Walk Boldly With Jesus

CLICK HERE for Kaila's Blog

Today I was going to share a few stories from the Popewe website again, and I found this one woman Kaila who wrote a story but then included a blog post she had written, I decided to share the blog post with you because it is so real and it is something a lot of people go through. This woman lost two of her children. She found out while pregnant with them that they would not be able to survive after birth. She had one son, and he died in her arms. Then she had a daughter and son, and then her fourth baby, a son, also died in her arms. In this blog, the author also talks about that pain. She talks about the difference between how she dealt with the first loss compared to the second loss. She talks about how real her relationship with God is. She talks about how it is ok to be mad with Him. He will wait for her to come back; she doesn’t need to rush it. This situation is very sad, and my heart breaks for anyone who loses a child, never mind two children. I pray while you listen to her testimony, you say a prayer for all those who have lost children and that together, we can pray for God to heal their hearts. Here is the blog titled “Relationship Status: It’s Complicated.”

"Tell me, what is the biggest difference between your grief journey with Sam and now with Gabriel?"

My therapist asked me this question last week. I sat in silence.

I think it's having Mira and Edward now...is it? Maybe it's not.

"It's my relationship with God."

When we had Sam, I couldn't wait to get out and share our story with the world. About how God had given us so much peace. How he had been there with us in the storm. How we didn't know how people could survive this much pain without him.

And now...

Now.

I don't know. I really don't know.

I wish I could say I still felt that way. I wish I could say I feel his presence strongly with me. I wish I could say I know that he is good and his plan is perfect, and that I know without a doubt he will redeem this great loss for the second time.

I envy 6 year ago me who was so sure of those things.

God gave his one and only son for me. That brought me so much comfort. Last time. I felt a kind of community with God that I hadn't really felt before. God is part of this child-loss community. He knows how I feel. He has the same sadness I do.

But now I've given two. I can't even say that, actually. I did not give them back. They were taken. My arms have been robbed of two boys. Two perfect boys that never were able to open their eyes and look at their Momma.

I know my loss is not unique. And there are people out there who handle it way "better" than I do. Their relationship with God is solid, they rest in his promises. They have peace. One day I hope to have that again, but today it is turmoil. My brow is furrowed at the wrongness and unfairness that is two dead babies. Two refrigerated bodies. Two tiny urns on my bookshelf. It makes no sense to me that two loving parents with a finally healthy marriage would have to do this even once, but twice?

I'm currently reading several books, and one author said something that I really liked. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that as beings created in God's image, evil, loss, grief, injustice, and the unfairness of this world SHOULD perplex us. God is logical, and of course then so are we. And because evil does not make sense, we struggle greatly with the concept that it exists. Why does God allow evil to exist? Why? Why is he seemingly okay with all of this?

It is healthy to ask these questions. It okay to talk about doubt. It. Is. Okay.

Another book that I just finished echoed these sentiments, but the author warns to not stay stuck forever in the pit of "why"s. In her own testimony, she shares that she stayed there for years, but it wasn't until she asked her "how" that she started to climb out. "How will God redeem this? How will he use this for good?"

I'm not there yet. I'm not even close. And it may be months.

It may be years.

I cannot and I will not rush this for the sake of looking good. For the sake of being a "good Christian." I love Jesus and I know that he loves me, but I am telling you in total transparency...

I'm angry.

I'm bitter.

I feel abandoned.

And I do not need someone to save me. I do not need platitudes.

I just need to be loved.

Not one person on this earth can fix my brokenness. I don't even want it fixed right now. It wouldn't be genuine of me to say, "God is good and I have peace."

I said that last time. I meant it last time.

But right now, I do not feel those things. I'm hurting. I'm tired. I yell at my kids because they are little and they need me and I do not want to be needed right now. And then I feel crushing guilt because I yell at my kids and they're the only ones alive. Half of my children are dead and maybe it's because I'm an awful mother that doesn't deserve to raise all 4.

That last sentence? I know it's not true. I know. And I'm not asking for comments/compliments on why I'm a wonderful mother. I'm just openly sharing the lies that I hear each and every single day being whisper-screamed in my ear.

You're not good enough. 

You don't deserve your living children.

You shouldn't be happy.

You don't deserve to be loved on or cared for.

You're alone. Suck. It. Up.

Some days I have enough energy to speak truth against those lies.

Some days I don't. Those days are hard.

But you know what gets me through?

You.

Just as much as I share with my therapist the lies I'm constantly fed, I tell her every time I see her just how much I'm loved. I share regularly with the people closest to me all of these ugly, awful thoughts, and you know what they do?

They listen.

In silence.

They thank me for sharing. They tell me they're struggling with God because of this too. They don't offer reassurance or advice. They don't try and fix this. They cry when they imagine their babies dying in their arms, and they sit with me in the sadness that mine have. They share my grief. With each tear I see falling from one of my friends' faces...I feel the heaviness of my heart lift just a little. It's like a literal weight that they take from me and carry it themselves. THAT is love. THAT is unconditional love.

I cannot believe that I am the recipient of so much amazingly beautiful love. I see Jesus in these people. I cannot sit with God in silence and pray right now, but I can certainly sit with a friend and cry with them. I cannot praise God in this storm but I know he has sent these people to love me. I cannot slap on a smile and say "God is good" but I can stand on my rock of faith and say, "Lord I'm mad at you right now. I am so freaking mad at you."

And he can take it. He will be there when I'm ready to stop stomping my feet, crossing my arms, and turning my back. He will wait for me.

I know he will.

Thank you Kaila for being so honest and real in your blog. Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your journey so that others can see they are not alone. I know this will help a lot of people. I will place a link for her blog in the show notes so you can read more of her journey if you would like to.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Living A Supernatural Lifestyle

Acts 8:5-8 “ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.  Philip went down to the city of Samar′ia and proclaimed to them the Christ.  And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did.  For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.  So there was much joy in that city.”

I love the Book of Acts. I love several books of the Bible, but I am particularly drawn to Acts because of its supernatural aspect. After Pentecost the apostles moved forward into a supernatural lifestyle. Jesus had equipped them twice before to go out and spread the Gospel message using signs and wonders. However, now they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them and they were forever equipped for this mission. It became a part of them. For instance in Acts 3:1-10 “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them.  But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Peter and John were going about their life. They didn't make a big show or say a ton of words. They were simply walking by someone in need, and they stopped and healed him. It was so simple and so easy. The reason it was so easy is because they knew the power they had living inside of them. They didn’t ask God to heal this man; they knew they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they could call on this Holy Spirit to heal this man in the name of Jesus. They commanded the man to walk, and he did.

You and I have this same power living inside of us. The biggest difference is that they knew the power they had. Can you see what amazing things we could be doing if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the power we have living inside of us? They didn’t wonder if they could do it. They didn’t wonder if God would show up and heal this person. They didn’t wonder if it was God’s will to heal that person. They simply knew that the person needed healing and that they could provide that for Him. I wish we could all live this type of lifestyle. I wish we all knew the power we have living inside of us.

This is the reason I named this podcast Walk Boldly With Jesus. Peter and John were walking boldly with Jesus. We can too. Each one of us has the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Yet, how often do we call upon that power? How often do we step forward confidently knowing we have that power? How often do we ask the Lord to do things that He has given us the ability to do?

I am not saying we shouldn’t ask the Lord for things; we definitely should. However, we should also step forward with confidence that He has equipped us to help ourselves as well. For instance, we definitely should pray to God for healing for our friends and family. However, we can also pray over them for healing as well. We can command the illness to leave, we can command bones to be healed and we can command spirits to leave. We are not powerless. We often say, “All we can do now is pray.” I get the sentiment and yet prayer is the most powerful thing we can do. It is not a last-ditch effort. It is the best way to see results. It is the best way to move mountains. There is so much power in prayer.

