I’m about to share with you one of my most embarrassing moments. It had the potential for epic humiliation, but by His grace, God used it to teach me a lifelong lesson. ______________________________________________________________ Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leaders podcast. I’m your host, Julie Harwick. Thank you for joining me today as we celebrate God’s grace in our lives, in this ministry and around the world. I’m about to share with you one of my most embarrassing moments. It had the potential for epic humiliation, but by His grace, God used it to teach me a lifelong lesson. In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the Apostle Paul warns, “So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall.”  This verse took on a unique and very personal meaning for me more than 20 years ago. My husband and I had recently relocated to central Florida from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It was a very difficult move for me. I loved everything about Hilton Head and living there. For nine months of the year it felt like a small town, but the difficult 3 month-long tourist season provided an abundance of shops, restaurants and entertainment, making it a great place to live. God had provided us with a home I loved on a beautiful piece of property, the opportunity to run my own business, great friends and a church family we loved along with 6-month-old twin daughters. Life there felt perfect when He seemingly pulled the rug out from underneath me and made it crystal clear that He wanted us somewhere else.  We took quite a few weekend trips back to Hilton Head in the early days following our move and on one such occasion the reality of Paul’s warning smacked me right between the eyes. I was excited to be back in our home church on a Sunday morning. It had been our spiritual home for nearly 10 years. I had led women’s bible studies, been worship leader and choir director as well as the writer/director of our annual original Easter production. Having the only set of twins in the church also increased my public profile. Before the pastor began his message, he wanted to welcome some former members who were visiting. Immediately I leaned forward to absorb every word.  He was talking about how important these people had been to the life of this church and how much they were missed. “Well now, you’re making me blush,” I thought, but it is so nice to be remembered and appreciated. Now he was indicating that he wanted these special visitors to stand and be recognized.  I leaned further forward, preparing to stand up and bask in all that love and affection when something pulled me back just in time. “Frank and Helen,” he called, “stand up so we can show you how much we miss you.” I was neither Frank nor Helen.  They were a wonderful couple who had even more recently relocated to Florida. Frank had met the pastor for a weekly breakfast for years and Helen had been the church secretary. My heart pounded as I realized how close I had come to making an utter fool of myself. “Let the one who thinks she is standing to receive recognition that is not hers take care that she doesn’t fall flat on her enormously self-centered ego.” That’s my personal amplified translation. Thank God I was spared the public humiliation I deserved, but I was humiliated, none the less. God had seen and knew explicitly, the prideful thoughts that had occupied my mind. That experience began a long-term dialogue with God about my issues with pride. I had never felt so convicted about a heart issue. That was probably due to the fact that it wasn’t readily apparent to anyone else.  I knew how to conduct myself in public without giving a hint of egotism or superiority. In fact, many people might have described me as self-deprecating. I could poke fun at my own deficiencies…at least the ones I didn’t really care about. But God began to show me that my inside didn’t really match the outside. I was often consumed with thoughts of what people thought of me, did they notice me? Did they recognize my talent in singing, acting and speaking? Was I equally or more attractive than the women around me? Did people think I was intelligent and capable? You may have heard it said that “I” is in the middle of pride.  I discovered that was true, not just in the spelling of the word, but in its’ true meaning. As I began to recognize that God wanted me to make some changes, I looked for scriptures to memorize that dealt with humility, the opposite of pride. I had heard the phrase, “Pride goes before a fall,” without realizing it came from Proverbs 16:18. Another Proverb, chapter 18, verse 12 spoke to me. “Humility goes before honor.”  I was pretty sure Frank and Helen had already grasped that truth and that’s why they deserved the honor they received. Philippians 2:3 pretty much summed up what I knew God wanted from me.  “Do nothing from selfishness or vain conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.”  But that’s a tall order because it goes completely against my fleshly human nature. When you really think about it, the original sin of pride is also the root of every other sin.  When Lucifer decided to set himself up as God it was because of pride that wouldn’t allow him to play second fiddle to anyone. His very first act as Satan was to lead a third of the angels in heaven to commit mutiny against their creator because their pride wouldn’t allow them to live in subservience to Him. And the devil’s next step was to derail the entire human race by convincing the first woman that she could know everything God knew by breaking the only law He had established.  In every case, pride was the root of the problem…wanting to be more, do more or know more than the Creator originally intended. Pride always comes down to elevating self – above others, above any other considerations and above God Himself. When we see pride for what it truly is, we can no longer pretend it’s not that big of a deal.  It’s the whole deal. It’s what separates us from God. The whole concept of pride vs. humility is at the very heart of the gospel. I say that because of Philippians chapter 2.  It says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the very form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Here I am, looking for the recognition I think I deserve because of some talent or importance I think I possess while Jesus, who is actually God doesn’t feel any need to be recognized for His unquestionable value and superiority. In fact, the scripture goes on to say that He actually emptied Himself of His Godhood and willingly took on the form of a bond-servant.  He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Not only did He lay down His rights as the God of the universe, but He willingly put on the lowest form of human flesh and gave up everything He had…even life itself, to serve and save us. That’s what true humility looks like – complete selflessness. Satan knows what a challenge it is for humans to master their selfish impulses.  He’s confused the issue by making us think that if we talk and think badly about ourselves, we’re showing humility. By saying, “ well, I’m just a … you can fill in the blank with whatever disparaging words come to mind here, it’s not an expression of humility, it’s a criticism of God’s creation. The best definition I’ve heard of true humility has been expressed by several authors I’ve read.  I don’t know who originally said it, but I think it’s profound. “ Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.”  Let me say that again, so it has a chance to sink in.  “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself.  It’s thinking of yourself less.” The issue isn’t so much what we think about ourselves, but that we think about ourselves…constantly. I can attest personally that living in true humility is a monumental battle. I continue to be convicted of my pride regularly and though I think I’ve gotten a little better handle on it, I still have so far to go. It’s especially a struggle in the area of ministry. The areas of ministry God has opened for me are largely in very visible areas such as public speaking, singing and acting. I’ve never been one to shy away from the spotlight and to be transparent, a part of me relishes the attention. In every ministry I participate in, I have to check myself and ask, “why are you doing this?”, “are you doing it for your own self-gratification or has God called you to do it and are you doing it for Him?” I frequently have to refocus my attention where it belongs…on Him. In Philippians Chapter 3, Paul recounts all the achievements in his life that were once a source of pride for him. In the New Living Translation he refers to all of it as “garbage,” saying “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” In this passage he’s giving us the secret to overcoming the pride that so easily entangles us. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and His unsurpassed worth, everything that might become a source of pride for us remains in its proper place…the garbage dump. Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast!  Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose.  Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry.  From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders .  All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without written consent.    

In John 11, the tables turn. The crucifixion awaits Jesus. Yet Jesus continues to do God’s will and trust His sufficiency. No matter what you are going through, you can trust God’s sufficiency, too. Join us for today’s study of John 11:45-57. ***** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the Wednesday edition of the Women World Leaders podcast, where we take a few minutes each week to study the Bible together systematically. We offer three very different podcasts each week – so I hope you have your phone set to download ALL of them regularly. We all lead very busy lives, and I LOVE having these podcasts ready to listen to when I have a few minutes alone while driving or even washing the dishes. Besides this, the Wednesday edition, when we open and study God’s Word together, on Mondays, Kimberly Hobbs hosts Empowering Lives with Purpose – a 30-minute interview with a different woman of faith. This podcast is meant to inspire you and empower you in your God-given walk. Sometimes, Kimberly interviews someone you might recognize, and other weeks, you will meet someone new. You can be sure that you will gain valuable insights as you listen EACH week. Then, on Fridays we have the joy of Celebrating God’s Grace with one of our beautiful leaders. These women are gifted and talented and you won’t want to miss a single episode. So download yourself a free gift of encouragement – and get in the habit of sitting in God’s lap as He grows you 3 times every week! On this, our Wednesday edition of the Women World Leaders podcast, we are currently walking through the gospels chronologically. If you are new – don’t worry – you can jump in right where we are, which, today, is John, chapter 11, verses 45-57 Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God – Thank you for who you are and for who you made us to be. God, you formed each of us carefully on on purpose, and you KNEW we would each be listening to this today. You are sovereign, always in control, and your plans are perfect. Father, we give you this time, and ask you to open our hearts so that we will each hear exactly what you want us to know today. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen For the last few weeks, we have been studying the 11th chapter in John’s gospel, which you might recognize as the resurrection of Lazarus. We’ve wondered with the disciples why Jesus didn’t go immediately to the side of His dear friends Mary and Martha when they sent word that their brother Lazarus was deathly ill. We’ve observed in awe of both Mary and Martha’s faith as they told Jesus with heartfelt agony that Lazarus would not have died had Jesus arrived sooner. We’ve related as Jesus comforted the sisters in their grief, even crying with them. We understood when Martha questioned Jesus as He told her to have the stone removed from the grave of her brother, who had been dead and decaying for four days. And, if we imagined realistically, we gasped in awe as we read about wrapped-up Lazarus hobbling out of the tomb and the onlookers obediently going to his side to help unwrap him. Today, we will finish the story as we pick up where we left off last week, John, chapter 11, verse 45 from the New Living Translation… 45 Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.  Remember, Martha was the do’er, the hostess, and it seems that Mary’s giftings were more relational. So it isn’t surprising that the Scripture records that many who were with MARY believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. Martha was as much a part of this scene as Mary was, but it seems as if God, in providing what each sister needed, had made certain that Mary had many people around her to carry her through this time. Our personalities are gifts from God. We can trust in the fact that He always knows what we need and will meet us where we are. So, MANY believed in Jesus as a result of this miracle. THAT we can imagine. But although everyone there clearly saw what happened, others had such hard hearts that they used what they saw as ammunition against Jesus. We have seen this before, but this time, the divisiveness of the people was a true turning point. Whether it was the enormity of the miracle, the location, or the timing that spurred the hatred and vitriole against Jesus that erupted, we do know for certain that God was in control. He always has been, He always will be, and He certainly was on this very day when the wheels were set in motion that would lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. Verse 46 continues… 46 But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council[a] together. This is where we see the escalation. Some who had witnessed Lazarus’ resurreciton, instead of praising and thanking Jesus, went to the Pharisees to report what they had seen. The Pharisees knew the Mosaic law and were not shy about holding it up in a very extreme and overzealous fashion. So in response, they called for a meeting of the high council, the Sanhedrin – the supreme governing body—kind of like the supreme court here in the US. There were smaller sanhedrins at local Jewish centers, but, as they were near Jerusalem, this was the Supreme, or Great, Sanhedrin. This group managed the internal affairs of the nation, which was under the Romans at that time. The council was controlled by the chief priests—it was a family affair. This group banded together, intent on keeping the control they held. These were the elite, the bigwigs, the men who seemed to hold all the power, and weren’t about to give it up. I feel compelled to offer an aside here. I feel like the Holy Spirit wants someone listening to know this. For all practical purposes, it looked to the world like these powerful men had the upper hand, and there was NOTHING anyone could do to stand against them. The days to come must have been so frightening for those standing with and for Jesus. And skimming through the story, we all know that they had every right to be frightened. They were seemingly powerless. Jesus WAS crucified. Maybe you are there right now. Maybe you feel like you are up against the world. Perhaps you have been fired despite years of giving your best. Perhaps a spouse has turned against you and even turned your children and your friends against you. Perhaps you feel stuck up against an economy that is rife with inflation and you are just trying to keep your head above water as you feed your children and purchase gas to get to work. Sometimes in life, it feels like all the cards are stacked against you. I’m sure Jesus’ followers felt that way as the Sanhedrin, this Great Supreme Council, gathered and proceeded to march forward with their own agenda. But we CANNOT forget the end of the story. JESUS overcame. JESUS rose from the dead. JESUS won! And Jesus will win for you, too! Even as things may seem to be spiraling in your life, keep your eyes on the end of the story. You know it. Jesus wins. Jesus modeled this even as they were plotting against Him. I love Hebrews 12:1-2, which says…  let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.[a] Because of the joy[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. God’s greatness will always win, but sometimes, we have to walk through the mud while keeping our eyes focused on the end goal. The Sanhedrin began to plot…verse 47 continues… “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple[b] and our nation.” 49 Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,[c] said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! 50 You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” 51 He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. 52 And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. Even as the Sanhedrin plotted, even as they thought they had the upper hand, even as Joseph Caiphas pronounced that it was better for Jesus to die, GOD was in control. We can see this clearly -because what those present at the Great Council were most concerned with, and what they thought they would thwart by killing Jesus, is exactly what came to be – despite their best efforts. They were afraid that their Temple and their nation would be destroyed. Which happened. The Temple was destroyed in the year 70 AD. And we also see God’s control as Caiaphas prophesies that Jesus would indeed die, bringing together and uniting all the children of God that were scattered around the world. Caiphas, as he plotted Jesus’ death, was prophesying that you and me would be united with God. How incredible is that? Verse 53 continues… 53 So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. 54 As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples. Jesus did not allow those who were coming against Him to derail His mission. He simply pivoted and trusted God. When we are up against the world, we too, can pivot, trusting God control of the situation as we simply do what we are called to do. Verse 55… 55 It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” 57 Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him. They Sanhedrin were determined to win, and they were prepared to pull out all the stops to do so. The people were looking for Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus was busy, teaching and leading His disciples. Just as He was called to do. Jesus trusted God even when the walls seemed to be caving in. So can we. Let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God, We trust your control. Some days are good, and others seem really bad from our point of view, but we trust your control, wisdom, guidance, and direction. We know that you win. Thank you for the assurance that when we follow you, we will win, too. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.  

The number one weapon against us is a lie. Our onward progress with God will stop if we believe the lie the enemy speaks over us.   Today's guest Kimberly Ewell, best-selling author and founder of Wildfire International ministries shares her experience of trauma and believing the lie from her childhood.  She brings helpful encouraging words about transforming our minds to God's truth through our thoughts.

As the hot days of summer, so can the trying of our faith cause us to feel the heat of the fire. Learn how to Beat the Heat, and be Sweet! ***   Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host Robin Kirby- Gatto. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world. Today’s Title: Beat the Heat! 6 “[You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, 7 So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 AMPC There are core scriptures that are resolute within my soul, having the Word of Truth operate on me like a surgeon’s scalpel to get to the intents and motives of my heart. I learned a long time ago that when the Word operates on you, then it is operative in you. For me, 1 Peter 1:6-7 has been a core scripture for decades. One of the greatest joys we have in life, is seeing our faith go from glory to glory, as we’re being transformed into the image of Christ Jesus. If anyone knew this well, it was Peter. About a decade ago, I was forever changed, when the Lord showed me something that I hadn’t considered, when it came to Peter’s testing. Jesus warned Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-34 that satan had asked permission to sift all of him like grain, but that Christ had already prayed that when Peter returned, he would strengthen the brethren. If anything is a token of grace, the refining of our faith surely is such a demonstration. Peter thought he would follow Jesus to prison and death, if need be, but he didn’t know what was in his own heart. Jesus informed Peter that he would deny Him after the cock crowed three times. It was then that the sifting came to prepare Peter for the greater, which was PENTECOST! Had Peter not been sifted then he wouldn’t be the vessel of mercy to be used of God’s glory for the message of Pentecost prophesied in Joel 2 of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God showed me that satan’s message that sifted Peter was to compare him to Judas. Judas was the betrayer of Christ, who sold Him out for 30 coins of silver to the Pharisees, whom Jesus calls the son of perdition. I’ve never considered at all, how the devil might have sifted Peter, but surely if there’s any means by which to harass a saint of God, it is to make them think they’re bad or evil. When God gave me this revelation I was blown away, thinking, oh my goodness, Peter thought he might have even been the son of perdition. Jesus warned Peter that the sifting would be so intense, that he would leave the ministry and eventually return. (Luke 22:32) Therefore, I have no doubt at all that when Peter wrote about the joy we’re to have when we experience fiery trials and the testing of our faith, he knew the glorious outcome for each saint. Peter states, “BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD!” The Greek word used for having this exceeding gladness is agalliáō pronounced ag-al-lee-ah'-o meaning, “to jump for joy, be exceeding glad, with exceeding joy, greatly rejoice.” [i]  This comes from the Greek word hállomai pronounced hal'-lom-ahee meaning, “to leap, spring up, to gush, and jump.” [ii] I couldn’t help but see the Greek word from which exceeding gladness is derived and see HALL O MY by the way its spelled H.A.L.L.O.M.A.I.! Having been a football cheerleader in junior high and high school, I cannot help but be God’s cheerleader for His people, encouraging them in the midst of their fiery trial. For many years while preaching, when using 1 Peter 1:6-7 I’ve used a visual like that of a hall. I would tell people to imagine if at the end of a sermon, instead of an altar call, people lined up to give cheers of joy for those who were experiencing fiery trials. Can you imagine if you were at church and people were lined up on two sides to welcome those who were going through fiery trials in their life, saying, “Woo Hoo! Glory to God! You are blessed!” It would be a totally different perspective for God’s people, with everyone being excited at the working of the saint’s faith. Our faith is tested by pure fire. The Greek word for fire is pŷr pronounced poor meaning, “fire and fiery.” [iii] The pronunciation of the Greek word for fire, sounds like poor, and gives an entire new meaning to Joel 3:10 “let the poor say I am rich!” The last few weeks it’s been so hot here in Birmingham, Alabama that my husband, Rich, and I have been making protein shakes and salads mostly, for dinner. The temperature index is in the 100s and with all the humidity, it feels like a brick oven when walking outside. In addition to the hot temperatures, I just recently experienced some symptoms of perimenopause, and for the first time in my female life, understand what a hot flash is. I told my husband, who works at a cemetery and has to go outside at times, to imagine how he feels going out to the cemetery in this heat and sweating, telling him that’s how I feel internally, all throughout the day, with 50 are more hot flashes a day, and 20 or so night sweats each night. Man oh man, I have more sympathy than before, for women going through perimenopause, because the only way I can describe my experience, is that it feels like I’m in hell banging on the door to get out. Fortunately, not all women experience the severity of the symptoms that I have. But with these symptoms, it compelled me pray for lost souls, thinking if this is anything close to how people will experience hell, I don’t want them to go there. Without a doubt at the present time, while I wait for my doctor to put me on hormone treatment in order to get relief, I can surely appreciate 1 Peter 1:6-7, and the refining of our faith. One thing I noticed with the increase of the heat this summer, that people are driving more crazy than usual. Just the other day while driving to the store and back, 3 different drivers were driving recklessly and nearly ran into me. I asked God, what in the world was going on. It was then that He brought to my mind “Robin, you have to Beat the Heat!” I rejoiced in the fact that although I’m in the most uncomfortable time physically in my entire life, I’ve had such a gracious mood by the Holy Spirit. It has been God’s grace that has kept me joyful, not taking my own personal physical struggle out on others, with the many stories you hear from women, who’ve dealt with hormonal imbalance. Going through this change in life personally, and getting the necessary education to equip me in navigating through this time of my life with grace, has made me all the more passionate to give women the important information to beat the heat of menopause and perimenopause issues in their life, with joy and grace. Now think of these different examples. One is an internal fire going on physically, and with the reckless drivers, people acting crazy in their own fire around you. This is what it’s like when you’re in a fiery trial, there are fears within and fighting without that you are overcoming as in 2 Corinthians 7:5. You must be at rest, knowing the peace of God, so that Jesus in you, is revealed. What does this mean. Your character is more like Christ. My favorite barbecue sauce on ribs or a pulled pork sandwich is SWEET HEAT BARBECUE SAUCE. Think about the combination of those words. I can just imagine smacking on some good ole ribs right now with some of that sweet heat barbecue sauce. I don’t mind even if I make a mess and get it all over my hands because it tastes so good. That’s how we need to be in our trials, the Word of God tastes so good, that spiritually its like that sweet heat barbecue sauce. Women of God, are you in the heat of a fiery trial? Beat the Heat and be Sweet and watch how good God’s Word tastes to your soul, as Christ is revealed.   God Bless! Robin Kirby-Gatto [i] Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 21 “exceeding joy” [ii] Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 242 “jump” [iii] Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 4442

Are we seeking God’s will or our own will? Do we trust that our all-powerful Lord and Savior has EVERYTHING under control? Read this story of Lazarus’ resurrection with fresh eyes and bask in the power of God! (John 11:38-45) **** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical Teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ podcast. I’m your host, Julie Jenkins. This podcast has been created by Women World Leaders in an effort to help YOU step into YOUR God-given purpose. On this, the Wednesday edition of the podcast, we are currently walking through the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - chronologically. The Word of God is living and active, and is designed to be a guide for our lives. As we study, we look at what circumstances the scripture was written under, who it was written by, and who it was written to – striving to discern the original intended message. And then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we bridge to what the writing means for us today – discerning what God wants EACH of us to know and how He wants to apply it to our lives. No matter what your season of life looks like right now, God has GREAT things planned for you. I’ve heard it said that if you are still breathing, you are still on mission from Christ. And it is our hope that you will allow us at Women World Leaders to walk WITH you on that mission! We invite you to subscribe to our podcast; join us on Facebook, where we share in community and offer daily devotions; jump on our Zoom gatherings on the third and fourth Monday of every month; and read the digital version of Voice of Truth magazine for free or subscribe to receive your own physical copy of Voice of Truth by becoming a monthly donor to the ministry. Join our email list by filling out the contact form at womenworldleaders.com so you can find out all you need to know. Let’s begin in prayer… Most Holy God – as we begin the study of your Word today, we offer you ourselves. Father, we are coming to you from different places—mentally, physically, spiritually and psychologically—but one thing we have in common is you. Father, you ARE our creator, our sustainer, and our guide. I give my words to you today, and I pray for each woman listening, that she would hear directly from you. You are a faithful God who will never let us down, who will walk with us, and who has great plans for each of us! I ask that you speak to us in these next few minutes – meet each woman where she is and guide her into a deeper walk with you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. For the last two weeks, we have been studying the story of Jesus as He was called by His dear friends Martha and Mary to respond to the needs of their brother, Lazarus. The sisters sent an urgent message to Jesus regarding Lazarus’ illness, yet Jesus delayed His visit for two days. By the time Jesus did arrive, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. Jesus had forewarned His disciples of this, but He told them, “Now I will go and wake him up.” And He also shared the purpose behind this upcoming miracle, saying, “For now you will really believe.” After Jesus arrived in Bethany, He told Martha, who was grieving the death of Lazarus, “Your brother will rise again…I am the resurrection and the life.” And when Mary arrived weeping and distraught, Jesus wept with her. Today, our study continues as we open the Gospel of John to chapter 11, verses 38-45, and read from the New Living Translation.  38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.  I don’t care too much for this translation which states that Jesus was “angry.” Other translations state that Jesus was deeply moved, very sad in his heart, greatly disturbed, intensely troubled, or even groaning in himself. As you can see, this original Greek is not easily translated! I read the views of different theologians, and the most common description of Jesus’ demeanor as He arrived at the tomb was that He was physically releasing agitation, anguish, and sympathy in the face of human suffering. Kind of an audible snort ...”huh.” What we do understand for sure is that Jesus was led to the tomb by very real people who were suffering greatly due to the loss of a loved one. It had been four days since Lazarus death and, for many of them, the reality of it had sunk in. You may remember last week when we talked about the fact that the first phase of intense mourning lasted 3 days, because it was after three days that the face of the corpse would have decomposed beyond recognition. Still, although time has now passed, anyone who has lost someone can empathize with the fact that grief continues to come in waves for quite awhile. And as these mourners arrived at the tomb, those waves likely fell fresh on both the family and Jesus. The tomb was, basically, a cave with a stone positioned in front of the entrance. The sites of tombs were often quarries that were no longer in use. The newly dead body would have been treated with spices and wrapped in a large sheet of linen that was more than twice the length of the body. The normal practice was that fabric would be laid out, and then the body laid on it, with its feet at one end. Then the sheet was folded over the top of the head and pulled back down to cover the whole front of the body. Next, the fabric would be secured by wrapping strips of linen around the feet and arms and then binding the face with another cloth. Once prepared, the body would be laid in the main part of the cave, where it would remain for the next year, protected from the outside world by the stone covering the opening to the cave. After a year, the stone would be rolled away, and the bones of the deceased would be collected and placed in a small box which was then placed into a horizontal niche cut into the rock. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus body had been spiced, wrapped, tied, and fully and completely laid to rest. Which is why it must have been shocking to hear Jesus’ next words… 39 “Roll the stone aside.” Verse 39 continues… But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” Earlier, Jesus had asked Martha if she believed. She replied yes, but from her answer, we could sense that although she DID fully believe Jesus, she likely didn’t understand all He was saying. When I was a child, with a very immature faith, I used to wonder incessantly about my future. Will I get married? Will I have kids? Will I have a career? I can remember thinking, I wish I could just know that everything will turn out ok! As we walk through life, we don’t know what is around the corner! We don’t have a crystal ball that tells us the future. But we DO know, as God’s children, that everything will be okay! Our God is in total control, and He loves you more than you can imagine. Martha didn’t understand, but she BELIEVED Jesus! She trusted Him. It didn’t make sense that He was telling them to roll the stone away, disturbing her brother’s decaying corpse, but Jesus HAD said, believe, and you will see God’s glory. We, also, need to believe to see God’s glory. We can trust Him even when we don’t understand His methods. Martha, evidently, came to this conclusion. Because she, as the next of kin, gave the go-ahead for the stone to be rolled away. Veres 41…  41 So they rolled the stone aside. I want to pause here to share an aha moment I had as I was reading and studying this passage. The only other entombment of a Jewish man I have ever studied is that of Jesus. And it’s kind of similar, right? Jesus was laid in a cave, and a stone was rolled in front. What struck me as I read this was the immense power residing in Jesus. In this instance, we see Jesus call for the removal of Lazarus’ stone. We, in retrospect, know that we are about to see the glory of God unleashed as He raises Lazarus from the dead. But what struck me is that Lazarus was as much of a bystander in this situation as Martha and Mary and the rest of the crowd were. Lazarus was just chilling up in heaven, probably dining on the most amazing food ever! But, when JESUS died, it was all about Jesus. Jesus was separated from God. He was sitting in the depths of hell for 3 days – until God ordained the moment of His resurrection. At which point Jesus, still completely filled with the power of God, raised HIMSELF and moved His own stone away! Maybe that’s elementary Christianity, but it just drove home to me that there is NOTHING WE can do to save ourselves, to raise ourselves from the dead. Not only could Lazarus not raise himself, he couldn’t even move his own stone away so he could get out of the tomb. We NEED Jesus! Only He is able to to save us. Only He can grant us a peaceful eternity with the Father. Without Jesus, we are just a pile of bones destined to turn into dust. But although Jesus seemed to be the star of the show, He clearly shows us that this resurrection is about pointing to God the Father, who holds all the power and glory. Verse 41 continues…  Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”  Jesus is the obedient Son who stands aligned with God the Father in His power. Jesus, who is in constant contact with God the Father, only and always does GOD’s will. And that’s what we are called to do, too. When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we pray that GOD’S will be done. Our journey on this earth is not about doing what WE think we should do, but it is about doing God’s will. He has made YOU for a purpose. Even as He was forming you in your mother's womb, He had a plan for your life. Is your prayer REALLY to do the will of God? Do you seek His guidance and follow in faith even when you don’t understand? We already saw that Martha obey in faith, and now we see Jesus’ outward display of following God’s heart. Jesus does exactly as God instructs. He raises Lazarus—a man who has been dead for four days, his face no longer recognizable, and who was carefully wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb. Verse 43… 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Can you imagine? The scene I picture is right out of a B movie…from the opening of the cave, a man emerges, hopping or scuffling along, wrapped in a linen cloth with his feet tied together, his arms strapped to his sides, and a full covering over his head. If you think about it, it was probably a bit scary. It is no wonder Jesus had to give another instruction…  “Unwrap him and let him go!” Next week we will get into the aftermath of the miracle, but can we, for a moment, just pause to take in the awe of the scene? We don’t know who went to Lazarus side. We don’t know if they rushed to him or approached carefully. I wonder if Lazarus was disoriented as they unwrapped him. I wonder what He said? He had experienced so much. He saw God’s glory. He felt God’s power reunite him with his physical body. He understood what complete healing felt like. I imagine that Jesus didn’t bring Lazarus back to the sickly body he had left or even to the well-on-its-way-to decomposing body that had been dead for four days. I imagine that the power of Jesus recreated Lazarus’s body in perfection. That as the linen cloth was unraveled, Lazarus perfect skin and bright eyes were revealed. Verse 45 says simply that Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. I bet! John includes this miracle in His gospel as the climax of Jesus’ public ministry. As we study next week, we will see the clear division that this miracle brought. Yes, some people believed, but many also turned staunchly against Jesus. And I can imagine why. God’s power is awe-inspiring and life-changing. I had a very limited foray with playing sports when I was young. In grade school, I played on a basketball team with a powerhouse of an athlete. She was quick, adept, and smart at moving the ball. The rest of us were, well, typical grade-school athletes. But this girl, she was our key to winning. I always thought, thank goodness she is on our team, because I would be scared silly to play against her. Jesus’ power is way beyond that of a powerhouse athlete! Jesus works in total and complete cooperation with an all-powerful and all-sufficient God. That means that, as His teammates—we are SO COVERED! We are NEVER going to lose. But go against Him, and you would have every reason to put up your guard and reach for any weapon available. Jesus, in God’s power, ROSE LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD! He said,  Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Then He asked Martha if she believed Him. And then He showed her that she COULD believe Him. We can believe everything that Jesus says! We can move the stone when He says to move it. We can rise in power when He calls. We can unravel death cloths expecting to see healing. We can trust in our future, knowing that with Jesus, everything WILL be okay. But if we decide to go against Him, He will still be God. And if decide not to be on His team, we will lose for eternity. Because God wins. Will you trust His will and His call? Let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God! We stand in awe as we read through this story verse by verse. Father, thank you for teaching us of your power, strength, and perfect will. Thank you for reminding us that when we commit to your will, we will see re-birth and renewal like we could never imagine. As we say yes to your will and seek to walk in the path you have given each of us, we look up to you and say thank you for giving us the power to do all you have called us to and for choosing us to be on your winning team. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Please join us today as we celebrate the 3-year anniversary of our very first podcast from Women World Leaders by replaying our first episode.   Today's interview is with actress Robia Scott. Robia co-starred in the movie "Unplanned," a Hollywood box office hit in theaters that is now on Amazon Prime.    Robia plays the villain in this true story about Abby Johnson and Planned Parenthood. Robia Scott is a well-known Hollywood actress, starring in Beverly Hills 90210, Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, and more...she's a true Christ follower, author, and speaker. She joins us to discuss how our "mess~ups can become God's messages."    Please join us today for this interview and then please share it with everyone you know.

