Podcasts about dear heavenly father

The Lord Bless You and Keep You Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Friday was my birthday, and a great friend of mine sent me this blessing, and I wanted to share it with all of you. There is so much variety in what we find in Scripture. We find stories, parables, wisdom, promises, blessings, and guidance about how God calls us to live. This verse is a blessing. It is a beautiful blessing that I pray over each one of you listening to this episode. When I looked up the meaning of this blessing in the Enduring Word Commentary, it mentions that we often think of blessings as happiness, wealth, or comfort. We think if God is blessing our life, then life will be easy and comfortable. If our life is difficult, we think God is not blessing it. However, this is not the case. God does not promise us an easy life with no complications. He promises that He will be with us in those complications and difficulties. Blessings come from God, and only He knows exactly what blessings we need. We can ask Him for all the things that we think we need, but only He knows the plan of what we actually need. God's plan is for our highest and greatest good. Our plan only considers what we think would be good. But as we know from listening to our children's plans, we may not even be able to imagine the good God has in store for us. We only see our limited abilities; God knows our potential and our true abilities. We might settle for less than God wants to give us. The first line of this verse says, “The Lord bless you and keep you.” I really liked what the Enduring Word Commentary had to say about the “keep you” part. It was something I hadn't really thought of before. It said, “To be kept by the LORD is blessing indeed. Some are kept by their own sin and desire, some are kept by idolatry and greed, and others are kept by their own bitterness and anger. But to be kept by the LORD ensures life, peace, and success.” I love this! I looked up online what it means to be kept. It said, “To be kept generally means to be preserved, guarded, or maintained, often in a context of protection or care.” So, when the quote above says some are kept by their own sin, desires, idolatry, greed, bitterness, or anger, it means those are the things they rely on for protection. I think we have all been there. We have relied on unforgiveness or bitterness to protect us from getting hurt again. We put up walls so that no one can ever hurt us again. We have also been fooled into believing that greed and idolatry can protect. Instead of being kept by God and relying on Him to protect us, we put more and more money away for retirement. We try to rely on our own strength and our own means to protect ourselves. We look to our own sin and our own desires to protect us and help us live the life we want, instead of counting on the Lord to keep us and give us the amazing life we don't deserve but that He wants to give us. The next part of that verse says, “the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.” Imagine the Lord's face shining upon you. How amazing would that be? Again, the Enduring Word Commentary states this, “To have the glorious, pleased face of God shining upon a man is the greatest gift he could have. To know that as God looks upon you, He is well pleased – not because of who you are, or what you have done, but because you are in Jesus Christ – there is no greater source of peace and power in life.” I think many of us have a hard time believing that God is pleased with us. Especially if we think of all the ways we feel we have let Him down. We know our sins, we know our history. We know how unfaithful to the Lord we have been. However, God doesn't love us just when we are faithful. He loves us always, even when we are not. I love where it says that God is not pleased with you because of who you are or what you have done, but because you are in Jesus Christ. Can you believe that God is pleased with you? He is. He may not like every single thing you do, but He is not constantly disappointed with you, as we imagine. We often get disappointed in others because they do things we don't expect. God knows us; He knows the world we live in, and He knows the human condition. There isn't anything that we do that surprises Him. Therefore, we are not constantly letting Him down. He is pleased with our efforts. The last line says, “The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” In the Enduring Word Commentary, they quote David Wenham, a British Bible Scholar. Wenham said, “To lift up one's eyes or face means to pay attention, and to look favorably towards. “When God smiles on his people, they can be sure that he will be gracious to them; that is, he will deliver them from all their troubles. He will answer their prayers and save them from their enemies.” How amazing is that? We can rest assured that God will answer our prayers and save us from our enemies. Hopefully we all knew that God does this, but if we didn't, now we do. If we already knew this, then this verse is further proof to keep in our arsenal, so when the enemy starts in with all his lies, we have this verse to remember. We can remind ourselves that God smiles upon us, delivers us from our troubles, and answers our prayers. The verse ends with peace. Peace is something we could all use. This is probably what people ask me to pray for most. Even if I am praying for healing, I am praying for the Peace of Christ to come over the people so they don't worry. This world is so anxious. Everyone is so full of fear and anxiety. Peace seems to be something that we all struggle to find. Peace is possible, even in difficult situations. I have had peace in situations where people told me I shouldn't have peace. My son was in rehab, and yet I had peace because I knew in my heart that God was taking care of everything. My kids have struggled with a lot over the years, yet I have been able to be full of peace in very chaotic situations because I know that God is in control. I know that no matter what things look like, nothing is impossible for God. It could look like the end is near, and yet if God wants to change it, He can. God has done so many incredible miracles in my life and in my family's life. I don't have to blindly trust that God works miracles, as I have been blessed to witness so many. I bet if you look back at your life, you will see plenty of ways God has been working. You may not consider them miracles, but He has been touching your life and answering your prayers. I guarantee it. That is a great exercise to do regularly. Sit down and look back over your life. Look at all the various times you have called upon God and look at the ways He has come through. If you look for God in your life, I promise you won't come up empty-handed. Ask God to highlight the miracles in your life and He will. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for all the miracles you have done in our lives. We thank you for all the times you have shown up in unexpected ways. We thank you for blessing us and keeping us. You are amazing, and we are truly blessed. Lord, help us to truly believe that you are looking down upon us and that you are pleased with us. We love you so much, and we ask 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 am away camping this week. I plan to keep posting, but if I miss a day, don't worry; all is good. I just didn't have wifi that day. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Come, my children. Come and feel my tender love. Come and know that I will never reject you. I am always welcoming.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Start With Love Psalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” When I read this verse, I thought it did a great job explaining our yearning for God.  We all need God in our lives.  We are desperate to have him in our lives.  This verse shows this in a way I don't think I could.  It also helps me realize how much I need God.  Have you ever read something and then realized that was exactly how you felt, and you didn't really know it before you read it?  I knew I loved God, and I knew I longed for God.  However, I couldn't describe it until I read this verse.  My soul thirsts for Him.  My flesh faints for Him as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  There is no water if God is not in my life.  My life is a dry and weary land when I don't call upon God.   Carrie Underwood has a song called “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.”  I have not heard this song before, and yet I found it today while looking up something.  This song was not written about Jesus.  I believe it was written about her child, judging from the other words.  However, the chorus speaks to how many of us feel about Jesus.  The chorus says: I finally found what I never knew I always wanted I couldn't see; I was blind 'til my eyes were opened I didn't know there was a hole Something missing in my soul 'Til you filled it up with your love I think so many people are walking around this world right now, and they don't know God is what they have always wanted.  They know they have a hole; they know something is missing in their soul, and yet they don't know what it is.  I like the line; I couldn't see; I was blind 'til my eyes were opened.  How can we help them open their eyes?  The next line in this chorus might be giving us the answer to that very question.  I didn't know there was a hole, something missing in my soul, ‘till you filled it up with your love.  What if we worked on filling people up with love?  What if we showed people so much love that they realized that it was what they had been missing in their lives?   We can't fill them up with our love, though.  Our love is broken and judgmental.  Our love is not perfect love; it is flawed, and it can hurt others, even when we don't want to.  However, if we filled them up with God's Love, the love of Jesus, they would feel an unconditional love that would fill the hole in their soul.  I know you are already asking yourself, how do I do that?  How do I love with Jesus' love and not my own love? I know you are asking this because I am asking this, too.  We are all called to be a reflection of Jesus.  We are called to love like He loved.  How did Jesus love?  We can't be expected to love like Jesus if we don't know how He loved.  The best way to know this is to look back at scripture.   Jesus Christ set a perfect example of kindness and love. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus showed His love for others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick, and the distressed.  Jesus did not run away from the leapers as most people did at the time.  He touched them, and He healed them.  He did not turn away anyone who needed help.  How can we show Jesus' love to others like this?  How can we bless and serve the poor, the sick, and the distressed?  Some people listening to this can go out and volunteer at a soup kitchen or a food pantry.  Maybe you would rather volunteer at a hospital or somewhere you can help out with people who are sick.  Maybe you would like to be a hospice volunteer and sit with those that are dying and have no one to be with them.  However, others are listening, and you are thinking your days of helping the poor or the sick are over because you can't get out of the house to volunteer anywhere.  I assure you, your days of helping are not over. They have just changed.  Now, instead of going and doing the volunteer work by hand, you can pray for those in need, and you can pray for people to answer God's call to go and help.  St. Terese of Lisieux is the patron saint of missions, even though she was never healthy enough to go on one.  She didn't let her health stop her from praying for everyone who could go on missions.   Jesus also showed his love for others by not making people feel bad for their actions or who they were.  God didn't condemn the tax collectors or the Roman soldiers.  He didn't condemn the woman who was caught in adultery or the woman at the well who had been married several times and was living with a man she was not married to.  In the beginning, the Love Jesus had for everyone brought people to Christianity.  People found a love they had not known before when they found Jesus.  They were used to rules and judgment.  They were used to following God, which required so much of them.  They found this new religion fascinating.  A religion where God just wanted to love you and to be loved.  He did not require much on your part. People could come as they were.  They were not expected to be perfect because Jesus set the bar when he said in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”   The apostles were not going out and only talking to the Jewish people who knew God and were already following the laws.  They were talking to everyone who would listen, and they were preaching about God's love.  Who doesn't want to be loved?  Who doesn't want to be accepted?  I think we have lost this idea of talking about God's love somewhere along the way.  Somewhere along the way, we started talking more about the legalistic side of Christianity, especially Catholicism, than we do about the love Jesus had for everyone.  Yes, there is a right and a wrong way to live.  God tells us what the right and wrong way is in His Scripture.  However, we will never get a chance to show people the benefit of living God's way if we don't start loving them right where they are at first.  People want to be accepted for who they are, and they want to be met where they are at.  Jesus didn't tell the tax collectors He would have dinner with them when they changed their lifestyle.  He loved them while they were sinners and told them He had so much more for them.   If people feel loved and accepted, they will be open to hearing what you have to say.  We want people to know all the things Jesus says.  We want people to live according to God's ways, and we want this because we care about their souls.  This is a great thing.  I am not saying we are wrong to care about the way people are living their lives.  I am saying if we want to save their soul, we need to start with loving them just as they are.  The way to get people to want to save their own souls, which is the only way anything will change, is by being a reflection of God's love.  Love them as Jesus does.  Love them in all their imperfections and all their messiness of life.  Do not continually tell them they need to change who they are; shower them with so much love, tell them about Jesus and how much He loves them, just as they are, and pray for them.  Your prayers will do so much more than your nagging will.  If people feel judged, they will not ask questions; they will not be open to hearing anything we have to say.  I believe what God needs most from us is not us judging others and trying to talk them into changing their behaviors.  What He needs most from us is our loving others like Jesus did.  He needs us to love them so much they ask themselves, “How can I love as much as that person does?  How can I love so unconditionally?  How can I be so accepting of people?  How can I love so freely?”  When they ask those questions, then they will be open to hearing about the Gospel and about a God who loves them completely.  Can we do that?  Can we love others like Jesus did?  Can we lead with love first? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we long for you just as the verse says. Our souls thirst for you as one would thirst for water in a dry land.  Lord, we love you, and we want to bring others into a personal relationship with you.  Help us do this.  Please help us to understand how to love others as you did.  Show us where in our lives we are falling short of this, Lord.  Give us the strength to hold our tongue and to not nag our loved ones to do what we want them to do.  We are coming from a loving place, Lord; we want to save their souls.  Yet we know you are the only one to do that, Lord. Help us to learn to say less to the person and pray more to you. Help us to truly turn them over to your loving care, Lord.  You care more about their souls than we ever could.  Help us, Lord; we are trying.  We are so grateful for all you do.  You give light to our lamps, and you brighten the darkness about us.  You are the word of God, and you are the word of life.  We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name. Amen.   Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Help! My Heart And Mind Are Fighting Each Other! Psalm 25:16-17 “Look at me and help me! I'm all alone and in big trouble. My heart and mind are fighting each other; Call a truce to this civil war.” Today, it was hard to pick a verse. I thought I would be writing about Isaiah 35, as my friend wrote to me last week and asked me if I take requests for the podcast. She had read Isaiah 35, and it was really hitting her. She was feeling all the feels, and she wanted to see what I thought about that chapter. I was honored, as that was the first time someone had asked me what I thought of a passage in the Bible. When I looked at the chapter, I realized I had already done an episode on that chapter, so I sent it to her. It was episode number 611, “A Way Through The Wilderness,” in case you wanted to check it out. After that, I tried to find a verse for today, and I was struggling. Today's verse reminds us that we can turn to the Lord when we are in trouble, even when we are in big trouble. This is important to remember, and I don't think we can ever say it enough. Nothing is too big for God. There is nothing in this world that He can't fix for us. There are all sorts of reasons why we may not turn to Him and ask for help when we are in big trouble. We don't see how He could help. We don't want to bother Him. We don't feel we deserve His help, and so on. I am sure you have thought up very good reasons why you shouldn't go to the Lord for help when you are in big trouble. One that just popped into my mind is, “I got myself into this mess; I need to get myself out.” This is definitely a human way of thinking, but it is not how God thinks. He has gotten us out of plenty of messes that we got ourselves into. When we get ourselves into big trouble, all we have to do is be humble and turn back to the Lord. Repent and admit what we have done. Ask for His help, and He will help you. I feel as though I can't stress this enough. God wants us to ask for help when we need it. Yes, I know He knows when we need help, probably even before we do, and yet He is a perfect Father, and He respects our free will. If we don't want Him to step in, if we want to do it all ourselves, He will allow us to do that, even if it hurts his heart to watch us struggle. When in trouble, stop and ask the Lord for help. His plan will be much better than any plan we can come up with on our own! I also liked this verse because of the next line, “My heart and mind are fighting with each other; Call a truce to this civil war.” Has this ever happened to you? It happens to me all the time. My heart wants to do something, and my brain convinces me that I don't really want to do it, and then they fight over it. It is frustrating because I know what the right thing to do is, and yet my brain tries to convince me to do the opposite. I think the voice of God is in my heart, and yet, at times, the enemy tries to invade my brain, so they argue. I wish I could say I always choose the right thing to do, but that is not always the case. Sometimes I lose out to slothfulness and gluttony. This past year or two, I feel like they have won more than I care to talk about. What do we do when this happens? What do we do when our hearts and our minds are fighting with each other? When this happens, we can turn to the Lord, just as it says in this verse. We can ask the Lord to call a truce. We can ask the Lord to give us the wisdom to know what we should do and the courage to do what is right. Our brains are trying to keep us comfortable, so when we try to do uncomfortable things, our brains complain and try to convince us that we don't want to do the uncomfortable thing. The problem with this is that we won't grow if we don't ever do something that is uncomfortable. We grow when we are outside of our comfort zone. This is true with all things, not just our jobs. When we step outside our comfort zone and try something new with our spirituality or our prayer life, we grow closer to the Lord. When we step outside our comfort zone and try something new with our families, it can help us grow closer. Our brain is not bad; it is trying to save us from uncomfortable feelings. It is trying to help us. However, we all know what happens when we are saved from all uncomfortable feelings. Have you ever seen a child who was protected from all uncomfortable things? Actually, I feel as though I have been doing this to my kids recently. The kids had a pretty challenging childhood. Mostly because of their behaviors, but that doesn't change the fact that it was rough. They were very unkind to each other, and it took a long time for Tony and me to figure out how to parent them in an effective way. So, I would try to shield them from uncomfortable situations because I felt like they had enough to go through. However, doing this robbed them of building up the resiliency and tenacity that comes along with doing uncomfortable things. I now have two young adults and a 15-year-old, and in some ways, they are so resilient. Then there are all the things they struggle with because I was trying to protect them from the pain. The same will be true with you and me if we continue to let our brains tell our hearts what to do. That still small voice in our hearts is the Holy Spirit. We need to start listening to that voice more than the louder voice in our minds. The voice that, although it is trying to protect us, does not really know what we need.  We need to pray for the strength and courage to listen to and follow our hearts more. We need to pray that the Lord will help us with discernment. We need to pray that the Lord opens our ears to hear what our hearts are telling us to do. We need to ask the Lord to call a truce! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening and their families. Lord, help us to listen to your voice in our hearts. Help us to do what is right, what is necessary, not what is comfortable. Lord, we pray you give us the gifts of discernment, courage, & strength so that we can do the things you want us to do. We love you, Lord, and we ask that you call a truce and help bring our hearts and our minds into one with your will. We ask you 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 you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, I have a mission for you. My mission is to love. Every person that you meet today and every day of your life they are sent to you for you to pour my love out upon them. Forgive them, have mercy on them, and do not judge them. I love them, and I want you to love them too.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Recompense on the Beast and Harlot (1)  (audio) David Eells, 8/12/26 Destruction Comes for Apostate Leadership B. A. - 06/23/2015 (David's notes in red) I dreamed that I found myself in Jerusalem, back in Jesus' day, and I was looking up at the temple (a temple made by man's hands which God does not inhabit). Act.17:24 The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (Church buildings are not holy, the people must be.) 25 neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us: 28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. 30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commanded men that they should all everywhere repent: 31 inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. There were stone steps leading down from the temple, and on the steps stood Pharisees and Sadducees (Representing those of our day.). I was standing with a crowd of people in an open area a little ways from the temple and the stone steps, and just as I was looking around me in this crowd of people, I saw a man come forward out of the crowd who began to sternly address the men who were standing up (or exalting themselves) on the stone steps of the temple. I knew that the man speaking was Jesus. (Representing those in whom He lives by Word and Spirit in our day.) Mat.23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.  As Jesus began to speak, I began to recognize the “Word” He was speaking to these men, since I had heard these same words before. Here is what I heard: Mat.23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. When Jesus spoke the first “Woe”, I heard a loud pop-like sound and what sounded like a crackling sound. I looked down upon the stone steps of the temple where these Pharisees and Sadducees were standing, and I noticed a large, deep crack had run right up through the middle of those stone steps, and they were beginning to crack and crumble. I noticed that the deep crack was between the feet of a rather large and extremely overweight man. (This represents the apostate leadership of our day overcome by their own flesh.) 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Then, when Jesus spoke the second “Woe”, I heard another much louder pop-like sound and more of the crackling sound. I looked around to see where this sound was coming from, and I saw that a large, deep crack had gone all around the temple foundation, and it was cracking up and crumbling as well. (Everything that can be shaken will be.) 17 Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. 19 Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 He therefore that sweareth by the altar, (The crucified life.) sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law (So tithing is of the law. This is the leaven of the Pharisees Jesus warned about.), justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! (Making unimportant things important.) 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, 30 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: 35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem (John said Jerusalem is the Bride but there is a false bride.), that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (Devoid of God) 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Just as Jesus had finished His Words to these men, the stone steps gave way, and all of those men standing on the crumbling stone steps fell down into a deep pit that had opened up under them. And just after that happened, the entire temple came crashing down on top of them and covered them up. I noticed that from Matthew 23:15 through verse 39, there are “six” woes -- “six” being the number of man. Also, I found it interesting that there is a “Woe” in Mathew 23:23, and the date of this revelation is the 23rd, and 23 means “death”. (This is clearly a reprobation of today's apostate leadership and their fake temples, as Jesus pronounced in His day, and is now a repeat of history.)    The Recompense on the Wicked Anna Stewart - 7/24/25  I dreamed that a few others and I were at a safari ranch. There was a ten-foot-high impenetrable wall of dead-looking grass going around the perimeter of where we were. (“All flesh is as grass,” said Peter, representing the flesh of the beast people, the Dragon devouring in Rev 12. Judgments are spreading over the world from these people.) We were told to get back into our vehicle because the grass was full of lionesses (representing the curse and judgment) just waiting to jump out and grab someone. I wasn't afraid, but I did get back into the vehicle. My father (representing THE Father) was driving the vehicle.  I was in the front passenger seat (the bride), but someone behind me had left their door open. Three times, with authority, I commanded them to “SHUT THE DOOR.” I knew they were primarily endangering themselves, but also putting the rest of us at risk, as well. (The vehicle represents sanctification, and we must all keep our own doors shut, for ourselves, but also for the sake of the body.)  We began to slowly drive down a narrow, one-way dirt road lined by that tall grass. A woman I know, who represents the harlot, was walking alongside us on the left of our vehicle. It wasn't safe to be outside, and she began to nervously knock on the door of the vehicle and say, “Let me in, let me in.”  The woman was not afraid, just slightly nervous, not realizing how very real the danger was. Rom.3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. To my surprise, my father continued driving slowly along, completely ignoring her. I said, “We need to let her in,” but still he didn't stop. Luk.13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are;  Then I saw a huge, fierce-looking male lion (Satan) behind the vehicle on the right side. I said, “In the name of Jesus—” to pray for the woman's safety, but the Lord didn't even allow me to pray. In an instant, without warning, the lion pounced onto the woman, and there was a graphic spray of blood and body parts. It was horrific. I wailed, “Jesus!” Not just for the gore I had just seen, but because I knew that no repentance had happened. Mercy had run out, and there was not so much as a second for her to repent. And now it was too late. Pro.6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy. End of dream. I knew the Lord was speaking of this woman as a group of people. What I saw was His recompense that is before Him. Their time had run out. This is a warning, but the apostates this woman represents must confess their sins and run to the Lord now, or they won't escape. Let's continue to pray and believe for them.    Apostates Neglect Their Spiritual Man  Sam Paguaga - 12/10/2012 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was in a large house with a lot of people around. There seemed to be a lot of rooms and a lot of stuff going on. People were talking and hanging around and doing their own business. I saw my mother (representing the apostate Church we were born from). (In reality, her name is Iris. (Which means “rainbow” in Greek. This could represent grace God wants to give to the Church of all nations.) She had a small child with her who seemed like a kid from a third-world country. He was very dark-skinned (representing her spiritual man in darkness), like from India, wearing worn-out clothes (not putting on the works of Christ). He seemed to be sick, and she didn't seem to be tending to him. (Representing the fruit of the apostate church's spiritual man, which they are not feeding and clothing.) If I had to say, he looked around three years old. (The fruit of their spiritual man is very immature.) My mother then gave him to me. (Those who minister to the mother Church will care for and feed their spiritual man.) I took him to a room, like a toddler room, where I was going to clean him up and put new clothes on him. (Cleanse him from sin and dress him up in the works of Jesus.) When I changed his shirt, I noticed what looked like a tumor on the side of his face by his right ear. (His hearing is under the curse. He hasn't heard truth.) Without a thought, I placed my hand over it and began to pray, “Dear Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, heal him, heal his sickness, in the name of Jesus. Be healed. Be well. Thank You, Lord. God, thank You”. As I began to say, “thank You”, I felt under my hand something like bones cracking. (the bones of the inner ear, representing spiritual hearing) They were going back in place and the tumor was diminishing. (“Faith cometh of hearing and hearing by the Word”.) I continued to thank God. I knew he was being healed, so I left my hand over his face until I was sure he was all healed. (Their face needs healing: 2Co.3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.) I noticed one of my sons was there looking. (My firstborn, whose name is Eliasaph (“God has increased or added”). We call him Eli.) I told him, “Look. God healed him”. Then, full of gladness for the boy, I grabbed the little boy's hand and walked him over to where my mother was. She was sitting in some type of large living room, on some couches. She was talking to somebody else and some other people. I was trying to get her attention and said, “Look. He's healed! Look, Mom. He's healed”. (They must believe the Gospel that their spiritual man is healed in Jesus' name.) But she just kept talking to the other person, like I wasn't even there. I tried one more time. “Look, Mom. Look. He's healed”. I'm not sure what happened to the little boy by that point. But my gladness turned to rage because she (as the apostate Church) was ignoring the work God had done. (In the natural, my mom is not at all like that. She is very caring and loving. And I have a good relationship with my mother and father. The mother in the dream is like the apostate church, not looking for God's will and rejecting God's spiritual work, in pursuit of earthly things and the entertainment of followers for money. Why did I want my mother to see? The latter rain will be rejected by the apostate church because it will lack the earthly treasures they value, but true treasure is in Heaven.) I picked up a wooden chair that was close by and threw it on the floor and it smashed. (The harlot church cannot rest from their own works, just as was seen in the example of the Jews in the Gospels and Acts. Heb.4:3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.). Everyone looked. I felt like I was furious. I started walking down the hall. I picked up another chair and threw it toward them. I wasn't trying to hit them, but it landed right in front of them. (So they could see that they had no rest from the curse and sin through unbelief. Jesus crashed the money changers party for the zeal of God's house.) Then I started going up the stairs to the second floor, as I smashed another chair. (They are not graduating from kindergarten to higher levels.) Then I woke up. I wondered to myself why I had gotten so upset. I'm really not the kind to lose control in anger and in a fit of rage. (This was an expression of God's rage that the apostates care only for the world and not for their own souls or those of others. Heb.2:3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard. Rev.3:16 So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.)   Devastation of Charismatic Christianity  P. O. - 08/03/2009 (David's notes in red)  In a dream, a man is walking the earth as if he is checking things. He comes upon a scene of violent disarray. (The best way to describe this scene is that it puts one in mind of how a car accident would look, but there's no car.) It's his bride, his wife. She's dead, but beautiful and at peace. Her luggage, apparel, and various items are in disarray around her. Many of these items are marked “The Enrique Hotel”. Also, she is dressed in a way that is reminiscent of the time the historians called “The Roaring Twenties” (which occurred right before the Great Depression). Then I heard a voice that said, “She's been lied to every day, every step of her life”. (Even though they will enter the Kingdom and be at peace, being lied to by false leaders will cost many Spirit-filled Christians their lives and possessions, at the hands of the violent beast. Hos.4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...) When I woke up, I researched the name “Enrique”. It is derived from Spanish or Portuguese, meaning “Charismatic Ruler”. Another site mentioned that it is similar to the English “Henry”, which means “Home Ruler”. (The hotel represents the Church, which, according to Eph.2:19-22, is many houses built together into one Temple for God. Each individual house represents a person. The Spirit-filled people have the position of bride, even though many will not manifest this. The Charismatic leadership, typed by Judah, has gone far astray and is more guilty than the northern 10 apostate tribes because they have had the presence of God's Spirit in their midst to lead them, but have refused to follow His Word.)  I also asked the Lord for something in His Word that would coordinate or connect what He was giving me. He laid on my heart a page number in my very first study Bible. When I turned to it, I discovered that He had taken me to 1 Thessalonians 2. The verse that seemed emphasized was: “For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen even as they did of the Jews...” End of Dream. (I interpreted the top part of this dream before I saw Judea and the rest of this verse. Truly, the Charismatics have imitated the churches, rather than the Scriptures, and they will suffer the same violent attack of the Beast as the Jews did from their countrymen.) One of the reasons why I knew the dream meant something was that I would never, in the natural, dream about something named “Enrique”. I live in Indiana, and there's very little Spanish influence here. I thought this dream was meant for me personally, for the Lord to show me that I was part of the Bride, that I had died to the flesh and was now at rest in Him. I have suffered some persecution from family over the past year. As a personal dream, I was not going to pass this on to anyone. But this morning, I noticed that there is news now on the Internet, originating three days after my dream, regarding the latest Hurricane or Tropical Storm of the year. It, too, is named Enrique. Living in the Midwest, I do not follow hurricanes or keep track of what storm names are coming, so this was a total surprise. I'm not a mathematician, but for a Hoosier, English-only speaker, to dream a name that three days later hits the national news as the newest coming storm seemed to me to be 'up there' in the range of improbability, so that's why I've sat down and now typed it for you, thinking this may be for the larger body of believers. A violent storm is now coming straight for the Charismatic Church, most of which believe they will fly away and so are not preparing to escape the Beast. What is it that we should know and do to escape this Beast? The president of scripture over traditions of men.    The Harlot's Fire Is Coming Apostate Church Cut Up and Cooked Like a Goose Cal Spinner - 08/07/2007 (David's notes in red)  I dreamed I was in the person of the Son of Man. I was in a giant library or bookstore with many books (I.e., religious teachings) and many, many rooms. I met a beautiful woman who seemed Western. She was dressed quite modernly and was wearing makeup, gold and diamond jewelry. We began to converse, and I invited her to come with me. As we began to go, we met another woman who was dressed more Eastern in a plain white dress, with a head covering over her head. She had no jewelry or makeup, just a thin gold belt that was like a rope. She was wearing plain sandals, whereas the other woman wore stockings and high heels. It seemed we all knew each other, and I invited her to come with me as well. (This seems to contrast women of the world and their fake persona, with humble women of the Word to show who is the qualified Bride. 1Ti.2:9 In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment; 10  but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.) We then walked out of the library and into what seemed like a honeymoon suite of some hotel. The room had a good view of the ocean and elaborate wicker furniture. It was very beautiful and was all decorated in very pure white. There were two king-size beds side by side. I said to the women, “See, there is plenty of room; you both can stay”. They agreed, and both presented me their feet (representing their walk), which became like reeds. It seemed like reeds for making baskets, although I had an impression of water as well, like certain reeds that grow in the water. I took shears and clipped their feet off. Then the beautiful Western woman became jealous of the other woman when I gave her attention. (As the Lord will) I said to the Western woman, “You can't get away because you cannot stand on your own”.  I then laid the woman with the head covering in the bed. (The sign of submission to the Lord as husband.)  Then the scene suddenly shifted to a kitchen, and I was placing the other woman in the oven. She had the left arm and leg missing, and the right arm and leg were bound with a string. She was on a tray and had an apple in her mouth. She was weeping as I placed her in the oven and shut the door and turned it on to cook her like a goose, but the apple in her mouth reminded me she was a pig. (full of flesh)  Then I woke up very disturbed and asked the Lord for interpretation. I am still, at the time of this writing, quite shaken by the vividness of this dream and the quickness with which the interpretation came to me. This is a terrible warning! This is the interpretation the Spirit revealed to me, although there may be more. The great hall with many rooms and the many books represents all the many doctrines of man and his religions. There were many people there partaking of the various books. The Son of Man is in the store or library with all the other doctrines of the world, but only invites some to go with Him. The two women represent the church -- those invited to wed the Lord. The woman dressed more plainly with the head covering represents the true Bride. The head covering symbolized willingness to submit to authority and headship of the bridegroom. The modern woman who was selfish and jealous and dressed in jewelry and fakeup represents the apostate church. (Who believe they are the bride.)  The clipping of the feet is when we come to the Lord. We agree not to stand on our own but to be carried by the Lord. (Although both groups acknowledge they cannot stand on their own but by grace, the true Bride will be made to stand by grace because of true faith.) The cutting up represents the denominations of the apostate church that are one-sided, missing one arm and one leg. (The left side [goats] being missing will mean that through their own works they will have no power to escape and be saved. The right side [sheep] represents that they are unable to do the works or walk of the Lord, but are only bound by a string, symbolizing that they could be free if they really wanted to.) The Lord will judge them for being worldly and self-absorbed and put them in the oven Himself. They will cry out, but He won't hear them and will send them to be baked. He won't hear them because they are like pigs concerned with only themselves, rejecting His authority and headship. They will not allow Him to carry them to His bedchamber (where His seed is sown in them to bear His fruit), but instead, they will try to do things their own way, being more concerned about what the world thinks of them than the Lord. It will be grievous to them, but those who are truly the Lord's will be saved through the fiery trial that will cause them to give up their self-works of wood, hay, and stubble. 2Ti.2:19 Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. 22 after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Those who truly are the Lord's will lose the wood, hay and stubble of their self-works and any reward they thought they would have from this, but it is here that they will be saved from themselves. 1Co.3:12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.) We should all take heed with great fear and trembling and submit ourselves to the Lord's authority with all haste. The time is at hand to come out of Babylon or be destroyed by the east.   The Righteous Offend the Beast and Harlot  Vincent Xavier 1. I am coming to do great injury and wrong to that which is not of My Father. My nature contends with the nature of the beast. This nature of the beast is in the heart of men who have not been sanctified by My Spirit. That which has not been fully sanctified remains an offense to me and I will be an offense to it! Yes, I will offend the Beast in this hour! I will release a shockwave of glorious power that will cause the Beast to reel to and fro like a drunken man! The nature of the Beast has cleverly entrapped MY people and has caused them to err in their hearts concerning what is acceptable to My Father.  A learned practice of what is acceptable to men has been the standard by which men have been judged, yet that standard shall be fully violated in this DAY. Religious leaders have led My people into complacency and have lulled them to sleep with their fairytales and ideas that originate in their own minds. Their words are not My words for their words carry no sanctifying power. Their words carry no influence in the realms of darkness to the liberating of the captives. The nature of the Beast is empowered by sin and the message of the religious leaders has not emancipated the conscience of those who believe in me. It is the SIN CONSCIENCE that must be dealt with. It is the SIN ISSUE that must be fully realized as the open door to Satanic power in the souls of those who believe. My nature will make war with the Beast within the soul of men and will execute judgment upon the Beast. Be prepared, for many shall be offended in the last days and it will be I Who is causing the offense! Those who are righteous indeed will be an offense to those who are religious indeed. 2. I am going to exceed all bounds of decency and reasonableness. Follow My life! Look at me! Was I approved and acceptable to the approved social order of My day? Was I subject to those who were in control of the day? Was the Roman government My head? Were the religious leaders of Judaism My head? NO!  My only supreme was My Father and I always did what My Father told me to do, even at the risk of upsetting the standard order of the times. Yes, it was I who entered into the temple and turned over the tables of the moneychangers. This was an acceptable practice for those Jews at that time, but their practices were not ordained of My Father.  It was I who caused outrage in the hearts of those who would take me to the cliff to throw me down the mountain! It was I who stirred the crowds into chaos and confusion, causing divisions among men! It was I who upset the religious mindset of the day when healing on the Sabbath and doing good to those who were in need. It was I who caused offense in the hearts of the hypocrites! Yes, it was I, and I say unto you that I am going to upset the world again, and I am going to turn it upside down. I am going to shake the world of all its social graces and practices that are an offense and abomination to My Father. Two thousand years ago, I sent a people into the world and they, according to My will, TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN! So it is on this, the THIRD DAY, that I am going to release My people once again from the caves of obscurity who have hid from the religious leaders of this Day and bring them out into the open, and oh what an offense they shall be to all the social orders men have labored so hard to erect and put in place. Consider My servant David and the men who went out to meet him in the caves of Adullam. These were not the kind of men who were subjected to the religious order of Saul, and neither will these be those I release in this hour. Surely I say to you that they will enter into your places of worship and contend with all that is not of My Father. They will be an offense to many and will reveal the hate and control in the hearts of the leaders who have refused to LET MY PEOPLE GO! Consider My servant Joseph. He was thrown into prison by his OLDER brothers. Surely he shall arise in the earth having great authority and will rule over those older brothers in the days to come. Yes, those who were an insult to them because of their pride and jealousy will bow their knees to them and will acknowledge their authority and will know of a truth that I have loved them with an everlasting love from before the eons of time, or else they shall perish without a word. Let it be known that I AM an offense to the world, for the world is surely an offense to me!  I have watched the world and have watched My people in the world and those who claim to be Mine. I ask, what have you learned since you believed? Have you not yet departed from that which is an offense to me? Have you not read that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of Mine? You have not yet COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE! Therefore, you shall incur judgment against yourselves for I have determined to destroy Babylon! I am not speaking of the Babylon in the Middle East, but the Babylon in the middle of your heart! I am speaking to your Babylonian ways and mindsets! When I walked upon the earth, I did not call attention to the Roman authorities but to the condition of men's hearts! Yes, I am coming to topple that which appears before men as most religious. That which is so acceptable today is an abomination to me! That which has become the social order of the day, the acceptable form of worship, is coming to an end! For I have determined to FINISH the house that has been in building for two thousand years. Yes, out of the ashes will arise a new building, complete and perfect, a people who are in the exact image of My Father! I am not concerned with social graces and what is acceptable to men; I am only concerned with that which belongs to my Father!  How will I come? I will come to you in the form of men and women! I will come to you with great power and anointing when once I release My reserved ones. I come! I come in them to stand before the multitudes in order that I may bring truth to My temple! I come! Surely I come!  3. My presence will be very shocking and offensive in this DAY. A heavy blow will come to the earth! For heaven has witnessed the actions of men in the earth and their actions have been weighed in the balance. I will cause to stagger all nations by the news they shall hear. What men have deemed as “good taste” shall surely become bitter by what I am about to do. Indeed, that which was once approved of men and acceptable in the eyes of the admirers shall become a revolting offense, even disgusting. My people, who are seated with Me in heavenly places, are prepared to appear in the earth before the eyes of men. These shall be the reason for the “shock syndrome” that will come. For that which was once accepted in My house by men shall be seen as a detestable thing in comparison to the holiness that My sanctified ones shall walk in. Their presence shall reveal the disgusting abomination that has been hidden in the hearts of men while doing many outward works of righteousness.  I say that those works of outward righteousness shall be seen for what they truly are, mere religious robes covering the filth of an unsanctified life. My pure presence within My beloved ones shall cause the heart to fail in those who are unrepentant. 4. My appearing shall be violent in action and disposition. When I come, I will come with a violent disposition that will cause men to pale and pine away. For I will take the nations by violence, and I will destroy that which is false with a strong overthrow.  How will I come? I will appear through My servants, the prophets! Their words shall be as a hammer violently breaking in pieces that which is an abomination to My Father. A destroying fire shall come out of their mouths to the burning up of all chaff in the hearts of men! There will be no arrogance when they come. Those who would oppose their words will come under swift judgment. For these are My battle axes, My weapons of war, who have been reserved for a time such as this, yet it is I who am working in them beyond their own understanding! They have yielded to My will and have surrendered their lives so that I may live in and through them. It will be I who am contended with by those who would oppose them.  I have said that violent men take the Kingdom by force, and it will be at this time that the Kingdom shall be taken by those full of divine energy and power. Satan shall be cast out of the heavenlies and thrust down into the pit. I am speaking to the hearts of men. For it is within the heart that all evil comes. Not outwardly in the skies above but within the very soul of man that Satan has taken his seat along with the Beast and the false prophet. These evil spirits have held the dominion, but shall now come under a violent blow that shall shake them from their high places in order to release My Kingdom in the hearts of those who believe.  5. Because I am going to exceed all bounds of right, morality, and decency known to man, I will be INTOLERABLE to the modern religious and social leaders of this day. My people, hear me! What has been erected as decent, moral, and acceptable to men is truly an abomination to me. You live in a time where men call evil good, good evil, bitter sweet and sweet bitter. It is a DAY wherein light is called darkness and darkness is called light.  Because of these conditions, I will come as an INTOLERABLE force of emptying magnitude. I will so completely overturn that which is hypocritical that nothing will remain. Understand that what I have tolerated for so long will no longer be tolerated. In My intolerance, I will lead a militia of chosen warriors through whom I will shake the earth!  Many will find My ways intolerable from behind the pulpit in these moments of time, for many in the congregation shall be offended because of the righteousness that flows from the minister's lips. Yes, I have ministers, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and Pastors who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal, who will demonstrate My glorious power in these days. To them shall many flock. For the true shall know My voice in and through them and will know them by their fruits. Man has played with power greater than himself and by so doing has opened the gate to a great flood of evil. But no man has ever witnessed the magnitude of My intolerance as what shall be witnessed in these days. My presence will become unbearable to the wicked. My words will be too severe for the hypocrites! I will appear as a cruel one to those who have been cruel! Many will not be able to bear with me. Yet to My beloved shall I appear with an intolerable love and grace! Yes, many will not be able to bear My love, mercy and grace that I will bestow upon them, and these shall be swept away in rapturous moments in My glory. These shall be overwhelmed with My love and blessings!  Many great and wonderful blessings shall abound to their account, and their inheritance shall be released unto them. These are those who have come to maturity and have grown up beyond the mere religious practices of many. These are My sons and daughters who will set the creation free, even as I did when I walked upon the earth. He came as a Lamb but comes as a Lion!

