Podcasts about dear heavenly father

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

Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes Song of Solomon 6:13b “The Shulamite Bride: Why would you seek a mere Shulamite like me? Why would you want to see my dance of love? The Bridegroom-King: Because you dance so gracefully, as though you danced with angels!” I am in love with the passion translation of this book. Let me explain quickly for those of you who, like me, don't know much about the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs is a love story between a Shulamite Bride, the Bridegroom King, and the brides-to-be, representing our interactions with the world. The Passion Translation tells you who is talking in each verse, so you don't have to guess. It is easy to understand, and it can be read like a play. It is so beautiful. If you want to read this translation for free, you can go to bible.com and search for it. Once you read it, you will be just as in love with it as I am. Remember, this is meant to be our story, too. This is how much our Lord is pursuing us, too! Limiting the verses to one or two is difficult, as this book has so many good things. I love the whole thing. However, the point of this podcast is to go deeper into the verses, so I will do my best to select a few to discuss. Today is just one verse, but a conversation between the Shulamite Bride and her Bridegroom King. The Shulamite woman is asking a question we all ask at some point. Why me? Have you ever asked yourself this question when talking to the Lord? Why would you pick me? What would you gain by working through me? What would lead you to choose me? I know I have. This was the exact question I asked the Lord when I was trying to figure out why I had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and yet could not speak/pray in tongues. I heard/felt the Lord very clearly say, “Why not you?” He is saying that to you, too. The Lord is so amazing. When we look at ourselves, all we see are our flaws. All we see are our mistakes. That is not what the Lord sees. When He looks at us, He sees the person He created us to be. When He looks at us, He sees His child. If you have children or nieces and nephews, consider how you look at them. Do you see their mistakes and flaws, or do you see the good in them? So many kids- my nieces and nephews, my boys, and their friends- don't like how they look or don't like anything about themselves. They don't feel comfortable in their own skin. I wish, more than anything, that they could see themselves through my eyes. I wish they could see how amazing they are. I could tell them, and I do, but they don't hear me. They don't believe me. I imagine this is how God feels. I imagine how we talk about ourselves and see ourselves breaks His heart. I imagine He wishes we could see ourselves through His eyes, too. Did you know this is something you can pray for? I have prayed for this for a long time, and while I am sure I don't see myself exactly like God sees me, I do see myself better than I used to. I know I am a beloved child of God. I know God loves me, and although I may still question why He would want to use me or whether He is using me, I don't question whether He loves or likes me. I know He does. I used to think the disciple John was a bit prideful or conceited, referring to himself as “the beloved disciple, or the one whom Jesus loved. Now I know that He wasn't. He could see himself a bit more through Jesus' eyes. He believed what Jesus said about him. Jesus didn't just say it about him, though. He said it about all of us. John was just able to believe it a bit more than we are. In the verse above, the Shulamite Bride asks, “Why would you seek a mere Shulamite like me? Why would you want to see my dance of love?” and the Bridegroom-King says, “Because you dance so gracefully, as though you danced with angels!” Do you see how differently the Lord sees us? Do you see the kind of gentle, loving answer we get when we ask Him to show us how He sees us or why He would pick us?  He doesn't stop there, either. He goes on for almost another chapter, saying how wonderful she is. God loves you! He really does. If you doubt this or think God couldn't possibly love you after all you have done or all that has been done to you, I assure you, He can, and He does. If you have ever wondered what it feels like to be loved or pursued by the Lord, read this book in the Bible, and you will begin to understand what it feels like. When you read this book, resist the urge to discount yourself. When you read this book, fight the feelings you will have to say that God is not talking to you. This is easy for us to do. We can easily believe that God loves others but not us. We can believe that God forgives others but not us. God loves you! God forgives you! Read this book and picture Jesus saying these things to you. Try to take them in and sit with them. Maybe you just read one chapter at a time and sit with it. Maybe you just read one paragraph and sit with it. Imagine the Lord saying these things to you. Imagine feeling these things about the Lord. If we want an intimate relationship with the Lord, reading this book might be a good start. Understanding the depths of His love for me becomes a bit more achievable when I read this translation of this book in the Bible. I hope it helps you as well. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us see your incredible love for us. Help us to believe you could be saying these things to us. Help us put ourselves in the Shulamite woman's place. Help us truly take in how much you love us, pursue us, and long for us. We love you, Lord. We want to feel this way about you. We want to long for you. We want to pursue you. We want to turn over our lives to you. We need your help, Lord. We can do all things through you and nothing without 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. 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 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 are my little cubs, and I love you so much. You will never know the depth of my love for you, but it is real. It is abiding, and it will never cease. And where I go, you will go, too. I love you 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

Learning to Be Still with God Psalm 46:10 “He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” This is no small feat.  “Be still and know that I am God.”  How difficult is it to be still?  I can't be the only person who struggles to just be still.  It seems like everything I listen to is talking about how important mediation is.  How much better you will feel if you meditate each morning before starting your day.  Have any of you tried this?  Have you ever just tried to sit there and not think of anything?  When I do this, I feel like my brain is a two-year-old child.  You know how you tell a child to do something, and they want to do anything other than that thing?  That is what my brain is like.  When I tell my brain that we are going to be still and not think of anything, it wants to do everything but that.   I will start to think of things I never thought of.  My brain will start making a grocery list, it will recite a song I haven't heard in 20 years, and question why I said that thing to that person three weeks ago.  It does everything except be quiet and not think of anything.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever tried to quiet your mind and just sit with the Lord? The other day, at a discernment meeting, we were reviewing the words from our prayer group.  At least three separate words were given that talked about how important it is to just sit and be silent with the Lord.  That meeting was on a Wednesday, and now this verse comes up: “Be still and know that I am God.”  I think God wants me to talk about being still.  I think He really wants us to get the message.   Here is one of the words that was given at the prayer group. “My children, take time to listen to me.  Listen deeply, it is my time.  When you listen, I can help you, I can heal you.  I can enrich you through my presence.  But it is in silence that I speak to you in a new and better way.  But you must take the time, ever take the time to listen to my words, to let them absorb deeply, absorb them deeply into your being so that you will know how to proceed, so that you may know how to act upon the words that I tell you.  Be joyful that I speak to you.  Take the time to listen.”   Did you catch that?  God is telling us that when we take the time to listen to Him, He can help, heal, and enrich us.  How much do we need healing?  I feel like the whole world needs healing right now.  How great would it be for God to enrich us?  Could you use a little enrichment in your life?  I wonder how many of us take the time to listen?  How many of us set aside a part of our days to just sit and listen?  God says that it is in this silence that he talks to us in a new and better way.  How great would that be?  I am definitely on board for having my Heavenly Father talk to me in a new and better way.  I want to hear what He says and absorb His words deeply.  Who wouldn't want God's words to direct their way?   Who wouldn't want Him to help them know how to act? All of that sounds amazing.  Then I remember that I struggle to sit and be quiet.  God is asking us to listen, but what do we do when we can't listen, when we can't seem to quiet our minds? Then what do we do?  Do we miss out on all God has to say?  Do we miss out on his direction?  If He comes to us in the silence and heals us, then what happens when we don't make the time to be silent?  As I said earlier, this same word was given in at least three different ways in this one month.  I have no doubt that God can heal us anytime, anywhere.  He doesn't need anything from us to do His thing.  And yet, He took the time to give this message three different times.  I don't think He would have done this if it was not important.  So, what can we do with this message?   I think it is important to learn to be silent and to listen for His Word.  If your Heavenly Father tells you to do something, you do it.  Doing new things is hard.  Developing new habits is hard, and yet they are always worth it in the end.  There are many ways that you can learn to be silent and listen to the Lord.  I talked about one already.  You can sit still and try to clear your mind.  When something comes up that distracts you, just acknowledge it and try to clear your mind again.  You could start small.  Maybe just take 5 minutes a day and sit in silence.  You don't have to do anything.  It sounds like God just wants you to be available.   I think I get stuck because I am sitting there trying to quiet my mind and expecting to hear God's voice.  That is not really how it works, or at least hasn't worked that way for me.  It's not usually a voice its usually a thought that comes into my mind.   For instance, at the prayer group, I will tell the Lord that I am available if He wants to share anything with me.  Then a thought will come into my mind, and I will share it.  I don't question it. I told the Lord I was available, and so I trust that what comes to mind is something He wants shared.   Another way you could be silent and listen for God's word is to ask the Lord to speak through your pen, then sit quietly and write down whatever thoughts come to mind.  This is a particularly good way to quiet your mind and listen when you struggle to just sit still.  This helps keep you from distractions a little more because you are busy writing whatever comes to mind.  When I do this, I do not question what I am thinking; I just write it all down.  Again, I have asked God to talk through my pen, and I trust He is doing just that.   A really powerful way to sit with the Lord and quiet your mind is to go to Eucharistic Adoration.  This is when you are sitting in the presence of the Lord and quieting your mind.  If you have not tried this before, I suggest you give it a try.  It is such an amazing feeling.  Another helpful thing when you are trying to learn to quiet your mind and listen is to enter it with fewer expectations.  The only expectation necessary is that God will show up.  The rest of our expectations can actually get in the way of our experience.  If we expect that we will hear God's voice, that He will speak to us in our thoughts, or that we will feel His presence, we may be disappointed.  God said that it is in the silence that He heals us.  This can be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or other forms of healing.  He also said He speaks to us in a new and better way.   Sometimes you may take the time to listen, and you don't feel anything happen.  You don't hear any words, get any new thoughts, or feel any healing.  You feel exactly the same as you did before you sat still with the Lord for 5 minutes.  This is totally normal.  Please don't worry that you did something wrong.  Trust that if you gave God the time, He showed up and did His thing.  The more you take the time to show up for God and quiet your mind, the more He will show up in that time.  You won't always feel it when He is healing you.  He may not always have something to say, but the more you practice listening, the better you will become at hearing Him.  Can you take 5 minutes today and quiet your mind and give God the space He wants to enter in and heal you? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  We ask that you help us to quiet our minds and listen to you, Lord.  We ask that you help us figure out how to make you a priority.  Help us set aside some time every day to quietly listen to you.  Help us to give you that time in silence so that you can enter in and heal us, oh Lord.  Lord Jesus, you are so amazing, and we are so grateful for all that you do.  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 this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you know someone who feels far from God or unsure where to start, this episode might be exactly what they need. Take a moment and share it with them. I look forward to meeting 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 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 took each of you to the cross with me. Your sins were vanquished on that day. Each of you are my pride and my joy.” 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

He is Series - God of Reconstruction - When Life Feels Like It's Falling Apart, God Is Rebuilding You Ezekiel 36:36 “ Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.” I was planning to finish the He Is Series today, on the 30th day, with the name King of Kings. I thought that was a great way to complete the series. However, my good friend Rosa, who reads the Spanish translation, had a vision, and He said to her, “I am a God of Reconstruction.” I knew after hearing about her vision that we needed to include this in our series. How many of us could use a God of Reconstruction right now? Let me share her vision with you first so you know what we are talking about. Here is what she said, “I had a vision. The Lord showed me that we were looking at ruins and rubble. We were dwelling on the destruction , desolation, and calamity. The Lord said: I'm a God of reconstruction!! I am actively using periods of brokenness or "rubble" to rebuild you to be stronger and more purpose-driven. I restore broken lives, hearts, people, families, marriages, and nations. With my restoring power, I rebuild, reconcile, and bring new life out of ruins. I don't just fix broken parts; I rebuild from the ground up, making the new creation stronger, wiser, and more radiant. The ultimate goal of this reconstruction is for you to become more like Me, to remove the old construction that is no longer needed.” Wow, how many of us needed to hear that today? How many of us needed to hear that God was using this time of brokenness to rebuild us and make us stronger? How many of us feel broken right now? We are struggling with health. We feel like God has just walked away from us since we feel so broken. Yet, here God is saying, “I am using this time to make you stronger.” He has not abandoned you. He has not left you to fend for yourself. He has not forgotten about you. He is with you in this illness, and He can use even this to make you stronger. The same is true for those of us who might be healthy, but we are struggling with money problems, family problems, work issues, whatever it may be. God is telling us that even in this time of brokenness in our families, He can work to make us stronger.  I know it doesn't look that way. What it often looks like is a mess. It looks like we are in this alone, and we can't seem to get out of it. It often looks like everything is falling down around us, and we might get buried. Let's look at the analogy of a house being renovated. When a house is being renovated, it often looks worse before it looks better. Walls are torn down, things are messy, and it can feel like everything is falling apart. But the builder isn't destroying the house—he's rebuilding it so it's stronger, safer, and more beautiful than before. In this vision, the Lord even said, “I don't just fix broken parts; I rebuild from the ground up, making the new creation stronger, wiser, and more radiant.” What we are going through is hard and messy, and we all wish we could skip it. However, what if even this hard part can be used by God to help us become a new creation? What if the walls that are being torn down are our walls of self-reliance? What if the walls we built to protect ourselves are not only keeping us from getting hurt but also keeping out all the light and love? What if even the painful parts we're going through right now can be used to break down our pride so we can be humble and accept the Lord's help? The last line in her vision said, “The ultimate goal of this reconstruction is for you to become more like Me, to remove the old construction that is no longer needed.” I wonder how different our suffering would be if we knew this statement were true? Would it make your difficult times easier to go through if you knew that the ultimate goal was for us to become more like the Lord? Would it be easier to step out of our comfort zone if we knew it was no longer needed? What I mean by this is, would it be easier to tear down the walls around your heart if you knew you were safe and they were no longer needed? Would it be easier for you to get through each day with your sickness if you knew that on the other side of it, you would be more like the Lord? I think it is so important for each one of us to know that there is no situation that is too badly ruined for the Lord to fix. I know you may feel like you will never be healthy again, but God can restore your health. He can restore your family. He can restore your finances. And as the Lord stated in the vision, He doesn't just repair them, he makes a new creation that is stronger, wiser, and more radiant than the first one. God didn't bring this brokenness into your life—but He will not waste it. He is already working on it, rebuilding something stronger. How many of us could use a little restoration in our lives? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode. God of Reconstruction, thank you for all you are doing to rebuild our lives. You are not only restoring them but also reconstructing them to be better than before. Thank you that even in this time of brokenness, You are making us stronger. We want more of you and less of us. Please help us Lord! We ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to share it with one person who might need this today? You never know how God might use it in their life. 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, “All my love spilled out on the planet Earth, the home I made for you. Look at the beauty about you and know that it is me speaking my love to you and washing you in my abiding love. I will always wash you. Come walk with me in steadfastness.” 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

