Morning Briefings

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2e354426/hope-you-can-feel Our hope is neither flimsy nor fleeting; rather, our Hope has a name: Jesus. Long before He was born, the Heavenly Father told of his coming, giving him the name Immanuel. "The virgin will be with child and shall bear a son,  and they shall call his name Immanuel,"  which translated means, "God with us." 1    The prophecy of Isaiah, rendered 700 years before the birth of Jesus. 2   Hmm, Immanuel,

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/35ede34c/something-we-cant-live-without-advent-hope Today is the first day of Advent - a time we anticipate Christ’s first coming as a baby born to save the world, and also his second coming, when all things will be set right. This is a season of true hope  for all the world.  Holidays always bring up different sorts of memories--even seemingly small ones. Last year, whilst struggling with a tangle of lights I was trying t

Grateful or Ungrateful?  You get to pick your seat! podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1cb75952/thanks-giving-choose-your-seat Good Day! When we choose to be thankful, it changes us.   On the other hand, when we do not think much about being thankful, or expressing it, some change is in order.  Unexpressed thanks or gratitude is not worth very much.    Something about the prayers and writings of believers from years gone by moves me, and I'm praying that t

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/959295c2/gods-favorite-day-of-the-year Do you think God ever looks at a calendar? Well if he does, I bet he likes Thanksgiving Day best of all--I bet it is his favorite day of the year! Perhaps this is the set-apart time of the year in which we please God the most. No gifts expected, just family and friends and food . . . and most importantly, giving thanks to our great God.    Ah, indeed the Lord is good, and worthy of our

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2985f4a9/the-power-of-god-in-prison-no-43-acts About midnight, this happened .   Our priorities define us. Have you thought about that? Though we later read his eloquent prayers, this is the first we see that Paul was a man of prayer, and we get a peek into what his prayers and praising God accomplished. In the start of Acts chapter 16, Paul’s second gospel journey, along with Silas, Timothy and Luke, Paul went into Philipp

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1d65ef3d/one-compelling-female-taking-a-page-out-of-her-book-no-42-acts I'm a'wonderin' - do ya have a place of prayer? "Yeah, I do," she said, "at my kitchen table, every morning."                     "Yes, I sure do," he said. "I pray with a bunch of guys at our small group." Well, which is it? Is a place of prayer the place you privately pray or is it the place you go when you have cares - great or small - to be surround

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1acc9501/gods-voice-have-you-heard-it-no-41-acts "God told me..." Wait, what? You heard God's voice? Oh, come on. "Yes, God told me I should go a different direction on my job." Seriously, you expect me to believe that God talked to you? huh... Funny thing. It was not long ago on a cross country flight, that I turned to the man next to me and asked, "Hey, does God ever speak to you?" You might be surprised to know that he d

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2480b3db/what-are-you-waiting-for I'm wrestling with something--namely how and when we make decisions, how long we wait and the things we choose to 'try' without any guarantees. For instance, over the last several years, I have known folks so intent on losing weight and getting healthy, they did what it took to get the GLP-1 drugs - actual hypodermic needles loaded with medicine because of the 'promise' they would lose a de

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/334bda77/am-i-good-enough-to-get-to-heaven-40-acts Heaven is a rather curious subject... There are many opinions about whether or not Heaven is real, with most irreligious folks being completely ambivalent, that is, until death comes knocking at their door. Suddenly, they are not so ambivalent; suddenly, they are not so apathetic.  As conversation slowly proceeds about what comes after this life, I have found that one who i

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/214cb707/fickle-are-you-lets-think-no-39-acts People are fickle. Especially in their thinking. Definition, fickle: M arked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness. Yes, Mr. Merriam and Miss Webster, you are correct! Turns out, that is nothing new. Back on the scene in Turkey, Paul and Barnabas are spreading the good news of Jesus, and from the responses they get, we learn a lot. W

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/39124489/who-is-your-audience-no-38-acts Last spring, I flew to New York City and on to Greece, where about 40 of us from eight different states traveled in the footsteps of Paul--something I had longed to do for many years. How incredible it was, and I will go back! But, you could rightly ask, 'Which footsteps of Paul did you trace?' The apostle made four journeys across land and sea--three to take the good news of Jesus