Walk Boldly With Jesus

Share Your Story

Psalm 105:1-2 “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.”

Keeping along the theme of praise from yesterday’s episode, today’s verse talks about a different kind for praise.  It talks about praising God by telling all of His wonderful acts.  The verse begins by saying we should make known among all the nations what He has done.  This has come up in several places for me over this past month.  I went to a conference on Sept. 10th and the speaker was talking about how important it is for us to share our story.  Then the word we were given in prayer group said something similar.  Each week in prayer group it seems the Lord is telling us to go out and spread what He is teaching us to others.  Then I watched a webinar and they were talking about how important it is to tell our witness.  I also started a class last week and in class the instructor talked about how important it is to share our stories with others.  

The reason it is so important to share our story with others is because it helps to build others’ faith up when they see God working in your life.  God has done incredible things in your life and talking about them is good for you as well as others.  The reason I started Witness Wednesdays on this podcast is because I saw and heard how much the people taking the Life in the Spirit seminar enjoyed listening to them.  Many of them said although they learned a lot from the teachings, what really touched their hearts were the witnesses.  We only see what people want us to see about their lives.  If people don’t talk about it me may never see how God is working in their lives.  When we talk about the things God has done for us it helps others to see what is possible for God to do in their lives.  

If we are not on the lookout for how God is moving and working in our lives, we may miss it.  We may chalk it up to coincidence, or think our victory was due to our efforts alone.  If we are not telling others of all God has done, we may forget.  That might seem hard to believe, how could you ever forget the miraculous things God has done in your life?  However, I am sure He has done way more than we can even think of.  If you had to sit and make a list of all the things God has given you in your life, could you?  If you had to make a list of all the prayers He has answered for you, how long would that list be?  If you were asked to make a list of all the time God showed up and rescued you, would you be able to? What about all those times God protected you from something before it happened?  

We are all going through out lives and maybe you think your life is pretty boring.  Maybe you think you haven’t had your share of tragedy, or you haven’t suffered enough.  I knew a woman once who was concerned she had not had enough suffering in her life.  If this is you, if you have had a pretty good life so far and you feel as though you haven’t really needed to rely on God and you haven’t really seen God working in your life I would say you might just be looking at it in a different way.  If you haven’t had much tragedy in your life, that is a good thing.  That means God has been working in your life to keep all that out.  He has protected you from the things that sought to get in your way.  You may think your life is boring, but what kinds of things do you think God had to give you or do for you to help you live this boring life?

I think we don’t realize how much God is in the little details of our lives.  Think about the various things you have prayed.  Did you get answers to those prayers?  Is the house you are living in the answer to a prayer?  Are your children and answer to your prayer?  I know it may not always seem like they are an answer to a prayer as parenting is hard and yet, I bet you did pray to have children one day.  What about having food on the table and clothes to wash?  Are those answers to your prayers?  What about where you live, is that an answer to prayers?  Did you pray to live close to family, far from family, in a city, in the country, by a lake?  I think if many of us think about it we will realize we are living into the exact things we prayed for 5 or 10 years ago.

We have a faithful God and He answers our prayers.  If we are living our answered prayers right now, why don’t we talk about it more?  Why aren’t we shouting from the roof tops all the things God has done for us?  I know it can be hard to know what to say.  It can be hard to think of ways God is working in our lives.  However, once you try, once you sit down and really think of things that have happened over the years, things will start to come into your mind.  You can ask the Holy Spirit as well to bing into your mind all the ways you gave seen God working your life. I think sometimes we think it has to be some miraculous event in order to share it with others.  However, God is working in the small ways too.  I love to hear stories about how someone needed something small in that very moment and God gave it to them.  For instance, I heard a story once about a woman who only had enough money for one sandwich at a fast food place.  She bought one chicken sandwich and her and her son took turns taking a bite until the sandwich was gone. That sandwich was not gone until they were both completely full.  That is a miracle and yet it is something that can easily be forgotten or overshadowed by all the other things going on in life.  If that woman hadn’t shared this story and talked about it, she may have forgotten about it.  Sharing our story helps keep the memory alive.  

I know you don’t think you have a story.  I know it can be scary to share our story, it can be scary to be vulnerable.  I also know God is calling us to share our story to build up His Kingdom.  God wants us to tell of His wondrous acts.  I challenge each one of you to take a few minutes out of your day and write down at least 10 ways God has shown up in your life.  These can be anything.  Did He bless you with children?  Did He bless you with a home?  Did He bless you with parents and siblings?  Did He bless you with a spouse?  What do you have to be thankful to God for?  How can you share that list with others?  Can you pick just one memory where you know God was there for you and share it with at least three people this week?  God is asking us in the verse above to “tell of all His wondrous deeds.”  I ask you all to ponder that this week.  Take some time and ask God how this applies to you?  Ask God how He wants you to answer this call?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to share our story, we want to tell of your wondrous deed and yet we don’t know how, please show us.  Please help us recall all the ways you are working in our lives.  Please show us how to share this information with others.  Lord, we are all different and the way one of us shares might not work for someone else.  Please share with each of us individually how you would like us to answer your call.  We love you Lord and we are so grateful for you.  You are the light of the World and the Word make Flesh.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.   If technology works out for us today the guest speaker tomorrow will be my dad.  My parents have seen a lot of miracles over the years.  I have talked about a few during some of the regular episodes, but I am looking forward to letting my dad and mom share some of them.  Tomorrow my dad will talk about a few of them.  I look forward to sharing that with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Praise is the Answer

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “ Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I know I talk about praise a lot and yet, I am not sure if we could ever talk about praise enough.  I am training for a race and on Saturdays is when I do my long runs for the week.  This Saturday my long run was 9 miles, which I was not really looking forward to.  I am not sure if anyone really looks forward to long runs.  I decided I was going to catch up on the Big Life Devotional Podcast during my run.  They are short 10-15 minute episodes and I was going to be running for over 2 hours so I had plenty of time to catch up.  As I was listening what really resonated with me were the episodes on praise.  I was running, and all of the sudden I felt as if I had been handed the answer to a question I had been thinking about for quite a while now.  I have been wondering how I’ve been able to have such a deep faith all will turn out ok when all the evidence around me was showing the exact opposite?  

