Blooming Inspired Network

Michelle Bentham
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  • Christianity

A podcast for Christian women sharing encouragement Tuesdays/Thursdays at 11am Central/US.

  1. 10/30/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | Episode 169: The Greatest Love [Clean, Christian, Women, Podcast]

    Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. This week Michelle continues her very personal series about Mirror Moments with God where she found the courage to receive His forgiveness, trust His love and walk in who He created and redeemed her to be. Introduction Greetings to God’s Beautiful Wildflowers! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. Last week I began sharing my mirror moments testimony here on the podcast. As I shared last week, Embracing Identity is a core value here at Blooming Inspired Network. In my own experiences I’ve found spiritual identity is not at all about discovering who YOU are in Christ, but rather settling your heart in intimacy to know Him - just Him - discovering who He is and how He wants to express Himself through you. Last week I shared the messier parts of my testimony and how God used these practical mirror moments to reveal not only His heart for me, but also to help me embrace my identity and who He says I am. Today I’ll share a final mirror moment in the context of the story of a biblical woman. As I share with you today, I want to encourage you to put yourself in today’s passage as we look at the adulterous woman who was cast at Jesus feet for judgment and found herself receiving mercy instead. Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that You would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that we would be able to step into the story and find you there, meeting with us and speaking to our hearts personally - up close. I ask Lord for you to allow us to encounter you and realize the truths revealed for ourselves today! Show us Your Glory Lord! I ask these things in Jesus’ Holy Name, AMEN. Would you allow your heart to engage with Jesus and settle on Him today? Last week I shared that somehow in leading women’s Bible study I missed the idea of God taking my confession of sin and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. So as we begin today I want to turn to a familiar passage of scripture and begin with an encounter activation today. Rather than turn in your Bible’s I want to encourage you to do something completely different. Today, I want you to get in a comfortable position sitting in a comfy chair or your couch. If you can do so safely of course… Please don’t do this next part if you are driving in your car… But, now I’d encourage you - let your shoulders drop back, close your eyes and let whatever cares you are holding onto go. Now, take a few deep breaths (in through your nose, out through your mouth), and as you do I want you to think about the place in your body you are most aware of the presence of God when He shows up. Once you have settled on where you are most aware of GOd’s presence, I want you to focus from that place of awareness on who you know Jesus to be from Scripture. What do you know about Him to be true? And when you have that place of awareness, I’ll call it your heart, when you have your heart set on Jesus then join me in the reading. Lord, come and meet with your children today. We ask you to come and introduce yourself to us in real and tangible ways. Thank you Lord, for your goodness and grace today. If you remember, last week I shared that I had a moment when God woke me from my sleep and had me recall all of the unconfessed sins I had committed. And as I confessed them to Him, grieved over what they had cost Him… He gave me His perspective of me in exchange - “Look what a mess you made out of the beauty I created.” I feel sure some of you need to encounter the Lord’s goodness much the same way I did that night. If, at any time during the reading God begins to speak to you, stay with Him. Otherwise, join me as we place ourselves into this story found in the Gospel of John. Today’s reading is in John 8:1-11 and I’ll be reading from The Passion Translation: Let me set the stage for you - women in Jesus’ time where considered more property than precious gift. Men often married them when they were very young and the women had taken to sewing their valuables into their garments and braiding their jewelry into their hair so that if their husband came home one day and said, “I divorce you. I divorce you. I divorce you.” they would not be found destitute. A woman in this situation without means could not return to her family, for she is disgraced. An adulteress by law since she is now divorced. She has no choice in order to survive she would have to do one of two things, 1) choose to live with a man unmarried, or 2) prostitute herself to make a living. The law found