Walk Boldly With Jesus

Tapestry of Love

Colossians 2:2-4 “ I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery! I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or “the Secret.”

I chose this verse for today because it is sort of a continuation of yesterday’s verse. Yesterday, we talked about the secret surprise and how that secret was Jesus living within us. Today, we are talking about Jesus again. I also chose this verse because I loved the language used in it. I was going back and forth between this translation, which is the message translation, and the passion translation like I used yesterday. I think, overall, this translation explains this in a way that is easier to understand. The first sentence is the one I loved the most. Here is what is said in the passion translation, “I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric.” Isn’t that a beautiful image? Our hearts are wrapped up in the comfort of heaven. That is wonderful.

The message translation says, "I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God.” I loved this one, too, as picturing a tapestry of love is great imagery. It was also similar to the passion translation, which said, “woven together into love’s fabric.” So, besides nice language and fancy imagery, what does this all mean? It begins by saying that we are in touch with everything there is to know about God. So, no big deal, right? I don’t think he means that we need to actually know everything there is to know about God, as that is impossible. None of us could possibly know everything there is to know about God.

The next line clarifies this a bit. It says, “Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.” Do you know who God is? Have you spent time in the scriptures, have you paid attention at church when they are reading the sacred Word of God? When you know who God is, you can be confident and at rest with the knowledge you have. You are confident because you know the truth. You can be confident because your eyes are focused on Jesus Christ. God has revealed this mystery to you and you are confident in this knowledge.

This verse confirms that God’s great mystery is Jesus. Just like we heard yesterday. The next line says, “All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else.” This is an important one for us to hear and remember. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in Jesus and nowhere else. This is important because we tend to look everywhere else. How many times have we looked to the world for wisdom and knowledge? How many times have we read books that have nothing to do with Jesus in search of wisdom and knowledge?

I have found in my own life that I go to the Lord if I need prayers for something. If I need a miracle to happen, a mountain to be moved, someone I love to be healed, or things to go smoothly, I turn to the Lord and pray for His help. However, when I need wisdom and knowledge, I turn to books, and my go-to is not usually scripture. I will search online for books that have to do with the topic I’m struggling with. I ask friends or family what they think I should do. I didn’t know that I could go to the Lord when I needed knowledge or wisdom. That may seem silly to you, and yet I don’t think I am the only one that didn’t know this.

It wasn’t until I went to the Encounter School of Ministry that I realized that if you needed wisdom and knowledge, you could go and sit with the Lord, and He would give it to you. What really cemented this in my mind was when I started to examine some of my favorite Saints. Saint Catherine of Sienna is a doctor of the church, and yet she did not have any formal education. She was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, and through her personal influence, thousands of people returned to the church. She did not spend time studying theology. She didn't spend time online researching all she could about the Lord and about Jesus. She went right to the source. She spent time with Jesus himself in her prayer time. She spent a long time in her room, just her and the Lord.

St Thérèse of Lisieux was unable to attend a university or engage in systematic study. She died young; nevertheless, from this day forward, she will be honored as a doctor of the Church, an outstanding recognition that raises her in the esteem of the entire Christian community far beyond any academic title. She loved Jesus; she spent time in prayer with Him. She went to the Lord to gain all the wisdom and knowledge she needed. She relied on Jesus for everything, and He, in turn, gave her everything. She died at age 24. Can you imagine contributing so much to the world in your short 24 years here on earth that you become a doctor of the church? I barely knew who I was at 24, never mind being so sure of who God was at that time.

These are just two examples of so many examples. If you look at a lot of the Saints, they weren’t necessarily the most educated people, and yet they had so much knowledge. The verse above ends with, “I’m telling you this because I don’t want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or “the Secret.” The Lord is where we can get our wisdom and knowledge. The world may try to convince us otherwise. They have plenty of things they are trying pass off to us as knowledge and wisdom. I think what this verse is telling us is that we can know if someone is leading us off on a wild goose chase if they are trying to tell us something that goes against Jesus and what He is telling us. If all knowledge and wisdom can be found in Him, then if something we learn contradicts what He is saying or what He stood for, then we know it is not the truth.

If you need more wisdom and knowledge in your life, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t, then the answer is to spend more time sitting with the Lord and ask Him to give you the answers you are looking for. I have started a journal where I just ask the Lord, what would you like to tell me about… and then I usually pick a topic to put in. For instance, I have asked Him to give me more knowledge about His love and forgiveness. I have also asked about what He wanted to tell me about the sacramental graces in a marriage. I ask the Lord what He wants to tell me, and then I just write down whatever comes to my mind. I have really enjoyed it. I invite you to give it a try. If you have unanswered questions or you wish to have more knowledge in a certain area, sit with the Lord and ask Him to help you understand it better or fill you with more knowledge in that area. I am sure you will be surprised by what you hear when you sit and listen.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we thank you for being all we need. We thank you for filling us with wisdom and knowledge. Lord, we ask for more. We ask for more wisdom and more knowledge. We ask that you help us to come to you when we are struggling and when we are searching. Lord, we ask that you help us to open our spiritual ears so that we can hear you. Help us to be open to your wisdom and your knowledge. 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 on Monday. Remember Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor or our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Move in my ways and you will grow at the speed of light. Only if you move with what I tell you will you grow. Come, my children, and I will show you my love.”

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A Secret Surprise!

Colossians 1:26-27 “There is a divine mystery – a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it's being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory! This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!”

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the passion translation? It brings out the passion in the Scriptures. I love how this begins by saying there is a divine mystery- a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now is being revealed.” Doesn’t that make you sit forward a bit more in your seat so you can pay better attention? Doesn’t it make you wonder what this secret surprise is and why haven’t you heard about it before? I can’t imagine it is just me that feels this way. Who doesn’t like a surprise? Who doesn’t like to feel like they know something that others don’t know? I love to feel like I am on the inside. Like I am “in the know” as some would say.

