Season 1

Episode 251: Proverbs 2

Today's prayer meditation is on Proverbs 2
Father God, I take to heart what your Word says. I collect your counsel and guard it with my life, for it is life to me. I tune my ears to wisdom and apply my heart to understanding. I call out for insight. I search for understanding as a prospector panning for gold; like an adventurer on a treasure hunt. I approach the knowledge of God with fear and reverence.
Father, you give me wisdom. Your Words are filled with knowledge and understanding. I live an upright life and you fill it with success. You guard my path and protect the way before me. I am loyally committed to you.
You help me choose what is true and fair and show me the good paths to take. Wisdom is my close friend and knowledge is my companion. Good sense protects me and understanding guards me. 
Wisdom keeps me from making wrong turns or following bad directions from those who are lost themselves. You keep me from traveling paths that go nowhere and from wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends. That way of life is doomed and leads to death.
I set my feet on the path to real living. You surround me with wise friends. I keep my feet on the paths of righteousness and settle in the land of your promises. I live a long life of integrity.
So be it. 
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. 
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Episode 250: Proverbs 1

Today's prayer meditation is on Proverbs 1
Father, Your Word is my manual for living. It lets me know how to live right and well, and to understand what life means and where it's going. It teaches me what's right and just and fair. It gives me fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate. 
It all starts with you, Father. So I bow down before you. Help me to discern the wisdom from the false beliefs I was taught as a child. Help me to weed out anything that wasn't true, but to wear wise counsel like flowers in my hair and rings on my fingers. 
Keep me from greed and envy. The more earthly good I strive for and collect, the less I am. They don't add to my value, but only decrease it. These things are all temporary and don't need to be my focus. These are the lesser things that will be added by you. 
Wisdom is calling out to me. Let me hear her voice. Wisdom will change my life. She is ready to pour out her spirit on me, and I am ready to learn everything she knows.
I will love wisdom and knowledge and I will fear you, Father. I will take wisdom's advice and allow her to train me. I will not be careless or complacent. I will pay attention to wisdom and relax in the knowledge that you will always take care of me.
So be it.
Until next time time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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Episode 249: John 20

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 20
It was still dark that early Sunday morning as Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb. When she arrived, she found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance and the tomb was empty. She quickly ran to find Peter and John and told them Jesus's body was gone.
They both ran to the tomb. John outran Peter, and got there first. He stooped and looked into the tomb, but didn't go in. He saw the linen in which Jesus had been wrapped. Peter caught up to John and went inside the tomb. The linen wrappings were lying there, and the cloth that had covered his head was folded up and lying separately from the other wrappings. John entered the tomb and looked as well.
Suddenly, the scriptures and the prophecies Jesus himself had spoken to them, were clear. They had been mourning his death. But he had risen, just as he said he would.
I try to put myself in their place. It certainly would have been difficult to comprehend. Even now, with all of the historical evidence, and the biblical testimonies, so many people still do not believe.
Scripture simply tells us they went home. I wonder if they talked about what they had seen and what it meant. And I'm sure they wondered what would happen next.
Mary was still standing outside the tomb crying. She stooped and looked in, I'm sure expecting to see, as before, an empty tomb. But to her surprise, she saw two angels in shining white robes. One was sitting at the head of the place where Jesus had been lying, the other at the feet. They asked her why she was crying.
She was still convinced that someone had taken Jesus's body. Scripture doesn't say whether or not they answered her. But as Mary turned to leave, someone was standing there. The gardener, she assumed.  He also asked her why she was crying and who she was looking for. She thought perhaps he was the one who had moved Jesus's body. 
Then Jesus spoke her name.
Instantly, she recognized him. I imagine she fell at his feet as she cried "Teacher!"
Her sorrow was instantly turned into joy. Jesus was alive!
He told her to tell the disciples that he was ascending to Father God.
So Mary ran and found the and told them the wonderful news.
It was a difficult and frightening time. The disciples met behind closed doors for fear the Jewish leaders would come from them. As they sat there talking that evening, they suddenly realized that Jesus was standing there with them. 
It must have startled them, because he said, Peace be with you and showed them the wounds in his hands and the wound in his side. When they realized it was Jesus, they were filled with joy. Again, he bid them peace. As Father God sent Jesus, he was sending his disciples. He breathed on them and invited them to receive the Holy Spirit. 
Just as Father God breathed the breath of life into Adam when he created man, now Jesus breathed the eternal life-giving Spirit on his disciples. 
Thomas wasn't there that night. When the other disciples excitedly told him what had happened, he said he wouldn't believe Jesus was alive unless he put his fingers in the wounds of his hands and his side. 
Eight days later, he got his chance. The disciples were meeting in a locked room as before, and suddenly Jesus stood there in their midst, saying "Peace be with you." Then he looked directly at Thomas, I'm sure with compassion, and invited him to look at his hands, and touch the wounds, and look at his side, and feel the wound there. "Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” And Thomas believed. 
Jesus said, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
There is a special blessing on me because I believe in Jesus even though I was not alive when he walked this earth and did not see him. I wasn't a first-hand witness to his miracles and his resurrection. But I believe that God's Word is true.
John tells us that they saw Jesus perform so many miracles beyond what he recorded in the Gospel of John, that if they were all written, there wouldn't be space enough in the world to contain all of the writings. But he wrote these so that I could continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and because I believe in him I have life by the power of his name.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. 
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Episode 248: John 19

