Walk Boldly With Jesus

Kind Mercy Wins Over Harsh Judgement Every Time!

James 2:12-13 “Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.”

That was the message translation. When I first read this verse this morning, it was in the passion translation. This is what it says, “so we must both speak and act in every respect like those who are destined to be tried by the perfect law of liberty and remember, that judgment is merciless, for the one who judges others without mercy. So, by showing mercy, you take dominion over judgment.“ I like both of these translations. The reason I thought it was so important to share this verse with you today is because it’s so easy for us to judge. It’s so easy for us to look at someone else and think they’re doing everything wrong.

It’s easy for us to judge. It’s easy for us to look from the outside and see you so clearly that they should be doing this or that. It is perhaps most easy to judge our family as we think we know them very well. The thing I’ve discovered over the years is that we only know what people want us to know. I think the Lord has been really showing me this a lot lately. I’ve met so many people over the last year or two, and they look perfectly happy on the outside. They seem so close to the Lord, and it is clear that he loves them. Then, when I talk to them, I find out they feel so far from the Lord. I find out that even though they are beautiful and kind and loving, they’re insecure and feel ugly, unwanted, and not enough.

I know it is cliché to say you can’t judge a book by its cover, and yet the Lord keeps showing me over and over again this year that you don’t know anything about someone just by looking at them or examining their life from the outside. I think this is true even with our family. We think we know what’s best for them because we think we know them. We grew up with them. We were around them all the time, and we knew who they were. The thing I am finding out is that people are not always their true selves around family or around anyone. Sometimes, we act like who our family thinks we are. We act in a way we know they will approve of or a way we think we want us to act. I have discovered this can start at a really early age. I wonder what would happen if we stopped assuming we know what someone else is thinking. We stopped assuming we knew what they liked or who they were, and we started asking questions.

I wonder if we made it a point to be less judgmental if others would feel free to be themselves around us. I wonder what would happen if we stopped assuming intentions or motivations and just asked people what we were thinking. What if we stopped thinking we knew what was best for everyone? What if we trusted there was a reason they were doing what they were doing? What if we trusted God knew what he was doing with them and in them? What if instead of telling them all the reasons we think what they’re doing is wrong, we talk to God about it instead? No matter how much we want to and no matter how much we think we can. We cannot change people. The only one who can do that is God. So why do we waste so much time trying to convince someone to change? Wouldn’t that time be better spent talking to God about it?

Take a minute and think about where all your advice (a.k.a. Nagging) has gotten you. Has it changed the other person? Has it improved your relationship with that person? Has it damaged your relationship with that person? There are very few relationships that improve as a result of nagging. Even if the person finally changes, they may feel resentful of you for making them change, or they may try to change, but it doesn’t last long because they didn’t want the change.

Most of the time we don’t know the reason people do what they do. They might do something that makes no sense to us. For instance, we know someone, and they always push others away. We judge them, and we don’t understand why it seems like they ruin every relationship they find. However, if we could see inside them we would understand they have been hurt over and over again by loved ones. We would see all the important people in their lives have left them, and so now they always push others because they figure they will leave anyway, and they don’t want to get attached.

We might look at someone who has a lot and doesn’t share well with others. We may think they are greedy and selfish. Yet when we look at their childhood, we see they grew up without anything, and we’re taught that there is never enough in this world. They worry if they share what they have there won’t be enough for them. We might look at someone and judge that they are mean and cruel. However, if we could see inside, we would know the truly terrible things they endured over their lifetime. We would see that the world has shown them over and over again that there is nothing to be happy about. The world has shown them nothing but cruel people and that if you are nice to someone, they will just take advantage of you.

I like something different in both versions of this verse this morning. In the message translation, I really liked that it said, “Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.” I wish we all knew this was true. Think about how much different this world would be if we just treated people with kind mercy instead of harsh judgment. Think about how much better people would feel if they were treated with mercy. It seems like the default these days is harsh judgment. At the Christmas dinner table yesterday, the kids were talking about. This guy named Luigi killed a billionaire healthcare executive. They said everyone is talking about this guy like he is Batman, or some kind of hero because he killed a billionaire. When did we decide that all billionaires are evil? When did it become OK to take judgment into our own hands?

In the Passion translation, I liked it when it said, “Remember, that judgment is merciless, for the one who judges others without mercy.” I really like this because it reminds us that we have a responsibility to show mercy if we expect God to show mercy on us. I think we can’t hear this enough. It is so easy for us to judge and not even think twice about it. This is a trick of the enemy. He knows exactly how God feels about judgment. He knows everything in the Bible. He knows that God will judge us as we judge others but the enemy doesn’t want us to know that. He wants us to think it’s no big deal. He helps us minimize the evil in our judgment because he doesn’t want us to go to heaven. He wants God to judge us harshly. Is that what you want? Think about how you judge others. Think about the things you say about them and the things you feel about them. Is that the way you want God to judge you? Are those the things you want God to feel and say about you?

I feel like this can’t be overstated because of the way the enemy is trying to hide it. We say it right in the Our Father Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The Lord will forgive us. As we forgive others. The Lord will judge us as we judge others. Maybe as we think about Jesus’s coming, which we just celebrated yesterday, and the upcoming year that we are about to enter, we can take a look at how we judge others and how we can offer mercy instead of judgment in this upcoming year.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this podcast. Lord, help us to be more merciful and less judgmental. Help us to see how important this is to our eternal salvation. Help us to see others as you see others. Help us to see with your eyes, Lord. Give us a new eye sight. 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 invite you to join mentoring for the month of January. The topic is identity and it is such an important topic. I hope you will join us. 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 June 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, “Mark 10:16 “Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”  “I could almost see him with the children and the look on his eyes when he was blessing them.”

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Jesus’ Birth Foretold

Isaiah 9:6 “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

We received this scripture verse on Thursday during prayer group. I was researching how many years, before the birth of Jesus, this prophecy was given to Isaiah. While researching, I found this article that explains this verse very well. So, I thought I would read the article to you for today's episode. The article can be found on The Master’s University Website. It does not say who wrote it. CLICK HERE for the article.

The Christmas story in the Bible begins several hundred years before that night in Bethlehem. One Old Testament prophecy after another promised a coming Savior—the Messiah, the Anointed One—who would redeem the people of God. The centerpiece of all the Christmas prophecies, Isaiah 9:6, was written nearly six hundred years before Jesus’ birth. Isaiah promised it would be a miraculous event unlike any the world had ever known, and the details Isaiah gave were fulfilled precisely by Jesus.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 is the most familiar of all the Old Testament prophecies about the birth of Christ. Handel included it as one of the great choruses of his Messiah oratorio. Chances are you either sing it or hear it several times every Christmas season.

Consider the rich truths in this one short verse and the attributes given to this extraordinary child. To the Jewish nation, Isaiah’s prophecy was news of a coming King. To the unsuspecting world, the prophecy promised a Savior, God incarnate, whose coming would dramatically and forever alter human history.

Son of Man

“A child will be born to us” is a statement about His humanity. He began life like any other human—as an infant. Isaiah doesn’t say more about this here, but we know from the New Testament that Christ experienced every temptation common to humanity, but He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). As a man, He felt everything we feel, hurt like we hurt, wept like we weep, and in His death He even felt the weight of sin as He took ours upon Himself.

Son of God

“A son will be given to us” speaks of the Savior’s preexistent deity. By saying “given,” not “born,” Isaiah suggests that Jesus existed before His birth. He was already God, the second Person of the Trinity, before He was given to us to be our Savior (Philippians 2:6-7). He came as the Son of God—God in a human body—to conquer sin and death forever. He is the perfect Son of God, the promise of the ages, the Holy One of Israel, the desire of nations, the light in darkness, the only hope for our lost world.

King of Kings

“The government will rest on His shoulders” looks beyond that first Christmas to a time still in the prophetic future when Christ shall reign over a literal, earthly, geopolitical kingdom that encompasses all the kingdoms and governments of the world (Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 2:44). In that day, the government of the whole world will rest on His shoulders, and He will reign as sovereign over a worldwide kingdom of righteousness and peace. In the meantime, His government operates in secret. His kingdom and sovereign rule are manifest within those who trust Him as their Lord (Luke 17:20-21).

