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Learn from Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 about the end times. Discover the difference between the Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord—one results in relief, the other in great sadness.

Listen to Pastor Chuck Swindoll’s compelling plea to turn to the Lord in belief before the coming hours of judgment!

From the Series: Steadfast Christianity

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You didn’t sign up for this version of a military marriage: the moves, the silence, the stalled dreams. But what if the chaos isn’t wrecking your life, but reshaping it? This episode gets the grind—deployments, resentment, starting over—and speaks straight to the questions you’re too tired to ask. Beth Runkle, author of Another Move, God? 30 Encouragements to Embrace Your Life as a Military Wife, offers hard-won perspective that meets you where you live.

Show Notes and Resources

• Connect with Beth & get her book "Another Move, God?" at bethrunkle.com.
• You can also get a free 7-week Leader's Guide for small groups for Beth's book
• Join a Weekend to Rememeber Marriage Getawat at weekendtoremember.com
• Lead a transformative marriage study group with Art of Marriage  or Vertical Marriage

• Thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at CSBible.com.
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*For more information on David Jeremiah and Turning Point ministries, visit DavidJeremiahPodcast.org.

When life feels out of control, where do you turn? This episode shows how God uses even the hardest circumstances to draw people closer to Him and strengthen their faith. Discover how to trust His voice, follow His lead, and live confidently—even when the path ahead is unclear.

Daily engagement with Scripture is vital for spiritual growth. It involves preparing our hearts, examining verses, applying wisdom, and memorizing Scripture. Why not commit to spiritual growth this year? Our FREE 2026 Bible Reading plan can help you transform your life and become your best self. Download your copy of the Free 2026 Bible Reading Plan at DavidJeremiahPodcast.org.

I imagine it's been a little while since you've asked somebody, "How's your liver today?" I never thought about it until my wife got sick. She had hepatitis, and for many months I learned how vital the liver is; never thought about it before. It's the filtration plant of your body. We've got all kinds of toxic materials pumping into us every day in medicines that we take, and foods that we eat, and our liver keeps those poisons from getting into our blood stream. Now, liver disease like hepatitis or cirrhosis can cripple you or even kill you if the poison can't be filtered. See, it's deadly if the poisons don't get filtered and they get into your blood stream. And there is one toxin that is on the loose, and it has a long history of being a killer.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Poison In the Blood Stream."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God is going to come from Matthew 27. I'll begin reading from verse 18. And you are going to see the identification of perhaps one of life's most deadly toxins. We're in the middle of one of history's most ironic and most tragic episodes. Israel's Messiah has come in the person of Jesus Christ, and yet ironically it is the religious leaders who are clamoring to have Him executed. They bring Him to Pilate, because they don't have the authority to put Him to death. And there was a sobering footnote here as He is on trial before Pilate. You may have read past it many times. It's sort of a spiritual EKG that looks inside the human heart; what makes people so mean, so critical, so destructive. And it identifies that awful poison in the human blood stream.

Here's what it says in a little footnote to the trial of Jesus. "For Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him." In the words of the King James Bible, "Out of envy they had delivered Jesus up to him." Oh, they offered a lot of smoke screens; they gave other reasons. A lot of it was spiritual talk. There were religious reasons, and they sounded very, very spiritual about it. But the real issue - bottom line - was envy. Jesus was delivered up because of it, and people are still being delivered up because of envy.

The dictionary says that envy is, "A feeling of discontent or jealousy, usually with ill will at seeing another's superiority, advantages or success." You see, envy is a denial of God's faithful provision for His children. It's saying, "You know what? He's got one and I don't. How come? How come I don't have any? It's not fair." And it often causes us to crucify people with religious words of course.

But envy is a poison in the blood stream. It always starts with comparing. You can't envy unless you first compare homes, children, or beauty, or opportunities, or clothes, or positions with what somebody else has. Isn't it interesting that one of the Ten Commandments of God is "You shall not covet." And you know what? You'll never covet if you don't compare. It always starts with comparing.

Think of someone you've been critical of lately - maybe negative toward them. When they come around you, you start getting some dark feelings. I wonder if you'd be honest enough to examine your motives today. Could it be envy at the root? You've seen what you perceive to be maybe their superiority, or their advantages, or their success. Ask yourself this, "If envy is in my life, Lord, who is the object of it? Envy gets all dressed up, starts to deliver someone up for destruction. It is an ugly poison in the blood stream. Pray for that person that you might be comparing yourself with and envying.

