Walk Boldly With Jesus

Christ Died For Us While We Were Still Sinners

Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

This verse is one of those verses where it makes complete sense and you know you probably should have known it, and yet when you hear it you realize you haven’t really ever thought of it like that. We all know that Christ died for our sins.  I think we probably all know that He did this even though we didn’t really deserve it.  I just don’t think I ever thought of the fact that he died for us while we were still sinners.  He didn’t wait for us to be pure.  He didn’t require anything from us really.  God wanted us to be reunited with Him.  He didn’t want anything to separate us any longer, so He sent His only son to die for us while we were still sinners.  That is remarkable when you think about it.  It says in the verse that Christ died for the ungodly.  

It can be hard to remember this sometimes.  It can be hard to remember that Jesus didn’t die for those who were perfect.  He didn’t die for those who always get it all right.  He didn’t die for those who know how to pray perfectly, worship and praise perfectly, who fast perfectly.  Jesus even said in Matthew 9:12-13, “ But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” I don’t understand why it is so hard to remember this.  If we were perfect, we would have no need for Jesus to have died for our sins.  None of us are perfect.  

I know it seems like some people have it all figured out, some people know just what to do and what to say.  You look at other people at church and they seem to have it all together.  They come with their young children and their children behave.  Or they don’t have children and yet they know all the songs and they know all the people.  It is so easy to look around the church and see people who seem to have it all together.  I remember, a few years ago I went to mass at a few different churches because Tony was out of town for work and I needed to find a time where I could go with the kids. They weren’t always ready to go in time for our regular church.  I remember getting to mass, probably late because the boys didn’t want to go to mass. I remember looking around at the big families.  The ones that had 5-10 kids and wondering how they do it.  I remember wondering how they get their kids to behave so well.  I remember thinking they all seemed so helpful.  How is it I couldn’t seem to get it together with three boys and yet they have 7 children and they have it all together?  

Looking around at church, or anywhere really and comparing yourself to others is never a good thing.  Just because someone seems to have it all together does not mean that they do. You have no idea what happened at the house before getting all those children to church, or what happened in the car right before walking into church.  I am from a big family and I can say without a doubt that we didn’t have it all together all the time.  We fought with each other, we disobeyed our parents, we talked back, we were normal kids.  However, we knew it was important to our parents to be good at church, so we did our best.  We weren’t always great, but we did ok.  But if you judged our family on how we were at church, you definitely wouldn’t be getting the whole picture.  It is like that for everyone.

What just came to mind is the comedy actor Robin Williams.  He brought so much joy and laughter to so many people.  He seemed so happy all the time, well, all the time we saw him.  Tony and I actually got to meet him when He came to Turkey on a morale tour.  He did one of his comedy routines and he was so funny.  He made everyone laugh. To look at Robin Williams from the outside you would think he had a great life.  What you didn’t see by just looking at him is that he struggled with depression for many years.  What you don’t see by looking at someone from the outside is how they are feeling on the inside.  Robin Williams took his own life when he was only 63 years old.  Those who did not know him well had no idea he was struggling with depression.

Every single person in this world is struggling with something.  This is one reason why we should be kind to everyone we meet, even if they are not being kind.  We don’t know what they are going through.  You might have an encounter with someone in a store and they are rude to you.  You may want to be rude back and yet, what if they are being rude because their mom or dad just died, or their child?  What if their spouse died and they are lashing out because they don’t know what else to do?  What if a you see someone at the store that looks tired and is very grumpy.  Maybe they have been up all night with a screaming baby and this is the first 10 minutes they have gotten to their self in a very long time.  

I am not saying people have a right to be rude, or that their circumstances excuse their behaviors.  However, you will not be held responsible for their behaviors, but you will be held responsible for your behaviors, how you responded to them.  How you treat people is how you treat Jesus.  Jesus is in each person we meet.  If Jesus was having a bad day, you would be kind and understanding.  Treat each person you meet with the same courtesy.  Wouldn’t treating everyone kindly, even those who were unkind to you, be easier if you realized they were going through something hard?  We don’t know what people are dealing with, even people we do know well, might have more on their plate then they like to talk about.  Cut people some slack and don’t compare yourself to others.  These two things will give you so much joy in your life.  

It may seem like I have gotten off topic, but this verse is reminding us how much God loves us just as we are.  It is telling us that we don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to get it all right before God loves us.  Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.  He didn’t wait until we stopped sinning.  This is important to remember when we are comparing ourselves to others.  We don’t have to be perfect because that is not who God came to save.  We can accept God’s love right here right now, right in the middle of our brokenness because that is what He came for.  Someone needs to hear that today.  God loves you, yes you, so much that He sent His only son to save you in your brokenness, in your sinfulness.  He doesn’t need you to do anything for him to love you.  He already loves you just as you are.  He loves you in the mess that you are in.  He loves you with all that you have done.  He loves you in all that has been done to you.  He loves you for you.  God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it.  He has always loved you, yes even when you did that thing, and He will always love you, yes, even when you do that thing again.  There is nothing you can do good or bad to make God love you any more or any less.  He already loves you to the moon and back again just as you are.  Accept His love, it is freely given!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, thank you for sending your son to die for us while we were still sinners.  I ask you to help us remember this when we are feeling like we have to be perfect or we have to get it all right. Remind us that you love us just as we are.  You love us while we are still sinners.  Lord, we ask you to give us the strength and the grace to not compare ourselves to others.  We ask you to help us to see that everyone is going through something and to be kind to others, even when they aren’t kind to us.  We love you lord, you are amazing.  Help us to accept your love.  Open our hearts to it.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  If you haven’t already received my “Invite Jesus into Your Every Day” audio training I will put a link in the show notes (click here) or you can go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com and click on the link.  The training gives you some great tips on how to include Jesus in the things you are already doing.  Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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And By His Bruises We Are Healed

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”

With today being Good Friday, or at least that is the day I am recording this episode, I am not surprised this is the verse of the day.  It makes me so sad to think of all Jesus had to go through to save us.   It makes me sad to think of all that pain and suffering.  Anytime I do the sorrowful mysteries for the rosary I am reminded of each of the painful steps he had to take.  I usually use a rosary app to do the rosary and it gives a great description of each of the mysteries.  For those of you who do not say the rosary, or maybe those that do not have the app and so don’t get the same commentary, let me share with you the five mysteries and how the app describes them:

First, The agony in the garden: Jesus comes with his disciples to Gethsemane.  “Stay here while I go yonder and pray.” Entering the garden with Peter ,James and John Jesus prays, "My soul is sorrowful unto death.” Jesus sees the sins of all mankind, who’s guilt he has taken upon himself.  He sees the wrath of the father, which his sufferings much appease.  So great is his anguish that his sweat becomes as drops of blood falling to the ground.  An angel appears to him from heaven to strengthen him.  “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will but yours be done.  Finding the disciples asleep, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” Jesus is betrayed by Judas, cruelly bound and lead away. Father by the merits of the agony of Jesus in the garden, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  

