I’m not sure where you’re at today. You might be angry at God. Something happened, maybe, in your life—that has damaged your faith. If we live in the world long enough, it can happen to any of us. How you respond is really important. If you’ve listened previously, you know that this week we are talking about how to live by faith. Having perseverance when we’re miserable is really, really hard. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re alone. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, and not...
Sep 16, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1646
Standing in the door of the plane, with a fierce wind whipping his whole body, Curtis wondered why he’d volunteered for the paratroopers. It was glamorous, they said. It’ll make a man out of you, they said. Shutting his eyes, Curtis prayed the most honest prayer of his life. He stretched out his hands and took a step... Lamentations 3:25–26 says, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Rolling on the gr...
Sep 13, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1645
When you’re having a bad day, a run-in with an immensely cheerful person doesn’t always turn that frown upside down. Does it? Commiserating with someone else though—a word literally defined by two or more people wallowing in misery together—that can be a balm to an anxious and worried mind. Sometimes. The relief though, is temporary. Romans 12:12 says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” The apostle Paul was talking about more than mere cheerfulness in his letter to t...
Sep 12, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1644
Since prayer is, by nature, personal, we often want to know how things are going to turn out, even before we start praying. We wonder if God will actually answer our prayer. Maybe not as dramatic as some stories, but still if we’re honest, we would like an answer to our prayer. Why else ask? Luke 18:1 says, “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” The fact is, of the 650 prayers in the Bible, 450 of them were answered, at least as the a...
Sep 11, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1643
Most people at one time or another wonder who they should address when starting a prayer. The Christian concept of the Trinity has caused people to hesitate to pray. It’s like, “Who do I pray to?” Luke 6:12 says, “One of those days, Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Interestingly, when Jesus prayed, as recorded in the Bible, He prayed to His Father. This is a difficult concept for many to embrace. How can someone be God but pray to Himself? In some se...
Sep 10, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1642
Have you ever felt without hope? It’s a pretty desperate place to be. It’s been said that hope is the one thing a human being can’t be without. Beth was once accused of some pretty terrible things. She wasn’t guilty of any of them, but it took two years and serious legal hurdles to clear her name. Her future was uncertain. In the end, she told reporters that her best ally was the Lord. Her story was itself a great witness. Romans 12:12 says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in...
Sep 09, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1641
In the dark days of mid-20th century Europe, a lone German decided to make political waves. His choices put his own life in grave danger. Oskar Schindler was a businessman with factories in countries occupied by the Nazis. Jews everywhere were being shipped like cattle to extermination camps. Some of Schindler’s employees were in danger. What did he do? He saved over a thousand of them by keeping their names on a list of employees necessary to conduct business. By war’s end, he had spent his ent...
Sep 06, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1640
As a believer, have you noticed that it’s often easier to stay in God’s will when you’re at home? At work, it can get a little dicey. It’s at work that people see us, and our decisions can have such impact. Not being in God’s will in that setting can be catastrophic. Romans 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Terry Looper is the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. Once, he was negotiating a sale and was at the finish line when he realized he hadn’t sought God’s will in t...
Sep 05, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1639
It’s no accident that Jesus chose as some of His apostles a group of fishermen from Galilee. These were men who could understand Him when Jesus told them He would make them “fishers of men.” He meant, of course, that they would share the Good News about Him with everyone they came in contact with. And that’s exactly what each of them did, for the rest of their lives! John 7:38 says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Fishing requir...
Sep 04, 2024•1 min•Season 1Ep. 1638
Have you ever visited a construction site, or maybe lived near one? A construction site is a unique kind of mess. Dirt and mud mingle with piles of wood, shingles, and other building materials. Utility flags poke up from the ground like man-made weeds. Trampled grass and dirty sidewalks give further evidence of the work at hand. Eventually, what began as an empty field will grow into something more: a business, a medical facility, or a home. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for...
Sep 03, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1637
Scores of people today, even in many of our churches, walk around aimless. They work their jobs and take care of their families, but they struggle to understand what it is that God wants them to do. He’s told us! As with every other situation, His Word speaks directly to our circumstances. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” The Lord requires of us that we have the min...
Sep 02, 2024•1 min•Season 1Ep. 1636
The story of the Prodigal Son is one we can all relate to. The Bible tells the story of a brash young man who leaves his home after asking for his inheritance. His loving father complies, and let’s just say the son learns some valuable lessons on his travels. Eventually, he humbles himself and comes home; he needs his father and his family. It’s really a story of Jesus and us. Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” W...
Aug 30, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1635
Who likes to wait for what we need or want? Basically, nobody. Of those nine elements that make up the Fruit of the Spirit, patience may be the hardest. Romans 8:25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” And patience is learned, which makes it one of the sweetest fruits the Spirit gives us. Waiting for a “payoff” of some kind makes the end result that much more rewarding. Life teaches us that. A childless Hannah endured mocking and ridicule, but the Bible te...
Aug 29, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1634
Usually, when we’re looking for some kind of emotional lifeline to get us through the day, we only want to know what God can do for us. How do we get that peace of mind we desperately need? One component is obedience. At first, this sounds like a test that’s too hard. We need relief right now! Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect ...
Aug 28, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1633
Have you ever been downright stuck in a difficult situation? Maybe you’ve held a job with a colleague or supervisor you didn’t see eye to eye with, and other career opportunities were scarce. Maybe you’ve been halfway through the semester and realized you’re headed for a poor grade, but it’s too late to drop the class. Maybe you’ve struggled in a relationship with a spouse or close family member, and you are wading through heartbreak with every interaction. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the peo...