I remember this is how I feel sometimes when I am sitting in Church and I hear a reading that I learned about in a Bible study. I love it when I learn more about Scripture in Bible study. I love when the person leading the Bible study tells us what the words were in their native language like the Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. Or when they explain that even though the word in the Bible has this meaning to us, back when the Bible was written it really meant this other thing. When I am sitting in Church and I hear a scripture verse that I learned more about in a Bible study I instantly want to share what I know with all those around me. I want to tell them all the extra info I learned. I feel like I have a secret and I want to share it with everyone else. I don’t want to keep it to myself. Have you ever felt this way, or is it just me?

This is probably why I loved this first line so much. It is setting us up with excitement that we are going to learn something that has been concealed from the world for generations. Not just from a few people but from the world. Not just for a little while, but for generations! We get to know the secret. Aren’t you excited? I like how is says, “but now it's being revealed, unfolded, and manifested for every holy believer to experience.” I like this because it shows the gentleness of God. He is not just dumping this big secret on us. He is slowly revealing it. He is allow it to unfold in our lives and He is manifesting it for each one of us to experience.

What is this secret surprise? “Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory!” Jesus Christ is living within you. Did you know this? We are lucky because we have the Scriptures to read about. We get to learn all about Jesus and what he did while He was here on earth, what He did for us, and who He sent to us after He left. However, what about the early church? They had to learn about Jesus slowly. They had to have the stories and testimonies told to them over time. I am sure it took time for the news of Jesus to spread. I am sure it took time for the apostles to spread the Gospel to all the corners of the earth.

I feel like the Holy Spirit is telling me that even though we have the Bible, even though we have heard about Jesus, and we know who He is and what He has done, this secret is still being revealed to each one of us slowly and more fully over time. God is revealing Christ within us individually to each one of us. He is allowing this discovery to unfold and manifest it in each of our lives in a different way and on a different timeline. Even for those in the Bible, each one had their own experience. Peter was learning more and more about Christ over the three years He was walking with Him. It took Him time and there was some back and forth with His belief. One minute He understood what Christ was saying and the next minute He wasn’t sure. However, with Paul, He knew immediately after his blindness was cured who Jesus was and that He wanted to follow Him.

Every one of our experiences will be different. We are all on a different journey and we will all discover Jesus and the truth that He lives inside of us. In God’s timing, this secret and what it means for us and for our lives will be revealed to us and manifested in our lives. I was confused about the meaning when it says, “The Christ who floods you with the expectation of Glory,” I had no idea what this meant. I had the inclination to skip it and move on. Every time I have that feeling I have learned to stop and look it up as I think we all really want to understand all of scripture. I think we want to really understand what it means, not just kinda get it. Here is what I found when I looked it up. A believer can be confident of eternity with Christ in heaven when he or she knows that Christ is already in them. When it says that Christ floods up with the expectation of glory it is talking about living in eternity with God and Jesus in heaven. Without Christ within this is not possible. Without Jesus going to the cross eternity with God is impossible. However, Christ is within us so we can be filled with the expectation of spending eternity with Him!

The last sentence says, “This mystery of Christ, embedded within us, becomes a heavenly treasure chest of hope filled with the riches of glory for his people, and God wants everyone to know it!” The mystery that Christ lives within us becomes a heavenly treasure of hope. How awesome is that? Can’t you just picture a heavenly treasure chest of hope? How many of us need a treasure chest of hope? We might have some hope, we might think we have a lot of hope, but do we have a heavenly treasure chest of hope? This hope is found within us because we know that Christ lives within us. It says the treasure chest is filled with the riches of glory for his people. When I looked this up it confirms what it said in the last sentence. This treasure chest of hope is full of hope that we will one day come face to face with Jesus. A hope that we will be spending forever living with the Lord, praising Him, and loving Him. No longer from afar, but right there in heaven with Him. Can you imagine that glory?

I love the very last few words of this verse. They are, “And God wants everyone to know it!” It is no longer a secret. We can shout it from the rooftops. We can tell everyone we know. Jesus Christ lives inside of you and He lives inside of me. With this knowledge comes a heavenly treasure chest of hope, filled with glory. Now that we know this, why wouldn’t we want to share it? Why wouldn’t we want all those we know to receive this treasure chest of hope filled with glory? Who do you know that could use a little more hope and glory in their lives? Do they know who is living inside of them? Do they know the power living inside of them? Do they know this divine mystery, this secret surprise? If not, why don’t you tell them today? We know from this verse that God wants everyone to know it!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening today. Lord, we love you so much. We thank you for the perfect way that you are revealing this secret to us. We thank you for all the ways you are manifesting Christ within us in our lives. We ask you to give us a holy boldness to share this truth and this secret with all those we know. We ask you to take away any hesitation we have to share this with those we know, those we love, and even those we don’t know. 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. If you haven’t signed up for the retreat, you just have 9 more days! I hope you will consider joining us! 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 and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Walk in my ways, my children. I tell you each and every day that I love you. It's as easy as that. Do not be confused if I tell you I love you. Believe me.”

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Today’s witness is from my friend Bruce. Bruce reached out to me randomly back in November. He found my podcast and wanted to send in his testimony for witness wednesday. His testimony was about how he went to a healing service and regained his sight and then lost it again when he woke up. I offered to pray with Him, and he agreed. We have prayed together three times now. Bruce has not regained his sight, but something amazing happened each time we prayed together. You can find the testimony from the last two times we prayed together on the Witness Wednesday playlist on YouTube. You can also find them on whatever podcast app you are listening to right now. Today’s witness is about when Bruce and his lovely wife Alice came from Canada to visit Gloucester, MA, and my friend and I got to pray with them in person instead of over the phone. It was a great time, and I am so grateful the Lord brought Bruce, Alice, and me together. I know you will enjoy this witness as much as I enjoyed it. God is working in such miraculous ways!

