Peace in His Presence
What feels impossible to you in this season of your life? Health issues, family struggles, grieving the loss of a loved one, work challenges, or problems at church. I invite you to hold up what seems impossible before the Lord and sit with Him, while we take a look at Mary’s story today. I know it’s not easy to look at what feels impossible but your Immanuel promises to be with you in all things and He will strengthen you and give you His peace. His promises to you are unshakable. Listen into these Advent Reflections, while we look at Mary's story. Let's ponder how God made the...
info_outline Advent Reflections: Waiting in HopePeace in His Presence
What is the cry of your heart? What is the prayer you’ve been whispering over and over again to God until you wonder if you should even keep asking? But the longing lasts, and you wait in the hope of knowing that God promises to hear your prayers and that He always answers your prayers, maybe not in the way you imagined, but always out of His divine love and grace towards you. Advent is a time of waiting. As we look back to the first Christmas. God's people had been waiting for the Messiah to come for thousands of years. The world was a broken and dark place. God’s chosen people...
info_outline Celebrate the Joys of FriendshipPeace in His Presence
Welcome to the final and fourth episode of The Blessings and Burdens of Friendship series. For this series, Michelle invited Christina Hergenrader to be a guest host. In this final episode as we celebrate the joys of friendship, Michelle and Christina, invited their mutual friend, Audrey Duensing-Werner Director of Family Life Ministry. In this episode, we dive into the story of Mary and Elizabeth in the Bible, highlighting the incredible bond they shared as friends and the support they provided each other during significant moments in their lives. We explore how their friendship...
info_outline Gracefully Reconnecting: Difficult Conversations and Friendship ForgivenessPeace in His Presence
Michelle and Christina tackle the complex terrain of forgiveness and reconciliation within friendships. It's a topic that often leads to hesitation and discomfort, as we ponder whether our cherished friendships can endure the trials and tribulations that come with difficult conversations. Friendships, like fragile stained glass windows, are susceptible to breaking. However, Michelle beautifully draws a parallel between enduring friendships and stained glass windows. Just as a shattered window can be pieced back together, friendships can emerge stronger and more beautiful after facing...
info_outline Church Music: For the Care of Souls with Phillip MagnessPeace in His Presence
Michelle interviews Phil Magness about his book, Church Music: For the Care of Souls. This was a special interview as Michelle has been friends with Phil and his wife Cheryl for almost 30 years. Michelle learned much about worship from Phil when they served at a church together many years ago. In this interview, they talk about: Why Phil wrote this book The importance of Sunday morning worship but also personal worship. Going to church, even when it's difficult The gifts God gives to us in worship Phil's prayer and hope for those who listen and read his book
info_outline How Many Friends Should You Have?Peace in His Presence
Michelle and Christina continue their series on the blessings and burdens of friendship, by taking a look at the question, "How Many Friends Should You Have?" What Michelle and Christina, discovered through their survey was that women of all ages and stages of life, wondered how many friends should I have? Which often leads to wondering, why don’t I have more friends? Christina takes the lead spot, sharing a time from her life when she achieved her dream of becoming a writer but felt lonely and left out. During that period, God helped her understand that her worth wasn’t found by the...
info_outline Grace-filled Connections: Unwrapping God's Gift of FriendshipPeace in His Presence
Michelle has invited Christina Hergenrader to guest host a special podcast series called "The Blessings and Burdens of Friendship." We're diving deep into this fascinating world of friendships, sharing stories, insights, and, hopefully, a lot of helpful advice along the way. One thing that's been on our minds is this idea we like to call "wish dreams." You know, it's that perfect, almost fairytale-like image we all have of what friendship should be. We search high and low for that ideal friendship, sometimes so diligently that we miss the incredible connections God has already placed in...
info_outline Trusting God in Uncertain Times: Finding Peace in His Constant PresencePeace in His Presence
Often, our worries come from not being able to control a situation. The truth is that we cannot plan for all the uncertainties we will face, but we can trust our Immanuel, the God who is with us, to give us His strength and peace through all the trials and troubles we will face in this life. When our minds become stuck in "what if" thinking, we see things from our finite viewpoint. We forget that God is infinite and that we can trust Him even when life is uncertain or doesn't make sense. In this episode, Gretchen Ronnevik interviews Michelle about the eighth chapter of her book, Immanuel....
info_outline Resting in the Faithfulness of the Good ShepherdPeace in His Presence
Does your heart feel shaken and shattered? Perhaps you feel bruised and battered from all that has happened over the last few years. You are weary and tired, and you long for peace. God promises to be your Good Shepherd, and you can rest in His unshakable faithfulness towards you today and always. In this episode, Sharla Fritz interviews me about my book Promised Rest; we discuss how the Good Shepherd gives us His peace. Listen to these beautiful promises from Psalm 23, and these are not some far-off distant promises. They are for right here, right now. For every moment,...
info_outline When Your Heart Is Anxious Jesus Gives You His PeacePeace in His Presence
Author Lindsay Hausch, interviews Michelle in this episode about the 6th chapter in her book, Promised Rest. We look at how God is our peace. In this episode, we delve into the story of Gideon, a man who found himself hiding in a wine vat, trying to thresh wheat due to the oppressive Midianites. We explored how Gideon's encounter with an angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Himself. As we reflected on Gideon's story, we couldn't help but be reminded of how God looks at us with love and compassion, even when we may struggle with fear and anxiety. Just as Gideon questioned God and asked for a...
info_outlineDo you ever wonder how God could love you?
The world will point out your sins and tell you that you’re not good enough for God to love you. But God steps into your story and shows you through Jesus how much He loves you.
In this episode, Deb Burma interviews me about my book, Promised Rest, and we talk about the name Abba, which means papa or daddy. This means that God’s love for you is beyond measure, like that of a beloved child. Nothing can separate you from His love.
To better understand how God loves you as Abba, we’ll look at how God loves you through the story of the Prodigal son. If you’ve ever struggled with wondering how God could love you, you’ll see through this story how God runs toward you and tells you that you’re enough because of Jesus.
God’s grace and mercy are deeper than your sins; that is His promise towards you.
- Promises we can rest in because God is our Abba.
- Michelle’s favorite passage that uses the name Abba
- Michelle’s prayer for the listener/reader as they contemplate God’s name as Abba.
For more things like this, you can read the first chapter of my book for free at cph.org/rest.
You can connect with Michelle at michellediercks.com/podcast
You can connect with Deb at Debburma.com
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/will-you-marry-me
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