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 19
The King of Kings was flogged with a lead-tipped whip. A crown woven from thorns was pushed down on his head and a purple robe, signifying royalty, put on him. Then he was mocked, slapped and spit upon. 
And yet, Pilate said he didn't find any guilt in him as he showed him off to the religious leaders who called out that he should be crucified.
Pilate told them to crucify him themselves, since he found him not guilty. When the Jewish leaders said he called himself the Son of God, Pilate was more frightened than ever.
Taking Jesus back inside he asked where he was from. But Jesus didn't answer. Then Pilate, in all of his prideful humanity, asked Jesus if he realized he had the power to release him or crucify him. In truth, he had no power over Jesus at all, accept what was granted him by Jesus and the Father. 
Again, Pilate tried to release him. But the Jewish leaders threatened him by saying Jesus was a rebel against Caesar. 
In the end, Pilate turned Jesus over to the mob. It was what was required to fulfill prophecy. It was the price that had to be paid to redeem me. 
Jesus was forced to carry the cross himself, until he fell under its weight and they forced a bystander to carry it the rest of the way to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, the place David took Goliath's head. Mount Moriah, the very place Abraham offered his son Isaac 2,000 years before; which paved the way for God to offer his Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice to redeem me.
Jesus was nailed to a cross between two thieves. Pilate had a sign posted on the cross that read, in multiple languages, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. But he was King of more than just the Jews. He is my King and the King of all Kings.
The soldiers divided his clothes among themselves, and threw dice for his robe. This perfectly fulfilled the scripture in the book of Psalms which said, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.”
Jesus's mother was standing near the cross. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and heartbreak of witnessing what was happening to her son. Even though Mary had other sons, Jesus asked John to take care of her. From then on, John took her into his home as if she was his own mother. 
Jesus knew his mission was finished. He had fulfilled his purposed on earth. He said he was thirsty, and they gave him sour wine to drink. With a loud cry, he said "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and surrendered his spirit to Father God. 
Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus, was given permission to take down Jesus's body. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, one of the Jewish leaders who believed Jesus was the Messiah. They wrapped his body with linen and spices and placed him in an unused tomb in the garden.
It is finished. Such powerful words. Not just his mission, but my redemption. Though he still had to go to hell and defeat the enemy, the price for my sin had been paid in full. The power of sin over my life forever broken.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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Episode 247: John 18

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 18
When they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, they knew they were not facing an ordinary man. Judas had a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards with him. They carried blazing torches, lanterns and weapons. But as mighty as they were, they were no match for the King of Kings and could never have taken him if he hadn't surrendered himself. 
Jesus knew what was going to happen, and stepped toward his fate unafraid, and asked who they were looking for. When they said Jesus of Nazareth, he replied I AM. And the power of his statement threw them back on the ground. I'm sure at that moment, they realized their weapons were useless. And Jesus asked them again who they were looking for. When they again said Jesus of Nazareth, he replied I told you that I am he. Then he told them to let his disciples go.
Peter, in his attempt to protect Jesus, cut off the ear of the slave of the high priest. But Jesus told him to put away his sword. He was ready to do the Father's will and to suffer. He suffered in my place. He even had compassion on the slave, and healed his ear. 
They arrested Jesus, because he let them. Like a lamb, he was led to his slaughter. Peter and John followed behind. Since John knew the high priest, he was allowed into the courtyard. Peter stayed outside the gate. 
I cannot even imagine the fear and confusion the disciples must have gone through. The others were scattered, as scripture foretold. While Jesus was questioned in the courtyard, Peter was questioned outside the gate. Three times he was asked if he was a disciple of Jesus. And three times he denied it. Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter, who swore he would never deny Jesus, realized he had done just what Jesus had said. 
After being tried by two High Priests, he was taken before Pilate. That was the only way they could have him executed, the only way he could die on a cross as prophesied. 
But Jesus wasn't afraid of Pilate. He wasn't afraid of the world, because he didn't belong to it. His kingdom isn't an earthly kingdom. If it was, he and his disciples would have fought to keep Jesus from being arrested. But his kingdom isn't of this world. 
Jesus was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. I love the truth and I recognize that what Jesus said is true. 
Pilate found no guilt in him, and tried to release him. But the people asked for Barabbas instead. A murderer and insurrectionist, traded for the man who knew no sin, so he could become sin and save me.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. 
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Episode 246: John 17

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 17
Father God gave Jesus authority over everyone, and Jesus gives eternal life to everyone the Father has given to him. The way to have eternal life is to know Father God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one he sent to earth. Jesus brought glory to the Father here on earth by completing the work he gave him to do. Then the Father received Jesus back into the glory they shared before the world began.
I belong to the Father. I have always been his. And he gave me to Jesus. I keep God's Word, and I know that everything Jesus had while here on earth was a gift from Father God. Jesus passed on the message the Father gave him. I accept that message. I know that he came from the Father and believe that the Father sent him.
Before Jesus was glorified, he prayed for those who believe in him. He didn't pray for the world, but for anyone who believes. I was given to Jesus to bring him glory. Father God gave Jesus his name, and Jesus prayed protection over me and other believers in the power of that name, so we could be united.
He told us many things while he was in this world so that I would be filled with his joy. He gave me God's Word. I do not belong to the world, just as Jesus didn't belong to the world. Jesus didn't pray that I would be taken out of the world, but that Father God would keep me safe from the evil one. I do not belong to this world any more than Jesus did. I have been made holy by God's truth. He has taught me his Word, which is truth. Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends me into the world. And he gave himself as a holy sacrifice for me so I could be made holy by God's truth.
He prayed not just for the eleven, but for all who will ever believe in him through their message. That means he prayed for me. He prayed that we would all be one, just as Father God and Jesus are one -- just as the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is also in the Father, and I am in them
Jesus gave me the glory that Father God gave him, so I could be one with them as they are one. He is in me, and God is in him. I experience such perfect unity that the world knows that the Father sent Jesus and that he loves me as much as he loves Jesus. Jesus wants me to be with him where he is so I can see all the glory Father God gave him because he loved him even before the world began.
The world doesn't know God. But I do. Jesus revealed the Father to me, and he continues to do so. The Father's love for Jesus is in me, and Jesus is in me.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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Episode 245: John 16

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 16
Jesus warned about the difficult times that would come so that I would not surrender to confusion or doubt and abandon my faith. He warned that I may be expelled from church and that there will be those who think they are doing a holy service for God by killing believers like me. But that's because they do not truly know Father God or Jesus. When these things happen, I will remember his warnings. 
I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for his disciples to believe that it was better for Jesus to go away. They walked with him during his ministry. They sat at his feet while he taught them. They personally witnessed many miracles of healings, demons being cast out, the dead being raised. 
But he had to leave so the Divine Encourager, Holy Spirit, could be released. Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin, by exposing sin and proving God's righteousness and his judgment. The greatest sin of the world, is it's refusal to believe in Jesus. But he made righteousness available to me because he returned to Father God. Judgment has come because satan, the ruler of this world, has already been judged.
The Spirit of truth guides me into all truth, unveiling the reality of every truth within me. He doesn't speak on his own but tells me what he has heard. He reveals prophetically to me what is to come. He brings Jesus glory by telling me whatever he receives from Jesus. All that belongs to the Father belongs to Jesus. 
I can hardly bear what happened to him. When I read the scriptures of his torture, his crucifixion, and his death, my heart aches and it brings me to tears. He suffered all of that for me. And yet, the world rejoiced. 
But although I grieve the manner of his death, my grief turns to wonderful joy because that wasn't the end. Like suffering labor pains, once the child is born, the mother's anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new life into the world. But I will see Jesus and spend eternity with him. So I rejoice, and no one can rob me of that joy. 
I don't need to ask Jesus for anything. He has removed the separation and restored me to right standing with God.  Now I can go directly to the Father and ask him for anything I desire and he will give it to me, because of my relationship with Jesus. I ask, using his name, and I receive, and I have abundant joy with no limits.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus spoke of these matters in figures of speech, but now he has told us plainly all about the Father. When I pray, I ask in Jesus' name. He doesn't ask the Father on my behalf, because Father God himself loves me dearly because I love Jesus and believe that he came from God. Jesus came from the Father into the world, and when his work was finished, he left the world and returned to the Father.
I am never alone because God is always with me. Everything Jesus taught was so that the peace which is in him will be in me and will give me great confidence as I rest in him. Even though I live in a cursed earth and have trials and sorrows, I am courageous, for Jesus has conquered the world.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing. 
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Episode 244: John 15

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 15
Jesus is the true grapevine, I am a branch and Father God is the gardener. Father God cares for the branches. He lifts me and props me up. He prunes me so that I will yield a greater harvest. I am pruned and purified by the Word. I remain in Christ, and he remains in me. My life will be fruitless unless I live my life intimately joined to Christ. 
He is the vine. I am a branch. I live in union with him as my source, and fruitfulness streams from within me. Apart from Christ, I am powerless and can do nothing. If I separate myself from him, I would wither and be thrown away like a useless branch into a pile to be burned. But I remain in him and his words remain in me. I know that I can ask for anything I want according to God's will, and it will be granted. My life bears abundant fruit and demonstrates that I am a true disciple who glorifies the Father.
Jesus loves me with the same love that Father God loves him. I keep his commands and live in his love, just as he obeys the Father's commands and remains in his love. The joy of the Spirit fills my heart with overflowing gladness. 
Jesus has commanded me to love others the same way he loves me. I do not take this command lightly, because he gave his very life for me. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend. And I am a friend of Jesus, because I do what he commands. I am no longer a slave, but a friend. A master doesn't confide in his slaves, but Jesus has told me everything the Father told him. 
I didn't choose Jesus. He chose me and commissioned me to go into the world and produce lasting fruit so that Father God will give me whatever I ask in Jesus' name. His parting command was to love others deeply.
When the unbelieving world hates me, I remember that it hated Jesus first. If I conformed to the world, the world would love me. But because I won't align myself with the values of this world, they hate me. Since they persecuted Jesus, naturally, they will persecute me. Anything I suffer from the world is because of my love for Jesus, because they have rejected God. They have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates Jesus also hates the Father. And they hate without cause. 
But Jesus sent me the Spirit of Truth, the Divine Encourager from the very presence of Father God. He speaks to me about Jesus. And I share what I know with others.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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Episode 243: John 14

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 14
I don't let my heart be troubled. I don't worry or surrender to fear. I believe in God and I believe and trust in Jesus. Jesus went to prepare a place for me. And he is coming again and when he returns for me, we will always be together.
Jesus is the Way, the truth and the life. The only way I have access to Father God is through him. Because I know Jesus, I also know the Father. Father God lives in him and he lives in Father God. 
Even the words Jesus spoke, were not on his own authority. They came from Father God who lives in Jesus and performed his miracles of power through Jesus. 
I follow Jesus in faith, and I believe in him, and I am able to do the same mighty miracles that he did -- even greater miracles -- because Jesus went to the Father. He said that whatever I ask in his name so that the Father will be glorified, he will do. I can ask him for anything in his name, and he will do it. 
I love Jesus, and loving him empowers me to obey his commands. 
When Jesus returned to the Father, he asked him to send me another advocate, another savior, the Holy Spirit of Truth to be my friend and to remain with me forever. He will never leave me.
The world can't receive him, because they can't see him or know him. But I know him intimately because he remains with me and lives inside me.
Jesus has promised not to leave me as an orphan. Because he lives, I also have come alive. Jesus is in the Father, and I am in him, and he is in me. I truly love him and obey his commands. And because I passionately love Jesus, I am passionately loved by Father God. And Jesus passionately loves me in return and has revealed himself to me.  
Loving Jesus empowers, and Father God loves me so deeply, that Jesus and the Father have made me their dwelling. My body is the temple of God. And the Father has sent the Spirit of Holiness, the One like Jesus who sets me free. He teaches me all things in Jesus's name. And he inspires me to remember all of Jesus's words. 
Jesus has given me the gift of peace -- his peace. Not the fragile peace of the world, but his perfect peace. So I don't yield to fear. I am not troubled in my heart. Instead I am courageous. 
I am grateful that Jesus came, and happy that he returned to the Father, and live in great expectation of his return. He is coming soon. And when troubling things happen, I will trust and cling to him. Because of Jesus, the enemy has no claim on me. I will do exactly what Father God created me and destined me to accomplish. And the world will discover how much I love Jesus and Father God.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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Episode 242: John 13

Today's meditation is on John Chapter 13
I was chosen by God. I know that Jesus is the Messiah. I welcome him and I welcome Father God who sent him.
While Jesus walked the earth, he chose twelve men as his disciples, his students, his closest companions. He knew the hour had come for him to leave this world and return to his Father. Throughout his ministry on earth, Jesus demonstrated a deep and tender love for his disciples, and he loved them to the very end. He longed to show them the full measure of his love.
Before they sat down to the Passover meal, Jesus showed great humility by washing the feet of his disciples. It was yet another example of the depth of his service and commitment to those he loved. 
He gave me a great example to follow. Slaves are not greater than their master, and the messenger is not more important than the one who sent him. God blesses me for serving others in humility. I experience a life of happiness enriched with untold blessings. 
Even though Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed, that didn't make it any easier when the time came. He was deeply troubled that one of his closest friends would betray him. But when the time came, he told Judas to hurry and do what he was going to do. 
The time had come for him to enter into his glory, and to glorify Father God. As he was preparing his disciples for his departure, he gave a new commandment: to love each other. Just as he loves me, I should love others. And when I demonstrate the same love he has for me by loving others, everyone will know that I am truly a follower of Christ.
Until next time, be blessed and be a blessing.
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