While I was running I felt God was saying, the answer is praise.  Pamela Crim in one of the episodes of her Big Life Devotional Podcast was talking about 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  What I focused in on and what really hit home for me was 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “ Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Why this stuck with me is because she explained it in a way I hadn’t heard it explained before.  I have heard before and even said before, we can always praise God, even when we are in the middle of a difficult situation.  We don’t have to praise God for the situation, but we can find something to praise God for while we are going through something difficult.  I have said things like, you don’t have to praise God because you having a hard time but you can praise God for the sunrise that morning, or a cup of really great coffee.  I believe this, I think you can always find something to praise God for.  

Listening to Pamela’s podcast episode I feel I gained an even deeper knowledge of praise and so naturally I wanted to share it will all of your who are on this journey with me.  Pamela points out the phrase above doesn’t say God’s will is for us to praise God FOR all circumstances, it says In all circumstances.  That’s what I was saying earlier.  You don’t have to thank God FOR the difficult situation you are in but you can praise God while you are IN your difficult situation.  Then what Pamela said next is something I knew but didn’t know.  You know what I mean?  Do you ever know something sort of subconsciously, but then someone says it out loud and brings it to the forefront of your mind?  Or you knew something, but you couldn’t really explain the why and then someone says something, and everything makes sense?  Pamela said we can’t thank God for all circumstances because God didn’t create all circumstances.  Wow, do you see what I mean?  We probably all know God doesn’t create all circumstances and yet hearing it somehow makes it more real.  Some of the difficult circumstances we are in are because of things we did.  God can only lead us if we follow Him.  Sometimes, often times, we don’t want to do what God tells us to do and so we do our own thing.  This inevitably leads us down the wrong path because if that path was the right path God wouldn’t have been standing in our way.

If we can’t thank God for all circumstances, how do we thank God in all circumstances.  This is another place where Pamela said something and a lightbulb went on.  It was a different way of looking at it.  Pamela said when she is in the middle of a mess and can’t seem to find the good in the situation she will thank God for how He is going to work it all together for good.  We don’t know what that will look like.  When we are in the middle we can’t see the finish line.  We can’t see the happy ending.  When we are in the middle everything is just hard and is overwhelming.  In this overwhelm can you stop and praise God for however He is going to us this for good?  This takes a bit of faith and I think that’s why it is so powerful.  You are praising God for something you haven’t seen yet.  You are thinking about the good that will come out of this.  How do you know good will come out of this difficult situation you are in?  Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  The good is coming, it’s on the other side of this hard thing.  Keep going forward, praise God for the good you can’t see and believe the good is coming.  

Did that hit you like it hit me?  Did it give you a better understanding of why we feel we can’t praise God FOR all circumstances?  Did it help you see how you can praise God IN all circumstances?  For me, I think I also needed to hear that I created some of my circumstances.  Again, something I knew, but also really needed to hear.  I think knowing I created some of my circumstances helps take away some of the anger.  If we can see how our bad choices got us into a difficult situation it makes it harder to be angry at God.  We tend to blame God for everything and for me, listening to that episode reminded me to pause and take a look at the situation.  Am I in the situation because of my own doing?  If so, what can I learn from this situation so I don’t make the same mistake again?  How can I learn to follow the path God has set for me instead of making my own?  

I said at the beginning of this episode I felt as if God said the answer to my question of my deep faith in times of trouble was because of praise.  I have tried to praise God in all circumstances.  My go to music for the past 10 years or so has been Christian music.  And often times that is written from scripture passages.  I remember the first time I heard a reading at church and it was the words to one of my favorite songs I was so excited.  Because I wasn’t reading the scripture a lot back then, I had no idea.  When I am happy, I listen to praise music, when I am sad, I listen to praise music.  I also try to add praise to all my prayers, not a lot, but at least a sentence or two praising God. I also praise God out lout at my prayer group meetings with the 15 or so other people who are there.  If you are struggling to trust in God, try adding more praise into your life.  That praise can look like whatever feels best to you.  You can start by listening to Christian music, or you can just tell God how great He is and how much you love Him.  You can thank Him for all he is doing in your life, all He has done, and all He will do.  I am sure if you add more praise into your day you will feel closer to the Lord and your trust in Him will grow.  It might feel strange at first to just start praising God, especially if you do it out loud.  Just think of it this way, it will be an adventure, one that is life changing!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask you to touch our hearts and show us where you want us to praise you more.  We are sorry we don’t always follow your path and then we get ourselves into difficult situations.  We are forever grateful you are able to use everything in our lives for our good and for your good.  We are grateful no matter how many times we turn away you still use everything for our good and you accept us back with open arms each and every time.  Lord you are so wonderful.  You are the Lord God almighty, You are our just and faithful ruler, You are the Light of the world.  We love you so much and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Are you struggling to return to the Lord?

Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

This verse might be a hard one for us to hear.  Many of us are doers.  Rest is hard for us.  We are good at doing things.  We say yes to more and more things.  We can always find the time to do one more thing.  However, when it comes to finding the time to rest, we struggle.  When we are resting we feel lazy.  We feel like should be doing more.  Our mind thinks about all the other things we should be doing.  Resting is hard.  

Returning is hard too.  Returning to anything is difficult.  Think about the last time you were on a roll with something and then had to take a break for some reason.  Was it hard to get back into it?  It’s strange to me because it is hard returning to something when you’ve been away from awhile, even when it’s something you really enjoy doing. For instance, my family used to get together every month.  Then we got away from it for one reason or another.  Now we want to get back into it and yet it is really difficult, even though it is something we really enjoy doing, even though it is something we want to do. Once you break a habit reforming it is a struggle.  