Imagine what this world would look like if we all started living the supernatural life we were meant to live. Imagine if we all realized the power we have living inside of us. The power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you and inside of me. (Romans 8:11) Can you even believe that? That is so crazy to me that God would give us the Holy Spirit. I am not just talking about the supernatural power to heal people, although I do wish we could all realize we had that power. There are so many people dying of illnesses, and if more of us were operating with the confidence that Peter and John had that the power of the Holy Spirit would work through us, we could save more people. Not just from their physical illness, but we could bring them back to Jesus, which is the real reason for the signs and wonders.

The Holy Spirit is our guide, he is our comforter, he is our counselor. The enemy wants us to think we are powerless to change anything in this world. However, this is not true. The power of prayer can change anything. I have seen so many miraculous answers to prayers. Answers that no one thought would come. Answers that seemed so far-fetched at the time. Our prayers are powerful. We all tend to think we are a slave to our wants and our desires. We say we have no willpower or that we are weak. This is a lie from the enemy. The power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you can help you overcome any perceived weaknesses. We just need to call upon it. We need to give the Holy Spirit permission to work in our lives. We need to understand what it means to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul did not have an easy life after he started to follow Jesus. He was persecuted and spent a lot of time in jail. He wasn’t scared though and he didn’t feel hopeless because he knew the power he had living inside of him. He knew nothing could touch him without the Father’s consent. He knew he had God by his side every step of the way. Do we know this? Are we confident in this? How would our life be different if we started realizing the power we had inside of us? How would our life be different if we started using that power?

I want to go back to our verse for today as I just realized I didn’t really talk about it too much.  The verse says, “ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.  Philip went down to the city of Samar′ia and proclaimed to them the Christ.  And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did.  For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.  So there was much joy in that city.” This verse gives us another reason we were given the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t just to strengthen and guide us but it was also to do signs and wonders so that we can lead others to Jesus.

The verse also gives us some more examples of the things we are capable of when we walk in our identity as sons and daughters of Christ with the Holy Spirit. Philip proclaimed Christ to them, commanded unclean spirits to come out of many people, and healed many who were paralyzed or lame. The last line of the verse is one that shows us another benefit to living our supernatural lifestyle. It says, “There was so much joy in that city.” Joy is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Joy is so great because it is something you can have despite your circumstances. Happiness tends to be based on your current circumstances. However, joy is something you can have even when you are not particularly happy. It is a blessing and a gift from the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t it be great to have a bit more joy in our lives?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we ask that you help us to realize the power you have put inside of us. We ask that you show us how to step out in faith and live the supernatural lifestyle you want us to live. We ask for the courage and faith to live into the identity you have planned for us. We love you so much, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Mentoring is tonight at 8 EST if you want to sign up, Click Here! You still have time. I look forward to seeing you tonight on mentoring or meeting you here tomorrow for another episode. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is “My children, do not hold tightly to the things that are not going to bring you closer to me. I know your needs. I know what you need to live from day to day. I know your wants and your desires. They are all part of my plan for your life. But do not hold them so tightly to your heart that you don't have enough room to hold me closely to your heart.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Who Are We To Judge?

Acts 10:44-46 “While Peter was still saying this, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.  And the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.  For they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”

I think this verse is an important one to talk about because often, we can impose our own ideas on what God can and can’t do. This verse is a great reminder that we are not in charge; God is. This verse comes to us in a very interesting way. This story shows how God prepares our hearts and minds for what is coming. There was a man named Cornelius who was a centurion and he feared god with all his household. He gave alms liberally to the people and prayed constantly to God. One day Cornelius saw in a vision an angel of God telling him to send men to Joppa to bring Simon Peter to him. So Cornelius did as he was told and sent his men out to fetch Simon Peter.

At the same time as this is happening, Peter is on the housetop praying, and he becomes hungry. However, while they are preparing the food, he falls into a trance. While in the trance, Peter has a dream where the Lord tells him to eat animals previously thought to be unclean. While Peter is refusing to eat unclean animals, the Lord tells him, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” Peter was confused as to what this dream might mean, and while he was pondering it, Cornelius’s men showed up looking at him. The Holy Spirit told Peter to rise up and go without hesitation with the men.

When Peter gets there, he tells Cornelius that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation but that God had shown him that he should not call any man common or unclean. Then he asked why Cornelius sent for him. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Peter went on to proclaim the Gospel, and then we get to the verses above. While Peter was still talking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And those who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.

This is a message of utmost importance for each one of us. Peter's words, “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-35), challenge the notion of exclusivity. It was unlawful for Jews to associate with or visit anyone from another nation. Yet, God showed Peter that this isn’t what he desires. God wants us all united. He doesn’t want us to separate ourselves from those groups of people because we have labeled them, out loud or in our heads, unclean and unworthy. Instead of focusing on bringing our loved ones back to the church, why not focus on helping them know and love Jesus more?

Why do we judge people and decide in our minds who is worthy of God’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness? Who are we to judge? We are not perfect. We don’t have it all figured out. I mess up every day, and I rely on God’s mercy and grace to help me make it to the next day. We can all learn a lot from this passage. God gets to decide who is ready for the Holy Spirit. God will lead us and our loved ones to the next step. Cornelius was a great man, and when he was ready for more, the Lord guided him to Peter. God will guide our steps to grow closer to Him as well. It might not be as clear as sending an angel, but He will show you what the next step is if you are open to his promptings.

God has really been putting it on my heart lately that we are so focused on bringing our family members back to the church when the church might not be the right place for them right now. If they have been wounded by the church, or offended by the church, then they may go to church but not be open to hearing the messages. What if we just started by trying to get our loved ones to know they are loved by Jesus? Let them know that He is always there for them. Let them know that He loves them just as they are. So many people are lacking love in their lives. They don’t know God as the loving Father He is. They see Him as someone who is sitting on his throne in heaven, just waiting for them to mess up so he can pass judgment on them.

What if instead of trying to bring everyone back to church, we started by just bringing Jesus to them? What if we just started trying to help everyone feel loved and accepted? Did you know you can accept someone for who they are even if you don’t like something they are doing? You don't have to agree with their choices or condone their behavior to love and accept them. God loves and accepts us for who we are. He doesn’t love everything we do. I am sure we break his heart often. Yet He still loves us just as much. He doesn’t continually point out all we are doing wrong that offends him or that He disagrees with. He just keeps lavishing His love on us until we realize how much He loves us, and we realize we don’t want to keep hurting Him.

We can do the same with our loved ones. They don’t need us to keep telling them all the ways they are letting us down. Trust me, they know. What if we just started pointing out all the reasons we love them? What if we keep telling them how much Jesus loves them? How about if we accept them for who they are instead of who we want them to be. If your loved ones are doing things that you feel are putting their soul in mortal danger. Bring it to God. He is the only one that can change their heart. That is not our job. Our job is to love them and show them the love of Jesus. How can they believe that Jesus loves them unconditionally when they have never known that kind of love? We must be Christ’s love to all we meet. If they encounter His love through us, it could change their whole life!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we ask you to help us to show your love to all those we meet. We ask you to help us bring others to you.  We ask that you show us how to love our loved ones in a way that shows them your love for them. Help us be an example that others want to follow. Help us to be so full of the Holy Spirit that others look at us and want what we have. Help us live with the joy of the Lord. Help us live with the peace of Christ. Help us live with a trust in you that is unlike anything in this world. We want to be your hands and feet, Lord; show us how. 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 want to remind everyone that mentoring is tomorrow night. If you would like to join, I will place a link in the show notes. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I come into your humanity so that you may come into my divinity."

