Walk Boldly With Jesus

Love in Action (Part 1)

Romans 12:9-11 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

When I was looking through various scriptures for the episode I found this subtitle in Romans 12, Love in Action, and instantly knew I wanted to talk on it.  I think love is a complicated thing.  There are so many different kinds of love and also so many different interpretations of love.  If you asked 100 different people what love is, I bet you would get 100 different answers.  On top of all of that, we have all had different experiences with love.  Some of us were shown a lot of love growing up and some of us weren’t.  Some of us were used in the name of love, some of us were abused in the name of love.  Some of us had parents who didn’t know how to love.  Some of us didn’t have parents.  Do you see what I mean about how love is complicated?  What I loved about this subtitle is that if we think of love as an action, we can define it a little more easily.  I also love that the Bible defines it for us, so we don’t have to come up with a definition.  I love that because if we had to come up with a definition it would probably be tainted by our experiences.  God’s love is pure and that is the love we want.  Yet, we can’t strive for something if we don’t know how to get it.  

In this section of the Bible, love is broken down into actions.  I will spend the next few episodes going over these actions and looking at them a little closer and hopefully by the end of this week we will all understand love a little better.  This verse starts by saying love must be sincere.  I think we have all felt the difference between sincere love and insincere love.  When someone one is insincere with their love you can usually tell.  They may be saying they love you with their words, and yet their actions are saying something completely different.  For instance, they say they love you and they want to spend time with you, but then they never do. They say you mean everything to them and yet they put you last.  These are a few examples of how you might feel if someone wasn’t sincere with their love.  

Next the verse says, Hate what is evil and cling to what is good.  You would think this one would be obvious and easy.  Of course we would hate what is evil.  Who would choose to cling to what is evil over what is good?  And yet we do it all the time.  It is difficult in this world to know what is evil sometimes.  The world seems to normalize so much that is not good.  A great example of this is pornography.  This is ruining people’s marriage.  I have a friend who’s husband was addicted to it and would not stop.  It ruined their marriage.  He had a wife, he could have clung to his marriage and yet he clung to what was evil instead.  Unfortunately this is becoming more and more of a problem.  There are lots of ways in which we allow things to creep into our marriages and ruin them.  We want to cling to what is good and yet we get so turned around sometimes with what is good and what isn’t.  Even with our prayer time.  We know prayer is good.  We want to spend time in prayer and grow closer to God and yet we allow so many other things that aren’t good to take the place of prayer.  Lord, please help us to hate what is evil and cling to what is good.  

Next it says, “Be devoted to one another in love.”  Being devoted to one another is something we seem to struggle with.  I think the divorce rate today is above 50%.  I think if we could master being devoted to one another in love, we could change this.  When I looked up the word devoted it said, “very loving or loyal.”  Imagine if we were loyal to one another in love?  How would your relationships change if you were loyal in love?  When looking up the definition for loyal it said, “giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.”  Think about your relationships, how would they be different if you showed more firm and constant support to your loved one?  I know mine would improve.  I can’t think of a single relationship that wouldn’t improve with a little more support.  I think our loved ones just want to know that we are on their side and we have got their back.  

The verse goes on to say, “Honor one another above yourselves.” This is something I see less and less today.  We seem to live in a society that looks out for themselves first and others second.  I don’t mind helping others as long as it doesn’t inconvenience me. Putting others first can be hard.  We want to make sure our own needs are taking care of and that is not a bad thing.  However, we often have excess and yet we hold onto it afraid we won’t have enough.  I am not saying we shouldn’t save for a rainy day, saving is good.  However, when you have way more than you need and yet you still aren’t giving to those in need because you are afraid you won’t have enough, that is not a good thing.  Trust in the Lord, that he will provide for you when you need it.  Also, take some time and think of how you could honor those around you.

Lastly it says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”  This can be hard sometimes.  We can certainly lose our zeal and spiritual fervor if we are not paying attention.  If we are not serving the Lord on a regular basis, it can be easy to lose our zeal.  If we are not keeping up with our prayer time and we are not checking in with God on a regular basis, then we can start to forget how amazing He is.  We can start to forget all of His promises and all that He has done for us.  We can also lose our zeal or spiritual fervor if we do the same thing day in and day out.  We can start to do things out of routine without even putting much thought into it and then these things can become boring to us.  If this happens, it is ok, it is normal.  Don’t keep doing those same things though, switch it up.  If you are getting bored with how you are interacting with God, do something different.  Say different prayers, maybe journal instead of talking with God.  Maybe take a break from what you normally do and try something new.  God doesn’t really care HOW we spend time with Him, He just cares IF we spend time with Him.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us to hear all ways we can put love into action.  Help us to hear in this episode which ways we need to work on and then show us how to work on it.  Lord, we want to love like you love, please show us how.  We want our love to be sincere.  We want to hate what is evil and cling to what is good. We want to be devoted to one another in love. We want to honor one another above ourselves. Lord, we just don’t know how, please show us.  Father, we want to never be lacking in zeal, but keep our spiritual fervor, serving you.  Please teach us, Dad.  We are willing to learn and we are giving you permission to come into our lives and teach us.  We need you Lord!  You love so freely and so perfectly.  We want to love like that too!  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with you will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Remember To Love This Christmas.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”  

This is a powerful scripture and a powerful reminder of how important love is.  This is something we can easily forget.  We can strive to be the best at everything we do.  Sometimes we can do a lot of things in the name of love, but in the process actually end up hurting those we love instead.  For instance, we might work a lot to try to be a good provider for our family.  We are working so much because we love our family and we want to make sure they have everything they need.  However, sometimes we end up working too much and then they don’t ever get to see us.  This is not showing them love.  We might want to show our family that we love them by keeping the house clean.  However, if we take this too far and are always yelling at everyone to clean up their stuff, then we are not showing them we love them.  

I was listening to the KLOVE radio station yesterday and the host of the show shared a poem that took this verse and changed it to apply to the Christmas season.  Since this season is one that gets away from all of us from time to time I thought I would share it will you too.  When I heard this it was a great reminder of what is really important during this season.  The Poem is called 1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style By Sharon Jaynes. (Click Here) to check out her website.

 If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

 If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family – it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails.  Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust.  But giving the gift of love will endure.

I really like how she not only took the verse above and made it about Christmas, but she also went a step further and showed us what it would look like if we did show love during this time.  It is easy to get caught up in our to do list this season.  I know there is a lot to do.  There are presents to buy and decorations to put up.  There are teacher gifts to give and work parties to attend.  There is a lot.  However, you get to choose how you do these things.  You can spend hours making teacher gifts, or you can get them a gift card, the teacher will love it no matter which you choose to do because you are showing your appreciation. You can get all stressed out about finding time to put up all your decorations, or you can put up the ones you want to put up and keep the rest for another year.  You can attend every Christmas party you are invited to, or you can tell some that you would love to come but you just can’t make it this year.  

Every year, once a year, we get to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into this world as a baby.  We get to remember how much Mary and Joseph sacrificed for us.  We get to remember how much our God in Heaven loves us that he would give us His only son to walk among us.  Many of us get to spend time with our families during this season.  I know that part can be stressful for some.  Families are not always easy to get along with.  There may be past hurts and wounds.  What if you considered the gift of forgiveness this Christmas?  I am not sure who that was for, but I did not intend to write that and yet I felt I was supposed to include that.  If what I just said about forgiveness touched your heart, I think God is wanting to talk with you.  See if you can find sometime this weekend to sit with the Lord and ask Him if that was meant for you, if He wants you to forgive someone this Christmas?  If He does, then don’t worry because He will give you the words to say and He will give you the strength to say them.  

I know this information is not anything new, I think we just need a reminder sometimes and so when I heard it on the radio I though it would be good to share it with all of you as well.  Don’t get so caught up in all that you are doing or have to do that you find yourself being unkind.  Make time for those you love, even if it means you don’t get your house perfectly decorated or your cookies go unfrosted.  Maya Angelou said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  How are you going to make others feel this Christmas season?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, be with us throughout this advent season.  Help remind us of what is important when we forget.  Help us to love all those we encounter.  Help us remember giving is better than getting.  Help us remember all those that might be struggling during this difficult time.  Lord, we ask you put on our hearts anyone you want us to reach out to, anyone that might need us to check in.  Show us how to help those that need help.  We love you Lord, you are amazing.  We are so grateful you sent your only son to walk among us, to be one of 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 spending time with you again on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed weekend!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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What is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception?

Today, I decided to do something a little different.  I usually begin by sharing a scripture verse with you.  However, today is a very special day, at least in the Catholic Church.  There is a lot of confusion about this day and so I wanted to explain what we are actually celebrating today and why we are celebrating it.  Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception.  When I was growing up I never understood how Mary could have immaculately conceived Jesus on the 8th of December and then delivered him on December 25th.  It didn’t make sense to me and yet I didn’t really question it.  It was not until I was an adult, I am not sure how many years ago, that I learned what we were truly celebrating.  I found this great article that explains what we are celebrating and why.  It is called, “8 Things You Need to Know About the Immaculate Conception,” by Jimmy Akin.  I will put a link for the article in the show notes.  (Click Here) for the article. This is where I found the information for this episode.

