Walk Boldly With Jesus

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Rejoicing in the Lord is one of my favorite things to do. Praise and Worship are so critical in our faith journey. This month in mentoring, we're discussing finding joy in the struggle. Rejoicing in the Lord is a great way to foster joy. This is something that I love to use to get me out of a funk or a sad place. This works anywhere and everywhere that you are. It is best if you can listen to music because if you are in a sad, angry, or depressed state, you might have trouble worshiping. You might not be in a place where you feel you have anything positive to say to the Lord, or about the Lord. However, when a song that you love comes on the radio, it is hard not to sing along and get into that song. Or, at least, it is not hard for me, as I love music.

I love singing along as loudly as I can in my car and in my shower. I listen to Christian music, which, honestly, I didn’t even know existed until 5 years ago. Well, I knew we sang Christian songs in church, but I didn’t know they had contemporary Christian music, pop songs, rap songs, and rock songs, among various other genres. I am so in love with all of it. I love upbeat songs. It’s like my body wants to dance along to the beat, even when I am out walking or running.

If you don’t know what I am talking about right now, I invite you to download the KLOVE app on your phone. It is the radio station I listen to all the time now, and it has so many good songs. You might be hesitant at first, but give it 30 days and you will know all the words and love all the songs. You can also go onto the Spotify app on your phone, and I have created a playlist called Walk Boldly With Jesus Favorites, and it has all my favorite upbeat songs. Actually, there may be a few slower songs, but they are all good songs!

If you are having a really hard day, put on a playlist of upbeat songs that sing of the glory of God. I am telling you, it is really hard to be sad and to think that God has abandoned you when you hear all these singers reminding you of how great God is and how He has been there for them in their hard times. A real-life example of how powerful music can be is the other day when I was at the courthouse. I had to go there to do something really hard, and I was really sad. I remembered that I had my earbuds in my purse, so I put them in my ears and put on some worship music. I was sitting there feeling sad, and then one of my new favorite songs came on. The song is called My Promised Land and it is sung by Josiah Queen. Here is the beginning verse and chorus:

You had me standing on a mountain

Walking through barren lands

You took my hand and You said

You can have this world

But I won't go with you

Oh, I won't go with you

[Pre-Chorus]

But I ran out of places

And feelings I was chasing

All I have is You and You alone

And I said

[Chorus]

Hold on, wait a minute

I don't want what You ain't in, and

I don't wanna go unless I'm going there with You

It's You there, rain or shining

You're the sun on my horizons

You are my everything

My promised land is You!

And I know I am probably crying while I am saying it, but the music is so upbeat and I love it! Whenever I hear these songs, it reminds me that God is my everything. If He is not in it, then I don’t want it. It reminds me that He is there with me, rain or shine. I like to play my playlist on shuffle, and I like to believe the Holy Spirit is closing the order of my songs. I am sure the Lord knew I needed this song the other day at the courthouse. I honestly considered going outside of the courthouse and dancing my sadness out. However, I didn’t want to miss my name when they called it, so I just sang in a whisper voice and imagined myself dancing it out.

I can't emphasize enough how critical praise and worship can be in changing your mood and lifting you out of a pit. The enemy gets so confused when we praise the Lord when we are struggling. They don’t understand why we would praise God when we are hurting, sad, or angry. Also, the enemy can’t stand the name of Jesus. All you have to do is say the name Jesus, and the enemy flees. I heard a speaker once who asked his friend, who is a Catholic priest and exorcist, what the most powerful prayer is when it comes to fighting the evil spirits and demons, and he said the most powerful thing we can say is, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” That is pretty simple and yet powerful.

If music is not your thing, that is ok, you can still praise the Lord. When I joined the Charismatic Prayer Group, they taught me to praise the Lord out loud by using various names for the Lord. For instance, you can say, “You are Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You are a miracle worker and a way maker. You are the prince of peace and the lion of Judah.” The prayer group gave everyone a piece of paper filled with praise phrases to help us out until we got comfortable coming up with our own. There is no right or wrong way to praise. You can praise the Lord in any way you choose. You can thank Him for all the things in your life, for all the ways He has saved you, and for the desires of your heart. You can praise Him for all he did for his people in the Bible.

You do not have to do or say the right thing. The reason I mentioned the praise sheets is that you might not be able to think of good things when you are struggling. You might be looking at your life and believing that God has abandoned you. Your situation might seem like there's nothing to praise God about. If this is the case, I would like to review the praise sheet and simply read what is on it. It doesn’t matter if I feel it or not; I just read it, and it helps lift me out of whatever I am feeling. Give it a try! I will put a link for the praise sheet I use in the show notes in case you want to have a cheat sheet like I do.

I really want to encourage you to consider making praise and worship a regular part of your daily life if you're having a hard time finding joy. You can add it to something you're already doing, so it won’t take up more time each day. For instance, you can listen to praise music while driving. Or, you can praise the Lord out loud in your car while driving. You can put on 20 minutes of praise music in the morning while getting ready, or while having your morning cup of tea or coffee. I invite you to give this a try this week and let me know what you think. You can reach me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you about how much praise and worship are changing your life. I would love to hear about your experience, good or bad. Let me know!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we want to rejoice with you, and we want to rejoice in you. We want to praise you Lord, not just when things are going well but we want to be able to praise you in the struggle as well. Please teach us how, Lord. Please show us how to have joy when we are struggling. 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. I am so excited to share with you that I have my October retreat site up and running. The retreat will be from October 11-12, 2025, with a possible extra night stay. It will be from Saturday morning to Sunday night. The retreat theme is identity. In a world that constantly tells us who we should be—based on status, appearance, success, or past mistakes—it's easy to lose sight of who we truly are. This retreat is an invitation to step away from the noise and return to the heart of your Creator. Through Scripture-based teaching, worship, journaling, and authentic community, you'll begin to uncover the truth of your identity—not as the world defines it, but as God declares it. You are not your past. You are not your failures. You are not what others have said about you. You are who God says you are: loved, chosen, redeemed, and called for a purpose.
Whether you're seeking healing, clarity, or simply a deeper understanding of your worth in Christ, this retreat is a sacred space to rediscover your God-given identity and walk boldly in it. I hope you will consider joining me. It will be held at the same place as last year, North Easton, MA. CLICK HERE for more details. 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 get this image of a heart that's all stitched up at the seams, and yet it is so full it wants to burst. And I get this overwhelming feeling of love that God has for us.”

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Can Your Faith Heal You?

Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.”  And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”

How many of us have the faith of this man that Jesus healed?  He was sitting on the side of the road, and when he heard Jesus was passing by, he called out to him.  The crowd of people told him to be silent, but he kept calling out.  How many of us listen when others tell us to be silent?  Or worse yet, we don’t feel like we are worthy to speak up in the first place, or we are too nervous to speak out and ask for help for fear of rejection.  Bartimaeus did not listen when others told him to be quiet.  He kept calling out.  He believed that Jesus could heal him, and he was not going to let the chance pass him by.  Once Jesus heard him calling out, Jesus told him to call him over.  When the crowd told him that Jesus would see him, the bible says, “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.”  How great is that?  How many of us are jumping up at Jesus’ call?  I know it’s different.  Jesus was right there, and he got to see him and talk to him.  But we can also talk to Jesus anytime we want to.  Even though we cannot see him, he is calling us to him.  He wants to invite us into a deeper relationship with him.  Do we hear this call?  Do we jump up, throw our cloak aside, and run to him when we are called? 

I love the faith that Bartimaeus had.  He knew Jesus could heal him.  He did not seem to have any doubt that Jesus could cure his blindness.  He also didn’t seem to doubt that Jesus would want to help him or to question whether he was worthy enough.  He saw Jesus walking by and called out to him.  Do we do this?  Jesus is here for us; he wants us to call out and rely on Him.  Are we doing that?  It seems each week at my Prayer Group, God is showing up for us, and he is telling us to come closer.  He keeps telling us to rely on him, that he is our protection and our refuge.  Why are we not calling on him more than?  When Jesus healed Bartimaeus, He said, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”  How great would it be to hear those words from Jesus?

One scripture verse that I think is amazing and that I struggle with is Mark 11:22.  This verse is Jesus’ reply to the cursed fig tree.  Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.  Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.”  This is the type of faith that I strive for, and yet sometimes wonder if it’s possible.  I wonder if there are humans who can have this type of faith?  I know that God can do anything.  I truly believe this.  And yet, when I think of myself commanding a mountain to be lifted up and thrown into he see, I can’t seem to wrap my head around that.  I have searched for this type up faith for a very long time now.  Probably since the first time I actually heard this scripture and let it sink in.  

The very next verse is Mark 11:23, “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.”  This again just blows me away.  All that you ask for shall be yours if you believe. That seems like a lot of pressure, and at the same time, a huge promise on God’s part.  As I said above, ever since hearing scripture like this, I have searched for this type of faith.  I would love to believe without a shadow of a doubt that God can do all the things that I ask him to do, that he will answer all of my prayers.  I find it a struggle to believe as much as I would like to, and I wonder if this is because I have a human brain and we were trained from an early age not to believe in things that we can’t see or prove.  We were mostly taught that there are certain things that can be done and things that can’t be done.  I think as humanity grows, we are learning to question that more and more.  But it takes time to overcome years of that type of thinking.  

I thought I would give you one way that I have been able to deepen my trust and faith that God can do all he says he can do.  I read books about all the miracles God has done and continues to do.  I love to read books about healing.  God is so amazing and he is performing miracles every single day, and if we would just be on the lookout for them, we would see them.  If we can’t see them in our lives, we can read about them in others’ lives.  Harold Hill’s book, “How to Live Like a King’s Kid,” is an excellent example.  If you read all the amazing things that God did in his life, you can’t help but start to believe he will do it for you as well.  Harold Hill also talks about his faith journey and how he got to a point where he began to see God do amazing things in his life.  

Also, reading any books on healing, Francis McNutt, Randy Clark, Mary Healy, Matthew & Dennis Linn are just a few that I have read that have been really good.  When you read about God’s healing of others and how there are people out there today who are calling upon God to heal people every day, then it strengthens your faith that he will answer your prayers as well.  Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  We all know that Jesus was performing miracles when he was alive and walking the earth.  He raised people from the dead, he cured so many illnesses, he turned water into wine, he did all the things.  This verse from Hebrews lets us know that these miracles were not just something he did in the past.  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  He is still doing these miracles today, and if we struggle to believe this, then we need to search out the testimony of it because it is out there. Another thing I pray often is Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”

Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you increase our trust in you. Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.  Lord, we need you to show us the way. We would like nothing more than to have the faith to move mountains, and we know that you are the only one who can give us that faith. So we're asking you, Lord, we are asking for the faith to move mountains.  Lord, give us the courage to ask when we need healing or when someone else needs healing.  Help us to turn to you first and ask you to heal them.  Lord, we give you permission to use us as your instruments of healing, as you used countless people before us.  Jesus, you are the great physician, and we ask that you continue that work through us.  There are too many people dying in the world today.  Let us help you help them.  Let us be your hands of healing Lord Jesus.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

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Offer God Your Everyday Ordinary Life

Romans 12:1 “So here is what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.”

When thinking and praying about what to talk about today I look back at scripture verses God has given to my prayer group recently. The first one that I saw was this one. I went to the Bible app on my phone as I did not bring my Bible with me today. It was set for the message translation and when I read this verse I felt the the Lord confirmed this is what He wanted me to talk about.

This verse is likely one that you would recognize in another translation, as it is one that I definitely recognized. However, it seems very different in the message translation. In the New American Bible Revised Edition this verse says, “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as al living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” Does that sound familiar?

I have heard many people do talks about this verse and yet the message translation seems to come at it from a bit of a different point of view and that is what I felt the Lord wanted me to focus on today. I felt God wanted me to focus on the part that says, “Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life and place it before God as an offering.” What struck me with this is the thought that this is probably harder for many of us than to offer many other sacrifices.

Many of you listening are wanting to live your lives walking boldly with Jesus. You are trying to pray every day, you may be saying the rosary often, if not daily, you may be fasting or do something other things as a sacrifice to the Lord. Praying isn’t always easy, but it is familiar to many of us. Scripted prayers, especially if you are Catholic, are easy because you know all the words, you don’t have to think about it, you could say those prayers from mass anywhere. You have them memorized. Sacrificing your time to pray, or to talk about God with others, or even to fast isn’t that difficult because you know how to do it. You feel holier, or closer to the Lord when you are doing these things.

However, what about the regular, every day parts of your life? Can you offer those to the Lord as an offering? Can you stop before you begin your day and offer your day up to the Lord? Can you invite Him into your day? I saw a YouTube video about this a few years ago and it has always stuck with me. It was a video with Father Mike Schmitz. I will summarize that video for you now. It was called “3 Steps to Unceasing Prayer,” Father Mike Schmitz.  If you google this you can watch the video yourself.  It is just over 5 minutes long.  In the YouTube video, Father Mike Schmitz lists three steps, he learned from St. Francis DeSales, that you could do to transform everything you do into a prayer.

