Walk Boldly With Jesus

Godly Friends Are Faithful

Proverbs 17:17 “Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.”

The theme for this month’s mentoring is Godly Friendships. I wanted to share with you that one of the characteristics of a Godly Friend is Faithfulness. Today’s scripture states, “Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.” The main point of this scripture is that true friends remain loyal to you through every season. If you have a Godly Friend, they are faithful. I am guessing that we have all had friends whom we thought were really good friends, and then we found out that they were talking about us when we were not around, or they were there in the good times, but not there when we really needed them.

I remember reading this somewhere once, and I thought it was so true. It said that you should be careful about talking with your friends about someone who isn’t there, because if they talk about them when they aren’t there, then why wouldn’t they talk about you when you aren’t there?  Additionally, if you are the one initiating the conversation, they may not trust you because they might think you're talking about them when they’re not there. Gossip is not good. It destroys friendships; it does not bring people closer. If you have friends who enjoy gossiping, that is not a Godly friendship. Or, that part of it is not Godly anyway. I have some friends who are wonderful people and they do help me become more holy. However, we are also human so we can get sucked into gossiping occasionally. The difference is that we notice it and we remind ourselves that is not who we want to be. That is not who God wants us to be.

There is a significant difference between sharing information with people out of concern and wanting them to pray for that person, and gossiping. The main difference is your motive. Why are you saying something about someone? Are you saying it because you care about that person and want to help them, or are you saying something because you want to feel superior to that person, or you want to be the one to contribute some gossip to the group? I have realized that even if you think you are doing a good thing by sharing something with others so that they can pray for that person, sometimes it is better to ask them to pray for a private intention. God knows what the person needs, and it is not your story to tell.

Another way to determine if you have Godly friends is to see if they are there for you during all seasons, as the verse suggests. Sometimes we can have friends who love to hang out when things in our lives are going really well. They want to go out and have a good time. They want to go to dinner or drinks and talk about how great things are. However, when things aren’t going so well, they don’t want to be there to listen. They are not calling you when you are sick or dropping soup off. When things are tough, they hang out with their other friends who are doing well.

Also, when things are going well for them, they can’t wait to tell you about it. They brag about all the good that is happening in their life while you are suffering in your life. Godly friends will pick you up when you are down. They will continually point you back to God.  Godly friends will meet you where you are at, they will comfort you when you are struggling, and they will love you too much to let you stay there.

It is not a Godly friendship to sit and complain about everything together. I am not saying you always have to be positive; there are times when you can lament your situation. However, Godly friends will help pull you out of the negative mindset instead of joining you in it. They will listen to your problems and then remind you of how great our God is. They will pray with you and for you. They will remind you of all that God has done in the past and will do again. God is the same yesterday, today, and always. (Hebrews 13:8) If He did it for those who came before us, He will do it for us too!

Godly friends will also help you out when you need something. They will offer you a ride to the airport or to work. They will help out when you are sick by bringing food over or watching the kids so you can go to the hospital. There are many ways that friends can help out when you are in need. Something else that is really nice with Godly friends is that they won’t wait for an invitation. They won’t wait until you ask them to bring a meal over. They are the first ones to offer. They will also sometimes drop by with it. They won’t ask because they know you won’t want to be a bother, so you would say no even though you could really use the help.

I had a friend when we moved to Germany that we had known from a previous base we were stationed at. My friend was really struggling with the move to Germany. She had so much to do, and her husband had to have a minor surgery right when we got there. It wasn’t a bad surgery, but he couldn’t do any lifting. This meant she had to do most of the unpacking. She was tired, and her youngest was about 2-3 years old, so they were right in the thick of toddler years.  She was exhausted from the move and from having two young kids. I called one day to see if she wanted to take the kids out somewhere, as I had three little ones at the time, too.

She broke down. She was crying and tired and said she couldn’t go anywhere because she was so overwhelmed. Luckily, it was a weekend, and Tony was home, so he stayed with our boys, and I went over to her house to watch her kids while she took a nap. We were good friends, so she knew I wasn’t going to judge that her house wasn’t completely unpacked yet. She knew I wasn’t going to judge her for needing a nap. She would have never asked me to do that, and yet she so needed it and was so grateful when she woke up and felt a bit more refreshed.

We are called to be a reflection of Christ to our friends, and we are called to find others who will reflect Christ back to us. So, when you are wondering if you are in a Godly friendship, you can ask yourself, “Is this person a reflection of God?” Another great question to ask is, “When I am with this person, am I a reflection of God?” Because sometimes, if it is not a Godly friendship, then they might bring out the worst in you, instead of the best. I have definitely had friendships where they brought out the worst in me. I wanted to join in their conversations, so I needed to have something negative to say about everything. That was not a Godly friendship. Godly friendships always point you back to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, help us to find Godly friends. We know you did not create us to be alone, so please help put the right people in our path. Please help us to know whether someone is a Godly friend. Please help us stay away from those who will just hurt us—those who will drag us down instead of lifting us up. Lord, point us to the friends who will help us grow in holiness, and we can help them grow too! We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. For more information on Godly Friendships, you can join the mentoring session on Zoom every Tuesday at 8 PM Eastern Time. There is a link in the show notes, check it out! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, "I am the master. I know all. I know what is best to give each one of you. I only ask that you open the door of your heart so that you may receive all my goodness, all that is good, all my understanding, but you need only open your heart.”

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God Couldn't Love You Anymore Than He Does Right Now!

Titus 3:4-5 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

Today I want to share with you a song that I heard this weekend. I was driving home from spending time with some of my family, and this song came on. It stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you. What I heard from the Lord was that we need to focus on His love. Even after all these podcast episodes and all these years of people sharing their witness on Witness Wednesday, it is still hard for some of us to fathom the love that God has for us. We know He loves us on some level, but thinking about how much he loves us is not something we do.

Often, we let negative thoughts overwhelm the positive ones. We can start to let the way the world views love creep into our thoughts about how God loves us. We can begin to think that God’s love is based on our performance, because most worldly love is. We can start to believe that God’s love is based on our behavior, because we have been taught from an early age that we are loved when we are good and when we are not causing trouble.

This song reminds us that God loves us for who we are, not what we do or how we behave. It reminds us that even when we feel unworthy, God still loves us. It reminds us that no matter how crappy we feel or how bad we think we are, or how many times we have messed up, God could not love us any more than He does right now. God loves you fully and completely before you are even born and will always love you perfectly, no matter what you do. It doesn’t matter if you feel you deserve it or not. God will still love you perfectly. Always! Let me share the lyrics of the song titled, “Any More” by Cain.

1st Verse:

You got a voice in your head

The same old guilt and regret

You heard a thousand times before

After the choices you’ve made

You’re waiting for me to say

I couldn’t love you anymore

Is this you? Are you just waiting for the Lord to say that He doesn’t love you anymore? Have you been expecting it for a while now? Are you sure that with all you have done, the number of times you have turned away or messed up, He surely has given up on you. He has decided He doesn’t love you anymore, it is just too much work loving you. That is something many of us think. It’s too hard to love us, we are too much and God has said enough is enough. If this is what you think, listen to the rest of this song.