Which Path To Choose? Isaiah 30:21 “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Do you ever wonder why you ask the Lord what you should do and you don't hear a clear answer?  I was talking with my spiritual advisor one time, and I told her I was going to pray about the two choices I had to choose from and see which one God wanted me to do.  She told me not to be surprised if God wasn't super specific or if He didn't tell me which one to pick.  She said He doesn't always tell us what to do.  Sometimes He lets us pick.  Then we talked about how there might not be just one path God wants you to walk down.  We talked about how we don't have to worry that there is one right answer and all the rest are wrong. I didn't know there was scripture to back this up; it was more of a feeling. I truly felt if God wanted you to do one specific thing, he would let you know.  He would place the desire to pick that one thing directly in your head.  You would know what God wants you to do.  Then there are the times when you really don't know which to pick.  You feel you could be happy doing either job, or you could be happy living in either place.  It is in these times, I believe, the decision about which to do is left up to us because God is ok with both of them.  Yesterday I was listening to another elevation church podcast, and I heard Pastor Steven Furtick read this verse, so I wanted to share it with all of you because I know many of you have been in a situation where you were praying for God to guide you one way or the other.   The verse above says, “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.  God will be with you no matter which you choose.  We know God is always with us; however, that doesn't mean He always supports our choices.  When we are about to do something that goes against God or something God knows will lead us down a wrong path, He will let us know.  Think back to all the times you made a decision that ended badly.  Did you have a feeling it might?  Did you feel as if God was urging you not to do it?  That's the thing: we always have a choice.  Even when God knows the path won't end well, he will warn us against it, but He will not prevent us from doing it.  God honors our free will. I think sometimes we want God to tell us which way to go so we don't have to make the decision.  If we let God choose, then we can blame Him when things go wrong, when they don't turn out like we expected they would.  Another reason we would like God to make the decisions is that there are so many decisions we have to make all throughout the day, and it can be overwhelming.  Then there are also so many choices for each of those decisions.  Have you ever heard the term analysis paralysis?  Analysis paralysis is an inability to make a decision due to overthinking a problem. An individual or a group can have too much data. The result is endless wrangling over the upsides and downsides of each option, and an inability to pick one.  This used to happen to me every time the kids would bring home a sheet from their teacher asking for donations for something.  The list would have 50 things we could donate.  I would look at them, and they all seemed easy enough.  However, there were so many to choose from that I would usually end up frustrated and not get any.  I loved the teachers who would just send home a note telling me what to bring, no choice involved.   With all the technology we have at our fingertips these days, the choices and amount of information can be overwhelming.  For instance, if you are throwing a party, instead of going to the local party store and seeing what they have in stock, you can Google how to throw a party, or you can look up different themes, decorations, table pieces, and more.  Pinterest is also a big thing.  This is a website and an app where people post photos of things they have done, all the decorations they've made, all the parties they've had.  If you go on Pinterest, you will probably get lost in your search and spend hours there, just looking at all they have to offer, and yet you will probably make very few decisions.  Because of this, I am thankful to have found this verse.  I am thankful to know that sometimes God is ok with us picking any path. I want to do what God wants me to do.  I want to follow His will.  This is why I get frustrated sometimes when I don't know what He wants me to do.  However, what I take from this verse is that He hasn't just set up one path for us.  He hasn't just planned our every move; He allows us to decide what we want to do.  The verse goes on to say, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” No matter which path you decide to go down, God will be there to guide you.  You just need to listen to the voice you hear in your ears.  God will tell you when it is time to pivot to a new job, a new house, or whatever the next step is.  I watched a video about this very topic by Father Mike Schmidt.  He said we tend to look for God to reassure us with every step we take.  Our intentions are good; we want to know we are doing the right thing.  We want to please God and to do His will.  Father Mike said when God wants us to move, or to change something, he will tell us.  If God is not saying something, then you are good to keep doing what you are doing.  Why is it we need that constant assurance from God?  We want Him to cheer on our every step.  We want Him to keep telling us we are headed in the right direction.   One thing Pastor Furtick said that I think is so powerful is, “The important thing is not which road you take to get there; the important thing is how you walk on that path.”  Sometimes we might have to choose between two things, and we don't really feel God is leading us one way or another.  That might be because He is ok with either path.  They both could be good, and they both could be bad.  Your success isn't dependent on the path you picked; it is dependent on how you walk that path.  Are you staying close to God?  Are you close enough to hear that voice the verse is talking about?  Are you checking in with God regularly to see if He is still ok with the path you are on, or does He want you to make a turn down a different road?  How are you walking on your path?  The verse says there will be a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it.”  Are you listening to that voice?  Are you following the directions it is giving you?  If the Lord is not giving you directions, just continue going forward in the direction you are going, and when it is time to make a change, God will let you know.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to hear your voice.  Help us to listen to your voice.  Help us to make difficult decisions and help us to know you will be with us no matter what decision we make.  Lord, we ask you to lead us down the path you want us to go, and we ask you to help us to walk uprightly down that path.  Give us wisdom and discernment, Lord, so when we need to make a decision, we can make it swiftly and without too much anxiety.  Lord, we ask you to help us sift through all the information and all the choices and just focus in on you, Lord.  We love you, Lord.  You are so great!  You are the almighty one.  You are the Light of the World.  We adore you, and we are so grateful for all you do for us.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus!  I look forward to spending time with you on Monday!  Have a blessed weekend.   www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Tiny Steps of Trust Psalm 56:3-4 “But in the day that I'm afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes.” Today, I decided to read from the Jesus Calling Devotional. I have not done that in a while; I am unsure why. For those of you who don't know, this is a devotional book written as if God is speaking to you each day. It is really good and often says exactly what you need to hear for that day. Today's spoke right to me. It reminded me how important it is to trust God in all times with all things. It is just as important to trust Him with the small things as it is to trust Him with the big things. I will read today's devotional for you, as I think it will speak to you just as much as it spoke to me. “TRUST ME with every fiber of your being! What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on me. One aspect of this is the degree to which you trust me in a crisis or major decision. Some people fail miserably here, while others are at their best in tough times. Another aspect is even more telling: the consistency of your trust in me. People who rely on me in the midst of adversity may forget about me when life is flowing smoothly. Difficult times can jolt you into awareness of your need for me, whereas smooth sailing can lull you into a stupor of self-sufficiency. I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your daily dramatic leaps of faith. You may think that no one else notices, but the One who is always beside you sees everything — and rejoices. Consistently trusting in me is vital to flourishing in my presence.” Do you see what I mean when I say it often says exactly what you need to hear for the day? I love that it is written as if God is saying it directly to you. This is truly how God talks to us. I am not sure how many of you listening have taken the time to sit and listen to what God has to say to you. If you have not, give it a try today. God wants to talk to each one of us, and yet the world around us is so noisy it is hard to hear him. However, if we sit down and take the time to listen, we will hear what He wants to tell us. This can take time and also practice. The more time you put into trying to hear God talking to you, the more clearly you will hear Him. The more you will begin to recognize what He sounds like to you. I have a journal, and I try to write in it as often as I can. In 2020, I changed the way I write in my prayer journal. I used to just write God about my day and what was going on in my life. I still do this, but I don't just do this. Now, I try to stop and take the time to listen to what God has to say back to me. This has been amazing. I have spent a lot of time listening and have given the Lord time to speak into my life, and it has been life-changing. You would be surprised what the Lord wants to say to you if you only gave Him the time to say it. He is so gentle and affirming. Sometimes, we think we wouldn't want to hear what the Lord has to say because we feel we aren't doing a very good job, and He probably wouldn't have anything nice to say to us. This is not true. That is what the enemy wants you to think so that you don't stop and give the Lord time to speak love, light, and truth into your life. When you give Him the time and you listen, you will be surprised at how nicely He talks to you. You will be surprised at how much He loves you. Even in our brokenness, even in our sin, He still speaks so much love into us. It is truly amazing. This is why I started ending each episode with the Word from the Lord that He gave to our prayer group. The more we all start hearing the way He talks to us, the more we will start to recognize it when we hear Him talking in our own lives. Here is what I do when I write to the Lord. I write Him a letter, and then I ask Him to answer me using my pen, and then I start to write a letter back to myself. I don't question what comes to mind; I don't overthink it; I just write everything that comes to mind. Does that mean that every single thing I write down is from the Lord? No, probably not. However, I asked Him to answer me, and when we ask, He answers, so I trust that what I am writing down is from Him. After you are done writing it down, you can re-read it and see what you wrote and how it makes you feel. If you wrote anything down that makes you feel bad, shameful, or guilty, that is probably not from the Lord. That is not how He talks to us. Sometimes He will convict us of something if we are doing something wrong. However, He doesn't use shame and guilt to do it. God does not condemn us. He lovingly points us in another direction and then gives us the strength to go in that other direction. Anything you are not sure of, you can take to discernment. You can ask the Lord to clarify; you can ask the Lord to explain more, and you can always go deeper with what you got in the letter. If you do this often enough, you will recognize patterns. You will see that He tends to say the same things over and over again because we tend not to listen. Yet, He keeps saying them until we do listen. The verse above says, “But in the day that I'm afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. What harm could a man bring to me? With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes.” This is a good verse for today because I know a lot of people who are staring down some pretty big fears. Whether they are worried about losing their job, getting sick, or finding a new job, it is all scary. Several people I know are also sick and are worried they won't be healed. This can be very scary to think you will have to live with this illness for the rest of your life. This is why today's verse is so important. Today's verse says that I lay all my fears before you and trust you with all my heart. I hope we are all doing this. I hope when something scary comes our way, our first instinct is to turn it over to the Lord. Give Him our cares, and He will help us carry them. He will even carry them for us if we can be brave enough to let go and let Him carry them for us. Often we want to pick them back up again. But if we can fully let go, He will take care of them for us. If we can trust Him to do this, our worries and cares become so much lighter. My favorite part of the devotional from Jesus Calling is, “Another aspect is even more telling: the consistency of your trust in me.” I also love, “I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your daily dramatic leaps of faith.” These both remind us that although it is important to have trust in the Lord when things are going wrong in our lives, it is just as important to trust Him when things are calm and there isn't a crisis. Do we do this? Do we trust that God is taking care of all the things, or just the big things? When things are going well, do we still turn to the Lord, or do we try to fix those things on our own? I think this devotional gives us something to think about. What could we be doing differently? Do we need to be more consistent with our trust in the Lord? What are those tiny trust-steps in our daily life that God is talking about? What if you took 20 minutes sometime today and sat down and asked God these questions and then wrote down whatever you think you hear Him say back to you? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to trust you. We want to trust you not only with the big things but the small things too. Please show us how; please guide us. Help us learn how to take those tiny trust-steps into our daily life. Lord, we ask that you help us hear your voice in our heads. We ask you to open our spiritual ears so we can hear you more. Lord, I ask you for a special blessing for each person. I ask that you bless them and their families. I ask that you bless their jobs, their ministries, whatever it is they do. We love you so much, 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. Remember, Jesus really does love you, yes, you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I am the crucified Christ. My blood has freed you. I have washed you clean in my blood. Block your ears to the evil one. He is jealous of my children. His mission is to destroy. I surround my children with my all-consuming love. Love that doesn't skip a beat, and he knows it. Stay strong, stay focused on me.”   www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Your Jordan River Will Part Joshua 3:13 “When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a single heap.” This is a story that I don't remember from the Bible. I have gone through the Bible in a year twice with Father Mike, so I am sure I have heard it; I don't remember it, so I thought we would take a look at it today, especially because I know a lot of people who need some reassurance that miracles do happen. God will take care of you no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. God is not surprised you are in these circumstances. He knew you would be in them, and He has prepared you for them. He has a plan to help you through them. Trust Him. This verse is taking place when Joshua is trying to get the Israelites to cross the Jordon River to go into the promised land. Let me read to you this part of the story so you can see how it all unfolded. Remember, Moses led the people out of Egypt but was not able to live to lead them into the promised land. This was left to Joshua, as He was faithful and trusted that God could conquer the people who occupied that land currently. I will read you Joshua 3:7-17: “Then the Lord said to Joshua: Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, “When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, there take your stand.”  So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord, your God.”  He continued: “By this you will know that there is a living God in your midst: he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will cross the Jordan before you.  Now choose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a single heap.” The people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. When those bearing the ark came to the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were immersed in the waters of the Jordan—which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest— the waters flowing from upstream halted, standing up in a single heap for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the Jordan riverbed while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the whole nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan.” Wow, the Israelites crossed on dry ground again! Remember, these are the ancestors of those who crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. These people were not actually there, but I am sure they heard all about it. So, why do you think God needed to show them again? Why do you think God parted the Jordan River for them to cross? It says above that it was to show the people that God was with Joshua the same way that He was with Moses. This miracle, like many others, is a testament to the power and faithfulness of our God.  It amazes me how often we can see signs and wonders and yet still doubt the Lord will come through. The Israelites had seen miracle after miracle while they were in the desert. Their food miraculously showed up each morning. When they complained about not having meat to eat, Quail miraculously showed up. They walked across the Red Sea on dry land, and this is to name a few of the big ones. So, why would they need to see another miracle? I think it is because we sometimes think it is the person doing the miracle instead of God doing the miracle through those people. God knew the Israelites knew God was with Moses because He was the face of most of the miracles they had received. However, God also knew they weren't sure if God was with Joshua. He was young and new to leading them. God understood that these people would need a sign to show them that He was with Joshua. How many times have we been like this? How many times has God called us to cross our own Jordan Rivers, and we have been hesitant because we don't know that He is with us? How many times has He given us a sign, and yet we require another one? If we look back upon our lives, I bet we can all see how the Lord has been right here with us in each of the hard times. If we can see this, why do we still doubt He will be with us in this hard time? I am sure we have all seen miracles in our lives. If we haven't, then we are not looking hard enough because the Lord is working in each of our lives. The news doesn't like to talk about the good stuff going on in the world, as that doesn't sell as much as the bad stuff. However, you don't have to look too far to find the good things going on in this world if you want to. You can find articles and videos on the internet. We can actually be a beacon of light to those around us. If you see someone you know struggling, you can give them hope and peace in Jesus Christ. If someone you know needs a miracle right now, relay this one to them. Relay other ones from the Bible. Look on YouTube for testimonies from others who have been healed from what they have or gone through what they have gone through. Sometimes, seeing is believing, so pray for God to show them a miracle. Pray for a miracle in your life. Miracles are not reserved for certain people. They are not reserved for perfect people, people who pray a lot, or those whom God loves the best. Miracles come to those who ask for them, those who seek them, and those who believe they will happen. We believe, Lord. Help our unbelief. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today. Lord, we love you, and we know you are there with us in the hard times. We are sorry we sometimes forget. We ask you to be with all those struggling in a special way today. We ask you to give each one of us a renewed sense of awe and wonder. We ask that you give us renewed faith and belief that miracles are not only possible will happen in our lives. Open our eyes to the miracles that are happening in our lives every day! 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. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in January 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “There is no more time for looking back. Look only to what is ahead. Look up, and you'll see the glory of God.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Redeeming the Time  Ephesians 5:15-16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” I really liked this verse and wanted to talk to you about it today because I am not sure we realize how important time is.  It matters how we spend our time.  The first part of this verse talks about how we need to make sure we are walking circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.  Circumspectly is a fancy way to say we need to think carefully before we act.  This is hard for us sometimes.  I feel like I say this a lot, but I think it is so important that we all become aware of it.  We go through life on autopilot.  There is so much of our day we spend just going through the motions.  We aren't actually making a lot of the decisions as we go through our day.  We have all formed habits, good ones and bad ones, and those habits are what make a lot of the decisions for us.   It sounds like this is not a new problem.  I think from the beginning of time this was a problem.  We tend to default to whatever we have done in the past.  It is not easy to always walk circumspectly.  It requires us to pause and think before we do something.  This is contrary to how we live out our day-to-day moments.  Do you stop and think before you eat your breakfast?  Do you stop to think if whatever you're about to eat is actually the best thing for you to eat?  Is it something that will nourish your body, or is it something you are just in the habit of eating?  What about how you spend your time in the mornings?  Are you spending this precious time in a way that is going to set your day up for success, or are you looking at your phone and then reacting to whatever you saw on your phone?   It is important that we look at how we are spending our time and try to stop and think before we do anything.  I have been much more aware of how I am spending my time lately.  I am trying to be more focused and stay on task better.  I am trying to spend my time more wisely.  However, I am finding it is very hard.  I find myself slipping into old habits throughout the day.  For instance, I will pick up my phone and check my email so many times throughout the day.  I do not have a ton of important emails coming in throughout the day.  I could easily spend 15-30 min at the end of the day and go through all my emails and be good for the day.  However, I am in the habit of checking them, so I do.  This is something I am working on changing.   I read something one time that said we all think our time is our own.  However, it is a gift from God and one day He is going to want us to give a full account of how we spent His gift.  I don't know about you, but I thought this was pretty powerful.  If you knew one day you would have to answer for how you spent your time, would you spend it differently?  Would you spend as much time on that video game, or watching those Facebook or YouTube videos?  Would you still binge-watch all 8 seasons of that TV show during work hours if you knew you would have to explain your actions to God someday?  I ask that question in a loving way.  I don't picture God asking us in a very condemning way.  I can picture Him asking us in a loving way. More of a response to us asking why we didn't get to do all the things we wanted to do.  God has amazing plans for each one of us, and no matter where we are on this journey of life, it is important to take a minute and think about how we are spending this precious time that God has given us.  There is a song I love, and it talks about this very topic.  It is called “Spend a Life” By David Dunn.  I will put a link to this song in the show notes, and I highly recommend you take a minute and listen to this awesome song.  I am going to take a minute to read you the lyrics, no, not sing them, don't worry.  I think you all need to hear them, and I know we are all busy, so most of you probably won't listen to the song.   Spend a Life  by David Dunn Everybody's got a balance But no one knows how much There's no way to run the numbers No way to count it up And we're pouring out our fortunes In the moments Both the big and the small Yeah we gotta spend it all All I have is what You gave Watching seconds turn to days I was made for more then just to watch it fly A few more turns around the sun Could be hundreds, could be one Show me how to spend the treasure of my time Show me how to spend a life, yeah Show me how to spend a life I have never seen a tombstone Say I didn't work enough, nah Nobody ever heard a father say I held my kids too much God I wanna run after What really matters So remind me when I fall How a good man spends it all Don't let me waste it Don't let lose it Don't let me steal it for myself No, no I know it's precious I know it's priceless I know my time is flying by Show me how to spend a life 'Cause all I have is what You gave Watching seconds turn to days I was made for more then just to watch it fly A few more turns around the sun Could be hundreds, could be one Show me how to spend the treasure of my time, yeah Show me how to spend a life, yeah Wow, did that hit you as it hit me?  I got teary-eyed just thinking about all this song talks about.  None of us know how much time we have.  I love when the song talks about trips around the sun, and he says, could be hundreds, could be one.  This is so true, and as much as I don't think it is helpful to constantly be thinking about our death, I do think it is healthy to occasionally look at how we are living our lives and ask ourselves, would we be proud of how we lived our lives if we were to die tomorrow?  Sometimes we put things off, and we say we just need to do x, y, or z, and then we will do the things we really want to do.  We know in our hearts we aren't prioritizing this correctly, and yet we tell ourselves we only have to do this for a few more years, just until we get that promotion, just until we make more money, just until…But we aren't guaranteed anything.  What if we lived our lives with the realization that tomorrow is not a given?  What if we woke up each day grateful that God blessed us with another day and then lived it as the gift it really is?  What if we thought about how we are spending our time and consciously chose how we wanted to spend it?  What if we realized we only get a finite amount of time and so we live each moment as if it is a precious gift?  What if we stopped putting things off and did them right when we wanted to?  Would your life be any different if you started walking into your days circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise?  How can you redeem the time you have been given?   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to notice how we are spending our time.  Help us to take back control of our time.  Lord, I know I really struggle with wasting time, and I know I can't be the only one who struggles with this; please help us, Lord.  We ask the Holy Spirit to nudge us when we are wasting time and help to bring us back on track.  We ask you to help us realize how important our time is.  We ask you to help us realize how finite our time is, but not in an anxious way where we stress out.  We ask you to help us see it in a helpful way so we can take advantage of every minute you have given to us.  Help us to be grateful for each and every precious second you give us, Lord.  You are truly amazing, and we are so grateful for you.  You are the light of the world, and the word made flesh.  You are so kind to give us so many wonderful days; help us appreciate them more.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You Already Have the Power 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? This is a question I think often when I am talking to people.  Whenever I talk to someone who doubts their abilities or their capabilities, I want to ask them this question.  I want to ask most people this question as I think a lot of us don't know this.  I have heard people talk a lot about our body being a temple when they talk bout how we take care of our body.  I have heard people mention “our body is a temple” when they are wanting you to do their workout program, or their nutrition program.  I have also heard people talk about how our body is a temple when they are talking about sexual sin or trying to convince you not to use your body in a negative way.   I do think it is important to think of your body as a temple, not just any temple, but God's temple.  Knowing I am God's temple is quite a responsibility.  Currently, I am not acting as if I know my body is a temple.  Right now I am acting as if my body is a waste station and I am throwing all the junk I can find into it.  I seem to be struggling with self-control when it comes to eating and exercising these days.  This is somewhat new to me, as I have done really well over the past several years to gain lots of self-control when it comes to eating and exercising.  I know I don't need to base my eating and my working out on my feelings.  I know if I get into a good routine, I can work out even when I don't want to.  I know I don't have to eat the ice cream just because I want to.   Even though I know these things, I am still struggling.  Have you ever had this happen to you?  You know what you need to do, and you still can't seem to do it?  I think this happens to all of us.  Right now, for me, I think it is the enemy making my desires stronger than my willpower.  I believe God is calling me to so much more in life, and the enemy doesn't want me to hear this call.  He doesn't want me to live up to my purpose, so he is distracting me with social media and other things on the computer.  He is tempting me with all sorts of food that is not all that healthy, and he is loving every single time I give in to his distractions.  He has me saying things like, “I just can't resist, or I can't overcome my desires to not work out.”  The devil is a liar. I can resist.  It is not easy, but it is possible.  We have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  I don't think we realize how much power we have living inside of us.  Romans 8:11 is a very powerful scripture to write down and read often.  It is a great scripture to remind yourself of every time you feel like you can't do something.  Romans 8:11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”  The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead.  Remember when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then three days later rose again?  The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.  That same Holy Spirit is now living in you and me; that's remarkable to me.   I forget this often.  I often rely on my own willpower, my own mind, thoughts, talents, abilities, and so on.  I know God is always there to help me, but I forget the Holy Spirit lives inside of me.  I forget how powerful the Holy Spirit is.  Well, actually, I don't forget how powerful he is, but I do forget that power is living inside of me.  When I pray for people, I pray the Lord sends the Holy Spirit down to be in the situation I am praying for.  I forget the Holy Spirit doesn't need to come down to be in the situation because He lives here on earth in each one of us.  He is right here inside of us to give us the power we need.  All we need to do is call upon that power. Are we doing that?  Are we remembering to call upon the power of the Holy Spirit?  I know I'm not.  I have been complaining a lot about my lack of willpower.  I have not been running like I want to, and I have been gaining weight because I am not really being careful about what I eat.  I get frustrated, and I wonder why I was so good before, and now I am not.  I was talking with a friend the other day, and she helped me figure it out.  When I first moved to MA, home life was pretty out of control.  I was struggling big time with behaviors from my kids, with just having moved to a new community where I didn't know anyone, trying to work when I kept getting called by the schools, struggling with my marriage.  Everything seemed pretty out of control.  I think I was so good about exercising and watching what I ate because it was the one thing I felt I had control over.  I couldn't control a lot in my life at that time, but I could control what I ate and when I worked out.   I think I was also better at remembering to call on the Holy Spirit because I needed his power daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute.  People who knew me when I was going through the worst of it would comment how strong I was.  I was quick to tell them, it's not me, it's God.  He is the one holding me up right now.  The Holy Spirit was my go-to because it was obvious I was out of my depth.  The things that were going on in my life were so far out of my control.  I am grateful I had God to lean on and I am beyond grateful He gave us the Holy Spirit.  They say a mother's love is so strong you can do anything you need to do to protect your kids.  I don't disagree that a mother's love is strong, and also I don't think it is her love alone.  I think it is our desperate need to protect our children that gives us the courage to call out to the Holy Spirit.  The strength comes from Him.   I am grateful things have calmed down now.  I am grateful God answered my years of prayers.  I am grateful he provided our family with a miraculous restoration. I love my life, and I am so grateful to God for loving me enough to answer my prayers.  I also want to make sure I am not taking these answered prayers for granted.  I think my perceived lack of willpower right now is because I am forgetting to call upon the Holy Spirit.  I am thinking I need to do it all on my own, and I don't.  I am trying to will myself into doing the things I want, and I am forgetting to reach out and ask for help.  I have reached out to friends and asked for accountability partners.  I have reached out and asked people to call and check in with me, ask me if I have done it.  I have asked God to help me, but I am not sure I have invited the Holy Spirit into this struggle.  I have been keeping the struggle separate from God.  Telling myself things like, “God doesn't care if I eat this cookie.”  God may not care if I eat that cookie; however, he does care if I feel bad about eating that cookie.  He does care if I am mindlessly giving in to temptations.  He does care about all the little things, and He does want to be invited into all the parts of our lives, especially the ones we are struggling with.   I am grateful I read this scripture verse today.  I am grateful God showed me this small yet powerful reminder this morning.  Today I am going to invite the Holy Spirit into my struggle.  Today I am going to write this verse on a sticky note and place it up somewhere I will see it often.  Today I invite you to do the same.  Invite the Holy Spirit into whatever you are struggling with the most.  Actually invite the Holy Spirit into all aspects of your life, the good and the bad.  Who couldn't use more power in their life?  Wouldn't you like the good to be even better and the bad to get better?  The Holy Spirit has incredible power to make things better in your life.  I am living proof of that.  Our family went from an angry and somewhat violent family to a loving and calm family.  Things are not perfect, and I am not sure they will ever be as we live in a broken world. However, they are so good, and I am so grateful.  Whatever you are struggling with, please believe me when I say the Holy Spirit has the power to change it.  Remember Romans 8:11: The power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.  What could be more powerful? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Holy Spirit, we invite you into our lives and give you permission to intercede as you wish.  We give you free rein, as we know your ways are higher than our ways.  We are sorry we keep relying on our own power, and we will try to remember to call upon your power.  We are so grateful for all you do for us.  Lord, we are so grateful you sent the Holy Spirit to come live within and to guide us.  Please help us remember to call upon the Holy Spirit more in our lives.  Help us to remember we don't have to do anything on our own; He is always with us.  He is just waiting for us to ask.  Lord, help us to remember our bodies are a temple and the Holy Spirit is living inside that temple.  Help us to treat our bodies like a temple.  Lord, you are so amazing.  You are my joy, you are my life, you are Emmanuel, God with us.  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 thought the Holy Spirit would be a great topic for Today's Devotional because the theme for mentoring this month is Loved and Led by the Holy Spirit. The last two months we looked at the love of the Father and the love of the Son. Now we look at the love of the Holy Spirit. CLICK HERE if you want to learn more about mentoring or if you want to join our community to learn more about the power and love you have living inside of you! I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, let my goodness flow and overflow in you. Let it spread to all those you meet. I am the Lord of goodness. I am the Lord of kindness. Open your hearts more fully to me so that you can know how to share it with those you meet.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

When Hope Hurts Mark 9:21-27 “Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.  It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”  Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.”  Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand.” Jesus is asking just how long this has been happening to the boy?  We also find out that the spirit has not just cast the boy down onto the ground, but it has often cast him into fire and into water so that he might die.  I think everyone listening can sympathize with all this boy has had to go through and how his father is at the point where he would do anything for his son.  I can't imagine watching anyone's child go through life with this happening to them.  It must have been heartbreaking for the father to see this happening and not be able to do anything about it.   The father says, “if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”  Jesus picks right up on the man's hesitation and says back to him, “If you are able!- All things can be done for the ones who believe.”  I love how the father of the boy doesn't miss a beat.  He immediately cries out, “I believe; help my unbelief.”  Imagine the level of faith the father must have had to believe that Jesus could save his son.  Also, I love that the man was not too proud to say, I believe; help my unbelief.  He wasn't too proud to acknowledge that there might be some doubt.  His son had been sick ever since he was a young boy.  When we suffer, or when we see our children suffer for a long time, we start to think we or they always will.  It can be easy to have hope at first that something will make them better.  We have hope in God, in the doctors, in the medicine.  But what about when that relief doesn't come?  What about when we continue to suffer or see our children suffer year after year with no relief?  What do we do then? Where does our hope go? I can see how the father might have struggled to believe that someone could cure his son. That his son might not have to suffer anymore.  It is almost like it was too good to be true, and so it makes sense that he may have been a bit hesitant to believe.  I think something we don't talk about enough is how scary it can be to hope sometimes.  How painful it can be to hope.  When we don't talk about it, and we don't acknowledge it, we are doing everyone a disservice.  I didn't understand this before.  I kept telling my friend she needed to keep hoping for what she wanted.  She needed to keep believing that God gave her the desires in her heart and so He was going to fulfill them.  What I wasn't understanding was how much it hurt her to keep hoping and then be let down each time when it didn't happen.  I do believe that God gave us our desires and that He will fulfill them.  However, I don't know this for sure.  I am definitely not an expert on God.  I don't know if any of us will ever be.  He is so complex, and just when you think you have Him all figured out, you realize that you have only scratched the surface.   I can understand how if you keep expecting something to happen and it doesn't, you could get tired of expecting it to happen. I can see how it would be painful to have hope and then feel like you are being let down over and over again.  I think this happens more often than we are aware of, and I think it is something we should acknowledge and start talking about more.  I think we don't talk about it because we don't want people to know that we struggle to have hope or we struggle to believe in the impossible.  We live in an age where most people strive to portray the best side of their life.  We like to brag about the good things that are going on and gloss over the bad things.  We act as though we are fine, even though we are really struggling.  We don't want people to know we are struggling; we don't want people to know we need help; we feel sad; we feel angry; we know we should be grateful, and yet we just don't feel it.  I know people who look like they are having the time of their lives.  They are killing it as moms, wives, daughters; they seem like all is going so well.  Then when I talk to them, they feel like they are failures, they feel depressed, they feel no excitement, or they feel overwhelmed.  We need to start being honest.  Not with everyone you meet on every street corner, but with someone, with those you love and trust.   We all struggle to believe things will get better sometimes.  We all feel overwhelmed with our problems at times.  Instead of me telling my friend she needed to keep having hope that her desires would come true, I told her that I would have hope for her.  Did you know we could do this?  Sometimes we get to a point where we can't hope, or where we can't pray.  Sometimes we are so depressed, or have been sick for so long, we just can't even pray.  When this happens, your brothers and sisters in Christ can pray for you.  We are a community of believers; we are not alone.  If we are struggling, we can ask others to pray for us or to have hope for us.  In the Bible, a group of friends carried their friend on a mat to see Jesus.  Their friend couldn't walk, and they thought if they could see Jesus, He would heal him.  However, the house Jesus was in was too crowded, so they went up to the roof, made a hole in the roof, and lowered him down right in front of Jesus.  Jesus did heal the man, and he looked up at his friends and told them that their faith healed him.  Don't get discouraged if your loved ones don't believe that they will be healed or that their dreams will come true.  Faith is a gift, and if you have faith that it will happen, that is enough.  Keep believing for them, keep praying for them, keep hoping for them.  If you are having trouble hoping for something or having trouble believing things will get better, ask someone to pray for you, to have hope for you.  Don't be afraid to talk about your fears, as it is only when you bring them to light that they lose their power over you.  Jesus healed this boy after many years of being possessed.  Just because you haven't received your healing yet doesn't mean it is not coming.  Keep hoping, keep believing or have someone else do it for you. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we believe; help our unbelief.  Lord, help us to have the courage to talk to someone if we are struggling with hope or with believing you will help us.  Help us not to be ashamed of these feelings.  Help us to know that the feeling of shame does not come from you.  You are a loving Father who always forgives when we repent.  We love you, Lord, so much!  It is truly amazing how you work, and even though we don't understand it all the time, we admire it and are in awe of it.  We are so grateful for all you do for us.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I!  Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in January 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Do not forget where you come from, where your help comes from. When you are discouraged, fearful, angry, confused, or misunderstood, don't forget. I am the I am. I am your I am. Trust, believe, and move.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Mercy Sets You Free 1 Peter 2:23 “When he was insulted, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” I think today's scripture is a great reminder that just because someone did something to us doesn't mean we need to do it back to them. This is something my kids seem to struggle with. If someone does something to them, they want “payback.” One of my sons especially. If someone cuts him off, he will go out of his way to cut that person off. If he feels like they were unkind to him, then he wants to be unkind right back. I know he is not alone. This is the society we live in. We are so quick to take offense at everything that everyone says. If a co-worker is unkind to us, we take offense and want to retaliate. We have all heard people say that we should retaliate because the Bible says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” (Exodus 21:24) However, do you know what else it says in the Bible? Matthew 5:38-42 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” We are so quick to take offense and so quick to want revenge. We live in a world where we are told we can't be weak. We can't let people walk all over us. We should think about ourselves first. We need to take what we want. I think we have gone too far in one direction. I do think it is important not to let people walk all over you and to stand up for yourself. I do not think we always have to take revenge. Scripture tells us over and over again in the Bible that we are to love our neighbor. It even tells us to love our enemy. Scripture also tells us over and over again to forgive our neighbor and our enemy. What if we led our lives with forgiveness? What if we stopped taking offense and realized that most everything that other people do has nothing to do with us and everything to do with them. People do not cut us off in traffic because they are trying to be mean to us. They are cutting us off in traffic because they are so focused on where they are going that they aren't paying attention to the other cars. If people are being unkind to us, it is usually because they are having a bad day, or something is going on in their life, and they are taking it out on us. I am not saying those things are ok for other people to do. I just don't think responding in the same manner is going to make us feel any better. Jesus consistently chose mercy instead. Again and again, He was misunderstood, mocked, falsely accused, betrayed, and treated unjustly. And yet, He did not respond the way we expect power to respond. He didn't rush to defend Himself. He didn't demand vindication. He didn't strike back. Instead, He trusted the Father. Today's Scripture tells us that “When he was insulted, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” That last phrase matters deeply. Jesus didn't ignore injustice — He entrusted it. Mercy, for Jesus, wasn't passive. It was an active decision to place justice in the Father's hands rather than carrying it Himself. Mercy Is Not Excusing Wrong — It's Choosing Freedom One of the reasons mercy feels so hard is because we confuse it with excusing behavior. We think: If I show mercy, I'm saying what they did was okay. If I don't retaliate, I'm letting them win. But Jesus shows us something different. Mercy is not about denying that harm occurred. Mercy is about refusing to let another person's sin control our inner life. When we retaliate — even internally — we stay emotionally tied to the offense. Our peace becomes dependent on apology, acknowledgment, or change. Mercy breaks that tie. It says, “What you did matters, but it will not rule me.” Jesus models this most clearly from the cross. In Luke 23:34, while being crucified unjustly, Jesus says: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” This is not weakness. This is strength rooted in absolute trust. Jesus did not need to retaliate to prove injustice existed. He didn't need to punish to validate His pain. He trusted the Father to see fully and judge rightly. Choosing mercy over retaliation always feels risky because retaliation gives us a sense of control. Mercy requires surrender. Jesus shows us that true righteousness is not about reacting quickly — it's about trusting deeply. Romans 12:19 tells us: “Do not avenge yourselves… but leave room for the wrath of God.” That verse doesn't tell us injustice doesn't matter. It tells us we don't have to carry the burden of making things right. Mercy frees us from the exhausting work of holding onto offense. What This Means for Us Practically Following Jesus' example doesn't mean: staying in unsafe situations removing healthy boundaries pretending harm didn't happen It means this:
we stop letting someone else's wrongdoing determine our peace, posture, or identity. Mercy is choosing to remain free even when someone else remains wrong. I have done many episodes about forgiveness. This is because I don't think we all understand how important forgiveness is. We think that our anger and unforgiveness, our need for revenge, is not hurting anyone. We are wrong. It is hurting us in more ways than we know. It hurts our relationship with God. It blocks healing; it blocks mercy and grace. It keeps us stuck where we are. It holds us captive, like prisoners, to the thoughts and events surrounding that anger and unforgiveness. I invite you to sit with this verse today, or sometime this week. I invite you to bring it to the Lord and ask Him what He wants you to do with it. Ask Him to highlight the ways in which you are holding onto anger and unforgiveness instead of entrusting it to him. When we release anger, we are not giving power away — we are taking it back. We are choosing: peace over reactivity identity over insecurity freedom over control In John 8:36, Jesus says: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” That freedom includes freedom from being ruled by offense. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing! You are our one true God, and we love you. Lord, help us to see where in our lives we are being held captive by anger or unforgiveness. Help us to see any patterns of offense that we might have and help us break free from them. Help us to be more forgiving and more loving to all those we meet. Help us not to seek revenge or retaliation, but instead help us to stop and say a quick prayer for that person instead. Not because that person deserves the prayer, but because we deserve the freedom that comes from not holding onto anger and unforgiveness. Please help us, 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. If you are struggling with your job, with your family or friends, or just with life in general. I want to invite you into my mentoring community. It is a place where you can learn to lean more into the Lord and build your relationship with him, one block at a time. Also, you will be with an amazing group of individuals who are warm and welcoming and struggling just like we all are. There are no perfect people in mentoring. Just those of us who are trying to love God better and to live our lives more in alignment with Him instead of the world. Click on the link below for more info, or sign up today, and you could be joining us on Zoom tomorrow. Remember, Jesus love you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in January 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Take my hand, my children, and I will guide you to where you should go. Do not doubt where I bring you. It may be a place that you do not like, but I know what is best for you.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You Are More Forgiven Than You Think Romans 3:22-24 “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” I love these verses because they remind us that everybody sins. Most of us tend to be hard on ourselves, thinking we are unworthy because we are not perfect and fall short of who we think God is calling us to be. These verses remind us that we all fall short of the glory of God. Let's start at the beginning of these verses. They begin, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” The verse before this was telling us that righteousness is apart from the law. Our righteousness does not come from the deeds of the law. We can not earn our own righteousness. Our righteousness comes through our faith in Jesus Christ. It doesn't say by our faith; it says through our faith. We do not earn righteousness by our faith. We receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Next, it says, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.” There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. We are not separate. We are one body of Christ. This was a big deal back in the early days of Christianity. The Jewish people had been God's chosen people for so long, and now Jews and Gentiles alike were being baptized and believing in Jesus. I am sure it was hard for the Jewish people to just accept others in and not feel like they were closer to God in some way. I say it was a big deal back in the day, but I think remembering that we are all one body of Christ is something we need to keep in mind even today. Back in the day, you were either Jewish or a gentile. You either believed in Christ or you didn't. Today, there are 45,000 different denominations of Christianity. It is important for us all to remember that there is one Jesus, and He died for all of our sins. God does not like some of us better than others. God loves us all; we are all one body. Next, it says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” We all think we are the only ones who sin. Or the opposite: we see the sins of others and don't look at our own sins. The verse reminds us that we all sin. None of us is getting it all right. The enemy likes to make us think that Jesus died for everyone else's sins, but not ours. Ours are too bad. No one else has sinned as badly as we have sinned. We should just hold onto our sins. This is a lie. There is nothing you can do that is bigger than Jesus's sacrifice on that cross. Also, your sins are not worse than anyone else's. When looking up these verses on the EnduringWord.com commentary, I found this quote from Leon Morris, who was quoting Handley Moule: “The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of it; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of an Alp; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.” Everyone falls short, but everyone can be justified freely by His grace. I think the second part of this verse is just as important as the first part, and I think sometimes we stop before we get to the second part. We think about how we all fall short, and then we think to ourselves, “What's the point of even trying. If we are all going to get it wrong, then why should we try to be good? Why should we try to do the right thing?” This is the part that can get stuck in our heads. Especially if we decide that we are going to try to do better than we have been. All of a sudden, our mind tells us it is not worth the effort. It tells us we will just fail. It tells us not to bother. When this happens to us, not if, but when, we can remember the second half of this verse. “All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” We may all sin, but we are also all forgiven by the Grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus. We don't have to do anything to deserve our forgiveness. Jesus did that for us when He died on the cross. What we are doing when we are trying our best to live the way God wants us to is we are saying, thank you, Jesus, I know what you did, and I am so grateful. We are not trying to earn our forgiveness; it is already ours. But we can try to show Jesus we are grateful. We can try to show Jesus that His sacrifice was not in vain, and we are trying to live as God wants us to live. There are three things I want you to take away from today's episode. First, we are the same, Gentile or Jew. There is no difference. God loves us all. This applies to all 45,000 denominations of Christianity as well. There is no difference; God loves us all. Even if you don't believe in Christ or believe in God, He still loves you! Second, we all sin. It is a fact. There are no perfect people in this world. Even if people look perfect on their social media accounts, there is no one who is perfect this side of heaven. We all sin! And last, but not least, Jesus died on the cross to make up for our sins. Yours and mine. All of them. His sacrifice was enough to cover anything we might have done. There is nothing that we have to do to earn freedom from our sins. It was freely given by the Father through His only Son. Jesus paid the ultimate price so that we wouldn't have to. Thank you, Jesus!! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, you are amazing. Thank you so much for asking Jesus to take our sins to the cross. Thank you, Jesus, for taking our sins to the cross. Lord, it is hard to fathom that kind of love. Please help us to understand it. Please help us to feel that love with our whole bodies. Lord, please help us take it to heart that we are forgiven. Help us to really believe that our sins are forgiven. Help us to bring our sins to you and not hide them from you. Help us to stop believing the voice in our head that tells us we won't be forgiven. Help us, 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 wanted to take a minute today to explain a little more about what happens during our Tuesday night mentoring sessions. When you are able to attend the live Zoom meetings, I truly encourage you to come. We are building a beautiful community where people can grow in faith, share honestly, and feel a little less alone. But even if you cannot attend live, mentoring can still be incredibly valuable. Every session is recorded, so you can watch the replay whenever it works for you. Each month, we focus on one central topic, and every week, we take a 30-minute deep dive that helps us understand it more fully and apply it to our everyday lives and relationship with the Lord. Maybe you have been considering mentoring, but the idea of joining a Zoom call makes you feel nervous or uncomfortable. You are welcome to join and begin by simply watching the replays. There is no pressure to participate before you are ready. My prayer is that mentoring will help you grow closer to the Lord, understand His love more deeply, and learn how to walk with Him through whatever you are facing. Pray about it, and when you are ready to take your relationship with the Lord to a deeper level, CLICK HERE to learn more and join us. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as ou are and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in January 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, you can tremble before my majesty, my greatness, my wisdom, my power, my magnificence, but never fear me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

If We Don't Talk About Jesus, Who Will? Romans 10:14-17 "But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them unless someone is sent to do it? That's why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act. Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ's Word is preached, there's nothing to listen to.” We are all called to evangelization.  What does evangelization even mean? According to the Diocese of Trenton, “Evangelization means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself.” This could look different for each one of us.  I have a friend who feels called to share the Psalms with those he meets.  When he does, people are often moved to tears, and it opens doors for him to talk about other parts of the Bible.  I have another friend who likes to spend time mentoring women in all that Jesus wants for them.  She meets people right where they are and uses the scriptures to show how they can live their lives in a big way.  Some people like to go out onto the streets and talk to the homeless people about God and Jesus.  Other people like to go door to door asking if they can share the Good News of Jesus with all those they meet.   There isn't one special way that you have to evangelize.  There also isn't a set rule on whom you have to evangelize to.  Sometimes we might feel more comfortable talking about Jesus within our family.  We might talk about Jesus to our siblings, our parents, or even our children.  Other people might feel uncomfortable talking about Jesus with their family, but they are perfectly fine talking about him to strangers or to their friends.  Whatever feels best for you is a great place to start.  I say a great place to start because sometimes it is good to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new. It's great if you start by talking about Jesus with those you feel more comfortable doing so with, but then over time, as you become more and more comfortable talking about Jesus, you can branch out and start talking to others about Him.   The verse above says, "But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”  We live in a world where there is so much noise and so many distractions.  We don't know who to listen to these days.  This verse is saying: how can we call for help when we don't know who we can trust?  And how can people know they can trust Jesus if we aren't talking about Him?  If they don't know who He is?  It is our job, each and every one of us, to teach the world who Jesus really is and that they can trust Him.  Even if you just start with your spouse or your children, tell them about Jesus.  Tell them about all of God's promises that Jesus came to fulfill.  Tell them they can trust Jesus.  God is our comfort, our shield, and our protector.  If you didn't already know that, wouldn't you want to?  I am not talking about going out and forcing your beliefs on others.  I am talking about sharing the Good News with those willing to listen.   Next, the verse says, “That's why Scripture exclaims, A sight to take your breath away! Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!” How great would it be if we were all talking about God?  The verse is saying that it would be so beautiful, it would take our breath away if we saw grand processions of people telling all the good things of God!  Doesn't that sound like something you want to be a part of?  Doesn't that sound exciting?  Can you picture it?  Instead of being afraid to talk about your faith because you don't want to offend anyone, you freely walk down the streets proclaiming the Good News of Christ Jesus.  When I picture that, I think of a time when we used to vacation at this military place called “Fourth Cliffs.”  We would go camping there over the Fourth of July weekend.  Every 4th of July, they would have a little parade.  This parade consisted of a pickup truck with an American Flag attached to it.  Anyone who wanted to participate in the parade walked behind the truck shouting “Happy Birthday America!” and “Happy 4th of July.”  It was so much fun.  When I hear the part of this verse that says “a grand procession,” I picture a whole bunch of people out in the streets talking about how amazing Jesus is! The verse also says, “But not everybody is ready for this, ready to see and hear and act.”  We can't do anything about those who are not ready to see, hear or act.  That is a job for God.  God needs to soften their hearts, open their eyes and ears.  We are not responsible for the fruit of our labor.  It is not our job to make sure everyone we talk to hears what we are saying.  It is only our job to say it.  We don't have to put pressure on ourselves to say the right thing to everyone all the time.  We don't have to stress about not knowing what to say.  If we just follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, God will take care of the rest.  God will make sure what we say takes root in the people we are talking to.  We don't have to worry about that.  God is so good! Next, the verse says, “Isaiah asked what we all ask at one time or another: “Does anyone care, God? ' " Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” I like how this says, we all ask at one time or another.  I think this is so true.  Especially if we have children.  We teach them the ways of God, we tell them about Jesus and how much He loves them, and yet we often have no idea if they are hearing what we are saying.  Do they believe all that we are saying? Do they believe any of it?  What about our friends and family members?  Do they believe what we are saying?  Are they even listening?   The verse ends with, “The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ's Word is preached, there's nothing to listen to.” This brings us back to the beginning.  It is not our job to make sure everything we say is heard or understood; that is God's job.  Our job is just to get the information out there.  Before anyone can trust, they need to listen, and if we aren't talking about Jesus, then there isn't anything for them to listen to.  Take a moment and think about how many people you meet throughout your day.  Think about how you could incorporate Jesus into the conversation.  Maybe come up with a few one-liners about Jesus or God that could fit into most conversations. Or, practice listening to the Holy Spirit, so you can know when He is prompting you to share the Good News of Jesus with someone.  Think of how you can share Jesus with your friends and family.  One great way is to love them.  Sometimes we teach people more with our actions than we ever could with our words.  Especially if we are talking about Jesus, and yet we are not loving people and treating them with respect.  In that case, our actions will be much louder than our words, and they won't hear anything we are saying.  We are all called to share the Good News of Jesus.  How you do that is up to you and God.  Ask Him how He wants you to share, and He will tell you.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we don't want to keep you to ourselves; we want to share you with others. Please help us.  Show us how you want each one of us to share with those around us.  Give us the courage to share even when we're nervous or scared.  Help reassure us that you will guide us in what to say if we ask, and if we listen to you guiding us.  Lord, we love you, and we want everyone to love you.  Please help us tell about all the amazing things that make you so incredible.  You are the almighty one.  You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  We are so very grateful for all you do for us, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen.   Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  You can find both my books on my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or on Amazon.  Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace  and Walk Boldly With Jesus Devotionals. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!   www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

I'd Do It Again! Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I love this verse. I may have done an episode on it before. I am not sure. But I heard a song this morning on my way to adoration, and it really spoke to me. This verse is such a great reminder that Christ didn't wait until we stopped sinning before He died for us. He died while we were still sinners. He died for us just as we were. He didn't put any conditions on it. He didn't tell us that He would die when we got it all together or when we started putting God first in our lives. He didn't die thinking we would be so appreciative of His sacrifice that we would suddenly stop sinning. He knows us. He knows the human condition. He did not die on that cross for us because He thought we would change our ways. He died on that cross for us so that He could take the punishment that we deserve so that we could finally be reconciled with the Lord. When Adam and Eve sinned, they put a separation between God and us, and God did not like that. He is a just God and needed to carry out the consequences of their sin, but He didn't want to be separated from us forever, so He sent His only Son to save us. The song I heard this morning is called I'd Do It Again, and it is by Andrew Ripp. I won't write out all the lyrics as it is not my song. However, it talks about how Jesus remembers everything that happened the night he was crucified. But after each description of the terrible things that happened that night, he says, “But, child, if I had to, I'd do it again.” This really hit me. I don't know if I had ever thought of this before. I have heard people say that although Jesus died for everyone's sins, even if you were the only person, He still would have chosen the cross. That is something wild to think about. If I were the only person on the earth, Jesus would still have died on the cross to reconcile me with the Father. Can you believe that? Can you believe that if you were the only one on Earth, Jesus would have still chosen to go through all of that, just for you? Even if we can't fathom it, I think we all know down deep inside that it is true. When I hear this song by Andrew Ripp, I knew what He is saying is true also. If Jesus had to do it all again, just for us, He would. I can't fathom the pain and suffering Jesus went through that night. The betrayal, the beating, the crown of thorns, the mocking, the weight of the cross, the nails being driven into his hands, the spear in his side. I can't begin to imagine the pain, agony and heartbreak. It's too much to bear if we really sit and think about all He went through. This is why this song hits my heart so much because I know if Jesus had to go through all of that again, He would. I know so many people struggle to feel loved these days. The world is often an unkind place. It is full of broken people who do not know how to love as Jesus loved. We don't know how to love unconditionally. We get caught up in the world's judgment, and we want people to look, believe, or love a certain way so we can love them. I understand how it would be hard to gain the love of those around us when it is conditional. However, Jesus loves us unconditionally all the time. We think God is judging us. We think He is keeping track of every time we mess up just so He can hold us accountable one day. Did you know that Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” God purposefully forgets our sins. Did you also know that Psalm 103:12 says “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” We are so focused on our sins, but God isn't. He is focused on who we are becoming and on his love for us. This song reminds us of that love. Jesus literally went to Hell and back again for us. He suffered the worst pain imaginable, not because He had to, but because he wanted to, and He would do it again. The chorus says,  “‘Cause there's no distance too far, no pain too great. " There's no grave too dark, no hell I won't pay.” There is nothing Jesus wouldn't do for us. For you. It is easy to read the words of the Bible or hear the words in these songs and fully believe them for other people. However, it can be hard to take them in and believe that they are talking to us personally. I want you to hear this loud and clear this morning. Jesus died on the cross for you. If He had to, He would do it all over again for you! Jesus loves you, and there is nothing He won't do to save you and bring you home. Nothing! Let that sink in. Take time to think about all Jesus went through the night and day leading to the crucifixion, and then remember He did that just for you. That is how much He loves you. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for all you do for us. We can't thank you enough for sending your only Son to die on a cross for us. Lord, please help each of us who hears this today to truly take it in. Please help us see that He didn't just die for everyone's sins but for our sins personally. Even if I were the only person, He still would have done it. That is so powerful, Lord, that you love us that much. Please help each one of us realize how much you love us! Please let us sit with the thought that if Jesus had to do it again, He would. That is how much you love us. That is so incredible, and we don't deserve it, Lord!! We love you, and we ask all of the 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 love to invite each one of you to share this episode with anyone who could use a reminder that they are deeply loved. If you are enjoying this podcast and you have not hit that subscribe or follow button, would you do that for me today? It only takes a second and really helps me out. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Today is a new day, my people. Today is the day I renew all my mercies and my graces, and I pour them out freely on each one of you, on your families and your friends and your co-workers and your churches and all the world. ” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Over the past several days, we have been looking at one ofthe most important subjects in the Christian life, and that is the battle forthe mind. Today, we want to conclude our thoughts on Philippians 4:4–8 andbegin looking at verse 9. Paul has written in verse 8, “Finally, brethren,whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just,whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are ofgood report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on thesethings.” Paulhas reminded us over and over again that our thoughts matter. Today, we want toleave you with one simple statement that I trust you will always remember: Youcannot consistently live above the level of your thinking. Aswe have walked through Philippians together from chapter 1 all the way to thispoint, I've become increasingly aware that Paul is building a carefullyconnected argument. Sometimes we preach verses individually, and rightly so.But when you follow Paul's flow of thought verse by verse, you see thebeautiful progression that the Holy Spirit has inspired. Notice in Philippians4:4–9 how they fit together:Verse4—a joyful spirit: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”Verse5—a gentle spirit: “Let your moderation be known unto all men.”Verse6—a prayerful spirit: “Be careful for nothing.”Verse7—a peaceful heart: “The peace of God... shall keep your hearts and minds.”Verse8—a disciplined mind: “Think on these things.”Then,in verse 9, we'll see an obedient life: “Those things... do.” It'sreally like a staircase. Joy leads to gentleness. Gentleness leads to prayer.Prayer leads to peace. Peace prepares the mind. The renewed mind producesobedient thinking and living. The obedient life results in what we see verse 9promises—a continued fellowship with the God of peace. Idon't think it's incidental that the Apostle Paul changes expressions. In verse7, he promises the peace of God. In verse 9, he promises the God of peace.There's a subtle but profound difference in these two. When we pray, the peaceof God guards us. When we obey, the God of peace walks with us. That may becomeone of the key thoughts of this entire chapter.  Anotherobservation that has stayed with me all week is the progression throughout thewhole book of Philippians that we mentioned earlier in our study.Chapter1—the single mind: Christ first.Chapter2—the submissive mind: the mind of Christ in humility.Chapter3—the spiritual mind: pressing toward Christ instead of trusting the flesh.Thenchapter 4—the settled mind, or the secured mind: free from worry because it'sfilled with prayer, peace, and right living. Oh, what a beautiful progression! Now,one final thought before we finish our study on verses 4–8 and begin looking atverse 9. In verse 9, Paul gives us five verbs: “Those things, which ye haveboth learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do.” We see here thecomplete process of discipleship. You learn truth. You receive truth.You hear truth repeatedly. You see truth lived in someone else'slife. Then you do the truth yourself. Overmy 50 years of ministry, that's what we've attempted to do—to hear this truth,to receive it, to let it live in us as we meditate on it, and then to live itout before others around us. Paul said, “You have seen in me.”Paul set an example, and so should we. Let'spray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and for reminding us howimportant our thoughts are. Forgive us for the times we've allowed fear andworry and bitterness and impurity and discouragement to control our thinking. Helpus to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ.Renew our minds through Your Word. Help us to think on those things that aretrue, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. May our right thinkinglead to right living. May our lives bring honor and glory to You always. Wepray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 

Witness Wednesday #216 Beth B. Today's Witness Wednesday testimony is from a woman I met through the Big Life mentoring group. I had put a post in the group asking if some of them would be willing to read my book and then leave an honest comment on Amazon afterward. A few of them decided it would be fun to all read it together, so they started a Facebook group to do a book study for my daily devotional book called Walk Boldly With Jesus Devotional. Who I Am: Discovering God's Truth About Me. Beth made a post in that group asking for prayers, as she had been having some pain in her abdomen, and when she went for a CT scan, they found a different problem. I do not know Beth very well, so I didn't have her phone number or any way of contacting her other than Facebook. So, I decided to just type a prayer in the chat. This is something I like to do when people ask for prayers. This way, they know someone is praying for them, and many times, even just reading a prayer from someone can bring peace in a difficult situation. Luckily, Beth got more than just peace from the Lord. I will let her tell you what happened next. Take it away, Beth! I have been having left upper quadrant pain since May 5th. I have been in constant pain since May 5th. I was rushed to the ER on May 14th. They did a CT of my abdomen, which they also got some of my lungs. On that CT scan, they found out that I had three lung nodules, five at the lower base of the left lung, seven at the middle lobe, and almost 10 at the upper lobe of the left lung. And I also had a hole in the middle of my two lungs, of my right and left lung, literally right in the middle. There was a little pinhole, well, a little hole. Anyways, so I had a follow-up visit on May 29th from the ER visit with my doctor. I didn't get to see the doctor. I saw the nurse practitioner. Anyways, she went line by line through every test. I mean, I was there for eight hours at the ER trying to find an answer why I'm having abdominal pain. No one can find out. But anyways, so she went line by line trying to find out all these scans and testing that I did. So she was really concerned because I do have an extensive history of cancer. In 21, I had six cancers. So I don't smoke and I don't vape. So the fact that I had three lung nodules, she was highly concerned that it may have been cancerous. And I also was concerned about that too. So I'm in the prayer group. I'm in the group with Catherine about walkability with Jesus. Okay. And I have really been trying to keep this in. I don't want to tell people. I don't want to be like, you know, like, woe is me. It's not woe is me. I told Catherine and the group on June 12th about the lung nodules that I just wanted some prayers. This is Catherine's prayer. And this prayer is very important for what I'm going to tell you. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask that you heal Beth, that you are the great physician, you are the miracle worker, and a way maker. We know that you can heal these nodules and allow her to breathe easily once again. We believe, Lord, help our unbelief. Lord, we ask in the name of Jesus that you heal these nodules before she goes to the lung specialist. It can also be once, it can be all at once or quietly over the next few weeks. Lord, we pray in the name of Jesus that you heal Beth and that she starts to breathe better and better every day. Lord, I ask that you give her new lungs just as you did for the father in Bobby Dawkins' book. His daughter cried out to him and asking for a brand new lungs. Lord, we ask for that for Beth too. We ask, we thank you for answering our prayers. You tell us over and over in the Bible that when we ask and we are asking, we are confident you will answer. We are confident that you will hear us and that you're taking care of Beth. Thank you, Lord. We love you so much. You're the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You're the Almighty. We ask all this in the abundant name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Okay. So I had another specialist appointment again for the abdominal pain. They sent me back again for another CT scan. So I went to see the pulmonologist on the 30th. Okay. So when I went into the pulmonologist on the 30th to find out why I have these nodules, he says, Bethann, you were at the ER on the 14th. I said, yes. He showed me my scan. He showed me my lungs. He says, these are your lungs. These are your three nodules. This is your hole. And I said, yes. He's like, so I was preparing for this exam on Monday and I was 100% fully ready to send you for biopsies, like extensive testing to figure out the why. You had a CT scan yesterday. I said, yes. And he says, well, when I was preparing for my, because I was the first patient after lunch, he says, during my lunch, I reviewed my afternoon charts and your CT scan came in from yesterday. And I don't know if you were praying for a miracle. I don't know if you were expecting a miracle, but you got a miracle. You have new lungs and you have young lungs. And he showed me my, my CT scan from the 29th. He says, you literally have new lungs. They are young lungs. I said, young. I said, I'm 54. And he says, well, you would not, I would not know that you were 54 looking at these young lungs. I'm like, Oh my gosh. Like that is exactly what Catherine prayed for. She prayed for new lungs, new lungs. And I've added on the young lungs just because I want younger ones. So that was my praise. Like I am like, like, and then when I came out of the pulmonologist, there's not even a church, like locally, like around it, but there were church bells ringing, like for no rhyme or reason. Like, there are literally church bells ringing. I was like, Oh, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And I like fell to the knees, and people are looking at me, and I'm like, you don't understand. I just received the miracle. So that's my miracle. That's my shout out. Can you believe it? New lungs. God is so good! Thank you so much, Beth, for sharing your story with us and for giving God all the Glory. When we share the miracles that God is doing in our lives, it builds the faith of all those around us, and then they start to believe that if God can do it for you, then maybe He will do it for them too! We look forward to hearing more miracle stories from you in the future! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You're Not Falling Apart—You're Becoming Today, I felt led to start with this poem I read the other day because it beautifully demonstrates that we don't always understand what God is doing. We think we are a mess, we feel like we are falling apart, we feel like God has abandoned us, and yet God is ALWAYS right there in the middle of it all! He knows exactly what He is doing and wants us to trust Him in the process. This poem gives us some insight into that process.  I feel it makes it a little easier to trust when we have a bit of understanding. This conversation is between someone and God. Me: Hey God. God: Hello..... Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together? God: I would rather not. Me: Why? God: Because you aren't a puzzle. Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground? God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back. Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down! God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go. Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me? God: Only the very best pieces of you. Me: I'm scared of changing. God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING! Me: Becoming who? God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it. Me: There goes another piece. God: Yep. Let it be. Me: So ... I'm not broken? God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!! ~Author John Roedel   I know many of you are struggling right now. Whether it is with health issues, money issues, or in the process of losing old friends and making new friends, I think this poem shows us that God can use these hard times to help us step into the person we are meant to be. The person He knows we are capable of being. There are several things I love about this poem. The first is the gentleness of God. He is so good. I think this poem demonstrates the love that God has for us. He didn't say no when she asked if God would put her back together. He said He would rather not. He then went on to explain why He felt that way. Notice how He didn't get short with her. He didn't seem irritated or annoyed with her. We often imagine God feels that way about us. We tell ourselves that He is tired of us coming and asking the same thing. We imagine He wondering why we can't seem to get it together already. If we are honest, we have felt that way about our loved ones before. God is not us. He doesn't have to wonder why we can't get it together. He knows. He made us. He knows everything we have ever done and everything we will ever do. I also love that God doesn't tell her never again to pick up the pieces that fell off. He tells her to take some time and decide whether she needs them. Maybe you are going through this shedding process right now. Maybe you are losing friends, workers, loved ones, or even material things. God isn't telling you that they are gone forever. He is saying take some time and see if you need them. Do they bring joy into your life? Do they make you a better person? Do they help you grow closer to the Lord? Are they helping you on your journey to heaven? If the answer to some of these questions are yes, maybe you can pick them back up again. Take the time to ask questions. Pay attention to the answers. Don't pick them back up again because it is hard without them. Don't pick them up again because it is easier with them or you miss them. It is normal to want to. When you are tempted to pick back up the ones that are not good for you, remember what the poem said, “What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go. The last part that I want to draw your attention to is what the poem says about changing. Listen to that part again. “Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me? God: Only the very best pieces of you. Me: I'm scared of changing. God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING! Me: Becoming who? God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.” Isn't that just like God? He keeps telling us something until we believe Him. And for most of us, He has to tell us a lot. God is telling you, yes you, right now that He is with you in this. He tells you that He sees you, not for who you think you are, but who you really are. He sees the you that He created you to be even if you aren't there yet. He knows your journey and isn't frustrated that you aren't there yet because He knows exactly when you will arrive there. He knows exactly what obstacles you are struggling with. We actually had a word or prophecy at my Thursday morning prayer group in June 2024.  God assured us, “I am there among your trials and your joys. I am the God who loves you, who cares. I am never displeased or impatient with you. I place my hope in you.” This message is not just for my prayer group. This is a message for all of His children. This is something I believe he really wants us to know. We get impatient with our children. We get disappointed with them. God is telling us He is not like that. He knows our innermost thoughts. He knows everything we are going through. He knows our hearts. He knows how badly we want to do the right thing, and yet we tend to do the wrong thing. This is not unique to you. That is all of us. If Paul, who is credited with writing about half of the New Testament books, can admit to this, we can be sure we all struggle with this problem. In Romans 7:19-20, Paul said, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.” God knows we are broken. He knows we struggle. He doesn't get disappointed. Instead, He celebrates every time we don't give in to temptation. Every time we mess up, we can bring that to God with the assurance that He welcomes us with open arms and celebrates because we came home instead of being upset that we messed up. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Dad, we thank you so much for loving us so much, for always being there for us, for helping us become who you created us to be, for your patience with us as we become that person, and for forgiving us again and again. You are so wonderful. You are our perfect father, and we are so grateful for all you do for us! Dad, could you give us the strength not to pick up those pieces that have fallen that we don't need? It is hard to leave them there when our life seemed easier with them. Give us the strength to keep moving forward without them. Dad, could you also fill us up to the tippy top with hope that things will be ok because it doesn't always feel like it will be. Help us to feel you right because of us. Maybe hold our hands as we walk side by side. That way, we know you are there. We love you, Dad, and we ask all of this in Jesus's mighty name. Amen!! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If this podcast has blessed you in some way, would you consider sending it to others? Also, check out the link below for my mentoring group. I would love to see your face on Zoom this evening. There is no commitment. You can try it out for a month, and if you decide it is not for you, you can simply cancel. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, I draw you into the blazing heart of my love. All of you. You are connected to those who have gone before you through the gate of death. You are connected to your ancestors. You are connected to your loved ones. You are connected to your enemies. For if you are aware of your chosenness, then when you look at each other, see the chosenness in them also. You are one in me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You Can't Miss God's Plan for Your Life Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” I thought today's verse went well with yesterday's episode. Yesterday's verse talked about being guided by the Holy Spirit. Today, we are being told that we may have many plans in our hearts, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. What does that mean? Does that mean that it doesn't matter what we want because we just have to do what God wants us to do? No, that is not what this verse is saying. This verse lets us know that God has a purpose for our lives and that it will prevail. How we get there is up to us. However, if we want to get there the quickest and most effective way, then we will let the Holy Spirit guide us there. Oftentimes, we don't stop and ask God what he thinks we should do. We just go about our day doing what we want to do or what feels good to us. When we have a big decision to make, sometimes we do stop and take time to think about it, maybe even pray about it, but after we pray about it, do we listen to see what the Lord has to say about it? Do we pay attention to the feelings in our body and see if the small voice inside of us is telling us to lean one way or the other? I love that this verse assures us that the Lord's purpose will prevail. I find great comfort in that fact. I have seen and heard evidence of this when I read stories or hear people's testimonies about how they went down the wrong path for a long time, but in the end God brought them back to where they were supposed to be. I have been told that if it is God's plan, no one can take it away from you. I think this is true. However, I do think things we can do and things others can do to us can delay that plan or that purpose from taking place. A great example of this is the story of Jonah in the Bible. God had a great plan for Jonah. It says in Jonah 1:1-2, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.'” God wanted Jonah to let Nineveh know that God saw their wickedness and that if they didn't repent, then in 40 days Nineveh would be overthrown. Jonah actually heard the word of the Lord. He was tasked with this important job. What did Jonah do? He ran away. He got on a ship going in the opposite direction. Now, here is where we can see that God's plan will prevail. God created a storm for the ship to run into. Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a whale, and then a few days later was spat out on shore and went to Nineveh. So, yes, God's plan did prevail. However, can you see how this is a good example of doing what we are told or asked to do the first time around, instead of trying to do things our way? Can you see how Jonah not only delayed the fulfillment of God's purpose for him, but also made it much worse for himself? The same things happen to us. We feel like we are supposed to do something, but we don't want to, so we go in the opposite direction. Many of us, even if we don't know that God is talking to us, still know when He wants us to do something. We all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. So, if you feel a nudge to call someone you haven't talked to in a while, that is probably the Holy Spirit nudging you. If you take the time to call that person, you will see why you had that nudge. Sometimes we do something and get this feeling inside that what we are doing isn't right, yet we ignore it. Then something happens, and it can prolong our purpose from God. For instance, you are with someone, and you know inside they are not the person you should be with. However, you stay anyway. This could delay God's plan for you and the person you are supposed to be with. Oftentimes God asks us to do something, and we don't understand why. It doesn't make sense to us, and so we don't do it. That can also take us down the wrong path or make us miss the path altogether, forcing us to take a really long detour to get back to where we were. I bet we can all think of a time in our lives when we took a wrong turn, and we had to take a detour to get back on track. One example I heard the other day was a young adult who got his degree in engineering because that is what his parents wanted him to do. He knew his heart wasn't in it, but he did it anyway. Then, when he graduated, he earned his Master's degree in counseling, became a licensed mental health counselor, and is now living the purpose God had for his life. Would he have gotten there sooner if he had listened to his inner voice sooner instead of outside influences? Maybe, but the important thing is not how long it takes us to get there, but that we do get there. I think what the Lord wants us to hear this morning is that his purpose prevails. Some of us are worried about doing anything because we are worried it is not what God wants. We want Him to reassure us every step of the way that we are still going the right way. That has not been my experience. In fact, I saw a YouTube video from Father Mike Schmitz, and he said that we want constant reassurance, but if God is not telling you to stop doing what you're doing, then keep going forward. God will tell you when to make a change, when to stop something you are doing, or when to start doing something else. If you aren't hearing or feeling anything, then you are probably fine to keep doing what you are doing. In the end, God's purpose will prevail! We just need the Holy Spirit to guide us! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to thank you for guiding us. We are sorry for all the times we didn't listen and for all the wrong turns that we took. We ask that you help us to listen to you more. We ask that you talk louder when we act as though we can't hear you. We thank you that your purpose prevails. We thank you for always being so faithful. We love you so much, Lord. 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. Will you help me reach the people who need this message? Share this episode today with someone who could use encouragement. It really helps me out when you share this podcast. I look forward to seeing you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Do you love me, my children? Do you call me often, my children? Do you hear my love flowing in every fiber of your body, crying out? Come to me. Come to me. I have given you a gift, spirit to spirit. You use it less and less. I want you to be strong in my love. Use your gifts. Call on me. Spirit to spirit needs to be strong. It will not be strong until you use it.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Are You Letting the Holy Spirit Guide You? Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” I love any verses that talk about the Holy Spirit because I don't think any of us realize the power that we have living inside of us. The Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in each one of us. That is amazing. That is something that we should think about more often than we do. When was the last time you thought about how amazing it is that you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you? When was the last time you thought about the Holy Spirit at all? The first half of this verse says, “If we live by the Spirit…” So, before we move on from that, we should ask ourselves, “Do I live by the Spirit?” When I looked up this same verse in the Message translation, it provided a bit more detail, so I want to read it to you now. “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and the other worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.” I love the beginning part of this verse in this translation for a couple of reasons. First, it reminds us that we have a choice. Did you know you have a choice? Some of us may have grown up Catholic, or Protestant, or this denomination or that, and our hearts may not be in it, but we choose to stay because that is all we know. This is ok, but it is important to remember that you have chosen the life you have. This is important because we can often blame things on the life that we have. We can forget that we make choices every single day, and that the life we are living is directly related to those choices. So now that we know we have a choice, are we choosing things that will give us the life we want? Are we choosing joy over anger? Are we choosing kindness over judgment? Are we choosing love over hate? Our choices are very important. Two people can have the same job, make the same amount of money, be married, and yet live very different lives. One could be saving for retirement and have money to go on vacations. The other could be living paycheck to paycheck. One could love going to work, and the other could hate their job. What makes the difference? The choices they make and what they decide to focus on. The next important thing, I think, that the translation of the verse says is, “That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and the other worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.” Comparison is the thief of joy. We all know this. We have all said this. Yet, we still can't help but compare ourselves to others. We look at social media and see others living the life we want to live. We see their car, house, kids, and marriage, and we want what they have. I love how the Message translation says, “Each of us is an original.” God did not create you to be me, and he did not create me to be you. You are not supposed to be your neighbor, sister, brother, or best friend. You were created to be exactly who you are. Nothing more and nothing less. When we choose to live in the Spirit, this is what we get to do. We get to live authentically, trusting that God has a plan and that he is orchestrating our lives to fit into his plan. The second half of today's verse says, “Let us also be guided by the Spirit.” Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us? Are we pausing before we make a big decision to see what the Holy Spirit thinks we should do? Are we taking the time to listen to the Lord's voice on a daily basis so that when He does have something important to tell us, we will recognize his voice? I want to share with you something that I didn't realize until I started taking the Encounter School of Ministry classes. You can actually ask God questions, and then if you listen, He will answer them. I don't know why it took me so long to realize you can have a back-and-forth conversation with God. I don't think it is something many of us know or believe. It is true, though, and it is amazing! When I think of this part of the verse, “Let us also be guided by the Spirit,” I think of a retreat I went to several years ago. I was really struggling in my marriage and with parenting, and God told me I wasn't coming to Him. I didn't think this was true, as I prayed to Him about it all the time. He told me that although it was true that I prayed for help, I didn't actually sit and listen to what He thought I should do about it. I felt like He told me I was always turning to others, books, or podcasts for my answers instead of turning to Him. What about you? Are you searching everywhere for your answers? Are you going to everyone except the one who has all the answers? Why do we do this? I think it is because we don't know that God is talking to us. We don't know that God will give us the answers if we ask. Also, it takes patience to wait on God as He doesn't always give us the answer right away. Sometimes it takes a bit, and we are a very impatient people as a whole. Today is our chance to change that. Today is our chance to come to God first and let the Holy Spirit guide us. Before we make a big decision, we can pause and ask God what He wants us to do. We usually get a gut feeling one way or another. I have a friend who always asks God for some sort of confirmation when making a big or important decision.  She will ask Him to show her something specific, and if she sees it, she knows that it is the right decision. God wants to be in our lives. He wants us to come to Him with our problems, with our joys, with our sorrows. He wants us to rely on Him, including asking for advice when we don't know what to do. Or asking for confirmation when we think we know what to do but want to just make sure. If we choose to live by the Spirit, then the Spirit will guide us. We just have to let Him! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit. We thank you for leading us and guiding us. Lord, help us to make time as we go throughout our day to listen to you. Help us to pause and ask what you think we should do before we make any big decisions. Help us to allow ourselves to be guided by you. Lord, we love you so much, 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 want to invite you to join my mentoring group. This mentoring group is a safe, judgment-free space to grow in your relationship with God. If you've been looking for that, this is the place for you. This month we are talking about the love of the Son, and last night's session was great. It reminded us all that Jesus accepts us right where we are. He isn't scared of the real us, he actually moves in closer to the real us. There is a link in the show notes if you want to check out all the details for mentoring. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I know your interior struggles. I know every single thought that the devil feeds you in order to make you curse yourself and burn yourself. I love you, my precious ones. Stay strong. Keep trying. Keep moving forward. I will let nothing hold you from me or your purpose. I kiss each of you.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

God Is Holding Your Hand Acts 18:9-10 “One night, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid. Continue with your preaching, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack you or try to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” I always get a bit jealous when I hear verses that say the Lord appeared to so-and-so in a dream or that they were visited by an angel.  Then I remember that, although I am not being visited by an angel that I am aware of, if you listened to the episode on angels, you know we aren't always aware when we are visited by an angel.  Although I am not aware of any visits from angels or the Lord in my sleep, the Lord does show up and talk to us each and every Thursday during prayer group.  He also talks to me during my prayer time, so I really have no reason to be jealous.  I don't know if you ever felt like I did.  Have you ever been jealous that some people seem to hear the word of the Lord and you can't?  If this is the case, I want to assure you that He wants to talk to you.  God is always talking to His people; we just struggle to listen sometimes.   If you are struggling to hear the Lord.  If you wish, you could ask Him a question and really hear an answer. I want you to know you can.  It is possible.  If you cannot hear Him, it is not because He is mad at you or because He is punishing you.  There could be a number of reasons why you can't hear Him.  Maybe you are harboring unforgiveness toward others, which can block all kinds of graces.  Maybe you don't believe you can hear Him, so you are afraid to sit in the silence and give Him time to talk?  Maybe you don't have any quiet time in your day?  Think about how hard it is to hear someone you are intentionally trying to hear in a crowded restaurant or on a subway train.  Look through your day.  If someone were following you around trying to talk to you all day, would there be any times when you would hear them?   The world we live in is busy and noisy.  It is not often that we sit and listen to the Word of God.  This can change.  If you want to start hearing from God, all you have to do is listen.  He is already talking to you.  I know that this may sound weird to some of you, and yet I think it is important to tell you.  I often talk with the Lord.  I write Him a letter, and then I write one back to myself and let the Holy Spirit lead what I write in the one back to myself.  I feel the Lord is constantly telling me, “Thank you for listening; not many do.”  God is not mad, He is not punishing you, He is patiently waiting for you to come to Him and ask Him what He thinks.  He is waiting to tell you how much He loves you until you take a minute to listen.  Can you give God 5 minutes of your time today to just listen?  If you are quiet, if you are asking the Lord to talk and you can't hear anything, then you can command the spirit of deaf ears to leave immediately.  You can command your spiritual ears to open.  You can ask God again and expect that He will answer as He always does! I am not sure that it had a lot, or anything, to do with the verse, and yet when I feel led by the Holy Spirit, I just agree and go along for the ride.  Back to the verse.  It says, “One night, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid. Continue with your preaching, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack you or try to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”  I think this verse is a testament to God's love for Paul.  He knew He was afraid, and He came to talk to him and to reassure him.  It sounds like Paul wanted to leave the place where he was.  Paul was in Corinth, and that was not a nice town.  Its nickname is “Sin City.”  I have heard Father Mike liken it to parts of Las Vegas.  Paul was preaching at the synagogue to the Jews & the Greeks, but they didn't really want to hear what he had to say. When they started to oppose him and hurl insults at him, he decided to leave the synagogue and search out the Gentiles.  In case anyone listening is like me, and you are not sure who the Gentiles were or what that word means, let me explain.  You were considered a gentile if you were not Jewish.  It is not a particular race or tribe; it was all people who were not Jewish.  God came to Paul in his dreams and told him not to be afraid, that He was with him and that he would not be attacked or harmed. God is saying this to us, too!  He is with each one of us, and He is protecting us from all evil.  I was typing up the minutes for my prayer group, and we had several prophecies that seemed to confirm this.  There were two that I thought were especially good to go with this verse. The first one says, “I watch over you, my children. All of you are my children. I break the sword of the enemy who would come against you. You have nothing to fear, for I am there for each and every one of you in each and every trial. I will never forsake my children or leave my children. I will defend you in battle. I have sent you the power of the Spirit, and He will give you all that you need to do what you have been called to do.”  Isn't that amazing?  God is telling us that He is here for us.  He will defend us in battle and any other situation.  You may be thinking you are not in a battle, but you are not in the military.  Each one of us is in a battle, whether we know it or not.  Each one of us is in a spiritual battle, and sometimes the enemy can take it out on our family members.  We need to stand firm and hold onto this word from God and all the other words He has given us.  God will not let the enemy win.  He will protect us.  All we need to do is turn to Him.   The second word I thought went along with this verse says, “My children, take my hand. Realize that I am with you. Go into the world without fear. I am holding onto your hand. There is no need to fear, I am your God. I will protect you; I will defend you. Smile, for you are mine. Smile, my children. I am with you till the end of time. Come closer, my children, come closer, that I can reveal my mysteries to you, so you, in turn, can share them with the world. I am your Lord, I am your God, and I am all-powerful. I hold onto your hand. Move forward, move forward with joy, for you are mine.” I love how gentle God can be.  He is talking about protecting us, and He is doing it in this last verse as any Father would.  Think back to when you were little.  When you were walking with your dad, you were probably holding his hand.  If you weren't holding it all the time, you at least know it is there if you need it.  God is giving us this visual of walking with Him through life and asking us to take His hand and walk side by side with Him. What an amazing visual that is for me. Yes, please, Lord, I would love to walk side by side with you! I would love to hold your hand so you can protect me and defend me against this crazy world.  I also like how he ended the word with “Move forward with joy, for you are mine.” We are His children; isn't that amazing!! God is so good! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to protect and bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful you are protecting us!  We are so grateful you are a loving Father who wants to hold our hands and walk through this life with us.  Lord, we ask that you help us to be able to hear you when you are talking to us.  We are asking that you open your spiritual ears and allow us to have conversations with you.  I ask that everyone listening to this episode be able to hear your words just as they do in the prayer group meeting.  Lord, we thank you for the words above, and we ask that you help them take root in our hearts.  If anyone listening to this episode had a difficult relationship with their father, I ask that you let these two messages go deep down in your heart and take root.  You are a good and loving Father to all your children! 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! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

15 Promises to those who say the rosary. Today's episode is a bit different. Today, there is no scripture verse. Instead, I am going to explain what the rosary is and then list the 15 promises given to those who pray it regularly. There is a lot that is going on in the world right now.  In our country and all around the world. Our country is pretty divided. We are kicking God out of this country one decision at a time. During this truly difficult time, I look to strengthen my faith and lean into God's grace, strength, and protection.  Who couldn't use a little more grace and strength right now? I have found a number of structured prayers that have really helped strengthen my faith.  The first of these is the rosary.  When I moved to New Jersey, one of the wives in Tony's squadron had started a home rosary group.  I did not know what that even meant, but I had just moved to a new place, and I did not know anyone.  I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and meet some new people.  I also knew I needed something more, as I had a newborn baby and was just learning how to be a mom.  A home rosary group is a group of people who gather at someone's home and say the rosary together.  One person leads either the whole rosary, or you can switch leaders each decade, whichever you prefer.  Whoever is leading the rosary says the first half of the prayer, and then everyone else says the second half of the prayer.  It was so nice to be gathered with a group of women who all wanted to say the rosary each week.  The rosary is a group of prayers that you say, usually using a set of rosary beads.  I knew there were many benefits to saying the rosary.  I have read them before.  There was a time, probably after I first read these promises, that I was saying them every day.  However, the enemy has a way of putting things in the way so that you are suddenly “too busy” to say the rosary, or he convinces you that if you can't do it perfectly, then you shouldn't bother.  Remember that the enemy is a master at half-truths and lies.  He does not want us saying the rosary because he knows how powerful it can be.  As soon as you begin to say the rosary faithfully, you will notice that things will begin to come up during the time you set aside for the rosary, or you will find yourself forgetting about the commitment.  I decided to talk with you about the Rosary today because I came upon the promises that Mary gave to us, and I remembered why I was saying the Rosary every day. I know the rosary is a longer prayer than most of us might be used to, but it is only 20-30 minutes out of your day.  If you get a full 8 hours of sleep at night, that means you are still awake for 16 hours.  That is 960 minutes in your day.  The rosary takes 20-30 minutes. The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that “Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.”  She left for all Christians Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary.  They were imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan. 1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.  3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.  4. The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.  5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.  6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice; he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life.  7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.  8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.  9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.  10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.  12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.  13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.  14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.  15. The devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. I cannot believe all that is promised to us if we say the rosary.  I read through those this morning and just kept saying to myself, yup, I need that too.  Who couldn't use help destroying vices, or for their good works and virtue to flourish?  Mary, the Mother of Jesus, promised special protection and the greatest graces to those who say the rosary.  I don't know about you, but I could definitely use some special protection and all the graces I can get.  I know that I probably won't start saying the rosary every day without fail, because I am human and I often fail.  I have been reminded today what a blessing it is to say the rosary, and I am going to do my best to incorporate it into my daily routine.  After all, 20 minutes a day is less than the time it takes me to watch one episode on TV.  I have the time; I am just using it to do other things.  You do not have to say the rosary every day, even if you say it once a week, or once a month, or one decade a day, I bet you would see a change in your life.  Give it a try. What do you have to lose? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you, and we ask you to help us in our time of need. We ask you to put in our hearts a desire to say the rosary. Lord, help us to see the importance of it. Help us to understand the importance of Mary in your plan for redemption. Help us to find time in our schedules to set aside to say the rosary. Thank you, Lord. 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 join me for mentoring this month, there is a link below if you would like to sign up for mentoring or get more information. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day, and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you! Today's Word from the Lord was received in February 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My beloved ones, your desire for me unlocks my heart of bounties for you. Your desire overcomes your weakness. I am delighted in your desire for union with me. Feed that desire for me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Where Does Your Help Come From? Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” I heard this verse while I was listening to the Big Life Devotional by Pamela Crim yesterday, and I instantly thought of this song. The song is called Shoulders by For King and Country. I will place a link to the song in the show notes if you want to give it a listen. It is a really good song, so I do recommend checking it out. For King and Country is a great group of artists. They moved to this country from Australia in 1991 when their dad accepted a job here. I love this song because it reminds us where our help comes from. It also reminds us of various ways that God helps us. It also says the words from this verse. They both start the same way. I look up to the mountains Does my strength come from the mountains? No, my strength comes from God Who made heaven and earth, and the mountains   When we are struggling and suffering, we look around for strength anywhere we can find it. We look to TV for distractions, we look to food for comfort, and we sometimes turn to alcohol or drugs to numb the pain. We look everywhere for something that will take away the pain or help us get through it in some way. As long as we keep searching everywhere but where God is, then we will never find what we are looking for. God is our strength. He is the one who can get us through the hard times. We just need to turn to Him and ask Him. We just need to seek Him out instead of all the other things that we turn to when we are struggling.   When confusion's my companion And despair holds me for ransom I will feel no fear I know that You are near   Think about what it is we do when we are confused and the feelings of despair set in. Do we turn to the Lord, or do we turn away? Do we have hope that the Lord will bring us out of this despair? I love the line that says, and despair holds me for ransom. That is such an accurate visual of despair. You feel like you can't do anything but sit in it. This verse ends with I will feel no fear. I know that You are near. My prayer is that we can all say this. My prayer for each of us is that we can look to the Lord when we feel confused and full of despair. We can look to the Lord and not be afraid because we know that our strength comes from Him. The one who made the heavens and the earth. If He can create all of that out of nothing, think about what He can do in your current situation!   When I'm caught deep in the valley With chaos for my company I'll find my comfort here 'Cause I know that You are near   How many of us are in a deep valley right now? How many of us feel like we have been in this valley for a long time, and we see no end in sight? I love that it says with chaos for my company. Have you ever had chaos in your company? I am one of 11 children. Chaos and I are old friends. However, how often have we had comfort and chaos at the same time? This verse says I'll find comfort here because I know You are near. When we find ourselves in a valley and we are surrounded by chaos, it helps to remember that the Lord is always near. We are never alone, even when it feels like we are.   My help comes from You You're right here, pulling me through You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness All on your shoulders Your shoulders   Our help comes from the Lord. It can be easy to forget this because sometimes He uses human means to help us. For instance, we may think our help comes from the person giving us the things we need. For instance, help came from my neighbor when I was younger, and my dad needed a car. Yes, the neighbor did help us out, and yet even he acknowledges the Lord led Him to do so. He had no way of knowing my dad needed a car, except that my dad prayed for a car, and God worked it out for him.  I like the image of this verse. You're right here, pulling me through. Have you ever felt like God was pulling you through? Like, you for sure wouldn't have made it if He wasn't pulling you through. You didn't have the energy or will to walk or even get out of bed, and yet you felt something pulling you out of bed and pushing you to keep going. The next line is great, too, because it reminds us that we are not carrying our load along. It says you carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on your shoulders. God has some pretty broad shoulders. He can handle our weakness, sickness, and brokenness. We don't have to carry it on our own. That is just something the enemy tries to get us to believe.  We can give these things to the Lord, and He will carry them for us. All we need to do is ask.   My help comes from You You are my rest, my rescue I don't have to see to believe that You're lifting me up on Your shoulders Your shoulders   The Lord is our rest. We can just sit and rest in him. Whenever we want, whether we are weary and we need to rest, or whether we just want to rest in His love, mercy, and forgiveness. We can always rest in Him. He is also our rescue. He will rescue us from our circumstances, or He will give us the strength to get through them. I don't have to see to believe that you're lifting me up on Your shoulders. This is an important thing to remember. We don't have to see it to believe it. We often worry because we can't see the outcome ahead of time. We can't see a way for the Lord to work things out. We don't have to see it. We just have to trust that He can and will work things out. He is a Way-maker. He can make a way where there is no way.   You mend what once was shattered And You turn my tears to laughter Your forgiveness is my fortress Oh, Your mercy is relentless   This verse talks to us about some of the things God does for us. He mends what was shattered. Can you think back to a time when you thought all was lost and things felt so broken you thought they would never go back together again? I know I can. A few years ago, my family and my marriage felt so broken I couldn't see how it could be fixed. However, I never gave up on the Lord, and He came in and fixed what was once shattered. Our family is whole again, not perfect, but whole. God can definitely turn tears into laughter. I have seen Him do this many times. Especially when I go to visit my college roommate Kath. We spend the whole time laughing and crying. The next line, I am actually surprised, is in here, as the verse I was going to use today talked about God's mercy and forgiveness, and I didn't use it as I had already used that verse in an earlier episode. This song verse says that God's forgiveness is my fortress. Take a moment to think about that. What is the point of a fortress? It is to protect you and to give you a safe place to be. When I looked up the definition, it also said it was a place of defense and protection against attacks. Isn't it interesting that the song says your forgiveness is my fortress? Did you know that God's forgiveness can be your fortress? It can provide you with protection against attacks from the enemy. The enemy wants you to believe that you are the sum of each and every one of your mistakes. However, if we rely on God's forgiveness, we know this is not true. We know that He forgives everything when we turn back to Him and repent. Also, I want to restate what the song says: that God's mercy is relentless. He will chase you down just to give you that mercy!! That is such a great song. I pray you all take the time to go and listen to the song. This song does a great job of reminding us of where our strength comes from and why we need it. Our strength comes from God! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we know our strength comes from you. Please remind us when we forget. Lord, we thank you for all you do for us. We ask you to help us remember all the ways you are there for us. We ask you to pull us through all the hard times. We ask you to pull us out of the valley of despair. We ask you to be with us every step of the way! 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 want to remind everyone that I am starting a group coaching program in January. If you have ever desired to know the Lord more intimately, to go deeper into your relationship with the Lord, or to walk more boldly in your faith, this is the right program for you! I will help you get to know the Lord better, develop daily routines that help you grow closer to the Lord, and teach you to step out more boldly in your faith. We will learn all of that while having fun and getting to know each other. I pray you will join me on that adventure, too! 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 prophecy from my prayer group 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 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.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Keep asking! Nothing Is Too Big or Too Small! 1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the suffering of my people because their outcry has come to me.” What stood out to me when I read this verse was the very last line. In this verse, God is talking to Samuel right before Saul shows up. God said that He will save His people from the hands of the Philistines because He has seen the suffering and because their outcry has come to Him. That is the part that stood out to me. He heard their outcry. I have been encountering more and more people who don't pray for what they need unless it is a huge deal. If they don't need a miracle, they aren't asking God for anything. I understand this sentiment. I mean, God is busy; He is doing important things, and we don't want to waste His time with our small issues. When we do this, we are saying that God has a finite amount of power. We are assuming that He won't have enough time or enough power to deal with the bigger issues and our smaller issues. God's time and power are infinite. There are no limits to time or power for God. We never have to worry that our request will take God away from someone else. He is with each one of us 100% of the time. Not only can God take care of the little things, but He also wants to. He cares about every aspect of our lives. When we ask Him to help us, to take care of things, we are showing Him that we trust Him. We are showing Him that we want Him in all aspects of our lives. There are so many areas where I see people suffering, and they aren't asking God for help. I understand and believe that redemptive suffering is a thing. I believe that our prayers can be more powerful when we are in the midst of great suffering. I believe that if we can offer our suffering up for others, that is a powerful and beautiful thing. I don't believe that God wants us to suffer for the rest of our lives. I don't believe that if we have asked God for healing once or twice and it hasn't happened, then that means that God isn't going to heal us. I don't know why some people have chronic pain and have been suffering for a very long time. I don't know why it seems like God heals some people, and yet it seems like He doesn't heal others. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I do believe God wants us to ask for healing. I do believe He wants to hear the words come out of our mouths. God believes in free will. If we aren't asking Him for healing, He is probably not going to be healing it. From all that I have learned, God wants us to be actively engaged in our relationship with Him. He doesn't just want us to sit back and have a hands-off relationship with Him. I don't believe He wants us to hold anything back from Him. I don't believe He thinks anything is too big or too small for Him. We have been told in our Encounter Ministries class that God cares just as much about our hangnail as He does about someone else's cancer. It is not one or the other with God. It is everything. At the Encounter summer intensive, there was a woman who was saying that she had pain and stiffness in her hips. When she sits for any length of time, she has a hard time getting back up and a hard time walking afterward. For a year now, she hasn't been able to wear shoes with laces because of the stiffness in her hips. She couldn't bend down to tie them. She was prayed over at the end of the healing night for the summer intensive, and the next day she could bend down and tie her shoes again. Do you see? God even cares about what kind of shoes you want to wear. In the verse above, God sent Saul to save His people from the Philistines. He did this because He heard them crying out. Are you crying out? Are you asking God for help? I am not saying that we need to just sit around and cry out to the Lord all the time. I am not saying we should be complaining about our pain or our circumstances either. What I am saying is that we don't have to be afraid to ask God for something. We don't have to feel like we are bothering Him. When we don't ask Him, we are depriving Him of the opportunity to help us. Think about how good you feel when you help someone out of a difficult situation. Think about the satisfaction and the joy you get when you help others. Now, think about how God might feel when He gets to be your savior and when He gets to save you from whatever it is you are going through, big or small. If you have chronic pain, you may be praying to God all the time, and yet you are not seeing healing. If this is the case, I am so sorry. I wish we could understand why God does what He does. However, if you are in chronic pain and you used to ask God to heal you and now you have given up asking, I ask you to start again. I don't know why He hasn't healed you yet. I don't know what His plan is or when He wants to heal you. I do believe with all my heart that He does want to heal you. I do believe He wants you to keep asking for the healing. I believe he wants you to keep believing that healing is possible, that you are deserving of healing, and that He loves you more than anything else in this whole world. I am not sure I believed healing of chronic pain was possible. I mean, I think I truly believed it in my heart, and yet there was still doubt. I mean, if He wanted it healed, He would have done it already, right? Then I prayed with my aunt. She had pain in her legs for over 5 years. She couldn't walk without pain. It had gotten so bad that she had to quit her job 9 months earlier, and she was basically bedridden, as when she walked, her pain was level 11. I told her we could pray together and that I believed God wanted to heal her. This was true, and yet I didn't know what it would be like. I mean, she has had pain for so long. Surely if God wanted to heal her, He would have. We prayed, and she saw no change. We kept praying for a while. She didn't have much change that night or the next day. However, a few days later, she got out of bed and was completely pain-free.  How amazing is God? Yes, he could have healed her at any time, and yet He chose that specific day. We don't know why, and we may never know why this side of heaven. We are just happy that my aunt kept asking Him and didn't give up and just accept that as her fate. She could have said no to my praying with her. She could have thought there was no point. But she said yes, and God came through for her. He can do this for you too! Please don't stop asking. Please don't think things are too big or too little for God. Please don't feel like anything you ask would ever be an inconvenience to God or that you would bother Him. I don't think anything makes Him happier than when we turn to Him, and when we show Him, we trust Him by entrusting our petition to Him. Another important piece to this, which I won't go into but I do want to mention, is that we should not just ask God for things, but we should praise Him daily as well. Thank Him for all that He has done and continues to do for you. Show God you are thankful for what He has done, and He will continue to do more. God loves you. He wants to be there for you. Trust Him and share everything with Him. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to bring things to you. Please help us. Help us get rid of our feeling of not enough and our feeling that we would be bothering you with our requests. Please help us to see that you are there for us in the big and the small ways. Please help us to see that you care about all the details of our lives, even the little ones. Lord, give us the strength and the courage to keep asking, even if it is something that we have asked for many times before. Help us to keep asking, 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 seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You Don't Have To Be Strong All The Time  2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” I love this verse.  When I hear this verse, I remember that we don't always have to be strong.  We don't always have to be perfect.  We don't always have to get it right.  When I hear this verse, I am reminded that God's power is made perfect in our weakness, not in our strength. I don't know about you, but I find that awfully comforting.  We tend to feel like we have to be strong for everyone else around us.  Whether we are a parent, a spouse, or a friend, we want to be the strong ones for those around us.    Do you ever feel like that?  Do you ever get tired of feeling like you have to be strong?  This verse gives you permission to not be the strong one all the time.   I have kiddos who struggle with their mental health at times.  When they are struggling, it feels like we have to be strong as they need us to be there for them. They need us to be the safe place that they can land.  They need us not to fall apart because they are already falling apart, and they need us to hold them together.  This isn't just kids, either.  Maybe you have a spouse or a friend who struggles with mental illness.  When they are falling apart, you feel you need to be strong to help hold them together.  Is this you?  Do you feel like if you fall apart, everything will fall apart? I get it, I understand how that feels.  This is why I love this verse.  We may have to be strong with others and for others, and yet we don't have to be strong for God or when we are with God. When we are with God, we can let it all go.  We can be weak. We can cry, we can yell, we can fall apart.  The beauty of it all is that when we are weak with God, He actually makes us stronger.  I just thought of an analogy, and I don't know if it's an exact fit, but it came to my mind, so I am trusting the Holy Spirit wants me to share it with you. The analogy I just thought of was something my son mentioned the other day.  He was talking about how when we work out, our muscles are broken down, and then when they heal, they are stronger.  This is what came to mind when thinking of being stronger when we are weak with the Lord.  God said His power is made perfect in our weakness.  When we are weak with God, we are strong. Why is this? One reason for this is that when we allow ourselves to be weak, we make more room for the Lord.  We finally admit that we can't do it all ourselves and that we need help.  We turn to Him, and we ask him to help us.  Actually, at this point, we usually beg Him to help us.  When we finally decide to be weak, it's because we have done all that we could do and it didn't work.  When we are finally ready to admit we need God, we are so desperate, and we would do anything for our prayers to be answered.  This is when God can help us the most.  This is when we are the most ready for His help. God is just waiting for us to realize that we need His help. He is such a good Father that He waits for us to ask for help.  He does not try to force himself on us.  He is patient too!  He will sit by patiently watching us make the same mistakes over and over again until we finally realize that we don't have to do it by ourselves. I imagine it must be frustrating for Him to sit there and watch us make the same mistakes time and time again.   I heard this story at Christmas Eve Mass once, and I have never forgotten it. It just popped into my head when I was thinking about how patiently God waits for us. It's called The Man and the Birds, a Christmas story made popular by Paul Harvey.  (CLICK HERE to read the whole story) The story is about a kind man who didn't believe that God would become human. One snowy Christmas Eve, while his family was at church, he noticed birds repeatedly flying into his window because they were desperately trying to escape the storm. Wanting to help them, he opened his barn, turned on the lights, and even scattered breadcrumbs to lead them inside. No matter what he did, the birds were terrified of him and wouldn't follow him to the safety of the warm barn. Finally, he realized that if he could somehow become a bird, they would trust him. Then he could tell them not to be afraid and show them the way to safety. At that very moment, the church bells began ringing, and he suddenly understood why Jesus came to earth. God became one of us so we could know Him, trust Him, and follow Him. I just love that story. To me, it shows how much compassion God has for us. He isn't watching us from Heaven, judging us or wondering why we don't get it. He sees us struggling, just like the man saw those frightened birds struggling in the snow. God knows our lives would be easier if we trusted Him and listened to Him. He isn't angry with us; He is patiently waiting for us to stop trying to do everything on our own and let Him help us. When we finally come to Him in our weakness, I imagine Him smiling and saying, "Finally, my child. How can I help you?" I just love that story.  In the story, the man finally understood why God sent His only Son to save us. To me, it also shows how frustrating it must be for God to watch us live our lives.  This man wasn't angry at the birds; he was full of compassion and just wanted to help them.  I believe this is how God looks at us, too.  I think he watches us live our lives, and He knows things would be easier if we listened to Him.  He knows we wouldn't be suffering as much if we lived in this world but were not of this world.  He is not up there judging us and thinking we are stupid and wondering why we just don't get it.  I think he looks at us with compassion and is just waiting for us to stop trying to do it ourselves and finally turn to Him.  When we do, he is ready to jump in and help us.  I think when we are weak, when we finally give in and ask for help, God smiles and says, “Finally, my child, how can I help you!” You may feel you have to be strong with others, but you do not have to be strong with God.  Let him shoulder your problems.  Hand Him your worry, your cares, and your deepest desires, and let him carry them for you.  In your weakness, His power is made perfect. Wouldn't it be great to have more of God's power in your life?  I know I could definitely use more. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to be weak with you; show us how.  We want your power to be made perfect in us.  We love you, Lord, and we know your grace is sufficient for us.  We know this, and we also forget it when times get tough. Please remind us, Lord.  Remind us that we don't have to always be strong.  Remind us that your power is made perfect in weakness.  Remind us that we can be ourselves with you.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  Being a parent is hard, and raising kids who struggle with mental illness, and let's be honest, there aren't many that don't struggle with something these days, is even harder.  If you have a child struggling, please know you are not alone.  You are doing a great job.  You are a good parent, even when it feels like you are failing.  The unkind things they say when they are struggling are not true.  They love you, even if they can't show it at the moment.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Do Not Despise Small Beginnings Zachariah 4:10 “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand.” I heard this verse in a sermon I was listening to on the Elevation Podcast.  The sermon was given by Jabin Chavez.  This verse was a small part of his sermon and yet when he said it something inside me said that someone listening to this episode needs this verse right now.  Someone needed to hear that is it ok that things aren't going as fast as you wanted or happening as big as you wanted.  Someone needed to hear that we don't have to be discouraged with our small beginnings.  I know this verse is for me, and yet I felt as though I was not the only one who needed to hear it.  This verse is telling us not to despise small beginnings as this is often how our prayers are answered.  Are you looking around and thinking this does not look like you thought it would?  You thought you would be further along at this point in your life.  You thought you business would be more successful.  You thought you would be married, or you thought you would have kids.  You thought it would look different. The “it” is different for each one of us and yet many of us share this common disappointment.  Why is this?  Why do we wish we were further along instead of enjoying the ride to get to where we are going?  I think we want to be further along because that is what the world seems to care about and we often get caught up in the world instead of what God wants.  The world tells us that we are defined by what we have.  We strive to have the biggest car, the biggest house, the best job, the most stuff.  We think this makes us worthy because that is what society tells us.  This is not what God tells us.  God tells us in Matthew 19:30 “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”   God does not look at our lives the way society does.  He is not looking to see who has the most stuff, the biggest house, or the best job.  God is looking to see, “Did you help out those in need?” “Did you love your neighbor as yourself?” “Did you follow His ways and put Him first?” These are the things God is judging.   Even when we know this, even when we know the things God is calling us to, we can still feel discouraged because, “we haven't helped enough people yet,” or “we haven't loved well enough yet.”  Whether it is in our regular life, or our spiritual life, we can often tend to be discouraged with our progress.  How many of us have said, "I should be praying more,” “I should trust more,” or “I should rely on God more?” We all have times when we aren't happy with our progress and this verse is the perfect verse to remember when we start to have these thoughts.   Many of us can get the idea in our heads that God is up there, sitting on His thrown, looking down on us and judging us because He is not pleased with our progress.  We picture Him just shaking His head and saying, “Really, again?” or “I can't believe they haven't learned that yet.”  I think this verse is telling us that we are wrong.  God isn't up there judging our progress and being disappointed.  He is up there watching and smiling at every small step in the right direction that we take.  He is reassuring us not to worry if are beginnings are small because at least we are beginning.   Pastor Chavez was saying that often times the answers to our prayers come in seed form.  We want God to just give us the answer with all the details all worked our perfectly and yet that is not often how it works.  It does happen like that sometimes and we Praise God every time it does. Often we will pray about something and God will give us an idea and then we need to take that idea and cultivate it.  This takes time.  It takes time and lots of listening to God to figure our what He is calling us to do with our lives.  However, even when we know what our calling is, it is often revealed in stages.  I am not sure anyone gets handed a roadmap for their whole life's mission all at one time.  We often feel called to one thing, which then leads to another thing, which leads to another thing and so on.  I am sure this is intentional because we get the skills to do the next level of things while we are learning to do the first level.  I can imagine it is also intentional because if we knew where our 40 years of hard work was going to lead us, we might not say yes to that first step.   If I knew that saying yes to attending a retreat when I was in college would lead me to having a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit, which would lead me to help start a whole revivial of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church, would I still go to that retreat, or would I be overwhelmed with that much responsibility.  Honestly I don't know. I am grateful for those who attended the retreat that is now known as the Duquesne Weekend and has marked the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.  I am sure their lives changed immensely on that weekend and they helped lead the Charismatic Renewal one step at a time.  I can imagine they wanted it to spread quicker because once you know the power of the Holy Spirit you want everyone else to have that experience too.  However, they went at the pace God took them and I am sure God was happy with their small beginnings.  I will actually put a link for a description of the Duquesne Weekend in the show notes as it was an incredible experience for all involved and is really interesting to read about. (Click Here for article) You might be looking at your life and thinking you are not where you wanted to be or where you thought you would be and yet God is looking at your life and saying, “You are right where I want you to be.”  Most of the time we have no idea of the amazing things God has planned for our lives.  It's when we do have some idea that we get impatient and we want those amazing things now.  God's timing is perfect.  If we want something now and God has not given it to us yet, there is a reason.  Most likely, we are not ready for it yet.  God knows our hearts.  He knows what we will do with what we are given.  God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.  We do not understand a lot of the things God does.  We often can't understand His timing.  This is because we are looking at a very tiny piece of the puzzle and God gets to see the whole picture.   I think what God is telling us with this verse is “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” He doesn't want us to despise the small beginnings because He gave us those small beginnings.  Also, we shouldn't judge our ending on the small beginnings because we don't know what these small beginnings will grow into.  One saying the pastor said in his sermon that I really liked was that you can cut open an apple and count the number of seeds in it.  However, you have no idea how many apples are in one seed.  Only God can make your endeavors fruitful.  We won't know how much fruit will come from each seed, each idea you have, until it is fully grown.  Keep nurturing your ideas, keep working at them,  don't get discouraged if you aren't where you thought you would be, God will get you there in His perfect timing. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who listen to this episode today.  Lord, help us to be content, happy, even joyous over our small beginnings, knowing your timing is perfect.  Help us to be patient as we wait for the amazing things you have called us to come to fruition.  Help us to see clearly what you are calling us to and how we get there.  We love you, Lord, we want what you want.  We want our wills to be aligned with your will. Please help us.  We are so grateful for all the desire you placed in our hearts.  Please help us cultivate those desires and be patient while we wait for your perfect timing.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus!  I am so glad to be back with all of you this week.  II just want to remind you that you can pick up an autographed copy of my book on my website.  You can also sign up for my newsletter there.  walkbodlywithjesus.com I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day. www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

God, How Can I Help You Today? Ezekiel 37:7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.” I like this verse for many reasons. First, I love that it shows Ezekiel's obedience to God. God wasn't asking him to do something easy. He was asking him to prophesy over dry bones and make them live again. Let me read the whole section: Ezekiel 37:1-6 says, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, ‘O Lord God, thou knowest.' Again he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.'” Take a minute and put yourself in Ezekiel's shoes. God asks you to speak to a valley full of dry bones and tell them to come back to life. I wonder what Ezekiel was thinking. Did he know it would work? Did he have a moment of doubt? What must it have felt like when he obeyed and suddenly heard the rattling of bones coming together all around him? It must have been incredible. Another reason I love this passage is because it shows that God likes to use us to do His work. God could have raised those bones Himself, but He chose to involve Ezekiel. Did you know God wants to use you too? I know many of you immediately counted yourselves out when I said that. Maybe you think you're too old, too young, too shy, too busy, or not holy enough. Maybe you think you're not bold enough or not qualified enough. Those are lies from the enemy. God calls us exactly where we are. He may not be calling all of us to raise the dead or travel the world preaching the Gospel, but He does have a role for each one of us in His plan. What if we started asking God every morning: “God, what can I do for you today?” How do you think your life would change if you started each day that way? God usually doesn't begin by asking us to do huge things. He often starts with small acts of obedience. As we become faithful in the small things, He entrusts us with more. Sometimes we're afraid to ask God what He wants because we're worried He'll ask us to do something uncomfortable. The truth is, He probably will ask us to step outside our comfort zone from time to time. That's how we grow. But God also knows us better than we know ourselves. He isn't trying to set us up for failure. He loves us. And if we miss it sometimes, that's okay. We can try again next time. In our prayer group, we spend time in silence listening to the Lord. Over the years we've noticed that if someone feels prompted to share a word but is too nervous to do it, God often gives that same word to someone else. I find that comforting. It takes some of the pressure off. However, I don't think we should use that as an excuse not to step out when we feel God calling us. I was reminded of a story this weekend that illustrates this perfectly. A girl was at church camp when a pastor shared a story about his daughter. One day she felt God telling her to do a handstand next to the soda machine at a gas station. She didn't want to do it. It seemed ridiculous. But the feeling wouldn't go away. Finally, she drove to the gas station. She walked in, saw only one employee behind the counter, awkwardly waved, walked over to the soda machine, and did a handstand. As she was leaving, the employee stopped her and asked, “Why did you do that?” She replied, “I felt like God told me to do a handstand by the soda machine.” The man stared at her for a moment, pulled a gun from beneath the counter, and placed it on top. He said, “Today after work I was planning to kill myself. I prayed and asked God that if He was real, He should send a girl to do a handstand by the soda machine.” Every time I hear that story, I get emotional. She had no idea why God was asking her to do something so strange. She only knew He was asking. Sometimes God calls us to do things and we never find out why. Other times He lets us see the impact. I don't know why God doesn't always tell us the reason ahead of time. Maybe part of it is building our trust and faith. What I do know is that God wants to use you. He wants to speak to you. He wants you to be part of His plan. What if, after listening to this episode, you took a minute and asked Him: “God, how can I help You today?” Don't worry if you don't hear perfectly. None of us do. Don't worry if you don't always have the courage to do everything He asks. God doesn't stop loving you. He simply invites you to try again. Being part of God's plan isn't a burden. It's an honor. And it is an invitation He freely offers to each of us. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much, and we can't believe you invite us into your plan. Help us to say yes. Give us courage, boldness, and trust. Help us make time each day to listen for your voice. Help us ask how we can help you and then give us the grace to respond. We are so grateful for your love. 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've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE for the quiz. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I know your interior struggles. I know every single thought that the devil feeds you in order to make you curse yourself and burn yourself. I love you, my precious ones. Stay strong. Keep trying. Keep moving forward. I will let nothing hold you from me or your purpose. I kiss each of you.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Are You Listening to God? Zechariah 7:8-14 “And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ‘This is what the Lord Almighty said: Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.'” This is more verses than I usually cover in one day, but I wanted to include the whole passage because the context is important. What stood out to me most was the beginning: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.” There are two reasons this struck me. The first is because of a retirement ceremony I attended for my husband Tony's boss. Several people spoke about him, and one phrase came up repeatedly: “Sometimes you just need to give a little grace.” That phrase has stayed with Tony for years. I think we need more of that today. We are often quick to become offended, angry, or frustrated. Someone cuts us off in traffic, speaks sharply to us, or has a bad day, and we let it affect us for hours. I'm not saying bad behavior is okay. I'm saying that we all have bad moments. We all need grace sometimes. Think about the last time you got upset. If you had stopped and given that person a little grace, would it have changed the situation? The second reason this passage stood out to me is because of what God specifically tells us: “Show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.” This is not a political statement. It is a biblical one. No matter where we stand politically, we should ask ourselves: Am I being compassionate? Am I showing mercy? Am I treating others the way God asks me to treat them? God does not tell us to show compassion only to people who think like us, vote like us, look like us, or agree with us. He tells us to show compassion to those who need it. One phrase that stands out to me is “the foreigner.” We don't know people's stories. We don't know what they have escaped, what they have endured, or what burdens they carry. It can be frustrating when communication is difficult, but imagine living every day struggling to understand and be understood. God calls us to compassion. The passage then continues: “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen.” That part convicted me. Are we listening to God? Or are we allowing social media, news, culture, and our own opinions to shape us more than Scripture? God's Word has not changed. Yet sometimes we harden our hearts little by little until we stop hearing what He is saying. I think many of us struggle to make time for God and then wonder why we feel distant from Him. The people in this passage refused to listen to the Lord. As a result, the passage says: “When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen.” That verse stopped me in my tracks. Does this mean God sometimes ignores our prayers? I wanted to be careful before answering that question, so I did some research. The answer I found was essentially this: Persistent, willful rejection of God's voice creates a barrier in our relationship with Him. Not because God stops loving us, but because we are turning away from Him. The barrier is built by us, not by Him. This passage is not meant to create fear. It is meant to invite conversion. God is constantly calling us back to Himself. The Catechism teaches that authentic prayer flows from a converted heart. The saints repeatedly taught that how we live affects how we pray and whether our prayers bear fruit. This does not mean that every time we sin, God stops listening to us. If that were true, none of us would have hope. I believe this passage is talking about a persistent hardening of the heart—a repeated refusal to listen to God and live according to His ways. That should cause all of us to pause and ask: How am I treating the widow? How am I treating the fatherless? How am I treating the foreigner? How am I treating the poor? Am I listening when God calls me to show compassion? I want to leave you with one final question: In what area of your life might God be calling you to listen—and are you giving Him the silence He needs to speak? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today. Lord, help us recognize anything that may be creating a barrier between us and you. Help us show compassion to the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, and the poor. Help us give people a little grace. Help us listen when you speak. Soften our hearts and make them more like yours. 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've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. CLICK HERE. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Look at them, I say to you, my father. See them, father? They try hard, Father. They see them all through their obstacles. They put their own needs on the shelf to be there for others. I am so proud.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

God Can Give You a New Heart Ezekiel 36:26-28 “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.  You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” When I read this verse, I was instantly in love.  I think there is so much in this short verse.  “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  The Lord will give us a new heart and a new spirit.  That is amazing to me.  Do you understand how amazing that is?  This is saying that nothing is too much for the Lord.  Sometimes we think that our past is too much, and so when the Lord is talking about loving us, He is talking about loving others, but not us.  When He is asking us to love Him, He is talking to other people.  He knows that I could never love Him because I could never love anyone. I wonder if we all know and realize that God knows all we have been through?  God knows about your childhood.  God knows about the parent or spouse who abused you.  He still loves you!  He knows about the sins of our past.  He still loves us!  He knows about the terrible way we treated others over the years, but he still loves us.  He knows about that thing that you did that one time that you think no one knows about.  He knows, and He still loves you.  He knows about drinking and drugs.  He still loves you!  He knows about that unforgivable thing that you did that you would do anything to take back, but you can't.  He still loves you!  I know I may sound like a broken record because I give you this message often.  It is because it is the foundation of everything.  If you know that God loves you just as you are, sins and all, then you can love God.  If you can't accept that God loves you, then I am not sure if you can love God. I have heard it said before that we can only love God as much as we love ourselves.   I don't know if this is true or not.  Honestly, I hope it is not because I know a lot of people who don't love themselves very much, and it makes me sad to think that they might not be able to love the Lord.  Also, it makes us wonder if they can feel the Lord's love.  If we do not think that we are worthy of love, then how can we believe that the Lord loves us?  This is why I love this verse!  The Lord can give us a new heart. Maybe our hearts have been broken too many times.  Maybe our hearts have too much baggage, and we just can't seem to let go of it.  Maybe our hearts are full of unforgiveness.  We may have been hurt so much in the past that we don't want to forgive.  We can't see a way to forgive the horrible things that have happened.  We don't have to; the Lord can give us a new heart.  It says right in the verse that He will take out the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh.  Do you feel like He is talking to you?  Do you feel like you have been hurt one too many times, and it is too difficult for you to love anyone?  Have you asked the Lord for help?  Have you asked Him for a new spirit or a new heart?  Maybe this had never occurred to you.  I know I never knew this verse before.  But now that I do, I know that all we need to do is turn to the Lord, and he will give us a new heart and a new spirit.  How amazing is that? The next part of the verse is one that I need to remind myself of often.  “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.”  The Lord will put his spirit in us and cause us to walk in His statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.  I am constantly thinking that I have to do this all on my own.  I turn to God, and I ask Him for help.  We talk often.  And yet, when it comes down to it, I try to be perfect for Him.  I am hard on myself if I am not doing what I think He wants me to do.  I wonder whether I am praying the right way, should I be fasting, should I be doing more?  I wonder if the Lord is pleased with what I am doing, and I wonder if He thinks I am not doing enough.  I know that He loves me and that He doesn't need anything from me.  Then I act like I need to do everything on my own.   I like this part of the verse because God is telling us that He will put His Spirit within me and He will cause me to walk in His statutes.  I don't have to do it all on my own.  God is not saying that He will help me.  He is saying He will do it for me.  Why don't I rest in the promise?  Why do I strive to be perfect when I know the Lord doesn't need my perfection?  All He needs is my yes.  All He wants is for us to be a willing vessel and then for us to let Him do His work.  I worry that I don't have enough faith.  Then the Holy Spirit tells me that faith is a gift from the Lord.  If I want more, all I have to do is ask.  I worry that I won't walk in His footsteps, and yet this verse is saying He will give His Spirit so that I will.  I worry that my prayers are not fruitful, and the Holy Spirit tells me that He alone can make them fruitful.  All God needs from us is our YES!  Yes, I am willing.  Yes, I am your vessel, fill me up.  Yes, I want my will to be your will.  Yes, I believe, help my unbelief.  All we need to do is give God permission, and He will take care of the rest.  Can you do that? The last line of the verse says, “You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”  We shall be His people, and He will be our God! I want to leave you with the words of God from our Prayer Group March 2021 because they go so well with this verse and because they are so powerful. “Listen to your heartbeat. I want to be fully one with you.  Draw closer. The Father and I are one, and you are one with me, so you are one with the Father as well. I will pour down my grace upon your heart, your will, your very soul. You will look like me. Trust in me.  Follow me. Take time to listen to me, to know my will. Fear nothing. Have confidence in me. I am your Lord and God. I died for you to grow ever closer to me.” Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to the podcast today.  I ask that you put a new heart in us and a new spirit.  Lord, take our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh.  Lord, the world can be cruel, and we need a new heart and spirit.  Lord, help all those who don't believe they are worthy of your love.  Help them to feel your love and to love you right back.  Lord, help us to walk in your ways.  We say yes to your spirit, causing us to dwell in your ways, and we thank you for being so gracious.  Walking in your ways is not always easy, and we appreciate all the help we can get.  Lord, we are grateful that we are yours and you are ours.  We love you so much, 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 the journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  If you've been feeling distant from God lately but aren't sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE for the quiz. I look forward to spending time with you on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Each of you is more precious to me than anything else I have created. And I love my creations in all their forms. But each of you are my crowning glory.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

The Holy Spirit Is Speaking to You John 16:13-15 "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” This verse talks about the Holy Spirit, the gift the Lord sent us when Jesus went to heaven. It tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and that He will guide us into all truth. This is important because it reminds us that we can trust what we hear from the Holy Spirit. He is not speaking on His own; He is sharing what He hears from the Father. The verse also says He will declare to us the things that are to come. This doesn't mean we will know everything that happens in our future. It means the Holy Spirit can prepare us for what is coming if we make time to listen to Him. We need to pay attention to what He says and not just hear it and let it go. Our prayer group sets aside time each week to listen quietly for the words of the Holy Spirit. We record these words and later discern what we believe the Lord is saying to our community. We then create a bookmark so everyone can remember the words and apply them to their lives. This is our most recent bookmark: “My call to each one of you is very personal. It is not a message for everyone. It is intimate, personal, all-loving, and all-consuming. From the beginning, I spoke, and my Word created new life. I speak again today through my holy Word to each of your hearts. I create new life. I renew, replenish, and fill you with grace and mercy that I wish you to share with others. I watch over you, my children. I break the sword of the enemy who would come against you. I will defend you in battle. I have sent you the power of the Spirit, and he will give you all that you need to do what you have been called to do. You are the anointing I send to the world. Be not afraid. I am with you. My Spirit will speak through you the words that I wish to say. When I say you can, don't tell me you can't. Smile that I sent you today.” These words were spoken over the course of a month. We receive many words each week, so the discernment team helps identify the key themes the Lord wants us to remember. There are four categories we look for: call, proclamation, promise, and directive. First, we look for the call. What is the Holy Spirit calling us to do? God has a plan for each of us, and the Holy Spirit often reveals that plan little by little. Are you taking time to listen to what God may be calling you to do? Next is proclamation. These are often "I am" statements where God tells us who He is and what He is doing. In the bookmark above, the Lord reminds us that He creates new life, renews us, replenishes us, and fills us with grace and mercy to share with others. The third category is promise. God still reminds us of His promises today. In this bookmark, He promises to watch over us, defend us in battle, break the sword of the enemy, and give us everything we need to fulfill our calling. We are not on our own. The Holy Spirit is with us. The final category is directive. What is God asking us to do? In the bookmark above, the Lord tells us not to be afraid. He reminds us that His Spirit will speak through us and give us the words we need. He also says something that really convicts me: “When I say you can, don't tell me you can't.” Isn't that exactly what we do sometimes? I know I do. When I feel the Lord calling me to do something outside my comfort zone, my first response is often, "I can't." Yet God created me. He knows me better than I know myself. Who am I to tell Him what I can and cannot do? Instead, I should be saying, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The reason I wanted to share our discernment process today is because I hope it helps you recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. Now that you know some of the ways He communicates, maybe you will start recognizing His voice more often. Hearing the voice of the Lord is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Like any relationship, it grows when we spend time together. When we make time to listen, God speaks. I encourage you to write down what you hear from the Lord. I often look back through my prayer journals and am amazed at what God has said. Every time I do, I wonder why I don't do it more often. I hope this episode encourages you to pay a little more attention to the Holy Spirit's voice and the different ways He may be speaking to you. He is speaking, and His words come straight from the heart of the Father. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we pray that we can all hear your voice. We pray that it brings fruit into our lives. Help us not only hear what you are saying but remember it and put it into action. 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've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE to take the quiz. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day Today's Word from the Lord is, “I planned ahead of your coming into this world. I saw every tear you ever shed. I have a picture of every time you laughed. I have a scrapbook for each of you. Yet, yet, you worry and fret. And though you come to me, you still wonder if I hear or see or know or care. My children, do you care for your children?”  www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

When You Don't Understand What God Is Doing Isaiah 40:31 “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” This is a message that I have been receiving a lot lately.  The part where it says they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.  I feel that God wants us to know that he is here for us.  He knows what we are going through, and if we hope in Him, He will renew our strength.  It seems like a lot of people that I know are going through some really difficult things right now, and they are definitely feeling weary.  God wants us to know that he is with us in our struggle.  When we feel weary, we can renew our strength by leaning into Him rather than pulling away.   What do I mean by pulling away?  When we are going through a hard time, sometimes we get mad at God.  We don't understand what is going on.  We know He could fix the situation, and we don't understand why He is not doing anything.  There is never a time when God is “not doing anything.”  However, if we can't see or understand what he is doing, it may seem like he is doing nothing.  This can cause us to pull away.  This can make it hard for us to pray.  Our hope can sometimes diminish because we can't see a way out of the situation.  We can't see a way for God to use the situation for our good. This is normal.  If you are in this situation right now, please know you are not alone.  You are in good company.  There were even some Saints who found that they could not find the words to pray sometimes.  God understands this.  God is not looking for us to have all the answers.  He is not looking for us to know exactly what to say to Him, or what to do in each circumstance.  He is just looking for us.  Yes, that means you, too.  He just wants you to be with Him in whatever way you can.   He wants you to hope in him even if you don't know what to hope for.  I know that may not make sense. How can you hope if you don't know what to hope for?  I think that just means that you hope in the fact that God has a plan.  That even though you have no idea what the plan is, you know He has one.  You hope in the promise that God uses all things for your good.  That even though you don't know how it will turn out, it will ultimately be good for you.  I know this is not easy, but it is possible. I was in a situation that I didn't really understand.  A very good friend of mine was in a lot of pain in the hospital.  She had cancer.  I know she was close to the Lord, and if it was her time to go, she would go to Heaven.  I also knew that she wanted to get better.  I knew God could heal her.  It seems to me that if I ask God to heal her and trust that He will, then He will, in fact, heal her.   I have read many Bible passages, and they all seem to support this theory.  Ask, and you will receive.  Have faith and trust with all your heart, and it will be granted.  (ok, that last one was a paraphrase)  You get what I mean, though, right?  However, I think this is a trap that the enemy has set up for us to fall into. This is something I struggle with, so I am letting the Holy Spirit lead my fingers as I type this, and I want to acknowledge that I have not figured this out yet.  I am not an expert on this; I am on a journey of discovery and understanding, just like you.  I have prayed for understanding on this a lot.  I know I have talked about this before when discussing losing a close friend and my dog.  What I am talking about now is my understanding from my time of prayer. The reason I say this is a trap the enemy sets up for us to fall into is because there is so much potential for anger and doubt.  If we ask God to heal her, and she dies, we will most likely get angry with God and not understand what is going on.  We may stay angry for a long time.   We may also start to doubt that there is a God, or that He actually hears our prayers.  We may start to doubt ourselves if we read verses like Mark 11:22-23, “Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Have faith in God. ' "  Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.”  It says “does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.”  So if it was not done for you, then you may start to question if you could have done something differently.  Would things have turned out differently if you had just believed more?   Do you see how all of those things are things that the enemy wants us to feel?  He would do anything to try to destroy our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  The enemy is the father of lies.  I talked about him before and how he sometimes uses scripture against us.  It is usually not a blatant lie. Do you see how he is not even changing anything about the scripture?  He is just using it to try to show you that God doesn't keep his promises and can't be trusted.  This is anything but true, and yet the enemy takes advantage of our weakened, vulnerable states and plays with our emotions.   So, if it's not true that God let us down, what is the truth?  This is what I was asking God this morning.  What came to my mind was that we don't know the whole story.  Only God does.  First, if we ask Him to cure or heal someone, and they end up dying, He still cured them, as there is no sickness in Heaven.  They are no longer in pain and are restored to perfect health.  He did still answer our prayer, just not the way we wanted Him to.  Second, we don't know what is really in a person's heart.  Only God does.  For instance, my friend stated that she wanted to go to rehab.  This implies that she wanted to get better and go home, which is the purpose of rehab.  She did not just want to go to hospice and just be comfortable.  To you and me, this would seem like she was not ready to die or that she felt like she wanted more time here.  Therefore, when I pray, I pray that she is healed here on earth and that she gets to keep on living. However, only God knows what is truly in her heart.  Only He knows why she wanted to go to rehab.  Did she choose that because she is scared to die? Did she choose that because she is afraid her children aren't ready for her to go?  Did she choose that because she wanted more time with them?  We don't know what is in her heart, but God knows.  We don't know what His plan is and how He is going to use the outcome of this for everyone's good.  All we know is that right now she is in pain.  We know what we want.  We know what we think is best.  He knows what is really best.  He has seen the ending of her story.  He wrote the ending of her story.  If God chooses this to be the ending of my friend's story, it will not be because I did not believe or trust enough. That is a lie the enemy is telling me.  If she dies, it is because God has decided it was for her good.   If you are struggling and find yourself in a difficult situation right now, know that God is answering your prayers.  The answers may not be what you thought they would be, but they are the best answers.  God is not just trying to make you feel better in the moment.  He knows the ending of your story, and he is working all things for your good.  You may not understand what He is doing, but if you can hope in the Lord anyway, he will renew your strength, and you will “soar on eagle's wings.” Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  We ask that you help us to lean into you when times are tough.  We ask that you help us to see all you are doing in our situation. We ask that you strengthen us and help us to fly on eagle's wings, especially when we feel we can't go on any longer.  Lord, help us not to grow weary.  We ask that you help us to understand when we feel like we don't have any understanding.  Lord, we ask that you comfort us and help remind us that you will use all things for our good.  We love you, Lord, and we know that you do so much for us. We are so grateful that you always keep your promises. You are so amazing!  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE to take the quiz. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord is, “Rejoice in our love and our relationship. I am the rock upon which you lean.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Putting God First Is Hard Sometimes Matthew 6:33 “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” “Strive first for the kingdom of God.” This sounds easier than it is. Of course we want the kingdom of God. Of course we want to go to heaven. Yet there are so many distractions competing for our attention every day. When I was younger, if you had a favorite TV show, you had to wait a whole week between episodes. Now you can watch an entire season in a day. Between streaming services, social media, games on our phones, and endless entertainment, it is easy to fill our days with things of this world and leave very little room for God. How are we spending our time? Are we putting God first, or are we fitting Him in wherever we can? Someone at my prayer group received this word from the Lord: “My children, I tell you if you seek first my kingdom, I will bring order into your life. I will share my wisdom with you. I am always your God; there is none other like me. Seek not anything else. I tell you again, seek my kingdom, seek my will, place it first in your life, and you will have found less strife. My children, I love you. Imprint that deeply in your heart. I am your God, and I am to be placed first.” After sharing the word, she said she sensed that the Lord was almost sorrowful because so many things are being placed ahead of Him. She could feel how deeply He desires to be first in our lives. When I heard that, it cut right through me. I knew God was talking to me. Lately I have been putting other things ahead of Him. I will sit down and watch several episodes of a TV show even though I know I haven't finished writing my podcast. If I haven't finished writing it, then I certainly haven't recorded or edited it. That isn't putting God first. That is fitting Him in when I can. It makes me sad to think that God may be hurt by that. When we think about it, it makes sense. How do we feel when our spouse, children, parents, or friends continually put everything else ahead of us? God provides for me every day. He answers prayers. He comforts me. He guides me. He helps me write these episodes. He never takes a day off. Yet how often do I give Him whatever time is left over? The first step is recognizing where we are putting other things ahead of God. The answer will look different for each of us. For me, it is often sleep, television, and distractions on my phone. I'm not saying these things are bad. Sleep is important. Rest is important. Entertainment is fine in moderation. The problem comes when I give my best time and energy to those things and then give God whatever is left. The reason I am telling you this is because I want to be honest with you. I struggle with the same things I talk about in these episodes. When I heard that word from the Lord, I knew I wasn't the only one who needed to hear it. Living the life God calls us to live is not always easy. Sometimes we have to choose what God wants over what we want. A while back, Tony and I had friends visiting for the weekend. We had such a great time together. On Sunday morning, our friends left just in time for us to make Mass. The church is only a few minutes from our house. Instead of going, we sat on the couch, ate breakfast, and watched television. I still can't believe we did that. Actually, I can, because doing the right thing isn't always easy. And when we aren't in the habit of putting God first, it becomes easier and easier to choose something else instead. I didn't really want to tell you that story, but the Holy Spirit kept bringing it to mind. Maybe someone listening needs to know they aren't alone. Maybe someone else struggles to put God first too. I truly want to put God first. Yet every time I fail, I think of what St. Paul says in Romans 7:15: “For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” I know I want to live the way God wants me to live. I also know that when I fail, that is not who I am. It is simply something I did. The good news is that we can always begin again. I don't think God is looking for perfection. I think He is looking for effort, persistence, and hearts that keep turning back to Him. When we fail, we repent and try again. When we get distracted, we turn back to Him. When we put something else first, we ask for His help and start over. I am going to keep trying to put God first. Will you keep trying with me? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we hear you. We understand how it may hurt you when we place everything else ahead of you, and we want to stop doing that. Please give us the wisdom, strength, and courage to put you first. Help us place your will above our own. We are sorry for the times we have been too busy for you while making time for everything else. Thank you for all that you do 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 for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE  for the quiz. I look forward to spending time with you on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend. Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Wash away your doubts. They have no place in me. Your doubts cloud your vision and are a product of the evil one. Be not fooled.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Can Unforgiveness Affect My Eternal Salvation? Colossians 3:13 “Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.”  I recently attended a boot camp to learn about the Unbound method of deliverance. Unbound is a technique that helps set people free from the things that weigh them down. The reality is that our enemy, the devil, wants to keep us from living out our destinies as children of God. Evil spirits can gain influence in our lives through open doorways. These doors are often opened through our own choices, the choices of others, or wounds from our past. Sometimes we unknowingly open doors through things like the occult, bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness. The first two essential steps we learned were repentance and forgiveness. The first step is repenting of sin and expressing faith in Jesus. We all sin, and sin damages our relationship with God. It also gives the enemy ammunition to use against us. One of his favorite weapons is shame. Shame is not from God. Shame causes us to hide, isolate, and believe we are unworthy. When we repent, we bring our sins into the light and remove their power over us. The second step is forgiveness. This is the one that left the biggest impression on me. Several years ago, I was at a Bible study discussing Matthew 6:14: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Someone pointed out that God forgives us the same way we forgive others. I was shocked. I had prayed the Our Father countless times and never fully realized what I was saying when I prayed, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” That realization changed my life. There have only been a few times when Scripture completely changed the way I thought. One was when I learned that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. The other was realizing what I was actually praying every time I prayed the Our Father. When I understood this, I became determined to learn how to forgive better. Over the years, I have learned that forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling. It is choosing to stop carrying the offense and turning judgment over to God. Forgiveness does not mean what happened was okay. It does not mean forgetting. It does not mean reconciling or allowing someone back into your life. It simply means refusing to let unforgiveness continue to control you. The analogy I hear most often is that unforgiveness is like drinking poison every day and expecting the other person to die. Usually, the person we refuse to forgive has moved on while we continue carrying the burden. I know some of you have every reason to be angry, hurt, and wounded. I know people can do terrible things. However, holding onto unforgiveness hurts us far more than it hurts them. Our teacher shared a story about a priest who had a near-death experience. Although he had spent his life serving God, Jesus revealed that he was holding unforgiveness in his heart toward people who had hurt him. Jesus reminded him that those people belonged to Him and that his job was to focus on the mission God had given him. The priest later said something that really stayed with me: “A person who can't forgive is a person who has forgotten how much they have been forgiven.” That statement hit me hard. What if God held all of our sins against us? What if He refused to forgive us? What if He never sent Jesus to save us? Forgiveness is far more important than many of us realize. I know many people refuse to forgive because they feel the other person doesn't deserve forgiveness. You may be right. They may not deserve it. But forgiveness is not about them. It is about you. It is about setting yourself free from the spirit of unforgiveness. Unforgiveness can block healing, peace, freedom, and intimacy with God. Is it really worth it? I want to end with some hope because some of you may be thinking, “I want to forgive, but I don't know how.” The good news is that God does not expect us to forgive through our own strength. One of my teachers shared a story about a woman who could not forgive her sister. She wasn't even ready to pray, “Lord, help me forgive.” But she was willing to pray, “Lord, help me want to want to forgive.” That small opening was enough for God to begin working in her heart. Maybe that is where you are today. Maybe all you can pray is, “Lord, give me the grace to want to forgive.” That is enough. God meets us exactly where we are. He can do the hard part if we are willing to take even the smallest step. Remember, forgiveness is an act of the will, not a feeling. God is asking us to give Him even the tiniest opening so He can transform our hearts. Don't let the unforgiveness of what others have done continue to affect your life. Haven't they taken enough already? A wonderful way to conclude your forgiveness of another is to pray the Father's Blessing upon them. God rejoices when we choose forgiveness because that is exactly how He treats us. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to spend eternity with you. We don't want anything to get in our way, especially unforgiveness. Please show us whom we need to forgive and then help us forgive them. For those we feel we cannot forgive, please soften our hearts and give us the grace to at least want to forgive. Help us allow you into every area of our lives. Help us repent of our sins and repair our relationship with you. 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! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

You Are Not Meant to Climb This Mountain Alone 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.” This verse reminds me of a saying I heard several years ago that brought me comfort. At the time, there was a lot going on in my family. Everything was so hard, and I didn't understand why it was happening. Why did I need to go through all of that with my boys or with my marriage? The quote was something to the effect of, “Maybe you have been given this mountain to climb so that you can show others it can be done.” That quote helped me because it gave my suffering a purpose. It reminded me that what I was learning through my struggles could one day help someone else. This is what this verse is telling us. God is with us in our troubles, and He comforts us. God will be there for you through everything. There is nothing you have to go through alone. He is always there for you, not only to comfort you, but to strengthen you and help you through it. I love how this verse starts by reminding us that God is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. God plays so many roles in our lives. He is not only there to solve our problems, heal our loved ones, and answer our prayers. He also wants to comfort us. He understands what we are going through and has compassion for us. Do you ever feel like no one understands what you are going through? Maybe you keep it to yourself because you feel ashamed, afraid of judgment, or convinced no one would understand. If this is you, please know you are not alone. Over the years, I have talked to many people, and almost all of them felt alone in their struggles. It is a common feeling, but that does not make it true. Do you know who wants you to feel like you are alone? The enemy does. He is a liar. He whispers things like, “No one understands,” “Don't bother people with your problems,” “Things will never change,” and “You have to do this all by yourself.” These lies keep us isolated and disconnected from the very people who could help us. It is important that you hear me right now: HE IS A LIAR! HE IS A LIAR! You are not alone. There are many people who are going through the same thing you are going through, and there are many people who have already gone through it. Find someone who has been where you are and has made it through. I promise there is a way through whatever you are facing. There are communities for nearly every struggle imaginable—parenting challenges, depression, marriage struggles, caregiving, career issues, and so much more. The enemy wants us isolated. Let's not give him that satisfaction. Another lie the enemy tells us is that we would be bothering others with our problems. This is not true. People who truly love you want to know when you are hurting and want to help when they can. Even if they can't solve the problem, simply saying it out loud to another person can help. I once heard of two people who called each other once a week and simply took turns talking while the other listened without giving advice or judgment. Sometimes just saying things out loud helps more than we realize. If you don't feel comfortable talking to another person, try talking out loud to God. There is something powerful about bringing your struggles into the light. The enemy also likes to tell us that things will never change. This is another lie. I don't know what your circumstances are. Maybe it is something that will be a lifelong challenge. Maybe you have an illness that cannot be cured, or you are caring for someone whose situation may never improve. Even if your situation cannot change, that does not mean there is no hope. Even if your circumstances remain difficult, you can change how you show up to them. You can ask for help. You can practice self-care. You can allow others to support you. The enemy wants you exhausted and convinced you must carry everything yourself. That is another lie. There are people who want to help. Even when circumstances remain difficult, hope remains because God can change us within the situation. Please remember this: You have so much more power than the enemy wants you to think you do. If you are feeling hopeless and you see no way things will change, please send me an email at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com. I can't go into much detail in this short episode, but I truly believe that no one is stuck in a hopeless situation. I get worked up when I think about how much the enemy attacks people and convinces them they are alone. That is why I love this verse. God shows us compassion and comfort, and we are called to pass that compassion and comfort on to others. Is there someone in your life who is suffering? Have you been afraid to say anything because you worry they won't want your help? We need to be brave and ask anyway. Some people may not be ready to accept help, but that should not stop us from offering it. God did not create us to walk through life alone. If you are in a place to help someone, be bold enough to ask. If you need help, be brave enough to receive it. I am going to say these next four sentences because I know someone listening needs to hear them: YOU ARE LOVED! YOU ARE ENOUGH! YOU ARE STRONG! YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to see the enemy's lies for what they are.  Help shine a light on any lies in our lives that we might be believing.  Help us to know that our situation is never hopeless because with you, all things are possible.  Help us all to be bold and brave and to reach out and ask for help when we need it, or accept the help that is offered.  Help us also be bold and brave enough to offer help wherever we can.  Lord, we are so thankful for all the compassion and comfort that you give to us.  Please help us to pass that on to others.  Lord, help us to love others as you love us.  You are truly amazing, and 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've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and an email with a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. CLICK HERE for the quiz. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “You have time to give to me. You can be present in every moment with me. No matter what you do, I am in that moment with you. I am part of that moment. I exist in all moments. The moment of grief, loneliness, despair, joy, and success. I am there. I am there in all your moments. Across what you do.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Why Looking Back Keeps Us Stuck  Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” I chose this verse because it made me think of the Chosen and also of what we talked about a lot in Encounter Ministries: a Renewal of the mind.  In the Chosen, people are always saying Jesus is doing things in a new way.  It's like He is teaching them things they already know, but He is saying them in a completely new way.  There are shirts with sayings on them from the Chosen, and two of them are “We are not what we were,” and “Get used to different.” These shirts show us that after you have truly encountered Jesus, you are not the same, and that is a good thing.   I wanted to look up the meaning of this verse so my thoughts on it wouldn't override what it was actually saying.  I am glad I did because I was focusing mostly on the words, “I am doing a new thing!”  This was what made me choose this verse: Jesus was doing something new during his 3 years of ministry.  He was doing and saying things that people hadn't done or said before.  He was not afraid to speak the truth, the harsh realities to everyone, and yet he spoke them with love.  He spoke to them in a way they could actually hear and be changed by them.  Do we let the words we read in the Bible change us?  I was thinking this type of renewal of mind is what God was talking about in this verse.  However, after reading more about this verse, I think it is about a renewal, but maybe not exactly what I was thinking. The first part of the verse says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”  God does not want His people to focus on their past.  Sometimes we can get stuck focusing on our past and where we have been instead of looking ahead to where we are going.  I don't think it was just about the problems they had in the past; I don't think God wanted them to think about how He had helped them either.  The next verse says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God is telling them He will help them in a different way than He has in the past.  Do you know why it is important to tell them this? Have you ever been expecting things to look a certain way, and when they don't, you dismiss them?  What if you were so sure God would save you the same way He did last time that you missed the help He sent this time?  There is a parable of a drowning man that I think illustrates this idea.  A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon, a man in a rowboat came by, and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.”The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it's OK, I'm praying to God, and he is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this, the stranded man said, “No thanks, I'm praying to God, and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat went on. Then a helicopter came by, and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope, and I will lift you to safety.” To this, the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I'm praying to God, and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away. Soon, the water rose above the rooftop, and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you, but you didn't save me; you let me drown. I don't understand why!” To this, God replied, “I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter. What more did you expect?” This might be a silly parable, and yet I think there is some truth to how we think or behave at times. Sometimes we think we know how God will save us or how He will help us.  Sometimes we are so sure we are right that we might miss out on what He really wants to do for us.  On one of the Witness Wednesday episodes, I talked about how Tony had been wanting to get out of the military for a while, and yet nothing was panning out for him.  Then, out of the blue, he needed to leave the Air Force, and the perfect civilian job opened up for him.  It didn't look like the answer he was looking for, and actually, he had stopped looking for any answer.  He had decided to stay in and was okay with it.  However, God knew his heart, and although the method God used was not ideal in Tony's eyes, the outcome was greater than we could have imagined.   This verse is for each one of us.  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing something new! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” God does not want us dwelling in the past.  It is ok to briefly look back to see how far you have come and to make sure you don't repeat the same mistakes, yet we aren't meant to stay there.  Our focus should be on where we are going.  How will we ever get there if we are always looking back and never looking forward?  Also, hear God when He says, “I am doing a new thing!”  He is speaking this to you and to me.  He wants to do something new in your life; let Him.  Be on the lookout for this new thing.  If you are looking, you will find it.   The last sentence in the verse is for some of you in particular today.  You need to hear this today, and although I thought I chose this verse for all the reasons I already listed, the Holy Spirit is telling me He chose it so you could hear it today.  “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” God wants you to know that He is making a way in the wilderness for you.  He is making streams in the wasteland.  I know it feels like there is no way forward. I have been there.  I know it feels impossible to see how you will get out of this situation.  I have been there too.  The answer is that God is making a way.  It is okay that we can't see the way, because God doesn't have to follow a path; He can make one.  He can do miraculous things to get us out of the completely ordinary and normal trouble we find ourselves in.  He loves us that much!! He loves you that much!  If you are in the middle of the wastelands right now, if you feel like you are in the wilderness, know that the Holy Spirit picked this verse just for you, and He wants you to know God is making a way through it all! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to see you in our everyday.  We thank you for doing something new, and we ask you to open our hearts and minds to see the new thing you are doing. Lord, we thank you for making a way where there isn't one.  We ask you to help us to keep believing that this is possible and that you will get us through this.  Also, Lord, please take away this worry and this stress.  Help us to focus on you instead of our problems. Lord, we love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank you all for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you've been feeling distant from God lately, but you're not sure why, I created a free quiz called "What's Quietly Blocking Your Connection With God?" In just a few minutes, you'll discover one of four common obstacles that may be affecting your relationship with God. At the end, you'll receive a personalized result, a short podcast episode, and a mentoring replay chosen specifically for your result. (CLICK HERE).  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I!  Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Go, my people, go. Go to the tops of the mountains. Shout from the rooftops. Shout my name. Shout my word. Shout who I am. Shout to all who will listen. Whisper in the ears of those who may be sick. Bring my word wherever you go. But go. Go and shout about my love. My great love for all.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

What's Pulling Your Eyes Off Jesus? Luke 9:62 “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” The leader of the Watchman Prayer group sent out an email yesterday entitled, “Don't Look Back.” In it, she put two scripture verses. The first one was today's verse. I did not really understand today's verse. It seems kind of harsh to me. I know that not everyone will go to heaven. But that doesn't mean I like reading about it. Some things I understand. I get why some things are so awful. If we don't repent, then we won't be fit for the kingdom of God. However, “No one, having put his hand ot the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” I didn't understand this. So, I went to the Enduring Word commentary, which is where I go when I want to understand things a bit better. I am fully aware that there is so much I don't know about the Bible and what it means. I could study it my whole life and still not understand everything. However, there are people who have studied it their whole lives, and we are so lucky because they have shared their wisdom with us. If you go to enduringword.com, you will find a tab for his commentary. Click it, enter any book and chapter you want, and learn so much. I want to provide a bit of context for everyone who might not know why Jesus said this. I know when I hear a verse I don't understand, I like to go back and see the verses around it and see if I can get more context just by reading those other verses. At the very end of Luke 9, there is a section titled The Cost of Discipleship. The scripture verses are Luke 9:57-62. “Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”  But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Reading this did not give me much more context. I still didn't understand why someone wouldn't be fit for the kingdom of God just because they wanted to go and say goodbye to their loved ones. It seemed kind of harsh to me. However, reading the Enduring Word Commentary, I get it now. It makes sense. The commentary explains that when we are so excited about Jesus, want to follow him, and go tell our families, they are not always that excited for us. Charles Spurgeon, an influential British preacher, said it like this, “O young man, when you are thinking of leaving the world, be afraid of these farewells! They have been the ruin of hundreds of hopeful people. They have been almost persuaded, but they have gone to their old companions just to give them the last kiss, and the last shake of the hand, and we have not seen anything more of them.” As soon as I read that, it all made sense. I love God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I love being Catholic. I love my religion. However, I do not feel I am over the top, I don't think I am super strict, and I try very hard not to judge people or force my beliefs on others. However, my kids would probably tell you the opposite. They try to talk me out of my religion all the time. This is something people have been doing the whole time my husband was in the military. Protestants would try to convince me that my religion was wrong. I went to a retreat once where people were telling me I didn't have to be Catholic. I understand how difficult it might be to stay strong and follow Jesus back in the day. Jesus's teachings were new, and some were very difficult. Jesus's way was contrary to the way so many people thought. Especially when he would say things that seemed to contradict what the Pharisees and Sadducees were saying. I could see how people would hear Jesus give a sermon, be so on fire, run home, and tell their family members. Then, when their family members start asking questions, and they don't have all the answers, they may start to get afraid. When we are surrounded by people who don't understand what we are feeling or how important it is to us, they may try to persuade us by listing only the negatives. What if  He is not the Messaiah? How are you going to make money while you follow Him around? How will you eat? What if you get caught up in some fight between Him and the Pharisees and Sadducees, or Him and the Roman army? They could have some valid questions, and yet, that is not what matters. What matters is that you are giving all for Jesus, and He will take care of you. However, once they get you to stop and think about these things, you might get cold feet. Once we take our focus off Jesus, it is easy to lose our focus. Jesus often used phrases and parables that would have made so much sense to the people he was talking to. However, to us, they don't always make a lot of sense. I am not a farmer, and so I didn't really understand the phrase, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Once I read the enduring word commentary this line made so much sense. Here is what I read: (again you can find this on enduringword.com) Jesus stressed to this man the commitment necessary to follow Him. One must have a similar determination as a farmer plowing a field, who must do it with all his strength and always looking forward. “In plowing a field back in that day, a farmer kept the rows straight by focusing on an object in front and in the distance (such as a tree). If the farmer started to plow and kept looking behind, he would never make straight rows and do a good job of plowing. In following Jesus, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus and never take our eyes off Him. “No plowman ever plowed a straight furrow looking back over his shoulder.” (From: William Barclay was a Scottish theologian and author known for his influential Bible commentaries.) Plowmen also do something else of great importance: they hold on. A plowman who lets go is no plowman at all. “Plowmen are not usually learned persons, nor are they often poets in disguise. But there is one virtue they possess preeminently, and that is the virtue of quietly holding to it.” (From: George Morrison, a Scottish Congregational minister who served at Wellington Church, Glasgow, for over 20 years.) More than anyone else, Jesus lived this; He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). Doesn't that verse make so much more sense now? It makes sense that if we take our eyes off Jesus to look back at those we are leaving behind, we may no longer want to go. It makes sense that if we want to follow Jesus, it might cost us something. That is something we might know, but we don't want to think about. Jesus is not being harsh or unkind by saying we can't say goodbye to our loved ones. He is actually being loving and kind because He knows they could convince us to pull away from our true destiny, which is to be right by His side for all of eternity! This week, I will do a few more scripture verses about not looking back because I think so many of us are tormented by our past. So many people look back with regret, sadness, and anger. We might even look back with a longing. We might long for the days when our kids were little or when we seemed happier. God does not want us looking back. So much heartache can come from looking back. We must have a singular focus, Jesus. If we keep looking ahead to Him, life becomes better because we know that no matter how bad things get, our time with Jesus is ahead. Today, I invite you to ask yourself, “Where am I letting other people distract my gaze from Jesus?” Dear Heavenly Father, I love you so much! I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. I thank you for leading me to this scripture and to the commentary that helped me understand it. Lord, we ask that you speak to each one of our hearts today. Lord, show us where we are allowing others to take our eyes off of you. Show us how we can keep our focus on you more? Show us where our focus is drifting. We love you, and we want to always be focused on you. Help us, Lord! 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. One reason people may hesitate to join mentoring is the thought, “I'm not holy enough.” Mentoring is not for people who already have it all together; it is for anyone who wants encouragement, support, prayer, and a safe place to grow closer to Jesus. CLICK HERE for more information. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as I am, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Wrestling with the flesh is a challenge in mankind's lives. It is something that everyone struggles against and with. The saints struggled but claimed victory over it, but not without me. I am a necessary component and the key to your lives. All can and will be conquered and made with me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Do You Realize Who Lives Inside You? Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  And you will receive the Holy Spirit.” I think when most of us read this, we focus on the repent and be baptized part of this verse.  Repentance is so important, and it is something that we can read about all throughout the Bible.  God is always calling His people to repentance, and sometimes they repented and other times they did not.  In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, they were a wicked people and they refused to repent.  God sent fire down to destroy the towns.  However, when God sent Jonah to Ninevah to tell them they needed to repent, they did, and God saved them.   Did you know that Jonah was angry at God for saving Nineveh?  We read in Jonah 4:1-2, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.  And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is it not this what I have said when I was yet in my country?  That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”  Jonah ran from the Lord when the Lord asked him to go to Ninevah.  I had always thought he ran from the Lord because he was afraid of the people in Ninevah.  However, this verse says that he ran because he knew God would have mercy on them, and he didn't want them to be saved. This is a somewhat common thing for us to do.  Maybe not running from the Lord, but definitely wishing people would get what they deserve.  Have you ever wished that someone got what they deserved?  Have you ever seen a car speed by you, or weave in and out of traffic, and think to yourself, “I hope there is a cop ahead.” Or do you see someone cut in line and hope that someone notices and that they get kicked out of the line?  Why do we do this?  Why do we wish ill on other people?  Maybe you are thinking that you are justified in thinking that you want the driver to get pulled over because you want them to learn their lesson and drive better.  But, what if they did get pulled over and they just got a warning, would you be ok with that? Sometimes we can do this with our kids as well.  Jonah felt that these people needed to be punished, and he knew that God would have mercy on them.  Sometimes, we can default to the thinking that when our children do something wrong, they need to be punished, and maybe that is true sometimes.  But do we take the time to think about the situation first?  Do we even consider giving them mercy?  Sometimes our children need our mercy.  Sometimes they messed up, did something they weren't supposed to do, and they know it was wrong.  They are truly sorry, and they learned a lesson from it.  Times like these are times when we should consider mercy.  Sometimes we think our kids will only learn if we punish them; however, I think they can learn a lot from mercy as well. As I said earlier, we tend to focus on the first part of this verse, Repent and be baptized.  However, I wonder how many of you also think of the ending of the verse?  How many of you truly know what it means?  The verse ends with, “and you will receive the Holy Spirit.”  I am not sure that everyone, or even most people, knows how powerful a statement that is.  Did you know that the power of the Holy Spirit is what raised Jesus from the dead?  Did you know that the same power resides in you?  Romans 8:11 "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” When you are baptized, you are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This means that when you are baptized, you receive the Holy Spirit.  If you are Catholic, then you receive the Holy Spirit again when you are confirmed.  This is all amazing to me.  The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.  I just can't get over that.  I think if we all knew the power that we had through the Holy Spirit and then used that power for good, the world wouldn't know what was going on.  Jesus said in John 14:12-14, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” Did you catch that?  Jesus said we will do greater works than He if we believe.  This is only possible because of the Holy Spirit.  We have the Holy Spirit inside of us; we just need to call on Him.   We need to believe in Jesus and believe when He tells us that He sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us.  The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.  That same spirit lives in you.  What are you going to do with it?  Are you going to just sit around and let all that power pass you by, or are you going to use your newfound power for good?  Who do you know that could use some extra blessings?  I am sure that I have talked before about how important repentance is, and yet this will likely not be the last time you hear me talk about it.  Repentance is so important for so many reasons.  This verse just mentions one of the many: if you repent and are baptized, you will receive the Holy Spirit.  Now, after talking for a bit about how awesome the Holy Spirit is, wouldn't you do anything to be close to Him? Most, if not all, of you listening already have the Holy Spirit inside of you.  Call upon Him, and you will see how powerful He is.  Don't be afraid to talk with Him and ask Him for things.  That is why God sent Him to us, to help us.  Anything that happens as a result of the Holy Spirit glorifies God.  Jesus is with the Father, so when we ask God for things in Jesus' name, the Holy Spirit comes through for us, and the results glorify the Lord.  It is a win-win for everyone.  One of the easiest prayers to remember, and yet one of the most powerful, is, “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”  When you ask, God answers.  Anytime you are in need of a little assistance, or even a lot of assistance, pray, “Come, Holy Spirit, come.”  I truly feel you will be surprised at all the ways He comes through for you.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask that you send the Holy Spirit to everyone listening to this podcast. Lord, we ask that you open our eyes to how the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Lord, we ask that you remind us to call on the Holy Spirit when we forget. Lord, we are so very thankful that you sent down the Holy Spirit to guide us in your ways.  Lord, help us to see the places in our lives where we need to repent, and then give us the courage to do so. We want to receive the Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus. We are open to it. Lord God, you are amazing. We are so very thankful for all you do 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. This month in Mentoring, we're talking about the Father's love. One of the things we discussed this week is how many of us know God loves us intellectually, but still struggle to believe it personally. We talked about how the Father's love isn't something we achieve—it's something we receive. If you've ever felt like you have to earn God's love, prove your worth, or get your act together before approaching Him, I think this series could really encourage you. You can find the link to join in the show notes. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday! Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “You may not see the light within you. I do. So if I can lift it up, the light within you, I can draw others to myself. My heart yearns for all of my children and all of my creation. Walk confidently in the plan of your life. I am your Father.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

What Happens When Praise Goes First? 2 Chronicles 20:21-22 "After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” In this chapter of Chronicles, God's people have armies coming to attack them from three different places.  Things were not looking good.  Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, as he stood in the assembly.  He told the king and all the people of Judah that they shouldn't be afraid because this was not their fight. It was God's fight.  He told them to march down against the invading armies, but that they would not have to fight the battle.  This is where the verse picks up.  “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: 'Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” Jehoshaphat and his army were headed into what seemed like a hopeless battle.  There were three different armies waiting to destroy them and take their land.  You would think they would have the soldiers lead them in this battle.  Even if they trusted God, you would think that just to be on the safe side, you would have the soldiers go first.  However, King Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out to face the armies.  “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” Did you catch that last part?  It doesn't say that once they started fighting, the Lord gave them victory.  It doesn't say their enemy was defeated by their mighty hand.  It says that as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemy, and they were defeated.  They didn't even have to fight a single person.  They didn't have to lift their hands at all in this fight. They just needed to lift up their voices.   Do you have enemies that you need to defeat?  Are you praising God now while you are in the middle of it, or are you waiting until you get out of it? Sometimes we are trying to fight our enemies on our own.  We know we need God, and yet we ask Him for so much that we feel we should try to do this one on our own.  Yet, instead of leading with praise, we lead with anger, frustration, sadness, jealousy, and whatever other emotions we are feeling at the moment.  Can you think of a time when you have charged into a situation with your emotions leading the way?  How did that work out for you?  For me, it never works out.  When I go into a situation on my own without inviting the Lord to come with me, it never works out as I intended it to.  However, when I do think to praise the Lord while I am in the middle of a difficult situation, it always turns out well.   There are times when we think God has abandoned us.  We are praying and it does not seem like He is with us. Maybe we are the ones who have abandoned God.  We may be praying, but are we praying with a hopeful heart?  Are we trusting God will come through for us when we pray?  Are we praising God for all He does for us?  God is working in our lives every single day. Are we praising Him for that?  I talk a lot about gratitude because I think it is so important to go through life being grateful for what we have.  I think when we are grateful for what we have, God blesses us with more.  Being grateful is also a great way to shift our mood if we are feeling sad or having a bad day.  Sometimes, all it takes is a perspective switch, and we can turn our whole day around.   Praise is different from gratitude.  Sometimes, we can be praising God for what we have and what He has done for us, and yet praise is so much more than that.  We can also praise God for who He is.  Sometimes we are in a situation where we may not want to or be able to praise God for the situation. For instance, in this verse, God's people were not praising God for the situation they were in.  They were not grateful that they had three armies coming after them.  They were praising God for “the splendor of His Holiness.”  They were praising God for who He is.  He is the Fountain of Life.  He is the great “I AM.”  He is the Just One, and He is the King of kings.  He is the Lord of Lords, and He is the Light of the world.  He is the Lord our God.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.   How often are you praising God for simply being God?  How often are you spending time in prayer, thanking and praising God for being everything you need Him to be?  Maybe the next time we are in a hard situation, instead of charging into the situation with our guns blazing, we can lead with our praise.  Instead of leading with our anger, frustration, and sadness, we can lead with our praise.  God is always there for us.  Let's be there for Him.  Let's give God the praise that He so rightly deserves.  The thought just came to me that not everyone knows how to praise God.  There is no specific way.  I love to listen to praise and worship music, which is really any Christian music.  I am also part of a prayer group, and we praise out loud to the Lord, thanking Him for all He has done and all He Is.  I say phrases such as those listed above, things such as, you are the Light of the World, You are the Word made flesh, You are the King of the Kings.  You can also think back to all you have and thank God for that one by one.  You can thank God for everyone He has brought into your life.  Praise is time spent with the Lord when you are either thanking Him for something or you are talking about all the reasons He is awesome!!  I challenge you to find some time in your day-to-day and praise the Lord.  You can do it silently within your own heart, or you can shout it from the rooftops and everything in between.  Whatever you feel comfortable with.  The more you praise, the more comfortable it will feel to you.  Also, the more you praise, the more you will see God working in your life.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, help us to praise you more.  Put praise for you on our hearts so we long to do it.  Give us a thirst for praising you, Lord.  It is so amazing how you defeated Judah's enemy when they started to praise you.  Lord, we have many enemies, and we need you to defeat them.  Help us to praise you first instead of trying to fix it all ourselves.  We love you, Lord; you are so powerful.  You give Light to our lamps.  You straighten our crooked path.  You are always by our side, and we are so grateful.  I 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.  This month inside Walk Boldly With Jesus Mentoring, we're talking about the Father's love. One of the things we discussed this week is how many of us know God loves us intellectually, but still struggle to believe it personally. If you've ever felt unloved, forgotten, rejected, or like you have to earn God's love, I think this series could really speak to your heart. You can find the link to join the show in the show notes. I look forward to spending time with you on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a blessed weekend. Today's Word from the Lord was received in December 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Surrender all the worries, anxieties, tests, and demands of this world during this season to Me. The most important thing you can do is surrender to Me, to my sacred heart. This is the most important gift to Me, to yourselves, and to others.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

I Am Free! (Identity Series) Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." We have talked a lot about freedom in my Encounter Ministries class. Fourth quarter was on inner healing, and I learned so much. I had heard that fourth quarter would probably be the most transformational because, as we learn various tools to set people free, we practice using these tools on each other. Instead of just acquiring book knowledge, we gain first-hand experience and begin the healing process ourselves. The amazing thing is that we let the Holy Spirit lead us. We ask the Holy Spirit, Jesus, or the Father questions and allow God to answer them for us. It is pretty remarkable. This verse goes so well with the theme of inner healing. Inner healing is all about freedom. It is freedom from chains that hold us down, freedom from memories that keep us stuck in the past, and freedom from unhealthy attachments that keep us from moving forward. These things can become barriers to the freedom Christ wants for us. The verse says that freedom is why Christ has set us free. Christ died on the cross to set us free from sin, yet we can still allow other things to weigh us down and trap us. There are many ways we can become burdened by a yoke of slavery. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves, and sometimes we do not even realize it is happening. Often, when something happens to us, we create lies about that situation. These lies form in our subconscious and begin influencing our thoughts and actions. I heard an example of a young girl who told her mom about her day and got yelled at. Her mom later apologized and explained she was having a bad day. Even though the girl understood the apology, her young mind formed the lie, “My mom doesn't want to hear about my day.” Without realizing it, she stopped sharing with her mom. Do you see how sneaky the enemy is? He whispers lies, and we start believing them. Another example is soul ties. A soul tie is an unhealthy attachment to another person that limits our freedom. This could happen in a romantic relationship, a friendship, or even with a family member. Have you ever found yourself unable to stop thinking about someone even though you knew they were not good for you? You may have formed a soul tie. The good news is that through the power of Jesus, these ties can be broken, and the Lord can restore freedom. The examples above are ways we may become burdened without realizing it. There are also ways we knowingly give up our freedom. One big one for me is television. I would love to say I am free to turn it off anytime I want. In theory, I can. In reality, I tell myself I will watch one episode and then end up watching for hours. That is not the freedom Jesus died to give us. Another way we burden ourselves is by trying things we know can become addictive. The only time we truly have a choice is often at the beginning. Once addiction takes hold, it becomes much harder to say no. We can also surrender our freedom when we constantly indulge the desires of the flesh. This could be anything from overeating to more serious sins. When we continually choose these things, we are not choosing the freedom Christ won for us. The verse says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” We are told to stand firm in our freedom. Jesus did not die so we could continue living captive. Take a look at your life. Are there areas where you are allowing yourself to become burdened? What has more control over your life than it should? Your schedule? Entertainment? Other people? Addictions? It is important to identify where we have allowed something other than God to take control. If we find those areas, we can surrender them to God and allow Him to restore our freedom. Some of these areas will be easier to overcome than others. If you are struggling with addiction, it may feel impossible. On our own, it often is. However, with the power of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible. We need to remind ourselves that we are more powerful than our wants and desires. Just because we want something does not mean we have to have it. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and that means we have power greater than any temptation. The enemy wants us to believe we are weak, but he knows the power God has placed within us. Too often, we agree with the enemy's lie instead of God's truth. We are strong. Jesus died so we could live in freedom. Let's learn to live in that freedom. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask You to bless all those reading this devotional today. Lord, help us to live in the freedom You want for us. Bring to light any areas in our lives where we are not free. Show us how to become free in those areas. Please show us what needs to change so we can live a life of freedom. We are grateful that You sacrificed Your Son for our freedom. We are sorry we do not always live in that freedom. Please help us to live it more each day. 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. As I was looking through the Identity Series this morning, I realized there was one identity I never recorded—"I Am Free." So today, we are completing the series! If you enjoyed today's episode and would like to dive deeper into these identity teachings, I'll include a link in the show notes to the YouTube playlist containing all 31 Identity Series episodes. CLICK HERE for YouTube Playlist. I also compiled these teachings into my devotional, Walk Boldly With Jesus Devotional, which includes reflection questions to help you journal and apply these truths to your own life. I'll place a link to the book in the show notes as well. CLICK HERE to buy on Amazon. If you'd prefer an autographed copy, you can visit Walk Boldly With Jesus and order one directly from the website. CLICK HERE I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in November 2016 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, "I call you to a greater prayer, a time for you to multiply your prayer for My sons and daughters. Alone in your room, praying, you have the power to change events on the other side of the world. I will always be with you, aligning My light with your path. I will intercede for you. Enter in and be loved and purified, to be loved and pruned, to be loved and forgiven, to be loved and be blessed. ENTER IN."   www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

If God Was Faithful Then, He'll Be Faithful Now Isaiah 51:15-16 “I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.'” This was the verse we used for the monthly bookmark we do at my prayer group.  It seemed to go well with the words of prophecy that we received and discerned for that month.  We were working on January's discernment.  After reading this verse again, I wanted to get a sense of what others said about it.   I wanted to make sure I really understood what it meant, so I could help you understand it.  I am glad I did because I definitely would have missed the context of this verse.   The first line, “I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name.”  This is meant to remind the Israelites of when God saved them from Egypt.  However, not so much about how He parted the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry land; rather, to remind them of what happened after they crossed safely. God sent the raging waters to destroy those who chased after them.  This is God reminding them that He is their protector and their savior.  A few verses earlier in Isaiah 51:12-13 it says, “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?” God is trying to remind the Israelites who they are.  They are the chosen people of God.  They have His protection.  Throughout this chapter, He reminds them who they are and that they don't need to be afraid. They don't need to fear their enemies; they don't need to fear anything because God is on their side.   This is a great reminder to us as well.  We don't have to be afraid of the current president, the last president, or the next president.  We don't have to focus on how bad the world around us is getting.  We don't have to focus on all the messes in our lives.  We need to focus on how God is Sovereign over all of these – He is the Almighty.  Everything He wills comes to pass. And God has promised Jerusalem that the day will come when her exile will be finished, and she will return. If God has promised it, then His people can count on it; they can rely on it.  God is trying to remind the Israelites that He is the Lord of hosts, and if He saved them before, He can save them again.  I think He is also telling us this, too!  God rolled back the seas so His people could pass on dry ground and then let them roar again to protect those same people.  What has God done in your life that you can look back on and know you will be okay in this tough time as well?  What has He done in the past that proves to you that He will show up in this present situation as well?  If you can't think of something He has done personally in your past, you can look to what He has done in scripture.  Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” What He has done in the past, He can do again.   The last part of the verse says, “And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.'” This part of the verse reminds us that we have a role to play in God's plan.  Yes, He is there to protect us, and He also wants us to go out and share His message with everyone we meet.  He doesn't want us to sit around, worship Him, and praise Him, yet keep Him to ourselves.  He is protecting us and filling us up with His graces so that we can share them with all we meet.  This might make us nervous to think about talking about God to others.  I know I get nervous thinking about it.  What if I don't know what to say? What if they ask questions and I don't have any answers?  What if I say the wrong thing, or say something that isn't true?  In this verse, God is reassuring us that when we say yes, when we step out in that call, He will put the words in our mouths.  God isn't asking us to know everything; He isn't asking us to be an eloquent speaker or have all the right words. He is asking us to be an empty vessel. He is asking for our “yes,” and then He will give us the words to say.   God is calling each and every one of us to go out and to pass to others all He has given us.  Each month, as we review and discern the words God has given us throughout the prayer group meetings, we realize that God is giving us this call over and over again.  He doesn't always say it in the same way, and yet it is always there.  Go and tell my people; go and spread my love, my hope, my peace, my forgiveness.  God would not keep telling us every single week if it were not important to Him.  He also probably wouldn't keep telling us this if we were doing it.  So, why aren't we doing it?  Why aren't we passing on what the Lord is giving us?  What is stopping us?  This will be different for each one of us.  I can't answer these questions for you.  Maybe it is the enemy telling us we don't know enough to share with others? I can tell you that when I started reading the Bible more and learning more about my faith, I started wanting to share more with others. When God is asking us in a prayer group to share with others, it is not the knowledge of scripture He is asking us to share.  He is asking us to share His love, His peace, His joy, His forgiveness, and other such things.  These are things we don't need to be super smart and have the Bible memorized to share.  We can share these things without knowing much scripture at all.  However, we do need to have these things in our lives if we want to share them.  If we don't know God's love, peace, joy, and forgiveness, then we can't share it with others. God wants to give us all of this and more, and all He asks is that we share it with those around us.  We don't have to go up to strangers and share it; we could start right in our own home with those we spend the most time with.  I have included the bookmark in this episode.  I think hearing an example of God's call for us to go out and share all He gives will help you understand a bit better.  Also, as you can see in the bookmark, He doesn't start by directing us to go out and share.  He starts by calling us closer, then tells us how special we are and reminds us how amazing He is.  Then he asks us to go out and share it with others.  I will leave you with His words today.  Here are the words we felt God wanted us to use for the January 2023 bookmark: Come closer to me.  Come deeper with me.  Come into my presence because I want you, my diamonds, to sparkle so that all those around you will want to come and be in your presence to absorb your light.  Your light is my life in you.  I am the God who loves you.  I am the God who protects you.  I am the God who never stops caring for you. I give you my abundant blessings.  No matter what is going on in your life right now, I take each step that you take.  When you feel you can't stand, I am there to carry you. What I share with you, you must share with others.  It is I who sends you to share my way, my truth, and my life so that others may grow in me and love me.  Arise and go forward with the name of Jesus on your lips. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you, and we are so grateful for your words above.  We are grateful that you want to spend your time talking to us when you have so much to do.  We are grateful for your protection and for being your chosen people.  We are sorry we get it wrong so often, and we just ask for your forgiveness.  We love you, Lord.  We thank you for your protection and for putting the words in our mouths.  Please give us the courage to use those words to help bring others to you, 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.  The Walk Boldly With Jesus mentoring group is a safe, judgment-free space to grow in your relationship with God. If you've been looking for that, I'd love to invite you to join us. CLICK HERE for more info on mentoring. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I.  Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I myself underwrite this plan of your life. I myself secure your path to it, to your destiny. It is from eternity. It is interwoven in my divine purposes. You are not insignificant. You are interwoven in the fibers of my being and the great eternal plan.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

I Will Take Refuge In The Shadow Of His Wings  Psalms 57:1 “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” What struck me about this passage when I first read it was the last line.  “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.”  The thought that came to my mind was, “Wouldn't it be nice to just rest in God's shadow until the disaster has passed?”  I thought about all the people I know right now who are in situations that feel like they are a disaster.  I have a friend who is in a legal battle with a family member over money.  Tony has a co-worker who is in intensive care, fighting for his life.  I have a family member who just found out she has cancer.  Another friend's husband found out he is going blind.  I got a text from a friend today who asked for prayers for her brother, who went to the ER today because he was having seizures.  I could go on and on.  It seems to be never-ending.   When I think of all of them, I can see how this verse applies to them.  The beginning says, " Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge.  I can see them crying this out to the Lord.  I am crying it out for them in my prayers.  I am begging God to have mercy on them.  I am begging God to please not let Tony's co-worker pass away.  Please have mercy on him.  Please don't leave his kids without a dad and his wife without a husband.  Please let my family member's cancer be stage one and easily removable.  Please have mercy on my friend's husband and miraculously cure his eyesight.  Please stop the seizures my friend's brother is having, and please heal any damage that might be a result of the seizures.  Please God, have mercy on my loved ones and me.  Please God, have mercy on them and their loved ones.   The verse says, “For in you I take refuge.”  To take refuge means to go to a safe place.  When we are struggling, as so many of us are today, we can go to the Lord; He can be our safe place.  He can be the place we go to, and we rest.  The ending of the verse says, “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.”  When I hear this, I get two images.  The first one is of a giant eagle.  This eagle is taller than any person, but not so giant that we are tiny in comparison.  This eagle is standing up tall and proud, and we are tucked under its giant eagle wing.  It is as if he is hugging us, and we feel warm and safe there.  The second image is us just falling asleep under the protection of His wings until the disaster has passed.   When something awful is happening in our lives, a lot of times we want to pretend it isn't happening.  Life is easier that way.  We wish we could just stay in bed until the bad parts of our lives are over.  Technically, we could do this, some people do this, and yet, I don't think any of us would be happy with those results.  Unfortunately, avoiding the disaster and trying to sleep it away will not change the fact that you are going through something really hard right now.  I have a friend who is really struggling because her daughter is not talking to her, and her daughter is about to turn 18.  Her daughter is going to graduate, and she doesn't get to watch her walk across that stage.  My friend does not even want to get out of bed in the morning some mornings, and who can blame her? I wouldn't either. However, my friend does get up, and she does still do the things that are required of her.  Not because she wants to and not because she has to, but because she has taken refuge in the Lord.  She knows where her strength comes from, and no one can take that away from her.  She is strong, and she knows she is a beloved daughter of God, and that makes all the difference in the world.   When we are going through a really difficult time, we can take refuge in God.  We can hide under his wings, and He will protect us.  I like the image I get when I hear this verse because we are asleep in the Father's arms/wings and He is just holding us there until the disaster goes away.  How great would that be?  How great would it be to just hide away in a safe place until all this mess was over?  While we can't literally hide until the mess goes away, we can place our troubles in the hands of our Lord and then give Him permission to take care of them for us.  We can hide in His shadow while we wait for the miracle that He has planned for our loved ones and for us.   We just have to hold on.  We just have to turn towards the Lord instead of away from him when we need him.  We just need to rest in his shadow and continue to say, “Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me.” If you are going through a disaster right now, I want you to know you are not alone.  There are so many of us who are struggling right now.  I also want you to know that I am praying for you and your family.  I am praying God has mercy on you and your loved ones.  I am praying you are able to find refuge in God our Savior.  I am holding onto hope for you.  Take refuge in the shadow of His wings until the disaster has passed.  This disaster will pass, I promise you that.  You will make it through this.  God is there with you, even when you can't feel Him.  He is there, right there with you.  Rest in Him! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to rest in you. Please help us.  Lord, have mercy on our loved ones and on us.  Please do this miracle for us.  The one we keep asking for, the one we really, really, need right now.  Yep, that one, the one that seems impossible.  We know you are the God of the impossible.  We know you are the Way-maker, and you make a way where there isn't one.  We know these miracles would be simple for you, and so we are begging for your mercy, Lord. Please help 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.  I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Catch Me When I Fall Psalm 13:4-5 “How long, Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look upon me, answer me, Lord, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed,” lest my foes rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in your mercy. Grant my heart joy in your salvation, I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me!” The theme for mentoring this month is “How Long, Lord?” I chose this title because I know so many people who are suffering right now and who have been for quite some time. They have been sick for so long, and they can't see an end in sight. Some have been going through struggles with their family, and they can't see a resolution. It feels like things might always be like this. Many I know are struggling with a prodigal child, and they are waiting for them to come home, but feel like it may never happen. In today's verse, David addresses this same sentiment. It begins with “How Long, Lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How much do I carry in my soul, grief in my heart, day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” I am sure that is exactly what my friends who are suffering are asking the Lord. I am sure they are struggling to understand why they are still suffering, what the purpose is, and when they will be through it. In mentoring this month, each week, I am going to examine a song that deals with these exact feelings. I really like music; it speaks right to my soul. I also like to use songs because you can always go back to them and listen to them and hopefully they will bring you comfort. "When I Fall" by Katy Nichole is a song written out of desperation, reflecting a time when Nichole felt mentally, spiritually, and physically drained. She describes the song as a desperate prayer, expressing her exhaustion with trying to be "okay" and her desire to be honest with God. I think this is great. We should all be honest with God. I don't know why we think we can hide things from Him. He is all-knowing. That thing you are too afraid to tell Him about, He already knows. That thing you don't want to bother Him with, He already knows. There isn't anything we can hide from God. Here are the lyrics for the song: Lord, I can't find You right now And everything is crashin' down I'm losin' faith and fallin' into my doubts How long will I have to fight Just for me to stay alive? This is a true and honest song. This is something that I know those who suffer with chronic pain are asking the Lord. I am sure at times we all wonder where God is. We wonder why He is letting us go through the things we are going through, and when He is going to pull us out of it. It is hard to keep having faith and fighting, not to let our doubts get the best of us when we are so tired from all the fighting we have already done. I know You're there, God, please Just meet me here tonight My God, I'm tired of tryna be okay I've prayed all the prayers I have to pray Please don't leave me lonely My God, I need You to hold me This is the desperate plea of so many of us. We know God is there. We just need Him to hold us, even if it's just for a minute. We are all tired of trying to be okay. We are tired of having to pretend to everyone that we are ok. One of my favorite sayings is, “It's ok to not be ok.” I wish more people knew this. I wish more people would speak out and let others know they are not ok. I know so many people who seem so happy on the outside and yet are not ok on the inside. This world is a lonely place. Which may seem weird, as there are so many ways to keep in touch with friends and family. However, a lot of the relationships we have these days are superficial. We “like” or “love” people's posts on social media, but we aren't reaching out and having meaningful conversations. And, if we are being honest, we probably aren't making posts that accurately reflect how we feel inside or what life is like on a day-to-day basis. My God, I'm losin' all the hope I got I'm far beyond the point of bein' lost I've tried, but I can't let go 'Cause God, You catch me when I fall You catch me when I fall This is like so many I know. They don't want to lose their hope, but it is hard day after day when it feels like their prayers aren't being answered. When you look around, and no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to find God. What is really good is that she knows that God will be there to catch her when she falls. If she can let go of all that she thinks is supporting her and holding her up, and just fully surrender to God, then He will catch her. He will always be there to catch us when we fall. There's hardly any air in my lungs With all the damage that's been done Lord, please sustain me now I know You are enough My God, I'm tired of tryna be okay I've prayed all the prayers I have to pray Please don't leave me lonely My God, I need You to hold me The thing to remember about God is that He can repair the damage that is done. We think we need God to act now, before it is too late. However, it is never too late for God. God can replace your damaged lungs. He can repair your kidneys. He can do whatever needs to be done. God is our provision. He is our rock. Katy says in the song that she knows God is enough and is asking Him to sustain her. He will sustain you, too. I know it may feel like you just can't keep your head above water right now. God's got you. He is your arm float. He will not let you drown. He hears your prayers. The last line of today's verse says, “But I trust in your mercy. Grant my heart joy in your salvation, I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me!” Sometimes we need to sing to the Lord before the breakthrough. Sometimes we need to thank God for all the unseen work He is doing. Praising when we don't feel like we can will actually make us feel better, and it will make the enemy flee. Praising can lift us up out of the darkness, even if it is only for a little while. David was asking the Lord to give him joy in his heart. He was asking for the Lord's help. We can do the same. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, you are so good. Help us to remember that when we feel lost in our own pain or our own troubles. Help us to remember how good you are. Lord, help us to remember you do catch us when we fall. Help us to remember you never leave our side. Lord, we need you to come and let us know you are here with us. We love you so much, and we need you now, Lord. Help us to hang in there, help us to never give up hope. Please provide us with the strength and provision we need for today, Lord. 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 love this podcast and want more, join me in mentoring and see how much more there is to learn. How much deeper can you go? The Lord is calling you closer. Will you answer his call? I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I call you each by name, my children. I invite you constantly to come to me. The more you come, the more I will reveal my secrets. You will know the deeper things in life.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 9 The Difference Between Joy and Happiness Psalm 104:33-35 “I will sing my song to the Lord as long as I live! Every day, I will sing my praises to God. May you be pleased with every sweet thought I have about you, for you are the source of my joy and gladness. Now, let all the sinners be swept from the earth. But I will keep on praising you, my Lord, with all that is within me. My joyous, blissful shouts of “Hallelujah” are all because of you! We have spent the past eight episodes talking about the Lord's majesty. We talked about all the parts of nature and how amazing God is to have created all of it. We talked about how powerful He is. Today, we are talking about praising the Lord. This is one of my favorite things to discuss and do. Praise is such an essential part of our relationship with the Lord. There have been many times when I have asked the Lord what has helped me grow so much closer to Him, and he always replies, praise, you praise me so often. If we want to grow closer to the Lord, it helps to let Him know how much we appreciate all He has done and continues to do for us. God loves it when we show our appreciation to Him. It is so easy to take Him for granted if we are not careful, because there are so many things He does for us that we don't even see. It is easy to be grateful to the Lord when He saves us from the dangers we know about, the ones we can see. However, what about all the dangers God has prevented from harming us before we saw them? The verse begins with, “I will sing my song to the Lord as long as I live! Every day, I will sing my praises to God.” I hope I can say the same. I hope every day I take time to sing praises to the Lord. He does so much for us. The Lord has protected my family from some pretty scary things. I have had two kids who overdosed on drugs, and yet both are still living with no lasting effects. Our family was falling apart, and the Lord put it back together. I can't even count the number of times we needed something to work out, and God arranged the solution perfectly. God deserves my praise, and I hope I never forget that! Next, the verse says, “May you be pleased with every sweet thought I have about you, for you are the source of my joy and gladness.” This expresses a sentiment I think we all have. We all want the Lord to be pleased with us. I also like how the verse reminds us that the Lord is the source of our joy and gladness. This means we can have joy no matter our circumstances. Happiness and joy are two different things. Happiness is usually based on our circumstances. If something good and fun is happening, we are generally happy. However, Joy is different. I love Rick Warren, the author of A Purpose Driven Life's definition of Joy. He says, “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.” Let's look at this definition a bit more closely. First, it says joy is the settled assurance that God controls all the details of my life. Can you see how we can have more joy when we realize God controls all the details? Everything is not up to me. I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to get it all right. God is in control, not me. Then, it says the quiet confidence that, ultimately, everything will be alright. Can you see how it would be possible to have joy in a difficult situation if you knew that everything would be alright in the end? Things might be crappy right now, but ultimately, eventually, things will be alright, and that makes the joy in the hard times possible. The last part of it ties right in with the verse of the day. It ends with the determined choice to praise God in every situation. Did you know you get to choose whether to praise the Lord? Praising the Lord doesn't have to be based on your feelings. There may be times when you are in the middle of something really difficult and you don't feel like praising the Lord, yet you can choose to praise Him anyway. You could be in a period of dryness with prayer or under spiritual attack, and you don't want to praise the Lord. Yet this is a great time to praise the Lord because it can lift you out of both situations. Praising the Lord when you are under spiritual attack from the enemy is a great way to make the enemy flee. Evil spirits will not stick around when you are proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. They hate that name. Praising the Lord can bring you joy when you least expect it. Today's verse ends with, “Now, let all the sinners be swept from the earth. But I will keep on praising you, my Lord, with all that is within me. My joyous, blissful shouts of “Hallelujah” are all because of you!” The person who wrote this Psalm asks for all the sinners to be swept from the earth. This would be nice, except that we are all sinners. I am unsure who wrote this and if they had the extraordinary gift of not being a sinner, but I believe that right is solely reserved for Mary. I can see why the person would want all sinners to be swept from the earth. I am sure it breaks God's heart when we sin repeatedly. I have indeed wished that all evil could be removed from this world. However, I think removing all evil and removing all sinners are different. Each one of us sins, so we are sinners, yet I don't think we all need to be wiped off the face of the earth. Who are we to decide who is a sinner and who is not? That is for God to judge. We can only do the best that we can each day. I love how the last thing the verse says is, My joyous, blissful shouts of ‘Hallelujah' are all because of you!” Let that be true for each of us. Let us all have joyous, blissful shouts of “Hallelujah” because of all God does for us. Let us continue to sing out our praise to the Lord for all our days. Let us show the Lord how much we love and appreciate Him. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each listener to this episode. Lord, we want to praise you in all circumstances. Show us how. Lord, we want to understand the difference between happiness and joy. Please help us. Lord, help us to see that you are with us in good times and in bad times. Help us to have joy in all circumstances. 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. You never know how one episode can impact someone's life. Share this and let God use it in ways you may never even see. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “At the moment of your conception, I already knew the path I had chosen for you and my eternal purposes. It came with you at conception. Both your body and the plan of your life were conceived in me before anything happened on earth.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 8 The More We Need God, the More We See Him Psalm 104:31-32 “May God's glorious splendor endure forever! May the Lord take joy and pleasure in all that he has made. For the earth's overseer has the power to make it tremble; just a touch of his finger and volcanoes erupt as the earth shakes and melts." Wow, this verse has a lot of powerful language that helps to visualize what the verse is saying. First, it says, “May God's glorious splendor endure forever!” God's splendor is displayed so often when we look at nature. When we slow down and take the time to admire nature, there is no way we can deny God's splendor. Look at the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. Look at all the beautiful flowers and trees. Look at the birds and all the animals. Even if you don't find some animals beautiful, you must admire how God created them to work together. Each one has its purpose and its place in the world and in the food chain. It is truly remarkable. Next, the verse says, “May the Lord take joy and pleasure in all that he has made.” I hope this is the case. I hope  God looks down on the world and takes pleasure in it. I know we have messed many things up, and He probably is not a fan of all of that. However, I hope He can at least enjoy the parts He made that we have not messed up yet. There is still so much beauty and majesty in the world. I have a friend who is on a cruise right now, and the other day, she visited Iceland and said it was beautiful! There is so much to see in this world that it is impossible to see all of it. Then the verse says, “For the earth's overseer has the power to make it tremble; just a touch of his finger and volcanoes erupt as the earth shakes and melts.” This part of the verse serves as a stark reminder of the power of our Lord. With just one touch of His finger, He could make volcanoes erupt and the earth shake. Yet, we know God wouldn't even have to touch it; He could make anything He wants with His voice. God spoke the whole world into existence. He can certainly speak other things into existence. We can look at this line in the verse in two ways. We can view it as something to worry about. We can read that verse and get scared that God could reach out and touch a volcano, and it would erupt. We could fear that God will get mad at us and do something like this. I mean, if we are honest with ourselves, we have been taking God out of more and more of our lives. We have done our best to take Him out of the school, the government, and most places. That can't feel good to Him. I can't imagine He is looking down upon us and thinking we are doing great things right now, especially in this country. It's important to remember that not everyone is turning away from God. Many good people are doing good things, and I am sure that pleases the Lord. There are people fighting to include God more in schools and the government. However, it's also true that many are doing terrible things, not just to God but to one another. Boston held a Satanic Conference this past year, and I doubt that made God happy. However, God promised after the flood to Noah that He would not do that again. This promise of mercy is a source of comfort and reassurance for us all. The second way we can look at this part of the verse is to recognize the power that God has and to apply that to our lives. If God has the power to reach out and touch a volcano, and it erupts, then what could He do in your circumstance? Could he make a way for you to pay your rent and car payments? Could He heal that cancer or that sore back? Could He take care of your tenant who is not paying rent or fix your car that needs to be fixed? We can look at this verse and realize that the power of God has no limits. He can do ANYTHING! Once we realize this, once we truly believe this in the depths of our hearts, then we start praying bigger prayers. Once we realize there is no limit to God's power, we start to ask for the things we really need. We start to ask for our loved ones to be healed, even though the doctor said there isn't a way. We ask for a car because ours just died, and we need a car to get to work to pay our bills. We ask for supernatural provisions because we know that we do not have enough money in our account to pay our bills or enough food in our cabinets to feed our family. Sometimes, we look at the faith of those who live in other countries, and we are so envious. We wish we could have the faith they have. They trust the Lord so much, and we feel like we would give anything to trust the Lord that much. However, I have discovered that they trust the Lord that much because they truly need Him. They know they can't feel their family on their own. They know they are powerless without Him. They can't save their children. They don't have the medicine we have here in the United States. Their trust in God is necessary because life would be much harder if they didn't believe. I know my parents love the Lord, and listening to their stories in High School and meeting up each morning so they could do daily mass together, I know they trusted Him even back then. My mom was the oldest of 10 children, so I am sure she had plenty of chances to rely on the Lord. There is never enough time, money, or resources when you have a big family. Like those in other countries, you must learn to lean on the Lord and trust He will help you. When you are looking at your bare cabinets and your ten children, you hit the floor on your knees, and you pray for God to help. When you are looking at your sick child, and you know there is no medicine to save her, then you hit the ground on your knees and pray to the Lord to save her. We say we would give anything for that kind of faith, but would we really? Would we give up the comforts and security of our lives now to see the Lord working in our lives more? People who have to rely on the Lord get to see the Lord working in their lives more because they know they need the Lord. If we have all that we need and feel we can provide for ourselves all that we need, then we generally see God working in our lives less because we are taking care of everything, so we feel we don't need Him as much.  This doesn't mean that God is working less in our lives. It just means we have a harder time seeing it because we have learned to rely on ourselves instead of God. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to see you working in our lives. Please open our eyes to see where and how you work in our lives. We love you so much, and we know we need you. We know we have nothing and can do nothing without you. We believe, Lord. Help our unbelief. Lord, show us where in our lives we can rely on you more. Show us how we can trust you more. 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're ready for something to shift in your life and your faith, I would love to walk with you. You can join the mentoring group at findingtruenorthcoaching/mentoring. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit! (Philippians 4:23) Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Forgive yourself for your doubts and fears and move on. I am with you always. Give yourself a chance to be who you really are in me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Do You Really Expect God to Answer? Psalm 104:27-30 “All the creatures wait expectantly for you to give them their food as you determine. You come near and they all gather around, feasting from your open hands, and each is satisfied from your abundant supply. But if you were to withhold from them and turn away, they all would panic. And when you choose to take away their breath, each one dies and returns to the dust When you release your Spirit-Wind, life is created, ready to replenish life upon the earth.” The Psalms are so beautiful. If you have always wanted to start reading the Bible but have no idea where to start, may I suggest the Psalms? In today's verse, we hear about how the creatures wait expectantly for God to give them their food. It says they all gather around Him and feast from His open hand. Every one of them is satisfied with God's abundant supply. There are a couple of things just in the first few sentences. First, it says all the creatures wait expectantly for God to give them their food. Are we included in this? I mean, it does say “all the creatures.” Yet, are we waiting expectantly? Do we know for sure that God will provide all that we need? I think sometimes we pray, and yet we don't expect to see results because we aren't really sure results are even possible. For instance, I prayed for a woman who has breast cancer. She was starting chemo. I wonder if she expected to be healed when we prayed over here. I wonder if she was expecting big things. I know with cancer, it is hard to test out and see if you are healed. You usually won't notice anything until you go to a doctor's when they do some tests. I wonder if that makes it hard to have expectant faith. When I first started praying over people for physical healing, I thought I had expectant faith, yet I was afraid to ask how they were feeling or whether they were experiencing any manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I was scared to ask because I wasn't sure what to do if they said no. Since taking the Encounter Ministries class, I've learned that the miracle often doesn't take place until the person steps out in faith and tests whether they still have pain or can do something they couldn't do before. Like in the story of the man with the withered hand. This story can be found in 3 out of the 4 Gospels. I will read the account from Luke's Gospel. This takes place in Luke 6:6-11. “ On another sabbath, he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”  After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored.  But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” The man's hand was restored after he stretched it out. He had to have expectant faith to stretch out his hand. Jesus had to have expectant faith to ask the man to stretch out his hand. We need to have expectant faith, too. It is not just about healing, although that is important; it's about everything. We need to expect that God will provide for us just like He does for the other creatures. We need to come to Him believing that He will answer our prayers and He will provide all we need. Next, it says, "They all gather around, feasting from your open hands, and each is satisfied from your abundant supply.” I like this sentence for two reasons. The first is because it says they were feasting from God's open hand. Can you picture that? Can you picture being so close to the Lord that you are eating out of His open hands? That would be amazing!! I also love when it says that each is satisfied from your abundant supply. We tend to have a scarcity mindset. We think that there is not enough to go around. We worry there won't be enough money to pay all the bills. We worry there won't be enough food for all the people. We worry that if we ask God for something small, He won't have anything left for something big when it comes along. However, this verse reminds us that God is one of abundance. He has more than enough of everything we need for each one of us. He has more than enough provisions, more than enough love, more than enough grace, more than enough mercy. God has more than enough. Don't be afraid to come to Him with expectant faith and ask Him for whatever it is. The next part talks about how God has the power to take life away and the power to give life. The verse says that if God were to turn away from the creatures, they would panic. Is this us, too? Do we panic when we think God has turned away from us? God never leaves us. He doesn't turn away from us, even when we deserve it. He doesn't turn away from us when we turn away from Him. He waits with open arms, waiting for us to turn back to Him. We don't have to worry about Him turning away from us. It is amazing to think about how He can release His Spirit-Wind, and life is created, ready to replenish life upon the earth. God is so powerful. When I think about this, it makes me wonder why we question the abundance of God. This is someone who can speak the whole universe into existence. Surely He can give you whatever it is you need. Can we practice coming to the Lord with expectant faith today? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we love you, and we ask you to help us develop expectant faith. We ask that you help us believe you are a God of abundance, and we don't have to worry that you don't have enough because you have more than we could ever need. We love you, Lord, and we thank you for always being there for us. We ask all of this in accordance with our will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Can I ask you to please take just 10 seconds and send this episode to someone who came to mind while you were listening? That might not be a coincidence. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Don't be afraid to let my light shine through you. It may seem a little frightening at times, you may seem a little overwhelmed, but remember that I am the source of that light, and I will never overwhelm my people so that they can't see me and know me. For I love them with a deep and passionate love, and I long for them to be part of my light as you are.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 6: Why Are We So Worried When God Provides for Everything Else? Psalm 104:24-26 “O Lord, what an amazing variety of all you have created! Wild and wonderful is this world you have made, while wisdom was there at your side. This world is full of so many creatures, yet each belongs to you! And then there is the sea! So vast! So wide and deep—swarming with countless forms of sea life, both small and great. Trading ships glide through the high seas. And look! There are the massive whales bounding upon the waves.” I like this verse because it praises the Lord for being so amazing. I believe the Lord loves it when we praise Him. Who doesn't want a little acknowledgment? It begins with, “O Lord, what an amazing variety of all you have created!” Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever taken the time to slow down and look at all the nature around you? Have you ever really thought about the variety of things the Lord has created? He created humans, all animals, all vegetation, all rock formations, the seas, the skies, and the stars. When we take the time to think about it, the variety of things He has created really is amazing. There are 400,000 types of flowering plant species all around the world. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described, of which around 1.05 million are insects, over 85,000 are mollusks, and around 65,000 are vertebrates. It has been estimated that there are as many as 7.77 million animal species on Earth. There are around 1,097 different vegetables worldwide. God didn't need to give us all of that. We don't need that much variety. Plants provide us with food, oxygen, and energy. However, we don't need 400,000 different types of flowers. However, God wanted to give us variety. We also don't need over a million different kinds of animals, but God gave them to us anyway. Let's take a minute and appreciate all God did for us. The verse says, “Wild and wonderful is this world you have made while wisdom was at your side.” This verse reminds us that God did not accidentally create anything. He knew what He was doing, and each thing He made had a purpose. He thought about everything. He didn't leave anything out. He made sure that every living thing had something to eat. This includes the plants, the insects, the animals, everything. Take a minute and imagine how much thought it would take not only to create all that God created but also to ensure they had the right environment to live in, the right resources, and the food they needed to survive. It really is remarkable. Next, it says, “This world is full of so many creatures, yet each belongs to you!” Each creature on this earth belongs to the Lord our God. The animals don't have to worry about where their food will come from. They know they are creatures of God and that He will take care of them. We are also God's creatures, and He will take care of us, too! We don't have to worry either. Worry comes pretty naturally to most of us, and yet it is not necessary. This morning in Philippians 4:19, I read, “I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ. This was Paul talking to the Philippians, but He is speaking to us too! God will take care of all we need. He has abundant riches, and he wants to shower them upon us. He has so much glory, grace, love, forgiveness, and mercy. We don't have any reason to be anxious; God will take care of all of our worries! Next, it says, “And then there is the sea! So vast! So wide and deep—swarming with countless forms of sea life, both small and great.” This is just reiterating the vastness of the Lord's creation. Think of how many different sea creatures there are. It is known that there are more than 260,000 species living in the seas, and many more remain to be discovered. Some scientists believe there are more than a million species in the seas. How amazing is that? Each one of them has everything they need to survive. Let's remind ourselves of this when we get anxious. Hundreds of thousands of species live in the seas, including species of plants. There are millions of animal species, and God provides for all of them. If he can provide for the plants and animals, how much more will he provide for us? The verse ends with, “Trading ships glide through the high seas. And look! There are the massive whales bounding upon the waves.” This reminds us that besides all the creatures in the sea, we also use the sea for trading. It provides fish for us to eat and can also support our livelihoods. This version says that there are massive whales bounding upon the waves. However, the New Revised Standard Catholic Edition says, "There go the ships and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.” When I looked this up, it said that Leviathan is a sea monster. The commentators said Leviathan was included in this Psalm to show us that even the sea monster is under God's control. God created all things, and God does not make mistakes. God created all the plants and animals and made sure they all had what they needed to survive. Doesn't it make sense that if God provides for the plants and animals, He will provide for us, too? We are His children, made in His likeness and image. He made us above all plants and animals. He gave us dominion over the plants and animals. So, why are we the only ones worrying about where our next meal will come from or if we will have enough money to pay our bills? God has got us in the palm of His hand. He will provide for us. All we need to do is trust Him! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we ask you to help us notice all your creations around us. Help us to believe that you provide for all their needs, so you will provide for our needs, too. Help us not to be anxious about anything. Lord, help us to appreciate the variety of your creation. Bring our attention to your majesty in this world. We love you, Lord, and 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. If life feels busy and God keeps getting pushed aside, this mentoring group will help you gently bring Him back into your everyday life. You can join us through the link in the show notes. We meet once a week on Tuesday nights at 8:00 P. M. Eastern Time on Zoom. Each month, there is a theme, and we dive deep into the theme. There are about 30 minutes of teaching, followed by some small-group time. If you can't make it on Zoom, you can always watch the replay. I also have a private Facebook group that you could join. There is a link below if you would like to check out mentoring. You can also visit walkboldlywithjesus.com and click the mentoring link. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! May the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My light shines brightly in you, my children. It gives light wherever you go. It lights up your path, and it lights up the path of those who walk beside you. My light is not just for you; it is for all you meet. My light is what the world needs right now. My light, given through you, will help others to find the way to me.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 5 When Creation Works Perfectly but the World Feels Broken  Psalm 104:19-23 “You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.” It just amazes me how perfectly everything in nature flows. Not everything in the world flows nicely because we have created many things that mess everything up. However, if we look at nature, we can't help but be in awe of God's majesty. Today's verses start by talking about the moon and how we have seasons. What is even more incredible is that the seasons aren't the same worldwide. There is a season for everyone. There are places you can go and leave the cold winters if you don't like the cold. There are also places you can go to leave the heat if you are not a fan. Whatever type of weather you are looking for, there is somewhere on this planet called Earth that you can move to. Consider the sun, faithfully following its natural course. Each morning, it rises, and each evening, it sets as if it knows the perfect time. This, too, is a wonder. Each day brings a subtle change, a slight variation in the sun's stay. It's a testament to the ever-changing yet perfectly orchestrated nature of our world. Next, it says, “You make darkness, and it is night when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.” How great it is that the animals can hunt under the cover of night. They can come out while most humans are sleeping and get the whole night to themselves. Then, when humans are awake, they sleep and rest. I like how the verse says, “The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.” It reminds us that God provides for all of us. God created this universe with everything we would need to survive. There is enough food for everyone. Right after I said that, I thought about all the people who are starving to death every day. I looked it up, and one website said 25,000 people die every day due to hunger and related causes. This is a scary number. My first thought is, why isn't God providing for these people? Why isn't he giving them what they need to survive? Then he reminds me that we live in a broken world. There are many man-made reasons why they don't have food. Here is what the actionagainsthunger.org website says, "The planet produces enough food to feed everyone on Earth. Yet more than 3 billion people can't afford to eat a healthy diet. Why? Interconnected issues of poverty, inequity, conflict, climate change, gender discrimination, and weak government and health systems all play a role in keeping nutritious food out of reach for millions of families around the world.” God has created enough food and resources for the world and all the people he created, yet so many are still starving. This isn't because God doesn't care or is not generous. This is because we live in a broken world. We have people who take far more than they need and use their power to prevent others from getting what they need. We have people who are selfish and keep the resources to themselves. All they care about is getting more and more power and wealth for themselves, and they don't even care about what that means for others. This is not how God created us to be, nor how He created the world to be. However, once sin entered the world, so did this corruption. That doesn't mean all is lost. God has placed good people in the way of the corrupt people. Yes, there are many people in the world who do despicable things. There are also a lot of good people who are fighting against those people. I know it can sometimes feel overwhelming, and we can start to wonder if the whole world will fall apart. What we must do is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. If we keep our eyes on the Lord, we will see that He is bigger than anyone and anything that we run into in this world. God is continually sending people to help those in need. Yes, I am sure it breaks his heart any time one of his children dies for any reason. I am sure it is particularly sad if it is due to a lack of resources, when He has ensured there are plenty for His children. This is why God sends missionaries and organizations who fight for the rights of people who are starving, who are being sold into slavery, who don't have drinking water, and anyone else who is in trouble. God sees all of His children. He sees their plight, and He is sending people to help fix it. He didn't create this mess, but you can bet He is not ignoring it. He sees it, and He is helping with it. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for how amazing you are. We thank you for providing all you have given us. Lord, we are sorry that some people are hogging all the wealth and resources you have given this world. We ask that you put in our hearts how we can help those who are starving or who lack access to drinking water. Lord, put on our hearts where we are being wasteful and what we can do to change our wasteful habits. Lord, thank you for being so awesome and for creating nature the way you have. It is amazing how you created everything to work so smoothly. Everything has a time and a place, and that is great! We love you, Lord, and 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. If you have ever felt like you're not good enough for God, this space is for you. You can come exactly as you are and grow from there. Get all the details at findingtruenorthcoaching.com/mentoring. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I am the long shot. I am the one that only the brave will bet on, only the ones who want the blessing that comes with it. My children have courage always.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 4 — What Are You Turning To for Comfort? Psalm 104:14-18 “You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.  In them, the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.” Today, we are given a window into the flawless design of everything. This, I believe, is what we have been exploring in the previous three parts as well. God's goodness is truly astounding. It is wondrous how He has considered every aspect. Today's verses demonstrate not only that God's interest is not limited to our necessities but also that He takes into account our happiness and comfort. This is a powerful reminder of the role of religious texts in inspiring and comforting us, serving as a source of reassurance and uplift. The verse begins by noting that grass grows for cattle, and other plants grow for people to use to bring forth food from the earth. This is not a one-sided provision, but a comprehensive one. We need the plants to have food, but we also need the cows. The cows provide milk, cheese, and meat for us to eat, and God is making sure we are both fed. Next, it says He gave us wine to gladden the human heart. I know many people who are happy that we have wine to gladden our hearts. I do think we need to be careful that we don't turn to this wine to gladden our hearts more than we turn to the Lord. What starts out as a small glass of wine at night to wind down can turn into a few glasses every night just to cope with the stresses of our day-to-day lives. This is when it can become a problem. Do you need to have a glass of wine every night? What if you took a break and fasted from it for a week or even a month? Would you be able to do that? I know someone who gives us wine and all alcohol every Lent. This is a great chance for her to remind herself that although she really likes a glass of wine here and there, she doesn't need it. She is ok without it. One reason it is good to take a look at your wine or alcohol consumption is that if you regularly drink more than a glass at night, you might not feel your best in the mornings. I follow Rachel Hollis online, and I have read her books. She talked about how she used to have a glass of wine when she got home from work to help her unwind. However, the stresses of life increased, and one glass turned into two, and every now and then into every single night. She said she noticed that every morning she woke up, starting her day at a disadvantage because she didn't feel great. She would feel crappy from the wine she had had the night before. I don't know about you, but if I start each day feeling crappy, it usually doesn't get better. Have you noticed that you feel crappy when you wake up in the mornings? Do you have a headache or a stomachache? Do you just feel drained and worn out? You don't have to feel this way. God does not want us to feel crappy. Instead of turning to alcohol to help you unwind, maybe put on some praise and worship music and dance it out. Maybe sit, read scripture, and talk to the Lord. He is there for you, and He will listen to you for as long as you want to talk. He can even help you in your situation, and He can show you a way forward. Alcohol can't do that. It may feel like it is helping you in the moment, but it is not helping in the long run and could even be hurting you. I am not sure who needed to hear that this morning; that certainly wasn't what I thought I would be talking about, but the Holy Spirit knew someone listening really needed to hear that. If you are listening to this episode and the Spirit makes you reconsider how much you are drinking, I encourage you to listen to a few episodes of my friend Catherine Cody's podcast, “Meet Me At The Well.” Catherine is a recovering alcoholic and is real and honest about her struggle in her podcast. She gave her testimony on one of my first few Witness Wednesdays. If you want to hear her incredible story, it is episode #236. She is so real and loving, and she has a heart for anyone struggling with any addiction. If you need someone to talk to about where you are at, please reach out to me, and I can put you in touch with Catherine. Or you can check out her podcast; she probably has contact information there. If you question whether you drink too much, just listen to her podcast, Meet Me At The Well. What have you got to lose? Next, the verse says, “Oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.”  Can you believe that God even cares about our faces shining? He also gave us bread to strengthen the human heart. I don't know about you, but I am more excited about the bread than the wine. I love bread. I also love how bread can be used as a sacrifice. There are many people who do bread-and-water fasts, where that is all they eat for a day or a certain period of time. This is a great addition to your prayer life. Fasting and prayer are so powerful. If you have a prayer you have been asking and have not seen any answers yet, try praying and fasting to see if that helps. It doesn't have to be a 40-day fast like Jesus did in the desert. It could be one day a week, fasting from something you really like, missing one meal a day for a week, or whatever you feel called to do. If you want to try adding fasting to your prayer, ask the Lord how, and He will give you guidance. He will tell you what is best for you. In the past, I have fasted from soda because I love it, and it feels like an addiction at times. Also, I have a prayer request I would like answered sooner rather than later, and I am hoping God will look upon my fasting with favor. Next, it says, “The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.  In them, the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.” Isn't it amazing how God takes care of all of his creatures, not just the humans? He created so many creatures and yet He hasn't lost track of a single one of them. He knows exactly what each one needs. God created trees with roots so they can take in as much water as they need. Trees are good for so many reasons for us humans. They provide us with shade, fruit, firewood, wood for furniture and houses, and paper. Trees were also used for weapons such as bows and arrows. However, trees are also useful for the animals. The verse talks about how birds build their nests in trees. They are not the only ones. I know squirrels live in trees as well. There are many animals that either live in or spend time in trees. Trees provide protection from many animals. The verse ends with, “The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.”  I have no idea how goats can climb mountains. I have seen goats on mountains, but it doesn't make sense to me how they stay up there without falling down. It is great of God to make the high mountains for them. I am sure they are protected up there, and they know their way around better than we do. It also says the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. I don't know about you, but I had no idea what coneys are, so I looked it up. It looks like they are a type of rabbit. So this verse says that the rabbits can take refuge in the rocks. This is great because their natural predators would be large cats, pythons, and eagles. If they can hide in the rocks, that will protect them from most animals trying to find and eat them. God is our protector, and He protects the animals, too! Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, thank you for looking out for us and for knowing us so well. You anticipated our every need and those of all the animals, and you provided for them. You are truly amazing, and we love you so much! Lord, I ask you to pour your love into everyone listening and that you help all those who are listening who may be struggling with alcohol use. Lord, help them get help if they need it. We love you, Lord, you are so amazing! 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've ever felt like you're not good enough for God, this space is for you. You can come exactly as you are and grow from there. Join us at walkboldlywithjesus.com/mentoring. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday morning. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, there are times when I will work the miracle for you, but there are times when I'll just walk with you through the trial that you're going through, because I see eternally and I know what works best for you, and I need to stretch you at times, but know that I am always with you, and I am faithful to you, and I will not let the darkness overcome you.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 3 — You Are Stronger Than You Think Psalm 104:10-13 “You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,  giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.  By the streams, the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.” Today, we are back with Psalm 104. If you missed Monday's episode, I have decided to stick with Psalm 104 and break it down into smaller sections. The reason I chose Psalm 104 is that it shows us so many things we can be grateful for and the many ways God provides for and looks out for us. Psalm 104 also shows us His power and majesty, and I think it is a good idea to stop and reflect on that often. Otherwise, it can be easy to take the Lord for granted, since He is always there for us, and much of what He does goes unnoticed because we don't really think about how much He is doing. We think it just happens. For instance, we take for granted the sun coming up and going down because it happens every day. However, it wouldn't happen if God didn't make it happen. If He hadn't created the earth to spin the way that it does. Today's verse starts by talking about how God makes the springs gush in the valleys and flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal. Did you ever think about how great it is that there is water spread worldwide? There is water in the mountains, there are oceans of water, but then there are also streams and rivers. Then there is groundwater you can tap with a well if necessary. It's also interesting that where water is more scarce, the Lord created the things that live there to suit their environment. In a desert, plants like the cactus have water-storing characteristics. You also have camels in a desert, and they are extremely efficient with the amount of water they use daily. They can go for about a week without drinking water. They can also drink a lot of water in a short amount of time. A typical camel can drink 53 gallons of water in three minutes. Isn't it amazing how God thought of everything all the earth's creatures would need and then created us to meet those needs? Next, it says, “By the streams, the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.” Water is important to birds, just like it is to all animals. Birds build their habitat in many different places depending on what the bird needs. Some build them on the ground, and yet they know this makes the nest more vulnerable, so they camouflage them well. Many others build them high off the ground so they won't be so vulnerable. They make the nests out of various materials. It depends on what they can find and what their needs are. Isn't it amazing that God always provides for them exactly what they need? The verse ends with, “From your lofty abode, you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.” This part reminds us of how easy it is for God to provide for us. He doesn't have to lift a finger. He just spoke the world into existence, and it was so perfectly made. He can sit up in heaven and command things to happen down here. I like how the verse says, “The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.” The earth is satisfied with His work because He thought of everything when He created the world and all its creatures. When I think about how easily God created the world and how He thought of everything, even the smallest detail, and then made sure to provide for that detail, I feel better about the things I ask the Lord for. When I take the time to think about His marvelous creations and how he just spoke the words and the whole universe was created, then it reminds me that when I ask the Lord for things, I am not asking for too much. This is something we often think. We don't bring our little cares and worries to the Lord because we don't want to bother Him. We don't ask Him for healing for every ache and pain because we know how busy He is. The thing is, He is never too busy for anything you want to bring to Him. He is not busy because what would be impossible for us is easy for Him. He is not bound by the same worldly constraints as we are. God isn't even bound by time. All things are happening at the same time for the Lord. That means it is okay if you did not say the prayer you wanted to say for someone before they left on a trip. You can still say the prayer now, and it will help them because God sees you saying that prayer as they are going away.  I know that is a lot to wrap your head around, and we don't have to understand it perfectly. I don't actually think it is possible to fully grasp the majesty of God on this side of heaven. There is much that will remain a mystery, and we may have many questions we want to ask God once we join Him for all eternity. For now, I think it is important for all of us to know that we are not asking God for too much. He is not too busy for us to come to Him with all the little things in our lives. He cares about the small things just as much as He cares about the big things. Also, there is nothing too hard for God. Sometimes, I think we hesitate to ask God for the things we really want because we think it is too big an ask. It is too much to ask God for a complete healing of terminal cancer because the doctors said it wasn't possible. Guess what? All things are possible for God. It is not hard for God to cure terminal cancer. He can curse that cancer and can shrivel up and die. Did you know you can do this, too? You have the power of the Lord living inside of you. You have permission from God to speak with authority because of the power that lives inside of you. God wants us to come to Him with everything. Good or bad, big or small, He is our Father, and He wants to hear all about it. He also likes it when we use the power we have living inside us to help ourselves and others. Remember when I talked about how He created the camels and cactus with the ability to store water? God gave them what they needed to live in their environments. God did the same for us. He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us live in this world. This means we have all the power and the strength we need to survive this world. With the Holy Spirit inside of us, we have the wisdom and knowledge to do the right thing. We just need to ask. We have the power to heal. We just need to realize we have this power and use it. We have the power to resist sin. We just need to call on it. God created us to be the people we are, and He gave us all we need to live in this world. I know this world is crazy, and it seems to be falling apart. I know this world wants less and less to do with God. However, He knew this would happen. None of this is a surprise to the Lord, and He created you to live in this time. That means He knew all you would need, and He gave it to you. If you feel you lack anything right now, that is a lie from the enemy. Your Heavenly Father knew exactly what you would need and gave it to you. You have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead living inside of you. Rely on that power, call on that power. You are stronger than you think you are. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. We ask that you help us to see how perfectly you made us. Please help us understand how you meet all of our needs. Lord, you are amazing. You have thought of everything when you created the world. We are in awe of how perfectly you created nature to fulfill all of our needs. You are truly remarkable. Lord, we ask you to help us bring everything to you, big or small. We ask that you let us know if you want to help with everything. Help us, Lord, to discover the power we have living inside of us and help us to rely on that power more than we rely on ourselves. 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. Let's get this message out to more people. Share this episode with someone you love or someone who has been on your heart. I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “No storm, no tornado, no tsunami can uproot you from my love. In the worst of it, I stand with you. I surround you. You can never be conquered.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 2 — God Hasn't Forgotten Your Dreams Psalm 104:5-9 “You fixed the earth on its foundation, so it can never be shaken. The deeps covered it like a garment; Above the mountains stood the waters. At your rebuke, they took flight; at the sound of your thunder, they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.” Today, we pick up where we left off with Psalm 104. The verse starts by reminding us that the Lord fixed the Earth. He created all things, and He created the Earth on its foundation so it can never be shaken. That can be pretty reassuring if we let it. If we really let that sink in, the Lord has fixed the earth on its foundation so it can never be shaken. Some days, the earth seems like it is falling apart. It is good to be reassured that God is in control and that He won't allow the world to be shaken. Next, it says, “The deep covered it like a garment; Above the mountains stood the water. This sounds like it refers to the flood. When Noah was living, the people of God had turned away from Him. Genesis 6:5-8 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Next, it says, “At your rebuke, they took flight; at the sound of your thunder, they fled. They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys to the place you had fixed for them. This narrative of the Lord's control over the water can invoke a sense of awe in us, reminding us of His power and sovereignty. The Lord created the whole universe with his words. When we stop to think about that, it is amazing. The waters fled at the Lord's rebuke. How many of us can say that we speak to nature, and it listens to us? Today's verse ends with, “You set a limit they cannot pass; never again will they cover the earth.” Today's verse shows us how powerful God is and that He controls all nature. God decides where the water will go and where it will not go. It is amazing how He made the oceans, rivers, and lakes. He contained the water where He wanted it. At one point, there was water everywhere. In Genesis 1:9-10, God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” The last line of this verse also reminds us of God's promise to us: “Never again will they cover the earth.” God made this covenant with us after He flooded the Earth. He promised He would not do that again, and He gave us a rainbow as a sign of that covenant. Rainbows are still a sign of that covenant. Sometimes, God will give us a rainbow when we are struggling to believe something will really happen. I remember being in a car with some of my girlfriends once, and we were talking about how one of them really wanted to get married and have children, but it hadn't happened yet. We talked about how hard it is to keep hoping for something when you have waited too long and still don't see any signs of it on the horizon. All of a sudden, there was a beautifully full rainbow right ahead of us in the sky. We know that was God reassuring her that He knows her hopes and dreams and He will fulfill them. My friend is getting married in four days! God is so good! God can do the same for your hopes and dreams. I know hope is hard, especially if you have been waiting a long time. I know it can feel like it will never happen. I can feel like He has forgotten about you. You can be tempted to give up, hoping for what you want, and figure it just wasn't God's plan for you. I want to encourage you not to give up. I want to encourage you to keep hoping, even when it is hard and even when you feel like there is no point. God rewards persistence. He tells us this through several stories in the Bible. God wants us to keep asking. I am not sure why some things take a long time, and others happen right away. I am not sure why it seems like God is ignoring us at times. I do know that is not true. God is never ignoring us. He is always right there by our side. His attention is always aimed directly at us. The problem is that His timing is not our timing, and that sucks! We feel we know what we want, and we even are pretty sure our timing is great. However, the Lord can see things we can't see, and if we get what we want before we are ready, it won't be as good. My friend waited on God's timing and has now found the man of her dreams. God brought her a guy who gets her. They have a similar sense of humor, they both love dogs, and they are so cute together. Does it stink that she had to wait this long to meet him? Yes. Does God have a plan that is bigger than our plan? Yes. My friend did not give up on her hopes and dreams, and I hope you won't either, even if it seems impossible. Even if it seems like you missed your chance or you missed your window, if you want it, keep praying for it. God is a way maker. He can find a way where there is no way. As Matthew West would say in his new song, “Don't Stop Praying!” Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, we are in awe of your majesty. We are in awe of how you speak commands over the earth, and it listens. We are in awe of keeping the water contained where you want it. Lord, you are incredible. I love looking at this Psalm to see your majesty on display. Thank you for your covenant with us, Lord. Thank you for reminding us of that covenant when we need it. Lord, we ask that you help us not to give up hope on our hopes and dreams. We ask that you help fortify us in faith that hope in you will not disappoint. 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. I look forward to meeting some of you on Zoom this evening. It is not too late to join the mentoring, and you can be on live tonight as well. We are in week #2 of our new series. This month in mentoring, we'll explore what it means to stay connected to God amid exhaustion, disappointment, and unanswered questions. Together, we'll learn how to bring our real thoughts and emotions to Him honestly, discover His presence in the hard places, and begin finding hope again—even when life doesn't change right away. If this sounds like something you could use, there is a link to sign up at the bottom of the show notes. Mentoring is $30 a month, and you get live mentoring on Zoom Tuesday nights at 8 ET.  You will also get a recording of the session in case you weren't able to come live or you just want to watch it again. I hope you will join us! Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, don't doubt that I don't hear your prayer. Even if it's not spoken, I hear it in your sighs. I hear it in your tears. I hear it in the beat of your heart. I am always listening to you, my beloved children.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Psalm 104 Day 1 — Learning to Notice God Again Psalm 104:1-4 "Everything I am will praise and bless the Lord! O Lord, my God, your greatness takes my breath away, overwhelming me by your majesty, beauty, and splendor! You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry. You build your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot you made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind. You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” For the next few days, we are going to look at Psalm 104. Someone mentioned it at prayer group last week, and it is a beautiful Psalm that shows us how majestic the Lord is and all the amazing things He does in the world. Nature can be such a powerful place to see God's work. Sometimes, He shows off in incredible ways, and this week, we are going to take a look at some of those ways. I pray that by examining this Psalm and the ways the Lord shows off for us in Nature, we will begin to notice the Lord more in all the amazing things we see around us. Today's verse starts off by saying, “Everything I am will praise and bless the Lord!” Is this how we are praising the Lord? With everything that we have? For me, it's both yes and no. There are definitely some songs that I sing, and when I am singing those songs, I sing with everything I am. I pour my heart and soul into singing that song. The reason for this is that I resonate with the words of the song. Whatever it is about certain songs, I sing them with my whole being. I love music, and I love songs like that. How about you? Is it music for you, too, or is it something else that helps you praise the Lord with your whole being? Maybe it is nature. When you see an amazing sunset or watch the wildlife, you become overcome with praise for the Lord. Or, maybe it is your family. Whenever you spend time with them, you are overcome with gratitude for the Lord. It seems David often became overcome with Gratitude for the Lord. It seems like King David understood how amazing the Lord is and praised Him with His whole being. Next, it says, “O Lord, my God, your greatness takes my breath away, overwhelming me with your majesty, beauty, and splendor! Has this ever happened to you? The Lord has done something in your life, taking your breath away. It has definitely happened to me. There have been many moments in my life when my breath was taken away. When I got married and when I had my children, there were definitely times when the Lord took my breath away. I couldn't imagine how lucky I was for the Lord to have blessed me with a husband who loved me so much and three handsome, healthy boys. Looking at God's majesty, beauty, and splendor over my lifetime has been amazing, too! I am lucky enough to have seen not only many parts of the United States but many other countries as well. There have been so many wonderful things that we have gotten to see. One time, when we visited Scotland, we got to take a boat trip out and see The Corryvreckan Whirlpool, which is situated off the west coast of Scotland between the islands of Jura and Scarba. It is one of the largest permanent whirlpools on earth and one of the most dangerous stretches of water around the British Isles. I also lived in Turkey and visited many beautiful places there, especially Cappadocia. Cappadocia is known for its surreal landscape, sculpted over millennia by volcanic eruptions and erosion, and is a spectacle unlike any other. Towering rock formations, whimsically dubbed “fairy chimneys," dominate the horizon, creating an otherworldly atmosphere that captivates visitors. Other notable sites include Bronze Age homes carved into valley walls by troglodytes (cave dwellers) and later used as refuges by early Christians. The 100m-deep Ihlara Canyon houses numerous rock-face churches. It was breathtaking. Next, the verse says, “You wrap yourself with a shimmering, glistening light. You wear sunshine like a garment of glory. You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry.” I like this part of the verse because it reminds us that God is light.  No matter what type of darkness you are going through, God's light can shine through it. The verse says that God wraps Himself in shimmering, glistening light and that He wears sunshine like a garment of Glory. Sunshine is pretty bright, wouldn't you agree? When the sun comes up, it chases away all the darkness of the night. God does the same in our lives. When we let the sunlight in, when we agree to have God work in our lives, His light comes in and chases away the darkness. I love how this verse also says, You stretch out the starry skies like a tapestry. To me, this reminds us that even when we are in the dark of night, there is still some light. God gave us the stars in the sky. This means even when we are going through a dark time, there are still some places of bright light in all that darkness. Just like the stars are a bright light in the dark of night. Have you seen this in your life? You have been in a deep darkness, and yet there were still a few bright lights here and there that kept the darkness from overtaking you. Were there a few stars that shone a light into your darkness? Lastly, the verse says, "You build your balconies with light beams and ride as King in a chariot you made from clouds. You fly upon the wings of the wind. You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” Honestly, I wasn't sure what this last part meant. When I looked it up, it said this part is meant to demonstrate God's majestic authority. The verse says He builds His balconies with light beams and rides as King in a chariot of clouds. This is something only He can do. The next line says, “ You make your messengers into winds of the Spirit, and all your ministers become flames of fire.” Again, I was not sure what this meant. However, when I looked it up, I was fascinated to learn that Hebrews 1:7 says, “Of the angels, he says: ‘He makes his angels wind and his ministers a fiery flame.” This last part of the verse shows us that the Lord has angels, and He can use them to carry out His missions. Whether He needs winds of the Spirit or flames of fire, the angels are there eagerly waiting to carry out His plan. Isn't that amazing? You will continue to see as this week goes on how amazing our Lord is! I look forward to spending this time reviewing Psalm 104 with you in more detail and looking at various ways the Lord shows off His glory to us. The Lord is amazing, and sometimes we get so bogged down by the pressures and troubles of life that we forget to appreciate how awe-inspiring God really is! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Lord, please help us to notice your beauty and majesty in this world. Often, all we can see are the problems of our world. Help us focus on your creations in the world rather than on our mistakes and those around us. Help us to see how incredible you are, and help us to gain back the awe we once had as children. If we never had an awe-inspiring Lord, help us to learn how to live in awe of you. 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. It's not too late to participate in this month's mentoring theme, Held in the Hard: Finding God When Life Doesn't Change. Also, if you liked this episode, please share it with your friends and write a review. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “My children, when you pray to me from your heart, your prayer has extra wings. It flies faster right up to my heart. Let us be heart to heart.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for my newsletter & receive a free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace