Walk Boldly With Jesus

If you would like to share your witness with me you can email me at [email protected]

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Expectant Faith Doesn’t Have a Timeline

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

I heard this verse on the Elevation Podcast this morning. It was not this week’s sermon; it was from May 4, 2025. The episode was titled, “All You’ve Got To Do Is Don’t.” It was a really great sermon, and I invite you to check it out. There were a lot of things that he covered today, but one of them, especially this verse, spoke to my heart and answered a question that I had just been talking to God about while I was at Eucharistic Adoration. I was sitting there talking to the Lord about my disappointment when prayers aren’t answered when I think they should be. This is something I think we all deal with. Yet, I am not sure we all know it is ok to be disappointed.

I am going to share my struggle with you this morning in case anyone else has been struggling with a similar issue. I have spent a long time getting to know God and learning about all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have spent a long time trying to understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit living inside of me. Trying to understand how to use the power that God sent to us with the Holy Spirit.  I have been learning about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how to use them for at least 7 years now in the Charismatic Renewal. I have just spent 2 years becoming equipped and activated to use those gifts through the Encounter School of Ministry, Boston Campus.

I tell you all of this to say that I have come to know God well over the last 8 years. I have come to know how much He loves us and how he wants us all whole and healed. He doesn’t want any of His children to suffer. He doesn’t want a single one of us to be lost or separated from Him. I know all of this, and so when I pray with someone for healing or for something else, and I don’t see results, I get confused. This may seem prideful, and this may seem like I am trying to take credit for the healing. I am not sure what this says about me. I am just being honest with you and letting you know how I feel.

Here is what I wrote in my journal this morning when I was coming to the Lord for answers. “Lord, why do I get so upset waiting for your timing? Why do some people have to wait so long for relief? Why does my friend still need to have nightmares, and why is my other friend still blind? Why lord? What am I missing? I feel we do believe. I feel we are coming to you in expectant faith. We are asking in Jesus' name. So why the delayed answers? Why isn't everyone healed? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not doing something I should be? Is something else getting in the way? Please help me to understand.”

Here is what I felt like the Lord said back to me. "My dearest daughter, it is not you. You are not the one healing. I am. I can heal through imperfect people. I can heal even if you don't say or do the right thing. I can use you even though you weren't perfect.”

I replied in my journal, “What about when Jesus ' apostles couldn't get the demon out of that man's son, and Jesus said Oh, faithless generation, how long will I be with you? This is confusing to me because it does seem like it was the disciples' fault, almost. It seems like Jesus was saying that they didn't have enough faith or they didn't pray enough. What am I missing, Lord? Please help me to understand this better.” I also wrote down two verses from this section. Mark 9:23 “Jesus said to him, ‘If I can! Everything is possible to one who has faith.’” and Mark 9:24 “The boy's father said, ‘I do believe, help my unbelief.”

This is when my hour of adoration ended, and I needed to get home to wake Ryan up for school. I figured I would talk to the Lord about this later, as I was still not sure what I was missing. Then I heard this verse on my way home; I felt like the Lord was speaking it directly to me. Here is the verse again, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” The words that the Lord highlighted for me were IN DUE SEASON. I felt like the Lord was telling me that only He knows when it is the right time for something to happen. I know his timing is best. I know He knows all, and that He can do all. I know all of this, and yet when I am praying for someone, I am expecting immediate results because I know God wants everyone healed. I know He doesn’t want to see His children suffer.

I know all of this, and that is why I get so confused. I don’t understand why He won’t just take this from them. I know He can use it for good, and yet I also know He can do anything, so He could teach them what He wants to teach them in a different way. I just don't want to see people suffering. I want God to take this from them. I feel the Holy Spirit putting on my heart that this is the same in my own life. I want to take the suffering away from my kids or my loved ones, and yet sometimes that is not what they need. Sometimes they need to go through it to get to the other side. Sometimes, when we keep people from suffering, we are robbing them of the lessons and the blessings they will gain by going through the suffering.

God doesn’t need my friend to have the nightmares in order for her to learn a lesson or gain the blessings, yet this might be better than the alternative. Or the blessings might be greater than if she didn’t go through this. For instance, maybe He will use this experience to help her be a more powerful intercessor for others who are tortured in this way. My friend doesn’t need to be blind in order for God to accomplish what He is doing, and yet God has a plan, and as much as I don't understand it, it is much better than my plan, and it will all make sense one day.

Let’s look at the verse again. "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Let us not grow weary of doing good. This is something that Steven Furtick addressed in the sermon he gave, and it really spoke to me. What he said can help us not to grow weary and not to give up. He said it is not the work, or the doing good, that makes us weary. It is the expectations. Man, this hit me right in the heart. Praying for people does not make me weary. My expectations of the outcome of those prayers can sometimes make me weary.