The Second Sorrowful Mystery, The scourging at the pillar.  Jesus is taken before the high priest where he is falsely accused, buffeted and insulted.  The Jewish leaders take Jesus before Pilate, for only he can impose the death penalty.  The robber Barabas is preferred to Jesus.  Pilate can find no cause in him, yet to appease the Jews he orders Jesus to be scourged. The scourge is made of leather thongs to which are attached small sharp bones. Jesus is bound to a pillar and cruelly scourged until his whole body is covered with deep wounds.  The lamb of God offers his suffering for the sins of mankind. Jesus suffers so much in his sacred flesh to satisfy especially for sins of the flesh.  The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins.  Father, by the merit of Jesus in this painful scourging, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The Third Sorrowful Mystery, The Crowning With Thorns. Pilate asks, “Are you a king?” Jesus answers, “I am a king but my kingdom is not of this world.” In the Praetorium, the solders place an old purple robe on Jesus in mockery of his claim to be a king.  They fashion a crown out of thorns and forcefully press it down upon his head.  In his bound hands the place a reed as a scepter in mockery of his kingship.  Kneeling before him in derision the spit on him and cry out, “Hail, King of the Jews.” Taking the reed from his had they strike him on the head, driving the thorns more deeply into his scalp. Pilate brings Jesus before the people, hoping his pitiful sight will soften them. “Behold the man.” Their response, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Our blessed Lord submitted to this terrible humiliation to make reparation for our pride. Father, by the merits of this terrible, painful, humiliation, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, The Carrying of the Cross.  One condemned to death by crucifixion is forced to carry the cross to the place of execution.  The suffering of Jesus is intense as the cross is laid on his bruised and wounded back and shoulders.  Weak and exhausted from loss of blood, lack of food and rest, Jesus falls three times under the weight of the cross.  Jesus meets his afflicted mother causing untold damage in the hearts of son and mother. The countenance of Jesus is disfigured with blood and sweat, with dust and spittle.  Veronica wipes his face, leaving on her towel the image of his countenance.  Fearing that Jesus might die on the way, the soldiers forced Simeon of Cyrene to carry the cross behind Jesus. Jesus speaks to weeping women, “Weep not for me, but for yourselves and your children.  If anyone is to be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.  Father by the merits of this painful journey to Calgary have mercy on us and on the whole world.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mastery, The Crucifixion.  Then hands and feet of Jesus are nailed to the cross in the presence of his afflicted mother.  “Father forgive them, for they know now what they do. This day you will be with me in paradise.  Woman, behold your son, son behold your mother. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? I thirst. It is finished. Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.” The side of Jesus is pierced by a lance.  His body is taken down and placed in the arms of his mother.  Father, by the merits of the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.  

I am not sure why I felt called to share those mysteries with you.  I guess I just thought it would be good to remember all Christ went through for us before getting into the verse.  Not that any of us could really forget what Jesus did for us.  The verse says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” This verse came out of Isaiah.  Did you know Isaiah lived 740 years before Jesus was even born.  Can you imagine that?  Can you imagine knowing what was going to happen over 750 years before it happens?  It is not as if Jesus just appeared one day without any notice.  This is what makes it hard for me to understand why more Jewish people, especially the leaders, didn’t know who he was.  Their were scriptures about him and what he would come and do, and yet people still didn’t believe.  

I talked the other day about the fact that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.  Remember, we are the ones responsible for his death as he took our sins to the cross, each and every one of us.  The next line in today’s verse says, “Upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we were healed.”  Did you know we were already made whole?  I know it may not feel like it, but we were!  I have been hearing the last part of the verse a lot lately.  “By his bruises we were healed.”  We tend to think God doesn’t want to heal us.  We tend to ask timidly for healings or we don’t ask at all.  We think God doesn’t want to heal us or that our ailment isn’t that bad and there are others far worse off than we are.  We think God is too busy to heal us, so we don’t ask.  Another reason we might not ask is because we are afraid to ask.  What if the answer is no?  What if we ask God to heal us and then we don’t get better, what do we do then?  All of these are real concerns.  

What this verse is telling us is that God does want to heal us.  We are healed by his bruises.  We are made whole by the punishment he endured.  God did not send his only son to die on the cross so we can live a life full of sickness.  God wants to heal us, not only forgive our sins.  If you need a healing or someone you know needs a healing ask God for it and then keep asking God for it.  Sometimes we need to be persistent.  God rewards persistence, there are numerous examples of this in the bible.  If you don’t get your healing the first time, or the 10th time you ask, keep asking.  We can be tempted to stop asking and to assume that if God wanted to heal us He would have done it already.  God does want to heal you, that is not the question.  When does he want to heal you is the question.  We don’t know the answer to this so we just need to keep asking and He will show us.  The verse says, “And by his bruises we are healed.”  Don’t stop asking.  What if you gave up just before the healing.  What if you asked 100 times and God was planning to heal you after you asked 101. You healing could be right around the corner.  

One thing I have come to realize in my own personal life is that God rewards perseverance.  I don’t give up and I don’t take no for an answer.   I refused to believe my family would be broken forever, and I kept asking for God to fix it.  I refused to believe I would be lost on a mountain in Bosnia Herzegovina and I prayed till I got off the mountain.  I refused to believe that my niece was not going to make it and she did.  I am not saying I am the reason for these miracles, I give all the glory to God.  What I am saying is that He rewards us when we don’t give up.  If you are too tired to keep asking, ask someone else to ask for awhile.  But don’t give up hope, He does want to heal you!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to not give up.  Help us to keep asking.  Help us to believe that you want to heal us.  Help us to see you love your children and don’t want any of them to be hurting.  Lord, give us strength and grace to persevere, to not stop asking, no matter how long it takes to get those answers.  Help us to keep hoping, even when it is hard to hope.  Lord, teach us to rely on others and to have them ask when we can’t.  Help us to realize we don’t have to go through anything alone.  You are always there with us.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday.  I wish you all a very happy Easter!  Remember, Jesus loves you, and there is no greater time to remember that than this weekend when we remember all he sacrificed for us, for you, yes you! I love you and I hope you have a very blessed weekend.

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Train for Godliness

1 Timothy 4:7-8 “ Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness,  for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

I just want to take a moment, before going into this verse, to tell you how much I am enjoying exploring the Bible.  If you do not spend much time in the Bible, I would urge you to change that.  Even if you just spend 5 minutes in God’s word, it would change you life.  Currently I am not spending a ton of time in the Bible.  In my class we go over several scriptures that support our lessons.  I am doing these episodes each day, so I am in God’s word daily, however, the past two years I was doing the Bible podcast with Father Mike and I am not this year, so I am not in the Word as much as I have been in the past.  However, I still find it so fascinating.  There is so much wisdom and common sense in the Bible.  

