Walk Boldly With Jesus

I’m Surrounded By You!

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are encompassed with such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Last weekend was quite a weekend for me.  I was away on retreat with 20 other Christian women who are all dedicated to starting their year off right and turning their focus to God.  Each year in Big Life Mentoring, shout out to Pamela Crim, we each pick a word and mantra.  Our word and manta is what we say every day to help remind us of the commitments we made to ourselves to live as the best version of ourselves.  This New Year’s retreat that I was on for the last 5 days was a chance to talk about what we want to get out of this year and also to form a great bond and friendship with several other ladies.  These ladies can be our accountability group and support throughout the whole year.  We know what each and every lady on this retreat is wanting this year and we can pray for them and their goals.  

This was my first year going to this retreat.  It was an amazing weekend.  I love when women who love Jesus get together to talk and get to know each other.  We played worship music and walked to the beach at night to look at the stars and thank God for all He has done.  We all talked about our strengths and our areas for improvement.  We talked about where we are struggling and what we want out of this upcoming year.  We talked about what we were going to do to help make those wants a reality.  It was really good girl bonding time and everyone loved it.  

While I was on this retreat several ladies were talking about how they have that negative voice inside their head so often.  You know the voice I am talking about, the one that says you are not enough, the one that says God would never forgive you, the one that makes you feel awful about yourself.  That voice that makes you question every decision you have ever made.  That voice that make you feel like you don’t belong.  We all have our own version of the mean voice inside of our head.

This verse is telling us that we can look to those around us as witnesses.  This weekend on the New Year’s retreat I saw so many witnesses.  The woman who were on the retreat were truly amazing.  We all struggle with different things and also we are all really good at other things.  We can look to each other for help with the things we are struggling with.  Who in your life could be a witness?  Who in your life could you look to for an example in how to live?  The people in my prayer group are also great witnesses.  They are all excellent examples of how to be the face of Christ to others.  In the four years that I have been in this prayer group they have taught me so much about God and His love.  Look to those around you and learn all you can from them!

This next line is the one that really made me think this was the verse for today.  It says, “Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” That is a powerful statement and one that we all need to remember when we have so many burdens in life.  We have so much that can go wrong each day.  If we can lay aside every thing that is weighing on us and run the race with endurance life will be so much easier.  The verse also asks us to lay aside the sin that so easily entangles us.  This is a very true statement of how sin works.  We tend to get entangled in it.  We make one bad choice and then another and then before we know it we are wrapped up in sin, regret and shame.  

This verse is telling us to lay our burdens and sin aside.  The question is, “How do we do that?” How do we lay our burdens aside?  How do we avoid getting entangled in sin?  The answer is right in this verse.  “Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”  Jesus is the author of our faith.  He can show us the way.  We can learn so much just by looking at Jesus and the way He lived.  We can also look to Jesus when we are trying to find the strength to lay our burdens aside.  We can look to Jesus when we are trying to find a way to just make it through the day.  This weekend there were at least two ladies that said they were afraid that the enemy was stronger than they were.  This is a real fear that many of us have.  The truth is, the enemy probably is stronger than we are, but he is definitely not stronger than God is.  God has already won that battle and come out as the victor.  

When we start to get scared that the enemy might be getting stronger than we are we can remember Romans 8:31 “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” This is the truth that we need to keep reminding ourselves.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  God is for you and me and each one of His children.  Yes you, you are His child.  Even when you don’t feel worthy, even when you don’t feel you deserve it, even when you feel like you can’t possibly be good enough to be his son or daughter, He is for you.  God doesn’t need us to feel good enough for Him to love us.  He always loves us!  He is always our Father, and we are always His children.  

One thing we did several times this weekend is listen to worship music.  We listened when we were in the hot tub, we listened when we were at the beach, and we listened while we were getting up in the morning.  We surrounded ourselves with worship music. One song played several times and is one that I think is a great song for us all to remember when we are struggling with the thoughts that the enemy might overtake us.  This song is called, “Surrounded (Fight my battles) by Michael W. Smith.  (Click here for song) What I love about this song is the way it tells us how to fight our battles and then reminds us God is there with us.  Here are the main lyrics:

… The word says

"For the spirit of heaviness

Put on the garment of praise"

That's how we fight our battles (yeah)

… This is how I fight my battles

This is how I fight my battles (yeah, yes)

This is how I fight my battles (what we're doing tonight)

This is how I fight my battles

Just when you think you're lost

… It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You, hey!

It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You

It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You

It may look like I'm surrounded but I'm surrounded by You

This is a great thing to remember.  When we are feeling overwhelmed with the attacks of the enemy we can remind ourselves that although it feels like we are surrounded on all sides by the enemy, we are actually surrounded by the Lord our God.  The song repeats these verses over and over again.   It is so relaxing and fills me with this peace when I listen to this song.  I hope you take the time to listen to it because I know it can bring you peace too!  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, be with us and help us feel you surrounding us.  When we feel as though the enemy is greater than we are, help us to remember that we aren’t in this alone.  Help us to remember you are there surrounding us and protecting us.  Spiritual warfare is real and every single one of us is in a battle, whether we realize it or not.  We will fight that battle lifting up praise to you as you surround us.  We love you so much Lord, you are amazing!! You are so powerful and we are so grateful that you already won the war over evil.  You conquered death and sin no longer has dominion over us now.  Thank you Lord!  We praise you and we thank you.  You are awesome and we are in awe of you.  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 am grateful for each one of you.  I am also grateful for your patience and your grace as I missed a whole week of posting the podcast.  Usually I get them done and advance when I am going away and that didn’t happen this time.  Then with all the living I did on retreat, along with some very long days driving in the car I was unable to get any posted last week.  I am happy to report I am home, safe and sound, and ready to begin recording the podcast again!  I did unfortunately just test positive for Covid today, so if I sound all stuffed up or if my voice is scratchy, you know why. I guess God felt I could use a few extra days of rest.   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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God, Please Help Me Watch What I Say!