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Today’s episode will be a bit different. Today I will be reading one of the chapters in my new book titled Abandon Anxiety: Techniques to take back control. Yesterday in prayer group a lot of the ladies were saying they knew people who were struggling with anxiety, so I thought I would read this chapter as it is called Calming Our Anxiety In The Moment. There are lots of things that go into anxiety, and there are ways to decrease it. Yet some of them take time to learn and implement and become habits. I wanted to give people strategies they can use when they are in the middle of an anxiety attack and need some immediate help. I hope you find them helpful.

I have talked a lot about our thoughts and the stories we tell ourselves.  I discussed how important it is we shape those thoughts and are conscious of the stories that we tell ourselves.  I have talked about the RAS, which serves as a filter for our brain, and how we can work on setting our filter so that we don’t worry so much.  I have discussed scripture verses that you can turn to and different prayers that can help you both at the moment, such as the St. Michael prayer, and long-term in developing more trust in the lord, such as the Litany of Trust.  However, all of these things, except for the St. Michael prayer, take time.  You probably won’t change your thought patterns overnight.  You won’t wake up tomorrow having forgotten these deeply held beliefs you have had for years.  Worrying less is definitely possible, and I truly hope after reading this book, you are motivated to begin your journey to getting rid of your worry.  

I also know some people reading this book have anxiety/panic attacks.  I know that some of you reading this are looking for answers to what to do at the moment.  You don’t have time to focus on changing your thoughts because, at the moment, when you are overcome with worry or anxiety, you can’t think about anything.  I thought it was important to address this matter as well, as I have several friends who suffer from panic/anxiety attacks, and I know how debilitating they can be.  I know how scary it can be, and if I can provide any help to make it easier at the moment, I want to do that.  

I want to begin by saying I am not a mental health counselor.  If you are having panic/anxiety attacks, it might be advisable to speak with a counselor, as they could help you out with your particular circumstances.  I have seen a counselor for years, and I think everyone could benefit from seeing someone and talking about any issues.  The techniques I am going to talk about in this chapter are techniques I have found over the years from research to help my friends.  I also talked to my sister, who is a mental health counselor, to make sure I wasn’t steering you in the wrong direction or telling you something that wasn’t true.  

I have been told the important thing is to try to get back to the present moment.  There is no anxiety in the present moment.  When you are anxious, you are thinking about what will happen or what has already happened, but there is no anxiety in the present moment.  In order to do this, you can try a variety of different things, depending on what feels right to you and what you can remember to do in the moment.  I would suggest if you are prone to attacks, you have a list of techniques you look at often and even practice when you are not having an attack.  From what I understand, you will not be able to think of much in the moment, so the more you have prepared in advance, the more likely you will be to think of these strategies in the moment you need them.

This is similar to anything that you want to get good at.  When you want to be good at something, you need to practice it.  If you want to be good in a crisis, you need to practice the techniques when things are calm.  Let’s think about it in terms of sports for a minute.  If you want to be really good at baseball, you can’t wait until you are in the middle of a game to practice working on catching a ball or even throwing a ball.  This is why athletes need to put in hours of practice before the game days.  Think about surgeons.  They need to go to school for a long time, and then they need to do a residency where they are under the supervision of surgeons who have been practicing for a while.  We wouldn’t expect a surgeon to just walk into an operating room and know how to perform a surgery without lots of practice.  

We do not expect people to be good at things without practicing them.  And yet when it comes to mental health, we just expect people to know how to handle it.  When our children are little, we expect them to be able to handle their anger without hitting others.  However, how much time do we spend teaching them and practicing other methods with them?  Often times, when they are acting out, we try to give them options of what they can do to express their anger.  Has this happened to you?  Have you had well-intentioned people try to give you all sorts of advice on how you should handle your anxiety when you are in the middle of it?  How well did that work for you?  I guess it worked as well as it did for my kids when I tried to help them with their anger in the middle of it.  

The techniques I am going to talk about here can help you when you are in the middle of an anxiety attack, or they may even be able to cut it off right at the beginning if you think to use them.  There is the key, if you can think to use them.  You will not think to use them if the only time you try to think of them is when you really need them.  If you do not practice these things when you are not in the middle of an attack then I doubt you will think to use them when you are.  Think about your last panic attack.  When you were experiencing it, how likely were you to use the logical part of your brain?  How much of the attack was instinct, and how much of it was planned?  

If you want to use these techniques out of instinct, then you need to practice them.  You need to build up the muscle memory of the different activities.  What comes to mind for me as I type this is my typing classes in High School.  My teacher would always say we were working on our muscle memory so that, eventually, our fingers would just know which keys to press.  I was very skeptical; however, now I type the fastest when I don’t think about it, and I just let my fingers do what they were trained to do.  

If you always react the same way in a situation, then you teach your body that is the reaction to that circumstance.  Your body will continue to act that way until you interrupt that thinking, and give it a new response for that circumstance.  For instance, when my kids used to say inappropriate words to me, I would get angry and yell at them and then give them a punishment.  They soon learned this was my reaction and so they would say those words even more.  Eventually, I learned to ignore any words I didn’t like them saying, and eventually, they stopped saying them.  It wasn’t easy.  It was a process, and it took time.  

This will take time too.  I don’t want you to think I am giving you any quick fixes here.  I also don’t want you to think I am saying this will be easy.  If you have been having panic/anxiety attacks, then I am sure you are ready for some relief.  I don’t want to mislead you to believe this is a one-and-done remedy for panic/anxiety attacks.  I don’t know the cause of your panic/anxiety attacks.  I don’t know the cure for them.  What I am offering in this chapter, are a few techniques you might be able to use in the moment which will help the attacks end faster.  My hope and my prayer for you is that you will give some of these techniques a try and see what you think.  

I hope you will try them when you are not having a panic attack.  If you are prone to having panic/anxiety attacks, I hope that you will practice them. Take a few minutes each day or a couple of times a day and practice these techniques.  We never know when the enemy is going to strike.  We need to be prepared at all times.  If you think of this as training for when you need it, you will be much more prepared the next time you have an attack.  

Trying to get yourself back to the present moment when you are anxious can be just the trick you need.  However, how do you do that?  There are several different activities that you can quickly do when you are noticing that you are starting to worry.  Actually, even if you are in a full-blown panic attack, you may be able to do these activities to calm yourself down.  I will go over some of these now.

1.) The first and probably easiest to explain is to count numbers out of order or backward.  When you do this, you are shifting focus from one part of your brain to another, and it is harder to be anxious when you are using this other part of your brain.  Let’s all practice this now.  Everyone counts down backwards from 10.  Awesome, nice job!  You can also count numbers out of order.  For instance, 3, 10, 15, 4, 8, 22, 17. Again, this forces your focus to start using another part of your brain.  

2.) The next one is to enlist the help of your senses to pull you back into the present moment.  The Mayo Clinic calls it the 5-4-3-2-1 Countdown to make anxiety blasts off.  Here is how you would do it.  You take a moment and look around at your surroundings.  Now you would list:

5 things you can see: Your arm, a pen, your computer, the rug, the window.  