Ask God to be present.  Yes, God is always present and attentive to you, but by asking him to be present you are letting him know you will be present too.

Offer this moment to God.  Offer him all the joy, the suffering, whatever you may be feeling, offer it to God.  

Accept –Resolve to accept whatever comes out of this moment

This will not only transform how you have a relationship with God, it will transform how you live.  This is because when you are asking God to be attentive to you, you are allowing every moment to be a sacrament.  You are inviting God into that moment which makes it a channel of Grace.  Then, when you offer the moment up to him you make each moment a sacrifice. When you choose to accept the outcome you are making every moment a moment of surrender.  For instance you can do this when you are going to bed at night.  God, I ask you to be attentive to me and I am attentive to you.  I offer this night’s sleep to you as a sacrifice, as a gift to you and I accept whatever comes out of it.

God is not just with us when we are praying or when we are at church. He is not just with us when we are calling upon Him or calling out to Him. God is always with us. He really wants us to know that He is in the ordinary mundane parts of our life as well as the glorious parts where we are praying or participating in mass. He want us to know that He is not judging you for not making the time to pray. He is with you in all that you are doing.

Yes, He would love for you to spend time sitting down with him one on one and talking  together. However, He is also happy when you talk with him while you are driving into work or when you are doing the dishes or the laundry. He is not demanding your full attention. He just wants to be with you in all the ways He can. Can you offer your suffering to God? Can you offer your joy to God? Can you offer it all to God? Why is it so hard for us to believe He is with us in the everyday things we do? Why do we strive so hard to Do so much for the Lord when He would much rather we Be with Him? He wants you to know you can invite Him into the simple everyday parts of you life too. He is already there anyway but when you offer it to Him then you are partnering with Him in all these parts of your day. How great would it be to partner with the Lord more throughout your day?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, please help us to invite you into every part of our day. Please help us to remember that you never leave our side. You are with us in everything we do, even the everyday parts of our life. Help us offer our entire day, all that we do to you. Help us to recognize you more as we go throughout our day. 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. I want to remind everyone that I have a newsletter that I send out on a weekly basis that has an article on various topics and then also any updates on things like my retreats or books or any other news. There is a link below the show notes if you are not already getting my newsletter I invite you to sign up now. 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 can see the Lord, and he's smiling, and he's pouring down. It's almost like a gentle liquid on people, and he's saying, “I am empowering you. There's no reason to say that you can't. I am empowering you. Accept what I am giving with joy and gratitude. I am your Lord. Go and make me known. I have empowered you. This day, I have empowered you.” And it's just falling on certain people, and you have to say yes or no. Some people are saying no, while others are rejoicing.”

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Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website, called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose three testimonies from the Healing Category. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. When we hear how God worked in their situation, it gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray that when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation, too. I pray you know that God is there with you, and if you invite Him into your situation, He can help. I hope you enjoy these testimonies.

Christine and Darrell Thank you for your prayers for my bestie, June, who had a four-hour brain surgery on Monday in Omaha, NE. She had no side effects. She came home Thursday afternoon. She has 100 stitches in her head and 20 staples. She is almost 80 years old.

The doctors were floored by her fast recovery. I’m not! I thank God so much for popwe and all who prayed for her! She told me she cries often with her thanks to God for all He did for her and is in such gratitude for all who prayed for her. She has such appreciation for all who have shown love, caring, and concern for her.

I saw her yesterday, and you would never know she had surgery unless you saw the back of her head. God is still in the miracle business. As Matthew says in his song, Don’t Stop Praying, “Mountains move with just a little faith.”

We just thank God for giving Juney back to us and for popwe praying!

God bless you!

My name is Caleb, and I wanted to share my story of healing. In 2017, I had some tests done after I had developed symptoms of lightheadedness, extremely painful headaches and a few other symptoms. One of the tests was a brain scan, where they found an anomaly. My parents and I were kept mostly in the dark with the whole situation. We only found out how serious it was when they rang us and asked for us to send the scans to one of the big hospitals in Sydney, Australia.

A few weeks passed with back and forth phone calls and doctors appointments, when we found out what it was. It was a tumor, which the doctors couldn’t work out if it was cancer or an abnormal growth of cells. The doctors said that surgery was an option due to the tumor possibly being cancerous. They declared the date for my operation was the 13th of December, 2017. I was 13 at the time, and scared, as I knew the risks and how quickly things could go wrong. While family, friends, and strangers prayed for me and healing, I couldn’t work out why God was putting me through this.

A week or two before the surgery, my mum had a fight with my nan (her mum), after my nan accused her of having no faith or trust in God. Mum did trust in God and had faith, but she was looking at the other possibility of losing me. I remember turning to mum after my nan left and said ” Yes, we must trust in God for healing, but we also must remember to account for the possibility of me not coming out of the surgery”. I know it’s a bit of a grim thought, but I wanted to comfort my mum, just in case.

The surgery came and went. I woke up a bit groggy the first day, but by the second, I wanted to get up and run around, go outside and try new things. But the tubes and cables attached to me stopped me. My parents bought me a Lego Technic set to build while I recovered, which was meant to last more than a day, if I rested (which I did not, despite multiple nurses and doctors asking me to). When the day finally came when the results of the tumor came back, we were relieved that it wasn’t cancer. The same day the doctor came for the results, he also checked the stitching on where they operated and was astonished to find it had healed faster than he had ever seen. We were given the all clear to go home a few days later.

Later that year, I developed symptoms of migraines and epilepsy, which were confirmed. It was hard with new restrictions on what I was allowed to do. I was banned from getting a license to drive, I was banned from rifle shooting with my Grandfather and wasn’t to be left alone. I became very depressed, I became angry with God and blamed Him for my misfortune. I turned from God. To be honest, I believe that was the worst thing I did. My life became even darker without His light to guide me. Eventually I had thoughts of ending my own life. I went to see a counselor, but it didn’t make a difference.

One morning I woke up, in the middle of the first COVID lockdown, extremely depressed and went to attempt to end my life, when something stopped me. It felt like a presence, and like a voice telling me to stop. I felt like I could see again and I realized what I nearly did. I eventually worked through it, opening up more to my family about how I felt. I now pray to God, read the Bible and watch movies about God’s miracles. More healing from God came after developing a relationship with Him. I was cleared to drive, and am able to help others in ways I wouldn’t have, especially without this experience. During my depression, God showed me a way to create with my hands. He gave me the skills of woodworking. Every time I work with wood, I feel God giving me the wisdom and strength to help create something amazing. I have learnt a few lessons from my past- the biggest is taking one day at a time and trusting God. And I thank God for leading me to music when I needed it the most, especially Matthew West’s music and Casting Crowns. Thank you for the music.