Psalm 141:3-4 “Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.  Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong- don’t let me lure me with their sweet talk! May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don’t let sin anoint my head.  I’m praying hard against their evil ways!”

I was sold at the first line of this verse.  Post a guard at my mouth, yes please.  How many times have you wished you could take back something you said?  How many times have you said something that felt really good in the moment and then you instantly regretted saying it?  I was just thinking of a Meg Ryan movie called “You’ve God Mail.”  Meg Ryan’s character in the movie said she never has a zinger when she needs one.  She was saying that she wished, just once, she could say exactly what she wanted to say when she wanted to say it.  Then a few days later she was talking to someone she didn’t like and she told him exactly what she thought of him.  Instead of feeling better like she imagined she would, she felt awful that she had been mean to him.  Has this happened to you before?  I am pretty sure it has happened to all of us.  We imagine how great it would be tell someone what we think of them and then it isn’t.  

I remember being in 8th grade and we had a new kid in class.  I was picked on when I was in school.  People made fun of me because they said I smelled and because I didn’t have the nicest clothes.  I remember this new kid was just trying to fit in with the cool kids and he said something unkind, I don’t remember what but it was something about me being smelly, or something like that.  I instantly started to cry.  If you know me at all, you know it is not hard to get me to cry.  I cry when I am happy, when I am sad, when I hear a moving story about someone else, when someone else is sad.  Anyway, I started to cry and he instantly knew what he had said was unkind and hurt my feelings.  He felt so bad.  He was never unkind like that to me again.  

I can remember saying plenty of things over the years that I regret.  When we are feeling frustrated, angry, tired and so many other emotions, we can say things we don’t mean.  Or maybe we do mean them but if we weren’t so tired, angry, etc. we might have had the power to not say them to the person.  People always say sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  This is an awful saying.  Words can cut deeper than any knife and the wounds from unkind words can take a lot longer to heal than the wounds from a knife.  I have lost friendships over misspoken words.  I have struggled in my marriage over the years because of a lack of communication but also some very unkind words spoken.  Why do we struggle so much with our words?  I say we because I know I am not the only one listening to this that has struggled with this.  I am sure every single person listening to this episode has said something they regret at one time or another.  If only God would put a guard on our mouths.  This is a prayer I pray often.  I would love it if I could only speak love to those around me and those I meet.  Can you imagine how much of a better place the world would be to live in if we all had a guard over our mouths?  

The next part of this verse says, “Don’t let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. This line is great too!  Yes please Lord, don’t let me even dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company.  Has this ever happened to you?  Have you ever thoughtlessly fallen into bad company?  You thought you had just made a good new friend and then you realize they aren’t that good of a friend?  Mostly we think about our kids when we think of thoughtlessly falling into bad company, but adults can do it to.  You might become friends with your neighbor and then you realize when you hang out with them, you drink to much, or you gossip.  You might start hanging out with someone from work and then realize they spend their off time dabbling in fortune telling and tarot cards.  You didn’t enter this friendship wanting to be around these things, or do these things, but you kinda fell into it.  

It is important to pray for God to protect us from falling into bad company.  It is great if we pray this protection over our children too.  Dear Lord, please protect our children from falling into bad company as well.  The earlier we can start praying that our children are surrounded by good friends, the better off they will be.  I know as parents we wish we could choose our kids friends.  However, who better to choose them than our heavenly Father? If you are hearing this idea for the first time, the idea we can pray for God to put good role models and good friends in our kids path then you might be feeling discouraged.  I know I was a little when I first heard it.  I was discouraged because my kids were not little anymore.  They were in high school, but not little kids.  I thought it was too late.  If you feel this way, hear me now, It is never too late!  Even if your children are grown, it is not too late for you to pray that God gives them positive role models.  It is not too late to pray that God surrounds them with good friends, good people.  With God, too late is not a thing.  He is the creator of time and He certainly doesn’t let it get in His way of doing miracles and saving our children.  

The next part of this verse says, “And these people who only do wrong- don’t let me lure me with their sweet talk!”  Have you noticed that sin tends to be more attractive at times?  This is just us looking through a worldly filter.  The world tells us sugar is better than salad.  The world tells us we don’t have to keep our wedding vows, it would be more fun to fill our desires with whoever we want.  The world tells us we don’t have to be kind and loving, the world is a hard place and we just have to look out for ourselves because no one else will.  When we were on the road today my sister saw a random bible verse on a car.  It didn’t have the words, just the book, chapter and verse.  It was Romans 6:23, which says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  I didn’t know why we saw this verse as I had already picked this scripture for today’s episode.  Now I know why.  Yes, sin looks more attractive if we look at it through a worldly filter.  However, It says right here in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Looking at it from a Godly point of view, which looks more attractive, “Death, or eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord?” When we look at it this way, it’s not even close.  Who would choose death over eternal life in Jesus?  

The last part of the verse says, “May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don’t let sin anoint my head.  I’m praying hard against their evil ways!” This is right out of scripture and it makes such a great prayer.  I will end with this prayer today!

Dear Heavenly Father please bless those listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are the Just One, please set us straight.  You are the Kind one, correct us.  Lord, do not let sin anoint my head.  I pray to you right now to protect me against their evil ways. You are amazing Lord and we love you!  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 am so grateful for each and every one of you listening to this episode today.  I am grateful for your support and your dedication.  I can’t wait to spend time with you again Monday.  If I am not here on Monday its because I am on retreat and either didn’t have wifi or life happened and I couldn’t get it posted.  Don’t worry, I am doing great and will be back as soon as I can.  Have a blessed weekend!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Why Do We Question Our Calling?

