Hope with God... with Andrew and Wendy Palau

What happens when you feel confused about God? Do you feel ashamed and question whether you’re having enough faith? Do you run from God? You don’t have to. You can remember the things you do believe about God. When Jesus told His disciples, “I am the bread of life,” some of them had a really hard time understanding what He meant. Many left and stopped following Jesus. But Peter did something else....

Does Jesus offend you? Jesus said these words in John 6. “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will have no life in you.” Jesus is asking so much here. He’s saying that He is the only ONE to give life. And He wants everything. Does this offend you? That’s exactly what Jesus asked his friends in John 6. Many heard this teaching and said: “This is hard teaching.” Jesus gave all, and He ask...

Has God ever helped you out of a bad situation? Most of us can think of a time in our lives when something amazing and unexpected happened, and we thank God for His power and His care. Yet, when something goes wrong in our lives, we still worry, don’t we? When God led His people out of slavery in Egypt, led by Moses, it wasn’t long before they doubted whether or not God would provide food for them...

Do you struggle to believe in God? You’re not alone. Even Jesus’ friends who walked with Him—they saw His miracles—they heard Him proclaim that He was the Son of God with His very own voice. And yet, even they struggled to believe Him. In John 6, Jesus’ disciples were doubting His outrageous claims to be the bread of life that came from Heaven. He said to them, What if you were to see me for who I...

Do you ever doubt that Jesus is God? To us humans, the combination of Jesus’ miraculous power, and His humanity can be hard to comprehend. When a crowd of people were following Jesus to hear Him teach, He miraculously provided enough food for them all to feed on! They were so enamored with His ability to provide food that they kept following Him around, wanting more food! But they were missing the...

Stories of superheroes in the movies and books can be captivating. They are able to do incredible things because they’re so different from us humans. Jesus can do things we’re incapable of doing. But the Bible says He is the perfect Savior for us—not because He’s totally different from us—but because He lived as one of us! He understands us as humans because He lived as a human! You never have to...

When you look at the world today, do you think, “Wow, this is just like Heaven—everything perfect”? No. This world is dark and confusing, and there’s so much pain. But yet, in Matthew 6 , God tells us to pray for His will to be done on earth, just as in Heaven. Imagine if your life began to look a little bit more like Heaven! We won’t ever have perfection on this side of eternity, but we can have...

Have you ever been too embarrassed to ask for help? At one point in my life, I realized I was teetering on structures of glass—shiny on the outside but easily shattered with a pebble. Even though I wanted everybody to think I was doing great, inside I was crumbling. All the garbage of my life tormented my mind. I was held captive by my guilt. At that time, I didn’t know I could bring all those thi...

No matter what is happening in your life right now, I want to encourage you to bring all your problems to God. Ask Him to carry your burdens. Listen to the words in Matthew 11 from The Message: Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the...

What plans have you made for yourself? Often, we make plans that we think will bring about happiness. We try to find joy by satisfying our own desires. But the sad reality is, much of the time, they bring us destruction and emptiness instead. The Bible says that God has a plan for your life. The plans He makes for us are so much better than the plans we make for ourselves. You can decide to live o...

What are you worried about today? God doesn’t promise an easy life, but when you give your life to Him, He promises to be your help and support! He doesn’t want the weight of worry and stress to crush you. The book of Philippians in the Bible says: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s p...

What if I told you that you could take your burdens, and your fear—your challenges…and exchange them for peace and for hope? This is the way I think of prayer—as a beautiful exchange. In the Bible, the Greek word that’s translated for “prayer” is actually two words: “toward” and “exchange.” I pray because I get to connect with God and experience that divine exchange. And I can talk to God—anytime,...

Prayer can change your life. It changed mine! After years of rejecting God, I finally gave my life to Him, and it was on a trip to Jamaica if you can believe it. My inner dialogue went like this: God, why do I feel disconnected from You? If You’re real, I want to meet You. I have to know! And God opened my eyes. He showed me… all the garbage of my life that was keeping me from that deep relationsh...

Is there something you've always thought was true about the world—or about yourself, or maybe even about God—and now you're realizing you might have gotten it wrong? We all get things wrong. The way we think tends to be shaped by the world around us. But we can let our thinking be shaped by what God tells us is true. Will you ask God today—to show you an area where your thinking needs to change? Y...

Do you know that God wants to talk with you today? No matter where you are on your journey, you have access to God in prayer. He is always eager to hear you and be with you. But, no matter where I go in the world, I find that people feel intimidated by prayer. Maybe you’ve thought… I’m not holy enough. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know where to put my hands. Should I close my eyes? My needs a...

Is your soul hungry? Food satisfies the body. It gives you energy, fills your stomach, and hopefully, it tastes good! The Word of God is like good food. It feeds and nourishes your spirit instead of your body. Without this type of nurturing, your spirit would slowly wither and starve. Matthew 4:4 recounts the words of Jesus... “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word th...

What have you done to feed your spirit today? Jesus understood this truth—just like our bodies, our spirits need to be nurtured and fed. He talked about spiritual food when He said, in John 4 “I have a kind of food you know nothing about….My nourishment comes from doing the will of God...” The same is true for us. When we do God's will, we find meaning, purpose, and joy. When you read His word, tr...

What would it be like to journey through the wilderness in total darkness? Maybe you'd get scared, maybe you’d get lost, trip, or fall into danger. Sometimes walking through life feels like you’re embarking on a dark journey without a map. But God's Word is the light of truth. It shines in the dark. Let its timeless wisdom direct your choices. God hasn't left us alone, without a map. You can let H...

Does life seem to be crumbling all around you? In the middle of troubles, God is guarding you and He’s guiding you. He can speak to you through His Word, and keep you from going in the wrong direction. Will you let the light of God’s truth help you avoid falling into fear—or even just destructive traps and habits? Your Shepherd—He cares for you. And He wants to guide you. Psalm 23 says... [God] re...

With so many opinions in the world, how can we possibly know what's right? The world's ideas about how a person should act, think, and believe are always changing. And it’s overwhelming. But God's Word brings clarity and understanding of His will. It renews your mind and it helps you to see what is right and what is wrong—what’s real or fake, truth or lie. The Bible is pure truth—it never changes!...

How are you today? If you’re like most people, the immediate answer is, “I’m fine.” But you know, it’s often when we think that we’re fine that our lives are actually unraveling beneath the surface. We can coast along in life, oblivious to how far from the truth sin or apathy has taken us. We need God's Word of truth to shape us, to keep the subtleties of evil at bay, and to help us deal with our...

What has the power to change your life? Reading God’s word, the Bible. It’s an essential tool in the process of becoming whole, and free. Right and wrong will become more clear—like you're looking through a new pair of glasses after years of blurry vision. God-inspired desires will sprout up as new inspiration for you in your life. The more you listen to His Word, the more you're going to know tha...

Did you know that Jesus is sometimes called The Word of God? When He walked the earth, Jesus was truth with skin on. John 1:14 tells us… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. You have access to that same truth through God's Word, the Bible. His love, goodness, His grace tow...

The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. What other book claims to have this kind of effect on us? The Bible helps us to see God properly, to recognize what is true about Him, and what is a lie. It allows us to know Him deeply, and to have our lives...

Do you ENJOY reading the Bible? I get that it can be hard. The Bible is so big, and it’s ancient… and it's hard to know where to begin. The book of John is a great place to start because it tells the story of Jesus’s life on this earth—His miracles, His death, His resurrection. If you have given your life to Jesus, you want to know what He's like, right? And even if you haven’t yet given your life...