Episodi

  • Praise Series #25 Delight In The Lord

    Praise Series #25 Delight In The Lord
    Jan 23 2026
    Praise Series #25 Delight In The LordPsalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”Have you ever thought about taking delight in the Lord? I am sure this is not the only time this idea is presented in the Bible. Actually there are more than 10 instances in the Bible where it talks about taking delight in the Lord or in His law. I have never thought of taking delight in the Lord before. I mean, I love him, and I spend time with him, but to be honest, when I read this verse, I wondered how I would even take delight in the Lord. I literally typed into the search bar on my computer, “How does one delight in the Lord?” I tell you this because I don’t want you to think that because I am doing this podcast, I have everything figured out. I don’t want you to think when I speak I am speaking with any authority as if I was an expert. I am on the same journey you are on. We could study the Bible our whole lives and still not have it all figured out.When I read a scripture verse, I listen to what the Holy Spirit has to tell me about the verse. I also think about what I have learned up until this point, and sometimes, many times, I go to the internet to see what others say about this verse. My goal with this podcast is for us to be on this journey together to discover God’s Word more fully and to see how we can apply that Word to our daily lives. I am not choosing verses that I already understand. Actually, I am not really choosing the verses. I am using the verses from my prayer group that people feel inspired by the Holy Spirit to share. This means that often I get a verse and don’t completely understand what it means. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives me understanding, and sometimes I find it through research. I do know that it is important to read the scripture and to try to understand it. This was confirmed at my prayer group the other day, someone felt strongly that the Lord wanted to tell us that His word is as pertinent today as it was then. We have the Lord right in our tabernacle, and he is right there with us in adoration and in everything. His word is still as powerful today as it was. That is why it is important to read his word and fill us so that we can fill ourselves with what God wants to tell us. God will speak to you directly through the scriptures if you let Him.Ok, back to today’s verse. How does one delight in the Lord? I found two really good articles and I will put a link to them in the show notes. One of them was titled, “What Does It Mean To Take Delight In The Lord?” and was written by Tracy Kulwicki. In this article Tracy talks not only about this verse, but the verses we discussed yesterday. Psalm 37:3-4 “Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” The author said that before you get the desires of your heart, you need to trust in the Lord, do good, and take delight in the Lord. She says the reason we need to do these things first is not that we need to win God over or because we need to work hard to get things from God. The reason we need to do these things is that when we do these things first, then our desires become His. We talked a lot yesterday about how to trust in the Lord and do good. Today we will talk about how we delight in the Lord? Here is what Tracy says about how we can delight in the Lord. “When I take delight in my children, I spend time with them. I watch the things they do. I notice who they are. I notice their features and character. I laugh at the funny things they do. I hold them close. I talk with them. I listen to them. I recognize the unique things about them that make them who they are. I think about them often. I focus on the great things about them that I love. I remember the words they’ve said that melt my heart, the great memories we’ve created together, and the times when we overcame something challenging together.She went on to say, “We can do the same things with God. We take delight in God by spending time with Him, watching the things He is doing in our lives. We can notice who He is, learn about His features and characteristics. We can laugh at the funny moments in our lives that come from His hand. We can hold Him close, talk with Him, and listen to Him. Recognize who He is, think about Him all throughout our day, and focus on His greatness and love. We can remember the times He has moved in our lives, the things He has done for us, and the prayers He has answered.”I think this is both a great description of how we already delight in things and also how we can apply what we are already doing to God. Just listening to that description of how we delight in our children made me smile. It made me think of how much I love my children. If you don’t have children, I bet you do have something that you ...
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    14 min
  • Praise Series 24: There is Joy in Our Trials