Jeremiah 1:4-9 “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”  But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak.  Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

These are some pretty powerful verses.  Imagine the Lord coming to you and saying them, can you imagine that?  God starts off by telling Jeremiah that before God formed him in the womb He knew Him and before he was born He consecrated him, and appointed him a prophet to the nations.  This blew my minds last night.  I am surprised too, because I have heard these verse before.  I have heard people give talks on these verses.  I have also been hearing people say that you already have everything you need to succeed inside of you.  And yet, I never put two and two together.  I am not sure I ever knew it actually said that in the Bible.  Or, maybe I did and I forgot.  I am not sure, but it definitely stood out last night when I was listening to the Elevation podcast episode “Tricks are for Kids” with Pastor Steven Furtick.  

Pastor Steven said the Lord was telling Jeremiah that he had called him for amazing things and before Jeremiah could start with the excuses, God told Jeremiah that He knew him before he was formed in the womb.  That struck me in a different way last night.  Perhaps its because I am in this Encounter Ministries class and they are teaching us to be activated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then to go out and use them.  The going out and using them part can be scary.  It involves risk and risk can be scary.  In class, especially in this quarter we have been speaking words of prophecy over each other and that can sometimes feel scary or intimidating for both people.

It can be scary to feel like you are responsible for speaking God’s words over someone.  The enemy can come in and start to make you question yourself.  He whispers in your ear, “Who are you to hear God, you are nobody.”  “You aren’t good enough to hear God.”  “God would never pick you.” He will continue as long as you will listen.  We have to learn to shut the enemy down as soon as we realize he is there.  We can speak truth back to the enemy.  “Who are we?  We are children of God.”  “We aren’t good enough, we know and yet God loves us and uses us for amazing things anyway.” “God did pick me and you and every single one of us.”  One important thing to remember is that we are not the one coming up with the words to say, we are just the deliverer of those words.  God is doing all the heavy lifting, we are just the messenger.  

It can also be scary to be receiving the words because what if God is calling you to a task that you might not like, one you don’t necessarily want.  Imagine how Jeremiah must have felt.  God told Jeremiah that he appointed him as a prophet of nations.  Not a prophet of those he is close to, not a prophet of the town he grew up in, not a prophet of a nation, a prophet of nations.  How crazy is that?  I feel like that would be a lot for any one person to hear.  At least the disciples were sent out two by two.  I can’t imagine what Jeremiah must have been feeling. I think Jeremiah’s response was one similar to all of our responses when God calls us to do big things.  Jeremiah replied, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Yep, that is pretty much what we would all do.  We would start in with the excuses, and don’t worry if you don’t have any because the enemy will whisper plenty in your ear.  He does not want you to answer your call to greatness.  

If you are feeling called to something that seems scary to you right now, know that it is perfectly normal to come up with excuses why you can’t answer that call.  You are in great company, Moses came up with excuses, and Jeremiah came up with excuses, even Abraham questioned how it would be possible to have a child in his advanced years.  It is normal to question, God knows you have doubts and when you bring them to Him, he provides answers.  In this case Jeremiah was concerned because he was young and because he didn’t know how to speak.  Those seem like legitimate concerns.  Who is going to listen to a youth about important things?  How can he go out and speak to Nations when he is not a public speaker?  What will he say, who will listen?  Do these questions sound familiar?  Are you questioning your call?  Are you wondering how God could be picking you for something when you don’t know anything about it?  You don’t know how to be a prophet, a healer, in deliverance ministry, a teacher or any of the other things God is calling you to do.  That’s ok, God’s got you.  

I love God’s reply to Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak.  Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” I love this because as much as we can understand what Jeremiah was thinking, we still have to remember he was talking to God.  Can you imagine telling God you can’t do what He told you to do?  I had a hard time saying no to my parents growing up, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to say no to God.  Also, it’s funny because when we question God about our calling it as if we are saying that we know more than God.  It is as if we think that God didn’t know the things we are saying about us, like He forgot that we were shy, or we didn’t like public speaking or that Jeremiah was young or Abraham was old.  It makes me laugh because we all do it and yet, He is God, he knows those things we see as weaknesses and He already has a plan for them.  We just have to trust that He will equip us for the task he has given us. Actually this verse says He has already equipped us.  He knew from before we were even a thought who He wanted us to be and he filled us with all we need to become that person.

The verse ends with, “Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” Jeremiah didn’t have to know what to say, God gave him he words to say.  God put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth.  That is awesome. I hope God will do that for me too!  When I am writing my podcasts I ask God for it to be His words I am sharing instead of my own.  Who wouldn’t want God’s word’s in their mouth?  God also tells Jeremiah not to be afraid because He will deliver him.  I am sure it took Jeremiah awhile to let this all sink in.  God can tell us not to be afraid and yet it is hard to not be afraid sometimes.  Our human understanding of the world gets in the way of understanding how God will deliver us.  There is a saying that I love and so I may have already shared it with you. However, I feel like it is something we can’t hear enough as it is so true.  Instead of focusing on how big our problems are, or in this context, how big our calling is, we can focus on how big our God is.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to say yes, we just need some extra courage.  We are sorry we question you, our thoughts are not your thoughts and we don’t see all that you see.  Please help us to trust more and question less.  We love you Lord, you are amazing.  It is incredible that you knew us even before we were formed in the womb.  It is amazing that you love us that much.  You are so powerful, help us trust that you will deliver us from evil and equip us for any call you give us.  We are so grateful 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.  In case you didn’t hear Tuesday’s episode I am heading on a retreat and so if there is a day where I do not post an episode, know that I am ok, nothing is wrong, I just either didn’t have wifi or life was happening and I didn’t get it posted.  I am planning to still post one every day, but just in case it doesn’t happen I don’t want you to worry.  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.  Have a blessed day!

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Dance Like No One Is Watching

2 Samuel 6:14-16 “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was belted with a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.”

I like this verse because it shows how happy David was that the Arc was coming back home.  It says that David danced before the Lord with all of his might; and that David was belted with a linen ephod.  I am not sure how much you know about David, so let me give you a quick recap.  David is the King.  He is usually dressed as a King in splendid garments.  However, in order to bring the Arc of the Covenant back into Jerusalem David had set aside his royal robes and was “wearing a linen ephod”—a clear indication that he was not naked. The ephod David wore was a garment usually reserved for priests and those ministering before the Lord. As David led the procession of the ark into the city, he humbly laid aside his royal garments and worshiped the Lord, in ecstatic joy, as the representative of God’s “kingdom of priests.”  

There is so much in these 3 short verses.  First, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.  When is the last time you danced in front of the Lord with all your might?  When is the last time you did anything in front of the Lord with all your might?  What amazes me is that David was the leader, he was the king and yet he humbled himself and set aside his royal robes to welcome the Arc of the Covenant back into the city.  David was the king and yet he didn’t care what others though of him.  He didn’t care that he was wearing very little clothing.  He didn’t care that he might look silly dancing around like a fool.  In fact, in a later verse one of his wives sees him leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. When he got home she called him on his behavior and he didn’t try and defend it, he didn’t feel he needed to explain himself to her, he simply said in 2 Samuel 6:21, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will make merry before the Lord.”  He is basically saying that he doesn’t care what she thinks.  The Lord has done amazing things for him, so he will praise him any way he likes.

I wonder what it would be like to have that kind of courage.  Actually I don’t think it took courage for David.  I don’t think it even occurred to him to stop and think about what others would think.  I bet his love for God was so great, he couldn’t help but be filled with joy!  I love that David was filled with joy.  I have heard it said that martyrs, those who die for the faith, don’t really have a choice.  Their faith is so strong, their love and belief is so strong that the option to stay alive as long as they denounce their faith, is not an option at all for them.  They couldn’t do it.  I think it similar with David and the way he worships.  I think his heart is over flowing with joy of the Lord and so the option to “tone down” his praise, it not really an option for him.  It is not something that would enter his mind.  I don’t think he is thinking of others at all.  I think his eyes are fixed on God and that is all he is thinking about when he is praising.

I wish this was me.  I wish I could freely praise God without worrying what the person next to me is thinking.  I wish I could just throw my hands up in the air or dance around the room without the fear of being judged.  I pray for a holy boldness all the time.  However, maybe I need to pray for a deeper faith, or a less distracted faith?  Maybe I need to pray for God to help me keep my eyes fixed on Him so I am not thinking of what others might be thinking.  It seems crazy to me that I would care more about what other people think than I would about what God thinks.  I know God would be smiling down at me if I was to let loose and just worship with a childlike  sense of abandonment.  If I know God would be smiling, why do I care what others will think?  This is my great mystery.  This is the thing I keep trying to tell myself and yet I still get nervous about what others will think.  

I am working on this and I hope to get to David’s level of praise someday.  I pray I will be able to just let the Holy Spirit lead me however He wants to.  I pray I will be able to give up that control and just follow the Spirit as He leads me in praise.  I pray I will have so much joy, like David did, that I can’t help but dance and leap for joy.  I pray I have so much joy I can’t contain it.  Sometimes I stand in the back of the church during praise and worship in my class. This way I don’t have to worry about being judged because everyone else’s eyes are straight ahead focused on Jesus.  I don’t know why I think people will judge me, I am not judging them, my eyes are fixed on Jesus too.  

The last verse says, “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.”  This is another thing I have been working on over these last few years.  I am learning to praise God out loud.  At prayer group I still use the praise sheets.  They are sheets of paper with a bunch of praise sayings on them.  When I first started going I had no idea how to praise and so these sheets were very helpful.  I still find them helpful, although I also think of them as a crutch sometimes.  I now know that Jesus talks to me.  I know how to praise Jesus and so sometimes when I use these sheets I think I am using it as a crutch instead of listening to see what praise things the Holy Spirit brings to mind.  I like all the things these sheets say and so I keep using them because I figure I am still new to praising out loud.  However, sometimes I do try to “wing it” so that I can practice doing it on my own as well.  I like both ways, but I prefer to read the sheets until I have more of them memorized.  

The thing that stands out in my mind the most about these 3 verses is the joy of David.  He was filled with so much joy it spilled out of him.  He danced so freely.  I just got a sense that the Lord was saying, “He wasn’t worried about what others thought of him because He knew who’s he is.  He knows that he belongs to the Lord God almighty and if God is pleased, then that is all that matters.  What can we do this week to be a little more childlike in our praise and worship?  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of those listening to this episode today.  Lord we ask you to help us all to approach praise and worship in a child like manner with no fear of judgement.  We ask you to help us care more about what you think of us than what other people think of us.  We ask you to fill us with the joy that David had.  We ask you to fill us with so much joy that it spills out of us and onto others.  We love you Lord, you are amazing. You are worthy of all our praise.  You are the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We thank 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 just want to let everyone know that I will be going away on a New’s Year’s Retreat this upcoming weekend.  I am starting the road trip to this retreat with a friend and two of my sisters tomorrow, Wednesday.  I am hoping and planning to bring you a new episode each day like normal.  However, if there is a day without one know that I am fine and I just didn’t have internet or life got in the way, as we have very long days of driving ahead.  I am grateful for your grace this week.  If there is a day without an episode you could go back and listen to one of the older episodes.  There are over 400 to choose from.  I look forward to bringing you a new witness tomorrow.  Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

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They Believed Because Of Her Testimony

John 4:39-42 “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of his word.  They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

I like this verse because it shows how important it is that we talk about our faith and how much God is doing for us.  The opening sentence in this verse says, “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.  What if she didn’t tell anyone what had happened.  What if she was too afraid of what others might think to talk about it.  She was already and outcast because of her lifestyle.  She had 5 different husbands over the yeas and  when she met Jesus the man she was currently living with was not her husband.  The reason she was getting water at the hottest time of day is because she was too ashamed to get water in the morning when the rest of the women got their water.  She did not want to be the center of attention.  She didn’t want everyone looking at her and yet she ran to town to tell everyone about Jesus.  

I wonder if all those people would have been saved if she was too afraid to tell her story.  If she was too afraid to share her excitement over Jesus and what He did for her.  The reason I ask is because sometimes I am afraid to share.  Sometimes I get a prompting from the Holy Spirit to say something to someone and all this fear and doubt goes through my mind.  I wonder what that person will think of me if I say it.  I wonder if I will sound crazy or stupid.  I wonder if they will even listen or if they will just walk away.  I wonder if they will be mean.  It sounds like this woman did not think about it at all.  She had a conversation with Jesus and then ran right to town to tell everyone about it.  I want her courage, her boldness, her humility.  Or maybe her impulsiveness if she ran off without even thinking about it.  Maybe I need more of that when it come to Jesus.  Maybe I just need to act first and think later when it comes to following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  

Have you ever wondered if something you say or do could have this affect on people?  It can.  It might have already.  A lot of times it is for us to plant the seeds but not to see the harvest.  We have no idea how our words and actions can affect the course of someone’s life.  Sometimes we say something and the person we say it to doesn’t really think much of it, but then down the road they see the significance of it. Think back to all the people that have been influential in your life.  Did you know at the time they were going to be so influential?  Did you know that advice they gave you was going to shape the kind of person you would become?  Are those people still alive?  Could you tell them now how influential they were?  They may not know.

We don’t usually see the good in us as much as others do.  It is an interesting experiment to ask those who know you well to tell you what they see in you, what they feel your strengths are as well as what your weaknesses are.  I was reading a book titled “The Miracle Morning” and the author Hal Elrod suggested sending an email to those closest to you, this can include family, friends and co workers.  He suggests you email them and ask them  to tell you the top 2-3 areas of weakness you may have and then also some areas of strength.  He said it is a great way to see if you are living life intentionally and if you are giving off the vibe you want to give off.  At the end of the book he gave a sample email to send out.  I think if you asked others how they see you, you will be surprised.  They will see things in you to admire and look up to and you may not see them.

The verse ends by saying that although the people in the town started to believe in Jesus because of her words, now they believe because they heard Jesus for themselves.  I love this part too because I feel it takes the pressure off of me.  I just have to tell my story, I just have to talk about what Jesus has done for me and hopefully that will be enough to lead people to find Jesus.  It is not my responsibility to make them Christian, to save their soul, to teach them everything they need to know about Jesus.  Jesus will do that.  It is just my job to tell them about my encounter.  If I tell people how God is working in my life, that will be enough to get them to seek God so they can find out more.  I truly believe our stories our powerful enough to bring others to Christ and this verse is a great witness to that.  

Sometimes we think our story is not big enough, interesting enough, important enough to tell others.  We feel we have lived a boring, normal life and so others won’t want to hear about it.  This is a lie from the enemy.  He knows how important our stories are and he knows others need to hear them.  There isn’t a single person that gets through this life without hardships, without struggles.  Maybe you feel your struggles are small compared to others and yet someone else might be having the same struggle you had and they feel like it is so overwhelming.  God might be doing big amazing things in your life, and that is awesome, tell people about it.  God might be doing small, almost unnoticeable things in your life and that is amazing too, tell people about it.  There are some people, a lot of people, who don’t know God.  They don’t know that the reason everything went so well and things fell into place so nicely is because of God.  However, if you tell them about the little ways you see God showing up in your life, they will start to see Him in their life as well.  

I know it is hard to speak up sometimes.  I know this world doesn’t seem to be super friendly to people who want to talk about Jesus.  I know there are a million reasons we can come up with for why we shouldn’t share our story.  I know the enemy is whispering in your ear that you don’t have anything to share.  He is saying your life is too boring, no one wants to hear about your life.  I know all of that and yet if you read this verse hopefully you can see the importance of sharing your story anyway.  What if your story was the story someone needs to hear today to find Jesus, or to come back to Jesus?  Can we join together and be brave enough to share our story so that we can bring others to know Jesus?  Can we do that for God?  If you feel like you are not brave enough, I know I am not some days, then ask God for help.  He gives us what we ask for, especially if we are asking for things that will help us build up the kingdom of God.  How is God working in your life and who can you talk about it with today?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Please help us to see how you are working in our lives.  Please open our eyes to all you do for us and help give us the boldness to share it.  Dad, we are asking for you to help us to spread our story to all those we meet so they can start to see you working in their lives.  We ask that you help us not to believe the enemies lies that our story is boring, or that we don’t have anything to say.  We love you Lord, you are working in our lives and we want to share that with others.  We just need your help to do that.  Thank you Lord!  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Satan is the Accuser

Zechariah 3:1-4 "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.  And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”  Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.”

I chose this scripture this morning because when I read it I was reminded of a powerful story someone told at prayer group yesterday and I felt that was confirmation from the Holy Spirit that I should talk about it.  I also love to talk about this topic because I feel it is one we have a hard time believing.  These verses are from the old testament, so Jesus hadn’t even died on a cross for them and yet God is taking way Joshua’s sin.  The first sentence in these verses says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.”  Did you know that Satan does this to us too?  When you hear that voice pointing out all the things you have done wrong and you start to feel shame building up inside, or you start to feel like you are an awful person, that is Satan.  That does not come from God.  God never accuses us.  The Holy Spirit will sometimes convict us of our sins, but always does so in a loving way that make us want to change, but does not make us feel guilty and certainly doesn’t fill us with shame.  That is all Satan.  

I have heard people say that Satan is the Father of lies a lot, or the prince of darkness, but I don’t hear people talking about how he is the accuser.  This is also why I wanted to use this verse this morning.  This way all of you who are listening will know that when you hear someone listing off your sins, you will know that it is not God, it is Satan.  Knowing this can take a lot of the pressure off because when you start to hear the enemy accusing you, you can command him to leave and you can ask the Holy Spirit to come fill you up.  In the verse above it says, “The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan!” You can rebuke Satan as well.  What I have learned to say from my prayer group is, “In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you Satan and I send you to the foot of the cross.”  Evil Spirits flee at the name of Jesus.  They are subject to Him and so if you send them to the foot of the cross in Jesus’ name, then they have to go.  Then Jesus can take care of them.  

The next part says, “The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”  This part was a bit confusing.  I did not have any idea what it meant.  Luckily I did not skip over it, but I took a minute to look it up online.  Apparently what it means is that we were chosen by God.  The fire is all the accusations that Satan is throwing at them, and God is plucking them out of that fire because the Lord has chosen these people to be His chosen people.  God has done this for us too.  I love this verse so much because it shows that God has loved us and saved us from the beginning. The Old Testament if full of stories about God saving his people.  I like this one though because it talks specifically about God saving them from Satan and all his accusations.  Yes, we are sinners, Satan is not lying, but God chose us anyway.  God sees us for who we are inside, not for our sins.  God chose me and He chose you.  You are chosen by God.  He sees you!

This next part is perhaps my favorite part.  It says, “ Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.  And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” First, just the fact that Joshua got to interact with an angel is pretty cool.  I wouldn’t mind that.  That would be awesome.  What I love though, is that the angel said that they took away his iniquity and clothed him with rich apparel.  They wiped away his sin, and they gave him new clothes so that he would look on the outside like he did on the inside.  God is so good!  

Did you know when Jesus died on a cross he took away our iniquities too?  Did you know when He died He took all of the sins we will ever commit with Him.  An eternal life in Heaven is our inheritance from Jesus dying on a cross.  I am pretty sure I have talked about an inheritance mentality vs. a performance mentality before and yet I am going to go over it again because it is really hard for us to grasp.  Most of us grew up with and still have a performance mentality.  We feel we have to earn love and respect.  This is true in the world a lot of the time, so we apply it to God and we try to earn His love and respect.  We constantly feel we are not doing enough.  We are constantly trying to figure out what we need to do to make God happy and to earn His love.  God already loves us. There isn’t a single thing we need to do to earn his love.  It is freely given to all.  

This is an inheritance mentality.  We understand that we don’t have to do anything because God already loves us.  Think of an inheritance you might get if you have a loved one who dies.  Let’s say your grandparents die and you inherit their farm.  What did you do to inherit that farm?  Nothing, they died and that is why you inherited the farm.  It is the same with the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus died on the cross and because of that we have inherited the Kingdom of God here on earth and the ability to spend eternal life in Heaven.  We did not inherit it though any action on our part.  We are just the beneficiaries of Jesus’ death.  I hope that makes sense as it can be life changing when we learn to truly believe that we don’t have to earn heaven and we don’t have to earn God’s love.  If you allow that to change the way you go through life, your life will change.

I want to end with the story that was told at my prayer group yesterday.  Actually it was first told at our Encounter class and I am not quite sure how it came about.  I want to say it was a dream the instructor had, but I don’t remember clearly.  I am also probably not going to be the best at retelling it, but I think I will hopefully do a good enough job that you get the gist of it.  There was a woman and she was walking down a dark hallway towards a bright light.  She could feel the accuser behind her calling out all of her sins as she walked down the hallway.  He was calling out every sin she had ever committed in her whole life.  She was feeling so ashamed as she knew he was speaking the truth and that she had done all those things.  When she got to the end of the hallway and walked into the light she saw God.  He was sitting there behind a desk, looking like a judge and He said, “Well, you have heard the charges, how do you plead?”  Just as she was about to say guilty, as she knew she had done those things, Jesus walked up next to her, he wrapped a red mantle around her and said, “Not guilty.”  

It makes me tear up every time I hear this because it is such a great visual of what Jesus did for us.  He is the reason we are saved.  He is the reason our sins are forgiven.  We cling to our sins, we won’t let them go.  We remember them and we hold on to them.  God doesn’t.  He just wants us to repent and move on.  Tell God what you did, go to confession and then forget about them.  God has forgotten about them, so why are we remembering them?  Why are we clinging to them?  Let them go.  Jesus died so they could be forgiven and forgotten, it is our duty to let them go once we have confessed them and repented.  Whenever you are tempted to hold on to your sins, whenever you have the accuser on your back listing off your sins, I want you to picture Jesus standing next to you, wrapping his red mantle of love around you and picture Him saying, “Not Guilty.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and are so grateful you love us so freely.  We are grateful you send Jesus to die on a cross for us.  Father, help us to switch from a performance based mentality to an inheritance mentality.  Help us to realize we don’t have to do anything to earn your love and forgiveness, we already have it.  Dad, help us to see we don’t have to earn our way into heaven.  Help us to understand it all.  Lord, we ask for the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts and to soften them and help us to see you the right way.  We pray for wisdom and knowledge to understand you and all you have revealed to us.  You have given us so many reasons to be grateful and we definitely are grateful.  You are 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 my journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting you here on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend!

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Praise Is The Way Out Of The Darkness

Psalm 150 “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his exceeding greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing symbols! Let everything that breathe praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

I decided I would take some scriptures from my Encounter Ministries class. We are definitely learning how to walk boldly with Jesus in that class, or maybe more with the Holy Spirit.  Wherever the Holy Spirit is God and Jesus are not far away.  The reason I hesitated when I read this Psalm is because I talk about praise a lot.  I thought you might be sick of hearing about praise and I thought I might not have anything new to say about praise.  However, I don’t think that thought was a nudge from the Holy Spirit, I think it was a nudge from the enemy.  The reason I think this is because I know how important praise is, and so does the enemy.  

There is so much power in praising God and the enemy knows that.  Just the other day I was talking with some of the ladies in my Encounter class and we were talking about dryness in prayer and when we feel we are in the darkness.  Have you ever felt like that?  Have you ever felt like you are doing your part praying to God and yet you can’t feel Him, you can’t seem to find Him?  Have you ever felt like He has abandoned you?  You are not a lone, this happens to everyone at some point or another.  We had a speaker at our conference the other day who said when we feel like God is pulling away, that is not a bad thing, it is actually a good thing.  

Damian Stayne said during his talk that when we feel like God is pulling away from us, He is actually just stretching our heart muscle.  If we want to grow in our faith, in our trust, in our love of God, our heart muscles must grow too.  God is helping it to do that by gently pulling away at times and then coming closer.  During the discussion with my friends and classmates we were talking about what we do in the dark times.  One woman said she just had a few days where she felt alone.  The previous days she had felt very close to the Lord and it felt amazing.  Then she entered a few days where she couldn’t feel the Lord.  She felt alone.  She said she remembered hearing somewhere that when you are in the darkness you should praise the Lord.  She decided even though she didn’t feel like it, she would praise the Lord and in a few days she came out of the darkness.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but in case you have never heard this before, Mother Teresa was known for her love of Jesus.  She had a very personal and intimate encounter with Jesus on a train one time and it fortified her faith beyond words.  She loved Him.  When others met her, just by being around her, they loved Jesus too.  Her love for Jesus was overflowing.  Mother Teresa also went through a dark time.  She would go into prayer time and she couldn’t pray, she didn’t feel God anywhere.  There were times when she questioned if He existed.  She knew He did, because she had seen Him and yet she didn’t feel like He existed.  This dark period for her wasn’t just a year or two, I believe it was more like 50 years.  I saw one place online that said, “For nearly 50 years, Mother Teresa endured what the church calls a “dark night of the soul” — a period of spiritual doubt, despair and loneliness that many of the great mystics experienced, her namesake St. Therese of Lisieux included.”

Can you imagine that?  Fifty years of spiritual doubt, despair and loneliness and those around her did not know.  She did share this information with her spiritual director, but most of those around her would have said she was a happy person, so full of the Light of God.  She smiled a lot and spread God’s joy to so many others.  It makes me sad to think she didn’t have that joy inside of her.  I pray that none of you listening to this podcast have to endure 50 years of suffering like she did.  You will probably have to endure some times of darkness, times when you feel lonely, you feel God has abandoned you, and so on.  When this happens, remember this episode and praise God through it.

I believe that praising God more is the answer to so many questions.  I believe it is the solution to so many of our problems.  I was praying one time while I was out for a run and I asked God to tell me what I was doing that was different than others.  I asked Him to tell me why I was able to have such a deep trust in Him and I really felt like He said it is because I praise Him so much.  I love to listen to praise and worship music.  Ever since I discovered Christian music I have been in love with it and listen to it any chance I get. Spending all this time praising God has definitely increased my faith I have also had a practice of daily (or as close to daily as I can get) gratitude.  I think this had really made a difference too.  I think both of these help train my mind and help my mind stay focused on the things that are important.  They keep pointing me back to Jesus.

If you find yourself enduring what the church calls the “dark night of the soul” try praising God through it.  I don’t know a lot about the “dark night of the soul,” but I don’t think it is typical that it lasts as long as it did for Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  I believe Damian said his lasted about 10 years.  However, you can also have dark periods of isolation that last just a few days, like my friend had a few weeks ago.  The timing of it all is up to God.  God has a purpose for this period of isolation and only He knows when it has done its job.  

I don’t know that praising God while you are in the Darkness will get you out of the darkness any faster because God has His own timing.  I do believe that it will help you endure the darkness better.  I believe praising God is a great way to get outside of your thoughts and focus on God and all He has done for you.  

I am going to read Psalm 150 to you again so you can hear the intensity in which the author of Psalm believes in praising the Lord.  I think the words of the Psalm are the best words to leave you with today.“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his exceeding greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing symbols! Let everything that breathe praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to praise you and love you forever.  Lord, we ask that you be with everyone, even those going through that dark night of the soul.  I pray that you give them the strength they need to make it through to the other side.  We know on the other side of that darkness is light.  We know it is not just light, but also growth and new treasures that you have for us when we get to the other side.  We thank you Lord, you are truly wonderful.  We know you never abandon us and we love you for it!  We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

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

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Start A Fire In My Soul

2 Timothy 1:5-6 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

I was listening to some praise and worship songs this morning and I was looking for one song in particular because I just love it.  I couldn’t remember the name but I remembered which playlist it was on, so I searched through and found it.  It is called Start a Fire and it is by Unspoken.  I love this song so much because I feel like it speaks to my soul.  I feel it expresses how I feel so deeply.  I love many praise and worship songs for this reason.  I find the artists ability to capture how I feel about God and put it into words is remarkable.  This is why I love listening to Christian music so much.  I will hear a song and find myself nodding my head and saying, yes, that is exactly it.  Sometimes I didn’t even know that was how I felt, I just couldn’t put words to it but as soon as I heard them I knew it was true.  

I want to share the words of this song with you:

This world can be cold and bitter

Feels like we're in the dead of winter

Waiting on something better

But am I really gonna hide forever?

Over and over again

I hear Your voice in my head

Let Your light shine, let Your light shine for all to see

Start a fire in my soul

Fan the flame and make it grow

So there's no doubt or denying

Let it burn so brightly

That everyone around can see

That it's You, that it's You that we need

Start a fire in me

You only need a spark to start a whole blaze

It only takes a little faith

Let it start right here in this city

So these old walls will never be the same

Over and over again

I hear Your voice in my head

They need to know

I need to go

Spirit won't You fall on my heart now

You are the fire, You are the flame

You are the light on the darkest day

We have the hope, we bear Your name

We carry the news that You have come to save

Only You can save

There are so many things I love about this song.  I love the part where it says over and over again I hear your voice in my head, let you light shine, let your light shine for all to see.  I feel God is telling all of this.  He wants us to let our light shine.  It even says in the Bible, don’t hide your light under a bushel, put it on the table for all to see.  I love the part where it says, am I really going to hide forever?  As if we can hide from God.  He sees us, He sees all of us and guess what, He loves us, just as we are.  I love the part where it says, “Start a fire in my soul.  Fan the flames and make it grow so there’s not doubt or denying.  Let it burn so brightly that everyone around you can see that it’s you, that its you that we need.”  This is what God wants from us.  He wants His light to shine so brightly in us that everyone can see it.  He wants us to be a reflection of Him and to pass His light on to others.  This is my prayer for each one of you listening.  I pray God starts a fire in your soul.  Actually I pray He fans the flames on the fire He has already started.  You would not be listening to this podcast if there wasn’t already a fire in your soul.  I also love the part that says, “You are the fire, You are the flame, You are the light on the darkest day.”  This is so true.  I hope you know that.  I hope you know that God is that fire you feel inside, He is the flame.  God is the light on the darkest day.  Your darkest day, that one where you felt alone, that one where you feel sad, mad, angry, or depressed.  God is there and He is your light.  He will light a way where you didn’t think there was one.  

The verse above starts by saying, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” I met with some of the ladies in my prayer group yesterday to review what we had learned at a recently attended conference.   During the conversation we started talking about the faith that was passed down to us from our parents, who received it from their parents.  Your faith came from some where and I think we underestimate how important it is that our parents passed our faith down to us.  Maybe some of you listening didn’t have that.  Maybe you found your faith on your own.  Well, maybe God led you to your faith in another way.  That is great if you were able to find your faith despite the lack of faith in your childhood.  

For those of you that grew up going to church, I would like you to take a minute to appreciate how great that is.  Maybe you didn’t appreciate it at the time because, let’s be honest, most kids don’t enjoy the fact that their parents made them go to church.  However, if you look back now, can you see what a gift that was?  Can you see how your parents were giving you a firm foundation on which you can rely for the rest of your lives.  

I really don’t know if I would have made it through I made it through if I didn’t have my faith, if I didn’t have God right there with me.  I don’t know if I would have had the strength to keep fighting, to keep searching for answers, to keep trying.  Our family of origin, the family we grew up with has a large impact on who we become.  Sometimes we can get caught up in seeing all the negative things that came from our family.  Maybe today we could take a moment to think about all the good things that came from our family.  Maybe we can think about what a gift it is that our parents passed down the faith to us.  We can think back to how many other generations have kept the faith alive in our family so that we could have the foundation we have today.  If you didn’t have that firm foundation, if you had to find it on your own, maybe think about how important it is to pass that along to the next generation, so that they aren’t lost and so they don’t have to find God on their own.  What a gift that would be.  

The verse above ends with, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”  It reminds us that God is a Gift.  Not everyone knows God, not everyone has received this gift.  This verse is telling us to fan the flame of that gift.  Fan the flame of the fire inside of us.  As the song says, “Fan the flame and make it grow, so there's no doubt or denying. Let it burn so brightly that everyone around can see that it's You, that it's You that we need.”  What if your love for God burned so brightly that there was no way to deny it?  What if it burned so brightly that is spread like wild fire to all those you meet?  Have you ever been with someone who had an infectious laugh?  They are filled with so much joy and when you are around them you can’t help but laugh too?  What if we were like that with the Holy Spirit?  We were so filled with the Holy Spirit that when others were around us they can’t help but be filled with the Holy Spirit too? What if we made that our goal?  What if our goal for 2023 was to fan the flame of our faith so that it grew so brightly that all could see it?  This is my goal, will you join me?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and we want to fan the flame, will you help us?  We want to be so full of your love and goodness that it spills out on all those we meet.  We want the fire inside of us to be like a wildfire that spreads to each and every person we come in contact with.  We don’t want anyone to have to go another day without knowing your love, your mercy, your glory, and your grace.  You are so amazing Lord.  We are so grateful for those who came before us and passed on your faith to their loved ones.  Please help us to pass on our faith to our loved ones as well.  Give us the strength and the will power we need to do this Lord.  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 look forward to bringing you another witness tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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