Wyoming Valley Church Devotional Podcast

What motivates us to do things that are hard and painful, things that benefit others? Perhaps the only thing strong enough is Love. We will discuss why Love is the single best motivator to live this life for Jesus. But when we see it clearly, we will want to make use of every moment we have. We hope you stay encouraged!

Going the right way is essential in this life. Taking wrond directions can get us into a very bad situation. This is most true spiritually speaking. Without the proper coordinates, we have no hope of making it to final glory with God. But thankfully we have been given all we need, including the proper Guide. May you be encouraged to listen to Him this week. Blessings!

We all enjoy when famous or important people know who we are and vice versa. And this is true even in the spirtual realm. In fact, knowing and using the Name of Jesus is both commanded and the secret to overpowering the enemy and making an eternal impact. We will discuss the power in His Name and how we can properly wield it in spiritual battle. Be encouraged!

In life, it's desirable to want to go UP. And it's interesting and special that Jesus desires this for us as well. But as per usual, Jesus' strategy to get us there looks vastly different than the world's. We will discuss how going DOWN is the secret to the permanent and beautiful exaltation of God. Stay encouraged!

We are useless in this life without light. And it's a parallell for our souls. Nothing good can be done for God without His Light. But when we use His Light, we can accomplish the most profound things. We will discuss how we stay wholly bright, enough to destroy the darkness. Stay encouraged!

When someone gives you the proper gift, it's a true joy. And thankfully no one gives better or more proper gifts than our God does. We will discover 5 proper gifts He gave us and how we can give Him a proper gift in return, that He will cherish forever. We hope you stay encouraged!

Yes, there's a famous song we all think of when we hear about NOT stopping to believe, but the Scriptures have much more profound truths to say about this topic, and the aspect of faith for our lives and journey with Jesus cannot be overstated. We will discuss what faith is, how to keep it and what it can accomplish - for God's Glory. Stay encouraged!

We live in an instable world, and we often can lose our footing as a result. We need stability. We need firm footing and security below our feet. As usual, our God wants this for us too. We will discuss this important gift and how we can always have it. Stay encouraged!

We all struggle utilizing our time and making the most of it. Time seems to fly by and there's no way to stop it or slow it down. Perhaps we're trying too hard? Maybe the one important thing is all we need to stay focused on. We'll seek to set our sights on what will matter the most after this life. We hope you would be encouraged!

Purging our lives of bad, unnecessary things is a very good practice. But it doesn't go far enough. We also as Christ-followers need to have things we binge on. We will discuss this relationship of these two important disciplines and how to practice them as a love gift to Jesus. Stay encouraged!

In life, we face many obstacles to our well-being and our happiness. And perhaps we might think that when we follow Jesus, those obstacles won't be there anymore. But the reality is that we will face brand new obstacles and even more than we did before following Jesus. And perhaps that can discourage us. But we will discover how the Lord has designed it so we can have everything we need to overcome every obstacle in our path, so we can reach the ultimate victory. We hope you'd be encouraged!

We all have junk in our lives that needs to be removed. Sometimes this isn't a huge deal, and other times it's the difference between seeing what we need to see or not. We will discuss what removing garbage looks like spiritually speaking, and how it might be an incredible blessing to help us see and follow Who is greatest of all! Be encouraged!

We live in an inclusive world where we like to keep our options on the table and always have an exit strategy in case we find something better. But as we'll learn, having an exclusive relationship with the exclusive God is the greatest blessing of all time that nothing else can compare with. Stay encouraged!

Our souls need hope and this world needs hope. Thankfully the Lord sent a hefty dose of Hope to this world in the Person of His Son, Jesus. And as we'll be reminded, letting this Hope overflow from our souls to this dark world is crucial. Yet it can be tricky to know how. We'll discuss some imporant principles that can help us in that endeavor. Be encouraged!

In this spiritual life, we have an ememy. And this enemy loves to bully us and start fights with us. And interestingly, we have been commanded to resist this enemy. So we will discuss why we must fight and how we must fight this enemy, and notice a powerful promise given to us when we resist him the right way. Stay encouraged!

This world is dark and desperately needs the Light of God in order to see our need for Jesus. And we as Christians have been called to take the Light into the darkness while also staying in the Light ourselves and not being lured back into the darkness where we came from. We will discuss how this is possible and how it's our truest calling. Stay encouraged!

In this world there are very helpful agents and medicines, and there are sadly many false medicines that claim to help us but never really solve the problems we have. We need profound help that can cure our ailments, both physically and spiritually. Thankfully God has sent one to us, that when used and used properly, will change our lives by solving all our problems. We will discuss this profound help and how to stay near it. Be encouraged today!

It's always speecial when we realize that the things God calls us to do are also gifts for us. So it is with forgiveness. We will discuss the beauty of this gift when received and given as well as a special strategy to utilize in order to be able to forgive and forget. We hope this would bless you!

We begin a NEW format tonight by having a conversation about living life through our Wonderful Counselor. There are many resources in this life, but Jesus FAR surpasses all of them combined. But what would it take for us to truly believe Him, go to Him and walk in Him? We will discuss these things and be encouraged to stay near the Source of all wisdom and joy. Stay encouraged!

We all need a safe space in life, a place where we don't have to live in fear and can thrive. This safe place can help us do things we otherwise would be too fearful to do. But perhaps this Home Base isn't based on fear at all, but Hope, true Hope in Jesus. Blessings!

Of course we love the outdoors. The beauty of God's creation is therapeutic for our bodies and souls. But perhaps there's something amazing about being indoors and inside, at least spiritually speaking. We will discuss why it's so great being inside of God's Love and the dangers of being anywhere else. We hope you'd be blessed!

Good vs. Evil is the foundation for almost every story ever. And we typically always root for the Good team to win. It even brings us comfort that Good will generally defeat evil. But is goodness truly what our heart pants for? If goodness is our desire, then we'll need to line up with the One who is Good. We will hopefully encourage you towards God's goodness. Blessings!

We all have our own perspectives that help shape our worldview and how we navigate this life. And sometimes that it okay. But othertimes they can keep us from doing what is of utmost importance, which is letting God have full reign of our lives. We will discuss the potential danger of staying too safe in this life instead of doing whatever necessary to be near the True Refuge of Jesus. Many blessings!

Copying others seems wrong and unethical. And maybe it is, unless the One we're copying has commanded us to and He is the Lord of the universe. As we'll discuss, copying Jesus is both th safest and richest way to live. Unlike our enemy tells us, confidence does not come from being original or unique, but from being like our Creator and Savior. We hope you'd be blessed in your journey with Jesus!

We desperately need peace, God's peace in our souls. And thankfully God has provided His peace in abundance for us to have. But we ask the question tonight, "What is the point of peace?" We will use a children's story to discover that Peace was NOT given to us just for our delight, but for God's purpsoses. We hope this would bless your soul!

We have lots of needs as people in this world, even Christians in this world. And we're told that we need to look to various people and things in order to meet and satisfy all those needs. But what if there was One who could (and has promised to) meet them all? And what if that One could never let us down? We will remind ourselves that the sufficient One desires to give us everything we need in this life. We hope you'd be blessed!

We desperately need secutity in this life AND the next. We are concerned, rightly so about something stealing those things which are most valuable to us. But thankfully our Lord knew this and came up with a system to protect those precious valuables. We will discuss this system and how it lines up with our eternal Joy. We hope this would bless you!

Failing in life feels miserable. It feels like we have no purpose and worth when we fail, especially if we fail chronically and repeatedly. But thankfully the Lord desires success for us, both now and forever. And because of this, He has given us a plan to never fail. We will discuss this plan and how we can live our lives as Never Failures. Blessings!

We as Christians have been called to run a Race. It's a hard race full of difficulties. And it's a Race a lot of people avoid running. But for those of us who know we must run this race, perhaps we can be helped by changing our perspective on this Race. Instead of feeling like a chore, perhaps this Race is the greatest blessing of our lives. We hope you'd be blessed!

Perhaps we have heard the phrase "The End Justifies the End". The logic that follows that phrase is that whatever it takes to reach our desired goal is justified and worth it. But in the Christian journey, it's not quite that simple. As we'll be reminded, the means is just as important as the end. In fact, the means will justify our end. We hope this would bless you!

Being at the top of life is fun and makes us feel like we're successful. Being at the bottom, however makes us feel like failures. But what if being at the bottom, at least in this life was the biggest blessing of all? What if at the bottom of life we met the Rock? We hope this would encourage you today!

We want to be faithful people, especially to our spouses, but even most importantly to our Lord. And perhaps there is a better strategy for accomplishing this than just trying NOT to be unfaithful to Him. We will discuss the mindset and the method we must made in staying IN Fidelity. We hope this would bless your soul!

In this life, there are people who embrace being bad and people who desire to be good. Sadly, the lines between the two camps can be pretty blurry. We will discuss the allure of being bad and the reward of becoming and behaving good...and how we accomplish this. We hope this might bless you!

Construction workers are hard and determined workers because there's a lot of work to do and a lot of things to improve. Christ followers are much the same. We have the privelege of building the Kingdom of God, together with our Lord. We will discuss the motivation to build and the reward of building. We hope you'd be blessed!

We live in a world of constant illusions and deceptions. And these illusions can cause us to believe lies and disbeleive Truth. But thankfully, the Lord knows this battle more than anyone, and He has sent us an Aid to help us overcome the illusions. We will discuss this Aid and how He gives us all the power and wisdom we need to beat the Illusion Fatigue. Blessings!

Are we as Christians supposed to live in peace or in war? The answer is "Yes". We will discus the pardox of being a Christ follower, and how Peace with God is a means to declaring War against sin and darkness - all for God's Glory! We hope this would bless you!

We typically enjoy and feel confident when our lives are FULL of good things. And nothing is better than when our joy is full. We will discuss why we need Full Joy and how and where to locate it, both now and eternally. We hope you'd be blessed!

In the summer months, drinking and staying hydrated is crucial to good health and strength. Becoming hydrated is not only dangerous, it can be deadly. We will discuss a spiritual parallel to this concept and ask the quesiton, "What happens if we don't keep drinking?" The Living Water is offered to us, but we must be thirsty enough to desire it. We hope you'd be blessed!

We all know the wonderful advantages of being outside in the physical sunshine and fresh air, but what about spiritually speaking? Is it better to be outside or inside? The answer may surprise us. We will discover and be reminded that abiding INSIDE the Love of our Lord is the best place to dwell, both now and forever. Many blessings!

We all want safety in this life. But how often do we think about safety in the next life, the eternal life? We will discuss how our Heavenly Father keeps His children safe and the protcols He gives us to help us avoid all the dangers around us. We hope this might bless you!

We love being encouraged instead of discouraged, but flattery can do us great harm. Sadly, there is someone who seeks to always flatter us. But thankfully there is Someone who always encourages us with the Truth. We will discuss the difference and how we can remain encouraged. Blessings to you!

We all want to make the most of this short life we are given. And the world presents us with so many seemingly wonderful options to live for. But what if the entire argument for what we should live for hinged upon one word - Investment. We will discuss what investment looks like and who it is that cares the most about our joy and treasures. May you be blessed!

Can you imagine never having to lose again. Can you imagine never having to choose between joy and victory because life offered you BOTH at all times? We will discuss how we as Christians can live undefeated, and how true, eternal joy and victory will change our lives. Many blessings!

No one likes to lose in life. Losing is bitter and winning is sweet. Sadly, because of our sinfu nature, we begin this life losing spiritually. But thankfully our Savior came to help us sieze and secure victory. Winning is both costly and rewarding. We will discover the cost and the reward of experiencing eternal VICTORY in Jesus. Blessings!

This time I have the privilege to share my story of God's grace given to me through Jesus at a time when I deserved the very opposite. Jesus is a great Savior and His mercy is given to all those who desire it and desire Him. I hope you would be blessed by this tesimony of God's deep and steadfast love!

We have all learned by now that cheating and copying other people's work is wrong. But could there be a right form of copying. Could this good copying even potentially save our lives? We will discuss what it means to be a proper plagiarist when it comes to imitating our Lord Jesus. Blessings to you!

We struggle with being corrected by God. But perhaps what seems terrifying is actually a wonderful blessing. We will discuss how to change our perspective on correction by using a metaphor of something else pretty scary. We hope you are blessed!

Following directions can sometimes be difficult. But having good and clear directions can lead us home and even safe our lives. We will discuss the blessing of having spiritual directions from our Lord and how, if we follow them, those directions will eventually lead us Home, forever. Blessings!

When we're away from home for too long, we experience homesickness and long to be back home. Sadly, this can and does happen spiritually speaking. We are prone to take detours and spiritual vacations away from our Home, and unfortunately some never return Home. So the Lord encourages us to abide with Him and to receive the joy and safety of doing so. We hope you'd be encouraged!

Getting a forgery is frustrating to say the least, especially when you believed you had something valuable. And although forgeries exist and try to capture our love, we need what is authentic. Thankfully the God of all creation send us the most authentic Person ever in His Son, Jesus. And once we discover and authenticate His value, He ALONE is worth giving up our entire lives just to be with Him. Blessings to you!

We need defense in the Christian race in order to please God. But we also need a steady dose of offense. And this offensive-minded approach will actually help us play defense as well as live in a way that glorifies our great God. We will discuss why this offensive-minded approach is best done...together. Blessings!