Episode 115

Perhaps you are in the valley today, injured , pained, suffering the loss of someone you love or somehow mistaking the shadow for reality. Don’t stop; keep moving forward, your valley is what you are passing through on your way to your destination.

Episode 114

Psalms 23, easily the most popular and well know of the Psalms, has spoken to the heart of men and women since the words were first written. Even those who have never seen sheep can close their eyes and imagine what it would be like to live under the watchful eye of a shepherd who faithfully and lovingly cares for the flock.

Episode 113

O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." 2 Chronicles 20:12

In a beautiful acknowledgement of our dependence on the Lord Jehoshaphat says quite honestly and sincerely, “We do not know what to do but our eyes are upon you. "

Episode 112

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:42-43

Two thieves one to the right and one to the left and one without knowing showed for all ages why Christ came. He came for us all but He also came for each one of us.

Episode 111

But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head Psalms 3:3

The sadness and disappointment David felt when betrayed by his own son is hard to imagine but David took comfort in knowing that God, his God, his shield and the lifter of his head had not and would not abandon him.

Episode 110

… the Law of the Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night. Psalms 1:2 Contemporary English Version

But His delight, His pleasure and our joy is in the law of the Law of the Lord. How wonderful to study God’s Word and to mediate upon the goodness of the Lord.

Episode 109

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalms 1:3

Can you imagine, a beautiful fruitful tree growing on a riverbank. Seasons come and they go but that tree is there. When the drought comes and the waters are low the deep roots of the tree manage to somehow still draw strength out of the river. You are that tree.

Episode 108

My ears have heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Job 42: 5 New International Version

God is too great for us to comprehend or understand. We must trust his great wisdom and love. We must trust that somehow the unbelievable, the unjust, the unfair, the unbearable, will all work for our good and the Lord himself will shelter us safely in his arms because he loves us.

Tried By The Fire

But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].Job 23:10 Amplified Bible

Is your life filled with challenges that you don’t understand, pain you feel you cannot endure, failures that should have been successes, and a feeling of isolation from the only one who can truly answer your questions? Take heart, God’s ways are not our ways Stand fast for in the end your life too can be a shining example of what faith, fidelity, and love of God above all else can do.

Episode 106

Does God twist justice: Does the Almighty twist what is right? Job 8:3 New Living Translation

Job knew that he was not hiding sin despite how it appeared. His frienemy, part friend part enemy truthfully stated that God does not twist justice. Bildad stated a truth and somehow drew a wrong conclusion. Things were not as they appeared. It was not because of Job’s sins that God had permitted this calamity; it was become of Job’s righteousness.

Episode 105

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. Job 1:20

Faced with the greatest challenges and losses of his life Job chooses to remain faithful and worship God.

Episode 104

And Esther said, the adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. Esther 7:6
Respect may be demanded from others but only the giver can sincerely honor persons in authority. It is the gift from the heart that really matters.

Episode 103

And he brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. Esther 2:7-8

Our destiny rests in the hands of God. The short term circumstances may seem unfair, unjust, and may well be so but God takes the substance of our pain and failures and weaves it into a beautiful tapestry that becomes our lives.

Episode 102

But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger. Esther 1:12

Being right is not enough, we must also have a right attitude, a right and prayful heart and be willing to act with courage but also humality.

Episode 101

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17

We have all been there before, trying to change, to do the right thing. Then it happens. We make mistakes, we fall down. Sometimes we just want to give up but this is a new day. This time is different. The Lord has given us a new determination.

Episode 100

Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!"
Nehemiah 8:10b

We have reasons to be sorrowful. We have reasons to feel down cast but in spite of what is going on around us, and sometimes even in us we ask the Lord to give us joy, that precious joy of Jesus Christ.

Episode 99
He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law. Nehemiah 8:3(New Living Translation)

The time had come for total obedience which cannot come without understanding and commitment.

Episode 98
I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. Psalms 9:1

We learn to praise him not just when things go well but when things are discouraging, when our hearts are broken and when we don’t feel like praising him.

Episode 97
Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, and the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. Nehemiah 1:5-6a (New Living Translation)

Redemption always begins with the painful reality of who we truly are and where we truly are. We are people who have transgressed God’s law and who are in desperate need of God’s forgiveness.

Episode 96
Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2: 3-4 American Standard Version

We are in a spiritual warfare. The action is no less real and the results are no less critical than any war we have seen or heard about. The people of God must be ready to move with power and in authority to gain the victory that is so essential.

Episode 95
Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their aims. Ezra 4:4-5a (New Living Translation)

Why has God permitted a holding pattern? Perhaps it is not about God, maybe it is about us. Will we continue to pray, continue to believe even when we are holding our ground but not progressing? Can we allow God to build us in this time of challenge? Can God trust us to stand still and not throw our tools down in frustration and walk away? Can we serve God even when we cannot feel Him?

Episode 94

For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, "Our God protects all those who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him." Ezra 8:22 New Living Translation

Maybe not today or even tomorrow but we too will be faced with the reality of life in this world. We too must decide if we will stand for the Lord or if we will fold our testimony up and put it away holding our head down in shame.

Episode 93

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing. Ezra 1:1

God will use whomever he chooses, whenever he chooses to achieve His good end.

Episode 92

Sing to the LORD a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.... Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp. (Psalms 149:1,3) New Living Translation

What a trademark. Throughout history David is known as a praiser! What a praiser he was. His love for God was not only a matter of personal devotion it was a matter of public adoration as well.

Episode 91

Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us.
Hebrews 12:1 Contemporary English Version

God’s destiny for Akhwari that day was to be a flesh and blood reminder to everyone who takes a fall in life. Falls happen. No one is insulated from the pain this life can bring. Life is a marathon and we can’t afford to stay down . We will run this race.

Episode 90

Psalm 34:2
My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

To see the world in true perspective is to see that none of us have any right to be proud or high minded. All that we are is through the grace of God. We must honor Him for all He has done and not take credit for the Lord’s work in our lives.

Episode 89

I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging bread.
Psalms 37:25

A mature Christian shares advice on the Christian life gained from a long life of service. Every time life and circumstances knocked her down God would pick her up. and open a door. She knew God would never leave her alone.

Episode 88

And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land. 2Ch 22:12

This is the true story of Joash, the boy king of destiny.
Joash’s life is saved while other children around him are murdered. Athaliah set out to destroy the entire royal family but God touched the heart of Jehoshabetath who rescued Joash, hiding him in God’s temple for six years. When the time came he was crowned King.

Episode 87
But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!” Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD.II Chronicles 20:17-18 New Living Translation
Nations as well as individuals should seek God. Abraham Lincoln is especially remember for his plea during the civil war when he asked the Senate to join him in repentance , fasting and prayer for America. “We have forgotten God.” He told them.

Episode 86
But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says." II Chronicles 18:13 NIV
The crowd is not always right and there is not always safety in numbers. There is safety in the truths of Jesus Christ.

Episode 85

The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions. II Chronicles 10:13,14

Leaders should seek out the will of God, the wisdom of God, the patience of God and perform their tasks with the love of God operative in their lives sharing that love with others.

Episode 84

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalms 133:1


Unity and peace are beautiful gifts that make life fuller and more meaningful, gifts that every family should have.

Episode 83
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. II Thessalonians 1:11

Even when captured, sent to prison, tortured, her legs and feet broken, and permanent scares left on her body, Irene Sendler would not reveal anything about her work.

Episode 82

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Proverbs 9:10 (New Living Translation)

Start at the beginning, learn to love and fear God and he will indeed grant wisdom and grant insight and understanding beyond your years and imagination.

Episode 81

When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days. I Chronicles 10:11-12


The valiant are not there for the glory, they are there to get the job done. In the time of trouble God will bring forth the valiant men unafraid to risk all for the cause that God has laid on their heart.

Episode 80

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. II Kings 22:2

Many of us face great challenges , some of us are at the crossroads of life. We know that the decision made at this point can impact us for years to come. What direction? What is the next step?

Episode 79
Then Josiah said, "What is this that I see?" The men of the city told him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah. He is the one who said that these things would happen which you have done against the altar of Bethel." Josiah said "Let him alone. Let no one move his bones." II Kings 23:17-18a New Life Version

There are thousands willing to serve in the limelight and glory but how many will labor in the low places with little or no recognition? These are the ones who God honors, those who serve without fanfare or praise.

Episode 78

The eyes of the LORD [are] in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3

God sees everything we do. We may cover our eyes and our deeds but we cannot hide from Him.

Episode 77
Now the just shall live by faith: Hebrew 10:38a

Faith is asking God ,believing in our heart that he is able to do every good thing. But it is also listening to him, listening to what he is doing in a given situation.

Eposide 76
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. II King 22:8;10

Confrontation with the Word forces all of us to make a decision, will we ignore it, bury it, discard it and put it out of our minds or will we hear it, allow it to change us and align ourselves with God’s purpose.? The choice is ours.

Episode 75

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 New International Version

Plain clothes civilian that miraculously changes into the superhero when dangers threatens makes for exciting reading or viewing but this is real life and we are the plain clothes Clark Kent. We are more than conquerors.

Episode 74
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. Judges 16:28a New Living Translation

. Blind, defeated, but with his hair now grown back Samson the prisoner was brought out to be ridiculed. The Philistines rejoiced but Samson‘s heart turned to God once more. He remembered to call on the name of his Father God and God answered.

Episode 73

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:45-48

Unique in all history is the week of Christ’s Crucifixion. The Prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal, the arrests by the solders. The time had come. Jesus prayed to his Father for strength and moved forward knowing what was ahead for him

Episode 72
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. Matthew 27:32 NIV

Simon could no doubt hear the mocking, and see the suffering of the man of sorrows. Simon could feel the quiet, strong spirit of Christ and the comfort Christ tried to give his followers even as he was on the way to his own death. This was no ordinary man.

. Episode 71
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. Ruth 1:22 NIV

The Lord doesn’t have to alter the past to bring blessings to your future. You are where he knew you would be and if you allow he will guide you to where he wants you.

Episode 70
He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem Isaiah 53:3 New International Version

People are not always as they appear. Isaiah 53 paints a very real picture of the coming Christ and it is not a pretty one. The prophet speaks not only of the pain of his great personal sacrifice but also of other people’s reaction to the Messiah.

Episode 69

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I I trust you.
Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Psalms 143:8 New Living Translation

Like a diamond, love has many facets and features. At the center and the most critical elements are the benevolent affection of God for his children and the reverent affection due from them to God.

Episode 68

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty."John 19:28

It seems a contradiction in terms at best, Good Friday? How can it be good? It was the darkest day in history.

Episode 67

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
John 5:6

Maybe it has always happened this way before but God may be doing a new thing in a new way. Let’s be open to the move of God however he chooses to come.

Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. Deut. 1:8

What has God promised you? Search his word. If you live for Him all the promises of the Book are yours. Read them. Memorize them, own them for the promises are yours to claim and possess.