in the Deuteronomic Code prescribed that both a woman and a man caught in adultery should be stoned to death. But, in this narrative we find that the pharisees only brought the woman to Jesus. Now, Let’s Begin: Verse 1-3: Jesus walked up the Mount of Olives near the city where he spent the night. Then at dawn Jesus appeared in the temple courts again, and soon all the people gathered around to listen to his words, so he sat down and taught them. Then in the middle of his teaching, the religious scholars and the Pharisees broke through the crowd and brought a woman who had been caught in the act of committing adultery and made her stand in the middle of everyone. Can you picture this woman with me for a moment? She was likely in some state of undress - perhaps even naked. She may be crying, trembling and fearful of the men who are dragging her through the street. Her tears mingling with the dirt being stirred as she is escorted to the temple steps where this angry, pious group of men cast her down at Jesus’ feet. Can you see her? Defeated. Broken. Ashamed. Fearful. Weeping. Crying out, perhaps. Cowering at the feet of Jesus. Not even daring to look up. Now that you see her, could you be her? Could you be the woman caught in a trap of sin - suddenly exposed, found out and cast at the feet of Jesus? How are you feeling? What are you thinking? Maybe your sin isn’t adultery, but the wages of sin is death - and we all have sinned. Verse 4-6 Then they said to Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Doesn’t Moses’ law command us to stone to death a woman like this? Tell us, what do you say we should do with her?” They were only testing Jesus because they hoped to trap him with his own words and accuse him of breaking the laws of Moses. But Jesus didn’t answer them. Instead he simply bent down and wrote in the dust with his finger. Can you hear their voices? Accusing you. Shaming you. Demanding judgment and an answer. You know what’s coming - first one, then another - they’ll soon begin casting their stones of judgment beyond these words. Caught in the act - they said. The Punishment is Death. What have I done? Oh Lord… Please. Help me. Your thoughts must be racing, pounding out a rhythm of panic with each beat of your heart. Suddenly you sense His presence, low to the ground. What is He doing? He’s writing something with His finger in the dirt. I could throw myself at His feet and beg for mercy… But, that won’t do any good. I deserve this. I was caught in the act. Two or three witnesses - I heard him say it. Verses 7-8: Angry, they kept insisting that he answer their question, so Jesus stood up and looked at them and said, “Let’s have the man who has never had a sinful desire throw the first stone at her.” And then he bent over again and wrote some more words in the dust. Can you hear His voice speaking to the men who accuse you? Did He just give them permission to stone me? They are the Pharisees. Surely none of them even thinks about sinning… Well, except that one who comes to see me a few times a week… Suddenly you hear it… and with each sound you cry out and flinch again and again - weeping uncontrollably as they fall - THUD. THUD. THUD…. One by one the rocks begin to fall. Verses : Upon hearing that, her accusers slowly left the crowd one at a time, beginning with the oldest to the youngest, with a convicted conscience. Suddenly, you realize that the rocks are not hitting you at all, but wait… What is happening? Can you enter into this moment with this woman? Can you be her? Can you see her? Can you experience this with her? Verse 10: Until finally, Jesus was left alone with the woman still standing there in front of him. So he stood back up and said to her, “Dear woman, where are your accusers? Is there no one here to condemn you?” Can you see her? She is still cowering, sobbing, weeping as she realizes she is not going to die today. They didn’t stone me! What is happening? Why did they leave… You lift your head and see that the men who accused you have all left. The rocks haphazardly creating a circle surrounding you and this man, Jesus. So many follow Him… You finally lift your head fully and… Verse 11: Looking around, she replied, “I see no one, Lord.” NO ONE LORD! NO ONE! NO ONE ACCUSES ME! Then you feel it the relief bubbling up and turning to joy. Now you’re laughing through your tears. He offers you His hand, He pulls you up to stand. He takes off His robe and wraps it around your naked body, covering your shame. You slip your arms into its swallowing sleeves. You pull it tight around you. And that is when He places his hand on each side of your face and pulls your eyes up to meet His own. What do you see in His eyes? Jesus said, “Then I certainly don’t condemn you either. Go, and from now on, be free from a life of sin.” At this point can you see Him there holding your face in His hands as the l