I feel as though the Lord was speaking to me about expectant faith this morning with this message. I mentioned in my journal entry that my friends I mentioned above and I are coming to the Lord with expectant faith, we know God can heal them, and we are asking in Jesus’ name, so why aren’t they being healed? First, as I wrote, I realized that they are being healed in so many ways, just not the way I thought they should be healed. He is working on so many things with them. They feel His presence so much more than they did before all the prayer. He is working. Second, I feel the Lord was convicting me that expectant faith isn’t attached to a timeline. For instance, expectant faith doesn’t mean that I wake up expecting to be healed today. Expectant faith is knowing that my healing, or their healing, is coming in due season. Knowing that we have asked for it, and when we ask, God answers. I feel as though the Lord was convicting me this morning that expectant faith is knowing that God will heal them or me at the right time, and that until that healing comes, He will continue to give me all I need to make it through this difficult time. Expectant faith is knowing that God has this all under control, and although I want it to be over today, I know that God’s plan is better than my plan.  

I feel strongly that God is telling me that my expectations of time are what I need to let go of. God’s ways are higher than my ways, and I won’t understand them, and I don’t need to understand them. I feel as though He is telling me to let go of my expectations of time. I feel He is telling me that expectant faith is praising him for the healing, even though I don’t see it yet. Praise Him for delivering my friend from her nightmares, even though she hasn’t been delivered yet. Not because I see proof of that delivery. Not because I see proof of that healing. Praise Him because of my expectant faith that the healing and the deliverance are coming on His timeline and that if we don’t give up, if we don’t grow weary, we will reap the harvest.

I pray this is for someone else besides me this morning. I pray that if you are waiting for answers to your prayers, this will bring you some comfort. I pray you will join me in releasing the expectations of “when” and start praising the unseen answers. I pray you will start praising the Lord with expectant faith that He will answer your prayers, in due season, and that you will eventually reap the harvest of all those prayers and all that expectant faith!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening. Lord, please help us to have expectant faith and to release our expectations of timelines. Lord, help us to know that your time is better than our time and your plan is better than our plan. Help us to be humble and to release our expectations of when and how. Lord, let us praise you for answering our prayers in any way you want. Let us not grow weary of doing good, and let us not give up. Let us trust that you will give us whatever it is we need to get through this hard time. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in the name of Jesus! 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 October 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 your mind, heart, and soul to me. Open it fully so that you can receive all I want to give you. There's so much that I want to share, but you must be open.”

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Great Is Your Faith!

Matthew 15:28 “Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”

I have heard this story in the Bible many times and I am sure you have too.  Right before this verse is the story of the woman who was asking Jesus to heal her daughter. Here is the story found in Matthew 15:21-28 “Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”  But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

I have heard several sermons on this story.  The focus always seems to be on why Jesus spoke to her the way that He did and why He said the things that He said.  I think those are important things to discuss because it sounds like He is being very rude.  If you have not heard any sermons or any explanations of why Jesus said the things He said, I recommend you look them up as it is very interesting.  However, what the Holy Spirit highlighted for me today is the very last line in this story.  Jesus said, “‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”

This came right after the woman said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” What the Holy Spirit told me is that we don’t have to be perfect to receive healing. This woman was not one of the chosen people and yet she believed that even the crumbs left over after the chosen people had been healed would have enough power to heal her daughter.  She knew she wasn’t one of the chosen people.  She knew she didn’t have a right, so to speak, to be asking Jesus for anything, let alone a miracle, and yet she was brave enough to ask anyway.  

It’s interesting, when I read the words, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table,” I heard the Holy Spirit say, you are like the crumbs.  I had no idea what he meant by this.  Then I felt like he was saying, we think we need to be perfect to either ask for healing or pray for others for healing.  The Holy Spirit was telling me we don’t have to be perfect.  This woman was not perfect and yet she knew she needed a miracle and although she didn’t really know Jesus, she believed in His power and knew He could heal her daughter.  She knew, without a doubt that He could heal her daughter.  She even said when she called out, “Lord, son of David.” Even his apostles were struggling to see who He truly was and yet this woman could see.  

If we want to be used by the Holy Spirit to pray for others then we don’t need to be perfect, we just need to be willing and humble.  This woman humbled herself and knelt before Jesus.  She begged Him to heal her daughter.  She did not get caught up in what she should or shouldn’t do.  She didn’t get caught up in what He was saying or how He was saying it.  She needed Him to heal her daughter and she kept asking and persisting until He did.  We can all learn a lot from this woman.  Her faith was so powerful it saved her child.  

Whom do you know that could use some prayers like this?  This woman knew she had nothing to lose and everything to gain by begging Jesus to heal her daughter.  Are we playing it too safe with our prayers?  Are we holding back when we ask Jesus for healing or not even asking Him to heal our loved ones because we don’t want to bother Him or we don’t feel we are worthy?  Are we asking for things, but not the big things, not the things we really want because we are afraid we won’t get them?  Are we protecting ourselves from the letdown of our prayers not being answered so we don’t ever ask?  

I know this is for someone today because it is very strong in my thoughts right now.  God wants me to tell you to stop holding back and stop playing it small with your prayers.  God has some amazing blessings for you and yet He is waiting for you to ask.  He is waiting for you to trust that He will answer your prayers, even if they seem a bit impossible, even if they seem extremely impossible.  God is telling us to ask Him anyway! I feel as though He really wants us to understand that we are not bothering Him with our prayers.  We honor Him when we pray to Him and ask Him for help, especially when we ask Him for big, bold, audacious things.  That is not a word I use often, but I felt that was the word I was supposed to use there.  

