Words for the Journey

Mary and Martha were some of Jesus’ closest friends, yet when their brother becomes seriously ill, he makes no effort to get there in time to save him. What do we do when we feel disappointment with God? How do we reconcile our beliefs when we can’t make sense of our circumstances?

Peter is a figure of hope for anyone seeking to follow Jesus. He made glaring blunders, yet God used him as a pillar of the new church! How did God transform him from a man full of fear and pride to become Peter the Rock? We’ll see how his failures were as essential as his victories.

Jesus healed ten men of leprosy, giving them back their lives, yet only one returned to worship Jesus and express his gratitude. Jesus is continually wooing us into a close relationship because he delights in us. Will we respond to his affections by giving him our worship?

Job is a tough story because he was a godly man, yet experienced great adversity. How can we believe God is good when we’re suffering? Four pillars of truth will give us stability when we are navigating difficult circumstances that make it hard to trust God’s character as good.

God created Saul to be a man who was passionate and committed, whatever he was pursuing. The problem was he was pursuing the wrong thing, at least until his moment in the light. We’ll see how God make a dramatic change in Saul’s life by changing his beliefs.

When Moses met God in the burning bush, he was terrified. Decades later he and God were close friends. How did Moses get there? We’ll look at their journey to intimacy and the role the Tent of Meeting played in their relationship.

This life is a hard journey. There’s a reason why this world doesn’t feel like a good fit, one Scripture addresses. But if we’ll remind ourselves of the promises of heaven, it will help us maintain today. Cyndy has 3 tips and 3 promises to encourage us while we’re still here.

When we have pain and problems, we tend to gravitate toward anything but God. God asks us to keep him first. If we’ll pay attention to the basics (seek God, fellowship with Christians, pray, and read Scripture), he will richly provide for our needs, guiding us with love and power.

It’s no fun when our mind continually replays tormenting thoughts. However, we can take control. In this podcast we will discover how to get the bad stuff out of our head and replace it with healthy thinking. With God’s weapons, we can fight and win these mental battles.

Grieving is one of the most important parts of the healing process, but also the part most often misunderstood and skipped. Grief is sneaky, sometimes showing up in unusual ways. Learn how to recognize and value your grief, what to avoid, and what to do when it shows up.

While it goes against our human grain to forgive, there are many compelling reasons to do so. Forgiveness brings good health, freedom, and closeness with God. We will dispel common misconceptions about what forgiveness means and dig into many of the benefits of complying with this fundamental directive.

The purpose of our life is to serve God and glorify him in everything we say, do, and think. Getting these areas to line up is hard work and requires true beliefs and healing for our wounds. The effort is worth it because it leads to the best life possible.

After we begin to heal and realize we don’t want to be a victim anymore, we need to learn new ways of doing things. How can we live healthy and successful lives? God gives us four helpful steps to do this in Psalm 37: Trust, commit, rest, and wait.

After we begin shedding the victim identity, we need something to put in its place. Micah 6:8 provides a great starting place, three standards that will guide us in any situation. Justice, mercy, and humility are not hard to understand, but very challenging to follow.

Receiving God’s healing in our life is wonderful, but it isn’t the end goal. Healing is just a means toward a greater end which is to finally live the life we were created for, as the person God made us to be. He has great plans for us, but we need restoration before we are ready

It’s every person’s tendency to justify their sin and shy away from confession, but we’re really hurting ourselves in a tremendous way when we do this. God’s plan and intention is never to shame us, it is to relieve us of guilt, setting our mind and heart free. It’s for us—not for him!

No one wants to contend with Satan, but we don’t get a choice about that. We only get a choice about standing up to his lies, living in the truth, using our God-given weapons, and get healing for our wounds. Find out how you can gain victory in your life.

While it is true our season of healing in the wilderness is challenging, that’s not the whole story. This season also includes many blessings, including growing intimacy with the Lord. Find out where joy can be found, as well as things you can do to make your life brighter.

In order to pass from our old life of bondage and enter into our new life in the Promised Land, it is necessary we travel through the wilderness. We will learn how to avoid some of the mistakes the Israelites made, mistakes that made this season harder and longer.

Are you stuck? So many settle for an unsatisfying life because it’s familiar and they are afraid to trust God to take them to something better. In Isaiah 43, God reveals his deep love for us and his plan to take care of us all the way to the Promised Land. His love will keep us moving forward.

The road to self-acceptance requires some effort, as well as an understanding of the truth, but it is worth it. Self-acceptance makes it possible to live in peace with ourselves and experience the best life possible, the life we were created to live.

There are two types of members in the “Victim Club,” the passive victim and the aggressive victim. Find out which type you are, and how you can resign from the club by examining your false beliefs about yourself and about God. This is one club you don’t want to belong to.

Too often we have allowed our self-worth to be defined by the bad things that have happened to us, along with the poor choices we've made. And as such, have come up lacking value. Find out how you can shed the lies and begin enjoying the person God made you to be.

Our needs are God-given, but if we try to meet them in our own prideful way, we will suffer for sure. Psalm 107 gives us three powerful metaphors illustrating victim lifestyles on Pride Pathway, metaphors that will help us identify victim choices that hurt our life.

Anger can interfere in our life, causing problems to others and ourselves. However, if we aren’t aware of the wound underneath our anger, we probably won’t be able to resolve it, only manage it. Find out how you can get rid of your anger every time it shows up.