Savannah: This story isn’t about me, but my brother. It was August of 2020 when he was admitted to the hospital with COVID. We were told right from the beginning that it didn’t look good. What followed was a long battle for his life. He needed a form of life support that had extremely limited availability. He needed so much blood. His wife and children couldn’t come to see him. At one point, his heart stopped for 8.5 minutes. The only thing we could do was pray. It was nearly spring when he finally went home to his family. He’s alive, and nobody can deny that a miracle has taken place. We prayed without ceasing, and God has answered our prayers.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with us! It is not always easy to be vulnerable and share your story, and yet when you do, it helps so many other people. May God bless you and keep you and your loved ones healthy.

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The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

Nehemiah 8:10 “Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The theme for mentoring this month is Joy in the suffering. Several bible verses came up while researching this topic. I had already written at least one episode about most of them. However, I had not covered this verse yet. Right before this verse, Ezra the priest and scribe had gathered all the people together so he, along with the Levites and the governor, Nehemiah, could read the law of the Lord. All the people wept when they heard the words of the law. This is where our verse for today picks up. “Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I decided to go to the Enduring Word Bible Commentary as I wasn’t quite sure what this verse meant. I wasn’t quite sure why the people were crying when they heard the words of the Law. This is what I found on the Enduring Word Bible Commentary page, “All the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law: The word of God was doing its intended work. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us two things that the word of God is profitable for: reproof and correction. Sometimes it hurts to be reproved and corrected, and these tears were evidence of some of that pain.

b. Do not mourn nor weep: Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Levites did not want the people to mourn, even though it is a good thing to be sad under the conviction of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. Yet if the sense of conviction is greater than the sense that God is doing a good and holy work, then tears are not good.

Our knowledge of our sin should never be bigger than our knowledge of Jesus as our Savior. We are great sinners, but He is a greater Savior.

Therefore, the joy of the Lord is your strength – even when you are being convicted of sin. When we are convicted of sin we know that God is doing a work in us, so we can be glad and take joy.

c. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength: The people felt sad because they were aware of their own sin. But they could walk in joy because God was doing a great work. Our emotions are not beyond our control; we can do God’s will even when we don’t feel like it.

They didn’t want the people to be sad because even though they may not have been perfect in carrying out the law, it is ok. God is still with them. Those in charge wanted them to know that it is good to stop everything every now and then and remember the law. It is good to stop and examine your behavior and how you are living, and see if it is in accordance with how God wants you to live. However, if it isn’t, they didn’t want them to be sad and to focus on how much they were messing up. They wanted the people to focus on how great God is and how, no matter how much we mess up, He can still redeem us.

The same is true for us. It is important that we examine our behaviors, the way we live our lives, and how we treat others, to see if we are living according to the Lord's will. Are we following His commandments? Are we loving Him above all else? Are we loving our neighbors as we love ourselves? If we aren’t, what should we do? We should bring it to the Lord. We can apologize for getting off course again, and then let Him know how sorry we are, and then we can just try again. God does not expect us to be perfect. He knows we will mess up. He knows we won’t always get it right. He is ok with that as long as we always repent and turn back to Him!

Let’s look at the aspect of joy in this verse. This verse said, “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” How is the joy of the Lord our strength? In this verse we can find joy in the Lord because He always redeems us. I love when it said in the commentary that, “Our knowledge of our sin should never be bigger than our knowledge of Jesus as our Savior. We are great sinners, but He is a greater Savior.” This is such a great reminder that no matter how bad our sin is, our Savior is greater than it. No matter how bad we have messed up, Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross still covers it. We can take joy in the fact that there is nothing we can do that is not covered by Jesus’s sacrifice. It is ok to be sad that we have hurt our relationship with the Lord. It is ok to be sad that we think we might have let God down. However, we can’t stay there. We need to then find the joy that God has given us by sending his son to make up for our sins. God sacrificed His only son so that he could repair the closeness that Adam & Eve lost. This is something we can celebrate. This closeness is something to be joyful over.

Another thing I love that the commentary said was, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength: The people felt sad because they were aware of their own sin. But they could walk in joy because God was doing a great work. Our emotions are not beyond our control; we can do God’s will even when we don’t feel like it.” This is something we all need to know. Our emotions are not beyond our control. We get to decide how we feel. In the moment, we can’t always control our emotions. For instance if you see something, you might instantly feel something. For instance, when you see someone acting a certain way, you may get upset. That first reaction/emotion, you may not be able to control. However, you can control if you want to keep feeling that emotion or not.

You get to decide what emotions you are feeling based on what story you are telling yourself. For instance, I could be sad about what is going on with my son right now, or I could be grateful because he is getting the help that he needs. Or I could be both. I get to decide. The same is true for you with whatever you are going through. You get to decide how you will feel. Will you find your strength in the joy of the Lord, or will you wallow in your misery? Will you turn to the Lord and repent, or will you sit in your shame and let it eat at you? The enemy does not want us to know that we get to decide how we will feel. He wants us to just sit there and listen to all he is whispering in our ears about how things won’t ever get better. He wants us to believe that if God wanted us healed, he would have done it already. If God wanted to lift us from this place, He would have. The enemy wants us to believe our case is too far gone.

The enemy is a liar. He doesn’t know what God’s plan is any more than we do. He does not realize the importance of our thoughts. If he can persuade us to spend more time worrying about the “what ifs” rather than focusing on the joy of the Lord and all that God can do, he will have won the war for our hearts and minds. He knows that if we're listening to him, we're letting him steal our joy. Joy in the suffering is possible, but only when our focus is on the Lord and all that good He is doing, even if we can’t see it. The joy in the Lord is our strength because we can always find joy in the Lord, even when all seems lost. We won’t always be happy, but we can always have joy.

Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you and we ask you to be with us in this hard time. Lord, please show us how to have joy in the hard times. Please help us to focus on you and all you are doing for us. Please help us to be grateful in the hard times. Please help us to know Jesus’s sacrifice was enough to cover all we have done and will ever do. 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. I look forward to seeing you 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, “My children, my blessings are with you. I don't give you just human happiness. I give you so much more. My blessings in your joyful moments and when you are in sorrow. My blessings when you struggle and even when you feel lost. I am with you with my blessings.”

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Calm The Waters

Psalm 89:9 “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.”

There are several instances in the Bible when the sea was raging and God calmed it.  One of the times was when God asked Jonah to go to Ninevah and preach repentance.  Jonah did not want to do this and instead of going to Ninevah he went in the opposite direction and got on a boat going elsewhere.  While they were at sea the waves began to rise up and a great storm came upon them.  They called Jonah to see if he had any ideas as they had all prayed to their gods and nothing had happened.  Jonah told them to throw him over the side of the boat into the sea.  He explained that God was mad at him because he disobeyed God’s orders.  Once they threw Jonah off the boat, the seas calmed, and those that were on the boat offered a sacrifice to God and made vows to him.  You can read more about this in the Bible in the book of Jonah.

Another time that God calmed the storm is recounted in Matthew 8:23-27.  “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

The third time I was thinking about was when Jesus was walking on water to get to the boat.  This can be found in Matthew 14:22-33.  “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.   After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,  and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.   Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”   “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”   “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.   But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”   And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.   Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I think each of these instances can teach us a lesson about what we should do when we are in a storm and the waves are rising and we need God to come and quiet them.  In the first story, Jonah was trying to avoid doing what God asked him to do.  God gave him a direct order, and he didn’t want to do it, so he thought he could run away from the problem.  I am not sure if you know the story of Jonah or not, but running away did not solve his problem.  In fact, as soon as he was thrown overboard he was swallowed whole by a giant fish and there he stayed until he agreed to go to Ninevah.  Has this ever happened to you?  No, I don’t mean have you ever been swallowed by a giant fish.  I mean have you ever tried to run from your problems, or responsibilities, only to end up in a worse situation than you could have imagined.  I am not sure exactly what Jonah was running from.  At first I thought he was scared of the people in Ninevah hurting him, as they were terrible people.  Then I read that he was running away because he knew they would repent and he didn’t think they deserved forgiveness.  Either way, his situation did not improve by avoiding this responsibility.  

Running from our problems don’t make them go away.  Jonah still had to go to Ninevah and preach repentance but he ended up first having to get thrown into the sea and spend a really long time all alone in the belly of a giant fish.  Sometimes we are called to do things we don’t want to do.  You may feel that you have a completely logical reason for not wanting to do it.  Maybe you feel you aren’t qualified for the task or maybe you are afraid, whatever the reason is you don’t want to do it.  Running from this task or avoiding it is only prolonging the inevitable.  I think what this first story teaches us is that we should just do the task God is asking us to do.  We may not think we are capable or qualified to do it but God wouldn’t ask us to do it if he wasn’t going to equip us for the task.  If we are doing what the Lord is asking us to do, we can’t fail.  He won’t let us.

The second story teaches us that we should trust in the Lord.  Jesus was on the boat with them.  He is the son of God.  They could have just asked him to calm the waves and He would have.  They could have prayed to God, and He would have calmed the waves as well.  Every time I hear the words “you of little faith” in the Bible I wince a little.  I wonder how many times God has said this in heaven when he watches me do something, or when he hears my thoughts.  We all find ourselves in situations when we feel like the waters are rising and we can’t see a way out.  I think this second story is teaching us to turn to God.  Trust that he will take command of the situation.  This is not easy.  Sometimes the way out seems so impossible and though we know that God can do anything, we have trouble imagining that He would do that.  Also, sometimes we may feel alone as if God is not with us during the storm.  This second story also teaches us that God is always there.  We don’t have to be afraid because God is right there in the storm with us.  He knows what we need and is just waiting for us to ask Him for it.

I think the third story is maybe a little more subtle.  I think the lesson from the third story can be found when we look at Peter’s interactions with Jesus.  Everyone on the boat was afraid of this man walking on water towards them.  They thought he was a ghost.   “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”   “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.   But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Peter was walking on water, even though he had never done it before, even though it was windy.  Jesus told Him to come and Peter did.  So, what happened?  Peter looked away from Jesus.  He shifted his focus.  Once he looked away and started thinking about something else, other than Jesus, he started to sink.  Isn’t this what happens to us?

If you look at the storms in your life, the times when you felt like you may not survive, where was your focus?  Was your focus on all of your problems and all of the ways that you felt like you were drowning?  If you are like most of us, yes, that is exactly what you were focused on.  It's so easy to get wrapped up in our problems and spend all of our time trying to come up with a way to get ourselves out of the storm.  This third story teaches us where our focus needs to be.  We need to turn our focus toward Jesus.  He is the solution to all of our problems.  God already has the answers worked out for every problem or situation that you can get yourself into.  We just have to turn to Him and ask Him to save us.  If He can command the waves in the sea to settle down, then he can certainly calm the waves in your life.   If we keep our focus on the Lord, we will walk right through the storms in our lives.  God will calm the storms if we just ask.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask that you help us do the things you ask us to do without trying to avoid them. Lord, I ask that you help us not run from my problems, as it never makes the problems go away. Heavenly Father, help us to keep our focus fixed on you. Help us to turn to you when the storm is raging and the waves are rising. Lord, we know you were always there with us in the storm, and we thank you for that. We know that you can fix all of our problems. Please help us remember this when we forget. Lord, help us to be like Peter and jump out of that boat to walk towards you. We thank you so much, Lord, for all you have done in our lives. We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name,  amen!

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Today’s witness is from a news clip I saw on YouTube. It was a segment that aired on CBN. This witness is about a man who got a diagnosis that seemed like it was a life sentence. The doctors said there was nothing they could do to help this man. The family knew even if the doctors couldn’t do anything, God could. When you listen to this witness I hope you don’t treat it like a nice story. I pray that you hear it and you recognize the power of God working in this story and that you know in your heart that God can do the same in your impossible story story!!

When you're going to the doctor and you hear nothing encouraging, that's when your faith is going to have to stand. In November 2020, Gerilyn Baker's husband David started having constant nosebleeds. Doctors removed a polyp from his sinus cavity, but soon after, things got worse.

When his face began to swell, his wife thought he had an infection, and she told him they needed to contact the doctor quickly. The results of a CT scan shocked the family. David's brother-in-law, Chuck Denny, was there.

They told him he had stage four nasal cavity melanoma. The options they gave him, they said surgery wasn't an option because the facial disfigurement would be too massive. They told us that there was really nothing that they could do.Chemo wasn't for that type that he had. I'd never seen anybody healed of cancer. Every time I heard the word cancer, it was a death sentence.

And I felt like unless God moved, David wasn't going to make it. My first thought was that, from my teaching, we need to move into a fast and seek God and see God heal him. David's face rapidly swelled to the point where he couldn't eat or see out of his right eye.

Pastor Mark Gilbert remembers the many prayers from multiple church locations and beyond. Both church families were praying for David, and there was a multitude of other people. It wasn't just our churches.

David used to be a pastor himself, so there are a lot of people that he knows that was praying for him in different areas of the country, just believing God for the turnaround in his life. Several times a day, we would pray together, and there were times when you felt like you were just lost for words. You felt like you were only repeating yourself because you were worn out.

He was worn down from this sickness. His condition just kept getting worse, but the prayers at that point we didn't see much. This was swelling inside of his mouth as fast as it was on the outside, and he couldn't hardly eat.

It was just terrible, and we knew that we were facing a horrible storm in life. On Easter morning, Dr. Tom Renfro and his wife Sid were visiting their church for a special prayer service. Remembering her husband's own miraculous healing from cancer, Sid was moved with compassion to pray for David.

When I prayed for David, I don't touch people's head. I normally just touch their shoulders, but I did touch his face because I wanted to be very specific and very direct. The wife remembers standing there, and she thought, it's going to come off in her hand because you could feel such a presence of God's Spirit.

Sid prayed a prayer that her dad had prayed. By this time tomorrow, this side of your face will look like this side of your face, because that prayer had worked for her dad. The day after Easter, something amazing happened.

David said, There's a change in my face. Do you see it? His wife said, I've already seen it. He looked at his wife and I said, I see a change in my face.

She said, I do too, but I was afraid to say anything. So they decided to go eat with their family again. They said, well, let's just see what they have to say.

And they all saw him, and they said, that thing's shrinking. And it was just a matter of days, it was gone. David's tumor vanished, and doctors later confirmed he is now cancer-free.

The Bakers are forever thankful to God for answering their prayers. The wife said, “There are many people who have a diagnosis like David, and  I feel like they saw death. Maybe they prepared for death. But I'd say, don't give up. I'd say, take His Word into your spirit, and I'd say, believe it with everything you've got because that's what we've done.

His brother said, “When I witnessed David up close and personal with him, I mean, it just boosted my faith. I mean, I know that God can do anything, big, little. It don't matter.”

Sid said, “God can move in anything. I felt jubilant when I saw the picture, and the tumor was gone, and he had a normal face.”

Someone else said, “When I see David now, I think about the benevolence of God, the mercy of God, that God in this state of David's life, in his older years, that God has proven His faithfulness to him.

Well, I'm thankful that, you know, what happened, that God healed me. I'm thankful for that. I've never doubted what God was capable of doing. I've always believed that He's the healer, that He can heal cancer, He can heal heart attacks, He can heal anything that's affected man. He can take care of it if we'll just believe Him and walk in His Word and not let doubt and unbelief, because that stops the hand of God. But I'm very thankful.

Thank you to David, his family, and everyone else who is sharing their story about the miracles in their lives. We need to hear these miracles to be reminded that nothing is too great for God. We need to be reminded that there is always a way, even when we don’t see one. This is a great reminder that even cancer is not too big for our God!

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I Will Be Joyful In God My Savior

Habakkuk 3:17-19 "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

The theme for mentoring this month is Finding Joy in the Struggle. I was looking through some scripture verses that had to do with finding joy in the struggle this morning, and this verse came up. This verse is a favorite of mine because there is a lot going wrong for the people in this verse, and yet they chose to find joy in the Lord anyway.  The things mentioned here are not small things.  It might not seem like a big deal to us, as how many of us eat figs anyway?  However, it was a big deal at the time.  The people who wrote this depended on those crops not just for food, but also for their livelihood.  If they did not have figs, grapes, or olives, what would they sell at the market to get the other things they needed?  The verse says the fields produced no food.  What could they eat if they had no fruits or vegetables?  Normally, I would say at least they have animals to eat.  However, the verse also says, no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.  

I can’t even imagine what I would do if I were in their circumstances.  This verse is basically saying that they had nothing.  They had no food, they had no animals, and if they didn’t have any of that, then they didn’t have anything to trade with to get the other things that they needed.  I know that we often think our situation can’t really get any worse; however, for these guys, I would say that it really couldn’t get much worse.  How did they react to these dire circumstances?  Did they yell and scream at God?  Did they question Him and ask Him how dare He take it all away?  Did they turn away from God? No, they didn’t do any of those things.  In that very same sentence, they said, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Wow, that is incredible.  Don’t you wish you had their strength?  Don’t you wish you felt the same way on your worst days?  I will rejoice in the Lord.  Not, I will trust the Lord, not I will be ok with the Lord, I will rejoice in the Lord.  What did they have to rejoice about?  Then it goes on to say I will be joyful in God my Savior.  I was about to ask you what they had to be joyful about, and then the words “in God my Savior” rattled around in my head.  They weren’t joyful because of their circumstances; they were joyful because of God, their Savior.  They knew God was going to save them.  They didn’t know when and they didn’t know how, but they relied on the fact that God was their savior and if He saved them before, He would do it again.  

Why is it so hard for us to remember this?  What came to mind was, maybe we haven’t seen Him save us before.  What if we have never needed saving before, and so we don’t know that He will save us this time.  If this is what you are thinking, rest assured that whatever God has done to those who have come before us, He will do to us.  If He has saved His people in the Bible, then He will save us.  Those are our people.  Remember Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  Because Jesus saved His people in the Bible over and over again, we know He will save us.  We also know that because of His promise in Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  

God will use all things for our good.  The problem is, we don’t want to wait for it.  We want things to happen when we are ready, or when we think we are ready.  When are we going to come around to the fact that God’s timing is perfect?  If things are going wrong for us, God’s got a plan.  He might not have planned for you to get yourself into this trouble, but as soon as He saw you headed there, He came up with a plan to fix it. That is what He does.  We mess up, and He fixes it.  I truly hope He doesn’t get tired of doing that.  We would be lost without Him.  

Let’s say that we are able to come to grips with our situation.  We acknowledge that God is doing His thing, and although we don’t know how it will work out, we know it will work out. Then what do we do?  We still need to figure out a way to lessen our pain so we can live to make it through to the other side.  The people in this verse decided that, although these terrible things were happening, they were going to rejoice in the Lord.  Do you think you could persevere in this difficult time?  Do you think you could not only keep hope in the Lord, but also rejoice in the Lord?