    Praise Series 24: There is Joy in Our Trials
    Jan 22 2026
    Praise Series 24: There is Joy in Our TrialsJames 1:2-4 “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”This verse doesn’t talk about praise, but it does say we should consider our hard times nothing but joy, because the testing of your faith produces endurance. In other words, we are not going through this hard time for nothing. We won’t get to the other side and be the same person that we were before the hard time. This verse shows that it is okay to praise the Lord during hard times because something good will come of it. After we make it through this impossible time, we will have more endurance. Then endurance will lead us to becoming mature and complete, lacking nothing. All that sounds pretty good to me.The question is, how do we praise the Lord in these difficult times? I know a lot of you who are listening to this episode are struggling right now and have been for a long time. Your struggles are intense and real, and some days you feel like you can’t take it for another moment. You are tired of feeling so sick you can’t get out of bed. You are tired of feeling as though you are going to lose your house or your car because you don’t have any money to pay your bills. Some of you are depressed and don’t even want to get out of bed. Understanding that this is about building endurance isn't going to be what gets you out of bed.However, what if praise could be that thing that gets you out of bed? What if you just need one thing to start changing things for you? What if you just need to have a different outlook? What if this verse could help you switch from a “why me” mindset to a “thank you” mindset? You might be wondering what you have to be thankful for in this hard time that you are in. However, there is always something to be thankful for. Things could always be worse. I know it doesn’t seem like it at times. I know it doesn’t feel like things could be any worse, but they can always be worse.Another thing that can be helpful is to remember that you will be so much stronger when you get through this. When you make it to the other side of this hard time. I know if you have lost someone, then there isn’t really another side to this. The grief you feel will always be with you. However, you will learn to cope with the grief. You will learn to live with it, and I promise you that joy will come back into your life someday. You will begin to feel joy again, little by little. It won’t erase the pain and sadness, but they will both be there. Some days grief will be stronger, and some days joy will be stronger.Praise and worship can help bring light into the dark place that you are in. Especially if you feel you are under a spiritual attack. When we are suffereing and we praise God anyway, that confuses evil spirits. They don’t understand why we would still praise the Lord even when things feel overwhelming, and it seems like nothing is going right for us. Remember, this is how Job ended up suffering. The devil told God that Job was only faithful because God had blessed him. So God allowed the devil to take away the things that Job loved the most so that the devil could see what it really meant to be faithful to the Lord. Even after he had lost everything, Job was still faithful to the Lord. Even after Job got sick and was in agonizing pain, Job was still faithful to the Lord.I am sure when the devil made this deal with God, he was sure he had it in the bag. I am sure he thought he knew what he was doing. I am sure he was 100% positive that Job would turn on the Lord. And yet he didn’t. I want to be clear that God knew Job wouldn’t. God wasn’t just taking a gamble with Job’s life. God knew what would happen. He knew how it would all work out. God knows everything. However, this is a lesson the devil still gets wrong a lot. He still tries to take our family away, take our health away, take our financial security away, in hopes that we will turn on the Lord. That is not what we are going to do.Instead, we are going to praise the Lord all the more when times are hard. We are going to sing to the Lord, yell to the Lord, talk to the Lord, whatever it is we can do to let God know we are still with Him and we want Him with us. When we feel we are under spiritual attack, we don’t have to be eloquent with our praise. We can simply say the name of Jesus, and the enemy will flee. We can simply be grateful to God for the small things until we are ready to be grateful for the big things. And just in case you are wondering if I actually do the things I tell you to do. Yes, I do.The other day, I was having a really rough day with my boys. It was one of those days when I just wanted to throw in the towel. One of those days where I wonder and ask how much longer until ...
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    10 min
  • Witness Wednesday #193 A Girl Looking For A Dad