The Immaculate Conceptions is not referring to Jesus’ conception, it is referring to Mary’s conception.  Mary has a human mother and father, her conception was not the same as Jesus’.  However, it was special in another way.  Here is how the Catholic Church explains it:

CCC490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”.  In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

CCC491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. 

This means that Mary was not only free from original sin, but she was also free from person sin as well.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

CCC493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”.  By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. “Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”

The next question Akin asks is, “If Mary was free from sin, does that mean she didn’t need Jesus to die on a cross for her?"

He answers, “No. What we've already quoted states that Mary was immaculately conceived as part of her being “full of grace” and thus "redeemed from the moment of her conception" by "a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race."

The Catechism goes on to state:

CCC492 The “splendour of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”.  The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.

CCC508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace”, Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.

The next question Akin asked is, “How does this make Mary a parallel of Eve?”  His is answer is:  Adam and Eve were both created immaculate--without original sin or its stain. They fell from grace, and through them mankind was bound to sin.  Christ and Mary were also conceived immaculate. They remained faithful, and through them mankind was redeemed from sin. Christ is thus the New Adam, and Mary the New Eve.

The Catechism notes:

CCC494 . . . As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”  Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”

Another question Akin asked was, “Was it necessary for God to make Mary immaculate at her conception so that she could be Jesus' mother?”

Akin writes, “No. The Church only speaks of the Immaculate Conception as something that was "fitting," something that made Mary a "fit habitation" (i.e., suitable dwelling) for the Son of God, not something that was necessary. Thus in preparing to define the dogma, Pope Pius IX stated:

And hence they [the Church Fathers] affirmed that the Blessed Virgin was, through grace, entirely free from every stain of sin, and from all corruption of body, soul and mind; that she was always united with God and joined to him by an eternal covenant; that she was never in darkness but always in light; and that, therefore, she was entirely a fit habitation for Christ, not because of the state of her body, but because of her original grace. . . .

For it was certainly not fitting that this vessel of election should be wounded by the common injuries, since she, differing so much from the others, had only nature in common with them, not sin. In fact, it was quite fitting that, as the Only-Begotten has a Father in heaven, whom the Seraphim extol as thrice holy, so he should have a Mother on earth who would never be without the splendor of holiness [Ineffabilis Deus]."

Many of you listening may have already known all about this special day.  However, I felt it was important to explain as I remember when I first found out what we were celebrating I was confused.  I didn’t really understand at first and I would have loved to have had this article back then.  I know there are some people who don’t understand that we aren’t celebrating Jesus’ immaculate conception and so I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings about this day.  For those of you who are Catholic, just in case you don’t know, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conceptions is a holy day of obligation.  I hope you all enjoyed this little explanation and I hope you check out the article for more information.  

Dear Heavenly Father, we are so grateful you gave us Mary so she could say yes to having your one and only son.  We are so grateful you came up with a plan to save us.  We are grateful for all you have done for us over the years.  We don’t deserve anything and yet you give us so much.  We thank you Lord.  We love you and we celebrate and honor your beautiful daughter Mary today.  We honor you and your plan for her life.  You are so amazing how you plan everything out in advance.  You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  You are truly remarkable and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  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 on the link below.  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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My Sheep Hear My Voice and I Know Them!

John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

The verse we got in class last night was John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.”  I was going to stop here and then the Holy Spirit prompted me to look at what came after that verse.  I could see by the semicolon at then end of the verse that there was more to this sentence.  I am glad that I did because the next three verse are pretty powerful as well.  Let me start at the beginning of the verse.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  That right there is a lot more powerful than it might seem.  We are God’s sheep this verse says we hear His voice.  It doesn’t say a special chosen few hear my voice.  It doesn’t say holy people hear my voice.  It says My sheep hear my voice.  This means we are all able to hear God’s voice.  Do you hear God’s voice?  

If we are not hearing God’s voice right now, it is not because we can’t, it is not because he is hiding it from us, it is not because we aren’t good enough, or holy enough.  If we can’t hear God’s voice right now, it is because we are not taking the time to listen.  I assure you, God wants to talk to us.  He wants to talk to all of His children.  Another reason we might not be able to hear His voice right now is because we don’t believe God would talk to us.  Who are we?  We aren’t special, why would God want to talk to us?  Who are we? We are a children of God.  We are special because He made us in His likeness and image.  If we sit down and ask God to talk to us and then sit there in the silence and wait expectantly, God will talk with us.  Will we hear an audible voice, maybe, but probably not.  It is more likely we will have a sudden thought, or we hear our inner voice say something.  The voice of God is different for each one of us.  It is most often that inner voice, your voice that you hear.  God can also talk with us through other means of communication, such as visions and through scripture.  Although since this verse talks about hearing God’s voice I won’t go into detail on visions and scripture.  

The next part of the verse says, “I know them.”  God knows each one of us individually.  He cares about us and our individual circumstances.  I have a word of prophecy from my prayer group up on the wall in front of where I work and it begins by saying, “I have called you by name into life.  I have called you every day by your name because I know you, I love you, because you are my friend.”  I have this up as a reminder that God knows my name.  He is my friend.  God is your friend too!  He knows your name and he calls you by name every single day.  Are you answering that call?  Are you hearing that call?  God knows you, are you taking the time to get to know Him?

Next it says, “and they follow me.”  Are we following God’s voice?  Are we sticking close by Him so He can protect us from all the dangers out there?  Or, are we doing our own thing?  Are we following our own path because we think we know what is best for us?  If we are listening to God’s voice then we can follow Him and He will keep us safe.  He will lead us down the path that is the best for us.  That doesn’t mean we won’t ever encounter an hardships or troubles, but it does mean, when we do, we can lean on God because He will be right there with us.  Will you follow God today?

The next part of the verse is super encouraging.  It says, “and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.”  Wow, that is pretty amazing.  Not only do we get to hear God’s voice, not only does He know us by name, and not only do we get to follow Him, but he also gives us eternal life.  How great is that?  I don’t know about you but I don’t want to perish.  I am forever grateful that Jesus died so that we can have eternal life.  I also love that it says no one will snatch them out of my hand.  That means if we are listening to God’s voice and following Him, the enemy will not snatch us out of His hands.  Unfortunately this doesn’t mean the enemy won’t try.  This doesn’t mean we will have stress free lives.  However, it does mean, we belong to God, and He is there for us.  He will protect us and will not allow anyone to be taken out of his hands.  Our job is just to listen for His voice so we know where to go and when.  Our job is to follow Him, He will take care of the rest.

The last line in this verse says, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”  This is more reassurance that no one is able to snatch us out of the Father’s hand.  We are His and He knows us by name.  He knows us by name.  Can you believe how awesome that is?  There are 8 billion people in the world and God knows you, individually.  He knows your name, He knows your wants, your needs your desires.  He knows you!  That just blows my mind.  On our way home from class last night we were talking in the car about how incredible it is that God can talk to all of us at the same time.  

We did a lot of activations last night.  We were partnered up and we practiced listening to God’s voice.  It was a truly amazing experience.  I definitely would recommend it to each and every one of you.  What was especially remarkable, was how he was talking to each one of us specifically and how He was able to talk to all of us at the same exact time.  We did specific exercises led by one of our teachers.  However, anyone can practice hearing the Lord’s voice.  If you are not used to hearing God’s voice start by setting aside a few minutes a day.  It could be just five minutes and it doesn’t have to be sitting in a chair with your eyes closed.  It could be while you are driving to work, or driving to the store. It could be while you are in the shower or while you make your morning cup of coffee or tea.  Wherever you are and whatever your are doing, just ask the Lord to speak to you.  You can say something like, “Lord, what would you like to tell me right now?” You could also ask Him what He thinks of a certain decision you want to make.  You can have a back and forth conversation with God.  You talk, He listens, then He talks, and you listen.  I struggle to hear God if I am just sitting there listening.  For me, I hear Him best if I am writing down the thoughts that are coming into my head.  I do not question them, I just write them all down as I think of them.  After I write them all down I can go back and look at them and ask God to show we what is from Him and what is not.  

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  This is so important.  The Lord is our Shepard and we are His sheep.  We must hear His voice and follow Him.  If we want eternal life, we must stay close to the Lord.  Will you take just 5 minutes today and spend that time listening for the Lord’s voice, for His direction?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful you call us by name.  We are grateful you know us and that you protect us.  We are grateful that if we follow you we will not perish but will have eternal life.  Thank you for not letting anyone snatch us out of your hands.  Lord, help us to hear your voice.  Help us to listen with expectancy.  Help us to take time throughout the day to pause and listen to you.  Help us to learn to pause and ask you before any major decisions.  Help us to grow Lord.  Help us to know you like you know us.  We love you Lord, you are so amazing!  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 sharing another witness with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Can Good Things Come From Bad Situations?

Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

Have you ever had something happen, and even though you know it was a bad thing that happened, what came out of it was good?  This happens a lot in romance movies.  Something bad happens to the main character, for instance her car breaks down, and then the man of her dreams stops to help her and they live happily ever after.  Another example is from wedding planner.  The main character gets hurt and a really cute doctor stops to help her.  It is not great that the car broke down, but the outcome, of meeting your future husband, is great.  I know these examples are from movies, but they happen in real life too.  I know people who got cancer, and had to go through chemo and radiation and it was truly terrible.  And also, it made them slow down and learn to appreciate what was really important to them.  Sometimes when something bad happens it can be the wakeup call or the second chance we needed to get back on track.  

I think that is what this verse is talking about.  It says all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called to his purpose.  It doesn’t say all things are good, it doesn’t say all things turn into good things, it says all things work together for the good of that person.  Does this mean nothing bad will ever happen? Nope! Does this mean you life will be smooth sailing if you love God and are called according to his purpose? Unfortunately, no, it does not.  What does it mean?  It means that no matter what happens, good or bad, God can use it for your good.  He can take the crap of you life, and use it as fertilizer to make fruit grow in your life.  Good things can grow out of bad circumstances, if you let them.  

We all know the pandemic was a bad thing.  Over 6.5 million people died from that awful disease.  So many people lost their jobs, lost their loved ones, lost their businesses.  There was so much fear and anxiety during the last 2-3 years of life.  We lost a lot during that time.  It was really hard on so many people.  It will take us a long time to recover in so many ways from this pandemic.  As awful as this pandemic was, so good things did grow out of it.  Families were forced to slow down and spend time together.  I know that wasn’t good for everyone, and yet it was great for some.  My husband had to leave the house for work at 5 am just to beat the traffic and then he wouldn’t get home until 5 or 6 because of traffic on the way home.  Now that he is working from home we get to have breakfast, lunch and dinner together most days.  There were some positive things to come out of these last two years.  

Last night I received an email from a friend in my prayer group.  Another friend from our prayer group had sent her a page from her prayer journal around this time 2020.  This prayer journal entry talks about a really good thing that came out of a bad situation.  It was Advent time in 2020 and a lot of people weren’t able to be with their family like they usually would.  A lot of people had small Christmas celebrations that year with only those that lived in the same house as they did.  I know it was a sad holiday season for so many.  It wasn’t any different for my friend.  She wanted to be with family and that wasn’t going to happen.  God showed up for her and provided her with a truly special experience during a time that could have been really lonely.  Here is her journal entry:

Lord Jesus,
It is amazing that this terrible pandemic has provided me with an opportunity that I have longed for. (This is Romans 8:28 in action). And what is it that I have longed for? A Christmas spent completely with You, alone with You, asking You to be born anew in my heart.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for using this Advent season to open my eyes to parts of the Salvation story that I hadn’t considered. Each day lately I have stopped to meditate on Mary and Joseph’s long, difficult 80 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. How many miles could they travel in a day? Were they short on supplies? Did Mary walk much of the way? Surely, she could not have worked to stay balanced on a donkey for the whole time. How did she not go into labor while being jostled about on the donkey? How hard dear St. Joseph must have worked to try to keep Mary, the holy Mother of God, comfortable! And how sad he must have been to watch her suffer silently. What people did they meet on their journey, people who couldn’t know that they were in the presence of the soon-to-be born Messiah? Were there robbers on their journey? And did angels of God take on human form, to be seen only by the thieves, to frighten away any threat to the Holy Family?

Thank You, Lord, for inviting me this year to make that journey with Mary and Joseph. Thank You for stopping me so often in my daily tasks to question, “Where are they now? What are they doing? Resting? Walking? What are they talking about? What prayers are they saying?” Jesus, my Lord and Savior, teach me to pray and trust as they did. Oh, dear Jesus, thank You for using this time of quarantine to invite me on this intimate journey.

Thank You, Jesus my dear Lord, for asking me to set my dining room table for Christmas early this year - on the first Sunday of Advent - setting it with places for You, Your Mother and Saint Joseph. I have been graced in 2 ways by this. First, it has provided me with a tangible way to express my longing to welcome You to be born anew and more deeply in my heart. That longing grows each time I look at Your seat at the head of the table.

Secondly, it has made me more aware of Your constant Presence. In the evening, when I light the candles on the Advent wreath and Walter and I sit at the table to pray the rosary, I am more aware that You , Mary and Joseph are quietly hearing our prayers and are honored by them.

While I know that my heart will be so sad that Walter and I cannot be with our family this Christmas, I am so grateful for the invitation from You to spend this holy time focused only on You and welcoming You to come and be more fully alive in and through me for the glory of Your Holy Name.

May I ask one thing this year, Lord? Grant to each member of my family the grace to experience Your Presence in a life-changing way this Christmas. Amen.

I share this with you because I think it is a really great way to spend advent.  Advent and Lent are two times out of the year that we are called to do something different.  These are two seasons in the year that are more heavily dedicated to our Lord and Savior, His birth and His death.  Both require us to prepare ourselves for these events.  Meditating on Mary and Joseph’s journey can be a great way to set aside some time to grow closer to the holy family.  There are some great questions in this meditation.  Listen to it again, or read the transcript in the show notes, or on Facebook and spend some time really thinking about their journey, what they must have gone through, what it was like for them.  Maybe set a place at your table for Jesus, or for all three of them, Jesus, Mary & Joseph.  How would your dinners be different if you set a place for them?  How would the conversations be different?  I pray you are all having an amazing advent season, and if you were looking for something special to do this advent, try this meditation and see how it changes you.  

Dear heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful you gave us your only son.  You are amazing!  It still blows my mind that you love us that much.  We are flawed, and we mess up all the time, we turn away from you and deny you all the time and yet you still sent your son to die on a cross for us.  It is hard to fathom that kind of love.  Help us to remember it during this season and every day of our lives.  Help us never forget how much you love us and how much you sacrificed for us.  We love you Lord, you are so awesome.  We are so grateful 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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Me, Are You Sure God?

1 Samuel 9:18-21 & 1 Samuel 10:1 “Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?” “I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and will tell you all that is in your heart.  As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?”  Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?”

When I was reading over the scriptures for the week this one caught my eye because Saul says something I can picture each one of us saying.  Saul has set out in search of these 3 donkeys that are missing.  This interaction picks up when he gets to Samuel’s house.  He is looking for Samuel because he is a seer.  A seer is a perceiver of hidden truth according to one site I found online.  Samuel says Saul is to eat with him and then will go on his way in the morning.  Samuel then drops this crazy idea on Saul that Israels future lies in his hands.  Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” This is where I think we can all relate.  

Saul has just been told, “And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?”  Basically the future of Israel lies in Saul’s hands and he instantly questions his worthiness.  Have you ever done this?  Have you ever wanted to go for a promotion at work and yet worried you weren’t good enough for it?  Have you ever had someone tell you that you would be perfect for some position, whether paid, or volunteer and you wonder what they see in you that made them think that?  I know I have.  I went to a retreat once, and they were looking for people to be on the executive board for the European region.  It was my first retreat with the group.  I had been a part of the local groups for a few years.  The women I had met at the retreat were saying if no one else wanted the positions maybe we should help out.  

I instantly wondered if I could do it.  Didn’t you have to be pretty holy to be on the executive board of a large Catholic organization?  What if they knew how flawed I am?  What if they realized I don’t know nearly as much as anyone else does about our faith?  What if’s kept running through my head.  When we were talking about it at dinner, we were discussing what experience we had either in a job setting or in a volunteer setting.  I mentioned I had several years experience volunteering on the executive boards of several spouses groups.  I had pretty much done all the various roles.  I will never forget one of the women said, I could have guessed that.  I wondered what about me made her think that.  To me I just saw my self as a mom of three boys.  Someone who helps out wherever needed.  I didn’t think I did anything too important.  I mean I know mothering is important. Its just, sometimes in the grand scheme of things, when mothering is your full time job, it can start to feel like you aren’t important. I am not sure if that makes sense to everyone, but I know some of you have probably felt that way before.  It was nice to have someone else affirm that she knew I could do it.  

I had only spent two days or so with this woman and she could see things in me that I couldn’t see.  Why is it that others can see things in us that we can’t see?  Why do others see the best in us and we not only can’t see it, we often struggle to believe it when they call it out in us?  Saul was struggling to believe he was worthy of this amazing thing Samuel called out in him.  He answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” All Saul could see was where he came from.  He saw his family status, he saw his place in the clan, he saw all he lacked.  He didn’t come from the best family, he didn’t have the status, he didn’t see what Samuel saw in him.  However, Samuel was a seer, he could see the hidden truths.  Samuel was able to see what God had in store for Saul.  He was able to look to the future and see all Saul was capable of doing.  

I know Saul didn’t have the benefit of the Bible.  I am sure some of the stories of God had been passed down through the generations, but he did’t have the benefit of the complete Old and New Testament.  If he did he would have been able to realize that God rarely, if ever, uses those with perfect family blood lines.  He rarely, if ever, uses the person you are I would pick for Him to use.  God tends to pick the broken to do His work.  God chooses people not based on how we see them, but on how He sees them.  God chooses people for a particular purpose and your status, your family, your job, your reputation, none of that will exclude you out if God wants you.  I was mentioning to Tony yesterday about how Saul was on his way to capture and put in jail anyone who believed in Jesus Christ and God gave him a vision and he was baptized just a few days later.  Saul consented to the stoning of Stephen, a beloved follow of Jesus, and he was not excluded from God’s glory.  He was not excluded from helping to build up the kingdom of God here on earth.  Saul is just one example, but there are so many.  Even within the 12 apostles there was Matthew who was a tax collector, Simon who was a zealot and Judas who was a thief.  

I know you don’t think you are worthy of the call God is placing on your life, answer that call anyway.  God will be there every step of the way to give you all you need.  I know you don’t feel comfortable believing the great things people call out in you, believe them anyway.  I know it can be uncomfortable to call out the wonderful things you see in others, call them out anyway.  You never know how much it could mean to that person.  You never know if that thought that you had about that person is something God put in your mind for you to share it for Him.  We need to build people up.  This world does a great job of tearing people down.  What if we did a great job of building people up?  What if we called out the good we see in others even if we think they already see it.  What if God is using us to tell that person something that He has been telling them and yet they just couldn’t hear it?  God loves you, he is choosing you for something right now, can you say yes?  I asked God one time, why me, and he said why not you.  He sees incredible things in each one of us.  He is choosing you and He has His reasons, trust that The One True God, the God almighty, The Maker of Heaven and Earth did not get it wrong.  Trust He knows what He is doing and say “Yes Lord, Yes, Lord, Yes, Yes, Lord.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and we are sorry to question you.  We are sorry we struggle to believe you would really use us.  We are sorry we struggle to see how wonderfully you made us.  We say yes Lord, even if we don’t understand why you chose us, we say yes.  We say yes even if we don’t think we are worthy because we know if you call us for something you will also equip us for it.  Lord, please help us to call out the wonderful things we see in others.  Give us the boldness to follow your promptings and share them with others.  We love you Lord, you are amazing.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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(Click Here) for Encounter School Boston You Tube Page.  We will be posting more testimonies on this YouTube page each week.

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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Find The Gold In People

Romans 2:1-4 “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.  So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

We spend a lot of time in class talking about this topic of judging others and calling out other peoples sin last night and I think it was such a great conversation.  I wanted to share the idea with all of you as well.  We all know we shouldn’t judge others.  Did you know the extent to which you judge others is the extent to which God will judge you?  For me, finding that our, taking a minute to let that sink in was a game changer for me.  If I expect perfection from others and don’t cut anyone any slack, then God will do the same?  I don’t know if that is exactly how it works, but that right there was enough for me to double down on my efforts not to judge.  I know I am not perfect.  I know I have many flaws.  I know I need God to be very gracious with me and so that means I must be gracious with others.  To me, that seems like a small trade off.  

If I am gracious with others here on earth, how does that hurt me?  It may be inconvenient.  I may have to be nice to those I don’t like, I may have to put up with annoyances.  I may have to watch them make bad choices and not judge them for it.  However, if you compare that to the alternative, it doesn’t compare.  If you compare those inconveniences to what might happen if God judged me the way I was judging others, I would be suffering a lot more than inconveniences after I leave earth.  I want to spend eternity with my heavenly father.  Our time in this world is so limited when we compare it to eternity.  Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Is it hard not to judge others, yes.  It is worth it in the end, absolutely.  

When I talk about judging others, most of you are probably thinking about how we judge strangers.  How we judge those we see on the streets, or in the grocery stores, maybe even those at work.  Those we judge when there is really no reason to judge.  We might judge someone’s outfit or the decisions they are making, but they don’t affect us.  Our judgement does not really affect them.  However, what about when we view our judgement as necessary?  For instance, we all want our children, or siblings, our family members to be successful.  We want them to have a good life.  When we worry they are headed down the wrong path, we feel it is our job to correct their course.  We are only try to help them be more responsible, be healthier, be whatever it is we think they should be.  Sometimes if our children, our loved ones, or our friends are doing something that we know is a sin we feel as though it is our duty to tell them.  We feel we are helping them to their salvation if we call out their sin.  We are only trying to help.  I get it, and yet, are we really helping?

In class we took a look at how Jesus dealt with sin in the Bible.  Sometimes, he did call it out, but only if needed and only with love.  For instance, the woman at the well, He let her know that she was living with a man that was not her husband, but he never once made her feel ashamed for it.  He was letting her know that He saw her, He knew her, all of her, and yet still loved her.  The woman caught in adultery, he didn’t scold her, he didn’t tell her she needed to get her life together, he didn’t lecture her on why what she was doing was wrong.  He showed her kindness, He saved her life, and he told her to sin no more.  What about Luke 19:1-10?  Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector who wanted to see Jesus.  Jesus called out to Zacchaeus and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  The scripture says others around were muttering that the Lord would dare to eat with a sinner.  Jesus never called out all Zacchaaeus’ sins.  He called him by his name, showing that He knew him and then He showed love for Zacchaeus by going to his house for lunch.  Then in Luke 19:8 it says, “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  

Why did Zacchaeus have a change of heart?  Why did he change his ways?  Why did the woman at the well change her ways?  Both of them had a renewal of the mind through an encounter with the love of Jesus.  Our goal in life, all of us, should be to lead people to encounter the transforming love of God.  I know we worry about our families and friends.  I know we love them and we just want what is best for them.  I also know that God loves them more than we ever could.  God wants more for them than we could ever imagine.  So, why do we think it is up to us and us alone to set them on the right path.  Why do we think it is our job to call out there sins?  Have you ever met someone or had someone in your life that pointed out all you did that was wrong?  Have you ever been around someone who made you feel like nothing you did was ever good enough?  How did that make you feel?  Did it make you want to work really hard to get that person’s respect?  Did it make you want to not even bother to try because there was no way they would be happy?  Did you feel any love from that person?  

The reason for the title of this episode is because our teacher kept saying we needed to look for the gold in people.  When you are mining for gold, you don’t always find gold.  Sometimes you pull up rocks, mud, sludge, or whatever else in mixed in with the gold.  However, you don’t keep that stuff.  You sift through all the junk and you only keep the good stuff.  What if we did that with all we meet.  Yes we see all the junk, the uncleanliness, the immature decisions, the sinfulness, and much more.  However, what if we were to sift that stuff out and just look for the gold.  Look for that one thing they are doing right, that one thing they have going for them, that one thing we can be proud of.  I think we definitely underestimate the power of our words and more importantly the power of positive words.  

Fear is gripping this society today.  There is so much fear, worry, anxiety.  We must fight it.  We must believe that our God is bigger than anything this world has to through at Him.  We must believe that God has the power to change our loved ones, to change us.  If there is one thing God has told me so many times over the years it is to be patient with the process.  He continues to tell me, because it takes multiple times, that the change I am looking for is coming, but it is not coming through my nagging.  My nagging only slows God’s plan down.  My nagging only closes the hearts and minds of those I want the best for.  God continues to tell me I just need to love the people and He will do the rest.  Sometimes this is counterintuitive.  I know you don’t see how affirming a person when they are making terrible choices can help the situation, but it can.  We need to come along side our loved ones.  Instead of acting like we have it all figured out, we can sympathize with their situation.  We can let them know we love them right where they are at.  They don’t need to change for us to love them.  They don’t need to be a certain person so we can love them.  We already love them and we are here to help when they are ready for the help.  Every single person in this world, whether they know it or not, is just looking to be loved, respected, and accepted.  

We are called to be like Jesus.  We are called to act like Jesus.  We are called to think like Jesus.  We can’t do this on our own, but with Jesus, we can do all things!  What if we put our worry aside for a moment and just lead with love?  What if we sifted through all the crap and called out that one thing they were doing right?  What if we just met people where they were and led them to an encounter with God’s transforming love?  I promise you, if you lead with love, you will be surprised at the changes you will see.  St. Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”  I think this applies to finding the gold in others.  You may have 101 reasons why this won’t work, why focusing on the positive won’t change anything, why your correcting them is necessary.  I get it and yet I am asking you to have faith.  Have faith that God can change the situation, change the person, change you.  Have faith that love is what is needed.  You will be surprised how different people act when they know they are loved and they don’t have to fight for love.  How about we all commit to trying this for advent?  Can you spend the next 26 days leading with love?  Can you stop the criticizing, judging, nagging, for the next 26 days and just find the gold in all those you meet.  Not just find it, but point it out and celebrate it.  God’s love is the most powerful tool for change!

Dear heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, forgive us for judging others, we don’t mean to.  Forgive us for nagging our loved ones, we only want the best for them.  Forgive us for making others feel unloved or unwanted, that was not our intent.  Lord, show us how to lead with love.  Jesus did it so perfectly, show us how to imitate Jesus.  We just want our loved ones to be successful and happy, whatever that looks like for them.  If this means we need to change or renew our minds to see them in a different light then we give you permission to change us too Lord.  Mold us and transform us to your likeness and image Lord.  We love you Lord, you are truly amazing.  We are grateful you love our loved ones more than we ever could.  We are grateful you are in charge and we are sorry we keep forgetting that.  You are amazing Lord.  You are the almighty one, the prince of peace.  We bless you, we adore you and we glorify.  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 boldy with Jesus.  I look forward to brining you another witness tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s witness will be a couple different ones from my encounter class.  I know you will enjoy them.  They all speak about healing, and who couldn’t use a healing?  I pray you have a blessed day and remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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