Savoring Bible Moments Podcast

When Noah left the ark, the first thing he did on dry ground was to build an altar and make a sacrifice.  I see Noah's act as one that honored God for providing a new start after He allowed them to be rescued from the Flood.  I think that when you've been through a hard time, let's say even a worldwide pandemic with quarantine, there will be a huge relief once it is over.  This podcast will discuss the moment when Noah built the altar and made a sacrifice as well as what led up to it.   How we enter into a new start really does matter.  Noah built an altar.  What will we offer to God as we enter into the new year?  We're not finished with the pandemic yet, but one day, we will also exit our pandemic quarantine.  How we will exit it will matter too.  What will we hold dear?  Noah's focus remained on God during his quarantine so that when he emerged, his faith in God remained.   Happy New Year!  Trust in God.  He helps, provides and makes a way.

We can trust that God is doing great things with His mighty hand.  He answered the prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth to have a baby even in their old age.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit who conceived in her the Son of God miraculously.  These are two examples of God's greatness and of how He performs His will in the lives of people.  Listen in to this podcast to hear how Mary's response to the angel's news differed greatly from Zechariah's response to hearing that his prayer had been answered.  May we pray like Mary, "How will this be?" instead of "How can I be sure of this?" from Zechariah.  God has great things in store for us if we will have faith to believe Him when he opens doors and arranges details beyond our control.

When friends invite us to come and try out a new restaurant, a new TV show or new thing, we will often agree.  In the Bible book of John, Jesus had called Philip then Philip shared with his friend, Nathanael,  that Philip had found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.  At first, Nathaniel responded saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip didn't respond and instead said to him, “Come and see.”  Nathaniel agreed then he made his way to Jesus.  The conversation that Jesus had with Nathaniel proved that Jesus had known the previous and private conversation between Philip and Nathaniel.  Jesus told Nathaniel that He had seen Nathaniel under the fig tree.  It is likely that Nathaniel was studying the scriptures as was a common practice that people would do under fig trees back then.  Jesus knew where Nathaniel was and that he was searching for truth.  I invite you today to "Come and see" or rather, "Come and listen" and hear more about this story where Nathaniel encounters Jesus.  He knows where you are, is aware of your concerns and is able to validate himself to you.  I hope you'll listen and be encouraged as you pull into the Garage and let His Word encourage and inspire your heart.  

My family became stranded on a lake during the July 4th weekend.  Thankfully, someone came to our rescue.  This experience reminded me that during the quarantine due to the Covid 19 pandemic, I sometimes have been alone, stranded from the shore of Normal. Stranded is a lonely place but it is also a place where God allows us in His great mercy to choose Him.  Have you ever felt stranded in your plans, in your relationships or in your job? This episode will allow you to hear our ordeal on the lake and consider how God rescues us as we trust in Him.

When it's time to rebuild, you have to start with those who are willing to do the work.  In the book of Nehemiah, we see how people began to rebuild their city's wall even if construction was not their forte.  They built on the last person's work until the wall was rebuilt.  The enemies outside of the city threatened the people but Nehemiah, their leader, positioned the families strategically around the areas of the wall throughout the city and made sure they could protect themselves.  They succeeded in rebuilding their wall which allowed order to begin again.  The chaos and uncertainty ended when the people worked together to rebuild a safe society.  The leadership of Nehemiah caused the people to rally around his vision.  Before he was allowed to go to the city of Jerusalem to rebuild, he first wept over the situation.  After the first few months of the pandemic, we have all been affected by it.  It is time to look ahead and begin rebuilding.  Allow God's Word in this podcast to settle into your heart and pray for his wisdom to guide you to do your part in rebuilding.

In our world, we see injustice and it breaks our heart.  We don't understand how a cruel act could take place.  It was wrong for George Floyd to be killed with a knee placed in his throat for over eight minutes.  We desperately want the disparities that exist in systems in America to change and be fair.  When we see the actions of a person, we can determine who he or she is allowing to guide their life.  There are two choices:  the devil, who comes to steal, kill and destroy or Jesus Christ, our Savior, who through the Holy Spirit, lives in the hearts of Believers.   It is time to let the word of God provide truth into our mind, our circumstances and our questions.  Our choices have consequences and in the book of Ezekiel, we see the utter destruction of God's people because of their disobedience as they worshiped idols.  They lost their focus and their hearts became hardened.  As a result, God raised up Ezekiel to share the result of their sin but to also offer hope.  There is always hope no matter how bad the situation looks.  I pray that we will examine our words, our actions and our systems to provide hope and life for all people.  I hope you'll listen and see how God promised an undivided heart and a new spirit to the people who eventually would turn back to God.  

When we hear Colossians 3:17, it makes us pause and ask ourselves, "Am I really doing everything and saying every word in the name of Jesus and giving thanks to him?"  We're in times where people seem to let anything come out of their mouth.  I want to examine what I'm saying and doing to see if I am aligning my words and actions to God's will for me.  In this episode, you'll hear about Jesus' first miracle of turning water in to wine at a wedding.  His mother had told the servants there to do whatever Jesus told them.  From the beginning of his ministry, we see the call to action:  Do Whatever He Says to do.  As we pull into the garage in this episode, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit of God would help us all examine our hearts to make sure we are speaking and doing the things that will please our Father in heaven.

Welcome to the garage!  When you think of a garage, you may think of it as a place to store your vehicle, tools and Christmas decorations.  Or maybe, you imagine a person working on a project like fixing a tire leak or changing the brakes.  In this podcast, you will see that the Garage Pod is a place for us to let ourselves pull in and allow God's Word to make repairs, refine systems and develop us into the people whom He has designed us to be!