Wouldn’t it be great one day to be sitting there, or standing there with Jesus, and then He turns to us and says, “Woman, or man, great is your faith!” I long for that day.  That image, that vision is enough for me to do all I can to increase my faith.  The image of Jesus saying that to me gives me the strength and fortitude to pray the litany of trust and the litany of humility often.  That image gives me the strength to call on the Lord whenever I need Him.  The woman in the verse today had great faith.  She believed He was who He said He was, she believed in His power and she wasn’t afraid to ask Him for help. How about us?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless each and every person listening to this episode.  Lord, we want to have great faith, please help us.  We want to come to you when we are in need.  We want to ask you the big, bold, audacious prayers.  We believe Lord, help our unbelief.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Your Prayers Will Be Answered!

James 5:16: "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

The Big Life Devotional Podcast has an excellent episode yesterday titled “Praying in Circles.”  What I loved most about this episode is that it gave us an action we can do to pray for our children, or really anything we are praying for.  The idea of praying in circles comes from a book called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  This is an amazing book that talks about praying circles around our problems.  Mark starts his book off by telling us the legend of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. Honi was a man of God.  

I am not sure if He was a prophet, or just a prayer warrior, or what.  It had not rained in a very long time and the people in the village came to Honi and begged him to pray to God for rain.  Honi agreed and he drew a circle in the dirt and prayed to God for rain.  He told God he would not step foot out of that circle until it rained.  He prayed and he prayed.  Eventually, it started to sprinkle.  When he saw this he could have stopped praying.  He could have said thank you, Lord, I truly appreciate this little rain that you sent us.  However, He didn’t.  He said thank you Lord and also, this is not the rain I am praying for, I am praying for more rain.  He continued to pray and praise the Lord.  Finally, it was raining down so hard it was starting to flood the area, and all those that were standing around watching him pray were running for shelter.  

What the Lord just put on my heart as I was typing is that we stop praying too early sometimes.  At the first sign of our prayers being answered we stop praying and accept that small offering as the answer when God actually has so much more to give us.  It is not that we don’t want more it is that we think we will be bothering God, or we will be greedy if we expect more.  God wants you to know that is not true.  He has so much more for you and He is just waiting for you to be open to receiving it.  God wants us to expect big things, amazing things.

For instance, when we have partial healing, yes, absolutely thank God for that, and also let Him know you are expecting full healing.  Keep asking for what you want.  Don’t shy away because you are afraid you are asking for too much. I heard a phrase once and I love it.  It reminds us why we ask for a lot.  The phrase is “I’m not greedy, I’m just needy.” We aren’t asking God for more because we are being greedy, we are asking God because we know that we can’t do anything on our own and yet through Him, we can do all things.  

The verse above says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” Do you know what earnest means?  The definition of earnest is “resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction."  What are you praying for right now?  What is that prayer that you keep asking God about?  That one prayer that you wonder if it will ever be answered?  Are you praying earnestly for it?  The Bible verses we read are talking to us directly.  Each one of us and they are promised by God.  Today’s verse tells us that the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.  You can take this to the bank.  This is a factual statement that you can rely on.  If this is true, why haven’t some of our prayers been answered?

There are a couple of reasons for this.  First and foremost is explained in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is sovereign.  He has a plan and it is better than our plan, even though we tend to think our plan and our timing is better.  God knows what He is doing and so sometimes our prayers take longer than we would like or are answered differently than we would like because God has a better plan than we do.

However, I think sometimes our prayers take longer to be answered because of things we do or don’t do.  Are we praying earnestly?  Are we asking every single day?  Are we asking for enough or are we settling for scraps?  God doesn’t want to give you crumbs from the table.  He wants to give you the whole cake.  Why aren’t we asking for the cake?  We will not be bothering God by asking Him for big, bold prayers.  We will be honoring Him.  Have you ever been asked to do something at work or in your personal life and the thing you were being asked to do was really difficult?  How did you feel when someone asked you to do it?  Did you feel honored that they thought you were capable of doing it?  Yes, you might have been nervous, as it was a difficult thing or even just a new thing, and yet you felt honored that someone thought you could handle it or you could be good at it.

I remember each time the ladies in my prayer group asked to do a new thing.  For instance when they asked me to be on the discernment team, or they asked me to be on the prayer team.  I was so honored.  It felt amazing to know they thought I was capable of doing those things.  In a similar way, we honor God when we ask really big, bold prayers.  We show Him we know how amazing He is.  We show Him that we know He can do the impossible and that nothing is too big for Him. We are not asking God for too much, we are asking too little of Him.  

It talks about persistence in the circle maker too.  Mark Batterson talks about how we give up too soon sometimes when we are praying.  We assume it is not God’s will if He takes too long to answer and yet maybe God is just waiting to see how badly we want it.  What we are willing to do for it.  For instance what if Honi, drew that circle in the sand and stood there for 5 hours and then gave up and yet God was going to make it rain after the 6th hour?  We don’t know God’s timing, we just need to keep asking.  Is there anything you want so badly you would be willing to draw a circle in the sand around that prayer?  It doesn’t have to be standing in a circle in the sand until you get it, but maybe you could pray for 5 minutes every single day about that one thing until you get an answer.  Maybe you could sit in a church every day for a few minutes until it is answered.  Maybe you could commit to going to daily mass until it is answered.  It doesn’t matter what you commit to as much as it matters that you are willing to commit to something.  

I think you will see more answers to prayers if you do this because you will be more focused on your prayers.  You will be searching for that answer because you are expecting it to come.  It is as if you know it will be answered and so you are waiting expectantly.  I wonder if that is the problem.  I wonder if we are praying expectantly or not.  Do you honestly expect God to answer your prayers?  Are you on the lookout for the answers?  Maybe that is why Honi’s prayer we answered so quickly.  Actually, I have no idea how long he was standing in that circle, but I know it wasn’t months.  He knew God would answer His prayer and He was willing to stand there in a circle, looking foolish, until God did.  He put his pride aside and was willing to look foolish to wait on God.  When we do this, when we step out in faith and put all of our trust in God, He never lets us down.  There was no way God was going to not show up for Honi.  Honi was honoring God by showing everyone in that town that God is the one to turn to when we need something.  When you step out in faith, trusting God, He will always show up.  He will not leave you hanging.   Pray big, bold prayers, and watch how the Lord shows up for you.  Pray earnestly and watch the amazing results.  I just looked up in The Circle Maker Book, to see how long Honi prayed for and it said as his prayers went up the rain came down.  So I guess his prayer was anwered pretty quickly. Batterson said Honi’s prayer was resolute yet humble, confident yet meek, expectant yet unassuming.  I think we can all learn a lot from that statement.  How can we follow Honi’s example of how to pray?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to pray earnestly, show us how.  We want to step out in faith and demonstrate your awesomeness to all those around us, give us the holy boldness we need.  Give us the persistence and the fortitude we need to continue to pray those prayers that don’t seem to be answered.  Don’t let us give up Lord, help us keep asking.  Show us, put on our hearts what it is you want us to do. If you want us to commit to doing something while we wait, put that on our hearts, let us know, and then give us the strength to do it.  We love you, Lord, you are truly amazing.  We thank you for always showing up.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

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

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

The Lord Is Close To The Brokenhearted

Psalm 34:17-19 “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”

Yesterday I talked about how the Lord is with us to deliver us.  If you are going through a hard time this can be hard to hear. You might want to believe it and yet you find it hard to see in your own life, especially if you have been struggling for a long time.  Maybe you have witnessed God delivering your friends from their situations while you still struggle with yours.  This can make it really difficult to believe that God is with you or that He will deliver you.  Sometimes we can be delivered from a situation quickly.  For instance, we pray for our child’s fever to go down, and it does.  However, sometimes it can take a long time to be delivered and sometimes the way we are delivered is not the way we wanted to be delivered.  

I know how hard it is to hear that God will deliver you if you are stuck in a place you feel you have been for a very long time.  I struggled with parenting my children and in my marriage for over 10 years.  It was a very long uphill battle.  It was one where you get so excited because something you are doing is working, you are moving forward 2 steps and then the next day you are back 3 steps.  I know that is extremely frustrating.  I get it.  If this is you right now, maybe not the same situation or trouble, but the same feeling of 2 steps forward and 3 steps back I want you to know you are not alone.  I have been there and so many others are right there with you right now.  If this is you, this verse is for you also.

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.” The Lord hears you when you call Him for help.  He hears you when you cry out that you are angry with Him.  He hears that you are worried and anxious about many things.  He hears that you are praying for healing for a loved one.  He hears that you want the perfect house.  He hears that you want the perfect wedding.  He hears that you are struggling and He rescues you from all your troubles.  The Lord will rescue you.  Even if you don’t believe that He will.  Even if you don’t understand how He will.  If you need proof that the Lord will come to rescue you, sit down with a paper and a pen and ask the Lord to show you where He has rescued you in the past.  The Lord is the same today, yesterday, and forever.  If He has rescued you in the past, He will rescue you again.  

The next line says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” I love the imagery of this line.  “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”  I just picture sitting on the Lord’s lap as I once sat on my dad’s lap.  I picture us as little children, going to our heavenly father with a broken heart.  I picture Him scooping us up onto his lap and pulling us in close for a hug.  Close your eyes and see if you can picture your head on His chest, just listening to His heartbeat. Just be there in His loving embrace.  Can you feel the warmth of His body and the strength of His arms that are holding you tight? Can you imagine how safe you feel in His arms?  

This verse is talking about you.  You are the “brokenhearted.” God is talking to you. No matter what you are going through, God is near you.  He never leaves your side.  The next time you feel alone, the next time you feel like God has abandoned you, sit down and imagine Him right there with you.  I imagine you are sitting on His lap and He is holding you. The other day at prayer group one of the ladies and a vision of herself sitting on the Father’s lap.  She said she was filled with love and then she felt the need to get down so that she wasn’t taking up all His time.  She wanted to make room for someone else and He told her to stay.  He said something like, “Stay my daughter, do not worry.  Right now I am holding all my children to my heart.”  God is holding you, even when you can’t feel Him.

The second part of that line says, “He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”  Are you spirits crushed right now?  Were you hoping for something and it didn’t happen?  Were you praying and you can’t seem to find any answers to those prayers?  Were you sure God would rescue you and yet He does not appear to be rescuing you?  If so, this verse is for you.  God rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  It doesn’t say those who believe He will.  It doesn’t say God rescues those who never gave up hope.  It doesn’t say those who weren’t angry with Him.  It says God rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  If this is you, know that God is with you and that He will rescue you.  The Bible doesn’t lie and there are no exceptions.  God is not talking to some of us and not all of us through the Bible.  The passages in the Bible apply to each and every one of us.  The Lord is speaking directly to you through His Word in the Bible.

The last line in this verse is, “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” We talked about this a bit yesterday and here it is again.  This verse is telling us that even if we are a really good person.  Even if we are doing all the right things, and following God’s law, we will still face many troubles.  Life is not going to be easy just because we follow the Lord.  We will face trouble.  The difference between us and someone who is not following the Lord is that we don’t have to face that trouble alone.  The Lord is with us each step of the way.  An image just came to mind of a child standing there with our heavenly Father standing right next to the child.  He was holding the child’s hand and the sense I got was that we are like that child.  As we go through life, as we face the many challenges we will face, our heavenly Father is right there with us holding our hand.  

I don’t know about you, but I love the idea of my heavenly Father holding my hand as I walk through life.  I love the idea of Him being right there next to me.  I feel safer knowing if I wanted to run toward danger, He would be able to hold me back because He is that close to me.  God is that close to you too! He is right there.  If you can’t see Him, if you can’t feel Him, that’s ok.  Can you believe He is there? Can you talk to Him?  Can you listen and see what He has to say to you?  God is there, there is not a doubt in my mind about that.  I know He is there because I have seen Him so often in my life.  However, even if I had never seen Him in my life, I would know He is right here with me because it says it so often in scripture and the Word of God is factual. This verse is true. “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” The last timeline is important to remember.  It doesn’t say the Lord comes to the rescue sometimes.  It says, “The Lord comes to the rescue each time.”  Yes, He is coming this time too!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we thank you for always rescuing us.  We thank you for staying close to us even when we push you away.  Thank you for never leaving our side Lord.  Thanks for being a good, good Father to each of us.  Lord, we ask that you help us see how you have rescued us in the past.  Lord, we ask you to show us where you are now in our situation.  We ask you to give us renewed hope that you will in fact rescue us from whatever it is we are struggling with.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow with three witnesses.  All three things happened at the Encounter School of Ministry Boston Campus’ Summer Intensive, and they are all wonderful.  Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Friday was my birthday, and a great friend of mine sent me this blessing, and I wanted to share it with all of you. There is so much variety in what we find in Scripture. We find stories, parables, wisdom, promises, blessings, and guidance about how God calls us to live. This verse is a blessing. It is a beautiful blessing that I pray over each one of you listening to this episode.

When I looked up the meaning of this blessing in the Enduring Word Commentary, it mentions that we often think of blessings as happiness, wealth, or comfort. We think if God is blessing our life, then life will be easy and comfortable. If our life is difficult, we think God is not blessing it. However, this is not the case. God does not promise us an easy life with no complications. He promises that He will be with us in those complications and difficulties.

Blessings come from God, and only He knows exactly what blessings we need. We can ask Him for all the things that we think we need, but only He knows the plan of what we actually need. God’s plan is for our highest and greatest good. Our plan only considers what we think would be good. But as we know from listening to our children’s plans, we may not even be able to imagine the good God has in store for us. We only see our limited abilities; God knows our potential and our true abilities. We might settle for less than God wants to give us.

The first line of this verse says, “The Lord bless you and keep you.” I really liked what the Enduring Word Commentary had to say about the “keep you” part. It was something I hadn’t really thought of before. It said, “To be kept by the LORD is blessing indeed. Some are kept by their own sin and desire, some are kept by idolatry and greed, and others are kept by their own bitterness and anger. But to be kept by the LORD ensures life, peace, and success.” I love this! I looked up online what it means to be kept. It said, “To be kept generally means to be preserved, guarded, or maintained, often in a context of protection or care.”

So, when the quote above says some are kept by their own sin, desires, idolatry, greed, bitterness, or anger, it means those are the things they rely on for protection. I think we have all been there. We have relied on unforgiveness or bitterness to protect us from getting hurt again. We put up walls so that no one can ever hurt us again. We have also been fooled into believing that greed and idolatry can protect. Instead of being kept by God and relying on Him to protect us, we put more and more money away for retirement. We try to rely on our own strength and our own means to protect ourselves. We look to our own sin and our own desires to protect us and help us live the life we want, instead of counting on the Lord to keep us and give us the amazing life we don’t deserve but that He wants to give us.

The next part of that verse says, “the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.” Imagine the Lord’s face shining upon you. How amazing would that be? Again, the Enduring Word Commentary states this, “To have the glorious, pleased face of God shining upon a man is the greatest gift he could have. To know that as God looks upon you, He is well pleased – not because of who you are, or what you have done, but because you are in Jesus Christ – there is no greater source of peace and power in life.” I think many of us have a hard time believing that God is pleased with us. Especially if we think of all the ways we feel we have let Him down. We know our sins, we know our history. We know how unfaithful to the Lord we have been.

However, God doesn’t love us just when we are faithful. He loves us always, even when we are not. I love where it says that God is not pleased with you because of who you are or what you have done, but because you are in Jesus Christ. Can you believe that God is pleased with you? He is. He may not like every single thing you do, but He is not constantly disappointed with you, as we imagine. We often get disappointed in others because they do things we don’t expect. God knows us; He knows the world we live in, and He knows the human condition. There isn’t anything that we do that surprises Him. Therefore, we are not constantly letting Him down. He is pleased with our efforts.

The last line says, “The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” In the Enduring Word Commentary, they quote David Wenham, a British Bible Scholar. Wenham said, “To lift up one’s eyes or face means to pay attention, and to look favorably towards. “When God smiles on his people, they can be sure that he will be gracious to them; that is, he will deliver them from all their troubles. He will answer their prayers and save them from their enemies.” How amazing is that? We can rest assured that God will answer our prayers and save us from our enemies. Hopefully we all knew that God does this, but if we didn’t, now we do. If we already knew this, then this verse is further proof to keep in our arsenal, so when the enemy starts in with all his lies, we have this verse to remember. We can remind ourselves that God smiles upon us, delivers us from our troubles, and answers our prayers.

The verse ends with peace. Peace is something we could all use. This is probably what people ask me to pray for most. Even if I am praying for healing, I am praying for the Peace of Christ to come over the people so they don’t worry. This world is so anxious. Everyone is so full of fear and anxiety. Peace seems to be something that we all struggle to find. Peace is possible, even in difficult situations. I have had peace in situations where people told me I shouldn’t have peace. My son was in rehab, and yet I had peace because I knew in my heart that God was taking care of everything. My kids have struggled with a lot over the years, yet I have been able to be full of peace in very chaotic situations because I know that God is in control. I know that no matter what things look like, nothing is impossible for God. It could look like the end is near, and yet if God wants to change it, He can.

God has done so many incredible miracles in my life and in my family's life. I don’t have to blindly trust that God works miracles, as I have been blessed to witness so many. I bet if you look back at your life, you will see plenty of ways God has been working. You may not consider them miracles, but He has been touching your life and answering your prayers. I guarantee it. That is a great exercise to do regularly. Sit down and look back over your life. Look at all the various times you have called upon God and look at the ways He has come through. If you look for God in your life, I promise you won’t come up empty-handed. Ask God to highlight the miracles in your life and He will.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for all the miracles you have done in our lives. We thank you for all the times you have shown up in unexpected ways. We thank you for blessing us and keeping us. You are amazing, and we are truly blessed. Lord, help us to truly believe that you are looking down upon us and that you are pleased with us. We love you so much, 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 am away camping this week. I plan to keep posting, but if I miss a day, don’t worry; all is good. I just didn’t have wifi that day. 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 February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Come, my children. Come and feel my tender love. Come and know that I will never reject you. I am always welcoming.”

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Start With Love

Psalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

When I read this verse, I thought it did a great job explaining our yearning for God.  We all need God in our lives.  We are desperate to have him in our lives.  This verse shows this in a way I don’t think I could.  It also helps me realize how much I need God.  Have you ever read something and then realized that was exactly how you felt, and you didn’t really know it before you read it?  I knew I loved God, and I knew I longed for God.  However, I couldn’t describe it until I read this verse.  My soul thirsts for Him.  My flesh faints for Him as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  There is no water if God is not in my life.  My life is a dry and weary land when I don’t call upon God.  

Carrie Underwood has a song called “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.”  I have not heard this song before, and yet I found it today while looking up something.  This song was not written about Jesus.  I believe it was written about her child, judging from the other words.  However, the chorus speaks to how many of us feel about Jesus.  The chorus says:

I finally found what I never knew I always wanted

I couldn't see; I was blind 'til my eyes were opened

I didn't know there was a hole

Something missing in my soul

'Til you filled it up with your love

I think so many people are walking around this world right now, and they don’t know God is what they have always wanted.  They know they have a hole; they know something is missing in their soul, and yet they don’t know what it is.  I like the line; I couldn’t see; I was blind ’til my eyes were opened.  How can we help them open their eyes?  The next line in this chorus might be giving us the answer to that very question.  I didn’t know there was a hole, something missing in my soul, ‘till you filled it up with your love.  What if we worked on filling people up with love?  What if we showed people so much love that they realized that it was what they had been missing in their lives?  

We can’t fill them up with our love, though.  Our love is broken and judgmental.  Our love is not perfect love; it is flawed, and it can hurt others, even when we don’t want to.  However, if we filled them up with God’s Love, the love of Jesus, they would feel an unconditional love that would fill the hole in their soul.  I know you are already asking yourself, how do I do that?  How do I love with Jesus’ love and not my own love? I know you are asking this because I am asking this, too.  We are all called to be a reflection of Jesus.  We are called to love like He loved.  How did Jesus love?  We can’t be expected to love like Jesus if we don’t know how He loved.  The best way to know this is to look back at scripture.  