    Witness Wednesday #193 A Girl Looking For A Dad
    Jan 21 2026
    Today’s Witness Wednesday is a story I read on Facebook today. I felt it was a great example of how God works through people and brings them together in the most unusual ways. We might not always understand what God is doing, or why He has brought certain people into our lives, but He always has a plan. The plan might not unfold for years, but one day it will make sense. I am sure the biker in this story had no idea his weekly visits to the Children’s hospital would end the way they did. But I am sure it all makes sense to him now. Here is his story.I'm a 58-year-old biker named Mike. I've got tattoos covering both arms, a beard down to my chest, and I ride with the Defenders Motorcycle Club.I volunteer at the Children's Hospital every Thursday, reading books to sick kids. It's something our club started doing fifteen years ago after one of our brothers' granddaughters spent months in pediatric oncology.Most kids are scared of me at first. I get it. I'm big and loud and look like I should be in a motorcycle gang movie, not a children's hospital. But once I start reading, they forget about how I look. They just hear the story.That's what I thought would happen with Amara.I walked into room 432 on a Thursday afternoon in March. The nurse had warned me this was a new patient. Seven years old. Stage four neuroblastoma. No family visits in the three weeks she'd been admitted."No family at all?" I'd asked.The nurse's face had gone tight. "Her mother abandoned her here. Dropped her off for treatment and never came back. We've been trying to reach her for weeks. CPS is involved now but Amara doesn't have any other family. She's going into foster care once she's stable enough to leave.""And if she's not stable enough?"The nurse looked away. "Then she'll die here. Alone."I stood outside room 432 for a full minute before I could make myself go in. I've read to dying kids before. It never gets easier. But a kid dying completely alone? That was a new kind of hell.I knocked softly and pushed open the door. "Hey there, I'm Mike. I'm here to read you a story if you'd like."The little girl in the bed turned to look at me. She had the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen. Her hair was gone from chemo. Her skin had that grayish tone that means the body is struggling. But she smiled when she saw me."You're really big," she said. Her voice was small and raspy."Yeah, I get that a lot." I held up the book I'd brought. "I've got a story about a giraffe who learns to dance. Want to hear it?"She nodded. So I sat down in the chair next to her bed and started reading.I was halfway through the book when she interrupted me. "Mr. Mike?""Yeah, sweetheart?""Do you have any kids?"The question hit me hard. "I had a daughter. She passed away when she was sixteen. Car accident. That was twenty years ago."Amara was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, "Do you miss being a daddy?"My throat tightened. "Every single day, honey.""My daddy left before I was born," she said matter-of-factly. "And my mama brought me here and never came back. The nurses say she's not coming back ever."I didn't know what to say to that. What do you say to a seven-year-old who's been abandoned while dying?Amara kept talking. "The social worker lady said I'm going to go live with a foster family when I get better. But I heard the doctors talking. They don't think I'm getting better.""Sweetheart—""It's okay," she said. Her voice was so calm. Too calm for a seven-year-old. "I know I'm dying. Everyone thinks I don't understand but I do. I heard them say the cancer is everywhere now. They said maybe six months. Maybe less."I set the book down. "Amara, I'm so sorry."She looked at me with those huge eyes. "Mr. Mike, can I ask you something?""Anything, honey."She looked at me with those huge eyes. "Mr. Mike, can I ask you something?""Anything, honey.""Will you be my daddy… until I die?"The room went still. Even the monitors seemed to hush. I felt every one of my fifty-eight years settle on my shoulders like lead.I opened my mouth, but nothing came out at first. All I could see was my own daughter’s face at sixteen, laughing in the rear-view mirror the last time I ever saw her alive. All I could feel was the hole that had lived in my chest ever since.Amara didn’t blink. She just waited, small and brave and impossibly calm.I wanted to say yes. God help me, I wanted to say yes so badly my bones ached. But I was just a rough old biker who showed up once a week with picture books. I rode loud, drank hard, and still woke up some nights yelling my dead daughter’s name into an empty house. What did I know about being anyone’s father again, even for a little while?I swallowed the rock in my throat. “Honey… I’d be honored. But I gotta be honest with you—I’m not very good at this daddy thing anymore. I might mess it up.”Her whole face lit up like sunrise. “That’s okay. You can practice on me.”And just like that, I had a daughter again.The nurses cried ...
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    12 min
  • Praise Series #23 Garment of Praise Instead of a Spirit of Despair

    Praise Series #23 Garment of Praise Instead of a Spirit of Despair
    Jan 16 2026
    Praise Series #23 Garment of Praise Instead of a Spirit of DespairIsaiah 61:3 “And provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”What drew me to this verse is the part that says, “a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” I know a lot of you are struggling and have been for a long time. You are struggling medically and can’t understand why you haven’t been healed yet. You know God can heal you, you truly believe that, and so it can be depressing when you know God can do something and yet He doesn’t seem to be doing it. Or, at least not in the way you would like, or even a way you can see. Some of you are struggling financially and don’t understand why your prayers about your financial situation seem to go unanswered. You know God could “make it happen,” and yet it doesn’t seem like He is. Some of you are struggling with depression, anxiety, family issues, and all sorts of other things.This whole praise series is to help us realize that the best way through the hard times is not to wallow in them, but to praise God through them. God doesn’t mind if you are upset with Him. If you need to yell or scream at God for your circumstances, that is ok. He is tough, He knows your heart, and He can take it. However, if you want your atmosphere to shift. If you want to stop being sad all the time. If you are tired of feeling like you have been feeling for such a long time. Then it is time to switch from despair to praise. Praise the Lord for whatever it is you can praise the Lord for.I heard a speaker at a conference once, and I can’t remember her name, but I remember that she said she hurt her back at one point. She was newly married, she hurt her back, and she ended up addicted to painkillers. She didn’t see it at the time; she just knew she needed them for the pain. She started to just stay in bed all the time because of the pain. I think she eventually lost her husband. He just couldn’t take it anymore. She said she didn’t blame him; he really tried, but she was so wrapped up in herself and her pain, and she had nothing to give him. She eventually moved back home with her mom. She finally got tired of feeling like she was feeling. She was tired of being so sad all the time.She said she started off slow. She would make herself go sit outside and let the sun shine on her face for 5 minutes a day. That was it, just five minutes a day. She said that when she was sitting in the sun, she would ask herself what one thing she could be grateful for. Some days, the only thing she could think of was getting outside and sitting for 5 minutes. Eventually, she started to look around, and she could appreciate the grass, the flowers, the butterflies, whatever it was around her. Five minutes turned to 10, to 20, and so on. She finally felt herself coming back to life, to reality. She found she wasn’t just sad all the time. And it wasn’t a fast process, and yours might not be either. However, she did get back to her old self again. She was happy again. She did regain her life again. Part of gratitude is praise. You are thankful for the things God has given you. Even if they aren’t perfect. You will be surprised how much your attitude and outlook on life have changed when you switch from complaining to gratitude.Here are some simple shifts in what you are telling yourself. Instead of saying, I can’t believe I didn’t wake up till 1:00 today, you can say, I am so grateful God gave me another day of life. Some people didn’t wake up this morning, and their families will never see them again. Instead of saying that your back and side and head hurt, you can say I am grateful my feet don’t hurt. Instead of saying, I can’t believe my kid is acting out again, you can say, I am grateful I have kids and I am grateful for all the strength God has given me to deal with all the kids dish out. I am not trying to downplay what you are going through. I know it is hard. I have been through really hard times.I have kids who were verbally and physically abusive, I have had marital trouble and almost got divorced, I have had kids who overdosed on drugs and alcohol, a child in rehab more than one time. My kids have struggled with mental health and trouble with the police. My life has not been a cakewalk either. However, I truly believe what got me through it all, well, not all the way through it yet, was my reliance on God and my gratitude for everything, the good and the bad. The bad things I have gone through have made me the person I am today. I would not understand other parents struggling as I do had I not been through it. I would not be able to reassure other parents that it is not their fault and that they are doing the best they can if I hadn’t ...
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    13 min
  • Praise Series #22 His Love Endures Forever

    Praise Series #22 His Love Endures Forever
    Jan 15 2026
    Praise Series #22 His Love Endures ForeverPsalm 136 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.To him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.Who, by his understanding, made the heavens, his love endures forever.who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. Who made the great lights—His love endures forever. The sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them. His love endures forever.with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.to him who divided the Red Sea[a] asunder His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.To him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings—His love endures forever.
Sihon, king of the Amorites, His love endures forever.
and Og, king of Bashan—His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance. His love endures forever.
An inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.He remembered us in our low estate. His love endures forever.And freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.
He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.I know this verse is a lot longer than I usually do. I usually pick a verse or two, and this is all 26 verses of this Psalm. Psalm 136:6 “who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever” was the verse that led me to this Psalm in the first place. I decided to read the whole Psalm as I felt perhaps this was a small part of something bigger. When I read the whole thing, I instantly felt like I should share the whole thing. Since the phrase “His love endures forever” is repeated throughout the whole Psalm, I thought I would just take that out to make it shorter and just repeat it after each section. However, when I had that thought, I immediately got the sense God wanted me to leave it in there. I felt He was saying to me that we need to have that reminder over and over again today. This Psalm today has two purposes. First and foremost, to remind you over and over again, so many times, that there is no way you can forget that God’s love endures forever. Forever is a very long time. It means it never goes away. God’s love lasts forever; it doesn’t say it lasts a lifetime, it says forever. It doesn’t say that His love lasts until you do something He doesn’t like, it says forever. It doesn’t say that it endures until you get sick or are in a seemingly impossible situation, and then it goes away. It says it endures forever. It also doesn’t say that His love endures forever as long as you don’t walk away, as long as you do all the things you are supposed to do, or as long as you get it right all the time. No, it says His love endures forever, and that’s it. There are no conditions placed on it; there is no requirement for you. God has loved you from the beginning of time, and He will continue to love you forever, regardless of circumstances. That is pretty amazing when you really think about it. Who else can you say that about? Whose love will endure forever, regardless of your actions and regardless of time? The second purpose of this psalm today is to remind us of some of the remarkable things God has done for us over the years. The sense I am getting this morning is that some of you listening to this episode may be struggling with feeling God’s Love right now. Maybe you are sick, and you feel as though He is not answering your prayers. Maybe you are feeling stuck in a family situation that seems impossible and feel as though He is not hearing your prayers. Maybe nothing in particular is wrong; you just don’t really feel a sense that God is with you right now. Whatever your particular circumstance is, God wants you to know that He is speaking directly to you today. He hears you, He is answering your prayers, He loves you, and most importantly, He is right there with you through it all. This Psalm is for you. This is your heavenly Father letting you know that His love endures forever, and just as he did all these things for His people in the past, He will do just as much for you. He is moving mountains in your life. He is preparing you for amazing things, you just can’t see it yet. Hang in there, your miracle is coming!!“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Give thanks to the God of gods. Give thanks to the Lord...
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    14 min
  • Witness Wednesday #192 Pierre Desilets

    Witness Wednesday #192 Pierre Desilets
    Jan 14 2026

    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, please email me at catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or just click on the link below. It won’t take up much of your time and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today. Prayerfully consider sharing. Everyone has a story and the world needs to hear them. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday. Have a blessed day

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    22 min
  • Praise Series #21 I Will Rejoice In The Lord

    Praise Series #21 I Will Rejoice In The Lord
    Jan 13 2026
    I Will Rejoice In The LordHabakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”Talk about a bad day. This verse is from a time when the people relied very heavily on crops and animals for survival. This verse states that they have reached rock bottom. That nothing is going right for them. If their crops are not producing any food and they have no meat in their stalls, then not only do they have nothing to eat, but they also have nothing to barter with. Have you ever felt this low? Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t really imagine it getting any worse? That is where this person was when they wrote this. Even if you haven’t been in a situation this dire before, I am sure you can imagine how they must have felt. Please take a minute and try to put yourself in their shoes. Close your eyes and imagine you are walking through your fields. You look from vine to vine just praying for some grapes that you may have missed, or that miraculously grew overnight, but you find nothing. Now imagine you are walking by your fig tree. This tree that was once full of figs is now empty. Next, you walk through the olive crops and pray that there will be some source of food, but again, you find nothing. You think, at least you have your animals to provide you with food. However, when you go past the sheep pen, there are none. When you walk through the cattle stalls, they too are empty. You realize you have nothing; you have somehow lost it all. What are you feeling right now? What are you thinking? How do you think you would react? Would you be angry at God? Would you blame Him for not providing for you? I am not sure how I would feel or what I would think, but I do not think that my first thought would be to rejoice in the Lord. The verse says, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” I am thinking that I would struggle to find anything to be joyful about. I am joyful in God my Savior. He is amazing, and I love Him so much. However, when I am at my worst, I am not sure that I would think of that. I do think I would turn to Him. I believe I would ask God for His help and for the strength and courage to make it through this difficult time. But would I rejoice in the Lord?Honestly, I can’t picture it. I can’t picture how that would work. I do know that when life is going against us, and we can’t see a way out, that is the perfect time to praise the Lord. We don’t have to see the way out. We can praise the Lord for being so awesome that He can see a way out even when we can’t. We don’t have to praise Him for the situation; we can praise Him for who He is and for what He does for us. Ok, so now that I am writing this, I am starting to see how this could work. I guess we wouldn’t have to rejoice in being in this dire situation, but we could rejoice that God was in it with us. However, would we think to do this? Would it occur to us when the chips are down that we should rejoice and praise the Lord? My first thought is no, not without someone reminding us, or without some practice ahead of time. Several things I have been reading over the last few years have been saying that the best thing you can do when you are struggling is to praise the Lord. The fastest way out of a difficult situation is to praise the Lord while you are still in it, even when all seems lost. So then, how do we do this? How do we try to practice ahead of time so that when we really need to remember this, we can? I have a couple of suggestions, some you may have heard before. Some I probably even mentioned before on this podcast. However, I think that’s how God works. He tells us something again and again until we get it. My first suggestion would be practicing gratitude. When you are focused on being grateful for things, you can’t also be feeling sorry for yourself or feeling miserable at the same time. Even if you can find just one small thing to be grateful for. For instance, you have to go to a funeral, and you are really sad, but you can be grateful that the weather is at least holding out for you. Or maybe the weather had been raining all day, but on the way to the cemetery, the rain stopped, and now you can see a rainbow. I promise you, no matter how bad things are, there is at least one small thing you can be grateful for. Practice finding that thing, focusing on it, and thanking God for it. I promise if you give this a try, you will find more joy in your life.Another suggestion would be to find a few verses that talk about praising the Lord, or rejoicing in the Lord, and either memorize them or post them around your house where you will...
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    12 min
  • Praise Series #20 Rejoice in the Lord Always!

    Praise Series #20 Rejoice in the Lord Always!
    Jan 12 2026
    Praise Series #20 Rejoice in the Lord Always!Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”Rejoicing in the Lord is one of my favorite things to do. Praise and Worship are so critical in our faith journey. Rejoicing in the Lord is a great way to foster joy. This is something that I love to use to get me out of a funk or a sad place. This works anywhere and everywhere that you are. It is best if you can listen to music because if you are in a sad, angry, or depressed state, you might have trouble worshiping. You might not be in a place where you feel you have anything positive to say to the Lord, or about the Lord. However, when a song that you love comes on the radio, it is hard not to sing along and get into that song. Or, at least, it is not hard for me, as I love music.I love singing along as loudly as I can in my car and in my shower. I listen to Christian music, which, honestly, I didn’t even know existed until 5 years ago. Well, I knew we sang Christian songs in church, but I didn’t know they had contemporary Christian music, pop songs, rap songs, and rock songs, among various other genres. I am so in love with all of it. I love upbeat songs. It’s like my body wants to dance along to the beat, even when I am out walking or running. Even when I am not somewhere where dancing is appropriate.If you don’t know what I am talking about right now, I invite you to download the KLOVE app on your phone. It is the radio station I listen to all the time now, and it has so many good songs. You might be hesitant at first, but give it 30 days, and you will know all the words and love all the songs. You can also go onto the Spotify app on your phone, and I have created a playlist called Walk Boldly With Jesus Favorites, and it has all my favorite upbeat songs. Actually, there may be a few slower songs, but they are all good songs!If you are having a really hard day, put on a playlist of upbeat songs that sing of the glory of God. I am telling you, it is really hard to be sad and to think that God has abandoned you when you hear all these singers reminding you of how great God is and how He has been there for them in their hard times. A real-life example of how powerful music can be is the day when I was at the courthouse. I had to go there to do something really hard, and I was really sad. I remembered that I had my earbuds in my purse, so I put them in my ears and put on some worship music. I was sitting there feeling sad, and then one of my new favorite songs came on. The song is called My Promised Land and it is sung by Josiah Queen. Here is the beginning verse and chorus:You had me standing on a mountainWalking through barren landsYou took my hand and You saidYou can have this worldBut I won't go with youOh, I won't go with you [Pre-Chorus]But I ran out of placesAnd feelings I was chasingAll I have is You and You aloneAnd I said [Chorus]Hold on, wait a minuteI don't want what You ain't in, andI don't wanna go unless I'm going there with You It's You there, rain or shiningYou're the sun on my horizonsYou are my everythingMy promised land is You! The music is so upbeat, and I love it! Whenever I hear these songs, they remind me that God is my everything. If He is not in it, then I don’t want it. It reminds me that He is there with me, rain or shine. I like to play my playlist on shuffle, and I like to believe the Holy Spirit is choosing the order of my songs. I am sure the Lord knew I needed this song the other day at the courthouse. I honestly considered going outside of the courthouse and dancing my sadness out. However, I didn’t want to miss my name when they called it, so I just sang in a whisper voice and imagined myself dancing it out.I can't emphasize enough how critical praise and worship can be in changing your mood and lifting you out of a pit. The enemy gets so confused when we praise the Lord when we are struggling. They don’t understand why we would praise God when we are hurting, sad, or angry. Also, the enemy can’t stand the name of Jesus. All you have to do is say the name Jesus, and the enemy flees. I heard a speaker once who asked his friend, who is a Catholic priest and exorcist, what the most powerful prayer is when it comes to fighting the evil spirits and demons, and he said the most powerful thing we can say is, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” That is pretty simple and yet powerful.If music is not your thing, that is ok, you can still praise the Lord. When I joined the Charismatic Prayer Group, they taught me to praise the Lord out loud by using various names for the Lord. For instance, you can say, “You are Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You are a miracle worker and a way maker. You are the prince of peace and the lion of Judah.” The prayer group gave everyone a piece of paper filled with praise phrases to help us out until we got comfortable coming up with our own. There is no right or wrong way ...
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    11 min