Ambassador Programs

Anne shares about rest, surrender. living for God and Heaven from Hebrews 4:10.

You’ve probably heard that a Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t. One reason: When you’re constantly reading Scripture and meditating on its truth, the more you’re reminded of the salvation that’s yours in Christ. So risk some wear and tear on your Bible with John MacArthur looks squarely at A Faith That Pleases God.

We would love to pray for you! Please send us your requests here.

--------

Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Jen Babakhan talks about what helped her live in the moment when her parent was terminally ill.

Listen to today's broadcast

Get "Disrupted" free with your gift

Explore more episode resources 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family Minute, please give us your feedback.

Does familiarity breed contempt? In the case of artificial intelligence, that seems to be true.

Read more

PluggedIn Facebook Page 

If you've enjoyed listening to Plugged In Reviews, please give us your feedback.

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).  After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man’s eyes” (vs. 6). Now there’s something you don’t expect to read in the Bible. Jesus spitting. A prayer would have seemed appropriate, perhaps a hallelujah.  But who expected a heavenly spit into the dirt?

The God who sent manna and fire dispatched a blob of saliva. And as calmly as a painter spackles a hole in the wall, Jesus streaked miracle mud on the man’s eyes. Sometimes God uses the less than pleasant. He initiates the miracle through mud moments, layoffs, let downs, and bouts of loneliness.  Can you relate? If so, do not assume that Jesus is absent or oblivious to your struggle. Just the opposite. He is using it to reveal himself to you. He wants you to see him.

Remember friend, you are never alone.

Read more You Are Never Alone: Trust in the Miracle of God's Presence & Power

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

It started out like just another day driving a school bus for Ponderosa Elementary. But that night, Kevin McKay would be hailed as "the bus driver from heaven." In between, came the most deadly wildfire in California's history.

On the morning of November 8, McKay had just dropped off his students when he saw the smoke. Ten minutes later, the evacuation order. Ultimately - and quickly - you know, the entire community would be consumed by flames. Most parents made it to the school to quickly pick up their child. But as the fire was, in McKay's words, "coming down in a thousand places," there were 22 children still left at the school.

Since he had just unloaded, he had an empty bus. Within minutes, he had them aboard that bus with the help of two teachers, Abbie Davis and Mary Ludwig. That's when they began what became their five-hour journey through what Ludwig said "felt like Armageddon." The smoke and gridlock was so heavy they only traveled an eighth of a mile in the first hour.

They continued to navigate the wall of cars ahead, and McKay could see the fire was creeping ever closer to the road. One fourth-grader said, "There were fires left and right, everywhere you looked." Abbie Davis confessed that she thought they were going to die at several points along the journey. But they didn't, because of one man's courage and determination to save lives from those relentless flames.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Saving Lives With What You Have.”

I was really moved as I read his story. Yes, because of Kevin McKay's selfless heroism. But also because of that Scripture that kept playing back in my heart in the midst of that conflagration. "Save others by snatching them from the fire." That’s in Jude 23. Jesus left heaven on that rescue mission - to save us "from the fire." The fire of God's judgment for defying our Creator to, in essence, be our own "God." Running our own life. The "fire" I deserve that fell on Jesus on the cross as He (in the words of the Bible) "gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:4).

But I know people who don't even know the fire is coming. Let alone, that Jesus loved them enough to take the fire for them. Most of us know folks like that. Someone needs to "snatch them from the fire." Someone needs to do what a courageous bus driver did as Paradise went up in flames. Use whatever vehicle we have to save lives!

Like our influence, for example. In someone's life. Our connection, our relationship with someone who, each day, is one day closer to a judgment Jesus died to save them from. We know them, and we know Jesus. They don't know Jesus. Could our responsibility be any clearer? Is it any wonder God says in Ezekiel 3:18, "if you do not...speak out...I will hold you accountable for their blood"?

When God called Moses to join Him in rescuing his people, He asked Moses a probing question, and it’s our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 4:2, "What is that in your hand?" It was only a shepherd's rod, but God told him to "throw it down" so He could transform it into something that would set people free. And that piece of wood, super-naturalized by God, helped liberate a nation.

When God asks me and each of His people, "What is that in your hand?" You got a home? A job? A computer? A Facebook page? A Bible study? Do you have a membership at the gym? A school or service club you're in? You have money in the bank? You have some respect at work or in the community? You have musical ability? A gift for writing or art? Do you have a relationship with a coworker, a neighbor, someone with a common interest?

God has heard the cries of the lost hearts around you and me and He's coming to rescue them. But He's asking you to use whatever has been trusted to you to save the ones you know; whatever’s in your hand.