Walk Boldly With Jesus

Be Bold & Be Christ-Like

Philippians 1:20 “No matter what, I will continue to hope and passionately cling to Christ so that he will be openly revealed through me before everyone’s eyes. So I will not be ashamed! In my life or in my death, Christ will be magnified in me.”

I have really enjoyed reading through Philippians this week. There were so many good verses. I started at the end and worked my way forward. I am unsure why it worked out that way, but it did. I read this verse yesterday, and it stuck with me, so I wanted to share it with you today. This is something for which we can all aspire. We can all continue to have hope and passionately cling to Christ so that when others see us, they see Him.

Paul says, “In life or in my death, Christ will be magnified in me.” How great is that? How great would it be to know that you have helped to bring others to Christ, not only in life but in death, too? This makes me wonder, what am I doing to magnify Christ? When people look at me and how I live my life, do they see Christ?

I will always remember what Father Mike said on the podcast Catechism in a Year. He said to take a minute and imagine it is illegal to be Christian. Luckily, this is not the case in America, but pretend it is. He said to imagine now that you are on trial for being a Christian. Besides going to Mass or your church service on the weekend, would they have enough evidence to convict you? I don’t know why this has stuck with me over the past two years, but I think it is a compelling question.

Many of us go to church on Sunday. We love God, and we think that is all we really need to do. However, we are all called to be Christlike. We are called to be Jesus's face to all we meet. Jesus said we need to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and then He also said we need to love our neighbor as ourselves. I think this is the part that we often forget. I think we all remember to try to love God, although I am unsure if we try to do it with our whole heart, mind, and soul. I think we try to love God when it benefits us. We all remember God when times are hard; I hope we remember Him when times are good, too.

We often forget to love our neighbors. This doesn’t just mean the person living next to us; it means everyone we interact with. If we had a private investigator following us for a week to look at our behavior and try to gather evidence that we were a Christian, would they find any evidence? Would they see you being compassionate to all those you interact with, whether you know them or not? Would they see you being patient and considerate when you are driving around? Would they see you being kind and helpful to the poor? Would they see you were a Christian when interacting with the various people you met throughout your day? How did you treat that one co-worker who always gets on your nerves? How did you treat that person who cut you off in traffic? How did you treat that person who cut you in line just as you finally reached the front? What about the homeless person who asked you for money?

How we treat others matters. We can’t simply focus on our relationship with God and disregard the rest of the world. We can’t claim to love God and then treat others unkindly. Our actions toward others reflect our faith and our commitment to living a Christlike life. When others look at our lives, they should be able to see Christ in all that we do. Jesus addresses this in the Gospels. God would not have ensured this was in the Bible if it didn’t say something we should pay attention to. The following verse shows us how important it is to care for everyone we meet.

Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This verse shows us that God requires more of us than just showing up at mass or service on Sunday mornings. It also shows us that we are called to be Christ-like and should view everyone we meet as Christ-like. Instead of seeing a random person you don’t know asking you for money on the street, see Jesus asking you for money on the street. Imagine how different our experiences would be if we pictured Jesus’s face on each person we saw throughout the day. Imagine someone stops you and asks you for help in the grocery store, and you see Jesus in that person. Wouldn’t that be such a gift? What if we tried to be that gift for others? What if we loved Jesus so much that His love and light spilled out from us onto all those we meet? Wouldn’t that be amazing? Isn’t that something worth striving for?

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, please help us to be your face to the world. Help us to be Christ-like in all that we do. Help us to see you in others. Help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Lord, show us what we need to do to be more Christ-like. Show each one of us where we are struggling with this. Show us where we could be doing better and how. 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 here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, “Come and accept my freedom. Accept it and you will be transformed. You will have greater stability. You will be able to reach out to others and proclaim the freedom that I have given you so that they in turn can accept the freedom that I have given them also.”

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Be Bold & Trust (Be Bold Series)

Psalm 56:3-4 “But in the day that I'm afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes.”

Today, I decided to read from the Jesus Calling Devotional. I have not done that in a while; I am unsure why. For those of you who don’t know, this is a devotional book written as if God is speaking to you each day. It is really good and often says exactly what you need to hear for that day. Today’s spoke right to me. It reminded me how important it is to trust God in all times with all things. It is just as important to trust Him with the small things as it is to trust Him with the big things. I will read today’s devotional for you, as I think it will speak to you just as much as it spoke to me.

“TRUST ME with every fiber of your being! What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on me. One aspect of this is the degree to which you trust me in a crisis or major decision. Some people fail miserably here, while others are at their best in tough times. Another aspect is even more telling: the consistency of your trust in me. People who rely on me in the midst of adversity may forget about me when life is flowing smoothly. Difficult times can jolt you into awareness of your need for me, whereas smooth sailing can lull you into a stupor of self-sufficiency.

I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your daily dramatic leaps of faith. You may think that no one else notices, but the One who is always beside you sees everything — and rejoices. Consistently trusting in me is vital to flourishing in my presence.”

Do you see what I mean when I say it often says exactly what you need to hear for the day? I love that it is written as if God is saying it directly to you. This is truly how God talks to us. I am not sure how many of you listening have taken the time to sit and listen to what God has to say to you. If you have not, give it a try today. God wants to talk to each one of us, and yet the world around us is so noisy it is hard to hear him. However, if we sit down and take the time to listen, we will hear what He wants to tell us. This can take time and also practice. The more time you spend trying to hear God talking to you, the more clearly you will hear Him. The more you will begin to recognize what He sounds like to you.

I have a journal, and I try to write in it as often as possible. In 2020, I changed the way I write in my prayer journal. I used just to write God about my day and what was going on in my life. I still do this, but I don’t just do this. Now, I try to stop and take the time to listen to what God has to say back to me. This has been amazing. I have spent a lot of time listening and have given the Lord time to speak into my life, and it has been life-changing. You would be surprised what the Lord wants to say to you if you only gave Him the time to say it. He is so gentle and affirming.

Sometimes, we think we wouldn’t want to hear what the Lord has to say because we feel we aren’t doing a very good job, and He probably wouldn’t have anything nice to say to us. This is not true. That is what the enemy wants you to think so that you don’t stop and give the Lord time to speak love, light, and truth into your life. When you give Him the time and you listen, you will be surprised at how nicely He talks to you. You will be surprised at how much He loves you. Even in our brokenness, even in our sin, He still speaks so much love to us. It is truly amazing.

