Walk Boldly With Jesus

Catherine Duggan
  • 4.6 (9)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Daily

Does life feel extra hard right now? Is it difficult to find joy in your day to day living? Do you feel like something is missing? I did. I was struggling with all of it. Life seemed so hard. Then one day I realize what was missing. I needed more Jesus in my life. Our home needed more Jesus. This may be just what you are missing too! This podcast will give you tips on how you can become closer to Jesus. It will talk about scripture and how those stories can relate to your everyday life. It will help you find joy in life again and teach you to be bold with Jesus by your side. If you would like to reach me you can email Catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or go to my website findingtruenorthcoaching.com Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  1. 2d ago

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 20 - I Waited and Waited and Waited

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 20 - I Waited and Waited and WaitedPsalm 40:1 “I waited and waited and waited some more, patiently, knowing God would come through for me. Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry.”My friend gave me the verse above, and I instantly loved it. I love that it captures our reality at times, and it also really captures the love of the Father. Sometimes, we feel like we are asking and asking the Lord for something, and yet we wait and wait and see no answers to those prayers. Have you been in a season of waiting? Have you been asking the Lord for something, and yet you are still waiting for the answer to those prayers? This can be really hard. We pray to the Lord, and we want Him to help us right away, or at least I do. I really struggle at times with waiting to see the results of my prayers. This is especially true if I am praying over someone for healing. I struggle because I know how powerful God is, and I know He can heal anyone at any time. I struggle because I don’t believe he wants to see anyone struggle, and yet He doesn’t heal everyone, and He definitely doesn’t heal everyone the second we pray for healing. So, we end up doing what this verse says: we wait, and we wait, and we wait. Sometimes we wait patiently, as this verse says, and sometimes, not so patiently. It all depends on our circumstances at the time. One thing I like about this verse is that it says I waited patiently because I knew God would come through for me. This is important for us all to remember. God will come through. It is also important to remember that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. If I can remember this, I think I could wait more patiently. I need to remember that God knows what He is doing and that His plan is better than my plan. He is the creator of the Universe; of course, His plan is better than my plan. If He is not healing someone right away, there is a reason for it. I don’t have to know that reason I just have to know that HE has one.One way to remind myself that God has a plan to trust that God will come through is to think back to all the times He has come through in the past.  When did the Lord come through for you? When in the past did you wait on the Lord, and then he answered your prayers? I know for me, He has always come through, and sometimes I ask for some pretty big things. When I asked the Lord to heal my niece and let her live, He did, and we didn’t even have to wait very long. When I asked him to help my son get off of drugs, He did. When I asked Him to take away my dad’s pain, He did. When I asked Him to take away my sister’s pain, He did. When I asked Him to save my marriage, He did. God has come through for us more times than I can count, and this is why I can wait patiently. I know He will always come for me, though. He will always come through for you too! We just have to wait longer than we would like at times.I love that this verse says, “Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry.” I love this because it shows the Father as a loving father. It shows that He cares about us. It doesn’t just say they finally heard us. I love that it says he bent down and listened to my cry. What I picture is a loving Father who bends down to listen to me cry. He doesn’t just stand there and let our cries go up to his ears. He bends down to show us we have His attention. I just picture Jesus; since we don’t really know what God looks like, I picture Jesus bending down, and I picture us as little children whispering our requests into his ear. Almost like we are telling Him a secret, one that no one knows. I love to picture the Father like this. I think if we read more verses like this, we begin to see God as our loving Father instead of this stern Father figure who is judging us and just waiting to call us out on all that we are doing wrong. God loves us, and He wants to answer our prayers. However, like a loving Father, He also knows that when we are asking for something that is not good for us, or that we are not quite ready for. He knows this, so he either gives us something else or waits until we are ready. God is so good!Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, help us wait patiently for your timing. Help us to understand that your timing is best. Help us to see that you know what is best for us. Help us to have faith that you will come through for us. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Keep in my word. My word is your armor. It will help you defeat the enemy. It will guide you. It will help you be a light to others. Keep in My word. That is your armor.“  CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  2. 3d ago

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 19 - What Do I Do While I Wait?