He Is Series — Lamb of God - When You Feel Ashamed, Jesus Already Paid for It  John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus is the Lamb of God. Do we really understand what this means? This means that God sacrificed his only son so that we would be freed from our sins. Why do we say He was a lamb? In the Old Testament, people sacrificed a spotless lamb. This symbolized innocence, purity, and payment for sin. The lamb took the place of the person. Jesus fulfills this completely. He is perfect, sinless, and innocent. In the Old Testament, there is a long list of sacrifices people were supposed to make for various sins. There were many different types of sacrifices to atone for our sins, and they were spelled out very clearly. However, when Jesus came, all that changed. And instead of many sacrifices over and over again. Jesus became the final sacrifice—once and for all. When Jesus died on the cross and then rose again, He defeated evil once and for all. He defeated death once and for all. We tend to forget this. We worry about our sins because we love God, and we don't want to be separated from Him. Yet we are sure that what we did is too awful to be forgiven. We think we are not worthy of forgiveness. We don't deserve it. What is really strange is that we will be the first ones to tell our friends and loved ones that all they have to do is say sorry and ask God for forgiveness, and He will forgive them. It is easy for us to believe this with our whole mind, body, and soul for other people. Yet for us, we don't believe it can be true. Not with all we have done. Jesus died for all of our sins. Not just some of them. Not just the little sins. He took all of our sins, our shame, our regret to the cross with Him. I know you don't feel worthy, and the truth is, we aren't worthy, not on our own. That is why Jesus died on the cross for us. Ever since the betrayal in the Garden of Eden, there has been a separation between God and us. We weren't worthy to talk to Him or to be with Him. God didn't like this, though. He didn't like the separation. This is why Jesus came to die on the cross. He died and rose again so our sins would be forgiven and we could live in eternity with God. What does this mean for us? You don't have to carry your sin anymore. So many of us feel shame, guilt, “I'm not good enough.” But we don't have to because Jesus already took all that away from us. All we have to do is release them to Him. He didn't die for everyone else's sin, but not yours. Even if you were the only person on the planet, He would have still died on that cross for you. You are not defined by your past because the price has already been paid. Not partially. Not conditionally. Paid in full with Jesus's blood. This is a big one because it can be so easy to identify with who we used to be. The enemy will whisper in our ears that we can't change. If we could, we would have already. He likes to remind us of who we are so that we never forget. Just because you once were that person doesn't mean you still are that same person. People can change. You can change. Tony and I were really struggling in our marriage, and God came in and changed us. We are not the same people we were back then. You are not the same person you were in middle school or high school. We all change, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But we do change. Your past does not have to define you. It will try, but if you are strong and you stand up to your past, it will not define you. God is not waiting to punish you. The punishment has already been taken. This means God isn't against you. God is for you! Another line in the song “Drops in the Ocean” says, “'Cause I am for you, I'm not against you.” God was never against us. Even when we were separated from Him when sin entered the world, He was still always there with us. When the Israelites were escaping Egypt, God was with them. Exodus 13:21-22 says, “The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. You are invited into a relationship, not a performance. You don't have to earn it, prove yourself, or clean yourself up first. God wants you to be in relationship with Him. There is nothing you can do to earn God's love. He gives it freely. He has loved you since before you were born, and He will continue to love you long after your body dies. You are deeply loved. The cross says: “You were worth this.” There is a song called “Drops in the Ocean,” and it is sung by Hawk Nelson. There is so much that I love about this song. I highly recommend you check it out. However, the part I just thought of while talking about the cross is the chorus. It says: “If you want to know how far my love can go Just how deep, just how wide If you want to see how much you mean to me Look at my hands, look at my side If you could count the times I say you are forgiven It's more than the drops in the ocean.” I love that! It is so true. If we want to know how much God loves us and how much Jesus loves us, we can just look at his hands, which had nails driven through them for us. Look at His side. He was lanced with a spear for our sins. God sent His only Son to die on a cross for us. Jesus voluntarily died on a cross for our sins. It is not as if Jesus didn't know why He was dying on the cross. Scripture tells us that while He was in the garden, thinking about all He would endure and all the sins He was taking to the cross, He sweated drops of blood. He knew all you were going to do, and He went to that cross anyway. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Thank you so much for sending your son to be the Lamb of God. Thank you for His sacrifice that saved our lives. Thank you for loving us that much! Lord, we ask that you help us accept that sacrifice. We ask that you help us see that our sins have already been forgiven. You are not holding on to them. You are not punishing us for them. You are not keeping us separated from you. Help us to know how loved we truly are. Help us to feel it, Lord! We love you you and we ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If something in you has been wanting more of God—more closeness, more depth, more understanding—I want to personally invite you to join my mentoring group. Each month, we're diving deeper into our faith and learning how to actually live it out in our everyday lives. And you don't have to do that alone. We meet live on Zoom, and it's a beautiful, supportive space where you can grow, ask questions, and connect with others who are on the same journey. If your heart is stirring, I encourage you to follow that. You can find the link in the show notes or visit walkboldlywithjesus.com to learn more. 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, “I am your life's companion. I walk with you each and every day. My heart cannot be contemplated, my children. Reflect on each step you take, and I tell you that you take it with me. I accept you right where you're at. Don't try to understand the vastness of my love for you. Just believe, I tell you, that it is true. ” 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

He Is Series Wonderful Counselor — When You Don't Know What to Do, God Will Guide You Isaiah 9:6 “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” I love today's name, Wonderful Counselor. I think this is an often-overlooked name of the Lord. Many of us would not hesitate to go to the Lord if we are sick or if we have a loved one who is sick. Especially if their prognosis doesn't look good. If we have nowhere else to turn, most of us, even some people who don't really believe in God, will turn to God when they feel they have nowhere else to turn. If they are desperate enough. What I didn't always know is that we can go to the Lord seeking advice or wisdom. I always knew I could pray to the Lord for the things I needed. My mom and dad had a lot of children, and they did not have a lot of money, so I got to see firsthand how God provides for us when we ask. I am glad we did not have a lot of money because if we had, I would have missed out on seeing all those miracles. However, I didn't know that I could sit and talk with God and He would talk back. I didn't know that you could have a two-way conversation with the Lord. This was life-changing for me. While I was in the Encounter School of Ministry program, I heard a testimony about a mom who went to the Lord seeking wisdom. You see, she had returned home from work one night to find her teenage son watching pornography. She was so angry and hurt and didn't really know what to say or do. She knew how she handled this was important, but she wasn't sure the best way to do it. She told him to go to bed for the night, and they would talk about it in the morning. Then she got on her knees and asked the Lord for Wisdom. She asked the Lord to guide her in how to handle the situation. While she was sitting there talking with the Lord and praying for wisdom, the Lord gave her an idea. When she talked with her son, she told him that he needed to create a back story of what he thinks that young woman's life must have been like growing up to make her go into that line of work. He had to sit down and write a paper for his mom explaining what he thinks that young woman's life was like. He wrote the paper, and they talked about it, and he said he never wanted to watch pornography again. He said he felt bad for the people who felt like they had to do that as a profession. If she had yelled at him and grounded him, do you think it would have had the same results? When I yell at and ground my kids, I find they don't sit in their rooms and think about what they have done. They usually sit in their rooms, think about how terrible a person I am for grounding them, get angry, and their behavior rarely changes. God knows our children, God knows us, God sees everything, even the stuff we can't see. God knew what would change her son's heart. And what will change her son's heart is not the same as what will change your child's heart. This is why it is important to go to the Lord rather than to all the other places we turn for answers. I had a lot of trouble raising my kids. They all had very different issues, and they seemed to be problems that no one else was facing. Although this is not true, this is what the enemy wants you to think. I read so many parenting books, took classes, and asked all the experts. I tried to do everything I could to be the best mom I could be to these three boys the Lord gave me to care for. Do you know what I didn't do? I didn't go to the Lord to ask for wisdom or advice. To be fair to myself, I did spend time praying to the Lord and journaling. I thought this was bringing it to the Lord. I thought I was seeking the Lord. I went to a MCCW retreat in 2017, and I was having quiet time with the Lord, and I heard him say to me, " You are not coming to me. I was confused because, as I said, I was coming to the Lord for prayer. He acknowledged, yes, you are coming to me to ask for things, you might even ask me what you should do, but you never wait long enough for me to answer before you move on to something else. You ask me what you should do, but instead of staying with me, keeping still and listening, you get up, and you read a book, you ask a friend, you take a class. You don't wait to see what I have to say. What just occurred to me, I am sure, is that the Holy Spirit brought it to my attention: God is the perfect one to give us advice on what would work for each of our kids, because He created them. He knit them together in my womb. I always used to say that I wish kids came with an instruction manual. Not a generic one, but a separate one for each child that explained what would and would not work for that child. That explained what they could and could not do. What they liked and didn't like. That is all the information we can get from the Lord. If we seek his counsel, He can help us know what will and won't work best for our sons and daughters. The same goes for our siblings, our spouse, our co-workers, and our boss. They were all created by the same creator. He knows what they need, what they want, and how they function best. I liked this name when I found it because it is so eye-opening. God is a wonderful Counselor. We can go to Him when we need advice. We can go to Him when we aren't sure what we should do. There are many ways He can communicate His answers to us. Some people ask God a question, and then they receive a thought from the Lord. Sometimes, they might just get a strong feeling of what they should do. Sometimes they might get a scripture verse, and when they read it, they know what they should do. Sometimes it might be something someone else says to them, and they might just know that God is speaking to them through that person. There are no limits to how God can talk to you and share with you the answer to your question or the wisdom that you seek. If you are struggling with something right now. If you have a problem you have been trying to solve on your own, I want to invite you to find some time to sit down with the Lord and ask Him what you should do. Then stay there with Him and just listen for his answer. Notice if you suddenly have an idea of how to solve it. Notice, if you feel a certain way, or you think of a scripture verse. Just notice your thoughts and feelings. Be on the lookout for the answer, as God has told us over and over again, when we ask, He answers, when we seek, we find. So, ask and listen for the answer. If you don't feel like you receive anything in that moment, that is ok, you didn't do it wrong, He just doesn't always answer right away. Just seek the answer out as you go through the day. Seek, and you will find! Trust that He will answer, and He will! I have seen it happen many times. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we are so grateful for all you do for us. Thank you for being our wonderful counselor. Thank you for guiding us as we try to navigate this crazy place we call the world. Thank you for giving us wisdom when we need it. Thank you for helping us to parent our children. Thanks for guiding us on how to get along better with our siblings or our co-workers. Whatever it is, Lord, I know you are taking care of it, and we are so grateful! We love you tons!! We ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I always say—Don't keep good things to yourself. If this blessed you, pass it along to someone else who might need it too. 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, “Peace be with you, my children. Peace I give you. A peace that flows from my heart to yours. A peace that I knew when I spent time in prayer with my father. One that gave me the courage to go on when things seemed overwhelming. A peace that passes anything that man can understand or know. A peace that only I can give. Open your hearts to receive it. Open your minds to believe it. Open all you are to me. Receive the peace I give 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

He is Series: True Vine “When You Feel Disconnected, Stay Close to Jesus.” John 15:1-2, 5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” In this series, we've been learning the different names of God—who He is and how He meets us. And today, we're going to look at a name Jesus gives Himself, because Jesus is God, and He reveals the heart of God to us in a personal way. When I first read verse one, I didn't understand what it meant. Which, now that I see the two verses together, this is something I have heard a lot, and I do understand it. I think this often happens when we look at just one verse. We can take it out of context, or we can misunderstand what it means when it is not paired with the surrounding verses. Jesus is our vine, and God is the vinegrower. God removes every branch in us that bears no fruit. This can be really hard for us. Have you ever had God remove something from your life that you knew wasn't bearing fruit in your life, and yet it still hurt? The first thing that comes to mind for me is a guy I dated back in high school and in my early college years. I knew our relationship was not bearing fruit. I knew we were not right for each other, and yet it hurt when it ended. Sometimes this can be a friendship or a job. God loves us so much that He doesn't want to see us wasting our lives on things that are not fruitful. Sometimes, it is not just that they are fruitful, but also that they are harmful. If you think back over your life, can you see some times where God removed branches from your tree that were not bearing fruit? Can you see where he removed you from a toxic relationship? Can you see where he removed you from a job where you weren't going anywhere? Can you see where he put up roadblocks or closed doors that you really wanted to walk through? He does not do this to hurt us. He does this to save us. He does this because he knows that path was leading us somewhere we didn't want to be. In the moment when God removes things from our lives, we usually don't understand. It is usually painful and confusing, and we can often get mad. We can feel like God doesn't care about us. We feel as though He wasn't there with us through it all because we don't feel Him there. Usually, down the road, sometimes way down the road, and sometimes just a little ways down the road, we start to understand why God removed that person or that situation from our lives, and we are usually grateful. But, at first, it hurts. I know it does. God doesn't do it to hurt us. He does it because He loves us too much to watch us ruin our lives, or even worse, if we are doing something that could keep us from spending eternity with him. The next part of the verse says, “Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.” We do have good things in our lives. I know it may not seem like it at times. It may feel like the whole world is against you and that nothing is going right. However, we all have things in our lives that are bearing fruit. God takes those things, and He prunes them to make them bear more fruit. This can also be painful at times because when God is purifying us, it doesn't always feel good. Gold and Silver are purified in fire. We are purified while we live our lives. When God is removing bad things from our lives, He is purifying us. Sometimes, He also purifies us through things that aren't bad but can still be hard. God might be helping you bear more fruit by showing you where you need to grow in your life. He might be convicting your heart that you need to forgive someone. This is not to make you feel bad; it is to help open you up to more of His graces. He may be inviting you to start your mornings with Him. He may be inviting you to daily mass or to say the rosary each day. There are all kinds of ways that God can be pruning your branches. God prunes all of our branches so that we can bear more fruit. Another way God can help you bear more fruit is to put on your heart to volunteer with a certain organization. He can lead you to a job you would have never thought of before. He can put people in your path who need whatever skills you have. He can put you in the right place at the right time. God knows what He is doing. He formed us, He created us, He knit us together in our mother's womb. He is the perfect person to prune us and to help us bear more fruit. All we need to do is listen and cooperate with Him. So far we have talked about how God removes what is not good for us and prunes what is good for us so that it bears more fruit. What we haven't talked about yet is probably the most important part of the passage. In John 15:5 is says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” This means that everything we need—our strength, our peace, our ability to grow—comes from staying connected to Him. Just like a branch cannot survive without the vine, we cannot thrive without Jesus. This is important for us to know because when we are struggling, we tend to try to fix things on our own. We try to be strong, we try to hold it all together, we try to be the one to do all the things. This verse is showing us that we can't do it on our own. No one can. We all need to turn to Jesus, and He will help us. It is also important to remember that when we feel disconnected, it's not about trying harder—it's about coming back to Him. Jesus is the True Vine, and we were never meant to do life on our own. When we stay close to Him, everything we need begins to flow. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Thank you for being the True Vine. Lord, we ask that you keep us attached to you. Help us to not wander away. Help us not to rely on our own strength or efforts. Help us to be close to you every single day. We need you, Lord! 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. If your life feels full, busy, maybe even overwhelming… and your relationship with God keeps getting pushed to the side… I see you. This mentoring space is designed to help you gently bring God back into your everyday life—without pressure, without perfection. If that's something your heart needs right now, I'd love to invite you to join us. The link is in the show notes or at walkboldlywithjesus.com. 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, “I hear your praises, and it gives me great delight. You are my beloved. I've given you many blessings. Bring my blessings to others, to all that you meet in your day. Let them know how much I love them. I yearn for them.” 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 you're reading along, just know this has been slightly shortened to fit the space, so it might not match the audio word for word—but you're not missing anything important. He Is Series: Bread of Life — When You Feel Empty, Jesus Is What You've Been Missing  John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life.' Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus is the Bread of Life. This was a very hard concept for people to understand. How can Jesus be the Bread of Life? Bread was a staple food in the ancient world, symbolizing sustenance and life. Jesus is telling us that He is our sustenance. He is the one who keeps us alive. He is explaining that we need more than physical sustenance—we also need spiritual sustenance. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God gave them manna, bread from heaven. This met their physical needs. It was a miraculous food sent daily so they would have enough to eat. But it didn't give eternal life. Eating manna did not prevent them from dying. However, Jesus is the bread of life, and He can give eternal life. Jesus says in John 6:47-51: “Whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna and died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread… whoever eats of this bread will live forever.” This reminds me of the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus said in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst.” We see a pattern: eternal life comes from God. God gives us what we need each day. Yet we often don't go to Him. We search elsewhere—for success, money, love, acceptance—and end up disappointed. We are all searching for something, and we will keep searching until we find Jesus. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” We try to fill this emptiness with things of the world—relationships, work, pleasure—but nothing satisfies. We expect others to meet all our needs, but they can't. They weren't meant to. God alone can fulfill our deepest desires. We work hard to feel worthy, looking for validation, when in reality we are already worthy because of what Jesus did on the cross. We feel unfulfilled, unworthy, unloved—and we look to the world to fix it. But it can't. We can't even perfectly love each other. We want to give, but we're often empty ourselves. Do you see how we are set up to fail if we rely on the world? Jesus is our daily bread. He is living water. We need to go to Him when we feel empty, unworthy, or when our needs aren't being met. And yes—you can go to God for practical needs too. We pray for healing, jobs, and peace—but we can also pray for food, money, clothing, or anything we need. God cares about everything that matters to you. Let me share a couple of stories. I am one of 11 children. We didn't have much money growing up. One day, my parents agreed to watch 10 extra kids, but there wasn't enough food. They prayed—and a neighbor showed up with groceries, enough pasta to feed everyone. While thanking God, they mentioned meat would help. In the middle of that prayer, another neighbor arrived with extra meat from hunting. God provided everything. Another time, my dad's car broke down. He needed it for work. That night, a neighbor knocked on the door and handed him car keys—just gave him a car. No payment, no expectation. God is so good! God can do this for you too. He is the Bread of Life. He is always there. When we are in need, we can turn to Him, knowing He sees us and will provide what we truly need. We need to stop trying to fill our needs with the world. People, jobs, money—none of these can satisfy us. Jesus is the only one who can. And He doesn't just give us what we need—He gives us Himself. When we receive Him, that deep hunger inside us is finally filled. Just like we need bread every day, we need Jesus every day—not just once, but continually. Dear Heavenly Father, bless all those listening today. Thank you for sending Jesus as the Bread of Life and Living Water. Help us turn to you instead of the world. Help us see that only you can fill our hearts. We love you and ask this in Jesus's name, Amen. Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. We are building a community of people who want to live their faith boldly. If you know someone who belongs here, share this episode with them. I look forward to seeing 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 questions, email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is:“I see a very large, living heart, burning with love—the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Your hearts are within mine. We beat as one. You love with mercy, power, and purity. My heart lives in 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