Wonderful Counselor

Messiah’s kingdom has the answer to the world’s confusion. During His incarnation, Christ demonstrated His wisdom as a counselor. When people came to Him, He always knew what to say, when to reach out to a seeking heart, and when to rebuke an impetuous soul. The testimony of those who heard Him was, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” (John 7:46). Christ is the source of all truth (John 14:6), and it is to Him that we must turn to make sense of life’s confusion. Jesus is the Counselor who knows everything. He knows all about you; He knows the needs of your heart; He knows how to answer those needs. And He always gives wise counsel to those who will hear and obey Him.

Mighty God

The King is the Mighty God and His kingdom is free from all chaos. “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33), which means chaos is antithetical to who He is. Christ the King loves to step into a life of chaos and not only provide wonderful counsel, but also display His divine power by bringing order. He not only tells His subjects what to do as a wonderful Counselor, but He can energize them to do it—because He is the Mighty God. In Jesus we have a sovereign Master who can forgive sin, defeat Satan, liberate us from the power of evil, redeem us, answer our prayers, restore our broken souls, and reign over rebuilt lives, bringing order to chaos.

Eternal Father

We tend to cringe at the word “government,” picturing an administrative labyrinth. But our Messiah’s kingdom is not like that. He requires no bureaucracy; He shoulders His government by Himself. He can do it because He is the eternal Father, or as the phrase in Isaiah 9:6 is literally translated, “the Father of Eternity.” Christ is Creator of heaven and earth. According to God the Father’s own testimony, the Son—Jesus—was the Person of the Godhead who created time out of eternity and fashioned the universe from nothing (Hebrews 1:10-12). Nothing is too difficult for the Creator and Sustainer of everything. Infinity and all its intricacies are nothing to Him who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End—the Father of Eternity. He declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He is in complete and sovereign control, He sees the end of everything, and He guarantees that all things will work together for the ultimate good of all His kingdom’s subjects (Romans 8:28).

Prince of Peace

In Messiah’s kingdom there are no conflicts because He is the Prince of Peace. He offers “peace from God” (Romans 1:7) to all who receive His grace. He makes “peace with God” (Romans 5:1) for those who surrender to Him in faith. And He brings the “peace of God” (Philippians 4:7) to those who walk with Him. As we hear so often at Christmas, the beginning of His earthly life was heralded by angels who pronounced peace on earth (Luke 2:14). There never really has been peace on earth in the sense we think of it. Wars and rumors of wars have characterized the entire two millennia since that first Christmas, as well as all the time before it. The announcement of peace on earth was a two-pronged proclamation. First, it declared the arrival of the only One who ultimately can bring lasting peace on earth (which He will do when He returns to bring about the establishment of His earthly kingdom).

But more importantly, it was a proclamation that God’s peace was available to men and women. Read the words of Luke 2:14 carefully and note this emphasis: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” God is pleased with the people who yield their lives to Him. “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy” (Psalm 147:11 NKJV). When the angels proclaimed peace on earth, they were speaking primarily of a very personal, individual application of God’s peace that grows out of a firsthand knowledge of the Prince of Peace.

The prophetic message of Christmas is the good news of God’s answer to all the confusion, chaos, complexities, and conflicts of life. It is the gift of the newborn infant, who is also the Father of all eternity. He is an innocent child, yet He is a wise Counselor and mighty King. He is God with us. Immanuel.

This Christmas, consider the wonderful promise of Christ and how He has fulfilled these rich prophecies in your life through His saving, sanctifying, and sustaining work.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for each and every person listening to this episode. Lord, I ask you to bless them and their families this holiday season. Lord, we thank you for sending Jesus to us and for saving us. We thank you for all the ways you are still saving us every day, not just from the world but from ourselves, too. Lord, we love you, and we are so grateful for you. You are amazing! We ask that you be with those who are all alone during this holiday season. We also pray in a special way for all those who are living on the streets during this holiday season. We pray 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 will not be posting a new episode tomorrow since it is Christmas. I will be back on Thursday though. I pray you have a blessed Christmas that is full of joy! I am so grateful I get to be part of your day. I love you all!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in June 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, “I've asked for the Spirit. We've all asked for the power of His Holy Spirit. We've all asked for His love. His love is there for us. He's not giving us false stones that look like bread to eat. He's going to give us the bread of life.”

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Do You Have Questions Too?

Romans 5:5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Hope in the Lord does not disappoint has been a verse I have had to come back to over and over again. It is one that honestly I don’t really understand. I mean, I know plenty of people who have hoped in the Lord that their loved ones would be healed on this side of heaven, and they weren’t. They were surely disappointed. I have known people who were praying to get a certain job and they didn’t. I am sure they were disappointed. What about those who really want to be married and haven’t met their spouse yet, or those who want children and yet can’t conceive? I am sure they are hoping in the Lord to answer those prayers, and it hasn’t happened yet, I am sure they feel disappointed.

I have discovered that the Holy Spirit has been asking me to go deeper when I read something I don’t understand, which is a lot. I will be reading a scripture and then a question will pop into my head. At first I thought it was the enemy trying to get me to doubt my faith, or doubt what the scripture says. However, upon more prayer I have come to believe that the Holy Spirit doesn’t want me to just question something and then move on without an answer. I think He is calling me to work with people who have left the faith, and left the Lord. He is calling me to work with those who have been hurt by religion and want nothing to do with it and so they also have given up on the Lord. Or, maybe they have just grown apart from Him, or never really knew they could have a relationship with Him.

I think the Lord is trying to show me that if I am asking these questions, so are they. The answers that I have always been given don’t do it for me anymore. The Lord is asking me to go deeper. He is asking me to truly understand who He is and why He does what He does. I mean, we will never understand most of what He does until we join Him in heaven, as our brains are so limited as to what we can actually understand and comprehend. However, I do feel He is telling me to go deeper when a question comes up, like the ones today, and ask Him to help me understand. You can do the same with your questions. You can bring them to the Lord, and He will answer them. Do you struggle to believe that? I know I do sometimes. I am hesitant to ask the Lord a direct question because I always think I won’t get an answer, and then I will feel rejected. However, He always answers. Maybe not right away, and maybe not how you thought He would. I have one friend who said she always asks God questions, and she hears nothing. Then, later in the week, as someone is talking to her, she realizes that is the answer to the question she asked God. Sometimes, she will get an answer through the scriptures that are read at mass. I have another friend who said she doesn’t receive a lot of answers during her prayer time, but then when she is in the shower is when her questions are answered. If you are asking the Lord questions and feel He is not answering you, I want to assure you that He definitely is. It just might be in a way you are not recognizing. Be on the lookout for it, be expecting an answer in unexpected ways, and you will find them

Back to today’s verse, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” I went back to read the verse before this because this verse starts with “this hope,” so I thought, what hope?  What does “this hope” mean? The verse before today’s verse says, “But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressure will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” That was the passion translation, so today’s verse sounds a bit different in that translation.

The hope we are talking about in this verse is one that we have earned. It is one that was hard fought. It is one that was forged out of the fires of difficult situations. It is a hope that we gain after we have developed patience and character. God never told us we wouldn’t have disappointments in life. He never promised us that our lives would be easy. He actually told us it would be hard. Yet He does promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be there with us in our disappointing moments. Ones where we cry out to the Lord and ask why He is not answering our prayers, why He took our loved one from us, why He put these desires into our hearts and now is not bringing them to fruition.

I think we have all asked the Lord at least one of these questions, and I think we were probably justified in doing so. I don’t think God minds when we ask questions. I think He minds when we ask questions and then don’t wait to hear the answers or go elsewhere to seek the answers. How many times have we done that? We cried out to the Lord and then tried to fix it ourselves or looked for some earthly solution to try to fix it. God wants us to go to Him and then sit with Him and listen to what He has to say. He has the most simple answers to the most complicated questions if we allow Him to answer. He can turn things around in a moment, but often, we are too busy trying to do it ourselves to let Him fix it. We tire ourselves out trying one thing after another, and I bet He is looking down at us the same way we look at any kids in our lives who are trying to do things themselves when you know if they just asked for help, you could do it so much quicker.