4 things you can physically feel: Your face, the ground, your hair, your shoe

3 things you can hear: The rain outside, a car passing by, your fridge buzzing

2 things you can smell: your feet, a plant

1 thing you can taste: your chapstick, your drink, gum. These will obviously be different for everyone.  It depends on the room you are in or the place where this occurs.  It depends on what you are doing and what your surroundings are.  However, this is something you can practice and get good at when you are not in the middle of an attack.  You could silently do it in various familiar surroundings. For instance, when you are in your car on the way to work, or anyway, you could quickly run through this exercise.  When you are making breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you could run through it.  The more you practice it when you are not in the middle of a panic attack, the more likely you are to think of it when you are.  

Going back to counting backward or counting numbers out of sequence. These two things require concentration, and when you are doing this, you are accessing a different part of your brain, and so they are distracting you from your thoughts.  Again, this brings you back to the present moment.  These may seem like something that you don’t have to practice.  I am sure we all know how to count backwards or list numbers out of order.  It is not the action that we are practicing.  It is getting used to the idea that we can do this when we need to forget about our anxious thoughts.  

This is another one I think you could easily practice when you are not in the middle of an attack.  Just maybe try once or twice a day to count backward or to count out of order.  If you have anxious thoughts a lot, but they aren’t to the level of a panic attack, then try to implement this technique right when you realize you’re thinking about something that is making you anxious.  This doesn’t have to be something you do outloud.  It doesn’t have to be something that anyone else is aware that you are doing.  If you can get in the habit of recognizing the thoughts that are causing you anxiety, that would be the first step.  Then, try counting backward or out of order to distract yourself from those thoughts.  

The third one is extreme sensations.  For instance, eating a fireball or a lemon head.  This shock to the senses might be just enough to bring you back to the present moment.  Also, the sensation of touching ice.  This would be one that I am not sure you could practice when you are not in the moment.  However, it is one that you need to prepare for.  If you have tried the other two techniques, and you have not found the relief in the moment that you are looking for, you may want to try this one.  In order to try this one, you would have to have something on hand.  If you are at your house, you likely have access to ice.  If you are thinking that you would like to try one of the other things you would have to buy those ahead of time so that you have them on hand when you need them.

This is another way we can help ourselves in the moment.  We can be prepared for them when they come.  If we know we are prone to panic attacks, what can we do to be prepared?  What if it happens when we are out with others? What can we do in that situation?  How would we want to handle it if we could plan in advance?  What about if it happens when we are alone? What will our plan be?  What if our kids are around?  There are many different circumstances where panic attacks can come about. Can we come up with a plan for the different circumstances?  Is it possible to run through these scenarios in your mind ahead of time so if you find yourself in one of these situations, it won’t be the first time?  Almost like you are doing a dress rehearsal in your brain so that you can practice the best way to respond.  

I have been told that our brains believe what we tell them and that the reason visualization works so well is because our brains can’t tell the difference between what we are visualizing we are doing and what we are really doing.  For instance, the best athletes run over their plays or their movements in their heads, even when they are not at practice.  A golfer will visualize holding the golf club; they will visualize swinging it, it hitting the ball, and then the ball going into the hole.  They do this over and over again in their mind, and even though they are not actually doing it, when it comes time to do it on the course, their mind thinks they have been here before.  Their mind feels like it has done this tons of times before, and they act as if they have.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could train your mind to react to these anxious thoughts in a more productive way?  Wouldn’t it be great if your mind automatically started one of these techniques when you felt a panic attack coming on?  Wouldn’t it be great if you were prepared for these attacks before they came?   I believe these things are possible.  It won’t be easy, and it will take work, but it can happen.  You can gain some control in the midst of these attacks if you do the work to prepare ahead of time.

ACTION STEPS

1. Practice these various techniques daily when you aren’t in the middle of an attack.  Even if it is just once or twice a day, you will be more likely to think of them when you are in the middle of an attack.
2. Visualize yourself reacting to how you want to react when you are having a panic attack.  Don’t just do this once, do it often.  Again, this doesn’t have to be all day, every day.  Just take a few minutes a day and visualize yourself in great detail handling the panic attack in the way that you would want to.
3. Try to notice the thoughts that are making you anxious and try to practice the techniques with these thoughts to try to calm them before they become full-blown anxiety attacks.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my new book. If you know someone who suffers from anxiety, please send this to them. They might find something that works for them. I have not published this book yet, but if you know someone who is struggling and really needs some help with anxiety, I would be happy to send them the PDF or the e-reader version. I will not be posting the podcast next week as I am taking my middle son to England to look at colleges and I want to be fully present with him for that time. I still can’t believe he will be going off to college next year. There are plenty of episodes you could go back and listen to if you still want to start your day off with this podcast. I like just randomly picking one, and it is usually just what I need to hear that day. I feel like when I am doing it randomly then it is really the Holy Spirit picking it for me. I hope you all have an amazingly blessed week, and I look forward to meeting you here again on April 22nd. Please pray for safe and uneventful travels. Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is “In my peace, children, you will find strength, courage, and boldness. It comes from peace."

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

The Certainty of God’s Promise (Part 2)

Hebrews 6:16-20 “ Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute.  In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.  We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain,  where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

I started talking about The Certainty of God’s Promise on Monday. Today I want to finish the section as I think it is important that we all know we can count on God and all of His promises. God can not lie. If He says something, it is true. Today’s verse starts out by talking about how humans swear by someone greater than themselves. I am sure you have done this before. You were telling someone something, and you really wanted them to believe you, so you probably said something like I swear on my life, I swear to you I am not lying, or something to that effect. This first sentence in the verse is saying that when an oath is given as confirmation, it puts an end to all disputes. This means the person no longer questions if you are telling the truth or not. 

The next line is pretty long and covers a lot, so let’s break it down. The first part says, “ In the same way when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose.” This tells us that God is unchanging. It is not as if he was one God in the Old Testament, One God in the New Testament, and then a different God now. God is the same yesterday, today, and always. God’s character does not change. It also says that God wants to show us even more clearly this unchangeable character of His purpose. Change is not possible with God. He does not develop or grow. He always remains the same. Since God is an absolute perfection, no change for the better is possible since you cannot improve on perfection. Consequently, there is no inconsistency in God. The Scripture makes it clear that God does not change in his character or purpose, his fairness towards humankind, or in his promises. 

Next, it says, “he guaranteed it by an oath so that through two unchangeable things.” When I read it, I was wondering, wait, what two unchangeable things? I am not sure if you had the same question. When I read through on my own, I tend to skip over things I don’t quite understand. However, since doing this podcast, every time I stop and look up the meaning of something, I am so glad I did. When I looked this up, the two unchangeable things were the promise and the oath. Here is what the website said: 

“When God made His promise to Abraham since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. Then in the verse above it says, “Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.” So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. The author of this response also wanted us to “note that the oath to confirm the promise has validity because God does not change and His purpose does not change. Thus, the promise is confirmed by the oath which cannot change because that which it is sworn by is God Himself.” When God swears by Himself, it signifies the absolute certainty and unchangeable nature of His promise. God, being perfect and unchanging, is the most reliable and trustworthy entity, and His promises are, therefore, infallible. 

That may have been a lot of words, but basically, it says that God is always the same and that He wanted to make doubly sure we would believe his promise, so He swore it in an oath as well. This goes to show how mistrusting we are as humans. You would think the Lord almighty promising us something would be enough for us to believe it, and yet He knew some wouldn’t, so He also gave us an oath. That is how much God cares about us.

Next, the verse above says, “In which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.” We covered the first part above. The second part says that we should be encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We can all seize the hope that comes with God’s promises because we know that God will keep his promises. He is not like us. We make promises all the time that we don’t keep. We make promises to ourselves, we make promises to others and yet we don’t always keep them. God is not like this. If He says He will do something, He will do it.

 The verse ends with, “We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain,  where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” This hope is a sure and steadfast anchor or the soul. One website I found said, “For the believer, it is possible to wander from faith, but the hope we have in Christ should be an anchor to our soul, keeping us from drifting from Him. An anchor is a weight; it keeps whatever object it’s attached to in place. An anchored ship cannot move. This hope, both sure and steadfast, keeps us firmly abiding in Christ in our daily walk.

It goes on to say, “A hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain,  where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” This is in reference to the curtain/veil that separated us from the Holy of Holies. Only one priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies, and I think even he could only go once a year. This part of the verse tells us that our hope goes behind that curtain. When Jesus came, He removed that curtain. There is no longer anything separating us from God. We have full access to God. Each one of us can go directly to God. God is so good!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this today. Lord, we love you, and we ask you to help us continue to hope in you. Help us to see that there is nothing keeping us from you. Jesus removed the veil separating us. Thank you for restoring that ability to have a close relationship with you. Lord, we ask that you heal our hearts and teach us to have hope in your promises. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen.

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

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Give me your hand this day. Give me your cares and all that bothers you, and you will be overwhelmed by the peace of the Lord who loves you. Loves you beyond your imagination. Come beloved, come and be close to me. Come and open more fully to me, to my love, to my hope, to my deep peace.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Witness Wednesday #107 More PopWe (Depression & Anxiety)

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 four testimonies from the Depression and Anxiety Category. I know so many people who are struggling with this right now. Oftentimes, we can hear our own story in someone else’s story. When we hear others tell their story it helps us to see we are not alone. We are not the only ones who have struggled with depression and anxiety. We aren’t the only ones who struggle with wanting to be alive. Other people feel as we do and when they are willing to talk about it, we feel less alone. I pray when you hear these testimonies, you can see not only how God has helped them in their life but how He could help you in yours and in your loved ones’ lives, too. 

Blair: My story begins in a very bad place, full of shame, regret, and sadness. I had a very overbearing mother who made my life miserable. There were many days of “walking on eggshells.” As I grew into a teenager, I started really feeling very low self-worth and self-esteem. I felt ugly. I was bullied and I felt like I had nowhere to turn. My family went to church but only to be seen. There was no Bible visible in my house and God and Jesus were not talked about. As my life progressed through college, getting married, and having kids, my faith remained surface level and weak. I developed depression and anxiety that I have battled with for 24 years! It’s taken many therapy appointments and appointments with the psychiatrist. It hurts me to say, but I spent several times in the hospital and had two suicide attempts before they finally got my medication right. My 4 children, all boys, were met with the most tragic event in all our lives. My husband and their father passed away suddenly in the ICU on December 24th, 2015. My boys were 17, 15, 11, and 9. Prior to his death, as well as after, I attended a contemporary service at a local church. The music was inspirational. I began listening to my local Christian music radio station. I began going to Bible Study. I felt like a sponge because I wanted to learn about Jesus and His life-giving strength, hope, and comfort. Along with doctors and medication, Jesus brought me out of the hole I was in and He led me to the Lord. If my life was going to end up like it has and I knew that it would, I wouldn’t change a thing, because it was that long and arduous valley that brought me to the mountain top with God. I still have days of sadness and grief, but with God’s unconditional love, grace, and mercy, I now know that every day my God empowers me to keep going step by step and minute by minute. I’m still on my faith journey as we all are, but through friends, my church, my pastor and the list could go on and on, I am stronger than anything that Satan tries to throw at me. The battle is the Lord’s and I am so happy that I let him into my broken world. All the trials led me to the Lord and He broke the chains of depression and anxiety, giving me hope for a brighter future and the knowledge that I am not alone. “There is another in the fire” with me and He will never, ever leave my side.

Kaitlyn My name is Kaitlyn, I am from the Houston area and I finally got to go to a concert for the first time Friday (March 17th, 2023). And of course, I went to a Matthew West concert! I have faced anxiety my whole life (all 18 years of it so far). In 2020 is when I finally realized I needed to get control of how to handle it. I was a freshman when covid hit, which can explain a little bit more about why I wanted to try and find coping mechanisms to help me.

I was on Spotify one day when Matthew West’s “Truth Be Told” started to play. Now at first, I was laughing because I was like, “wow, thank you for calling me out like that” but then I heard “Nobody” play and that is when I flat-out lost it. I couldn’t control the tears. I knew that I was struggling because when I had panic attacks at school, people just started to ignore me and made fun of me.

Because I couldn’t really explain what was happening, it got to the point of just not wanting to go anywhere, including church. I started to listen to more of Matthew’s songs when covid really shut things down because I ended up going through a lot of issues with my hip and it just felt like no one really heard me screaming in pain. I have always listened to Matthew West, he was one of the people that played on the radio when I was little, but I never really LISTENED to the words until I became a teen because I was little and liked to sing the songs back then. Now I like to hear the message inside the lyrics.

Jason: I wasn’t sure whether to put this under Broken Chapters or Anxiety/Depression but you now see which won. I spent 7 years in the army living through some unthinkable situations. Now don’t get me wrong- I loved the military and would gladly do it again. The truth is, the army broke me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to this, my body is broken due to the grueling training, my mental and emotional bodies broke after seeing the horrors of war. For years after and even still some today I have fought depression, anxiety, and anger issues. Since I met my wife, the issues have calmed substantially. Life seems bearable again. Don’t get me wrong- I still have issues but they are far less than what they were before. She brought me back to Jesus and that was the first step to recovery. Everyday is a new adventure now. I have been away from home for way too long now. Praise God Everyone. He is the Rock of Salvation.

Aidan:  A while ago, I lost the will to live. I was broken. Days felt like years, and I could hardly stand the pain. I kept going, but I didn’t know why. Every week or so I would see a glimpse of hope and God working in the mess but my soul was just broken.

One day, I couldn’t handle the pain anymore and I just broke down and asked God to help me, save me. I just said it over and over again: “Help, help, help. Help me, please.” Sure enough, He came through.
Later that day, like I normally do, I was wondering what would happen when we got to Walmart, wondering if my friend would be there and how he would get there, etc. I came to the conclusion that his sister would have brought him there. It was a strange thought so I put it out of my mind and told myself I was crazy. Just as I was about to break down crying in Walmart, there they were. My friend and his sister walking past. We didn’t talk, just said ‘hello’ to each other and walked on, but something in me had changed. No longer did I want to die. I just felt it in my bones to look to Jesus and I did. And while I’ve had moments of depression, pain, brokenness, and everything between since then, I haven’t gotten to that place again. That soul-wrenching place is no longer there. God came, and I know that for you He’ll do the same.

The road for healing is long, and I’d be lying if I said it was easy, but He has you in His hands. If He’s got you this far, He won’t let go now. Believe. Trust. And even if you can’t, that’s ok too. Remember: it doesn’t matter what you do, how you feel, or anything else. God’s taught me time and time again that you don’t have to be anything other than how you are at the moment for Him to work. He will. Love you all.

Thank you all so much for being vulnerable and sharing your stories. I pray you continue to turn to the Lord in your hard times and that He continues to keep you from the pit of despair. I pray you know how much He loves you and how proud He is of you. Thank you again for sharing!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Who May Abide In Your Tent, O Lord?

Psalm 15:1-5 "O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.”

This verse resonates with me as it directly addresses the question of how to stay in God's favor. I appreciate the clear instructions, as they allow me to ensure I am following them correctly. The Psalmist's inquiry to the Lord about who can abide in His tent sets the stage for the list of actions we can take to secure an invitation to the holy hill. Let’s explore these requirements to abide in the Lord’s tent.