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 19: What Do I Do While I Wait?Psalm 43:3-4 “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!  Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.”I love the idea of the Lord leading us with His light and His truth.  What I like most about it is that His light can cut through any darkness and His truth can cut through any lies, even the ones that we tell ourselves.  These two things are so important for us to remember.  We can start to feel as if our hole is so dark no light will ever get in.  God’s light can always get in.  We have to let it in, though.  We can get in our own way sometimes.  Picture yourself sitting in a room with the shades drawn and the lights off.  You complain that it is so dark you can’t see anything, yet you don’t turn on the light or even open the shades.  We do this to God too.  We sit in our misery, and we don’t invite Him in.  He is knocking at the door, but we are too sad, too upset, too angry, too whatever to open the door.  We don’t let Him in, and then we ask Him where He is.  One way we might not be letting in His light is by not seeking Him.  God can be found anywhere and everywhere if we are searching.  If we are looking, we can learn to see His light all around us.  However, if we aren’t looking, we won’t see it.  No matter how bright His light is, if you don’t want to see it, you won’t.  You will make every excuse in the book but you won’t recognize God’s light.  The first thing we can do to let the Lord’s light into our lives is we can seek it.  The next thing we can do is to be around others that can help us see it.  When we are upset, we tend to want to be either alone or surrounded by others who feel similar to us.  We don’t want to watch happy movies or listen to uplifting music.  We want to wallow in our feelings.  This can be okay for a brief time.  Sometimes we really need to let ourselves feel our feelings.  However, we can't stay there.  It should be more of a brief pit stop than an extended stay.  After our brief pit stop, we need to be around others who can help us see the light.  If we don’t have people like that in our immediate circle, we can use uplifting movies, TV shows, or music.   Even being around people filled with the light of the Lord can help lift our mood.  Sometimes they don’t even have to say anything.  You know the person I am talking about.  That friend of yours who brightens your whole day just by being with you.  Maybe it’s your spouse, your parents, your sibling, your best friend- whoever it is. We should all have someone like that in our lives, and when we are in the dark, looking for the light, they are the ones to go to.  Also, if you are not in the darkness right now, maybe you could be the light for someone.  God wants us to share His light with everyone.  Sometimes we need help seeing the light, and sometimes we are the ones to bring that light to others.When we ask the Lord to send His light to lead us, we're sometimes disappointed with how He does it.  When we ask Him to send His light, what we really mean is for Him to send a floodlight that will light our way for the next 5-10 years.  We want to be able to see from where we are to where we are going. We want to see all the twists and turns. We want to see the finish line now so we know it is safe to follow that light.  This is not how the Lord usually works.  He usually sends His light as a candle or a flashlight.  He lights up your next step or two, and then you are in the dark until you take that next step.  He doesn’t want us to rely on what we can see.  If we could see every step, every twist, every turn, then we wouldn’t be stepping out in faith.  If we faithfully take that next right step that the Lord lit up for us, then He will light up the next step for us.  Your steps might not be too close together either.  You may spend some time waiting in between steps.  This waiting can be hard because we don’t always know how long we will have to wait, and while we wait, we may not hear from God every day.  I saw a video on YouTube once with Father Mike Schmitz, and he said he is constantly asked, Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Seconds fall like pelting rain, but each drop is known to me. Remember, you are always with me.”I will put a link to this video in the show notes because it was a quick 6-minute video, and yet he explains it so well.  Basically, what Father Mike explained is that God shows us what He wants us to do one step at a time.  Father Mike said we think we are seeking certainty or clarity, but what we are really wanting is God’s constant reassurance that we are going in the right direction.  He said God will never ask you to make a decision about your vocation or what he’s calling you to based on what he hasn’t revealed to you.  God has revealed to us the way God wants us to live, the commandments, the sacraments, the beatitudes. In the verse above, it asks God to send out His light and His truth and to let them lead me.  Father Mike is saying, God gave us His truth.  We can let that lead us to where we are going and let that truth help us to take the next right step.  If God is not lighting up your next step for you, that doesn’t mean He has abandoned you; it means he wants you to stay where you are until He gives you the next right step.  Father Mike gives us an invitation in the video, and I want to pass that invitation on to you.  His invitation for you today is “to be content and confident to live in uncertainty.”  Or, put another way: “To live with a certainty that God has already given to you, to live with the clarity that he’s already spoken in.”  You know what He wants you to do.  Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  God has already told you what He wants you to do, and when He calls you to move forward, He will speak clearly, and that question will always be confirmed.  This doesn’t mean He is going to tell you the next five steps, just that next step. Father Mike talks about how when the Angel came to Mary to ask if she would be the mother of Jesus, she said, “Behold, I’m the handmaiden of the Lord.  May it be done unto me according to your word.”  The very next line says, “Then the angel departed from her.”  Mary was asked to answer this one question: Will you be the Mother of God?  Then the angel disappeared.  God’s certainty isn’t telling us all the future steps; God’s certainty is “I will be with you.”  Just stay on the path He has revealed to you until He asks you to turn.  I know waiting can be uncomfortable, and the unknown is really hard sometimes.  However, Father Mike is telling us that if you aren’t hearing anything from God on your next step, then He isn’t asking you to take one.  If God is wanting you to pivot in direction or take a different turn in your life, He will reveal that to you.  If not, keep heading in the same direction with the certainty that God is with you, and if He wanted you to do something different, He would let you know.  I will leave you with Father Mike’s call to us.  Can you be content and confident living in uncertainty?  Can you live with the certainty God has already given you, and the clarity he’s already spoken in?Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, send us your light and your truth.  Help us to follow them to wherever you want us to go.  Lord, help us to be ok with not knowing all the steps.  Help us to just take that next right step. Help us to be ok with following your light, even if it is one step at a time.  Help us to live in your truth for the times when you just want us to keep going forward.  We love you, Lord; we are so grateful for your light, especially in the dark times.  We are grateful that your light and your truth break through any darkness and any lies that we find ourselves in.  You are amazing, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I!  Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Seconds fall like pelting rain, but each drop is known to me. Remember, you are always with me.” CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  3. 4d ago

    Witness Wednesday #229 Carlo Acutis

    Today is Witness Wednesday, and this week I want to share the witness of someone who shows us that you don't have to live a long life, do something spectacular, or have everything figured out in order to become a saint. His name is St. Carlo Acutis. His feast day was just a couple of days ago, on October 12, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to talk about his life and the incredible witness he left behind. Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, although his family moved back to Milan while he was still a baby. He grew up much like other children his age. He went to school. He had friends. He enjoyed sports. He loved animals. He loved computers and technology. But there was something else about Carlo. From a very young age, he had a profound love for Jesus—especially Jesus in the Eucharist. He received his First Communion when he was seven years old, and from that point on, the Eucharist became the center of his life. He went to Mass every day whenever he could. He spent time in Eucharistic Adoration. He prayed the Rosary. He went to Confession frequently. Carlo once said, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” I love that. Think about what a highway does. It gives you a direct route to where you are trying to go. Carlo knew exactly where he wanted to go. He wanted heaven. More importantly, he wanted Jesus. His whole life was oriented toward that goal. And yet, Carlo wasn't living in a monastery. He wasn't separated from the world. He was a regular kid growing up at the beginning of the digital age. He loved computers, and he was very talented with them. Instead of seeing technology as something separate from his faith, Carlo asked, in a sense, “How can I use this gift for God?” At around eleven years old, he began researching Eucharistic miracles from around the world. Eventually he used his computer skills to create an online exhibition documenting these miracles so that other people could learn about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Just think about that for a minute. Here was a young boy using the internet not simply for entertainment, but to evangelize. He took something he loved and something he was good at, and he gave it to God. How often do we think serving God has to look a certain way? Maybe we think we need to preach from a stage, become a missionary, write a book, lead a Bible study, or do something that looks obviously religious. But what if God wants to use what you're already good at? What if He wants to use your ability to cook, organize, write, teach, listen, fix things, make people laugh, work with technology, care for children, manage money, make music, encourage others, or whatever gifts He has placed inside of you? Carlo didn't have to stop being Carlo in order to become holy. He simply invited Jesus into every part of who he already was. And I think there is such an important lesson in that for us. First Timothy 4:12 says: “Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” Carlo certainly did that. But another thing I love about his story is that his faith wasn't only about prayer and church. His love for Jesus overflowed into the way he treated people. Carlo noticed people others overlooked. He helped classmates who were struggling. He befriended children who were being bullied. He cared about the poor and homeless people in his neighborhood and would give away some of his own money to help them. He didn't simply talk about loving Jesus. His relationship with Jesus changed how he saw the people around him. Isn't that what our faith is supposed to do? The closer we get to Jesus, the more we begin to see others through His eyes. Maybe that is a good question for us today: Is my relationship with Jesus changing the way I treat people? Am I noticing the lonely person? Am I patient with the difficult person? Do I see the person everyone else ignores? Do I give generously? Do I forgive? Do I love when loving isn't convenient? Carlo's life reminds us that holiness isn't just what happens when we're kneeling in church. Holiness happens in the hallway at school, around the dinner table, at work, online, in the grocery store, and in all those ordinary interactions nobody else will ever see. Carlo also understood something that many of us struggle to understand. He knew that becoming holy meant becoming more like the person God created him to be—not becoming a copy of everyone else. One of the sayings most associated with Carlo is that everyone is born an original, but many people die as photocopies. That's powerful, especially today. We live in a world that constantly invites us to compare ourselves to someone else. Their house. Their body. Their marriage. Their ministry. Their children. Their career. Their social media following. Their success. Even their spiritual life. But God didn't create you to become someone else. He created you to become fully who He created YOU to be. Carlo's life was short, but he didn't waste it trying to become somebody else. And then, suddenly, everything changed. In October 2006, Carlo became very sick. At first, his illness seemed like the flu. But doctors soon discovered that he had an aggressive form of leukemia. He was only fifteen years old. Within days, his condition deteriorated rapidly. And yet even in his suffering, Carlo remained focused on God. He offered his suffering for the Pope and for the Church. On October 12, 2006, Carlo died. Fifteen years old. Think about that. Most of us would say his life had barely begun. But God doesn't measure a life the way we do. We tend to measure life in years. God looks at love. Faithfulness. Surrender. Holiness. Carlo had only fifteen years on this earth, but look at what God has done through his yes. His Eucharistic miracle exhibition has traveled around the world. Millions of people have learned his story. Young people have discovered that holiness isn't something reserved for another generation. Adults have been challenged by his simplicity and devotion. He was beatified in Assisi in 2020, and on September 7, 2025, Pope Leo XIV canonized Carlo Acutis as a saint of the Catholic Church. During the canonization Mass, Pope Leo spoke about the simple practices that shaped Carlo's life: Mass, prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, and charity. Carlo integrated prayer, school, sports, study, friendship, and service into one life centered around Jesus. And maybe that's what strikes me the most about Carlo. His path to holiness wasn't complicated. Stay close to Jesus. Receive Him in the Eucharist. Pray. Go to Confession. Love people. Use your gifts for God. Keep your eyes on heaven. We sometimes make holiness seem almost impossible. Maybe that's because we imagine saints as people who were completely different from us. But Carlo wore sneakers. He played video games. He used computers. He went to school. He joked with his friends. He lived in our modern world. And he became a saint. So today, I want you to ask yourself: What would change if you truly made being close to Jesus your number-one goal? Not becoming successful. Not being liked. Not accomplishing everything on your list. Not proving yourself. Simply staying close to Jesus. Carlo described it as his “life plan”—to always be united to Jesus. What if that became our life plan too? We don't know how many years God will give us. Hopefully many. But the witness of St. Carlo Acutis reminds us that the goal isn't simply to live a long life. The goal is to live the life we are given well. To love Jesus. To love others. To use what God has given us for His glory. And to remember where all of this is leading. Heaven. Maybe today you feel ordinary. Maybe you don't think you're doing anything significant for God. That's okay. You don't have to do something extraordinary today. Do the ordinary things with extraordinary love. Go to Mass. Spend a few minutes with Jesus. Encourage someone. Forgive someone. Help someone. Use one of your gifts. Put down your phone long enough to notice the person standing in front of you. And ask Jesus, “How can I love You today?” St. Carlo Acutis shows us what can happen when an ordinary person makes Jesus the center of an ordinary life. And perhaps that is Carlo's greatest witness: You don't have to wait until you're older. You don't have to wait until life gets easier. You don't have to wait until you're more holy. You can choose Jesus today. St. Carlo Acutis, pray for us. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to Walk Boldly With Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day! CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  4. 5d ago

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 18 - When You Don't Understand What God Is Doing

    When You Don't Understand What God Is DoingIsaiah 40:31 “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”This is a message that I have been receiving a lot lately.  The part where it says they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.  I feel that God wants us to know that he is here for us.  He knows what we are going through, and if we hope in Him, He will renew our strength.  It seems like a lot of people that I know are going through some really difficult things right now, and they are definitely feeling weary.  God wants us to know that he is with us in our struggle.  When we feel weary, we can renew our strength by leaning into Him rather than pulling away.  What do I mean by pulling away?  When we are going through a hard time, sometimes we get mad at God.  We don’t understand what is going on.  We know He could fix the situation, and we don’t understand why He is not doing anything.  There is never a time when God is “not doing anything.”  However, if we can’t see or understand what he is doing, it may seem like he is doing nothing.  This can cause us to pull away.  This can make it hard for us to pray.  Our hope can sometimes diminish because we can’t see a way out of the situation.  We can’t see a way for God to use the situation for our good.This is normal.  If you are in this situation right now, please know you are not alone.  You are in good company.  There were even some Saints who found that they could not find the words to pray sometimes.  God understands this.  God is not looking for us to have all the answers.  He is not looking for us to know exactly what to say to Him, or what to do in each circumstance.  He is just looking for us.  Yes, that means you, too.  He just wants you to be with Him in whatever way you can.  He wants you to hope in him even if you don’t know what to hope for.  I know that may not make sense. How can you hope if you don’t know what to hope for?  I think that just means that you hope in the fact that God has a plan.  That even though you have no idea what the plan is, you know He has one.  You hope in the promise that God uses all things for your good.  That even though you don’t know how it will turn out, it will ultimately be good for you.  I know this is not easy, but it is possible.I was in a situation that I didn’t really understand.  A very good friend of mine was in a lot of pain in the hospital.  She had cancer.  I know she was close to the Lord, and if it was her time to go, she would go to Heaven.  I also knew that she wanted to get better.  I knew God could heal her.  It seems to me that if I ask God to heal her and trust that He will, then He will, in fact, heal her.   I have read many Bible passages, and they all seem to support this theory.  Ask, and you will receive.  Have faith and trust with all your heart, and it will be granted.  (ok, that last one was a paraphrase)  You get what I mean, though, right?  However, I think this is a trap that the enemy has set up for us to fall into.This is something I struggle with, so I am letting the Holy Spirit lead my fingers as I type this, and I want to acknowledge that I have not figured this out yet.  I am not an expert on this; I am on a journey of discovery and understanding, just like you.  I have prayed for understanding on this a lot.  I know I have talked about this before when discussing losing a close friend and my dog.  What I am talking about now is my understanding from my time of prayer. The reason I say this is that the trap the enemy sets up for us to fall into is that there is so much potential for anger and doubt.  If we ask God to heal her, and she dies, we will most likely get angry with God and not understand what is going on.  We may stay angry for a long time.   We may also start to doubt that there is a God, or that He actually hears our prayers.  We may start to doubt ourselves if we read verses like Mark 11:22-23: “Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Have faith in God.'Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.”  It says, “does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.”  So if it was not done for you, then you may start to question if you could have done something differently.  Would things have turned out differently if you had just believed more?  Do you see how all of those things are things that the enemy wants us to feel?  He would do anything to try to destroy our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  The enemy is the father of lies.  I talked about him before and how he sometimes uses scripture against us.  It is usually not a blatant lie. Do you see how he is not even changing anything about the scripture?  He is just using it to try to show you that God doesn’t keep his promises and can’t be trusted.  This is anything but true, and yet the enemy takes advantage of our weakened, vulnerable states and plays with our emotions.  So, if it’s not true that God let us down, what is the truth?  This is what I was asking God this morning.  What came to my mind was that we don’t know the whole story.  Only God does.  First, if we ask Him to cure or heal someone, and they end up dying, He still cured them, as there is no sickness in Heaven.  They are no longer in pain and are restored to perfect health.  He did still answer our prayer, just not the way we wanted Him to.  Second, we don’t know what is really in a person's heart.  Only God does.  For instance, my friend stated that she wanted to go to rehab.  This implies that she wanted to get better and go home, which is the purpose of rehab.  She did not just want to go to hospice and just be comfortable.  To you and me, this would seem like she was not ready to die or that she felt like she wanted more time here.  Therefore, when I pray, I pray that she is healed here on earth and that she gets to keep on living. However, only God knows what is truly in her heart.  Only He knows why she wanted to go to rehab.  Did she choose that because she is scared to die? Did she choose that because she is afraid her children aren’t ready for her to go?  Did she choose that because she wanted more time with them?  We don’t know what is in her heart, but God knows.  We don’t know what His plan is and how He is going to use the outcome of this for everyone’s good.  All we know is that right now she is in pain.  We know what we want.  We know what we think is best.  He knows what is really best.  He has seen the ending of her story.  He wrote the ending of her story.  If God chooses this to be the ending of my friend’s story, it will not be because I did not believe or trust enough. That is a lie the enemy is telling me.  If she dies, it is because God has decided it was for her good.  If you are struggling and find yourself in a difficult situation right now, know that God is answering your prayers.  The answers may not be what you thought they would be, but they are the best answers.  God is not just trying to make you feel better in the moment.  He knows the ending of your story, and he is working all things for your good.  You may not understand what He is doing, but if you can hope in the Lord anyway, he will renew your strength, and you will “soar on eagle’s wings.”Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  We ask that you help us to lean into you when times are tough.  We ask that you help us to see all you are doing in our situation. We ask that you strengthen us and help us to fly on eagle’s wings, especially when we feel we can’t go on any longer.  Lord, help us not to grow weary.  We ask that you help us to understand when we feel like we don’t have any understanding.  Lord, we ask that you comfort us and help remind us that you will use all things for our good.  We love you, Lord, and we know that you do so much for us. We are so grateful that you always keep your promises. You are so amazing!  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in October 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Rejoice in our love and our relationship. I am the rock upon which you lean.” CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  5. 6d ago

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 17 - What If The Answer Is No?

    What If The Answer Is No?Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.   “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”This is a verse that can bring us comfort in difficult times.  It is also one that can be frustrating at times.  It can be frustrating when our thoughts don’t match up with God’s thoughts.  Sometimes we have no idea what God is thinking.  His ways don’t make sense to us.  We pray for our loved one to be cured, and then they pass away.  How does that make sense?  I thought if I asked God, he would answer.  I thought according to John 14:13, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” If Jesus said He will do whatever we ask in His name, why did my loved one die?  These are questions that many of us find ourselves asking in a difficult time.  When I have asked them, the answer I have received has been that God did cure my loved one because there is no sickness in heaven.  Also, the Lord always points me back to this verse.  His ways are higher than our ways.  That may be frustrating at times, but most of the time I find it very comforting.  I don’t have to worry that my future is in the hands of someone who thinks as we do.  Not that our thinking it bad, but it is limited.  God’s scope is limitless.  He can see around every bend, twist, and turn in your life.  He can anticipate every move you are going to make.  This can be frustrating too because you don’t know all those twists and turns.  He may be working on one thing in your life, and it makes no sense to you at all.  Yet, in five years, when you need to cross a bridge, and you only have the strength to do it because of that thing that you did 5 years ago, it all makes sense.  Well, actually, it only makes sense if you are looking for ways that it makes sense.  If you are able to take the time to self-reflect, then it will all make sense one day.The thing that got me thinking of God’s ways not always making sense was the first reading at the daily Mass. It was from 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-32, which I know will not be in everyone’s bible.  If it is not in your Bible, do a quick Google search, and you will be able to read the whole story.  I won’t read the whole thing to you here, but I do suggest you read it.  Actually, the whole Maccabees book is a good one to read.  In these verses, it talks about a mother who had 7 sons.  They were Jewish, and the invading army was forcing the Jewish people to eat pork.  She and her sons refused, and she had to watch all her sons be tortured and killed rather than go against the laws given to them by Moses.  They were being faithful to God.  They were refusing to compromise their beliefs; they were giving up their lives for God, and yet, they still died.  In our eyes, they were not saved.  However, God’s ways are higher than our ways, and He is not going to abandon His children.  We don’t know what these men were saved from.  Maybe they were saved from the fires of hell because if they compromised on this one thing, maybe they would have gotten so caught up in the new culture that they would have fallen away from the ways of the Lord.  We don’t know.  Maybe they were saved from having to live under the rule of this new authority?  Maybe God was rewarding them for their faithfulness by taking them out of this broken world.  We don’t know.  We don’t know what God was thinking, but we do know that he knows more than we do, and if He did, it was for a reason.  Do you remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?  If you want to revisit this story, it is in the Book of Daniel chapter 3.  These 3 were Jewish, and they were set over the affairs in the province of Babylon.  King Nebuchadnezzar built a giant statue out of gold and put out a mandate that everyone must bow to it.  They refused and said they would only bow to the Lord our God.  When they were confronted by Nebuchadnezzar and asked why they wouldn’t bow, and told that if they didn’t bow they would be put in the fiery furnace, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”Can you imagine the bravery of these three men?  Can you imagine their faith?  They knew that the Lord our God could save them, and they believed he would save them, and yet they were prepared to die if He did not save them.  They were definitely gifted with some holy boldness in order to be able to stand up to the king like that, and also to be willing to die instead of betraying their Lord, our Lord.  I wonder if I would have the courage?  I wonder how I would react?  I remember having a discussion about Martyrs once with a friend.  She was saying that it was crazy to give up your life if someone is threatening to kill you instead of just doing that one thing.  For instance, Saint Maria Goretti was stabbed to death because she refused to let a childhood friend force himself on her.  My friend was saying that Maria didn't have to die.  God would have forgiven her.  He knew she didn’t want to do it.    My friend said she couldn’t imagine that God would have wanted Maria to die.  I understand what she is saying.  God is always willing to forgive as long as we ask for it.  The thing about Martyrs is, they don’t see a choice in this type of circumstance.  They love the Lord so much and have devoted their life to Him, and living with the thought that they betrayed Him is not an option.  Also, Saint Maria was not just thinking about herself in this instance.  I don’t know if she was thinking about herself at all.  What she kept saying in the movie was, “God doesn’t want you to do this.”  She was concerned for her friend’s soul as well.  She didn’t want him to cross that line and end up suffering in eternity for it.Yes, I believe that God would have forgiven these men for eating pork instead of sacrificing their lives for it.  However, I also believe that their reward in heaven because of their sacrifice was so much greater than their suffering in the moment.  I believe if Saint Maria Goretti had not been able to resist, God would have continued to love her and favor her.  However, because she was able to resist, God was able to use her sacrifice to save so many others that would not have been saved.  Maria was rushed to the hospital, and before she died, she forgave the kid that assaulted her.  That kid went to jail and served his time.  The whole time, all he could think about was how she forgave him.  He went on to become a priest.  Saint Maria Goretti is a great example of forgiveness, and because of her sacrifice, so many people have been able to forgive and have been able to know the love of God.  Do you see how God’s ways are higher than our ways?  We don’t always understand His plan.  Why did the mother have to watch her 7 sons die?  Why didn’t God save them?  Why didn’t He at least leave her one of them?  Why didn’t he deliver them in a way that we think He should have?  Why did he let Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego live?  I guess I didn’t mention that earlier.  In case you are not familiar with that story.  King Nebuchadnezzar was so angry at their reply that he threw them into the fiery furnace, which he had ordered to be made extra hot.  After they were thrown into the furnace, the king looked in, and he saw four people in the furnace, not three, and they were completely untouched by the fire.  The Lord had sent his angel in there to protect them.  When the king saw that they were untouched by the fire, he called for them to come out of the fire, and they walked right out.  Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.  Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces, and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”God sent an angel down to save these three, but he allowed the 7 sons to be tortured and killed.  This can be hard to reconcile with because we don’t think as God thinks.  I run into this thinking frequently, especially when it comes to people who are sick.  I believe with all my being that God can cure any illness, even mental illness.  I know he can. There isn’t a doubt in my mind.  This means that I struggle when He doesn’t.  We have a lot of conversations about it.  I question Him a lot about it.  I wonder if I am doing something wrong with my prayers.  I wonder if I should be doing more.  I wonder why I can’t heal this person.  And there it is.  I can’t heal anyone; only God can.  Every time I have these discussions with the Lord, He always says the same thing.  “My thoughts are greater than your thoughts, and my ways are better than your ways.  Why are you doubting me?  Why do you keep questioning me?  I know what I am doing, and I am doing what is best for everyone.  Yes, it hurts sometimes, but there is always a reason.  I am your Father; you will not always like what I do, you won’t always agree with it, but it is what is best.  Trust me.”Wow, how can I argue with that?  When you find yourself wondering what the heck God is thinking, r

  6. Oct 9

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 16- When Everyone Else Gets Their Miracle

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 16- When Everyone Else Gets Their Miracle  Matthew 11:6 “And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”This is a tiny sentence in a great big bible. You may have heard it many times before and not even noticed it because it is so small. Also, you may have heard it and not understood what it meant. This has definitely happened to me before. I have read something, and for one reason or another I did not understand what it meant. Sometimes I will look at the footnotes and will get a better understanding of what the statement meant. To be honest, I am not sure if I heard this verse before or not. I know that I definitely did not understand what it meant or take any notice of it. That is, until I read about it in that book I keep talking about, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You really must read that book; it is so good! Anyway, as soon as I heard about what this verse meant, I knew I wanted to share it with people because I had never thought of it before, and I know it is something that we can all do. In the book, Mark talks about this couple he knows who are prayer warriors or prayer giants. You know the kind of people I am talking about, right? The people who seem to have a direct line to God. All of their prayers seem to get answered. My mom and dad are prayer warriors. They have had so many answered prayers and witnessed numerous miracles. If you know my parents, they are the first people you call when you are in need of prayers.Mark talked about how the couple’s prayers for others were often answered; however, prayers for their own lives went unanswered. He said they took a leap of faith and went into the world of filmmaking, and they lost their life savings because the financial backing promised to them never came through. They lost their home in a fire. They lost three out of four parents in four years. And a rare genetic condition has taken atoll physically, emotionally, and financially. It seemed like God was answering everyone else’s prayers, except their own. Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt like God was answering the prayers of everyone around you, but yours were going unheard for some reason? This couple said there had been moments when they have been tempted to throw in the towel, but the promise above has kept themgoing. “And Blessed is he who takes no offense to me.” Here is the context of that promise, as Mark Batterson explains it in his book The Circle Maker: Jesus is doing miracles right and left. He is healing diseases, driving out demons, and restoring sight to the blind, but John the Baptist misses the miracle train. It seems like Jesus is rescuing everybody except His most faithful follower, who is in prison. And John is his cousin, nonetheless. It seems like Jesus could have, and maybe should have, organized a rescue operation and busted him out before he was beheaded. Instead, He sent a message via John's disciples. He tells them to tell John about all the miracles He is doing, and then He asks them to relay this promise: "Blessed is theone who is not offended by me.”I had never thought of this before. I had never thought about how John the Baptist might have felt seeing his cousin performing miracles all around him and yet he was stuck in jail. I wonder if he did feel offended? My first instinct is to say that he didn’t because he seemed like he was so close to God, and I think we tend to put anyone who we think is that close to God on a pedestal. We think that because they weredevoted to God that they have it all together and that following God and His ways comes easy to them. When I start to think like this, I need to remind myself that they are human and we all struggle with our thoughts and actions. I don’t know if John the Baptist felt offended by Christ or not. I do know that this is a completely normal human response. If you are feeling offended because God is answering the prayers of all those around you and not yours, please know that this is completely normal and understandable. We can be happy for others and sad for ourselves at the same time. I know I may keep mentioning that you can feel two things at the same time, but that is because I keep talking to so many people who are feeling guilty for being upset about something because they should be feeling grateful. Or, they feel guilty because they should be feeling happy that their friend just got pregnant, but they feel sad that they have not gotten pregnant yet. You don’t have to feel guilty about your feelings. It is ok to have two competing emotions at the same time. It is not just ok, it is completely normal. I wanted to share this verse because I know some people who have been feeling offended by God lately. They are wondering why everyone else seems to be more favored or more deserving. If this is you, I hope you take comfort in this passage. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” God does not favor others more than you. God is a mystery. We don’t know why He does what He does. We know He has a plan for our lives, and we also know He is not super forthcoming with what that plan is. He is more of a “reveal one step at a time” God. One thing we know for sure is that He keeps His promises. So, if God is not answering your prayers, it doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care for you as much as others. You know Jesus had to have cared for His cousin. You know God had to have been proud of His faithful servant John, who lived in the woods and baptized people and preached repentance. And yet, John the Baptist was beheaded. God loves you! He loves each one of His children equally and more than we could ever imagine. If your prayers aren’t being answered, I know it is hard. I know it is hard to see others receive their miracles while you are still waiting. I know it may feel like you are never going to receive your answers. Please don’t give up asking. Please don’t give up expecting them to be answered. Try to rely on this promise that you are Blessed. My hope is this shift in perspective will help you not throw in the towel. Instead of thinking God must not like you or favor you because your prayers aren’t being answered, you can know that you are blessed. You can know that you are in good company.Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us not to be offended by you. We thank you for all the miracles you're doing in the world today and all the prayers that you have answered. Lord, we don't know why our prayers may be going unanswered, and that is really difficult for us. Lord, we ask that you help us with this. If our prayers haven't been answered yet, we pray that you give us the perseverance to keep asking and not to give up. We ask that you give us wisdom and clarity if you want us to stop asking for something. As with Paul, when he asked for you to heal the thorn in his side and you told him your grace was sufficient for him. If we are asking for something that we don't need or you don't want us to have, please take that desire from us. Lord, we are so thankful for all you are doing in the world today. Please help us to be happy for others when you answer their prayers. Please help us to not be offended by this and to know in the depths of our hearts that you love us and you have a wonderful plan for our lives. Lord, we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “The angels watch over you, lest you stumble and fall. Yes. God wants us to know that we are surrounded and cared for by his angels.” CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  7. Oct 8

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 15 - How Do I Know Whether to Keep Asking or Let Go?

    Hope in the Waiting - Day 15 - How Do I Know Whether to Keep Asking or Let Go? Luke 18:1-8 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. “He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”I love this parable because it reminds us to keep asking. Jesus is telling us that if we want something bad enough, all we have to do is keep asking for it, and it will be given to us. I wanted to address the question, “How do I know whether to keep asking or let it go?” Because I think it is something many people struggle with. I have been asked this question many times and usually people cite verse 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” People say that Paul asked three times and then God told him that His grace was sufficient for him, so Paul stopped asking. I understand why we might think that if we ask God a few times and we don’t get what we asked for, then maybe God wants us to just live with it. I understand that redemptive suffering is real and that others can be healed through our suffering. I do think God uses our suffering. However, I also believe that God wants to heal us. I believe He doesn’t like to see His children suffering. Besides the parable about the persistent widow, there is another parable about asking your neighbor for food. This parable is in Luke 11:5-13. In this parable, Jesus says, “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” The next paragraph says, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for [a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”Jesus is telling us through these parables that we need to keep asking. We need to not grow weary of asking. That we will get what we want if we just keep asking. As to how we know whether to keep asking or to let it go, this I think is simple. Keep asking unless you get word from the Lord that you should stop. In 2 Corinthians, Paul heard the Lord say that His grace was sufficient for Him. If you hear this from the Lord, or if you feel like the Lord is telling you to stop asking, then listen to the Lord. However, anything short of the Lord telling you to stop, I say keep asking. It is not just in the parables that the Lord tells us to keep asking. He also tells us this in verses like Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.If you have been waiting for an answer for a long time, then it makes sense why you would feel as if it might be time to throw in the towel. It is easy to think that if God wanted to answer your prayer, or give you the healing, he would have done it by now. I get it. I have had to wait a really long time for the answers to some of my prayers. And for others, I am still waiting for the answers. However, those are just lies from the enemy. The enemy is whispering these lies. He is telling us that God would have healed us already if He wanted to. He tells us that God is tired of us asking for the same thing over and over again. He is telling us these lies because He knows we are tired of asking. He knows when we are tired, we are vulnerable to his lies. The devil is a liar! God does not want you to stop asking. Think of the story of the hemorrhaging woman. She was bleeding for 12 years. She tried everything she could think of. She had probably prayed to the Lord a million times in those 1e years, and yet He did eventually heal her. She didn’t give up, and He rewarded her faith. He will do the same for you. He will answer your prayers. He will heal you or your loved one. He will give you the provisions you need, the new job you are looking for. Whatever it is that you are praying for, keep asking, keep being persistent, and the Lord will answer your prayers!Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode. I ask that you help us to never give up asking. I ask you to help give us the perseverance we need to keep asking even when we get tired. I ask that you give us the strength to keep coming to you even when it feels like you aren’t listening. I ask that you help us to keep hoping and believing that even though we have been asking for a long time, you want us to keep asking and that you will answer our prayers in your timing. Help us, Lord! Help us be like the persistent widow. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!Today’s Word from the Lord was received in February 2026 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I saw angels surrounding me, and the Lord was saying, “They're all around you. You may not see them, but they are there.”  CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

  8. Oct 7

    Witness Wednesday #228 Mary C.

    For more information on Walk Boldly With Jesus Mentoring CLICK HERE CLICK HERE ✨ JOIN WALK BOLDLY WITH JESUS MENTORING (Live Tuesdays + recordings available — $30/month) CLICK HERE 📖 Get the Daily “Word from the Lord” Email CLICK HERE 🎧 Get My Free Audio Training + Join My Email List Click Here 🌐 Visit Finding True North Coaching

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Does life feel extra hard right now? Is it difficult to find joy in your day to day living? Do you feel like something is missing? I did. I was struggling with all of it. Life seemed so hard. Then one day I realize what was missing. I needed more Jesus in my life. Our home needed more Jesus. This may be just what you are missing too! This podcast will give you tips on how you can become closer to Jesus. It will talk about scripture and how those stories can relate to your everyday life. It will help you find joy in life again and teach you to be bold with Jesus by your side. If you would like to reach me you can email Catherine@findingtruenorthcoaching.com or go to my website findingtruenorthcoaching.com Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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  • Creator
    Catherine Duggan
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    600
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2021 Walk Boldly With Jesus by Catherine Duggan
  • Show Website
    Walk Boldly With Jesus