  2. 10/23/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast |168: Mirror Moments (Testimony Psalm 45:11)

    Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. This week Michelle shares from the heart about a very personal series of Mirror Moments with God. Last February she was preparing to speak at a conference and share her testimony - and, God was gracious in allowing her to prepare the glory story of all the victories she’s known in her life with Him. As she put the final period on the end of the last sentence - she felt Him nudge her heart. “Now that you have that out of your system, would you like to know what I want to say?” This testimony was her response to that question! Introduction Hello Wildflowers! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. We’re moving in a new direction this week - over the next two or three weeks I’ll be sharing my personal testimony - really, it’s my identity journey into Poppa, Jesus & the Holy Spirit’s heart for me. This is a word straight from the deep places of healing and messy life I’ve walked with God as I’ve grown in knowing Him. For the last 10 years my prayer has been “God, I want to know you the way you know me.” And in that time, I’ve come through these beautiful mirror moments, learning to see His image in me. Embracing Identity is a core value here at Blooming Inspired Network. In my own experiences I’ve found spiritual identity is not at all about discovering who YOU are in Christ, but rather settling your heart in intimacy to know Him - just Him - discovering who He is and how He wants to express Himself through you. As I pray for you today, I want you to keep in mind in Genesis 1 & 2 we learned that we - as human beings - were born in the image of God. Our life as believers should be an ever increasing journey toward becoming what we behold in Him - seeing, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, faintly as in a mirror but as we grow more like Him looking forward to that day when we finally know Him as He knows us - FULLY - Face to Face. Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that You would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that every person would encounter and be reminded that You think thoughts toward us and those thoughts are plans to prosper us and to bring about our future and hope in You. That as I share the testimony of the truth I’ve lived in you, that those within the sound of my voice would find a resonating life song they can begin to sing in their own experiences with you. Let our hearts be inspired to press into You more, to live for more and to experience more so Your glory may be known upon the earth. I ask these things in Jesus’ Precious Name, AMEN. Would you allow that reality to settle deep in your heart as you hear my testimony of Jesus today? Last February I prepared to speak at a conference and share a sweet little testimony about my life with Jesus. God’s grace allowed me to prepare that glory story of all the victories I’ve known in my life with Him. I settled down after the final period landed on the end of the last sentence of that testimony. Satisfied. Excited. I had two weeks until the conference and all I needed to do was tweak it, read it again and again so I could deliver it from my heart. And that’s when it happened… I felt Him nudge my heart. “Now that you have that out of your system, would you like to know what I want to say?” How else would I respond? My simple reply in that moment was yes, Lord. It still took me two full weeks to let go of my glory story complete with a cute anecdote my daddy loves to tell about how I thought the preacher was God at a revival meeting when I was just 3 years old. At 9:30 am, on the morning of the conference, I opened my laptop and typed up what I am about to share with you now. Just 5 hours before delivering it to the women I had been invited to serve that weekend. You see, God did not want me to share that “Glory Story” because it only told you the good parts of my experiences with Him, without digging into the not so lovely parts. Anybody else? Do you have those not so lovely parts of your testimony you’d just really rather not share with 100+ strangers much less the entire interwebs… As I am choosing to do now? I mean, come on – who here has Facebook or Instagram, or maybe that “Pinterest. Perfect. Account?” I attended the conference I shared this testimony at the year before serving as the Worship Painter. The day that I spoke, the room filled with many of the same women who watched me paint a glorious masterpiece of God’s Pearl of Great Price the year before, I confessed: “I really am not ‘that good’ at painting.” Meaning, I usually learn to do things that I don’t think I can do by doing them. (REPEAT) And, because I was painting the entire day the previous year, I didn’t get to fully participate in all the activations offered. In particular, the mirror moment activation each woman was encouraged to do during the conference. They stood before the mirror taking off the lies they’d believed about themselves and asked God to show them how He sees them. That night, as I walked my tired body into the hotel room provided I found myself standing in front of the mirror taking off my shoes. The day had been long and hard, but my hair looked great and my make-up still in all the right places. And as I looked He took me back to a moment many years earlier. As I lingered there staring at myself in the mirror my heart spoke up... Has that ever happened to anyone out there? Well it does to me! You see, your heart has a voice and sometimes it talks to you. That night it would have been unusual for me to pause in front of a mirror. After ministering through paint, being on my feet and working more than 12 hours - I’m normally exhausted! By extension – my heart is usually quiet. But this night, because of the women I served – MY HEART WAS QUITE FULL. And as my eyes stared back at me I said aloud, “I think I’m finally starting to see her – that girl you’ve shown me I am. And, what’s more... I think I like her. And maybe, even I’m starting to love her...” The moment was not nearly as vain as it sounds. You see I have a very Jerry Springer meets Jennie Jones kind of story. A story that mirrors a few women we read about in scripture who had amazing encounters with Jesus when He walked the earth. The woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, and the adulterous woman the pharisees brought before Jesus to be stoned. We’ll look at one of these stories together, but before I go there... I need to tell you a bit of my story. As I wrote my testimony last February, I wanted to share all the things I counted as victories and how I have never known a day of my life when I didn’t believe God exists and that Jesus is real. Every word of it 100% TRUE, but it wasn’t complete. In sharing the victories, I skipped right over those years I often call my wilderness or prodigal season. A time when I was a very poor mother to small children, divorced and promiscuously working my way through 100s of men in bars – I don’t remember many of them, much less their names. I skipped the part about being married twice. And the abusive men who tried to utterly destroy me sending me off in the PTSD of Battered Women’s Syndrome. I was a hostage in my own mind. Can I just brag about my husband a little bit? We met when I was still hiding out and a hot mess - running from the law, and he quickly became the truest taste of unconditional love I’ve ever known. I like to call him my Kinsman Redeemer, but mostly I just call him #TheFisherman because he often catches all the fishes. Beside Jesus, he is the love of my life. He made me the catch of his life 22 years ago last August. We share a blended family of 2 sons and 3 daughters, two sons in love, and one who will soon be officially joining our family in November... and then there’s that little Grandbaby we learned about in January! He was due in August, but came a little early while his pops and I were on vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Can I tell you I loved that little boy before I ever know him and I’m one happy Mimi? That little boy truly has my heart. And holding him is about the sweetest thing I’ve ever known. But, before all that I had a life riddled with traumas. My parents struggled with volatile anger and emotional drama while I was in my mother’s womb. She was really sick while carrying me, and the doctor force delivered me after my mother had a near fatal episode in the delivery room. I grew up believing I had nearly killed my mother and given her high blood pressure. SO! Birth was traumatic, my family life - full of emotional drama. In addition, I suffered a number of external traumas before I was 18: the deaths of both my grandmothers – the first at 5 years old, my cousin’s girlfriend was murdered when I was 12, and if that were it would be enough! I was also bullied in middle school, and at 16 I was raped as a virgin which messed me up -BIG. TIME. I carried that event as a secret for a number of years. I dated a man much older than me as I turned 17, and a few months later found out I was pregnant a few weeks before I began my senior year in high school. He abandoned me and his child when he learned of my condition. As I graduated from school and left home - I would hear boys say, “She’s really pretty and all, but she has a kid.” As an adult I was in several traumatic car accidents that resulted in major injuries to my body, I ended up moving in with the first guy who paid attend and ended up being physically abused

  3. 10/16/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | 167: Not Missing My Appointment (Philippians 3)