Sometimes, kids need to do something themselves so that they learn how to do it. Other times, they need to do something themselves so they can learn a lesson. We are the same. No matter how old we get, we are never too old to learn a lesson. God will allow us to learn the same lesson as many times as it takes for us to truly learn it. He will allow us to solve our problems on our own if that is what we want. I am sure it breaks His heart to see us wearing ourselves out doing everything ourselves when He knows if we just partnered with Him, it would be so much easier. Yet, He loves and respects us enough to let us decide when we invite Him in and when we want to partner with Him. The best news, it is never too late. You might be 20 years old, and you might be 80 years old. It is never too late to invite the Lord in and watch your life changee.

I don’t think I answered the questions from earlier or talked about the verse too much; I guess the Holy Spirit had a different idea this morning. However, I do want to look at the verse a bit more because I think that will help answer the questions. “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” The verse says that hope will not lead to disappointment because we know how much God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. The message translations said, “And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

Did you know the Holy Spirit lives inside of you? If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, you probably know that, as I say it often. However, if you didn’t know this, it is true! Maybe you did know that already, and yet you don’t really know what that means. It means that the spirit of Christ lives inside of you. It means that all of that power that Jesus had when He lived on earth, the power He used to do all His miracles, that lives inside of you. It means the Holy Spirit, the one that raised Jesus from the dead, lives inside of you! Did you know you had so much power living inside of you? Guess what else you have? According to the Passion Translation, you have the endless love of God cascading into your hearts through the Holy Spirit that lives in you! The other translation says that the Lord has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

We have power and love filling our hearts because of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. Isn’t God remarkable? This is why hope in the Lord does not disappoint. It is because He is constantly filling our hearts with love. This verse does not mean that we will never be disappointed, we will, probably often. However, it means that if we hope in the Lord, He will come through for us. Maybe not in the way we wanted Him to, but whatever we are going through, He will use it for our good. I have heard this in many songs, and it has brought me comfort. I hope it will bring you comfort too. If you are struggling, if you are in a dark place right now, if all seems lost, then know God is not done with you yet. He allows us to go through trials, but He never leaves us there, and He never leaves our side while we are in them. If your life is not as you want it to be, if it is not as you had hoped it would be, then God is not done yet. Keep turning to Him, keep inviting Him in, and then watch as He transforms your life. Expect it; be on the lookout for amazing things, and you will find them!

Dear Heavenly Father, wow, I wasn’t expecting all that today. Please bless all those listening to this episode. Please help us to really hear what you said today and to allow it to take root in our lives and bear fruit. Help us to better understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Help us to gain a better understanding of what it means to believe that hope in you does not disappoint.  Help us to turn to you instead of the world when we need answers. Help us to invite you in today, instead of going through one more day on our own. Help us to surrender, Lord. Help us to accept your love. We love you, Lord, and we ask 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 pray something I said today touched your heart and helped you to see things in a new light. I want to invite you all to join me in January for mentoring. It is on Tuesday nights at 8 PM EST on Zoom. I know some of you are far away, and 8 PM EST is the middle of the night for you. If this is the case, you could still join mentoring and watch the recording. I promise you will still get a lot out of it. January’s theme is Identity, which we all seem to struggle with. I hope you will consider joining me. 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 June 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, “I felt like the Lord was reassuring me that all I've asked for, especially because I was having a little struggle with ministry and ministering and stuff last night, all I've asked for, he's not going to give me a stone. His love is there.”

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

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In Returning and Rest, You Will Be Saved

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

This verse was given at the prayer group yesterday. I really like this verse because it says, in returning and rest, you shall be saved. Have you heard this before? I don’t think that I have heard it at all. The world tells us that we will be saved when we save ourselves. It tells us that we will be saved if we do enough. If we figure out the right thing to do, then we will be saved. If we figure out how to be perfect, then we will be saved. If we figure out who God wants us to be and become that person, then we will be saved. This verse is a welcome change. It is telling us that if we return and rest we will be saved. How great would it be to just rest in the Lord and be saved? How great would it be to finally stop doing so much and yet still be saved?

I had my Message Translation Bible out to look up a verse for someone else, and so I thought I would share with you what this verse says in the message translation. “God, the Master, the Holy of Israel, had this solemn council: "Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me – the very thing you've been unwilling to do.” When I heard this, it rang true in my soul. How many of us are trying to save ourselves or our loved ones? How many of us are wearing ourselves out, trying so hard to do all we can do? We are so tired, we feel so weary, and yet we feel like we are just running in circles. Nothing is really changing.

This verse may be our answer. God Himself is telling us if we return to him and rest, we shall be saved. The question just came into my mind that I never really left the Lord, so why do I have to return to Him? If you were wondering the same, I think the returning is returning the issue to Him. We tend to pray about our problems, we hand them over to the Lord, and then we take them back. We get frustrated, we run out of ways we can help ourselves, and we turn back to God. Then we think of a new way we can help ourselves, so we take our problem back from God. Then we fail, and we give it back to God. Rinse and repeat over and over again. God is telling us to just rest in Him. He will save us.

I love how the message translation says, “Stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.” I know it doesn’t feel like our efforts are silly. We are just doing all we can to save ourselves or our loved ones. Who could blame us? However, if we really think about it, isn’t it kinda silly to think we could do a better job than God? Isn’t it kinda silly to think we might have a better plan than he does? He is the Lord of the whole universe. He not only knows everything about us, including our innermost thoughts, but He knows everything about everything. It stands to reason that He would be about to come up with a better plan because He has more information.

The verse also says, “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” It seems as if we are trying to find our strength in our own ability to save the situation. However, in this verse, the Lord is telling us that when we rest in him, we can find strength in that quietness and trust. Have you ever found strength in quietness before? Have you ever been really worried about something and just sat in silence with the Lord? If you haven’t done this before, I invite you to give it a try. You would be surprised how much comfort and strength you can get when you sit in silence with the Lord. God has told our prayer group several times that it is in the silence that He is healing us. This is when He is ministering to us. This is when He is comforting us and building us up.

Matthew Kelly always talks about the “Classroom of Silence.” He talks about how much you can learn when you sit in the classroom of silence. It is a time when we don’t have to be thinking. We don’t have to be planning. We don’t have to know everything or do everything. We can just sit there and be with the Lord. I invite you to sit with the Lord today, even if it is only five or ten minutes, and see if you feel any different. Whenever I do it, which is not as often as I would like, I feel a lot more peace than I had before. It is as if the worry of the world melts away, and I am filled with peace. Sometimes, it is a lasting peace that I carry with me into the day. Sometimes, it is peace while I am with the Lord, and then I allow all the worries of the world to creep back in. Either way, I have peace for at least those few moments, and it is great!

We can also find our strength in trust. When we trust the Lord, we feel so much stronger because we understand that He is in control and that we know that He is looking out for our best interests. Think of someone in your life that you trust completely. Maybe it is your spouse, or your best friend, or a sibling, or your parents. Who is someone that you trust? Do you feel more confident when you talk to that person? Do you feel like they are giving you good advice or leading you in the right direction? Now, imagine you had that kind of trust in the Lord. What would that feel like? What would that look like? When we know without a doubt that the Lord is in control, then we can feel stronger in our decisions because we know that even if we mess up, God will use it for good. We know that every decision we make isn’t life or death. God is a good Father, and He allows us to make the wrong choice, but then He uses that wrong choice for our good.

Today’s verse ends with, “But you refused.” What if we stopped refusing? What if we decided we were going to turn back to the Lord and accept His help? What if we made the decision to stop trying to fix everything on our own and just rested in the Lord while He saved us? Wouldn’t that be so much better? Wouldn’t it feel so good to just finally rest and let someone else handle it all? Aren’t you tired of trying to do it on your own? I know I am! God is telling us to rest in Him, and He will save us. We know God is not a liar, so why is this so hard? He is telling us we will find our strength in quietness and trust. I think we could all use more strength. So, what if we just rested in the Lord and received all the strength He wants to give us in the quietness, trusting God is in control and He knows best?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we are sorry we always try to save ourselves. Please help us. Please show us how to sit with you in the silence. Please show us how to rest in you and trust in you. Lord, you are amazing. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We want to trust that Your plan is better. Please help us. We love you, Lord, and 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 meeting 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 June 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, “I come with my joy. I come with my love. I come with everything that is good. So be not afraid to come. Be not afraid to share all that I share with you, with others, so you can enrich them in my way.”