I am currently reading a new book titled Built Through Courage by Dave Hollis. In this book, Dave talked about something that I thought was a really cool idea to help us get through some really difficult times.  I know some of you are either really struggling, or you have loved ones who are.  Dave was talking about how he and Rachel, his wife at the time, had a couple that mentored them at the beginning of their relationship. This couple had a very strong faith.  The wife in this couple had a massive stroke after just having a baby. She survived it but was now confined to a wheelchair.  Dave asked her how they could still have so much faith after something so tragic had happened.  They said they relied on a scripture verse.  That scripture verse is the same as today’s verse, Habakkuk 3:17-19.  This woman, who was now struggling with so much, took this verse and made it her own.  Here is what her version of the verse said:

“Though I cannot walk, and I am confined to a wheelchair.  Though my face is paralyzed, I cannot smile.  Though I am extremely impaired and cannot take care of my own baby boy, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.  I will be joyful in God my savior.”

The author of the book I am reading, Dave Hollis, had not heard this scripture before.  When he heard this story, he was in the middle of a divorce he did not ask for and was transitioning out of a company he ran with his ex-wife.  Everything he knew to be true about his identity was changing, and he didn’t know what to do about it.  Dave decided to also adopt this verse and make it his own.  Here is Dave’s verse:

“Though my marriage has come to an end, and my future looks different than I thought it would.  Though this blank paper I have been handed to imagine what’s next fills me with equal parts fear and excitement.  Though my identity both at home and at work is shifting under my feet, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.  I will be joyful in God my savior.”

What is it that you are going through?  Whatever it is, would it help you to write your own version of this verse?  Would it help you to read that verse daily to remind yourself that God is your Savior?  Let’s not forget that important part of the verse.  I will be joyful in God, my savior.  Reading this every day can give you a reminder that you are not alone and that you are not in charge of fixing everything yourself.  God is your savior.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to your episode today.  Lord, we thank you that we have food and the things we need to get through the day.  Lord, we thank you for these beautiful verses, and I hope we all get to rewrite them to fit our own lives.  You are our Savior, Lord God, please help us to remember!  Lord, help us to rejoice in you during the hard times.  Help us lean into you and not turn away from you.  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 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 had a prophetic image of us being in a great flood of his divine mercy, being carried forward into this new year, and just surrounded by this great rising tide of his glory and his grace going forward.”

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Discipline Yourselves 

1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance.  Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

I really like the first line of the verse.  It says to prepare our minds for action.  This can be hard for some of us.  We can have a lot of ideas, but then we get stuck wanting them to be perfect, and so we spend a lot of time thinking about them and how we should do them, but then we don’t do them because we aren’t quite sure how.  Does this sound familiar?  I know I can’t be the only person who does this.  I can’t be the only one who wants to do things perfectly, and so I get stuck and don’t end up doing as much as I know I could be doing.

I want to follow the Lord’s will and I want to follow His commandments, and yet sometimes I don’t do something because I am not sure exactly how He wants me to do it.  The thing is, most of the time, I don’t think He cares how we do it, as long as we are doing it with the right frame of mind and with our heart.  If we let the Holy Spirit guide us, then we can’t go wrong.  Why do we worry so much, then?  I think it is because we love the Lord so much that we want to be perfect for Him.  I think it is because we struggle to believe that He truly loves us just as we are.  We are used to human love, which is fallible and conditional at times.  We feel as though we must earn the Lord’s love, and so we want to do things perfectly for Him.  I don’t think we even realize we are doing this.  I know I wasn’t aware.  I was talking to my spiritual advisor about how I felt like I needed to do all these things, and she pointed out that I was feeling like I needed to earn God’s love. We don’t need to earn God’s love!  He loves us more than anything, and He has loved us long before we were born, and He will love us long after we die.  I know I have probably said this a lot, and I will keep saying it because we struggle to believe it.  We do not have to earn God’s love; He gives it freely and abundantly.

The next two words are words that we don’t always like: discipline yourselves.  This is not easy.  This is one thing that we get to work on during Lent.  We get a chance to discipline ourselves by fasting from things that are important to us, or doing things that we don’t normally do.  During Lent, we get to step outside of our comfort zone and stretch ourselves in the area of discipline.  I remember watching a YouTube video of Father Mike talking about why we fast during Lent.  He explained it in a way that made me enjoy fasting a little more.  He discussed how fasting is a way of demonstrating our love for.  Fasting is an act of love.  It’s kind of like that question, what do you get the guy that has everything?  Well, God has everything; He doesn’t need anything.  He loves us completely, and one way to show Him our love is to fast, or give something up, or start doing something we normally don’t do.  The thing is, it isn’t really an act of love if we complain and grumble the whole time.  If we go through the motions and we do it just because we have to, then that is showing obedience, but it is not showing love.  How can you show God your love?  What can you fast from? What can you start doing?    

The next line says, “set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.” To be honest, I almost skipped over this line.  I was not really sure what it meant or how to explain it.  Then I figured if I didn’t know, maybe you don’t either.  Also, the point of this podcast is for us to grow on the journey and for us to understand scripture a little more and figure out how we can apply it to our lives, so I looked up the meaning of this line to see if anyone else had already explained it.  The consensus seems to be that we are to hope in the grace that Jesus will bring us, instead of hoping in things of this world, like money, material objects, or even people.  I think we have a tendency to hope in the things of this world instead of looking towards Jesus.  

I found an article titled, Two Ways to Fix Your Hope on Future Grace by Jen Wilkin. (Click Here for Article)   It is definitely worth reading.  She talks about how we need to place our hope in the day that Christ is coming because the days we are currently in may be filled with trial and sorrow.  The two ways she talks about in the article to fix our hope on future grace are to prepare our minds and be sober-minded.  It is a very good article, and I would do it a disservice to try to summarize it for you in a few short lines.  I recommend you take a look at the article if you wish to get a better understanding of this verse and how you can put it into practice in your own life.

The next line says, “Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance.”  This is an interesting line.  God is often telling us to be like children, or to have a childlike faith.  It doesn’t just say to not give in to your desires.  It says not to conform to the desires you formerly had in ignorance.  If you are listening to this podcast, then you are trying to grow in your faith.  You are trying to learn more about the Lord and His Word.  As you grow, you will gain a better understanding of what the Lord is calling us to.  What His commandments are and what He expects from us.  As you grow, you may learn that some things you are doing are not in alignment with what God expects from you or how he is calling you to live.  This part of the verse is telling us that it is not ok to continue to do these things because now we know they are wrong.  Once you know, if you continue to do that, then you are choosing that thing over the Lord.  One of the conditions of something being a sin is that you have to know it was wrong.  You have to have freely chosen to do it.  Once you know something is wrong, God is calling us to no longer do it.  

Being completely honest with you, I have hesitated on my journey to grow before because of this very reason.  In the past, I have stopped to think, “Maybe I don’t want to learn more, because when we learn more, we are held to a higher standard.”  If I don’t know something is wrong and I am doing it, God is not holding it against me.  However, once I know it is wrong, then He is.  Maybe you have never thought about this, but in case you have, I have two things to share.  First, growing closer to the Lord is worth any hardship you may perceive by learning what He expects from us.  As you grow closer to the Lord, you find you don’t want to do anything that might get in the way of your relationship.  You find yourself wanting to please Him more than you want to do those things you used to do. 

Second, God is calling us to all grow closer to Him.  The very next line in this verse is “ Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  We have a responsibility to learn about God’s Word and what He is calling us to do.  We are all called to Holiness.  God is not ok with us just living in ignorance of His ways and continuing to do whatever we like.  He is calling us to read His Word, study His Word, and live in a way that is in alignment with this Word.  If we purposely refuse to learn because we don’t want to have to live as He is calling us to live, then that is not ok, and I don’t think we can claim ignorance.  We all have a choice to make.  God is calling us all to holiness.  That may mean something different to each of us.  I think if you want to know what God is calling you to, then all you need to do is ask Him.  He will tell you.  I think the one thing that is the same for all of us is that He is calling us to read and study His Word, and also to love Him and love our neighbors.  Will you accept His call? 

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this podcast today.  Lord, we love you and we want to live in alignment with you.  Help us, show us how.  Lord, help us to set our hopes in Jesus and the graces He will bring when He is revealed.  Lord, I ask that you give us a better understanding of the verse.  Please speak to us this week and help us understand it better.  Help us to set our minds towards action and help us to discipline ourselves.  Lord, we love you so very much.  You are amazing, and we are grateful for all you do for us each and every day.  Help us to show you that gratitude with our actions.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.  

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The Peace of God

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The other night was very hard. I knew it was going to be a long night, and so I decided, while it was quiet, I would write a devotional. I only got as far as asking the Lord for a scripture verse that would get me through the night. One that was just what I needed for the situation I was in. When I have done this before, I have had my Bible with me, and I would ask the Lord a question, then ask Him to show me the answer in His Word. Then I would randomly open the Bible and read the pages until I found my answer.

Tonight I didn’t have my Bible. I mean, I could have gone upstairs to get it, but honestly, I didn’t really have the energy to move. So, I wondered how I could randomly search an online Bible, as I did have my computer. I decided to type into the search bar “A scripture verse to help me make it through the night.” And I told the Lord that He knew my exact circumstances, and I asked if He could give me the verse I needed to read or hear.

Today's verse is the one that appeared in the search results. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I laughed at first because I thought that was a pretty tall order. Not to be anxious in this situation was definitely difficult, as one of my sons was making poor choices, and there wasn't much we could do about it. However, when I really thought about it, I realized I wasn’t anxious. I was mad and I was sad, but I wasn’t anxious.

This reminded me of a conversation I was having with a friend the day before. When I told her all that was happening, she asked how I was dealing with it all. She asked how I was getting out of bed in the morning. I stopped and thought about it, and the answer was through the grace of God. This is not just something I was saying because I didn’t know what else to say. I truly mean it. I can look at the situation and know that God’s grace is helping me through it. I can see His hands all over this situation and that makes it easier for me to turn it over to Him.

I could absolutely be worrying about my son all day, every day. I could be trying to fix it and trying to make sure all goes smoothly, and I may be doing that more than I need to. I could let this get to me so much that I stay in bed with fear of what might happen or sadness of what has already happened. Yet I am not, and I know that is because God prepared me for this moment. He prepared me for difficult times. There have been so many really hard things that have happened in the last 21 years, and I know that they were all preparation for this moment.

I know God will get me through this hard time because He has gotten me through so many other hard times.I know that this addiction will not destroy my son because God has promised me that it won’t, and I can trust in His promises. I can wait for God’s timing on this because I have waited a really long time for things in the past, and although the wait was never easy, it was always worth it in the end. I always say that I don’t know how I developed a deep trust in the Lord. I don’t know why I am not more worried about my son. I think this is because we all expect it to be complicated. We expect some difficult formula to show us how to trust in the Lord. I think it is actually so simple that we don’t want to believe it. Kind of like the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5.

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. He found out about a prophet in Samaria who could cure him. Long story short Naaman came to Elisha’s house.  Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”  So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

We think it must be complicated to follow the Lord. It must be complicated to hear his voice and to know what He wants us to do. It must be complicated to figure out how to hand things over to him and how we can get Him to answer our prayers. We search for the perfect formula or what to do and what to say to make God happy. We search and search for the next thing we can do to earn his love. And yet, it is not complicated. God tells us so simply what to do and yet we don’t listen. Jesus told in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Love is the answer.

I say it is simple, but I don’t think it is easy. Loving others is hard, I get that. I know that, trust me, I do. I have loved some people who were doing some pretty terrible things for a very long time. However, the breakthrough didn’t happen when I followed all the steps laid out to me in all the various books that I read. A breakthrough also didn’t happen when I did all the things the experts and counselors said I needed to do. The breakthrough happened when I did what Jesus said to do, and I poured so much more love into the situation.

This verse gives us a formula for peace, and yet I think many of us dismiss it because it isn’t more complicated. Let’s review the verse again, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In every situation where you are struggling right now, are you doing all that this verse tells us to do? Are you praying to God about it? Have you asked God for exactly what you need? Have you talked with Him about it? Yes, God knows what you need, and yet He also wants us to turn to Him and ask. What about the Thanksgiving part of it? Have you been grateful in this situation? Not necessarily appreciative of the problem, but while going through hard times, there is always something for which we can be thankful. Then it says to present your requests to God. Don’t be afraid to ask God for help. Your request is neither too big nor too small. Bring it to Him!

The verse ends with “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is how I get out of bed in the morning. This is how I can watch my kids struggle and yet not let it take over every thought in my mind. This is how I can make it through hard times. That doesn’t mean I don’t have hard days. That doesn’t mean I didn’t spend a week watching TV recently, just to take my mind off the situation. I am not doing this perfectly, I know that. Yet, I firmly believe with 100% of my being that this will not be forever. This addiction will not get the best of my son. There is a whole, amazingly bright future for him, and God’s timing is better than mine. So by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I will present my requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of us today. Lord, help us to come to you with prayer and petition. Help us to know that you are the creator of the universe, so whatever our problem is, you can handle it! Help us to obey your simple commandments to love God and Love one another. Help us to open our ears, minds, and hearts to you and to truly hear what you are saying to us. Help us not dismiss it because it is too easy. Help us be obedient, Lord. We love you 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 meeting you here again tomorrow. I pray you all have an amazing Fourth of July tomorrow for those of you who live in America! 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, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

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