This is why I started ending each episode with the Word from the Lord that He gave to our prayer group. The more we all start hearing the way He talks to us, the more we will start to recognize it when we hear Him talking in our own lives. Here is what I do when I write to the Lord. I write Him a letter, and then I ask Him to answer me using my pen, and then I start to write a letter back to myself. I don’t question what comes to mind; I don’t overthink it; I write everything that comes to mind. Does that mean that everything I write down is from the Lord? No, probably not. However, I asked Him to answer me, and when we ask, He answers, so I trust that what I am writing down is from Him.

After you are done writing it down, you can re-read it and see what you wrote and how it makes you feel. If you wrote anything down that makes you feel bad, shameful, or guilty, that is probably not from the Lord. That is not how He talks to us. Sometimes, He will convict us of something if we are doing something wrong. However, He doesn’t use shame and guilt to do it. God does not condemn us. He lovingly points us in another direction and then gives us the strength to go in another direction. Anything you are not sure of, you can take to discernment. You can ask the Lord to clarify; you can ask the Lord to explain more, and you can always go deeper with what you got in the letter. If you do this often enough, you will recognize patterns. You will see that He tends to say the same things repeatedly because we tend not to listen. Yet, He keeps saying them until we do listen.

The verse above says, “But in the day that I'm afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes.” This is a good verse for today because I know many people are staring down some pretty big fears. Whether they are worried about losing their job, getting sick, or finding a new job, it is all scary. Several people I know are sick and worried they won’t be healed. It can be very scary to think you will have to live with this illness for the rest of your life. This is why today’s verse is so important.

The verse says, "I lay all my fears before you and trust you with all my heart.” I hope we are all doing this. I hope that when something scary comes our way, our first instinct is to turn it over to the Lord. Give Him our cares, and He will help us carry them. He will even carry them for us if we can be brave enough to let go and let Him carry them for us. Often, we want to pick them back up again. But if we can fully let go, He will take care of them for us. If we can trust Him to do this, our worries and cares become so much lighter.

My favorite part of the devotional from Jesus Calling is, “Another aspect is even more telling: the consistency of your trust in me.” I also love, “I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your daily dramatic leaps of faith.” These both remind us that although it is important to trust the Lord when things are going wrong in our lives, it is just as important to trust Him when things are calm and there isn’t a crisis. Do we do this? Do we trust that God cares for all things or just the big things? When things are going well, do we still turn to the Lord, or do we try to fix those things on our own?

I think this devotional gives us something to think about this weekend, especially going into the new year. What could we be doing differently? Do we need to be more consistent with our trust in the Lord? What are those tiny trust-steps in our daily life that God is talking about? What if you took 20 minutes sometime today or this weekend and sat down and asked God these questions and then wrote down whatever you think you hear Him say back to you?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to trust you. We want to trust you not only with the big things but the small things, too. Please show us how; please guide us. Help us learn how to take those tiny trust-steps into our daily lives. Lord, we ask that you help us hear your voice in our head. We ask you to open our spiritual ears to hear you more. Lord, I ask you for a special blessing for each person as they enter this new Year. I ask that you bless them and their families. I ask that you bless their jobs, their ministries, whatever it is they do. I ask for you to help them enter this new year with renewed hope and love. We love you so much, 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. The theme for mentoring this month is “I am made new.” It is important that we all know that we are not who we once were. We are not just a sum of our mistakes. We are made new in Christ. I pray you will join us this month and learn about how you are made new! 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 August 2024 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, I have given you freedom, but you must accept it. Do not keep telling yourself I am not worthy. I, your Lord, have died on the cross for you, so you are worthy.”

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Witness Wednesday #149 Day of Reflection

Today’s Witnesses are from a Day of Reflection that I went to last Saturday. The Charismatic Renewal Service of Boston put it on, and some Encounter Ministry students ran it from the Boston Campus.  Year 2 students at Encounter need to do a project before they graduate to show they have learned what they were taught. It was a really special day filled with praise and worship, adoration, mass, and fellowship, and we had a section where people could receive individual prayer for impartation and prophecy. We asked the Lord what call he had placed on their life and what gifts they might need for that call. Any gifts he has given us that they may need, we imparted our gifts on them. It was really amazing, the things that the Lord showed us. The group I participated in ran very smoothly, and the Lord was so good to confirm most of what we were hearing. The participants said they were moved and that what was said really resonated with them. There was a time for large group sharing towards the end, and these witnesses were shared during that time.

One woman named Nancy said that they did the project so they could give back to the community. “And when I see three people from my prayer community that gave the Life in the Spirit seminar, that was my introduction to faith-filled Catholics. And it was my gateway to be reconciled to the Lord, to come back to the faith. The Life in the Spirit seminar is a series of talks; they kind of lay out the gospel message. I had such an experience of the presence of Jesus at that seminar. And it just changed my life.

And I've had such a beautiful life since. So I was so happy that in some way, I hope, I could give back to Gail, Carolee, and my husband Mike for all the years that they've accompanied me on my faith walk. And so I'm enjoying it.

Next, Mike spoke and said, “Today has been a blessing to me. Just a flood of beautiful blessings and memories since I've been in the Spirit. It started off right when I walked through the door and was given a book a book by Father Ralph Diorio, who died recently.

I had been to one of his healing services. And I heard he's going to be in Franklin, the next town from us, in that way. And for healing services, a big deal, St. Mary's Church, you have to get tickets. You want to sit in the upstairs church. I wasn’t going to go, but then they said, there's a bunch of women, from one of the senior housings, they want somebody to drive them there. All right I guess I will go. So we're down in the basement. Beginning of the service, Father had some kind of word of knowledge thing and announced a few ailments that he felt the Lord wanted to heal. If you had the problem he was talking about he wanted you to come up to where he was.

He started talking about a man who had this and that. I started to think, I have those problems. Then he said a man who recently had back surgery. I said, I'm getting a throbbing throat. He's talking about me. And so I went up, and they had about five of us sitting in the sanctuary when he went through his healing service.

And then he prayed with the other ones, one, two, three, four. Then he got to me. Now, what are you here for? Well, I'm the back person. He said, Okay. You can sit down. I'm going to look at you. He said, Did you know your one leg is shorter than the other? I said, Not really, because it wasn't significant. So he said, Stretch out your legs. And the way this ran, it was like a closed circuit TV. So the people in the basement in the lower church could see what was going on.