    This week Michelle shares from the heart about revelation she feels is critical to the coming new year and season we find ourselves in as believers, global citizens and as women! Join her as she unpacks what she means when she says, “I’m Not Missing My Appointment!” reading from Philippians 2 and 3 about what it means to press into what’s ahead, leave what’s behind and move forward into God’s unlimited potential in your life! Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. Introduction Hello Wildflower Friend! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. A NEW PODCAST EPISODE!!! I’m so excited. I’ve been getting back into my flow around the podcasting mic this week publishing our In All Seasons podcast yesterday and working up this powerful episode as a follow up. To say this year has been challenging is an understatement. Can I get an AMEN? n addition to all the Corona craziness and political posturing going on in the world around us - we’ve suffered the loss of my father-in-law in September, welcomed our very first grandchild in July (while on vacation) no less. Just this past week we also welcomed our first great nephew - to his big sister’s delight! And, we have a daughter getting married in November. It’s been a year full of high highs and low lows and everything in between. Life has been a series of unexpected heartbreaking events alongside expectant and exciting events! This year and the ups and downs of life ebbed and flowed in a maximized and magnified fashion. Scott and I in many instances have had to rely solely on God to both comfort and provide the way as we sought to return home to family in the midst of medical crises and to care for our family in the loss of my husband’s beloved dad. I’ve spent my time since we got the word Dad went to the hospital splitting my time between helping my mother-in-law and my momma. It’s been a beautiful blessing in the midst of deep sorrow, and a tremendous challenge figuring out how to balance moving to a new office and jumping back into ALL THE THINGS I’ve been working toward these last few years. And that is just my story… There are millions of people around the world who have had their best laid plans and their lives turned upside down this year. Yesterday as I met with a client God dropped a truth so powerful in my spirit I had to write it down: “The only way to miss your appointment in this season, is to allow disappointment to rule over things you feel you haven’t done instead of focusing on what God is calling you to do now!” As I’ve weighed that thought and talked to God about it I felt Him pointing me to Paul’s writings in Philippians. Specifically: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14, and that’s in the New American Standard Bible. Now For This Week’s Reading… Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that You would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that every person would encounter and be reminded that You think thoughts toward us and those thoughts are plans to prosper us and to bring about our future and hope in You. That as we read Your words of Truth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we would be changed by them. Let our hearts be inspired to press into You more, to live for more and to experience more so Your glory may be known upon the earth. I ask these things in Jesus’ Holy Name, AMEN. As we move toward the end of this upside down kinda’ year, I’m going to be talking about the importance of vision and moving forward. Last October I was in much the same position as I am this October, my husband is working in Wisconsin while I keep the home fires burning back here in Texas. As I spent last fall reflecting and listening to the heart of the Lord for the upcoming new year - I heard three specific words: Vision, Velocity & Victory. As I did, the Lord showed me a picture of a FINISH LINE. I knew this meant that the long season of preparation I’ve been walking out was coming to an end. And with it - all the should’ves would’ves and could’ves were going to be behind me as well. Which brings me back to that quote from my coaching session yesterday. We often look back at what we’ve missed, what we failed to do or accomplish and we hold onto that disappointment and regret. The Apostle Paul had a life that he believed he was living for God before he met Christ on that Damascus road. But, after his conversion he pursued God’s path wholeheartedly --- and though others might reject him because of his past, he didn’t let that stop him from living out God’s plan and purpose for his redeemed and transformed life. I believe we can learn so much from his example. How to persevere in adversity - when life knocks you down and the enemy attacks you trying to thwart God’s plan. We must learn to be people with a persevering spirit and a relentless pursuit of all that God is and who Jesus wants to be through us. It’s the only way forward. Today as we read, I want you to pay attention to the powerful promises that come when we set our gaze upon Jesus, and seek first His Kingdom and righteousness - the prize toward which He calls us heavenward. I pray you can sense the overwhelming passion of God in my heart toward you - believing that you, too, would fulfill the GOD-SIZED potential He created you to live in. Let’s Begin in Philippians Chapter 3 in The Passion Translation: Verse 1-2: My beloved ones, don’t ever limit your joy or fail to rejoice in the wonderful experience of knowing our Lord Jesus! I don’t mind repeating what I’ve already written you because it protects you— beware of those religious hypocrites who teach that you should be circumcised to please God. Did you catch that? Religious hypocrites - holding fast to traditions - will lead us into dead works. What religious traditions might you be observing that God is asking you to let go of at this very moment? For me, God has been arresting my opinions and judgments about and against others from my tightly clenched fists. He gives me discernment to pray and protect me, not to tear others down. But, my words and my mind sometimes take off through my mouth before I have a chance to filter them. Another tradition is the church I attend, and the roles women should play in them. I’m learning so much from God about how He sees His daughters and what He desires for them. I see life and light coming to them and a place being prepared for them - a place at His table. Verse 3: For we have already experienced “heart-circumcision,” and we worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done, and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength. Has your heart been circumcised? I remember a number of years ago - some 15 if I’m counting correctly - I was reading these Pauline epistles with fresh eyes and was hit with a fresh awareness that there was more to water baptism than just a symbolic act of obedience. The act of water baptism is a prophetic declaration over my life that my old nature and the old me has died, and my new self - what I like to call my originally created self - raises from that burial delivered from my past and the desires of my flesh to walk in submission to Christ not only as Savior but as my Lord. In that season I prayed those Scriptures and asked God if He would kindly cut away every part of my flesh until only He remained. It was during this same season that I began to pray to Know God the way He knows me. A longing - a hunger and a thirst for both His intimacy and righteousness - was birthed in me in that beautiful season. A longing that has led me ever deeper into His grace, His love, His presence, and His glory. It is a place of the deepest abiding - that place of knowing and being known by the one who formed you in your mother’s wombs. Who knows every thought you think before you form it in your mind. He knows the life you’ll live, the path you’ll take and the way you’ll wander off from Him along the way - and still - He chose you to bear not only His image, but also His glory as He transforms you - from glory to glory - and allows us to be partakers of His divine nature even as we are yet sinners. Christ died for us - it is a severe kind of mercy that sacrifices itself so it can attain one so loved. And beloved, if you did not already know - YOU ARE SO VERY LOVED. Let God tend those matters in your heart. Paul’s Past… Verse 4-6: It’s true that I once relied on all that I had become. I had a reason to boast and impress people with my accomplishments—more than others—for my pedigree was impeccable. I was born a true Hebrew of the heritage of Israel as the son of a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised eight days after my birth and was raised in the strict tradition of Orthodox Judaism, living a separated and devout life as a Pharisee. And concerning the righteousness of the Torah, no one surpassed me; I was without a peer. Furthermore, as a fiery defender of the truth, I persecuted the messianic believers with religious zeal. Here Paul deals honestly with both his virtues and his shortcomings… Paul gives us a glimpse at how destructive religious piety can be when it attacks and persecutes those who believe in Christ. Has your heart been wounded by leaders in the church, or maybe even your parents, misappropriated their authority over you and wounded your soul whether the wounding was intentional or