Dear Catherine,

It is two months from today that we met with you and Nancy in Rockport. In the meantime, you have been to Scotland and back and I have had a new experience which I will tell you about. You may use it in your Witness Wednesday if you would like to. On July 23rd, my wife Alice and I had the pleasure of meeting with Catherine and her friend Nancy for lunch. This vacation had been planned well in advance before we met Catherine. It turned out that Nancy's home was just down the road from where we were staying. Sitting outside by the ocean, the four of us chatted and also prayed together for healing. There was no major change in my eyesight at that time, but I realized that the floaters and shifting debris that I normally saw, were gone. It felt like I had more life in my eyes - just a feeling. This visit was a real blessing and encouragement for us before heading for home a couple of days later.

For some time I had been without any sight in my left eye and was able to see light and shadows in my right eye. After this recent change my right eye went completely dark but the movement of floaters was gone. I couldn't tell the difference between day or night. I couldn't see if there were any lights on in the house. Things were the same whether my eyes were open or shut. I had to make an adjustment to this. I found the darkness heavy and depressing. I also felt spiritually let down and more isolated. I heard someone talking about God's light of the world and I thought, we often ask the Lord to shine His face upon us in the Benediction. It was a Monday in August and I told the Lord how I felt. I wanted to somehow have more communication with Him. I didn't want to be in the dark anymore, and would He please shine His light upon me. The next day, Tuesday, I listened to Catherine's podcast which was about Jesus the Light of the world. This felt like my prayer was going somewhere and I became vigilant. That night I went to bed about 1:00 a.m. I was laying on my back in the dark. A small white light appeared in my head space. It seemed to sparkle and it began moving. It became brighter and larger and closer, shining with the brightness of lightning. I felt the light overtake me and I put my face in the pillow. The light was still there and I realized it was within me. It was beautiful and exciting. I began thanking and praising the Lord for this joyful experience. This light would move and pulse brighter then lower going on for an hour and a half until I fell asleep. I wanted to wake Alice but I didn't want to interrupt her sleep or the light. When I awoke in the morning, the light was gone. I figured this was a one time experience. Later that morning, I began telling Alice about it. I stopped and said, It's happening again right now. There was an arch of brilliant white light before me. Beautiful as ever. It stayed with me for a couple of hours, coming and going into the night. This continued daily much to my joy. I noticed whenever I sat at the table it would appear. Whenever I listen to my audio Bible or even thought about the Lord or spiritual matters, it would appear. I found myself talking with the Lord in this light. If I was praying it would appear. It was always with me when I went to sleep. I soon realized I could call on it by asking it to appear. I was quite amazed by the way this all happened, by the communication which took place , and the overwhelming feeling of God's love. There was nothing to do but simply enjoy the moment with the Lord and His light. As I write this, the Lord still shines his light upon me, every day and every night. This has been an unexpected and thrilling blessing for me, far better than I hoped for. I can't help but feel this is leading me somewhere good. My hope and faith has never been more confident than it is now. It is so easy for me to trust the Lord to love me and walk me where He wants to take me. He really is my guiding light. I have in the past had close encounters with Jesus which have been marvelous. But this encounter in His light seems to never end. How wonderful is this. It lifts my heart to look back and see how God works in our lives. Alice and I had planned our trip to Glouchester long before we knew Catherine. Her podcast came out of the blue one night on my google home and caught my attention. Her faithfulness and prayer support is so appreciated. Through Catherine and the prayer group she attends, I have also met Nancy and talked with Robert and learned that they have also prayed for me. These friends in prayer and support have inspired me and I am privileged to know them. My visit in July was meant to be some sort of breakthrough. That's what I had prayed for. As often is the case, I felt things didn't go as I had hoped. As it turned out, I received a blessing I never expected along with new found faith and hope. A few years ago I heard a story told by an Anglican minister in England. He was known for his healing ministry. He told the story of a women who had lost her sight in both eyes. The women related how she started seeing a white light. This light would come and go from time to time and would vary in intensity. She said this went on for some time. One day she heard about a special healing ministry near her. The light continued to be with her. She made her way to the healing service in Blackpool. After preaching the gospel of Jesus, the minister invited people to come forward for healing prayer. Many people went forward and she waited in her seat where she was healed.

I thank the Lord every time I see his light. I thank the Lord for my friends in Massachusetts.

May the Lord bless you Catherine and your ministry.

Bruce and Alice

Thank you so much for sharing your testimony with us and for allowing me to share it on my Witness Wednesday. I know your story will give hope to so many others out there who are also waiting for some pretty big answers to some pretty big prayers. Your faithfulness will help them trust in the Lord more. Thank you again for sharing and we can’t wait to hear your testimony when your sight is fully restored for good this time!

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Still Waters Psalm 23 (Part 3)

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 right paths 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.”

Today I will talk about the last part of this Psalm. There is a lot to like about this ending.  First. It starts by saying that God will prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  I don’t have to be worried about my enemies as God has got me.  He is my shield and my refuge.  Now he is saying we will prepare a feast for me.  When someone is preparing a meal for us, they are not usually stressed out about it.  They don’t worry about all the things going on around them.  Picture this, there is chaos all around you, and yet in front of you is this beautifully set up dining room table.  You have a seat and God is bringing you a feast one course at a time.  He is not concerned with your enemies because He knows they can’t touch you.  You are not concerned either because you feel so at home and taken care of.  Isn’t that a beautifully relaxing image?  