And so the camera behind me was focused right on my feet. The people in the upper church couldn't see what was going on. But some of my neighbors and their friends down there, they could see. We saw your leg grow. Yes. Now, frankly, it was just a little bit shorter. And nothing had ever bothered me. But I said, you know, I always wear out the heels of my shoes faster. So that was true, I guess.

So it was nothing that even fascinated me. So okay, well, that's interesting. But it turns out my neighbor, who was also there, had a son who was a little older than the toddler. He had some kind of growth, I don't know what you'd call it, abnormally, where one of his legs was growing less than the other. At his next doctor's appointment, the doctor told my neighbor’s son, “Oh, you're okay now.” So I said, I think mine was just a sign for what was going on with my neighbor’s son.

Next we heard from another Nancy:

As I was preparing to be on the team today, you know, I took a day and I fasted. And I prayed that I could hear Him for each person that I was going to pray over. I get nervous. And God, in his faithfulness, is easy. He gives us the graces so easily that in praying over people, a word would just come. Not that I had prepared it or thought about it or whatever. And so, God is faithful. And I have learned over and over again and still need to learn over and over again to just trust in him to relax and step back and watch him show up.

Next was another man named Mike. My name is Mike, and I have been for more than 20 years. I am dealing with an issue that really began several years ago. But last April, I had to have my jaw replaced. It had actually died. And in order to do that, they had to take a bone from my leg and put it in where my jaw was. And part of the outcome of that is that I have been completely unable to swallow, much less sing or do many other things immediately after that. So I really have not sung a note, hardly, in almost 10 months. And today, during the praise portion, I sang song number one and song number two, and then my voice was just gone. It was nothing. My diaphragm told me, don't bother, because there's nothing here.

And so I sat down and started to get really discouraged. But God said, No, I don't care what you sound like. Just stand up and sing. And when I did that, my voice came back. I have been unable to stand up and sing in almost a year. And let me tell you, God is just incredible. Thank you.

Someone else got up and said, “Thank you, Jesus. I have to say, I didn't have a chance to tell you how beautiful your voice was. You were singing right behind me. I was like, who is that? Who is that incredible voice?”

Next, Matteo got up and said, “Mike and I have sung a lot together over the last 10 years. And we always sing at a men's conference. Mike has been singing with our chapter for a while and has sung for our retreats. And this year, he was unable to do that. There was a really big hole. And it's just been breaking his heart. So, for me to see Mike be able to sing today was powerful. Thank you.”

Someone else shared a vision they received. “So I got this a couple of times. So I want to share. What I saw was a giant field. And I saw a bunch of little campfires and people sitting around the campfires. And in the middle of the field, there was this enormous construction of wood, like enormous. And I saw Jesus just sitting beside it. And everybody's really kind of happy around their own little campfires. And then I saw Jesus say now. And everybody took their torches from their little fires, and they brought them into the middle of the field. And they set a bonfire that could be seen from space. And I feel like us coming together here, that God is doing so much more than we realize by us coming together.

I am so grateful for all those who worked hard to put on this amazing event. I am grateful to all those who came to the event, and I am grateful to all those who were brave enough to get up and share their experience at the event. I hope you enjoyed hearing these witnesses about how God was working that day. Maybe next year you can join us for this event. It happens every year around this time. It was an amazing day!

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Be Bold & Ask For More! (Be Bold Series)

Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

“He will not grow tired or weary.”  I thought of two things when I read this. The first was, wouldn’t that be nice?  Wouldn’t it be nice not to grow tired or weary?  I know a lot of us have been feeling tired and weary lately.  A lot is going on in our world, and we are ready for a break.  This is why my first thought was, wouldn’t that be nice.  My second thought was, do we believe this?  Do we believe that God doesn’t grow tired and weary?  I wondered this because I feel as though often times we treat God as though this is not true.  We treat God as if He is not the almighty and powerful Lord that does not grow tired or weary.

I say this because we tend to be cautious with our prayers.  We save up our prayers for the really important times, as if we only get so many, and we don’t want to run out.  This may sound silly, but you know you have all thought that at one time or another.  Maybe you didn’t think that exact thought, but you did hold back from asking God for something because it wasn’t that important, and He had bigger things to think about.  We have all done this.  We want to pray that our child wins the football game, but then we feel guilty because there are people with real problems, and we are taking God’s attention away from them to ask Him to help our kids win a football game or to help me find a parking spot.  This verse is telling us something that we already know on some level but have trouble believing.  God does not grow tired or weary.  God can help you with your small request and help someone else with their giant request all at the same time.  He can do it all and still not grow tired or weary. He is that amazing.

The next line in the verse says that no one can fathom his understanding.  We can’t even begin to understand all that the Lord knows.  We see how he is working in our lives, and we think He is a little crazy, or we think He is upset with us because things aren’t going our way.  We don’t understand that all these things are happening so that His plan for us to have ridiculous goodness can come to fruition.  We needed to lose that job to get this better one.  We needed to lose that sense of security to appreciate it when we regained it.  We needed to go through that hard time to show someone else they can get through it, too.  We can’t fathom the Lord’s understanding.  It’s just like it says in Isaiah 55:8: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”  The Lord knows what He is doing.  It is ok if we don’t understand.  It will all make sense one day

The next line says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”  This is something that can help us if we can remember it.  He gives strength to the weary.  How long have we been weary for?  Did we know that God would give us strength?  Did we ask for it?  If a lot is weighing down on your heart, I want you to know I am right there with you.  There isn’t a single person I know right now who is coasting through life with no troubles.  We are all weary.  I think it is a condition of living in a broken world.  We are imperfect; we all hurt each other, sometimes without even knowing it.  We have fallen into an age where our own pleasure and our own wants trump all else.  We don’t want to hurt our loved ones, and we also don’t want to give up the things that we want.  We are weary because we are trying to exist in a world that doesn’t understand the Christian way of life.  We are weary because we rely on the world to give us our strength when our Lord sits by, watching and trying to offer us the strength we need.  However, we are so busy trying to do it all ourselves that we don’t see him there handing it out.  

What is coming to me right now is that we need to stop turning to the world to get our strength and our power.  Yes, the world does offer us power, and it might feel good for a while to have that power.  However, if you find your power from he world, you will never be fulfilled.  You will always be searching for more.  You will have this part of you that will always feel empty.  However, if you turn to the Lord and ask him for your strength and power, He will fill you up completely.  You will be lacking nothing.  It says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.  How great would it be if we could be like St. Paul and delight in our weaknesses, insults, hardships, and persecutions?  How often will we need to hear that God will give us strength when we are weary and power when we are weak before we actually believe it?  How long will we turn away from God and look elsewhere to find our power before we return to Him and ask Him?  He is standing there ready to give us all we need for the day, and we are too busy looking everywhere for it that we don’t see it.  

