Grace Talks

Today I wanted to talk about a book of the Bible that has been sitting in my thoughts for the past couple of months. What was Malachi’s message? That while people looked to be serving God, their hearts were far from worship. The priests, the leaders in their faith, were causing many to stumble. There were cheap offerings being made in the temple, it was for show and a part of their routine. And the people blamed every trouble on God. And Malachi called them out for it. But his message from the Lord starts not with instruction or condemnation - but love and disbelief at the lack of understanding from the people.

For this Bible study, we get to read a short but powerful story about a woman who was at the end of her rope, but then reached out to a man of God in 2 Kings 4:1-7. If you’re looking for a message on trusting God in the midst of fear and unfortunate circumstances, I think this might just be for you.

For this month’s devotional, there was one verse in 2 Corinthians that is so encouraging, I knew I wanted to talk about it this month. So buckle in for a quick word about hope, renewal, and looking forward in faith.  

Additional Readings: 2 Corinthians 4-5; Romans 12; 1 John 3

This devotional looks a little different. Join in as I study 1 Corinthians in real time with you, and ask myself the question: Am I doing enough or am I finding worth in productivity?

For this Bible study, we’re learning about judging others, mercy, and fresh starts. To do that we will be leaning into the perspective of an unnamed woman found in the Gospel of John. 

For July, we aren’t talking about fear. We are talking about casting out fear. Because as often as I talk about God being a protector and a provider and someone to be our refuge, He is also a Father that calls us to step up and do battle with our enemy and his tactics.

And that’s all fear is. A weapon of the enemy. Isaiah 54:17 tells us that no weapon forged against us will prevail. But that doesn’t mean we won’t have to fight.

So how do we fight fear? Let’s ask God.

Additional Readings:

Deuteronomy 31:8, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 56:3, Psalm 118:6, Isaiah 41:10-13, Matthew 10:29-31, John 10:1-18, Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:6, 1 Peter 3:14

Listen in as my friend Joanie Fleischer and I talk about what it looks like to lead where you are, inside the church and outside of it. 

Additional Resources:

• How to Lead When You're Not in Charge by Clay Scroggins
• Andy Stanley podcast episode July and August 2017
• How to Lead When Your Boss Can't or Won't by John Maxwell
• 1 & 2 Samuel

Busyness and rest; God’s response to our exhaustion; and an undivided heart. This June’s devotional focuses on the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18-19.    

Additional Bible Readings: 

Acts 2:37 ; Revelations 3:16 ; Genesis 2:2-3 ; Hebrews 4:9-11 ; Psalms 127:2 ; Exodus 33:14

For this month’s devotional, we are going to be diving into a story of healing in a hopeless situation, stepping into freedom, and the need to choose how you live and who you serve.     

Additional Readings:  

• Leviticus 26:13 
• Isaiah 61:1  
• Romans 5-6 
• 1 Corinthians 6:12 
• 2 Cor 3:17 
• Galatians 5 
• Ephesians 2:8 
• 1 Peter 2:16-17

For this Bible study, I decided to commemorate Mother’s Day with an episode about a special mother of the Bible found in 1 Samuel 1-2. The story of Hannah involves comparison, jealousy, accusations, infertility struggles, grief, and answered prayers.

An April devotional to talk about how God guides us, protects us, and refines us. (And of course: loves us beyond understanding.)   

Additional Readings: 

Deuteronomy 32:4 ; Psalm 18 ; Psalm 27 ; Psalm 65 ; Matthew 7:24-27 ; John 8:12 ; John 15:5 ; 1 Peter 2:4

For this episode of Real Talks, we are joined by my friend, Dylan Jacobs, to talk about the struggles of comparison, pride, and wondering "why not me?".

For this month’s devotional, we are going to be talking about God as our provider. If you struggle with worry, anxiety, fear, or depression - this message is for you.

For this Bible study, we are going to be looking into a story that includes the destruction of two cities, being rescued by angels, and a woman who longed too much for the past to move on to a better future. Today’s woman of the Bible can be found in Genesis 19.

For this month’s devotional: let’s talk about faith, the bad things we face, and the goodness of God.

Real Talks is back in 2022, and for this episode, we are joined by a Miss Kaitlyn Moriarty to talk about music, worship, and living out our best lives for Christ. 

Cody Carnes – Firm Foundation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ndiD0_qNk 

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and have some motivation going into the new year. I know I do, and I have used that motivation for a few things. One of those is starting a monthly devotional. For this January, let's talk about motivation, running our race, and becoming more like Jesus. 

Additional Readings

Philippians chapters 1-4 (The whole book!)

Proverbs 24:16

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

1 Timothy 6:11-12

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Hebrews 12:1

Merry Christmas! In this episode we will be looking at who Jesus was, how He relates to us, and how He came into the world.

In this last episode about Esther, we close out the final two chapters, find out how well the Jews managed to protect themselves, and talk about our final take away points for this epic book of the Bible.

Find out if Esther and Mordecai can stop the evil edict and save their people. Plus learn more about identity, transformation, and shining a light.

Episode 27 is live! Read about it on the blog, watch it on the YouTube channel, and listen on all available podcast streaming platforms.

In this seventh episode on the book of Esther, we witness a confession and an execution. 

In this sixth episode on the book of Esther, we see how pride sets someone up for a fall.

In this fifth episode on the book of Esther, we find out if Esther will be able to approach the throne in chapter 5.

In this fourth episode on the book of Esther, we find out what Queen Esther is willing to do for her people.

Now on chapter 3 of Esther, it's time to meet the story's villain. 

Continuing on with chapter 2 of Esther, we learn about a competition, a crowning, and a plot to kill the king. 

Starting with chapter 1, we are beginning the story of Esther. She has her own book of the Bible, and it is well deserved. Stay tuned for action, "romance"?, and a strong female lead. In this episode, we meet King Xerxes and Queen Vashti and experience a banquet and a banishment.   

We are back with Real Talks, where we have a conversation with godly women about topics that God has placed on their hearts. Today's guest, Sandy Bentien, is bringing up patience and reliance on God. Oh, and she is my mom! 

2 women, 1 child, and a king. Listen in for a quick study about envy and wisdom. 

We are back with Real Talks, where we have a conversation with godly women about topics that God has placed on their hearts. Today's guest, Chloe Shelby, is talking about what it is to be grounded in God. 

We are going to be talking about Tabitha, a disciple from the New Testament who we can read about in Acts.

We are back with another episode of our new segment: Real Talks, where we have a conversation with other godly women about topics that God has placed on their hearts. Today's guest, Alexandra Welsh, is talking about growing in her faith.

This episode, we are going to be talking about Miriam, the sister of Moses that we learned about in our last Bible study episode about the women of Exodus.

The name Miriam is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved". I think the fact that her name’s meaning is conflicting with something sweet like beloved and something, well, bitter like bitter is fitting for her. If you stick around, you’ll find out why.

This is new! Real Talks is where we have a conversation with other godly women about topics God has placed on their hearts. This episode we are joined by Kathleen, a friend and mentor, who is talking to us about the importance of looking towards God when we experience worry.  

Today we are going to be talking about a few women from the beginning of Exodus who were instrumental to the entire history of the Israelites and impacted one famous man in particular, Moses..

I know that we all have a tendency to focus on the commercialized version of Christmas, and it’s easy to do because it's a fun time of year. But what makes Christmas so exciting isn’t all of the pretty lights, the good food, or even the family Christmas parties and thoughtful gifts and cards. It’s the reason why Christians celebrate Christmas. It’s this story. Today we are going to be talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Today we are going to be talking about Elizabeth, the mother who prepared the way.

We are a couple weeks away from Christmas, so it just seems right to begin looking at the Christmas story. But before we get into learning about Jesus’ mother next week, there was another woman who was very surprised to find out that she would be having a boy as well. We will find out about her story in the beginning of Luke.

Today we are going to be talking about Martha & Mary, two sisters who loved Jesus in different ways, and who were both loved by Him. Something that makes us human is that we have limits. This is evident in our love languages. Sometimes we don’t even realize it, but we limit how we show love to just words of affirmation or quality time or acts of service. The epic thing about our God is that His love is not limited, it surpasses all languages, and it never runs out of patience.

Welcome back to Grace Talks: a Christian women’s podcast that studies the Bible, the women in it, and applies it to our lives today. Today we are going to be talking about Abigail, an intelligent woman who was quick to take action and make peace.

Today we are going to be talking about Michal, a woman who struggled with her heart in the Old Testament.

Today we are going to be talking about a dead girl and a sick woman from the gospel. A two-for-one special if you will.

Today we are going to be talking about Deborah: a judge, prophet, warrior, and poet from the book of Judges.

Welcome back to Grace Talks! We are going to be talking about Sarah, Abraham’s wife and the mother of a nation.

Today we are going to be talking about Ruth, a woman from the Old Testament who shows us what loyalty looks like. 

Today we are going to be talking about some co-workers in Christ from Romans 16. This includes some really cool people like Phoebe, Priscilla and Aquila, and more. 

Today we are going to be talking about the woman at the well. We can find this Samaritan woman’s story in John 4. 

Today we are going to be talking about the woman who helped defeat Jericho: Rahab. 

For our first woman of the Bible, I figured it was only fitting to look at Eve. We will be reading passages taken from chapters 1-3 of Genesis. 

Before we start looking into the different women of the Bible, we are going to check out what it means to be a woman of God in the first place.

We'll be looking a lot at Proverbs 31 and Galatians 5:22-23.