Many things can be restored. Some of us can relate to restoring furniture or homes we have lived in. Even relationships can be restored. God’s Word holds many promises that were not just for those in biblical times. His promises are for us today! God promises in Joel 2:25 that He will restore the years the locust has eaten. So be of good cheer! God can restore even lost time we feel we may have had in this lifetime, years possibly not living our best or years without Him. God is the ultimate restorer – of all things – even time!   ****   Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leader’s Podcast. We are grateful you are here and it’s such a privilege to come together and delve into God’s Word and teachings and I pray today’s message will touch your heart and mind. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live our a courageous, purpose-driven life! Don’t forget to join us each Monday where our founder & Co-CEO, Kimberly Hobbs, interviews women from all over the world – women of God who have a story to share – and how God has shown up in their life. And Wednesdays, where our Co-CEO and Bible Teacher, Julie Jenkins, brings us a study of God’s Word and its application to our lives.  Today, let’s look at a verse in the book of Joel. A promise. There are many promises in the Bible – thousands of them. And they are for us, not just those who lived long ago. Joel 2:25 – I will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts has eaten. God promises to restore the years the locusts have eaten. This is an amazing promise. For, some things can be restored. We may lose property – it can be restored. Even relationships can be restored. Money, jobs can be restored. We may think of furniture or a house being restored.  But TIME. Time cannot be. Haven’t we all possibly thought, “Oh, if I could only go back in time”. But these days are forever gone. Here God is promising the IMPOSSIBLE. To give us a glimpse of the context of this verse. God’s people had experienced the complete destruction of their harvest. An invasion of locusts, marched through their crops, field by field. The entire country of Israel was affected. God’s people in the Promised Land had been brought to their knees. How many of us have been where we have been brought to our knees? Devastated. Worry. Battles of life we face. Heartache. Sorrow. But there is always HOPE in the LORD.   What are our locust years? Locust years, wasted years, lost years. Years we can’t get back and it causes us grief. Comes in lots of variety, different forms. Here are some to reflect upon.   Fruitless years – Farmers had planted seeds, laboured week after week only to see no fruit. Some of us may relate to this. “All this work I’ve done! What did I get out of it? Absolutely nothing. It could be a failed venture, a failed marriage, a child that has left home and is living an unhealthy lifestyle. All our efforts leading to disappointment.   Loss of love – it could be losing the love of our life. Or it could be never finding that soul mate that our heart yearns for. Years lost where love of another does not fill our days and years. It could be where family moves away and we are separated from our children or grandchildren and do not get to experience the love of seeing them regularly and being part of their lives – only to depend on technology to “see” their faces.   Loss of ourselves – we sometimes feel we give so much to our families, our children, our career, our missions. We may feel we loss a part of ourselves. We may even face in this lifetime health challenges, an illness, or a major life challenges that has us reflecting on loss.   Selfish years – Some have committed to God but living for self. Some could say what has become of all these years without real spiritual awakening, without the Holy Spirit filled life!    Lukewarm years – Some of us were on fire for God and have become luke warm, Distractions come, many of them are good distractions, but take us away from our time and study of the Word and our first true love. Misdirected years – Choices that led to dead ends. We might have had our lives mapped out.. dreams & goals to accomplish… But life didn’t turn out quite the way we imagined. Empty years. This can happen at any age.   Oh, how the locusts can slip into our fields and eat away at the years of our lives! And what about the rebellious years, the parodical son or daughter. Growing up with many blessings yet our instinct was to rebel. Throwing yourself into a life of pleasure but it only brought pain. We thought we knew best at the time. Regret, eventually realising these years were lost searching for things we believed would bring us happiness only to now know the years were spent chasing things that only brought temporary happiness (or what we thought was happiness). If we have the blessing of living a long life we may reflect on our own locust years. All Christ-less years are LOCUST YEARS. All years we are not surrendered and seeking Him with all our hearts are locusts years! We all have them. But praise God! We meet, get to know and serve a God who can bless the years. We look forward, not behind, and live the hope that is our anchor, Jesus Christ. Complete restoration doesn’t just happen. We must take personal responsibility to enforce this prophesy. Christ can restore lost years by deepening your fellowship with Him. Gear up for it! Be expectant! Sow your seeds – His harvest awaits. Here for the time and years we have left and beyond with heaven awaiting. So let us keep our eyes and mind and heart upon You Lord, the restorer. He completely restores – no matter what we’ve done or been through.  He desires to give us double for our trouble!  Is it old attitudes and mindsets? Unhealthy relationships? Ask Him and He will tell You. Restoration awaits!! Will you receive it?  I pray you ask Him to. Fill our hearts with a love for You stronger, brighter than it could ever be starting today with all of the years you bless us with to be here. Multiply our fruitfulness and no matter what comes against us in the earthly years let us bear fruit that will last! Spurgeon said, “God can do more in a year or a day than all of us can do in a lifetime”. Amen,      

Jesus travels to Bethany to meet with Martha and Mary upon Lazarus’ death. Although the sisters don’t understand Jesus’ plan, they proclaim their faith and trust in Him. And then they learn, as bit by bit, He continues to give them remarkable lessons about who He is. Jesus also wants to meet with you. In today’s study, learn that you can come just as you are, trusting His response. (John 11:17-37)   ***   Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor to walk with you each Wednesday as we open scripture and ask God what He wants us to learn today. If you are new to Women World Leaders, you can find out more about us at our website, womenworldleaders.com, where you can post on our prayer wall, purchase resources, and get involved in our worldwide ministry. If you are new to our podcast, this is one of three offerings we have for you each week. On Monday, founder Kimberly Hobbs hosts Empowering Lives with Purpose – a 30-minute interview with a different woman of faith who shares the story of her life, struggles, or ministry. These interviews will inspire you to listen for God’s calling in your life. On Fridays, we have an amazing team of podcasters who host Celebrating God’s Grace. These Friday episodes are always full of such incredible nuggets of wisdom and revelation about the goodness of God and will fuel you as you launch into the weekend! And today, you’ve happened on Walking in the Word, where we take time to open God’s Word and learn together from it – verse by verse. We are currently studying the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John chronologically. Today we will be reading and learning from John, chapter 11, verses 17 through 37. Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Holy God – thank you in advance for guiding our thoughts and this teaching as we prepare to open your Word. Father, your Word is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. So we are here to dive in, but we also commit to handling your scripture carefully. Father, we respect the authority of the Bible, and we want to take away from it ONLY what you have intended for us today. Allow us each to focus in on you alone for the next few minutes, and then to walk away with a singular thought that you want to ingrain in us. Thank you for always blessing us with your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.     Last week we met Jesus as He received the message from His friends Martha and Mary that their brother, Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus, was deathly ill. Jesus was with His disciples at the time, and despite the news, he surprisingly remained where He was for the next two days. Then, Jesus announced that although Lazarus had died, He would be traveling back to the dangerous territory near Jerusalem to “wake him up.” The disciples were confused by this statement but resolutely determined to accompany their Lord on the journey.   Let’s pick up today in John chapter 11, verse 17 from the New Living Translation… 17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. This information would not have surprised Jesus, who had already announced to the disciples that Lazarus had died. But the fact that Lazarus had been dead for four days is significant. Jewish sources cite the rabbinic belief that after three days, the dead person was, well, really dead. It’s difficult for us to imagine in this modern day of science how a dead body naturally decomposes. But again, sources cite that because a dead person’s face became unrecognizable after three days, three days was to be the first and most intense phase of mourning a loved one. During that time, the body would be buried. Then, a carefully prescribed time of mourning would follow, which often included the hiring of professional wailers to accompany the women as they reverently visited the tomb. So Jesus arrived on day 4—after Lazarus was buried and family and friends had already gone through days of grieving. Let’s continue reading verse 18…  18 Bethany was only a few miles[a] down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. We know Martha as the do’er, so it isn’t surprising that she was the one who would be aware that Jesus had arrived and went to greet Him. By Jewish standards, Jesus’ arrival was the fulfillment of an obligatory visit from a respected teacher who had traveled to offer His condolences to the grieving family. Still, we know the deep relationship Jesus had with this family, so we can imagine the comfort Martha gained from Jesus’ presence as she approached Him…    21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Surely Martha was confused at Jesus’ late arrival as the sisters had called for Him several days earlier. Perhaps you can relate to Martha’s words. Have you ever been confused by God’s actions? As Christians, we KNOW that God is sovereign—in control of everything. And we know how much He loves us. We believe that He is working all things for the good of all those who love Him. But sometimes, it just doesn’t look like it. Martha pours her heart out – Lord…if you had only been here, my brother would not have died…she says as she proclaims total and complete faith in Jesus’ power. But because she doesn’t understand Jesus’ plan…Martha states what she does know …I know that God will give you whatever you ask. Sometimes, all WE can do is proclaim that God IS in control, even when things don't make sense. Jesus heard Martha’s heart…verse 23… 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[b] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”  Martha was holding tight to what she understood. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again – she agreed! She knew the teachings from the book of Daniel about the end days which said… there will be a time [when]… every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. 2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. 3 Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever Martha knew what she knew…which was a lot! But she still had so much to learn! Jesus didn’t chastise her for not understanding the full truth of His statement, He simply graciously added to her knowledge. Jesus doesn’t ever expect us to understand His ways completely, but He does expect us to be faithful followers of what we do know even as we open our minds and hearts to learn more. So Jesus taught her…“I am the resurrection and the life.[b] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. And then he asked her… Do you believe this, Martha?” And, although she STILL doesn’t understand that Jesus will soon do the impossible, that is, raise Lazarus who has now been dead and decomposing for four days, she again states what she DOES know… 27 “Yes, Lord,…I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”  Praise God!! Even GREAT theologians know that they have only scratched the surface when it comes to completely understanding God. But we serve a God who is patient with us and never tires of teaching and guiding us! We don’t ever have to be afraid that we don’t know enough or understand enough, because our God IS enough – and all we have to do is yield to Him, stay alert, and trust that He will guide us with the knowledge we need. Jesus must have then told Martha to go get Mary…verse 28 continues… 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him. I just love the obedience of these women. Their minds were likely in a fog after their brother’s illness and death and burial, yet they IMMEDIATELY did exactly as Jesus requested… When Martha whispered to Mary that the Teacher wanted to see her, she went. As an aside, I want to note that, culturally, women didn’t have teachers. Only men had teachers. Women had husbands, who, if they chose, relayed the teaching. But both Martha and Mary called Jesus their Teacher. And they did this with full confidence that this was the way it should be. Now those are women after MY heart! Verse 30… 30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Do you recognize those words? They were the same words Martha first said to Jesus. But Mary, who every time scripture speaks of her is sitting at Jesus’ feet, makes her declaration while bowing at Jesus’ feet in reverence and honor. Still, she was crying. Mary honored Jesus while, at the same time, baring her heart to Him. Jesus calls us to come to Him, too. And we should come to Him with reverence and awe. But He also wants us to come with complete transparency. With Martha, we learned that God doesn’t want us to to be afraid to come to Him even when we don’t fully understand. And now with Mary, we learn that God wants us to come to Him with our souls completely open. The takeaway…God LOVES you! And He is calling you to come to Him just as you are. Verse 33… 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[c] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.”  Then we read perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 10:35… 35 Then Jesus wept.  Why did Jesus weep? We can speculate that Jesus felt empathy for what Mary and Martha and the other mourners were experiencing. Perhaps he was so sad that our sin leads to death. Or, as one theologian suggests, perhaps Jesus was crying for Lazarus, whom He was about to rip from paradise, bringing him back to his stinky, smelly body in this corrupt world. But perhaps it isn’t as important to know WHY Jesus wept than to understand what it means THAT Jesus wept. It means that Jesus experienced the pain and heartache of being human. Therefore, WE can call out to Him at any time, trusting that He understands grief. It means that if it was okay for Jesus to be sad, then it is also okay for us to be sad. It means that Jesus is full of love and compassion and emotion. Although He is set apart, holy, and perfect, He is still so connected with us that He reaches into the depths of our souls in a way that we cannot fully understand. And it means that we are valuable to Him. When we weep, He weeps with us. Some people were shocked by Jesus’ love for Lazarus, saying…  “See how much he loved him!”  But others misinterpreted Jesus tears…condemning and judging Him for His lack of timeliness or mismanagement of His power, saying… “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” God’s ways are SO far above our ways! He calls us to Him, but doesn’t judge us when we don’t understand. He never ceases to gently teach us. He offers full rights to His presence to all of us – even women, which was controversial at the time and still is controversial in some cultures. And He weeps for and with us, even while working out His perfect plan for our salvation and our lives. In short, we are each called to come to an amazing God who is deeper, more loving, and more patient than we can begin to imagine. And as YOU listen today, you can be assured that He is calling you. Will you, like Martha and Mary, respond immediately, fully trusting where He will take you? Let’s pray, Dear Most Holy Father – thank you for sending your son Jesus to live life as a human being on this messed up earth. Thank you for calling each of us, and for teaching us that you want us to come to you just as we are. Thank you for accepting us and giving us chance after chance to grow and learn and become all you have called us to be. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.    

Today's guest is "Miss Overcomer" Tawana Lowery. Tawana is a gifted speaker, author, and radio talent who helps women reclaim courage, reconnect with their calling, and move forward with radiant joy and purpose.    Today she shares the fire in her soul which  God gave her to help women overcome obstacles in facing their true identity. 

The power of prayer can not be overstated! Whatever you are facing in life, God wants to hear directly from you. Join host Lauren Dean as she extols the virtues of the gift of prayer, which gives us the amazing opportunity to be in constant communication with our loving Father. 

Have you ever questioned God’s response? Why is His silence sometimes deafening? Are there times God just decides to ignore us? Jesus’ actions and response leading up to His greatest miracle, Lazarus’ resurrection, must have confused His followers. Let’s study John 11:1-16 together and see what we can learn about what it means to truly walk in faith.   ***   Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor to walk with you as we open God’s Word and ask Him to teach us what He wants us to know. Today, we are continuing our walk through the gospels —I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am. God’s Word is a treasure trove that never stops producing wisdom for our lives. I don’t know what is happening in your day today, but God does, and when you give your attention to Him, He will speak to you. If you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, you know that Women World Leaders is a ministry whose purpose is to empower you to walk in your God-given calling. We are an eclectic group of women from around the world who share a love for Jesus Christ. If you’ve ONLY been listening to the podcast up to this point, we would love you to join us on yet another level. On the 3rd Monday of each month, we gather together at 7 pm ET on Zoom for 90 minutes of connection and leadership growth; this is open to every woman, no matter where you are! And then, on the 4th Monday of each month at 7:30 pm ET, we gather, again on Zoom, for 30 minutes of prayer. We spend this time praying for each other and the ministry. Both of these options are easy ways for you to connect with women from around the world and find out more about the ministry—no strings attached! To receive the Zoom links and join us, simply visit our website, womenworldleaders.com, and fill out our contact form so we can email you our monthly newsletter and meeting reminders and information. Before we dive in, let’s pray… Dear most holy God, we thank you for meeting us each where we are today. As we open your Word together, we ask you to enlighten us, teach us, and mold us. Father, cleanse our hearts and clear our minds so we can hear directly from you. Protect us in the coming minutes from any distractions that the world or the devil or our own flesh may try to use to derail our thoughts from you. We give you this time. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. Today, we will be opening to the book of John as we study John, chapter 11, verses 1-16. This is the introduction to one of Jesus’ most famous miracles—when He raises His dear friend Lazarus from the dead.   Jesus has been traveling with His disciples, teaching them and preparing them for what He knew was to come – His own death. As He continued to preach unashamedly, the danger He was in increased, a fact Jesus’ disciples and friends were acutely aware of. Let’s read from John 11, beginning in verse 1 from the New Living Translation… A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.[a] Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” If you’ve studied the Bible, you are likely well aware that Jesus loved and cared for the siblings Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. They lived in Bethany, about 2 miles from Jerusalem, which was Jesus’ “danger zone” – the place where His life was clearly threatened. Because they had such a close relationship with Jesus, when Lazarus fell ill, the sisters sent a messenger to inform Jesus. They knew, however, the dangers Jesus could encounter should he enter the area, so many theologians suggest that Mary and Martha did not expect Jesus to come to Lazarus’ side, but that instead, they had faith so great that they trusted Jesus could heal their brother from afar. That would’ve been a nice, clean story, right? How many times do we ask Jesus just to “fix” something? And then we sit waiting and wondering where He is? Jesus’ answer seems to be what the sisters hoped for, but God’s ways are not our ways. Verse 4 continues… 4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” Sounds promising. But later, we find out that Jesus didn’t heal Lazarus from afar, and, in fact, Lazarus DID die, making Jesus’ words seem very confusing. But as we take that information apart, we uncover the truth in Jesus’ words as he stated… Lazarus’s sickness will not END in death. And Jesus foreshadows the WHY, stating that this all will happen… for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” Imagine if we faced all our trials holding tightly to the foreknowledge that God will use EVERYTHING we go through for His glory – to shine the light on Jesus. God’s vision is beyond ours. His ways are perfect. And He loves us so much. When we put all those things together, they all point to the fact that we can trust that God has a purpose and plan for everything that happens in our lives. Our God is organized, prepared, and intentional. Remember when He was feeding the 5000? Before He did, He organized everyone into groups and set forth a PLAN. Our God never operates haphazardly or on a whim. Everything He does and allows to occur is purposeful and meaningful. What that means is that even when we are in the fire of pain, illness, or persecution, we can trust God’s plan and faithfully walk in obedience how and when He calls. Verse 5 continues, as if to underscore this point…  5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days. Jesus had a plan. He wasn’t ignoring Mary and Martha’s pleas for help, and He didn’t have something better to do. He had a plan…although He LOVED Martha, Mary, and Lazarus…he stayed where he was for two days. Seemingly not responding. But purposefully waiting for the perfect timing. Verse 7…  7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” 8 But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people[b] in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?” 9 Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10 But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.”  This teaching is both practical and spiritual. Let’s look at the practical side first. God has given us a rhythm of light and darkness, work and rest, that fits together like a puzzle. We ARE called to work – to do what we can do as the daylight allows. God has gifted each of us with special talents, interests, and aptitudes to fulfill the calling that He has given us. Using what He has given us is our responsibility. We are to work hard, serving God and others. We all depend on each other. I know NOTHING about farming. In order for me to eat, I need farmers to do their job. I have visited multiple medical doctors in the past weeks on behalf of myself and my loved ones. I NEED the expertise of doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. And although I work in ministry, spending my days empowering and teaching others, I also need and depend on others who hold me up. We ALL have a responsibility to WORK in the light. And yet, we also are responsible for resting in the dark. If we try to work in the darkness, we risk getting overtired and stumbling. We must rest and spend time in prayer and fellowship with our loved ones. That’s the practical. And then the spiritual side of Jesus’ statement is that when we walk WITH Jesus, we can trust HIM to light our path. Without Jesus, we will simply stumble along in the darkness. Jesus goes on to explain to the disciples that they will head off together, trusting the light, to fulfill a mission…verse 11… 11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” 12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” Have you ever endeavored to learn something you know nothing about? This can be mind-bending…and I’m guessing the disciples felt a bit out of their element at this point. I have taken classes that I’ve felt were so far over my head I would never get through. I’ve sat there with a pen in my hand, catching about every 10th word. When I DID understand something, I’d write it down. And then I’d keep listening, intently trying to find SOMETHING else to grab onto. When you are in a position like this, eventually, you begin grasping more and more as the pieces start coming together. And whereas, at the beginning, you didn’t even know enough to ask questions, eventually questions begin forming in your mind. We read the Bible, even this story, already knowing that Jesus Himself died and rose from the dead, an understanding that Lazarus died and Jesus resurrected him. But the disciples—they were at the point where they were trying to understand every 10th word. Jesus said Lazarus was asleep, and they thought, Great! He can heal if he is sleeping soundly. But Jesus corrected them, plainly telling them, No, Lazarus is dead. First of all, I’m sure they wondered – how did Jesus know that Lazarus had died? And second of all…what could He possibly mean when He said He was GLAD He hadn’t been there. And then Jesus says to the disciples, let’s go see Lazarus. What? He just said he’s dead. Can you imagine the brain fog? And yet….though they couldn’t begin to understand…they followed Jesus… in total faith. Verse 16… 16 Thomas, nicknamed the Twin,[c] said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.” They were headed to a place where they were likely to be killed to see a man who was dead. Yet Thomas said – Let’s go. We serve a God who has a plan. A PERFECT plan. A plan that sometimes, we can’t BEGIN to understand. Following Him takes faith. Walking in His light takes faith. Faith is obedience to God even when we don’t understand the path. It is following in complete trust the One who is leading us. Faith is going where God tells us to go and KNOWING, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that what happens will be purposeful for all eternity. We don’t HAVE to understand right now. It’s okay if we are walking in a fog – as long as we have enough light to follow the one who is leading us. All we have to do is trust that those words we CAN grasp onto are all we need to know and understand right now. And as we walk in God’s light and do the work He has called us to do, He will show us glorious outcome after glorious outcome – growing our faith and revealing His glory and perfection. Let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God…sometimes the road is hard and we don’t know where you are leading us. Sometimes, it feels like you are ignoring us or that you have something better to do than to answer our prayers. Thank you for helping us see the truth in today's reading. Thank you for reminding us how much you love us, and that it is BECAUSE you love us that we can trust that you are orchestrating everything perfectly. For your glory and our good! We praise and thank you, Father, for being our ever-present light and our perfect guide. Help us walk in faith today. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Best-selling author, Clarity Coach, and WWL'S Graphic Artist- Kelly Williams Hale speaks on the topic of  "Forgiveness."  She shares a very private story openly with the world for God's honor and glory.    

Malachi 3:10 reads, “Test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” If we really believed that, might it encourage us to pray for some things that might seem a bit crazy?   ***   Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leaders podcast. I’m your host, Julie Harwick. Thank you for joining me today as we celebrate God’s grace in our lives, in this ministry and around the world. How’s your prayer life? Maybe you only pray when your back is against the wall and you have nowhere else to turn. Or maybe, like me, you know the importance of communicating with God, but struggle to do it in a way that doesn’t feel rote, rehearsed or maybe even sleep-inducing. By His grace, God is in the process of revitalizing my prayer life and has recently led me to pray what in the past, I could’ve only considered crazy prayers. I’m not sure that anyone taught me this, but growing up in church, I kind of had this notion that prayers should be prioritized according to importance. At the top of the list is anyone who’s facing some kind of life and death crisis, followed by other, serious concerns, and finally, after the important stuff was covered, I might address my personal desires. From age 9 to 14, I dared to pray for a horse. I was totally obsessed with horses and dreamed of having my own.  We lived in the country, had plenty of acreage and a barn, so it was feasible, but I almost felt guilty for asking for such a thing. While people I knew were seriously ill, or battling addiction or struggling financially, was it wrong of me to bother God with a horse? In spite of my doubt, God moved my parents to say, “yes, I could have a horse…if I could afford to buy it and feed it myself.” I began saving money for it, but by the time I had come reasonably close to having enough, I was in high school and came to the realization that I didn’t really want the responsibility of caring for a horse. It seemed I had matured beyond the desire for what I now deemed a childish thing and subconsciously I began to equate praying for such trivial things as a mark of immaturity. In my mind, God had enough major issues on His plate to deal with and my silly little desires didn’t merit taking His attention away from them. He challenged that notion a couple of years later when I was on a summer missions’ trip. After 3 torturous years of wearing braces, I had finally gotten them off and was only required to wear a retainer. But it was critical that I wear it anytime I wasn’t eating in order to ensure my teeth didn’t shift back to their former positions. About 10 days into the trip, I came to the horrifying discovery that I had accidentally scraped my retainer into the garbage after dinner. I realized it within 30 minutes, but dozens of massive garbage bags had already been tied off and taken to the dumpster. There was no way to know which garbage bag held my retainer which was nothing more than clear plastic and a metal wire in the midst of fried chicken bones, corn on the cob and other food waste. I was due at the evening meeting in less than 5 minutes and to be late would lead to “special blessings,” which were never nearly as nice as they sounded. Usually, it meant digging a ditch while everyone else enjoyed some free time. I considered just throwing up my hands in defeat, but my parents would be furious at having to pay for another retainer and I wouldn’t be able to get it for more than 8 weeks.  During that time, my recently perfected teeth might be beyond straightening with just a retainer. I shared my dilemma with some friends who suggested we begin by checking the site where we’d eaten in case it had just fallen on the ground. When our search turned up nothing, I realized I was going to have to bite the bullet, risk special blessings and begin the most disgusting treasure hunt I could imagine. In the spirit of unsurpassed kindness and teamwork, several of my teammates offered to join me. In addition to being thoroughly grossed out at the prospect before us, I had serious doubts that we could ever hope to locate such a small, nearly invisible thing in the midst of so much garbage. God had already used difficult experiences here to show me that I could cry out to Him in brutal honesty and that He would be with me through every trial. In desperation I prayed, “God, it’s just a stupid retainer, but it’s really important to me right now and I have no hope of finding it unless you intervene.” We went through bags and bags of slimy chicken bones with no success before one of my friends pulled out the long- lost retainer.  Our faith soared and I couldn’t wait to write my parents a letter about the incredible miracle God had worked for me. I was not so eager to put it back in my mouth, but after repeated cleanings, it was a constant reminder of a verse I had memorized years earlier.  Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  A retainer wasn’t something I would’ve ever considered a “desire of my heart,” but in this moment it was and I believe that God delighted to give it to me. My faith definitely grew that summer, but it was easy to slip back into old ways of thinking.  Apparently, I’m not the only one who struggles to remember that God really does care about everything that concerns us. Jesus addressed it in His Sermon on the Mount. He points out that we are quick to worry about things such as what to eat and what to wear even though we observe that God feeds the sparrows that we barely notice and clothes the lilies of the field in splendor greater than Solomon’s.  He says, “the Father knows that you need these things,” and wraps it up in Chapter 6, verse 33 by directing us to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus was specifically addressing our tendency to worry rather than pray and He brought that to my attention in an unusual way a few years ago.  The swimming pool that seemed like an absolute necessity when we purchased our home as parents of four young children had now become an albatross around my neck. One day as I was adding muriatic acid and shock, I noticed some black spots scattered around the bottom. I grabbed the brush and tried to scrub them away, but it didn’t seem to have much impact. As time passed, I began to notice more and more of these black spots, and it concerned me enough to do some online research.  What I learned was troubling to say the least. It seemed to match the description of something called black mold which, from all accounts, was a pool owner’s nightmare. Those who had dealt with it described using various treatments only to have it reappear time and time again. Short of having the pool resurfaced, most people began a lengthy process of daily scrubbing of every single spot along with a special chemical regimen. Eradicating it was expensive, difficult and very time consuming. I lived in denial for a while, but when the pool pump needed to be serviced, I asked the technician to give me her professional opinion about the black spots. She confirmed my fears. The next morning as I attempted to have my daily quiet time on the patio overlooking the pool, my thoughts were consumed with how I was going to deal with this problem. I was apologizing to God for my lack of focus when He reminded me of James 4:2, “You have not, because you ask not.” For the first time, it became crystal clear. Why was I worrying about this situation and trying to deal with it on my own? Did God actually care about my swimming pool? Could I do something as crazy as pray that He would heal my swimming pool? I must admit, it did seem a little crazy, but I asked anyway, saying, “God, You say nothing is too hard for you. Well, this is too hard for me. I don’t know what to do about it and You have better things for me to do than scrub this pool every day and we have better things to spend our money on too. Would you just make this mold disappear?” I instantly felt better and was able to set those concerns aside.  I got distracted by other things and didn’t really even think about the pool for a while. I couldn’t see the mold from a distance, so it wasn’t really on my mind until I saw hints of mustard algae beginning to appear.  When I went to treat the algae, my heart soared as I looked from one end to the other and saw not a single black spot. God had healed my pool! Now I’m almost reluctant to say that, not because I have any doubt that He did, but because it may hurt someone who’s been praying for healing of a far more serious nature.  I don’t pretend to know why God chooses not to heal some serious physical illnesses or conditions and then heals something as trivial as my swimming pool. I only know that His ways are not our ways and, as Job learned, He really doesn’t have to answer to us. The fact is, He did heal my pool and I give Him all the glory for it. I’ve had opportunities to share this story on multiple occasions and I see it as further confirmation that He really does care about everything that concerns us and is even eager to not only meet our needs, but give us the desires of our hearts. He is such a good Father Who delights to give His children more than we could even ask or think. Most of my prayers are of a more serious nature, but the swimming pool lesson was not lost on me. My current “crazy prayer” is that God would provide me with a lake in my backyard. Yeah, I know it’s a little unorthadox, but I had prayed for many years that at some point God would lead us to a home on a lake, river or pond. God speaks to me through nature and I feel especially close to Him when I’m looking at a large body of water. He led us to a new home a little over a year ago and I love it, however, it does not have the water feature I was hoping for. What it does have is a dry lakebed just beyond our property line.  As recently as 4 years ago, there was a lake there, but now it’s nothing but tall grass and a big puddle. Our new home has so many other features that I love, I can’t complain. But one day when I was reading Mark 11:23 a new thought sprouted. Jesus said, “I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.” I immediately saw a parallel. I prayed, “Lord, I don’t need You to put a mountain in my back yard, though I know You could and that would be really awesome since we’re in Florida which doesn’t have mountains. But what I am asking You to do is pick up some lake, there are hundreds all around me that no one even notices and put it in that dry lakebed behind our house.”   It may take years or God’s answer may be no this time, but I know He can do it and I know He loves giving me good gifts.  So I’ll continue to pray and wait. My husband is a great dad and he is quick to pick up on what our kids are passionate about.  If there’s something they want or need and he can provide it, he rarely hesitates. He didn’t generally spoil them or give them everything they wanted, but he took great joy in those times when he could give them something special. Our heavenly father is no different. He loves you.  He delights in you. Don’t ever hesitate to ask Him not just for what you need, but for the desires of your heart. And then, sit back and watch for the crazy miracle He may bring, just to show you how much He loves you. Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast!  Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose.  Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry.  From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders .  All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.

Are you called to be a leader? Do you know how and where to lead others? In today’s scripture, Jesus teaches His followers not only the importance of leading well for His glory, but also how to harness God’s power in the process. (Luke 17:1-10)   ****   Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and I am honored to walk with you as we open the Bible and ask God to teach us what He wants us to know today. We are busy at Women World Leaders as we continue to put in place offerings to help empower you to walk in your God-given purpose. To accomplish this goal, we use a three-fold effort – first, we teach the Bible – standing on the Word of God together in all that we do; second, we offer community as we connect women in Christian fellowship; and third, we offer teaching and guidance to help equip you for your ongoing service to our Lord. To learn the specifics of how we are fulfilling this mission and how you can get involved, please visit our website: womenworldleaders.com. While you are there, make sure you fill out our contact form so you can stay up to date and join us as your schedule permits and as God prompts you. On this, the Wednesday edition of the podcast, we are currently walking through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John chronologically. Recently, we have been studying the book of Luke, which we will continue today as we embrace Luke 17:1-10. Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God – I don’t know what is going on today in the life of the woman who is listening right now, but you do. You are ever-present, even when we don’t recognize it. And you know what it is that we each need to hear. So we come to you today, asking for a miracle: speak directly to each of your listeners. Allow her to hear your voice and your words as we open Scripture together. God, I ask that you remove me, and allow only your thoughts to be heard. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.   As we have been following Jesus in the book of Luke, He is making His way to Jerusalem teaching and preparing His disciples, not only for the events of the crucifixion that were to occur, but also for the life they would soon lead after His death and resurrection. In short, Jesus is rising up leaders for His church. The Pharisees thought THEY were the leaders, but we’ve seen time and again how they let Jesus down. And, in that day, Jesus had chosen His 12 very unlikely disciples. And as we read today, we know that Jesus has chosen US to be His leaders. WE are His followers. WE are His disciples. And WE are those whom He has chosen to lead others in the way of Christianity. Aren’t we lucky that Jesus left US the SAME training manual He gave those original 12 disciples? I don’t know exactly what your calling is – but I know it is important because it has come from God Himself. And I also know He is continually equipping you exactly what He is calling you to.  Keeping that amazing thought in mind. Let’s give our attention to HIS words today, as recorded in Luke 17:1-10 from the New Living Translation. 17 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! 2 It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. 3 So watch yourselves! Remember, Jesus had been teaching as He traveled, and the Pharisees and other religious leaders continued to outwardly scoff at His teachings. Have you ever been influenced by someone else’s attitude toward something? Perhaps you’ve been swept up in the exuberance of a political rally. Someone starts yelling something, good or bad, about the leader, causing you to think…hmmm…what side should I believe? There is no doubt that, as the Pharisees scoffed, there were some who were there wondering, “Is this Jesus-guy for me?” And you can bet that the scoffing of the Pharisees caused some of them to question Jesus’ words. Jesus warned the disciples… what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. Our words, actions, and responses carry influence. And we MUST take that responsibility of influence seriously. When my daughter was just 4 years old, her leadership skills had already become very apparent in her pre-k class. As I noticed this, I was careful to guide her, telling her that she had a remarkable power – people listened to her. And so, along with that leadership power, she had the responsibility to carefully choose how and where to lead others. A couple of weeks after I had that conversation with her, her teacher pulled me aside, wanting to relay the day’s happenings to me. There was a boy in my daughter’s class who was not well-regarded. He didn’t come to class very often, often came late, and spoke in a thick accent – all causing the kids to not have much interaction with him. That day, a few minutes after the day started, an announcement came from the office that that boy had arrived and would be entering the classroom momentarily. My daughter, who had noticed written on the board that it was his birthday, quickly told all the kids to hide so that when he came in, they could jump out and wish him a happy birthday. She led. And the kids listened. And the boy was thrilled. We ALL have an opportunity to lead. But we must CHOOSE how and where we lead others. With our words, written or spoken, and our actions, we can lead for peace or for strife. And we can choose whether we point others to the glory of God or to the waywardness of the world. There are people around YOU who are watching you in your Christian walk. What are you showing them? Where are you leading them? Do they see, by your words and actions, that Christians are judgmental and harsh? Or do they witness a love that is beyond their worldly comprehension? Jesus says… It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. “Little ones” are not just little children…”little ones” are those who are younger than you in their spiritual walk. Are you leading others well? Do your actions lead others to react in kindness, graciousness, mercy, and generosity? Do you model forgiveness that makes Jesus smile? Jesus continues… “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” Forgiveness can be so difficult. It can feel like cleaning your own wound. Have you ever had to pour alcohol on a wound to kill anything that might lead to an infection? Oh, it can sting! Yet we know it is necessary to allow the wound to heal. And not only is forgiveness difficult,  but it can also be exhausting. HOW many times do I need to forgive? As God’s children, we are to forgive as often as it takes. Because forgiveness allows healing to occur…DESPITE the fact that it can sting, is difficult, and exhausting. The disciples were listening. They heard the urgency with which Jesus taught about the necessity of forgiveness, but they were also very aware of their own fleshly limitations, so they responded to Jesus…  “Show us how to increase our faith.” Have you ever been there? You KNOW what you need to do – in this case, forgive someone despite the pain it may cause you to clean out that dirty wound, but you ALSO know that you need God to grab you by the hand and walk you through the process…so you cry to Him … INCREASE MY FAITH! I think we’ve all been there. The struggle to do what is right can be SO REAL. Next time you cry out to God to help you do the right thing…remember His response… 6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you! To do what God calls us to, we don’t need much…just the tiniest bit of faith leading us to the next simple step of obedience. The black mulberry tree has a large root system that gives it the ability to live up to 600 years. Uprooting a tree like this would be nearly impossible. AND … planting it in water would also be impossible as the roots could not reestablish themselves. BUT….THE LORD said… ALL THIS is possible with faith the size of a tiny mustard seed. God sometimes calls us to do VERY difficult things – like choosing the stinging pain of forgiveness. But, He promises that we can do what we are called to by simply holding onto Him in faith and taking the next right step. Jesus illustrates the power that He gives us when we hold onto just the tiniest bit of faith…verse 7 7 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” Our job, as servants of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is to simply do the duty Jesus has set before us – just one step at a time. When we do, our faith will grow like the mustard plant.   Jesus was teaching the disciples, and He is teaching us, how to lead well.  He starts with a warning – choose carefully how and where you will lead others. You ARE leading them somewhere, so, as He says in verse 3, “watch yourselves.” After the warning, Jesus gives an instruction: always offer forgiveness. Then Jesus reminds us that we have the POWER to do all God calls us to. That power comes from holding tightly to even the little bit of faith we have. And finally, Jesus wrapped it all up in a story, telling us that we are servants of an amazing master who will always lead us the right way – our job is to walk in obedience to Him. One step at a time. And in the process, watch Him grow our faith AND the faith of those He has called us to lead. Dear Most Holy God – we cling to you and to the faith that you are growing within us day by day. Father, it is not by our own might that we have the power to lead, forgive, and serve – but it is by the power you grant us when we actualize the faith you have gifted each of us. Give us the courage and strength to go wherever you call and to lead others well – with a positive influence and in the right direction, straight into your arms. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Don't miss today's part 2 of Dana Cryer's Podcast Interview:   "SHUT-UP"  were the only words Dana Cryer heard for days upon days, which turned into months upon months then years upon years while being held captive!   Kidnapped at age 5, taken and held alone in the deep woods inside an old shack, Dana shares her detailed horror of terror-filled days and nights and excruciating pain in her body, just to continue living. It was all this little girl knew for over a decade.   Until....   Hear this incredible God story of rescue, restoration, hope, healing forgiveness and God's abiding love. The journey of tremendous pain to the POWER of God working and ultimately forgiveness and incredible love only God can provide. (Part 2 of 2)

As we go through trials, there will be temptations to complain. Find out what happens when you resist complaining and yield to God's work of truth in your heart to bring the joy of heaven! *** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast. I’m your host Robin Kirby-Gatto. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world. Today’s Title: The Concession of Grace “Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs.” Isaiah 61:7 AMPC Recently we’ve been going through an unexpected kitchen renovation in our apartment. This started June 26th when plumbing issues showed up in four of the apartments in our historic building, which was built in 1928. The pipes, full of rust and degraded, had holes throughout. As a result, anything that went down the drain would leak behind the walls. Our apartment, which is on the top floor, and the three apartments under us had to have a kitchen renovation in order to put in new pipes. Management alerted us that we couldn’t use the kitchen sink, as well as needed to prepare for our kitchen being redone, so that the plumbers could remove the wall and put in new pipes. I really didn’t know what to expect since I’d not undergone anything like this before. Not only did we have to wash our dishes in the bathroom sink, but we had to purchase water to drink and cook with. Moreover, we’ve gotten takeout during the renovation with all our kitchen items being spread throughout the house, making it difficult to navigate meals. It has already been over three weeks since work began, and they hope to be finished with everything by Monday July 24th. Although things are chaotic with workers in and out of our home, and the house a mess, we’ve felt God’s peace. Throughout this time, I’ve been flooded with unspeakable joy, and because my heart’s been so full, there’s not been room for any complaints. I did a morning video one week into the renovation, reminded of Israel in Numbers 21, who complained in the wilderness. Because they wouldn’t stop grumbling and complaining, God sent fiery serpents to bite them. In order to be healed from the serpent’s bite, people had to look upon the pole that Moses raised with the bronze serpent, and they would live. God brought this story to mind of Numbers 21 as He told me that He had given us joy, through the transition of our kitchen, and would bless us for having no complaints in our hearts. We felt like we were camping, having a makeshift routine, while waiting for the renovation to be finished. About three weeks into the renovation, I contacted management to see about the possibility of getting a concession on our rent. We’re charged for water each month, and not only did we not use water in our kitchen, but we had to purchase water to drink, as well as get takeout. The manager mentioned he had put in for us to get a concession with the boss, the Friday before. As I finished my walk one morning, he saw me and made mention that we were going to get a concession. Moreover, although we are the top apartment and the last one on which they started, for whatever reason, we’re the first one they’re finishing. All I could see in this entire process was Isaiah 61:7, about getting a double portion of honor. The personalized tag I saw three days prior to writing the podcast, was MRSHONR, for Mrs. Honor! In my new book, in which I’m writing, “The Forbidden Fruit, the Spiritual Disease,” God has me teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of the world. In Isaiah 61:3, The Kingdom of Heaven is the garment of expressive praise, and the kingdom of the world is the cloak of heaviness. Jesus came to remove the heaviness of the world from us and bring heaven’s joy! As I keep saying, and my husband is now saying, while editing my new book, once you truly understand scripture about Jesus’ message of The Kingdom of Heaven, you cannot “unsee it.” In Isaiah 61:7 scripture says, instead of dishonor, you will have a double portion and JOY! I’m going to bring in the Old Hebrew symbols, which form a word picture, to depict these Hebrew words in a deeper measure from this scripture. The Hebrew word for dishonor is kelimmâh pronounced kel-im-maw' meaning, “disgrace, confusion, dishonor, and shame.” [i] The Hebrew letters for dishonor are Kaph, Lamed, Mem, and Hey. Kaph is the ancient symbol of a hand that can open or close meaning, “cover and allow.” Lamed is the ancient symbol of a cattle goad, which looks like a shepherd’s staff with a prick in the curvature, and means “tongue, control, and authority.” Mem is the ancient symbol of water, and looks like a three humped “M,” meaning “chaos” in the negative and “massive and flooding.” Finally, Hey is the ancient symbol of a stickman holding its arms up, as if worshiping, and means “to reveal.” Thus, the word picture for dishonor is THE TONGUE COVERING YOU AND BRINGING CHAOS IS REVEALED. This is the voice of the stranger, which Jesus warns of in John 10:5. The stranger’s voice, is the voice of satan that is of the kingdom of the world. When the enemy attacks the heart and mind, he does so through the chaos of the world, making you feel “bad.” As you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, God adds all things unto you. (Matthew 6:33) The evidence of seeking the Kingdom of God, knowing that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, is that you have JOY! Joy in Isaiah 61:7 is the Hebrew word simchâh pronounced sim-khaw' meaning, “blithesomeness or glee, exceeding, exceedingly, gladness, joy, joyfulness, mirth, pleasure, rejoice, and rejoicing.” [ii] The Hebrew letters that compose the word joy are Sheen, Mem, Chet, and Hey. The Hebrew symbol for Sheen is like a jagged “W” and the picture for teeth, meaning “to consume” in the positive and “devour” in the negative. The Hebrew letter Mem mentioned earlier is the symbol of water and in the positive indicates massive, as well as depict flooding. Chet is the ancient symbol of a fence or chamber and means separated and secret place. Finally, we saw Hey earlier meaning, “to reveal.” Therefore, the word picture for joy is BEING CONSUMED IN THE SECRET PLACE AS YOU ARE MASSIVELY FLOODED WITH WORSHIP THAT IS REVEALED. God began to speak to me about the word “concession,” since the apartment management is giving us a concession on our rent. Concession means in our circumstance, “a preferential allowance or rate given by an organization.” [iii] It can also mean a commercial operation that brings refreshments. satan was cast down from heaven, as his heart was lifted in pride, bringing merchandise into heaven. (Ezekiel 28:16) The Hebrew word for merchandise comes from the root word meaning “merchant.” Merchandise is composed of the Hebrew letters Resh, Kaph, Lamed, and Hey. Resh is the ancient symbol of a man’s face and means, head, highest, and person. We saw the symbols for Kaph meaning, “cover or allow,” Lamed meaning “tongue, control, and authority,” and finally Hey meaning “reveal.” Therefore, the word picture for merchandise is THE TONGUE THAT IS ALLOWED TO CONTROL THE PERSON, IS REVEALED. This is the stranger’s voice that Jesus refers to in John 10:5. His sheep will not listen to the stranger’s voice, but only the voice of their Good Shepherd. A concession stand at a ballgame is normally filled with fast foods, and generally has a selection of candy. I couldn’t help but see the concession stand of the enemy during people’s trials, as they allow his lie to continue to speak to their heart and mind, and they look at all things, through the lens of the kingdom of the world, which is “good or bad,” from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Moreover, I couldn’t help but think of candy at a concession stand, and how sugar makes you feel good initially with a sugar rush, and in time, causes you to crash. Furthermore, it’s the sugar in alcohol, which is ethanol, that gets a person drunk. The concession stand of the enemy is in the kingdom of the world, for those whose eyes are not fixed on God, which causes people to be drunk with pride during the trial. Pride is revealed as complaining creeps in, making a person feel good, getting the sugar-coated message of the world. I saw clearly that those who stay focused on the world, gripe and complain in their trials, and are forever at the concession stand of the world. Understand, this doesn’t mean you won’t experience hard times in life. Rather, in the hard times of life, you keep your eyes on God, and He brings heaven down! He lifts you into Joy, giving you a double portion of honor as your reward! God began to show me, how the joy of the Lord on my husband and me, amid this renovation, caused us to have favor with God and man, as in Proverbs 3:3-4, as we were honored by management with a deduction from our next month’s rent. Moreover, the crazy thing is, we’re the first apartment they’re finishing, although we were the last one, they started on. What came to mind was the last shall be first. When this all started, the tenant, who lived three flights beneath us, had been bothered and complained so much that she ended up leaving. I couldn’t help but see the power of not complaining and keeping your eyes on the things that are above. (Colossians 3:1-3) When we’re in trials, we should be exceedingly glad, as in 1 Peter 1:6-7. It is the testing of our faith, which is being brought forth more precious than gold, to reveal Christ Jesus in us the Hope of Glory. Our faith results from keeping our eyes on God, where we’re in the overflow of God’s joy, which is our strength, seeing Heaven’s reward in our life. Where is it in your life that you’re complaining? Keep your eyes on God and watch Him reward you with joy and give you honor!   [i] Strong’s Concordance Hebrew word # 3639 “’dishonor” [ii] Strong’s Concordance Hebrew word # 8057 “joy” [iii] “concession”

Jesus told the story of Lazarus and the disobedient rich man. They both died – one was buried and the other was carried away by angels. We will all die. What will decide your fate? (Luke 16:19-31)     Welcome to Walking in the Word – the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and I am so happy you have joined us for this Wednesday edition of the podcast, when we open the Bible together and ask God to reveal what He wants us to know today. If you are new to the ministry, please know we are glad you are here! We are an eclectic group of women from around the world who love and support each other as we grow in our faith and our leadership abilities in an effort to do all God has called us to do. Together, we study the Bible, pray, and develop and put into practice our individual giftings – all while giving glory to God. This podcast is just one of our many offerings – you can find out more about the ministry by visiting our website: womenworldleaders.com. While you are there, be sure to fill out our contact form so that you can receive our regular emails that will help you connect with us. Women World Leaders is a 501c3 non-profit ministry, which means that we are dependent on you to support all we do. We are an army of mostly volunteers, but, like everyone, we do have expenses. If you feel drawn to take advantage of a tax write-off as you donate financially, you can do that also at womenworldleaders.com. And when you become a regular monthly donor, we will put you on our subscription list to receive a physical copy of Voice of Truth magazine as a thank you. Will you consider helping us empower each other to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ by volunteering or donating to the ministry? There is much that God has for us to do, and we don’t want YOU to miss out on any part of it! Well, let’s dive into today’s teaching, shall we? If you have your Bible handy, today we will be studying from the book of Luke, chapter 16, verses 19-31. Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Heavenly Father – we come to you today in awe of your presence! Thank you for always being with us. Thank you for your grace and mercy and endless teaching and guidance as we walk through this life. We admit that we are flawed. But Father, we also proclaim with joy that although we mess up, you never give up on us. Thank you for being with us now as we open your Word. Help us hear and understand all you want us to know from this Scripture. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. As we step into the writings of Luke today, it may help to know that in this 16th chapter of the gospel, Jesus was speaking to His disciples, but the Pharisees and other followers were also listening in. In this crowd, there were, no doubt, people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Yet the Pharisees held a strong belief that the amount of a man’s riches directly pointed to his righteousness. Jesus, however, had already bluntly taught of the dangers of the love of money, stating in verse 13, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” And their response indicated the hardness of their hearts to Jesus’ words, as verse 14 records: The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. Despite the scoffing, Jesus didn’t give up. Instead, He teaches again from an angle that we hope reached some…let’s begin in Luke 16:19 from the New Living Translation… 19 Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury.  This man was truly of the upper echelon of the rich folks – one to whom the Pharisees would certainly prescribe righteousness on account of his riches. His outer garments were purple – made from a dye that was very expensive, and even his undergarments were made of the the finest linen. But, it was evident that he cared deeply for only himself. As we will see, he closed his eyes to those in need around him. Verse 20… 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. As I write, my own puppies are lying beside me, and I smile when they come up and lick me as they show their love. But don’t allow yourself to be culturally confused here. In the Jewish culture, dogs were NOT lovable pets. They were detestable and dangerous scavengers. This scene highlights the helplessness of this poor man, Lazarus. Not only was he hungry, longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, but he was also seemingly too weak or worn out to even shoo the dogs away who came to lick his sores as he lay at the rich man’s gate. Picture that: the rich man went BY Lazarus each time he left his home and each time he returned to his home. This is important, because it shows us that this rich man was not godly. When we love God, we long to be like Him. Sure, we mess up, but He continues to put us in circumstances where we can serve and honor Him and others – molding us each day more and more into His own image. But this rich man had clearly hardened his heart. He, again and again, put his own comfort and his own love of money above everything else, including the miserable man who lay at his own front gate. Verse 22… 22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet.  I LOVE this visual!! For those of you who know me, you know my mom died recently after a long bout with Alzheimers. For the last several years, she couldn’t speak and didn’t have any sense of recognition. Yet as I held her hand as she took her last breath, her eyes opened wide, and a look of glorious recognition graced her face! It was clear that the angels were there to carry HER to the heavenly banquet. Our physical death on this earth can be so glorious! If we give our lives to Christ today, we have NOTHING to fear and EVERYTHING to look forward to! Lazarus lived a life of want…but he clearly knew God. And God honored Lazarus by ushering him into heaven. Verse 22 continues in direct contrast, however… The rich man also died …and was buried,… 23 and he went to the place of the dead.[b] There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. 24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ The rich man still didn’t get it…despite the place of torment he was now in, he still considered Lazarus beneath him. He spoke to the holy Abraham, demanding his way. This is a picture of how I imagine the rich man had lived his life – feeling that his money gave him power over others and the right to demand their service. But the tables had turned…and they had turned permanently… verse 25… 25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’ There will come a time when we will each take our last breath on earth – and at that moment, the playing field will be leveled. I’ve heard it said that he who dies with the most toys wins. That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Money is not evil, in fact, it is a blessing that can be used to bless others. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter to God how much money we have, what kind of car we drive, or where we live. Our perfect God cares most about the relationship with have with Him. And you can trust He has a purpose and a plan for each of His children’s lives – whether we are lying in a hospital bed, sitting in a prison cell, living in a shack, or residing in a mansion by the seaside. When we know and love God, He will place in us a desire to follow Him in obedience. All He asks is that we follow Him one step at a time, no matter what our lot in life is. Pray to Him. And listen in obedience, doing WHATEVER He calls you to with WHATEVER you have been given. At this point, it seems the rich man understands that his fate is now permanent. Verse 27… 27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ 30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ 31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” I imagine this last statement was personal to Jesus. From the time the first sin created a chasm between God and humanity, God put a plan in place to bridge that chasm – to allow sinful man the opportunity to spend eternity with God. God sent Moses and the prophets to give warnings and hope to His people. Some listened. Many did not. Then Jesus Himself came. He taught the truth, giving warnings and hope – and even performed miracles to showcase that He was telling WAS the truth. Some listened. Many did not. And, even as Jesus told this very story, He knew that His own time was drawing near. Jesus, fully God and fully man, was sent to die a sinner’s death on a cross and then be raised from death – so that He could overcome death once and for all time for those who follow Him. Yet even as He spoke and prepared for His own death and resurrection, Jesus knew…Some would listen. But many would not. Our God is kind, thoughtful, generous, and merciful. He infiltrates this world with signs and wonders and miracles in an effort to lead US to our place of salvation. He has prepared us each a place at His table and has His angels on standby, ready to escort us directly to Him when we each take our final breath on this earth. But our God also gives us free choice. We can CHOOSE to follow Him. We can CHOOSE to be obedient with all He has given us. Or we can CHOOSE to focus on the things of this earth – loving the gifts instead of the Giver. Hoarding whatever wealth we’ve been given instead of obediently responding when He calls us to a mission. The rich man died and was separated from God forever, not because he was rich, but because he had hardened his heart while he was here on earth, refusing to love others as God loves and serve others as God serves. We do not go to heaven because of what we do or don’t do, with one exception: to dine at the eternal feast with our Father who loves us so much, to experience the glory of the angels whisking us to His side when we take our last breath on this earth, we must give our lives to Him today. We must accept the payment that Jesus made for our sins. When we do, God will begin to mold us into the people He has called us to be. Let’s pray… Holy Father, we come to you today in obedience, giving our lives, our decisions, and our loyalties to you alone. We ask you to guide us each day. We thank you for the forgiveness of our sins you have already granted us. And we look forward to that day when we get to dine at your table for all of eternity, escorted in full glory by your angels. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.  

Don't miss today's Podcast Interview:   "SHUT-UP"  were the only words Dana Cryer heard for days upon days, which turned into months upon months then years upon years while being held captive!   Kidnapped at age 5, taken and held alone in the deep woods inside an old shack, Dana shares her detailed horror of terror-filled days and nights and excruciating pain in her body, just to continue living. It was all this little girl knew for over a decade.   Until....   Hear this incredible God story of rescue, restoration, hope, healing forgiveness and God's abiding love. The journey of tremendous pain to the POWER of God working and ultimately forgiveness and incredible love only God can provide. (Part 1 of 2)

God's Word tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. But what does that really mean? Learning that our identity and self-worth are in Him is a life-long lesson and journey. And what we are going through is exactly that, what we are going through. We are children of God, loved and adored by HIm. No matter what we are going through in life, God is ever present and aware of our problems and needs even when we can't "feel" it. The world needs you to be who you were meant to be!

As God's children, we are called to imitate Him. As you grow deeper in your relationship with God, allow His example of love to flow from your life. (Ephesians 5:1-14)

From self-centered to more of a self-less life through God's direction, our guest Stacy Thomas has learned to be bold and courageous in sharing her faith.    Step out of your comfort zone and step into an ability to share your faith as Joshua 1:9 commands. Be bold and courageous.    ***** Kimberly Hobbs   Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I am the founder of Women world leaders. Ladies, we are so grateful that you have decided to join us today. And we would love to welcome our guests today. Who is Stacy Thomas from? Where are you from stays in my city Beach, Florida Animos city, I knew it was Florida. I just forgot this the city. So welcome, Stacy. Stacy Thomas   Thank you for inviting me. I'm really appreciative. Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, you're appreciative that you're here. So, ladies, it's all about sharing our stories to encourage each other what God has done in and through our lives. That is who we are at women, world leaders, we want to come beside you encourage you empower you, strengthen, strengthen you through the power of the Word of God. We believe that he is working in you giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him. That's actually a scripture from Philippians 213. And what does God say in Revelations 1211, he says that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And we believe that by sharing our testimonies that we can overcome him which is the enemy of our lives, and we share our testimonies and oh my goodness, what comes out of it is just amazing. And others can relate and, and help you know draw their relationship closer to the Lord as well. So, so ladies, we are so happy to have you and I just want to share a little bit about Stacey before. She shares a little bit about her story with you because today we're going to talk about being bold and courageous. And Stacey is a wife and a mother of three and she's been a pediatric occupational therapist for 27 years and is currently serving in the level three NICU unit. Stacy served as the ministry leader at her local Celebrate Recovery for seven years. She has assisted with establishing community based nonprofit ministries such as backport blessings and protect our preemies. Stacy has multiple publications in a local Christian magazine ad and has co published in the APTA professional research journal. Stacey enjoys spending time traveling with her husband visiting her children hiking and outdoor activities. And one of her scripture verses that is special to her is Psalm 91 Two, which says He is my refuge, my fortress, my God in him will I trust. So as I was sharing, ladies, today, we're going to talk about being bold and courageous. And if you're anything like me, I had a difficult time because I have always felt unworthy and worthy to talk out and share about my faith. Because of my past. And I know in speaking with Stacey, her and I shared some of the same past and that just lacking confidence. But Joshua one nine says, Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous, be bold, do not be afraid. And Tracy was an only child growing up. So she was in this kind of self absorbed place. But after growing in the Lord in him intervening in her life, he has taken her from this self centered place to now being more selfless. It's this growth process that we all need to go through. And she is learning how to be a selfless human being. And today Stacey is going to share a little bit about in her story about how God has drawn her closer to him. Stacey, can you share about that a little bit? Stacy Thomas   Thank you, Kimberly. Yeah, just to give you a little background, I, like Kimberly said was born and only child to very young parents who were on their way to college and life changed quickly for them because of that decision. And through a difficult delivery. Long story short, I ended up having some difficulties and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. So mild case but still have some challenges with my physical abilities. I always did well in school, and really learn to overcompensate there with my grades trying to meet the demands of fitting in. So over the years of being an only child and my parents were working and going to school, I learned to become more self sufficient. And I never really had to be challenged in any way with confrontation because there were no siblings to have confrontation with. And I guess I could say I was probably a fairly easy child, I didn't have much conflict with my parents growing up. So I grew up believing that I was in control, and that I was independent, and that I could do whatever needed to be done. And I carried that into my adulthood. I knew who Jesus was, but I did not have a relationship with him growing up in high school friends, who went to church would invite me I would go, but honestly speaking, it was more for the socialization, and just being able to fit in somewhere than it truly was about making myself a relationship with Jesus. went away to college, five hours away, no cell phones, and I was large and in charge of my own life and not doing it very well. Really kind of let go of some morals that my parents had instilled in me and being a number one party school, University of Florida, tended to hang up those morals and just do everything I could to fit in with the people around me. So over time, after marriage, and having kids and my children really were the gifts that God gave me, that made me want to have a closer relationship with God, because I wanted them to. And that's what really kind of led me to start going to church and pursuing God a little bit more. But even on the Wednesdays, and Sundays that I was there and serving, I still kept a Unknown Speaker   wall up Stacy Thomas   between me and had a lot of expectation on others had a fairly critical spirit on me and, and didn't give a lot of grace at that time. And so God began talking to me about that in my late 30s. So that's kind of in a nutshell. And Kimberly Hobbs   and I know through our conversation, Stacy and talking to you, you are sharing about that time where God started speaking to you and listening to podcasts, which we know are very helpful. Ladies, these podcasts are so helpful to us, aren't they, and I am just so grateful for them. Please pray for us as we do these podcasts. But you were listening to podcasts in your life, Stacy, and God was speaking to you. And then you are also sharing how you did a study in the zekiel. And one of the words that was jumping out at you as the word telling. And Ezekiel was talking about that in his book about being telling to be bold, and stand up and speak up, instead of being full of pride and talking from a self centered place. How did you do that? Stacy? How did he do this through you? Stacy Thomas   Well, God led me to a ministry called Celebrate Recovery about 10 years ago, and my church had started it. I was one of those people that said, I'm not one of those people. And finally, God just led me there really, truly with a desire to fix my marriage and fix my husband. But God showed me that that was not my job. And hey, let's look at these things in your heart a little bit. So after some time doing the steps there and realizing that I had some hurts that I needed to deal with, and some anger to deal with. The Lord led me through that and to a much healthier place. And since then, my studies have included podcasts have included small groups. And recently, last year, he said, I want you to study zekiel And I said, God, what? And so I kind of pushed back in my old Stacy way of pushing back from things and sat on it for a bit. And then this past month podcast that I listened to started a lit study on a zekiel. And I realized, Okay, God, you put me up this put this before me again. So I was obedient and began to study on the podcast. And yes, I had no idea what Ezekiel looked like for my life, but he has opened my eyes to realizing that he's not putting me out into the world to fix people, like I have done in my job that's been a requirement as an occupational therapist is to fix the injury, fix the development of the child, whatever it may be, but that my role as a Christian is not to fix people, but to tell people who he is and the love that He has for others. And for me And so I'm learning a new habit of just being able to go out and share and not have to be a scholar in the word not have to be a Theo theology, but use my testimony, use my story, use my experiences, to show people how much God loves us, and how much his purpose for us is for good, but also for the kingdom and helping others come to know who he is. Kimberly Hobbs   That's so true, so true. And thank you, I am so grateful that God impressed upon your heart, that you needed to turn things around and to start to speak truth into people in the place that God has brought you. And you are now doing that inside the NICU unit. And God brings you to women that are there. There's reasons why some of these babies are born. So premature, and there are problems associated with those children. And sometimes the the pregnancies and it gives you the ability to speak truth into their lives. And I'm just very grateful for that. So out of your place of rejection and different things that you've had to deal with in your life of fear that you can now speak truth into these women who are rejected and afraid. And God gives you these opportunities. So the Bible says when fear a mobilizes us, ladies, like when you are afraid to do something, just as I believe Stacey, in hearing her testimony, was afraid to step out in that faith and to be bold. And to be courageous. The Bible says when fear a mobilizes you to do something, ladies, don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you and He will be with you. And he will neither fail you nor abandon you. And that's Deuteronomy 31. Eight. Stacy, can you give us some examples how God embolden you in your career? Like maybe in the NICU? Like do you have a story you could share with us about God giving you that boldness at a certain moment to step out and share about him? Stacy Thomas   Oh, wow, there's so many opportunities. First, I want to share a scripture. Second Corinthians one four is kind of the scripture that I stand on now for my work. And it says, who comforts us in all our tribulations so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. And to me that says that he's calling us to use our testimony to help people understand and have hope that they are not alone. In the NICU, I come across mothers who, you know, most women, you know, have an expectation of I'm going to get pregnant, I'm going to carry this baby for 40 weeks, and there's going to be a baby shower, and there's going to be a now there's these baby reveals, and you know, all these fun things that are supposed to happen along the way and pictures and whatnot. And when that baby comes, we're going to spend a couple of days in the hospital, we're going to take them home to the nursery and things are going to be grand, our moms, whether it be because of prematurity or some other medical issue with the babies tend to have to have go to the NICU and have a different experience. And it's an experience where they absolutely have no control over the circumstances that they're facing this little human being that, that we that we take gratefully from God, and in some ways own in our own minds, is has to be at the mercy of the people who were taking care of it at that point. And so we have to bring to them a place of knowing that they can trust us. And how many women and men dads that I've talked to have trust issues. And so it's a very difficult time. So I've been able to use in so many ways, my experience of having cerebral palsy myself and having a developmental delay in my physical ability, being able to tell parents who are facing those worst case scenarios and say, hey, my parents face this too. And they were told I'd never walk. Or I might never walk. But look at me now. And so I'm able to use my visually use and show them that though this looks really grim right now, God took what happened to me, and he turned that into something good. So a perfect example was we had a baby who was born extremely premature. 24 weeks, her biological mother signed her rights away and she became a word of the state who was adopted. She was not doing well. She had a lot of difficulties. She was at the age where she was able to start learning to eat by mouth. And she just had no desire, she really didn't wake up much. And adoptive family was assigned to her, they came up and they immediately wanted to hold her. within 24 hours, we saw that baby turn around. Within eight hours, we saw that babies start to eat. And we were able to talk about how the love and affection that that family gave her. And the trust that they had for the process allowed them to be able to turn that baby around. And isn't that just the way that Jesus does with us? Kimberly Hobbs   Oh, yes, yes, that his arms Stacy Thomas   and he loves us. And all of the circumstances that we are in all of the tribulations that we are facing, just melt away. And we're able to surrender it all to him. And he turns it around in our life. Kimberly Hobbs   He does. He does. It's all about love. It is all about love. And I just I was flooded with goosebumps when you said that. And I can just imagine that scenario, because that's how God created us, we need to be loved. And we need to show love. And that little baby felt that love that human touch that genuine love for it. And look at what God did in that situation. Wow. Wow, that's beautiful. And to take it Stacy Thomas   further that is to have moderate to severe cerebral palsy based on the medical findings of her brain that we had seen on scans. And before she left, all evidence of brain damage was gone. Wow. And those parents embrace that as a miracle from God. And, and you know, and so not only do we have the opportunity to talk about God and His love for us and connect those dots, but then there's, you know, people that come to us that have the same ability to minister into our lives. And that's what I love about the kingdom is that we have opportunities outside where people who may not know Jesus, we have opportunities, to boldly bring it to them, but also within our own community of Christians, we need to be encouraging each other and loving on one another and accepting one another right where we are, instead of expecting another to be somewhere or doing something a certain way. Kimberly Hobbs   It's so true, we cannot have a judgmental attitude or anything, it's all about loving one another and having that boldness, again, encouraged to step out and just embrace another with love, speak the truth into their life. It's so important. You know, we see it from the moment we're born, obviously, with what you see Stacy in your career and, and you see it all through life, you see it through the mothers lives who are giving birth, you know, that maybe feel so broken, you know, delivering this child and, and rejected and whoever, you know, who knows what that woman is going through, but you have the ability, Stacy to love on them, God has put you in a place where he is using you and all of your past things in your life. To now speak love and truth into other women. And ladies, that's what we need to look for is in our own life. What are you doing? Where are you right now in your life, that God can allow you to open your mouth and speak love and truth from his word into others lives, that's what will change their lives. That's what will impact them and turn their situations around. It's his love. It's the power through his word that will do that. And we are just so grateful, Stacy for you doing that? And do you have any other examples maybe that you want to share? Because these examples again, just give such a profound? Ah, you know, like, wow, you know, I get it. I see it. I see what God's doing in that situation. About speaking boldness and to somebody. Stacy Thomas   Yeah. So one of the scriptures that I really have held on to for a long time, as James 122 says, Don't just be hearers of the word but be doers of the word. And just like an zekiel zekiel was tasked not with going in and fixing the broken nation, but he was tasked with going in and telling about God and what God's promises were and and God muted him for that purpose. He was only allowed to speak when he was sharing what God wanted share. And for me that that stood very tall for me because I've always you know, my profession requires me to People, whether it be their injury or whatever, are these babies. And so, I take that seriously, because now my new habit is to go and tell, go tell it up upon the mountain, right. So, but you know, one of the things we have to remember is that we are loved and he forgives us. And he gives a second chances. He shows us mercy and compassion and his heart is softened towards us. And that's something that we have to remember to do as well. You know, there are women that come through the unit, who have been doing drugs, and for a long time in their life, they may have been shunned, and they may have been judged and, and when they come to the unit, we have to know that they didn't, they weren't little girls that grew up thinking, Oh, when I grow up, I want to be a drug addict. They something happened in their life that created this for them. And we have an opportunity to help them become the women that God has purposed them to be. And that baby might be the reason why they are there to hear from us that they are loved, and that they are accepted, and they are forgiven. We can empower these women to have a purpose beyond that drug that they're addicted to. And we can help them. And so that's that's a big part of my heart after being involved in Celebrate Recovery as a ministry leader is that just letting people know whether it be a man or a woman that they have such great value in this world, beyond the circumstances are in the moment. And so that asked us to be those people who come alongside others who are downtrodden, and who are hurting. And they let them know that they are loved spite what has happened in their past. Kimberly Hobbs   As ladies, I believe, that's a calling on all of us, that we need to step out in prayer. And if you're not a bold person, if you're tend to be quiet, and you let others just, you know, no step out and ask God to help you be bold and courageous. And that you would step out of that comfort zone for Jesus cuz it is our it's our job, I guess you'd say, you know, as believers as those in relationships with Jesus, that we talk to somebody that we normally may not talk to, you know, our pray with a family member, a friend or a co worker such as Stacey does, she's bold, and she steps out where God has her right now, in that Nick unit and with boldness, she's praying with others, she is loving them and loving them to Jesus. And true boldness, ladies is centered in Christ, not ourselves. And sometimes we're so focused on ourselves, or what are people gonna think of us are, you know, I'm not a speaker, or I don't know, a whole lot of Scripture what, but just take that first step and just ask God to go with you, and speak out about him. And you're going to watch how he's going to be right there with you. He's going to give you our triggers something in your mind that you're going to say, because you prayed about it, and you asked him for that boldness. So the CC Can you just give us a give these ladies an encouraging word from your heart, how they can step out in that boldness just like you are you are in a place where you were, you were afraid to do that, because all the focus was on yourself. You grew up that way. But God turned it around. So how can you encourage our listening audience to step out in that boldness? Stacy Thomas   Um, I think the main thing that we have to remember is that God is never going to lead us into anything that is for to hurt us. So start feeling afraid, I realized that is from the enemy, and the enemy loves to distract us with fear. Yeah, yes. So if you know if God is calling if the Holy Spirit is putting it on my heart to talk to somebody or to say something in particular, the first thing I do is I pray about it. Because I want to be sure that my words are helpful and not hurtful, and that they come across with the right motives. And so I checked my heart, and I asked God to show me the way that would be a way to, to enlighten him in this person's life. And then I have to take that step. And, and that step is is sometimes very hard, and sometimes it's very easy, and I will be honest, sometimes it's the people that I'm the closest with that I have the hardest time being bold with. I come from a place of not wanting to disrupt the applecart, you know, and I come from a place of wanting that accepted And, and needing to know that people are happy with me. But God is really leading me out of that. And, and And ladies, if you if you wonder how I got here, it's been through just really listening to God and learning how to be obedient. And sometimes I thought, am I even hearing him. But there was always a time that he would come alongside me and make it clear in some way, even through telling me to read the book of Ezekiel, which I did not understand whole lot of before the surgery, and I still don't, but being able to just say, You know what, I'm going to take a chance on God, because what else do I what do I have to lose there? Because he's always for me, he's never against me, always. And I spent too many years living in fear and living afraid of what might happen. And now knowing that that fear comes from the enemy. It's just a matter of taking a deep breath, thanking God, loving God and saying, God, my life is surrendered for you and your will test and that word, and those 100 Steps come in baby steps. He's not going to require us to jump off the cliff into some sort of ministry or jump off the cliff into some sort of evangelism. He's just asking us to have conversations and share our story. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen. Amen. Yes, ladies, and thank you. Thank you so much, Stacy for sharing that and encouraging and it does, it requires humility, again, ladies rather than pride. And realize that you can be bold in your faith, be bold in your faith, and I just have a couple scriptures I wanted to share as we close here, the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. And that's proverbs 28. One, be bold, as a lion, ladies, God will give you that confidence, you can do it, you just need to step out and be courageous. Acts for 31 reminds us that after they pray, they were shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God boldly. So one thing that Stacy and I were both sharing was pray, pray about it, as she is there in the NICU, and things are right in front of her situations that she doesn't have any control over, she goes to God and prayer and ask God to how is he going to use me here? What am I going to say, Lord, and then God speaks through her, he will do that for you too, if you ask him to. So remember that ladies, that's our duty, we need to be bold and courageous, and share our faith wherever we are, where ever we are in this world. And this is a tool that I hope might help you. Two years ago, we women world leaders put put out a book called courageous steps of faith. And these women, there's many women in this book that have shared their stories of being bold, and courageous and stepping out in faith and doing something amazing for the Lord. And we believe that all of us, all of us have that ability to do it. If you would like to get this book to encourage you and inspire you. It is available through our website at women, world leaders calm and it and we ask that you get it through our website, it is available on Amazon as well. But it has become a number one bestseller. And we are very grateful for that. But that's because God has shown favor and this book has been prayed over and we believe it will be a very useful tool tool to you if you need that little encouragement to step out and be bold, courageous steps of faith. And that's with God. All things are possible. We do believe that with all of our heart, ladies. And one other thing that we have for you that would be a great inspiration. And again, full of Scripture full of encouragement is our magazine that comes out once a quarter now. And it is called voice of truth. It is available digitally outside of the United States around the world, through women world leaders.com. And you can get your free copy if you are within the United States. And that is by going to women world leaders.com voice of truth and then there's a place where you can sign up leave us your name, address and email address which we do not share. But please ladies also if you receive Voice of Truth last year, this year, we need to have you re submit your name and address and email to continue receiving it. And our next edition is coming out in May. So please ladies, make sure that you get yourself Rhys re signed up for Voice of Truth or if you want it Please go to our website at women world leaders calm. So in closing again, thank you so much Stacy Thomas for joining us. And Stacy is going to be one of the authors and the upcoming book for this year which is called surrendered, yielded with purpose. So we are so excited that chair, Stacey is going to share her story. So thank you, Stacey, for your willingness to say yes to Jesus and to serve. Lady desires a place for you to serve here within this ministry and we invite each and every one of you to join us at women world leaders.com Or join us in our Facebook group. And just look for women world leaders on Facebook and asked to come into the group and we will gladly let you in. Ladies, we are so happy to have you and again from his heart to yours. We are women world leaders. All content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written consent. God bless you each Thank you for listening. And please don't forget we have our teaching podcasts every Wednesday by Julie Jenkins. And we also have encouraging podcasts every Friday and Celebrating God's Grace. So ladies, please we have podcasts for you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays please be sure to join us at Women World Leaders podcast. Thank you and God bless you  

Are you weary? Walking hopelessly through the mundane? Jesus has so much more for you and is calling you to get up and walk in obedience. Pick up your mat and let God, in His grace, supply the strength you need every step of the way. (John 5:1-15) **** Thanks for listening to the Women World Leaders’ podcast! This is our Wednesday edition, Walking in the Word, where we take time out of our busy week to sink into God’s Word and ask Him to reveal His truth and teaching to us. My name is Julie Jenkins. I’m the teaching and curriculum leader for Women World Leaders, and I am pleased to be your host. We are currently walking through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John together as we study the life of Jesus Christ. If you are enjoying our study, I’d like to ask you to take a moment to share it with someone else. My reasoning is simple. See…this podcast was started because a friend came to me in need of Biblical teaching. She is a nurse, and her team of associates had been gathering at lunch and listening to a limited Easter teaching. When they completed the series, she reached out to me looking for a podcast to empower them to stand strong together during the height of the covid pandemic. After searching and praying for an appropriate podcast for her, God spoke to me that He was calling Women World Leaders to begin this podcast series, and I thought, if He is calling, there must be a need. So we are asking you now, to help us fill that need. For us, it isn’t about download numbers, but about reaching those whom God intends to reach. Will you pray and ask Him who in your life would benefit from a weekly bible teaching that they can access anywhere at any time? And then will you share it with them? Your outreach will likely have a ripple effect that will extend further than you can now imagine. Sometimes we just have to respond obediently, even if we don’t fully understand. That thought leads us into our teaching today as we study John’s account of the healing of the disabled man at the pool of Bethesda from John 5:1-15. Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God, I thank you for each person who is listening, wherever they may be. Lord, I don’t know how you drew each individual to this podcast today, nor do I know what they are going through. But you do. You see each listener individually and there is something that you have called them to hear today. God, may the words that come from my mouth not be my words, but yours. Allow this teaching to come from you alone. We give you this time and ask you to infiltrate our thoughts, Holy Spirit, as we read and study your Word. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.   John 5 from the New Living Translation begins… 5 Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days We have seen Jesus heal many people as we have been walking through the gospels. We have seen Him step out time and again, but today we see Him intentionally step into the territory of the Jewish religious leaders whom He knew would seek His death. He traveled straight into Jerusalem. Scripture says He traveled there for a Jewish festival, although we don’t know which one. And it appears that He was alone as He visited the Temple area. Verse 2 continues… 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,[a] with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.[b]  The Sheep Gate was not an obscure name of an entry into the temple, it was the actual opening in the Temple wall through which the sacrificial sheep were brought. From the Sheep Gate, the sheep would have been taken directly to the pool that John mentions, where they would have been washed before being taken into the sanctuary. Heading through the Sheep Gate, you could walk down a pathway to the pool of Bethesda, a set of twin pools that has now been identified by archeologists and is currently known as the pool of St. Anne. These twin pools were surrounded by four colonnades with an additional colonnade going between the two halves of the pool. I am far from being an expert in architecture, so to get a picture in my mind, I had to look up what a colonnade is. So now I can report that the pool was surrounded by an open hallway made of large columns and covered by a roof. This is where the sick people would lay…under the colonnade that both surrounded the pool and cut through the middle, separating the two parts of the pool. Many translations say that those who lay there were disabled, using the generic term for those who were too weak to help themselves. John further describes them as the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. This must not have been a pretty sight…it was probably actually quite heart-wrenching, pathetic, or even disgusting – depending on your outlook. Perhaps needless to say, this was an area that the upper class and those considering themselves purified for worship, would avoid. But not Jesus. He walked right down the colonnade, among those who were hurting. Those who couldn’t see. Those who couldn’t walk. And those who, in fact, couldn’t move. He walked among those who were there because they didn’t know what else to do or where else to go. There was a superstition surrounding this pool that said that when the angels randomly caused the water to stir, the next person into the water would be cured. But in reality, the people were hopeless. The blind – they would not have been able to see the water stirring. The lame could see the water stirring, but they couldn’t get to it. And the paralyzed, they were unable to move altogether. And the Jewish officials surely looked down on the gathering as the belief of the powers of the water mirrored the belief bestowed upon many of the healing shrines and pagan cults of the area. It was an area full of disgrace. Those who gathered where the animals were cleansed were unable to get help themselves – and yet they waited. And their waiting was not in vain. Not because of the stirring of the water, but because Jesus, God in the flesh, stepped in among them. John narrows down our vision from a crowd of people to a single man who lay on his mat without a purpose, no different than the others. Verse 5… 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. We don’t know anything about this man except that he had been afflicted for 38 years. That is nearly as long the average life expectancy at the time! And he had given up. He may have been lying beside a pool that was said to have healing powers, but it was a formality. Verse 6…  6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” I can understand the man’s state of hopelessness. He had been living with a debilitating illness for 38 years and was lying, day in and day out, among others who had no hope. We tend to get acclimated to where we are and to accept the situation we are in after a period of time. While that is a normal human defense mechanism, if you are stuck in a situation that feels hopeless, I want you to know that our God is a God of hope and renewal and restoration. God wants to light a fire in your soul and remind you that with Him, nothing is impossible. You may feel that you have nothing left to give and absolutely no way to make your bad situation better. And do know what? You may be right! You may have no power AT ALL to walk out of the situation you are in. But what God wants you to know is that you don’t need to rely on YOUR power or on YOUR plan. We were not created to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, to use an American colloquialism. We were created to trust Jesus. We don’t know if this disabled man was blind or lame or paralyzed … or all three. What we do know is that he was beyond hope. And as Jesus, the Son of God, walked beside his mat, the man couldn’t see Jesus for who He was, he couldn’t walk to Jesus, and he couldn’t even reach out to him…and he didn’t have to. Because JESUS spoke into the life of the man and healed Him with His word … without even a drop of the stirring water hitting his skin. Verse 8… 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! THAT is how God works! Remember our previous teachings on God’s sovereignty? Jesus’ power is above nature, demons, illness, and even death. But there is so much more. Jesus’ power is personal and will reach into your soul giving you hope where there is no hope, peace where there is despair, and salvation where there is sin. Nothing we can do in our lives can wipe the mud from our eyes so that we can see. Nothing we can do can empower our legs to run the race that God has for us. We can do nothing to move from a paralyzed life to one full of movement and purpose for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But with a single word, Jesus, who walks among our sick mats strewn about, can raise us to a life that we can only imagine. We need only believe and obey. Continuing in verse 9… But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” 11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. The man picked up his mat and walked without even realizing who had healed him. And he walked into a controversy…and all he knew to do was to say what had happened. And wait. And Jesus confirmed that He would not leave him alone in his newfound healing. Jesus was there. Jesus guided the newly healed man into his next steps. Jesus first healed the man, and then he walked with him. This man who had just a short time ago been without hope and without anyone to help him, through no action of his own, now had Jesus beside him. If you are listening to this, you need to know that JESUS is walking beside your mat. He is calling your name. Telling you to get up – He has a mission for you. You can trust His power, His strength, His love, guidance, and protection. You are His. And He will never leave you alone. It was the Sabbath…which turned the religious leaders against Jesus and against the man who was now carrying his mat. Jesus knew it would. Jesus knew the tide was turning against him, but that didn’t stop Him from loving and caring for the man on the mat. We don’t know what happened to that man, but I’d like to think that he became a stalwart follower of Jesus Christ. I’d like to think that he used the power in His legs to run after Jesus and the strength in his muscles to go wherever He was called to share the good news. And I’d like to think that I, too, will harness that power that Jesus infuses into my own cells daily to share who He is. I pray you will, too. Let’s get up and walk together in obedience. Wherever God calls. Dear Most Holy God…I simply can’t thank you enough for rescuing ME from beside the pool…for giving me eyes to see, feet to walk, and muscles to respond to your call. For infusing me with your power and strength to walk through this life. God, I confess there are days I am weary. There are days when I come up with excuses. Thank you for never giving up on me, and for never leaving my side. Thank you for calling to me and for commanding me to get up. Thank you giving your life for my weakness – that I may run in your presence forever. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Today's guest, Lisa Hathaway, had multiple tragic events happen to her in a very short period of time in her life and she lives to tell of them. Where was God? She was faced with a choice and shares her miraculous story today: Wallow or worship?   ****** Kimberly Hobbs   Welcome to Empowering Lives with Purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women World Leaders. Ladies, we are so glad that you joined us today. And I would love to welcome our guest Lisa Hathaway. Welcome, Lisa, Lisa Hathaway   Thank you so much for having me, Kimberly. Kimberly Hobbs   It's our pleasure. And we are excited to introduce her to you is who she is. And like you get to know Lisa a little bit. And God says in His word that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And by the word of their testimony, Revelation 12:11. And ladies, today, Lisa is going to share a little bit about her story, and the miracles that God did in her life to get her through. And we hope that through listening to these stories, ladies that you will be inspired, and encouraged to walk out your beautiful purpose that something you might hear today will spark something in your life that you will connect dots and see what God may be speaking to your heart today. So that is our prayer as well as we go into these podcasts that God would speak to you through these words that we share today and through Of course, His scriptures, because there's power in the Word and we know that the word is life changing. So I want to introduce Lisa with a little bit about who she is. Lisa is a lover of Jesus, and has passion for the least of these. Her heartbeat is to see those who need a second chance and help them experience the tangible love of Jesus. Lisa has learned to worship through suffering as a special needs mom. She's a recent breast cancer survivor and also a survivor of a tragic car accident within a two year span. Suffering has been intertwined in her story, and she wants others to experience the sweetness of God through some of the most difficult things in life. She resides in Lexington, North Carolina with her amazing husband and three precious children. She's a youth leader. And Lisa has an MBA and is currently attending Liberty University Graduate School where she's pursuing her master's degree in clinical and mental health counseling. So today we titled this podcast wallow, or worship, wallow or worship we all have choices to make. How do you respond when difficult events happen in your life? Think about that. You have a choice and how you respond? Have you questioned God during your suffering? Today, Lisa, you chose to come on and be real with us and be authentic and share about some of the suffering that you endured. You had some choices to make, which we're going to talk about those choices in a little bit. But Lisa, you stated you had a choice that you could choose to wall up, wallow, or worship. So Lisa, can you open up today by sharing some of the trauma and grief of your story and a place that you were at prior to making a choice? Lisa Hathaway   Yes, thank you so much, Kimberly, even hearing you talk through that. It's like, wow, you know, we all have, we all have stories, we all have testimonies, and we have to choose what to do with those stories, and choose what to do with suffering. And mine started back in the year of 2020. Obviously, the COVID year, everybody was you know, identifies that as COVID. And, you know, God gives me a word every year and my word for 2020 was rest. And I was like, you know, I'm a very active person. And so it was just like, okay, you know, we're gonna rest and then the end of February, I found out my mom had a genetic mutation of lung cancer. And a week later, I found out my dad had bladder cancer. And after those two, they're divorced, that you know, so they weren't live, you're not living together, obviously. But after those two diagnosis, I hit a low point just from that. And I was like, alright, God, you told me um, I heard this she was rest. So I'm like, a little stressful. And so I hit a really low point, just processing all that in my brain and then I was was a high school teacher teaching special education And our assistant principal and I, during COVID, we went virtual. So we had a little extra time. And so we decided we wanted to go hiking and mill the day at a local park. And it was the best day was just the best day. And she opened up to me and shared and on our way back was a ride around noon. I saw a car coming from a distance, and I was like, Wait, they're swerving all over the road. They're swerving all over the road. And the next thing I know, we were hit head on, and he was a drunk driver. And, um, she died right beside me. And, you know, I knew, in that moment that something wasn't right. Like, I could just steal it. In my spirit, I don't remember a lot about some details. But God has brought things back to memory, I think, for healing. And I saw her posture of saw the blood splattered all over me, I felt it. Um, I don't know, like how I got out of a car, I don't know any of that, like, I really shouldn't survive, he hit us about 65 miles an hour. Um, and so that, that day, I went to hospital. And from that point on, I didn't dry for two months, I suffered from, you know, PTSD, pretty severe in that timeframe. And I really started experiencing, I've been a Christian since I was eight years old, but I really start experiencing a whole new level of who God is. And and I say it was, but you know, he always has been. But when you are going through something, you start you are open to see we have a choice. Like we can get bitter and angry. And yes, I asked why, why, why, why, why, why, and then I stopped because I wasn't getting the answer that I wanted. And, um, you know, looking back on that, I'm now starting to understand the why. So I went to counseling immediately after the car accident because my brain couldn't process the trauma and grief. And then, you know, went through that I went back to teach in August, I had a pass for office every day, how to deal with all of that. And then we're coming up on 2021. And April 28 was the actual day it happened in 2020. And April 29 is my birthday. So I birthdays a little obviously bittersweet because I had to wake up the next day, knowing that she was not here. And you feel the feelings of guilt and all those things I've had to work through. And so April 28 of this of 2021, I, my mom, I took the day off work and we went and bought flowers. And I just love fresh flowers. And we went and so I could do it from my deck and I had my OB visit. So I did that and got my mammogram and all that good stuff. And we had lunch and then I get a call in May of 2021 May 24 And my doctor's like, um, I don't know what happened, but something just kind of got misplaced. And we found something on your mammogram that you're very sisty. So we probably just assume that it's that I'm like, okay, that's fine, whatever, I'm good. I don't take things real serious sometimes. And so we fast forward, and I went and got ultrasound. And after the sixth time of going in and out of the radiology room. I was like, huh, and God just started to prepare me. And I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma on June 11 of 2021. So, I was like, wow, God, like, what now? My word for 2021 was courage. And so I had risk for 2020 I had courage for 2021 Courage to to fight courage to walk through things i like how appropriate Lord, I'm and he has such a sense of humor. So I fast forward I had a double mastectomy on August 12 of 2021. And you know, going through everything happened so fast, like appointments and what treatment and all this stuff and you know, I was 44 when I was diagnosed. I'm 45 obviously now but um and so I was like oh my gosh, you got three kids or what? You know your mind can go and then because I I saw so much of God's faithfulness after the accident. I was like, Okay, God, like, I can't worry about this, like, you're gonna work this out because I saw his, his kindness and gentleness and the, how he never left me. And so did I think, does your mind go places? Absolutely. We're human. You know, my Armand goes like, oh, gosh, I'm just gonna die tomorrow. You know, I mean, I'm just, you know, that's the truth. And so I'm going through all of this, and, you know, we're going through the treatment and what to do, and I was like, double mastectomy, you know? Well, then yeah, I'm a very was a very large chested woman. And that to vary. I mean, we're all women here, suddenly, it's a very, it's a very physical part, it's a very sexual part, you know, all these things go through your mind, you're like, oh, my gosh, my whole entire body is gonna change. So when I had my double mastectomy, they propose things for you to have reconstruction. And so I decided to get implants. And in that process, they put tissue expanders in, and of course, my body rejects the tissue expanders. Um, and I had originally told my husband now I'm going to be before the mastectomy. So I'm going to be content with where I'm at. God spoke to me. And I'm going to be content with no reconstruction. Well, you know, then the flesh takes over, then people start talking to you, and you hear all these things. And so I was like, Oh, well, I've got to have implants and perky boobs, right. So I was like, Okay, I'm gonna do the tissue expanders, my body completely rejected him, I got a massive infection, heavy in the hospital for five days on T round to IV antibiotics, just because I wouldn't become septic. So I had three surgeries within six weeks. And then, um, you know, the healing process and the emotional process and all of that stuff. But I was able to go back to work October 25. So mad woman said to me was August 12, men back to work. And that's when it kind of started hitting me like, this has been real, you know, and then I'm in the middle, they forced me into menopause. So we all know about that. So hot flashes, all that so I wallowed. I mean, I'm gonna be honest, I went through very many, you know, many stages of wobbling, and many, like, my husband would come and say, Get off the couch. Come on, let's go, go on wall, get up, get up, you know, like you, you're not gonna stay in this place. And I realized through both of those that, you know, everything's a choice and that I had to I had to choose not to wallow. So... Kimberly Hobbs   In the world, the world would say you have every reason to wallow. I mean, look at what happened in your life. Right? You had, oh, you know, poorly saw. And wow, you went through a lot hunting, you went through a lot. So but there's more to this story. Because Lisa, you did see Beauty from Ashes, right? But how so? The Bible says, our present troubles are small, and they're not going to last very long, yet they produce for us, glory that vastly outweighs them, and will last forever. That's kind of like a capsule of your life. All of this time that you could have been wallowing and you had that choice, and you did wallow for a while. First Corinthians 417 Is that verse that God was producing a glory that is going to far outweigh what you went through. So you emphasize the choice because of the past two years of your life. You saw God's hand moving? How did you choose to follow God after the accident? What specifics? Can you share with the audience that allowed you to choose not to while into follow? God? Lisa Hathaway   I mean, yeah, that's a very it's a very good question. I, I think after the accident, my when you have nothing left, and when you hit that rock bottom, I mean, of course, I had my family and, you know, but there was so many times they had no idea what to do. They had no idea what to say. Because you don't know what to say. Sometimes when someone is at that place where you have nothing left like I couldn't even walk to get out to walk towards a vehicle. Like it was so traumatic. And I started I set on my deck, and it's so crazy how God works and moves because right before the accident literally two days before the accident, we had just like refinish our deck. And I got all these fresh flowers and all this stuff. God knew he sees the end from the beginning, he knew that was going to be my safe haven of healing. And I said on that deck, and I would I would wash it, because you can't wallow and worship at the same time. Right? So I had to sit there and go, I know my God is faithful. I don't understand this. But he is so faithful. I have to choose to see his faithfulness in the situation. So I would find worship songs. And I doubt I had I created my own playlist called Soul lifter. And because it all lived my soul, and it spoke to the deepest parts of my heart. And it was like, it was like, God's just like, I'm here. I haven't left you. And so I started just to build on that. And it's like the joy and sorrow dance together. I was it was this the joy of the Lord that's unexplainable to the human eye. Because I had such joy. My husband told me, we've been married 20 years and he goes in those two moments. I've never seen you at so much peace. And I thought, what, why, what after all this happened? Because I pressed in so hard to Jesus, like I've never done before. Amen. When you do that, it it's a sweetness that you can't even can't even describe. So my level with the Lord, my intimacy with the Lord got so deep that I could not wallow. Like I could not wallow, because I was like, God's like I'm taking you. I'm allowing that truth. Yes, I'm allowing you. And it reminds me of like one of my scriptures that have spoke so much to me Habakkuk 317 through 18, even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines, even though the all of crop fails, and the fields like empty and barren, even though the flop sat in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in the God of my salvation, Yet I will rejoice. So, regardless of anything that happens when all the fields are gone, when everything is is just falling apart in your life. Yet I will rejoice. Kimberly Hobbs   Amen. Amen. I love that. I love that. And we pray that that Scripture speaks to you ladies as well, if you're in the midst of something right now, and when you're on that slippery slope, and you might fall off of it, oh, God instructs us in His Word, give your burdens to the Lord and he's going to take care of you ladies. He's he's going to and that's what Lisa chose to do. She gave everything over to the Lord and chose not to wallow, but to worship God. And Psalm 5522 says he will not permit the godly to slip and fall. So when you're on that slope, ladies, and you're you're just trying to balance everything because the pain is so intense, or the the trial that you're going through is so burdensome. God says right here in Psalm 5522, to give your burdens to him. So Lisa, you found your value in God and praise God, you did. You lived to through two things where realistically the arrows were pointing that your life should be over. But God, by God, he chose and you saw that. So you started worshiping Him and you started thanking him for the good and what you saw you lived. So when you found your value in God by choosing him, Lisa, you didn't allow yourself to wallow anymore you chose and you chose well, God opened the door to give you a passion to work for him, which is this is the exciting part of the story, ladies is because now Lisa turned her life around through this and she chose to work for Jesus and serve Him with all of her heart. She helps the homeless she is working with the youth at church and she showed a way to articulate to others about their suffering in the valley. So God allowed her to turn all this for good. And Lisa, can you explain in your own way about how God doesn't leave us ever? There's ladies listening right now that feels so alone. In their hurting world, please share with them how he never leaves us. Lisa Hathaway   Yes, I, you know, I think that you hit on a good point. I mean, we all, no matter how close you are to the Lord, or what our backgrounds are, there's times where we feel lonely as women. I mean, that's just, that's just human nature and the flesh part. And we're like, I'm lonely. I feel like I'm walking through whatever journey by myself. And, you know, God has spoke to me in a lot of ways. And I've journal a lot. And it was a visual that he gave me and I hold so tight to this. And I'm so thankful that he gave it to me that we're in a valley. And, you know, I've got kids and work in school. So he is I'm sitting on the bottom of the valley floor. It's like lay mud it but it is solid, that foundation, the bottom of the valley is solid. And I'm sitting, as I say, crisscross applesauce or Indian style. And Jesus is right beside me. crisscross applesauce. I'm like, Hey, Jesus, how you doing? He's like, I'm doing I'm doing good. I'm right here with you. Okay, well, you can go if you want to, because I'm gonna be here a while. It's been pretty dark the last couple of years. He's like, no, no, I'm not leaving you. But he's like, No, I'm not leaving you. I will sit with you, as long as I need to here to show you that I have never left you and I'm never going to forsake you. And he just sat there. And we're just carrying on conversation. And then all of a sudden, he looks over at me. And he goes, It's time. Let's go is Tom, you've been here long enough. You said grabbed my hand. I was like, Oh, we're gonna climb up that we're gonna climb to the top of that mountain, or the top of this humongous Valley? You said, yeah. So I grabbed his hand, he keeps looking at me and goes, I've got you, my daughter. I've got you, my daughter. I haven't left you. I haven't left you. I'm like, Jesus, this is tough. Come on. Because what I have for you, on the top of this is far greater than this valley floor. And so it is something that in our suffering, there is beauty. But you have to open your eyes to see it. We get so laser focused on what's wrong in our lives. And we got to open our eyes to see that God is in the smallest of things. You know, feathers are a big thing for me. I saw 91 for and it's a huge thing for me. And I would walk downtown where I live and feathers were just falling. And I'm like, Where are these coming from? And God's like, I see you. I've got you. And this is what when I wasn't driving and I was walking because I needed I had my worship music on. I'm sobbing my eyes out and working through the grief and trauma and like, why is this happening? And God just like his promises are so true. And he is so faithful, and the kindness and the gentleness. So whatever story you have whatever you're walking through, even when I was walking through the breast cancer, God has taken the scales off my eyes to even see myself differently. Because this is a battle and God chose to save me from this says stories are different. But I cannot like doorman not to worship Him. Because He faced he saved me twice. So God's like I have something so much greater for you. And so I have to speak I have to use it for His glory. And I'm just I'm so excited to challenge because suffering is beautiful. I know it sounds really weird. But suffering can be so beautiful because I wouldn't be where I'm at today. If I didn't have suffering. I wouldn't have the intimacy if I didn't have suffering. So yes, you can choose not to wallow, but you get up each day and go I'm gonna make a choice to worship the God in Jesus who died for me. Kimberly Hobbs   I love that. I love that and you did you chose to worship and you looked for God to show you to show you that way and he did and ladies, when you are wishing that someone would just be there to show you the way you know we all look for our help in different ways. You know, some look to Doctor some look to different people. Ladies look up and worship the Lord just as Lisa was sharing from her heart her life changed when she chose worship. So when you're looking for someone to show you the way A God's word is there to do so he will show you the way through His Word. The Lord says, I will give you along the best pathway for your life I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise and walk watch over you. He says that to us, ladies. So if you open the Word and you worship Him through the word, he's going to advise you through the word he's going to watch over you and tell you how to get out of the wallowing in the situation that you're in at Psalms 32 Eight, God is our God forever. And just like Lisa was sharing about crisscross applesauce, God was there and said, No, I'm never leaving you. I'm never leaving you as she sat there on the ground. He is our God forever, ladies, forever and ever. He will guide us until we die. That's Psalm 4814. All the scriptures are right there in his word for us to grab hold up. So are you going to allow him? Are you going to allow him access into your heart and not block him by wallowing in your pity? Will you choose him Ladies, don't choose pity choose to worship him as we were just praying for all of you ladies listening in today, Lisa and I both had that on our prayer heart that you are going to choose well. And when you want to recognize God's presence, ladies, worship Him, worship him. Come let us worship him out, bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God our maker, because He is our God. And we are the people he watches over. We are the flock under his care that Psalm 9095, six and seven. I don't know about you, but I can't even contain the joy. And if you hear in Lisa's voice, she can contain the Joy because she chose correctly ladies. So come close to God and He is going to come close to you. That's James for eight. So I just asked Lisa. Lisa, do you have a word that you just want to share? In the last 30 seconds? With the ladies? What can you just give them to take away today as your final word to them? Lisa Hathaway   I think I would just have to say, you know, God is a God of redemption. He's a God of kindness, a God of love. And I just challenge you to just look to Him. And you will absolutely see the beauty coming from the ashes of whatever your story is. Because he is so good. Kimberly Hobbs   That is so wonderful. He is so good lady so good. One more verse to leave you with. I love just pouring scripture out. But God says Call me when you're in trouble. And I will rescue you. And you will give me glory that Psalm 55 Don't we all want to glorify God. And look at Lisa right now all of what she experienced in her life. And this verse is so true in her life too, because now she's given all the glory to God. She's here sharing her story of how God brought her through because she didn't choose to wallow, she chose to worship Him. And we just pray that you'll choose worship ladies worship God, and you will give Him the glory. He says that in his word. So as we close out, ladies, we are a ministry of women here. You may have a story that you want to share that God is just prompting you to share with the world. We have an opportunity here in so many ways for you to be used by the Lord. Or maybe you just need to be comforted around other women who would love you and encourage you to walk closer with Jesus. We want to be here for you. So reach out to us on our website, info at women world leaders.com. And we'll give you further information. We have social media, where we give daily devotions that you can plug in and comment we can interact with you in the comments. That's the Facebook group. It's called Women, world leaders. So go to your group groups on Facebook and just type in women world leaders, you'll see a little girl holding a tilted crown, please ladies request to come in. It's a private group. It's just growing unbelievable. And we would love you to be part of it. We have other tools like voice of truth. That is an encouraging magazine, and we put it out every quarter ladies, it's free. You can go on our website, you can flip through the pages. It's beautiful and every page is filled with encouragement from God's word, and women around the world who are right thing to encourage you through God's word. There's so many tools please check out our website at women world leaders.com. And, and Lisa, how can the ladies reach out to you if they would like to contact you? Lisa Hathaway   You could just email me at [email protected]. And I'll be happy to talk with anybody who emails me. Kimberly Hobbs   That's awesome. So ladies, you There you go. Lisa is willing to speak with you. And sometimes you just need that live person to pray with you or speak with you and she has a willing heart. And that's the beauty of the women and women world leaders is we are here for one another as God called us to be. So reach out as you feel, lad. We hope to see you and we hope for you to become part of women world leaders join us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for these podcasts in many different ways. So ladies from his heart to yours, we are women world leaders. We thank you Lisa Hathaway for joining us today and sharing your God's story with us. All content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written consent. Ladies, have a beautiful and blessed day. Remember, Don't wallow, worship the Lord and see your life change. God bless you.

God honors our honest prayers and meets us where our faith is. Join our newest host, Julie Harwick, as she shares wisdom for Celebrating God's Grace in prayer. *** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leaders podcast. I’m your host, Julie Harwick. Thank you for joining me today as we celebrate God’s grace in our lives, in this ministry and around the world. I’m new to the Women World Leaders podcast and I am so thankful and excited to have an opportunity to share what God, in His grace, has been teaching me. I began a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at the tender age of six.  At my very first after school Good News Club meeting in the fall of first grade, I heard that God was offering me the free gift of salvation and heaven and all I had to do was tell Him I knew I needed it and I wanted it. That sounded like the best deal ever to me, so why wouldn’t I take it? I repeated the words she told us to pray if we wanted to receive the gift of Jesus.  And that began a lifetime of communicating with God through prayer. Because I came to faith at such an early age, I developed a somewhat childish concept of prayer.  Subconsciously, God seemed a little like Santa Claus.  After all, He saw me when I was sleeping and when I was awake and He knew if I’d been bad or good…well, that’s what the song said anyway. I made a list for Santa once a year, but I had a list for God every night before I went to sleep. That idea was sort of reinforced at church when we’d go around the table at Sunday School and the teacher would ask us if we had any prayer requests. We prayed for sick grandmas and pets who were missing and that we’d do well on tests we had at school.  The person who led the prayer would work through the list, asking God to intervene on our behalf and throwing at least a little bit of gratitude His way as well.   Although my method of praying may have been childish, I believe God honored it.  My faith was real and I wasn’t just praying because I’d been taught to.  I knew that I needed God’s help and direction and that only He had the power to meet all my needs.  As I grew older, I began to pray about more serious issues.  At 13 I began to pray about the boys I would date and the man I would one day marry. I am convinced that God absolutely honored that prayer because he took me through 4 reasonably long high school romances which all ended amicably and without drama and brought me my husband of 38 years in a miraculous way. I prayed about what college to attend, what to major in and what jobs to take and I firmly believe God led me through all of it. Just before I turned 16, God began to expand my concept of prayer.  I saw a presentation at church about a summer missions opportunity for teenagers. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and began to believe God might be calling me to do it. Initially I didn’t think I should because I already felt the pressure of college tuition looming before me.  The babysitting money I was able to earn didn’t amount to much and I knew I needed to start working the day I turned 16 so that I would be able to afford a private Christian college. But for the first time, I felt God was speaking to me. I sensed He was saying, “you give Me this summer and I’ll provide what you need when the time comes. So, in faith, I submitted my application and set about raising support. This experience turned out to be a pivotal time in my life in many ways. I had never been away from home for more than a week and I was going to spend the next 10 weeks surrounded by strangers and foreigners.    Boot camp turned out to be more than I had bargained for. It was quite like a military boot camp. We slept in tents in the Florida wetlands.  We literally had to wear high top hiking boots everywhere – including the swimming hole. We bathed and did laundry in a lake, ate all our meals sitting on logs outside and worst of all, we had to run an obstacle course every morning at dawn. That obstacle course lived up to its name because it was a major obstacle for me. Although I liked playing sports, I was never had the ability to go along with the interest. I was extremely slow, always among the last 3 or 4 to be chosen when the gym teachers opted to afflict us with this humiliating method of splitting into teams. The obstacle course involved a lot of running, swinging on ropes, agility and climbing. I began falling behind my teammates within the first 4 or 5 minutes and I was gasping for air as I approached the final obstacle. It was an 8-foot wall with absolutely nothing to grab onto but the hands of the two guys who sat on top of it.  How they got up there, I’ll never know because they had been straddling the top for quite a while by the time I got there. They leaned down, each grabbed one of my hands and my job was to pull my legs up until they were perpendicular to the wall and walk up that wall until I could throw a leg over.  Sounds simple enough, right? Apparently, it was simple for the rest of my teammates, but my muddy, slimy boots paired with my near total exhaustion and general lack of athletic coordination made it nearly impossible. On maybe 2 occasions I defied the odds and was able to position myself correctly and scramble up as expected, every other time I would start to climb and have my boots just slide back down that wall. At first, the guys on top were encouraging, but as they struggled to pull my 105 lbs. up and over that blasted wall day after day, their encouragement turned to resentment. On the way to breakfast one day I overheard them talking about my lack of ability in frustrated, disparaging terms. At this point the loneliness and homesickness were almost more than I could take. During my quiet time after breakfast I cried out to God in a way I never had before. Bitter tears ran down my face as I reminded Him that this was His idea, not mine and that He had promised to never leave or forsake me, but I felt completely alone. As I opened my bible, my eyes fell on Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” It may have been a stretch of interpretation, but God planted the idea in my mind that although my teammates had the natural ability to run that obstacle course like a horse, I didn’t need to rely on my own strength or ability. As I trusted in Him, He would enable me to do what He wanted me to do and overcome any obstacle. It was the first time I remember God speaking to me directly through His word.  Out of desperation, I had freely admitted my own inability to do anything about my situation and I got brutally honest with God.  I might even dare to say I got mad.  But He didn’t strike me dead.  He answered me directly. My take away from this encounter was God honors honest prayers and He’s not afraid of emotion. There’s an account in Mark chapter 9 where the father of a demon possessed boy asks Jesus to heal his son. It’s obvious that the man is in a desperate situation and recognizes his own inability to help his son. He’s only heard about Jesus’ power though and doesn’t really know if Jesus can help him or not. The disciples have already tried to help the boy and failed. Although Jesus has just expressed His frustration at the lack of faith among an unbelieving generation, the man asks, “if you can do anything, take pity and help us.”  “If you can,” Jesus replies. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  I love the honesty of the man’s response.  “I do believe,” he begins and then admits, “help me overcome my unbelief.” We can and should be honest in our prayers.  If you’re struggling to believe, don’t try to “fake it ‘til you make it.” God already knows your heart and would much prefer to hear, “help my unbelief.”  I think God delights to answer prayers like that.  We admit our lack of faith and dependence on Him to grow it and He does what only He can do and brings us to a whole new level of faith. God grew my faith in many ways during that summer.  I never did learn to climb that wall, but I got to know the two guys who sat on top. As they got to know me, they recognized that I was really trying and they learned that we all have different strengths and weaknesses.  I made many close friends and learned the value of hard, physical work and God did provide what I needed when it was time for college. Most importantly, I began a deeper, more honest type of communication with God. Another biblical account that has confirmed to me that God appreciates honest prayer is found in 2 Kings:19. Hezekiah, King of Judah trusted in the Lord. Chapter 18 says that there was no one like him among the kings of Judah because he held fast to the Lord. In Chapter 19 Judah is facing an attack from Assyrian troops that far outnumber their own troops in size and strength. The Assyrians had already conquered many of the surrounding countries including Israel. The Assyrian king sent a letter demanding Judah’s surrender and reminding Hezekiah of all the other countries who had called on their gods to deliver them but could not stand against the Assyrians. From a human perspective, Judah didn’t stand a chance and Hezekiah knew it.  And here’s what I love about this story.  Hezekiah went straight to the temple and spread the threatening letter out before the Lord.  It’s like he’s laying all his cards on the table, saying here’s the situation and I’m helpless to protect my people from our enemies. Humility was not a trait that came naturally to kings of his day, but he made no effort to disguise his fear or lack of confidence in his armies’ capabilities. Instead, he openly recognized the only source of their deliverance by saying, “Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord are God.” The prophet Isaiah gave Hezekiah God’s response, saying, “I have heard your prayer.” He prophesied against the king of Assyria and promised that he would not enter the city. That night, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp causing them to withdraw and never threaten Hezekiah again.   In spite of all God has taught me about praying honestly and recognizing my own weakness, I still find it easy to lapse back into those immature wish list prayers. Don’t get me wrong. He wants us to bring our concerns and desires to Him, but He is not Santa Claus. Prayer should be a conversation, not a recitation of everything I need Him to do on my behalf. That means taking time to listen and worship and just enjoy being in His presence. I find it easier to do this when I’m outdoors. I love nothing more than to sit outside in my yard overlooking beautiful live oaks and grassy fields. Sometimes I close my eyes and just focus on what I hear: the bird songs, the nearby rooster crowing and the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze.  It’s the best way I’ve found to follow the command of Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.” Stillness can be so difficult to achieve with so many demands on our time. That’s why communicating with God is the first thing on my daily agenda.  If I don’t make time for it early in the day, life will take over and it’s doubtful that I’ll be able to make the time to be still. Some people have an easier time getting quiet before Him at night when all the tasks of the day have been completed. The where and the when are not nearly as important as the how. You can probably tell when someone is in a hurry to wrap up a conversation with you, because you don’t really feel like you have their full attention or that you’re really very important to them in this moment.  How much more is the God who created us able to recognize when our hearts aren’t really in our prayer. Rather than forcing ourselves to focus enough to get through a list of requests, I think He might prefer that we just say, “God, I feel so harried and distracted.  Would you just give me your peace and enable me to calm down and just sit here with you, even if I can’t put two words together.”  He already knows the burdens that are on your heart whether you’re able to verbalize them or not.  Just being with Him is often far more important than any words you may speak.  Beginning a conversation with Him from that perspective is quite different from working  through a wish list. Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast!  Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose.  Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry.  From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders .  All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.  

Jesus heals - of that, we can be certain! In today's passage, Jesus heals two women - but even when we don't see His healing as WE expect, we can trust God's sovereignty and perfect timing and coordination in all things! (Matthew 9:18-26 Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56) *** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ podcast. I’m your host Julie Jenkins. We are praying for you at Women World Leaders. Our mission is to empower you to walk in your God-given purpose – and part of that mission is to pray! We invite you to join with us in prayer by visiting our Prayer Wall at womenworldleaders.com where you can submit a prayer request or let others know that you are praying for them. We also have an amazing prayer team who bends their knees daily to God. I recently went through a tough season in my life, but I was able to walk through it peacefully covered by God’s presence thanks to my amazing sisters who lifted me up even when I didn’t have the words to say to God myself. If you would like to delve deeper into prayer, please email us at [email protected]. Let us know how we can meet you where you are – whether that be a one-on-one phone call, through email, or perhaps you are being called to join our prayer team. However God is leading you, I encourage you to connect with us – there is nothing like being surrounded by the family of God! Today we continue our systematic walk through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as we together, delve into God’s Word and ask Him to show us what He wants us to learn. Today’s teaching comes from Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, and Luke 8:40-56. Before we begin, let’s pray… Dear Heavenly Father…thank you for meeting each of us where we are today. It never ceases to amaze me that you are ALWAYS there for us…waiting expectantly for us to decide to spend time with you. Thank you for your patience, your diligence, and your love! Guide us today as we study your Word. Help us understand more of you and to become more like you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. In the last couple of weeks, we saw Jesus cross the Sea of Galilee where He encountered a storm through which He proved His sovereignty over nature, then He exorcised a multitude of demons from a Gentile man, proving His sovereignty over evil, and then Jesus and the disciples boarded the boat once again and sailed back across the Sea of Galilee after the townspeople ran Him off. As continue the scripture reading today, Jesus is again stepping off the boat, this time back in Jewish territory, when He is met with a crowd and is about to showcase His sovereignty over disease and death. I want to pause here to recognize that God’s plan is ALWAYS perfect! Jesus and the disciples had a LOT going on…and yet God gave them a solid opportunity to refresh themselves and reflect as they sailed across the water. How quick are you and I to dismiss all that God is giving us as we are on our way to somewhere WE have deemed important? Some of the best conversations I have had have been when I was in the car driving a long distance. And some of the most valuable lessons I have learned have happened when I was in a season of waiting and processing. Don’t ever begrudge those moments of silence. Always remember that God’s plan is PERFECT, He is ALWAYS working, and every moment is filled with His grace – we simply need to trust Him and open our eyes, expectantly asking to be receptive to all He has for us.    Let’s begin reading today in Mark 5:21 from the New Living Translation where we meet two important characters – Jairus and an unnamed ill woman. These two people are as polar opposite as we can imagine. One is a high-powered Jewish synagogue leader, the other is an unknown woman who hadn’t been able to worship in the synagogue for 12 years. But they are both in desperate need of Jesus – and they are both waiting on Him – with humility and faith. Mark 5:21… 21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, (JAI rus) arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” As a synagogue leader, Jairus would have been well respected, and as many Jewish leaders were turning their backs on Jesus, Jairus may have felt peer pressure to do the same. But Jairus had faith and humility. He was desperate. His only daughter was dying. And yet he had faith that this JESUS could save her. He reacted in pure humility, in the midst of a large crowd, claiming his own dependence on this not-well-esteemed Jesus, he threw himself at Jesus’ feet. And Jesus responded – because that’s who Jesus is…verse 24… 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. But meanwhile, we see yet another soul reacting in pure faith and humility. A woman who had been sick for 12 years. For 12 years, while Jairus enjoyed the companionship of his now dying twelve-year-old daughter, this woman struggled with an illness that kept her continuously ceremonially unclean, therefore unable to worship in the synagogue. She saw Jesus’ respond to Jairus, the distinguished leader, and she could have turned away, but she pressed on in faith, knowing that Jesus alone could cure her. Verse 25…  25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” This weary woman, who perhaps did not have the energy or confidence or strength to actually speak to Jesus, believed with her whole heart that if she could just touch the hem of His robe, she would be healed. And her faith was well-placed, verse 29 continues…  29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Can you imagine her joy? Her elation? Have you ever had an encounter with Jesus where you just know that things were different from that moment on? I pray that you have – and if you can’t recollect one right now, I pray that you will give yourself FULLY and COMPLETELY over to Jesus right now. There have been times in my life when God’s presence has just been so palpable that it could not be denied, and I’m telling you, there is NOTHING like it! At one point I had been going through a season where I wanted to serve God SO BADLY, but no offer to serve Him was working out. I kept being denied the opportunity to serve God. I was dumbfounded. I wasn’t doing this for me after all, I was doing it for God! But as I searched my soul, I realized that maybe I WAS doing it for me…somewhere deep within I wanted to be important, to gain the notoriety that a position of service would bring. I will never forget the moment of my conviction, confession, and release. I was sitting at a red light of all places. And I released my service to God…saying “if you want me to clean toilets for you, that is what I will do. No job is too menial.” The light turned green, and I literally and figuratively put my foot on the gas as my trajectory changed and I drove into my future. Later that VERY day…in fact within an hour, I was offered a serving opportunity of a lifetime. I know what I felt like then – having my life completely changed by Jesus. So I can KIND of imagine how this woman felt – knowing that she had been healed by the power and grace of Jesus Christ. And as her trajectory changed, she was immediately asked to boldly come forward…verse 30… 30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” No one understood this question, no one except Jesus and the woman, that is. Sometimes in life you WILL have encounters with Jesus that only you and He will fully understand. I encourage you to open your ears to hear what Jesus has to say to YOU! And open your heart to respond to Him. It won’t always be easy…but it will always be worth it! Verse 31… 31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” Jesus…busy Jesus…who had calmed the storm, driven out demons, and now was on His way to help the esteemed Jairus…was not too busy for this woman…and He will NEVER be too busy for you either… But things were probably not feeling as perfectly timed on Jairus end…who was likely fighting frustration at Jesus’ delay. And, in fact, verse 35 continues… 35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” 36 But Jesus overheard[a] them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Jesus always is intentional with every minute. He has a purpose and a plan that is often far beyond our understanding, but we need never worry. Our job is to continue to come to Him in faith and humility, trusting His goodness. Verse 37… 37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” 40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,”(TAHlly tah KUUM) which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat. Faith and humility. Trusting in God’s perfect timing. Jairus and the woman certainly didn’t have a lot in common, but they did have faith and humility in common. They both exercised faith and humility in the face of what the world would deem as hopeless and despairing situations. They both exercised faith and humility and did the one thing they knew to do…and that was to seek out Jesus. And Jesus was all they needed. Jesus had demonstrated His sovereignty over nature, demons, and now He demonstrated His sovereignty over illness and even death. We don’t have to know what to say or what to do…we only have to know who to trust. Step with humility and put your faith in Jesus, the true Sovereign King. He will never let you down. Dear Most Holy God – we DO come to you with faith and humility. We confess that you are all we need, that your plan is perfect, and we vow to trust your perfect timing. Help us to allow YOU to plan the trajectory of our life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Today's guest, Tina Kadolph, was sex trafficked at age 4 and lived her childhood life being a human slave to others which is indescribable in words.  BUT GOD...   God had a purpose and plan for Tina's life from her birth. Rescued and miraculously led to Jesus in her 20's, Tina now shares encouragement with others, showing that with God, all things are possible. Hear her interview today.    The ability to share her story publicly helps draw others afflicted with pain and tragedy to the healing arms of a Savior who loves them. (Originally aired December 2020)

The Gift of Miracles demonstrates the authority of God, proving He exists. His miracle-working power does the impossible. Learn about the grace of God in the gift of miracles provided to us by the Holy Spirit. *** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host Robin Kirby-Gatto. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world. Today’s Title is: “The Gift of Miracles” “To another the working of miracles...” 1 Corinthians 12:10 AMPC The Greek word used for miracles in 1 Corinthians 12 is dýnamis pronounced doo'-nam-is meaning, “miraculous power, ability, abundance, mighty, worker of miracles, miracle, power, strength, violence, and wonderful work.” [i] God’s grace is continually working through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The working of miracles is distinguished from the gift of faith and that of healing. As I mentioned in the prior podcast I did on the Gift of Faith, # 441, the Gift of Faith, is God’s faith, added to our faith. Although I haven’t gotten into the gift of healing, you will come to find out that it’s specifically for the healing of dis-ease and the brokenhearted. In relation to the gift of miracles, this can happen in many circumstances, both with things in the natural, such as God parting the Red Sea, and times, when God’s authority is being manifested in supernatural signs of removing congenital disease, someone paralyzed who walks, creating new organs in a person’s body, or delivering a person from the point of death. When it comes to a miracle it’s a sign, SHOWING GOD’S AUTHORITY. Whereas the gift of healing is the Great Physician’s work on keeping people well mentally, emotionally, and physically. Let’s go to miracles in the Word of God, beginning with Israel coming out of Egypt. In Exodus 3, God spoke to Moses at a burning bush, where he called him to Go to Egypt and to tell Pharoah the Lord’s message “let My people go.” Moses then asked God, when he went to the children of Israel in Egypt to prepare them, Who should I say sent me, God responded “I Am that I Am” has sent you. “I Am” in Hebrew is hâyâh pronounced haw-yaw meaning, “to exist, be or become, come to pass, accomplished, committed, happen, etc.,” [ii] Therefore, the gift of miracles shows God exists and all that He is committed to, will be accomplished and come to pass. His promises are yes and amen! “When Pharaoh says to you, Prove [your authority] by a miracle, then tell Aaron, Throw your rod down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.” Exodus 7:9 AMPC God instructed Moses to use the rod for miraculous purposes, which would prove the authority in which Moses came, the Great I Am, demonstrating that God exists, there is none like Him. In Exodus 7, miracle in Hebrew is môwphêth pronounced mo-faith meaning, “conspicuousness, a miracle, a token, sign, and wonder.” [iii] Isn’t it amazing that the Hebrew word for miracle sounds like MO-FAITH or should I say MORE FAITH? Let’s look at the Hebrew letters that compose it, which are Mem, Vav, Pey, and Tav. The ancient symbols from the Old Hebrew of these letters, combine to form a word picture, revealing the nature of what a miracle is on a deeper level. The first letter Mem is the ancient symbol of water, and looks like a three humped “M,” meaning, “massive and flooding,” in the positive. Vav is the ancient symbol of a tent peg or nail and means, “to add and secure.” Pey is the ancient symbol of a mouth that is opened, and means, “open, word, and speak.” Finally, Tav is the ancient symbol of an “X” or a cross, and means, “sign, seal, mark, and covenant.” Therefore, the word picture for miracle is THE MASSIVE FLOODING OF THE WORD THAT IS A SIGN OF COVENANT. Thus, the Gift of Miracles through the Holy Spirit, demonstrates the authority of God’s Word and that He exists, there is none like Him. In John 4:47-54, Jesus was coming from Judea into Galilee, at which time a royal official came from Capernaum, where his son lay dying, to ask Jesus to heal his son. Jesus spoke to the man to go in peace, for his son would live. The royal official headed home, when then a servant came running to give him the good news that his son was better, and that the fever broke. The royal official asked the servant when it happened. It was at the exact time Jesus spoke to him that his son would live. This was the second miracle of Jesus. All throughout the Bible, miracles occur to demonstrate the authority of God Almighty. The enemy of our soul wants to hinder us from seeing the ability for God to do a miracle, by causing us to be double-minded and putting it in our heart that God won’t perform it. If we give into this tactic, fear will rob our faith, and cause us to speak negatively. We need MORE FAITH, MIRACLE WORKING FAITH! I remember when my oldest son had been in a drug house for two years, God grabbed a hold of my heart and instructed me to brag about my oldest son like I did my youngest. When other people would ask me how he was, I would boast about how awesome he is. I agreed to do as the Lord instructed, and immediately followed suit. I’ll never forget during this time, when I went to the movies, a woman asked me how my oldest son was. I just boasted about how proud my husband and I were of him, and she looked at me like I was an alien with four heads. I found out later that she had seen my oldest son the day prior, and their exchange made it evident to her that he wasn’t doing well, and that our relationship was on the outs. Shortly after obeying God, on Mother’s Day of 2011 (May 8th), my son was set free and came out of the drug house, knowing the power of Holy Spirit, as God had shown him the demons that were involved with his addiction. I knew that God did a miracle in delivering my son and bringing him back to the Lord. He demonstrated His authority over the powers of hell. When someone operates in the gift of miracles, it’s the grace of God on them showing a sign of His authority. Greater is Jesus in us, than he who is in the world. On another occasion in 2012, when ministering in South Carolina at a minister’s retreat, I ministered to individuals after having preached. A woman came up to receive ministry, when then I saw a huge rope knotted up and stuck in her ear. My spiritual eyes were open, and upon seeing this, the Lord said “Robin, pull that rope out of the woman’s ear.” I obeyed and told her “God showed me there’s a rope in your ear and I have to pull it out.” I just did a demonstration of it, and prayed whilst doing it, when then the woman started jumping up and down shouting. I looked at her in amazement, wondering why she was so excited, when she proclaimed, “I have been deaf in that ear, and NOW I CAN HEAR!” Lastly, when I was in the mission field in 2011 for a month in the Philippines, preaching and ministering, we had taken a flight into Tacloban on the Island of Samar and were in route on a van to Catarman, which was four hours north. It was about midnight when the van broke down about half-way. The taxi driver got out to see what the problem was. For the next two hours, he would go back and forth from underneath the engine, where oil had gotten all over him. I began to wonder if there was any oil left in the vehicle. Shortly after having been broken down, a bunch of Muslims came out and congregated behind the vehicle. The taxi driver’s wife stood outside by her husband to help him. My friend opened the van door, anxious to go look for help, at which I informed her by no means was she to get out of the van. Our windows were cracked to let air in as well. During this time a Muslim man in his early twenties passed by the van to do recon for the group, caught a glimpse of me, at which time we locked eyes. I’ve never felt the hate that I did from that man, who was oppressed heavily by a demonic spirit. In the invisible realm, God showed me the demon jumping on top of our vehicle, and I felt it’s heaviness all over me. Immediately the taxi driver’s wife, heard what the Muslim men were going to do to us and shouted, “SHUT THE DOOR!” My other two friends were in front of me, while I stayed in the back, looking out of the window, as the Muslim men carried weapons, and were now coming to surround our van. God instructed me to post on Facebook that we needed prayers immediately. He then said “Robin, close your eyes, and focus on Me!” I closed my eyes tightly, to shut out all fear. Then God said, “Robin worship Me.” I began to hum, “I love you Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you, oh my soul rejoice.” Suddenly the heaviness lifted. God then said, “Robin, open your eyes.” I looked, AND ALL THE MUSLIM MEN, WHO HAD WEAPONS SURROUNDING OUR VEHICLE WERE VANISHED, THEY WERE COMPLETELY GONE! God showed me that He had sent an angel of the Lord to protect us and that it so frightened them that they ran, HE HAD PERFORMED A MIRACLE! That is the power of the gift of miracles, when the need arises for God’s authority to overcome the powers of darkness, proving that HE REIGNS; HE IS THE GREAT I AM! Is there something in your life that seems utterly impossible? If so, you are in a position for the grace of God to be poured out by the Holy Spirit through the gift of miracles! Only believe!     [i] Strong J. (1890) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon Press Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 1411 “miracle” [ii][ii] Strong J. (1890) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon Press Strong’s Concordance Hebrew word # 1961 “I Am” [iii] Strong’s Concordance Hebrew word # 3302 “miracle”

We each have been given gifts and treasures from God. It can be easy to want to hold them close, but in today’s teaching, Jesus reminds us that we are conduits of the blessings we receive. What we have been given has a purpose that is beyond us. As we study Luke 16:1-18, ask God to show you how and where to offer up all He has given you. **** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ podcast. I’m your host, Julie Jenkins. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend with God. On this, the Wednesday edition of the podcast, we open the Bible together and ask the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us about what He wants us to know today. We are currently walking through the gospels together, and today’s teaching comes from the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verses 1-18. On every episode of our podcast, our goal is to point you to the glory of God and empower you to walk in your God-given purpose. On Mondays, Kimberly Hobbs hosts Empowering Lives with Purpose, during which she interviews a different woman of faith about how she has seen God work in her life. And on Fridays, we have a team of hosts who shower you with blessings as they Celebrate God’s Grace. This podcast is just one of the many things God has called Women World Leaders to. We would love for you to join us from wherever you are for any of our amazing offerings – please visit womenworldleaders.com to find out more and to dive in. While you are on the website, be sure to sign up on our contact form so we can send our monthly newsletter to your email so you won’t miss a thing. Before we begin…let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God – we come to you today seeking your presence. Father, our days are busy and it can be easy to feel burdened down by all that we see as our responsibility. Right now, we breathe out the world and its worries, and we breathe in you. Help us revel in your teaching over these next few minutes. Open our minds so we might learn what you want us to learn today. Help us accept your teaching so that we can be transformed into who you have called us to be. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.   The portion of scripture that we will be studying today is one that has confounded me every time I have heard it. If you have been following along in this podcast, you know that we are studying the gospels chronologically. As I prepare, I simply look to the next passage and, in prayer, read it in several versions, study the teachings of different theologians, and do my best to share with you all the Holy Spirit is imparting to me. Then, as I write, I pray for myself…that God would give me His words…and I also pray for you, asking God to tell you DIRECTLY what He wants you to know – in spite of my words. And God honors those prayers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taught in front of a group of people, only to have someone come to me and share that what I said, “xyz,” was EXACTLY what they needed to hear. And I walk away from those conversations in awe…knowing I NEVER said “xyz,” but that God spoke directly TO that individual. So today…as I came across this scripture, Luke 16:1-18, I followed the same method – giving the teaching completely to God, and trusting Him even more than usual because, as I’ve said, this scripture has always confounded me. And what the Holy Spirit showed me were 3-points He wants each of us to walk away with today. First – God has a purpose for everything He entrusts us with – it is up to us to use it for His glory. Second – To understand the purpose God has for all He has given us, we are to listen to Him daily. And third – To correctly respond to God, we are to listen to Him deeply. Let’s begin in Luke 16 from the New Living Translation… Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. I’m going to pause here. Often in Jesus’ parables, the “rich man” or the “owner,” is a representation of God. But as I studied this scripture and prayed to understand it, which theologians agree is one of the most confounding stories in the gospels and for which they have many different interpretations, God told me to look at it in a different light. Perhaps the “rich man,” in this case, does NOT represent God. He is simply a rich man. I say this for several reasons: first, this section of teachings in Luke is all about putting money in its respective place, that is, far below blessings and spiritual gifts. So money, it seems in this case, represents actual money. Next, we will see that the “rich master” responds positively to his manager’s shrewdness – and God always calls for our honesty and integrity. So the rich man does not portray God’s attributes. Third, verse 8 says… the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. To me, this indicates that the “rich man” was a “child of the world” dealing “shrewdly” with his manager. And fourth…some theologians, upon studying this scripture in its original language, observe that this account was never expressed as a story OR a parable…therefore it was likely a retelling of an actual event. And no true, living person can stand in for God. So…if you will go with me…let’s look at the “rich man” in the account as simply…a rich man… “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ 3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ 5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.[a]’ 7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.[b]’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. By reading this story using a different character analysis of the master than I was used to, seeing him as a shrewd man who put money first rather than as a representation of God, I was able to see this story in a new light. God IS our master. But the reality is, we are also under earthly masters – bosses and other authority figures. And sometimes our earthly masters will laud and praise us for following the ways of the world rather than living righteously and using our resources as God intended. However, despite who our earthly authority is and what they praise us for, we ultimately answer fully and completely to God himself. The shrewd manager made his rich master proud – birds of a feather flock together. But neither of them made God, our ultimate master, proud – because they both put money above God, and treated it as, well, money, when, in essence, money is a blessing and a tool God gives us to use as a resource for His glory. God has a purpose for everything He has entrusted to us. Verse 9 explains…  9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.[c] In this world, we like to make everything about money. What’s that saying, “the one who dies with the most toys, wins.” But that saying could not be further from the truth. If God has entrusted you with a lot of money, He has also given you the honor of using that money responsibly for His glory. Jesus continues in verse 10… 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” So how do we know what God wants us to do with our money and the other resources He has provided us with? We ask Him. Daily. Having money is quite the draw in this world…we long for nice cars, homes, fashionable clothing and jewelry. And it's fun to show off our stuff. It makes us feel like we have made it. But remember, God’s ways are so far above our ways. And He doesn’t give us money to bless US, He gives us money to bless OTHERS. But, as with EVERY gift, God also gives us the ability to CHOOSE our actions. Will we live honoring money and material belongings, heaping up our blessings, or will we live using all that God has given us to honor Him? The Pharisees didn’t really even consider Jesus’ words…Verse 14… 14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God. Jesus explains to the Pharisees, as clearly as any place I’ve seen in the gospels, what is happening in the big picture of God’s reign on the earth… Verse 16… 16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.[d] 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned. Jesus appeals to the Pharisees…seek God and what He has for you today! It is true that God is unchanging – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. BUT…God understands that THE WORLD is constantly changing – and He is always there to meet us where we are. The Pharisees were stuck in the old teachings of the law – which Jesus did not abolish, but He did come to fulfill. Jesus ushered in the Good News – a time of mercy and grace and love and ummerited forgiveness. I think we would do well to hear and understand that today. Even today, and maybe especially today, it is tempting for God’s people to be so consumed with the law that we have forgotten that Jesus came to bring mercy and salvation to all. Jesus knew the hold that money had on the Pharisee’s hearts, and, Christian, he knows what holds your heart as well. He wants us to go to Him daily and seek freedom from those desires and oppressive idols that hold us captive. And what He has to tell us isn’t always easy to hear.   Jesus demonstrates this in His one-line about God’s thoughts on marriage…verse 18… 18 “For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.” God wants us to go to Him daily, and He wants us to listen to Him deeply. That’s what He was teaching the Pharisees, and that is what He is teaching us today. The background here is that religious leaders of the day granted divorces for nearly anything… leaving women destitute and not taken care of. So Jesus reminded them that to truly seek after God’s heart we are are to go to God daily and listen deeply. Our God is not a god of surface rules and regulations. His ways are above our ways and His reasoning is deeply beyond our reasoning. We are ALL here on this earth together—scarred, broken, sinful, and a mess. Yet God loves each of us individually and beyond our imagination, and He has future for us that is so glorious that the thought of it should knock us flat on our face in submission and reverence to Him. God has showered you with blessings – perhaps monetary, perhaps talents and abilities, perhaps all of the above. This teaching is clear – all that God has given us has a purpose in the kingdom that can only be realized when we go to Him daily and deeply and trust His guidance as we commit to using all that He has showered us with for His glory. You hold gold in your hand, my friend. Let me encourage you to release it and give it to God. He will make it shine brighter than you or I ever could! Let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God – you have entrusted us with so much! We hold it with open hands, and ask you to guide us today into how best to use all that you have given us for your glory alone. We want to work for you, we want to give you our resources – our time and talent and treasure. And most of all, we want to shine the spotlight on you! We thank you for being our good and loving master. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.  

Vanessa Jackson, founder of Destiny by Design, shares her story about the transformation God did in her life in a healthy way.   She is now passionate about helping others achieve a "Trifecta Transformation" that occurs physically, mentally, and spiritually as she assists people in transforming their minds through biblical teaching, reclaiming their voices, and finding their authentic selves in order to discover their divine destiny. 

Join us today for Celebrating God's Grace where host Rusanne Carole explores the competing voices that vie for our attention. In our current days, we have an overload of information right at our fingertips! Let’s reflect on the time of the crucifixion of Christ and explore the many voices that Pontious Pilate, the Roman Governor, heard and finally prevailed to. We have a choice each day to decide whose voice we will listen to. Jesus tells us His sheep will know His voice - may we stop and learn to seek it, hear it, and be obedient to it  **** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host today, Rusanne Carole. We are grateful you are here and it’s such a privilege to come together and delve into God’s Word and teachings and I pray today’s message will touch your heart and mind. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live our a courageous, purpose-driven life! Don’t forget to join us each Monday where our founder & Co-CEO, Kimberly Hobbs, interviews women from all over the world – women of God who have a story to share – and how God has shown up in their life. And Wednesdays, where our Co-CEO and Bible Teacher, Julie Jenkins, brings us a study of God’s Word and its application to our lives. Today, let’s have a peek into a subject that would affect us all – there are things all around us competing for our time and attention. We are living in an Information Age. When I was growing up and you had a question or wanted information you went to the library and did research. It could take hours, days or longer – depending on the research and what you were looking for. Today, with a smart phone you can look up any question or acquire information in seconds. So much information/ talk of “disinformation”, so-called conspiracy theories – the descriptions can go on & on. But one thing is for sure. TRUTH is TRUTH. And the source of Truth is JESUS. John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Where will we turn? When we have serious questions about life? We may need wisdom, guidance, or comfort in any given situations in our lives. We have a choice. We turn to the peddler of poison (Satan) or the Prince of Peace? Somehow most of us linger somewhere in the middle, walking a tightrope with lots of distractions and voices vying for our attention. Even well-meaning Christians who love and follow God are having to choose daily – “Lord, is this You speaking to me?” We yearn to hear Him. Spending time in the Word and Prayer and Stillness desiring to hear His Voice. Let’s have a look at Pilate in the Bible as an example of so many voices to choose from: It was days before the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. At every Passover festival the Roman governor could set free a prisoner chosen by the crowd. The choice was presented “shall it be Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?”. Barabbas, mentioned in all four gospels, was described as a robber, a murderer and a rebel who spoke openly against the Roman authority and was condemned to die. The crowd, along with the Chief Priests, shouted, “crucify Jesus!”. Luke 23:22, “A third time Pilate said to the crowd, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will therefore chastise him and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. AND THEIR VOICES PREVAILED. Their voices certainly did prevail. And Pilate’s fear, Pilate’s pride and his hunger for power prevailed too! Sound familiar. I think we could all relate to how we have listened or been subjected to every other voice but God’s – either before we accepted Christ or even as we follow Him there are voices vying for our attention. Gods’ or those contrary to His voice, they appear! The crowd’s voices were not the only voices. Most importantly, there was the voice of Jesus.. Five times he postponed the decision hoping to gratify the mob with polices or lashings. Three times he stood right in front of him, eye to eye, face to face with the Nazarene who had come to reveal the truth. “What is truth?”. Jesus’ silence was so much greater than the crowd’s demands, but Pilate didn’t listen. Then there was the voice of his wife. She sent a message to him to not have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him”. (Matthew 27:19) One might pause to wonder or ponder the origin of the dream. But Pilate didn’t. Then there was his own voice, his conscious. Surely, it was speaking to him. In Luke 23 he told the crowd he had not found any crime to deserve death. Surely, he could see through the façade. But he didn’t listen. The crowd’s voices and his fear prevailed. We have all had times where that little voice presents itself: One time won’t hurt. He’ll never know. She’ll never know. Other people do much worse. I will never do it again. It’s just a little “white” lie We will rationalize, make excuses, and justify. We have all done it. And Satan’s voice can be louder than all the rest at times. So that leaves us with a choice. Who do we listen to? Jesus tells us His sheep (us as believers and followers) will hear His voice. We must position ourselves to hear Him . Psalm 46:10 teaches us to “Be still and know that I am God.” So stillness – removing the other voices as much as possible and seeking Him through prayer and petition is where we will hear Him. We hear Him in His Word. What voices will you choose to listen to? The voices of men & women or the voice of God?  Let us pray: Father, let us hear You above all the noise we live with. Let Your Word, Your teachings, Your promises and yes even Your correction ring in our ears and drop into our minds and our hearts to be obedient to You and Your desires – for Your desires for Your people are only good. At times when there isn’t a direct and immediate answer teach us to wait upon You, Lord. There are over 100 references in the Bible to wait upon You and Your Word in Isiah 40:31 tells us those who wait and trust upon the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grown weary. They will walk and not faint. Help us to choose purposefully and intentionally to seek to hear You! And when we miss the mark, may we ask for forgiveness and continue our walk with you – being strengthened each day as we get to know You more and become more like Your Son. Amen Thank you for listening to WWL’s podcast. Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love & your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event & support the ministry. We’d also love to support you in finding for your God-given destiny. Check out our quarterly magazine, Voice of Truth and there are  several ways to join us online where we come together to pray and meet with women all around the globe where we are taught, inspired and encouraged!    From His heart to yours, we are WWL. All content is copyrighted by WWL and cannot be used without written consent.        

Jesus said in John 6:41-59 “I am the bread of life.” The crowd murmured in disagreement. But that didn’t stop Jesus from teaching truth. What did this statement mean to the Jewish people and what does it mean for us today? Join Julie Jenkins today as we unpack this together  ****** Last week we focused on the blessing after the miracle – that is, Jesus using the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 to point to the glory of God. Now Jesus moves from the area of Genessaret to teach in Capernaum, his home base and a prosperous town of about 1000 people. The lesson He shared is difficult for us to understand TODAY, but if we put ourselves in the shoes of the Jewish people who were contemporaries of Jesus, we can barely begin to imagine the difficulty they would have had with His words. Which is why John states in chapter 6 verse 41 as written in the New Living Translation… 41 Then the people[a] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” I can hear it now…What was that He said? Some translations say that the people “grumbled” which can give us a different picture…my dad would have called that “bellyaching” … and that can make us think that the crowd may have even been speaking belligerently; but the correct interpretation, I believe, is that they were all kind of whispering to each other, a bit shocked and in unbelief, not knowing what to make of this statement that was said openly in the synagogue. “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” To give you some background, after the Israelites left Egypt, and as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God provided them manna every single day. The actual word manna means “what is it?” – because the people didn’t know what it was! They quickly learned that manna was bread from heaven that would keep them alive if eaten daily but would only last for a single day. They were to gather what would sustain them for the upcoming 24 hours – or 48 hours if it was the day prior to the Sabbath. If they collected more than that, it would rot in a disgusting way. So they had to trust that God would provide more for them every single day. Later, the Jews were taught that when the Messiah came, He would also bring manna, or bread, that was capable of giving them life. So now Jesus said, not “I BRING the bread of life,” – which is what they would have been expecting from the Messiah… but “I AM the bread of life – sent down FROM heaven.” What could this mean? Instead of trying to understand Jesus’ words, however, they simply dismissed Him by attacking His character. Verse 42… 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” They didn’t understand what Jesus said, so their response was to dismiss His authority. As WE study the Bible and apply it to our lives, there are certainly going to be things we don’t understand. Our job is to keep seeking God’s answer and to trust Him AS the authority even when we don’t understand. Have you ever heard a word from God, and then questioned whether you heard it at all? Any relationship counselor will tell you that the key to a good relationship is listening. If something confuses you about God or the Bible, keep seeking…keep listening…keep asking questions. Our God is not a God of confusion, and He knows better than we do how we learn and grow. We can always trust His timing and revelation to us. Jesus didn’t answer their murmurs that dismissed His authority. Instead, He told them to focus in…He wasn’t done explaining. Verse 43… 43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. Anyone who hears about Jesus or feels the pull of faith in Jesus, does so because God has had them in His sight since the beginning of time. We cannot draw ourselves to God – that is one of the reasons we marvel at how gracious and loving He is! Just like the Israelites could do NOTHING to make the manna that would sustain them fall from the sky, we cannot bring God closer to us. On the contrary, God has positioned HIMSELF in our lives – He has OFFERED Himself – our job is to say yes. To accept the manna and ingest it…to receive Jesus, THE bread of life, into our very lives. But unlike manna, which lasted only 24-48 hours, the one who openly receives Jesus, receives life eternal. Jesus is THE bread that will sustain us for ETERNITY. Jesus backs up this bombshell with the news that He is now their direct access to God the Father. Isaiah and Jeremiah both had prophesied that a time would come when the people would have a direct connection with God … something they had always had to rely on the high priest for…and Jesus is saying that HE is now that direct contact…verse 45 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[b] ‘They will ALL be taught BY God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me...

Persecution is a strong word. It can come or be caused by anger, hate, jealousy, or wrath.   Today's guest, radio speaker Julie Harwick, talks about persecution in the Christian church and what can be done about it. Hear Julie's story of why she speaks out so passionately about persecution and the Christian church. 

Join Kelly Williams Hale today as she shares her thoughts on Fathers, both our earthly Daddy and our Heavenly Father. In honor of Father’s Day on Sunday, Kelly also shares a personal love letter to her father who has gone on to be with Jesus. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and receive the message of God’s unconditional love for you.   ***   Hi there, and welcome to the Women World Leaders Podcast.  My name is Kelly Williams Hale and I'm your host today on Celebrating God's Grace. I'm an author, speaker and mentor helping women discover the purpose God has for them and embrace their divine destiny. This week l I want to talk about fathers. Our earthly father as well as our father in heaven. Growing up, I struggled with accepting that God loves me unconditionally. It was difficult to believe that God loved me no matter what. Particularly because I didn’t always have a great relationship with my earthly father. I think many of us compare the idea of a heavenly father with our human father. I know I did. To make my daddy on earth happy, I felt like I needed to be a good girl. All the time. That translated in my view of God. If I was good, he would love me. If I made a mistake, or was bad, then I was in trouble with the Lord. I have since deepened my relationship with God and hold this scripture close to my heart:  Ephesians 3:18-19 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. As an adult, I know now that both of my parents did the best they could. I’m extremely grateful that I was brought up in church. My mom took me and my brothers to church regularly but I don’t recall my dad going with us.  As a teenager, I do remember when one of the church elders visited our house to talk to my dad. And I recall he was baptized that weekend.  My dad was a complicated man, as many men are! And so today I want to read a letter I wrote my dad, to honor him on Father’s Day this weekend. It’s not a coincidence that this podcast is being aired one year and six months to the day he went to heaven. Maybe your father is in heaven… maybe you didn’t have a great relationship with your dad… maybe you still don’t.  My encouragement today is celebrate the Grace that we have in Jesus. To remember that our parents are human and make mistakes and poor choices, just like we all do… but that we have a heavenly father that loves us so much. A father in heaven that will never leave us, and never for sake us. His love never dies. 1 John 3:1 NIV 1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.  If your dad is still around and there are unresolved issues, I pray that you experience restoration and reconciliation.  Colossians 3:13 says: Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  And Ephesians 4:32 says: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. All things are possible with God.  Dear Daddy, Hey there Pops, I wanted to write a letter to you for months and could kick myself for waiting. How do I start now? We shared so many moments. You have been my hero since I was born – although we didn’t meet until I was 9 months old. You and mom “made me” on your honeymoon! I always thought that was so romantic that you and Mom conceived me on your honeymoon. Two 20-year-olds just starting your life together. But then you had to report back to duty to fight in a war I don’t know much about. Fight for your life. You never talked about your time in Vietnam. You never mentioned the things you saw. When I was 11, I found letters from the wives of the soldiers you saved in that war You risked your own life to pull them from the waters to safety. You gave them another chance at life. Jesus did the same thing for us – pulling us all from the murky depths of sin so that we could live again. The Bible says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NIV)  Mom recently found paperwork from the sessions with your psychiatrist. You were applying for disability benefits for PTSD. How could you NOT have post-traumatic stress disorder? You told a story of transporting prisoners when an officer suddenly kicked one of them right out of a helicopter! The sounds of screaming haunted you. I can’t even imagine. Now, knowing the demons you battled your whole life, my heart breaks, Daddy. Mom said she never knew but can understand why you drank. To escape. The voices, the memories, the pain. I wish you could’ve shared that part of your life. None of us knew what you were thinking. You loved us. I know that. Having four children by the time you were 25 must have been a challenge. I can barely take care of one at a time. God gave me three beautiful kids, a decade apart, for a reason! I was so scared to tell you and mom when I got pregnant with Christie. I was just 19. Looking back, I know I was running away. I wanted to escape the pain that I didn’t yet understand. You and mom were always there for me. Supporting me when I moved back home after my divorce and when I went back to college with a 2-year-old. Then, years later, helping me move (several times!) when Greg and I would break up - and get back together. I was a mess, but you loved me anyway. Honestly, Daddy, we’re all a mess! But God loves us anyway. Like a father who loves the daughter who always needed him. I remember you telling me and Greg something that I have absolutely no recollection of. I was about 5 or 6 when this incident occurred and while I have no memory of it, you thought I knew. You carried the weight of guilt and shame, imagining my judgement. I believe you found freedom when you learned that I never held that against you. I just always loved you, mistakes, and all. That’s how God loves us. Unconditionally. Jesus took our sins and nailed them to the cross. He died for us so we can live. God never withholds his love, even when we feel ashamed of our past. It’s taken me awhile to believe this. I had to learn how to forgive myself for my own poor choices. I’ve learned so much about grace, Daddy. Another thing I know is that God created you for a purpose. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)  I believe your purpose included the family you and mom created. Even when you were diagnosed with a rare blood disease, God had a purpose. You defeated the odds. At 31 years old, the doctors gave you a 5-year life expectancy. But God gave you nearly 45 more years on this earth – to bless the people in your life. Your family certainly, but also the friends you made. I’m so proud of you Pops. I wish I told you that more often. I know you were proud of me, even though you may not have said it often either. Remember the time you were at The Breakfast Club and out of nowhere you heard my voice? Your friend Mo was on her phone watching a video I had posted on Facebook! How crazy that you were at the restaurant and heard my voice of encouragement. Only God could’ve orchestrated that special moment! I can’t wait to see you again. You know how they say a hero remembered never dies? I believe that’s true since I carry you in my heart now, everywhere I go. And until God calls me home, I will continue to live MY purpose here on earth. I love you so much. Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast! Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry. From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders. All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.        

Today we take a second look at Luke 15:4-6, this time through the eyes of a real shepherd. Enjoy and learn from Julie Jenkins’ reading of “He Leaves the 99” written by Tina Kadolph. *** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins and it is my honor to walk with you each Wednesday as we open scripture and ask God what He wants us to learn today. If you are new to Women World Leaders, you can find out more about us at our website, womenworldleaders.com, where you can post on our prayer wall, purchase resources, and get involved in our worldwide ministry. If you are new to our podcast, this is one of three offerings we have for you each week. On Monday, founder Kimberly Hobbs hosts Empowering Lives with Purpose – a 30-minute interview with a different woman of faith who shares the story of her life, struggles, or ministry. What is most important about each of these interviews is that they are truly not about the woman who so bravely steps out and shares her story, but each one is about shining the light on the glory of God. On Fridays, we have a team of podcasters who host Celebrating God’s Grace. This is a short podcast full of nuggets and wisdom of the goodness of God that will launch you into the weekend! And today, you’ve happened on Walking in the Word, where we take time to open God’s Word and learn together from it – verse by verse. We are currently studying the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as we mesh them together and look at the life of Jesus as chronologically and as fully as the Holy Spirit enables us. Last week, we studied Luke 15 together, where it is recorded that Jesus taught the parables of The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son. Throughout this chapter, we saw a theme emerge as God went to great lengths to seek His lost people and then celebrated their return. As I taught last week, I kept thinking about a beautiful article written by Tina Kadolph, published in our newly released Voice of Truth magazine. Tina is a missionary with a pure heart devoted to serving the Lord and His people. Her column, Coffee Chats, has been part of Voice of Truth magazine since its beginning, and is always so thought-provoking. And her article in the 12th edition of the magazine, based on Luke 15:4-6, is titled, He Leaves the 99. So I’d like to veer from our expositional teaching path this week and read Tina’s article to you – I know you will find it as impactful as I do. If you would like to check out this article and so many others in print, we offer Voice of Truth for free digitally on our website, womenworldleaders.com. While you are on the website, we’d love you to register to become a monthly donor to the ministry. As a thank you, we will put you on our subscription list to receive a physical copy Voice of Truth. This magazine is a pure work of art that we know you will enjoy and share with others. Before we begin today, let’s pray…  Dear Most Holy God, we thank you for meeting us where we are today and for giving us your Word. I thank you for the insight you gave Tina as she lived out and then wrote this article. You are a God of complete control and perfect timing, and we thank you for guiding our thoughts today as meet together. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ....

Our guest today, Shelia Erwin, raised two amazing children. You may know them as the Erwin Brothers who went on to produce box office films such as 'I Can Only Imagine' and 'Mom's Night Out.' Shelia speaks to moms and grandmothers about what it is like to parent two dreamers and raise them up God's way. 

God will heal the innermost parts of your heart as you keep your eyes on Him.  Join host Janet Berrong as she blesses you with this insightful teaching: Heart Healing with Jesus. ****** Welcome to Celebrating God's Grace, a Women World Leaders podcast. I'm your host, Janet Berrong. Thank you for joining me today as we celebrate God's grace in our lives, in this ministry, and in the world. It's an honor for me to be back with you today sharing health, beauty, and Jesus. I want to talk about heart healing as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Recently, I've been doing some heart healing to be the best version of myself. While doing this, it requires me to keep my eyes on Jesus to be intentional and focused allowing him to heal my inner parts of my heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it." Scientists have recently discovered some interesting facts about your physical heart. For example, they now believe that the heart has its own way of thinking and feeling. They have also found that the thoughts and feelings of your physical heart exert tremendous and measurable control over how you interpret life's experiences. In other words, they have discovered what you believe in your heart determines the course of your life. Wounded hearts cause blind spots that keep people from walking in the fullness of who God created them to be. You can help people connect with Jesus, receiving healing from emotional pain and trauma and make space for God to uncover the lies that keep them from living from what the whole heart that he paid for on the cross. Psalm 76:23 reads, "My flesh and my heart may fail. But God is my strength of my heart and my portion forever." What does it mean to keep your eyes on Jesus, we surely know that the world is filled with so many temptations. Oftentimes, these appear to be brilliant enough trying to lure us to keep our focus on them. But as Christians, our loyalty must belong to Jesus alone. As what the Bible has taught us, we have a jealous God. And this we have to give him only our attention. Also, as we are traveling on the road of uncertainties, and too many distractions, keeping our eyes on Jesus would safely lead us to our right destination. Otherwise, we'd be lost wandering in the wilderness. fixing your eyes on Jesus is not a form of denial or abstract belief. Keeping your eyes on Jesus doesn't require us ignoring the problem, or pretending it does not exist. Just the opposite. leaning on God empowers us right within the battle. What is distracting you today from keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus? Can you identify what it is this distracting you call it out and go to battle against the lie. But when you are tempted to look down at the storm around you, look up. Keep your eyes and heart focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who set the joy before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12, one through two, friend, there's joy coming. Don't focus on the storm. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He is there in the storm. Matthew 14:25 through 31 reads, shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake. They were terrified. It's a ghost they said and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, Take courage. It is I don't be afraid, Lord, if it's up to replied, tell me to come to you on the water. Come, he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the winds, he was afraid and began to sink cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. You have little faith. He said, Why did you doubt? Lord, thank you for your saving grace. Thank you for loving us so much that you gave your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life. I pray right now for anyone needing a heart healing today that you will meet them where they are. Speak to them now Lord, give them ears. to hear and eyes to see what you are revealing. Let no other voice speak to them but you Lord Jesus, and you alone. Help them to keep their eyes on you and receive your healing. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Be blessed

Jesus tells us, in no uncertain terms, that we are to seek the lost. Who is He talking about and what does He mean? The depth of His answer might surprise you. Join Julie Jenkins for a study of Luke 15. *****   Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ Podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins and I am so happy you have joined us today as we continue our walk through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is June 2023 as I record this. If you are a regular monthly donor to Women World Leaders, please make sure to check your mailbox in the coming days for our newly released 12th edition of Voice of Truth. If you are new to the ministry and are not familiar with Voice of Truth magazine, I encourage you to go to our website, www.womenworldleaders.com, and check it out. We have all the back issues available digitally, and the new edition will be up within a week. We send out a physical copy of this beautiful, full-color, 100+ page magazine to each of our regular donors as a thank you, because saying thank you for supporting this ministry just doesn’t seem like enough! By supporting Women World Leaders, YOU are reaching women across the globe – offering them the gospel message and giving them tools and support to walk in their God-given purpose. Personally, I don’t believe there is a greater mission than that. God is the master organizer and coordinator – and although He can do ANYTHING in the blink of an eye, He often uses us, His children, to partner with Him. If we EACH were to respond to Him by fulfilling the role He designed us for, imagine how beautiful the world would be. So you might say our underlying goal at Women World Leaders is to help steer the world into the beautiful place God created it to be. Does that sound lofty? Well…our God is amazing…and nothing is beyond Him! So, thank you to our donors and our leaders for believing for the lofty with us! Let’s dive in, shall we? Today’s teaching comes from the 15th chapter of the book of Luke. Let’s begin in prayer. Dear Most Holy God, We thank you for meeting us each where we are today – for guiding us a leading us in the path you have ordained for each of us. Father, I thank you for Women World Leaders! I thank you for the donors, the leaders, and the opportunity to share your Word with the world. Guide us as we open Scripture together, and teach us what you want us to know today. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. As we continue walking through the gospels, we are currently studying the book of Luke together. Most recently, we saw Jesus attend a dinner at the home of a Pharisee and then later teach the large crowds who were following Him what it means to truly be His disciples. Today, we continue to follow Jesus as He continues teaching using parables. Chapter 15 from the New Living Translation begins… Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! These verses are important to this chapter because it sets up Jesus to share three parables – The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son. The sinners were flocking to Jesus, and the Pharisees were calling Jesus out for hanging out with the sinners – those who were deemed unclean. As we study the Bible, we tend to see the Pharisees from a single, harsh angle. They were the rabble-rousers—the prideful, arrogant religious leaders who positioned themselves above everyone else. But the reality is, they have gotten a much worse reputation through the course of history. They, after all, were men who had devoted their lives to following God, and deemed the best way to do that was to follow the law of Moses. They WERE trying to hold to scripture, and even though we can see they went overboard and many of them missed Jesus’ calling to follow Him, we should be careful to recognize that their attitude was very complex and is one that many of us fall into today. We, as the Christian church, are in danger of becoming the Pharisees of today. That’s a tough statement. And it is one we should recognize fight against on an individual level—just as Jesus called the Pharisees to confront their own sins, He calls us to look at ourselves. As a Christian, it is imperative that I ask myself regularly, “Do I love others as Jesus did? Do I love others as Jesus does? Am I willing to look past the someone else’s sin and see the person God made them to be? Do I choose to love EVEN and ESPECIALLY those who are CHOOSING to sin, recognizing that MY sin is no greater than theirs and God that has given me the HONOR to love them and meet them where they are?” Pride and arrogance are as rampant in the Christian church today as they were in the days of the Pharisees. So as you listen to Jesus teaching – ask yourself, what does God want ME to do differently in my life? Jesus first told a parable targeted to the men, beginning in verse 4… “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! We see a theme developing here that carries all through chapter 15 – something was lost, the owner did everything possible to find the one missing piece, and then joyful celebration broke out. The first story is the story of the sheep, who was lost through his own foolishness. The shepherd, who represents God, was responsible for EACH of the sheep. But not only was He responsible for each sheep, He also loved each sheep dearly—enough to step away from the faithful flock so He could find the one who had strayed. How often do we remain in our bubble of Christianity, afraid to step out to find those who have set themselves apart? Over and over, I hear parents say that they want to protect their children from the evils of society. Parents – if we pull our God-loving children out of society to protect them, who is going to be the light of God to those children who don’t come from a Christian home? Every child is different, but I encourage you to take a moment and think – what if I empower my child to make a difference in their school or club or organization rather than simply trying to protect them? What if I, instead, walk with my child into the unknown, traveling alongside them and spending time tutoring or leading a Christian club or simply being available to those who may not have another Christian influence? Jesus put it all on the line to go after the one. Are we willing to do the same? Then Jesus moves from shepherding to taking care of the home – something the women in the crowd would be more familiar with. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” The coin, although it was a single coin that wasn’t worth much, was important to the woman, and so it became a priority for her to find it. She did what was necessary to recover her lost treasure. She lit a lamp, she swept, and then she searched carefully. In our world, we are given a purpose to make others our priority – even those who don’t seem all that important to us or the world. The sinners – the tax collectors and those who were not following the law of Moses to the nth degree—were deemed unimportant and even disposable by the Pharisees. In this parable, Jesus marks the importance of every individual. Who, in our society, have we as Christians deemed unimportant or disposable? Who do we dismiss and maybe even try to avoid? Let me ask you some difficult questions. Do you believe in God? Do you have faith that He will protect you? Do you trust Him when He tells you where you should go? Christian, Jesus, in no uncertain terms, is telling us to LOVE the marginalized in society. He is telling us to speak to the sinners, to embrace those we aren’t following scripture. And what is our agenda to be when we do? Simply to love them! To open our hearts. And to trust GOD. Just as there was no coin that was unimportant in the woman’s eye, so there is NO individual who is unimportant in God’s eyes. And finally, scripture says, “to illustrate the point further,” Jesus told the story of the Lost Son. Let me paraphrase… A man had two sons…the younger one decided he wanted his inheritance early. So the father gave the young man his inheritance, likely a third of all he owned. The son then sold the property and left town with the money. You probably know the story…after he wasted away all his money and was so hungry that his mouth was watering after the pigs’ slop, he returned to his father. When his father saw him coming, he RAN TO HIM! How beautiful is that? The sheep was lost to foolishness, the coin was lost to carelessness, but the son was lost because of his own willfulness. The father had every right to turn away from the son who had willfully disengaged with him. The son had damaged his father. He had asked for his inheritance, basically telling the him ‘I wish you were dead,’ took the family land and SOLD it – not even using it for his own long-term gain – that must have stabbed the father. And then he went silent. There were no cell phones or email or Facebook. The father grieved the loss of his child, truly not knowing if he was dead or alive. And then the son returned. And when he saw him, the father dropped all his dignity and pretension and RAN to his son. Not only did he run because he was thrilled to see him, but he ran to him to protect him. The young man had completely disrespected his father and his family, and by all rights, should have been stoned…so the man ran, knowing that if he was beside his son, no one would dare hurt him. The father welcomed the young man by giving him his robe – a symbol of honor and authority, a ring—a symbol of belonging in the family, and sandals—which identified him as a son. The father – representing God, welcomed this young man who had hurt him, sinned against him, and left him. But who also CHOSE to return. And then a joyful celebration broke out – just like when the shepherd found the lost sheep and the woman found the lost coin. Doing the work of Jesus – reaching out to the least of these and welcoming them into the Christian fold, is the BEST reason for celebration there is. But do you know who wasn’t joyful in this last parable? The oldest son. The one who had remained by the father’s side and waited patiently for his inheritance was now jealous and angry. He had steadfastly remained by his father, and now his wayward, sinful brother was being welcomed back? We don’t know the end of the story. The brother went to the father and voiced his frustration. And his father replied… ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’” I think Jesus left this open-ended intentionally. Remember, He was speaking to the Pharisees. By not delineating the older sons actions, Jesus was making them aware of their choice: You can be happy that I am hanging out with sinners and welcoming them into the kingdom, or you can be bitter and go your own way. Although it seems that many Pharisees held to the letter of the law, dismissing the importance of love, we do know that some understood and began to trust Jesus. It is not our job as Christians to make SURE an individual CHOOSES to follow Jesus, any more than it was the father’s job to chase down his lost son or demand joy from the son who had stayed by his side. God has gifted us, as Christians, with the joy of searching for and loving all others—saints and sinners alike and PRESENTING them with a different way of life – for THEIR choosing. We can trust God’s provision and protection as we follow His call. But oh the joy when we join in the celebration of each homecoming, because there is NO ONE who is too small to celebrate. Let’s pray… Dear Father – thank you for seeking US out each time we stray. God, we confess that, at times, WE have been the stumbling block for others to come to you. Father, we seek your forgiveness even as we thank you for running to us with open arms of love and protection. Guide each of us today to step into your calling as we seek to love the unloved, opening our arms and hearts in unexpected and amazing ways. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

God gave us the ability to use prayer and our guest, Dr. Chidi Kalu - speaker, author, empowerment life coach, and corporate trainer - shares the importance of using this powerful tool in your life. Please join us as Dr. Chidi unleashes a "prayer of declaration and promise" over you today!

The Gift of Faith is given to us by God, when it feels as though you're in a pit. Join Robin Kirby-Gatto and learn about how the Gift of Faith pulls you up out of your pit, sparking great faith! ***** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host Robin Kirby-Gatto. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world. Today’s title: The Gift of Faith The work of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives shows up in different ways. One of those ways is through the gift of faith, for our time of need. “To another [wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit,” 1 Corinthians 12:9 AMPC There are times in life where you might become discouraged and disappointed. Knowing Ephesians 3:20 well, you’re certain God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all you can think or imagine, it’s just that you need to experience the operation of His power inside of you to believe. In those moments, God provides the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit, to lift you up out of the pit. The Greek word for faith is pístis pronounced pis'-tis meaning, “persuasion, credence, conviction, reliance upon Christ for salvation, assurance, belief, believe, and fidelity.” [i] To better understand the Greek word for faith, let’s look at the primary Greek word from which it comes, which is peíthō pronounced pi'-tho and means, “to convince, rely, agree, assure, believe, have confidence, MAKE FRIEND, obey, persuade, trust, and yield.” [ii] Years ago, when I taught on faith with the different gates of Jerusalem, from the book of Nehemiah, God showed me that faith equals commitment, as well as friendship. You cannot have faith without friendship, and you cannot have commitment without faith. Whoever or whatever you’re committed to, reveals who or what you’ve made your friend. You rely on your closest friends, because of the confidence that has blossomed in the trusting relationship. For example, a husband and wife show their commitment publicly with their marriage vows. Marriages that survive and thrive are those based on Christ Jesus, as well as love and friendship with one another. Likewise, as we mature in our relationship with God, we build a deeper friendship. Jesus told the disciples in John 15:15, no longer did He call them servants but friends. Moreover, that He told His secrets to His friends. Sonship and friendship are the two pillars of our faith, which I write about extensively in my book, Rev 22:2. Our individual faith will never deepen, if we don’t understand that we’re a child and friend of God. Jesus acknowledges in John 15:14 that those who do what He commands, are His friends. Our faith and commitment to God is based on a personal relationship we have with Him, not on someone else’s relationship with God. This is why the primary Greek word from which faith comes, means “make friend.”   Holy Spirit comes according to the need, as revealed in the last teaching I did, podcast number 429 “Celebrating God’s Grace the Gift of Prophecy.” Jesus taught in the parable after the Lord’s prayer in Luke 11 on the bread, showing that God supplies the power of Holy Spirit according to the need.   If we, as parents, provide for our children’s needs, how much more will God provide us the grace required through His Holy Spirit for what we need. The gift of faith is given to us in times of difficulty and is different than our individual faith. Our individual faith is our commitment to Christ Jesus, as a Christian. This can be seen in Paul’s writing to the church of Ephesus. 8 For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) THROUGH [YOUR] FAITH. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; 9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.] Ephesians 2:8-9 AMPC When we come into salvation through Jesus Christ, God’s grace works through OUR FAITH. Our salvation isn’t based on our own works, but entirely on the grace of God, at work with our faith, the manifestation of what we believe. The difference between our personal faith and the gift of faith, is that the gift of faith IS GOD’S FAITH on top of our faith. Imagine obtaining a mortgage on a house and putting down a 20% down payment. You don’t own the house, but have a commitment to buy the house, and arrange for monthly payments. The down payment can be likened to our individual faith. However, the gift of faith would be that you’ve paid the down payment and discovered you don’t have the money to pay the mortgage off. In that circumstance, the Mortgage Company comes in and immediately pays the other 80%. The mortgage company paying the rest is analogous to God’s faith operating by grace through the gift of faith. It gets us out of a rock and a hard place. I call these rock-and-hard place times “the pit.” These are times of complete darkness, where you feel the only one near you is Jesus Christ alone. You find yourself in a crisis, uncertain as to how you’re going to get out or when that might be. Or maybe it is a wayward child for whom you’re believing the fullness of salvation and God’s deliverance. These pit moments are faith opportunities, which will require more than your faith. It will require the gift of faith! I couldn’t help but see the Greek word for faith spelled P.I.S.T.I.S. As I looked at the word and took the first “s” out of it, I saw the two words ‘PIT IS.” The pit is the place of GOD’S FAITH! Even more, I couldn’t help but think of car pistons when looking at the Greek word for faith and seeing it as an example of the gift of faith at work inside of us. Taking the first and last “s” out of pistons you have “PIT ON.” The pit is the switch that flips God’s faith on in your life. An internal combustion engine of a car generates its power through compressed air that mixes with fuel, contained in individual cylinders. For example, a four-cylinder engine looks like four individual pits. Within each pit/cylinder is a piston. These pistons look like a platform of sort and are pushed down by the mixture of air and fuel coming into the cylinder. It’s almost like a suction cup, when the pistons are pushed down. The pistons being pushed down rotate the crankshaft, basically moving the engine parts. Within the cylinder is a spark plug at the top of the pit, where once the air and fuel mixture come in, while the piston is lowering, pulling it in, ignites it with fire! Isn’t that powerful? This is a great description of the gift of faith. It is the platform for God to spark our faith with His faith! To get us moving out of our pit, into the place of His promise! I went through an unexpected divorce in 1997 and found myself a single mother of two boys, ages one and six. I’d always gone to church, ensuring my sons had the heritage of being brought up in church. I was in the first semester of graduate school for social work and a week before midterm exams when this occurred. Initially, I pressed into God and tried to look for solace and answers. Within about six months of the divorce, the social worker in me kicked in, and I went to two divorce recovery programs. One was Sunday mornings at the Baptist church, and another on Tuesday evenings at the Catholic Church. Upon attending, I made friends with two women. As I got to know them, we began to fellowship at each other’s house. One night visiting, they had a bottle of wine and asked me if I wanted some, to which I replied yes. I then began medicating my pain with alcohol, which led to me becoming a somewhat functioning alcoholic by late 1999. I still attended church, worked, took care of my sons, all the while loathing my addiction to alcohol. Little by little my tolerance built up, to where I was drinking about 12 beers a day, at least 4 days a week. My sheets would get bleached from where the alcohol came out of my body. I finally gave up on anything but white sheets, because inexpensive or designer sheets, no matter how incredible they seemed, would get bleached like a body outline of a crime scene. I married Rich Gatto, in December 2001. He knew that I had some issues, but wasn’t around me as much, since he lived in Connecticut and I in Alabama. He commuted the first year of our marriage from Connecticut to Alabama, seeing me one to two times a month. I was in a deep dark pit that I couldn’t get myself out of. Around the time of our marriage, God spoke to my heart, and said Robin, you’re going to be set free. He brought John 8:32 to my heart, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” God gave me the gift of faith and had me speak that I wasn’t an alcoholic. He gave me scriptures to proclaim, Jeremiah 29:11-13, 1 Corinthians 2:16; and 2 Corinthians 5:21. Although, I hadn’t been set free immediately, it begin to stir me up with great faith, in God’s Word. Then on Resurrection Sunday 2002, Rich and I went to church, when something unexpectedly happened. During the offertory song something special happened, the choir sung Nicole C. Mullin’s “My Redeemer Lives.” I had the album and been to her concert, and above all songs, this was my favorite. My heart began pounding fast. Freaking out, uncertain as to what was occurring, I looked down at my heart, while everyone was sitting. The pastor was going around the pews shaking hands, and I was silently pleading for him to hurry and pass me, because I didn’t know what was going on, and I felt like my heart would explode. As soon as the pastor passed, I heard this voice say “Robin, stand up!” Immediately I stood up, and it seemed as though this amber colored light came from the ceiling on me, I lifted my hands, and my entire body began to shake! I was perplexed and in rapture, clueless as to what was happening. Rich, watching this occurrence, stood beside me with his hand on my back. My legs were weak, but it felt as though I was being pulled up. Then suddenly, the power of God hit me, and chains fell off, where the powers of darkness were completely broken! I was set free! I was no longer an alcoholic! Do you see this, women? The gift of faith in my pit of bondage was the spark needed to lift me up out of the darkness, to know the truth and be set free! Where is it that you need the gift of faith? What pit have you been in? [i] Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 4102 “faith” [ii] Strong’s Concordance Greek word # 3982 “make friend”

Perhaps you gave your life to Christ many years ago. If you did, you can rest assured that God has a place for you in His kingdom. But Jesus is also calling you to be His disciple. What does that even mean? We invite you to listen today as Julie Jenkins teaches from Luke 14:25-35. *** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and we are happy that you have joined us today as we continue to walk through God’s Word together, asking Him what He wants us to know today. If this is your first time joining us, welcome! I encourage you to check out our previous podcasts as well as visit our website, www.womenworldleaders.com. Our goal at Women World Leaders is to empower you to walk in your God-given purpose. Some of the ways we do that are through offering teachings, devotions, seminars, and the Voice of Truth magazine. But one of the best ways you can grow in your God-given purpose is to get involved. God has a place for you in this ministry. We often say that we are reaching over 60 countries, but did you know we also have leaders in our ministry from many different countries? And we are growing every day. One offering we have is our Leadership Connect, where we meet on Zoom on the third Monday of each month to grow together as Christian sisters. We also gather on Zoom on the fourth Monday of the month to pray together for 30 minutes. We pray for specific needs of those on the call as well as for the needs of the ministry. If you would like to be involved, no matter where you are, visit our website at womenworldleaders.com and fill out the contact form so we can send you monthly emails with all the information you need to get involved. On this, the Wednesday edition of the podcast we have the opportunity to walk through the Word of God together, and currently we are walking through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Today we will be focusing on Luke 14:25-35. Before we begin, let's pray. Dear Most Holy God, as we dive into your teaching today, I ask you to be with us and show us clearly what you want us to learn. God, Your Word is living and active, and we know that it will meet us where we are, and it is you, Holy Spirit, who allows us to hear your thoughts, direction, and love for us as we read and study Scripture. God, cleanse us of all unrighteousness that we may hear your voice clearly. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.   As we have been following Jesus, most recently we have seen Him dining at the home of a Pharisee, where He spoke some difficult truths regarding humility and the value of being a servant. As He leaves, the Bible records that the enthusiastic crowd following Him is growing. But now, as we read Jesus’ words to that crowd, we wonder about their enthusiasm. Were they simply caught up in the moment, wanting to be part of the “in” crowd? Were they mesmerized by the fanfare of Jesus’ miracles? Were they looking for a warrior-type leader to usher them into freedom from the Romans? The answer is that there was likely a great mixture of reasons why individuals were following Jesus. And isn’t that the same today? People follow Jesus for a multitude of reasons, ranging from selfishness to pure loyalty to God. The amazing thing is that Jesus offers salvation to everyone who comes truly seeking Him, and we are to praise and thank Him each time someone offers their life up to Him! The crowd following Jesus is still growing today! But being saved once and forever by Jesus’ free gift and becoming a disciple of Jesus’ are two different things. Being a disciple means being a learner. It is attaching yourself to a teacher for the purpose of intentional growth. It is seeking to work with Jesus, harnessing His teaching and power while here on earth every day, joining Him in His pursuit of showcasing the glory of God the Father to everyone. Being a disciple is far more than celebrating with the saints and angels, enjoying the party, fellowshipping at church or in ministry, or wearing a beautiful cross necklace as a statement piece. Being a disciple of Jesus takes intentionality, effort, and sacrifice.   And so in today’s teaching, we see Jesus turn to all those who are following Him and guide them not to be swept along in the crowd, but to intentionally become His disciple, that is, become an intentional learner, growing in all that He has for them and all He has for them to accomplish in His name. Luke 14:25 begins in the New Living Translation… 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. The first stipulation for being Jesus’ disciple is to put Jesus above all others. Don’t get hung up on the word “hate” here. Jesus has advocated over and over for love. I like the way the NLT translates this - you must, by comparison, hate everyone. In other words – Jesus must be first. Your relationship with and responsibility to Him must come so far above others that there is no question who you, as a disciple, will be loyal to. One of the most difficult things about loyalty is that when we claim loyalty, we often do it not knowing what perils lie ahead. Being a disciple of Jesus is no different. We don’t know the path that God has laid out for us to walk – we cannot foresee either the joy or the trials ahead. Yet as disciples, we are committing to put Jesus above all NO MATTER WHAT. The Bible tells us over and over that we CAN trust God, that when we give ourselves to Him, we will experience above and beyond what we can ask or imagine. BUT we can NOT and WILL not experience all He has for us if we do not trust Him completely. We can’t put the cart before the horse. A disciple must ALWAYS stay loyal to Jesus – in good and tough times that are and that are to come. So the first qualification of being a disciple is to put Jesus above all else. The second qualification flows from the first. As disciples, we are to surrender to God’s will. Verse 27…  27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. God has a different walk planned for each of us – but you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is in control of the plan He has for YOU. The Jewish people were VERY aware of what it meant to carry your cross. It was common to see a procession heading through the streets with the central figure being a condemned man carrying his cross to his place of execution. Who wants to carry a cross? Yet when we carry the cross given to us by Jesus, we can trust that God will use it for a great purpose. To be Jesus’ disciple, we must put Jesus above all others and surrrender to His will.  AND, Jesus warns, don’t go into this lightly. Becoming a disciple of Christ is a very serious commitment. Verse 28… 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ This kind of hits home to me today as my oldest daughter is purchasing her first car. As parents, there is so much my husband and I are trying to help her prepare for. Not only do you have the cost of the vehicle itself, but you must be prepared to pay the tax and tag, insurance, and car maintenance. Neglecting to fit these costs into your budget before buying a car could be disastrous. Jesus uses the parable of constructing a building – the builder must look at every financial angle before he begins or he might end up throwing all his money away. Being a disciple – putting Jesus first and submiiting to His will – could cost us everything, up to and including our lives. Jesus doesn’t want us to be fearful of that, but He does want us to be prepared. When we are prepared to face the worst, we will also be prepared to lean on God in full and total trust. Jesus continues in verse 31… 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. When we follow Christ, we will have enemies, and there will be battles. God wants us to intentionally gather our forces. Who can you depend on to encourage and support you as you stand strong for Jesus? One of the things we must give up, as disciples of Christ, is our independence. God made us the body of Christ, we are made for community, we are made to be interdependent on each other. Together, as God’s army, we can stand against anything the world will throw at us. Who is in your army? Who can you rely on? That is one of the reasons Women World Leaders exists. We are here to empower and walk with each other. If you haven’t yet joined in, we’d love to get to know you! As disciples of Christ, we are to put Jesus first, submit our control to Him, be prepared to stand close to Him no matter what, and give up our independence as we operate in the body of Christ. Jesus then encourages the crowd that they are in a good place! But He also warns them to not fall away. Verse 34… 34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Salt, in its purest form – sodium chloride, cannot actually lose its flavor. To me, this speaks of our security of salvation! Once a child of God, always a child of God. But salt, in Jesus day, as found around the Dead Sea, was a mixture of sodium chloride and other compounds. Salt is very useful! It is useful as flavoring and for preservation, fertilization, and as a weed-killer. We can draw several parallels between salt and the life of a committed Christian. As a flavoring, salt brings out the best flavor in other things. Aren’t we to bring out the best in others? Salt also makes a person thirsty. Isn’t our aim in life to make people thirsty for the Word of God? Salt preserves. There is no doubt that Satan comes against this world everyday. Our job as Christ’s disciples is to preserve God’s glory for all to see. Salt fertilizes. As Christians, we have the joy of helping others grow in the power of Christ. And salt is a weed-killer. Through our loyalty to Christ, God infuses us with the power to stomp on Satan and ruin all his plans. But to maintain our saltiness, we must stay engaged – with God, His Word, and His community. If we don’t, we, like the salt compound from the Dead Sea, might just find ourselves flavorless and inneffective. To be a true and effective disciple of Jesus, we must do far more than follow the crowd and enjoy the celebration. Jesus told those who were following Him then and He tells us now, that to be His disciples, we must put Jesus first and submit our control to Him. Then we must be prepared to stand close to Him no matter what, and give up our independence as we operate in the body of Christ, so that we can maintain our effectiveness for the Kingdom. Jesus continues with this final statement…  Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” In this statement, Jesus is calling for a response. And as you listen today, He is also calling for your response. You may have given your life to Christ 30 years ago – and if you did, your place in heaven is sealed today just as much as it was that first day – no matter what you may or may not have done! But today Jesus asks, will you be my disciple? Are you willing to work WITH Jesus to make a difference in someone else’s life for eternity? Let’s pray… Dear Most Holy God! We WANT to be your disciples! Thank you for teaching us how to be. Jesus, we give you our utmost loyalty and surrender our will to you, fully trusting in all that is ahead! We stand with our eyes wide open, we are ready for all you call us to. Jesus, we commit to operating within the body you have given us, and we praise and thank you for using us to make a difference in your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

How Tragedy Birthed a Ministry.   Kristy Furlow-Green shares about the devastation that came to her young life as a wife and mom of 3. Yet, through her "surrender" to the POWER  of God, He has brought a ministry for Kristy.    God is weaving a tapestry through the ministry of "Cloth and Clay." God brought beauty from ashes and now Kristy shares her story with you, showing evidence of a truly miraculous way of healing from the unthinkable. 

How often do we really think about what we think about? Research says we have thousands of thoughts every day. Many are unhelpful and determine how we feel and respond to things! Join Rusanne Carole as she explores the importance of meditating on God's Word. It is alive and holds the power to give us abundant life no matter what we face in our world!   **** Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leader’s Podcast, where each Friday we talk about God’s grace and share how good He is and how we can encourage each other in our journey. Don’t forget to join us each Monday where our founder & Co-CEO, Kimberly Hobbs, interviews women from all over the world – women of God who have a story to share – and how God has shown up in their life. And Wednesdays, where our Co-CEO and Bible Teacher, Julie Jenkins, brings us a study of God’s Word and its application to our lives. Today, I felt called to chat about Meditating on God’s Word. How often do we actually think about what we think about? We know that how we feel truly affects how we feel, even how we act or respond to things. But how hard is it sometimes to mediate on the good things, especially if we are walking through challenges and tough seasons in our lives.  Studies vary about how many thoughts we have in any given day but there is agreement there are thousands! Studies also suggest that 70-80% of the thoughts we have daily are negative – and a high percentage are often the same repetitive thoughts as the day before! Thought Zapper. Thought Tracker The Bible specifically calls us to meditate on things that are wholesome, godly and of a righteous nature. (Philippians 4:8) TPT – “Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.” What are we allowing our minds to constantly focus on? What do we constantly find ourselves thinking about on an average day? In this text Apostle Paul exhorts us to develop a Christian thought life. But how do we do that? We prioritize it. We chose it. We pray to have it. We practice it. Daily.. and then again each day. If the Holy Spirit lives within us, we have the power through Him and the Word of God to change the way we think. Will it happen overnight? Will it be easy? I think we all know the answer to that, but we have been given the path for a changed mind. It’s about deciding to embark upon the journey and remembering God sees your heart. The goodness of God, the Word of God and the work of Christ on the Cross are all rich subjects for us to meditate on. This is why David says in Psalm 77:12 (ESV) “I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty deeds.” Hebrews 4:12 tells us “For 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”. It has a power inherent to itself. Jesus likened the Word of God to seed in Matthew 13. Seed, like the Bible, is not dead, but living and it has the ability to bring forth more life abundantly. When is the last time you have simply meditating on what God has done? And read and pondered His Word in a particular area. I can find myself focusing on what I want God to do rather than spending time thinking about what He has done! At this time in my life, I would very much like to purchase a home for me and my youngest son to live in. He has additional needs and the security of a place of our own would bring me a lot of comfort, security, and peace. God knows this! I have a chose – to mediate and think things like: “Lord, will I ever find a place to buy that I can afford and will meet the requirements of my family? Father, it’s so hard with the way things are now in the world – increase in prices, interest rates, etc” Of course, it’s cool to bring all my concerns to him and have a REAL chat with him and all on my mind. But what would be better to do with my time and energy would be to meditate on His Word and promises and speak them over my life! I encourage you to do the same. Right now if you can pause the podcast, grab a pen & paper or your computer and write or type a negative thought or concern that is on your mind. It’s the one that keeps popping in – invited or uninvited but it just keeps visiting the space on our daily thoughts. Will this child ever grow up be independent? What is going to happen to my child with the mental illness issues, the addiction, the anxiety? Is my marriage going to make it? The diagnosis is tough and I am in pain every day: physically, mentally and emotionally. I’m finding it difficult to find a job? A friend? I encourage you to find Scripture on a subject you might find your mind may go to the negative vs the positive. For example, if it’s your future you are worried about find Scripture on God’s promises about not worrying and how He has a good plan and purpose for your life – to focus on today and not too far ahead and certainly not in the past but on the here & now. I have yet to have a concern and not be able to find a promise and good Word on the subject that may be filling my head with things He would not have me focused on. Don’t we love and serve a God that thought of everything! Praise Him.   Let us pray: Lord, thank you for your Word. Powerful, true, alive! There is nothing in Your Word that would ever bring anything but life, abundant life. Let us have a new and fresh desire to read Your Word, to study Your Word, to believe Your Word. Let it penetrate our heart and mind. Allow what we read to be like seeds planted deep down in the soil of our hearts and soul to be watered and nurtured to bring a harvest in our lives and others around us. Teach us. Correct us. Show us the beautiful mysteries and wisdom behind all that Your Word has for us and our lives. Amen Thank you for listening to WWL’s podcast. Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love & your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry.  From His heart to yours, we are WWL. All content is copyrighted by WWL and cannot be used without written consent.  

A great banquet is coming—greater than anything we could ever imagine! And YOU are invited! Will you RSVP today? Join Julie Jenkins as she unpacks the parable of the Great Feast as told in Luke 14:12-24. ***** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ Podcast. I am your host, Julie Jenkins, and it is my honor to walk with you as we open scripture together and ask God what He wants us to know today. If you are a donor to Women World Leaders – thank you! You are being used by God—it is your generosity that allows US to walk the path that He has called us to. As we seek to empower women to walk in their God-given purpose, you are the power behind that empowerment! Your giving allows us to create and host these podcasts, mentor women in their calling, offer daily devotions, provide leadership training opportunities including seminars, our monthly leadership connect, and in-person events, and create Voice of Truth magazine – a quarterly publication offered for free digitally to anyone anywhere in the world. We are thrilled to be able to send a physical copy of Voice of Truth to our regular donors as a thank you! The July edition is currently on the printing press, so as a donor, you should be receiving your copy in your mailbox soon! If you are not yet a donor and would like a physical copy of the magazine, we did have some extras printed! Become a donor today at womenworldleaders.com and we will make sure you get one, as long as supplies last that is. While you are on our website donating, check out our events and all our offerings…and make sure you fill out the contact form to get on our mailing list so you don’t miss a single thing. Well on this, the Wednesday edition of the podcast, we are currently walking through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John chronologically. Today’s scripture comes from Luke 14:12-24. Before we begin, let’s pray. Dear Most Holy God – we are humbled to come before you today, and we are ever-thankful for your presence! Thank you for guiding us as we open your Word together. Father, we long to know you more and understand all you have for us. Thank you for meeting us where we are and teaching us in those magnificent “aha” moments, and in little bite-sized nuggets. You alone know exactly what we need to hear and when we need to hear it, so we give you the reins and ask you to guide us into YOUR teaching, teaching us the lessons you have for us. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. The scene for today’s scripture was set at the beginning of Luke 14, where we were told that Jesus was in the home of a prominent Pharisee for a Sabbath meal. Jesus had already stirred the pot by healing a man with swollen limbs on the Sabbath and then boldly teaching about the humility each guest should exhibit as he chooses the appropriate seat – as far away from the host as possible. Today, we read about Jesus’ continued teaching to the Pharisee and his guests. Beginning in Luke 14:12 from the New Living Translation… 12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” As we’ve said in the past, meals were a time of honor and celebration. There were often two main reasons why someone would have been invited to a meal: either the host was fulfilling an obligation – that is, the guest had previously invited the host to his home; therefore the host was now making the scales even. The second reason for issuing a specific invitation was so the host himself could step up the social ladder by having a particular guest of distinction in his home. In other words, the invitation list often had more to do with the host trying to elevate himself than any form of gracious hospitality. So Jesus calls out the host – in front of everyone. He teaches that a host should invite those who could never repay him. Jesus calls each of us to give to others out of pure love and generosity. This teaching can go so deep. Because although we understand the concept of unselfish giving, it is SO difficult to do on an ongoing basis – because it is in our nature to want to be seen and appreciated. My mom raised seven children. And although I am a mom of three and I understand SOME of what she went through, I will never know her exact thoughts and struggles as she graciously gave of herself for all of us so that she could be the mom God called her to be. But God knows. God sees us each time we put ourselves on the back burner to care with a pure heart and unselfish motive for someone who may never repay us. God is CONSTANTLY calling you and me to a higher standard. He is continually helping us grow into the fully glorified version of ourselves that He has created us to be. Jesus called out the host, and He calls us out, too, to put ourselves aside and look out for the good of another. And…He promises us HIS reward – which will be far better than any earthly reward could ever be. One man who was listening, was beginning to understand. The reward for Jesus’ faithful followers will be offered at the banquet to end all banquets – hosted by God in heaven when we reach the end times. Verse 15 continues… 15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet[a] in the Kingdom of God!” 16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” In this parable, Jesus says that “a man” – God—prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. This is indeed a picture of the amazing banquet God will hold in the end times, which the people knew about from the teaching of the prophets. Now in Jesus’ day, any major social event, such as this, required two invitations. The first invitation told of the upcoming event and required an RSVP – so the host would know exactly how to prepare. And then, when the preparation had been completed, a second invitation would go out to all those who had already committed to come, telling them to “Come now – the celebration is about to begin.” It was considered extremely rude and insulting to the host for the guest who had already committed to coming to change their mind. Yet, in this case, many did just that. Jesus gave three examples of the type of excuses the host received from those who did not attend the banquet. If we read through these quickly, we might mistakenly think these potential guests were justified in walking away at the last minute, but on further examination, it is clear they were in the wrong. The first excuse for not coming was,  ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’  Purchasing a field was a major undertaking and would never be done lightly. Anyone buying a field would inspect it BEFORE the purchase. So yes, this matter may have seemed pressing to the individual, but the reality is that it was not immediately necessary as the purchase, by this time, was complete. And yet the potential guest clearly chose his own excitement for the newly purchased property and his own worldly future over his commitment and relationship with the host. When have you and I been so concerned about securing OUR future on earth that we have neglected our relationship with the Lord? The second excuse was,  ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’  This man had JUST purchased ten oxen, no small investment. Again, this would not have been done without the purchaser first examining the animals and ensuring they were a team that was suitable for all that he needed. So this man was now giving up an opportunity to give honor to the banquet host and giving INTO the unending call of work. When have you and I neglected our time with the Lord in order to get “just one more thing” done?   The third excuse was, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ Clearly, this man’s wedding celebration was no longer going on. We know this simply because there would not be two simultaneous celebrations in the same town. And further, the wedding had certainly been in the past, as the potential guest had responded that he would come to the banquet. So, for a reason we don’t understand, this man was using his wife as an excuse not to fulfill the obligation he had already committed to. How often do you and I choose to put Jesus on hold? Even using our loved ones as an excuse? God is patient and long-suffering. But He will not wait forever. And if we choose again and again not to come to Him, our hearts will become more in tune with the world and will be hardened to hearing and responding to God’s call. The host of the banquet sent out the first round of invitations and received RSVPs from the expected guests, but when the actual celebration arrived, many claimed they had something better to do. This group represents the people of Israel – God’s chosen people. They were called to salvation by God, but when Jesus came and told them that He was the Messiah, God’s Son sent to usher them into eternity, they turned away – using flimsy excuses. In the parable, we read that this turning away made the master furious. God’s anger is something we don’t read about all that often in the Bible. But there will come a day when God’s fury will be unleashed at those invited guests who have consistently turned away from Him. So, in the parable, the host opens His arms to those not originally on His guest list. He invites the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, and then he invites all those from the country lanes and from behind the hedges. The translation is that God’s invitation is not limited to the Jewish people—those we know as God’s chosen people. Those, the originally invited guest of honor, turned away, and now, ALL are invited to the banquet! The invitation to the Lord’s celebration is for everyone! Whether you are Jew or Gentile, no matter your color, social status, or country of origin. YOU are invited as one of the Lord’s honored guests! All you have to do is put Jesus first. Put aside what you are doing and make your relationship with Jesus the most important part of your life! This parable was a warning to the Jewish people – but it is also a warning to us. Yes, we are all invited. But to be able to enter into the Lord’s banquet, we must each choose individually to not only RSVP, but to show up! This will be the best party ever, but there is a chance YOU will miss it. Were you raised in a Christian home, and now figure that since your parents are saved, you are, too? Did you grow up going to church with your family, but never truly made Jesus YOUR Lord and Savior? Have you always believed in God but never really made time for Him? Do you put your financial future, your work, or even others in your life above your relationship with Jesus? If so, this message may be a wake-up call for you. We each are responsible for our own walk with Jesus. We are ALL invited, but we EACH must say yes. There are no good excuses. There will no doubt be a point when God WILL turn away from those who have consistently turned away from Him. The parable ends with the words… For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” Will you pray with me today? Will you make the decision to secure YOUR place at the banquet? Dear Most Holy God, I give my life to you. I’m here not only to RSVP to your invitation, but to invite you to be Lord of my life. When you say jump, I will jump. When you tell me to run, I will run. Jesus, I will hold onto you, humbling myself and putting others in front of me, and putting you at the very front of it all. I honor you and thank you for loving me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Survivor.   Today's guest,  Cindy Rosenthal is a survivor. She shares her story of growing up with physical and verbal abuse which left her lonely and building walls of protection.   Now, Cindy has gone from Survivor to Thriver as God has restored what the locusts have stolen. Hear how Cindy is now healing from past trauma and walking in newness of life.

Have you ever made a commitment to be loving and kind only to get frustrated when something happens that throws you off course? You’re not alone. Join us today as host Kelly Williams Hale provides encouragement around grace and how to lean into who God says we are. God wants us to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes. His grace is enough.  “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9  ***** Hi there, and welcome to the Women World Leaders Podcast. My name is Kelly Williams Hale and I'm your host today on Celebrating God's Grace. I'm an author, speaker and mentor helping women discover the purpose God has for them and embrace their divine destiny. Today’s message is about God’s grace, the blessing of God‘s grace, and the beauty of God’s grace. How God connects us with other women. For example, this podcast from Women World Leaders’ has been such a blessing to reach so many women across the world. So today I want to begin by acknowledging the women, Kimberly Hobbs and Julie Jenkins - who had a vision for women world leaders, and saying yes to what god was calling them to do to create this ministry. A ministry that really impacts and empowers women to fulfill their purpose and calling. Last month I spoke about our gifts and talents, and accepting who we are and our assignment. I want to follow up with that and talk a little bit around self-reflection, and how we can extend God’s Grace to ourselves.  2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  Growing up in church, I knew that God loved me that Jesus was his son and he died on the cross for my sins so that I could have life everlasting and yet in my young mind I still felt that I had to earn God’s love. I didn’t yet understand the remarkable grace of God. I was a child of the 80s. Life was much different back then. We didn’t have so much competing for our attention in terms of the Internet and social media. As young kids, my brothers and I spent a lot of time outside and for me, in my room drawing or reading. We grew up in the era that children were seen and not heard. We definitely had rules in our household. And there were consequences for not following them. I believe that translated into my relationship with God. As children, there was punishment when we messed up. And so for me, there was a very strong correlation in that when I messed up… and disobeyed the rules in the Bible… the 10 Commandments… the rules that I was taught in church… there was a lot of guilt that surrounded my behavior. It’s taken me years to really understand the Grace that God so generously bestows. That when we sin, we can repent and ask for forgiveness, through his son, Jesus. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Colossians 3:13 ESV  This is exactly why Jesus came… because none of us are perfect and we certainly can’t earn our way to heaven… we don’t earn our salvation… however, I feel like as women… As grown up adult women, we tend to still feel like we need to be good enough… and can judge ourselves when we make mistakes… I certainly did when I was younger and still struggle today sometimes. But we are called to walk in the authority that we’ve received through the Holy Spirit. This can sometimes be a paradox… a duality, if you will. We need to be strong and courageous, but also meek and submissive. It can be confusing! 1 Thessalonians 1:5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; We judge ourselves so harshly when we feel like we fail or fall short. If we’re not gentle enough, or humble enough… We’ve set unrealistic expectations on ourselves at times and then get super disappointed when we don’t finish our to-do list, or serve in the children’s ministry at church, or say yes to lunch with a friend when we’d rather stay home. We make a commitment to be loving and kind to our children (or husband) and then they’ll do something (usually ridiculous) and we blow up and freak out on them. And so today I want to provide some encouragement around grace… giving yourself grace, meaning release the judgment we can hold over ourselves for being human, honestly… and truly lean into who God says we are… lean into the fact that he knows everything! He knows exactly who we are. He wants us to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes… knowing that Jesus forgave us on that cross. I was talking to my daughter today… she’s a hairstylist and makeup artist and had a job with her client - a photographer. They set aside the day for several women to have their pictures taken. Christie shared with me some of the conversation the ladies had today as they were preparing for their photo shoots. She told me how the women really lifted each other up… celebrating each other… acknowledging the uniqueness of their work. One was a therapist, another worked with trauma… The conversation included the stories we tell ourselves about not being good enough… and how we can judge ourselves so harshly… and fail to acknowledge the wonderful things that we’ve accomplished. And that resonated so much with me. Particularly because I know the value of women supporting women. Again, this ministry – Women World Leaders – is a perfect example. And I knew it was a God-wink that I was recording this podcast today – after hearing about my daughter’s day with those women. Growing up, I was taught to be careful about celebrating accomplishments. It might come across as bragging or being boastful… but what I’ve learned is to embrace who God created me to be. He says we are all incredibly valued. It’s no accident that today message is about celebrating God’s grace. We – as women – get to honor God when we give ourselves grace and celebrate who he created us to be… we are allowed to give positive feedback to ourselves! To honor what we’re good at… celebrate the gifts that we’ve been given… and know that mercies are new every day. Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I recently went to a conference on healing. It was called healing in the kingdom, and I attended a workshop with a young woman who was walking us through a two way journaling exercise, and so if you’re willing, I invite you to explore this idea of journaling and talking to God, and really taking responsibility for our feelings and our emotions, which God gave us, and rather than Stuffing them, or judging ourselves so harshly… we can incorporate our journaling to really speak to God… and to hear from him. The exercise two-way journaling. She invited us to take a notebook she provided and grab two different colored markers. She turned on some quiet music, which was lovely, and then instructed to think about God… who he is to us… using one of the markers to write out all the attributes of him that we adore and love so much… reflect those back to him and spend three or four minutes just really journaling and writing down, who God is, praising him through our words, thanking him for our blessings. The second part of the exercise was to take a moment to think about who God says WE are… taking the other colored marker to write our response to him… I don’t know about you but I struggle sometimes with journaling. I tend to write out prayers when I journal… so this , but this was a bit different. But I felt the Holy Spirit move when I began to write out my response. I began to hear and truly listen to who he says I am… sisters, my hand fairly flew across the paper… thanking him for who he created me to be… speaking life over myself. It was a beautiful experience. Do not confess that negative thoughts in your mind, rather speak life to every situation around you (Proverbs 30:32) I invite you to try this. As you consider God’s grace, and all that Jesus is to us, take some time to reflect. Self-reflection is a gift… an opportunity to grow, give ourselves grace, and remember that God loves us just the way we are. So much so that he sent his one and only son for YOU… so that we can spend eternity with him. Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast! Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry. From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders. All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.    

Happy Mother’s Day week! Join Julie Jenkins as we celebrate the gift and responsibility of mothering another, which takes place every day in every woman’s life in some form. God is always with us in our calling to care for another—leading, guiding, and cheering us on. (Luke 1:26-38)   ****   Thank you for joining us today for Walking in the Word, the Biblical Teaching arm of the Women World Leaders’ podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and I am honored to walk with you as we study the Gospels. Our goal for you through these podcasts is that you would experience God’s extravagant love and your exquisite purpose as we focus on teaching, inspiration, and encouragement. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live out a courageous purpose-driven life, fueled by the Word, led by the Spirit, and propelled forward into your God-given destiny through fearless faith!   Here in the United States, we celebrated Mother’s Day this past Sunday. Whether or not you are a mother, as women, we are constantly put in the role of “mothering” others – which can be fulfilling, exhilarating, confusing, and just plain hard work. Mothering can, and should, cause us to question our thoughts and actions. In a single bullet point, mothering should pull us closer to God as we depend on His provision, wisdom, strength, and comfort.   The Bible is full of examples of godly mothers we can learn from. Today, during this week of celebrating motherhood, I want to veer from our usual path and pause to take a look at Mary, Jesus’ mother as we dive into Luke chapter 1, verses 26-38 from the New Living Translation.     Allow me to begin in prayer: Dear Most Holy God! We offer you this day and this time and ask you to guide us in YOUR will and with your wisdom as we celebrate your amazing concept of mothering. I ask for revelation today, that we may each hear what YOU want us to know. Open our minds, our hearts, and our spirits to hear from you. Infiltrate the hard parts of our soul, forgive us of our sins that we may be clear vessels for your glory to flow through freely. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.   In the first part of Luke 1, we read about Zechariah, the esteemed priest, who was visited in the temple by the angel Gabriel who was there to tell him of the imminent birth of his and Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist. In today’s scripture, Gabriel is back – this time to visit an unwed teenage virgin who lives in the undistinguished village of Nazareth. Quite the dichotomy of meetings the illustrious angel Gabriel had! And yet, in both instances, he was sent by God for an incredible purpose – to share the news of the upcoming birth of a child. Parenting is important to God, and He will be with us every step of the way – before we even know we need Him. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, was older and longing for a child; on the other hand, Mary was a young lady about to be married. Despite the astounding differences between these mothers-to-be, Elizabeth and Mary had something in common: they were both sold out to God and willing to obediently and courageously walk wherever He would lead. In verse 26, we read that Elizabeth was Mary’s elder relative and had spent MANY years trying to get pregnant; and she was now in her 6th month of pregnancy due to God’s impeccable timing. Through her pregnancy, we see God’s perfect provision and answer to years of prayers from that godly couple. But, we can imagine that Mary was NOT praying to be pregnant - she wasn’t even married yet, only engaged! A study of the Jewish culture tells us that at that time, a young girl would normally get engaged when she was between 12 and 14 years old, and that the engagement would last about a year. Very different than in most parts of the world today, this engagement would have been formal and legal. Though the bride-to-be would have continued to live with her parents during the engagement period, she would have been identified as a wife and therefore, would be considered an adulterer if she had had sex, which would likely lead to a calling off of the marriage ceremony and require legal divorce proceedings to occur. We learn a bit about Mary’s groom-to-be in verse 27 – his name was Joseph and he was a descendant of King David. Joseph and Zechariah were no doubt important in their children’s lives, but as this is the week of Mother’s Day, let’s focus on the moms. So Gabriel appears to Mary, and says, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” The text says that Mary was “confused and disturbed” and tried to think what the angel could mean. Gabriel went on,  “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[c] forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary then asks the question -  “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” We can see that the Lord WAS with Mary. He was already giving her wisdom and understanding that this pregnancy was imminent. The angel had told Mary “you WILL conceive” – yet Mary understood that this conception was to happen even while she was still a virgin. Have you heard of the sixth sense that a mother has? Where she can quickly and miraculously discern a situation involving her children. You’ve probably experienced it. But when you feel something about your child, this is not a “magical sense.” It is the voice of the Holy Spriit speaking to you and guiding you. When you are given the calling to mother, whether that be to mother your own flesh and blood, someone who is passing through your life, or any situation in between, the Holy Spirit WILL guide and direct your words, actions, and responses – if you let Him. Be assured that the devil doesn’t want you to listen to the Holy Spirit, so the world may tell you that your mothering intuition is just a farce, and your own flesh may tell you that what you have heard is impossible. But be assured that God cares for His children so much that He is never going to leave us alone in parenting them. God is with us each step of the way, and when He speaks, we are wise to listen and respond. Yet, it is okay to question when things don’t seem clear. We SHOULD always ask God for clarification, wisdom, and guidance. Mary was confused, she didn’t understand, and so she asked – how can this happen? This wasn’t a lack of faith on Mary’s part, but a mere question of – how, God? The scripture continues in verse 35… 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.[d]” There is so much information here! Let’s examine some of what Mary learned… Gabriel first answered Mary’s “how” question, saying, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Mary was a faithful and devout Jewish girl who was well-versed in the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, this was something new for her to experience. In Mary’s time, the Holy Spirit came upon individuals in specific circumstances. But for the Christ-follower today, the Holy Spirit is ALWAYS present. Let this passage be a reminder that WE have the miraculous wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit with us every moment – at our fingertips. Mary also learned from Gabriel that her baby was to be holy, the Son of God. The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah – the promised son in the lineage of David, who would reign forever – the fulfillment of a promise made hundreds of years earlier - AND the words spoken by the angel clearly prophesied Mary that her son was to be both flesh AND God. She was to name Him Jesus – meaning Jehovah is salvation. God taught Mary about the one she was to mother, and we, too, can trust God to teach us about those we are called to mother! God knows each of us inside and out, and He knows exactly what we each need. That’s not to say that a mother/child situation is always ideal because, unfortunately, we don’t always follow God with every turn – and as a result, hard times may come. But our or our children’s faults don’t negate the fact that God is always with us, knows us each inside and out, and is always waiting to share with us His wisdom regarding how He wants us to specifically guide, lead, and love someone the one He has entrusted us with.   I doubt that Mary knew HOW difficult her life would be upon her obedience to God. No mother-to-be truly understands the joys and pains that motherhood will bring. And no child of God truly understands the joys and pains involved in following the will of God. Still, Mary knew that in saying yes to God, she was risking everything. She likely wondered if Joseph would turn away from her, and If he left, would her parents turn against her? Had Mary allowed her imagination to run wild, she could have let fear paralyze her as she wondered if she would have to spend the rest of her life begging or living a life of prostitution. And if Joseph did stay, would their wedding day be one of joy? Would she be ostracized by society forever? Would people think she was crazy if she claimed to be the mother of the Messiah? But Mary was faithful, and she simply clung to God and His promises. She knew of God’s steadfast love and His perfect provision, she knew of His amazing power and perfect control. She heard Gabriel’s words, nothing is impossible with God, and she surely responded in faith, saying…  “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” As I think about Mary, I also think about my own parenting. My kids are getting older now, but they still give me plenty of opportunities to trust God’s work in their lives. No matter where you are in the process of mothering – caring for an infant daily, sharing wisdom with your older children, or mothering unconventionally, by loving the one God puts in your path today, you can trust God to lead and guide YOU as you lead and guide another. And as you lean into Him and He continues to show up over and over again, praise and thanks to our God will fill you to overflowing as you become closer to Him through this act of blessed parenting. Psalm 92 says “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High, It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening. … You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!” Happy Mother’s Day week! I pray you feel honored as you walk in God’s presence. Dear Heavenly Father – we thank you for each woman who is mothering in your will, clinging to you for wisdom and guidance. And I pray that each person listening feels honored today for her work even as she is humbled by your greatness. We walk in amazement that you allow us to partner with you in building your kingdom, and we give you all the praise and glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

God brought artist, Katharine Ward, from a low place in her college life to a new place of service with Him. He gave her a revived heart!   Please join us for today's interview and be inspired to receive a revived heart, one that is eager to serve God. Ezra 9:9 "The Lord provided physical and spiritual revival." 

Join host Janet Berrong as she shares the many therapeutic benefits of music. It's time to get your praise and worship on - and get healthy at the same time!