We are not saved by our own works. God gives goals and gifts, but we still need His guidance to use them well. Old habits must be put to death, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us. We are given new desires, and our minds are renewed, preparing us to live according to the Spirit. God satisfies all we need, and by his power alone can we repent and know him.

I have not recorded a podcast in so long, but I finally found the time to make another episode. I pray that my words would clearly express a part of my personal journey to freedom via prayer, fellowship, the word of God, and sharing my faith. I hope that this encourages you to get back up by the grace of God — and don’t abuse it. I am convicted of this too. We all have a story of God’s work in our lives. What’s on a page in yours?

We crave the Holy Spirit. We read the Bible. We pray to God all of our thoughts. These are all good things. But let’s take time to focus on one phrase today: “speak Lord, your servant is listening.” He is working in our hearts, and He wants to share his peace and discipline so that we can live abundantly in Christ. But even as he works, we have to be ready and choose to listen. Praying our thoughts would be held captive to the obedience of Christ, and proclaim the message he had placed on our hearts: “Jesus loves you, forgives you, and wants you to spend eternity with him; let him save you!” And when did we first get that message? When we were listening to the Lord! And he still has so much more to say!!

God is so patient with us. As we learn to call out to him, and to act on his call for us, we change. We are made more like Christ each moment when we respond to his way of life with humble submission. He heals our bodies as he heals our souls. He alone can restore, and it is his intervention that makes our healing possible. Praise Jesus.

Jesus has placed a calling on our lives, and he reveals it to us as we are in his word and in prayer, but we still have the tendency to fall. Good news is that grace covers a multitude of sins, and God is patient with us. He knows when we’ll return and he knows what is next for us. We just need to be patient with him and trust that he is still at work within us, and he will not abandon his masterpiece.

Who God is shows who we are, and when we seek to live out the Christian lifestyle and don’t refill our souls with Scripture and prayer, we easily run dry. There is so much joy in following Christ, but we have to dwell with him before we can share him with others. His Gospel of peace is no small thing, and Jesus should be our focus in all things. Always.

While living in a temporary crisis house out in Oceanside, I was blessed by the Lord with a guest named Jesse. His love for the Lord and willingness to share his testimony led to having our own little church service with five guests who were not believers.

Marriage is a picture of Christ drawing his bride, his church, to himself. When we stray from that model, things become corrupted and it hinders us from experiencing the full blessing of what marriage should look like. We need to cling closer to Jesus than to a human partner. He alone is where we find our true identity and perfect love that casts out all fear. We are his first, and thank God for giving us that perspective.

God speaks, even when we’re not ready to listen. Today I spent a lot of time away from submitting my thoughts and endeavors to God, and ignored the open space to sit at Jesus’ feet. I learned how to lay down burdens in an experience at work today, and I didn’t understand the hidden message until much later in the day, when my mind was centered back on Christ.

God is never distant. He is waiting for us to draw near, and He waits patiently. Prayer brings us closer to Him and allows our hearts to be open to the sacrificial Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need Scripture like we need food, and we need prayer to repair our souls.