Jesus Christ set a perfect example of kindness and love. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus showed His love for others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick, and the distressed.  Jesus did not run away from the leapers as most people did at the time.  He touched them, and He healed them.  He did not turn away anyone who needed help.  How can we show Jesus’ love to others like this?  How can we bless and serve the poor, the sick, and the distressed?  Some people listening to this can go out and volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry.  Maybe you would rather volunteer at a hospital or somewhere you can help out with people who are sick.  Maybe you would like to be a hospice volunteer and sit with those that are dying and have no one to be with them.  However, others are listening, and you are thinking your days of helping the poor or the sick are over because you can’t get out of the house to volunteer anywhere.  I assure you, your days of helping are not over. They have just changed.  Now, instead of going and doing the volunteer work by hand, you can pray for those in need, and you can pray for people to answer God’s call to go and help.  St. Terese of Lisieux is the patron saint of missions, even though she was never healthy enough to go on one.  She didn’t let her health stop her from praying for everyone who could go on missions.  

Jesus also showed his love for others by not making people feel bad for their actions or who they were.  God didn’t condemn the tax collectors or the Roman soldiers.  He didn’t condemn the woman who was caught in adultery or the woman at the well who had been married several times and was living with a man she was not married to.  In the beginning, the Love Jesus had for everyone brought people to Christianity.  People found a love they had not known before when they found Jesus.  They were used to rules and judgment.  They were used to following God, which required so much of them.  They found this new religion fascinating.  A religion where God just wanted to love you and to be loved.  He did not require much on your part. People could come as they were.  They were not expected to be perfect because Jesus set the bar when he said in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”  

The apostles were not going out and only talking to the Jewish people who knew God and were already following the laws.  They were talking to everyone who would listen, and they were preaching about God’s love.  Who doesn’t want to be loved?  Who doesn't want to be accepted?  I think we have lost this idea of talking about God’s love somewhere along the way.  Somewhere along the way, we started talking more about the legalistic side of Christianity, especially Catholicism, than we do about the love Jesus had for everyone.  Yes, there is a right and a wrong way to live.  God tells us what the right and wrong way is in His Scripture.  However, we will never get a chance to show people the benefit of living God’s way if we don’t start loving them right where they are at first.  People want to be accepted for who they are, and they want to be met where they are at.  Jesus didn’t tell the tax collectors He would have dinner with them when they changed their lifestyle.  He loved them while they were sinners and told them He had so much more for them.  

If people feel loved and accepted, they will be open to hearing what you have to say.  We want people to know all the things Jesus says.  We want people to live according to God’s ways, and we want this because we care about their souls.  This is a great thing.  I am not saying we are wrong to care about the way people are living their lives.  I am saying if we want to save their soul, we need to start with loving them just as they are.  The way to get people to want to save their own souls, which is the only way anything will change, is by being a reflection of God’s love.  Love them as Jesus does.  Love them in all their imperfections and all their messiness of life.  Do not continually tell them they need to change who they are; shower them with so much love, tell them about Jesus and how much He loves them, just as they are, and pray for them.  Your prayers will do so much more than your nagging will.  If people feel judged, they will not ask questions; they will not be open to hearing anything we have to say.  I believe what God needs most from us is not us judging others and trying to talk them into changing their behaviors.  What He needs most from us is our loving others like Jesus did.  He needs us to love them so much they ask themselves, “How can I love as much as that person does?  How can I love so unconditionally?  How can I be so accepting of people?  How can I love so freely?”  When they ask those questions, then they will be open to hearing about the Gospel and about a God who loves them completely.  Can we do that?  Can we love others like Jesus did?  Can we lead with love first?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we long for you just as the verse says. Our souls thirst for you as one would thirst for water in a dry land.  Lord, we love you, and we want to bring others into a personal relationship with you.  Help us do this.  Please help us to understand how to love others as you did.  Show us where in our lives we are falling short of this, Lord.  Give us the strength to hold our tongue and to not nag our loved ones to do what we want them to do.  We are coming from a loving place, Lord; we want to save their souls.  Yet we know you are the only one to do that, Lord. Help us to learn to say less to the person and pray more to you. Help us to truly turn them over to your loving care, Lord.  You care more about their souls than we ever could.  Help us, Lord; we are trying.  We are so grateful for all you do.  You give light to our lamps, and you brighten the darkness about us.  You are the word of God, and you are the word of life.  We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.  

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

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

Help! My Heart And Mind Are Fighting Each Other!

Psalm 25:16-17 “Look at me and help me! I’m all alone and in big trouble. My heart and mind are fighting each other; Call a truce to this civil war.”