Aug 27, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1632
Carissa was having one of those days. Instead of hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock, she had turned it off. Now the kids were late for school, she was late for work, and the tone for the day was one mad rush—emphasis on the mad. As the day wore on, she thought about her impatience and frustration with her children as everyone got dressed and grabbed a granola bar on the way out the door. It wasn’t their fault the family was running behind, and she regretted sending them to school with ...
Aug 26, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1631
We all screw up. We all fail in some way. We fall short of goals, or get embarrassed in some kind of career implosion or other event. It’s easy then to feel like we’ll never win again. And that is not how God sees you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Hope and a future. That’s what’s ahead, not depression and failure. The Bible is full of stories of people God would no...
Aug 23, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1630
Picture what it would look like to lose everything in one fell swoop. Your house burns to the ground. The stock market plummets and all your money is gone. Worst of all, your children fall ill and die. Suddenly, you’ve lost not only your material possessions, but your family, too. When people refer to someone as having “the patience of Job,” they say that for a reason. Job was a man of immense wealth, the richest man in the region, and was the father of 7 sons and 3 daughters he loved dearly. He...
Aug 22, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1629
Have you ever thought much about grace? We hear the word, but the concept itself might be a little elusive. That might be because it’s hard for humans to understand and embrace. Grace means simply that someone gives you something with no strings attached. Just for your good. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” The Bible tells a simple story, really. Mankind sinned and brought evil into the world. God ...
Aug 21, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1628
As humans, we tend to have a problem asking for help. We can probably chalk that up to our proud hearts. Often, when we’re really up against it, that’s when we resist seeking help. The God of the universe does away with all of that. Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Ask yourself: is my pride keeping me from asking for help? If so, mull that over. And then, take a step toward the Lord and ask for what you need. God op...
Aug 20, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1627
Would it surprise you to know that God has always been interested in you? Did you know He knew you before you were born? He has a vested interest in how your life turns out. Romans 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” He isn’t some remote deity. God doesn’t pay attention only most of the time. He doesn’t form His plans here and there. He is there for us all the time. The question is, where are we? Before you were born, it was God’s will that you would have a relationship wit...
Aug 19, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1626
Part of the joy of being a believer is that we can share the Good News with literally anyone and everyone. And how we share that faith is often critical for the other person’s future. Romans 5:3–4 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” As we share this week about holding fast to faith, it should be obvious that we are greatly blessed to be able to show others the way. And in tha...
Aug 16, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1625
Have you ever gotten tired of treading water? Martha is a 20-something-old lifeguard in Los Angeles. Besides dealing with deck chairs purposely thrown into the water and parents asking her to babysit poolside, she’s noticed another aspect of the job that really tugs at your heart. “Kids pretend to drown in the pool so that I will pay attention to them.” Wow. Think about that. At a young age, humans need to be nurtured and cared for. They want to be loved. So a young lifeguard becomes their emoti...
Aug 15, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1624
The prophet Isaiah lived during a difficult period for the ancient Israelites. Turning away from faith in God and under the control of corrupt kings, the nation entered a period of darkness. They needed hope more than anything. In our discussion this week, we’re talking about this human condition. Today, we are really no different from people in ancient times: We all need a relationship with our Creator. Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on ...
Aug 14, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1623
Have you ever been in such a dark place that you wondered if God cares about you, or if He even exists? Maybe it’s all some cosmic joke, right? We’ve all been there. Humans doubt. We doubt ourselves, we doubt product labels, we doubt our kids. We question everything. But the worst one is trying to figure out where God is in the middle of life’s great difficulties. Sometimes the world is just flat-out mean, and it seems like it’s an entity that’s trying to break you in half. That’s the very momen...
Aug 13, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1622
The Bible is full of what many would call difficult stories. Some of them don’t make a lot of sense. Others seem contrary to what we think should happen. One such story is breathtaking if we follow it through. It involves a father trusting God more than his own instincts. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, and not by sight.” In Genesis, we read about Abraham being instructed by the Lord to offer his young son Isaac as a sacrifice. As a sacrifice?! Nothing could be more repulsive! Tel...
Aug 12, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1621
Only a person who is willfully blind could deny that miracles happen today. They didn’t end at the shore of the Red Sea. Malachi 3:6 says, “I the Lord do not change.” From this, we can logically see that the Bible’s powerful and majestic miracles didn’t stop in the first century. They’re still happening. God didn’t suspend the love He dispenses in the form of miracles. Taylor McCaffrey was an alcoholic as a teenager. He was also a preacher’s kid, and these combined to weigh him down with guilt. ...
Aug 09, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1620
A political science major at a major university was having coffee with a campus pastor. The pastor knew that the student was wrestling with doubt about the existence of God and said to him, “John, you know all of us wonder at some point if it’s all real or not. For example, there are quite a few stories in the Bible that are just hard to believe. Jonah and the whale and all that.” John smiled and said, “No, that’s not my problem. What I wonder about is how God could care about me. I’ve done some...
Aug 08, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1619
Life is a process. We know that if we’ve lived very long at all. And this week, we’re talking about the process of trusting God. John 16:24 says, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Could Jesus meet our needs by just giving us something instantly? Of course. He made everything! And sometimes He does that; the miracles He performed that are recorded in the New Testament tell us that He often instantly met a person’s need...
Aug 07, 2024•2 min•Season 1Ep. 1618
Part of God’s unchanging nature is that He is sovereign and does things His way. In Isaiah 55, we read that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. In other words, He’s infinitely more powerful than we are, especially when it comes to perspective. We read in the Old Testament that sometimes other nations mocked the Israelites when they were exiled from their homeland. Really, they were mocking God because it was said that maybe He couldn’t keep His promises. After all...
Aug 06, 2024•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1617