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Why We Love Mary So Much!

Today I thought I would do something different. Instead of starting with a scripture. I decided to talk to you today about my mentoring topic for this month. It is Why We Love Mary So Much! “Why do Catholics love Mary so much?” This is a question that I have been asked a lot by Catholics as well as other Christians. I have also been often asked, “Why do Catholics Worship Mary.” Let’s address that one first; it is a much simpler answer. We do not worship Mary. We only worship the Lord. We have a deep love and devotion for **Mother Mary** because of her unique role in God's plan for salvation, virtues, and intercession. Today, I will review some key reasons Catholics love Mary so much. Here are some key reasons for this devotion to Mary:

1. **Her Role as the Mother of God**

Mary is honored as the **Theotokos**, or "God-bearer," because she gave birth to Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man. This makes her central to the mystery of the Incarnation—the event through which God became human to save humanity. Catholics view her as the mother of not only Jesus but, in a spiritual sense, the entire Church.

2. **Her Yes to God’s Will**

Mary's willingness to say **"Yes" (Fiat)** to God at the Annunciation (Luke 1:38) is seen as a model of perfect faith and obedience. She trusted God's plan, even without fully understanding it, and her example inspires Catholics to follow her in surrendering to God's will.

3. **Her Role as a Spiritual Mother**

From the Cross, Jesus entrusted Mary to all humanity when He said to the Apostle John: **"Behold your mother"** (John 19:27). Catholics believe that Mary is a spiritual mother who cares for all believers, interceding for them and guiding them closer to Jesus.

4. **Her Sinlessness and Purity**

Mary’s Immaculate Conception (her being conceived without original sin) and her sinless life make her the perfect model of holiness. Catholics honor her purity and strive to imitate her virtues, especially humility, love, and faithfulness.

5. **Her Intercessory Power**

Catholics believe that Mary, being close to Jesus, has a unique role in interceding for humanity. Asking for Mary’s intercession is like asking a trusted and holy friend to pray on one's behalf. This belief is rooted in her role at the **Wedding at Cana** (John 2:1-12), where her intercession led to Jesus performing His first miracle.

6. **A Deeply Personal Connection**

For many Catholics, Mary is not only a figure of reverence but also a source of comfort, understanding, and maternal love. Devotions like the **Rosary** help foster this personal connection, allowing the faithful to meditate on Jesus' life through Mary's perspective.

7. **Her Title as Queen of Heaven**

Mary is honored as the **Queen of Heaven** because of her close association with Christ, the King. This title emphasizes her exalted place in heaven, where she continues interceding for the Church.

The title **"Queen of Heaven"** is one of the many honorary titles given to Mary, reflecting her unique role in salvation history and her exalted position in heaven. This title is deeply rooted in Scripture, tradition, and theology. Here's an explanation of why Mary is called the Queen of Heaven:

---

1. **Mary as Mother of the King (Queen Mother)**

In biblical tradition, the mother of the king in the Davidic kingdom held the role of the **queen mother** (*Gebirah* in Hebrew), a position of honor and influence. For example:

- In the Old Testament, the queen mother often interceded on behalf of the people (e.g., Bathsheba in 1 Kings 2:19).

- Since Jesus is the eternal King of the universe (Luke 1:32-33), Mary, as His mother, is honored as the **Queen Mother** in His heavenly kingdom.

2. **Scriptural Foundations**

The title is not explicitly mentioned in Scripture but is supported by several biblical themes:

- **The Annunciation** (Luke 1:32-33): The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her son will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. If Jesus is King, Mary is logically the Queen Mother.

- **The Woman Clothed with the Sun** (Revelation 12:1): In this passage, Mary is symbolically depicted as a woman crowned with twelve stars, representing her royal dignity and role as the Queen of Heaven.

3. **Tradition and Early Church Fathers**

- From the earliest centuries, Christians recognized Mary’s special status as the mother of the King. Titles like **“Queen of Heaven”** and **“Queen of Angels”** began to appear in Christian prayers and hymns.

- Saints like **St. Ephrem** and **St. Augustine** wrote of Mary’s royal dignity, associating her with Christ’s kingship and her role in the divine plan of salvation.

4. **Mary’s Coronation**

Catholic tradition holds that, after her Assumption into heaven, Mary was crowned as Queen by Christ. This is often depicted in Christian art and is the subject of the **Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary**: *The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.*

5. **Her Role in Intercession**

As Queen of Heaven, Mary is believed to intercede for humanity before her Son, Jesus Christ. This is similar to the role of the queen mother in the Davidic kingdom, who acted as an advocate for the people.

6. **Papal Affirmations**

- Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical **Ad Caeli Reginam (To the Queen of Heaven)** in 1954, formally proclaimed Mary as **Queen of Heaven and Earth**, affirming this title as a reflection of her close relationship with Christ and her role in the Church.

- He declared that Mary’s queenship is rooted in her divine motherhood and her unique participation in Christ’s work of redemption.

7. **Symbolism of Her Queenship**

Mary’s title as Queen of Heaven underscores her:

- **Exalted dignity** as the Mother of God.

- **Role as intercessor** and advocate for the faithful.

- **Victory over sin and death**, as she shares in her Son’s triumph through her Assumption.

8. **Devotions to Mary as Queen**

- **The Litany of Loreto** includes the invocation “Queen of Heaven, pray for us.”

- Feasts like the **Queenship of Mary** (celebrated on August 22) honor her royal status.

Marian hymns, such as **"Hail, Holy Queen" (Salve Regina)**, reflect this devotion.

Ultimately, Catholics love Mary because she leads them closer to Jesus. Her life and example remind believers of the transformative power of grace and the importance of trusting in God's plan.

I hope you enjoyed this explanation about Mary and why we love her so much. I hope it cleared up any confusion about whether or not we worship Mary. We don’t. I hope listening to all this makes you a bit more curious to study Mary on your own. She is really a remarkable woman. Her yes to the Lord is so incredible. She always points us back to her son or to the Father.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, thank you so much for sending your son to Earth to save us. Thank you for giving us Mary as our spiritual Mother. We couldn’t have asked for a better example. Lord, we ask that you help us be more like Mary. We ask that you help us to say yes, even when we don’t quite understand all you are calling us to do. Give us the strength to say Yes to all you ask us to do, Lord. 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. You can see the whole mentoring session on my YouTube channel if you liked this teaching on why we love Mary so much. It talks about the Immaculate Conception and explains what it means to do a Marian Consecration. It also has some little-known facts about Mary. I think you will enjoy it. I would also like to invite you all to join mentoring for this upcoming year. The first month’s theme will be Identity, and it is so needed. If we stand firm in our identity as children of God, then the enemy won’t be able to attack us as much. 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 June 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, open more fully to my grace. Open to my love. Open your ears to everything I tell you. The more you are open, the more you are likely to receive, my children.”

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Witness Wednesday #141 Healing of Fibromyalgia

Today’s witness is from the internet. This morning in a prayer group, the leader talked about how her sister-in-law struggled with Fibromyalgia and suffered from migraines and the treatment wasn’t working. I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to do a witness on a healing of Fibromyalgia so that her sister in law could believe that if God did it for his person, He will do it for her too. Hope is such an important part of faith and it can also be so easy to lose it when you are in chronic pain for so long. Here is the miraculous story of Teresa’s healing of Fibromyalgia. Remember, God is the same yesterday, today and always. If He has done it before, He will do it again. We believe Lord, help our unbelief.

In the fall of 2002, my wife Teresa started experiencing some pain symptoms in her back that we could not find an explanation for. Over the next few years, it spread over her whole body.  After going to many different doctors, she was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.  The diagnosis was confirmed by more than one doctor.

Fibromyalgia has different levels of severity in different people.  My wife’s condition was particularly severe, and her health deteriorated to the point where she was only able to walk about 50 feet or so, and she could only be on her feet for about 90 seconds.  The pain was getting worse and worse.

Three years later, in December of 2005, she was struck with another condition in her arms that was eventually diagnosed as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (also known as RSD).  Because of the intense pain, she lost use of both arms and hands, and was no longer able to care for herself at all.  Her arms hurt so badly that it was painful even for air to blow on her skin sometimes.  Over time, not using her arms, and not being able to walk very well, she became weaker and weaker, and her hands actually started to close up into a fist.

It was a very bad situation, and that is putting it lightly.  And, it was getting worse day by day, month by month.

The next year, in August of 2006, I found out about a prayer email list at the company I work for.  I joined the list, and sent out this email:

—–Original Message—–

From: Neal

Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 11:07 AM

To: *****

Subject: Prayer Request

 Hi everyone.  I have a prayer request.

Over the past four years, my wife Teresa has developed some chronic pain conditions that have baffled many doctors.  The pain has become increasingly debilitating, and has left her very limited in what she is able to do physically.

God has faithfully brought us through it this far, and sent many people to help us along the way.  He has blessed us in many ways, and we are very thankful.  He has also led us to some good physicians, and we hope and pray that she is on the road to recovery.

I would like to ask you all to pray for her complete healing, and that God would use our testimony to bless others.

Thank you

Neal

—————————————————————

Someone replied to that email inviting me to a lunchtime study in one of the conference rooms at work.  It was a study on divine healing.  It was being led by a man named Bill Alsop.  I came to the study.  After it was over, I spoke to Bill briefly.  He didn’t know me, but I asked him about praying for my wife.  He invited me to his home that Friday night, August 25.

So, that Friday after work I picked up Teresa and we drove to his home.  On the way there I remember that I was somewhat excited, and I was expecting that we would receive encouragement and strength to go on.  There had been many people praying for us over the years.  We had a few times where people came by to pray with us, and there were other times when we had gone to different places for prayer.  I know there were lots more praying for us that we were not always aware of.  It always helped us to keep going, and that was pretty much what I was expecting.

When we arrived, we talked with Bill and his wife Cathy for a short while, and then we started praying.  Teresa was actually lying down on the floor at this point, and we were all praying in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Some of the time they were praying in tongues, some of the time they were praying in English.

After a few minutes, he told my wife to stand up.  He took her to the front door, and he told her to walk to the end of his street, turn the corner, walk up the hill to the mailboxes, touch one of them, then walk back.  He told her to talk to God while she walked.  (Bill later shared with us that the Holy Spirit had instructed him to do all of that in a vision he received while they were praying).

In my mind, I was thinking “What? She can’t even make it to the end of the driveway”…but before I could say anything, she took off walking out the door and down the street.  I knew that unless something supernatural happened, she would collapse within two minutes of walking out the door.

However, before I had time to object, Bill turned to me and said this: “You have been praying to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues.”  That shocked me because I had not mentioned anything about that, even though it was absolutely true.  God was getting my attention…to help me believe.  He succeeded.  I stood up, Bill put his hand on my chest, and I began speaking in tongues for the first time…just like they did in the Bible.  I received the Baptism with the Holy Spirit right there in his living room, while at the same time my wife was walking down the street receiving a miraculous healing from God.

For a few minutes as I was speaking, I was somewhat overwhelmed in a flood of God’s presence, and I forgot that Teresa had gone out walking without me and without her wheelchair.  Before long, I looked towards the door and she was standing there talking to Bill.

She made it!  She walked all the way to the mailboxes and back.  That is about four blocks.  She was healed as she walked, and it was a miracle!

Bill told us to go buy her some walking shoes, and to go walking every day.  We talked a little while longer, and then drove home.  On the way home, I remember feeling like I just came out of a whirlwind, and wondering to myself “what just happened to us…”  The pain was gone from Teresa’s body.  She made the comment in the car that she was able to “feel her skin again.”

We got home and went for our first walk together in years.  We walked halfway to the end of our street and back, and she made it with no pain.  The next day we walked farther and still no pain.  No more need for the prescription pain medications for Fibromyalgia…and she has not taken one of those since then.

We continued walking farther and farther each day, and she was regaining her strength now that all of the terrible pain and fatigue were gone.  After about a week, she was able to walk for a mile.  Not long after that, it became two miles.  We donated her wheelchair to charity.  She was able to use her arms again, and feed herself and dress herself and everything else you do with your arms and hands.

She had a previously scheduled appointment coming up with the main Fibromyalgia doctor, and we decided to keep the appointment and tell him the good news.  After that appointment, I sent this message to the prayer email list:

—————————————————————

From: Neal

Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 3:06 PM

To: *******

Subject: Testimony Update

Hi everyone.

I am the person who sent out the testimony back in August about Christ healing my wife Teresa from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (FM/CFS).

I just wanted to send out a little story that I hope will build your faith. This is a story about what it is like to tell a doctor that Jesus healed you.

Last Wednesday, I took Teresa back the specialist she has been seeing for FM/CFS. His name is Dr. Charles Lapp, and he’s in Charlotte, NC. He is one of the top experts on for that condition in America, and he is absolutely the finest medical professional I have ever dealt with.

Teresa hasn’t been back to seen him since God healed her on August 25, so we were very excited to tell him what happened. The last time he saw her she was in constant severe pain. She was only able to stand up for about two minutes before feeling like she was going to collapse, and even sitting up was difficult.

This time was a completely different story, because now she walks about a mile or two for exercise every day, and all the pain and suffering is gone

Here’s how the appointment started:

Dr. Lapp: “You look great! How are you doing?”

Teresa: “Have you ever heard of someone getting healed from Fibromyalgia?”

Dr. Lapp: “No I haven’t. (he looked surprised and excited).”

Teresa: “Well, I have a story to tell you. On August 25, God healed me…”

Then she told him the story of what happened. He looked to be both amazed and excited at the same time.

He did all of his tests on her, and he just kept laughing because everything was negative. He said he had never seen anything like this before. We said “we haven’t either, but it sure is awesome!”

Then, he gave her a hug, told her how happy he was for her, and wrote up his report. Here’s what he wrote at the end of the report…and I quote:

“Assessment: CFS/FM – miraculously resolved!”

There’s nobody like Jesus.

I hope this will help you to believe that God is still doing miracles, and healing people.

—————————————————————

And now, years later, Teresa is an athlete.  She is at the gym every day doing some extreme workouts that would would put most men in the world to shame.  She is one of the most physically fit people that I know, and that is not an exaggeration.

The experience we had the night she was healed started us on a journey.  We began learning more about the Holy Spirit and how He wants to work through natural people to do supernatural things…and set people free from whatever conditions are holding them back.

The rest of the writings on this blog are mostly a collection of things that we have learned over the last few years as we began stepping out in faith and ministering to others.  I hope this blesses you and brings encouragement.  God loves you!

Neal

CLICK HERE for Neal & Teresa's Blog

I am so grateful to Neal & Teresa for sharing their story so that it can build the faith of so many others. God was so good to them and will be so good to you, too. Keep asking for healing, whether it is for you or a loved one. God hears your prayers. He doesn’t always heal when we want Him to or how we want him to, but He always answers our prayers. 

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Heal Our Lands

2 Chronicles 7:14 “ If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I was at an Encounter Alumni event last night, and my friend Theresa was sharing with the group about her new book that she just published on Amazon. His book is called Weapons of Our Warfare. In this book, she identifies thirteen spiritual weapons and how to use them, as well as some amazing results she has seen when these spiritual weapons are employed in the present-day spiritual battle we face. I am excited to read her book and I hope you will get a copy and check it out as well.

When Theresa was giving a talk last night, she mentioned 2 Chronicles 7:14, and when she did, I felt the Spirit prompt me to write it down and check it out for today’s episode. She received this verse while she was driving around Boston after the Boston Marathon Bombing had taken place. She felt like the Lord told her that if we prayed for 1 hour a day in the Spirit, then the Lord would protect our land from attacks. I know that everyone listening to this podcast does not have the gift of tongues and some may not even want this gift.

First, let me just say that I was right there with you at one point. I wanted nothing to do with the gift of tongues. I had heard people in my dad’s prayer group who had that gift, and it just sounded weird, and I didn’t want to be weird. Then I heard a speaker, Anne Trufant, talking one time, and she said how she felt the same way. She would pray for the Lord to give her all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but not that one because that was weird. Then she said she was counseling troubled teens, and one of them backed her up against the wall one day with his hand on her throat. She said after he left the room, she prayed to the Lord to give her all He had for her, even the gift of tongues.