First, there are those who walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak the truth from their hearts. Is this you? Are you walking blamelessly? No, me neither. We all mess up, and we all sin. But when we do mess up and sin, are we going to confession? Are we turning back to the Lord and asking Him to forgive us, or are we just living in that sin? Are we taking that sin on as our identity and getting comfortable with it? If we want to be invited into the Lord’s tent we need to do our best to walk blamelessly and to do what is right. This means going to the Lord, confessing, and repenting so you can be reconciled with Him.

This first point also states that we must speak the truth from our hearts. How often are we doing that? How often are you speaking the truth from your heart? I know I get stuck at times. I want to speak the truth, but I get nervous, and I don’t say what I am thinking. I let peer pressure get to me at times and I don’t say the thing I really want to say. I even get sucked into gossiping at times. That is not speaking from the heart. When I just looked up what it means to speak from your heart, it said to speak from your soul. It is said to really know what the message you are saying means for you and for the person with whom you are talking. Are we stopping to think before we talk? Not thinking before we speak can get us into some real trouble, and we end up hurting people even when that isn’t our intention.

Second, the verse mentions those “who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors.” This can be a tough one. I have talked before about how devastating gossip can be. Our words have the power to make someone's day or ruin someone’s life. Our words are very powerful. We need to make sure we are using our words for good, to build people up, and not for slander or harm. I would hope it would be easy not to do evil to our friends. I mean, they are our friends, after all. However, sometimes the enemy can get in and spread seeds of discontentment and division. He can tell us things that are not true that make us lash out at our friends. I see if often with my oldest son and his friends. We need to be on the lookout for this and correct it as soon as we realize it.

The second point also points out that we shouldn’t take up a reproach against our neighbor. This one was a bit unclear to me. I looked it up; one place said it means to gossip, another place said it means disgrace, and another place said to say or show that you are disappointed, upset, or angry because they have done something wrong. I think what helped me understand this one the most was looking at synonyms for the word reproach. Those are blame, censure, condemnation, disapproval, and rebuke. Does this give you a better picture of the meaning of the word reproach? If we are following the commandment to love our neighbor, then we won’t have to worry about reproaching them, as none of those synonyms match up with love. They are more the opposite of love.

Third, those who are despised in the eyes of the wicked, but who honor those who fear the Lord. Those who stand by their oath even to their hurt. It is no secret to Christians that they may be despised for their beliefs. It seems like in the world today, it is perfectly acceptable to be anything you want to be, except Christian. If you believe in Christ, you are automatically in the wrong. You are automatically labeled as unaccepting of others and unloving. It is a really crazy time we live in right now. Jesus was despised in his day, so why should we be any different? Why should we suffer less than our Lord and Savior?

It also says, but those who honor those who fear the Lord. It’s ok if the world despises us, but we must not despise each other. We must not let our differences get in the way of loving and respecting our fellow Christians. There is only one Jesus. The same Jesus all Christians love. The same Jesus that died on the cross for ALL of our sins. Yours and mine alike. Let’s honor each other, even if we don’t have the exact same beliefs, because we all fear the Lord, and we all know that Jesus is our Lord and Savior!!

The third point also says those who stand by their oath even to their hurt. This one is a big one because I have seen the devastation it leaves when we don’t do this. Sometimes we can be tempted to lie about something because we don’t want to get in trouble. I remember a parent once lied to a child about what really happened because they didn’t want the child to get mad at them. However, that just taught the child that if I don’t want to get in trouble, it is ok to lie. Sometimes, we mess up, but it is just as important in these times to keep our oath. It is important to keep our promise even if it means we lose out in some way.

Fourth, the verse says those who do not lend money at interest and do not take a bribe against the innocent. If you are helping someone out, they don’t charge them interest on what you are letting them borrow. They are in need; they are struggling, and you are doing a kind thing for them. It is not a problem to ask them to repay you, but do not add anything extra on to what they owe. If you give someone $50, ask them to repay you $50. The last thing this verse talks about is taking a bribe against the innocent. If you know someone didn’t do it, don’t be bribed into lying about it. Bribes don’t just mean money, either. Someone could try to bribe you with objects, with power, with respect, with a job position. Whatever it is, it is a trick from the enemy, don’t fall for it. Don’t lie about the innocent.

The last line of this whole section says, “Those who do these things shall never be moved.”  This means that if you do these things, you will never be moved from your faith. No matter what the circumstances are, your faith won’t be shaken. You won’t be removed from the sight of the Lord. You are in His presence, and you will remain there. Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we ask you to help us do each one of the things you are calling us to in these verses. Lord, we ask you to help us not do the things you ask us not to do. We want to be drawn closer to you, Lord; please help us. We love you so much and we want to abide in your tent and live on your holy hill. 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 with you again tomorrow to bring you another witness. I hope to see some of you on live mentoring tonight. It is not too late to join. I will place a link in the show notes. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My children, I am your God. Release all your cares, your anxieties, your sorrow, your pain to me. The more that you release all that bothers you, that is when my peace enters deeply within you. I am the Lord, and I keep telling you that I love you. I love you, and I want the best for you, my children.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

The Certainty of God’s Promise (Part 1)

Hebrews 6:13-15 “ When God made a promise to Abraham because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,  saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.”  And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise."

I was going to talk about his whole section of the Bible today, and then when I got writing, I seemed to spend a lot of time on these first few verses. I will talk about the other verses in this section tomorrow. The title of this section in the Bible is called “The Certainty of God’s Promise.” This sounded like something we could all use. I know a lot of people who are not doing so well physically right now. They feel discouraged because their bodies seem to be failing them. I also know a lot of people who have financial struggles right now and could really use some help. I know a lot of people who are struggling emotionally also. If you are struggling in any way, or you know someone who is struggling in any way, this episode is for you.

This verse begins by saying, “ When God made a promise to Abraham because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,  saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” God is saying this to Abraham, and He is also saying it to us. He is saying it to Abraham and all of his descendants. I know many of you are waiting for God to bless you, and some are waiting for him to multiply you. You can count on this promise by God. It says he swore by himself. This means it is an oath, and God always keeps His oaths. It is like a promise from your heavenly Father, and unlike anyone we know here on earth, our Heavenly Father does not lie, and He does not break His promises.

The next line definitely stood out to me. It says, “And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise.” When I read it, I wondered two things. First, is this the key that many of us are missing? Are we missing out because we are not waiting patiently? Second, how does one wait patiently when they have so much on the line? For instance, what if they are really sick and they are waiting for a healing? What if they have been waiting to get married and have children their whole life, and now it is looking like they might be too old to have children?

Did you know that Abraham had to wait a long time for his answer to this promise as well? God told Abraham and Sarah that He would make his descendants number more than the stars in the sky. He promised they would be the parents of nations. Now, remember, he promised this was when Abraham was already 75 years old and Sarah was 65 years old. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for them to believe in this promise?

Abraham and Sarah had to wait 25 years for this miracle to happen. Can you imagine how long that must have felt to them without knowing the plan? Each year, wondering if this was the year. Each month wondering if she would be pregnant. 12 months a year for 25 years is 300 months. If you have ever wanted a baby before, you know how devastating it is to hope each month that you are pregnant, and then you find out you aren’t. This happened to Sarah 300 times after God promised her that he would bless her and multiply her. I don’t know why she had to wait so long, but I am sure that was one of the first things she asked God when she got up there in heaven with Him. I am sure you are asking yourself the same things as well.