This verse is talking about returning to the Lord.  If returning to normal every day stuff is hard, imagine how hard it is to return to the Lord.  Returning to the Lord is something many people want to do and yet struggle with.  There are all sorts of things that can get in the way of returning to the Lord.  Sometimes we don’t feel worthy enough.  We know all we have done and figure God won’t forgive us.  Sometimes we feel so lost we don’t even know where to begin.  How does one return to the Lord after being gone so long?  We may be picturing God as the disciplinarian and we are worried he is waiting at the door to punish up for staying away so long.  There could be any number of reasons why it is difficult to return once we leave and yet this verse tells us we will be saved in the returning and resting.  

The verse also says, “in quietness and in truth shall be your strength.”  So, not only are we saved when we rest, but we have strength in the quietness.  How many of us avoid the quiet?  I know I am constantly doing things to fill the quiet.  If I am making dinner, I will put a tv show on, I will listen to music, or I will listen to an audiobook.   If I am riding in the car I will listen to music, an audiobook, or say the rosary with an app.  My boys said they even listen to music while they are reading a book.  We do all we can to avoid the silence and yet the Lord says in the quietness is our strength and when we rest we will be saved.  How can we do this more?

First I will address the resting and the quietness.  If we want to rest more there are a couple things that may help.  First, write in into you calendar.  Plan when you are going to rest.  Are you going to rest for a certain amount of time every day?  Are you going to rest for a few hours on the weekend?  What is your plan? If you don’t have a plan, it probably won’t happen.  Second, give yourself permission to rest.  Accept that rest is an important thing to do.  Resting doesn’t make you lazy, it makes you smart.  If we don’t rest we will burn out and be no good to anyone.  Rest is essential, our bodies need it and they will get it one way or another.  If we avoid resting and keep doing all the things we will get sick and be forced to rest.  Has that ever happened to you before?  Have you ever kept going, even when you knew you should be resting and then something happened that forced you to rest?  It has definitely happened to me and I have learned my lesson, mostly.  Accepting that rest is important and can be so helpful because then you aren’t feeling bad when you are resting.  You aren’t trying to talk yourself out of it and you aren’t saying unkind things to yourself while you are trying to rest.  You are able to be more in the moment without thinking about all the other things you should be doing.  

Next lets talk about the idea of returning to the Lord.  If you have been away from the Lord, returning to the Lord can feel scary, but it doesn’t have too.  Many of us look at God as this judgmental God who sits on His throne in the sky waiting for us to screw up so He can punish us.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  God is like the father in the parable of the prodigal son.  In this parable the son told his father he didn’t want to wait until the father died to get half of his father’s estate.  He asked his father to give him his inheritance now and then he left.  The son squandered away all of the money and ended up feeding pigs in someone else’s barn.  He was starving one day while he was feeding the pigs and was thinking about how well his father treats his servants.  He decided to go back and beg his father for a job as a servant. In Luke 15:20-24 it says, “So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.  Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”

This is what our heavenly Father does when we return to Him.  He is not waiting at the door with a punishment.  He is running out to meet you, right where you are at.  He is hugging you and throwing a party for you.  I know it is easy to feel like we won’t be welcome, like we have done too much wrong, or we have been away too long.  However, if you don’t believe me with just the parable of the prodigal son, let me share with you Luke 15:7.  Luke 15:7 says, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”  Did you get that?  This is Jesus talking in Luke 15:7.  He said there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.  God is not looking for us to be perfect.  God is not looking for us to never stray.  God is looking for us to repent and turn back to Him.  And when we do all of heaven rejoices.  

I know you are struggling to come back to the faith.  That’s ok, do it anyway.    I know you are struggling to come back to God.  That’s ok, do it anyway.  I know you have questions and concerns.  That’s ok, do it anyway.  I know you worry you won’t be good enough or you will just mess up again.  That’s ok, do it anyway.  I know you think He won’t forgive you, but you just heard two examples where Jesus himself tells us that’s not true.  That is a lie the enemy is telling you to keep you away, and it's working.  The enemy knows if he can keep you thinking you need to wait until you are perfect to come home then you won’t ever come home to God because we will never be perfect.  We are flawed humans living in a broken world.  God knows this and yet He loves us anyway.  God did not wait until we were perfect and sinless to send His son to die for us.  Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners.  What God wants from us is our desire to be in union with Him.  He wants our desire to be faithful.  If you ask God for these things He will make them happen.  All He is waiting for is for your yes.  

What if you took that leap of faith today?  What if you just said yes Lord, I am yours to do with as you please? What if you just said yes Lord, if you want me, I am yours.  What if you just had an honest conversation with the Lord?  What if you said, “Lord, I know I have been away for a bit, ok maybe a long time and although I am ready to come home I am also scared.  I am scared because I have been away for so long.  I am scared because I don’t know how to come home.  I am scared because I don’t know where to start.  I am scared because I am afraid of what coming home will mean for my current lifestyle.  I am afraid of all of it Lord and yet I can’t get this yearning to come out of my mind.  Help me Lord.  I say yes to you.  I give you permission to show me the next right step.  I ask for you to come into my life and change whatever needs to be changed.  I ask you for the courage to make those changes.  I love you Lord and I want to come home.”  Do you think you can do that today?  