I would also like just to take a minute to talk about the gift of tongues. When you are speaking in tongues, you are just praying in another language, a language that only God can understand. So, God and God alone will hear and understand whatever you are saying. Unless you are speaking in tongues with a group and someone asks for God to interpret what was said. What I love about praying in tongues is that it is I don’t have to know what to pray for. When you are speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying straight from your heart to God the Father. How many times have you been in a situation where you didn’t even know what to pray for or what to say? When you speak in tongues, the Holy Spirit prays a perfect prayer for you.

In case you were wondering where this idea of tongues came from and if it is backed by scripture, it is. There are several references to speaking in tongues in the Bible. Romans 8:26-27 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” This explains that we don’t know how to pray as we should. However, the Spirit can intercede on our behalf, and the Holy Spirit will intercede for us according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just know what we want, it knows what God wants as well and can intercede for us according to that will. How amazing is that?

Now that I have explained a bit about the gift of tongues let's get back to the verse. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” this verse is saying that if we humble ourselves, pray, seek the Lord’s face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear us and will forgive our sin and heal our land. How badly do our sins and our lands need healing right now? When I think of our lands, I think of our houses, our cities, our states, and our country. Our country especially needs healing. It is so divided and so angry. That is the United States of America, at least. I know not everyone listening is from the United States. What about your country? Does it need healing? What about our cities and states, do they need healing?

What about our families, do they need healing? I know mine does. I think the whole world needs more Jesus. We need more love in the world. I am sure you can agree with that. The verse says, “If we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.” Can we do that? Can we turn from our wicked ways? Can we say sorry to the Lord for all we have done? What about humbling ourselves? Can we admit we don't know everything? Can we admit we can't do everything on our own? Only you can answer these questions. I am just pointing them out so that we can stop and answer them. I know a lot of us complain about how bad our country is right now and how we need someone to come in and change it. That is a good thought, and maybe the right president can make a lot of changes. However, whoever the president is, he is still human. This means we are putting a lot of our hope in the right person coming in to fix everything when we could be putting our hope in the Lord to fix everything. The Lord is not limited like humans are. He can do things that we can’t even imagine.

I often say, “I would do anything…” regarding things I have been praying about for a long time. For instance, I used to say I would do anything to have peace in my house. I would do anything to eliminate all the anger in my home. I would do anything for my kids to feel better. How about you? Have you ever said this? When we look around the United States, we see high grocery prices. College tuition is ridiculously high, along with the interest rates on homes. When we look around, we might be tempted to say, I would do anything to change all this in the U. S. We also had another school shooting yesterday. We probably think we must do all we can to prevent this. This is a normal response. Anyone would want to change this situation. We turn to legislation, we turn to the president, we turn to the states, and who we should be turning to is God.

God is telling us in this verse how we can heal our lands. We can pray for all that worries us and all that needs to be changed. We can seek Him. Is He the one we are seeking, or are we seeking answers from the world? It makes a difference. We can be humble and we can turn from our wicked ways. God will forgive not only our sins but he will heal our lands as well.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today. Lord, please help us to hear your words and abide by them. Help us to turn to you for answers instead of turning to the world. 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 meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Tuesday: Today’s Word from the Lord was received in June 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, “Each of you needs a different measuring stick. I know what to do with each of you. I will dig deep into the parts of you that you cannot find. I know each of you intimately.”

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Still Waters (Psalm 23)

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in the right path for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”

I've been hearing this song called Still Waters (Psalm 23) by Leanna Crawford on KLOVE Radio a lot these past few days. Before leaving for Prayer Group, I saw that the leader was using the song Psalm 23, although it was a different version of it, as one of the songs for the meeting. Yesterday afternoon, I got this deep feeling that that's what I was supposed to talk to you about it because there's a lot of anxiety and worry going around these days. And I just talked to someone who lost her husband, and she said she's paranoid these days. She's worried about all the financial aspects of your husband dying. She's worried about her future. She is worried about a lot of things.

And I know she's not the only one. I know that we all have fear and worry over different kinds of things in our lives. I was really struck by the beginning part of the Still Waters song when it said, “Great Aunt Maurine said at a hundred and three, write scripture on your heart for when you need it.

And it also really struck me when she said, “Cause anxiety hates Psalm 23. So just say it to yourself 'til you believe it.” And I just thought, isn't God so good? Isn't it amazing how he gives us exactly what we need found right there in the scriptures? I have to be honest, I don't know a lot about the Psalms. I know Robert from our morning prayer group always asks people what their favorite Psalm is because he's memorized a bunch of them. And I think what a beautiful thing.

And also, I have no idea what my favorite Psalm is. And also, I didn't know that some of the Psalms have a specific purpose. I knew there were Psalms of praise and Psalms of lamentation. But I didn't know that there were Psalms that anxiety hated. And I didn't know that there were Psalms of protection like Psalm 91. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about Psalm 23 today because I think it's one that we've heard often. And yet, I don't know if we really know how powerful it is. I know I didn't know how powerful it was. And honestly, I didn't even really understand what it meant.

I never found it super powerful when I would read it, or even when I would hear it. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.” I didn't know what that meant. And I don't know if I still know completely what it means. But what the Lord pointed out to me when I was listening to the song today was he leads me to still waters. Even in the storm, there's still water. Even in the valleys, when you're at your lowest, he can lead you through that valley right next to still waters. To me, this verse is telling us that no matter what we're going through, if we let the Lord lead us, he'll lead us by still waters. He won't lead us into the eye of the storm.

He won't lead us by chaos and confusion. If our eyes are fixed on him, and if we follow his path through the storm, there will be still waters that we can follow. And don't we all need some still waters in the craziness of the storm? Also, what stuck out to me today was when it said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

I think we all want for things. I've heard from people in my prayer group, and from my parents, as we get older, we want for less. But I think there are all things we want, even if those things are peace, health, safe passage, or maybe it is material things. Whatever it is, we all want for things.

And yet this is saying, the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. We can rely on him to give us all that we need, and all that we want. The Lord knows the desires of our hearts. He knows what it is we want. And he not only cares about the things that we need, but he cares about the things that we want too. He cares about the little requests, just as much as he cares about the big requests.

I know sometimes we don't want to feel greedy, and we don't want to ask God for the little things, because we love him, and we know that he's already given us so much. So why should we ask for more? And yet the Lord tells us in our prayer group, in the words of prophecy, over and over again, “I have so much more for you, but you're not asking.” So ask the Lord, we shall not want, he will give us what it is we need, he will give us what it is we want.

I feel like the Lord is saying there is no “too much.” Just ask. It can't hurt to ask. And that he wants to give us so much more. And we're not asking. And so I just want to invite you all to invite the Lord in, to ask for the big things, to ask for the little things. And to trust that when you ask, the Lord answers. Trust that the Lord will lead you to still waters. If you're especially worried about something right now, hand it over to the Lord and ask him to show you the still waters in the situation.

Everything that's written in the Bible is true. And so when it says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he leads me to still waters. That's not saying he led the Israelites to still waters, but you, well, you're on your own. He leads us all to still waters. So if you're struggling for still waters right now, if you're struggling to find the peace in the situation you're in, if you've been in this situation for a long time and you're thinking, there are no still waters. You can see to the horizon, and there are no still waters. Then, I just invite you to look beyond the horizon and to know that God isn't bound by the horizon. He could take a storm and calm it in a second to have still waters.

He doesn't have to find different waters that are still. He can still the storm just as Jesus did when he was in that boat. Someone said at prayer group today that the Lord was telling her that somebody had an anxious heart or an anxious spirit, and He wanted them to hand it over to Him.

And so I encourage you, if that's you, if you are anxious about something, if you're worried about something, if you're worried about money, if you're worried about family issues, if you're worried about family members who are sick, I invite you to hand that over to the Lord. I invite you to read Psalm 23 over and over again, or to listen to the song on repeat until you have it flowing through your mind and until it brings you peace. Because I believe what the songwriter said when she said, “Anxiety hates Psalm 23.”

I don't think it was just a rhyme. I think it was the truth. Anytime we can have scripture to rely on, it’s a good thing. Anytime anxiety comes up, and we can stop our thought pattern in our tracks and recite a Psalm, recite a song that reminds us that God is stronger than that thought, then I know that we'll see our anxiety lessen each time we do this.