One thing we can start to tell ourselves in the waiting is that God isn’t looking upon us, and/or He does not favor us because it has been so long, and we don’t see the answers we wanted. We aren’t seeing the answers that we feel God promised us. This is a lie from the enemy. He wants you to believe that God isn’t looking out for you. He wants you to stop believing God will answer your prayers. He wants you to take matters into your own hands.

If you have already taken things into your own hands and messed it all up and are now worrying about whether God will still bless you, the answer is yes. Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands as well. It is hard to wait 25 years for the answer to a promise. The enemy gets in your mind and tells you all these lies. He tells you God doesn’t like you. He tells you if God were going to do it, He would have already. He tells you that you don’t have to wait for God. You can do it on your own. He is very convincing, and we want to believe that we can do it on our own because waiting is hard.

Sarah persuaded Abraham to try to have a child with her maidservant. They were successful, and Abraham and the maidservant had a child together. However, this was Sarah’s plan, not God’s plan and Sarah got jealous of the maidservant and was not very nice to her after that. Do you see how we can mess things up when we decide to stop waiting on God and do it ourselves without God?

However, even though they tried to take things into their own hands, God still kept His promise. Twenty-five years after he promised to make Abraham and Sarah the parents of nations, Sarah was finally pregnant with Isaac. They finally had their first baby, Isaac. Now, if you know the story of Abraham and Isaac, you know that waiting 25 years for this baby was not the end of the story.  Several years later, Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord. Can you imagine? God promised you would be the father of nations and then He only gives you one child, and then He asks you to sacrifice that child.

God required a lot of trust from Abraham. Abraham had to have trust over those 25 years that God was going to come through and give him a child. He had to have trust in God when God asked Him to sacrifice His only son. The verse above says that Abraham endured patiently.  I wonder how this was possible. I can’t imagine waiting 25 years for something. Although, if I really think about it, I did wait a long time for my family life to get better. Our house was filled with anger and violence for a long time. I prayed for things to get better, and when I think about it, I probably waited for a good 7-10 years for things to get better.

I definitely endured, but I can’t say that I endured patiently the whole time. Although it doesn’t say Abraham endured patiently the whole time, it just says having endured patiently. There was that time when he gave in to Sarah’s plan to sleep with her maidservant. If you are enduring a hardship right now, if you are sick, or you are struggling in one way or another I want to assure you that God sees you and that He will keep His promise to bless you and multiply you. It may take a long time, hopefully not 25 years, but He will keep His promises. He always does! It may not look like you think it will. For instance, I am sure when told she would be the mother of nations, Sarah probably expected to have more than one child. However, God’s ways are not our ways, and He had His own plan. However, it happens. Be on the lookout for the answers to your prayers and the blessings God has promised because they are coming! Tomorrow we will continue in this passage as there is more to say about “The Certainty of God’s Promise.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for all your promises, especially your promise to bless and multiply us. We thank you for keeping those promises no matter how long it takes. Lord, we ask that you give us patience and perseverance in the wait. We ask that you help us keep hope in your promises and give us the strength not to take matters into our own hands. Help give us the trust we need to wait on your timing Lord. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Just a reminder tomorrow is week 2 of this month’s mentoring theme of praise. If you have been struggling with anything, praise could be the answer you didn’t know you needed. There is a link in the show notes if you want to join us for mentoring tomorrow night. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow to continue our discussion on “The Certainty of God’s Promise.” Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in December 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is “My children, the world, and the people around you will try to steal that peace from you. Satan trembles when he sees you enter into My gift of peace. You can foil him in his efforts by living in that peace. And when you feel your knees shake and you tremble because of events and things around you grab deep within you because I am there and so peace is there. So, hope in me, trust in me, rely on me. Give up your self-sufficiency. I am strong, and I am within you.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

His Blessing for A Thousand Generations!

Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,  but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

I really liked this verse for today because it reminded me of one of my favorite songs. Originally I was just going to start with verse 5 as that is what was given at prayer group. However, it started with You shall not bow down before them or worship them and in my mind, I wondered who we were talking about. This is why I included verse 4 as well.

If we look at verse four, we see that God is telling us not to make idols. He is saying it doesn’t matter what we make the form/idol to look like. We just shouldn’t make them. Now, I remember hearing this and wondering about all the statues, pictures, and medals we have of Mary and Jesus nowadays. I mean, it says, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

I remember Father Mike talked about this during the Bible in a Year podcast. I couldn’t remember exactly what he said, and I didn’t want to give you misinformation, so I looked it up online this morning. I found an article called Do Catholic’s Worship Statues? It was found on the website Catholic.com.  The author states, “People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues. For example: “And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat, shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex. 25:18–20).” He gave a few other examples.

He goes on to talk about the religious use of Images. He said, “During a plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the exodus, God told Moses to “make [a statue of] a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Num. 21:8–9). One had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent to be healed, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decorations.”

Catholics use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to recall the person or thing depicted. Just as it helps to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it helps to recall the example of the saints by looking at pictures of them. Catholics also use statues as teaching tools. In the early Church, they were especially useful for the instruction of the illiterate. Many Protestants have pictures of Jesus and other Bible pictures in Sunday school for teaching children. Catholics also use statues to commemorate certain people and events, much as Protestant churches have three-dimensional nativity scenes at Christmas. 

I had no idea I was going to mention that today, but that is where the Holy Spirit led me. It is important to stop and explain things when they come up. If I had a question, I am probably not the only one who had the question. If you want more info on this topic or more detail, I will place a link for the article in the show notes. It was really interesting to read.

Moving on to verse 5, it says, “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me.” When I first read this, I was thinking how it didn’t seem fair that God would punish children for the iniquity of their parents. I looked up the meaning of this verse to see if someone else had the same thought that I had, and it turns out others thought the same thing.

Here is what BK Shiroma had to say in the article DNA of Sin. “Now, at first glance, this seems unfair.  It seems as though God is saying he punishes children for their father’s (or mother’s) sins.  But God makes it very clear later that this is not the case.  In Deuteronomy 24:16, God commanded the people, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”  In Ezekiel 18, God rebukes the people who quoted a proverb that seemed to imply that God would punish children for their parent’s sins. So if God doesn’t punish people for their parents’ sins, what does he mean by punishing the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generations?

The author goes on to explain that sin and its effects tend to be passed on from person to person, especially in families. For instance, if we grow up in a broken family, then that is all we know. We tend to act the way our parents act. If our parents are divorced, we may end up divorced because that is all we know. If a child is abused by their parents, they may grow up and find they are doing the same thing to their children. A lot of children who have parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol also become addicted to drugs and alcohol. The author states, “Each person is punished for their own sins which they commit, suffering the pain and heartache that comes from sin, and yet passing on their sins to the next generation for which they themselves will be punished.”

Hearing this may cause us to feel hopeless. We may feel like we are doomed to repeat our parent's mistakes, and that can feel overwhelming for us. However, the answer to this overwhelm, and hopelessness is found in verse 6, “But showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” If we love God, and we keep His commandments, then he will show us, steadfast love, not only to us but to the thousandth generation. The author states, “If the cycle of sin is to be broken in our lives, we need a relationship with the living God.  We need his transforming power in our lives.  We need to say, “God, I need you.  I need your healing.  I don’t want to be a slave to sin in my life anymore.  I can’t do this on my own.  Help me.”  And if we repent of our sins, reach out to Him, and let him take the throne of our lives, he will give us victory over the sin that is destroying us, and that cycle of sin will be broken.  Instead of passing on sin to your children, you will pass on the love of God, which he shows to a “thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

This brings me to one of my favorite songs. If you have not heard it, I invite you to look it up on YouTube today, or Spotify probably has it as well. It is called The Blessing. I am not sure who originally sang it as I found it online from Elevation Worship and from Bethel Music with We The Kingdom. If you search for The Blessing, I am sure you will find it. All of these Lyrics are repeated several times. Just listing the lyrics loses so much of what makes the song great. However, I wanted you to hear them in case you don’t take me up on the invitation to hear the song. At least this way, you hear the words. I pray you listen to them and you take them in. God is talking to you right here. This is His blessing for you. I will pray these lyrics over each one of you today as our final prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I pray these lyrics are a blessing to each person listening to this episode.