I am not sure who this episode is for today.  If you are listening to this podcast you may not need to come home, you may already be at home with the Lord.  If that is you, maybe you were supposed to hear this so you could pass it on to someone you know that is wanting to come home and doesn’t know where to start?  If you are listening to this episode because someone forwarded it to you, know that person loves you with their whole heart and is happy to support you in your journey home.  All you need to do is take the first step and say Yes to God, He will do the rest!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and we are so grateful you are so forgiving and loving.  We are thankful you welcome us home with open arms every time we turn back to you.  It makes me smile to think about you throwing a party to celebrate our return.  You are such a gracious father.  Lord, we ask you to touch the hearts and minds of all who hear this episode.  We pray all those who are wanting to come home to you are able to do so.  We pray they hear the words in this episode and realize they are welcome just as they are, they don’t have to change before coming home.  We pray they realize you accept them for who they are and you meet them right where they are at.  Lord, if they have questions, if they are confused, we ask you send the Holy Spirit to help them figure all that stuff out.  Lord, we just pray this episode reaches those you intended it to reach.  If that means we need to send it to someone we know that is struggling then give us the courage to do so.  Lord you are so amazing.  You are the one and only Ruler.  You are the Lord God Almighty.  None are like you.  We are so grateful for you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I had not idea the podcast was going to go there today, but that is the beauty of letting the Holy Spirit lead.  I know someone needed this message today, if it wasn’t you think about who you know that might need it. I look forward to spending time with you again on Monday.  Remember, Jesus love you and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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They Aim Cruel Words Like Deadly Arrows

Psalm 64:3-4 “They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear.”

I am currently watching a TV show about high school students.  This verse certainly rings true for them.  There is a new kid at the school and he gets bullied.  It is so hard to watch kids bullying other kids.  It's hard to watch anyone being bullied.  I just want to tell the person who is bullying, “You don’t have to do this. You are better than this.  This won’t actually make your life better.”  And I want to tell the person being bullied, “You are not the things they are saying about you.  You are not worthless.  You are an awesome person.  They are bullying you because they are hurt and don’t know what else to do.”  I was picked on when I was younger.  I was one of 11 children.  We didn’t have the nicest clothes, we didn’t have the coolest new toys, I am sure I sometimes smelled because I didn’t shower or because I didn’t wear deodorant.  I know I didn’t always brush my hair in middle school and sometimes I would wear the same clothes as I wore the day before because I woke up so late and didn’t have time to even get changed.  I am sure my parents and teachers around me told me the same things I want to tell those being bullied, but it didn’t make a difference.  In the moment, all you hear are the negative things people are saying.  This verse actually perfectly describes bullies.  They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.  They know just what to say to cut you to the bone.  Their words hurt so deeply you remember them for years to come.  

It makes me so sad to think of how many people get bullied in school each day.  Did you know 1 out of 5 kids report getting bullied.  That’s just the number who report being bullied.  I am sure the number is higher. That number is just taking kids into account.  Unfortunately bullying doesn’t stop when we grow up.  There are adults that bully kids, there are adults that bully other adults.  Senior Citizens sometimes get bullied.  Bullying can happen to anyone.  There is no rhyme or reason to it.  This verse applies to all of us.  I think everyone has had cruel words like deadly arrows aimed in their direction.  Maybe it was a kid in school, or your boss at work.  It might have even been your children or your spouse.  Maybe it was/is a family member or an in-law.  Whoever it was their unkind words they still hurt.  They may even hurt more if it was a loved one.  Even if we are old enough to understand the person is being unkind to us because they are hurting inside, it still doesn’t really take away the sting of their words.  Even if we try to ignore the things they say, we usually let them get into our head, at least briefly.  So, what can we do when we have someone aiming their cruel words at us?  

That is the million dollar question.  If we can answer that question we could save people a lot of heartache and pain.  To try and find an answer I went back to the Psalm 64 where I found the verse above.  I though to myself, surly there has to be something positive in this psalm.  Maybe the author of the verse knows what to do.  I did find some relief in verses 7 and 8. Psalm 64:7-8 says, “But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.”  I should have known.  The answer is God.  The answer is always God, why haven’t I learned that yet?  God is our refuge.  When we need help, we can turn to Him.  It says God will shoot them with His arrows and they will be struck down.  It says He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin.  I read this, and I know God’s word is truth and yet I can think of instances when this was not true.  Or I should say I haven’t seen this to be true.  The thing is, God’s timing isn’t our timing.  What is 50 years to us could be one day to God.  So when it says they will be suddenly struck down, that doesn’t mean immediately in our time.  I can think of times when the people who were in the wrong, those that were bulling or being unkind seemed to get away with it. To our eyes it seems as though nothing happened to them.  

If you are in a situation like this, or if you have been in the past, I am sorry.  I know how hard it is to get bullied, or to be treated unfairly or badly and the person responsible for it seemingly gets off without any consequences.  To this I have two thoughts.  First, we don’t know what their justice is, but we do know that God is a just God.  Maybe we won’t see the consequences, but we can rest assured there will be some.  Second, God’s timing is not our timing.  Just because everything seems to be working out for them right now, doesn’t mean it always will.  Also, things aren’t always what them seem.  Just because someone looks like everything is going there way, doesn’t mean it actually is going their way.  We only see what people want us to see.  There is much of our lives that remain hidden, especially if we want it that way.  

So, what can help in this situation?  I think the way to strengthen our skin and not let things others say get under it is to remember who we are and whose you are.  You are the son or daughter of the one true King.  You are amazing.  You are enough just as you are.  You are made in the likeness and image of the Lord our God.  You are a great mom.  You are a great dad.  You are a great daughter.  You are a great son.  Know who you are.  If you don’t know who you are, spend some time figuring it out.  God is your refuge and your savior.  You belong to God.  He will protect you.  If you are confident in who you are then the negative things others say to you will have a harder time getting into your mind.  Also, if you surround yourself with positive roll models.  If you have great friends and family who build you up all the time then when you encounter a few bad apples, you can brush it off more easily because you know who you are and whose you are.  You are in charge of protecting your mind and decided what you will let in and what you will block out.  

Sometimes when we are getting bullied we can resent that person and we can start to feel hatred towards them. This is what the enemy wants.  He wants you to be so angry that you fill your heart with hate instead of love.  We might feel like we want something bad to happen to that person.  If this is you, remember, it is not our place to judge.  It is not our job to make sure they get justice for what they have done.  We are only in charge of our actions.  If we let their behaviors fill us with hate we might end up doing something we regret.  If we let their behaviors fill us with hate then we are letting the enemy win.  Let God take care of the judgement and we can just focus on protecting our minds and not letting what they say rattle around in our heads.  Whatever our troubles are, we can turn to God and ask Him for help.  We can ask Him to take away our unkind thoughts.  We can ask Him to help us remember who we are.  We can ask Him to help us remember we don’t have to be scared because He is our protector.  I heard a sermon by Pastor Steven Furtick yesterday and he said, “If your enemies could do to you what you are afraid they are going to do, they would have done it already.  God’s got your back and they can’t touch you.”  We are all scared of something, we need to turn those fears over to the Lord and ask Him to take them from us.  If you are being bullied right now, or if you have someone in your life who is not treating you the way you deserve to be treated hear this, you are awesome.  You are worthy.  You are enough just as you are.  You are perfect in fact because you were made in the likeness and image of God.  You are a prince or princess of the one true King.  You are amazing!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, protect us from the sharp words of others.  Protect us from the unkind way people treat us.  Lord, we ask for your shelter through this storm.  We ask you to guard our hearts and our minds so their unkind words have no where to land.  There are so many people being bullied right now and we ask you to be with them, help them feel loved and accepted as they are.  Protect them from others and protect them from themselves.  Lord, we are losing far too many to suicide these days. Nearly 800,000 people die every year from suicide.  That is one person every 40 seconds.  Lord, please help us.  Help us to help others too.  Show us what we need to do to stop all the bullying so we can help people begin to heal.  Lord, you are sovereign.  Your ways are not our ways.  Teach us your ways Lord.  Help us to become more like you.  You are amazing.  Help us turn to you instead of turning to the world Lord.  Help us to help others.  We love you Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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 We have all seen God working in our lives, however, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives.  This is why it is so important we start talking about it more.  The more we share our experiences the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us.  If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at [email protected] or just click on the link below.  It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Have a blessed day!

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What About When I Can’t Pray?

Psalm 57:5-6 “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. They spread a net for my feet I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.”

This verse starts off putting God in his rightful place.  It starts off by acknowledging God is exalted above the heavens.  Exalted means high ranking.  God is in charge of all of Heaven and Earth.  The next line asks God to let His Glory be over all the earth. David is asking the Lord to show us His glory.  David wrote this psalm when he had fled from Saul into the cave.  He said in the next line, “They have spread a net for my feet I was bowed down in distress.” Today’s verse comes after several verses where David is talking to God and asking Him for protection.  He is asking God for mercy and for God to protect Him.  I think this verse shows us what we should do when we are struggling and when we encounter something we can’t handle.  David drops to his knees and bows down.

David knows this is not a situation he can handle on his own.  He was hiding in a cave from the king. He didn’t do anything wrong, Saul was just jealous of him.  How does one fix that situation?  David knew this was something only God could fix.  Do you have a situation like that right now?  Are you in circumstances well above your head?  Maybe you are not hiding in a cave from the king, but you are stuck in a situation in which you can’t see a way out. I have a friend that is in a seemingly impossible situation right now. I have also been in many situations like this.  The type of circumstances that drive you to your knees.  The type of situation where you don’t even know what to pray for because you can’t see any positive outcome.  Did you know it is ok to not always know exactly what to pray for?  You don’t have to know, God knows what you are struggling with.  God knows the best way to solve your problem.  He has it all figured out already.  

You can do as David did and ask for God’s glory to be over all the earth.  You can bow down in distress and  just Be with the Lord.  God knows there are times when we can’t pray or we don’t know what to say when we pray.  God knows this and is ok with it.  The best thing to do when we can’t pray is to praise God.  I know this is probably when you want to praise God the least.  I know it seems counter intuitive to praise God when it feels like all is falling apart.  However, praising God always helps the situation. God loves our praises and He loves when we turn to Him.  Whether you are praising God, or just sitting there being with Him, God is happy.  He doesn’t need us to come to Him with the perfect plan or perfect prayers.  He doesn’t actually need anything for us.  He is happy just being with us.  

In this Psalm, David didn’t know what to ask for?   He didn’t know how the Lord was going to save him from Saul?  However he did trust that God had a plan.  He knew to praise God in his time of need.  If you ever need inspiration on how to praise God, read the psalms.  David was a master at praise and worship.  He was also a master at turning to the Lord for help.  David knew he couldn’t do anything without God on his side.  He also knew when he sinned he could always repent and turn back to the Lord.  Sometime we don’t turn back because we think what we did was too bad for God to forgive.  David always turned back to the Lord and repented, no matter the severity of his sin, and David had some pretty severe ones.  

The last line it this verse is great.  It says, “They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.” This is the awesome thing about being on God’s side, He wins every time!  Things may look bleak at times, things may seem like there is no hope to be found.  There will be times when you can’t even imagine life getting better.  Things are so bad and you can’t see a way out.  You are not alone in your situation.  There are others that have gone through something similar to what you are going through and they have made it through to the other side. With God, we don’t always know the journey, but we know the ending.  God will always find a way to redeem His children and also redeem the situations we find ourselves in. If you or a loved one is in trouble right now and you can’t see a way out I hope you hear me when I say, God knows about your situation and He is working it all out. You don’t have to know what to pray for, God’s got this!  Just praise God, not for the situation but for being the incredible God that He is!  Praise God and then sit back and watch in amazement how he takes an impossible situation and turns it into a beautiful life lesson.  God’s love always wins out in the end.  God is the victor every single time!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help all of those who are in impossible situations today.  Helps them to keep their hope. Help them to know you are with them through this all and you will come out victorious in the end.  Lord, give all those who are struggling the strength they need to keep waking up in the morning, the strength to keep hoping when all seems so hopeless.  Lord, give them a super natural understanding of their situation and how you are working in it.  Help them feel your love the entire time.  Help give them the peace of Christ in their hearts.  Lord, you are awesome and we are so grateful you take such wonderful care of us.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  Tomorrow’s guest speaker is my good friend Nancy.  Nancy was the leader of the prayer group when I first joined and has been a great mentor to me on my faith journey these last 4 years.  She will be witnessing this week about a prayer she prayed for a very long time.  A prayer that seemed to go unanswered for a very long time.  I think we all have those prayers we feel God doesn’t hear.  Nancy’s witness provides encouragement to all of us to keep praying those prayers because God is so faithful.  I know you are going to love her witness.  I can’t wait to share it with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

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The Zip It Challenge

Proverbs 18:2 “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”

The Proverbs is a great place to go if we want to get instructions on how to live a better life.  It is full of really great advice on how to be a good person, how to be a good Christian.  I have heard of people taking a month and studying one chapter of proverbs each day.  There are exactly 31 chapters, so it works out nicely.  A chapter in the Bible doesn’t usually take long to read.  If you are looking for your next Bible study, or if you are wondering where to even begin in your Bible, consider reading through the Proverbs.  

This verse in particular is a very good verse, especially in this day and age.  Currently it seems as though everyone has an opinion and people share these opinions freely.  Many are not interested in trying to understand what is actually going on they just want to shout their opinion from the roof tops.  Did you know you don’t always have to say whatever comes into your mind?  Did you know it is not your obligation to tell your opinion to everyone?  Sometimes, many times, it is appropriate to think something and not say it out loud.    

This is something I try to teach my children and actually my nephews too.  There are far too many people these days who do not have a filter.  Many of us have a filter and well we might think something unkind, we don’t say it out loud because we know it would only hurt others feelings.  However, if we did’t have a filter we would say it out-loud, not necessarily meaning to be mean, and yet it hurts the person’s feelings anyway.  If we all stopped to think about how what we were about to say was going to affect the person or people we were saying it too, we would have a lot less misunderstandings in the world.  It doesn’t have to be a long time you sit and consider how it will make people feel.  Just take a breath, before opening your mouth and ask yourself, “Will I be helping the situation if I say this?”  You can also ask, “Am I adding value to the conversation by saying this?” Or, you can also ask, “Will I be hurting someone by giving this opinion?”  

Sometimes we think we need to give our opinions whenever we have them, especially to our spouse and to our children. This isn’t always the case.  If you child comes downstairs to go to school and they are wearing something that doesn’t match, or something you don’t like, you don’t have to give them your opinion.  Did they ask for your opinion?  If so, that’s great, feel free to give it.  If they didn’t ask, hold your tongue.  They like that outfit, or they wouldn’t have put it on.  Your saying something probably won’t make them change, but it may make them self conscious that others may feel the same way.  It may also cause them to doubt themselves.  I know as parents, especially as moms, we want to save our children from any potential embarrassment. Yet, in doing this we often times wind up hurting their feelings, or getting them to question themselves.  What if we didn’t say anything?  What if we just built them up and let them wear what they wanted to school?  

This isn’t just about school either. That was one example but you can substitute they clothes they are wearing for any other argument you might be having with your kids these days.  I wonder what the world would be like if we all paused and considered the ramifications of saying whatever it is we want to say?  I wonder what the world would be like if we all realized we didn’t have to say every thought that comes into our heard?  There is a challenge I learned about in Big Life Mentoring.  It is from a book called Zip It The Keep it shut 40 day challenge by Karen Ehman.  

Here is the description of the book: We use our words everywhere: with family members, coworkers, the stranger in the store—even the words we text or post online. Our daily words can impact our relationships for better—or for worse. (Been there. Said that. Wish you could take it back. Can you relate?)

Karen Ehman’s 40-day devotional challenge Zip It—based on her New York Times best-seller Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All—offers practical ways to use our words to build, not to break; to bless, not to badger; to encourage, not to embitter; to praise, not to pounce.”

I have not read this book, or her first book, although they both sound like something I should check out.  Her book also has scripture verse fro each day of the challenge.  It is more of a devotional to learn to hold our tongues.  “Zip It covers eight major topics: taming our tempers, sarcasm, gossip, gracious speech, sweet and salty language, asking for forgiveness, whether to speak up or remain silent, and how God’s word can alter our words.”

The reason I mention this book and this challenge is because I know people who have made it a goal of their’s to not say any negative things for 30 days.  I know others who have decided to not nag their loved ones for 30 days.  They stop and think, before giving their opinion, will this matter in 5 years?  The thing you are about to correct, will it matter in 5 years?  Is it something that needs to be said?  Do they need to hear your opinion, or can you zip it and let it go?  What would your relationships be like with your loved ones if you zipped it more?  How would your relationship with your spouse be different if you didn’t tell them every time you didn’t like something they did?  How would your relationship with your children be if you didn’t tell them every time you disapproved of something they did?  I’m not just talking about little children either.  Many of you have adult children.  How would your relationship change if you decided not to say every criticism that came into your heard?  If you decided not to tell them how you think they should live their life?  Honestly, take a moment and think about how things in that relationship might be different.  

This verse had two parts two it.  It says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”  We talked about airing our own opinions, I just want to take a minute to address the understanding piece of this verse.  We will not always agree with everyone we may meet.  We may not even agree with everyone in our family or those who live in our house.  That is ok.  We don’t have to all agree on everything.  However, it is important to try to understand where the other person is coming from.  This country is so divided right now and so many people don’t even want to try to understand the other side of what they believe.  I have heard this quote, I am not sure who said it.  The quote is, “Peace is not when everyone agrees.  It is when we can respect our disagreements and still play in the sandbox together.”  We don’t have to all be on the same page.  However, can we calmly listen to the other person and try to understand where they are coming from?  Can we calmly talk through our differences? Can we respect each other enough to at least try to understand what the other side is saying?  So much strife comes from misunderstanding.  We are not taking the time to fully understand what someone is saying and we get so angry at the mere idea of what they might be saying.  However, when we take the time to fully understand it we realize they have a point.  Maybe not one we can agree with or get behind, but at least we understand where they are coming from.  

