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Michelle Singletary discusses wise money management when times are tough. She’ll help you with the basics of getting out of debt, budgeting, and saving when money is tight. She’ll share biblical principles on investments in times of uncertainty and generously helping friends and family members in need.

Receive the book What To Do With Your Money When a Crisis Hits for our donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

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Have you ever gotten a question from your kids about the Bible that you weren't sure how to answer? Danny and John address why it's okay to admit if you don't know the answer to a biblical question your kid might ask. You'll also hear from Jim Daly and Danika Cooley about navigating through some of the edgier parts of the Bible.

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What if true joy doesn’t come from gaining more, but from gratefully receiving what God has already provided? On Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and John Cortines explore what is called the Cycle of Grateful Living. Explore how it transforms our approach to money and contentment. Then, Rob tackles your financial questions. Listen for the next Faith & Finance Live, where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio. 

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When life tips over, how do you keep trusting God? Pastor Erik Reed, author of Uncommon Trust: Learning to Trust God When Life Doesn't Make Sense, shares his family’s journey through unimaginable loss—his son’s medical tragedy, kidney transplant, and death at 15—and the daily, vulnerable faith that carried them. This episode doesn’t offer easy answers, but it shows how Scripture, surrender, and community beat a path toward wholeness.

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Modern radios are very selective. They pick up one station at a time. So as you listen to A NEW BEGINNING, you’re not hearing the latest hit on the Polka Parade, or pork belly prices from the farm report. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out we need to be just as selective with our hearing. It’s all too easy to let the voices of our culture plant ideas and values in our heads. But today, we’ll see two brokenhearted individuals who were tuned in to Jesus.

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“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and the power to enjoy them…this is the gift of God.” — Ecclesiastes 5:19

What if true joy doesn’t come from gaining more—but from gratefully receiving what God has already provided?

That’s the invitation we find in Ecclesiastes, and it’s the focus of a powerful conversation with John Cortines, Director of Partnerships and Growth at the McClellan Foundation and author of FaithFi’s study on the book of Ecclesiastes called, Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money. His insight centers on what he calls the cycle of grateful living—a biblical framework that reshapes how we view money, work, and contentment.

Ecclesiastes 5:18–20 sits at the heart of Scripture’s teaching on money and meaning. These verses remind us of something we often overlook: Not only are wealth and possessions gifts from God, but so is the ability to enjoy them.

That means joy isn’t something we manufacture through achievement or accumulation. It’s something we receive. Whether we have little or much, Scripture calls us to find satisfaction in the life God has already given us—our work, our relationships, and even our daily routines.

Yet many of us miss this. We’re quick to recognize the dangers of money, but slow to embrace the goodness of God’s provision.

John Cortines summarizes this biblical vision with a simple acronym: E.A.T.

1. Enjoy God’s Provision

Everything we have—our resources, our health, our relationships—is a gift. Even the capacity to enjoy these things is given by God.

Gratitude begins when we recognize that nothing we have is ultimately self-made. It all flows from His hand.

2. Accept Life’s Brevity

Ecclesiastes repeatedly reminds us that life is short. This isn’t meant to discourage us—but to awaken us.

When we accept the limits of our time and season, we begin to live with greater purpose. We stop postponing joy and start embracing the present as a gift.

3. Toil with Joy

Work is not something to escape—it’s something to embrace.

While our culture often dreams of financial independence as freedom from work, Scripture presents a different vision. We were created with purpose, and meaningful work is part of that design. Even in retirement, we’re called to engage in what is good, fruitful, and God-honoring.

If this cycle is so clear, why do so few people experience it? Cortines points out three common obstacles:

These patterns lead to anxiety, discontentment, and a constant pursuit of “more.”

Ironically, many people today live with more wealth and comfort than any generation in history—yet struggle deeply with dissatisfaction. As Cortines notes, even great wealth cannot produce lasting joy on its own.

One of the most subtle traps in our culture is the belief that joy lies somewhere in the future:

But Scripture calls us to something radically different. Joy is not found in a future we’re trying to build—it’s found in the present moment with Christ.

This echoes Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12, where He points to the birds and the flowers. They do not worry, yet God provides for them. Their lives are both sustained and limited—and

Michelle Singletary discusses wise money management when times are tough. She’ll help you with the basics of getting out of debt, budgeting, and saving when money is tight. She’ll share biblical principles on investments in times of uncertainty and generously helping friends and family members in need.

Receive the book What To Do With Your Money When a Crisis Hits for our donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

Get More Episode Resources 

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.