Walk Boldly With Jesus

What is God Like?

Exodus 34:5-7 “And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.  The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, can you even imagine?  The Lord our God just coming down in the cloud and standing with you?  Sometimes I think Moses was so lucky.  He was so loved by the Lord and He had so many great conversations with the Lord.  He had interactions with the Lord that most of us only dream of.  As I write that, I wonder if that is a true statement?  Could we have interactions with the Lord, like Moses did? While I think we could have interactions like Moses did, I don’t think most of us do because we are not willing to trust like Moses did.  We are not willing to sacrifice and be obedient like Moses.  When I start to think about how lucky Moses was, the Holy Spirit reminds me of all Moses was called to do.  Moses did not have an easy job.  Going in front of the Pharaoh and asking him to release the Jews was not easy.  Going back to Pharaoh again and again could not have been easy.  Then he also had to lead the people out of Egypt.  

When I pictured Moses leading the people out of Egypt I pictured a small caravan of people.  I’m not sure if I thought it was a few hundred or a few thousand.  Honestly I probably pictured a few hundred.  When I read Exodus 12:37 and I learned “There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children,” I couldn’t believe it.  When I think of how many people Moses was leading, I don’t feel he was lucky.  I can’t even get my three boys to do what I want them to do, can you imagine being in charge of well over 600,000 people. Counting women and children some people say it was over 2 million people.  Moses had a hard job.  If he wasn’t as close with God I am not sure he would have been able to do it.  

The next part of the verse talks about God, it tells us some of His characteristics.  The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.  The Lord showed this over and over again with how he treated the Israelites.  They constantly turned away from the Him and yet he kept forgiving them. God performed numerous miracles for them and they were always in awe and they celebrated, and praised Him, and then after a little time went by, they started to complain about their circumstances again.  We do this too, don’t we?  We are so happy when God answers our prayers, and we praise Him and thank Him.  Then we go back to our normal lives, we get bored and we start to complain to the Lord because we don’t have all the things we want to have.  God saved the Israelites from slavery and yet they were complaining because they didn’t have any meat to eat.  They were romanticizing their life in slavery because they were comfortable there.  This new life Moses led them too wasn’t comfortable.  Yes, they were free, but they didn’t have the comforts they were used to.

Isn’t it strange how we do the same thing?  We know we are being called to something different and yet we cling to our past because that is where we are most comfortable.  Even if our past holds trauma, even if we weren’t free in our past situations, even if our past situations were hurting us, we can cling to what we are used to doing, what made us comfortable.  We know that staying with that abusive partner is not safe for us and yet if we leave, what will we have?  We may not even have a place to live, or money to buy food.  God can do miraculous things for us, He can help us leave that abusive relationship, that job that was stealing all our time away from our families, that town that wasn’t good for us and yet once we leave that situation we may long for some of the comforts that life provided us.

God is merciful and gracious, he understands what we are going through.  He is slow to anger.  He understands that we will make mistakes and He stands by our side while me make them.  I looked up the word steadfast as I wasn’t sure exactly what steadfast love and faithfulness meant.  According to the Oxford Dictionary steadfast means resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.  That seems to fit well with our God.  His love and faithfulness is unwavering. He does not always like what we do and He doesn’t always approve of it, and yet his love for us never changes.  Whether we have turned away or not, whether we are striving to be holy or not, God’s love for us never changes, it’s always there!    

I really like the next part of the verse too.  It says, “ Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”  I am so grateful that God forgives our iniquity and transgression and sin.  Can you even imagine where we would be if God didn’t for our transgressions and sins?  We are all sinners.  None of us are perfect.  I looked up the word iniquity because it is one of those words that I kinda know what it means, but I couldn’t explain it to someone else.  I think if we are exploring these verses we will understand them better if we can explain each word to someone else.  According to Oxford dictionary iniquity means, “Immoral or grossly unfair behavior.”  Yup, that sounds about right.  Where would we be if God didn’t forgive our immoral or grossly unfair behavior?  I also love how it says that God is keeping steadfast love for thousands.  

The last part of this verse was reassuring and yet a bit frightening, at least for me when I read it.  The ending of the verse says, “But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”  The first part seems like a good thing.  We love that God forgives our sins but we don’t want the guilty to go free.  God is a good good Father and so sometimes He gives out consequences that we may not like when we do the wrong thing.  He does not let us get away with things we shouldn’t get away with.  God will call us our on our stuff. That part was not the frightening part.  

The second part of that sentence where it says, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” This part seems disturbing to me.  Does that mean if my parents, or grandparents make a huge mistake then I will have to pay for it?  If my great grandmother does something to upset God, then I will also have to pay for her sins?  When I read this part of the verse I almost skipped over it.  It didn’t make sense to me and if I don’t understand it how could I explain it.  Also, it doesn’t seem to paint God in a very good light and I don’t want that either.  The reason I didn’t skip over this verse is because we are on a journey to learn what the Bible is telling us.  We can’t do that if we skip all the hard parts.  So, instead of skipping I went to my good friend google and looked up what other people saying about this last part that seems to be discussing generational curses.  I looked through a few articles, two of which seemed to explain it.  If you have the time check out the articles as I felt the held a lot of good information.  