This verse tells us if we are not going to try to gain an understanding we are fools.  It also says we should not take delight in airing our own opinions all the time.  We don’t want to be fools, we want to be wise.  I challenge you to think about your comments this week.  Did that comment you just said need to be said?  Did it make them feel better about themselves, or worse?  Can you stop and think before you say something and ask yourself if it needs to be said? I know you will see positive changes in your life if you can learn to let the negative comments and criticisms go without voicing them out loud.  Give it a try, what have you got to lose?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to control our tongue.  Open our hearts and minds to a greater understanding of those things we disagree with.  Help us to not reject things without first understanding them.  Help us to think before opening our lips.  Help us to use the filter you gave us to not just say whatever comes to our minds. Help us to see others through your eyes oh Lord.  We love you Lord, you are truly remarkable and we are so grateful for you.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Are We Underestimating Praise?

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 "After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

In this chapter of Chronicles, God’s people have armies coming to attack them from three different places.  Things were not looking good.  Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah as he stood in the assembly.  He told the king and all the people of Judah that they shouldn’t be afraid because they was not their fight, it was God’s fight.  He told them to march down against the invading armies, but that they would not have to fight the battle.  This is where the verse picks up.  “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

Jehoshaphat and his army were headed into what seemed like a hopeless battle.  There were three different armies waiting to destroy them and to take their land.  You would think they would have the soldiers lead them this battle.  Even if they trusted God, you would think just to be on the safe side you would have the soldiers go first.  However, King Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out to face the armies.  “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

Did you catch that last part?  It doesn’t say once they started fighting the Lord gave them victory.  It doesn’t say their enemy was defeated by their mighty hand.  It says as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemy and they were defeated.  They didn’t even have to fight a single person.  They didn’t have to lift their hands at all in this fight, they just needed to lift up their voices.   Do you have enemies that you need defeated?  Are you praising God now while you are in the middle of it, or are you waiting until you get out of it?  I have known that praise is important for some time know.  I have even done other episodes on how important it is to praise through the storm, not just after it is over.  However, I didn’t know about this story.  I didn’t know about God destroying three armies with praise alone.  

Sometimes we are trying to fight our enemies on our own.  We know we need God and yet we ask Him for so much we feel we should try to do this one on our own.  Yet, instead of leading with praise we lead with anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy and whatever other emotions we are feeling in the moment.  Can you think of a time when you have charged into a situation with your emotions leading the way?  How did that work out for you?  For me, it never works out.  When I go into a situation on my own, without inviting the Lord to come with me, it never works out as I intended it to.  However, when I do think to praise the Lord while I am in the middle of a difficult situation, it always turns out well.  

There are times when we think God has abandoned us.  We are praying and it does not seem like He is with  us. Maybe we are the ones who have abandoned God.  We may be praying, but are we praying with a hopeful heart?  Are we trusting God will come through for us when we pray?  Are we praising God for all He does for us?  God is working in our lives every single day, are we praising Him for that?  I talk a lot about gratitude because I think it is so important to go through life being grateful for what we have.  I think when we are grateful with what we have God blesses us with more.  Being grateful is also a great way to shift our mood if we are feeling sad, or having a bad day.  Sometimes all it takes is a perspective switch and we can turn our whole day around.  

Praise is different from gratitude.  Sometimes we can be praising God for what we have and what He has done for us and yet praise is so much more than that.  We can also praise God fro who He is.  Sometimes we are in a situation where we may not want to or be able to praise God for the situation. For instance, in this verse God’s people were not praising God for the situation they were in.  They were not grateful they had three armies coming after them.  They were praising God for “the splendor of His Holiness.”  They were praising God for who He is.  He is the the Fountain of Life.  He is the great “I AM.”  He is the Just One and He is the King of kings.  He is the Lord of Lords and He is the Light of the world.  He is the Lord our God.  He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  

How often are you praising God for simply being God?  How often are you spending time in prayer thanking and praising God for being everything you need Him to be?  Maybe the next time we are in a hard situation, instead of charging into the situation with our guns blazing, maybe we can lead with our praise.  Instead of leading with our anger, frustration, sadness, we can lead with our praise.  God is always there for us.  Let’s be there for Him.  Let’s give God the praise that He so rightly deserves.  The thought just came to me that not everyone knows how to praise God.  There is not specific way.  I love to listen to praise and worship music, which is really any Christian music.  I am also part of a prayer group and we praise outloud to the Lord thanking Him for all He has done and all he Is.  I say phrases such as those listed above, things such as, you are the Light of the World, You are the Word made flesh, You are the King of the Kings.  You can also think back to all you have and thank God for that one by one.  You can thank God for everyone He has brought into your life.  Praise is time spent with the Lord when you are either thanking Him for something or you are talking about all the reasons He is awesome!!  I challenge you to find some time in your day today and praise the Lord.  You can do it silently within your own heart, or you can shout if from the roof tops, and everything in between.  Whatever you feel comfortable with.  The more you praise the  more comfortable it will feel to you.  Also, the more you praise the more you will see God working in your life.  

Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to praise you more.  Put praise for you on our hearts so we long to do it.  Give us a thirst for praising you Lord.  It is so amazing how you defeated Judah’s enemy when they started to praise you.  Lord, we have many enemies and we need you to defeat them.  Help us to praise you first instead of trying to fix it all our selves.  We love you Lord, you are so powerful.  You give Light to our lamps.  You straighten our crooked path.  You are always by our side and we am so grateful.  I ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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A Divided Heart

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”

God has been teaching us His way since the beginning.  He has always guided and us showed us how we should live.  I don’t thing the problem is God not teaching us, I think the problem is our divided heart.  The end of this verse says give me an undivided heart to revere your name.  To revere someone’s name means to honor and admire it.  Are we doing that with God’s name?  I don’t think we are.  I hear people taking the Lord’s name in vain all throughout the day.  It’s not always in a bad way, and yet it is not used to revere God.  Think back over the last 24 hours.  Have you used God’s name in the last 24 hours?  How did you use it?  Were you honoring and admiring God when you used it?  What can we do to get back to revering God’s name?

God has done a great job of teaching us His ways.  At first He walked and talked with Adam and Eve and I am sure they had some great conversations.  However, after the fall that type of relationship was no longer permitted.  Even though we were no longer living in that same environment God found ways over the years to teach us His ways.  He used prophets and other faithful people to teach us all we needed to know. Then God sent His only son to walk among us and to teach us.  He also sent His son so our relationship could be healed and there was no long anything standing in between us and the real presence of God.  Then all these lessons and stories were written down so those of us who came after would know how God expected us to live.  

If we want to know how to walk it God’s truth, we can find out.  God has taught us many times over.  So, what’s the problem then?  The problem is our divided heart.  The problem is, we live in a world that is so contrary to everything God teaches us.  Our hearts are divided because we love this world.  We love our friends, we love our family, we love our TVs and our cars and all of our stuff.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It is good to love our families and friends.  It may even be ok to love your stuff.  What definitely isn’t ok is to love that stuff more than God.  You might be thinking you’re good, you are sure you don’t love your stuff, your family or your friends more than God.  But, what if we looked at how your are spending your time?  Are you spending more time with your family, friends & TV more than you are spending with God?  What if we looked at your finances?  Are you spending lots of money on material things and not much money on the church, charity, or the poor?  

God is so good.  I took a break from writing this episode so I could get my run in because I could feel my motivation to do the run dwindling.  I don’t know about you but I need to get my workouts done in the morning or they just don’t happen.  While I was on the run I was listening to some personal development podcast.  However, after a while I switched to praise music.  As soon as I did God put on a song that goes perfectly with the podcast.  I love when He does that!  Does this ever happen to you?  You are wondering about something, thinking about something, or just really need encouragement about something and the perfect song for that moment comes on the radio?  This was actually the second day in a row for this to happen to me.  God is so good.

The song that I think makes the point I am trying to make really well is called House Divided by Josh Wilson.  There lyrics are as follows:

Could someone tell me why,

old habits just won't die,

It's like I've got two hearts inside one chest.

And one is beating for the life I'm headed toward

The other wants to drag me to my death

Bridge:

I am a house divided, but I've decided I'm gonna fight it,

I do what I don't want to, Oh God I need you,

to make me new.

Chorus:

Everyday (x3)

Verse 2:

I've never understood,

the folks that think we're good,

whenever we are left to our desires,

Oh, the way i see it is,

Alone, we are adrift,

in an ocean in a boat we set on fire.

I especially like when the part that says, “ I am a house divided, but I've decided I'm gonna fight it,

I do what I don't want to, Oh God I need you, to make me new.”  I feel as though I am saying this very thing to God every day!  I tell Him I am sorry for putting this, that, or the other thing in front of Him yet again.  I ask Him to help me because I, like St. Paul said in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  This is what Josh is saying in this song.  He knows what he should do and yet what he knows and what he does are two different things.  I also like when he said, “It's like I've got two hearts inside one chest. And one is beating for the life I'm headed toward the other wants to drag me to my death.”  

This is actually what is happening.  There are two spirits competing for your soul.  The Holy Spirit is living inside of you and is trying to lead you to the life you are headed towards.  He is leading to you the amazing life God has planned for you.  The one that is so much better than you can even imagine.  Then there is the devil.  He is fighting for your death.  He would like nothing more than to drag your soul down to hell for eternal suffering.  I know that doesn’t sound good and it may even sound scary.  I am not trying to scare you, I am trying to tell you what is going on.  Do you ever wonder why everything is so hard, why it feels like there is this force working agains you?  The reason is because there is a force working against you.  The enemy is strong and he is willing to do whatever it takes to win your soul.  

God gave us free will and the enemy uses that against us.  He whispers lies into our ears all day long. He tells us we are not good enough, he tells us we will never measure up.  He tells us we won’t ever loose the weight anyway, so why bother trying?  He tells us it’s ok to sit on the couch and watch tv all day, we don’t have anything else to do anyway.  He tells us its ok if we aren’t living up to our potential, there are lots of people that aren’t and we are doing better than a lot of other people.  He fills our heads with these lies so often we start to believe them.  This is why our hearts feel so divided.  Just as this songs says, we need to recognize this is happening and we need to consciously decide to fight it.  We need to call upon God, He is the only one who can truly help us fight it.  I will leave you with the words of today’s verse, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to walk in your truth, please help us.  Teach us your ways, soften our hearts and incline our ears so we can hear you.  Lord, give us an undivided heart.  If our heart is already divided, please help us put it back together again!   Lord, help us to put you first above all things.  If there is anything we are putting above you, please put it on our hearts and then give us the strength to change it.  We love you Lord, you are so powerful.  You are the Almighty one and you are the Prince of Peace.  We adore thee, we bow before thee, holy is your name.  Lord, we are so grateful for all you do and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  Can I ask you a favor?  If you are enjoying this podcast, can you share it with at least one friend today?  Next to the title, or somewhere on the page there is usually three dots and if you click on that it gives you lots of options, one is usually to share the episode.  Also, if you could subscribe, rate and review the podcast, that would help ensure that more people can find the podcast.  Your reviews really do matter, it helps the platform know you like the show and think others should listen too.  Thank you so much for your support!  It means the world to me.  I appreciate you showing up to listen.  I look forward to hanging out with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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We have all seen God working in our lives, however, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives.  This is why it is so important we start talking about it more.  The more we share our experiences the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us.  If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at [email protected] or just click on the link below.  It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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