Walk Boldly With Jesus

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 t...

Our guest speaker today is my friend Mary. I met Mary because our husbands were both stationed at the same military base. Mary is going to give us her witness about how God helped her through the most difficult year and a half of her life. She talks about two terrible losses she suffered, how her husband was deployed to a war zone in the middle of all that grief, and then how God saved her life in...

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...

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...

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...

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...

We have all seen God working in our lives. However, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives. This is why it is so important we start talking about it more. The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us. If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, plea...

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 lear...

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 book...

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 wa...

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...

Today's Witness is from a friend in Big Life Mentoring. She gives her testimony about how she has been through several unhealthy relationships in search of love. Her mentor, Pamela Crim, helped her discover what she was truly in search of: Jesus. This is a story of her victory over negative self-worth and shame. She is also a survivor of betrayal trauma. God transformed her life, and he can do the...

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 j...

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 ver...

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...

Today’s Witness is from a woman in the Big Life mentoring group. She shared it on Facebook, and after reading it, I thought it would be a great one to share with all of you! The devotion this morning was amazing. The entire time Pamela was speaking, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a time in my life when I was so heartbroken over a job layoff from a job I absolutely loved. It was a dream job. I was...

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, b...

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 ou...

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 t...

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 wor...

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;...

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 ligh...

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...

When Waiting Hurts — Keep Hoping Anyway Psalm 71:5   “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.” This is something I hope many of us can say.  If I had one wish for all of you listening, it would be that you got to know Jesus when you were young and that He has been your hope and your confidence since your youth.  When I was younger, it was great to have my hope an...

Today I decided to do a Witness Wednesday about how God has been working in my life. I think it is just as important to talk about the little ways God is working as it is to talk about the big ways. Today I want to give you an update on how I can see Him blessing my life. First, I’ll start with Noah going off to school. Noah applied pretty late compared to when I remember applying, and he didn’t a...