Episode #1208 He Is Series – Adonai (Lord/Master) — When You Don't Understand God's Ways but Still Long to Trust Him Isaiah 40:10 “See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.” The name Adonai means “Lord” or “Master.” It means God has authority over our lives—but not in a harsh or distant way. He is a loving Lord, a good Master who leads, protects, and cares for His people. In this verse, Isaiah says, “The Sovereign Lord comes with power, and He rules with a mighty arm.” I think we can all agree that we like the part about God coming with power. Many of us have seen God's power in our lives. And if we haven't noticed it, it may just be that we haven't been looking—because God is always at work. But the part that says He “rules with a mighty arm” can feel harder to understand. It can even feel intimidating at first. When we read the Old Testament, we see moments where God corrects His people. Not because He is harsh, but because He is leading them. He is teaching them how to trust Him and how to live in the freedom He created them for. For example, in Numbers 21, the Israelites complained and spoke against God and Moses. They had seen God perform miracles—He had freed them, provided for them, and stayed with them in the wilderness—yet they still struggled to trust Him. There were consequences. But even in that, we see God's mercy. When the people turned back to Him, He provided a way for them to be healed. We see something similar in Numbers 13 and 14, when the Israelites were afraid to enter the promised land. Even though God had promised to give it to them, they doubted Him. Again, there were consequences—not because God wanted to harm them, but because He was forming them. He was teaching them what it means to trust Him as their Lord. This is what it means for God to be Adonai. He is not just powerful—He is Lord. He has authority over our lives. But His authority is not something to fear. It is something we can trust. Just like a loving parent sets boundaries for their children, God gives us guidance so we can grow, learn, and live the life He created for us. God is just, and He tells us how He wants us to live. Then He lovingly gives us the choice whether to follow His ways. If we choose not to, there are consequences. Not because He wants to punish us, but because that is how we learn. If there were no consequences, we wouldn't really have free will—God would be choosing for us. The next part of the verse brings so much hope: “See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.” Even though God rules with authority and lovingly corrects us, He also rewards us when we live according to His will. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard… what God has prepared for those who love him.” The verse also says His recompense accompanies Him. Recompense means to make up for loss or harm—to restore. I love this. I love the idea that God restores what we have lost and rewards what we have endured for Him. Romans 8:17 reminds us that if we suffer with Christ, we will also be glorified with Him. We suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to that. Yes, there may be suffering here, but it is temporary compared to eternity with Him. Trust in the Lord. He comes with power, and He will reward you for your faithfulness. Adonai is not just the Lord over our lives—He is the Lord we can trust with our lives. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening today. Lord, thank you for being a just and loving God. Thank you for giving us clear direction. Help us follow your ways. Help us see when we are about to make a mistake and give us the strength to stop. Lord, you are amazing, and we thank you for all you do for us. We love you and ask this 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 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, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I am the Lord, there is no other. I am the beginning and the end.” 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

He is Series Day #13 Or HaOlam (Light of the World)— When the Darkness Feels Heavy, and You Just Need Light  Psalm 18:28 “It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.” This is one of the verses that is great to copy down somewhere and look at often.  This is a great verse to refer to when you are in times of trouble or when you are confused as to what you should do.  It is a short verse, so it is easy to memorize.  Whenever we are struggling or feeling like we need some direction, Scripture is a great place to turn to.  There are so many answers and reassurances to be found in the Bible.  The problem can sometimes be that we don't know where to find those answers.  This is why it is a good idea when we hear a verse that we think can provide us comfort, we write it down somewhere we can easily find it again when we need it.   This verse talks about how God lights our lamp.  He lights up our darkness.  You are not an exception to this.  Are you currently going through a dark time in your life?  Are you struggling with something and wondering if you will ever get through it?  I have so many friends who feel like they are in a really dark place right now. Many are chronically ill, and they are so tired of being sick. It seems like it is never-ending.  I also have friends who are struggling with money and with basic needs, and they don't know what to do. Do you know someone going through a similar darkness? This seems to be a very difficult time for so many of us. We all feel so alone, and yet when we are brave enough to talk about what we are going through, we find out that we are not alone. I hope this verse can bring them and you a lot of comfort.  They are not in this darkness alone, and neither are you.  The Lord is with you.  He is always with you.  There is never a time when you are going through anything alone.  God is with you each and every step of the way.  He will never abandon you.  Sometimes, when we are in the darkness, it is hard to see the light.  I am sure that when my friends are up late at night and in pain or worried about finances, they feel alone in the darkness.  I am sure they are wondering if it will ever end.  Yes, it will end.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is our Lord. Or HaOlam, The Lord is our light.  When you are in a period of darkness or when you are unsure what to do, turn to the Lord, and He will light the way.  Sometimes, he will shine a bright light and provide some sort of solution that renews your hope and brightens your whole day.  Other times, he may just shine a flashlight.  He may not illuminate the whole way forward.  He might just give you the next right step, and then He doesn't illuminate the next step until you take that first one.  This can be frustrating.  We often want to know the whole plan before we take any steps forward.  Moving forward on our journey, one step at a time, takes a lot of faith.  Where is the path leading us?  What if we start down it and then we don't like where we are going?  We hesitate to take that first step because we are afraid. The Lord has our best interests at heart.  He would not lead us down the wrong path.  He has amazing things planned for each one of us, but we have to be brave enough to keep taking the next right step, even when we can't see where our steps are leading.  Even if we feel like we are walking in the dark.  The Lord is our light.  Do you know where all of our fear and questioning comes from?  The enemy!  He puts these questions in our hearts because he is afraid of what would happen if we all followed the Lord's light.  Can you imagine if everyone on earth were following the Lord and living up to the potential that God gave them?  Imagine what an amazing world this would be to live in if we all just did the next right thing. The enemy has imagined that, and it didn't make him happy.  He loves it when we are at odds with one another.  I am sure he and the rest of his evil spirits have been celebrating a lot over these last few years.  The way we have been treating our fellow Americans over the last few years is crazy.  I am sure it is not just the last few years; I know racism has been a problem since the creation of the country.  However, these last few years, everything seems to have spiked.  The country is so divided on so many issues.  It reminds me of Luke 12:52-53, which says, " From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”   Why are we so at odds with one another?  Because the enemy wants us to be.  He is a liar and a troublemaker.  He whispers things in our ears all the time.  Our loved one can say something to us that isn't a big deal, and yet we can blow it up into a huge thing, all because the enemy tells us we shouldn't let them get away with it, or he keeps reminding us of it over and over again. He may point out annoying things about those around us just to keep us arguing.  He points out the differences between us and everyone else rather than showing us how we are alike.  The enemy is awful, and we can't let him into our minds.  It says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” This verse shows us how to live in the light God provides.  It reminds us that we are not really fighting ourselves; we are fighting the enemy and all his evil spirits.  The verse is also reassuring because it says that our powers are not merely human but can destroy strongholds.  Does the enemy have any strongholds against you?  Is there something he has been telling you for a long time that you keep believing?  Or maybe it is an illness or an addiction, and the enemy keeps feeding you all kinds of lies about how it is never going to go away.  He may be telling you God can't take it from you or God won't take it from you.  The enemy may be telling you that you have always been like this, so you will always be like this.  Don't believe him; the enemy is a liar. This verse tells us how to defeat the enemy.  It says, “We take every thought captive to obey Christ.”  Take your thoughts captive.  Right now, the enemy has hijacked a lot of our thoughts and is feeding us misinformation.  He is taking some kernel of truth and twisting it to fit his purpose of dividing all of us, turning us against each other, and convincing us that the Lord doesn't love us.  We need to stop listening to him, take captive our thoughts, and remember that our God lights up our darkness.  It is the Lord who lights my lamp.  God will light your path and show you which way to go.  He will help you make your decisions if you ask Him.  This is where a lot of us go wrong.  We forget to stop and ask the Lord what He thinks we should do.  I am not a betting person, but if I were, I would bet you that if you stopped and asked the Lord what you should do before you made any big decisions, you would see Him in your life so much more.  He is right there, waiting for an invitation to lead you to the life you have always been waiting for.  Are you ready to invite Him in?  Are you ready to trust Him, even if you can see only the next right step and don't know the final destination? Are you ready to finally step into the light? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Or HaOlam, help us to follow you, wherever you are leading us.  Help us to invite you into our decisions.  Actually, Lord, let's invite you in right now.  Lord, we invite you into our decisions, and we ask you to guide us in all future decisions we need to make.  Let us know what you want us to do, and then give us the strength to do what is right, even if it is hard and even if that is not what we want to do.  Lord, light our way and shine a light so brightly that we can't do anything else except follow it.  You are so wonderful, and you always save us, even when we do the wrong thing.  We are so grateful for all the times you shone a light through the darkness.  We wouldn't have gotten through it without that light.  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 again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I. God is for you, not against you. 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 see this golden path or rug. It's gold, and it's very shiny. And Jesus is at the head of the path. And all of us are white, and there's a great crowd staying on that golden path with him. We're all pure white.” 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

He Is Series #10 Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace) Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Today's name for the Lord is Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is peace. We often hear that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and this is just reinforcing that for us. This verse reminds us that the peace of God transcends all understanding and will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I know firsthand how powerful the peace of God can be. I have experienced it many times before. Raising my boys has not been easy. I don't think raising any kids is easy, but we have had challenges that I hope most people don't have to face. I was in the middle of one of these challenges when the Lord gave me this verse, so I want to share that experience with you to help you see how God can bring you peace no matter what you are facing. One night, I knew it was going to be a long night, and so I decided, while it was quiet, I would write a devotional. I only got as far as asking the Lord for a scripture verse that would get me through the night. One that was just what I needed for the situation I was in. When I have done this before, I have had my Bible with me, and I would ask the Lord a question, then ask Him to show me the answer in His Word. Then I would randomly open the Bible and read the pages until I found my answer. Tonight I didn't have my Bible. I mean, I could have gone upstairs to get it, but honestly, I didn't really have the energy to move. So, I wondered how I could randomly search an online Bible, as I did have my computer. I decided to type into the search bar “A scripture verse to help me make it through the night.” And I told the Lord that He knew my exact circumstances, and I asked if He could give me the verse I needed to read or hear. Today's verse is the one that appeared in the search results. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I laughed at first because I thought that was a pretty tall order. Not being anxious in this situation was definitely difficult, as one of my sons was making poor choices, and there wasn't much we could do about it. However, when I really thought about it, I realized I wasn't anxious. I was mad, and I was sad, but I wasn't anxious. This reminded me of a conversation I was having with a friend the day before. When I told her all that was happening, she asked how I was dealing with it all. She asked how I was getting out of bed in the morning. I stopped and thought about it, and the answer was through the grace of God. This is not just something I was saying because I didn't know what else to say. I truly meant it. I could look at the situation and know that God's grace was helping me through it. I could see His hands all over this situation, and that makes it easier for me to turn it over to Him. I could have absolutely been worrying about my son all day, every day. I could have been trying to fix it and ensure everything ran smoothly. I could have let it get to me so much that I stayed in bed, fearing what might happen or sad about what had already happened. Yet I did not, and I know that is because God prepared me for that moment. He prepared me for difficult times. There have been so many really hard things that have happened in the last 21 years, and I know that they were all preparation for that moment and the ones to follow. I know God got me through that hard time, just as He has through so many other hard times. I know that this addiction will not destroy my son because God has promised me that it won't, and I can trust in His promises. I can wait for God's timing on this because I have waited a really long time for things in the past, and although the wait was never easy, it was always worth it in the end. I always say that I don't know how I developed a deep trust in the Lord. I don't know why I am not more worried about my son. I think this is because we all expect it to be complicated. We expect some difficult formula to show us how to trust in the Lord. I think it is actually so simple that we don't want to believe it. Kind of like the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. He found out about a prophet in Samaria who could cure him. Long story short, Naaman came to Elisha's house.  Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean'?”  So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. We think it must be complicated to follow the Lord. It must be complicated to figure out how to hand things over to him and how we can get Him to answer our prayers. We search for the perfect formula, and yet, it is not complicated. God tells us so simply what to do, and yet we don't listen. This verse gives us a formula for peace, yet I think many of us dismiss it because it isn't complicated enough. Let's review the verse again, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In every situation where you are struggling right now, are you doing all that this verse tells us to do? Are you praying to God about it? Have you asked God for exactly what you need? Have you talked with Him about it? Yes, God knows what you need, and yet He also wants us to turn to Him and ask. What about the Thanksgiving part of it? Have you been grateful in this situation? Not necessarily appreciative of the problem, but while going through hard times, there is always something for which we can be thankful. Then it says to present your requests to God. Don't be afraid to ask God for help. Your request is neither too big nor too small. Bring it to Him! The verse ends with “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is how I get out of bed in the morning. This is how I can watch my kids struggle and yet not let it take over every thought in my mind. This is how I can make it through hard times. That doesn't mean I don't have hard days. That doesn't mean I didn't spend a week watching TV recently, just to take my mind off the situation. I am not doing this perfectly, I know that. Yet, I firmly believe with 100% of my being that this will not be forever. This addiction will not get the best of my son. There is a whole, amazingly bright future for him, and God's timing is better than mine. So by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I will present my requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of us today. Jehovah Shalom, help us to come to you with prayer and petition. Help us to know that you are the creator of the universe, so whatever our problem is, you can handle it! Help us open our ears, minds, and hearts to you, and truly hear what you are saying to us. Help us not dismiss it because it is too easy. Help us be obedient, Lord. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen!! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, 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, “Every place you go, every room you enter is enriched when you enter because you carry me, the light of the world, your savior and redeemer.” 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 the Alpha and the Omega Revelations 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Have you heard this description of the Lord before?  “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”  I feel as though I have heard that a lot.  I am not sure I knew what Alpha and Omega were before, though.  Did you know that Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet?  What God means when He says He is the Alpha and the Omega is that He is the beginning and the end. God is with us in the beginning, before we were even born. He will also be with us in the end.   One of the ladies from my prayer group mentioned that we can find comfort in this thought when we have aging relatives or friends.  Sometimes, when we have aging relatives, they require a lot of assistance.  We want to be with them to help them, and sometimes we just can't be with them all the time.  But we can rest assured that even when we can't be with them, God is with them.  He is probably better company anyway.   I remember when I was little, I always struggled with the thought that God was always there.  That with God, there is no beginning and end.  He was just always there.  Actually, if I think about it too much, I still struggle with this.  Then, yesterday, my friend Louise from the prayer group explained this in a way that made a lot of sense to me.  She said that we struggle with things like this because we are human and we think in very finite terms.  Our minds are limited, so we cannot understand everything about God.  He is not finite, and we can't try to make him fit into a box that our minds can comprehend.  He is a wonder in so many ways. I do take comfort in knowing that God was there at the beginning and He will be there at the end, and He is there every day in between.  We are never alone.  I am sure it does not always feel like this.  Some days we can feel God's presence more than others.  Why is that?  Why do we have some days when we know God is with us, and others when we feel He has abandoned us?  Those are two excellent questions.  Ones I am not sure I know the answer to, and yet ones I still wanted to ask because I think it is something we could all think about.  I think we would each have a different answer to these questions.   When I think about those questions, I wonder when I feel closest to God.  I think it is when I am praying or praising Him.  Actually, maybe more so when I am praising Him.  When I am listening to Christian music and singing along, I can feel God's presence.  I follow this woman on social media, whose name is Kristina Kuzmic.  She is really funny and does short videos about parenting and about being a woman.  They are very uplifting and encouraging.  They help you to know that parenting is hard for everyone and that you are perfect just the way you are.  Anyway, she dances all the time.  Just walking down the street, she will be dancing.  I used to wonder why.  However, I've discovered I feel the same way when I am listening to praise music.   There is a free playlist on Spotify called Big Life Mornings.  It is filled with upbeat Christian songs.  I listen when I go for a run, when I walk my dog, when I drive, or when I clean.  I listen to it a lot.  When I listen to it and sing along, I feel as though God is with me.  I can feel His presence, and it makes me want to dance, too.  I am not sure I am describing the feeling correctly, but it is truly amazing.  If you feel like God has abandoned you and haven't felt His presence in a while, maybe take some time today to play some Christian music and see how you feel.  See if Jesus fills your soul.   Another time I feel the Lord's presence is in Eucharistic Adoration.  If you are a Christian and not Catholic, you may not know what this is.  We, as Catholics, believe that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist.  Eucharistic Adoration is when the priest displays the host or eucharist in a vessel called a monstrance.  The monstrance is placed on the altar or a table and is left there for a certain period of time.  We get to go and sit with Jesus and pray in His actual presence.  I know that God is with us all the time.  We do not need to go to adoration to be with Jesus.  However, I find I do feel closer when I go.  I am not sure how to describe it, other than comparing it to when you go to a grave site to visit someone who has passed away.  You do not need to be at the grave site to talk to that person, but somehow, being there, where their body is buried, makes you feel closer. If you are Catholic and have never tried going to adoration, I would urge you to give it a try.  Find out where it is located and go once a week for a month, and see how much it changes your life.  I try to go for an hour, but even 10 minutes could make a difference.  Just go sit with the Lord.  I think you will definitely feel closer to Him.  You don't have to do anything specific at Adoration.  The point of it is just to spend time with Him.  Even if you are not Catholic, you could give Eucharistic Adoration a try.  Most churches have adoration for at least a few hours a week, and I think there is perpetual adoration, meaning 24 hours a day, every day, in every state.  When I was looking, I just googled Eucharistic Adoration near me.  I am sure the Lord will do the rest. As I said above, if we each took the time to ask ourselves, “When do I feel closest to the Lord?” then I think we would probably all come up with different answers.  I wanted to share two things I do to feel closer to the Lord with you.  You may be different.  You may not like music or sitting in church with the Lord.  You may feel closest to the Lord when you are out in nature, painting or writing, or maybe when you are with family.  It doesn't matter what the answer to the question is; what matters is that you ask yourself the question and then pay attention to the answer.   If we are conscious about where we feel closest to God, then when we start to feel abandoned or wonder “Where is God?” we can go to that place or do that thing, and it may help us to feel Him again.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. I ask that you allow each and every one of us to feel your presence today. We ask that you just let us know that you're here. We ask that you help us answer this question: When do I feel closest to you? Lord, we want to feel your presence at all times. It is especially important when we're going through difficult times, and we wonder where you are. Lord Jesus, help us to see where you are in our lives. Help us to know the things that bring us closer to you and also the things that separate us from you. Lord, we love you so very much. You are so amazing. We're so thankful that you are the Alpha and the Omega. We're thankful that you were there at the beginning, that you'll be there at the end, and every day in between.  Lord, it brings us so much comfort to know that you are always there. Also, to know you are always with our family members and friends, and that when we can't be with them, you are. We thank you for always being there, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, amen. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with a friend. If you would like to subscribe, that would be great too. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! God is for you, not against you, and we are both rooting for you! Have a very blessed day. Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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, “Open the doors of your heart to me. I knock, but you do not open. Do not put false gods before me. Let go of any idols. Live by my word, and I will never abandon you. I am the Lord who loves you 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

Be Wise With Your Words Proverbs 10:11–14 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. On the lips of one who has understanding, wisdom is found… The wise lay up knowledge, but the babbling of a fool brings ruin near.” During our Wednesday morning prayer group, someone received this word from the Lord: “Be wise with your words. Be positive, not negative. Use your words to build up and encourage, not discourage.” At the same time, someone else received today's verse. It felt clear that the Lord wanted us to reflect on the power of our words. Lent seemed like the perfect time for this. One woman in my Thursday prayer group said she is fasting from unkind words this Lent. I thought that was a beautiful idea. Often we speak without thinking. We say whatever comes to mind, sometimes believing we are helping someone by pointing out what they are doing wrong. But is it truly wrong, or simply different from what we would do? And even if correction is needed, is this the right time and place? If we slowed down and thought before speaking, this world would be a kinder place. I love how the verse says, “The babbling of a fool brings ruin near.” Ruin does not always mean something dramatic. Sometimes careless words ruin a moment, a day, or even a relationship. Our words truly carry power. As Proverbs 18:21 reminds us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Because of this, we must choose our words carefully. The world already has enough harsh voices. What if we stood out because of our kindness? What if people said about us, “That person never has an unkind word to say”? As followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives within us. What if we spoke to others as if we were speaking directly to Jesus? In many ways, we are. Another powerful fast we could consider is fasting from gossip—not just during Lent, but permanently. When we refuse to participate in gossip, people eventually stop bringing it to us. It may feel awkward at first, but it is possible to gently change the conversation. The world needs more kindness, less judgment, and more people willing to use their words for good. This morning I watched a video from a young adult with autism who shared how often she has been misunderstood. Because she struggles with non-verbal cues, she sometimes loses friendships without even knowing what went wrong. Her friends might imply something or give subtle signals, but she needs direct communication. It reminded me how important it is to learn how others communicate. Sometimes we take offense to someone's words when they never intended to hurt us. They may simply communicate differently. When we feel offended, it can help to pause and ask ourselves:Why do I feel offended? What might the other person be experiencing right now? Communication is a two-way street. Both people share responsibility for speaking with kindness and seeking understanding. Recently our family learned that one of my sons has autism in addition to ADHD. This has opened my eyes to how easily misunderstandings can happen. Looking back, I realize there were many moments when clearer words or different phrasing might have helped him understand better. You may not be communicating with someone who has autism or ADHD—but you might be communicating with a teenager, a quiet spouse, a struggling coworker, or someone carrying burdens you cannot see. Each person may require a different approach. Communication matters more than we often realize. Two people can say the same words but receive completely different responses because tone, body language, and attitude matter just as much as the words themselves. If we want to walk boldly with Jesus, we must pay attention to how we communicate His love. The same message can be delivered with compassion or with harshness. The difference matters. I believe the Lord is inviting us to make a sincere effort to communicate in ways that help others feel seen and understood. When we take the time to do this, people often experience the love of Jesus through us. If you ever feel misunderstood in a conversation, pause and quietly pray, “Come Holy Spirit, come.” Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your words. If a conversation feels difficult, invite Him in before it even begins. He knows exactly what needs to be said. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening today. Lord, help us to be wise with our words. Give us the strength to avoid gossip and unkind speech. Help us become people who build others up and represent you well in the world. Show us where we need to grow in our communication and teach us how to understand those around us. We know we cannot do this alone, but with you, all things are possible. We ask this 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. God is on your side, and we are both rooting for you. Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group or how to join us, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “I am the Lord your God. There is none like me. I come in joy and glory. I wish for you to share it all with those you meet. Share it with others, for I, your Lord, love 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

Stand in the Breach Genesis 18:32 “ Then he said, “Oh, do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” This verse comes from a discussion between God and Moses. Let me read you the whole conversation, so you have the context. This section follows immediately the one in which God promises Sarah and Abraham that they will have a son. In this section, God wonders if He should hide from Abraham what He is about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, and He decides He shouldn't. He has chosen Abraham to teach His children right from wrong, and so He decides to tell him the judgment He is about to hand down to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let's read from Genesis 18:20-33. “Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!  I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?  Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”  And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”  Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.  Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”  Again, he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”  Then he said, “Oh, do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”  He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh, do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” There are at least two things I love about these verses in the Bible. First, I love what it shows us about God. It shows us that God is approachable. It shows us that we can talk with Him and that He will listen. God knows everything. He is the almighty one. He could have very easily shut Abraham down and told him it was none of his business how God handled those cities. He could have been offended because Abraham was questioning Him and His judgment. He didn't do either of these things. He listened to Abraham, He allowed Abraham to make His case, and He agreed to spare the lives of the righteous. This shows us how compassionate God is. It also shows us his mercy as well. He was willing to have mercy on the whole town for the sake of a few righteous people, as few as 10 righteous people. According to the internet, about 1,200 people lived in those cities at the time of destruction. Can you imagine having mercy on 1190 people who are doing awful things, including child sacrifice, just because there are 10 among them who are doing the right thing? That is how much God wants all of us to be saved. He is willing to give us so many chances. He was willing to spare the whole city for the sake of a few. We tend to think a lot less about God's mercy and think more about His judgment and how He is just looking for us to mess up. That is not our God. That is not the God in the Bible. When we read scripture, we get to learn who God truly is. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah can be looked at as a story of how harsh God's judgment is. However, if you read the whole story in context, you can see that God did not want to destroy the towns. He was willing to save them even if there were just 10 righteous people in the whole town. However, He couldn't even find 10. The other thing I love about these verses is that Abraham is willing to stand up for those he didn't know. Right before this section, God told Abraham and his wife, Sarah, that they would have a baby. They had tried for a long time, and they were beyond their baby-making years, age-wise. This was going to be a miracle. I would like to think many of us would have done what Abraham did. I would like to think I would have kept asking God to save those people over and over again. The truth is, I don't know if I would have. Would I have been afraid if I pushed God, He would take away the miracle He promised me? Would I have been afraid God would have gotten tired of me asking and punished me in some other way? Would I have been happy if God's focus was on someone else's sin and not my own? I don't know what I would have done. I love what Abraham did, though. He stood up for those he probably didn't even know. He begged God to save the wicked for the sake of the righteous. There was a concept we learned about in Encounter that is similar to intercessory prayer, and yet it seems so much more powerful the way they explained it. When they talked about us interceding for others, they said it's like we are standing in the breach. We stand between them and God, pleading on their behalf. There is a scene in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy that my teacher used as an example. The good guys are being chased by the bad guys. They are crossing over a bridge, and it is collapsing. All of a sudden, a dragon or something comes after them, and the white wizard, the most powerful guy, protecting them, stands strong on the bridge and says, “You shall not pass.” The good guys are able to get away, and the bad guys are not able to pass. When I think about interceding for others, I picture myself standing in the breach and not letting anything bad happen to them. I am standing there to pray for them and ask God to protect them from evil, sickness, sin, and whatever else they need protection from. Abarham was standing in the breech. He was brave enough to stand up and ask God to reconsider His plan. God wants us to stand up for those who don't know any better. He wants us to pray for all the lost souls. He wants us to pray for sinners. He wants us to pray for the wicked. God doesn't want to lose a single one of His children. He wants us all to celebrate with Him in heaven one day, and to do that, we need to pray for those we don't want to pray for. He is calling us to pray for those we don't like, those who are not nice, those who do things we don't approve of. God is calling us to His team to pray for everyone. We have no idea how powerful our prayers can be. You don't know if your prayer can be the one thing that makes the difference between someone going to heaven or hell. What if that person just needed one person to pray for him or her? What if they just needed one person to believe in them? What if. So many saints I have read about have prayed for sinners, lost souls, and even those who have hurt them. Like St. Maria Goretti, who forgave and prayed for her attacker. Stand in the breech for others. Help God bring all his children home! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to the episode today. Lord, you are so good. You want to bring all of your children home. Please help us to help you. Please help give us the strength to pray for those who have hurt us in some way. Please help us to pray for our loved ones who don't know you. Please help us to see that it is never too late with you. You are a merciful God who gives us so many chances to turn back to you. Help us to be brave and pray for those we feel do not deserve our prayers. Convict our hearts of who you want us to pray for, Lord. We love you, 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. If this podcast is blessing you, please share it with a friend or leave a review. That simple step helps more people find it. And if there's someone you've been wanting to talk to about Jesus, but you don't know how to begin, send them an episode and let me do the talking. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! God is on your side and we are, both rooting for you! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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, “Stay the course. Be strong in my name. Pray for those who have been deceived. Offer your day to the fallen. Be my intercessors.” 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

We Have Been Set Free 1 Corinthians 6:12 “ All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” The prayer point for the healing service team today is to free the captives. This instantly made me think of my friend who I am praying for this week. I have asked those I know to give me a Bible verse, and I will assign a different verse to each week of the year. Then I will pray for that person during the week I have assigned their verse. This week, I am praying for my friend, and instead of praying for her, she has asked for prayers for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and for food and medical aid to reach the sick and injured. When I read the Captives this morning, I thought of all of those who were captured in the Gaza Strip many months ago. Then, when I started reading the scripture verses we were given, I realized there are many ways that we can be held captive. Some of us are physically held captive, like those in war-torn countries, those who were abducted and forced into human trafficking of all kinds. There are also many of us who are held captive by our own beliefs, addictions, or wants and desires.   This morning, while I was reading over the various verses, I asked the Lord to highlight the one he wanted me to talk about. I asked Him to make it clear to me. He actually highlighted two verses. The first one that jumped out was the verse above. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” I thought this was particularly fitting for today since yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and so Lent has just begun. Lent can be a difficult time of year because it is a time of sacrifice. It can also be a sad time of year as we remember all Christ went through to save us from our sins, to save us from ourselves. Lent is also a great time of year to show ourselves that we don't have to be controlled by our wants and our desires. We get the chance to show God that although we love chocolate, wine, alcohol, beer, swearing, desserts, TV, or whatever else we decide to give up, we don't let them as much as we love HIm. We get to show ourselves that it is ok to deny ourselves something we want and that when we do we will be even more stronger for it. I have a friend named Sarah Jane. I remember she came over to my house one time, and I asked if she wanted a brownie. She said she gave up chocolate for the month. It wasn't lent so I asked her why she gave it up. She said each month, she gives something up for the month to show herself she can and so that she does not get too attached to anything. This is an awesome idea. I actually did this for a few months last year, but I don't think I made it past May. I do think it is important that we know that just because we can do something doesn't mean we should do it. It also doesn't mean it is good for us. If we want to be holy, we must go beyond the letter of the law. This is what the Sadducees and Pharisees were doing. They were following the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law. They were so focused on doing things perfectly that they lost all sight of what God was really about. They forgot about the love God had for His people. They forgot about His mercy. They got caught up in all the laws and the rules and somehow got lost. What I felt the Lord wanted me to remind you of today is that you do not have to become slaves to things of this world. The second scripture He highlighted to me is Galatians 5:1, which says, “For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” This shows us that we have a choice. Before Jesus came to save us, we had fewer choices. Before Jesus came, we had the laws to tell us what we should do, but we didn't have the Holy Spirit inside of us to give us the strength to resist the things that were not good for us. Then Jesus came, and He died on the cross to set us free from sin. Then He went to be with His Father, and they sent the Holy Spirit to be with us so we would no longer be left on our own. Because of this, we no longer have to accept the yoke of slavery. Because of this, we have been set free. However, this does not mean that we are all free. We must make a choice to be free. We have to decide that our freedom in Christ is worth more than that cookie, that drink, that drug, that extramarital affair. Christ died so we could be free, but we still have to choose to be free. God has given us free will and He won't force us to follow Him or to love Him. He won't force us to choose Him. We have to do that on our own.  Well, not really on our own because He gave us the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We can rely on that power. We do need to make the choice, but then we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us keep that freedom. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us stay on the path we want to be on. When we feel like we want to be free of something and yet we don't think we can, we can't see a way to give it up. We can call on the Holy Spirit. We can ask the Holy Spirit to take away the desire for this thing. We can ask the Holy Spirit to come and give us strength. We can say, “Come, Holy Spirit, come.” The enemy wants us to think we don't have a choice. He wants us to think we can't do the hard thing. We can't give up drinking. We can't give up the drugs, the affairs, the food. The devil is a liar. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It doesn't say some things, and it says all things. You can do all things because you have the mighty power of Jesus living inside of you. All you have to do is call upon that power. So, this Lenten season, let's remember that we are no longer slaves to our desires. Whatever you gave up for lent, it may seem like it is going to be a long 40 days. You might be thinking about it and thinking there is no way you make it 40 days without that thing. If so, remember that you are not dominated by anything. You are a free son or daughter of Christ and of the one true God. You can do anything with Christ! You have been set free! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are truly amazing. We are so grateful you sent your son to set us free. We owe you a debt we could never pay, so we offer you these 40 days as a small token of our love for you. Please help us through these next 40 days. We ask that you help us every day. Lord, remind us when we forget that nothing will dominate us. Remind us when we forget that we do not have to accept the yoke of slavery. Remind us of your love and mercy each time we forget. 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 look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. If you are interested in receiving my monthly newsletter so you can be the first to know what is going on or when I am planning an event, please click on the link below or go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord is, “Be not afraid to say yes to the Lord. When the Lord calls, He equips. He will give you everything necessary to fulfill what He asks of you. Be bold. Do not fear to answer the Lord. He loves you, and He will take care of you. You are His children, and He is your God, so go in boldness and answer the Lord's call.” 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

Jesus leaves the 99 for the 1 Matthew 4:1-11 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands,     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'”  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Have you ever had a time like this?  A time when you felt like the Devil was right there by your side, attacking you?  Did you know what to say?  Did you know what to do?  I remember reading this and wishing that I knew scripture as well as Jesus did.  I wish I knew the right thing to say when the devil comes to tell me the lies.  That is what he is known for after all.  Satan is the father of lies.  Usually, they are not bald-faced lies.  Usually, they have some sliver of truth that is twisted to make you question something.  But in this passage, Jesus was not deterred from his faith.  He did not get drawn into a debate, defending himself or his God.  He simply quoted scripture to the enemy.   This is one reason why it is helpful to read the Word of God every day.  The more we read God's word, the more we will know what to say to defend ourselves from the enemy. There are many reasons to read the word of God.  Another one would be so that we know how God wants us to live.  The Bible is full of stories, parables, and laws that can help us govern how to live.  Knowledge is power, and if we know how God wants us to live, we can try to live in an upright manner.  We can do our best to please Him.  God does so much for us.  The least we can do is try to obey his rules.  We can try to live in a manner that honors Him and makes Him proud. Do you struggle with this, with living in a way that honors God and makes Him proud?  I know I do.  I often think of the passage from St. Paul in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  If St. Paul, who did amazing things for Christ, struggled to live a holy life, then I think it is understandable that we may struggle at times as well.  However, remembering these passages and turning over our struggle to God can help us struggle a little less.  When we are struggling, we need only repent and turn back to God.   God does not need us to be perfect, nor does he expect it. God knows every step you are going to take before you take it.  Nothing you do is a surprise to Him.  He is our creator, He is the creator of all things.  He knows how your story ends before it even starts.  He can see all the roads you will go down.  He knows the windy road that is your life.  And you know what?  He loves you anyway.  He loves you even though you are not perfect.  He loves you even though you will turn away from Him from time to time.  Maybe you have turned away from him a long time ago and have not come back yet.  Guess what?  He loves you anyway!  And He is ready for you to turn back to him.   When you do, he will rejoice and celebrate.  He won't be thinking of all the things you did in the past.  He won't be holding your past sins against you.  Once you repent and turn back to the Lord, He will rejoice that His son or daughter has returned home, and He will welcome you with open arms.  That is just one of the many amazing things about your Lord.  He is filled with so much mercy and so much grace.  He knows all of our flaws, all of our mistakes, and yet He still loves us, flaws and all.  There is nothing that you can do that is unredeemable in the Lord's eyes.   I know people who don't understand how valuable they are in the Lord's eyes.  They feel that because of their sins, they are worth less than others.  Or, maybe they feel they are worthless.  If you are one of these people who is struggling with your self-worth in God's eyes, I ask you to picture that you have 2 pennies in your hand, one of them is shiny and new, and the other one is old, dirty, and looks like it has been found in the gutter.  What is the value of each penny?  Is the penny that looks shiny and new worth more than the penny that is old and dirty?  No, they are both worth the same.  This is the same with God's love.  You are not worth less because you have made mistakes, made bad choices, or turned away from the Lord.   The Lord is our father, and he is always there waiting with open arms, ready for us to turn back to him.  Nothing makes him happier than when one of his lost sheep finds their way back home to him.  In Luke 15:3-6, Jesus tells this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” I love this passage for a couple of reasons.  First, I love the imagery of God leaving the 99 to come after me.  He does not just let me wander away, but he comes to find me and guide me back home again.  Another reason I love this passage is that it says that He will rejoice more over the one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  If you are living your life righteously and you have no need to repent, I admire you.  That is not easy, and it takes a lot of courage, especially in this day and age.  However, if you are one who has turned away, or if you find yourself in the same boat with St. Paul, where you keep doing the things you don't want to do and struggle to do the things you want to do, I hope you find comfort in this passage.  “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  Is that one repentant sinner going to be you?  Is there some area of your life where you need to repent and turn back to the Lord?  I can already hear the rejoicing in heaven. Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you help us see in our lives where we could repent.  Father, I ask that you shine a light on any darkness inside of us.  We want your light to fill that space.  I pray that you will put a love and desire for scripture inside our hearts.  I pray that you help us to do what is right and help us to overcome the urges to do what is wrong.  Lord, that is not easy, and we cannot do it without your help.  Lord, we love you, and we thank you for all you do for us.  We want to repent and turn back to you. Please just show us the way.  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 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

Don't Worry, I Will Explain It 1 John 3:8 “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” I read this verse and thought, “Nope, I don't want to go there.”  Actually, I read this verse and then read the next two verses after it.  1 John 3:8-10 says, “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.  Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God's seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.” Ok, after hearing all that, do you see why I didn't want to touch this verse?   First of all, I didn't really understand it.  If I sin, am I a child of the devil?  What does that even mean?  We all sin, don't we?  Then it says Those born of God do not sin.  But wait, I am born of God, and yet I do sin?  It is definitely confusing and not something I felt qualified to talk about. Secondly, I didn't want someone to hear this verse, or read it in the transcript, and then think they weren't a child of God because they sin.  Because let's all be honest, we all sin.  So, I was happy to skip this one and go on to find another verse.  I felt the Holy Spirit stop me and ask, what does this verse mean?  What if someone already read it and didn't stop to ask what it means?  What if someone is walking around thinking they are no longer my child just because they sin? I am always humbled when the Holy Spirit reminds me of the purpose for this podcast.  It is not to talk about all the things I understand.  It is not the time to talk about things I really love talking about.  It is to help myself and you, all those listening, to understand scripture a little better.  My purpose is to help you walk boldly with Jesus one verse at a time.  The only way to do this is to take difficult scriptures, ones I don't understand, and figure them out, examine them, research them, and then share that with you.  I may not always get it right, but I do try my best, and I ask the Holy Spirit to take care of the rest.   I am sure I will keep needing to be reminded to stop and examine a verse if I don't understand it because the enemy loves to try and stop me by telling me I am not qualified to talk about the scripture.  He tells me I don't know what I am doing, and so I can't help others.  Do you see how he takes a kernel of truth and twists it?  He is right, I am not qualified, and I don't always know what the scriptures mean.  However, the way he twists it is because I am not sharing just my thoughts on it. I am researching and looking to those who do know the answers.  I am taking the time to explore the meaning and then sharing what I learned from those who are qualified so that you don't have to take that time.   If something I say is confusing, or you still don't understand the verse, I urge you to reach out and let me know.  I would be happy to explore it in more detail with you.  Or you can explore it on your own as well.  I just type “What is the meaning of 1 John 3:8” or whatever verse I am looking at in the search bar on the internet, and usually a list of articles comes up.  Whatever it is in the Bible we are trying to understand, there are probably plenty of other people who have come before us who have asked the same question.  Look for the answers they found.  I will put the links to two of the articles I read in the show notes in case you want to read the full articles. Now that I explained all that, what did I discover?  What does this confusing verse mean?  From what I found, I understand it to mean that when we are sinning, we are a child of Satan, meaning he is influencing those behaviors.  When we are following God's ways, God is influencing those behaviors.  I feel the Holy Spirit just gave me an analogy that made me smile.  It is one that if you have kids, you have probably said it, and even if you don't, you probably heard your parents say it.  When our kids are not behaving, I tell Tony they are his kids, and when they are behaving, I say they are my kids.  Of course, they are all of our kids all the time.  However, when I say that, I am implying that his DNA is what is influencing the kids' misbehavior, and my DNA is influencing their good behavior.  It made me smile when this thought came to me because I could just picture God up in heaven shaking his head, looking at Satan and saying, nope, they are your kids today.  I know He doesn't do this, but it made me smile, remember all the times Tony and I went back and forth, nope, these are your kids.   One thing that everything I read agreed on is that this verse does not determine your salvation.  This verse is not saying that because you sin, you are a child of Satan, and you are going to Hell.  That is not the case.  It does not say that if you want to go to heaven, you can't sin.  It is not talking about your salvation in any way.  We are all born with a sinful nature.  Ever since sin entered the world, it has plagued us.  Sin entered the world because of Satan.  He brought it here, and when we sin, it is because of His influence.  It is because we are allowing his influence to shape our behaviors.  We are cooperating with him.  However, the ending of this verse says, “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”  This means that although we were born with original sin and a sinful nature, Jesus was sent to destroy that.  If you have been baptized, you have received the Holy Spirit living inside of you. Even though we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we also have Satan trying to influence our behaviors, trying to get us to go against what God says.  One example I found in one of the articles talked about Matthew 16:23 when Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!” He was revealing the source of Peter's rebuke of Christ by which Peter demonstrated that he was representing Satan's purpose, not God's. I pray these explanations clear up some of the confusion surrounding this verse.  The verse is not saying you will go to hell if you sin.  It does not mean you belong to Satan if you sin.  It is saying that while you are sinning, you are under the influence of Satan.  It is a good reminder, as sometimes we can write off little sins.  We can say that it wasn't so bad.  We can question, is that really a sin, does it really matter?  I think when we read this verse, it can speak to those situations.  If you are sinning, you are cooperating with the enemy.  Does it matter if it is a little cooperation or a lot of cooperation? Let me ask you this question.  If one of your loved ones was being influenced by someone who was sent here to steal, kill, and destroy, would it matter to you that they were only being influenced a little?  God cares deeply about even our smallest decisions.  Instead of being offended by this verse, let's take it as a warning to try harder not to be influenced by the devil.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those who are listening to this episode today.  Lord, we want to follow your ways. Please help us.  We want to only be influenced by you.  Please help shield us from the influence of the enemy.  Please help us put on your armor, Lord.  Lord, I ask you to help each one of us understand what this verse is saying, and I ask that if we don't understand it, you will inspire us to go deeper.  Lord, we want to understand your Word.  We thank you for your word and thank you for giving it to us.  You are truly remarkable.  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.  I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow.  I just want to remind all of you that if you haven't gotten a chance to check out my book yet, I invite you to do so.  Or if you have checked it out, I invite you to leave a review on Amazon or suggest it to a friend.  If you didn't know, I wrote a book; you can find it on Amazon.  It is called Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace. Thank you to all of you who have already purchased it. I truly appreciate it!  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

Still Waters Psalm 23 (Part 3) Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” Today I will talk about the last part of this Psalm. There is a lot to like about this ending.  First. It starts by saying that God will prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  I don't have to be worried about my enemies as God has got me.  He is my shield and my refuge.  Now he is saying we will prepare a feast for me.  When someone is preparing a meal for us, they are not usually stressed out about it.  They don't worry about all the things going on around them.  Picture this, there is chaos all around you, and yet in front of you is this beautifully set up dining room table.  You have a seat and God is bringing you a feast one course at a time.  He is not concerned with your enemies because He knows they can't touch you.  You are not concerned either because you feel so at home and taken care of.  Isn't that a beautifully relaxing image?   Next, the verse says that God honors us by anointing our heads with oil.  Did you know that you have an anointing on your life?  We all do. Did you know through baptism you were anointed to be priest, prophet, and king?   It's true, just as Christ was all three of these, you are also anointed to be these three things to your community.  What does that mean for us?   Let's start with the priest.  Drawing on the priesthood of the Old Testament, a priest is one who offers sacrifices (see Genesis 14:18; Exodus 29:38- 42; Leviticus 23:6,8). Some sacrifices are personal, and some are on behalf of others. These sacrifices will look different for each one of us depending on our circumstances.  However, sacrifice to some degree should be a part of our everyday life.  I have tried to embrace this in different ways over the years. At times I did a bread and water fast one day a week. Other times I would fast from one thing for a whole month. I would switch it up each month, but there will always be something I am fasting from.  I believe that this helps me to appreciate things more and it will also show me that I am not a slave to that thing.  For instance, if I feel like I just can't stop eating chocolate, then I will fast from that for a month.  By the end of the year, I will have shown God and myself that I do not need these things.  I will have also made a small sacrifice each month for 12 months. Next, we have prophet.  A prophet is a spokesperson for God or one who speaks on God's behalf (see Exodus 4:30; Deuteronomy 18:18; Isaiah 42:19). In the Old and New Testaments, prophets called people to a different way of life.  Can we be a spokesperson for God by how we live our lives?  Can we live in a way that when people see us they think to themselves, “I want what they have?”  Can we call others to a different way of life, not necessarily with our words, but with our love?  Can we love others as Jesus did? Can we speak love and light into the world, into people's lives?  Can we be prophets? Lastly, we are anointed as kings.  What are kings called to do? Usually rule over others.  We are called to rule over ourselves first and foremost. We are all responsible for making sure we are living our lives according to God's laws.  Most kings are called to rule over others, however, as Christians, we are called to servant leadership.  A servant leader leads by serving others. In other words, servant leaders place the interests and needs of their followers ahead of their own self-interests and needs. Generally, they value the development of their followers, building their communities, acting authentically, and sharing power. Now that we know what each one of these means, hopefully, we can apply this to our everyday life.  God has anointed us in our everyday tasks too.  For instance, I was anointed to be a mother and a wife.  That was where God called me and that is what He set me apart to do.  Maybe you are anointed to be a doctor, a lawyer, a pharmacy tech, a garbage collector, a grandmother, a teacher, whatever it is, God has anointed you to do it.  Your baptismal anointing is not meant to replace any of those other calls on your life.  You are anointed to be a priest, prophet, and king in the life you are already living.  Think about your day-to-day life, how can you incorporate sacrifice into your days?  How can you be more of a prophet spreading the Lord's Word in your daily lives?  How can you be more of a servant leader right now, right where you are? The verse then goes on to say my cup overflows with blessings.  This is also great imagery.  I love to picture a teacup, as we grew up drinking tea in my family.  Although I don't picture a regular tea cup, the image I am getting is an English fancy tea cup from a china set.  The tea is being poured into it with a steady stream and the cup is overflowing and running all over the table and even onto the floor.  This is how many blessings God has for you. He wants to rain down blessings upon blessings on all of His children.  Sometimes we get in the way of God's blessings.  Sometimes we don't appreciate the blessings that we have so why would God give us more?  Sometimes we find ourselves complaining about all that is going on in our lives instead of praising God and giving thanksgiving.  God has ridiculous blessings for you.  All you have to do is believe that and then praise God for any blessings, even if they are small.  If you can be faithful to the small He will increase your blessings.  He is a good, good Father! The ending of this verse is beautiful.  “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  We had this word pursue the other day.  I love that word.  This verse is saying that God's goodness and unfailing love will pursue us all the days of our lives.  Isn't that wonderful?  We don't have to chase after God, because He is already chasing after us.  All we have to do is let ourselves be caught by God's goodness and unfailing love.  Unfailing love is not like any love we can find here on earth.  It is an incredible love that knows no limits, that knows no boundaries.  God's love never leaves us.  No matter how much we may try to run from it.  No matter how much we try to reject it or send it back.  No matter how much we might mess up.  God's unfailing love will pursue you every single day of your life.  How incredible is that?   And the very last part of the verse says, “I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”  Yes, please!  I want to live in the house of the Lord forever. I think we all do.  It is so amazing to me that God has an open-door policy to heaven.  All are welcome.  Come as you are, in your broken and wounded state.  You do not have to earn your way, you don't have to do anything to get there.  Jesus has earned you your right to be there.  All you have to do is surrender to God and let Him help you, let Him give you the strength to follow Him.  Following God is not always an easy road but it is a rewarding road and one that leads to spending eternity living in the house of the Lord.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today.  Lord, we thank you for loving us like you do.  We thank you for preparing us for a feast in the presence of our enemies.  We thank you for the ridiculous blessings you want to give us and we are sorry if we get in your way of doing that.  We thank you for making us priests, prophets, and kings and we ask for your help in discovering what that means for each one of us and how we can incorporate that anointing into our lives.  We love you Lord and we can't wait to live in your house forever!  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 bringing you another witness tomorrow.  It will be an update from my friend Bruce. I have shared his story at least twice, and we have a new update coming tomorrow. Mentoring is tonight, so email me if you would like to check it out! Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I!  Have a blessed day, and may the favor and grace of our Lord Jesus be upon you! Today's Word from the Lord was received in April 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, “Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know that sometimes trust is like pulling yourself through an eye of a needle. Those are the times when you need to trust the most. Because that's when I loom the largest. I love you, my children. Trust 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

Still Waters Psalm 23 (Part 2) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” I only really talked about the first few lines of this Psalm in my last episode and there are some other powerful parts to this Psalm. I want to make sure I go through the whole thing so when you are using it against your anxiety you can understand all the various aspects of it. Today I want to look at the very next line. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” I was attending a conference once, and the speaker mentioned this verse.  It was not a spiritual conference, so when I heard it, I figured it was a sign that I should talk about it.  The verse says though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.  This is hard.  It seems like there is so much to fear these days. There is fear surrounding these elections. There is fear surrounding the future of our country. There is fear surrounding so many things. When we read this scripture we wonder how it is possible to fear no evil.  How is it possible to fear no evil when you are surrounded by death, or the possibility of death?  If you read on it says “for thou are with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  God is with us, we all know this, we repeat this and tell others this, but do we really believe this?  Do you believe that God is right there with you when you are in the valleys?  We all know how all-powerful God is, so if we believe that He is there with us, it makes sense that we wouldn't be afraid.  How could we be afraid when He is there?  He is the Almighty One.   So, why do we have so much fear?  Are we afraid that He won't help us?  Are we afraid He won't show up?  Are we afraid to die?  What is it that we have been so afraid of?  Maybe you find yourself worried about a lot of things.  Maybe you worry every time there is a storm coming.  Maybe you worry about your finances.  Maybe you worry about your children, parents, siblings, or spouse.  Worry may be a part of your everyday life.  I am hoping to change that.  It probably won't change overnight, and it may not be easy, but it is possible.  The bible mentions “fear not” 365 times.  This is definitely something that God wants us to get.   I will be honest, I didn't get the last part of this verse.  “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  I looked up the meaning of this because I wondered if there was something that I was missing.  I am glad I did because there is a great article called “Understanding Psalm 23: What Does the Staff and Rod Actually Mean?  I put a link in the show notes so you can read the whole article.  I highly suggest it as it is good.  I will not retell the article; I will just touch upon the few descriptions of the rod and the staff.  First, the author says that the staff symbolizes rest, as shepherds used to lean on their staff for rest.  Next, the staff can symbolize rescue because shepherds used to use their staff to rescue sheep from the thick brush.  Third, the staff can symbolize a guide as the shepherd used it to guide sheep across open fields.   This all seems to make a lot of sense to me. It seems like we are much happier and less afraid when we are able to just rest in the Lord.  To just sit with Him and turn over all of our worries and fears to Him.  Also, God rescues us from difficult situations when we need Him.  He doesn't abandon us.  He is always there for us in good times and in bad.  Lastly, He is definitely our Guide.  How many times have we needed God to guide us through the rough parts of our lives?  We need Him as a guide for the easy parts as well. The article goes on to say that Rod is Our Protection.  When shepherds were herding sheep they used their rods to defend against anything that wanted to attack the sheep.  This is what God does for us.  He protects us from our enemies.  The Rod is also a symbol of Love.  The shepherds used to use their rods to count the sheep.  You might be wondering how this is a symbol of Love.  This is an act of love because the shepherd is making sure that all of his sheep are present and accounted for.  God is doing the same thing for us.  He does not want a single one of His sheep to get lost.  He loves us too much.   Now that I understand what the words rod and staff mean in the context of this verse and in the time that it was written, I feel as though I understand the verse as a whole better now.  I can't believe how much the Lord is saying to us with just a short sentence or two.  I am also in awe, sometimes thinking about how much God loves us.  It amazes me how He can be all these things for us, for each and every one of us.  Understanding that His staff is our guide, rescue, and rest, and that his rod is our protection and love helps me understand why we should have no fear.  We don't need fear when we realize all that He has already done for us.  We don't need to fear when he is there to protect us, guide us, and rescue us.  He has got us. We can rest in the knowledge that His staff and His rod are enough for us.  They are more than enough for us.   “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  Is it any different hearing that verse again after hearing the description of the rod and the staff?  Does it make you want to trust in the Lord more?  Does it help you fear a little less?  I hope that it has helped.  I hope that we can all get to a place where we don't have so much fear.  It is so freeing when you can let go of your fears and learn to lean into and trust God.  You won't regret it.  I will leave you with Matthew 6:27 to think about.  “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us to have no fear in times of trouble.  We ask that you help us to feel loved.  Lord, I ask that you help all those who are feeling anxious or worried today and every day.  Help them to hand their worry over to you and not take it back again.  We thank you, Lord, for guiding us through our lives.  We thank you for protecting us and for being our place of rest.  Lord, we thank you for rescuing us every single time we need you to.  You are the best!  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 just as you are, 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 April 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, “Trust me. I am worthy of your trust. I gave all for you because I loved you. I do not abandon my children. Whatever comes your way, remember I'm there.” 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 Has Not Forgotten Your Affliction! Psalm 44:22-26 “Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?  For we sink down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.” The original verse I started with this morning was verse 24. “Why do you forget our affliction and oppression. Yet, when I looked up the verse, all these verses were together, and it reminded me of so many people. There are so many of you who listen to this podcast who have reached out and said this same thing. Maybe not in these exact words, but these are the thoughts going through your head. You are wondering where the Lord is in all of this. You are wondering why He is not answering your questions when you know He can. You are wondering why? Why the broken dreams? Why has He not healed you? Why has he not brought the provisions? Why does it seem He has not kept His promise to provide for you and to protect you? Why are your loved ones still hurting? Why has your protigal son or daughter not come home? Why again, why now? Why? What is your why that you are wrestling with right now? What the Lord put on my heart is that He wants us to know that if we are asking why we are not alone. Many times, we can think we aren't supposed to ask why. We might hear things at church or from other people who say that if you are struggling, you just don't have enough faith. You might hear that you can't be mad at God, you just need to work through it on your own. If you are mad at God, you are bad or doing something wrong. You just don't trust enough. You might hear a bunch of different things. Most of them are not true. God wants you to know that it is ok to ask why. It is okay not to understand His plan. It is ok to cry out to Him in anger and frustration. I feel He gave me this scripture today to show you that you are not alone. The psalmists cried out to the Lord. They asked Him questions. They expressed their frustration with His timing and with feeling abandoned. Many of the Psalms were written by David. He was blessed beyond measure by God. He knew God, and He knew how much God loved Him. He was never afraid to take His sins back to God and ask for forgiveness. He had a very intimate relationship with God. David also did not have an easy life. He went from being loved by the king to being hunted by the king, from being king to being pursued by his son, who wanted him dead. If we don't know David's whole story, we may think he killed Goliath with a stone and then became a mighty king. There is so much more to David's story. He had some great years, some awful years, and everything in between. I tell you all of this to show you that you can be beloved and blessed by God and yet still have lots of trouble in your life. Having trouble and suffering do not mean that God doesn't love you or that He has turned His back on you. Many of you have been praying some pretty big prayers for a long time, and you feel angry that God is not listening. He wants you to know that He hears every one of your prayers. He is acting even if you can't see how. Sometimes he is arranging things that you won't see enter your life for years. Sometimes, He is changing people's hearts, and that takes time. Sometimes our children have to learn their own lessons, and that takes time. Yes, God could heal you in a minute. Yes, God could change your heart in a minute. God can do all things. Yet that is not always how he chooses to do things, and it is our job to cooperate with God's plan. I promise you, God knows what He is doing. He is not placing amazing dreams and desires in your heart to tease you. He is not cruel. He is not showing you amazing things just to take them away from you. Only good comes from God. If He is placing amazing dreams in your heart, it is because He wants you to believe it can happen. He wants you to reach for it. He wants you to see what your future could be. He wants you to know you won't always have these same limitations. I know it hurts to believe sometimes because we are tired of being disappointed. But hope in the Lord does not disappoint. (Romans 5:5) What if you could take away your timeline and just fully believe that all your prayers will be answered? How would your life be different if, instead of focusing on the when, you just celebrated that it would definitely happen someday? What if you pictured what you would do the day your prayers were answered? What if every time you started to ask why, you changed it and started thanking the Lord for answering your prayers in the most beautiful way? I think the Lord is talking to me personally for that last part. I am constantly asking Him why he hasn't restored Bruce's eyesight yet. Why are my friends Suzanne, Rosa & Danielle still struggling? Why so many I know have not been healed yet. However, when I asked those questions above, my heart felt so full. I am not going to ask the Lord when anymore. I am going to put my full trust in the fact that those healings are coming, and I am going to plan what I will do when they do come. How will I celebrate with the individual people? How will I give the glory to God? How can I lift up and support those I know who are suffering while they are waiting for their miracle? How can I give them strength? How can I accompany them so they are not alone? I am going to change my questions! If you can change your questions, I think it will make the wait more bearable. If you can go all in on believing your miracle is on the way, then it might make the wait a bit easier. However, even if you can't shift your mindset. Even if you are still angry with God, that is okay. Just make sure to talk with Him about it. Don't shut Him out. Don't be afraid to be honest with Him. He already knows your feelings, probably before you even do. If you still need to ask why, that's ok. You are in good company, as many of those in the Bible asked why. Many questioned, doubted, and struggled with God's plan, yet God did not withdraw His favor from them. He did not take away His good plan or their good future. He will not take away yours either. Your miracle will still come, even if you question, even if you get frustrated and angry. Just don't shut God out. He is there with you in all of this. He hears your prayers, and He is working all things for your good! Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing. You are so good, and I am sorry when we get frustrated and angry because you are not doing things in our timing. Lord, we want to trust you, we want to believe our miracle is coming, and yet it feels so hard at times. Our life feels so far from our dreams at times. Help us to persevere. Give us the strength we need to keep on hoping and believing. We love you, Lord, and we ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you love this podcast and you have not left a review of it, can I ask you to do that today? Reviews help the podcast be seen by more people. They help people find the podcast more easily. Thanks so much for your help! I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. God is on your side, and we are both rooting for you! Have a blessed day! Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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, “The ox knows his master. The donkey, its owner. But my people do not know me, says the Lord.” 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 Restore You to Health and Heal Your WoundsJeremiah 30:17 “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, ‘because you are called an outcast.”I was looking for a verse about restoration because one of my dear friends received a word from the Lord about it, and I wanted to share it with you. I know many of you who are listening are struggling. You have been struggling with your physical health for a long time, and you are wondering why the Lord hasn't healed you yet. You know He can, and you might even believe He will. Yet He hasn't yet, and you are wondering why and when.Some of you have been struggling financially for a long time, and you wonder when the struggle will end. You trust God to provide, yet you are really struggling right now. Your bills need to be paid, and there is no money. You are wondering when the provisions are going to show up and how much of yourself you are going to have to give away before reinforcements come. You might be struggling in your marriage or with parenting. It feels like the waves keep coming, and although you know the Lord is not going to let you drown in those waves, some days you come very close.I have been talking to a lot of people lately who are so tired of the struggle. They don't expect life to be easy, but they can't take all that is going on. They don't understand why God is not helping them. They don't understand why he is not taking this from them. They don't understand why he is not protecting them from some of this. They are tired and confused. They feel like they are running out of the strength and energy they need to keep fighting.I am in a Wednesday morning prayer group run by Rosa Rivas. She is also a wonderful friend of mine who agreed to read the Spanish Translation of the podcast so God's Word and His love can reach more people. Rosa started a WhatsApp chat for those in the prayer group. In this group, people place their prayer requests, support each other, and place any resources they have found that build their faith. Last week, many people in the group were struggling, so Rosa listened to the Lord and held a group call so we could all pray together. It was beautiful and definitely needed. I just want to pause to let you all know that you need people in your life like this. You need community, so when you are down, they can build you up!While Rosa was praying, she received this word, and I think it is not just for that group but for everyone who needs it. She heard the Lord say:“ I am restoring broken dreamsI am restoring broken promisesI am restoring broken plansI am restoring broken relationshipsI am restoring broken friendshipsI am restoring broken memoriesI am restoring broken heartsI am restoring the brokenness of all the things that have hurt you in your lifeI am restoring all the brokenness of your past and your childhoodI am restoring broken healthI am restoring everything just as I did with Job..”And then she said Declare this:In Jesus Name, I am restoredIn Jesus Name, all that has been lost and taken away from me has been restored, and I will receive double what was takenIn Jesus Name, my wounds have been healedIn Jesus Name, my joy is restoredIn Jesus Name, my strength is renewedIn Jesus Name, I am wholeIf you are tired. This message is for you. If you are struggling with broken dreams, broken promises, a broken heart, past trauma, current trauma, your health, your past, your childhood, your finances, whatever it is, this is for you. God is restoring you!I know it may not be in the way you want Him to. I know it may not be your timing. I know you feel you can't go on. I promise you, He will help you go on. I promise you, when you make it to the other side of this hill, the other side of this mountain, the other side of this ocean or cavern, it will be worth it. I am talking with many people who have been struggling for a long time. Most of them are really struggling to hold on to any hope that things will change.Is this you? Have you been down for the count so long that you can't even picture things getting better? Have you been so sick that you can't imagine a brighter future, one where you are healthy and can do all the things you want to do? I am not even talking about huge things. Some people I know have been so sick for so long that they can't even imagine a world where they can even go for a walk around the block without pain. They can't imagine a day that doesn't include all the medical appointments or treatments. Have you struggled with money so long that you can't imagine a time when you will be able to pay all your bills? If this is you, I want to assure you that there is nothing wrong. This doesn't mean you don't trust God or that you don't have enough faith. It means you are tired. You are worn down. You are weary. It is ok. I also want you to know you aren't alone. So many are suffering right now.This is why community is so important. Sometimes we need someone else to be praying for us when we just can't anymore. We need someone else to keep hoping for us when we are losing hope. Sometimes hope can be painful. It can hurt to keep hoping for something good, and yet we never see it. It is hard to hope for a husband when you don't have a boyfriend. It can be hard to hope for a healing when you just seem to be getting worse and worse. It can be hard to hope for provisions when your bills keep piling up.Hope take vulnerabitlity. Hope is believing in something that you can not see, and this is not easy when what you do see is overwhelming. It is not easy to have hope when you feel like the waves keep knocking you over. This is when it is important to have a community around you. Get involved in a Bible study or something else at your church. Or, if you can't get out of your house, find an online community. I am in two prayer groups, one at 6:30 on Wednesday morning and one at 10:00 on Thursday mornings. Both are on zoom and both are filled with powerful prayer warriors who would be happy to pray with you. I also have a Walk Boldly With Jesus Facebook group where wonderful people would be happy to pray for you.If you don't have a community and don't want to find one, at least find one person who can be your prayer partner. Someone who can hold you in prayer and who can hold onto that hope for you. Also, you can pray for them. Sometimes, it is easier to pray for others than for your own situation, because we are too close to it. Also, praying for someone else will give you a sense of purpose and, at least while you are praying, distract you from your troubles. I would like to challenge each of you to check out a Bible Study or a prayer group, or to find at least one person and ask them to be your prayer partner. We were not meant to do life on our own. God built us for community.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. Lord, we thank you so much for Your Word above. We thank you for restoring us and healing us. We thank you that you love us so much that you meet us where we are, but then you don't let us stay there; you lift us up. Lord, we ask for that restoration and healing you promised above. We ask for the strength and perseverance to wait for it as we are growing weary, Lord. Help us to hang in there. Lord, I ask that you help each person listening find their community. Help them to find a prayer partner. Help them to not feel so alone. Bring the perfect person into their life, Lord! We love you, 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. If you would like more info on either prayer group I mentioned earlier, please reach out. Also, if you are looking for a community, I invite you to join my mentoring community. We meet on Tuesday nights at 8 PM. There is a link for it in the show notes if you would like to join us. 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 was received in September 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, “There are Jerichos in your life, in your family, in your ministry, in your neighborhood, in your world today, and in my church today. The walls will tumble. Obey me—Intercede for the graces that you will need. Use all the graces I have given you. My mother is at your disposal.” 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

Fix Your Eyes On JesusEphesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”This verse is an important one.  It is something I think we forget more than we remember.  At least I know I forget this often.  I do know I am saved because Jesus died on a cross for my sins.  I know I am not saved because of my own actions.  I know there are no works that I could do to save myself because Jesus already paid the ultimate sacrifice.  I know all of this, and yet sometimes I still try to do it all myself.  Sometimes I try to fix things myself.  Instead of immediately turning to the Lord when things get tough, I try to fix them myself.  I do all that is humanly possible to do, and then when that doesn't work, I turn to the Lord.  Do you know why it doesn't work when we try to do things on our own?  Because we were trying to do it on our own.  We can't do anything on our own, and why would we want to when we have a heavenly Father who wants to do it with us?  This morning's devotional was about this same message. The daily devotional I am reading this year is called “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young.  I am really enjoying this one because the devotionals are not super long, and they are written as if they are a direct message to you from Jesus.  It's great to get a personal message from Jesus each morning.  I'm going to read you the message from this morning because I think it illustrates this verse well.  "I want you to experience the riches of your salvation: the joy of being loved constantly and perfectly. You make a practice of judging yourself based on how you look, behave, or feel. If you like what you see in the mirror, you feel a bit more worthy of my love. When things are going smoothly, and your performance seems adequate, you find it easier to believe you are my beloved child. When you feel discouraged, you tend to look inward so you can correct whatever is wrong.  Instead of trying to “fix” yourself, fix your gaze on me, the lover of your soul. Rather than using your energy to judge yourself, redirect it to praising Me.  Remember that I see you clothed in My righteousness, radiant in My perfect Love.”This gives some great examples, I think we can all relate to.  It is easier for us to feel loved when we like what we see in the mirror or when we feel we are doing a good job.  It is easier to think we are God's beloved children when we are attending church, showing up for our prayer time, and helping others.  However, what about when we aren't? What about when we are snoozing through prayer time and missing church on Sunday?  What about when we are not being kind and loving, but we are being irritable and grumpy?  Do we still know we are God's beloved child?  Do we still believe we are loved?  Or, do we struggle to believe it because we haven't earned his love or earned our spot as His beloved child?  I can't answer that for you, but for me, I know I struggle with feeling like I have to earn it.  The thing that bugs me the most is that I don't even know I am doing it.  If you ask me if I have to earn God's love, I would say, “No.”  I truly know I am loved no matter what.  However, if you look at my actions, they say something else.  Why is that?  It is so frustrating when you know something on one level and yet your actions reveal that you might not know or accept it on all levels.  This, I am sure, is a trick from the enemy.  As mentioned in the letter from Wormwood in the Tuesday episode, the enemy wants to keep our brains in a fog.  He wants to keep us from thinking clearly and asking too many questions.  We need to resist this fog.  We need to try to live as intentionally as we can.  We can so easily go through our day on autopilot.  We do the things we did yesterday; every day is similar, and we aren't even really thinking about what we are doing.  We are just doing what we always do.  However, what if what we always do isn't the best for us?  What if we could do better if we lived more intentionally?  In this message from the daily devotional, Jesus is calling us back to Him.  He is calling us to stop trying fix ourselves and instead fix our eyes on Him. Hebrews 3:1 says, "Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.”  We need to stop turning our gaze inward and fix our gaze on Jesus.  Look towards Him and then never take your eyes off Him!  I love where it says in the devotional, “Rather than using your energy to judge yourself, redirect it to praising Me.”  That is such a great piece of advice.  Judging ourselves does take so much energy.  Praising God will uplift your spirits, also.  I love to praise God; I always feel so loved afterwards.  Psalm 34:5 says, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”  When we are looking to God, we are radiant.  We don't feel ashamed; we feel as though we are God's children because we know we are.  I love it when God gives us the answers to the questions we are asking.  If we want to know how we can experience the riches of our salvation and the joy of being loved constantly and perfectly, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and redirect our energy to praise.  Imagine if you could feel the joy of being loved constantly and perfectly?  You can just turn your gaze to Jesus and praise Him.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we are so grateful that you gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.  We know we don't have to earn it, and yet we still try.  Help us to stop that, Lord.  Help us to accept your love and acceptance that is freely given.  Help us to know in our inmost being that you love us no matter what, and we don't have to do anything to save ourselves.  Your grace has already saved us.  Help us accept your grace, Lord, and use it to praise you!  We love you, Lord, you are so amazing.  You are the best, and we are so grateful for 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.  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

Mercy Is So ImportantJude 1:20-23 “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear,  abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh. This is a great verse because it tells us to build ourselves up in the most holy faith.  It tells us to pray in the Holy Spirit and to keep ourselves in the love of God and wait for His mercy to lead us to eternal life.  However, it doesn't just stop there.  It doesn't stop with God telling us to take care of ourselves.  It goes on to talk about how we should have mercy on those who waver in their faith.  It tells us to snatch others out of the fire.  This is a pretty vivid image.  I think it paints an accurate picture of how important it is that we save others as well.   I think mercy is something that we need a whole lot more of in the world today.  Mercy and Grace seem to go hand in hand, and this world seems to be in short supply of both of them.  This world, or at least this country, the United States of America, seems to be so divided.  If someone doesn't believe the same way that we do, we tend to want nothing to do with them.  Or, we want to argue with them and tell them all the reasons why their opinions are wrong.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think things can change without us talking about our differences.  However, these need to be respectful, calm conversations  where both sides are listening to the other with the goal of understanding where each side is coming from.   These are not the conversations that I have seen happening in our country for a long time now.  I did see a conversation like this last summer at my nephew's wedding.  My brother-in-law and my husband had a respectful conversation about their thoughts on a bunch of different issues going on right now.  They couldn't have been further apart on some issues, but they both listened respectfully and actually learned that they agreed on some things.  I think they also cleared up some misunderstandings about some issues.  It was nice to see and a welcome change to the conversations I am used to hearing. Sometimes we can get so caught up in what we believe.  We think that we are right and that must mean that the other person is wrong.  Something I have been learning a lot about over the last few years is that two opposing things can be true at the same time.  You can love your parents, and you can also feel like you hate them for some moments.  You can be super happy that you got a promotion and also sad that you are leaving your old job, or the friends at your old job.  In most circumstances, neither side is 100% correct.  There are pros and cons to both sides.  There are facts that are misunderstood or taken out of context on both sides.  Also, our emotions always enter into the arguments, and for good or bad, this makes us less objective.   Our feelings for the people we are talking to or arguing with can get caught up in our feelings for what they are saying.  We can start to think that they are bad people just because we don't like the things that they are saying. The day that this reading was given at the prayer group, the following word or prophecy was also given.  “What I hear the Lord saying to me is that whether you believe it, whether you like them, whether you understand them, God tells us to love them. Love them in their misunderstandings, love them, pray for them, don't be like them.”  I think this is important for us all to hear.  God is not asking us to just pray for those that we love or those that we agree with.  He is asking us to pray for everyone.  He is asking us to even pray for those that we don't agree with and those we don't like.  He is asking us to pray for those whom we don't understand.   I think in this verse God is explaining to us that everyone is at a different place in their journey.  He is saying to have mercy on everyone, but in very different ways.  He is saying to pray for everyone and to love everyone, but also he is warning us not to get so close that we become like those who do not follow God's ways.  He says to “snatch them out of the fire,” but he also says “on others have mercy with fear,  abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.”  To me, this means that some people we can save, with God's help, and others we need to have mercy, and pray for them, but we need to be careful that we do not become like them.  I love how the word that was given this day was about how we needed to love everyone.  This is something that is so hard to do sometimes.   Actually, all of this is hard to do most of the time.  It is hard to love someone who is saying and doing things that you don't agree with.  Possible things that are hurting you or your loved ones.  It is hard to have mercy for people whom you feel are wrong in so many ways.  It is hard to have mercy for those who don't seem to have any mercy themselves.  It is hard to pray for people who have caused you harm.  It's hard to pray for people who seem so different, who seem like they don't care about anyone or anything.  God understands that this is hard.  I believe this is why he started the verse with, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God.”   Have you ever been on an airplane before?  Before you take off, the flight attendant goes over all of the safety precautions.  One of the first things that they tell you is that if the cabin air pressure drops you oxygen masks will drop down from the  ceiling.  They warn you to put your mask on before you help someone else.  Why is this so important?  This is important because if you help others first, by the time you get around to helping yourself, you may not have the energy.  I believe this is similar to what God is telling us.  He is telling us to make sure that we are taking care of ourselves.  He is telling us to build ourselves up in our faith, to pray, and keep in the love of God.  This will fortify our faith and strengthen us so that we can go out and snatch others from the fire.   If we are not keeping our faith strong, we may have great intentions to go out and to help others, and yet we find ourselves being pulled down instead.  God tells us to love others and to pray for them, but not to become like them.  This is a hard task.  It is difficult not to give in and become like others in the world today.  Especially if you are surrounded by sin in the world.  However, if you are strong in your faith, if you are praying and staying in God's love, you will have all the strength you need to resist these temptations.  The next time you are in a situation with someone that you don't agree with or that you feel is not a great person, remember that God is calling you to have mercy on them.  Instead of arguing with them, say a quick prayer for them.  The next time you pass by someone and you don't understand them or what they are doing, instead of judging them, say a quick prayer for them.  We are all going through something.  We have no idea what someone else is going through, what experiences led them to where they are.  We need less judgment in this world and more understanding and love.   Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  We ask that you help us to have more mercy and grace for others.  We ask that you help us to judge less and seek to understand more.  Lord, we ask that you strengthen our faith and understanding.  We ask that you help us to stay in your love, so that we may be strong enough to offer love and mercy to others.  Lord, we ask that you help us to remember in the moment that we are your ambassadors of love and mercy.  The only experience that some people will have with you, Lord, is through us; help it to be a positive experience.  Help your love and mercy to shine through us! Father, we are so grateful for all you do for us.  We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, Amen. 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 Has Compassion For You!Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”We received this scripture verse at the Watchmen Prayer Group that I go to on Wednesday mornings. It is at 6:30, and it lasts about half an hour. If you are up early in the morning and would like to start your day off praising the Lord and hearing what He has to tell us for the day, then let me know, and I can add you to the email list. It is a Zoom meeting, so no matter where you are, you can attend. Although if you are not in the Eastern time zone, it might be a bit too early. We do record it, though, so if it is too early, you could always get on the email list and then listen to the recording. I am telling you that it is a wonderful way to start your day.Now back to the scripture. It begins with, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love will not depart from you.” There are a couple of nice things about that part. First, I think we all have some mountains that we wish would depart from our lives. Sure, we love it when we are on the mountain top. We love the high we get when we make it to the top of the mountain, and we can see all the land. We can see the sun rise or the sun set. We can see the valley, and we might even be able to understand a bit more about the valley when we are on the mountain top. However, wouldn't it be great if we didn't have to climb that mountain? I guess that is a good question. Would we wish away the mountain if it meant we didn't have our mountain top moment?As I was writing that last part, I felt the Holy Spirit stir inside of me. I felt like He prompted that last question. As I was writing about the experience at the top of the mountain, I realized that if we wished our mountains away, we wouldn't get all the comes along with making it to the top of a mountain. There is so much that we gain from going through hard times. We gain perspective. We gain wisdom and knowledge. We gain perseverance and resilience. We learn so much about ourselves. We also learn so much about God if we are looking. I look back at all the really hard times that I have had, and I don't think I would wish them away. They made me who I am today.I have so much compassion for others because I received so much compassion when I needed it most. I do not judge people because I know what it is like to walk through hard times. I know what it is like to be doing your absolute best and still have children who act out. I know what it is like to try so hard to save your marriage and yet nothing works. I have been to enough events where other people share their stories to know that no matter what we look like on the outside, we are all going through something hard. We all have things in our lives that are hurting us. We all have thoughts in our heads that tell us we are not enough or we are not loved. We all have something that we are struggling with. I am a better person because of all the hard times I have been through.What is great about this verse is that it says, even if our mountains do depart and the hills disappear, God's steadfast love will not depart from you. This is amazing because if God is telling us that His steadfast love will not depart from us, then that means we have His steadfast love. This may seem like an obvious statement, and yet I am not sure we all knew this already. Did you know that God's steadfast love is ALWAYS with you? Do you know what steadfast means? According to the internet, it means firmly loyal or constant; unswerving. It also means fixed or unchanging, and can also refer to fixed or unmovable. This is pretty awesome. Have you ever thought of God's love that way? I hope you have, but I am guessing most of us haven't.I am not sure most of us spend much time thinking of God's love at all. We probably spend most of our time thinking we are not worthy of God's love. We listen to the lies our brain tells us about how we are sinners, and we aren't worthy of God's love. We have done so many terrible things in our lives that there is no way God could love us. We will be the first to tell others that God loves them no matter what, and yet we feel like we are the exception. God's love just doesn't extend to us. We are wrong.Yes, we are sinners; that is not a lie. We all do things we aren't proud of, and we all do things that aren't in line with what God wants from us. And God loves us anyway. Just as our parents love us even though we mess up. Actually, not just like our parents because our parents' love is flawed. We live in a broken world, and so even though we are all doing the best we can, we all fall short. However, God's love is perfect. It is 100 % uncondiltional. We can mess up in the worst way, and He will still love us.Let's review that definition again. Steadfast love means firmly loyal or constant; unswerving. Constant and unswerving, did you hear that? That confirms just as the verse said, that God's love never leaves us. It is constant. No matter what you have done, it is still there. You wake up with loads of regret over your drunken night last night, and God's love is still there. You let down your loved ones, and you have no idea how to make it right. God's love is still there. You cheat on your spouse, God's love is still there. You fight with your kids, God's love is still there. You disobey your parents, but God's love is still there. You murder someone, God loves is still there. It is always there.Steadfast love also means fixed or unchanging, and can also refer to fixed or unmovable. It is fixed or unchanging. Do you realize what this means? It means God's love never changes. Not only does it never leave us, but it never changes. That means God doesn't love us a lot when we are doing something good and loves us just a little when we mess up. He loves us for exactly who we are 100% of the time. We have all His love all the time. He loved us before we were even born, and the level of that love has never changed. It's always there, it's always full. It's always amazing.The verse ends with, “and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” This is something that I feel I could talk forever about. Yet this episode is already getting a bit long. However, I didn't want to not address it as I don't think many of us know this. God's covenant of peace shall not be removed. Did you know God made a covenant of peace with us? Did you know you have a covenant of peace with the Lord? You may wonder how this could be when you are so anxious or worried all the time. This is not the life God has planned for you. He does not want you to be worried and anxious all the time.God tells us over and over again in the Bible to have no fear. He tells us He is our protector and our provider. Sometimes we can block that peace when we forget to turn to the Lord. Or when we focus so much on how big our problem is that we forget how big our God is. If we want the peace God has for us, then all we have to do is look for it. This verse said that his covenant of peace never leaves. It's always there; we just forget sometimes. Or, we just can't see it. If we look for peace, we will find it.The very last thing the verse says is that the Lord has compassion for us. It is important that each one of us hears that. God has compassion for you. He is not judging you. He is not just waiting for you to screw up. He is not expecting you to screw up. He is not just waiting to punish you. God is rooting for you. He is on your side. He has compassion for you. He sees you. He sees you doing all you can to change. He knows your heart. He knows you. He sees you in ways you don't see. Here me when I say, “God has compassion for you! He has a covenant of peace and steadfast love for you! He is rooting for you, and He is on your side!”Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each person listening to this episode. Lord, we want to experience your steadfast love. Please help us. Please help heal and renew our hearts so we can accept the love and peace that you have for us. If there is anything we are doing to block that love or peace, please help us to realize it and to stop doing it. Help us to understand that you are for us, you are rooting for us, and you love us. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus's holy name, Amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you're ready to stop living your faith cautiously and start walking boldly with Jesus, I want to invite you into my Christian mentoring community. This is a space for women who love God but feel stuck, unsure, or tired of repeating the same patterns. Together we grow in confidence, learn to hear God's voice, build strong spiritual habits, and step into who we truly are in Christ. If you're ready to renew your faith and live with boldness through the power of the Holy Spirit, I'd love to walk with you. There is a link for mentoring in the show notes. I look forward to meeting with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just asyou are, and so do I! God is on your side, and we are both rooting for you, always! Have a blessed day!Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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 have an image of the walls of Jericho, showing how the army marched around the walls of Jericho. And the Lord is saying, “You are the army that will walk around the walls of Jericho and break them down, and the enemy will be defeated. It is through prayer, through love. Because remember, I am love.” 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 Lord Rescues You From Them All!Psalm 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.”I saw this verse, and I wanted to share it with you. In mentoring, we are learning how not take offense at things. In other words, how to not let things bother us as much. The beginning part of this verse is something that doesn't really seem fair. It says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” Why? Why do we have to suffer if we are righteous? Can't God keep us from that? If we are following the Lord and we are doing all the things He wants us to do, why do we have to suffer?Do you ever feel this way? Do you ever cry out to the Lord, asking why? Why me? Why now? Why my child or my loved one? Why, Lord, why? I know I have done this before. Actually, the question I find myself asking a lot is why this again? I thought we were over this or through this. Or I ask, when will this be over? How long do we need to stay stuck in this? I am sure you have asked the Lord similar questions.We can fall into a trap of thinking that if we are righteous. If we follow the Lord, then our problems will all go away. Especially if we find Jesus at the bottom of a pit. If we are at our worst when we discover Jesus, then we think after finding Him, we are going to coast through life. Yes, we may hit some bumps, but the worst is over. I would love to tell you that it was always the case. I wish I could say once you find Jesus, you are home free. However, it says right in the verse, many are the afflictions of the righteous.My parents always knew Jesus. There was never a time when they weren't going to mass and spending time with the Lord. Even when they were in High School, dating, they would meet before school and go to mass together. I would think, with that kind of dedication, the Lord would bless them and protect them from harm, and yet they did not have a struggle-free life. They had 11 children, and my mom stayed home to watch the kids when they were little. With 11 children, someone is always little for at least the first 25 years or so. My dad had a pretty good-paying job, and yet we still struggled with money. There just is not enough to go around when you have 11 kids.We not only struggled with money, but our family suffered many medical crises. Like when my grandfather's throat was cut with a screwdriver by an intruder who wanted his money. My grandpa didn't have any money. One sister had a fever for several days, and we were told that if it didn't break by morning, she might not make it. I had a brother who was pulled through a machine in a factory that makes chicken wire. There were plenty of other illnesses and car crashes. I had a sister who loved the Lord, and then at college got swept up in a cult and has suffered severely over the years trying to recover from that. We have had divorces in our family.I say all of this to let you know that no family is above troubles. You or your loved ones are not struggling because God is punishing them. God was not punishing my family, and He was not punishing Job in the Bible either. God is a good Father, and like all good Fathers, He sometimes allows us to suffer so that we can be stronger on the other side of it.The second part of this verse is so important, and it is something we can't forget. This verse does not just say that the righteous will have a lot of trouble and then end there. It goes on to say, “but the Lord rescues them from them all.” The Lord will rescue you from all your troubles. If He has not rescued you yet, He will. Keep waiting, keep seeking, keep asking. It will happen. God will not abandon you. Let me tell you some of the ways God rescued my family.Whenever my parents were struggling financially, God took care of them. One time, they needed money for something, and they prayed about it and told God if He wanted them to do it, then He would need to provide the money, and the next day, they got a check in the mail for the exact amount. When they didn't have food to feed us kids, they prayed, and a neighbor knocked on our door with groceries. When my dad's car broke down, a neighbor gave my dad a car. My dad didn't ask, He just gave it to him. When my grandpa was attacked and his throat was cut, he should have died. However, he not only made a full recovery, but the doctors said he healed in miraculous timing. My sister's fever, which was so high, finally broke, out of the blue for no reason, the doctors said. But we know it was God! My brother, who was pulled through a machine that makes chicken why came through with only a shoulder injury. The Lord definitely rescued him. What about your life? Can you look back and see times in your life when the Lord has rescued you? Can you look back at times when you were homeless, and God found you a place to live? When you were sick, and God healed you? When you were scared, and God protected you?I know it stinks that we have to go through afflictions. I know God could save us from them, and it is hard to see why He doesn't. However, if we really think about it, we will see how it would not do us any good if He saved us from everything. I know you may have suffered a terrible affliction, the loss of a child, spouse, sibling, parent, or friend. I know it doesn't make sense. I am not going to pretend to have all the answers, and I don't know if I buy that everything happens for a reason. However, I do believe that God can use all things for our good. When I don't understand what is going on. When I am stuck in the middle of a situation, and things look dark, I hold onto that promise. I talk to God about how much I can't wait for him to use this awful situation for good. Even though I can't see a way where he can, I know He can because there is nothing He can't do! The Lord will rescue you!Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask you to help us turn to you in our afflictions. We ask you to rescue us, Lord, just as it says in this verse. Lord, it is hard to keep waiting for your rescue, especially when it is taking so long. We thank you for all that you do for us, and we are sorry if we get impatient while we wait. We ask for strength and perseverance to make it through all the afflictions that we have to go through. We ask for peace as well, 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 today's episode spoke to you, and you've been carrying hurt, resentment, or just feeling tired of holding everything together, I want you to know you don't have to walk through that alone. I host a weekly mentoring community where we slow down, seek God together, and learn how to live lighter and freer in our faith. If your heart is longing for support, healing, or simply a safe place to grow, I'd love for you to join us. You can find the link in the show notes. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I. God is on your side, and we are both rooting for you! Have a blessed day.Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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, “Beauty can be seen with the eyes of the heart. And when I look at each of you, my children, I see beauty. I see with eyes that see clearly, distinctly, lovingly. I see you for who you truly are. And I am pleased with who you truly are, for you resemble Jesus, my Son, your Savior.” 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

And They Laughed At HimMark 5:38-40 “When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.”We are back to the story of a little girl who was restored to life. Last week I replayed a devotional that my friend Catherine did on this Bible story. Then on Friday, I felt the Holy Spirit wanted me to focus on two other parts of the story. However, I only got to focus on one part on Friday. Today, we will finish up with this story. I really felt strongly that these verses were important enough that we shouldn't gloss over them. I felt they were important enough to slow down and really examine what they are saying.In case you missed last Tuesday and Friday and you don't know this story, let me briefly fill you in. There was a synagogue leader whose daughter was dying. He asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter. Jesus was on his way when someone touched his garment and was healed. Jesus felt power leave his body and asked who touched Him. The lady confessed, and he told her that her faith had healed her. While he was talking to this lady, someone came and told the synagogue leader that his daughter had died, so there was no need to bother Jesus anymore. Jesus told the man, “Do not fear, only believe.” This is where today's verse picks up.Mark 5:38-40 says, “When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.” When Jesus gets to the house, he asks everyone why they are crying and making a commotion. He tells them that the little girl is not dead; she is just sleeping. Then it says, “And they laughed at him.” This is the first thing that I want to focus on.I get why they might have laughed. People were just beginning to know who Jesus was. They didn't know Him as we know Him. They didn't have the benefit of reading all the Gospels and hearing all the amazing things He did while He walked the earth. I am not sure if they had ever seen someone raised from the dead yet. They may have heard about Jesus's miracles, but many synagogue officials stayed away from Him because they weren't sure what to think of Him.What I want you to know is that people may laugh at you, too! If you intend to walk boldly with Jesus and you intend to step out and use the power of the Holy Spirit that is living inside of you, then people may laugh at you, too. If you offer to pray for someone's healing, they may laugh and tell you that there is nothing you can do because the doctors said there is no hope. You may try to tell someone that with the power of the Holy Spirit, they can forgive the murderer who killed their loved one, and they may laugh at you. You may tell someone that even though you don't know how, you have hope that God will provide them the money to pay their bills or the food to put on their table, and they may laugh at you. When this happens, I want you to remember that they laughed at Jesus, too.When you are laughed at for your beliefs or for being bold and stepping out in faith to pray for amazing things, try not to take offense. They don't know any better. They believe what this world is teaching. They are “drinking the kool-aid” so to speak of this world. They don't have to believe what you are saying is true. They don't have to believe to receive the healing. Remember in the Bible when those people lowered their friend down from the roof so that Jesus would heal him? Jesus said, their faith healed him. You can have enough faith for them. Do you know how I know it is true that the person being healed doesn't have to have faith? Because Jesus raised people from the dead, and if you are dead, you don't have faith, you don't have anything, you are dead.It is also not our job to try to convince people that what we believe is true. Jesus did not spend time talking with the people who laughed at Him. The next part of the verse is the second thing I want to focus on. It says, “Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.” Jesus put all the non-believers outside while he prayed for this little girl. It is important to know that you can do this. If you are praying for healing for someone and you are surrounded by non-believers, or worse, people who are openly mocking you, it is ok to ask if you can have a few minutes alone with the person you are praying over. It is important that we block out all the negative voices, and that can be really hard to do at times.I have a friend who was talking about how she had a loved one who died, and she was praying for the Lord to bring him back to life. She knew God could do it as He had done it before, and God is the same yesterday, today, and always. (Hebrews 13:8) If you have read about God doing something amazing in Scripture, then you know He can do that today, too. Isn't that amazing! So, my friend was praying for God to bring her loved one back, but she had another family member in the room who didn't believe that was possible. She said, looking back, she wished she had asked the other loved one to wait in the hall for a bit while she prayed.You may never be praying for someone to be raised from the dead, although I hope you do someday, but that doesn't mean you won't be laughed at. This world is a crazy place right now. People might laugh just because they think it is crazy that you would believe in a “mysterious guy who lives in the sky and grants wishes.” This is something some have said to me before. Whatever it is they are laughing at you for, just remember, they laughed at Jesus, too! Also, remember how Jesus responded. He did not defend himself. He did not yell or get upset. He did not try to explain and reason with them. He just asked them to leave while he prayed, and then He let the power of God convert their hearts.This is what we are being called to do as well. God doesn't need us to defend our position. He doesn't need us to convince anyone of His Power. God is the one who does the miracles, and he is the one who changes hearts. The best way we can point people to Jesus is by loving them. I would say it is that easy, but loving people who are laughing at us is not easy. So instead, I will say it is that simple. It is not complicated. Jesus told us that if we love God with all our hearts and we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, then we will fulfill all the commandments. Simple doesn't mean easy, but it does mean that if we know what to do, we can practice it and get better and better at it. We can do this. If we want to live boldly, then we need to develop thicker skin. We need to learn that people are not rejecting us; they are rejecting Jesus, and they have been doing that since He was born. Jesus is tough. He can take it. We just need to learn not take offense and instead just love all people, even those who want to persecute us. It may not be easy, but it is definitely worth it. We will have so much more freedom when we learn not to care what others think of us and to only focus on what God thinks of what we are doing.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today. Lord, help us to be bold and step out in faith. Help us to be brave enough to ask those who are laughing at us to give us a few minutes alone while we pray. Help us to be strong enough to not let those who are mocking us or laughing at us derail us from the mission you have given us to walk boldly with Jesus. We love you so much, Lord, and we only want to do your will. Help us to keep our eyes focused on you! We ask all of this in accordance with Your Will and in Jesus's Holy Name, Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember if you want to learn more about not taking offense to those who mock you, or to anyone really, check out mentoring! Being Unoffendable is the theme for this month and so far it has been really good. CLICK HERE for info on mentoring. You can also get one of the two books I have read that are both amazing. One is Unoffendable by Brent Hansen and the other one is called Bait of Satan by John Bevere. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow, Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! God is on your side and we are both rooting for you! Have a blessed day!Today's Word from the Lord was received in September 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 dealt with much temptation in my earthly life. You read about it in the Gospels. Think about that when you are tempted. Daily, daily, daily, you are tempted. You are tricked into following something lesser than my wonderful word, than my wonderful love, than my forgiveness, my compassion. But I let these temptations come upon you to exercise you, so that you're turning back to me in faith, your turning back to me in asking for my help, strengthens you, strengthens your love, and your ability to follow me in your human life. They are actually graces, although I know you don't like them. But I ask you to bear with them and to turn quickly to me, for I am ever ready, ever ready to be at your side.” 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