The Pre-Chorus says:

The enemy has lied to you

But listen to me, here’s the truth

Chorus:

I couldn’t love you any more

Than I do right now

There’s nowhere I wouldn’t go

To get to you my child

Take a look at the cross

Then you’ll know it for sure

I couldn’t lovе you

I couldn’t love you any more

Any more

Any morе

Than I do right now

Any more

Any more

That is pretty amazing, don’t you think? If you think this is just a song and it doesn’t mean anything, let me remind you of the verse above. “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” God did not save us because of anything we did or anything we deserved. He saved us because of His love and His mercy. God loves us. He loves you. He loves you more than you can even imagine. He couldn’t love you any more than He already does, than He always has. God’s love is unchanging. Our human love tends to be fickle. We may love someone more when they are being kind to us, or not love them as much when they are being brats to us. However, God’s love is not like our love. God loves us with a perfect love. He loves us with a truly unconditional love that is unchanging, no matter what we do or do not do.

The song goes on to say:

2 Verse:

When the sin and the shame

Try to lock you away

My grace is breaking down the door

Yeah

You’re the one that I’m running after

You’re mine, and you matter

Your life’s worth dying for

The Lord is telling us in this song that we don’t have to be stuck in sin and shame. God’s grace is breaking down the door to sin and shame. We just have to let Him. I love the next line because I think it is something we don’t think of often. It says, “You’re the one that I’m running after.” It is hard for many of us to believe that God would be running after us. I have heard this in many songs, and I love the imagery. It reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible. The father sees his son when his son is still a long way off, and he goes running to his son. The head of the household back in that day and time would not run. It would not have been proper. Yet, this father did not care. He saw his son, and he ran to him.

That is what our Heavenly Father does for us as well. He not only runs to us when He sees us coming, but He runs after us when we are going in the other direction. He runs after us to save us from ourselves and to save us from this world. God never stops loving you. He is always loving you, protecting you, and wanting you to come back home, no matter how far you've strayed or how long you've been gone.

The last verse of the song says:

3 Verse:

The past doesn’t own you anymore

The grave doesn’t hold you anymore

Yeah

I say that you’re worth dying for

And I couldn’t love you anymore

This verse reminds us of three very powerful things. First, it says your past doesn’t own you anymore. This is a fact. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, forever defeating the evil in this world. However, we have to live in this truth. We have to believe it. We have to refuse to let the enemy hold us hostage with our past. God has forgiven you; now you have to forgive yourself and move forward, move past it. If your past is full of trauma or if really bad things happened to you, then you may need therapy to help you move past that trauma. I promise you, though, if you put in the work, there is freedom beyond your past. You don’t have to let it keep you stuck anymore. Your past doesn’t have to own you anymore. There is a way out, and that way is Jesus!

Next, it says the grave doesn’t hold you anymore. You are not stuck in the grave you have dug. Jesus died so our sins would be forgiven and we would have eternal life. Some of us are walking around as if we have a death sentence on our hands. We are acting as if we are already dead. You are not. God is life, not death. That grave you think you are in is just an illusion. God can save you; He has saved you. You just have to accept his help and then walk right out of that grave.

The last important thing that this song reminds us of is that “We are worth dying for.” We often say we are not worthy. However, the creator of the entire universe has sent His only son to die on the cross for you. If God Almighty says that we are worth dying for, who are we to argue? We are not worthy because of anything we did or said. We are worthy because we are made in the image of the one true king and because Jesus made us worthy when he took all of our sins to the cross with him. Believe that and you will start to live with more freedom.

I pray you hear this episode today and you allow yourself to take it all in. I pray you allow yourself to feel God's love and believe that He couldn’t love you any more than He does right now. You, yes you, are incredibly special to the Lord, and He loves you so much. He knows all you are going through, and He is right there by your side, loving you through it all. Even if you can't see why He would love you, it doesn’t change the fact that HE does.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening. Lord, thank you for loving us so perfectly. Thank you for loving us even though we might not feel like we deserve it. Thank you for hanging in there and loving us in even our worst moments. Thank you for the times when you laughed with us and cried with us. Thank you for believing in us when I don’t believe in ourselves. Lord, please help us to feel your love more. Help us to truly believe in our hearts that you love us no matter what. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. There are just six more weeks to sign up for my retreat. It is October 11-12, and it is in Easton, MA. The theme is Identity, and it is going to be a great weekend. If you have never gone on a retreat before, I want to encourage you to give it a try. It can be scary to do something you haven’t done before, but I promise you will not regret it. It will be so life-giving. It will be that thing that you didn't even know you needed, but you did. CLICK HERE for all the information and to sign up. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I knock at the door of your heart, my children. Will you open the door for me? Will you accept the new wine that I am offering you? Will you also be my new skins that will hold my goodness, my joy, my hope, everything that is good? I want you to hold it so that you may share it with the world.”

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God’s Love For Us

Ephesians 3:16-19 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

I love this verse.  I probably say that about a lot of these verses.  I think when I am reading through the whole Bible, one chapter at a time, I miss a lot of the information that is contained in each verse.  I get the idea of the chapter, and I understand the lesson and the main things I am supposed to learn, and yet even as I write this, I am not sure I do get all the things I am supposed to learn, as it seems like there is so much in each verse.  I am really enjoying taking a look at each verse or a couple of verses individually and trying to see what they are telling us and how they apply to our lives.  

I think this verse is particularly special, as I read it today, as I have a friend who is struggling with inner strength.  Her situation is so difficult right now, and she is trying so hard to be the strong one.  She was trying to hold it together for her family.  I bet if you are a parent, you find yourself doing this a lot.  We feel all the weight of the family on our shoulders. No matter if you are a mom or a dad, you feel the weight.  We try to stay strong because we feel that if we fall apart, our family will fall apart.  We stay strong because we want our kids to feel secure and know that we have it all together.  We want them to know we are there for them.  We all do this; you are not alone.  

My friend said something today that made me think, if she is feeling this way, maybe others are too.  Then, when I read this verse, I thought it could help me explain why we don’t need to feel this way.  My friend said she tries to stay strong because she doesn’t want God to be disappointed in her.  I am guessing that she is not the only one of us who feels this way.  It can be tough because we know that we have a lot to be grateful for, and we don’t want God to think we are ungrateful for all the things that are going right.  We love God and we want to please Him.  We want to do what we can to make Him happy.  He is our Heavenly Father, and it makes sense that we don’t want to disappoint Him.  

My first thought was that we can’t disappoint Him.  He loves us more than we could even imagine.  However, I don’t think that is true.  I think that He is probably disappointed when we sin, especially if it is something that we know better than to do and yet we do it anyway.  We know how He wants us to live, and so if we are continually breaking his commandments, He probably does get disappointed with us.  Short of this, I do not think He gets disappointed with us.  God is the one who made us who we are.  He made us with our unique personalities and all of our feelings.  He knows that we are not perfect.  I don’t think that He gets disappointed in us when we feel weak.  God said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.  It is when we can admit our weakness that God can move in and give us power.  

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”  This is a powerful statement.  The Holy Spirit lives in each one of us.  And God gives us power through this Spirit in our inner being.  Through this power of the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells in our hearts as well.  Think about that for a minute.  You not only have the power of the Holy Spirit strengthening your inner being, but you also have Christ dwelling in your heart.  You can handle anything that comes your way.  God has you covered.  He is there every step of the way.  This is something that He is repeatedly telling our Prayer Group.  I am there for you, in good times and in bad.  I will lift you up when you fall.  Lean on me in times of trouble.  

When we are weak, God is not disappointed; He expects it.  He knows we can’t do it all on our own, and He doesn’t want us to.  He wants us to lean into Him.  He wants us to ask for help.  His Glory shines when we ask for help.  Think about your children or your pets.  What do you feel inside when they ask for help, or when they are sad?  Are you disappointed or frustrated with them?  No, you love them, and you would do anything to help them.  This makes me think of a verse in Matthew 7:11: "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”  In this circumstance, it would be more like “If you have compassion on your children when they are sad and feeling weak, how much more compassion would your Heavenly Father have on you?”  He loves you!

The second verse from above describes this love.  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  Did you catch it?  It talks about being able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is.  I wonder if we are even capable of this?  The Lord is also repeating this message over and over again to our prayer group.  This is a word that was given at one of our meetings, “I love you so much.  You cannot understand the depth of my love.  If I let the power of my love loose and hugged you, I would crush you.  My love for you is that great.  It consumes you.”  Can you imagine this kind of love?  Think of the biggest bear hug you have received from someone, or maybe given to someone.  Now times that by a million.  That is how much God loves us.  

I really liked this image.  I think it helps me to imagine how much God loves us.  It also helps me to remember that He loves us more than we are capable of loving others.  You can see examples of God’s love all throughout the Bible.  There were so many times when he gave grace to people who didn’t deserve it.   When you read about all Jesus’ interactions with people, they were full of love.  When I am struggling with thoughts that I might be letting God down, I remember this word and how much He loves me.  I truly believe that He looks down on us and is so proud of us for all of our efforts.  I will leave you with another word that was given at our prayer group.  “My children, you strive hard to follow me.  But I am asking you to simply lean into me.  When doubts assail you and enemies crowd near; when your own thoughts rise in rebellion against my goodness; praise me and watch me work.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us to feel your love today. We pray as it said in the verse that we are able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is.  Heavenly Father, we love you so much, and we know our love is just a fraction of how much you love us. Remind us of this, Lord. When we are struggling and we feel we are letting you down, remind us of your love.  We are grateful, Lord, for all you've given us, and we know that you are with us even in the hard times. Help us lean into you. Help us to praise you, Lord, even when we're sad and even when it's difficult. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will, and in Jesus’s holy name, amen

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God Created Doctors Too!

Sirach 38:12-14 “Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him. There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians, for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.”

This week I got the opportunity to go to the beach with a few friends. I don’t often go to the beach, especially not in the middle of the week, and it was a really great time. What made this trip to the beach extra special was that we started our day at the beach with some faith sharing. The theme for mentoring this month is Godly Friendships, and so I want to take a minute to thank the Lord for these ladies. Ours truly is a Godly friendship. We pray together, we pray for each other and our families, we build each other up, we encourage each other, and we help each other become more holy. We always point each other back to Jesus.

It is so important that we all have people in our lives like this. We all need others to pray for and with us. We need people we can talk to about anything, especially our faith journey. We need people we can be open and honest with about our faith journey. Those who won’t judge us, but will encourage us and help us when we are struggling. On that beach, we each took 10 minutes or so and talked about what is going on in our faith journey. We talked about our blessings and our struggles, and then we prayed into those struggles. It really was beautiful.

While we were talking, someone mentioned this verse in Sirach. The Lord brought it to my mind this morning during Adoration, and so I thought I would share it with you. I know several people right now who are struggling with physical ailments. They have been to all the doctors, and either the doctors can’t figure out what is wrong with them, or they do know, but they haven’t come up with a suitable treatment plan. There are also some who know exactly what is wrong, but there is no human cure for it, and so they are waiting for the Lord to miraculously heal them.

Today, I want to talk to those of you who are fed up with the doctors and just want to be healed already. I know some of you are so frustrated because you have been praying for the Lord to heal you for a long time now, and you haven’t seen any fruit from those prayers. You have been asking for a miraculous healing, and those prayers seem to have gone unanswered. If this is you, then this message is definitely for you today. If you have been praying for someone who has been struggling for a very long time and has not seen answers to prayers, then this is for you, too!

The verse above says, “Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him. There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians, for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.” We would all like to be miraculously and instantaneously healed by Jesus. However, this verse is telling us that the Lord created physicians, and sometimes we need them. The verse tells us that we should not let them leave us because we need them. It says that there may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of the physicians.

I know this is not what some of you wanted to hear from the Lord today. I know many of you are frustrated with the physicians you are seeing. You are frustrated with the lack of answers, or you are frustrated with the answers they are giving you. You don’t like their plan. Some of you are also scared. You have a long history with doctors or surgeries, and you do not want to try again.

If this is you, I am so sorry. I am sorry for all your past trauma with doctors or surgeries. I am sorry for all the current pain you are experiencing or the circumstances you are facing. You may have a good reason to mistrust your doctor. I am not trying to second-guess you. If you need to find a new doctor, pray that the Lord points you to the right one. All I felt like the Lord wanted me to share with you today was that he created everything, including doctors.

I like where the verse says, “for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them succession diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.” We tend to think we need to be for medicine and doctors or for God. Often, we put them on opposing sides, and we say that if we really believed in God, we wouldn’t need to go to the doctor because our faith would heal us. Did you know that two things can be true at the same time? For instance, you can be happy and sad at the same time. I am happy that my son is starting a new year of college. I am happy that he is going to college in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity to travel, grow more independent, and get a good college education. And also I am sad because it means I will not get to see him for 3 and a half months. Both things are true.

The same is true with faith and medicine. You can have faith that God will heal you and still take that medicine, still see that doctor, still do the treatments prescribed. You don’t have to choose one or the other. I think God is reassuring us of this in Sirach 38. He wants us to know that he created doctors, and he uses doctors to heal people. We will ask others to pray over us for a healing, right? Why do we do that? We ask others to pray over us because we know that God can use anyone to heal us. He can use a priest with the anointing of the sick. He can use your mom, dad, or even a friend. He can use someone from the church or someone who has a healing charism. God can use literally anyone, or no one, to heal you. He could just heal you in your sleep without anyone praying over you. If we have enough faith to believe that God can use anyone to heal us, then why are we sad or disappointed when He uses a doctor?

It can still be a miraculous healing even if it was done through a doctor or through medicine. Go back and listen to the Witness Wednesday from yesterday, August 13th, 2025. I believe it is Witness Wednesday #172. There was a man in the article who had stage 4 cancer. It was a particularly treatment-resistant type. The doctor wanted to try a hormonal treatment along with the chemo to shrink the tumor. He took the medicine, and in three months the tumor was gone. That is still a miracle, no matter how you look at it. It doesn’t matter that it was through medicine, and it doesn’t matter that it was by a doctor. The tumor went away. Hallelujah!! God is so good!

I pray that when you hear this episode today, you stop and take a minute to thank God for the doctors and all medical professionals in this world. I pray that you thank him for your doctors, and if you think you need new ones, now is a perfect time to ask Him to bring the right doctors into your life. I also pray you cut yourself some slack and realize that you don't have to do anything to heal yourself. Just keep asking God for what you need, and I promise HE WILL PROVIDE! He always does!!

Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you be with all those listening. Lord, please come to the rescue of all those who are suffering. Lord, if you want to heal them through a doctor, please put the right doctor in their path. If you want to heal them miraculously right now, we are good with that, too! Lord, you know the plans you have for us. Please help us hold on until those good, good plans you have for us come into fruition. Lord, we love you so much, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Reminder: Click here for all the information on my retreat in October. It is going to be a great weekend! I hope you will join me. It won’t be the same without you! Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My holy and beloved children. Yes, I call you holy, for that is who you are in my eyes. You are beloved beyond anything you can imagine.”

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Today’s witnesses are from a website called ThoughtCatalog.com. (CLICK HERE for article) It is a list of several miracles that happened to different people. I do not know any of the people who wrote in with these miracles. Dr. Dakota Fox wrote the article. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

1.) My father once was traveling along a country highway. It was early morning and he was at the front of a long line of traffic. Along his way he spotted a hitchhiker with a hiking backpack and being the kind person he was, he stopped for them and lost his place at the front of traffic. The guy seemed really friendly, dad chatted with him about his family and work, told the guy how he wanted to have a kid, the guy was super friendly and nice and supportive.

All of a sudden he asked my dad to drop him off. Dad was confused as this was right next to a field in the middle of nowhere. The guy said don’t worry about it and got out which weirded my dad out. My dad turned to leave and noticed the guy left his bag and went to let the guy know but he was gone. Nowhere to be seen. Dad says he searched for him but it made no sense where he went or how he could hide. Upon getting back in the car he looked in the bag to find it to be empty. Also weird. He decided to continue on his way and joined back in traffic. He came to the first set of lights eventually and noticed an accident had happened to the car that was behind him in the line of traffic originally and he realized had he not picked this guy up he would’ve been in that accident. That guy saved him.

2 weeks later his wife was pregnant with me. My dad still has the bag and carries it with him in his car at all times hoping to eventually run into the guy and thank him.

TLDR: dad was saved by weird guardian angel hitchhiker guy. Still has momento from occasion. Doesn’t understand what happened to this day.

2.) My wife and I tried having a baby for a couple of years with no luck. Got to the point of IVF, which is what finally worked. We both were excited that it was actually happening, and made it the point where you can see a heartbeat flicker.

Shortly after she bled to the point where she passed what looked bigger than a clot and was assumed to be the baby. We went to the doctor and they confirmed no more heartbeat, come back in a couple days to check if all passed or if surgical removal was necessary.

Started checking her out and the tech called the doctor in the room, turns out they saw flickering again that they didn’t before. Everything appeared to back in order but threatened that a miscarriage could still happen. Fast forward to 30 weeks, wife’s blood pressure rises and gets diagnosed with preeclampsia. She wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital until the baby was out.

After a week and a half they move her to a different floor because she’s stable. The morning after the move she has a seizure and an emergency c section is needed. Baby was born and taken to the NICU, which she started out strong. The second or 3rd day her lungs were collapsing and needed chest tubes to expand the lungs. 45 days later after learning to eat from a bottle she came home at 5lbs.

Now she’s almost 3 and other than being skinny you couldn’t tell what she went through other than 2 scars and respiratory colds taking a little more effect on her.

3.) My grandfather had a heart attack while driving and crashed into a tree. He was without oxygen to his brain for 25 minutes. The hospital did everything they could to revive him, actually trying to revive him for 3+ hours because it was a veterans hospital and he was a decorated green beret.

I was called to this hospital and was told he was brain dead. he was without oxygen for too long. I cried and cried, and all the while my family was around his bedside talking to him. The doctors told them that he might be able to hear them.

They were going to take him off of life support that night but my uncle for San Diego missed his flight and couldn’t come until morning so they decided to wait. Well, good thing.

A few hours later I was next to my grandpa and his hands started twitching. I called the nurse in and she told us that these were just spasms, and that its normal. The twitches kept getting more severe and more frequent.

After a while, the doctors started to get a little concerned and checked his vitals, they seemed shocked. After a while, he opened his eyes. We were all in shock. Complete disbelief. They told us he was brain dead and we were going to take him off of life support. He couldn’t talk for hours, but asked for a pen and notepad to write something. The first thing he wrote was “energizer” and “bunny”. It took him about 2 days before he could speak and now 4 years later, he is a fully functioning 62 year old man.

4.) I was 18 and driving down the 5 (freeway) towards San Diego. I was on the far right lane going about 65 and there was an old chinese driver who was going about the same speed as be on the lane to my left. There was a bunch of other cars around us going at a steady pace. He didn’t realize that I was right next to him and tried to merge into my lane, I freaked out and I swerved to my right, my car (96 Accord) broke out and I ended up doing two 360’s through 4 lanes and I stopped facing the on coming traffic.

There were absolutely no cars around me when it happened and when I stopped the cars were a really good distance from me, it was as if something pushed all of them back when my car broke out. I didn’t hit anyone and after I stopped I was shocked, took a second to catch my breath and pulled off to the right lane.

Then I bawled like a baby and called my mom.

5.) Had cancer that was slow to respond to even Red Devil chemo. The doctor switched me to Ibrance plus a hormonal drug. I took it for three months and the tumor went from being the size of a very large grapefruit to one too small to be measured. The doctors never saw anything like it.

After 3 months, I needed a refill on the hormonal drug. I called the oncology nurse, named the drug. She said it was never prescribed for me. The MD prescribed something else.

The records indicated the drug I was on was one no one gave me. But it was the combo that tamed the tumor. No one knows where that prescription came from. They were joking that well, there’s a blind study we can’t discuss.

6.) My dad was in a bad car accident around 1994 and had to walk with a cane because of herniated discs. The doctors did back surgery on him and fused part of his spine with titanium rods. He was bed ridden a good amount of the time. I was really little and believed that Jesus would heal him if we would just go to one of those places on TV I saw (Benny Hinn crusades).

My mom heard that a local church was bussing people to one of them and she called and got us seats. We were seated in the nose-bleed section and it came to the part of the night where people started walking on stage and reporting that they were healed. I looked at my dad and said “don’t you want to be healed? You should go down there.” At that time my little sister said the same thing to him (she was around 5 years old).

My dad gave my mom his cane and wobbled out of the row of seats. There were at least 6 flights of stairs to get to the bottom of the arena. My dad took the first step down without his cane and I thought he was going to fall down the stairs. He took the second step and the next thing I remember, we were racing each other down the stairs to the bottom. When we got to the bottom, a lady grabbed my dad by the shoulder and said “God told me to wait for you.”

She took his hand and lead us straight to the side of the stage. One of the ushers started asking him what God had done for him and he quickly told him what had happened. The next thing I knew we were on the stage and my dad was running back and forth with no cane (something I hadn’t seen my dad do for over 6 years at the time). The rest was a blur.

Long story short, my dad has been walking fine ever since, 16+ years. He went back to the doctors afterwards and they couldn’t explain what happened. Even though that happened when I was younger, it’s hard to not have doubts as an adult that some people are phonies when it comes to those types of church programs. At least for my dad (one confirmed case) it was 100% real. Jesus literally healed my dad and there is real life evidence to show for it. Crazy.

After all these years of listening to my dad’s homilies about the miracles that have happened in my family and all these years of participating in Witness Wednesdays, I am still surprised by the miraculous ways God works in our lives. I am not sure if I am surprised or just in awe of the miraculous ways He works. I wish everyone knew that he was still working today as He did back in the day of the apostles. If you are in need of a miracle, keep asking, keep believing, and keep hoping! Your miracle could be right around the corner!

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Live Unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Romans 1:16-17 “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

I first read this verse in the Passion Translation this morning, and it says, “I refuse to be ashamed of the wonderful message of God's liberating power unleashed in us through Christ! For I am thrilled to preach that everyone who believes is saved – the Jew first, and then people everywhere! The gospel unveils a continual revelation of God's righteousness – a perfect righteousness given to us when we believe. And it moves us from receiving life through faith to the power of living by faith. This is what the scripture means when it says: "We are right with God through life-giving faith!”

I love how these verses emphasize that God’s power is for everyone who believes. The message we are tasked with spreading is not just for the Jewish people, or any group of people. It is for anyone who believes. This is important to remember because at times we can get very selective about who we do and do not give the message too. Sometimes we can avoid sharing the message with some people because they may not fit our idea of what a Christian should be. We might look at them and immediately judge them by what they look like or how they are dressed.We were tasked with bringing the message to every single person in all corners of the earth. It is not up to us to decide who is worthy or not worthy of hearing the word. We never know who needs to hear the Gospel.

I recall a story about a group of people in Ireland who were learning to use the evangelization tool called 'Jesus Knocking'. They were taught how to use it, and then they were sent out on the streets to knock on doors and begin telling people about Jesus. These two men, who were particularly shy, knocked on this one guy's door. When the man answered, they could see he was a biker, part of a gang, and he looked kinda scary. The first thing he did was tell them they had to come inside because he couldn’t be seen. He had a warrant out for his arrest. They were very nervous to go inside this guy’s house, but they did. They were certain that he would not want to hear what they had to say, but they asked him anyway. He said, “Sure, I will listen.” Then, when they got to the part where they asked if he wanted to have a personal encounter with Jesus, he said yes. They were so surprised.

It turns out he was very nice and that Jesus was just what he needed in his life. Once he turned his life over to Jesus, everything changed for him. A few weeks later, he happened to be in a car with fellow gang members when the car got stopped. He thought about lying about who he was so that he didn’t get arrested because he still had a warrant out for his arrest. Although now that he had found Jesus, he knew he couldn’t lie. When they asked what his name was, he told them. They looked him up in the system and said he was free to go. He has no idea what happened to the warrant, but he was so grateful to God for saving him.

The verse also says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” I love to think about the power of God that we have living inside of us. However, this reminds us that the Gospel is also the power of God. I think we forget how powerful the Gospel can be. I think we can take it for granted sometimes and forget that not everyone knows how great God is. Not everyone has heard that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. Jesus loved them so much they he took every bad thing they ever did and will ever do to the cross with Him.

The amazing thing about the Gospel is that even if people have heard it before, they may hear it again, and it hits them in a different way. Maybe something they have gone through in their life has prepared them to hear it differently this time. Maybe life has been rough, and the idea that Jesus loves them and would do anything for them is exactly what they needed to hear that day. Being Catholic, we get to hear the Gospel every Sunday at Mass. The Gospel is not something new to us, and if we are honest, probably not always exciting. We can let it become mundane and ordinary if we are not careful, because we do have ready access to it, and we do hear it all the time at Mass.

However, we must never forget the power of the Gospel. When the apostles first started bringing the Gospel to all parts of the world, people were hungry for it. They were baptizing several people everywhere they went. The world is just as hungry for it today. We just don’t think to spread it because we live in a culture that seems to be open to everything except Christianity. Nowadays, we are afraid of talking about the Gospels and about Jesus because we don’t want to offend someone, or we don’t want to be attacked for our beliefs.

The time when Jesus lived, the time after he died, when the apostles were spreading the Gospel around the world, it was not a friendly place for Christians either. I mean, we might get rejected, or maybe even yelled at for trying to share the Gospel. However, the apostles were stoned to death or crucified for sharing the Gospel. Over the last 2000 years or so, there have been times when it was dangerous for your life to share the gospel. It still is in some countries.

I remember when I lived in England, we went to visit a historic house, and when we took the tour, they showed us the hidden hole in the wall where the Catholic priest would hide if the police came to search the house. In 1559, it became illegal in the United Kingdom to practice mass. It did not become legal again until 1791.

We might not live in a particularly friendly culture when it comes to sharing the Gospel, and yet, if the apostles can do it at the risk of being stoned to death, surely we can do it with the risk of rejection? There are people still in this day and age who are risking their lives to bring the Gospel to people in countries that do not allow freedom of religion. I don’t think we are all called to do that. I do believe we are all called to be an example of the Gospel to all those we meet.

We are all called to live our lives as an example of Christ and His love for us. We are meant to live out the Gospel in our day-to-day lives. You know all those parables found in the Gospels, those are to show us how to live our lives so that others will see how we live, what we have, and they will want it. I don’t mean what we have, as in possessions, I mean what we have, as in the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. How are we doing with this? Are we being brave? Are we asking the Lord for a Holy Boldness so we can live our lives unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

You all know how much I love a good song. I have had the chorus of a song going through my head this whole time, and yet I couldn’t quite make out the words. Has that ever happened to you? You know a song, and yet you can’t think of it when you want to. Well, writing that last sentence in that last paragraph finally jogged my memory. The song is called Unashamed, and it is by Matthew West.  I know we are a bit on the longer side today, but I really want you to hear the lyrics.

Three brothers in a fire

Willing to die for their faith

But You were with them in the fire

And they walked out the next day

And Daniel met a lion

Because he chose to pray

But You shut the mouth of that lion

And he walked out the next day

[Pre-Chorus]

So what's gonna be said of me when it's all said and done?

Will I stand for my beliefs or will I turn around and run?

Well, let the whole world hear me say

[Chorus]

I'm unashamed

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ

And the truth that changed my life

For the name above all names

I'm unashamed

And I will live my faith out loud

Take a stand and stand my ground

For the One who took my shame

I'm unashamed

[Verse 2]

I don't answer to the crowd

I answer to a king

So the louder they shout

Oh, the louder I sing, yeah

[Pre-Chorus]

So what's gonna be said of me when it's all said and done?

Will I stand for my beliefs or will I turn around and run?

Well, let the whole world hear me say

[Chorus]

I'm unashamed

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ

And the truth that changed my life

For the name above all names

I'm unashamed

And I will live my faith out loud

Take a stand and stand my ground

For the One who took my shame

I'm unashamed

[Bridge]

At the name of Jesus

Every knee will bow

And every tongue confess

So let it start right now

Before you come back, Lord

Before the rocks cry out

I will lift my praise

Let it start right now

[Chorus]

I'm unashamed

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ

And the truth that changed my life

For the name above all names

I'm unashamed, yeah

And I will live my faith out loud

Take a stand and stand my ground

For the One who took my shame

I'm unashamed

(I'm unashamed)

Oh, I'm unashamed (I'm unashamed)

I want the world to hear me say

I'm unashamed

(I'm unashamed)

Oh, I'm unashamed

For the One who took my shame

I'm unashamed

[Outro]

Lord, I will stand for You

I tell the world about You

I'm unashamed

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of those who are listening to this episode. Lord, you are amazing, and we are so grateful to you for all you have given us. We are grateful for the Gospel. Help us to be bold and to live out the Gospel in our lives. Help us to share the Gospel with all we meet. Please help us to be unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Let it be said of us one day that we lived as an example of Jesus to all those we met. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. There is a link in the show notes for the upcoming retreat in October. Please check out the link and consider joining me. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am your God and I am telling you, I am pouring down my outpouring of love and joy. I am filling you with me.”

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God Can Send An Angel

Tobit 3:16-17 “At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God. 17 So Raphael was sent to heal both of them: Tobit, by removing the white films from his eyes, so that he might see God’s light with his eyes; and Sarah, daughter of Raguel, by giving her in marriage to Tobias, son of Tobit, and by setting her free from the wicked demon Asmodeus. Tobias was entitled to have her before all others who had desired to marry her. At the same time that Tobit returned from the courtyard into his house, Sarah, daughter of Raguel, came down from her upper room.”

I decided to start reading Tobit this morning. I thought I had remembered the story, but I wanted to read through it as a good refresher. There are so many little things in the various books of the bible, and you can’t remember all of them. This is why it is good to keep reading through it and to keep refreshing your memory, as there are so many good things in the Bible. Today I read about Tobit and how he was a righteous man who did not sin against the Lord, even when those around him were.

Tobit was part of a group of God’s faithful who were taken into captivity and were forced to go and live in Ninevah among foreigners. Even though Tobit was not in his own land, he still followed the ways of the Lord. He still kept as many traditions as he could. He even took time, at great cost to himself, to bury fellow brethren that the king had killed in a fit of anger. This made the king mad, and at one point, the king ordered Tobit to be put to death, and Tobit had to run, leaving his wife and child behind. The king took all his possessions but did not kill his wife and child.

Eventually, that king was killed, and Tobit’s nephew was appointed second in command to the new king. He went to bat for Tobit and got his wife and child restored to him. However, one day a Tobit was sitting outside by his wall, and the fresh droppings of a sparrow fell into his eyes, and he became blind. Tobit cried out to the Lord and asked the Lord to “command my spirit to be taken up, that I may be released from the face of the earth and become dust.” At the same time as Tobit was praying this prayer, there was a woman named Sarah who was praying a similar prayer.

Sarah had a demon that was in love with her. So, every time she got married, the demon would kill her husband before they could even spend one night together. The rumors were going around that she was killing these men. She wanted to go into her father’s upper room and hang herself. However, she was her father’s only child, so she didn’t. She did cry out to the Lord and say, “Command that I be released from the earth that I hear reproach no more.” Sound familiar. Both Tobit and Sarah wanted the Lord to release them from their situation.

Then comes today’s verse. “At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God. So Raphael was sent to heal both of them: Tobit, by removing the white films from his eyes, so that he might see God’s light with his eyes; and Sarah, daughter of Raguel, by giving her in marriage to Tobias, son of Tobit, and by setting her free from the wicked demon Asmodeus. Tobias was entitled to have her before all others who had desired to marry her. At the same time that Tobit returned from the courtyard into his house, Sarah, daughter of Raguel, came down from her upper room.”

Raphael is one of the archangels. His name means "God has healed," reflecting his role as a healer and protector. God dispatched Raphael in response to Tobit and Sarah’s prayers. How amazing is that? Raphael came down to earth and appeared as a man to help Tobias find and marry Sarah, and then to help heal Tobit of his blindness. Tobit decided to tell Tobias about some money he had left in another land. He wanted Tobias to go and get the money, and he wanted to pay someone to go with Tobias to keep him safe. The archangel Raphael came down to take this job and lead Tobias where he needed to go.

Raphael leads Tobias where he needs to go and keeps him safe along the way. At one point, they stopped by a stream and a fish almost swallowed Tobias, but Raphael told him to catch the fish, and he did. Inside of this one fish was the answer to both Sarah’s & Tobit’s prayers.

I thought this was a great verse for today because it serves as a powerful reminder that God hears our prayers. He hears when we cry out to him. He not only hears our prayers but He answers them. God cared so much about Tobit and Sarah that he sent one of his most important angels down to answer their prayers. I think what struck me most about this verse is that if God did this for them, He can do this for you, too!

I know several people who are suffering from illnesses right now. They are in pain every day, and this is causing them to become depressed because they want nothing more than to go out and be a servant to God. They want to go out and help others. They want to go and evangelize to everyone. They want to shout from the rooftops about God’s love and God’s mercy. And yet they can’t because they can barely get out of bed in the morning.

I can understand how this could be so frustrating. Those I know who are suffering are like Job and Tobit. They are faithful people who love the Lord and are upright and righteous in the eyes of the Lord. So, why do they have to suffer so much? Why aren’t they getting the relief they so desperately need? I wish I had the answer to these questions. I wish I understood God’s timing and God’s plan. I wish I had some words of wisdom for all those I know who are waiting for this miracle that God has promised them. Some of them had talked to the Lord, and He had said they would be healed, and as amazing as that is, I am not sure how much it helps on the days when they wake up in so much pain they can’t get out of bed.

They need help now, Lord. They need to see your powerful hand in their lives. They need the strength to get up out of bed. They need to feel your love because right now, they feel abandoned. If this is you, if you are suffering with no end in sight, I want to invite you to ask the Lord to send Raphael to answer your prayers. Maybe you already have. If so, keep asking. God likes it when we are persistent. I will ask also. I will join you in your prayers for answers and for healing. We will do this together!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening. Lord, we ask that you send down your angels to help all those in need. Lord, there are so many listeners who truly need your healing. There are those listening who have heard your promises and are just waiting for you to follow through on those promises. There are some who are listening who are falling deeper and deeper into a pit while they await their healing. Lord, please help them. Please heal them. Please give them the strength to wait for that healing. Lord, at the very moment you heard Tobit’s and Sarah’s prayers, you sent Raphael. Lord, we are asking today, at the very moment you hear this prayer, that you dispatch angels to heal Joanne, Suzanne, Danielle, Rosa, Bruce, Peggy, Melissa, and all those who are listening and need a healing. Lord, you are so good. You are a miracle worker, and we know you can do all things. We thank you in advance for all these healings, and we promise to give you all the Glory for these healings. Lord, I look forward to hearing from each and every one of these people about how much better they feel. If you are listening to this episode and you need a healing, I invite you to see if you have been healed. Test it out and try to do something you couldn’t do before. Take a moment and evaluate the pain. Is it less than it was before? Sometimes we are healed when we step out in faith and test something. Try to walk when we previously couldn’t. Try to see if we previously couldn’t. God is going to be working powerfully in your lives over the next few days. Please reach out to me when you receive your healing, as I do believe it is coming. You can reach me at [email protected] or 860-481-0959. I can’t wait to hear your testimonies. Thank you, Lord, we love you!! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I want to invite all of you to my retreat in October. I know we all live busy lives and this is a chance to get away. It is just two days, one overnight. It is all about our identity in Christ and will be an amazing weekend. You will leave refreshed and more firm in who you are. I hope you will join me. It is from October 11-12th. So exactly two months from today. Check out the link in the show notes or head over to my website Findingtruenorthcoaching.com. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Be still and know I am your Lord. It is in quietness that you will hear me speak to you. Where I will give you rest, I will give you comfort. I will give you guidance. I will give you peace. It is in quiet that you are to hear me.”

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Guilty Enough To Go Into The Fiery Hell?

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Yesterday, the Gospel at mass was the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. While listening at Mass, I felt I was supposed to teach on those today. However, while reading them this morning, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to read further in the chapter. As soon as I got to these verses, I was told I could stop. What struck me about these verses is the importance of what they say and how easy it is for us to do. How easy is it for us to get mad at someone? Frequently, I would say. Mostly, I would say I get angry with people most when I am driving. I am not an angry driver and am usually pretty calm when driving.

Lately, I am still calm; however, I have noticed myself commenting on other drivers. It seems that people are driving worse and worse as the days go by. However, it could just be that I am getting old and less patient. I am not sure. However, I have noticed lately when I am driving, and someone cuts me off or drives in and out of the lanes, I think they are driving like an idiot. Sometimes, I might even say they are an idiot. This is exactly what I was thinking of this morning when I read this verse. The verse ends with, “And whoever says,

‘You fool’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Did you catch that? If we call someone a fool, we will be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. I was talking to my dad one time about heaven and hell. We were discussing how Jesus died for our sins. We were discussing how some religions believe you have to believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and you get to go to heaven, and we were talking about how Catholics believe it is not just believing in Jesus, but it is your works as well. I have always believed that you will go to heaven if you are primarily a good person. My dad reminded me of what Mary told the little children of Fatima. She gave them a vision of all the suffering in hell, and she said to them that more people than we know are going there.

This concerned me, and I have spent some time thinking about it. Then, when I went to an Unbound training, I heard the story of the priest whose heart stopped. He died for a few minutes, and instead of going to heaven like he thought he would, he went to hell. When he saw Jesus, he was told he went there because he had unforgiveness in his heart. He wished God would punish those who had hurt him. I know we hear often that we must forgive, but I am not sure we understand what is at stake if we don’t forgive. The stakes are pretty high. The Our Father prayer says that God will forgive us as we forgive those. I think many of us don’t realize what we are saying when we say that prayer.

I believe God is highlighting these things for me because I am searching. I want to spend eternity with the Father, and God knows our thoughts. He knows our hearts. If we seek the truth, He will provide it for us. I don’t want to be writing about things on this podcast that might be leading you down the wrong path, or that might be false information. Before writing each episode, I pray that the words that come out are the Lord’s words for you, not mine. We will gain understanding if we seek to understand the Word of the Lord. The Lord said in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

I often think of this phrase when I am asking for something. However, the Lord reminded me of its last part: seek and you will find. Let’s start seeking the truth. Let’s take our concerns to the Lord. Not just our prayer requests but also our concerns. Concerns such as, am I loving my neighbor? Do I love you, God, with my whole heart, mind and soul? Did you know you can ask the Lord to show you how you are falling short in your life, and He will? He won’t show you in a condemning way. He will guide you in a gentle yet convicting way. He also won’t show you a hundred things at one time. I believe the Lord will show you one or two things you can work on, and when you prove to be faithful in working on those, He will show you a few more ways.

When we make a conscious effort to live the way God calls us to, I believe  God rejoices in heaven. I think it makes Him so happy that we care enough about Him to stop and ask, will this bring me closer to the Lord or further away from Him? A few months ago, I was talking with my mother-in-law about whether we would go to heaven. She had a conversation with a friend, and they discussed what it takes to get into heaven, like my conversation with my dad. Actually that is why I was having the conversations with my dad. He is a deacon in the Catholic Church, so if I have questions on theology or what the Church says, I ask him. I also talked with a friend from Encounter Ministries, and she said she had just had a conversation with God about this the other day. Isn’t it funny how we tend to go to books, friends, or religious leaders, and my friend goes straight to the source?

She said she felt the Lord told her we were asking the wrong question. The question shouldn’t be, “Am I going to Heaven.” The question should be, “Do I love God.” This might seem like an easy question. Of course, I love God. Yet, do our actions show that we love God? If we love God, then we need to love each other. Jesus is inside each one of us. At Bible study this week, someone said they were listening to a talk, I am not sure who the talk was by, and the speaker said there are not two great commandments. There is only one. He said the two listed in the Gospels, Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself, are actually one commandment.

He went on to explain they are equal to each other. Picture you have a math equation. 2 + 3 = 5 or 4 + 3 = 7. The speaker explained that if we love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, we will also love our neighbor. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will also love our God. We can’t do one without doing the other. If we attempt to do one without the other, we fall short. We are not truly loving God if we are treating His children with hatred and unforgiveness. Think about a sibling or a friend who has children, and you really don’t like how the children behave. Maybe you think they are spoiled brats. Are you loving your sibling well when you feel evil thoughts about their child? Are you loving your parents well when you are treating your siblings poorly?

I think the Lord is slowly revealing what is most important to Him. I know for sure that forgiveness is so essential, and this keeps getting confirmed the more and more I learn. Now that I know that deep in my soul, I believe he is moving on to the next thing: kindness and how we treat his beloved children. We can’t genuinely love Him if we are treating His children poorly. What I love about this verse is that it breaks it down so specifically. I don’t love what it says, as it is hard to hear. However, I would rather listen to it now and have the chance to change my ways than not hear it and inadvertently end up in a place I definitely don’t want to be for all eternity. Let me leave you with the Lord’s words today. I know it is a hard teaching, and it will take time to stop doing it. I also know we can stop doing it if we rely on the Lord to help us. All we need to do is say, Yes, Lord, come in and transform my heart and mind. Lord, I need you. Please give me the strength to stop doing these things. The Lord’s power is made perfect in our weakness. We have to humble ourselves and ask for help. Listen to these words and ask the Lord to let these words change your heart.