Call envy by name, and trust your Shepherd to give you what's right for you. Filter out that poison of envy. It's a killer!

Read: Galatians 5:16-26

“Riley!” Wynn called to her sister as she inspected her four tiny tomato plants. “Look, little green tomatoes!” This was Wynn’s very first time growing a garden, and she was very excited.

Riley smiled. “See? You just needed to have patience.” Riley was fourteen and had helped their mother grow vegetable gardens before.

“Look at those shrimpy tomatoes!” a voice taunted from next door. “We had tomatoes on our plants weeks ago.” The voice came from Kai, their neighbor, who was always mocking Wynn. He and his mother also had a garden. They had bought their plants already half grown, and they were now full of fruit.

Riley put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Ignore him. Yours are growing just fine. Now that they’re starting to get fruit, we should name them,” she told Wynn, trying to distract her from Kai’s rudeness. “That’s what Mom and I do with our plants each year.”

“What should we name them?” Wynn asked.

“Well, tomatoes are fruit,” said Riley. “And the Bible tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of fruit!” said Wynn.

“Yep,” said Riley. “And it’s all fruit that the Holy Spirit grows in our lives when we put our faith in Jesus, just like your tomatoes grow in your garden.”

“But we only have four plants, so which names should we choose?” asked Wynn.

“I think the first one should be Patience,” said Riley, “to remind you to have patience as the tomatoes grow.”

Wynn giggled. “Okay, and we’ll name the second one Joy because I will be full of joy when they finally do! And the next one can be Goodness, because the tomatoes will be full of yummy goodness.” Wynn smiled. “Now I’ve named two and you named one, so you have to name the last one.”

“The last one should be Love,” said Riley. “Because nothing grows without love.”

Wynn looked down at her garden. “Now all four of our fruit of the Spirit plants have names.”

“Yep,” said Riley. “And they’re going to keep growing just like the fruit of the Spirit is growing in you.”

–Kristin Beaven

How about you? Did you know that, if you’re a Christian, you have fruit growing in your life? When we trust Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to work in our hearts so that His ways grow in us like fruit in a garden. As He fills our hearts with love, He grows the fruit of the Spirit in our lives to make us more like Jesus. Trust Him to fill your life with good fruit so others can see His love.

Today's Key Verse: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 (CSB)

Today's Key Thought: God grows fruit in Christians’ lives

The most powerful influence in the life of the believer is the transforming grace of God.

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Peter's cycle of failure and forgiveness was broken when he received the fire of the Holy Spirit - and the same transformation is available to you. Ask God today to fill you afresh with His Spirit's power.

Daily biblical encouragement and devotionals to strengthen your faith, renew your hope, and draw closer to God through His Word.

New devotion uploaded Monday–Friday.

When explaining how valuable he found time with an older advisor who regularly listened to his concerns, Tomáš said, “He is my hollow willow.” When I looked at him blankly, Tomáš explained that the phrase is a Slovak expression signifying someone who keeps your secrets. In essence, the person is like a willow tree holding confidential information safely within its trunk.

It’s a treasure to have someone to whom we can confide our deepest fears and longings. Perhaps speaking from his own experience, in a section of Proverbs highlighting the power of our words, Solomon commended the individual who displays discretion or can “[hold] their tongue” (Proverbs 11:12). He also contrasted two people: “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret” (v. 13). The comparison is a helpful reminder to carefully steward private conversations, though we shouldn’t remain silent if we’re genuinely concerned for someone’s safety.

In our digital world where we can quickly spread information, it can be tempting (and easy) to share juicy details that might generate reactions. But gossip not only hurts the individual who trusted you enough to share, it also causes significant damage to relationships when confidences are broken. We can all aspire to be “hollow willows,” people of integrity who can be trusted to keep a confidence.

What if debt isn’t just a financial issue—but a discipleship one? We often view borrowing through a financial lens—rates, payments, and timelines; however, in Scripture, we are invited to see the spiritual implications, too. Debt can shape our freedom, generosity, and ability to respond when God calls. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West explores a more biblical perspective on borrowing. Then, it’s your questions. That’s Faith & Finance Live—where biblical wisdom meets today’s financial decisions—weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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