  4. 08/20/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast |Episode 166: We Need You, Holy Spirit! (Isaiah 11)

    This week Michelle begins a new series “We Need You, Holy Spirit!” about these times of escalation and seasons of turbulence that we are finding ourselves in and how to move forward with God with everything else around us seems to be falling apart. Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. Introduction Good Afternoon!! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. Review Last week I had Beverly Flanagan on my show - she is a brand new host here on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network! She is an elder in our network who is full of wisdom and life experience with a passion for God, His Spirit and His Word. Her show, In All Seasons: Living Wisely, Aging Well airs each week on Thursdays. I want to encourage you to check that out! This Week’s Reading Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that you would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that every person would encounter your living presence and power through the Scriptures today and that as we do we would be changed by them. Let our hearts be inspired to believe for more, to live for more and to experience more so your glory may be known upon the earth. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know! I ask these things in Jesus’ Precious Name, AMEN. The title for this episode and series is “We Need You. Holy Spirit!” I’m going to focus on Isaiah 11 today, where we learn about the seven fold ministry of God, or what is called The Seven Spirits of God. Today as we read, I want you to pay attention to the powerful promise of this passage and what God is saying to us about our circumstances today. As we read, don’t just listen for my insights - grab a notebook and pen, have your Bible open as we read and make notes about what you hear Him saying to you about where we are in this hour as a world, a nation, a city and the church. So much has been happening these last few months - and I’ve been in two positions since I last brought a word here in March. 1) Warring in the heavenly realms through intercession. Friends, if we do not understand that the war being waged around the world - especially here in the United States - is not of human origin, but it is of Dark Principalities, Powers and Spiritual Forces that are raging in the heavenlies right now then we will not rightly respond to this hour. I’ll share more on this in the weeks to come, but for now I will move on to that second position I’ve held these last few months. 2) I’ve been still in heart and mind, set on God and trusting Him. Living from rest and peace. I have traveled a few times and sat on a beach twice now that seemed so beautifully unaffected by the world raging around it. I’ve taken road trips to see my husband who is working out of town. With all the focus on the underlying conditions that bring complications with the Coronavirus and CoVid19, I also came to a decision and began a weight loss journey in June. I’ve spent the last nine weeks learning to manage and discipline my appetites and as a result I’ve lost 29 pounds and am now 69 pounds from my goal weight. I’ve also seen my total cholesterol drop from 257 to 174. My energy levels are better, and I’ve realized that I really don’t enjoy the processed and inflammatory foods that I ate in the past. I’m learning that I turned to food for comfort and to destress, that SUGAR totally handicapped not only my body but also my brain. I’ve learned that I can enjoy, explore and create a meal I love with healthy food choices and those choices don’t need to include fat, most sugars, starchy carbohydrates, soy products, or dairy - before you get to feeling too sorry for me - I can have about a cup and a half of fruit and egg whites so I’m not totally suffering! This journey amazes me. I’m learning to lean in and trust God. I buy mostly fresh produce and grass fed or organic meat products. I sleep better. I think clearer. I have more energy. My blood pressure and blood sugar aren’t spiking - and the pounds are falling off. My joints don’t ache when I move as they once did. My encouragement to you… Find what works and make the changes to live a healthier life. The weight loss is honestly a side win, because the major victory is my health and overall quality of living that is coming forward now. In Episode 164 I made the observation… “God is calling His Church to rise in this hour above the fear and the dismay, into a place of battle. Do you have your armor on?” Let’s put it on every single day and walk in the victory of Christ, following His leadership as we go. Proverbs 9:10 Assures us that fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let’s choose to remember that God is both personal and Holy, or wholly other than human beings. He is the God of all other gods, the Creator and Architect of everything that Exists, He is the righteous judge who is also the Ancient of Days and He has never missed anything. Those who encounter His glorious presence do not simply bow in His presence, but rather they fall down like they are dead, as the Apostle John wrote of his own experience. We serve a Holy, Righteous and Sovereign God. Nothing takes Him by surprise and nothing - not one thing - we face is impossible with Him. Fear Him in holy awe. Adore Him in holy worship. Be Holy as He is holy within you. Let Him have His way. Today’s Reading As we open Scripture today, turn to Isaiah 11. I’m so excited to read with you. I’ll be reading Isaiah from the New English & Passion Translations simply because they both express some deep things I want to highlight. Let’s Begin. Reading Isaiah 11: Verse 1: The cut-off stump of Jesse will sprout, and a fruitful Branch will grow from his roots: This is clearly a prophecy written about Jesus, or a Messianic Prophecy, the promised anointed one or Deliverer that we know as The Savior, Christ and Messiah through Scripture. Interestingly I read commentary by Bob Yandian (read here) about how the root is Jesus and the fruitful branch that springs out of that root is the church. He indicates by extension that the verses that follow would demonstrate that the same qualities of God’s Spirit that rested on Jesus as He walked the earth now reside within us, as Believers. Let’s look at these… Verse 2: the Spirit of Yahweh will rest upon him, the Spirit of Extraordinary Wisdom, the Spirit of Perfect Understanding the Spirit of Wise Strategy, the Spirit of Mighty Power, the Spirit of Revelation, and the Spirit of the Fear of Yahweh. Catch this… The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) rests upon Jesus. Remember in Matthew, Mark and Luke’s accounts of Jesus’ baptism that the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and came to rest upon Jesus? With Holy Spirit comes Extraordinary Wisdom, Perfect Understanding, Wise Strategy (Counsel) - the NET says, the ability to Execute Plans - and wrapping up the list: Mighty Power, Revelation and the Fear of the Lord. Do We Ever Need The Holy Spirit In THIS HOUR? Look around you in the world today, where do you see these expressions of the nature of the Holy Spirit in Society at large, our nation, and the Church? Bob Yandian says that these are the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit. All of them are found in Jesus. That Spirit of Counsel as it is commonly called, here in the Passion Translation it is called “Wise Strategy” I remember about ten years ago I was working at a church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area here in Texas. One of the things they had us do was take the Clifton Strengthsfinder test. I did as I was instructed and reported back my top five strengths: 1) Strategic, 2) Arranger, 3) Connectedness, 4) Belief, and 5) Maximizer. One day, after taking the test, I drove home and was listening to a local Christian station that hosted a Strengths Coach on the show. The woman being interviewed said this, “Only 4% of people in the entire world have a number 1 strength of Strategic and a number 2 strength of Arranger. Do you know what that means?” She went on to explain that a person with this top two strength set not only has the capability to make the best plan or strategy to accomplish a goal, but they are tactical enough to be able to put the necessary people and resources in place to carry out the plan as well. This was something I really had to take to God. You see I never thought I was good at planning and executing. Why? Because I never executed. Yet, my top two strengths are executive in nature. I could always make a really good plan, but I’d blow it big when it came to executing, or I’d get stuck in the process of evaluating and always trying to make it BETTER. (Maximizer, much?) As I’ve grown with the Lord and moved in different circles of friends and churches, one thing comes up often - I am a woman who walks in the Gifts of Wisdom. I carry it, along with peace. And I am convinced that this is because I walk in the fear of the Lord more and more each day. Micah 6:8 shows us what it means to walk in the fear of the Lord, the prophet writes that God says He has shown us what is good, that we should do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. As I read this passage more than a decade ago, God showed me this beautiful picture of how as children of God the way we stay humble before Him is to continually submit ourselves to Him and let Him examine our hearts so as to “Do Justice in our own hearts” and then to “Love Mercy toward other people” let the judgments and the offenses go, so that when we walk with God it demonstrates not only th

  5. 08/12/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | Episode 165: In All Seasons (w/ Beverly Flanagan)

    This week Michelle is back with guest and new #BloomingInspired podcaster, Beverly Flanagan! Beverly continues to walk as a woman of wisdom in all the seasons of her life. She is a woman who wears many hats: wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, advocate, minister and friend. Her career and her faith define the story she tells today as she shares her heart about the podcast she is hosting that will air each week on Thursdays right here on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network! More about Beverly: Beverly is a graduate of Excelsior College, with certificates & certifications relating to her work in health & human services, which she has been doing for several decades. Currently she is Ombudsman Program Director for Senior Care Inc, out of Gloucester, Massachusetts; ombudsmen are advocates for residents in nursing homes. She looks forward to retirement in the near future, and an encore career as an independent writer and editor, and she is also the up and coming hostess for the podcast IN ALL SEASONS: LIVING WISELY, AGING WELL, on Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. Beverly has been married and divorced twice, never imagining she would meet someone as wonderful as John in this life. John is a graduate of Suffolk University with a BSBA & of the University of Massachusetts/Boston with an MS in Public Affairs; was a professional government auditor for 35+ years. Semi-retired, he is a certified driving instructor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a Licensed Tour Guide in the City of Salem on the Salem Trolley, a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, currently serving as Division Commander, and a volunteer Money Manager for an elder services agency for clients unable to take care of their finances. John was previously married to his high school sweetheart Patricia for nearly 25 years, when she died of complications due to Muscular Dystrophy, he was widowed for almost a decade prior to meeting Beverly. They married in 2008, and share a blended family . They all live close to one another in the area with three amazing sons, one beautiful daughter, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and three fabulous grandchildren. Both John and Beverly serve their local Catholic parish as Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, and on the Visitation Ministry Team to Catholics who are home-bound or in nursing homes. They currently live in Danvers Massachusetts. Their hope is to someday retire to a quiet community elsewhere in New England. There they plan to continue to volunteer, and serve in parish ministry, as long as possible.

  6. 03/18/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | Episode 164: Fasting & Prayer (Daniel 9:3 & 1 John 4)

    This week Michelle begins a new series with commentary on the CoVid19 Pandemic from a biblical perspective and talking the next few weeks about turning the posture of our hearts to fasting and prayer. Today, we will look at how perfect love casts out fear and how turning our hearts to receive God’s Perfect Love helps us to in turn love others well. Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. Introduction Good Morning! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. Review Over the last 6 weeks we’ve been having a conversation with Karen Dearmand Gardener sharing her testimony about walking out of a 30 year marriage where she suffered Domestic Abuse and Violence, and how God spent the last 15 years redeeming her past and her pain as she has learned to heal and overcome those years of trauma and abuse. Be sure to keep up with Karen and the publication of her book on the subject scheduled for publication in 2021. Her Facebook Page is: facebook.com/crackthesilence This Week’s Reading Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that you would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that every person would encounter your living presence and power through the Scriptures today and that as we do we would be changed by them. Let our hearts be inspired to believe for more, to live for more and to experience more so your glory may be known upon the earth. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know! I ask these things in Jesus’ Precious Name, AMEN. The title for this episode and series is “Fasting & Prayer” It comes from Daniel 9:3 (ESV) “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” Today we’re going to look at this posture of Fasting & Prayer represented in Daniel’s prayers throughout the book that bears his name. A posture of mourning, solitude and prayer where he allowed himself to be afflicted in order to draw near to God. Before we jump into Scripture I’d like to speak a bit on the CoVid19 Pandemic and just how I plan to spend my days in solitude as we watch for God’s healing power to overcome this deadly disease and bring peace and healing to all the people afflicted by it’s symptoms. I’ve been watching the “panic button” type fears as our stores are emptying with shoppers stocking up on anything and everything concerned about quarantines, and reading the posts of individuals who are living in what is now more than 50 days of isolation in Wuhan. Watching the “Flash Mob” on balconies in Italy and the ever darkening reports of increasing numbers of those who are testing positive, being hospitalized and the climbing death toll. I returned home with my husband last Friday night after going to the store to pick up groceries to get us through a couple of weeks and wept in his arms. Not because I am afraid, but because I am dismayed. Dismayed by people so selfish in their thinking that they would buy up all the toilet paper in the county daily. I mean really, toilet paper? I understand staple food products like bottled water, powdered milk or juice concentrates, flour, sugar, rice, beans, milk, cheese, bulk meats like ground beef, chicken and sausage. But the first thing to disappear is toilet paper? Dismayed by the mainstream media and Fox News for their fear mongering, politicizing and downright irresponsible reporting. Everything is exaggerated, dramatized and criticized. It is crazy out there. And as I felt myself spinning with all this dismay, wrapped in my husband’s arms - we prayed. I turned my heart to God, the Father whom I affectionately call Poppa, and I wept over the state of the people around me, and prayed for my family and those I love, my community, city, state nation and the entire world who is so affected by this pandemic: a word that has given much anxiety and fear in recent days. I wanted to take a moment to read a few posts from Facebook to you. Two of my own and one of the woman I read about in Wuhan. Rebecca Franks posted: March 8 at 1:42 AM WUHAN. It's roughly day 48 of the city's quarantine. We've been locked in our apartment complex for many weeks. I haven't eaten out since January 19. We're living in such strange times. After my last post, which was all about locks on doors and further restrictions, my husband asked me if I've posted any of the good. But...but... well, but nothing. That convicted me. So from the epicenter of the coronavirus, here is just SOME of the good we have been experiencing because of the lockdown: (Be warned - there is no way this post could be short.) Our family life has never been better. Usually one weekend is long enough before I'm ready to send each of us back to school or work. But for SEVEN weeks, we've been home together with very little outside influences or distraction, forced to reconnect with one another, learn how to communicate better, give each other space, slow down our pace, and be a stronger family than ever before. We've learned how to accept help from others. During this time, we've HAD to rely on others to show us how to get food and other things we need. People here are so good, and they want to help. It's satisfying to accept the help. Shopping is so much easier now. It comes straight to our complex, and we just pick it up. Simple. Right now I hear birds outside my window (on the 25th floor). I used to think there weren't really birds in Wuhan, because you rarely saw them and never heard them. I now know they were just muted and crowded out by the traffic and people. All day long now I hear birds singing. It stops me in my tracks to hear the sound of their wings. Spring in Wuhan is absolutely stunning. God has been giving us glimpses of the beauty to come with near-perfect weather. Because of lockdown, we get to watch spring slowly unfold right in front of us with no work, traffic, pollution, or other distractions. I have pulled up my chair and am ready for the creator's show. My cooking has gotten way more creative. I'm cooking like a homesteader. Housekeeping hasn't suffered, either. We take naps in the middle of the day sometimes. We've all been reading so much more than before. I've reconnected with lots of old friends. We've talked with our families more than ever before. We still work and do school, but all from home and all on flexible hours. It is not perfect, but it is fairly productive and good. We are exercising more. Because we borrowed a rowing machine from school right before the lockdown, Edgar Franks has been rowing regularly at home and has lost several kilos already. I still walk in the morning as usual, but I do so with no time restrictions and now with friend Erika Carlson. In my yoga world, I have finally done a forearm stand. I also share goofy yoga photos each day with a local friend/yogi. This keeps us connected in spirit and movement. I could devote a whole post to the amazing community we've been blessed with because of this lockdown. We live near 4 other staff members, most of whom we didn't know well at all prior to this. Because of this quarantine, we have bonded with and supported each other in ways that I've never experienced in 9 years of living here. (Crowd sourcing for feminine products and coffee, creatively sharing overstock of carrots and squash, etc) Friday night, we four staff women celebrated Julia Marie Roehrkasse's birthday together. We four have never before been together without husbands, kids, or larger community. But that night, I felt like I won the lottery in the friendship department. Our gathering was genuine in a way that can only be shared by people who are experiencing the same thing at the same time and understand what each other are going through. This bond we have may lessen when our world gets back to normal, but for now I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is good. My prayer life has never been better and my study time has been much more real. I have quiet time that is actually (usually) quiet - and I can devote real time to it. Most days I have so much more time to think, to listen, to process, and to discover. I am discovering the good gifts that God has given me and my family. More than anything, I am bowled over by his goodness at every turn. He overwhelms me with his goodness. We had "church" by Zoom this morning at 10:30, as usual. My husband just woke up from his nap. My kid is reading quietly on the couch. I have the luxury of writing uncensored here on FB. We are about to go pick up a ham that a friend is giving us, taking her our coffee and cranberries to share. God is providing so many opportunities for good while we are here, and he is showing us his goodness every single moment. We are at peace in the epicenter of the virus. We are at peace in the epicenter of his will. Fear is a faithless coward and has no place in the lives of believers. Fear and worry have no seat at our table. We're here because he wants us here, right now, for his purpose. Coronavirus wants you to isolate and stock up and take care of your own first. Instead, look to him first while you take care of others. In community, we can do so much more than we can do on our own. God is caring for us so richly and showering us with SO MUCH GOOD each and every moment. And the song just plays nonstop in my head - Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. It chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99. I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Psalm 118:6 - The Lord is

  7. 03/07/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | Episode 163: Cracking the Silence on Domestic Violence Pt. 5 (w/ Karen Dearmand Gardnener)

    This week Michelle concludes the conversation with part five of her interview with Karen De Armond Gardner, who is living her life #bloomingalive and victorious over past abuse she suffered in her previous 30 year marriage. Next week is our last episode with Karen so be sure to stay connected by clicking the Facebook link below or visiting her website: https://crackthesilence.com.  Karen is an overcomer! She lives her life cracking the silence on domestic abuse with her upcoming book as she continues to champion other women who have suffered domestic violence and are finding their way to healing with God. Learn more about Karen and her journey at https://facebook.com/crackthesilence If you are suffering domestic violence in your relationship and are in need of immediate assistance please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224. https://thehotline.org (No Show Transcript) Thank you for listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. This show airs weekly on Tuesdays. Please take a moment to like, share and subscribe to this podcast. To learn more about this podcast and it’s network, or the ministries of Blooming Inspired Network please visit BloomingInspiredNetwork.com and click the podcast link at the top of the page.

  8. 02/25/2020

    Blooming Inspired Podcast | Episode 162: Cracking the Silence w/ Karen Dearmond Gardener (Part 4)

    This week Michelle continues the conversation with part four of her interview with Karen De Armond Gardner, who is living her life #bloomingalive and victorious over past abuse she suffered in her previous 30 year marriage. Next week is our last episode with Karen so be sure to stay connected by clicking the Facebook link below or visiting her website: https://crackthesilence.com.  If you are suffering domestic violence in your relationship and are in need of immediate assistance please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224. https://thehotline.org (No Show Transcript) Thank you for listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. This show airs weekly on Tuesdays. Please take a moment to like, share and subscribe to this podcast. To learn more about this podcast and it’s network, or the ministries of Blooming Inspired Network please visit BloomingInspiredNetwork.com and click the podcast link at the top of the page.

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About

A podcast for Christian women sharing encouragement Tuesdays/Thursdays at 11am Central/US.

Information

  • Creator
    Michelle Bentham
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2020
  • Episodes
    166
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All Rights Reserved By Michelle Bentham 2018
  • Show Website
    Blooming Inspired Network