scripture study

Pride Is The Utmost Evil!

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” 

The definition of pride, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired." Do you see how it says you have a deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements? We have no achievements that we have done completely on our own. Everything we have is because God is so good. We owe everything to Him.

Yet, we often try to take credit for the things that we do. We congratulate ourselves on a job well done, all the while forgetting to acknowledge the part that the Lord played in our success. God doesn’t want us to be unhappy with the things we have done; He just wants us to remember His part in all of it. When we start to take credit for everything we do, we start to think about God less and less. We put ourselves first and Him second, or maybe even further down on the list.

This can be dangerous. If we decide we want to do things on our own, God will let us. He is not about to force Himself on us. The reason things go smoothly in life is because God is working all things for our good. He is in the details. He is opening up some doors and windows, and He is closing others. You wonder why that meeting at work went so well. He was there preparing the hearts of the people in the meeting so they were ready to hear what you had to say. What if He hadn’t done that, though? What if we were truly on our own?

God is behind the scenes so much of the time. Sometimes, we are aware of what God has saved us from; however, sometimes, we have no idea the things He saved us from. Our teacher mentioned in class yesterday that she thinks she probably doesn’t praise God enough because she doesn’t know all the things He saved her from. She was talking about how joyful and praise-filled the 33 workers were when they were rescued from the mine in Chili back in 2010. They were buried 2 miles underground for 69 days. They truly knew what God had saved them from. They knew their rescue and their survival underground was not their own doing.

When we are just going about our everyday lives, we don’t realize all the things that God is doing for us, especially if nothing extraordinary is happening. If we have a disease or an illness, we might get to see the Lord working powerfully in that situation. There can be plenty of times when we can see the Lord working in our lives. However, in the good times, in the times when all seems to be working in our favor, these are the times when we can start to fall for the lies of the enemy that are in all of us. When we are killing it at work, we can start to get prideful and think that it is all because we are really great at what we do. When we are killing it as a parent, we can start to think that our children are doing so well because we are such great parents.

When things are going great, we tend to take our focus off of God and put it on ourselves. I don’t even know if we do it consciously or if it is just an unconscious thing we do. I think it is human nature, almost like our default setting. When things are bad, when we are struggling, and when we need something from God, we turn to Him and ask for help. When we receive the help we asked for, we can see it came from God, and so we find it easier to praise Him and give Him the Glory.

However, when we are in a good place, we tend to feel like we don’t need God. We feel as though we have it all under control. This is where our pride starts to rear its ugly head again. God is always in control. We always need Him in good times and in bad. It is important to stop and realize that the reason things are going so well is because God is working all things for your good. Yes, you can probably gain some success on your own, but not nearly as much success as you can have if you partner with God. 

C. S. Lewis said, “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.” Wow, that is quite the statement. What stood out to me about that statement was that unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere flea bites in comparison. Can you imagine?

The article I found (CLICK HERE for the article) said that everyone should read the chapter called Pride in C. S. Lewis’s book “Mere Christianity.” The author of the article also said that C. S. Lewis was not stating his exaggerated view. Instead, he was summarizing the teachings of all the great Saints through the ages. Why do the great spiritual leaders, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant alike, unite around this conviction? Because it is so clearly and solidly taught in Scripture. I will post a link for this article in the show notes so you can read how the author shows how this idea is solidly taught in scripture.

If pride is the root of all evil, what is the root of all that is good? John Chrysostom once remarked, “For just as pride is the root of all sin, so “humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.” Humility is so important. Jesus is the best example to follow for humility. Andrew Murray captures it well, “Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us.”

The apostle Paul may well have been thinking of this very scene in the Upper Room when he urged the believers in Philippi: Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5–8).

Humbling ourselves is not always easy, and we worry that if we humble ourselves, we might miss out on all the world has to offer. However, it says in Matthew 23:12, " Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” We can be free to humble ourselves here on Earth, trusting God will exalt us. That sounds like a much better plan than to exalt ourselves and have to have God humble us. Don’t you agree?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to help us be humble. Show us where in our lives we need to grow more in humility. Be gentle with us, Lord. We want to learn. We want to wipe pride out of our lives once and for all. If we are not quite ready for this step Lord, we ask that you work on our hearts and you get them ready. We don’t want anything to stand in the way between you and us. We want direct, unobstructed access Lord. We love you so much! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Just a reminder that mentoring is tonight. If you would like to join us tonight and just check it out, you can email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com, or you can reach out on Facebook and send me a message. Catherine Duggan is my Facebook profile name. CLICK HERE to register for mentoring if you already know you would like to join. I look forward to bringing you a witness tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My children, can you not see that I do all for you? I try to facilitate your way. Be grateful my children for all I do. The more you are grateful, the more I will pour down my blessings upon each of you."

Forgive One Another

Ephesians 4:32 “Has God graciously forgiven you? Then, graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love.”

There is a healing service coming up for the Charismatic Renewal Service of Boston. The team for this healing service starts preparing two weeks in advance. The scripture verse I am using today is from that preparation. Today’s topic for the prayer team is “Dealing with unforgiveness.” I know I have talked about God’s forgiveness a lot and also how important it is that we forgive. The reason I repeat this often is because of how incredibly important it is.

It is important to know that God forgives us for all of our sins because if we don’t believe this, if we don’t know this, then we find it hard to let Him in. Instead of being able to talk freely about anything, there will be certain things we don’t talk about. We don't talk about them because we are ashamed of them. We don’t want God to know about them. We don’t think He would still like us or love us if He knew what we did. On one hand, it makes sense that we feel this way as the enemy is constantly whispering in our ears that God could never forgive that thing we did. The enemy whispers in our ears that God could never love us. He tells us we should keep that thing hidden in the dark so God and other people can never find out about it. However, on the other hand, God already knows; he has already forgiven you and will always love you no matter what you do!

It is also important for us to forgive others. This is the harder of the two. Actually, I am not sure if that is true. They can both be very difficult. The verse above says that because God has forgiven us, so we must forgive one another. How do we forgive one another, though, when those who have hurt us are not even sorry? How do we forgive them when they have already moved on and don’t give what they did to us a second thought? How do we forgive them when we are still hurting from what they did? These are all great questions.

Let me take a minute to explain what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness is acknowledging that the thing happened and that you can’t change it. It is deciding that you are no longer going to give that thing space in your brain. You aren’t going to think about it anymore. Forgiveness is turning the judgment over to the Lord. You don’t have to be the one to make sure that they pay for what they did. Hanging on to that idea will not help you move past it.

Forgiveness is not saying that what happened was okay; it wasn’t. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting. Yes, you are not thinking about it all the time, but it doesn’t mean you have to forget it ever happened or that you need to forget all you learned from it. Forgiveness also doesn’t always mean reconciliation. You can forgive someone for what they have done and still not let them back into your life. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to trust them ever again.

Forgiveness is not about the other person. It is about you. Forgiveness is a gift you can give yourself so that you aren’t holding onto all that anger, revenge, hate, and all the other emotions that go along with it. Unforgiveness eats you on the inside. Yet, the person you are not forgiving moves on with their life. Most likely, the thing you are not forgiving is not causing them any sleepless nights. They hurt you, and then they just moved on. Sometimes they don’t even know that they hurt you.

Now that we talked a bit about what forgiveness is and what forgiveness is not, we can go back to the verse above. The verse says, “Has God graciously forgiven you? Then, graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ's love.” One thing we can do to help us begin to forgive is to accept the forgiveness that God has graciously given to us. When we realize all that God has forgiven us for, it makes it a bit easier to forgive others. A person who cannot forgive has forgotten how great a debt God has forgiven them. I heard this quote once, and it really hit me. Romans 3:23 says, “ Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned, and if we want God to forgive us for our sins, we need to forgive others. It is that simple. It’s not that easy, but it is that simple.

Another thing we can do is ask God to help us forgive. We can’t forgive anyone on our own. We can just make a choice to forgive and then allow God to come in and do the hard work of changing our hearts. That reminds me of something I forgot to mention earlier. Forgiveness is NOT a feeling. Forgiveness IS a choice. It is totally possible for you to choose to forgive someone and yet not feel any differently at first. This is because, as I mentioned, God is the one who changes our hearts, and He doesn’t always do that instantly. Sometimes it takes time to feel the forgiveness. That is ok. We don’t have to feel it. We just have to decide to do it, and then God will help us with the rest.

I get so passionate about helping people see how important forgiveness is because I know that God is going to forgive us to the same extent that we forgive others. It says so right in the Our Father prayer. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are literally asking God to forgive us in the same way we forgive others. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be held to my own standard. We are human, and forgiveness can be really hard for us. However, when we are talking about our eternal salvation, don’t you think it is worth trying to forgive others? Whatever they did has affected so much of your life here on Earth. Do you really want them to affect your eternal life as well?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode this morning. Lord, we want to forgive; please help us. Or, maybe we don’t yet want to forgive, but we want to want to forgive; please help us! Lord, we understand how important forgiveness is, and yet it is so hard. We give you permission to work inside our hearts to get us ready to forgive. We ask you to soften our hearts and help us to see people through your eyes instead of our own. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Remember, tomorrow night at 8 is mentoring. If you would like to join, click here or go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Rest easy, my children; I am with you. When you place your confidence and trust in me, you will be at a great and beautiful peace.”

Friendship With God

 Proverbs 27:9: “Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.”

I heard this verse last night at my prayer group meeting. The leader was talking about different types of friendships. The first one was an association. You know people through work or your neighbors. You might wave to them or stop and talk to them. Your friendship with these people is not usually as deep. The second is association plus loyalty. These are people you would be willing to self-sacrifice for. The friends, you would offer to pick something up for them at the store or bring the soup when they are sick. You spend more time with them, and your friendship is probably deeper than that of mere association. You have a deeper level of connection. The third is association plus loyalty plus affection. This is often found in family love. It can also be found in other places. This is where you would have the deepest relationships because there is not only loyalty but also affection. 

I also looked online and found an article titled Aristotle On the 3 Types of Friendship (and How Each Enriches Life) that explained Aristotle also has three “species” of friendship. (Click Here for the article) These are: 

1. The friendship of utility. These friendships are based on what someone can do for you or what you can do for another person. It might be that you put in a good word for someone, and they buy you a gift in return. Such relationships have little to do with character and can end as soon as any possible use for you or the other person is removed from the equation.
2. The friendship of pleasure. These are friendships based on the enjoyment of a shared activity or the pursuit of fleeting pleasures and emotions. This might be someone you go for drinks with or join a particular hobby with and is a common level of association among the young, so Aristotle declared. This type of relationship can again end quickly, dependent as it is on people’s ever-changing likes and dislikes.
3. The friendship of virtue. These are the people you like for themselves, who typically influence you positively and push you to be a better person. This kind of relationship, based as it is on the character of two self-sufficient equals, is a lot more stable than the previous two categories.

Friendships are important. Especially this last type of friendship. Aristotle says these are the people who typically influence you positively and push you to be a better person. This is why it is important to have friends who are striving to be holy. Friends who are striving to please God and who seek a close and intimate relationship with God. If you surround yourself with people who are moving in the same direction you are, it is so much easier to get to where you are going. You will see what others are doing to move ahead, and you can do the same.

Our friends can help make us or break us. If all of our friendships fall into the utility category, then our friends probably aren’t helping us get to where we want to be. If you surround yourself with people who just want something from you or you want something from them, then as soon as they get what they want, they will leave, and you will need to find new friends, or you will be left alone. If all your friends are in the pleasure category, then you may also lose them if your hobbies change, if your likes change. Maybe you always go out drinking with the same group of people, but then you give up alcohol. Do you still stay friends with this group of people? What if you have a group of ladies that you always knit with, and then you stop knitting? This has happened to me recently. I made several friends when I joined Toastmasters, a public speaking club. I haven’t been attending the meetings lately, so I have essentially lost those friends.

You are likely to do what your friends do. This is why I said if your friends are moving in the same direction as you, it will be easier to get there. It is hard to go against the grain. If your friends are all going out several nights a week to party, it will be hard for you to stay home and do what you want to do. Many of us wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun. If your friends are all going to brunch on Sunday morning at the same time you would normally be at Mass, you might be more likely to miss Mass because your friends are all going out. However, if your friends are all going to mass on Sunday morning, you will be less likely to skip because you will want to see them. If your friends are all joining a Bible Study, you will be likely to join, too. Do you see how who you are friends with really matters?

The other important thing the leader of the prayer group wanted us to know is that God wants to be our friend. Crazy, right?! Why would God want to be our friend? Did you know God wanted to be your friend? She cited many people in the Bible who were God’s friends. First, in St. James 2:23, it says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.” Next, in Exodus 33:12, “Moses said to the Lord, “See, you are telling me: Lead this people. But you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said: You are my intimate friend; You have found favor with me.” Moses is talking with God and asking for what he needs. You can dialog with the Lord too! Finally, in Acts 13:22 it talks about David. “And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”

God was friends with these men, and He wants to be friends with you too! One important thing to know about these men is that they were not perfect; they were sinners, just as we all are. They did not always do the right thing, yet God wanted to be friends with them. He wants to be friends with you as well. Yes, He knows all the things you have done, and He wants to be friends anyway. Are you willing to be friends with God? What does this even mean?

It means you treat God like He is your friend. How do you act around your friends? What do you do with your friends? What kind of friendship do you have with the Lord right now? I am going to guess it is the same for most of us. We probably have a friendship of utility. We talk with God mostly when we need something. We need prayers for ourselves and others, so we bring that to God and ask Him for help. We might try to do things for Him so that we feel we are more likely to get our prayers answered. It is all very transactional. I need something from you; let me try to do something for you.

If we want to move past this, we could start to spend time with God when we are not asking Him for something. We could just spend time talking with Him. This doesn’t have to be all day, every day. It could just be for your car ride to work, or the time you are in the shower, or getting ready for work. It could be while you do the dishes or the laundry. It could be whenever you want. Just spend that time telling the Lord about your day the same way you would if you were talking on the phone to a good friend. Also, you can’t have a solid friendship if you are always the only person talking. If you want to have a friendship with God, you also need to be quiet and listen to what He has to say to you. Quiet time can be hard because we tend to feel like we should be doing something or saying something. However, I assure you, it is totally worth it. God is speaking to each of us; often, we just can’t hear it because we aren’t taking the time to listen. If you take the time to listen, your friendship with the Lord will grow.

God wants this friendship; he is already there waiting for it. It is not as if it will be difficult to get His attention or difficult to get Him to participate. He is already in it. He has always been in this friendship. He has always been right there waiting to interact in a deeply personal way with you. He is just waiting for you to be ready. The first step is just so simple. Just say something like, “Hey God, it’s me,” and then go on to say whatever you like. God will guide you in this friendship. He just wants your desire and your yes. He will do the rest.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, thank you so much for desiring a friendship with each of us. Thank you for always being there to listen to us. We are sorry we don’t spend more time listening to you. We are sorry if our friendship is one-sided. Please show us how to be better friends with you. Please increase the desire within us to be friends with you. Lord, this concept may be new to many of us; please help us understand what you are wanting from us. Show us how we can be friends. Show us where we can spend more time with you. Guide us, Lord. We love you, and we want to spend more time with you. We want to listen to all you want to say to us. Please help us! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you would like to spend more time with the Lord but don’t have any idea how you would fit one more thing into your already busy days, go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or CLICK HERE and join my mailing list. I will send you a free audio training on how to invite Jesus into the things you are already doing. I look forward to seeing you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

Today’s word from the Lord is a follow-up to yesterday’s vision. If you haven’t heard that one, you can listen to that episode, or you can find it on my Facebook page. “The Lord gave me a sense that sometimes that curtain we are trying to push is a stubbornness. We want our lives to go the way we would like them to go, and trying to push the curtain back to allow Jesus in is very difficult. It's a constant battle, and he is more or less saying to me in this passage, "Don't be stubborn and hard-hearted like the Pharisees were. They wouldn't believe it. They wouldn't reply to me. They knew that healing and my grace and forgiveness were what everybody needed. But they wanted things the way they were. They wanted their life the way they were comfortable." I get a sense that the Lord is saying just give me that part of you that’s holding onto, what you want in life that's comfortable, and I will open that curtain wide, and you will see incredible healing that will come from that, not just for you but for all those in your life that you touch.”

Forgiveness Is Hard But Necessary

Matthew 6:15: “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  

I know a lot of people that are holding on to un-forgiveness.  I get it. Forgiving people is hard!  It is especially hard if they did something unspeakable to you, and they aren’t sorry and are not even asking for forgiveness.  Here is the thing I have learned about forgiveness, though: it is not about them; it is about you.  You are not forgiving them so that they feel better. You are forgiving them so that you feel better.    You’re not forgiving them because they deserve it or because it is not bothering you anymore.  You are forgiving them because each day that you refuse to forgive and hold onto that resentment, it eats you up inside.  I heard a saying once that helped me to visualize and understand this so much better.  “Un-forgiveness is like drinking poison every day and expecting the other person to die.”  When you forgive someone, you are not saying that what they did was okay.  It was not.  What you are doing when you forgive someone is acknowledging that the event happened, that it is in the past and you are no longer going to let it have power over your emotions.  You are moving on from it.  Forgiveness is about acknowledging what happened, learning what you can from it, and moving forward so you can live your life in the present.

I know this is not an easy thing to do.  I know that it takes work and it takes time. It is such an important thing to do, though.  I remember the moment I learned that God forgives us as we forgive others.  I was sitting in a bible study, and someone mentioned it rather nonchalantly.  I was like, “What, hold the phone. What did you just say?”  If I don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive me.  Is that what you are saying?  Matthew 6:15 says, “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  The reason they said it as if everyone knew it was because any Catholic, or any person who has said the Our Father prayer, has said that exact statement.  Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…There it is, as plain as day.  And yet, that thought had never occurred to me.  I have said the Our Father almost every Sunday for my entire life.  I have said that prayer thousands of times over the course of my life.  How is it that I never really understood that line?  I am writing this because I thought, what if that thought had never occurred to you either?  

I don’t know about you, but I definitely need God’s forgiveness.  I would love God to be very forgiving as I am human, and so I make all kinds of mistakes.  So, if I need God to be very forgiving, then I must be forgiving to others.  “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others…”  How do I forgive others?  Am I very forgiving?  Do I keep grudges?  Am I too hard for people who have wronged me?  We have all heard the saying, “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.”  But I feel like this brings it to a whole new level.  Do unto others as you want God to do unto you.  Wow, learning that was very powerful for me.  

I set out to learn how to forgive better.  If that was the standard I was going to be held up to, I had some work to do.  As far as I can remember, I was not really one to hold grudges, at least not for long.  However, I would get angry often, and sometimes it was for things that were not really a big deal.  I am trying to think about what I did to learn to forgive more easily.  I honestly am not sure.  For me, I think that just knowing that God was going to hold me to whatever standards I had was enough of a push for me to start working on forgiveness.  I prayed that God would help me with forgiveness.  I went to confession and confessed when I felt I was not doing well with forgiving.  There are lots of resources out there to help people learn to forgive better.  I started looking for them and reading them.  Forgiveness is something that most people, if not all, struggle with.  No one wants to be hurt, and when someone hurts us, we want them to suffer like we suffered.  We do not want to forgive them, and we do not want to let go of that pain because we feel like if we let go of the pain and anger, then we are saying that it either didn’t happen or that we are somehow ok with it happening.    This is not what you are saying when you forgive.  You are saying, yes, it happened; yes, it was awful, and no, it was not ok; and yes, I am going to stop giving it power over me.  I am going to stop spending time thinking about the person who did it.  I am going to forgive that person and move forward.

Forgiving also doesn’t mean forgetting.  You do not have to forget what this person did.  You should remember all that you learned from this situation.  You also don’t have to be reconciled with this person to forgive.  You can forgive someone, wish them no ill will, and still not want to be around them.  Forgiveness is about you feeling better, not about making them feel better.  I know this topic is sensitive, as many people reading this may have deep wounds, and forgiveness may feel far from reach.  I heard a priest address this one time.  There was a woman who was so badly hurt by someone that she could not forgive them. The priest asked her if she wanted to forgive the person.  She said no.  He asked her if she wanted to want to forgive that person, and she said yes.  He said, just start there.  If you are struggling to forgive someone and it seems like forgiveness is impossible, then just work on wanting to want to forgive them.  Pray to God and ask him for the grace to want to want to forgive that person.  Once you are able to want to forgive them, work on wanting to forgive, and then once you want to forgive, you can work on forgiving.  It may seem impossible, but forgiveness is possible.  The consequences for not forgiving seem too steep not to at least try.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to forgive others, but it is really hard at times. Please help us. Please help us understand what forgiveness is and what it is not. Please help us to turn it over to you and not hold onto that anger, hate, and resentment. Lord, put on our hearts anyone we need to forgive, and then we ask for the strength to forgive them. Show us how, Lord. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!

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

Today’s Word from the Lord is in the form of a vision someone had at our Prayer Group. I wasn’t going to use it, but I think it is important to demonstrate the various ways God might talk with you. "I had an image of trying to open a bifold curtain, and it's heavy. You know, the separators between rooms where they come together. It was really heavy, and I was really trying and having trouble pushing. I sensed the Lord saying to each of us there right now he would like us to take a few minutes and listen in the depths of our hearts because we each have a curtain right now. It's very heavy for us, and we are trying to push it away, but he has something he wants to say to us about it. I don't know what it is, but he wants us to listen and to know, and he will help us with that curtain. He will give us all the strength we need to push it aside.”

What If We Just Met People With Love And Acceptance? 

1 Corinthians 12:3 “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit."

I think this is a great verse because I think sometimes we can get too caught up in things that don’t matter. We can get caught up in the religion of it all and forget about the person.  We can see someone who is of a different Christian denomination, and we don’t want to talk to them. We are cautious and skeptical of being friends with them because they don’t believe the same things we believe. However, if they are Christian, then they believe in the same God, the same Jesus, and the same Holy Spirit.

When Jesus walked the world, He did not just hang out with those who were similar to Him. He hung out with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and anyone who wanted to hang out with Him. He came to save the lost, not the righteous. In Luke 5:31-32, “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” We have to have a renewal of our minds if we want to be more Christ-like. We need to think more like He did and less like the world does.

The world tells us that we need to get our act together before we can go to Christ. We have to change our ways. We need to stop sinning. We need to be perfect, and then we can go to Christ. This is not the case. Christ wants us to come to Him now, just as we are. Yes, He wants us to repent, but we don’t have to do that before we come back to Him. Repentance is only possible through Him. Philippians 4:23 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners. He doesn’t need our perfection. He doesn’t need us to have it all figured out. He just wants us to come to Him with an open heart, and He will do the rest.

According to Matthew 22:37-40, the two greatest commandments are, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” I think we put all of our attention on the first one of these and forget about the second one. However, it says all the laws and the prophets depend on these two commandments, not just the first one. We need to figure out how to see people the way Jesus saw people. If we want to love our neighbors, we need to figure out how to accept people for who they are. Jesus did not put conditions on his friendships. He did not say you could come to dinner with me if you promised to change the way you were behaving. He invited them to dinner and treated them with love and respect. He showed them the love of the Father, and they couldn’t help but change after an encounter like that. The love of our heavenly Father is more powerful than anything else. If we can give people an encounter with His love, He will do all the work.

What people are desperate for right now, maybe always, is acceptance. Jesus offered that. He accepted all those He met, even if they didn’t believe as He did. He loved them and accepted them. I think sometimes we think it is our job to correct people when they are living in a way that we don’t believe in or that is contrary to the way Jesus taught us to live. Jesus laid down some pretty hard truths while he walked the earth. It wasn’t as if He was a pushover who said whatever the people wanted to hear. He said some things that were so hard for people to hear that a lot of His followers left after He gave certain teachings, yet He still gave them. However, when He was dealing with people one-on-one, He loved and accepted them as they were. This is what changed people the most. When you feel loved and accepted, you want more love. When you have a personal encounter with the love of the Father, you realize it is like nothing you have ever felt before, and you would do anything to feel it again. To have that love surrounding you.

What if we could do this? What if we could be friends with those who are not like us? What if we could see people as the Lord sees people, as Jesus saw people? What if we saw people for who they are and not what they do? What if we started to look at each person we see as a beloved child of God? Would that change the way we interacted with them? What if we took a moment to think about how much we love our children, our nieces and nephews, or our friend’s kids and then realized God loves this person even more than that?

We don’t just love our kids when they are perfect; we love them no matter what they have done or how awful they have been. They are our children, and we still love them. The same is true for God. He loves His children no matter what they have done. So, shouldn’t we do the same? I think a lot of people are turning away from the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches as well because we are leading with all the things they are doing instead of loving them for who they are and accepting them for who they are. Love and acceptance are what people are craving, and it is what Jesus was offering. We are human, we can’t offer them the love and acceptance that He did, but we can try. We can offer respect. We can offer our time. We can offer our friendship.

We had a speaker in class last night, and he said he is friends with a witch. When he tells people that, they usually freak out, they ask if he is worried she will do something to him. He is not afraid of that, though, because he is completely secure in his oneness with Jesus. He knows that there is nothing on the outside of him that is stronger than that which is inside of him. 1 John 4:4 says, “Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” We all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We don't have to be afraid of anything in this world because the Holy Spirit living inside of us is stronger than anything in this world.

The witch did try to do certain things when she first met him. However, he did not judge, and he did not react harshly. He calmly acted in the authority that He has because of the Holy Spirit. She had never known someone who was so knowledgeable and also so accepting of who she was. When she told him she was a witch, he told her that was a label from a world he was not a part of, and that was not how he saw her. Because he could be friends with her and accept her for who she is, they have been friends for 8 years now. She has come a long way, and parts of her are in the kingdom of God, and parts of her are still stuck in the other world. It is a process, and he is just loving her on her journey. Imagine what the world would be like if we led with love. If we didn’t care so much about all the division and we looked for unity. What if we looked for what we had in common instead of how we are different? What if we were happy for our friends and family who have a relationship with God or with Jesus, even if it doesn’t look like ours? What if we stopped caring if they went to the same church as we did and were just happy that they knew the same God that we did? How would our life change? How would our relationships change? How would the world change?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we want to be more Christ-like. Please help us! We want to see others as you do; please open our eyes and allow us to see others as you do.  Please help us to show your love and acceptance to all those we meet. Please place on our hearts where we might have good intentions and yet be getting it wrong. Please convict us, Lord, of how we can be more like you. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Tonight’s topic for mentoring is God’s Forgiveness, and I hope you can join me! If you would like to try it out before joining, send me a message at Catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com, and I will send you a Zoom link to join in tonight. I look forward to meeting you here tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s word from the Lord is, “I know you in and out, but I love you just the same, my children. I love you, my children. I keep telling you that. It is because I do love you that I say it to you each and every day. Open your ears more fully, and you will hear me. You will hear my whispers. You will hear everything I wish for you to know. I speak to you with hope. I speak to you with tender love. I speak all that you need to know and that you need to learn. Just open more fully to me.”

Be Specific In Your Prayers

Colossians 4:2-4: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.  Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

This year I decided I was going to focus on one scripture verse a week during my morning prayer time. I asked my friends on Facebook to give me their favorite scriptures, and during the week that I focused on the scripture they gave me, I would pray for them in a special way. I was reviewing the verses I received this morning, and the one I chose for this week is John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” I thought this would be a great verse for an episode, as I love reminding people that the enemy wants to keep us in the dark. However, if we bring his lies and tactics into the light, we see him for who he really is. I truly believe there is no darkness too dark for the light of Christ to break into. All we need to do is invite the light into the darkness. While I was thinking about this verse, I looked it up and found out I already did an episode on it. It was episode #568, titled “The Darkness Will Not Overtake You!”

After realizing that I had already used this verse, I moved on to the next verse someone gave me, which is the verse above. My friend Lela gave me this verse, which I think is perfect as she was such a great friend when we lived in England. She and her husband were some of the first people we met, and we got along right away. We hung out a lot on Friday nights as we had kids similar in age. We even went on vacations together. It was great! This verse talks about being thankful, and I am so very thankful for their friendship.

The verse above begins by saying, “Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” These three things are so important. Prayer is as simple as talking to God. You can do it formally, as in scripted prayers like the Our Father, or you can do it informally like you are having a conversation with your best friend. It doesn’t matter how you pray; it matters that you pray. That time you spend with the Lord is important. Whether it is 5 minutes or 5 hours, it doesn’t matter. Just spend time with Him.

After it says to devote yourself to prayer, it says to be watchful. I wasn’t sure what this meant, and I didn’t want to lead you astray, so I looked it up. I am glad I did, as this is something I talked about a few minutes ago, and yet it didn’t even occur to me when thinking about being watchful. We need to be watchful of the enemy. The devil is constantly trying to steal, kill, and destroy us. He doesn’t make a full-on frontal attack, though. He comes at us from all sides, and his attacks are usually masked with lies or with temptation. He temps us with things He knows we want, and he lies to us about things he knows we already questioning. In Matthew 26:41 it says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This is us. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. We fall for the enemy’s tricks more easily if we are not on the lookout for them.

Lastly, the first line says to be thankful. You would think this one would be easy. It isn’t. We often forget to be thankful when things are going well. When things are tough, we ask God to come in and fix them. Then, when He does, we often forget to say Thank You. Gratitude is something that can help us in many ways. If we have an attitude of gratitude, then we are more focused on the positive. We are looking for things that we can be grateful for, and so we naturally notice more good than bad. Our focus is important. Are we looking for all that is going wrong, or are we looking for all that is going right? What are three things you have to be thankful for this morning? I start off each day, well, most days, by writing 5 things I am grateful for. I tried to make them as specific as I could. For instance, instead of saying I am thankful for my boys, I write down I am thankful Sam made it home safely in the snow, I am thankful for the conversation I had with Ryan, I am thankful Noah got to see his friend he hasn’t seen in over a year. Do you see how specific I get? Now it’s your turn.

I didn’t want to just stop with this first verse, as I think the next two verses are important as well. They say, “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.  Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” This is important because it shows us something important to pray for that might now have occurred to us. Did you ever think of praying for God to open a door for you to proclaim the mystery of Christ? It’s interesting to me the things others pray for that didn’t even occur to me. In this verse, St. Paul is in prison for proclaiming the Word of God, and yet He is asking for others to ask the Lord to open a door for him to keep proclaiming the Word of the Lord. I never thought of praying for that before. I do want to proclaim the Word of God. I want to help the whole world hear about God’s love and forgiveness. Yet, I never thought to pray specifically for God to open a door for that message.

This is why, when I read that part of the verse this morning, I wanted to share it with you. I wanted each one of you to know that it is possible to pray for the exact thing you want. I learned this about praying for our children as well. Yes, it is important to pray for our children, but are we praying specifically for what we would like? I read a book called “The Power of a Praying Parent.” It is a book full of specific prayers for our children. There are many versions. The other one I read was called “The Power of a Praying Wife.” These books taught me the importance of being specific in my prayers. They taught me to pray for all the things I want and not just leave them to chance or assume God knows what I want. He does know, but He also likes it when we ask.

You can pray for your children to get a good teacher, you can pray for them to have good, Godly friends, and you can pray for their future spouse or their future careers. These things may seem so obvious to you, and yet I never really thought of it before. Tony and I sat down last January, and we thought about where we wanted the kids to be by the end of the year. We thought about what things were important to us, not for the next 10 years, but what we would like to see from the boys in this one year, and then we wrote a specific prayer for those things. I am sad to say we didn’t continue to say it together for very long, but even writing it and praying it together for those few days/weeks made a huge difference. I think almost every single one of the things we prayed for came true.

We often say I guess all we can do is pray. When we say this, we are taking for granted how powerful prayer is. We are limiting it and treating it like a last resort. Our prayers are powerful. More powerful than we will ever know. I know I told this story before, but I will tell it again since it shows how powerful our prayers are. There was a man jogging by an ambulance, and a woman was being taken out of her house. He wanted to help but wasn’t a medical professional, so he kept jogging but decided he would say one Hail Mary prayer while continuing to jog. A few weeks later, he happened to be jogging by the same house, and the woman was outside. She called him, and when they talked, she told him that he had saved her life. She explained when she got to the hospital she saw the face of Jesus. He told her that she was going to die but that the prayer of this man, whose face Jesus had on the palm of His hand, had saved her. It was the face of the man who jogged by her. If one Hail Mary can save this woman’s life, think of all the amazing things that can happen when you dare to ask specifically for what you want. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to help us remember to pray and to be watchful. Lord, help us be grateful for all the big and small things you have done for us. Lord, help us learn how to pray more specifically for what we need or even what we want. We know you love us and want to give us even more than we desire. We ask that you help keep our hearts pure and only ask for good things. We love you, Lord, and we ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, if you would like to sign up for mentoring, you can go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or you can click here. We meet on Tuesday nights on Zoom at 8 PM EST. If you are local and would be interested in an in-person mentoring group, please reach out and let me know. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is: “My children, it is my Spirit of hope, love, and joy that is falling upon you. Let it sprinkle everyone that you meet. I am your God be not afraid to spread my joy. Be not afraid to spread my hope. It is all that I give that is worthy. Be aware that you will meet difficulties but I am always there with you. Take my hand, Take hold of it. I will not let you go. I am all that you need to succeed, for I am your God.”

God’s Way Is Perfect 

Psalm 18:30 “This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

I love this verse because it shows us the goodness of God. However, some of us may argue with the first line. “This God —his way is perfect. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is struggling right now. His ways might not seem perfect if we know someone who is sick and whose prognosis looks dire. His ways might not seem perfect if you have lost a child, a spouse, or a family member way too young. My son’s girlfriend said she could not believe in a God who lets little children get cancer. Honestly, I get that. I don’t know what to say to her about that. 

I do know that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true. When the Bible says that God’s way is perfect, then I know it is true. The reason it doesn’t seem like it is true a lot of the time is because we can’t see all that God can see. We think God took a job away from us, but really, He was preparing us and freeing us up for a better job. We think God is responsible for our son getting kicked out of school, but really he is removing him from a bad situation. 

It is also important to remember that in many circumstances, God did not cause the bad thing to happen. God did not give the children cancer. God did not give your loved one the thing that is causing their death. God did not cause you to lose your job. God did not cause you to fail that class or lose that friend. God does not need to make bad things happen to us. We are very good at doing that to ourselves. God does, however, take the bad things that we get ourselves into and use them for our good. 

For instance, He may not have given you the cancer, but He can use it to make you stronger. He may not have taken your job away from you, but He might have allowed that door to close so you could walk through a better door. This happened with my husband Tony. He was in the Air Force, and for two years straight, he applied to every federal job he could find. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the Air Force; he just wanted to be a civilian and not have to move around so much. He really wanted to be a criminal investigator. However, he could not get hired as a civilian because there were so many others applying who had veterans' preferences. He would have had this if he had gotten out of the Air Force and then applied for these jobs. At the time, we had 2 small children, and I was pregnant with our third. there was no way he was going to quit one job before he had another job. How would we pay our bills? What would we do for medical insurance? Tony decided to stop applying and just stay in the Air Force. Our next assignment was to Germany. 

We were only in Germany for a little over a year when Tony found out he needed to separate from the Air Force. They had too many majors in his career field. Tony was devastated. He had come to terms with staying in the Air Force and retiring after 20 years of service. Now, at 11 years of service, they are telling him he has to separate. This was devastating to him. However, He was able to pick up a civilian job that was right up his alley. It was actually the perfect job for him, and it was a promotion from where he was in the military rank-wise. We were able to rent a really nice house in England, and everything work-wise was great. 

God knew what Tony wanted. He knew what would ultimately make him happy. He helped him get to where he wanted to be. He is not a criminal investigator, but he does have a civilian job that he really likes. Sometimes, oftentimes, God’s plan doesn’t look like we would like it to. Tony wanted a transition to civil service that was full of assurances and security. This is not what it looked like. He was let go with 4 months notice. They gave him 4 months to find another job. They also said he could keep medical insurance for up to either 6 months or a year. So, even though it didn’t look like Tony wanted it to, it did provide him with some security.

Did something similar happen in your life? Were you looking/searching for something, and you finally got there, but the road to get there looked nothing like you thought it would? Yep, me too. This verse tells us that God’s way is perfect and that His promises come true. God has said in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We can get ourselves into some pretty interesting situations, and I, for one, am glad that God is there to turn those crazy situations into good ones. I am grateful that I don’t have to fix it on my own. I am grateful that his way is perfect. This takes the pressure off of us to be perfect.

The last line says, “He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” God can and will protect us. He is our shield. However, it is important to point out that this verse says, “For all who take refuge in Him.” It is our choice whether we want God to be our shield or not. If we want to be on our own in the world, God will let us. He does not go where He is not wanted. He gave us free will, and He takes it very seriously. If you want God to be your shield, you need to ask Him. You need to invite Him into your life and give Him permission to work in your life. A great way to start each day is to say, “Good morning God, Dad, Lord, Papa, or whatever your name you have for God. I invite you into this day with me. I give you permission to work freely in my day and to shield me from all I need shielding from. Thank you, Lord, I love you!” It can be as simple as that. If you have never done this before, I invite you to do it today and see how different your life could be with God shielding you from the hurt and the pain.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we thank you for working all things for our good. We are sorry we don’t come to you every time we need you. We are sorry we keep you on the outside looking in. Please forgive us, Lord. Please help us to remember to ask for your help and your guidance. Remind us to invite you in and to take refuge in you. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in the name of Jesus, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you are not on my email list I would like to invite you to click here or go to my website to sign up. When you do I will send you a quick audio training on how to incorporate prayer into the things you are already doing. We are all busy and might not be able to find the time to add even just 10 minutes of prayer into our schedules. However, in this audio training I will teach you to add prayer into your lives without any time to your schedule. Check it out! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I am your Jesus who loves you. I love you so much that I gave my life for each and every one of you so that you may be free of everything. Free of your anxieties, free of your fears, free of everything that binds you. My children, I love you so much that I would go through it all again because of my love for you. My children, if you ask the Father anything in my name and you ask it and trust, He will give it to you. I am the all-powerful one. I am the almighty. I am your Savior. I am all that you need to succeed, my children. So come to me, for through me, all things are possible.”

God’s Anger Was Kindled On My Behalf!

Psalm 18:7-10 “The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for his anger was kindled on my behalf! Fierce flames leapt from his mouth, erupting with blazing, burning coals as smoke and fire encircled him. He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense. Swiftly he rode to earth as the stormy sky was lowered. He rode a chariot of thunderclouds amidst thick darkness; his steed was a cherub, soaring on outstretched wings of Spirit-Wind.”

In the last two episodes, I talked about Psalm 18. I explained that God is our rock and that we call on Him when we are in a time of need, and He is there for us. Yesterday, we talked about how our cries go right up to heaven and pierce the Lord’s heart. Today we are talking about how He responds to that cry.

The first line says, “The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before Him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for His anger was kindled on my behalf!” Can you imagine that? Close your eyes and imagine the whole earth shaking and shivering. Imagine the mountains trembling and then just melting away. Can you picture it? Now, imagine that all happened just because you cried out to the Lord. His anger was kindled on your behalf. There are billions of people on this earth, and the Lord hopped in a chariot of thunderclouds because you cried out to Him. That is pretty amazing!

I think the fact that the Lord cares for each one of us individually escapes us a lot of the time. We think of how big God is and how many people there are in the world, and we think that God loves us in a general way. Kind of like how a priest might say he loves his parishioners. He probably does love the people who attend the church. He would also probably help anyone that came and asked for it. However, the priest probably does not know every detail of every person’s life. This is how we can think of God sometimes. Yes, He loves us. He is our heavenly Father, and also, he has billions of children, so he can’t possibly know me personally. The reason we think this way is because the reality of God is so far beyond anything our mind can comprehend. His vastness is too much for us to understand truly.

God created you. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13) He knows every hair on your head. God acts for each one of us at the same time. He can be solving your problem at the same time He is helping someone else on the other side of the world. He is not bound by the same things we are. He doesn’t have to obey the rules around time and space. He made time and space. There was nothing before God; He created all of it, so He is in control of all of it.

One line in the verse above that I really like is the one that says, “He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense.” I like this because it gives me a good visual. The whole verse is pretty easy to visualize, actually. It is a pretty descriptive verse today. However, I love thinking about there being a curtain to Heaven. Kinda like in Wizard of Oz, when the Great OZ was behind a curtain. I like to think of a curtain that God can just pull back to come to our defense. It’s not a wall, it’s not a door, it’s a curtain. A curtain isn’t hard to pull back. It isn’t hard to get through. A curtain provides pretty easy access.

I have never seen God, but I like the thought of Him getting so angry on my behalf that he would do half the things listed in the verse above. I think this verse shows us how powerful our prayers are. We call out to God, and He acts on our behalf. This is also a good reminder that we don't have to seek revenge; we can turn that over to God, and He will do what is right. God knows all that is going on in our lives. He knows all that has gone on in the past. He knows when someone offends us or does something bad to us. It angers Him when His children are hurt or mistreated. All we need to do is call out to the Lord, and He will come to our assistance.

This verse is a great reminder that we can call on the Lord and that He responds. It is a great reminder that He cares about each of us individually. Yes, God loves us all, and also He loves each one of us. He cares about all the little things in our lives. He knows all about those things you didn’t want Him to know about. He saw that thing that happened to you that you were too ashamed to tell Him about. He sees you, and He loves you. He wants to be there for you. He wants to take care of you. He just needs you to let Him. He just needs you to cry out to Him, and He will come running! That is how much God loves you! I will reread the verses above again. Close your eyes and imagine the verse is talking about you and what God is doing for you.

“The earth itself shivered and shook. It reeled and rocked before him. As the mountains trembled, they melted away, for his anger was kindled on my behalf! Fierce flames leapt from his mouth, erupting with blazing, burning coals as smoke and fire encircled him. He stretched heaven’s curtain open and came to my defense. Swiftly he rode to earth as the stormy sky was lowered. He rode a chariot of thunderclouds amidst thick darkness; his steed was a cherub, soaring on outstretched wings of Spirit-Wind.”

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we thank you for caring about us so much. We thank you for getting upset when we are wronged in some way. We thank you for responding so immediately at times. We thank you for responding so individually. Lord, we ask you to remind us to call out to you. We ask you to give us the strength when we don’t have it. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

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

The Word of the Lord for today is, “I am an emblem on your heart. Don't forget you are branded by my love from birth. I have marked you as mine. Give me permission to fill you with my divine presence. I need you, children. The harvest is many the workers are few.”

You Are Not Who You Were

Romans 3:23-24 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.”

We have all done things in the past that we are not proud of, and sometimes we get stuck thinking about those things. We replay them over and over again in our minds and think about how different our lives would be if we had not done them. Some of us think that the things we did were so bad that there is no way God could ever forgive us or love us. Regret is a terrible thing. It sucks the life out of the present moment if you let it. Our minds are powerful, and we will believe what they tell us. We may know in our hearts that God will always forgive us if we truly repent. We know in our hearts that God will always love us no matter what we do and that we do not have to earn his love. However, sometimes, that little voice inside of us will listen to the enemy, and our brain will believe the lies that he tells us. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The evil one likes to take this phrase and use it to whisper things in our ears like, “See, no one is good enough,” or “No matter what you do, you will always fall short of God’s standards.” He tells us that we shouldn’t even bother because we are not enough. Do you ever feel that way, like you are not enough? What many of us may not know is what the very next verse, Romans 3:24, says, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins.” Yes, we all sin, but God’s grace “makes us right in his sight.” Another way the enemy likes to get to us is to tell us that we will never change. That we are still the same person who did that thing we regret. If we strive to change, he tells us that we can’t change. He reminds us of the things we have done in the past and whispers that we will do it again. There is a song I heard for the first time on the Big Life Devotional, and it is “Slave to Nothing” by Zach Williams. In this song he says:

You can tell me what I did
You can show me who I was before
Where I fell short
Hang it over my head
But I'm not the same anymore
One thing's for sure
The shackles have fallen
So I'm showing shame to the door
Make no mistake
I'm a slave, to nothing

If you get a chance to listen to this song, I highly recommend it. click here

Just because you have acted a certain way in the past does not mean that you have to act that way forever. You can decide to repent and change your ways at any point in time, and God will be there to forgive you and welcome you in with open arms. Think about the many saints that have had beginnings that were not so great. One of the most illustrious saints, I think, is St. Augustine of Hippo. He was a man who was known for having not one but two mistresses. He ran around for years before having a change of heart and settling down at 31. St. Augustine went on to become a Doctor of the Church. Then there is also Saint Mary of Egypt, who ran away from home at 12 and spent a dozen years living on the street as a seductress. According to Craughwell in an article in Live Science, “Nothing made her happier than corrupting innocent young Christian men.” Saint Mary went to Jerusalem looking for young Christian boys to seduce. At the doors to the church, she felt a strange force repulsing her, and she immediately changed her ways. There was also Saint Camillus de Lellis, a priest from Italy that founded one of the first healthcare organizations for the needy. He started out as a cardsharp, con man, and mercenary. 

There are also lots of modern-day examples of people who had a rough start. Jennifer Aniston, who is one of the most famous actors because of her role in the sitcom Friends, had 4 failed sitcoms in a row before she landed the role on Friends. Tim Allen, who starred in Home Improvement, is now starring in Last Man Standing and was also the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story Movies. In 1979, he was caught with many illegal substances and went to jail for over 2 years. Then he got his life together and became the actor we know and love today. Oprah Winfrey grew up in poverty and did not have the best childhood. She was molested during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her son was born too early and died in infancy. Can you imagine the things the enemy was trying to tell her? What was he trying to tell all of these people? What if these people would have believed the lies that they could not become anything different? If they believed that the version of themselves that was not enough or prone to sinning was all they could ever be? What if they stopped reaching for more because they believed they could never achieve more? 

What lies do you believe? How much more could you accomplish or become if you stopped believing the lies? You may have made mistakes in the past. You may wish that you could change certain things. Do not let those things hold you back from being who you are today. Do not believe the lies that you are not enough, lazy, selfish, greedy, etc. Just because you may have been those things in the past does not mean that you have to be those things in the future. You can be whoever you want to be because God has redeemed you with his grace!

This episode was inspired by The Big Life Devotional by Pamela Crim. If you have time to listen to the original episode that inspired me, I highly recommend it. You can reach that episode by clicking here. The episode was called A Slave To Nothing.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you. We ask you to help us guard our minds and help us not to believe the enemy’s lies. We ask that you help us believe we can change and that we are not who we once were. Change is possible. We ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. A reminder that tonight is mentoring night. We will be talking about God’s reckless love for us. If you would like to join us, it is not too late to join us. Just send me a message, and I will make sure you have the Zoom link. CLICK HERE to sign up for mentoring. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s word of the Lord is, “Today, my children, I send my love to all of you. I have placed you snuggly in my heart. Never doubt my children or my presence. It hurts my heart when you do. I do not leave my children out in the rain. You are living under my wings. Never ever forget that I am your refuge now and eternally. You, my children, remember who I am. I am the great I am, my children. Come to me first always. I am waiting. “

The Bedrock Under My Feet 

Psalm 18:1-2 " I love you, God—you make me strong. God is the bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout.”

Psalm 18 was brought up twice in prayer group today. It was not these verses; however, when I started reading the whole chapter, I fell in love, especially with the beginning. I will take a few days to focus on this Psalm. I am not sure how many, but at the very least, today and Monday, as it is so beautiful! This verse starts with, “I love you, God—you make me strong,” what a great opener. We can’t tell God enough how much we love Him. I don’t think He ever gets tired of hearing it from us. Also, what a great thing to remember. God is our strength. It doesn’t matter what kind of strength we need; it can be found in the Lord.

Next, it says that God is the bedrock under my feet. Bedrock is the solid rock underneath loose rock or soil. We may have other things that we rely on before God. There might be various ways that we try to protect ourselves; these things would be loose rock or soil. Maybe they work for a bit, but eventually, you will slip, or you fall on that loose grave. Underneath it all is our real protection. God is the solid rock that we stand on. With God as our bedrock, we can rest assured that our footing is solid and we will not fall.

It also says that God is the castle in which I live. God is a safe place for us to not only rest but for us to live. He is not just a stopping point, like a safe bench to sit on. We can live in his safety and security. It is always around us, just like the walls of a castle. If we are in a castle, we are surrounded by walls of stone so thick that we are safe from the enemy. The Lord protects us from all our enemies. We just have to live with Him. We just have to let Him surround us with His walls of protection. We just have to ask Him.

Next, it says God is our rescuing knight. How many times have you seen this in your own life? When we are struggling, God comes in and rescues us. He loves us that much. He doesn’t always come in right when we want Him to, and He doesn’t always save us in the way we want Him to. This is because He is so much smarter than we are. It is also because He sees the whole picture, and He thinks way bigger than we do. We definitely think our idea is the best idea. But what if what we are thinking is way smaller than what God is thinking? What if He has much bigger plans for us, but they require us to trust Him in these first few steps because we are not ready for the amazing life He has planned for us? We are still growing. We are still learning. If He had just plopped us into this new amazing life, we wouldn’t have been ready for it, and we might have ruined it. God knows what He is doing.

The last line in this verse says, “My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout.” This is another way to show us how safe we are with the Lord. We can run to Him with anything, yes, even if our lives are in danger. This means when we are sick, when we are scared, when we are in danger. We can run to Him, and He will be there for us. He will ALWAYS be there for us, which makes me wonder why we don’t go to Him more often. Why don’t we run to Him at the first sign of trouble? Why don’t we hide behind His bolder and stay safe in the granite hideout?

I received a word last night at prayer group, and then at the end, we had a bit of a discussion about it. What my friend said might be the same reason we don’t always run to Him. The words I received were, “I want to be close to you, but you are keeping me at a safe distance. You are keeping me at an arm’s length away from you. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of me seeing? Open it up to me. Let me in.” After the meeting, my friend said she thinks she is afraid of rejection. She is afraid if she lets the Lord into the innermost parts of herself, He won’t like what He sees.

She knows this is not true in her mind but is having trouble convincing her heart of it. She said she felt like she heard the Lord ask her, in a very gentle and loving voice, “Why would I reject you? I made you. I made every part of you. I have loved you since before you were born. I would never reject you.” Sometimes we feel like we want to hide things from the Lord. I don’t think my friend is the only one who fears rejection. We wonder what it would be like if God knew the REAL us. The one we don’t let anyone see. What if He knew the ugly thoughts we have sometimes? What if He knew about those things we did when we were younger? What if he knew the demons I was still struggling with? What if…

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but He already knows. He knows everything about you. Every thought you have, every single thing you have ever done, and yet He loves you anyway. He loves you just as you are. He wants to love and protect you just as you are. You don’t have to clean yourself up first. You don’t have to be perfect or have all the right answers. He loves you because He is your Dad, and He created you. He knows all the things you don’t like about yourself, and He thinks you are wrong; he loves those parts of you. He thinks you are handsome and beautiful and loves you with an unconditional, unending love that we can’t even comprehend.

Take a moment to think of the thing that you love most in the world. The thing you can’t live without. The thing that you would sacrifice all other things for. If you had to put a number on how much you loved that thing, what would that number be? Now take that number and multiply it by a million, and you wouldn’t even be close to how much God loves you. His love is overflowing for us. So, let’s take some time today in silence and answer God’s question. Let’s have a conversation with Him about “What are we afraid of?” Why aren’t we coming closer? Why aren’t we turning to Him at the first sign of trouble? Why aren’t we living in His safe castle?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to come close; please help us. Lord, we want to trust you and to let you into the secret places of our hearts; please help us. Show us what we are afraid of, and then help us overcome that fear. We don’t want anything preventing us from coming closer, Lord! We love you so much! You are the Best! Thank you for your love and your protection. Please open our hearts and soften our hearts so we can accept them both. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I would like to ask you to keep me in your prayers this weekend. I am traveling to Orlando, and I pray I can get to and from safely and without catching the cold everyone seems to have right now. Also, prayers for Tony as he holds down the fort while I am gone. I look forward to meeting you back here on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

The Word of the Lord for today is, “I want to be close to you, but you are keeping me at a safe distance. You are keeping me at an arm’s length away from you. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of me seeing? Open it up to me. Let me in.”

You Get Out What You Put In

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Here’s my point. A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity! Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace so that you will have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.”

I was planning to use a different verse today. Then, all of a sudden, this verse popped up in a notification on my phone as the verse of the day. The moment I read it, I felt as if the Holy Spirit said I want you to talk about the concept of “you get what you put into it.” When you first read this verse, you might think of money first. It sort of sounds like they are talking about how much money they will give to the church. In the verses before this section in the Passion Translation, they are talking about a donation they are going to give. I think the Lord wants me to touch on this, but this is not the main point of what He wants me to talk about today. So, let me begin with that to get it out of the way.

When it comes to how much money we give to the church, or to the poor, or whoever we are giving money to, this verse is very applicable. This can be a difficult decision to make because we want to make sure we are still able to pay all of our bills and buy all the things we want to buy. However, are we buying much more than we actually need? As the verse says, are we stingy with our giving to the church and yet have plenty of money to waste on things we don’t need? Giving to the church is part of our duty, even if we don’t want to, even if we disagree with all the church is doing. We are all obligated to give to the church. Many churches will recommend you give 5% of your income to the church and 5% to the poor.

This is where this verse comes in handy. It is a good thing to remember when you are deciding how much to give to the church. “A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest.” God cannot be outdone in generosity. We sometimes worry if we give too much, we won’t have enough for ourselves. There is no way that God lets you give so much that you don’t have enough for yourself. The more you give, the more God gives. God doesn’t want us to give just because we have to, though. He wants us to give freely, and He wants us to do it with a joyful heart. Think about how you are giving your money. Are you doing it with a joyful heart? Are you being stingy or are you being generous?

What I feel the Lord really wants me to talk to you about today is how much of You, you are giving to the Lord. How much are you putting into your relationship with the Lord? How much time? How much effort? How much vulnerability and openness? This is what jumped out at me when I read this verse this morning. If we are stingy with the time and effort in our relationship with the Lord, then our relationship will reflect that. We can not expect to have a close and intimate relationship with the Lord when we don’t put in any effort.

I always wondered what people meant when they said they wanted to have an intimate relationship with God or with Jesus. I mean, He is God; how can you have an intimate relationship with the Almighty God in heaven? The idea of it all seemed so foreign to me. I couldn’t even picture what that would look like. I couldn’t picture how that would work and how I could cultivate that. Yet, I still dove in. I joined a  prayer group full of people who clearly knew the Lord intimately, and I learned from them. I would like to pass along what I have learned to you so you can have the same thing they have. Let me start by answering the questions that I had because if I had them, then some of you do too.

My first question was, what does it even mean to have an intimate relationship with God? For me, it means really knowing Him and for Him to really know me. It means I know without a doubt of His love for me. I can take any problem to Him, and I know He will be there for me. I know He will comfort me and protect me. I know He will help me solve all my problems if I let Him. I also know He will celebrate with me. When good things happen, we celebrate together. When I need a pep talk, He is ready to give it to me. In short, He is my go-to for all things, and He is never too busy and never too upset. He always receives me with loving arms.

My second question was, how do I cultivate this type of relationship? This was surprisingly simpler than I thought. The reason it was simpler than I thought is because this is the type of relationship God wants with each of us. The way you cultivate an intimate relationship with God is the same way you would with a person. Think about your person. The one you can always go to with anything. The one who will celebrate with you when you are happy and cry with you when you are sad. The one who will give you that pep talk you need when you need it because they believe in you way more than you believe in yourself. Think about how that relationship developed. Most likely, it started out by talking with each other and getting to know each other. Then you probably started spending more and more time together. Once you built up trust you started being more open and more vulnerable. Eventually, you grow to really love and trust each other. It’s the same with God.

It is ok if it is a gradual journey. It is ok if you don’t trust God enough to open up and share your deepest darkest secrets with Him at the moment. He is ok with starting at the beginning. He is ok with just chatting with you. Just talking about surface-level stuff if that is what you want to bring to Him right now. The important thing at the beginning is to make the time to sit and talk with Him. What you are talking to Him about is not as important.

The next step would be to get to know Him. You can do this in a couple of different ways. First, you can ask Him questions and listen to His answers. God wants to talk to us, and He will reveal things to us if we ask Him. Second, you can spend time in His word. God revealed all we need to know about Him through Jesus. If we want to get to know God, we can spend time in His word and read about the things He has done in the past. You can read stories on-line of the things He is still doing now. If you seek to know God, He will reveal Himself to you in many different ways. It says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” So, ask questions, seek knowledge and understanding, and knock on doors, and the Lord will help you.

Once you start to spend time with Him and you get to know Him better, you will start to trust Him more. You will see you can bring all things to Him, and He will take care of them. If you begin to listen to Him, you will get to know how He talks to you. You will see He is gentle and caring. You will feel His love in a very intimate and personal way. You will understand what people mean when they say yes, God loves all His children, but He also loves you personally and individually. The love of God is something that is like nothing else in the world.

What would you give to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves you, forgives you, and accepts you? When I hear that question, my answer is, what wouldn’t I give? What about you? What is your answer? The verse above begins by saying, “A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one who sows from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest.” When it comes to your relationship with the Lord, you get what you give. If you invest heavily in your relationship with God, you will reap a great harvest. God already wants to have a close relationship with you, so you aren’t risking anything by asking Him for it. The last part of the verse above says, “Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace so that you will have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.”

A notification just popped up on my phone as I was writing this episode. It was from the Amen app, and it said, “Do we have zeal and urgency to seek and follow Jesus?” Well, if that isn’t confirmation of what God wanted to tell us this morning, I am not sure what is. Spend time with the Lord, talk to the Lord, and learn about the Lord. You won’t be sorry that you did!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode this morning. Lord, I pray that each person who hears this episode desires a close and intimate relationship with you. I pray that over each and every one of them. I pray they seek you, Lord. I pray you let your presence known to them and that they know beyond a shadow of doubt your love for them. Help us find the time to spend with you, Jesus. Help us to be more positive in our thoughts.  We love you, Lord, and we ask all 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 want to remind you about an audio training I did on how to invite Jesus into our everyday activities. Spending time with God, talking to God, and spending time in His word is a great idea, but finding the time for it can be a problem. This training shows you how to add these things to the things you are already doing. If you would like this training, just go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, and click on the button to get the video, or you can CLICK HERE. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!

Today’s word of the Lord was one I received yesterday at a prayer group. We were listening to a song by Tasha Layton called “Look What You’ve Done.” If you haven’t heard this song, I invite you to look it up on YouTube and listen to it. It is an amazing song. In the song, it was talking about the Lord digging all her roots up, and this is the word that came to me: “I want to do this in each one of you. I want to dig the roots up for every single stronghold you have. Jesus died for your sins, yes yours. Let them go. Why do you hold onto them when I have already forgiven them? Why do you listen to the enemy’s lies? Why do you let the shame in? I am stronger than the enemy. Is there anything too great for me? Let the shame go. Let my love in. You are blocking it. Open your heart with a few simple words. Come, Lord Jesus, come. I give you permission to come in and heal me. I love you, my children, believe that!"

Jim's Website- SaintsBeToGod.org This is a great place to learn more about Jim, the relics, and how to bring those relics to your church. You can also give a donation here to support his mission. 

To get more info or to sign up for mentoring, Click Here! To sign up for my newsletter and a free download for an audio training on how to incorporate more prayer into the things you are already doing, Click Here! 

We have all seen God working in our lives; however, we might not all be aware that 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 catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or just click here.  It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow, and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day! 

Guard Your Heart and Mind

Proverbs 4:23-25 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.  Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.”

I really like these verses. I don’t think we realize how important it is to do what they say. Did you know it was important to guard your heart and mind? Did you know when it talks about the heart in the Bible, it also talks about your mind? I just found this out the other day, although it does make sense to me. Our hearts and minds are interconnected. Our thoughts are actually what control our emotions. This is why it is so important to control our thoughts. I know a lot of people who feel they can not help how they feel. Perhaps you agree. I mean, when something happens, you just react. You can not help that. You instinctively feel a certain emotion depending on your past life experiences. However, we won’t all feel the same thing. For instance, you and I could be out for a walk together. We might see a dog walking on the other side of the street. You might be happy because you think dogs are cute and you love them. I might be nervous because I was attacked by a dog when I was younger, so they make me nervous.

This can happen with many emotions. My husband gets pretty angry when people cut him off or when we are stuck in traffic. However, most of the time, I don’t really mind either of those two things. So, let me go back to what I said earlier. I agree that when something happens, you may not have control over whatever emotion you immediately feel. However, you can do work so that you have more and more control over how you react to things. Even though you might not have control over the immediate emotion you feel, you do have control over whether or not you stay in that emotion. Your thoughts drive your emotions. We all have stories that we tell ourselves when something happens, and those stories can help us or hurt us. Too often, we allow them to hurt us.

For example, someone shows up late to a lunch that you had. They didn’t call and you are sitting there getting more and more mad. You are probably telling yourself a story like this, “I can’t believe they are late. They are always late. They are so selfish. They only think about themselves. They think there time is so much more important than my time. I can’t believe they are doing this to me. I can’t believe they don’t care about me or my time. Maybe I just shouldn’t have lunch with them anymore.” Do you feel the emotions that come along with this story? You are getting yourself more and more upset as you sit there telling yourself all these negative things. Take a minute and think about the emotions that story had you feeling. Now listen to this story you could tell yourself, “I wonder why they are late. I hope they are ok. This happens sometimes. They get caught up in something and lose track of time. I am sure they will be here soon. They have been late before, but they always come. I know how hard it can be getting out the door with 3 kids.” Did this story create different feelings? For me, I felt more compassionate when I told myself the second story. I was able to be more patient.

The reason we have to guard our thoughts is because the enemy is actively trying to take control of them. He wants you to have negative thoughts. He wants you to think you have no control over your thoughts or your emotions. He wants to destroy us, and that is the fastest way to do so. He can plant seeds in your thoughts and then walk away and watch those seeds ruin us. In John 8:44, Jesus says, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The devil is the father of lies. Unfortunately, he doesn’t just straight-up lie; there is usually a kernel of truth in what he is saying, and yet he twists that truth to make you start doubting.

For instance, you called someone, and they didn’t call you back. The enemy will use this information to cause you to doubt your friendship. He will tell you that this person was home, and they just didn’t want to answer. He will tell you that they are mad at you, and that is why they didn’t answer. It all depends on what your insecurities are. However, the truth is, we don’t know why they didn’t call us back, and we won’t know until they do call us back. This is what I mean by guarding our thoughts. We need to shut the enemy down. It may be true that they didn’t want to talk to us, but until they tell us that, we have no way of knowing. So, wouldn’t it be better to tell ourselves a story that is just as plausible but that doesn’t make us upset? For instance, they are busy right now and can’t answer the phone. They are out running errands and will call back when they get home. These are also just as likely as the negative stories, and yet they don’t make me feel angry, hurt, or sad. I don’t feel the rejection the enemy wants me to feel when I tell myself a positive story.

The verse above says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.  Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” We must guard our hearts and minds because all else flows through it. I told you that your emotions are a result of your thoughts, and I showed you why that is true. This is why we need to guard them. We need to focus on retraining our minds to not listen to the enemy. The negative stuff is so much easier to believe than the positive stuff. However, it is possible to believe the positive stuff too. It just takes more effort, and we need to be more intentional about it.

If we keep reading this verse, it gives us some ways that we can guard our hearts and minds. The very next line says, "Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.” There is a quote I really like from Lao Tzu that says, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” The enemy is sneaky. He starts with our thoughts because he knows they are the key to so many other things. We are lucky, though, because we are sons and daughters of the one true king, and so we don't have to let the enemy have control of us. Jesus died on the cross to break that control, and all we need to do is stand in that freedom and take authority over our thoughts.

If we watch our words and what comes out of our mouths, then it will be easier to be the person we want to be. If we are always saying negative or mean things about ourselves or others, then our thoughts will be negative as well. The last line is the one that can probably help us the most. It says, “ Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.” To me, this means to fix our eyes on Jesus. Don’t look all around you at what others are doing. Look straight ahead. Kind of like when you are running a race, and they tell you to look at the finish line. Don’t worry about what the other runners are doing. Just look at your finish line. What is our finish line? It is eternal life with our heavenly Father. If that is what we want if that is our end goal, then we need to keep our eyes fixed on that goal, and we need to guard our hearts, our minds, and our words.

We can do this. The enemy thinks we are easy targets, but he doesn’t know the authority we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can just say that name, and the enemy flees. We don’t have to believe the lies. We can choose to believe the truth that we are children of God and that God loves us. We can choose to ignore the lies and tell ourselves better stories. If you would like to learn more about how important our thoughts are, you can join the mentoring session tonight; just email me or reach out on social media for the Zoom link. Also, you could go back and listen to episode #438, Our Thoughts Become Who We Are.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode. Lord, we need your help. The enemy is having a grand old time messing with our thoughts. We need your help to guard them. We need you to show us how to protect them. Show us how to guard our hearts and minds, Lord. Help us keep our eyes fixed on you. We love you! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing those of you who are in mentoring this evening at 8 PM EST. If you are not in mentoring yet but would like to give it a try, you can head to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, to sign up or to get more information. If you would like to check it out before signing up, email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com, and I will send you the Zoom link for tonight’s session. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I have made you fearless. The devil would have you full of fear. I have made you fearless. You are fearless because you live in me, and I am fearless. I am the Lord.”

First Things First

Genesis 4:3-5 “ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,  but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.”

I heard Father Mike talking about this story the other day, and it really made me think. The Bible really doesn’t say why the Lord had regard for Abel’s offering and not for Cain’s offering. However, many theologians or Bible scholars believe it is because Abel gave of the firstlings of his flock, and Cain did not. In other words, Able gave God the best of the best, and Cain didn’t.

This got me thinking, do I give God the best of the best, or do I give Him what is left over? Do I give Him the best of me, or do I give Him what is left over after I have poured out the best of me in my job and in my family? Usually, we fit God in when we can, if we can. We don’t give Him the best time of day to talk with us. We don’t always start our day off with Him. We don’t always offer Him the best parts of our day. Even when I do start my day off talking to Him, I am not usually at my best because I stayed up so late the night before I was just falling asleep during my time with Him.

What about our income? Are we giving the Lord the best of our income? Are we giving Him the top 10%, or are we paying all our bills, going out to eat, buying all the things we want for ourselves, doing all the online shopping, and then giving Him what, if anything, is left over? Are we giving the Lord what He wants or what we want? Father Mike told this story about his mother. One year, for her birthday, the kids asked what she wanted them to buy her. She said what she would really like is for them to clean the house for her, so she wouldn’t have to do it. That sounded like a lot of work and not something they wanted to do. So they asked her again, no, Mom, really, what can we get you? She said well, you could cut the grass and clean up the yard for me. Again, this was not something they had any desire to do.

The older sisters decided to borrow some money and the car from their Dad, and they went to the store and bought her a really nice gift. Father Mike and his brother, I think, took off on their skateboards, and they learned a cool new trick to show their mom for her birthday. So when it was time to give her the presents, the girls presented what they had bought for her, and the boys showed her the tricks they learned for her. She was very appreciative, said thank you, and didn’t complain. However, later in life, Father Mike realized that they didn’t really give their Mom what she wanted; they gave her what they wanted.

How many times have we done this to our Heavenly Father? How many times has he called us to do something, and we counter with something different? For instance, the Lord asks us to volunteer at church, and instead, we pretend we didn’t hear, or we offer to make a donation instead. How many times have we felt called to give money to someone or some organization, and yet we are worried we don’t have enough, so we don’t? Have you ever felt called to offer something up for someone, and yet it seemed like a lot of work, so you did something else instead? I will be honest with you: there have been a few times over the last few months when I have felt called to pray the miraculous rosary for someone and yet have resisted because that is a 54-day commitment.

It’s crazy to me to think about what I just said. The Holy Spirit prompted me to do something, and I didn’t. I thought it was too much work. Actually, I don’t know if I made the conscious decision not to do it. I think how it works with me, and maybe with you, is that I plan to do it, and I keep thinking about it and keep thinking I will do it, but then I never actually get around to doing it. I think we do this often. Maybe it isn’t always conscious, and maybe we don’t always want to admit it, but sometimes we just don’t want to do what God wants us to do. If it were easy to follow the Lord, everyone would be doing it. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Are we doing this? Are we denying ourselves and picking up our cross to follow Him? When I examine my life, I don’t think that I am. I truly struggle with denying myself at times. Sometimes, I do great, and other times, I am not good at all. However, I think I know what the difference is. I think when I am trying to go at it alone, I don’t do well. However, when I invite Jesus into the struggle, I do much better. If we are being asked to do something that we think is going to be difficult, we can invite Jesus in to help us. We can pray for the strength, the fortitude, the perseverance to stick to whatever it is we are trying to do. This is true with all things. If we try to do anything on our own, it will never go as smoothly as it will when we stop before we do it and invite the Lord into it. Invite Him to help us and guide us.

I invite you to take some time with the Lord today and ask Him to show you where you are not offering Him your firsts, your bests? Ask Him where you could be doing better. What things could you be inviting Him into? Where in your life is He calling you to deny yourself and pick up the cross? Maybe ask these questions and then journal the answers. Remember, if you ask, He will answer, will you be there to listen?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, you are truly amazing, and we are sorry we don’t always put you first. We are sorry that, at times, we offer you what is left over instead of what is best. We are sorry that, at times, we offer you what we want instead of what you want. Please help us to change, Lord. Please give us whatever it is we need to get better. 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 want to remind everyone about my new mentoring program that meets on Tuesday nights at 8 PM EST. If you would like to give it a try before joining, you can email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com, and I will send you the link to join us for the next session. If you know someone else who may be interested, please pass on the information. All info can be found at walkboldlywithjesus.com, and then click on the mentoring tab. CLICK HERE Also, if you know someone who might like this podcast, can you please share it as well? If you have not left a review and would be willing to, I would really appreciate it as that helps more people to find it. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is: “There is no demon who can touch you. There is no one who can steal my children from Me. You are ALL My children. I have given you a package of seeds. Those seeds will be scattered by each of My children. Some in small ways, some in big ways but not one seed sown is insignificant. It is all part of My forever plan. I am a part of you. Rest in My love and in My peace. You are a chosen people. Chosen for me from the beginning of time. I cannot for the times. I cannot. You are whole in Me.”

Be Bold!

Deuteronomy 31:7-8 “Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

I thought it was interesting that this was a verse that I read this morning. Yesterday at prayer group, we stayed after and did our monthly bookmark meeting. What this means is that we take a look at the bookmark for the month, and we each say what stands out to us. The bookmark is the discerned word for a particular month. Each week at prayer group, we get several words of prophecy from the Lord. We record these words that are given, and there is a team that discerns the words given and picks one: Call, Proclamation, Promise, and Directive for the month. One of our members then types them up and puts them on a bookmark so we can share them with the entire prayer group.

Yesterday we did the bookmark from February 2023. That was almost a year ago, and yet the bookmark was similar to the words that we received yesterday. For the most part, the Lord is not saying new things to us. He is saying the same things we have heard time and time again. Sometimes, He says those things in a new way, and sometimes, He uses very similar words. What is striking to me today is how this passage says, “Be strong and bold,” and this is the same thing He was telling us last February and the same thing He told us yesterday.

In the February bookmark, the Lord said, “Do all to make me known and proclaim my Name. Be bold and step out. Serve me with all you are each and every day. Go now. Do not delay.” The passage talks about being strong and bold so they can take over the promised land. The passage in the bookmark talks about being bold so we can proclaim the Lord’s name. The apostles prayed for this boldness to preach the word of the Lord at a time when it was very dangerous to preach about Jesus. In Acts 4, Peter and John talk to people about Jesus and His resurrection. The rulers, elders, and scribes didn’t like what they were teaching, and they threatened Peter and John as to what would happen to them if they didn’t stop talking about Jesus.

Instead of cowering and obeying when they were told to stop talking about Jesus, they prayed for more boldness to do it anyway. Acts 4:29-31 says, “And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.” They asked for boldness, and they were given it. It is the same for us. All we need to do is ask. God is calling us to be bold in our faith. We sometimes worry that we will be alone in this boldness. Sometimes, it can feel like it is us against the world, and when we think about being brave, we aren’t sure we can do it.

In the verse above Moses reminds Joshua that God will be with Him when they go into the promised land. It says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” This is reminding Joshua that God will not let them down. He is reminding them that they do not have anything to be afraid of. It is not up to them to defeat the enemy. God will be with them, and He will help them! In the February bookmark, before God told us to be bold, he reminded us, “I am the Lord of the universe.”

God is not calling us to be bold on our own. He is right there with us. He goes before us to prepare the way. For instance, if God is calling you to be bold and step out in faith and pray over someone, then He has already prepared that person’s heart to accept that prayer. If God is asking you to be brave and ask for something then He has already softened hearts and prepared them for you. God says 365 times in the Bible, some version of “do not be afraid.” This is another way to say, “Be bold.”

My friend Peggy at prayer group yesterday was saying she has learned to be bold just by hearing the title of this podcast. She said it reminds her that she can be bold with Jesus by her side. She said she has gotten much bolder since listening. She gets a daily devotional from another friend of ours. She forwards it to many people. She was brave and took a step in faith and gave her grandson a Max Lucado book called “Fearless.” She wasn’t sure how he would respond. He is a teenager and, in the past, has been resistant to faith. However, recently he said he has been reading the Bible. She took this book off of her shelf and said she thought he might like it and gave it to him. Her grandson sent her a text message when he got back home to FL saying that he read the book the entire plane ride and he really liked it.

Do you see how God works? He is helping us to be brave by preparing those we encounter to receive us. I don’t think that means it will always work out as well as it did when Peggy gave her grandson the book. We may encounter some opposition when we step out in faith. We may encounter some people who say no to what we are asking. That is ok. The apostles saw this too. Our job is not to allow these times when people say no to deter us from our mission. That mission is the same for each one of us. That mission is for us to bring the love of Jesus to each and every person that we meet. We can do this because we have Jesus. He is on our side! He is leading the way. Be bold and step out in faith. Bring Jesus’ love to someone you know and love today!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening. Lord, help us to be brave. Help us to look for opportunities to share your love with others, and then give us the courage to do so. We love you, Lord, and we ask 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 hope over these last two and a half years of listening you have been able to walk a bit more boldly in your faith. I look forward to seeing you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Do not let the news of the times you live in wear you down, upset you, depress you. I am a God of victory. I have conquered all by giving my life on the cross and allowing the gift of my Father to raise me from the dead. A gift that He has given you through me. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid no matter what things look like, no matter how they feel. Trust, Trust in me. Trust in the Father’s tremendous love for all of you and for all of His creation. Trust in the power that can be given to you through the Holy Spirit. Continue daily, daily, every moment you breathe to worship, to praise, to adore, for we are your God, One in three. Holy, undivided, blessed, glorious God. And we love you and give you the victory that is in us."

I Waited and Waited and Waited 

Psalm 40:1 “I waited and waited and waited some more, patiently, knowing God would come through for me. Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry.”

This verse came from a good friend of mine in England. I posted on Facebook that I am trying something new this year. I decided I wanted to learn more Bible verses. So, what a few of my friends do is they pick a verse for each week of the year. Or, they have their friends and family give them verses for each week of the year, and then they write those verses in their planner, and they spend a week with each verse. They also pray for the person who gave them the verse for the week. I thought this was a great idea! I decided to take it a step further and write this verse at least once each day so it helps me commit it to memory. I made a post on Facebook asking friends and family to give me their favorite verses. If you have a favorite verse and would like to email it to me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or you could find me on Facebook, Catherine Duggan, and comment on the post and I would be happy to remember you and your loved one and any prayer requests that you have during the week I am praying with the verse you gave me.

My friend gave me the verse above, and I instantly loved it. I love that it captures our reality at times, and it also really captures the love of the Father. Sometimes, we feel like we are asking and asking the Lord for something, and yet we wait and wait and see no answers to those prayers. Have you been in a season of waiting? Have you been asking the Lord for something, and yet you are still waiting for the answer to those prayers? This can be really hard. We pray to the Lord, and we want Him to help us right away, or at least I do. I really struggle at times with waiting to see the results of my prayers. This is especially true if I am praying over someone for healing.

I struggle because I know how powerful God is, and I know He can heal anyone at any time. I struggle because I don’t believe he wants to see anyone struggle, and yet He doesn’t heal everyone, and He definitely doesn’t heal everyone the second we pray for healing. So, we end up doing what this verse says, we wait, and we wait, and we wait. Sometimes we wait patiently, as this verse says, and sometimes, not so patiently. It all depends on our circumstances at the time. One thing I like about this verse is that it says I waited patiently because I knew God would come through for me. This is important for us all to remember. God will come through. It is also important to remember that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

If I can remember this, I think I could wait more patiently. I need to remember that God knows what He is doing and that His plan is better than my plan. He is the creator of the Universe; of course, His plan is better than my plan. If He is not healing someone right away, there is a reason for it. I don’t have to know that reason I just have to know that HE has one.

One way to remind myself that God has a plan to trust that God will come through is to think back to all the times He has come through in the past.  When did the Lord come through for you? When in the past did you wait on the Lord, and then he answered your prayers? I know for me, He has always come through, and sometimes I ask for some pretty big things. When I asked the Lord to heal my niece and let her live, He did, and we didn’t even have to wait very long. When I asked him to help my son get off of drugs, He did. When I asked Him to take away my dad’s pain, He did. When I asked Him to take away my sister’s pain, He did. When I asked Him to save my marriage, He did. God has come through for us more times than I can count, and this is why I can wait patiently. I know He will always come for me, though. He will always come through for you too! We just have to wait longer than we would like at times.

I love that this verse says, “Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry.” I love this because it shows the Father as a loving father. It shows that He cares about us. It doesn’t just say they finally heard us. I love that it says he bent down and listened to my cry. What I picture is a loving Father who bends down to listen to me cry. He doesn’t just stand there and let our cries go up to his ears. He bends down to show us we have His attention. I just picture Jesus; since we don’t really know what God looks like, I picture Jesus bending down, and I picture us as little children whispering our requests into his ear. Almost like we are telling Him a secret, one that no one knows.

I love to picture the Father like this. I think if we read more verses like this, we begin to see God as our loving Father instead of this stern Father figure who is judging us and just waiting to call us out on all that we are doing wrong. God loves us, and He wants to answer our prayers. However, like a loving Father, He also knows that when we are asking for something that is not good for us, or that we are not quite ready for. He knows this, so he either gives us something else or waits until we are ready. God is so good!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, help us wait patiently for your timing. Help us to understand that your timing is best. Help us to see that you know what is best for us. Help us to have faith that you will come through for us. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you are on my email list, I sent out an email yesterday with a recording of Tuesday night’s mentoring session. It was on prayer journaling, and I think it will be very beneficial. Prayer journaling has made a significant impact on my spiritual life and brought me a lot closer to the Lord. I hope you enjoy it. If you are not on my email list but would like to be so you can get the recording of the mentoring session and any other info I send out about what is coming up with Walk Boldly With Jesus, then you can go to my website walkboldlywithjesus.com and click on the Free Audio Training to invite Jesus into your every day. That will sign you up for my emails, and it will also get you an awesome free audio training. I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Keep in my word. My word is your armor. It will help you defeat the enemy. It will guide you. It will help you be a light to others. Keep in My word. That is your armor. “

God Can Accomplish Far More Than We Can Imagine

Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Wow, that first line is something I think we all need to hear again. “Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine.” What have you been asking the Lord for lately? Does it seem like you are asking Him for some pretty big things? Does it seem like you are asking Him for more than He can give you? When we read this verse, we see that there isn’t anything we can ask for that is “too much” for Him. He is able to do far more than we can even imagine. I saw this yesterday when I was in class.

When I was in class last night at Encounter Ministries Boston Campus, we were praising and worshiping the Lord. Then Deacon Joe said he feels as though the Lord wants to heal people right now. I don’t know what people were praying for while we were praising and worshiping, but I don’t know that anyone was praying for immediate healing. I bet some people were praying for a healing, but I doubt anyone thought to pray for an immediate healing. Deacon Joe asked anyone who had any pain to raise their hands. Then he said if you don’t have pain go and find someone with their hand raised and pray over them.

First, I went to a friend in class who has had some heart issues in the past. He said he had a pain in his chest, and he didn’t know what it was from. There were two of us praying over him, and after the first time praying, he said the pain had decreased, and after the second time, he said he no longer had the pain anymore. Later, he shared with the class that he had been at the hospital with this pain over the weekend, and they couldn’t come up with a reason for it. Now, his pain was gone!

Second, I went to a friend who has been struggling with shoulder pain and range of motion for quite a while now. There were two of us praying, and then another two joined after a few minutes. We prayed for a restoration of her range of motion and for a release of all pain. As we prayed, she was able to lift her arm further and further. She was also able to put her arm behind her, which she hadn’t been able to do before we prayed. Thank you, Jesus, you are so good!

I believe both of these healings were above and beyond what they were asking for in class last night. Yet, that is how good God is; He likes to surprise us! What do you need right now, and yet you have been afraid to ask? Where have you been playing it little in your prayers? Where have you been wanting more than you asked for? Where have you been asking for less than you want because you don’t want to be greedy or you don’t want to bother God?

The verse says, “Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us.” I love that last part, too, “by the power at work within us.” I know I say this often, and that is because it is so important. We each have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We have power that is at work within us. This means that we don’t have to do things on our own. We don’t have to limit our prayers. We don’t have to rely on our own strength. We are not in this alone.

I believe this verse is daring us to dream big. To pray for those desires down deep in our hearts. When I say we are praying too small, I don’t just mean when we pray for healing or when we pray for others. I mean, even for those dreams that we used to think about and have now tucked away into that neat little box in the back of our mind so we don’t have to think about them anymore. I mean for that thing that you have always wanted, and yet you can’t see any way that it could happen, so you don’t even ask for it.

Maybe your sister is in hospice, and even though you are praying for a miracle, you can’t see how one could actually happen. That’s ok; we don’t have to see the way; we just have to keep asking, and God can work through us and in us. Maybe you have had a lifelong dream to do something, and as you get older, you see that dream slipping away. Hear me when I say it is not too late. God can give you more than you ever imagined. God can still make that dream come true. Don’t stop asking for it, and start asking for it if you haven’t already.

I know this can be hard to believe sometimes. I have some friends who are asking God for some pretty big things. I have a friend who has lost his eyesight, and he is praying he will get it back. I am sure in this tough time of waiting for God to answer that prayer, he is struggling to believe that God gives us more than we can imagine. I have a friend who is struggling with a sarcoma. She had had it for at least 3 years now. The doctors keep telling her that her condition is terminal, and yet she is still here; she is still going strong. She is able to believe that God can take this from her. She knows He can heal her. She is asking for big things and is trusting this verse to be true. She is trusting that God will give her more than she has asked for.

I just want to talk about the last line in this verse because it is important too. It says, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” It is important that we remember who does the work and who is answering our prayers. It is important that we give all the glory to our Lord and Savior. We can get caught up in the moment when someone is praying over us, and we can thank them and praise them for the healing we received. It is ok to thank them as they did say yes, and they did show up. However, the real praise goes to the Lord, who is the one who did the healing. He is the one who does all the amazing things we see. He is the one who sent His Spirit to live inside of us to give us strength and to guide us. All glory goes to the Lord!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us ask for more. We ask that you help us truly believe that you will accomplish more than we could ask for or even imagine. Show us how to believe this Lord. Help us to give you all the praise and the glory Lord. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to meeting some of you this evening in mentoring and the rest of you right here tomorrow on the podcast. Tonight’s topic for mentoring is prayer journaling. I will cover what it is and several different techniques I have used. Journaling is very beneficial, and prayer journaling can be even more so. Journaling is not only for holy people or for religious people; it is for all people. It is a great way to grow closer to the Lord. If you would like to join me this evening, it is not too late. Just go to walkboldlywithjesus.com and click on the mentoring page, or CLICK HERE. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

The word from the Lord for today is, “I love you, my children, and I walk with you every step of the way. I know some days you are looking for me, and it seems like you can’t find me. Just know I am there. I am right next to you, walking with you. I love you. I will always be right there, right next to you. Whether you can see me or not, whether you can hear me or not. I am speaking to you every day. Listen, my children. Listen to what I have to say. I will help you. I will give you the understanding and the wisdom that you seek. Just look at me. Listen to me. Don’t avoid the silence. Sit in the silence; that is where I can be found. Give me the time each day to sit with me, and I will talk to you. I will give you what you are searching for, just rely on me. Give me the chance. Sit with me.”

Inexpressible and Glorious Joy

1 Peter 1:8-9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,  for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

I asked my friend to choose a verse for me while I was at a retreat.  She chose this one. I am not sure I knew this one, and yet I love it.  I know I say that a lot.  It is true God is so good, and there are countless verses from the Bible that I love.  I love this one because it ends with the salvation of our souls, and who wouldn’t love that?  As much as I love this verse, I know it is a hard verse to accomplish.

It can be hard to believe in something we can’t see. When I first read this verse, I thought it was pretty easy because I was thinking about how many of us haven’t seen God before, and yet we love Him.  The retreat I was at was filled with women who all believed in God, and yet we had not ever seen God. We all had different degrees of faith and possibly even different beliefs in God. However, we all believed that God was looking out for us and that He was our Lord and Savior. How is this possible?

When I got to thinking about it, I wondered if it is true that many of us haven’t seen God before.  Yes, it is true that we have not seen God in person, like those who walked with Jesus did. However, I think many of us see God in our lives often.  Maybe not every day unless we are specifically looking for Him, but we do see Him working.  Even if it was only once, we have probably seen God.  The question is, did we know it was God when we saw Him?

Did we know that the kind person who paid for our coffee was the face of God?  Did we know the person who held the door of the elevator was the face of God?  Did we know the person who was in front of us at the store was the face of God?  Did we know the stranger who said a kind word was the face of God?  Did we know the breakthrough we received at work was a gift from God?  Did we know it was God who helped us through that jam?  Did we know it was God who made that awesome thing happen?  

I am blessed to have had parents who saw God working in everything they did!  I am blessed to have parents who saw God everywhere they went.  They knew without a shadow of a doubt that God loved them, and they loved Him. However, we are not all that lucky. Some of us didn’t grow up with parents who pointed out all the ways God was helping out their family. Yet, even people who didn’t grow up learning about the faith can still believe in God. My friend Catherine didn’t grow up learning about the Lord, and yet He found her right when she needed Him most. God is good like that. He will come and chase us down and reveal Himself to us when He knows we will be open to it. I am sure God reveals Himself to us more than once, and He keeps revealing Himself to us until we are ready to see Him.

I think we are able to love Him even though we can’t see Him because we can see His work in our lives. We can believe in Him even though we can’t see Him because we can see all He has done in our lives, all He has done for us. If you look throughout your life for places where the Lord has been, I know you will find them. Now that my friend knows Jesus, she can see where He showed up for her all throughout her life. She didn’t know it was Him at the time, but now she can look back and see that He was there. I think this is why we can love Him, even though we haven’t seen Him. We have seen Him. We just didn’t realize it was Him.

I also love this verse because it says, "You believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Have you felt this inexpressible and glorious joy? I have, and it is amazing. I had heard people talk about the Joy of the Lord before when I was younger, and I am not sure I knew what that meant. However, now I know. It is this joy that wells up inside of you when you think about Him. It is this joy you feel, even in the middle of some really difficult times. It’s not a happiness. You are not happy you are in the circumstance you are in, but you are joyful because you know God will take care of you while you are in it. It is unlike any other feeling I have ever felt. It is a joy that you can’t explain to others.

I know someone who lost their husband suddenly. She said throughout the grieving process, she knew the Lord was with her. She said she had some moments of pure joy over the last 9 months. However, she said she could not share them with people because they wouldn’t understand and would judge her for having joy while she was grieving. It wasn’t that she was happy her husband was gone. She missed him very much. It was a joy of the Lord that she was feeling. God allowed her to feel joy in His presence, and it was a magical feeling.

The verse ends with, “For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Part of the reason for this joy that we feel is because we know that when we believe, the result will be the salvation of our souls. If that isn’t something to be joyful about, then I don’t know what is. The thought that we get to spend eternity with the Lord definitely brings me joy.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to the episode today. Lord, we thank you for loving us. We thank you for helping us to believe even when we can’t see you. We thank you for all the ways you show up in our lives, even when we don’t realize it is you. You are so good to us. Thank you for the joy you fill us with. Lord, if there is anyone listening to this who has not felt this joy, I ask that you fill them up with it today. Lord, we love you, and we ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you love listening to this podcast and you want more, I want to invite you to join my mentoring group. In this group, I will go deeper on topics that will help you grow closer to the Lord and help you live your faith more. The mentoring sessions will be on Tuesday nights at 8 PM EST. If you can not make the sessions live, you can always watch the recording. Last Thursday’s podcast was the audio from the first session if you would like to see what a session will be like. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or CLICK HERE. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

The Word of the Lord for today is “My Children, when life is not as you think it should be, come to Me. Come to Me, I am the source of all good things. So your first response when things go wrong is to come to Me. Come to your God who loves you. Come to your God, who cares what happens to you. My children, your first response, remember, must be to come to me so that I can intercede and help you in your needs.”

A Refiner’s Fire

1 Peter 1:6-7 "I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”

In Tuesday’s episode, we talked about 1 Peter 1:6-7. This verse ends with, “The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.” This is where today’s verses pick up. I had to go back and look because today’s verse begins with, “I know how great that makes you feel,” and I couldn’t remember what was making us feel so great. Now that I look back, I agree that thinking about a day when we have it all—life healed and whole does make us feel pretty great. Today’s verse talks about why we have to go through some of the things we need to go through. Or, maybe not why we have to go through them, but the result of going through them.

The verse says, “Pure gold put into the fire comes out proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine.” I remember I was at a prayer group meeting once, and the leader was talking about the process of refining silver. I am not sure if the process is the same for refining gold or not. I think this story will give you a good idea of why we must all go through a refining process. Here is the story:

The Refiner’s Fire

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3) She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

I love this story because, to me, it explains why we have to go through some of the things we have to go through. My favorite part is the very last part. I love that the silversmith said it is done when he can see his image in it. Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that the same with us? God is refining us and helping us to become not just better versions of ourselves but actually to become more and more like Jesus. God can tell when He is done refining us because he can see his reflection in us. I think that is a beautiful thought.

The verse today says that when gold is put in the fire, only the true gold remains. It is also saying that when genuine faith is put through suffering, it comes out proved genuine. Can you see how this would be true? Can you think of a time when your faith was tested? A time when you were sure you believed God worked all things for good. A time when you felt you really trusted in the Lord. Then it seemed like your whole world came crashing down. Maybe you lost your job? Maybe you lost your house? Maybe you lost a spouse or a child? Maybe you lost your parent?

Whatever it is that happened, it shook your world and tested your faith. You struggled to understand how the God you loved so much could allow this terrible thing to happen to you and your family. You struggle to trust that He will be there with you through it all. This is hard for all of us. It is easy to have faith when all is going well. It is easy for someone who is doing great in life to tell you to just trust in the Lord, to turn to Him, and He will help you. Those are easy words to say to others when all is going well. However, it is very different when you are the one going through it.

This is what this verse is trying to tell us. When we go through a difficult struggle and are able to keep our faith through it. When we are able to turn to the Lord in our confusion and our anger and talk with Him, that is when our faith is proved. That is how we can prove our faith is genuine. This isn’t just proving it to the Lord either; it is proving it to us as well. We may wonder if our faith is true and genuine, and when we hit a hard time, we get to see if it is or not.

The last line of this verse says, “When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.” This can be a very important thing for us to remember because it is so contrary to how the world thinks. The world only seems to care about how much stuff you have. Do you have the nicest house, car, job, etc? However, this verse is telling us that it is our faith, not our gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. We tend to think we will know we have been successful in this life if we have given our family everything they wanted. We think our status in life will show how successful we have been; when we think like this, we are missing the point. We are missing what makes us great. It is not our stuff. It is our God and our faith in our God.

There is one part that I didn’t really notice until I wrote that last line. It says God will have our faith on display as evidence of his victory. It will not be our victory. It will be his. This is something I think I will take to prayer and ask the Lord to go deeper with me about this. I didn’t understand why it would be his victory. Meaning, if we messed up and didn’t have faith, would it be considered His failure? I know with kids, they tell us not to internalize our kid's wins and losses. It is not our fault if they lose, and it is not because of us if they win. What came to me when I just prayed about his was that our faith is evidence of God’s victory over evil. When we were in those difficult times, evil attacked us. We could have given in, but we didn’t because we have God on our side. God will always triumph over evil. When Jesus died on the cross for us, death and evil were defeated once and for all. When we turn to the Lord, believe in the Lord, and trust the Lord, He will deliver us from our hard times. It just might now be in the timing that we would like.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we want to trust you. We want our faith to be strengthened, yet we don’t want to have to go through the trials. Lord, give us the strength and the fortitude to believe even when we are tested. Help us go through the testing and come out stronger on the other side. Help us care more about our faith than we do about our status or our material things. We love you so much, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope you enjoyed the preview of the mentoring session on yesterday’s episode. If you have not listened, I encourage you to take a bit of time and listen to yesterday’s episode. It will give you a feel for what my new mentoring program will be like. If you would like more information about the mentoring program, you can go to walkboldlywithjesus.com and go to the mentoring section, or you can CLICK HERE. I look forward to meeting you here on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

The Word of the Lord for today is: "I am the Lord your God. I am the only God. I am the all-powerful God. Remove all the idols of this world. Do not be ensnared by them, for I am your God. Why do you seek for other Gods’ when I am the most powerful, the most loving, the kindest God? You know what the idols are in your lives. Get rid of them and get closer to me, for I love you so much, my children. Never doubt that I love you."

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