I know when we invite God in, he comes in. He doesn't saunter in. He doesn't meander in. When we call on the Lord, he comes running. He sends his angels flying at the speed of light to be by our side. And the more we can learn his scripture, the more we can memorize it and recall it at a moment's notice. Man, that makes the devil worried. When we have a firm grasp on scripture, the devil knows he can't trick us. The devil knows he can't use that scripture against us like he tried to do with Jesus.

Another thing the song says is to say it to yourself until you believe it. And I think that can be one thing we often overlook. We read these scriptures, and we might believe them on a surface level, but do we believe them in the depths of our hearts? Do we truly believe them? And do we believe them to be true for us? Sometimes, it's easy to believe that something can be true for someone else, and yet we struggle to believe that it's true for us.

We believe that God forgives other people’s sins, but we hold on to ours. We believe that God loves all of his children, but we don't believe he loves us or we struggle to believe he loves us. So when I'm saying learn these scripture verses, I don't mean read them once and kind of know what they say.

I mean, live in the scripture verses. Pick a verse or two and say it, memorize it, believe it, believe it to be true with your whole being, and then move on to a different scripture verse. I don't think we have to have the whole Bible memorized, but if you're struggling in an area like love, anxiety, worry, or whatever it is you're struggling with, find scripture verses that address that area and read them. If one touches your heart, if one stands out to you, if you read a scripture verse and it gives you strength, write it down, memorize it, and then when you're feeling those feelings, recall that scripture verse. This is why I love Christian music so much, because I just feel it in my soul.

I'm not really one who feels the Holy Spirit in a physical way often. A lot of people will say, oh, I could feel the Holy Spirit so strong in this room right now. I can’t. I usually don't feel that. I don't feel what they're saying. But when I listen to Christian music, I feel it with my whole soul, and it speaks right to my heart.

If there are songs that speak to what you're going through, I say the same thing that I said about scripture. Listen to it on repeat over and over again. Memorize it so that when you're in a tough spot, you can recall it. These songs remind us how much Jesus loves us, and how much God's there for us. Oftentimes, they have scripture verses built right into the song, like Psalm 23, Still Waters. This is why I love the music so much.

If you're struggling right now, I invite you to listen to some Christian music. I invite you to Google some scripture verses that have to do with whatever it is you're going through.

I guarantee you if you put in scripture verses for anxiety, worry, financial issues, marital trouble, parenting, whatever it is, scripture verses will come up. And I invite you to read them, to go over them, and to find ones that speak to you, that strengthen and encourage you. And I invite you to recall these when you are struggling.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you. We thank you for always being there for us. We thank you for being our shepherd and leading us to green pastures. We thank you for all the time you have led us to still waters throughout our lives. You are the best Lord and we love you tons!!

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. The theme for mentoring in January is Identity. You can’t imagine how much more freedom you have when you are sure of your identity in Christ. It is going to be a great month of mentoring, and you will learn some really important things. I hope you will consider joining me either on Tuesday nights for the live Zoom call or to watch the replays. Even if you can’t be on the live mentoring calls, I guarantee you will get a lot out of watching the recordings. 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, and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in June 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, “I am always watching, interacting with each one of you, my precious children. Never fear, never. No matter the situation, the severity of anything, know that I know that I am handling it.”

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God Is For You, Not Against You!

Psalm 139:5 “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”

I heard this verse at the prayer group yesterday, and I instantly liked it. It made me think of when I was little, and my dad would tuck me into bed at night. He would make the covers all tight around me so I felt safe and warm. It was such a cozy feeling, and all those feelings came flooding back when I heard this verse yesterday. God is our heavenly Father. He is always there for us in a way that our real fathers might not have been. I am lucky enough to have had a great father growing up. And I am lucky enough to have him still around to be a part of my life. However, even if you didn’t have a great father growing up or in your life right now, you have a heavenly Father who is amazing.

I know sometimes it can be hard to believe that our heavenly Father is amazing, especially if we didn’t have a great earthly father. It can be hard when we look at the Old Testament and see all the things God did to see God as a caring and loving Father. I know my kids always get stuck in the book of Noah with God flooding the whole world. There were times when God’s judgment required him to do some things that I am sure He didn’t want to do. It is hard, at least for me, to reconcile that God with the God of the New Testament. The God who sent His only Son to save the sinful world. The God who would have sent His son even if it was only to save one person.

When I talk with people about how they picture God, often it is not as a loving Father. They see Jesus as loving and kind and pretty easy to talk to. However, they see God as the disciplinarian. They see Him as an older man who is sitting up in heaven on his thrown, feeling pretty high and mighty and looking down on us and waiting for us to screw up, so He can say, I told you so! It breaks my heart to hear that because I know how much God loves us. I know how much He wants us to succeed. He is not waiting for us to mess up. He is routing for us to be wildly successful. He is up there cheering us on. When we do mess up, He is there to help us through it. His heart breaks when our heart breaks.

God is rooting for you. He wants you to win. He wants you to be successful. He wants you to be able to spend eternity with Him. I think this is something many of us have trouble believing because I have heard many songs lately that have the words, “He is for you, not against you.” I don’t think it would be in so many songs if people didn’t have a hard time believing it. Songs usually speak to common areas of struggle. I promise you God is rooting for you. He wouldn’t have sent his song to die a horrible, painful death just so He could sit up in heaven and judge you, waiting for you to mess up so He can say, “I told you so.”

There are many songs that I love that show us how much God loves us. One of my favorite’s is Cory Asbury’s Reckless Love. If you don’t know that song, I highly recommend you look it up. You can even google the version with his testimony in it. He explains the Bible verse for that song and why he wrote that song. It is so beautiful. However, the song I feel the Lord wants me to share with you today is another favorite called Drops in the Ocean by Hawk Nelson. It is the song that came to mind when I wrote that God is for you, not against you. Here are the words to that song.

I want you as you are, not as you ought to be. Won’t you lay down your guard and come to Me? The shame that grips you now is crippling. It breaks My heart to see you suffering.

God does not need us to wait until we are perfect to come to Him. He is not waiting for us to be someone else, some better version of ourselves. He wants us just as we are. I love how it is asking us to lay down our guard and come to Him. How many of us struggle with that? We have our guard up, and maybe it is for a really good reason. Maybe we have been hurt a lot in this world by people who should have loved and protected us. God knows why we have our guard up, and yet, with Him, we don’t need it. He is asking us to let down our guard and just come to Him as we are. He can see the shame that has a hold on us and it breaks His heart to see us suffering so much. It breaks His heart to see us holding onto shame when He could take it all away if we just let Him.

The song goes on to say: Cause I am for you. I’m not against you. Why do we think God is against us? Why do we think He is hoping we fail? Where did this idea come from? If we look at the Bible as a whole, there is far more in there about God being a loving God who saves his people than there is about God rooting for His people to fail. Even when it comes to Sodom and Gomorrah, He was willing to save them if even ten of them were righteous, and yet none were to be found. God does not want even one of His children to perish. He is not wanting us to fail. He is for us, not against us. He is for you, not against you! Don’t believe the lies of the enemy. God is for you!!

My very favorite part of this song is:

If you wanna know how far My love can go, just how deep, just how wide. If you wanna see how much you mean to Me. Look at My hands, look at My side. If you could count the times, I'd say you are forgiven; it’s more than the drops in the ocean.

This part took my breath away the first time I really heard it. If you want to know how far my love can go, just how deep, just how wide. If you want to see how much you mean to me, look at my hands, look at my side. Man, it really hit me. God sent Jesus to save me. If I was the only one on earth, He would have still sent Jesus. Look at his hands; He has the wounds of the cross. Looks at His side, where they pierced him with a spear. He did that for me. Does that not help you to see how much God loves you?

I also love that it says, If you could count the times I’d say you are forgiven, it’s more than the drops in the ocean. Could we even count the drops in the ocean? We think God is up in heaven waiting to catch us doing something wrong, and yet this song is saying that he is up there forgiving us every time we do something wrong. He has forgiven us more times than we can even count. How amazing is that?

The song also says, “Don't think you need to settle for a substitute. When I'm the only love that changes you.” Did you know that God’s love could change you if you let it? The love that we get from others here on earth does not change us. God’s love is the only love that changes us. When we realize how much we are loved by God. When we realize He is for us and not against us, our whole world can change. We will have a confidence that those around us can’t understand. It is a confidence in who we are because of who God created us to be. It is a confidence that no matter what we have done or will do, God will always love us. He is always rooting for us and wanting us to succeed.

God is always around us. If we look back to today’s verse, it says, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” God goes before us and behind us. He lays His hand on us and guides us. We can count on Him to always be there. We can count on Him to show us the path he wants us to take.  He hems us in, behind, and in front. He is there, creating a barrier of protection around us. He is for us, not against us.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each of us listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we thank you for always being there for us. We thank you for being for us and not against us. We thank you for forgiving us so often. We thank you for wanting us as we are, not as we ought to be. You are amazing. We ask you to help give us a renewal of the mind when it comes to how we see you. We ask that you help conform our minds to who you really are instead of who we might think you are. 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 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 June 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, “I had a vision of Jesus, and we were following him, and we were just dancing along this road and rejoicing, following him. And he was dancing, and we were having a grand old time. The sense that I got was that no matter what we go through or the burden we have to carry, He does bring us through it. And he always gives us the joy back, and we know our joy is in him. So we'll dance our way into the kingdom someday.”

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Don’t Stop Praying

Jeremiah 29:12 “Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.”

I heard this song on KLOVE this morning called Don’t Stop Praying by Matthew West. I was wondering if I should use it for my podcast this morning, and then I saw on Facebook the verse above, and I figured it was the Holy Spirit telling me you should use it. A week ago today, I did an episode about how we don’t have to fear and we don’t have to despair because God is always there for us. He will bring us back from faraway places, and He will bring our children back, too. I know this brought people some comfort as they are really struggling right now and that episode was definitely words of encouragement for them.

This morning, when I heard this song, I thought that it goes well with the episode about not fearing as Jesus hears our cries and answers our prayers. He tells us this often: I think we just struggle to either hear Him or maybe we just struggle to believe Him. I am not sure which, but I think this song can help build us up especially if we are feeling down this holiday season. If this is your first holiday season without a loved one, then you are probably trying to figure out how to navigate feeling so many emotions at one time. Feeling happy for the holiday season with the family you do have but sad you can’t share it with the ones you have lost. Feeling angry that they are not still here with you and yet grateful they get to be with Jesus. There can be so many other emotions as well.

I thought this song seemed to touch on a lot of the things we may be feeling right now, so I wanted to share it with you. The song starts off by saying:

What's your impossible? Your "I need a miracle"

What's got you barely hanging by a single thread?

What looks so hopeless now? What weighs down your heart with doubt?

What is your impossible? What is that thing you are praying for that you just can’t see a way out? You can’t see a way through. You can’t see any solution, and yet you really need a solution. What is that thing that you are looking at and saying, “I need a miracle.” What has you barely hanging on by a single thread? What are you so upset about that you are ready to give up? You are trying not to; you are trying to hold on, but it is getting too heavy, and you are afraid you will have to let go. What looks so hopeless, and what is weighing your heart down? We all have things in our lives that we struggle with. I do believe some have it harder than others, but none of us have it easy. We all have something we struggle with. We all have heavy burdens; some are just heavier than others.

The song goes on to say:

You beg for a breakthrough, but no sign of breakthrough yet

When you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dry

The answer won't come, and you don't know why

And you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time

If this is you, know you are not the only one. God’s timing can take a really long time sometimes. We beg for a breakthrough, and yet we don’t see any signs of any movement in the situation. God is working in your situation; you just haven’t seen it yet. It reminds me of the story of Bamboo. A Chinese bamboo tree is planted, watered, and fertilized daily, but there are no visible signs of growth for the first four years. In the fifth year, the bamboo tree grows rapidly, reaching heights of up to 90 feet in just six weeks. Sometimes, our breakthroughs are like that: there is no progress, and then all of a sudden, we have a huge breakthrough.

Have you been crying and crying so much that you feel you can’t cry another drop? Have you looked for answers, and yet they don’t seem to come? Do you feel like you can’t pray anymore? Like you can’t even bow your head just one more time? Do you try to pray, and yet no words come? You are not alone. If this is you, don’t give up. As the song says:

Don't stop praying

Don't stop calling on Jesus' name

Keep on pounding on Heaven's door

And let your knees wear out the floor

Even when all seems pointless, even when you feel like your prayers aren’t being heard, don’t stop praying. Don’t stop calling on Jesus’s name. Jesus promised us that whatever we ask for in His name will be given to us so that His Father in Heaven will be glorified. So, don’t stop asking. We are told over and over again in the Bible: ask, and you shall receive. We don’t know when, where, or how we will receive, but God promises us when we ask, we shall receive. I love how it says, “Keep pounding on Heaven’s door and let your knees wear out the floor.” This paints the picture of someone who is desperate for their prayers to be answered. How badly do you want your prayers answered? Are you asking the Lord every now and then, or are you pounding on Heaven’s door and letting your knees wear out the floor?

Don't stop believing

'Cause mountains move with just a little faith

And your Father's heard every single word you're saying

So, don't stop praying

Don’t stop believing, and He will come through for you. Don’t stop believing he can move the mountain in front of you. Don’t stop believing He can fix your situation or heal your pain, sorry, and grief. Don’t stop believing He will find you that spouse you are looking for or give you that baby you are wanting so badly. You don’t need a lot of faith, just a mustard seed size, so don’t stop believing. I promise you God has heard every word you are saying. He hears you and He is working all things for your good in His timing. I know that is the hardest part, waiting on his timing, and yet His timing is perfect.

The song goes on to say:

He's close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

The Alpha and Omega knows how your story ends

When you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dry

The answer won't come, and you don't know why

And you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time

Oh, do it one more time

And don't stop praying

God is close to the brokenhearted. I have learned recently that sometimes, when you feel the farthest from the Lord, it is actually when the Lord is closest to you. You may not be able to feel Him there for one reason or another, but He is right there with you. The Alpha and the Omega knows you, He knows how your story ends and not just in a general sense. The creator of the universe knows you so personally that He knows how your specific story ends. Sit with that for a minute and realize how amazing that is. God is close to you, even when you are brokenhearted. He is with you, don’t stop praying!

Don't stop praying for the prodigal

Don't stop praying for the miracle

Hallelujah, hallelujah, and amen

Don't stop praying that addictions end

Don't stop praying for deliverance

Hallelujah, hallelujah, and amen

Oh, don't stop praying for the sickness healed

Don't stop praying for His power revealed

Hallelujah, hallelujah, and amen

No, don't stop praying for the Kingdom come

Don't stop praying that His will be done

Hallelujah, hallelujah, and amen

Don't stop praying

Wow, how does Matthew West know exactly what you are praying for? I don’t know about you, but I am praying for almost every one of the things listed here. I love this encouragement to keep praying, don’t stop. No matter how pointless it may seem at times, you are making a difference with your prayers. Keep asking the Lord to intervene. He hears all your prayers and He loves persistence. He has at least two parables about persistence in the Bible.

The verse for today’s episode says, “Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.” God is promising us right here in this verse that when we call upon Him and pray to Him, He will hear us. God always keeps His promises. So, if we call upon Him and come to him and pray, then He will hear us. He will hear our prayers for our prodigal to come home. He will hear our prayers for the miracles we really need. He will hear our prayers for the addiction to end and our prayers for deliverance. He will hear our prayers for the sickness to be healed and for His power to be revealed. He will hear us praying for His kingdom to come, and His will be done. God hears your prayers; I promise you they are not falling on deaf ears, and He is not ignoring you. He is working in your situation in the perfect way and in His perfect timing. Don’t stop praying!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to keep praying, and yet we get weary sometimes. Can you help lift us up and put us back on our feet when we fall down? Lord, can you give us the strength and perseverance we need to keep praying even when we feel like we can’t even bow our heads one more time? We love you; we know you can do the impossible, and yet, at times, the voices of the world drown out those thoughts and make us think our problems are too big. Help us to see you are bigger than any problem we might have.  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 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 June 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, “I surround you with my comfort. All you go through, I will use to help others. I hold your hand. I will not abandon you. Move forward. I will empower you.”

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

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