We tend to think, or at least I think the Bible is a bunch of stories that we can really learn a lot from.  I forget that the letters to the people of that time, the ones from the early church fathers, are full of wisdom and are full of instructions for how to live our lives.  They are instructing the early church and we can learn so much from them.  I forget that we are not the only ones trying to figure out how to live a Godly life.  I forget we are not the first people to encounter problems hearing God’s voice, following God’s ways.  I so easily forget that there are generations upon generations of people who have been right where I am and they can shine a light onto my situation.  

Sometimes I can think of the Bible as something I am supposed to read because that is what a “good Christian” does.  I can think of it as just another task to get me one step closer to heaven.  I can check off the box on my too do list of things I need to do in order to impress God.  And yet I have times, like this morning when I remember how much I love to read God’s word, not for any other reason except that I love it.  This morning I was looking for a scripture for this episode.  I was looking at ones I had saved for another time. I looked up 1 Timothy 4:17 and decided to read the whole chapter.  That is how I stumbled upon today’s scripture.  Just in case you were wondering how I came up with the verses for the day, sometimes it is just random and other times it is from my prayer group or my class, or the scripture of the day.  

I love today’s verse though and I had no idea it was even in the Bible.  I can’t remember ever hearing it before.  I love it because it is so easy to understand and so relatable.  I love it because it points out something that we should all know and yet probably has never crossed our minds.  Let me give you the verse again, “Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness,  for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  The first sentence is something that can be hard to do.  It can be easy to get caught up in old wives’ tales and myths sometimes.  Especially if those around us believe in them.  It is a good reminder though that we should avoid them, have nothing to do with them.  If we focus on old wives’ tales or myths we could get all caught up in superstition and that is not a good thing.  It is best to avoid that and rely on the Word of God and what we know to be true instead.

The next line is great!  It is something we don’t think about enough.  It says, “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”  Wow, isn’t that so good!  It is easy to go about our days in this life forgetting that their is another life to come.  It is easy to get caught up in the here and now.  It is easy to think about what we want to do now, how we want to feel now, what we want to eat now and forget that we  have another life, an eternal life, and that our here and now decisions will affect that life.  Our next life will be much longer than this life.  It may feel like this life is long, but eternity is longer, trust me.  Yet, we focus so much more of our time on this life.  We give in to our every whim and desire because “YOLO”, you only live once, right?  Nope, there is another life and how you live this one matters.  

I am not saying you can’t have fun in this life.  I am not saying you shouldn’t strive to be happy in this life, you definitely should.  I am saying, we should do as the verse tells us to do and we should train ourselves in godliness.  Many of us participate in some sort of physical training.  We try to take care of ourselves physically with what we eat and how we exercise.  Even if we are not taking care of ourselves physically we are aware that we should and we are consciously choosing not to.  Are you aware that you need to train yourself in Godliness?  I am not sure it is something we think about.  I am not sure it even crosses our mind.  This is why I find this scripture so fascinating.  It is such a simple concept.  It even seems like it would be common sense and yet it seemed completely new to me. It seems like it is the first time I am hearing it.  

Maybe it is not new to you.  Maybe you are familiar with this verse, or this idea of training ourselves in Godliness.  If so, that is awesome!  I would love to hear from you on how you are training yourself in Godliness.  How are you accomplishing this?  For those of you, who like me, are hearing this either for the first time, or in a new light, how can you train achieve this, how can you train yourself in godliness? When I take a minute to think about it, what comes to my mind is to read the scriptures.  When I am training physically, for a race for instance, I will read what others have done to prepare for the race and then I will decide how I want to train.  It can be the same for godliness.  I can read scripture and see how those who have come before me have trained.  I can read about the Saints and how they trained, I can read about anyone else that has achieved what I want to achieve, godliness, holiness, intimate communion with the Father, and I can decide how I want to train.  

The first step in changing anything is becoming aware you need to change.  Reading this verse this morning has shown me that I need to change.  I don’t need to change everything I am doing as some things I am already doing can be part of my training process.  It is not so much that I need to change what I am doing as much as my outlook on it.  I am now aware that training for godliness is a thing and is something I should be doing so I can set up a plan to do that.  I can examine the things in my life, my priorities and make sure they are in the correct order.  I can ask myself questions like, I am spending more time on my physical well being than my spiritual well being?  Is this thing I want to do going to be good for me not only in this life but for my next life as well?  I can stop and ask myself before I make big decisions, “Is this something my future self will thank me for?”  

You may have other questions that come up for you when you think about training for godliness.  I feel the prompting to mention that we don’t need to make a big to do list of all the things we need to do to train for godliness.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of pressure to live up to certain expectations.  I feel the point of this scripture is just to remind us or make us aware that our decisions and actions in this life matter.  I think the point of it is just to bring an awareness into our lives so we aren’t just going on autopilot as that is so easy to do.  Maybe just take a moment to evaluate your life and see if you are training for godliness and if not, what could you do start training.  Start slow, maybe add one thing to your day that can help you grow closer to God.  If you aren’t sure where you to start, you could start with adding scripture, or adding time to talk to God.  It doesn’t matter where you start, it just matters that you start.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to train for godliness.  Help us to care more about our spiritual well being than our physical well being.  Help bring an awareness into our lives of where our priorities might need to be realigned.  Help us put you first Lord!  We love you and we are grateful for all you do for us!  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!  

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

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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

Lorraine Sweet's Blog "My Tea With Jesus" (click here)

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Who Is Responsible For Jesus’ Death?

Ephesians 1:7-8a “ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.”

During Holy Week the fact that Christ died for our sins is on the top of our minds.  As we go through the week we are all anticipating Good Friday, which is only Good Friday now that we know what happened and why it happened.  Back when it happened, no one was calling it good Friday.  It was a day filled with complete and utter sadness.  The Savior, the Messiah had been murdered. How could that be?  It was not only heart breaking, it was confusing.  Why didn’t He save Himself?  He helped all those people over the last three years, he brought Lazarus back from the dead, why couldn’t He just come down off of the cross?  No one understood, no one heard Him when He told them what was going to happen.  It definitely did not feel like a “Good Friday.”  

The reason we celebrate it as “Good Friday” is because we understand why Jesus had to die on the cross.  We understand His passion for a greater purpose.  We understand that the Jewish chief priest and elders were not responsible for Jesus’ death.  We understand that Pontius Pilate and the Romans were not responsible for Jesus’ death.  We understand that Judas is not responsible for Jesus’ death.  Jesus died on a cross because that it was He was sent here to do.  Jesus died on a cross to redeem us from original sin and reunite us with our heavenly Father.  Jesus came to fulfill the Father’s plan.  

