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They sat on opposite sides of the room, a man and a woman, bidding on an adorable puppy at a school auction. Others dropped off, but not this duo. Back and forth until they’d one-upped the bid to several thousand dollars. This was the Wimbledon finals, and neither player was backing off the net. Finally, the fellow gave in and didn’t return the bid. Going once, going twice, sold! You know what she did? Amidst the applause, she walked across the room and presented the puppy to the competition.

Suppose you did that to the competition, with your enemy, with the boss who fired you. Suppose you surprised them with kindness. Not easy? No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness.

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Rosie’s birthday celebration was unforgettable. The food was tasty, the table banter was fun, and the presence of her first grandson was icing on the cake! These good things, however, paled in view of her two sons’ tributes to her. Though Rosie’s marriage didn’t last, her exceptional skills as a single mom marked her sons. Their accolades reflected how she did everything possible to provide for their needs. The younger son’s comment best captured Rosie’s posture before them: “She [is] a God-fearing woman.”

In Proverbs 31:10-31 readers get to see what “fear-informed wisdom” looks like in the home. The fear of the Lord (v. 30), a humble reverence for God, compels one to be trustworthy (vv. 11-12) and hardworking and thrifty (vv. 13-19). And, while the wise woman possesses a “home first” attitude (vv. 21- 28), that doesn’t mean “home only.” Meeting needs of outsiders also gets attention (v. 20).

As with Rosie, the lifestyles of God-fearing women don’t go unnoticed—especially among those who live with them (v. 28). It’s not surprising when those closest to them sing their praises. Want to be a God-fearing follower of Jesus? Why not ask God for His help? And don’t be surprised when those prayers are answered—even when challenged by the pressures and circumstances of life.

Diognetus, a second-century pagan, noticed that followers of Christ “day by day increase more and more.” This was despite regular persecution they endured under the hand of the Romans. He asked a believer in Jesus why this was true. In a document we know as the “letter to Diognetus,” that early church father replied to him, “Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God.”

As Jesus gave His final words to His disciples before ascending into heaven, they could little imagine the growth the church would experience in the coming centuries. He told them, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). This has become known as the Great Commission, but using this phrase to describe Jesus’ final words to His disciples can make it feel burdensome. In reality, this is what Jesus calls all those who follow Him to do: as we go about our day, make disciples. We don’t have to go to the ends of the earth; the message will travel wherever we carry it with us.

Don’t be discouraged by the difficulties of the moment. Jesus also said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (v. 20). We take Him with us everywhere we go.

Go to www.joniradio.org to check out The Sounds of Thanksgiving special!

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This Christmas, you can shine the light of Christ into places of darkness and pain with a purchase from the Joni and Friends Christmas catalog. You are sending hope and practical care to people with disabilities, all in the name of Jesus!

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.

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On a road trip to Montana one summer, we stopped at a rest area to stretch our legs. Inside one of the buildings was a young man who was singing a familiar praise song as he mopped the floor. Then he started singing the hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” I couldn’t resist. When he called out the phrase, “It is well,” I repeated it. When he sang, “with my soul,” I echoed the words. Together, we sang the last line: “It is well, it is well . . . with my soul!” He grinned, gave me a fist bump, and said, “Praise God.” When I got back to the car where my husband was waiting, he asked, “What’s with the big smile?”

Think of the things for which we can praise God, such as His goodness, righteousness, compassion, promises, provision, and protection. And Psalm 145 is one of many psalms that urges us to continually praise Him. David wrote, “Every day I will praise you” (v. 2). Many people praise God by playing an instrument; others by reading or reciting Scripture; or by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). Some express their praise through liturgical dance. But all genuine praise springs from hearts that are full of gratitude.

Our spirits were designed to praise God. It’s because of His sacrificial love for us that we can say with confidence, “It is well with my soul!”

Kat Armas joins Shifting Culture to talk about her new book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, a powerful exploration of how empire shapes the way we think about God, community, time, and ourselves. She names the ways control, hierarchy, and productivity have distorted our faith and imaginations, and invites us into practices of resistance rooted in love, rest, and belonging. Kat offers a vision of wholeness that embraces paradox over dualism, kinship over domination, and peace over violence. This conversation points us toward a more human way of living. One where we belong without conditions and find God in the places empire forgets.

Kat Armas is a Cuban American writer, speaker, and theologian from Miami, FL. She holds a ThM from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing.

Her first book, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, Persistence and Strength, sits at the intersection of women, decolonialism, the Bible, and Cuban identity. Her second book, Sacred Belonging: A 40-day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture invites readers to encounter the Bible through a decolonized lens, lifting up themes of creation, wisdom, spirit, the body, and the feminine.

Kat has spoken at seminaries, universities, and conferences nationwide and her work has appeared in the National Catholic Reporter—where one of her essays was shared by the pope!, Plough Magazine, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Sojornours Magazine, and more.

Kat currently lives on a small farm in middle Tennessee with her family—which includes her spouse, young children, chickens, goats, pigs, dogs, and cats. Her forthcoming third book Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, and Peace in a Dehumanizing World examines the ideologies of empire that infiltrate daily life and offers a pathway toward liberation. It releases November 4th.

Kat's Book:

Liturgies for Resisting Empire

Kat's Recommendations:

The Correspondent

Tell Me Everything

Resident Alien

Connect with Joshua: [email protected]

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This Christmas, you can shine the light of Christ into places of darkness and pain with a purchase from the Joni and Friends Christmas catalog. You are sending hope and practical care to people with disabilities, all in the name of Jesus!

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.

God’s cure for the common life includes a strong dose of servanthood. Timely reminder. As you celebrate your unique design, be careful. Don’t so focus on what you love to do that you neglect what needs to be done. A 3:00 AM diaper change fits in very few sweet spots. Visiting your sick neighbor might not come naturally to you. Still, the sick need to be encouraged and diapers need changing.

The world needs servants. People like Jesus, who did not come to be served, but to serve. He chose remote Nazareth over center-stage Jerusalem, his dad’s carpentry shop over a marble-columned palace, and three decades of anonymity over a life of popularity. He selected prayer over sleep, the wilderness over the Jordan, feisty apostles over obedient angels. I’d have gone with the angels, given the choice. Not Jesus. He picked the people. He came to serve! May we do the same.

Read more The Lucado Inspirational Reader

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

“No matter where you are, what you’re going through; use what you have and make the most of it,” said the young woman in a TV interview. Her words prompted me to listen carefully to the full story. I learned that she was one of six sisters working toward nursing degrees. They were once homeless and struggling. Yet they worked together to reach their common goal. And at the time the story aired, all six sisters were completing the nursing program at a local university.

Numbers 27 tells the story of another group of sisters who worked together and supported each other. The five daughters of Zelophehad challenged a law about inheritance. They gathered together and stood before Moses to plead their case, saying, “Our father died . . . for his own sin and left no sons. . . . Give us property among our father’s relatives” (vv. 3-4). God answered with this revolutionary statement: “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance” (v. 7).

The five sisters came together and sought God’s mercy as they stood before Moses. And God provided what they needed as they banded together before Him.

Working together isn’t always easy as believers in Jesus. But as we seek God’s wisdom and direction with humility, we’ll find He can help us serve well together in Christ.

Thom Rainer explains the difference he's discovered between what growing churches do and what declining churches do. It's simpler than you think. Plus, how can you help the Anxious Generation feel...

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