The Lord bless you and keep you

Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you

The Lord turn His face toward you

And give you peace

Amen, amen, amen

Amen, amen, amen

May His favor be upon you

And a thousand generations

And your family and your children

And their children, and their children

May His presence go before you

And behind you, and beside you

All around you, and within you

He is with you, he is with you

In the morning, in the evening

In your coming, and your going

In your weeping, and rejoicing

He is for you, he is for you

He is for you, he is for you

He is for you, he is for you

He is for you, he is for you

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, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend! 

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in November 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My children, when I tell you I want you to use you, do not tell me I am too small for you to use. Do not tell me to call someone else. It is you who I am calling, and I tell you I can enable you to do whatever task I ask. Take a step of faith. Take a step of trust. I am your God. I know what is best. If I tell you I want to use you, say yes, Lord, and do what I tell you, and you will marvel at all you can do. It is I who am God. It is I who enables anyone that I wish. Move forward in faith today, today, and every day. I am your God, and I love you.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Proclaim The Message! 

2 Timothy 4:2-5 “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.”

I was surprised when I read these verses this morning. I had just finished writing some declarations from my Encounter School of Ministry class. Last quarter was called Power Evangelization, and it was all about how we can go out and share the Gospel with our spheres of influence. We even had a street ministry practicum where there were at least 30 of us going out 2 by 2 or 3 by 3 onto the streets of the North End in Boston, MA. The declarations that I was writing were all about going out and sharing the Gospel, and then I read these verses, which were given at prayer group by someone who is not in the class with us.  

It’s funny to me how God provides information even if we don’t want to hear it. He tends to tell us something and then reinforces it in many different ways. Even just this first line in the verse is something that He has been telling us in class and in Prayer Group. “Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time be favorable or unfavorable.” This is telling us that it is not ok just to proclaim the message when it is convenient for us. Sometimes, we might hear the Lord telling us or urging us to share the gospel with someone, and yet we don’t want to because we already have plans, we are going to be late for something, or we don’t feel we know what to say. There could be lots of reasons why we tell the Lord, I am sorry; I just can’t do that right now.

However, this verse reminds us that when we hear God prompting us to do something, we need to do it when asked whether it is a good time for us or not. Another verse I always go back to is “God’s ways are not like our ways, and His thoughts are not like our thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8). God knows more than we do. Yes, you might be late to where you are going, but would it be worth it if you were saving this person’s life, or better yet, their soul? God knows what He is doing.

Deacon Joe, the director of the Boston Campus of Encounter, told us a story the other day. He has a friend who was out with his wife this past weekend. They were out of a walk and the Lord told him to go into McDonalds and buy this specific meal for the homeless person they just passed on the street. This man is used to listening to the Lord, so he told his wife what he thought he heard the Lord say, and she told him they better do it if the Lord said it. So they went into McDonald’s and bought the meal they were supposed to buy. As they were walking over to the man, he got excited when he saw the McDonald’s bag. He told them he loved McDonald’s. Then, when the homeless man looked inside, he said that was his favorite meal there! He was surprised that these strangers knew his favorite meal. This gave them the opportunity to tell him about Jesus and show him just how much God loves him. As the couple was walking away, the Lord revealed to this man that he was the 37th person God asked to buy that man a meal. What if he had been too busy to listen?

The verse above goes on to say, “Convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.” This can be hard for us. We can be so passionate about saving our loved ones that we forget to be patient. If you have been praying for your children or other family members for a long time, you might be frustrated with the lack of progress. You might be frustrated that after all this time, you don’t see any changes. In this frustration, you might try to rebuke their ways or what they are doing. God is reminding us in this verse that we must approach everyone with the utmost patience. If we are trying to convince, rebuke, and encourage when we are in a state of frustration or anger, they won’t hear us. If we expect to make a difference, we need to do it with patience.

The verse goes on to say, “ For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.” I would say we are currently in this time. Maybe there have been other times in the past as well. However, this definitely speaks to our current times. People believe what they want to believe right now, whether it makes sense or not. As the verse says, people are looking for teachers who suit their own desires instead of listening to the truth. People are searching for someone to tell them that what they are doing is right, even when they know in their heart it is wrong.

The sad thing is that they are finding what they are looking for. They are finding people to tell them that what they are doing or what they are saying is right, even when it isn’t. There are so many people claiming to teach the truth, and yet it is not the truth of the Bible. It is not the truth from God. It is a man-made truth, and that is dangerous. We are all broken, and so truth based solely on what we think is right and wrong is not true truth. This is one of the reasons God gave us the Bible. The Bible spells out the truth of God, the truth of His promises to us, the truth of who we are to Him and in Him.

The verse ends with, “As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” God is sending us out to evangelize to those around us. This means He wants us to bring the good news about God to one and all. He wants us to speak truth into people’s lives and to do it with the utmost patience. The Lord wants us to carry out our ministry fully. God has given us each a ministry, and this verse is reminding us to be all in. It says to carry it out fully. Don’t be half in and half out. Don’t do it sometimes and not others. Do it fully.

This verse also reminds us that there will be suffering. When we follow Christ, we will encounter suffering, just as  He did. This is a good reminder because sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that once we decide we believe in Christ, our life will be easy. Once we decide to make Jesus our Lord and Savior, he will take the reigns, and life will be perfect. This is not the case. Jesus was fully God and fully human and even He didn’t have a perfect life. He faced ridicule, he faced danger, and was eventually crucified. Jesus said that if we want to follow Him, we must take up our cross too. What is that cross for you? What hardship do you have to endure? What hardship did you have to overcome?

Can we still spread the good news of the Gospel even through our hardships? This verse tells us to endure the suffering and do the work to evangelize our circle of influence. Your suffering might be the thing that brings people to you. They might see how you are suffering and yet still serving the Lord and ask how you do it. They might see your suffering and yet also see you are filled with joy, and they might want that same joy. One of the declarations we received about evangelization says, “It is easy to share the gospel with others because they want to know the God that is inside of me.” When you have God inside of you, others will see it, and they will want it. However, they won’t want it if you are impatient, frustrated all the time, grumpy or angry. They will want the God you have inside of you when you are patient, and you show them the love God has for them. Be filled with joy, and others will see it and want what you have.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, help us to be persistent with your message, whether it is a good time for us or not. Help us to say yes to your call each and every time you ask. Help us to have the utmost patience when we are teaching your word. Lord, help us to endure the suffering and not to let is stop us from passing on the truth to others. Help us hear you, Lord. Help us to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that the Spirit comes spilling out of us onto all those we meet. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s mighty name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope you are all staying warm as we are getting snow and rain again here in Massachusetts. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in November 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or about these words please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is “My tongues of fire I place on you so I may enflame your heart so that you may share my love with each person that you meet. My children, my spirit is so powerful, so very powerful. Have no fear that all I want you to have I give to my spirit so he can help facilitate everything that I want for you to share. Be open vessels of my love; my children open vessels. Ready to be touched by the spirit. Ready to be guided by my spirit, ready to be innovated in a new way so you can find unique ways to share me with each and every person you meet. All can be my children when my Spirit touches you profoundly.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace