Believe & Speak

I remember exactly where I was the first time someone quoted Psalm 119:165 to me. I had asked a girlfriend to pray with me about coping with a constant source of offence that poked and prodded me incessantly. I didn’t want to become offended and succumb to the bitterness, cynicism or anger that often marks offended people. My friend quoted the King James Version of Psalm 119:165 to me and it resonated deeply. I wrote down the address, but when I looked up the psalm later, I found the word “stumble” instead of the word “offend”.

I researched the word and discovered the original Hebrew language referred to an offence that causes someone to stumble or stumbling over an offence.

Until recently, I had not spent much time on social media. I’ve heard the statistics about how damaging social media can be to a person’s mental health, and to be perfectly honest—I’ve experienced some of that damage myself. So, I stayed away. But lately I’ve been intentional about spending time on Facebook and Instagram because I want to engage with people and let them know about my book and my podcast. After all, my book is about discovering the joy of acceptance—and social media can intensify feelings of isolation, depression and rejection. My podcast is about believing and speaking truth—and social media can fill our hearts and minds with lies. It seemed like social media would be a perfect place for me to offer a message of hope.

As soon as I started to engage on Facebook, I felt the familiar and unwelcome poking and prodding of offence. I cried out to God, and he reminded of the verse my girlfriend had quoted: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

Oh, how I needed to be reminded of that wonderful promise. Perhaps you need to claim that promise as well. When caustic social media posts poke and prod you toward offence, keep your eyes on God and keep in step with his precepts. Then you will experience great peace.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Psalm 119:165

Do you remember the declaration from last week’s episode of the Believe & Speak podcast? It was a good one! If you missed it, go back and review Episode 41. Last week’s declaration started with “I can.” As you know, the word “can” refers to an ability. This week continues with a similar assurance of your abilities—abilities you have because of the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ.

Picture yourself as a jar that begins each day empty. You need to be filled before you can pour anything out. Right? Nothing comes out of an empty jar. So, where do you go to be filled? What will you allow into your jar? Because what goes in will come out at some point.

Paul prayed that the Philippians’ love would overflow more and more, that they would keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. He wanted them to understand what really mattered. Why? Phil. 1:10 says so that they could live pure and blameless lives. Wait! What? They could live pure and blameless lives NOT because of what they did, but because of what they understood. Paul knew that if they were filled with the fruit of righteousness they would overflow with love.

When we understand what Jesus did for us and what he offers to us through the Holy Spirit, we absolutely can live pure and blameless lives. Love flows out of those who are pure and blameless because their jars are filled to overflowing with the love of God.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Philippians 1:3–11

God recently taught me something remarkable about reconciliation. I’ve always thought of reconciliation as something that happens between two people or between groups of people—like with racial reconciliation. As more and more exposed injustices stir up hostilities and erupt into rioting and looting, our grave need for reconciliation becomes more and more apparent. So, how do we go about reconciling with one another? We hear of irreconcilable differences. Is there really no chance at all of reconciling in some cases?

When God opened my eyes to the truth about reconciliation, I understood why it often fails. It’s because the process of reconciling must include an essential step—or more to the point—an essential mediator. We cannot truly reconcile without God because first he reconciles individuals to himself through Jesus Christ, and then he makes peace between the individuals who have come to him.

God reconciles us to himself. I can’t reconcile you to me or me to anybody. I cannot overcome irreconcilable differences. But thankfully, God makes peace with all who come to him. Like the verse from Colossians in this episode, “He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Col. 1:20 NLT)

When we know that we can stand before God holy and blameless, without a single fault, then we can make peace with each other. Before we can reconcile our differences with another human being, we must first make peace with God. Let’s hold onto the truth in today’s declaration.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Colossians 1:19-23

Today we finish our series on Psalm 5. I mentioned back when we started this four-part series that the Book of Psalms provides great content for the Believe & Speak podcast because the Psalms are filed with wonderful declarations and promises.

This episode includes a favorite memory verse of mine. I absolutely love the promise in today’s verses. I hope you’ll repeat the declaration often, and as you declare it, remember that the favor of God opens doors for you that no one can shut.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Psalm 5:11–12

Today’s episode takes us three weeks in to our four-part series on Psalm 5. This psalm—like so many of the prayers found in the book of Psalms—is full of truths and promises that are well worth declaring. Today’s verses, however, address less than pleasant circumstances.

David sometimes wrote psalms containing pleas that God would deal with evildoers. Listen to this episode to see what I mean. David shows his disdain for wicked enemies, even as he declares his trust in our ever-faithful God. How thankful I am to know that God deals with evildoers and leads me along straight paths.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture:Psalm 5:8–10

I started a four-week series last week on Psalm 5. The Psalms are filed with powerful promises that you and I can Believe and Speak. The psalms provide wonderful content for this podcast, which is all about declaring the truths found in the Bible. If you missed last week, you might want to pause this episode and go back to Episode 37, when I read the first three verses of Psalm 5. Today I’ll continue from where I left off.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Psalm 5:4–7

This week I begin a four-part series on Psalm 5. Today’s episode covers the first three verses, which assure us that God listens to us when we pray. I like to picture God leaning in, cupping his ear, and giving a welcoming nod as he takes the time to hear my cries and consider my requests.

The obvious intimacy between the author of Psalm 5 and God gives me the confidence to boldly ask God to listen to my own cries and laments. The hope in these verses prompts me to offer up my prayers first thing each morning and wait with expectation that God will answer me.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Psalm 5:1–3

For my listeners who are new, I want to take a moment to tell you about the seven-week series I did back when I started this podcast. That series—which ran from Episode 3 to Episode 9—took us all the way through Psalm 139. It’s at the top of my mind today because my daughter is about to deliver a precious baby girl, and one of the episodes in that seven-week series has this declaration: I am wonderfully made. That’s easy to believe when you hold a newborn baby. But we grownups need to believe it for ourselves.

Psalm 139 helps root out the lies we believe about who we are and how deeply valued we are. I encourage you to listen to that seven-week series to be reminded of your significance and great worth. Thinking about the grandbaby I’ll be meeting very soon not only reminded me of the promises in Psalm 139, it also brought Psalm 8 to my mind. Today’s episode takes us through all nine verses of that Psalm of praise and promise.

After listening to this episode, consider going back in the archives and listening to that seven-week series on Psalm 139. And be sure to pick up a copy of my new book Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance, which is based on Psalm 139 and served as the catalyst for this podcast.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture: Psalm 8

Been in a pit of disappointment lately? Me too. Unmet expectations and unrealized dreams are in the pit with me. The mud and mire in the pit keep me from climbing out. My feet slip and I sink. The only way out of the pit is rescue. Today’s episode focuses on our hope of rescue.

My decision to produce a weekly podcast filled with declarations of truth was inspired by my newly released book, Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance. It’s a very timely book to read, especially for those of us longing for fellowship, longing to connect with people, longing to gather together—whether at church, at a restaurant or anywhere else. I hope you‘ll pick up a copy for yourself and also tell your friends. And while you’re at it, please tell them about the Believe & Speak podcast. I designed it to help you replace negative thoughts with positive declarations of truth.

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture:

Psalm 40:1–3

I designed the Believe & Speak podcast to help you replace negative thoughts with positive declarations of truth. Today’s truth gives us hope when we’ve messed up.

You and I have an advocate, and he pleads our case before the Father when we confess our sins. When Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous, tells our Father in heaven that you belong to him, that you have been covered by his blood and your sins have been atoned for, God responds with mercy and grace. He clears you of all guilt because his beloved Son already paid the price.

If you desire a greater sense of belonging, I encourage you to pick up a copy of my new book, Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance. It’s available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is now available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com

This week's scripture:

1 John 1:5–10, 1 John 2:1–2