Next, the verse says that God honors us by anointing our heads with oil.  Did you know that you have an anointing on your life?  We all do. Did you know through baptism you were anointed to be priest, prophet, and king?   It’s true, just as Christ was all three of these, you are also anointed to be these three things to your community.  What does that mean for us?  

Let’s start with the priest.  Drawing on the priesthood of the Old Testament, a priest is one who offers sacrifices (see Genesis 14:18; Exodus 29:38- 42; Leviticus 23:6,8). Some sacrifices are personal, and some are on behalf of others. These sacrifices will look different for each one of us depending on our circumstances.  However, sacrifice to some degree should be a part of our everyday life.  I have tried to embrace this in different ways over the years. At times I did a bread and water fast one day a week. Other times I would fast from one thing for a whole month. I would switch it up each month, but there will always be something I am fasting from.  I believe that this helps me to appreciate things more and it will also show me that I am not a slave to that thing.  For instance, if I feel like I just can’t stop eating chocolate, then I will fast from that for a month.  By the end of the year, I will have shown God and myself that I do not need these things.  I will have also made a small sacrifice each month for 12 months.

Next, we have prophet.  A prophet is a spokesperson for God or one who speaks on God’s behalf (see Exodus 4:30; Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 42:19). In the Old and New Testaments, prophets called people to a different way of life.  Can we be a spokesperson for God by how we live our lives?  Can we live in a way that when people see us they think to themselves, “I want what they have?”  Can we call others to a different way of life, not necessarily with our words, but with our love?  Can we love others as Jesus did? Can we speak love and light into the world, into people’s lives?  Can we be prophets?

Lastly, we are anointed as kings.  What are kings called to do? Usually rule over others.  We are called to rule over ourselves first and foremost. We are all responsible for making sure we are living our lives according to God’s laws.  Most kings are called to rule over others, however, as Christians, we are called to servant leadership.  A servant leader leads by serving others. In other words, servant leaders place the interests and needs of their followers ahead of their own self-interests and needs. Generally, they value the development of their followers, building their communities, acting authentically, and sharing power.

Now that we know what each one of these means, hopefully, we can apply this to our everyday life.  God has anointed us in our everyday tasks too.  For instance, I was anointed to be a mother and a wife.  That was where God called me and that is what He set me apart to do.  Maybe you are anointed to be a doctor, a lawyer, a pharmacy tech, a garbage collector, a grandmother, a teacher, whatever it is, God has anointed you to do it.  Your baptismal anointing is not meant to replace any of those other calls on your life.  You are anointed to be a priest, prophet, and king in the life you are already living.  Think about your day-to-day life, how can you incorporate sacrifice into your days?  How can you be more of a prophet spreading the Lord’s Word in your daily lives?  How can you be more of a servant leader right now, right where you are?

The verse then goes on to say my cup overflows with blessings.  This is also great imagery.  I love to picture a teacup, as we grew up drinking tea in my family.  Although I don’t picture a regular tea cup, the image I am getting is an English fancy tea cup from a china set.  The tea is being poured into it with a steady stream and the cup is overflowing and running all over the table and even onto the floor.  This is how many blessings God has for you. He wants to rain down blessings upon blessings on all of His children.  Sometimes we get in the way of God’s blessings.  Sometimes we don’t appreciate the blessings that we have so why would God give us more?  Sometimes we find ourselves complaining about all that is going on in our lives instead of praising God and giving thanksgiving.  God has ridiculous blessings for you.  All you have to do is believe that and then praise God for any blessings, even if they are small.  If you can be faithful to the small He will increase your blessings.  He is a good, good Father!

The ending of this verse is beautiful.  “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  We had this word pursue the other day.  I love that word.  This verse is saying that God’s goodness and unfailing love will pursue us all the days of our lives.  Isn’t that wonderful?  We don’t have to chase after God, because He is already chasing after us.  All we have to do is let ourselves be caught by God’s goodness and unfailing love.  Unfailing love is not like any love we can find here on earth.  It is an incredible love that knows no limits, that knows no boundaries.  God’s love never leaves us.  No matter how much we may try to run from it.  No matter how much we try to reject it or send it back.  No matter how much we might mess up.  God’s unfailing love will pursue you every single day of your life.  How incredible is that?  

And the very last part of the verse says, “I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  Yes, please!  I want to live in the house of the Lord forever. I think we all do.  It is so amazing to me that God has an open-door policy to heaven.  All are welcome.  Come as you are, in your broken and wounded state.  You do not have to earn your way, you don’t have to do anything to get there.  Jesus has earned you your right to be there.  All you have to do is surrender to God and let Him help you, let Him give you the strength to follow Him.  Following God is not always an easy road but it is a rewarding road and one that leads to spending eternity living in the house of the Lord.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today.  Lord, we thank you for loving us like you do.  We thank you for preparing us for a feast in the presence of our enemies.  We thank you for the ridiculous blessings you want to give us and we are sorry if we get in your way of doing that.  We thank you for making us priests, prophets, and kings and we ask for your help in discovering what that means for each one of us and how we can incorporate that anointing into our lives.  We love you Lord and we can’t wait to live in your house forever!  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 bringing you another witness tomorrow.  It will be an update from my friend Bruce. I have shared his story at least twice, and we have a new update coming tomorrow. Mentoring is tonight, so email me if you would like to check it out! Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day, and may the favor and grace of our Lord Jesus be upon you!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know that sometimes trust is like pulling yourself through an eye of a needle. Those are the times when you need to trust the most. Because that's when I loom the largest. I love you, my children. Trust me.”

