My hand is kind and full of compassion and love. You are all the extension of me. You are not separate from me. Never do you move alone. I am your guide.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Witness Wednesday #120 More PopWe Stories

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 Healing Category. I know so many people who are looking for a healing right now and 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. 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 and healing can happen in your situation also.

Allison:  At the age of 23, I looked back at my life and I couldn’t think of a time when I felt healthy. I had struggled with chronic illness ever since I could remember, and I still didn’t have a name for all the symptoms that I was experiencing. It was years of trying to explain what I was feeling but not getting any answers. I felt alone and misunderstood.

At times, I wondered if God even cared about me at all. The summer before I turned 23, things took a turn for the worse. I got into a car accident which left me feeling overwhelmed with guilt as it was my fault. On top of that, my symptoms were getting worse. Fatigue, aching joints, nausea, anxiety, depression, memory loss…the list goes on and on. I didn’t think I was going to make it. In fact, I asked God to just take me home because I didn’t want to endure the pain any longer.

I met with one of my pastors for prayer about the car accident a few weeks later, (at least that’s what I intended on discussing.) But God. He had different plans. Somehow the whole meeting ended up being about my health. Towards the end of the meeting, my pastor looked at me and said “Allison, I think you have chronic Lyme Disease.” I would be lying if I said I wasn’t annoyed. I spent years of my life trying to get to the root of my health problems and no doctor could even give me a diagnosis, so how would a pastor know anything about my health? The next day I cried out to God. I asked Him to show me if it was true, and if it was, to lead me to the right doctor.

He answered. Loud and clear. Multiple times over the following weeks He confirmed it. Through a stranger, I was given the name of a doctor in my town who specializes in treating Lyme. I had an appointment with him, and it turns out my pastor was right. After years and years of waiting, I had an answer. Today, 6 years later, I am healed. I ended up getting treated by that doctor, and God used him to save my life. I know I wouldn’t be here today if God hadn’t intervened.

Through this journey,  God has shown me His faithfulness.  I know now that He heard me every time I cried out to Him. He is the God that sees me. He sees you, too!

Emily:  Hello, I’m Emily. I’m a 10 time Breast Cancer Survivor. Yes, you read that right, ….TEN.

It all began with a stomach ache in 2008. As I went to my doctor for a routine exam, she found the Cancer! Of course, I had to go through an ultrasound and mammogram first, but my doctor had saved my life by detecting this early, I thought.

I was 33, had 3 kids, (ages 6, 2, and 8 months) and a full-time job teaching 1st graders at a public school. Cancer? Who has time for Cancer? I was told it is an aggressive form and difficult to treat, because doctors don’t know much about it. I have Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I fought with everything I had through chemo, radiation and a lumpectomy.

God and I spent a lot of time talking about how I was going to win this battle and with His help, I did, for 4 1/2 years.

The Demon itself returned in March of 2012, just before my 5 year clear mark. I was devastated, scared, angry, frustrated and MAD at God. Why was this happening to me again? Why do I have to go through this again? This isn’t fair! God carried me through the second battle, just as He did the first with just as much grace and comfort.

Fast-forward to 2022. I’ve now had TWO double mastectomies, a lumpectomy, ten biopsies, a DIEP flap reconstruction surgery, 3 more rounds of chemo (78 total treatments), 3 different types of radiation (67 total treatments), and Proton therapy (35 treatments) to try and kill this cancer. It has reared its ugly head 10 times and this is going to be the last!!!

Just a month and a half ago, I learned about a new drug that people were having success rates with. It was a Godsend and true miracle. An email delivered to my inbox revealed something we’ve been waiting for for 15 years!!!! The product is working and I will have another scan in February to hear that there is NED (No evidence of disease)!!! I am positive after reading the success stories!

I tell my story to say this… God is the only reason I am still here!!!! Nobody survives Cancer 10 times without God. Period. ✝️ If you are battling Cancer of any kind, just know that God is on your side and He is the ultimate healer!!!! Without Him and our faith, we are nothing!! I’m still standing AND teaching for 15 years and 10 battles later!

God is so good and Matthew West, you’re my favorite!!! Your music inspires me and the children in my class from rough homes every single day!! Our favorite is “How Good Of God!”

Thank you both so much for sharing your stories. God is so good and yet if we don’t share our stories with people then they won’t know just how good he is. I thank you for being willing to be vulnerable and share you stories. I know they will bring hope and joy to many. I am so very grateful God brough you both heeling. I pray you have a healthy and full life. I pray all of this in Jesus’s holy name.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Treasures of Redemption

Ephesians 1:7-8 “Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.”

As soon as I read that verse this morning, I knew it was the one I needed to use, as this is something we all get stuck on. We all know and understand that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but when we look at our sins, we think they are too bad for Jesus to forgive. I love that the verse says, “Since we are not joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood.” I love how it reminds us that redemption is a treasure. It is something of great value, and it wasn’t easy to give that to us. It is important to remember what Christ went through to provide us with our redemption. He had to die on the cross for us to have this treasure of redemption.

Next, the verse says, “the total cancellation of our sins-all because of the cascading riches of his grace.” Let me read that last part again for those of us who get stuck here. It says the total cancellation of our sins. It does not say the partial cancellation of our sins. It doesn’t say the cancellation of the sins that aren’t too bad. It doesn’t say the cancellation of some of your sins. No, that is not what it says. It says the total cancellation of our sins. That means even that one sin that you feel like He could never forgive, He already has.

When we decide that our sins are too big for God to forgive, we are telling Him that we don’t think Jesus’s sacrifice was big enough to cover our sins. Do you know what a slap in the face that is? Jesus went through agony to provide us with redemption, and we are essentially saying no thank you to that redemption. We are saying we appreciate what you did, but it just wasn’t enough for the gravity of my sins. When we do this, we are letting our pride get in the way of the love that the Lord has for us. Is this what we want?

Trusting in the forgiveness of sins requires faith. It requires us to believe the Lord’s Words. It requires us to believe in the Lord’s love for us. Why else would He send His son to die on the cross for us? God’s unconditional love for us cannot be separated from what Jesus did on the cross. If God didn’t care about us so much, if He didn’t love us so much, then there wouldn’t have been a cross. He would have let us deal with the consequences of Adam and Eve. God did not create sin and He certainly didn’t create a world full of sin. God created us to live in Harmony with Him in the garden of Eden. Can you imagine what that would have been like? Eating anything we want except that one tree. Taking a stroll through the garden with God at night. That must have been paradise.

I don’t want to forget to talk about the ending of this verse either. It says, “all because of the cascading riches of his grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.” Did you know God gives us graces? I love that this translation says, “cascading riches of his grace.” I think this is a great illustration to show how generous our God is. He is not holding back His grace and rationing it out in case He runs out one day. He knows He will never run out and He pours His grace down on those who ask for it. Do you ever wonder why it seems like some people have more favor with the Lord, or some people receive more grace? I believe it is because they ask for it. When is the last time you asked God for some grace in your life? When is the last time you asked God for some favor?

God is a good good Father and if we ask He will give it to us, unless we are asking for something that is not good for us. Don’t be afraid to ask the Lord for anything you need. I believe He loves it when we come to Him and make big requests becasue it shows him that we believe He can do it. Sort of like when we need to open a jar. We don’t ask someone to help us unless we think they are strong enough to help us. We ask them because we believe they can open that jar. The same is true with God. We are not going to ask Him to find a way to help us pay our mortgage if we don’t believe that he can do it. So, by asking Him for big things, we are actually showing Him how much we believe in Him and I think He loves that!

Now, back to His Superabundant Grace. We all have this grace working powerfully in us. How do you think you do all the hard things that you are able to do. Through God’s grace. I love that it says in the verse that His grace is already releasing all forms of wisdom and practical understanding. I didn’t realize or know until fairly recently that God gave us wisdom or knowledge. I mean I might have read it in the Bible and I might have known it on some level, but I didn’t actually know we could ask God for wisdom and that He would give it to us. That is pretty cool. I also didn’t realize we could ask for practical understanding but I have done this over this past year also and He has always answered. God is amazing! His grace is amazing! I believe God pours His graces out freely over all of us and yet I think if you want more graces, all you need to do is ask and he will give you more. Don’t be afraid to ask God for anything. He loves His children and would do anything for us. Even if you aren’t sure if He can do what you are asking for, just Ask, There isn’t anything He can’t do.

Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we love you so much. We thank you for the treasures of redemption you have given to us. Lord, we thank you for all you do for us. We thank you for all the graces you shower upon us and we ask for more Lord. We ask for more not because we are greedy but because we are needy. We need you Lord and we know that. 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 hope you will check out the link below to join mentoring. Tonight is week #3 of the Our Emotions series and it will be great! I hope to see you there. I look forward to bringing you a new Witness Wednesday tomorrow. May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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 children, I am the love that binds you all. It is that love that can transform each one of you and remove whatever walls that are in the way. It's love that removes the wall. It removes as you forgive others, the walls gently start falling and it transforms your heart and the hearts of those around you.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Unstained Innocence

Ephesians 1:3-4 “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts! And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with and unstained innocence.”

When I read these two verses this morning, I thought they were so beautiful. They begin with “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly father.” Isn’t that beautiful? Did you know that your heavenly Father is lavishing spiritual blessings on you? The word blessing in this verse is a translation of the Greek word eulogy, which means “to speak well of.” Since God is acting in this verse, we can say that God has spoken good things about us or pronounced good things for our benefit. The good things that God has decreed for us are probably beyond our ability to number.

Can you imagine your heavenly Father showering you with blessings? Did you know that is what He is doing? I know sometimes it doesn’t feel like you are getting any blessings, but this might be because you are in the middle of a hard time. You might not be able to see the blessings because you are so focused on the hard thing that is happening. You might think there is no way God could be blessing you because of all you are going through.

This isn’t true. God can bless us in the middle of a hard time. He can bless us whenever He wants to. You might be wondering what that may look like, what it would look like to have a blessing while in the middle of a hardship. That could look like someone you know checking on you to see if you need anything. It could look like your friends and family bringing you meals when they know you have no time to cook. It could look like you getting a job promotion right when you need it the most! Have any of these ever happened to you? What about when a stranger says something to you out of the blue and it is exactly what you needed to hear?

God is not just blessing us, He is lavishing spiritual blessings upon us. This can go against our picture of God. We all have a picture of God in our head and for some of us, probably a lot of us, it is not a picture of a wonderful heavenly Father. Many of us picture the heavenly Father similar to our dad growing up. So if you had a loving Father growing up the idea that our heavenly Father is loving is easier to grasp. However, if our earthly Father was not outwardly loving and was hard on you, maybe expected a lot out of you, then this is how you might see our heavenly Father too. But God's love is beyond our earthly understanding, and He cherishes each and every one of us.

I know a lot of people who picture the Lord as an old man with a white mustache and beard sitting up in heaven, looking down on us and judging us. They picture God as someone who is just waiting for them to screw up so He can punish them. They are sure they are disappointing Him all of the time. I think this is why I chose these verses and why I like these verses so much.

The second verse for today dispels this myth that God is up in heaven just waiting for us to mess up. It says, “And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with and unstained innocence.” First, it says that God chose us before He laid the foundation of the Universe. God chose you. Let that sink in for a moment. God chose you before He even created the universe. Does that sound like the act of a Father that is sitting up in heaven waiting for you to screw up so He can punish you?

Next it says, “Because of His great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with unstained innocence.” Listen to that last part again, “so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with unstained innocence.” God doesn’t look at us as if we are a wreck waiting to happen. In His eyes, we have an unstained innocence about us. God doesn’t want us to mess up. He doesn’t want us to sin or to fall away from Him. He loves us. He chose us. He wants us to be right there with Him for all eternity.

God loves us. He looks down upon us as a loving Father would. Once we realize this our relationship with the Heavenly Father will become so much closer. If we haven’t really experienced true love in this world, then it might be hard to understand how much our heavenly Father loves us. One thing I am finding that can help with this is to read the scriptures. Read the Psalms, read the New Testament. Last week I read Philippians and this week I am reading Ephesians and they are just beautiful. The Bible is a living document. It is not just a book of words that the Lord told His people back in the day. The Bible is speaking to each one of us right now. When you read the Bible you will realize it is just as relevant to what you are going through today than it was back then. God is so good, His Words are timeless.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to understand your love for us. We ask you to help us understand how loved we are. We ask that you help us to change our hearts and are minds about who you are and what you want from us. We want to see you as you truly are not as we picture you in our minds. 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 look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, there is mentoring tomorrow night for anyone who wants to join us. This month's theme is our emotions and how to feel them without letting them control our actions. Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 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, “Do you see me in the downcast, the repulsive, the weak and the needy, the arrogant and the brash? Do you see me in your crosses and afflictions, troubles and conflicts? I am the incarnate one. I am in all things and people, working for the salvation of all. See me, help me, praise and love me in all people and in all ways.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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