Believe & Speak

This episode is for anyone going through a season of lack right now. I am right there in the desert with you. The drought I’m in is being magnified by the smell of smoke that is so thick from the California wildfires near my home that it’s blocking out the sun at times. We need rain. We desperately need rain, and I’m reminded of the drought in my own life each time I look out my window and see the...

God directed me to read from Psalm 32 today, and so I went to my usual sources—those versions of the Bible that take pains to accurately translate the original languages, which for the Old Testament is Hebrew and the New Testament is Greek. As a Bible teacher, I esteem the versions that stay true to the original text. Sometimes, however, I choose to read from a modern interpretation. While putting...

Today’s episode is centered on one of those if/then passages in the Bible. In other words, our Bible reading contains a conditional promise. According to James 1:12, God promises untold blessings to those of us who persevere under trial. If we choose to hang on, press through, and keep believing God, then we will receive a victor’s crown. I memorized this conditional promise many years ago, having...

Yom Kippur begins tonight at sundown. Yom Kippur, known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for people of the Jewish faith. This important day is marked by prayer and fasting and repentance. In recognition of Yom Kippur, I’ll be reading fifteen verses from the book of Hebrews in today’s episode of the Believe & Speak podcast. The New Testament book of Hebrews was written to fol...

This week, I’ve been consciously looking for reasons to give thanks. I decided to read Psalm 138:1-3 from The Message, because I love how this version of the Bible interprets these three verses regarding praise and thanksgiving. Since the tongue has the power of life and death, I want to fill my mouth with thanksgiving to the author of life. He is always worthy of praise! The New Living Translatio...

Today, I’ll be reading 1 John 5:1-5. These verses are such an encouragement to me when I feel like evil is gaining ground. I know that God has never lost a battle and that he has promised victory to every single one of us who believe in his Son. I don’t always feel victorious. But I believe in Jesus and I also believe the Bible is His Word of truth. God’s Word tells me that I’m victorious. So, eve...

Today’s reading is John 10:1-15 from The Message, which opens with Jesus speaking truth. May you hear the voice of your Shepherd as I read his words in this episode of the Believe & Speak podcast. According to John 10:3 Jesus “calls his own sheep by name.” Jesus knows your name, my friend. I want us to believe and speak that precious promise. Jesus, the Great Shepherd knows you personally. He says...

This week’s episode is inspired by a fable one of my pastor’s recently posted to Facebook. It’s called “Don’t Argue with a Donkey”, and since it’s about a lion and a donkey, I thought it might be one of Aesop’s fables. I searched the Internet and couldn’t find a proper attribution, but I liked the lesson in the fable, so I wrote an adaptation with a nod to one of Jesus’s parables found in Matthew...

In light of yesterday’s resignation of Governor Cuomo, I was drawn to share the portion of Scripture that talks about praying for those who rule over us in government. I looked back over my notes and discovered I read that Bible verse, which is 1 Timothy 2:2, in Episode 44. The declaration back then focused on how praying for those in authority marks our lives with godliness and dignity. It’s a go...

My pastor likes to say that the Bible wasn’t written to us, it was written for us. The author of Hebrews writes to remind persecuted believers to think back on the days when they first learned about Christ and how they remained faithful—even though their profession of faith led to terrible suffering. These believers had lost many things because of their faith in Jesus, but they knew they had somet...

Today’s Bible verses promise that God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and enabled us to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. While this week’s declaration reminds us to press forward with hope rather than fall backward in despair. You and I can’t help but stumble if we try to move forward while focused on the darkness in our past. As believers, we...

The news continually gives evidence to the shaking going on in the world. From the people in Cuba protesting against the oppressive communist regime to the polarization of the United States citizens with differing ideologies, to the effects of the COVID-19 virus that refuses to go away, these dreadful circumstances can easily make us feel shaken. In times like these, we need to fix our gaze on God...

Maybe you’ve heard or said “I love you to the moon and back.” That’s a lot of love! But God’s love for you is even greater. God loves you PAST the moon. What’s more, God loves you PAST the stars. Psalm 103:11 says, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is [God’s] love for those who fear him.” (NIV) A couple days ago I received a text from someone who received a fresh revelation...

I wrote in my blog a few weeks back about a wonderful devotional by Charles Stanley. His book is called Every Day in His Presence and it inspired this week’s episode of my podcast much like it inspired my blog. The headline for the daily reading assigned for the very day I planned to write today’s episode was this: Recovering From Rejection. Seeing that title on that day—just prior to writing this...

Do you believe that you are blessed? Today, I want to encourage you with a blessing that God wants spoken over his children. God instructed Moses to have the priests speak this blessing over the Israelites because He truly wants his children to be blessed. I am going to speak the blessing over you and I sincerely believe God will bless you. Numbers 6:27 says, “Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the...

live in Central California and we’ve been having quite a heat wave. I love the thought of God standing beside me as my protective shade. Yes, Almighty God is my shield, my fortress, my deliverer and defender, but he is also my protective shade. I would never limit God to the role of a parasol or an umbrella—He is so much greater and so much more powerful! But that doesn’t mean he can’t fill a less...

I’m following the journey of a teenager who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Her mother posts regular updates and prayer requests to Facebook along with pictures that absolutely capture my heart. I pray and pray for this precious family, asking for healing, hoping for good news, believing God is all-sufficient. Some prayers are answered. Others seem ignored. But even so, the mom posted these...

The book of Romans doesn’t teach us that we will never sin again. Declaring that sin has lost its power over me is different from saying sin will never again happen in me. If (and when) I do mess up, I won’t have to pay with my life because Jesus already paid the wages for sin. 1 John 2:1-2 says, “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have...

I’m glad you’ve joined me as we continue our four-week series from Romans 8:1-19. This is part two of our series, which remains focused on the transformed nature of those of us who live by the Spirit. I remember overhearing a group of twenty-somethings reacting to the news that one of their friends had unexpectedly died, leaving a lifetime of dreams yet to be fulfilled. One shocked young man said,...

Welcome to the beginning of a miniseries from Romans 8:1-19. I’m going to spend a total of four episodes on these verses that focus on the transformed nature of those of us who live by the Spirit. I decided to do a miniseries for a couple reasons. For one, I was inspired by Pastor Jack Hibbs to take my time with this powerful book of the New Testament. The pastor from Calvary Chapel Chino Hills sa...

I recently updated the cover photo on my Facebook page with a picture of my yard. The center of the image shows a pink and orange wash of light reflected in our pond, making the glorious sunset filling the back of the photo even more beautiful. As I was responding on Facebook to comments about the beauty of that picture, I was reminded of the verses that inspired today’s podcast. 2 Corinthians 3:...

Last week my girlfriend sent me an intriguing image of a man’s hand holding a lit match. What made the image so fascinating was the fact that—even though the man’s hand cast a bold, dark shadow on the wall barely an inch behind him—the flame on top of the match did not cast a shadow. The crazy thing is, if you merely looked at the shadow, you wouldn’t know that the match was lit. There is no darkn...

I read a daily devotional by Dutch Sheets called Give Him 15. In his post on April 29th, he addressed the importance of developing an intimate relationship with God. He said, “Our levels of faith, power, authority, and effectiveness will always be determined by how well we know Him.” Dutch also said, “The more we know His heart and ways, the more authority and responsibility He can trust us with.”...

Ever since mentioning that viral video last week of a sheep jumping right back into a ditch after being rescued, I’ve been bombarded by Bible verses having to do with Jesus as our Shepherd and the promises God has made to his sheep. A couple verses from Hebrews 13 have been hounding me, so I decided to read them today If you missed that funny video I mentioned last week, I included a link again to...

My daughter texted me a viral video earlier this week of a sheep jumping right back into a ditch after being rescued. Seeing that careless sheep hopelessly stuck by repeating the same mistake made think of the first part of Isaiah 53:6. “All we like sheep have gone astray...” (NIV) I’m thankful for the hope in 1 Peter 2:25, which says, “For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have retu...