The verse ends with a great visual.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” First, it tells us that everyone grows weary.  It is not just those who have been around for a long time; even the youth grow weary.  Actually, our youth, in particular, these days, seem to be growing weary.  None of us are exempt, yet it says, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  When we are weary and weak, it is hard to hope.  When we are weary, it is usually because the enemy has worn us down, and we are fresh out of hope.  However, this verse tells us that if we hope in the Lord, he will renew our strength.  There it is again. This verse repeats that the Lord is our strength.  Maybe this time will be the time that we truly hear it.  Maybe today we will believe that the Lord does not grow weary and He doesn’t grow tired.  Wouldn’t it be great if today is the day that we finally start turning to the Lord and asking him for that strength and power that he is just waiting to give us?

I heard these two phrases a few times over the last few days, and they just came to mind again, so I would like to share them with you.  The first is the phrase, “more Lord more.”  The Lord has so much more for you.  We don’t want to ask for more sometimes because we don’t want to be greedy.  We settle for little answers to our prayers because we don’t want to push our luck or feel we should just be happy with what we get.  The Lord wants us to ask for more.  Yes, be grateful for what you receive and still ask for more.  In the book “The Circle Maker,” the author, Mark Batterson, talks about a man praying for rain as they hadn’t had rain in a very long time.  This man drew a circle in the ground and told the Lord he would not leave that circle until the rain came.  It finally started to sprinkle.  Everyone started to rejoice, and the man started to pray harder.  He said that was not the rain he was praying for. He was praying for more rain, and it began to rain harder.  He still said that was not the rain he was praying for.  Finally it started to rains so hard that everyone had to run for cover.  The Lord wants to do this in your life as well.  Start saying, “Thank you, Lord, and more, Lord, more.”  Be open to more, and be willing to ask the Lord for more.

The other phrase I heard was in the Life in the Spirit Seminar video.  David Mangan was talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  He talked about how we should all be open to whatever gifts the Holy Spirit wants to give us, particularly the gift of speaking in tongues.  This is one that people often don’t want as they find it weird.  David said he is open to any gifts the Lord is passing out, and he is getting in line twice.  Then he said, “It’s not that I am greedy; it’s that I am needy.”  I love this because it is so true.  We don’t have to feel as though we are greedy when we say “more Lord more.” We are needy; we all are.  We can’t do anything without the Lord, which makes us pretty needy.  I keep feeling as though the Holy Spirit really wants you to hear that the Lord has so much more for each and every one of you.  Our prayers are too little. He is bigger than we give Him credit for.  Stop playing little with your prayers.  Step out in faith and ask for what you truly want; God has more for you.  He does not grow weary or get tired.  Keep asking, don’t limit yourself, Our God is a Big God who can do Big things.  He is standing by, waiting for you to trust that and for you to step out in faith and ask for the miracle you have been wanting but are too afraid to ask for.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are amazing.  I love it when you speak to me, and you give a specific message for everyone listening.  Lord, help us to believe and truly accept that you don’t grow weary or tired and that you love when we come to you.  Help us to turn to you for all we need, Lord.  Help us to look to you for our strength and power, Lord. Help us to say “more Lord more” with the expectant faith that you want to give us more, that you have more to give.  Lord, I know you were speaking to some people individually when you said we needed to step out in faith and ask for more.  I pray that those individuals hear that message deep in their hearts and that You give them the boldness and trust they need to pray those big prayers.  Help us all to pray those big prayers, Lord.  Give us the grace of a more expectant faith, Lord.  We believe, help our unbelief.  Lord, I especially want to pray for those who are weary and need your strength.  Help them, Lord, give them more.  We love you, Lord; you are so amazing.  We are so grateful that with all you give to us, you are telling us to ask for more.  We will take all you have to offer, Lord, not because we are greedy, but because we are needy.  We ask all of this in accordance with your word and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, “Come, all my children. Come to drink heartily from the cup of my eternal love. I have much to share with you, much to give to you.”

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Be Bold & Persevere

Hebrews 10:36 "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

This was one of the verses I typed for our August discernment notes for the Prayer Group. The message translation came up when I looked up the verse on biblegateway.com to check out different versions. I love the message translation because it puts it in our current terms. It takes what the Bible says and uses common everyday language to tell us what they are talking about. Another thing it does is group verses together. So, instead of having verse 36, it had verses 32-39 all lumped together. This way, you don’t take any verses out of context.  I don’t always use this translation when writing the devotional, but I frequently look at it to ensure I understand what is being said. Today, I didn’t intend to look up the message translation; it just came up, and the verses blew me away. When I get a verse, I often read it before and after it. When I do this, I sometimes switch to those verses.  The verses before this one give us much more context into what this verse means.

Here is the message translation for Hebrews 10:32-36, “Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.”

I loved these verses because they explain how hard it can be to stick with something. When we start something new, we are excited and go all in, or at least I do. I always want to do it because it is new and exciting. Even if it is hard work, it can still be exciting, and we can still be motivated. However, what about when it is not new or exciting anymore? Think about a hobby you started. You were so excited about it that you bought all the things to go with it and did it all the time. When I got married, my neighbor started selling Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies. To support her, I started a scrapbook for Tony and me. Then, when I had kids, I got more into scrapbooking. I would stay up late doing it. My fellow moms and I would have scrapbooking nights going well into the mornings. I bought more and more stuff, and I loved it. Then, as I had more kids and they got to ages where they were into more stuff, I slowly got away from scrapbooking. Now, I have two bookshelves full of supplies, and I rarely ever scrapbook. I also got into running during COVID-19, and I was excited to go out and run. Not excited every day, but excited enough to get myself out there. I don’t think I ran much at all this past year. Our interests come and go. Our relationship with the Lord should remain a constant in our lives.

The letters to the various communities in the New Testament addressed the people of the early church. Jesus came here to set up a new kingdom in this world. This religion was new and exciting. It was familiar in some ways and radically different in other ways. People were excited, and they were all in at first. People were excited about this new religion, and yet it was not an easy life for those who believed in Christ. Nowadays, if you believe in Christ, you may have some persecution, but nothing like they received back at the beginning.

Right after Christ died, there was a lot of persecution. Many could not openly worship, and if they were caught, they were put in jail or they were killed. Peter was crucified, Paul was beheaded, Andrew was also crucified, Thomas was pierced through with spears, Philipp was arrested and cruelly put to death, Matthew was stabbed to death, Bartholomew was a martyr for the Gospel, James was stoned and then clubbed to death, Simon, the zealot, was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god, Matthias was burned to death, & John was the only one to die of natural causes. It was not easy to be a Christian when these letters were being written. This is why the early church fathers wrote letters to their people. They wanted to encourage them to keep believing.

These verses do just that. “Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them.” This reminds them of how they felt when they first came to know Christ. They are reminding them that times were hard even from the beginning, and yet they followed Christ anyway. They were kicked around, and they were abused in all sorts of ways, and yet the Lord was still with them, and they were still with Him. It also reminds them that they stuck together. If their friend were in trouble, they did not desert them. They were right by their side.

Next, the verses remind them how they felt when they were full of the Lord. “If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you. Nothing set you back.” This verse reminds them of where the source of their joy is. Our joy is not found in our possessions. It is found in the Lord. If we have the Lord in our hearts, we don’t care about worldly possessions because we know we can’t take those with us. We know that we have the best gift, the Spirit of Christ. No one can take that away from us.

The verse says, “So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.” This part reminds them that the time has not yet come. We need to stay in the fight. We have done so well for so long and must keep moving forward. We need to keep relying on God and defending God. We need to keep resting in the Lord. The verse reminds them that we can be just as sure of God today as we were when we first found Him. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He was there for us then and will be there tomorrow. We can count on that.

The verse I chose for today states, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” This is a powerful reminder that we are all called to do something. What is God calling you to do? It also reminds us that God has made promises to us. When we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised us. That is pretty amazing! We just have to persevere. When it gets tough, and we feel we can’t keep going, we need to ask the Lord to help us. His power is made perfect in our weakness. We are never in this alone. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and that means we have the power of Jesus Christ living inside of us.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you and want to persevere in following you. We want to not only follow you, we want to bring you to all those we meet. Please help us, Lord. Please help us to stand up when we are persecuted. Help us to defend you, even when it is hard. Help us to keep going when we think we can’t. Lord, I ask you to help bring wisdom and clarity to your children. We pray especially for your children who have left the church because of the actions of some involved in the church. Lord, help them to see that the church is made up of broken people, but that does not make it a broken church. Bring them back to your loving embrace, Lord! We also pray for all those with mental health disorders, Lord. Please break through the enemy's lies and tell them how loved they are! 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. We start a new month of mentoring tomorrow night. I hope you will join us! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, I have led you out of darkness, out of fear, out of bondage, into the light. I have freed you to walk with me always. I am your shepherd and I will not let you go astray.”

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 Be Bold & Pray (Be Bold Series)

Ephesians 6:18-20 “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.”

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.  Praying in the Spirit, to me, means praying in tongues.  It says in Romans 8:26, “ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”  In other words, we don’t know how to pray, but if we allow the Spirit to take over for us, then He can pray what we really need to pray.  I am not sure how many of you listening to this podcast have prayed in tongues before or even believe that praying in tongues is something people do.  I thought I would take a moment to explain what happens when you pray in tongues.  When you are praying in tongues, your mouth and vocal cords are making sounds that most of the time do not sound anything like real words.  You do not know what you are saying when you are praying in tongues.  It is a conversation between the Holy Spirit and the Lord.  The Holy Spirit is speaking what it finds in your heart and sharing that with the Father.

When looking up the meaning of this verse, two different sites talked about how living and praying in the Spirit was about more than just our thoughts and our desires.  Praying in the Spirit also has to do with our submission to God.  We need to realize that we are dependent on the Lord for all things.  It is about turning to God and asking Him to help us, and then we also trust that He will help us and His help will be whatever is best for us.  

Then the verse says to keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.  When I first read this, I thought it was asking us to persevere in asking the Saints for their help.  However, upon research, this verse is actually asking us to persevere in supplication for the saints, not from the saints.  It is asking us to pray not only for the things that we need but also for the needs of other believers.  It talks about how we are to pray persistently and about all matters.  Although we might not be able to pray out loud every second of every day, it is important to develop the habit of praying consistently.  When something comes up, no matter how big or how small, our first thought should be to share it with the Lord.  We need to turn to Him no matter how small the matter is.  

The second half of this verse talks about St. Paul.  St. Paul was imprisoned because he was sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  Now, in this message, he is asking for prayers so that he may speak boldly about the message of the Gospel.  He is still in prison when he writes this, and that is why he is saying that he is an ambassador in chains.  How many of us would be willing to continue to proclaim the Gospel if we were sitting in jail for doing that very thing?  Take a minute to think about it, would you?  I have prayed for a holy boldness ever since I knew that was a thing.  I don’t remember when I learned about holy boldness or where I first heard that term, but I instantly loved it.  

If you don’t know, let me share something with you: I am a crier.  I cry when I see a sad movie or TV show.  I cry when I see a happy movie or TV show, especially if I didn’t expect the happy ending.  I cry when I am upset, I cry when I am nervous, and I cry when I am happy.  Sometimes, I don’t even know why I am crying.  I can feel the tears falling down my cheeks, but I don’t feel sad, and so I don’t know why I am crying.  I have been told that tears can be a gift from the Holy Spirit.  They have never felt like a gift.  I know some people who can’t cry.  Due to their upbringing, things that have happened to them in their past, or some other reason, they can’t cry.  No matter how hard they try. So when they see me cry, they feel that it is a gift.  I guess it all depends on how you look at it.  

The reason I mention this is because this is a big part of the reason I never really talked about my faith to people unless they started the conversation.  I was afraid that if I got nervous and started to cry, they would think I was crazy.  I still don’t really like to walk up to someone that I don’t know and start a conversation.  However, I am getting better at this as I have been asking God to help me with this for a very long time now.  I remember the first time I felt called to ask someone if I could pray over him.  It was a silent retreat, and I had just been given the gift of speaking in tongues.  This guy was really suffering, and I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to pray over him.  I didn’t know this guy. I hadn’t ever talked to him. The only reason I knew he was hurting was because he shared that on the first night of the retreat.  Then, the rest of the retreat was silent, so I never talked to him again.  I remember hearing the Lord ask me to pray over him and telling the Lord if He wanted me to do this, then He would have to give me the courage because I was scared to do that kind of thing.

I remember the Lord gave me several opportunities, and I let each one pass me by.  I was just so nervous.  Each time I repented and told the Lord that I wanted to, I just couldn’t, and that if He kept giving me chances, I would keep trying.  Finally, I asked the guy if I could pray over him.  He said I could and was thankful. Even though he was thankful, I was still nervous, and I did start to cry.  Not ugly-face cry, just tears streaming down my face as I prayed.  I felt foolish for having cried, but I was really proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and asking the man in the first place.  

This is why I can’t imagine being as brave as St. Paul, who was willing to proclaim the Good News even from his prison cell.  Maybe this is why he asks us to persevere in supplication for all believers.  We all need strength from the Lord.  Maybe what you need is different than what I need.  Maybe you don’t need a holy boldness.  I know several ladies in my prayer group who proclaim the Word of God for the whole world to hear.  They may not need boldness, but maybe they need strength for trials they face, maybe they need help not worrying, we all need something.  Let us keep praying for ourselves and for our fellow believers.  Let us pray that God gives each one of us exactly what we need to help bring others into a personal relationship with Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help all your saints and give us whatever it is we need to help spread your word and help bring others into your glorious kingdom.  Lord, we ask you to help us be alert as St. Paul asked of us.  We ask that you help us persevere in supplication for your saints.  We ask that you give each and every one of us a holy boldness to proclaim your word.  Lord, you are so good, and you always give us everything we need for the day.  I ask that you help us see this each and every day.  Lord, you are amazing, and we love you.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name.  Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  We will be starting a new month of mentoring soon, and I hope you will join us! Mentoring is on Tuesday night at 8 P. M. Eastern time on Zoom. If you aren’t available on Tuesday nights, you can always watch the replay. There is a link below, or you can always go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com Remember, Jesus loves you so very much, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, “Life is a complex mix of many things, my children. Sometimes, I know that you do not know which way to turn. Always turn towards me. I have brought you into this existence. You are mine, mine alone. ”

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Be Bold & Spread The Gospel (Be Bold Series)

Ephesians 3:7-13 “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power.  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.  This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

It was tough to pick a verse this morning. I have been reading Ephesians, and there are so many good verses in there. I kept reading and re-reading chapters 1 and 2, and so many things were jumping out at me, but I didn’t feel like any of those verses were the ones I was supposed to talk about today. Then I went on to chapter 3, and this verse jumped out at me. I felt the Lord wanted me to speak to you about evangelization today. If you are like me, that word might scare you a bit.

When I hear that word, I want to look around and see who else the Lord might be talking to. When I hear that word, I instantly feel inadequate. Why is this? I know several Gospel stories and parables, so it is not as if I don’t know what’s in the Gospel. I know that God is love, which is the most important word to get out there. I know it is essential that people discover the love God has for them. I know these things, so why do I feel so afraid when I hear someone say that we are all called to share the good news with everyone we meet?

St. Paul was an extraordinary man and a great evangelizer. He is credited with writing about half of the books in the New Testament. Yet, in this opening verse, it says, “Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me by the working of his power.  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, to preach to the Gentiles.” St. Paul knew he was called to be an evangelist as well. He knew his calling was to spread the word of the Gospel to all he met, but he really didn’t feel qualified.

I take comfort in this. I take comfort in knowing I am not the only one who gets nervous when I look at the call the Lord has placed on my life. I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but God has also put this call on your lives.  We are all called to bring the Gospel to all we meet. Does your stomach feel funny when I say that? Do you get nervous when you realize God calls you to spread His word? If you do, you are not alone. I don’t know anyone who is only excited and not nervous to go out and share the Gospel. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who are excited to share the Gospel with others; however, they are nervous about doing it and feel inadequate to do it. I don’t know anyone who sets out to evangelize, thinking they know everything and that it will be easy.

This is why the next line is so important. It says, “This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,  in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.” This verse says we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him. Jesus can give us the boldness we need. Let me read you this part in the message translation. “I have been made a messenger of this wonderful news by the gift of grace that works through me. Even though I am the least significant of all his holy believers, this grace gift was imparted when the manifestation of His power came upon me. Grace alone empowers me so that I can boldly preach this wonderful message to non-Jewish people, sharing with them the unfading, inexhaustible riches of Christ, which are beyond comprehension.”

I love that this translation says, “by the gift of grace that works through me.” Grace is a gift from God. Grace can help us do things we could never do on our own. The verse also says, “Grace alone empowers me so that I can boldly preach this wonderful message.” God is calling us all to share the Gospel with all we meet. This means that He will equip us with all the grace we need to do so. If you feel inadequate to share the Gospel, join the club; we all feel inadequate. However, that doesn’t mean we get to excuse ourselves from doing it. How we feel doesn’t stop us from fulfilling our calling.

There is a podcast I used to listen to called “Do It Scared.” This is what we are called to do. We are called to step out in faith even when we don’t think we are the best person for the job. Who are we to question God’s judgment? We are called to step out in faith even when we are scared. We are called to trust that God’s grace is enough to empower us to do what He has called us. We are called to step out with a holy boldness. Sometimes, that boldness won’t come before you step out, but it will help you say what He wants.

If you are like me, you may think, “That is great, Catherine. I get that God’s grace is enough. Yet, I still feel inadequate and need something more practical to help me step out in faith on this journey.” If this is you, I have you covered. In one of our Encounter Ministry classes, they gave us a list of declarations that we can say each day to help us begin to believe that we can go out and evangelize. If you say or write these declarations often, they can help build your confidence. They can also replace your negative self-talk around the word evangelization and your ability to do it. Declarations work best if said daily, out loud, and while looking in a mirror. However, if that doesn’t work for you, do what does. I write these declarations most mornings. Writing seems to work well for me, although now that I say that, I will probably start saying them out loud and writing them. Here are the declarations:

Everywhere I go, I am overwhelmed by God's love for people, and that motivates me to share the gospel.

It is easy and normal for me to articulate the gospel.

I have an anointing for evangelization.

Today, my mind and spirit will tune in to the people around me and find those who desire to be saved. I will lead those people to Jesus.

I am fearless and courageous, and I live with an understanding that people are hungry for Jesus.

I am creative in my evangelization and I adapt well to bring powerful God encounters to different kinds of people.

I love evangelizing!

It is easy to share the gospel with others because they want to know the God that is inside of me.