Today, it was hard to pick a verse. I thought I would be writing about Isaiah 35, as my friend wrote to me last week and asked me if I take requests for the podcast. She had read Isaiah 35, and it was really hitting her. She was feeling all the feels, and she wanted to see what I thought about that chapter. I was honored, as that was the first time someone had asked me what I thought of a passage in the Bible. When I looked at the chapter, I realized I had already done an episode on that chapter, so I sent it to her. It was episode number 611, “A Way Through The Wilderness,” in case you wanted to check it out. After that, I tried to find a verse for today, and I was struggling.

Today’s verse reminds us that we can turn to the Lord when we are in trouble, even when we are in big trouble. This is important to remember, and I don’t think we can ever say it enough. Nothing is too big for God. There is nothing in this world that He can’t fix for us. There are all sorts of reasons why we may not turn to Him and ask for help when we are in big trouble. We don’t see how He could help. We don’t want to bother Him. We don’t feel we deserve His help, and so on. I am sure you have thought up very good reasons why you shouldn’t go to the Lord for help when you are in big trouble. One that just popped into my mind is, “I got myself into this mess; I need to get myself out.” This is definitely a human way of thinking, but it is not how God thinks. He has gotten us out of plenty of messes that we got ourselves into.

When we get ourselves into big trouble, all we have to do is be humble and turn back to the Lord. Repent and admit what we have done. Ask for His help, and He will help you. I feel as though I can’t stress this enough. God wants us to ask for help when we need it. Yes, I know He knows when we need help, probably even before we do, and yet He is a perfect Father, and He respects our free will. If we don’t want Him to step in, if we want to do it all ourselves, He will allow us to do that, even if it hurts his heart to watch us struggle. When in trouble, stop and ask the Lord for help. His plan will be much better than any plan we can come up with on our own!

I also liked this verse because of the next line, “My heart and mind are fighting with each other; Call a truce to this civil war.” Has this ever happened to you? It happens to me all the time. My heart wants to do something, and my brain convinces me that I don’t really want to do it, and then they fight over it. It is frustrating because I know what the right thing to do is, and yet my brain tries to convince me to do the opposite. I think the voice of God is in my heart, and yet, at times, the enemy tries to invade my brain, so they argue. I wish I could say I always choose the right thing to do, but that is not always the case. Sometimes I lose out to slothfulness and gluttony. This past year or two, I feel like they have won more than I care to talk about.

What do we do when this happens? What do we do when our hearts and our minds are fighting with each other? When this happens, we can turn to the Lord, just as it says in this verse. We can ask the Lord to call a truce. We can ask the Lord to give us the wisdom to know what we should do and the courage to do what is right. Our brains are trying to keep us comfortable, so when we try to do uncomfortable things, our brains complain and try to convince us that we don’t want to do the uncomfortable thing. The problem with this is that we won’t grow if we don’t ever do something that is uncomfortable. We grow when we are outside of our comfort zone.

This is true with all things, not just our jobs. When we step outside our comfort zone and try something new with our spirituality or our prayer life, we grow closer to the Lord. When we step outside our comfort zone and try something new with our families, it can help us grow closer. Our brain is not bad; it is trying to save us from uncomfortable feelings. It is trying to help us. However, we all know what happens when we are saved from all uncomfortable feelings. Have you ever seen a child who was protected from all uncomfortable things? Actually, I feel as though I have been doing this to my kids recently.

The kids had a pretty challenging childhood. Mostly because of their behaviors, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was rough. They were very unkind to each other, and it took a long time for Tony and me to figure out how to parent them in an effective way. So, I would try to shield them from uncomfortable situations because I felt like they had enough to go through. However, doing this robbed them of building up the resiliency and tenacity that comes along with doing uncomfortable things. I now have two young adults and a 15-year-old, and in some ways, they are so resilient. Then there are all the things they struggle with because I was trying to protect them from the pain.

The same will be true with you and me if we continue to let our brains tell our hearts what to do. That still small voice in our hearts is the Holy Spirit. We need to start listening to that voice more than the louder voice in our minds. The voice that, although it is trying to protect us, does not really know what we need.  We need to pray for the strength and courage to listen to and follow our hearts more. We need to pray that the Lord will help us with discernment. We need to pray that the Lord opens our ears to hear what our hearts are telling us to do. We need to ask the Lord to call a truce!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening and their families. Lord, help us to listen to your voice in our hearts. Help us to do what is right, what is necessary, not what is comfortable. Lord, we pray you give us the gifts of discernment, courage, & strength so that we can do the things you want us to do. We love you, Lord, and we ask that you call a truce and help bring our hearts and our minds into one with your will. We ask you 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 is, “My children, I have a mission for you. My mission is to love. Every person that you meet today and every day of your life they are sent to you for you to pour my love out upon them. Forgive them, have mercy on them, and do not judge them. I love them, and I want you to love them too.”

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

We have all seen God working in our lives. However, maybe not everyone is aware that it is God who is working within us. That’s why it’s so important for us to start talking more about it. The more we share our experiences, the more people will understand how God acts and how much He truly loves us. If you’re willing to share an experience of how God has worked or is working in your life, please send me an email at [email protected] or click here. It won’t take much of your time, and your story could be just what someone needs to hear today. Consider praying and sharing. We all have a story, and the world needs to hear it.

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

CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email

CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List

Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching