CLA+

Lisa and Freddie McMillan own a unique restaurant in Brewton, Alabama. They offer a full hot meal to all who stand in line—at no charge. This couple has invested from their own savings to make a difference for senior citizens who often go without meals and rarely enjoy a restaurant experience. A donation box receives contributions. Lisa says, “Sometimes we find nothing there. Sometimes a thank-you note. Sometimes $1,000. Always, we have everything we need. Our goal is to feed the need, restore dignity, and develop community.”

Caring for the needy can seem a daunting task—unless we depend on God! The gospels include records of Jesus feeding thousands by inviting His disciples to participate: “You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). In Acts we learn that in the early church, believers “shared everything they had” (4:32) so that “there were no needy persons among them” (v. 34). Many of them sold property and gave the proceeds to the apostles who “distributed to anyone who had need” (vv. 34-35). Understanding their possessions ultimately belonged to God, they voluntarily invested from what they owned in the lives of others.

God provides. Sometimes by His own hand and sometimes through the hands of His people. He feeds our need so that we can feed the need of others.

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

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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.

You have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. God offers this anointing to all of us. When you pray, preach, prophesy, or live out your faith, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit’s presence. Lean into him. You grow weary, but the Spirit never does. Your understanding is limited, but the Spirit has unsearchable wisdom.  And because he is in you, you have power that you would never have had without him.

The Spirit will give you whatever you need to do the holy work he has called you to do. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is God’s will for you: “I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:16 NCV).

God poured his Spirit upon you! Receive him. Believe him. Entrust in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Are you suffering from a case of destination disease? Symptoms include a quiet complacency, a decreased drive, a sense of “having arrived.” In today’s episode, John Maxwell is sharing 4 keys to defeat destination disease and recover your desire for constant improvement.

After his lesson, Mark Cole and Chris Robinson unpack John's insights to help you apply them directly to your life and leadership.

Key takeaways: 

• The danger of getting good is that “good” is good enough to meet all of our needs. 

• The brutal fact about success is this: it makes you complacent.  

• Use your success as a steppingstone, not a pedestal.  

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Do You Have Destination Disease? Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Destination and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.”

Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member.

Teaching his son to ride a bicycle, Andrew discovered, was frustrating. The five-year-old kept swerving to one side and falling. Realizing that this happened because his son kept looking to one side, Andrew had an idea. “See that pole?” he asked his son. “Just keep your eyes on it and pedal.” His son did just that, and this time he kept going and going!

The incident was a lesson for Andrew himself. Recounting what happened to his small group later, he concluded: whatever we fix our eyes on is where we’re headed. No wonder Hebrews 12:2 calls on us to keep “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Life’s responsibilities and routines can draw our attention away from our spiritual walk, as can sinful habits and obsessions that entangle us (v. 1). But if we keep our eyes on Jesus and ask Him to help us put Him first in our thoughts, decisions, and actions, He’ll guide us in everything we do and say, enabling us to stay close to Him in the race on earth. This can be challenging, but God desires to help us fulfill the roles He’s given us. He will give us strength to endure and overcome anything that opposes our walk so we won’t “grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3).

Too often, we lead others while unaware of the emotional baggage we carry. In this episode, I share why genuine discipleship must go beneath the surface—into the depths of our emotional world and the generational patterns shaping us.

Using the haunting story of Nathan Price from The Poisonwood Bible, I reflect on my own early years of Christian leadership—driven, sincere, but stuck. Like many pastors, I loved Scripture and ministry, yet avoided the inner work required for lasting transformation.

In this second mark of an Emotionally Healthy Culture, I unpack how we follow Jesus into beneath-the-surface discipleship—marked by emotional honesty and breaking generational patterns that bind us.

You’ll hear:

• How unprocessed pain sabotages leadership

• Why your family of origin disciples you more than you think

• Practical questions to begin your own journey inward

This isn’t just another leadership podcast. It’s a call to reclaim the radical discipleship of Jesus—starting from within.

In Part 4 of the Revival series, Nicky Gumbel, Al Gordon, and Stephen Foster explain how and why Gen Z men in the UK are becoming Christians in record numbers.

They discuss how they're seeing...

Read the whole entry... »

Take a look at the painting on Joni's newest planner here.

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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.

“But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because he teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error]” (1 John 2:20 AMP).

From the perspective of heaven, the gift of the Spirit is the greatest gift imaginable. Jesus told his followers that it was to their advantage for him to go away. His departure would trigger the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Jesus limited himself to a physical body. He could be in only one place at one time. The Holy Spirit, however, can be everywhere all the time. There is no place that he is not!

God has decreed you to be special to him. He has soaked you with himself. Bask in this blessing.

Read more Help Is Here

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Australian photographer Christian Spencer has spent more than twenty years taking pictures in the Itatiaia National Park in Brazil. One amazing aspect of his photography is that he’s captured the effect of sunlight passing through the open wings of the hummingbird. He’s found that the wings create a prism-like rainbow of colors when birds fly between the bright sun and his camera lens. Other photographers have also captured this in birds other than just the hummingbird. 

Finding rainbows of colors in birds’ wings is an example of some of the hidden treasures God has placed in His creation. Such beauty and magnificence can pique our curiosity for what believers in Jesus will observe when they see Jesus sitting on His throne. When John saw the heavenly throne in Revelation 4, he must have been mesmerized. He describes Christ on the throne and “a rainbow that shone like an emerald” encircling it (v. 3). The apostle must have had trouble finding words to express the glory of God that was revealed to him.

As we find hidden treasures in God’s creation, may we enjoy each one, knowing there’s so much more awaiting us in heaven. There, we will worship our Creator and praise Him forever: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (v. 11).

What other hidden treasures have you found in God’s creation? How can you use creation to point others to Christ?