One article said, “So here’s what the “generational curse” is really about: The skeletons in your closet weren’t put there by your dad or your grandmother or your great-aunt. They’re the work of your First Parents. You were in Adam when he broke God’s commandment. You were condemned with him. But that’s not the end of the story — praise God! Just as you were in Adam when he fell from grace, so now, if you believe in Jesus, you are in Christ through faith. This is what Paul means when he says that “one man [Jesus] did obey. That is why many people will be made right with God.” (Romans 5:19, NIRV).  To get out from under the “generational curse,” you have to be grafted into a whole new family tree (Romans 11:11-24).  God sent Jesus to die for our sins so we wouldn’t be condemned by the sins of others.”  (Click Here for article)

The second article explains it a bit differently.  It says, "It’s important to note that, even within the Mosaic Law, children were not required to suffer the penalty for their parents’ sins (see Deuteronomy 24:16). Nor was a child’s standing before God determined by the actions of his or her parents (see Ezekiel 18:1–32). However, there is no such thing as sin without consequence. When a parent sins, his or her children (and grandchildren) can expect to experience negative, earthly consequences for that sin. For example, if a father is an alcoholic, his children will not be punished for his sin; however, they will have to deal with the negative consequences of his actions, such as verbal abuse, a strained marriage with the mother, financial problems, and more.

Through Jesus and His death on the cross, all punishment for sin has been paid for once and for all and is not counted against those who have faith in Him (Romans 6:10; 1 Peter 3:18). In moments when we must deal with the consequences of other peoples’ sin, we can remember that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a comforter and helper (John 14:16–17) and that God has promised to work all things together for the good of those who love Him. (Click Here for 2nd article)

Both these explanations gave me comfort.  Although at first glance it seems as though we would have to pay for our father’s or mother’s sins, or even our grandparent’s sins, it turns out that Jesus already paid for our sins once and for all.  However, we may still have to deal the earthly consequences of those sins and for that we have the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us.  God is so Good, he never leaves us alone.  He knew we would need the Holy Spirit and so He sent him to us!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to see you for who you are.  Help us to see all the amazing characteristics you have.  Help us to feel your steadfast love and faithfulness.  Thank you for being so merciful and gracious.  Thanks for being so amazing and forgiving our iniquities, transgressions and sins!  We don’t know where we would be without you.  We are so grateful for you!  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 seeing you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Fearless Confidence

Acts 4:29-31 “And now they’re at it again! Take care of their threats and give your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message, as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of your holy servant Jesus.” While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence.”

I love how this verse ends, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence. How great would it be to speak God’s work with fearless confidence?  How great would it be to just say what you wanted to say without feeling like you had to sensor it for the world.  How many times have you thought something and then not said it because you weren’t sure what other’s would think?  How many times have you not mentioned God because you didn’t want to be different or because you didn’t want to be ridiculed?  I love how the disciples weren’t afraid.  The stakes were high for them and yet they couldn’t be silenced.  For them, it wasn’t a case of worrying if someone would be angry.  They were threatened and told they could not speak about Jesus to anyone.  They were thrown in jail and they were beaten, one of Jesus’ disciples, Steven, was stoned to death for his preachings.  

I was drawn to this passage for two main reasons.  The first is because I love that they prayed for fearless confidence.  I pray for a holy boldness a lot and now I can pray for this too!  The second reason is because of something Father Mike pointed out that I didn’t really notice.  Does that ever happen to you?  Something is right there in front of you, and yet you don’t realize it until someone points it out?  Father Mike was talking about how remarkable it was that these disciples asked God for fearless confidence instead of asking God to take away the danger.  As I mentioned earlier, at this time in the early church, it was really difficult to preach about God.  There were rules and laws against it.  People were told if they talked about Christ Jesus they will go to jail.  They were beaten, they were put in jail, they were stoned to death.  They did not have the religious freedoms many of us have today.  

They could have prayed for the threat to their safety to be removed.  They could have asked God to protect them from all dangers.  They could have asked for him to change the situation they were in.  They could have asked God for anything and instead they asked God for fearless confidence in preaching His message.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could all make this our prayer?  Wouldn’t it be great if instead of praying that God changes our circumstances we ask God to change us?  We can ask God to give us more strength, more courage, more love, more patience, more whatever it is we need to make it though our current circumstance, instead of asking God to change that circumstance.  Tony was talking to his friend once when I was pregnant with one of our boys.  We didn’t find out the gender of our baby until they were born.  We wanted to be surprised.  Tony was telling his friend that he didn’t care if it was a boy or girl, he just prayed our baby was healthy.  Tony said he will never forget what his friend replied, “I used to pray for a healthy baby, now I pray for the strength to take care of whatever baby God gives me.”

Tony was moved by this statement.  He thought it was great that his friend was bold enough to pray a prayer like that.  When we are able to pray something like Tony’s friend prayed, or like the apostles prayed, we are truly trusting in the will of God.  We are trusting in the sovereign power of God.  We are asking God to equip us for whatever circumstances He has laid out before us.  A lot of times we want to take the easy way out.  Sometimes everything in life is so overwhelming that we can’t help but ask for God to take it away, and that is ok.  It’s not bad to ask God to remove your heavy burdens.  Turning you worries and cares over God should be the first thing we all do.  I think asking God to take away your struggles is a good thing.  I think praying for God to change you, instead of asking Him to change your circumstances is a deeper level in your relationship with the Lord.  I long for that close of a relationship with my heavenly dad.  I long for the type of relationship where I have complete trust in God and His plans.  I long for a relationship with Him where my will and His will line up perfectly.  How awesome would that be?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are amazing.  Please help us to desire for you to transform us instead of us asking you to take away our circumstance.  Help us to be open to your will Lord.  Please give us the words to say when we pray.  We love you Lord, you are the almighty one and the Lord of all Lord.  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 boldy with Jesus.  It is so great to know I am not on this journey by myself!  Thank you also for all of you that have purchased my book Total Trust in God’s Safe Embrace!  I truly appreciate it. Today, I want to wish all of you listening from America a very Happy Thanksgiving! I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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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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Are We Talking About Jesus?

Romans 10:14-17 "But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.”

We are all called to evangelization.  What does evangelization even mean? According to the diocese of Trenton “Evangelization means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself.” This could look different for each one of us.  I have a friend who feels called to share the Psalms with those he meets.  When he does people are often moved to tears and it opens doors for him to talk about other parts of the Bible.  I have another friend who likes to spend time mentoring women in all that Jesus wants for them.  She meets people right where they are and uses the scriptures and applies them to how they can live their lives in a big way.  Some people like to go out onto the streets and talk to the homeless people about God and Jesus.  Other people like to go door to door asking if they can share the Good News of the Jesus with all those they meet.  

There isn’t one special way that you have to evangelize.  There also isn’t a set rule on who you have to evangelize too.  Sometimes we might feel more comfortable talking about Jesus within our family.  We might talk about Jesus to our siblings, our parents, or even our children.  Other people might feel uncomfortable talking about Jesus with their family but they are perfectly fine talking about him to strangers or to their friends.  Whatever feels best for you, that is a great place to start.  I say a great place to start because sometimes it is good to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. It’s great if you start be talking about Jesus with those you feel more comfortable doing, but then over time, as you become more and more comfortable talking about Jesus, you can branch out and start talking to others about Him.  

The verse above says, "But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”  We live in a world where there is so much noise and so many distractions.  We don’t know who to listen to these days.  This verse is saying, how can we call for help when we don’t know who we can trust.  And how can people know they can trust Jesus if we aren’t talking about Him.  If they don’t know who He is?  It is our job, each and everyone of us, to teach the world who Jesus really is and that they can trust Him.  Even if you just start with your spouse or your children, tell them about Jesus.  Tell them about all of God’s promises that Jesus came to fulfill.  Tell them they can trust Jesus.  God is our comfort, our shield and our protector.  If you didn’t already know that, wouldn’t you want to?  I am not talking about going out and forcing your beliefs on others.  I am talking about sharing the Good News with those willing to listen.  

Next the verse says, “That’s why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!” How great would it be if we were all talking about God?  The verse is saying that it would be so beautiful it would take our breath away if we saw grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!  Doesn’t that sound like something you want to be a part of?  Doesn’t that sound exciting?  Can you picture it?  Instead of being afraid to talk about your faith because you don’t want to offend anyone, you freely walk down the streets proclaiming the Good News of Christ Jesus.  When I picture that I think of a time when we used to vacation at this military place called “Fourth Cliffs.”  We would go camping there over the fourth of July weekend.  Each 4th of July they would have a little parade.  This parade consisted of a pick up truck with and American Flag attached to it.  Anyone who wanted to participate in the parade walked behind the truck shouting “Happy Birthday America!” and “Happy 4th of July.”  It was so much fun.  When I hear the part of this verse that says “a grand procession,” I picture a whole bunch of people out in the streets talking about how amazing Jesus is!

The verse also says, “But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act.”  We can’t do anything about those that are not ready to see, hear or act.  That is a job for God.  God needs to soften their hearts, open their eyes and ears.  We are not responsible for the fruit of our labor.  It is not our job to make sure everyone we talk to hears what we are saying.  It is only our job to say it.  We don’t have to put pressure on ourselves to say the right thing to everyone all the time.  We don’t have to stress about not knowing what to say.  If we just follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, God will take care of the rest.  God will make sure what we say takes root in the people we are talking to.  We don’t have to worry about that.  God is so good!

Next the verse says, “Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” I like how this says, we all ask at one time or another.  I think this is so true.  Especially if we have children.  We teach them the ways of God, we tell them about Jesus and how much He loves them and then yet we often have no idea if they are hearing what we are saying.  Do they believe all that we are saying, do they believe any of it?  What about our friends and family members?  Do they believe what we are saying?  Are they even listening?  

The verse ends with, “The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.” This brings us back to the beginning.  It is not our job to make sure everything we say is heard or understood, that is God’s job.  Our job is just to get the information out there.  Before anyone can trust they need to listen and if we aren’t talking about Jesus, then there isn’t anything for them to listen to.  Take a moment and think about how many people you meet throughout your day.  Think about how you could incorporate Jesus into the conversation.  Maybe think up a few one liners about Jesus or God that could really fit into most conversations. Or, practice listening to the Holy Spirit, so you can know when He is prompting you to share the Good News of Jesus to someone.  Think of how you can share Jesus with your friends and family.  One great way is to love them.  Sometimes we teach people more with our actions than we ever could with our words.  Especially if we are talking about Jesus and yet we are not loving people and treating them with respect.  In that case our actions will be much louder than our words and they won’t hear anything we are saying.  We are all called to share the Good News of Jesus.  How you do that is up to you and God.  Ask Him how He wants you to share and He will tell you.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we don’t want to keep you to ourselves, we want to share you with others, please help us.  Show us how you want each one of us to share with those around us.  Give us the courage to share even when we might be nervous or scared.  Help reassure us that you will guide us in what to say if we ask and if we listen to you guiding us.  Lord, we love you and we want everyone to love you.  Please help us tell about all the amazing things that make you so incredible.  You are the almighty one.  You are the King of Kings and the Lord or Lords.  We are so very grateful for all you do for us 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.  Tomorrow’s witness will be our friend Robert L. again.  This week he will be sharing with us some amazing things he has witnessed.  I know you will really enjoy his witness.  If you haven’t been listening regularly, I want to share some exciting news you may not have heard.  I wrote a book and it is out in the world!! I am very excited. The book is called Total Trust in God’s Safe Embrace.  It is about 15 different ways you can grow in your trust with the Lord.  I have had to trust God a lot over the years and in doing so I was always searching for and praying for ways to increase that trust.  This book is a compilation of all those ways I found.  My trust in the Lord is deep now and I know it is because of the things listed in this book.  I hope you check it out.  If you have bought the book and you have read it, would you consider leaving a review on Amazon, or emailing me a review for my website?  The more reviews on Amazon the more people will discover my book and it can help them as well.  Thank you for all your support!  Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:20-24 “So he set out for his father’s house. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the finest robe we have and put it on him. Place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and now he has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

I really like hearing other people talk about the various aspects of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  It seems like such a straight forward story to me, at least at first glance.  For those who are not aware of the story, let me read it to you.

Luke 15:11-32 “The Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son.  Then he said: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that I will inherit.’ And so the father divided the property between them.

“A few days later the younger son gathered together everything he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissolute living.  When he had spent it all, a severe famine afflicted that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who sent him to his farm to feed the pigs. He would have willingly filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

 “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more food than they can consume, while here I am, dying of hunger.  I will depart from this place and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’

“So he set out for his father’s house. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.  Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring out the finest robe we have and put it on him. Place a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and now he has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now the elder son had been out in the fields, and as he returned and drew near the house, he could hear the sounds of music and dancing.  He summoned one of the servants and inquired what all this meant.  The servant replied, ‘Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe and sound.’  The elder son then became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him,  but he said to his father in reply, ‘All these years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never once disobeyed your orders. Even so, you have never even given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returns after wasting his inheritance from you on prostitutes, you kill the fatted calf for him.’

 “Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are with me always, and everything I have is yours.  But it was only right that we should celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and now he has been found.’ ”

I have heard many people talk about this one parable.  Some have focused on the younger son who took his father’s money and left.  Some focus on the father and his willingness and eagerness to forgive.  Other’s focus on the older son who stayed and work his father’s land.  Every time I listen to someone explain this story I always learn something new.  No matter how many times this story is explained there is a whole new level I didn’t know about.  It truly amazes me.  Today I want to explain one small part of it that Father Mike explained on day #318 (Click Here to Listen) on the Bible in A Year podcast.  I thought it was so great and I think everyone should hear how he explains the interaction between the younger son and his father when he comes home.  Father Mike explains that when the younger son is leaving he is saying he doesn’t want anything to do with his father.  He takes the inheritance and leaves.  Then he comes home because he is starving.  Father Mike and Stephanie Parks, who works for focus created this retreat called the Prodigal son retreat and it focuses on the four things the father said when the son came home.

First, What does it mean that the father gives him the best robe?  In the ancient world you only have a couple robes and only one best robe.  This son just took half his father’s money and squandered it away.  He is not a good son, he is a failure and yet the father says give him the best robe.  This represents giving him the glory of the father. Next the father says, put a ring on his finger.  On that ring would be a signet of the father, a sign of the father’s authority.  So not only is his clothing him in the father’s glory but he is putting on his hand the father’s authority.  He is fully restoring him to sonship.  Thirdly he is saying put shoes on his feet.  Why?  Because the son is free.  He is free to leave again if he wants to.  Lastly the father says, “kill the fatted calf.”  There are not a lot of fatted calves lying around.  You get one.  Not only does he get the best robe so he is clothed in the father’s glory, then he gets the ring to show the father’s authority, he is restored, not only does he gets shoes and is free to leave if he wants to again but then they kill the fatted calf because he is relentlessly pursued, he is ridiculously celebrated.  

I haven’t head anyone explain the four things the father gives to the son before.  I knew that the father was accepting the son back as is but I didn’t realize the significance of those four things.  I love to do Bible studies and to listen to people who have studied the Bible so much more than I have explain the various things to me.  There is so much depth to everything in the Bible and if we are just reading it on our own we can sometimes miss a lot.  We might read something as is without reading into too much.  However, a lot of times there is so much more to what is being said in just the words.  This is why I loved listening to the Bible in a Year podcast these past two years.  Father Mike & Jeff Cavins, when he in on the show, give so much insight into what we are hearing when we listen to the Bible.  There is another podcast called Exploring My Strange Bible by Tim Mackie.  Each episode of this podcast is like a mini Bible lesson.  It is so good.  I really enjoy listening to it.  I hope you enjoyed this brief insight into the parable today.  In the episode #319 Father Mike also talks about the older brother in this parable.  If you have time I would check out the complete episode.  It’s really interesting.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are amazing.  I love that you teach us in parables.  I love that you reveal the truth to us slowly so we don’t get overwhelmed.  Thank you for showing us your love for us by demonstrating it in the Father of this parable.  You are so forgiving and you welcome up with open arms.  You don’t even wait for us to get up to the door.  You see us from far off and you run out to greet us.  We are so lucky you love us so much.  We love you Father and we are so grateful you forgive us for our sins.  We are grateful you welcome up back in and restore us to sonship and daughter ship.  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 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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I Can Resist That Cookie!

Proverbs 26:11 “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly."

Ok, I heard this and I just knew I had to use this verse.  I mean, did you ever expect to hear such a thing in the Bible?  I didn’t even know vomit was a word back then.  I didn’t just pick this verse because of the colorful language though.  I also picked it because it is such a true statement and it is one that applies to all of us.  How many times have you done the same thing over and over again?  I am not talking about something wonderful like working out, or eating salad for lunch.  I am talking about something you know you shouldn’t be doing and yet you do it anyway.  

I was just talking with some of my friends today about how much we like cinnamon rolls.  They are so delicious.  I was telling them how BJ’s has great cinnamon rolls in their bakery section.  They are all in one big pan and the frosting covers all of them.  Then you put one in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and it is all warm and gooey.  We love them.  However, we no longer buy them because if we have them in the house we will eat them all and that’s not good for our health.  One of my friends said she no longer buys junk food either.  She said every time she buys it she tells herself that she will be good and just have on every now and then.  How many time have you told yourself that?  I’ll just have one and leave the rest. I know I have done it more times than I can count.  

The worst for me is TV.  If I put one quick show on to watch while I eat my meal, I will wind up spending hours watching TV.  It happens every time.  The funny thing, that’s not so funny, is that I know this will happen.  I have a conversation with myself that goes something like this, “Catherine, don’t turn the TV on, you know you will wind up sitting there for hours.”  “No I won’t.  I really want to get my book done.  It means a lot to me and I am sure I will turn the TV off right after this show.  I can watch just one episode.” “You have yet to ever really get up and turn the TV off after one episode when you are in the mood to watch a movie.”  The conversation with myself goes on for awhile, but eventually I am convinced that I am just turning the TV on while I eat and I will be able to turn it off after an episode.  Guess what?  I do not turn it off after one episode, I watch at least three before turning it off.  

Do you have something like this?  Something you know you shouldn’t be doing and yet you keep doing it. Something you don’t want to do and yet you seem to keep coming back to it?  This verse is telling us that when we keep doing these things that we know we shouldn’t be doing, these things that we don’t want to be doing, we are like a dog that eats his vomit.  In other words, we are not being very smart.  Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  So, if that is the definition of insanity, why do we do it?  Why do we keep doing the same thing all the time?

These temptations are not from God.  I remember hearing somewhere that God does not tempt us and so I looked it up to make sure I wasn’t giving you false information.  This information can be found in James 1:13-14 where it says, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” The enemy is the one who is tempting us with all those cookies, desserts, tv episodes and whatever else we struggle with resisting.  Why would the enemy be tempting us?  Could it be because he wants to lead us to sin?  Could it be because he wants to lead us further away from our heavenly Father?  

You may be thinking I am being a little dramatic right now.  Are you thinking, “Catherine, eating a cookie or cinnamon roll is not a sin?”  I totally agree with you, I don’t think eating a cookie or a cinnamon roll, or even watching an episode on TV is a sin.  However, do we stop at one?  Do we just eat one cinnamon roll, or do we eat the whole pack?  Do we just watch one episode of TV or do we waste hours of our day watching TV?  It is not eating the cookie, or watching the TV show that is the sin, it is what it can lead us too.  I really don’t think God cares if you eat a cookie or watch an episode on TV.  However, I think He does care if that action leads us to sin.  The devil does not care about our well being.  He would not be tempting us to something just because it makes us happy.  He will always have an ulterior motive.  Is he leading us to the sin of gluttony?  Is he leading us to the sin of slothfulness?  I don’t know what sin the enemy is leading me into but I do know he is up to no good.  

Sometimes if we have been doing the same thing over and over again for a while, it can become a habit.  We always watch an episode while we eat so we feel as though we have to continue this habit.  We always eat the whole package of cookies, so that means we have to eat the whole package this time.  This is a lie the enemy keeps telling us, but it is not true.  One of the declarations I gave you the other day is found in Romans 6:14 says, “Sin no longer has dominion over me.”  Jesus died on the cross so we could be free from our sins.  We need to step into that freedom.  We need to claim that freedom for our own.  

You may not have been able to resist that cookie in the past, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat it this time.  I know when we are faced with temptation we feel powerless most of the time.  We feel as though we have given in every other time, and we will give in this time too.  However, you are more powerful than you think.  You have the power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead living inside of you.  You have the power to resist that thing with which you are struggling.  The enemy doesn’t want you to know this, he wants you to feel weak, he wants you to feel stuck.  He wants you to feel like you are the same person you have always been.  He wants you to think you can’t change.  This is a lie.  You can change.  You can resist that which you thought you couldn’t.  Is it easy, no, not at first, but it gets easier.  All we need to do is lean into the Lord.  Ask the Lord for the strength to say no to that thing we don’t want to eat or you don’t want to do.  Just  because you have always done something in the past doesn’t mean you have to continue to do it.  Claim the freedom Jesus won for you!  Claim the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you!  You’ve got this!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to resist the temptations of the enemy.  Help us to know you have given us the power to resist all temptation.  Help us to claim the freedom Jesus won for us.  Help us claim the power of the Holy Spirit that you gave to us.  Lord, you are amazing 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 no this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  Thank you to all of you that have bought my book.  Your support means a lot to me!  I look forward to spending time with you on Monday.  Have a blessed weekend. 

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Why Does Jesus Speak in Parables?

Matthew 13:10-13 “The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Last week in class we talked about the different ways that God communicates with us.  One of those ways is through parables. I never really completely understood why Jesus had to talk in parables.  I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just tell everyone what He was telling his   apostles.  In class they mentioned the goal of a parable was not only to teach but also to conceal.  Jesus taught in parables to conceal the powerful knowledge from the proud but reveal it to the childlike.  For some reason, this sentence seemed to put things into perspective for me.  I now understood a little better why everyone couldn’t hear what Jesus was saying.  They weren’t spiritually ready to hear what Jesus had to say.  

Then they gave us the scripture verse Luke 10:21, "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.”  This reinforces what the teacher was saying.  Some understanding is hidden from those who do not believe or are not ready to hear what God has to say.  We must learn to be childlike when we approach God if we wish to have a greater understanding of Him.  

Then they pointed us to Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”  Then I was confused again.  Why would God conceal a matter and why would that be a good thing?

The next morning while I was reading my devotional this is what it said:

As you look at the day before you, you see a twisted, complicated path, with branches going off in all directions. You wonder how you can possibly find your way through that maze. Then you remember the One who is with you always, holding you by your right hand. You recall my promise to guide you with my counsel, and you begin to relax. As you look again at the path ahead you notice that a peaceful fog has settled over it obscuring your view. You can see only a few steps in front of you, so you turn your attention more fully to me and begin to enjoy my presence. The fog is a protection from you, calling you back into the present moment. Although I inhabit all space and time, you can communicate with me only here and now. Someday that fog will no longer be necessary, for you will have learned to keep your focus on me and on the path just ahead of you.”

Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”  They reminded us in class that we are kings through our Baptism.  What this verse is telling us is that as we explore God’s Word, we uncover more and more revelations about God.  As we do this, we mature into a deeper intimacy with God.  God conceals things from us that we are not ready to hear or to know.  However, as we dive into Scripture and as we work on growing closer to Him, he slowly reveals all we need to know.  How many of us can look back over our lives and say with certainty we would have gone down the path we did if we knew all we would go through at the beginning of the path?  If new parents new exactly what they were getting into, if they knew all the challenges their child would go through, would anyone choose to have a baby?  

If you knew could see a movie of your life, all the challenges you were going to face, before you started down the path you started down, would you still chose it?  If we look back over our life usually we can see how one experience prepared us for another experience.  Our difficult times are so hard while we are going through them and yet often times, when we look back, many years later, we can see how they were necessary.  If we can’t see why they were necessary, we can at least see what we learned from them and how they prepared us for the next thing we were going to have to face.  

If we think of it in terms of school.  If you show a first grader an algebra problem and tell them they are going to be expected to know how to do that that, they won’t know what you are talking about. They may feel overwhelmed because that seems so far from where they are right now.  However, if you don’t show them what they need to know in several years, but you show them what they will be learning that year, they won’t be so overwhelmed.  This is the same with us when it comes to our faith.  Jesus knew that if He told people everything they needed to know about God, we would be overwhelmed.  Developing an intimate relationship with God has to be developed over time, step by step.  We would get overwhelmed if everything was revealed to us at once.  

There was a statement made in class that I loved.  The teacher said, “God speaks to us in parables not to hide things from us, but to hide things for us.”  This is something important for us all to remember.  This is the way God works.  He does all things for us, not to us.  He is working all things for our good.  If we are going through a difficult time, it is not because God is doing something to us, He is doing it for us.  The difficult could be of your own making and yet God can use it for your good.  He can use it for your growth.  I loved in the devotional above how it says a “a peaceful fog has settled over it obscuring your view.”  Even just that description brings me peace.  It doesn’t say you are plunged into darkness, it doesn’t say I have taken away all light so you can’t see, it says a peaceful fog settles over it, meaning the path ahead.  Sometimes knowing too much in advance can be a bad thing.  It can cause us not to do something because we don’t think we are strong enough.  Yet, God knows by the time we get there, we will be strong enough.  

I recently ran a trail fest with my friend Ashley.  She had always wanted to do one and so we decided for her birthday this year, we would sign up.  A trail fest is three days of running in a row.  You are camping in a tent at night and then getting up early and running three beautiful runs each day.  I knew going into this that it would be difficult.  It was going to be running 34 miles in three days and it would be running at an elevation we were not used to.  We knew it would be difficult and yet we were willing to give it a try.  However, what we didn’t know was that sleeping on the ground with only a sleeping bag is really uncomfortable.  We didn’t know that when we got to the highest point of the run it would be really hard to breathe.  We didn’t know that compost toilets were really tall and when we sat on them our feet would be off the ground.  We didn’t know that the last day was less of a trail run and more of a rock climbing experience.  We didn’t know we would be trying to walk in deep sand during parts of it.  

If we had known exactly what we were getting into, I am not sure we would have signed up.  If we knew all of that, we might not have gotten to enjoy the awesome experience.  That trip was a once in a lifetime trip that we will always remember.  Those things I mentioned above, didn’t ruin our trip, they only made it more challenging, and yet we still succeeded.  If we had known exactly what we were getting into we would have told ourselves we couldn’t do it.  We would have thought we weren’t strong enough.  God knew this and in His infinite wisdom concealed some of that information from us and I am so thankful!  I am grateful I now have this amazing experience to look back upon.  

The same is true for my spiritual life.  If you would have asked me years ago if I would ever be in a charismatic prayer group I would have said no way.  I could never speak in tongues, I could never pray over people out loud, unscripted.  I could never praise God out loud.  Even now, after all the growth I have made, I still get nervous when I get a glimpse into the future God has planned for me.  I know I am not ready to see all He has planned because I will count myself out.  God knows exactly what we need to know and when we need to know it and I am so grateful for that.  We are so lucky to have a God that cares so much for us and that knows us so well.  Trust that God will reveal to you what you need to know when you need to know it.  I know it is frustrating when we don’t know what is coming next.  I know we want to see the whole path right now, or at least I know I do.  However, learning that God is hiding things for me, not from me, gives me a whole new way to look at it.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we thank you for protecting us from ourselves.  We thank you for knowing exactly what we need.  You are so good to us.  We don’t want to be anxious about the future.  We want to be able to stay in the present moment and to keep our eyes fixed on you.  Lord, please give us the patience to wait for you to reveal things when we are ready.  help us to see you are doing this for us and not to us.  Help us to understand why we can’t know everything up front.  Lord, help us to be ok with the not knowing.  Help us to learn to stay in this moment and enjoy it instead of constantly thinking about what comes next.  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.  In case you haven’t listened to the other episodes this week I wanted to share the news that my book is finally out there in the world! I am so excited to share it with all of you.  It is called Total Trust in God’s Safe Embrace and it can be found only on Amazon right now.  It is in paperback or ebook format with the audio book coming soon.  Please check it out and please pass it along to anyone you think might benefit from a deeper, more intimate relationship with God and also could use a little more trust in God’s plan for their life.  Thank you for all your support.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

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Today I am going to share some witnesses from people who have been healed of some pretty big things.  Randy Clark is someone who does a lot of mission healing trips.  He has a school to teach others about the gift of healing.  Randy Clark and Dr. Mary Healy wrote a book called The Spiritual Gifts Handbook.  This website was found at the end of the book.  These healing took place on some of Randy’s healing trips to other countries.  I did not witness these things first hand I am relaying them from a website (CLICK HERE) so you can watch the witnesses for yourself.  You can see that these are real people and that healing is still going on, healing didn’t end with the apostles and it isn’t reserved for the holiest of Saints.  Healing is still being done today and God is using ordinary people like you and me to do it.  If you have time I urge you to check out the website I link I provided.  There is really nothing like seeing these miracles for yourself.  

The first one is a man who was born blind and he received his sight.  There was a young man who was born blind in his left eye.  There was a word of knowledge at the healing service.  A word of knowledge is when God tells someone a certain body part or a certain ailment that He want to heal.  This young man heard the world of knowledge and ask God to heal his eye.  He said, “Please God open my eye, I want to see.”  When he opened his eye he didn’t feel anything but then he noticed he could see.  Randy checked back in with this young man four years later to see how he was doing.  He could still see and his father said his son’s miracle was causing people to believe all over the country of Brazil.  Praise God, He is so good!

There was a girl in Brazil.  I am not sure how old she was, maybe 8 years old?  One month and 8 days before the healing service the girl was ran over by a motorcycle and she died.  For 30 minutes she was pronounced dead by the paramedics.  Her mom kept praying constantly for her.  The medical professionals told her there was no use in praying as she was dead, it was game over.  She called her cell group leader and she told her I am sorry but there is nothing anyone can do, it is over.  Her mom said she refused to accept that.  She touched her daughters chest and said, “I rebuke the spirit of death,” she touched her hand and said, “I command the spirit of life to come back to her,” and she said “Holy Spirit please breathe new life into her, breathe life into her.”  As soon as she said that her daughter Maria breathed in and came back to us.  She cracked her skull and she still has some injuries as it was only a month before the healing service.  When she came to the healing service she came in a wheel chair, she couldn’t walk, she had an open wound on her head, and she had a lot of pain in her head.  After the healing service the pain was completely healed, the wound on her head closed and she was walking.  Praise God, He is so Good!

This woman went to the healing service and during praise and worship God told her, “it’s the crowbar, you are still holding onto that.”  Then during the service Randy got the word crowbar as a world of knowledge.  When she heard that she knew God wanted to heal her.  The reason crowbar was significant is because she was a victim of domestic violence and she was beaten with a crowbar.  Her neck was broken, her jaw was broken and she suffered loss of hearing in her right ear.  She couldn’t hear at all out of that ear unless she wore her hearing aide.  During worship they said, “Now I am going to wash you clean,” and the woman was just sweating and just getting soaked.  She took the hearing aide out because it won’t work if it gets wet.  Once she took the hearing aide out she realized she could still hear.  She said, “I guess the hearing was healed when God healed my heart.” “God told her it’s not the hearing that you want, it’s the hearing that you want” and he healed her heart.  What I love about this video is that Randy explains how important it is to step our in faith even if you aren’t sure if you are right, even if you aren’t sure what the meaning of that step out in faith.  Randy didn’t know what that the word crowbar was from God.  It couldn’t have just been something that came into his mind from something else.  He chose to believe that because He asked God for something that God answered him.  What if he was wrong and the word crowbar meant nothing to anyone in the audience?  That’s ok, nothing bad would have happened.  He might be embarrassed but isn’t it worth risking a little embarrassment on the chance that God could be using you for something amazing? And believe me, I am asking myself that question as much as I am asking you it.

These healings are amazing.  There are three other ones on this website as well.  I hope you go and check out the website.  Hearing me retell them is good, but nothing compares to seeing these people tell about it themselves.  Nothing compares to seeing their faces just after they have been healed.  God is so good!  I don’t think it is a coincidence that I felt led to call my podcast Walk Boldly with Jesus and then I start taking a class that is teaching me to do just that.  I hope you guys don’t mind but I intend to bring you all along for the ride.  I know for some of you listening the whole supernatural side of our faith seems strange.  Or maybe not strange, but you aren’t sure what to think of it.  You think healings are awesome, a little unbelievable but pretty cool.  However, they happen to other people, not to you and not for you.  I am hoping to change your minds.  I am hoping that everyone listening to this podcast eventually realizes that the supernatural is not something out of the ordinary that a few blessed people get to do.  The supernatural lifestyle is something God wants for all of us.  Yes, it feels strange because it is not normal in this world.  However, we are meant to be in this world, but not of this world.  God set us apart.  The supernatural lifestyle was normal for the apostles and it can be for you too.  If this is hard for you to believe, that’s ok, I get it.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense in this world.  I am not asking for you to believe you can do the supernatural, I am just asking you continue on this journey of discovery with me.  I ask you to be brave and if you do feel a prompting from the Holy Spirit that you step out in faith and trust that prompting is from God.  He wants to speak to each of us.  Yes, even you.  All we need to do is learn to listen.  I love you all and I am so grateful you are choosing to spend a few minutes with me to grow closer to the Lord.  

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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Forget Not All His Benefits

Psalm 103:1-5 “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

This verse has a lot to it.  First it's talking about praise, which is similar to yesterday’s verse.  This verse is not just saying praise the Lord, it is saying praise the Lord with your soul.  Praise the Lord with your inmost being.  Have you ever praised like this before?  Have you ever been singing along with a song, or even just listening to a song and you felt that song with your inmost soul?  I have a few songs on my playlist like that.  Actually we sang one of these songs at my class last Monday night.  It is called "Raise a Hallelujah” by Bethel Music. If you haven’t heard that song I recommend you look it up.  It’s such a great song!  At class that song got everyone up on their feet singing along at the top of their lungs.  It was is so good!

After this verse it says, “And forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” I think it might be good to look at each of these separately.  The first thing it mentions is that God forgives all you sin.  It doesn’t say some of your sins, it doesn’t say everyone else’s sins, but not yours, it says He forgives ALL your sins.  Do you believe this is true?  Do you believe that the Lord loves you so much He forgives your sins?  Many of us will quickly say Jesus died on a cross for our sins.  We know this and yet when you look at how we are living you wouldn’t be able to tell we know this.  Some of us hold onto our sins and we wear them like a scarlet letter.  We don’t let people close to us because if they really knew who we were or what we did they wouldn’t want to be our friend anymore.  

We tell all those that will listen about how Jesus died for our sins and about how God loves them no matter what they have done.  We tell them their behavior doesn’t make God love them any more or any less than He already does.  We tell others that it is never too late to turn back to the Lord and repent.  We tell them this and the whole time we are telling them this we are holding onto our own sins and we are holding onto the belief that God couldn’t possibly love us because of the things we have done.  If you are good at telling others about God’s forgiveness and not great about accepting it into your life I want to encourage you to hear God’s word in this verse right now.  “He forgives all you sins.”  Yes, even that one you have been trying to hide from Him.  Yes, even that one you know for sure He couldn’t possibly forgive.  He forgives all of our sins.  All we need to do is trust that and be brave enough to bring our sins to Him, confess them, and repent.  He is so eager for each one of us to turn back to Him.  He is waiting with open arms!

He heals all your diseases, is this something you believe?  This one is sometimes harder for me.  I mean, I know He can heal all diseases and at the same time, I know people who have died of diseases and so it is a harder one for me to understand.  I know for sure He heals all diseases when we die and go to heaven.  When we get to heaven there will be no disease.  I am not sure why He doesn’t heal all diseases this side of heaven?  I don’t understand why some people get to live and some people don’t.  In my eyes, there is no rhyme or reason to it.  Every time I try to understand, or I try to apply some sort of human logic to it, the Holy Spirit points me to Isaiah 55:18-19, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  We are not meant to understand everything this side of heaven.  

Even though I know a lot of people that have died from diseases, I have also heard a lot of testimony of people who have been healed here no Earth and get to live the rest of their lives disease free.  I watched the “Fearless” Documentary the other night with Tony.  This documentary explores what it means to live our Catholic Faith in a fearless way.  I know not everyone listening to this is Catholic, and I love that.  I still think you should watch the documentary.  It is such a powerful testimony to the power of stepping out in faith.  There is video footage from healing services and it is incredible to see how many people were healed and how they were healed.  There was a man who came to the service in a wheel chair, he hadn’t walked in 7 years.  He was up and walking that night.  Praise God, He is so good!  God is healing people even today, even in this day and age and He is doing it though ordinary people like you and me.  

The next part says, “Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.”  This one may be another one that is hard to believe.  God can redeem your life from the pit, is this something you can believe?  This may be harder to believe if you are in a pit right now.  When you are in a pit you don’t usually feel much love or compassion.  You don’t usually feel much of anything.  You certainly don’t think God will redeem what you are going through as all you can see is darkness around you.  This is one where you might have to keep telling yourself it while you are in the pit.  It might be one that you don’t necessarily believe, but something you hope for.  If you are in a pit right now, picture God lifting you out of it, putting a crown on your head and filling you with love and compassion.  This may be difficult if all you see is darkness.  Try anyway.  God will redeem your life from the pit.  He says so right here in this verse.  God has not abandoned you, nor will He ever abandon you.  If this is what you are hearing it is a lie from the enemy.  If this is what you are hearing on a daily basis, then write this part of the verse down and read it every time you get the thought that you are alone or that God has abandoned you.  God will crown you with love and compassion, remember that!

The last thing the verse says is, "Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”  Another amazing thing about God is that He doesn’t just give us what we need to survive.  He makes sure we have that and then He goes above and beyond that.  He satisfies our desires with good things.  Do you believe this?  Is this something you have gotten to witness?  Have you ever asked the Lord for something and then received something so much better than you asked for?  Sometimes God likes to show off and I love it!  The other day God miraculously fixed the water at my friend’s parents house.  He could have arranged to have a plumber come, or someone to look at the well, but instead He decided to miraculously fix it.  My friend was praying that she would have enough food at a celebration she was having and she ended up having way more food than she needed.  Praise God, He is so good!  I heard something on the Big Life podcast the other day and I have started saying it a lot.  I really like it.  When I notice something that God did, when I see something God created, or when God answers a prayer I say, “Thank you God I love it!”  

The next time you notice something God did for you, or something He created for the whole world, like a beautiful sunset, say, “Thank you God, I love it!” and see if you feel any differently about it.  I can’t say that without smiling and filling up with joy.  That is a super short way to praise God and yet it gets the praise to HIm. This verse started out talking about praise and I just realized I am ending it talking about praise.  I didn’t mean to do this and yet I am sure the Holy Spirit did because praising God is just that important.  What can you praise God for today?  How many times today can you say, “Thank you God, I love it!”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we thank you for all you do for us.  We ask you to help us to believe those things listed above that we are struggling to believe.  We ask you to help us come to an understanding about the things we don’t understand.  If it is something we aren’t meant to understand help us to see that too Lord.  We pray for those who are in a pit right now, we pray that you show them how much you love them and that you lift them out of that pit and put that crown of love and compassion on them.  Lord, we pray for all those suffering with a disease right now, we pray you heal their disease.  We pray for all those who need forgiveness.  We pray that you open their hearts and help them accept your forgiveness.  Lord we love you and we are so grateful you do so much for us.  You truly are the Lord of Lords and the Kings of Kings.  You are the father of forgiveness and we are so grateful.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  In case you didn’t hear yesterday, my book is finally out into the world!  It is called Total Trust In God’s Safe Embrace!  I hope you will take a look at it and share it with your friends.  Click Here for book.  Thank you for all your support! I look forward to bringing you another witness tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day.  

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