“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

Dear Lord, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, thank you for caring so much about us. You are willing to tell us what we don’t want to hear. Lord, help us to change our ways. Lord, help us to understand the gravity of our actions. We think it is no big deal to call someone an idiot, and yet you are saying we will be guilty enough to go to hell. Lord, help us change. We want to spend eternity with you. That is all we want, which is most important to us. Help us, Lord. We love you very much and 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. My new coaching program starts in just 5 days. Make sure to go to my website and get all the details. www.walkbodlywithjesus.com I hope you will consider joining me so we can all go a little deeper in our relationship with the Lord. I know doing something new can be scary. You don’t know what to expect and aren’t sure you will like it. What if everyone else is further along on their journey? What if they know more than I do? What if you ask the wrong question? What if you hate it? All of these are everyday thoughts. First of all, we are all on our own spiritual journey. I personally love it when everyone else is further along because I learn so much from them. I have always been nervous about joining a new group, but I can honestly say I have never regretted it. Being surrounded by others who share the same beliefs and have the same desire to grow closer to the Lord is such a fantastic feeling. It is not something I can explain. It is something you have to experience for yourself. If you don’t like it, you can quit. Just because you sign up for the first month does not mean you have to stay forever. You can quit at any time. There is no long-term commitment required. You can just come and see what it is all about. If you have any questions or concerns, I am happy to answer them. [email protected] I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day.

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Ask Again

Acts 9:1-6  “ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest  and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.   As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

If you are not familiar with the story of Saul I suggest you read acts chapter 9:1-19. I did not want to take up too much of your time recounting the whole story but I will summarize it later.  When I was thinking of what to write about I got to thinking about how many people I talk to, that are worried about their children.  They are worried because their children are not attending mass, or are no longer Catholic/Christian.  They worry that they, as parents, are not making a difference in their child’s faith, or that their example is not enough.  I have these same thoughts as well.  I thought I would share something that I feel God pointed out to me that has given me a lot of comfort.  People have always told me that if I pray for my children God will answer my prayers.  And that they will come back to the church in His time, not mine.  However, I still worried because I know that God gave us free will.  I always thought that meant that the boys needed to at least be open to him, or maybe the needed to be looking for him in order for them to be saved.  And I wondered if they would be open to Him.  I wondered what would happen if they weren’t ever looking for Him.  However, one day God gave me a thought, “What about Saul?”  

In Acts 9:1-19, we learn about Saul.  Saul was someone who was persecuting anyone who believed in Jesus.  When he was on his way to another town, with the intent of finding anyone who believed in Jesus and bringing them back to Jerusalem in chains, he was blinded by a vision of Jesus.  Jesus asked him why he was persecuting him.  Saul was instructed to go into town and wait for someone to come and visit him.   When Saul tried to open his eyes, he was blind.  A disciple of God went and cured his blindness, and he was immediately baptized.  This is, of course, the abbreviated version. I suggest you read the full version, as it is a great story.  So, if God can completely convert Saul, who was not open to Jesus, or looking for him, but was murdering and persecuting others who believed in him.  Then just think how easy it will be for God to win our children back when he decides they are ready.  I hope that this can put your mind at ease at least a little.  
A second part to this is that sometimes I think that we get tired of asking for the same thing over and over again.  We assume the answer is no because God hasn’t answered our prayer yet.  However, when we read Luke 11:5-8 “And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him, and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.  I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.  I know I have talked to you before about the woman who was persistent in going to the judge and asking for justice. She did not receive it because he was kind; she received it because of her persistence.  We must keep asking.  God will reward our persistence.  If we need to reach out and have someone else ask on our behalf when we are weak, then we should do that.  However, we should not give up asking just because God hasn’t answered yet.  He will in his time! I am going to read a piece of writing that beautifully illustrates the “Ask Again” idea.  I first heard this on the Big Life Devotional Podcast, and then I went to Facebook and found it on her page titled Tera’s Online Christian Journey.  I will put a link to her page in the show notes.  To visit her Facebook Page, click here. ASK AGAIN By: Tera Elness I know, I know, you’ve already asked Him a million times. I see those eyes rolling.  But today, ask Him a million and one.  
Yes.   Ask Him AGAIN.   Ask him again for that child to come home.   That marriage needs to be healed.   That mountain to move.   Ask him again for that friendship to mend.   That work to begin.   That end-of-tunnel light is to appear.  
Ask Him again for the one who needs rescue, the one who needs healing, the one who needs new direction, new guidance, new focus.  Yes.   Even if that ‘one’ is you.   Ask him again for what you need.   For what you want.  For joy in the sorrow.   Help in the struggle.   A sip of living-water in the heat of your schedule...and the time to just sit at the well, amen?  Ask him again.  Ask Him again to provide springs in your land; and while you’re at it, give thanks for that land, no matter how dry it is now, knowing He’s given it to you with good purpose.  Yes.
Ask him again.   Ask him again to dig up the soil and plant the seeds.
Ask Him again to stir up and settle, make and remake, pour out His peace that passes all understanding, because frankly, you could use a hefty dose about now.   Yes.  
And Amen.   Ask Him again for all that seems lost and all that seems nowhere, even near the city of possible...and ask Him believing He can.   Yes.  
Ask him again.   Not because you don’t think He heard you the first million times, but because you are realizing the longer you {truly} live, that persistence is a pretty strong faith-builder; not to mention how close it keeps you to Him for whom all things are possible and nothing is too hard, and because faith-based strength to persevere and closeness with your Creator is what you REALLY need.   Whew. Yes. Absolutely.  
Ask him again.   With fresh eyes and a renewed spirit and a passionate resolve that He can, and if it’s His Will...He will.   And if it’s not, you will keep on asking.   You will keep on seeking.   You will keep on believing just like Steve Perry says.   Because persistent faith is where it’s at.   It fastens its gaze on hope.  The hope that is always three steps {Father, Son, Holy Spirit} ahead, providing the perfect focal point.  Yes.   And it never disappoints.   Amen.   So today, bow low, look up, and ask Him AGAIN.

Dear heavenly father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask that you bring peace and comfort to all of us who are worried about our children or nieces and nephews. Lord, we worry because we know how great you are, and we want so badly for our children to know this.  Lord, reassure us that you were in charge and that you have claimed our children and that we don't have to worry about them. Lord, give us the strength and persistence to keep on asking even when we're tired. Lord, if we don't have the strength to keep asking, give us the wisdom to ask her friends to pray with us or for us. We love you, Lord, and we're going to keep asking because we have faith and hope in you every single day of our lives. Heavenly Father, we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus ' holy name, amen.

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