When I feel afraid to share the gospel with someone I will remind myself that on the other side of fear is a testimony.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much. You are amazing. We thank you for giving us the grace we need to fulfill our mission. We are sorry we question you and feel inadequate for all you call us to do. We believe you will equip us, Lord. Help our unbelief. Please help us feel more confident in the call you have given each of us. The call to share your Word and love with everyone we meet.  Help us step out in faith and try to do this, Lord. Help each one of us try to let one person today know that Jesus loves them. 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. Can I ask you a favor today? Would you forward this podcast to someone you know today who would be blessed by it? I would really appreciate you helping me spread the Word of God to more people. If you don’t think this would be the right episode to send to someone, then pick your favorite one and send that one to them. Thanks so much! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, let your mind open, open to me. Let it open so much that you are full of me, and you know all that I want you to do. Ever be open to me, my children. Know that I love you and that I commission you to go out there and make me known. To each one you meet, you can do it, for I have commissioned you. Fear not. Move forward. And I will be there for you all the way.”

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Be Bold And Ask God (Be Bold Series)

Acts 4:29-31 “And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your Word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.”

Last night, I attended the East Coast Encounter Ministry Conference.  I was so happy to be there.  I love being in a room that is full of the Holy Spirit.  Have you ever had the privilege?  Have you ever been in a room where you could feel the Holy Spirit?  I am not even talking about when you have a sense that the Holy Spirit might be there.  I am talking about when you walk into a room, and you can feel the Holy Spirit is there in a big way.  It is a feeling I can’t quite describe.  There is so much joy in the room.  It is truly amazing.  Last night was one of those nights.  The conference started with worship, which is how we should start anything.  Even your own personal prayer time will be more meaningful if you start it with praise.  God loves when we praise Him.  There isn’t one certain way that we need to praise Him.  He leaves the how up to us.  My favorite way is to listen to Christian music and sing along.  Maybe you would prefer to tell God how great He is or call out various names for Him.  The choice is yours.  

After worship, we had prayer time, where a Deacon spoke words of prayer and words of prophecy over the whole group.  Next, we had a speaker talk to us about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  It was a wonderful and funny talk.  I am sure I will pass along some of what I learned at a later date. Right now, I am just letting it all sink in.  After the talk, there were prayer teams that were set up to do individual prayers over people.  It was so beautiful.  There were people who were overcome with the Holy Spirit everywhere you looked.  It was amazing.  The Holy Spirit definitely showed up there last night. However, I wasn’t surprised as He always shows up when we call on Him.  He is so good like that.  He wants to give us all He has, His gifts and His fruits; we just aren’t usually asking for them.

The speaker went through several scriptures tonight, one of which was the scripture above.  I liked how this verse begins because the person writing this verse is telling God to “look at their threats,” talking about the Jews that killed Jesus.  It’s as if the speaker is telling God something He didn’t already know.  There is nothing that goes on that God does not know about.  He not only knows about it while it is going on, He knew about it long before it started.  He knows everything, from the beginning of time until the end.  It wasn’t necessary for Peter or John, whoever was speaking at that time, to make that statement and yet it speaks to their human nature.  It is tough for us to wrap our heads around the fact that God knows everything.  So, sometimes, oftentimes, we feel the need to remind Him of what we are going through.  

What Peter and John are looking for in this verse is boldness, along with signs and wonders to be performed in Jesus’ name.  They understand what they are up against.  They are trying to spread the Gospel to people who lived the same time Jesus lived and yet still don’t believe.  They are trying to spread the Gospel at a time when they could be put in jail, stoned to death, or crucified just for saying Jesus’ name.  They know if they want to have any chance at being successful in their mission, they will need to preach with a holy boldness.  They know if they expect people to believe them they need also to have signs and wonders to back up their teaching.  It would be so great if we could all believe without seeing, but that is not how a lot of us work.  We need to see first and then believe.  The apostles knew this.  

What happened after they asked for boldness, signs, and wonders?  “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.”  What happened?  God answered their prayers.  He always does!  He is good like that.  I know there may be a lot of people in your life that you can’t count on.  We live in a fallen and broken world.  However, God is not one of these people.  You can count on God to answer your prayers every time you ask.  He will never let you down.  I feel like I should say something about that last statement.  Every time I write that statement, I wonder if this is true.  When I say He will never let you down, I mean He never says He will do something and then fails to do it.  He never breaks His promises.  He never leaves us. He is always with us.  He always answers your prayers.  There is never a time when you are asking for something and He is ignoring you.  He always comes through.

I think why I get this funny feeling when I write that God never lets us down because I know people who feel God has let them down.  I think anyone who has lost a loved one probably feels let down by God when it happens.  I know when we lost a member of our prayer group, a young member who was in her 40s, I felt let down.  I didn’t understand why He didn’t save her when I knew that He could have.  If you have lost a loved one, you may have had similar feelings.  So, I think that is why I am hesitant to say God never lets us down.  Although what I feel the Holy Spirit is saying to me right now is that God didn’t let us down, we were disappointed with His decision.  We asked for our loved ones to be saved, and they weren’t, and we are understandably upset with God for that.  However, God did answer our prayers; it just wasn’t how we wanted Him to.  Our expectation was that He would save our loved ones here on earth, and He decided to save them by bringing them to heaven.  God didn’t do what we wanted Him to do, and we are disappointed, and that is OK.  God can handle our disappointment.  He can even handle our anger.  As long as we are turning to God in our time of need, He will be there to help us through all of our emotions.  

I may have gone on a little tangent there, but every time I write that God won’t let us down, I get a funny feeling, and the Holy Spirit let me address that feeling today in case any of you were listening and feeling like the Lord has let you down.  We may not always like the answers to our prayers, but He does always answer them, and He is always there with us to provide us with the strength to get through another day.  He gives us the strength to get through the circumstances we are presented with.  He is a good, good Father.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this podcast today.  Lord, we want the holy boldness that You gave to your apostles.  We want the signs and wonders also.  Lord, we want all your Holy Spirit wants to give us.  We are open to the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  If there is someone listening to this episode who does not know about the Holy Spirit and how amazing He is, I ask that you put a desire to learn more in their hearts.  I ask for you to put a desire to grow more in the Holy Spirit on every person listening, Lord.  I pray for a revival of the Holy Spirit in this town, in this state, in this country, and in the world.  Lord, help everyone know you, your son, and your Holy Spirit.  Lord, we love you, you are truly amazing.  We are so grateful you gave us your Holy Spirit.  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! I will see some of you tonight on mentoring. Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, “At times, people hurt you, but their intentions weren't as bad as you think that they are. Give them a chance. Give them the benefit of the doubt, my children. Be compassionate as I am compassionate with you.”

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Be Bold & Sprinkle Love Like Confetti

 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I liked this verse when I read it for a couple of reasons.  The first reason was that it says, “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.”  I liked the phrasing of it.  The verse is saying that they have confidence in God through Christ.  They are acknowledging that Christ is the reason the have confidence in God.  It is through Him that all things are possible.  I like this because it means that all the responsibility for trusting God is not on my shoulders.  If I ask, Christ will help me with my confidence in God.

The next line says, “Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God.”  I like this because, again, it takes some of the responsibility off of us to have to know how to do it all and to be good at everything.  If God asks us to do something, then He will give us all we need to do it.  This is sometimes hard to believe.  Imagine God asking you to build an orphanage in a foreign country.  One where you have never been before.  It is difficult to say yes to this when you have no idea how any of the pieces will come together.  Maybe you don’t even know how to build anything, and you are not a fan of travel.  Maybe you don’t have any money and you don’t have the first clue how to do fundraising.  It would be hard to step into this calling when you don’t have any answers.  And yet, some people do.  

God asked Noah to build an arc.  He asked him to build an arc in the middle of a drought.  Noah had no idea how to build an arc. He was a farmer.  Noah had never built an arc before.  I don’t think that Noah had all the supplies to build the arc before he said yes to the Lord.  God asked Noah to build an arc with very specific dimensions, and Noah said yes.  He said yes, not because he knew what he was doing and not because he had all the answers.  He said yes because he loved God, and God asked him to.  He said yes and relied on the Lord to give him what he would need to complete the project.  

I wish we all had this kind of trust in the Lord.  I wish that when God asked us to do something, we all just said yes.  We didn’t think about it, we didn’t weigh the pros and the cons, we didn’t worry about whether we were good enough or not.  I wish we just said yes.  If God wanted to erase everyone except Noah off the face of the earth, then it seems like the world was in a pretty bad place.  The world is in a pretty bad place right now.  It seems as though you can be anything you want today except for Christian.  You have to be tolerant of everyone else’s beliefs, but no one has to be tolerant of Christian beliefs.  Don’t get me wrong, I think that we should be tolerant of other people’s beliefs.  I just expect that same respect, and it doesn’t seem to be happening these days.  I believe that God is calling us all to action.  I believe He wants us to spread the gospel and to live His word every day.  

This brings me to the next line in this verse, “our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant.” God made the apostles competent ministers of the new covenant.  He will do the same for us.  If we just say yes, he will equip us with the knowledge and power that we need to spread the good news.  If you are anything like me you shrink away from the responsibility to spread the good news.  You think to yourself, “Who am I to talk about God? What do I know?” or you say, “There are others much better suited to talk about Jesus. Others that have studied harder or paid attention more.” There are any number of things we tell ourselves to convince us that God may be calling some people, but He isn’t calling me.  I am not worthy to serve the Lord.  I am not good enough, smart enough, educated enough, or whatever your version of “not enough” is.  

This is the enemy talking!  He has convinced us that we aren’t enough, so God couldn’t possibly use us.  All the proof you need to know this isn’t true can be found in the Bible.  God never used the most educated men, the most holy people, the people who got everything right.  He used normal, everyday people to be his instruments in the world, and He wants to use you.  Do not believe the enemy that you are not enough.  Are you worthy?  No, none of us are worthy, and yet God loves us and wants to use us anyway.  God made us in His likeness and image, so we can’t be all that bad.  

The last part of this verse is a really important part.  It is one that I find really interesting and want to dive deeper into.  I will touch on it today to draw your attention to it, and then, if you want to dive deeper to understand it better, you can do that.  The last part of this verse says, “Who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  This talk of a new covenant is what I would like to dive deeper into.  The things I found regarding this particular scripture say that the letter of the law is the mosaic law.  Before Paul was converted, he used to enforce the laws of the old covenant.  The reason this verse says that the letter kills is because it is impossible for us to follow all the laws on our own.  We are a sinful people, and we can’t live a life without sin without the Holy Spirit.  When Paul teaches the new covenant, he teaches those who trust in Jesus to live by the Holy Spirit.  

I think this is where many of us go wrong.  We want to help everyone find Jesus, and we have noble intentions.  However, we go about it by preaching the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.  Instead of starting out letting everyone know how much they are loved by our heavenly father, we tell them that they are living in sin if they live with someone they aren’t married too.  Instead of loving people right where they are and trusting the Holy Spirit to convict them of any wrongdoing, we judge them and treat them according to how we feel they should be treated.  The Holy Spirit has really convinced me over the years that Jesus is love and that He wants me to be an example of that love to all that I meet.  I fall short, and I don’t always do this. However, I never stop trying, and I know that when I do fail, God forgives me, and then he gives me the grace I need to do better next time.  

If we truly want to help people find their way to Jesus, then we need to be a reflection of Jesus to all we meet.  When Jesus ate with the tax collectors and the prostitutes, he did not lecture them about what they were doing and how they needed to change.  He just loved them right where they were, and they saw a love and a peace in Him that they wanted.  Our words will not be the thing that changes people. Our actions will.  It seems like people are starving for love and connection these days.  This may sound weird because, with social media, it seems like everyone has so many more friends.  However, it is rare to get true connections with others online.  There is definitely a shortage of love these days.  Even with all these ways to communicate, people are feeling more alone than ever.  What if we spread love around to everyone we meet?  I heard this saying, and I love it. The saying is, “Sprinkle love like confetti.” What if we all made this our goal? Imagine how much better the world around us would be if we all sprinkled love like it was Confetti.  Imagine if we were all brave and bold enough to love more freely.

Dear Heavenly Father, I  ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to love you and to have confidence in you.  Lord, help us to say yes to whatever it is you are calling us to, even if we don’t understand how or why you are calling us to it.  Help us to say yes, even if we don’t have any of the answers we think we need.  Please give us the grace to trust You and rely on You for all we will need to carry out the mission You give us.  We want to be competent ministers of the new covenant.  Help us to lead by example and to teach the spirit of the law instead of focusing on the letter of the law.  We love you so much, Lord; help us sprinkle that love like confetti to all those we come in contact with.  Thank you so much for all you do for us.  You are truly spectacular, and we are so grateful.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

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

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in August 2024 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, as I am merciful, so must you be. I do not hesitate to pardon you. I do not hesitate to give you a chance. You must do so with other people.”

CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month)

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