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Still Waters Psalm 23 (Part 2)

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 right paths 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 only really talked about the first few lines of this Psalm in my last episode and there are some other powerful parts to this Psalm. I want to make sure I go through the whole thing so when you are using it against your anxiety you can understand all the various aspects of it. Today I want to look at the very next line. “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.”

I was attending a conference once, and the speaker mentioned this verse.  It was not a spiritual conference, so when I heard it, I figured it was a sign that I should talk about it.  The verse says though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.  This is hard.  It seems like there is so much to fear these days. There is fear surrounding these elections. There is fear surrounding the future of our country. There is fear surrounding so many things.

When we read this scripture we wonder how it is possible to fear no evil.  How is it possible to fear no evil when you are surrounded by death, or the possibility of death?  If you read on it says “for thou are with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  God is with us, we all know this, we repeat this and tell others this, but do we really believe this?  Do you believe that God is right there with you when you are in the valleys?  We all know how all-powerful God is, so if we believe that He is there with us, it makes sense that we wouldn’t be afraid.  How could we be afraid when He is there?  He is the Almighty One.  

So, why do we have so much fear?  Are we afraid that He won’t help us?  Are we afraid He won’t show up?  Are we afraid to die?  What is it that we have been so afraid of?  Maybe you find yourself worried about a lot of things.  Maybe you worry every time there is a storm coming.  Maybe you worry about your finances.  Maybe you worry about your children, parents, siblings, or spouse.  Worry may be a part of your everyday life.  I am hoping to change that.  It probably won’t change overnight, and it may not be easy, but it is possible.  The bible mentions “fear not” 365 times.  This is definitely something that God wants us to get.  

I will be honest, I didn’t get the last part of this verse.  “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  I looked up the meaning of this because I wondered if there was something that I was missing.  I am glad I did because there is a great article called “Understanding Psalm 23: What Does the Staff and Rod Actually Mean?(Click Here for article)    I highly suggest it as it is good.  I will not retell the article, I will just touch upon the few descriptions of the rod and the staff.  First, the author says that the staff symbolizes rest, as shepherds used to lean on their staff for rest.  Next, the staff can symbolize rescue because shepherds used to use their staff to rescue sheep from the thick brush.  Third, the staff can symbolize a guide as the shepherd used it to guide sheep across open fields.  

This all seems to make a lot of sense to me. It seems like we are much happier and less afraid when we are able to just rest in the Lord.  To just sit with Him and turn over all of our worries and fears to Him.  Also, God rescues us from difficult situations when we need Him.  He doesn’t abandon us.  He is always there for us in good times and in bad.  Lastly, He is definitely our Guide.  How many times have we needed God to guide us through the rough parts of our lives?  We need Him as a guide for the easy parts as well.

The article goes on to say that Rod is Our Protection.  When shepherds were herding sheep they used their rods to defend against anything that wanted to attack the sheep.  This is what God does for us.  He protects us from our enemies.  The Rod is also a symbol of Love.  The shepherds used to use their rods to count the sheep.  You might be wondering how this is a symbol of Love.  This is an act of love because the shepherd is making sure that all of his sheep are present and accounted for.  God is doing the same thing for us.  He does not want a single one of His sheep to get lost.  He loves us too much.  

Now that I understand what the words rod and staff mean in the context of this verse and in the time that it was written, I feel as though I understand the verse as a whole better now.  I can’t believe how much the Lord is saying to us with just a short sentence or two.  I am also in awe sometimes thinking about how much God loves us.  It amazes me how He can be all these things for us, for each and every one of us.  Understanding that His staff is our guide, rescue, and rest; and that his rod is our protection and love helps me understand why we should have no fear.  We don’t need fear when we realize all that He has already done for us.  We don’t need fear when he is there to protect us, guide us, and rescue us.  He has got us. We can rest in the knowledge that His staff and His rod are enough for us.  They are more than enough for us.  

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  Is it any different hearing that verse again after hearing the description of the rod and the staff?  Does it make you want to trust in the Lord more?  Does it help you fear a little less?  I hope that it has helped.  I hope that we can all get to a place where we don’t have so much fear.  It is so freeing when you can let go of your fears and learn to lean into and trust God.  You won’t regret it.  I will leave you with Matthew 6:27 to think about.  “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us to have no fear in times of trouble.  We ask that you help us to feel loved.  Lord, I ask that you help all those who are feeling anxious or worried today and every day.  Help them to hand their worry over to you and not take it back again.  We thank you, Lord, for guiding us through our lives.  We thank you for protecting us and for being our place of rest.  Lord, we thank you for rescuing us every single time we need you to.  You are the best!  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. If you wish to sign up for the retreat, you are running out of time. I have to let the retreat house know my numbers on Oct. 4th. That means you have just under two weeks to register. It is going to be an amazing time; I hope you will join us! Mentoring is tomorrow night as well if you want to join in, there is a link below with all the information. You could also email me, and I can send you a link if you want to check it out before joining. 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, and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Trust me. I am worthy of your trust. I gave all for you because I loved you. I do not abandon my children. Whatever comes your way, remember I'm there.”

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Still Waters (Psalm 23)

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 right paths 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 waters. 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.

Because the Lord, 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, 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 that 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, 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. Remember if you have not signed up for the retreat yet, you are running out of time. I have to give the retreat house my numbers on Oct. 4th, that is in just two weeks. If you know someone who may want to join this retreat, please invite them. People are more likely to come if they have a personal invite from a friend. 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 April 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, “Why do you stand at the open tomb? You know, I have risen, and I am there among you.”