Changing a false identity or victim behavior begins by seeing God for who he truly is and seeing the inestimable value of ourselves. God gives us a real-life example of this miracle in the story of Hagar. No one valued her until the day she met God while running away from her life.

Our perspective has a great deal to do with our success or failure. Nehemiah relied on the Peak Perspective, God’s way of viewing matters, and so was part of a great accomplishment. We, too, can be part of God’s plan, if we will look at him, not our circumstances.

If God's Word is true, and he loves us enough to let his Son die for us, and he holds all power, then why do we experience so many painful things? Who is really responsible for the problems in the world and the pain in our life?

Certain wounds like sexual abuse, do incredible damage to our heart, mind, body, and soul, as we see in the story of Tamar and Amnon. Even so, the Lord can and will heal us, if we’ll allow him to do so. Healing begins by laying a truthful foundation in our beliefs.

It is easy to fling around the term “healing,” but what exactly do we mean? Our podcast today will bring clarity while we learn to dissect our wounds. Find out the four places affected by our wounds and the corresponding remedies so you can find complete healing.

God often has a perspective that is different than ours, something we can solve by receiving truth and getting healing. Unhealed wounds and false beliefs can blind us, making it easy to head in destructive directions. Find out how you can abandon the Dirt Perspective and adopt the Peak Perspective

Defeating our pride and learning how to trust God is challenging. Today’s teaching will break this problem down into its three core elements: Power, Protection, and Provision. These helpful handles will help us see where the problem of pride is showing up in our life.

Trying to live the life we were created for, while painful wounds are living in us, doesn't work. That's why God brought Joseph's family back into his life, so he could be fully restored and ready to lead Egypt in strength and wisdom. Joseph is an example for all of us. (HJ#4 & #19)

When we disconnect from God, we put other things in his place, things that steer our life in the wrong direction. These false idols take our life captive. Today, Cyndy will share thoughts on how you can get your life back on track.

Everyone puts their trust in someone or something, but if it is not God, we will not experience the help and blessing of his power working on our behalf. False idols come in a thousand different forms, but one thing they all have in common, they steal us away from God’s best.

God clearly spells out two roads of which we can travel. His Word arms us with ample reasons and encouragement for choosing Trust Trail, as well as an equal amount of warnings why we should avoid Pride Pathway. Even so, making the right choice is difficult.

God has outlined for us two roads, roads I call "Trust Trail" and "Pride Pathway." One leads to life and happiness, the other to disappointment and destruction. There are reasons why we make the choices we do. Find out how you can avoid pain and suffering by traveling on Trust Trail.

Our beliefs affect how we conduct our life: every relationship, every decision, every reaction, which is why it is critical that we know what we believe, and that our beliefs line up with God’s Word. Otherwise, our beliefs will continually derail our life, leaving us disappointed and frustrated. Find out how you can get your beliefs back on track.

We all want to live a happy life, so does God, but stuff is holding us back. Just like the Israelites in Exodus, he's taking us to a good place, but we must follow him in order to get there. Getting to a great place in life hinges on our willingness to deal with our issues.

So many of us have deleted ourselves off the list of those Jesus loves and cares for because of the lives we’ve lived, just like the woman in Luke 7. After an encounter with Jesus, though, that can all change, as it did for her. We can begin to discover the truth that we are all worthy of love.

Learning from Joseph, Moses, David, and Paul, we will see a pattern God uses to prepare his children for their created purpose. Getting healthy has to come first before we can realize that purpose. We need God’s biblical healing before we can achieve our dreams and see our passions fulfilled.

Healing happens when we make a transaction with Jesus. In this podcast, Cyndy will guide you through a series of prayers that will help you make these transactions and receive the healing Jesus wants you to have. If you want immediate relief in your suffering, you’ve come to the right place.

We have inclinations and urgings all day long, but where do they come from? Is that God speaking to us or Satan? Or maybe neither, instead the world’s voice trying to influence us, or it’s simply our self. How do we know? Discernment is possible, but it takes a little work.

Today’s instant, all-about-me world, encourages us to quit whenever serving God gets tough, often without consulting with God first. But God needs servants who will persevere even in the face of obstacles and difficulties. Noah and Moses’ spectacular examples reveal 12 traits of perseverance, traits to help all of us.

When we have ongoing relationship with difficult people, it can be tricky figuring out what to do, and how to respond. We will break this tough topic down into practical steps for maintaining for the long haul and find out where we can go when our love runs dry.

There’s nothing as challenging as trying to maintain in a difficult relationship, particularly with a spouse or someone we love. Cyndy will describe the four stages of a predictable cycle, and strategies for finding peace and victory even in ongoing relationships that are difficult.

There is a time to forge ahead and a time to retreat. It is important to know when we need to pull back for rest and restoration. An example from Elijah’s journey in 1 Kings 19 will encourage and guide us when we’re feeling a little beat up from the battle.

Why should we keep fighting when the battles are so difficult? There are compelling reasons, one being to help others avoid the reality of hell. Cyndy shares 10 tips to help all of us find spiritual victory when we are serving in the Lord’s battles.

As we mature in our journey with the Lord, experiencing restoration, he prepares us to live the life he created us to live, one that has both a general and specific purpose. Getting there requires a heart of servitude, choosing to live our life for Jesus.

Traveling on Trust Trail requires we replace our pride with humility, a lifelong journey for us. Understanding six key concepts will help us head in the right direction: Believe without doubt, Transfer the Center, Endure Affliction, Bear with Others, Defer Gratification, and Accept Our Limitations.