I have been listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast with Father Mike.  I am learning to so much about  who God is, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is.  I am also learning a lot of about what the Catholic Church actually says about a lot of things as I think the world can kind of take what they think the church is saying and then get it all twisted up.  Father Mike said he was talking to a man one time that was really upset because the man said Catholics blame the Jews for Christ’s death and yet Christ dying was a good thing because He saved us from our sins.  So why do we blame the Jews when it was a good thing?  Father Mike explained that we do not blame the Jewish people for Christ’s death.  In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which spells our exactly what the Catholic Church believes, #598 says, “In her magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the ministers of all the sufferings that the Divine Redeemer endured." Taking into account the fact that our sins affect Christ himself, the church does not hesitate to impute to Christians the greatest responsibility for the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a responsibility with which they have all too often burden the Jews alone: we must regard as guilty all those who continue to relax into their sins since our sins made the Lord Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into disorders and crimes crucify the son of God a new in their hearts (for he is in them) and hold him up to contempt. And it can be seen that our crime in this case is greater in us than in the Jews as for them, according to the witnesses of the apostle, "none of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.” We, however, profess to know him. And when we deny him by our deeds, we in someway seem to lay violent hands on him. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Nor did demons crucify him; it is you who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”  

This really hit me when I heard it.  I have heard many people say the Jewish people killed Jesus.  I would always say, yes, some did, but not all of them.  However, I never really thought of it like this.  I never thought of us all having a part in it because Jesus died for our sins, all of our sins, every single person on the the planet, past, present and future.  None of us can escape responsibility for it.  I don’t know that our responsibility for His death should be our focus.  I don’t know that we should focus more on that than the fact that He died to release us, to set us free from sin.  I think when we think of Jesus dying on the cross we should celebrate what He did for us.  Our freedom came at such a high cost.  I think the fact that He took our sins with Him to the cross and that sin no longer has dominion over us is definitely where we should focus our thoughts.

However, I do think it would be good to take some time every now and then, especially during Holy Week, and examine your behaviors.  Take a look at your life and your choices.  Are you continuing to crucify Christ daily with your choices?  I have been thinking a lot about what St. Francis said, “Nor did demons crucify him; it is you who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”  We all talk about how horrible the crucifixion was.  We talk about how amazing it is that Jesus died for our sins, but what an awful experience.  That pain and that suffering is nothing we would ever want anyone to go through again.  And yet, St. Francis is saying when we continue to delight in our sins we crucify him still.  That is powerful to me.  Maybe it is just the Holy Spirit convicting me, maybe that is not resonating with you or sticking with you.  I hope that is the case.  However, I felt moved to share it with you in case it did resonate.  In case it did cause you to stop and think about the various ways you may be delighting in your vices or your sins.  

Lent is a time when we usually stop and take a look at our vices.  We see which ones we want to take a break from for the 40 days of Lent.  We examine our lives and how we want to live differently during Lent. Maybe we are being called to live differently every day and not just during lent.  Do we have vices or sins that we need to give up once and for all and not keep turning back to them?  Are we doing things on a regular basis that are causing Jesus more pain that we need to?  Can we stop these things?  Yes, I know we can stop these things if we choose to because Jesus defeated sin when He died on the cross.  Sin no longer has dominion over us.  If we partner with God to give up our vices, to give up our sins, He will help us.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!

This episode is not too make you feel guilty.  I am not saying you alone are responsible for Christ’s death on a cross.   We all, as a human race are responsible because He died for our sins, each and every one of us.  The point is not to feel guilty, the reason I shared this with you is so that we can all take a look at our lives and see the things that we may still be doing on a consistent basis that are continuing to hurt Jesus.  The first step in changing anything is to be aware something needs to change.  This is why I felt compelled to share this with you.  If you heard what St. Francis said you and felt convicted to change something, great!  If you didn’t, that is great too.  God puts on our hearts what He wants us to work on.  If you didn’t feel compelled to change anything then that is great.  This may not be an issue for you.  I know it resonated with some of you though.  I know it did with me too.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray you bless everyone listening to this episode today.  Lord, please put on our hearts any recurring sins you want us to change.  Please put on our hearts any ways we are not showing up in the best way we can.  Lord, we thank you for sending your Son to die on a cross for us.  We know it wasn’t easy and it came at great cost to you.  We love you Lord, you are amazing.  We thank you for taking away our sin and the hold that sin had over us.  We ask you Lord to help us remember that sin no longer has dominion over us.  Help us to remember we are stronger than our desires.  Help us to remember, just because we want it doesn’t mean we have to have it.  Help remind us of the strength and power we have because you are within us.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy and powerful name, Amen

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I am so excited to bring you a witness tomorrow from my mother in law.  She was brave enough to step out in courage and share two witnesses about two different times when God showed up for her.  I know you will love it!  I look forward to bringing that to you tomorrow.  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I!  Go out and celebrate life today!

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“If You Choose, You Can Make Me Clean”

Mark 1:40-42 “ A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!”  Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”

I choose this verse today because I think this leper asks a question that we all ask at one point or another.  When we need something from God, or when we need a healing for ourselves or for a loved one, we probably say to Jesus, if you choose to give me this, or if you choose to heal this person, you can.  We know that Jesus can do anything.  There isn’t anything He can’t do, so when we say this it is more for our benefit then for His.  When we add “if you choose to” when we pray it is as if we are giving Jesus a way out.  We are building in an out for Him and for us.  Why I say for us is because if we don’t see the desired outcome we can just decide that Jesus didn’t choose to heal them this time.  That is not always the case.

There are things that can get in the way of a healing, things that can block a healing.  Unbelief can get in the way of healing.  You don’t have to have belief to be healed.  Jesus brought people back from the dead and how much belief can you have when you are dead?  This is proof you can be headed even if you don’t have faith and yet unbelief can be a block at other times.  For instance, Jesus could not heal in Nazareth because that was his hometown.  That is where he grew up.  It says in Matthew 13:58, “ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.”  The people that knew him as a child could not believe that he could be anything more than a carpenter’s son, so he was unable to do signs and wonders there.  

Another thing that can be a block to healing can be unforgiveness.  This can be a big block at times.  Jesus wants to heal us, he wants us all to be free from our pain and suffering.  And also, Jesus wants us to forgive.  He taught us, right in the Our Father prayer, that we will be forgiven to the extent we forgive others.  If we can’t forgive others God won’t forgive us.  I know I have mentioned this before and I will keep mentioning it because this is huge.  I know that some of you listening are dealing with some pretty big betrayals.  I know some of you listening have had people hurt you in unimaginable ways.  I know that the last thing you probably want to do is to forgive that person, or those people.  And yet, that is exactly what God is asking you to do.  

One thing I have learned and I want to pass on to you in case you were never told this, is that forgiveness is an act of will, it is a choice.  It is not a feeling.  You can forgive someone even if you don’t feel like it.  You can forgive someone even when you don’t really want to.  The only thing that is required for you to forgive someone is taking that brave first step to say the words, “I forgive _______ for _______.” It’s even better if you can do it in the name of Jesus.  For instance, “ In the name of Jesus I forgive _________ for ____________.”  It is totally ok if you say this and yet you don’t really feel it yet, even if you aren’t sure if you believe it yet.  You are letting God know you are open to trying to forgive this person and you are inviting God in to do all the heavy lifting.

