Grace Warriors

Guess what? We have Nadia Neal back as a special guest again this week! Last week we started a series in the Psalms and today the Grace Warriors continue diving deep into the book by talking about the Songs of Ascent. The Songs of Ascent were songs sung by worshipers as they journeyed to Jerusalem for feasts. These songs are filled with honesty and praise. Psalms 120-134 are where you can find these songs. They seep with words of growth, sacrifice and trust and show us God can be trusted in the unknown. Trusting God when we can’t see is difficult but the only way to fully believe in our hearts that He can be trusted is to know him! The best way to know the Father is through spending time in His word. Join us this week as we read through the Songs of Ascent. His word is the only way we can live out our true identity in Christ.

Wow! We can’t believe we have 40 podcast episodes. You all are the best listeners. Thank you! For our 40th episode, we are interviewing an amazing woman, Nadia Neal. Nadia has been on a journey of writing bible studies over the book of Psalms for a few years now. Her knowledge about this book is awe-inspiring and truly shows the work of God in her life! As we begin our journey through the Psalms, we want to slow down and ponder the poetry within this book. The Psalms are split into 5 different books and can be challenging to read because it doesn’t follow a plot line. There are multiple timelines and multiple author’s. The beauty of opening David’s prayer book allows us to give grace and understanding to His life and choices plus it brings clarity to challenge within these pages. He didn’t have Christ, yet obtained an intense trust in the Father. The Lord was abundantly kind and faithful as David sought Him and the Father made a plan for His life and He does the same for us! Join us by beginning to read this book unhurried and dive deep into the raw, vulnerable parts of this book with author’s intent. Be engulfed by the Father’s love and goodness.

Today Kathy and Sara talk over the story in John 4 where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. This incredible story gives us a unique view of Jesus and His ministry here on Earth. He was intentional, He was slow with his words, and He gave her a place to belong forever. Shame and guilt are two of the ways the enemy keeps all of us out of God’s word and out of the mission God has given us. In this story, we see Jesus shatter shame and guilt with His grace and love. We see light take over the darkness. Just as Jesus met the woman at the well, right where she was at, He does the exact same thing for you! He chooses a longer route just to connect with you. He goes against social norms to show you how loved you are and He gives you something we all need, a quenching our thirsty soul. We all run to earthy things to satisfy our hearts and distract ourselves from the pain in this world but Jesus meets us with the living water and says "thirst no more, I am with you!" Today, we challenge you to get in His presence. It changes everything. If you are living in shame from your past mistakes, remember His blood covers it all and He removes our transgressions as far as the East is from the West!

Let’s talk about control! We know no one likes to talk about letting go but we promise this one leads to freedom and peace for your life. This week Kathy and Sara walk through Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This Old Testament scripture tell us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might.” This scripture reminds us that life is only found in loving God and making Him Lord of your life! They unwrap all that comes with truly surrendering ALL to Jesus and the way that has impacted their own lives. Join the Grace Warriors as they dive deeper into the Word of God to learn how to make Jesus Lord of your life. Choosing Christ always takes away the chaos and relinquishing control to Jesus leads to life, joy and peace! Freedom comes when we truly submit everything!

Let’s talk about control! We know no one likes to talk about letting go but we promise this one leads to freedom and peace for your life. This week Kathy and Sara walk through Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This Old Testament scripture tell us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might.” This scripture reminds us that life is only found in loving God and making Him Lord of your life! They unwrap all that comes with truly surrendering ALL to Jesus and the way that has impacted their own lives. Join the Grace Warriors as they dive deeper into the Word of God to learn how to make Jesus Lord of your life. Choosing Christ always takes away the chaos and relinquishing control to Jesus leads to life, joy and peace! Freedom comes when we truly submit everything!

Today’s episode we are finishing out our mini series on love as we close out the month of February! Kathy and Sara go deeper into 1 Corinthians 13 by talking about all of the characteristics that love is. God is love! He has given us His spirit through salvation and as we grow and train up in His word we begin to see the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. God’s love was poured out to us through Jesus and now we not only get access to eternity with our Father and creator but He also equips us with good and useful gifts for here on Earth. The very end of the chapter talks about being fully known and fully accepted by the Father. This is something we don’t get to FULLY experience through relationships here on Earth but God will never forsake us or never leave us… for eternity! How powerful! This passage of scripture was meant to move us and there is so much power in the Word of God! We, as believers, get to choose who we rely on each day. We can’t be patient, kind, enduring, hopeful or any of the things described without God enabling us. But the good news is He desires all of these things for us. We can trust He is going to finish the good work He has already started!

This week on the podcast, Sara and Kathy continue their journey through 1 Corinthians 13. Instead of talking about all the things love IS, this week we are talking about all of the qualities love is NOT.  Love does not envy. It does not boast. It is not self-seeking. And those are just a few! Wow!  Can someone say, 'convicting!'? The list of qualities in this chapter are sometimes difficult to see in ourselves but all too easy to point out in others. We want to challenge you this week to examine your actions first, take them to the Father and see where you need Christ's freedom.  Where am I rude? Where am I impatient? We want to know those places that don't look like him because those are the places we are in bondage.  Remember, to show agape love, we have to encounter Christ and allow him to change us, DAILY! Choose freedom, victory and grace!  Run to His word. Run to the One who doesn't condemn but instead helps and heals! The goal isn't perfection...it's growth!

Today’s episode is about love! Kathy and Sara cover one of the most popular chapters in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. It’s widely known and preached at a lot of weddings, which is why it seemed like it would be any easy podcast to record, right? Wrong! God totally used this passage of scripture to convict both of them and we encourage you to open up this chapter, this week, and ask the Lord where the blind spots may be in your own heart! Love is the way we connect with people and the Lord. Did you know there are four different definitions of love in the greek? It’s important to know which kind of love so we can know the author’s intent and not read it through your own lens! This scripture is talking about Agape Love...love that loves without changing. How powerful! We aren’t able to love like this though, not without Jesus! That is why the Father sent Jesus. We need His help to love those who are easy to love and those who feel unlovable. No one is unlovable in God’s eyes and only He can equip us to love anyone when we choose to rely on Him! We encourage everyone to open the word this week and allow a new perspective when reading this scripture. As always, our desire is for all of our listeners to move towards freedom, victory and grace and their true identity in Jesus!

This week the Grace Warriors cover another story about Jesus being in our boat! Last week, we talked about the peace that comes from choosing to have Jesus in your boat and this week we visit a different “boat” story in Luke 5. We encourage you to read this story in the Bible on your own! One of the most important points in this story is that they chose to let Jesus in! God is calling us to let him in to all of the hard areas of our life. What are you needing to let Jesus into this year? They chose to put Jesus first in what they did and because they chose Jesus, they reaped the benefits. You may not know what benefits you will reap from letting him in but He does abundantly more than we can imagine. We encourage you to take Jesus at His word and submit to the commander of all. Choose the giver over the gift. He is the only place true life is found!

On today’s podcast, Kathy and Sara talk about the story in Mark 4 about Jesus calming the storm. If you have read this story before you know that Jesus was sleeping when a storm came upon the boat they were all in. The disciples went to wake up Jesus because the storm felt out of control and they knew he was their only hope. We all have choices in who or what we run to when our storms of life feel out of control. Jesus is the only one that brings peace though. It is a choice we have as Christian women to prioritize running to the Word and putting Jesus in your boat. It’s not a time issue...it is a priority issue! When we say “I don't want it if Jesus isn’t in it”, we know we have encountered His grace in our lives. Don’t miss out on the miracle by jumping out of the boat. Choose Jesus and remember there is never a moment where God is not with you.