In this episode, we are exploring the idea that God wants to speak to you, and that he can speak to you in very real ways.

Through these questions that I cover, I hope and pray that it will become clear to you that talking to God is not only possible, but simple and necessary.

The questions are:

Does God want to speak to you?

How does God speak?

When does God speak?

How do we speak to God?

The simple answer to the first question is yes, God wants to speak to you. In fact, there is nothing that God would not give up in order to have a relationship with you, His beloved creation.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

God sent his Son to be the sacrifice that atoned for sin, our wickedness, our lying, cheating, stealing, lusting, hatred, and idolatry. Jesus took the punishment we deserved, death on a cross, and extended us everlasting life when he proved he had power over the grave by his resurrection.

The second question has several answers. The Bible says that "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." - Psalm 19:1

and

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world." - Hebrews 1:1-2

God speaks to us through the creation, a constant reminder of his presence in our lives. He also speaks through the testimony of his Son, Jesus Christ.

God also speaks directly to us in prayer through thoughts and impressions given to us by the Holy Spirit, as well as through the Bible, his Word.

God is constantly speaking to us, and hearing him simply depends on the level of our desire and diligence to listen for his voice.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

Lastly, we speak to God through prayer. When we pray, we are trusting him to change us for the better. He already knows everything within our hearts, prayer is simply a way of surrendering ourselves to him and allowing him to do with us what he wills. Luckily, he wants only what is best.

I hope and pray that this episode makes you hungry to hear God's voice, to repent of your sins, and to see Jesus as the one and only king of your life.

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!If you loved this episode, download it and send it to a friend! All good things are meant to be shared!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas!Visit our YouTube channel to see video versions of the Strengthened Hands Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HzPSrQ2RzhCdhqBqsTwWgSupport us by checking out our Etsy Shop!https://www.etsy.com/shop/StrengthenedHands

What is a woman? An excellent question for an increasingly confused culture. A woman is a beautiful being, created in God's image, designed to be the perfect helpmate of man. The woman is strong where man is weak. She reflects man as man reflects God.

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.'” - Genesis 2:18

"Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'" - Genesis 2:23

"For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands." - Ephesians 5:23-24

As a podcast for men, you might be thinking, why are we talking about women?

If you are going to be a husband, you need to know what a woman is and what a woman needs. If a woman is going to submit to you, you need to make sure she is submitting to a God-fearing, humble, and hard-working man.

In this episode, I get the privilege of interviewing my wife Emily as we discuss some hot topic issues like the role of a wife, submission, the authority of the husband, and feminism. It is a helpful discussion for both men and women alike.

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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Check out Convo Collections for cute Christian clothing!

https://convocollections.com/

Who taught you how to read? Who taught you how to add and subtract? Who introduced you to your favorite show, or gave you advice that shaped your life? Your life and mine is more influenced by other people than we sometimes care to admit. We all want to take the credit for everything we know and everything we've achieved.

But "[w]hat do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" - 1 Corinthians 4:7

In order to be effective in this world, we have to be willing to receive wisdom from the people around us. We must not be prideful and stubborn, claiming that we did it all on our own.

Scripture has a lot to say about wisdom, and that is what we are going to talk about in this episode. What are some practical principles that will guide you as you assimilate godly wisdom?

Firstly and most importantly, we must recognize that all true wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." - Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord and a knowledge of the scriptures will allow us to filter out false wisdom and receive true wisdom. Secondly, we must recognize that wisdom can come from any source. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and the same is true of worldly wisdom. We can use worldly wisdom to reach people for the Gospel, and we should not be afraid to use it to our advantage.

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them';" - Ecclesiastes 12:1

If you can apply these principles in your youth, it will spare you much pain and bring prosperity and joy to your life for years to come. This is my desire for you, and the intention behind making this episode.

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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What would you say if I told you the sky were green? Would you believe me? It would be silly if you did, because the sky always is and always has been blue. There are some things in life that are just fact. It does not matter how we think or how we feel about them. Today, we are going to cover some hard issues that, according to God's Word, no matter how you feel about them, are simply fact.

Fact: Salvation is received by faith, not by works.

Fact: Abortion is wrong, and Christians should not support the abortion industry.

Fact: Sex outside of marriage is not an acceptable practice for Christians.

Fact: Homosexuality is wrong, and Christians should not support the practice of it.

Fact: Foul language is not acceptable to Christians under any circumstance.

If you are still reading this, I thank you for persevering. It is not my intention to offend anyone, but to deposit truth into your life, real truth that can be trusted and acted upon. God has spoken clearly to us in His Word, and it is important not to skip over the parts that are hard to hear, no matter how hard they may be. I pray that God would use this episode to reveal himself to you, and that you would be able to stand firm upon the Word the next time someone tries to undermine the truth God has revealed.

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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"This is your life: are you who you want to be? This is your life: is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?"

More than just an amazing lyric from a Switchfoot song, this is the thought provoking, beating heart of this installment of the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

I don't know about you, but I find that I am ever in such a rush to do grand works for the Lord that I rush by the opportunities to serve Him now, in the present. I don't want to do that anymore, and I hope that through this podcast and the Biblical advice contained, you will find yourself slowing down, too.

God has created you for good works."For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10Your life is full of opportunities to be a blessing, here, now. No matter what your station, no matter your gifting, the Lord is ready to give you opportunities to bless yourself, bless others, and bring glory to Him. And who wouldn't want that? Today, let's turn the dial down to one, slow down, and do our due diligence.

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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If dogs are a man's best friend, passivity is man's greatest enemy. It takes courage and strength for a man to step up and lead his wife and be the master of his home. It is not as easy as it seems, as any married man can attest. Today, we are going to look at three key traits every husband should exhibit as he looks to lead in his marriage.

1. Authority: The man is supposed to be the authority in the home, as indicated by Ephesians 5:23. This means that when hard decisions must be made, the man must be ready to make the final call. This can be intimidating, but this is God's call on your life. Your wife will appreciate it more than you know. Even if the choice you make doesn't work out in the end, as long as you are listening to God and His Word, she will respect you for making it.

2. Submission: Submission to God and His Word ensures that the authority you have been given remains a blessing and not a curse. You will be a leader, not a dictator; a brave, caring spouse, not a tyrant. As the wife submits to you, you must submit to God's Word. You are also responsible for submitting to your wife when she notices the blind spots in your leadership and points them out.

3. Sacrifice: Jesus modeled perfect sacrifice for us, so there is no mistaking how high the bar is set for husbands. In every situation, we must be prepared to lay down our lives, our wills, and our ambitions to pursue the best for our wives and families. Time, attention, money, energy--all these you must be willing to sacrifice for your family.

After reading all of this, you may feel like this is too much responsibility for one person. To the man who is weighed down under doubt, the one who thinks he will never be able to lead his family, I point you to this verse.

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you for listening to the Strengthened Hands Podcast!

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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"Why don't I care about other people? Why does my brain work this way? Am I broken? What is wrong with me?"

If you find yourself asking these questions, this podcast is for you. This is one of the most horrifying thoughts a person can have because it undercuts and calls into question the sincerity and goodness of every action that you do. "Am I doing this selfishly, or am I truly thinking of others?"

Relationships are messy. They are messy between friends, family, spouses, siblings, and strangers. We are supposed to exhibit the utmost care for others, even thinking of others as greater than ourselves (Philippians 2:3), but this is extremely difficult. You may find that even with the people you are "supposed to be close to", you don't love them the way you're supposed to, the way you want to, the way you ought to. You don't love your neighbor as yourself. So what are we to do in this situation?

God's word has the answers for us in James 3:13-18 and 4:1-10. We have a lot of emotions that are going on inside of us all the time, wars of ambitions and jealousy. These emotions make it difficult to parse out true intentions and motives, but with God's truth as our aid, our care for other people can grow.

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

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There are a lot of people in the world, and no two are the same. Some people love to sing, some are deathly afraid of singing. Some people love ice cream, some would prefer cake. Others are die hard sports fans while others couldn't care less. But one thing that every person has in common is that all people love to be respected. It's in our human nature to feel like we are important and recognized. When we don't feel important or recognized, this is known as disrespect. 

Respect is something that seems to have gone out of fashion with the passage of time. Parents are no longer respected or obeyed, governmental authorities are daily disparaged and criticized, friends mistreat each other for no cause, and elders no longer hold the same status that required young people to give up their seats or hold doors open or say "yes, sir," or "no ma'am." This is not only a social problem, but a spiritual problem. God has high expectations for the respect we are to show to one another, and this is what we are going to look into on today's episode. 

Jesus said "Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12) This is the golden rule, and as Jesus so clearly puts it, if we were able to just do these two simple things perpetually, we would be keeping the entire Law. However, we are not able to do this. "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." (Galatians 5:17) However, God is patient and mericful and continually reminds us to live in love and respect of one another. He gives us guidlines for how wives and husbands should treat each other (Ephesians 5:22-33), how children ought to treat their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3), how fathers ought to treat their children (Ephesians 6:4) and how citizens are supposed to treat their authorities (Romans 13:1-7). 

God is fully able to understand our hearts and how we ought to treat each other, and his Word is full of good wisdom for how we are to do just that. So join me as we dig into what it looks like to live a life of respect and the change that is produced when men lead this much-needed social charge. 

Don't forget to send comments to [email protected] for comments, questions or future podcast ideas! 

Visit our YouTube channel to see video versions of the Strengthened Hands Podcast:
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