Forgiveness is hard and we can’t do it on our own.  Only God can go in and heal our wounds and help us to forgive.  However, God is a perfect gentleman and He will not come in where He has not been invited.  He values our free will so much that He will sit by and watch, no matter how much it hurts him to see us like that, He will let us hold onto our anger and hurt if we choose too. However, He doesn’t like to see it and He is always right there waiting to take our pain and sorrow from us, we just have to ask Him.  We just have to let Him know we want His help and invite Him into our mess so He can start to clean it up again.    

God is asking us to forgive for two reasons.  First, he wants to free us from the pain and suffering we are going through.  I want to briefly touch on what forgiveness is and is not because I am not sure we all understand forgiveness completely.  Forgiveness is not telling someone that what they did is ok.  Forgiveness is not necessarily reconnecting with that person and letting them back into your life.  Forgiveness is not saying they didn’t hurt you.  Forgiveness is simply saying this thing happened, I can’t change the fact that it happened and yet I am not going to keep thinking about it.  I am not going to keep replaying what happened over and over again in my head.  I am letting it go.  I am going to stop letting this terrible thing have a hold over me any more.  I am breaking any hold it has over me.  You are not saying what happened is ok, because it wasn’t.  You can forgive someone and yet, never want to be around them again.  That is totally find.  Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things.  

When we refuse to forgive we are holding on to all that pain, anger, resentment, sadness and many other emotions and it slowly eats away at us from the inside.  However, it is not hurting the other person.  They are likely not holding on to any emotions from the incident and are merrily going throughout their day.  I have heard that when we refuse to forgive it is as if we are drinking a little poison every single day and expecting the other person to die.  It just doesn’t happen like that as you are the one taking the poison.  The thing that happened was traumatic enough, why let that unforgiveness eat you up inside too?  God does not want that for you.  That is the first reason He wants us to forgive, to free us from that.

The second reason is because the other person who did that to you is God’s child too.  I know you probably could care less about the other person and God gets that.  He knows what you went through and He is not asking you to care about the other person.  He is asking you to forgive that person though. You never know what your forgiveness could do for that person.  I remember the story of Saint Maria Goretti.  She was a young woman, a girl really, and she loved the Lord so much.  One day a friend of hers, an older boy who lived where she lived, tried to rape her.  She refused and kept telling the boy that this was not what God wanted.  He had a knife and was so angry that he stabbed her several times.  She was rushed to the hospital where she died, I am not sure how long she stayed a live for but I know she forgave her attacker before she died.  This boy was so moved by her ability to forgive him that while he was in jail he decided to become a priest.  His whole life was changed by this one girl’s ability to forgive.  Forgiveness is powerful.  

If you are not sure if you are holding onto any unresolved unforgiveness then ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind anyone you might have unforgiveness towards.  Another thing I have learned about forgiveness is that unfortunately it is not a one and done.  You may have forgiven someone, you may have turned it over to the Lord and then one day you may feel that unforgiveness, that anger, sadness, or whatever it is again.  This is normal.  I am letting you know this so you don’t get discouraged with yourself.  Sometimes it can be frustrating and we can think, “Really, I thought I dealt with this already?” It’s ok, just turn it back over to God and forgive the person again if you need to.  It will get easier each time you do it.  When you are first trying to forgive someone you may need to say it 100 time, 1000 times, who knows, it depends how deep the wound is.  However many times you have to say it, just know that God is proud of you each time you are able to say it.  He is smiling down on you and then going to work on your heart, on the wounds caused by that person, by that situation.  God is releasing you a little more each time.  He loves you and wants you to be free.  Back to the verse above, Yes Jesus chooses to heal you!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening today.  We thank you for wanting to heal us.  We thank you for encouraging us to forgive and for being patient with us while we figure out how to forgive our own time line.  We know it can’t be easy for you to watch us holding on to all of that.  Lord, we thank you for doing all the heavy lifting, for doing the hard part.  We know all we have to do is say that we forgive the person and then you come in and do the actual forgiving. You heal the wounds, you heal the scars, you make it possible for us to forgive.  Thank you Lord.  You are truly amazing.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I wanted to take a minute to let you know that if you have clicked on the link and put your name and email address in and yet you have not received my audio training or the newsletter I sent out on Wednesday, the please email me [email protected] (Click Here) and I will try to figure out why the email did not go through.  Thank you for subscribing.  If you have not given me your email address so I can send my audio training (Click Here).  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a very blessed day!

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I Had Nearly Lost My Foothold

Psalm 73:1-5 “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.  But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.”

This Psalm came up in prayer group yesterday.  Not these verses, but when I read the whole Psalm these verses stood out to me because they talk about something that is so easy to do.  This whole Psalm is talking about a person who is good and upright and loves the Lord, and lives accordingly.  However, He says here in these verses that he almost slipped.  He almost lost his foothold.  He said he envied the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked.  Have you ever done this before?  Have you ever envied someone you knew, or knew of, and yet they were not known to be a very nice person?  You didn’t envy them because they weren’t a nice person, but you envied them for all they had?  

Did you ever notice how sometimes it can seem like some things always go right for some people?  It seems as though they always get what they want.  Everything just seems to work out of them and they never seem to have a difficult time and yet, they are not a good person.  Meanwhile, you are following God’s laws, you are doing all the things you should be doing, you are kind, you are loving, and yet it seems like you just can’t get ahead.  I get it.  This is something I don’t understand as well.  It’s so frustrating.  

Tony had a boss one time and she was a nightmare.  She would always yell at him, and say unkind things to him.  Then she would ask him to do things, like come over and mow her lawn.  He didn’t want to and yet he didn’t feel as though he could say no as she was his boss.  She was very unkind to all those who worked for her and yet she was very kind to all those who she worked for.  He hated to go to work and would dread work every single  Monday.  Luckily in the military people move around a lot so she was only his boss for a year or so.  However, Tony was not the only person she treated like this.  She was not a nice person to those who worked for her and yet she seemed to keep getting promoted.  It made no sense to those who had worked for her in the past.  It didn’t seem fair.

When you see people who are mean, unkind, or even people who are doing illegal things get ahead it can feel very discouraging.  It can seem so unfair.  I know people who love the Lord, who do everything they possibly could for the Lord, they are the kindest, most gentle people in the world and yet they have so much that goes wrong in their lives.  They can’t seem to pay their bills, or their loved ones are terminally ill, or whatever else is going on.  It doesn’t seem to make sense.  I can see how the person writing this Psalm could have almost slipped.  I can see how he could have lost his foothold.  The enemy is good.  He knows just what to show us to make us jealous or envious.  This is especially true with social media.  The enemy will use it to prey on your weaknesses.

For instance, if you are wanting to buy a house but just can’t at the moment, you will see people who have just bought a house in your social media feed.  If you are waiting to get married you will see posts from friends who just got engaged.  If you want to have a baby you will see posts of those who just had a baby.  The enemy makes sure you see these posts and then starts to whisper in your ear.  He whispers things like, “Why them, and not you?” “Look how happy they are, you will never be that happy.”  “It’s never going to happen for you.”  and so on.  The devil wants you to be envious because envy is a sin and it gets in the way of our relationship with God.  When we are looking at all we don’t have, and we are all guilty of this, we are taking our eyes off God.  When I say we all do this, I mean we all do it.  For some it might not be the things I listed, but have you ever thought, “I wish I had his/her hair,” “I wish I had his/her patience,” “I wish I prayed like him/her,” “I wish I could do that too,” or anything like that.  Or maybe it is more material things, “I wish I had that car,” “I wish I had that job,” “I wish I had those clothes.”  Whatever it is, I think I can safely say we have all been envious of something at some point in our lives.  This opens a door for the enemy to come in and whisper all sorts of lies to us.  

The next things this verse says is, “ They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.” It definitely seems like this is true sometimes.  It seems like those we know and love are struggling, some people seem to always be sick.  I know three ladies specifically in my mentoring group who are wonderful people.  They would give their shirt off their back if someone needed it and yet they are chronically ill.  I also know plenty of people who are not kind, are down right mean and unkind, and yet they never seem to get sick.  Why is that?  Sickness is not a punishment from God, it is not the result of sin.  Jesus addressed this in the Bible when He was asked “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he would be born blind.” Jesus answered, in John 9:3, ”Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

I think an important thing to remember also is that we don’t always know someone’s full story, this is true even for our loved ones.  Our loved ones may be struggling and they don’t want to talk about it because they don’t want us to worry, or they don’t want to bother us.  Or maybe they have told us, but we still don’t really know what they are going through because we have never been through it before.  It may seem to us like the people who are arrogant have everything going for them.  On the outside it can seem as though their life is perfect and they have all they could ever want.  However, often times they don’t have what they really want.  Yes, they have money, but that doesn’t make them happy, at least not forever.  Many times the money gets in the way of healthy relationships.  Many times once they make a bunch of money they aren’t sure what to do after that.  There is a lot of mental health issues like depression and anxiety for even the arrogant.  We just don’t see it because the enemy is really good at pointing our all the good that we are missing out on.  

The verse above starts out, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”  God is good to those who follow Him.  Keep doing what you know is right, even when it might not make sense to you.  Even when others may think you are crazy.  Don’t listen when people say, it’s ok to tell this small white lie to get ahead in business, it’s ok to do this one small thing that is illegal, it’s ok to not follow this law God has set out as it’s a small one anyway.  God is looking out for us.  God never promised us that life would be easy if He followed Him.  Actually He told us it wouldn’t.  He told us we would struggle and yet He did promise He would be there with us every step of the way.  He will give us the strength we need to get through anything that comes our way.  I know it seems tempting when we see people who have it all, even if they are awful people, to want what they have.  When you find yourself envying those people who earned all they have in a worldly way, instead of a Godly way I want you to remember that this world is relatively short compared to eternity.  Would you rather have everything go great in this world, live like a king/queen while hear on earth, gaining all you want any way you want, but they spend eternity separated from the Father, or would you rather suffer here on earth and then spend eternity in heaven with our heavenly Father?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are sorry we can sometimes envy those who do not follow your ways.  We are sorry we almost slip sometimes, and we are sorry when we actually do slip.  Lord, we love you and we want to only follow you help us stay on track.  Open our spiritual eyes to the enemy and all his tricks.  Help us to see his plan and help us to not fall for it.  Help us to keep our eyes on you!  Help us to remember you are always with us and help us to turn to you and talk with you when things seem hard.  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jeusus’ powerful name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I wanted to let you know about this new audio training I created.  It is about how to invite Jesus into your everyday.  Often times we want to pray, we want to spend time with Jesus, and yet we just aren’t finding the time to do so.  In this audio training I will teach you to invite Jesus into 3 of the most common tasks we do each day.  If you want to hear this audio training all you need to do is go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com or you can click on the link below.  It will take you to a page where you can put in your name and email and the audio training will be delivered right to your inbox.  I hope you enjoy it.  Feel free to reach out to me and let me know what you think of it.  I look forward to meeting you hear again on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

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It’s Not Too Late

Joel 2:12-14 “But there’s also this, it’s not too late—God’s personal Message!—“Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,  maybe he’ll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all’s said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!”

Today I decided to use the message translations.  Sometimes I just feel it is helpful to hear what God is saying in language that is easier to understand.  Sometimes when I don’t understand a verse I will read it in the message translation and afterwards I have a much better idea of what it is saying.  If you are like me, you have no idea what is going on in Joel 2, so this verse may not mean as much to you.  Let me briefly explain what is going on before this verse.  Verses 1-11 are talking about how God’s judgement is on its way.  It is describing a black out day, a doomsday, no silver lining, etc.  Those first 11 verse are nothing but doom and gloom and then you come to these verses.  But wait, it’s not too late.  I bet they were so relieved to hear those words.  Can’t you just picture it?  Someone is telling you there is something terrible on the very near horizon.  Something awful you don’t want to face.  Then they say there may be a way out.  How excited would you be?  I know some of you are praying for that right now.  I know some of you have gotten awful news, or are awaiting news that could be awful and you are praying for a “but wait, it’s not too late.”  I hope those words come for you.  I hope you hear them just as God’s people did in this passage.  

God told them, even now, even though I have already dispatched my armies, even though I have already decided what I want to do, even now, it is not too late.  God is so kind and merciful.  I love this version because it puts the message in plain english that we can all understand.  I love that it says God, “Takes a deep breath, and puts up with a lot.”  Truer words have never been spoken. Can you imagine how much God puts up with from us? There is a line in a song I love.  The song is called “Love me Like I Am” by King and Country.  The lines I love are: “It’s amazing that You can. Love me like I am. And even when I can’t You still love me as I am. Oh, I don't know how You do it And I know I put You through it.” This line always makes me smile because I think of all the ways I put God through it.

I think about all the times I say I will do something and I don’t.  I think of all times I am unkind or say things I know He wouldn’t like.  I think about all the times I know I shouldn’t do something and yet I do it anyway.  I think of all the times I felt He asked me to do something and I said no, or I ignored the request, as if I didn’t hear Him.  How about you?  Can you think of some times you “put God through it?” Can you think of times when He probably had to teak a deep breath and lets be honest, probably rolled His eyes.  And yet, He keeps forgiving us, He keeps offering us a second, a third, a one hundredth chance.  God is so amazing.  I am honestly in awe and have no idea how He does it.  

In this verse after it says that it is not too late, it gives us instructions.  “Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God.”  Wow, that is powerful.  I like how he is willing to take us back and yet He is not letting us walk all over Him.  He is not taking us back from a point of weakness.  Begging us to come as if He needs us to come back to Him.  He tells us we can come back and yet He tells us to really mean it this time.  Don’t just fake it.  Don’t just come back to me intending to do the same thing you always do.  Really mean it this time.  Really plan on changing this time.  He is also asking us to do something.  He is asking us to come back fasting and weeping with actual sorrow for our sins.  There is a line in the act of contrition that is my favorite and also it makes me sad to even think about.  The Act of Contrition is the prayer Catholics say at the end of Confession.  There are many versions, here is one of them:

My God,

I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.

In choosing to do wrong

and failing to do good,

I have sinned against you

whom I should love above all things.

I firmly intend, with your help,

to do penance,

to sin no more,

and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.

Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.

In his name, my God, have mercy.

The line that I love and that makes me sad to think about is the one that says, “In choosing do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all things.” I love it because every time I say it I am reminded that it was my choice to sin.  It makes me sad because it reminds me that I hurt God when I sin and I should love God above all things.  When I say that line, every time I say that line, I am reminded how much my sin hurts God and I am truly sorry for my sins.  What about you?  Even if you are not Catholic, and don’t feel you need to go to a priest to confess, do you still bring your sins to God?  When you do, are you truly sorry?  God is calling us back to Him.  This isn’t something that is hard to do, it is a choice we get to make.  Will we turn back to Him?  Will we repent of our sins and turn back to His loving care?  

Although it is not hard to turn back to God, sometimes it may feel hard because we may not believe that God can forgive us.  We may feel whatever we have done is too great for God to forgive.  I assure you it is not.  If you feel this way, read the whole Chapter of Joel 2.  In most versions of this verse it starts with, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,  with fasting and weeping and mourning.”  Even now, remind yourself of that when you are doubting God’s forgiveness.  No matter what it is that has happened to you, that you may have done, even now, God wants you to come back home to Him.  

I want to touch on the fasting piece of this message.  Fasting is a way to strengthen your intimacy with God and it is also a way to humble yourself before Him.  Fasting can be carried out in many different ways. You could fast from a meal, for instance fast from breakfast, or you could eat breakfast and fast from lunch and then eat dinner.  You could also fast for the entire day or for several hours in the day.  For instance 9-3 you could fast.  You could also fast from things that have nothing to do with food.  You can fast from gossiping, or watching TV, or social media.  I know several ladies that take a break and fast from Facebook during lent.  Fasting can be whatever you want it to be.  The point is to give something up for a time period that is important to you.  It is cheating if you fast from mushrooms and olives, if you don’t like them in the first place.  It doesn't have to be extremely difficult, but it should be something that you like and yet you are choosing to not do it in a desire to grow closer to the Lord.  

The second half of today’s verse shows us why we should come back to the Lord.  It says, “And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,  maybe he’ll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all’s said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!” God is the most patient God, extravagant in love always ready to cancel catastrophe.  When people talk about the Old Testament, they tend to talk about a God who got angry and killed people.  I have thought the same thing.  I mean there are several examples, like Sodom and Gomorrah, Noah’s arc, after they Israelites scouted out the promised land and doubted their ability to take it.  However, when you read through the whole Old Testament, you will see that although there are examples where God gave judgement on HIs people, there were far more times when he was lenient.  There are more times when He allowed someone to intercede and to ask Him not to do the thing He wanted to do, the judgement that was deserved.  

God loves us, He desires each and every one of us to be in His kingdom with Him.  He desires and even longs to spend eternity with each and every one of us.  He wants us to turn back to Him.  If you are struggling with something right now, bring it to God, He will help you with it.  If you think either something has been done to you that God can’t forgive, or you have done something so awful that God can’t forgive, I beg to you hear me now, “There is NOTHING God won’t forgive.” Just repent, tell God you are sorry if it was something you did.  If it wasn’t something you did, you have nothing to be sorry about and God knows that you.  You just have to believe it for yourself now.  I will end with the words of this verse, “God is kind and merciful.  He is the most patient God, extravagant in love and always ready to cancel catastrophe.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today.  Lord, we thank you for always wanting to forgive us, always wanting to give us another chance to come back to you.  We are grateful you give us unlimited chances.  We are grateful that as long as we are still on Earth, it is not too late!  We are grateful there is nothing we can do that you won’t forgive.  Lord we are sorry for our sins.  We are sorry that when we choose to do what is wrong or when we fail to do what is right, we hurt you.  We are sorry because we never want to hurt you.  We love you Lord, you are amazing!  You are too good to us and we know we don’t deserve it and yet you do it anyway.  You are so patient with us and you keep being patient and we are so grateful.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I wanted to let you know about this new audio training I created.  It is about how to invite Jesus into your everyday.  Often times we want to pray, we want to spend time with Jesus, and yet we just aren’t finding the time to do so.  In this audio training I will teach you to invite Jesus into 3 of the most common tasks we do each day.  If you want to hear this audio training all you need to do is go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com or you can Click Here.  It will take you to a page where you can put in your name and email and the audio training will be delivered right to your inbox.  I hope you enjoy it.  Feel free to reach out to me and let me know what you think of it.  I look forward to meeting you hear again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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

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When You Believe The Lie You Empower The Liar

Genesis 3:4-5 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die;  for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

I have talked many time about how the devil is a liar.  I often talk about how he twists the truth and makes his lies just convincing enough that we tend to believe them.  We just started a new quarter in my Encounter Ministry class and this quarter is on inner healing and freedom.  The second session of class yesterday was really good and I learned to see things in a different way so I wanted to share them with you.  I thought hearing them was pretty powerful and something we all should know.  You might already know this on some level, but for some reason the way it was said, or the way I heard it last night seemed different.  As soon as the words came out of our teacher’s mouth I felt like the Holy Spirit said that you all needed to hear them too.

In this verse above the serpent told Eve that if she ate of the fruit of the tree she was forbidden to eat from she would become like God.  The thing is, she was already like God.  She was made in his image and his likeness.  She didn’t need to eat the fruit to become like Him, she already was.  Our teacher said Eve was trying to earn with performance what she already earned by inheritance.  God freely made her in His image and likeness.  She didn’t have to do anything to become like Him.  However, the serpent told her if she ate of the fruit her eyes would be opened and she would become like God.  So she did.

We all have the devil whispering lies into our ears.  Lies that pray on wounds we have deep inside.  Wounds that have been caused by others usually in our past.  Sometimes we know about these wounds and sometimes we don’t.  We heard a testimony last night of a woman that went through an inner healing prayer session.  She was a very anxious person.  The prayer ministers asked God to reveal to her a memory of when this anxiety got started.  She had a memory of sitting at dinner with her mom one time and her mom was angry, I’m not sure if the mom was angry at her, or just had a bad day and was in a really bad mood.  Next the prayer ministers told her to ask God what lies she came up with in that moment.  She realized in that one moment at the dinner table she started telling herself that she wasn’t good enough.  That she couldn’t do anything right.  She carried these lies with her from that point forward.  

Whether we realize it or not the enemy is telling us lies.  Often times we don’t know it is the enemy talking to us and we just believe the things that he is saying.  We need to wake up.  We need to stop going throughout our day believing every single thing our brain tells us.  The enemy can not read our thoughts, which is a great thing, but he give us thoughts, or suggest thoughts for us.  We need to start rejecting those thoughts.  The phrase I heard in class that I thought was so powerful is, “Hearing lies has no authority in your life.  The power comes when you come into agreement with those lies.”  I think we get scared when the enemy starts whispering lies to us but those lies have no power unless you give them power.  

Another powerful statement they said last night is, “If you believe the lie you empower the liar.” The devil has no power over you unless you give him power.  I don’t know if we realize we are doing that when we accept the lies he is telling us.  I wonder if I would fight harder against the lies if I knew he needed me to come into agreement with them for them to have any power over me?  I wonder if I would fight harder against believing the lies he tells me if I knew that when I believed them I was empowering the enemy.  Why aren’t we fighting back more?  Why aren’t we standing up to the lies and calling BS when we hear them?  Why aren’t we choosing what to believe about ourselves?  Why are the bad things so much easier to believe than the good things?

I think the bad is easier to believe because we live in a broken world and unfortunately we hear the bad more than the good.  We also think, we should be humble, we shouldn’t think we are all that great.  This is not what being humble means.  Being humble doesn’t mean we think less of ourselves, as in we make ourselves smaller than we are.  Being humble means we think of ourselves less often, meaning we are not the center of our attention.  We think of others before ourselves.  We think of God and we know God is the reason for anything good in us.  He is our strength, he is our power, he is all things and without Him we would have nothing.  God doesn’t want us to put ourselves down and he doesn’t want us to believe the lies of the enemy.  

In Luke 10:19 it says, “See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.”  God has given us authority over all the power of the enemy.  He can’t hurt us unless we partner with him.  Unless we come into agreement with his lies.  We have to choose who we will believe, who we will follow.  In Romans 6:16 it says, “ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  When you come into agreement with the lies of the devil it leads to sin and shame.

Look at the Genesis again when Adam and Eve came into agreement with the serpents lies and ate the fruit.  They went against God’s will to follow the serpents lies.  They instantly knew they were naked and they felt shame for the first time.  This is the whole point of the enemies lies.  Shame is from the enemy and it makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do.  The goal of the enemy is to lock us into a cycle of sin and shame.  God wants us to have life in abundance.  Which do you choose to follow?  Which life would you like to have?

I know it can be hard not to believe the lies sometimes.  I know sometimes the enemy twists the truth in such a way that lie seems like it is true.  He has been perfecting his tactics for so many years now.  The enemy is good at his job.  However, no matter how good he is, he has no power unless we give it to him.  One way to know if it is the enemy telling you something is to pay attention to how you feel.  Do you feel crappy, do you feel shame, do you feel you are not enough, that is the enemy.  If God is telling you something you will feel encouraged, you will feel loved, you will feel accepted.  I know it feels like the lies are never ending sometimes.  I know if feels like they are so loud and you can’t hear anything else.  This is why it is so important to have declarations to tell yourself.  Declarations to remind yourself that you are a child of God.  Declarations to remind yourself of the truth, of all God’s promises to you.  Declarations can remind you that God has given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.  If you need some really good declarations, some declarations that remind you of the power you have, the power God has given you, go back and listen to episode #368 What Do You Declare?  In that episode I have listed 21 powerful declarations to remind yourself of the power God has given you and the promises he has made to you.  The enemy can not read your thoughts, but he can hear what you say.  That means if you are thinking negative thoughts and speaking them out loud the enemy can hear them and use them against you.  However, if you are thinking negative thoughts, but saying positive declarations, he doesn’t know the negative thoughts you are having and can’t use them against you.  

I know many of you are busy and may not have time to go back to the previous episode so I will put the 21 declarations at the bottom of this page in my show notes.  I will list a few now.  

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)

Because I have faith nothing will be impossible for me. (Matthew 17:20)

I will do the works Jesus did an even greater Works. (John 14:12)

Whatever I ask in Jesus's name, he will do it. (John 14:13)

My heart will not be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)

I will abide in Jesus and bear much fruit (John 15:9)

Jesus loves me as the father loves him (John 15:9)

Jesus lay down his life for me, his friend (John 15:13)

If I ask, I will receive (John 16:24)

In Jesus, I have peace. (John 16:33)

I am a child of God (acts 17:28)

Jesus died for me while I was still a sinner (Romans 5:8)

Death no longer has dominion over me (Romans 6:9–11)

Sin no longer has dominion over me (Romans 6:14)

the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me! (Roman 8:11)

I receive the spirit of Sonship. I am a child of God. (Romans 8: 15–17)

I have been saved (Romans 8:24)

the Holy Spirit helps me in my weakness; he intercedes for me when I don't know how to pray (Romans 8:26)

In everything God works for good with me (Romans 8:28)

God is for me who is against me? (Romans 8:31)

I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38 to 39)

We all need to stop giving the enemy power in our lives.  We need to be intentional about our thoughts and we have to figure out a way to get out of that cycle of sin and shame that the enemy traps us into it.  I know it is not easy, but it can be done.  God gave us the Holy Spirit who is living inside of us.  He gave us the power over our enemies.  We need to stop fearing our enemies, we need to stop fearing the lies the enemy is telling us and start taking back control.  We are children of God.  We shouldn’t be scared of anything.  If God if for us, who could be against us?  

Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today.  Lord, I ask the Holy Spirit to show each one of us what lies we are accepting from the enemy?  I ask that the Holy Spirit to show us what truth we can replace that lie with.  I ask the Holy Spirit to remind each and every one of us of the power God has given to us through the Holy Spirit.  We have the power to reject the lies of the enemy, please help us know this Lord.  I pray that each person picks one or two declarations and starts saying them every time they feel attacked by the enemy.  Lord, I pray each person listening to this knows that praise and worship is the best defense against the attacks of the enemy because it takes our eyes off of him and places them back on you.  We love you Lord, we are so sorry we keep falling for the enemies lies.  We are sorry we keep believing we are less than you made us to be.  We are so grateful you keep reminding us.  We are grateful you gave us the Holy Spirit so that we have the power to defeat our enemies.  You are truly amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk Boldly with Jesus.  I wanted to let you know about this new audio training I created.  It is about how to invite Jesus into your everyday.  Often times we want to pray, we want to spend time with Jesus, and yet we just aren’t finding the time to do so.  In this audio training I will teach you to invite Jesus into 3 of the most common tasks we do each day.  If you want to hear this audio training all you need to do is go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com or you can CLICK HERE.  It will take you to a page where you can put in your name and email and the audio training will be delivered right to your inbox.  I hope you enjoy it.  Feel free to reach out to me and let me know what you think of it.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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