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Today’s witnesses are from Matthew West’s website called popwe.org. If you don’t know who Matthew West is, he is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. This website is for the non-profit that he has with his father, a pastor. Matthew and his father encourage people to share their stories. They have various categories of stories. Today, I chose two testimonies from the Addictions & Deliverance Category. Our family has been touched by addiction and I don’t think we are the only ones. One of my sons is desperately trying to quick vaping nicotine, which he was addicted to before he was really old enough to understand how addicting it is. I think these stories will offer some hope and encouragement. Often, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we listen to others tell their story, it helps us see that we are not alone. Hearing how God worked in their situation gives us hope that He will work in ours, too! I pray when you hear these testimonies, you get the faith and hope to believe that miracles can happen in your situation also.

Adrienne:  In 2014, I began praying to God to remove these addictions from me. My life was a mess and all I cared about was my cigarettes and alcohol. God led me to the right resources, and I did manage to quit smoking and drinking (although not at the same time and I experienced some slips.)

In 2018, with the help of God and a stop-smoking community, I gave up cigarettes for good. Then on June 23rd, 2020, God helped me once again and both my husband and I stopped drinking. The freedom and joy I feel from having both of these substances out of my life is amazing and like nothing, I’ve ever known. The “buzz” I get now from a life well lived is so much better than any buzz I received from cigarettes or alcohol.
I am so incredibly grateful to be free of those chains. If you are struggling with overcoming an addiction, my advice to you is don’t give up on yourself and trust God. You may not break free immediately but with patience, perseverance, and the love and help of our Savior, you can overcome even the toughest addiction.

With God, ALL things are possible!

Chris: My name is Chris, I’m 32 years old and I’m from Houston, TX. I’m married to my wife, Keyla. We have 2 daughters Kaylee and Madison and a dog, Charlie Boy. As a child, I grew up in a loving home. I’m the youngest of 5 siblings. I grew up with mom and dad at home. We always had a tight bond. The thing is we didn’t know Jesus. Our lifestyle was that of sinners. Alcoholism and drug addiction were creeping around my family. At the age of 7, I was molested by a family member who was on drugs at the time. Years later, he committed suicide. But I forgave him. Mentally and emotionally it messed me up. At the age of 13, I myself started using drugs. I tried cocaine in the 7th grade, then started smoking marijuana. This was the beginning of a drug addiction that would last for a period of 18 years. At the age of 17, I went into a restoration home by the name of Outcry In The Barrio, founded by Pastor Freddy Garcia. By this time I was now using pills. My father was an alcoholic, my older brother, Jr., was selling drugs and was also addicted to drugs as well as my brother, Jerry, and sister, Brenda. My brother, John, was the only one in my family (along with my mother) who didn’t care for drugs or alcohol.

So, I walked into this small duplex 1 bedroom house with about 15 guys living there. The leaders and the Pastor of the church told me Jesus would change my life if I would only surrender. As I began my journey of sobriety, every day for the next 6 months was hard and I wanted to leave. But I started to notice something- I noticed my family was coming to church. My brother, Jr., was the first in my family to give his life to Jesus and decided to make a change within himself. He was tired of the lifestyle he was living. Little by little my entire family got saved. By the fifth or sixth month, we were all getting baptized and living for Christ. As I graduated my program at the age of 18, I wish I could tell you that was it- that I have lived a clean sober life. But that would be a lie.

The next 13 years were a battle, but it was no one’s fault but mine. After meeting my wife and getting married and having children, I thought that would help. But unfortunately and sadly it didn’t. I was selfish, stuck in my own ways, or addicted. My wife had enough. She moved out and went back to live with her parents, along with my daughters and Charlie Boy. By this time I couldn’t keep a job and I lost my house. I wrecked my car, lost my job, and found myself homeless on the streets and now addicted to crack. I literally lost everything. I was alone, in the streets, at times cold, at times wet because of the heavy rain, I lived like this for 3 long weeks. During the last week, after 6-7 days straight without food or anything to drink, I found myself in a prodigal stage. I cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord!!!!! What have I done? Look at me!! I have nothing!!! I’m alone in the streets. I have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters and I’m not there for them.” This was the rock bottom point in my life. It couldn’t get any lower than this. As I was walking, talking to the Lord it was late, sometime around 4 am. I began to tell the Lord I was tired and very hungry. I wanted something to eat. Before I could even end my sentence, I saw 2 birds picking at a fry and it was then that The Lord spoke to me and said, if I feed the birds of the earth, how much more you that I call my son? I wept and thanked the Lord because I knew I was about to get something to eat. A few hours passed. I walked into a restaurant by the name of Shuttle Burger and asked for a cup of water. The owner looked at me and said, “Mijo, are you hungry?” I looked down and nodded my head “Yes, ma’am”. Some tears ran down my face as I whispered in a soft voice, “Thank You, Jesus.”  Because I knew it was Him. After the meal, this lady sat next to me and said, “I’ve seen you walking around here lately. You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

I said, “Yes, ma’am. I am. I’ve lost my way due to addiction, and now I’m in the streets.”

She looked at me and said, “Well son, you know what you need to do. Surrender your life to Jesus and He can set you free!”

I said, “Amen. He sure can. I’ve seen and tasted of His goodness before.”

She said, “You can again.”

As I left this restaurant, I walked a few more hours and was able to work up the nerve, humble myself, and call my brother, John. He answered, happy to hear my voice. I said, “Bro, I’m tired, I need help, man. I’m homeless and I don’t wanna live like this anymore.”

He said, “Okay, bro. Where are you? I’m picking you up.”

He picked me up and took me back to his house. I showered, got some rest, and decided the next day to go to rehab. I was there for a month, got cleaned up, started working, bought a car, got an apartment, and my wife started to see the change in me. She and my daughters moved back in. I was attending church and everything seemed fine until I found myself getting tempted and falling into temptation. There’s a scripture in the Bible where Jesus tells the disciples to pray they won’t get tempted by Satan. That’s exactly what happened. My prayer life was not consistent. The very next day, May 24, 2020, I got on my knees and prayed, asking God to please forgive me, to please give me another chance. I said, “Lord, I know what will happen if I continue. I’ll lose everything and end up in the streets.”

I finally surrendered my life to Christ on that day 5/24/2020 and praise God, I’m going on 18 months of sobriety!! I give Jesus Christ all the honor and glory for the salvation of my soul and the forgiveness of my many sins. I now live a life of prayer, consistently praying, thanking, and praising the name of Jesus. In these 18 months, many things have happened. My wife and I bought our first home, I’ve been able to keep the same job, and I’m now writing music for God. I’ve learned that surrendering your life to Christ really works. He really loves us and wants the best for us. So with all that being said, this is my story. I hope it encourages and brings hope to everyone who reads and listens to my music. Amen.

Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I am sure it wasn’t easy, and yet it will help so many people know that they are not alone. I hope that anyone struggling with addiction hears your testimonies and believes that God can help them just as He has helped you! Thanks again for sharing!

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We Are Saved By God’s Grace

Ephesians 2:3-5 “The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life. We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else. But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!”

I love verses like this because when the Bible points out the things I am doing wrong, I know I am not the only one doing them. If I were the only one, or if only a few of us were living by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, then God wouldn’t put it in the Bible. The verse starts by saying, “The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life.” We were all born with original sin. Adam and Eve were born into a perfect world. There was no sin; there was only love, and they got to stroll through the garden at night with the Lord. Their heavenly Father would come to visit them and talk with them.

However, they were tricked by the serpent and ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil. I don’t know if they were misled or just enticed. The devil was laying out a pretty good picture of how God was trying to control them by telling them not to eat that fruit. The serpent told them they would be like God if they ate the fruit. Who wouldn’t want to be like God, right? So they ate the fruit. The interesting thing is that they were already like God. God made us in His likeness and image. They were already like God. However, once they ate that fruit, sin entered the world, and it didn’t want to leave.

This is the corruption from birth that the verse is talking about. We are all born with original sin, and that is why Catholics believe you should be baptized as soon as you are born. Once you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, sin can’t say, it must leave. However, because we are human, our choices can allow sin to creep back into our lives. This sin that creeps back into our lives is expressed through our deeds and desires of our self-life. When sin creeps back in, we tend to live for ourselves instead of for God.

I was listening to an Encounter Ministry talk yesterday, and the teacher talked about how she had a niece or a friend’s child whom she spoke to often. When the girl was little, my teacher would say things like, “How did you get to be so beautiful?” or “How did you get to be so nice?” and the little girl would say, “That’s just the way God made me.” There is such an innocence in this response. However, once we get a bit older and the world corrupts our thinking, and our sin crowds our minds, then we forget that this is how God made us and that He made each one of us just as we are for a reason.

Once we allow sin to creep back in with our deeds and desires, our thoughts get distorted. We start to hate who we are, what we look like, what we sound like, and everything else about us. I was at a women’s conference once, and the speaker said that she asked everyone in the audience who hated their body to stand up, and 90% of the women stood up. She didn’t ask, who would change something about their body if they could? She didn’t ask, who dislikes something about their body? She asked who hated their body, and 90% of them stood up. This is the work of the enemy. We are not born hating our bodies. We are born with so much love, and then this broken world pollutes our minds and bodies.

The line in the verse says, “ We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else.” This pretty much sums up my struggle. I have so many cravings and thoughts in my life that seem to dictate my life. Some things seem like they are not really a big deal, but when we really examine them, we see that they are not good for us. Do you have any cravings that take your focus away from God? You have thoughts that take up all your focus and that you are thinking about all the time. If you have ever had an addiction, you know exactly what I am talking about. I am lucky in that the addictions I have had have not been life-threatening, like drugs or alcohol. I am lucky that my addictions have not affected my life in ways like losing my family or losing my job. However, that doesn’t mean they were damaging.

When I was addicted to TV, while I still am, but now I manage my addiction, I would watch TV all day long. I would not get anything done while the kids were at school, and I wouldn’t do anything after they went to bed, either. I would watch hours of TV a day.  I can only imagine how different my life would be if I had spent that time growing closer to the Lord, growing my spiritual life, reading books to further my knowledge, or really anything else that would have been productive. The enemy kept me sitting there watching TV because he knew what would have happened if I had spent that time with the Lord.  He knew how different my life would be if I weren’t addicted to TV.

Now, let's look at the last part of this verse because I don’t want to leave you today thinking about all you may be doing wrong or all you could have done differently. This is not the point of today’s episode. The point of this episode is to let you know that even though we have all sinned. Even though we don’t live perfect lives, we are all saved by God’s grace. The ending of this verse says, “But God still loved us with such great love. He is so rich in compassion and mercy. Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!”

It is so important that we all know this. No matter what we are struggling with, God loves us with such great love. All those reasons the enemy is telling you that God can’t possibly love you are complete garbage. God still loves you with such a great love. There is nothing you can do to stop Him from loving you. There is no losing that love. I know I say that a lot, and I will keep saying it until every single one of you believes that God loves you just as you do, and there is nothing you can do to lose that love. It is your forever. Whether you want it or not, whether you deserve it or not. God is so rich in compassion and mercy. He knows why you did what you did, and his mercy covers it, covers you. His mercy is enough to cover anything you have done.

The last line is awesome, too. “Even when we were dead and doomed in our many sins, he united us into the very life of Christ and saved us by his wonderful grace!” This means that even though God knows all we have done. Even though we did some pretty terrible things, God united us with Christ and saved us by his grace. God’s grace is enough for you and all your sins. Jesus’s sacrifice was big enough to cover all your sins. God loves you with such a great love. He is full of compassion and mercy. That is what I want to leave you with today. God saved us by His wonderful grace!

Dear Heavenly Father, please bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much. We don’t want to be dead and doomed in our many sins. We want to be free of them. Please help us. We want to put you first and to show you our love by our actions. Please help us. We want to be able to live by the Spirit and not the flesh. Please help us. Help us to see where our sin is getting in the way of our relationship with you, and then give us the strength to change. We love you, 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! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you. Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “You say I have no more to give, I am tired, I don’t know what I can do. I say, "Stop worrying, you don’t have to do anything but trust in me, lean on me, realize it’s me in you that gives you strength, trust in me, I will give you what you need, trust. Move forward in my love.”

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He Gives All The More Grace

James 4:6 “But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Continuing on with our grace series, I wanted to share this verse with you. This is a pretty popular saying. I have heard it often. So let’s explore what this verse is telling us. First. God gives us all the more grace. If we are trying to live the way the Lord wants us to live, He will give us the grace to do so. Remember, grace is the power to do the right thing. Grace teaches us the right thing to do and then allows us to do it. So, why does the it mean for God to oppose the proud and give grace to the humble. Sometimes I know what a word means, like I could use it in a sentence and yet I don’t understand exactly what it means.

In case this is you too, I want to break this verse down and share with you what I have learned about it. When the verse says God opposes the proud it is talking about those who strive to live by the world’s standards instead of the ones He has given to us. Do we strive to live our life according to the life God has set out before us, or do we strive to live the life the World tells us that we want? The world says that we should care about how much money we make and how much stuff we can accumulate. The world tells us that we should look out for ourselves first and everyone else second. The world tells us family values are a thing of the past. We are being good parents by providing for our family, we don’t have to spend time with them. It tells us that our children don’t want to spend time with us anyway.

The world tells us who we are and who we should be. It tells us that we don’t deserve God’s love, we aren’t good enough for his mercy and grace, so why even bother trying to obtain it? Or it tells us that we have to strive and strive in order to earn God’s love. I know those are two contradicting things, but that is because the enemy is smart, and he will tell you whatever he thinks you need to hear. If you are someone who feels you have to earn love and affection, the enemy will tell you that you need to earn God’s love on your own merit. He will tell you that you have to work harder and harder, and yet you will never really feel like you have worked hard enough. If you are someone who feels like you are never good enough, the enemy will convince you that you shouldn’t even bother to try to earn God’s love because it is too far out of your reach. You simply aren’t enough, good enough, worthy enough, whatever it may be.

What I have learned about this verse is that the proud are the ones who feel they have to earn God’s love on their own. They do not turn to the Lord and ask for His grace to help them change. They feel they can change independently, and then they will come to the Lord. This is prideful. Thinking we can do anything on our own is pretty prideful. We need the Lord to do all things. Well, we need Him to do all things correctly. We can do things on our own, but they definitely don’t turn out how they could if we invited the Lord into everything we do. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you ever thought you needed to do it all on your own? Have you ever felt like you needed to earn God’s love and acceptance? I am pretty sure we have all gone through times when we felt like this.

Hopefully, we have also gone through times of humility. Being humble means that we come to God just as we are. We acknowledge that we are sinful and prideful, and yet we know that because He is all-powerful, He can help us change. We come to the Lord in our weak and broken state with the confidence that His grace can redeem us. God has already redeemed us. He sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we may be redeemed. Humility is accepting this forgiveness and turning to the Lord to help us change.

I would like to say that being humble is something you decide to do and then that is the end of it. You decided to be humble so now you are a humble person. Being humble is something that you need to continually decide. You will be faced with many choices as you go throughout the day and you must keep making the choice that will help you grow in humility instead of pride. The enemy is good and he will try to trick you into choosing things that will actually help you grow in pride instead of humility.

This is where grace comes in. Remember, grace is the power to do the right thing. Even in the face of evil, grace has the power to help us do the right thing.  So, how do we call upon this grace? We just ask for it. We just come to the Lord and let Him know we need His grace. It can be as simple as, “God, I know I need you to come into this day with me and help me make the right choices.” It could be as simple as “Come, Holy Spirit, come.” What you say is nearly as important as it is that you do say something. You must acknowledge your reliance on the Lord. Let God know that you invite Him in and that you need Him and His grace.

Without God’s grace, without the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we would be lost. Many of us are lost because we don’t know the power we have living inside of us. We don’t know that we have this grace that we can tap into. We just go through our days relying on our own power and strength and wondering why we are struggling. We wonder why things are so hard.

God is not withholding grace until we become worthy. We are worthy now. He made sure of that when he redeemed us. God has filled each one of us with a reservoir of grace, and all we need to do is call upon that grace. All we need to do is realize that we need that grace, and it is ours. We need to constantly be turning back to the Lord and relying on His grace to help us get through whatever we need to get through.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to rely on your grace. We ask that you help us realize the grace we have inside of us. We ask that you help us overcome our pride and to be more humble. We ask all of this in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Mentoring this month is all about trusting in the waiting. If you would like to join us, CLICK HERE. Mentoring sessions are on Tuesday evenings at 8 PM EST. on Zoom. 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 and may the grace and favor our of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Vision: We were all in a group, in a circle, doing praise and worship with the tree of life in the center. And the more we prayed and worshiped the Lord, the tree of life grew taller and taller and just became more brilliant and bright.”

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

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

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Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching