Imagine how your life would change if you could harness the power of trust, purpose, and partnership. Our incredible guest, Ms Shirley Bertholf, a renowned author and ordained minister, shares her compelling personal experiences that will inspire you to do just that. From her illuminating journey of love and ministry, insightful testimonies of God's love and music, to overcoming adversity and avoiding judgment, she underscores the role of faith in overcoming life's trials.
As we navigate through the conversation, we delve into the dynamic balance between our present existence and eternity. Shirley shares her own stories from her 55-year long marriage and her work in the business world, highlighting the importance of living each day with a sense of purpose. We delve into the powerful testimonies of faith and trust that have enriched her life and the lives of those she has served, guiding listeners on how to live a life that reflects and shares God's love.
Our enlightening conversation culminates with an exploration of Shirley's devotionals "Thoughts to Ponder: From God's Heart to My Heart to Yours." These profound words have not only provided solace during challenging times but also offer a daily reminder of God's unwavering love and guidance. Be prepared to be inspired and uplifted in your own faith journey as you listen to this powerful conversation. Remember, God's love is for you, and it is through His love that we can truly live fulfilling lives.
Imagine how your life would change if you could harness the power of trust, purpose, and partnership. Our incredible guest, Ms Shirley Bertholf, a renowned author and ordained minister, shares her compelling personal experiences that will inspire you to do just that. From her illuminating journey of love and ministry, insightful testimonies of God's love and music, to overcoming adversity and avoiding judgment, she underscores the role of faith in overcoming life's trials.
As we navigate through the conversation, we delve into the dynamic balance between our present existence and eternity. Shirley shares her own stories from her 55-year long marriage and her work in the business world, highlighting the importance of living each day with a sense of purpose. We delve into the powerful testimonies of faith and trust that have enriched her life and the lives of those she has served, guiding listeners on how to live a life that reflects and shares God's love.
Our enlightening conversation culminates with an exploration of Shirley's devotionals "Thoughts to Ponder: From God's Heart to My Heart to Yours." These profound words have not only provided solace during challenging times but also offer a daily reminder of God's unwavering love and guidance. Be prepared to be inspired and uplifted in your own faith journey as you listen to this powerful conversation. Remember, God's love is for you, and it is through His love that we can truly live fulfilling lives.
I think you've fallen off. Backslash, go and see if you can. I'll show you how I'm coming. So you tell me you're over. You can't lock on any break. You're throwing. I think you've fallen off. You're gonna pay me every day. You're strong. I think you've fallen off. You're gonna pay me every day. You're strong. I think you've fallen off. I think you've fallen off. Baby, if you connect with me, I'll just make you happy. Hey, whoa, even if you come to my place, I'm gonna pass in your sights. I feel like I'm out of your guilt. You won't know how to let go. I think you've fallen off. You're gonna pay me every day. You're strong. I think you've fallen off. I'm gonna go around from any. So you tell me you're over. You can lock on any break. You're throwing. I think you've fallen off. You're gonna pay me every day. You're strong. I think you've fallen off. You're gonna pay me every day. You're strong.
Speaker 1:I know you see me deeply still, better than everything else. My world is hard to get out of. I know you feel it all. You feel so down, real to me. You take the lead, enjoying this world. I'm a man. I think it's all up. You're better than everything else. I think you fall. You think it's up. I know that world won't be like me. I bet you don't want a baby girl. I don't know what. I'm a wuss. I don't want a baby. Baby with you, small, anyway, your girl can make it there. I bet you're falling small. You don't want a type of girl. I'm a girl who can make it small. I bet you're falling small. Good baby, you're degrading small Welcome, welcome.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Listen Listen show. Today I have a special guest, Ms Shirley Bertol. If, Ms Shirley, if you can hear me, can you please accept the invite? If you are here, can you please accept the invite? And before we get started, you guys know how I do, how I do what I do we always, always, always, start off with prayer. Since we're waiting on Ms Shirley to come into the room, I'm going to lead with prayer. Ms Shirley, if you can't log in, feel free to slide out. Click the link to log back in if you do not see the invite. If you do not see the invite, you're already in the broadcast. I just need you to accept the invite, like we did earlier.
Speaker 1:I thank you for it all. The good, bad, the ugly, gray, the small.
Speaker 2:I'm going to have you leave, ms Shirley, and then come back in. If you don't mind, I'm going to have you leave and then come back in.
Speaker 1:I thank you for it all. The good, bad, the ugly, gray, the small.
Speaker 2:I sent the invite again, Ms Shirley. If you see it, can you click the invite?
Speaker 1:The good, bad, the ugly, gray, the small. There we go, you girl, you got the girl, I got you, you got the girl.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I'm going to leave with prayer and then we're going to get right to it. Okay, ms Shirley, you bet, and I don't want to butcher your name, so can you just say your name for the guest Shirley.
Speaker 3:Bertholf, bertholf, okay.
Speaker 2:I said Bertholf Okay. So it's Bertholf Okay, got you, got you. Got you, got you, okay.
Speaker 2:Dear heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts for the opportunity to gather today and reflect on your word. As we dive into these devotionals, we ask for your guidance and wisdom to understand the profound truths that they hold. Open our hearts, lord, god, in minds to receive your message and apply it to our lives. Lord, we acknowledge that sometimes we rely on ourselves instead of trusting in your provision. Help us to surrender our pride and fully trust in your goodness and your faithfulness. Lord God, teach us to rely on your wisdom rather than our own understanding. Father, you are loving and generous. Help us to internalize your love and truly grasp your desire to provide good gifts to us. May this understanding deepen our relationship with you and inspire us to share your love with others.
Speaker 2:We confess that at times we struggle with following a list of rules and religious duties, but getting the power of your spirit within us, lord God, fill us with your Holy Spirit, lord, that we know that your love may flow through us, shaping our actions and transforming our lives. Lord, god, and the midst of life's uncertainties, remind us your sovereignty and your ability to fulfill your purposes. Remind us of pain to trust in your plans. Lord God, even when we can't see the way forward, help us to live each day with a sense of purpose and a readiness for eternity. Now, as we engage in this discussion with Miss Shirley, may your life shine through us and power us to be a beacon of hope and love in this dark, cruel, cold world. Lord God, we provide our words and thoughts that they may inspire and encourage all those who are listening, who plan to listen and who are listening on a replay all around the world. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, our Savior and Redeemer. Amen, amen.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you so much for allowing me to help you spread this word. I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for reaching out, and I want to just let everybody know your name, how old you are and the title of your book, and I say, oh, I know you never tell a woman, you're not age, but I have been proposing you that you do not look like your age at all. I look like what you've been through, miss Shirley. So I just want you to just, you know, just just just grace us with this grace. Okay, because when you told me I was a Lord, I could not love this. I could not. So you know, for the record for the listeners, your name, your age and the title of your book.
Speaker 3:Okay, my name is Shirley Berthoff and I'm almost 76, I'll be 76 in March and my book is entitled Thoughts to Ponder, from God's Heart to my Heart, to Yours.
Speaker 1:I beg you for it's all. Amen 76.
Speaker 2:I've had a lot of years to learn things. And she said March, which I don't want to, and I'm not a woman. You'll get March 11th. That's me, oh, mine's a second, okay. So y'all already know. A lot of people may not believe in astrology and zodiac signs, but y'all know those people in March. Those March people are just good, good energy. So today's gonna be fun. I got me a March girl here with me. So, yeah, we gonna do this, we gonna do this, okay. So let's jump right into the question so we can let give the listeners a little more personal relationship with you. So can you share with us your journey of sensing God's call on your own life and the process of being ordained Like? How did this experience shape your ministry alongside your husband?
Speaker 3:Well I've since God began a really deep work in my life. I was as a child. I gave my heart to the Lord, was raised in a Christian home. But it was in my early twenties that God just really got a hold of my heart and helped me understand my need for a savior and transformed me. And at that point the word of God became so important to me and I began discipling people in the word of God. And God had to grow me in that understanding and I just had to stay a little bit ahead of the people. I was trying to look to disciple, but he really pushed me into the word and that was so transformative.
Speaker 3:In my whole ministry I actually did not sense a call to actually be in what I thought was professional ministry until goodness. It was sometime in the late nineties mid nineties I guess and I began to really sense that God wanted me to pursue ordination. But right during Desert Storm my husband and I had moved to Boise to plant a church and my husband was a military reserve chaplain and he was called up to Desert Storm Right after we had created this group and started planning for our launch of the new church and he was gone, and at that point we felt that if I was to just kind of take over the preaching and his ministry during that period of time, rather than having people just come in every week and have kind of a disjointed ministry. And so for four and a half months I took the pulpit and sang in the worship team and basically God really used me, which was so amazing. And to be able to see the things that God shared with me in the word of God, that I could share with people and see God work through that and really bless and minister and challenge and grow people, was a huge thing.
Speaker 3:And it still took a lot of years before I really sensed that God wanted me. In fact I really wondered if I should pursue ordination. But God made that clear and then so I did pursue ordination and he and I we shared pastor to be co-pastored. And then I was also in the next church. I was also his associate pastor and we loved working together and we took turns preaching. We've even done a couple of team preaching sections. So that's been really a wonderful and did a lot of counseling and worship leading and preaching. So it's been a great experience for me and God's word has been the anchor through all of that.
Speaker 2:That is such a blessing to be able to share that gift of ministry and knowing that God just truly, truly mastermind it and cultivated a union to go out together to spread the word of God. I think that is absolutely amazing. Now celebrating 50 years of marriage. That's a significant milestone. Congratulations for that. Oh my God, I'm coming up to eight years, 10 years altogether with my husband, and I love him, I love my boy as I do, but 50, pray for us. Well, it's actually been 55 now, oh my goodness. So what are some of the key lessons you have learned about love, commitment and partnership through your journey with your husband?
Speaker 3:Oh, okay. Well, you know, like every couple, we had our issues at the beginning. I was a strong-willed woman and had to learn how to live with another human being for one, and also to understand God's relationship and how to yield to my husband. He had to learn how to love me like Christ, love the church. I mean, there are just things that you have to learn, and I don't think we learn some of those things any other way, to tell you the truth. And but you know, I think the most important thing for us was that we both married for life period, and I don't know what it is about that kind of commitment, but when things got tough, I never saw divorce as an option. So I figured either I stay miserable for the rest of my life or I get on my face before God and figure out what he wants to do. And so, you know, at first I always told God speak to him, you know, change him. But the Lord seemed to always bring it back to me and my attitudes. And just that's where he wanted to start and he began changing my attitudes and my heart.
Speaker 3:And once that happened, I did see a lot of changes in my husband as well. You know, I mean God's not only gonna work in one person in that relationship, but he needs he will work. I can't control what anybody else does and I can't control my own response to God in his word and I just I can't even describe to you. I was just telling my husband the other day it is sweeter right now than it has ever been. You know, when I was young, first married, I thought old people surely could not possibly know what it means to really be in love. And I'm telling you, I realize now that I had no, not even much of a clue what real love was when I got married and even in the early years. It's just. I think that's the beauty of what God provides for us is going the distance. There's a beauty that comes as we just continue to sacrifice our hearts before the Lord and let him work in us and let him choose our responses through his, from his word and through his power of his spirit.
Speaker 3:And it doesn't mean that it's easy all the time. It hasn't been. There are always issues and challenges when two people who are so different live together and work together, and so forth. If we were both agreed on everything, one of us would be totally unnecessary. So we need each other and we need to recognize each other's strength and yield to the giftings of each other and the plan that God has for us. But I'm telling you, it is beautiful and I just feel the reason the world doesn't appreciate marriages is because they don't understand God's way of doing things, they won't yield to God in that and also they don't stick in there when the hard times come, because on the other side of every challenge there is a deeper love, a deeper commitment and the ability to comprehend that God can do something in our weakness that we can't do. Anyway, that's probably my secret.
Speaker 2:I commend you and I think it is very admirable. It's only two people I know now that has been married that long. That's you and a really good friend of mine. Her name is Dr Velma Bagby. She's also an award-winning author and a minister, and her husband is a pastor as well and she's been on quite a few times and she's been married. In February it will be 50 years.
Speaker 2:So I just want to say you guys are like the Mount Rushmore of ministers and first ladies. So I have someone to look up to, and I also have another minister who is listening in, miss Shaquana, a minister, pastor Shaquana. She's married as well, and I think that me and her probably are around the same amount of time that we have been in a relationship or married. I think she's a few years more years in than I am, but we're both under 20 years, if I'm not mistaken, and it's relationships like yours that make us appreciate marriage more and just want to do it even more and just want to stick in it even more. So thank you, you and your husband, so much for that and for your ministry is absolutely amazing, and as I was actually researching you, I saw that not only are you a minister and an author, but you are also a speaker and a singer and you have blessed so many with your anointed messages and music. Could you share a memorable experience or testimonial where you witness God's love and light, touching the lives of those you've?
Speaker 3:ministered to. Well, yes, I can, god is so faithful. And there are many, but one that comes to my mind is I really like to sing for people who are sick or in the hospital or housebound, and that's probably mostly what I do. Now I'm past the generation where my music probably is going to be out there publicly for most people and I love to just sing the old songs for people who are dying or in the hospital.
Speaker 3:And I was a hospital chaplain, a volunteer chaplain, during one of our ministries I believe this is in Oklahoma City and when we lived in Oklahoma City and I was on call and I was asked to go to the bedside of a gal who had just found out she had lung cancer and she was terrified of dying, and so I was able to go in and speak with her and she was sharing with me her great fear and I was able to ask her about her spiritual journey and she shared with me her need and I just asked her if anybody had ever told her how to what God said about being in relationship with him and being ready to meet him.
Speaker 3:And so she allowed me to share that with her and she prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart and there was just such a quiet and a peace in her heart from immediately.
Speaker 3:I was so appalled and amazed at this because she was so terrified when I first went in there and how God was able to just speak peace into her heart and I continued to visit with her and then I would just sing for her and sing about heaven and sing about Jesus, and each time I talked with her she just had a calm and a peace as she talked about death and going to be with the Lord, and when they finally said there was nothing more that they could do for her, she asked if I would come and be with her. When the nurse told her husband and I was able to pray with them and sing over them as well, that was. You know, those are the kind of things that God's spirit through his word and then music is an amazing instrument because it I think it speaks to our spirits and we don't really even have to. We don't even really have to have that mental understanding and I don't think sometimes for our spirit to be moved by music or the word of God.
Speaker 2:Hello. Right now the song is playing oceans I don't know if you can hear it, but surely. But I'm playing oceans where my feet have been filled by Hillsong United, so I'm going to play this song and then after that we're going to come back.
Speaker 1:Music plays and maybe we can make it back, get some novel material. I'm not afraid of you. You're grace and bounds and deepest waters. You sovereign hand. You'll be my guide. But feet may fail, the fears surrounds me. You never failed and you won't stop now. So I'll call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves. When oceans rise and soar, rest in your embrace. I'll hide behind your hands and you are my Lord Spirit, leave me where my trust is without pause. Let me walk upon the walls where you would come me and take me deeper than my thinking and my faithful breathing stroke in the presence of my Savior Spirit, leave me where my trust is without pause. Let me walk upon the walls where ever you would come me and take me deeper than my thinking and my faithful breathing stroke in the presence of my Savior.
Speaker 2:So I'll call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves. When oceans rise and soar, rest in your embrace. I'll hide behind your hands. You are my Lord, and that was Hillsong, united with Oceans. Where my Feet May Fail. I have invited Ms Shirley to unmute your phone, so if you can unmute, I want to get into this song with you. Were you able to hear the song?
Speaker 3:No, I wasn't, but I know the song.
Speaker 2:I have the lyrics, just in case I'm having some difficulty if you don't have Apple Music. Unfortunately, if you don't have Apple Music or the Music App on your phone, or if you didn't log into it, you probably won't be able to hear the song. I'm not going to play any more songs, just in case you're not able to hear those as well. But Oceans when my Feet May Fail is one of my favorite songs and I like the way Hillsong United sings it and that's what everyone knows. But it's another girl, her name is Bree Bobinow, and she sings it and she is amazing with it. So I played the Hillsong United because that's the more universal song. But these lyrics you call me out upon the waters, the great unknown where feet may fail. And there I find you, in the mystery, in Oceans Deep. My faith will stand and I will call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves and Oceans Rise. My soul will rest in your embrace, for I am yours and you are mine.
Speaker 2:Now I'll take that song and every time I hear that song it reminds me of when God called. You know, the disciples who walk on water. Yeah, when Jesus called him to walk on water and his faith had to be strong to walk on water, and he was doing it for a while, but then he panicked and he slipped and he got, and Jesus told him just keep his eyes on him and keep going. And so that is my interpretation of this song. How does that song resonate with you, with your, with your, with your family's ministry and and what you, just you know witness with what you were saying happened as far as, like the testimonial, with one of your, with one of your, your, your, your people at your church and how you minister to them before they pass.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, you know if we are not, if you know if we, if we try to stay in our comfort zone, we're going to miss so much that God wants to do in us but also to teach us about himself, until we actually are thrust into a situation where we're not going to be able to do anything, a situation where we need God so bad that we can't make it, we can't do what we need to do, we can't have peace. We recognize that we are absolutely in deep, deep waters and we're in trouble. When we need him like that and he comes through for us, wow, then we know him in a brand new way, not just in our heads, we know him now in our experience and in our hearts, and that informs us the next time we get into a difficult situation. That is much easier for us to recall. Wow, god is big, he can do the impossible. He's done it before. I remember that, and so I just feel like it's every one of those situations.
Speaker 3:And when you're in ministry and you're dealing with people, there are going to be times where you're going to be misunderstood and the enemy of our soul creates situations that make it hard sometimes to love people when they've maybe chosen not to love you and to wound or whatever, but God then invites us to step into those deep waters, trusting that he has enough for us.
Speaker 3:The God of the universe lives in us. If we've invited Jesus to be our Savior, if we've been born again, god lives in us and all the love, all the joy, all the peace, all the patience that God is within us, but we don't know how to let him live his life through us, instead of trying ourselves to love enough or be joyful enough, and so what we need then is to be thrust in those deep waters so that we have to cry out to him. And then, when we need him to be something or do something in us, and he does it, then we get to know him in a whole new way, and it changes who we are and how much we can trust the next time. And so I really feel like those times, those deep water times where we don't know what to do and all we can do is just trust him, cry out to him, are very important in our lives if we're going to grow in our faith.
Speaker 2:I absolutely agree. I always say God always places us in uncomfortable situations. We feel like we have to be there, right, I feel like we have to be uncomfortable in order to really understand who God is and that he really lives. See, people who don't have faith have never been tested. Yeah, they never been tried.
Speaker 2:And if they have, then they will know that in all things, if you just have that fate of a muster, see, if just a little else of faith and God puts you in those situations where you cannot call on anybody but him, you have everybody turn their backs. You will have nobody to call on and you have no other choice but to say oh God, please, god, help me, god. And those times is when you find out who he is. That's right, and I have had the pleasure of knowing who God is in many, many, many times, even when my faith is almost like I don't know. I'm right back in another situation where he's like, oh, okay, you don't know who I am.
Speaker 2:Well, okay, let me put you in this situation, let me show you who I am and put you in front of millions and let them see where you are, and then let me take you from the bottom and put you to the top, because the last shall be first and the first last. And when it's just like first and first out, like when you're working in the food industry, right, like you put the food in and then the food that's about to expire, their time is coming, so you have to put them in the front and you have to put the new food in the back, and that's usually how it goes. Everybody has your turn, so the last shall be first, the first shall be last, and if you guys don't know what that is, if you work in the food industry it's just like first seeing, first out. You're the first to go in and the first to come out.
Speaker 2:So, in that aspect. Thank you so much for dissecting that song and how it relates to you. I truly, truly appreciate your transparency with us today and how you were able to break that down and really tell how that song resonates with you in your ministry. Now, your bio mentions your passion for spreading God's love and light, and what ways do you actively today pursue this passion in your daily life Like? Can you share any examples of how you have impacted the lives of others through your ministry?
Speaker 3:Oh well, you know, we've since retired from the ministry the actual ministry and I was late receiving my call. My husband had been in the ministry 35 years when it came time for us to retire. It was not necessarily something we had thought would happen that soon, but it did. And I felt very disappointed and I cried out to God and I said I thought you called me to ministry. So what is this? And the Lord just brought a book into my life called Anointed for oh. Wow, now, anointed for business. That's what it was. I'm sorry I hadn't thought about that for a little while and it didn't come to me right away. Anointed for business.
Speaker 3:And God began to show me that ministry is not just an upholpot, you know, and it's not just what we consider. You know missionaries and Sunday School teachers and preachers, but ministry is wherever I go. Jesus lives in me and when I walk into a room, he walks into the room in me and his light is spread in me and his sweet perfume is spread in me. And so I began to just see. I went into a business and I began to see that God could use me in business and it's a little different. People don't walk in and sit down in my office and ask me will you tell me how to know God? I have to shine into their lives and speak into their lives in ways that bless them and earn the right for them to ask me. You know what is different about me, and so that's been a whole different thing for me. But so in my ministry there are just times when, or in my business, there are times when I basically I always pray for my clients. I pray for opportunity to just shine God's light. I don't expect to be able to lead every person to the Lord, I just want to speak a word or just let my life, life just tell about God whenever I get the opportunity. And so in my texts with clients and my phone calls with clients and so forth, that's what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 3:I have, I've had neighbors and friends that I'm just trying to build relationships with, and I, a few years ago, one of the gals that was in a in business and we worked together, finally just called me up and said can you meet me at the park? I just want to talk with you. And she said I just realized, even though I've gone to church all my life and even though I've loved God, I just realized I don't have what you have, Shirley, would you just please tell me? Tell me what that is and help me. And she surrendered her heart to the Lord at that point.
Speaker 3:Her husband was not a believer at that point and she began just sharing the love of God with him and people in her church and God began to just use her. He died a few years later and and he had given his heart to the Lord by that time and she and I are still treasured friends. She she doesn't live near me, but we still communicate often and and the joy of knowing that, just because I went into business and asked God to just shine through me and speak to me and give me opportunities and help me not to be afraid to, to let everybody know that he's in my life and and he chose to use that and made a difference in her life because of that, and that those are the kinds of things that I that are my goal, just to make sure that my life is winsome and sweet by letting Jesus be the one that makes decisions and guides my decisions and and provides the power to do what I can.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for that awesome, awesome testimony. That's truly amazing. Now I read Thaustaponder, and Thaustaponder has been a weekly email. You started as a weekly email devotion. Yeah, yeah, you have writing for several years. Could you tell us more about the inspiration behind that and how it impacted the lives of those who received it?
Speaker 3:Sure. Well, it was back in 2006. And my husband and I happened to be going through probably one of the most difficult things times in our life and ministry. And, and you know, as so often happens, when you go into difficult times, you I anyway cry out to God. I go to his word, and when I open his word in the midst of a crisis like that, his word becomes so precious and I see and hear things from God that I might have missed otherwise. And that's kind of what happened.
Speaker 3:I, just as I was just going to the Lord with intense longing to understand and to be touched by God and able to walk through that with a sweet spirit and to glorify God. In the midst of it, he began speaking to my heart and I would just find myself stopping in a scripture and saying, oh my goodness, and how I haven't. I feel like God gave me an insight and I would go and start writing, and I realized that I wanted to share these things with the people in our church and with my family and friends, and so I just started. Right then, I knew the name of it was going to be from God's heart to my heart, to yours, and I called it thoughts to ponder, and I sent those devotionals out each week and I have probably sent them most weeks, almost every week, since 2006,. Which is what 19 years and I'm 2006. So it's not quite, but anyway, it's just been a journey.
Speaker 3:And as I started sending them, people would comment to me, they would write back an email or they'd call me and just say I cannot believe how God spoke to my heart today, just specifically with what you said. And over and over and over, I have saved the emails in a file on my computer and I, over and over, just have been amazed at how specific God has been with those scriptures and it seems like just when people needed that word, and so that has encouraged me, and many of them asked me if I would consider putting those into a book. And so finally, a long time later, finally I did that and I'm still writing those devotionals each week and I probably have enough for maybe another third of a book or something who knows. But and I don't know that there'll be another book, but God knows all of that and I just find that I just love reading the scripture to hear from God and then, once I do, I love sharing that with whoever will listen.
Speaker 2:Well, I was truly blessed by your devotionals in the book. I did get a chance to read it and I cheated a little bit. I skipped ahead to know what to give to hold for me.
Speaker 3:I don't believe it. You can read it.
Speaker 2:I cheated. I cheated in my devotionals. Yes, I did. I wanna know what's going on in a week to come, so I'm gonna let everybody else cheat too. So everybody who's listening today is November 30th and we are going to start with December 1st. So, miss Shirley and the December 1st devotional. You discussed our hesitancy to turn to God for filling our empty souls. Why do you think we often rely on ourselves instead of trusting God's provision, and how can we overcome this suspicion and truly trust in Him?
Speaker 3:Well, it's the old lie that happened in the garden. Satan does not want us to trust God, so basically, he raises questions about God's integrity. Does God really want you to be happy? I think he's withholding something from you. Are you sure that you can trust him? And so these are the kinds of things that he's not very creative.
Speaker 3:Once he starts with the lie, it's usually the same lie in some other form, but he's just challenging whether God really loves us and whether God can be trusted to want our best. And so he does that with us today, and somehow we just get the feeling that we know better than God how to fulfill the longings of our heart, and so we pursue everything except turning to him, and part of that is a lack of trust, but part of it's just pride. It takes a spirit of humility. We have to humble ourselves if we're going to come to God, and we don't like doing that, and so all of those things make it hard for us. Pride keeps us thinking that we know better than God does what we need, and so sometimes God just has to be a gentleman and let us run the course, and for me that's what he did.
Speaker 3:I loved God, but I couldn't quite feel a sense of sin because I worked so hard at being good. So I took a while and God just had to wait until I had exhausted every avenue that I thought I had in order to fix my own human condition. And when I finally came to the end of that, I didn't know what else to do but cry out to God, and that's when he was able to take over and help me. And so I think we want God, but we also run from him. We want him but we fight him. And then, once we yield to him and he does, and that's what we've been trying to do for ourselves we wonder why in the world did we fight and resist so long? That's just the human condition, I guess. But we just have to decide whether God is trustworthy and whether we will yield ourselves to him.
Speaker 2:Fantastic answer. Fantastic answer, and I can attest to that as well. A lot of times we all fall short to the glory of the Lord, but we are so thankful and grateful that he gives us grace and he gives humility and understanding and empathy in us because he loves us so much. Because, you know, we all, sometimes I know me. It took a long time for me to understand that, although God is within me, I am not him, that's right. I cry so hard Because when I read that part of the script I'm like, okay, so God is within me, so I am a God. Yes, I am a God, but I am not the living God. I am not God, so I cannot save everyone.
Speaker 2:Sometimes God put others in situations so they can learn, so they can grow. They have to hit rock bottom in order to get to the top, and a lot of times we want to be that pillow, we want to be that covering, we want to save so many people that they don't have to suffer. But in suffering comes humility, it comes in suffering comes humbleness and it also comes faith. You develop faith in your suffering and so if we keep saving people from suffering, then they will never believe in God, because they will always say well, god didn't get me through this, pastor Shirley did, or you know, or listen, linda got me through it, she helped me, the well was God. So we have to those people say you know what I need to ask Carl out to God to help me you know, and in that moment I don't know if you ever saw.
Speaker 2:This movie is called the Best man and the man did not believe in God but his friends did and he wanted the man who didn't believe in God. He had a best friend and he was the best man of the wedding. So he never told the best man that he, you know, had relations with his soon to be wife when they were in college and when he found out it was this big thing and the man in a whooping his tail. But the man had the one who walked the tail. Now he had strong faith in God and so he repented. He told the man to pray and when he prayed he called out to God. The man who didn't believe called out to God. He said, oh, you want to call out to God now, but he called out to God and he had that. He ended up having that strong faith at the end.
Speaker 2:So that teaches you a lesson. Like, you had to get your tail whooped, so believe it, don't pray. You don't and I'm not trying to make it like, but you know it's like. It's those times when God got to whoop you. God got to use people as a vessel to whoop your tail. But that's what it takes for you to truly, truly understand and believe who he is.
Speaker 2:So I truly, truly believe that that's one way for people to overcome that suspicion and truly trust in God is to say you know what, when you hear that voice in your head that says oh God, don't really want you to be happy by that devil, by the man Jesus names they get me behind me. Say no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rise against me in judgment thou shall condemn. And when you use those words and you use them effectively and correct and correctly, then you will see which are all eyes to power, who God is. So I definitely, definitely, definitely agree with what you said. Now, december 2nd Excuse me December 2nd that devotional explores the idea of God as a loving father. Excuse me who desires to give good gifts? How can we develop a deeper understanding of God's love and his desire to provide for us Like? How does this understanding impact our relationship with him?
Speaker 3:Well, I think the idea and this devotional is to kind of think through us as parents you know, not everybody is a parent that we, if we love children, or, you know, if we have children or grandchildren, we don't set out to hurt these people. If they asked us for an ice cream cone, we wouldn't take him and get a rock and hand it to him and say, here, here's your ice cream cone. We wouldn't do anything like that. I mean, we are loving and God asks. He says, if you, who are, who tend to be sinful and who tend to be selfish and self-oriented, know how to give good gifts to your children, can you imagine how much more your heavenly father, who is good and loving and has been merciful to you and given you salvation, I mean, my goodness, can you? Can you even? How, can you even think that he wouldn't want to give you good gifts but we wouldn't give our children something that hurt them? You know, that's, that's the whole point.
Speaker 3:We we even even in our humanists, we know how to withhold things from our kids that we would think would be unsafe. Just because my child wants to turn, put his hand in the fire, doesn't mean that I would let him do that. That would not be a good thing to do. Just because he wants to play ball in the street does not mean that I would allow him to do that, because that's not safe. And he may be very angry at me at the time because he doesn't understand, but as a loving parent, I would do what's best for him and what would be safe and help and help keep him healthy and well. So we need to understand that we, we as, as humans. If we just take what Jesus said about us being parents and knowing how to give good gifts and just transfer that, like he he did, to understand our Heavenly Father, it should make it so much easier for us to comprehend that God is really, really, really loving.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And as a mom of five, three bonus kids and two biological kids, my 12 year old he's very, very laid back, like he is the one. Do you hear me? Jane is the one. But then I got Dukes, my seven year old, and he's very outgoing, he is the all in all. He's like all four of the other ones wrapped in one, with an extra spice to him. And so that's the one that has the questions to always the why, why not, why cannot I want to. You know the other ones.
Speaker 2:If you tell them know about something they like okay, even as a kid, they're like okay. You said no, he wants, he wants you to philosophize, he wants to break it down why he cannot. And then he will rebuttal. I mean, this kid is amazing, do you hear me? I love it, love it, love it. But that is where the word really has to come in for me.
Speaker 2:My husband. He got a down pack because he could just say because I said so and that's what dad said, and he going to go with it because that's what dad said. And you know, dad, already he's done his. You know, philosophizing, already me I have to because I'm mom, you know, I guess it's because I'm mom. So he's like but mom, why? And you said you have to go through that, and so I have to break it down. And that's when I have to bring out the word, because both of my kids are very much rooted in the word and they understand the word. So when I bring out the Bible and I bring out certain scriptures and I tell them about it, he has a more in depth understanding of why he cannot. And sometimes I think, once I meet, ask me like well, is that in the Bible too?
Speaker 2:Like the Bible? Yep, it sure is. Well, what scripture is that? And so I have to research the scripture and I tell him okay, I get back to you on that. And then I have to find something that correlates with what we're speaking about, or why he can't do something, or why that's not good for him, and then it just, it really brings us. The word always brings us closer together as a unit, and I think it's a great, great tool, not just for parenting, but just for relationships and just family in general, just all around the way the world works. That is the best tool to use is the Bible, and that's why I appreciate so much this devotional, because you start off every devotional, I notice what a scripture, yeah. And so I really really appreciated that as well.
Speaker 2:Now, december 3rd the December 3rd devotional encourages us to move away from struggling to obey a list of rules and religious duties and instead be filled with God's spirit. Can you elaborate on how allowing God's love to inform and permit our actions can lead to a more fulfilling and joyful life? Like how can we practically surrender to God's spirit in our daily lives?
Speaker 3:Okay, Well, the Lord says that he lives in us. If we belong to Him, if we've been born again, he lives in us and he fills us with His life, and that includes His love and His spirit. He says that His spirit produces beautiful fruit and a slope joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control the fruit of the spirit. That's what's gonna come out If we let God be the one that lives His life in us. And you know what? That kind of life will never hurt anybody. That kind of life will never intentionally, you know create harm.
Speaker 3:So there's no law against it, the Bible says. And so, instead of trying in my strength to keep a set of rules, god just asked me let my spirit live in you and I will never violate the God's law or man's law. Basically. Now, that doesn't mean I'm not human and sometimes I'll get in the way of that and God works through me and helps me humble myself and go back and make it right with people if that's the case, so that God it doesn't get blamed for what I did in my humanity.
Speaker 3:But I just need to understand that the Holy Spirit of God living in me will not violate God's law. And that's why, in Romans 8, paul can say that what the law could not do, god did. He accomplished through Jesus in us, and that's why there's no condemnation anymore for those who are in Christ Jesus, because His life in us is what we're depending on and what God sees when he looks at us, and so we can rest in the fact that His life in us is going to produce the life of God, the righteousness of Christ, and so we don't have to strive to keep a bunch of rules, because that's exhausting and tiring and we can never really do it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. And while we are on this upcoming week of December, I'm gonna skip the fourth and the fifth because you kind of explain my questions for those. But the sixth devotional addresses the brevity of life and the need to prepare for eternity. How can we balance living in the present while also keeping our focus on eternity? Like well, practical steps can we take to prepare ourselves spiritually, spiritually, for the inevitable day of death? Because you know what? I'm not scared of death, I will say that I'm not.
Speaker 2:I'm living every day, with thyroid cancer, with a roof in fiber, my algae, and I'm not one day do I think of death, but I know that that is the only thing that is promised other than eternal life in heaven is the day that we will perish, and that's how I get through. And then all my loved ones that were really, really close to me besides my husband and my kids, of course, are no longer here. So I welcome it when that time comes. God gave me a clock, he gave me a time and I just I pray every day that I live to see my kids and my kids' kids. But if God has other Jeremiah 2,911, for I know the thoughts and the plans I have for you. So he knows those plans.
Speaker 2:I don't know him. I just say, hey, lord, just have the only couple of more you don't know, give me a few more. I really want to see this here on earth and I have to be very clear, because you can see that in heaven as well. So I have to be very clear with my words in order to say choose your words carefully. But can you help us, the people, balance living in the present while also keeping our focus on eternity?
Speaker 3:Sure, god put the desire to live inside of us. I mean, he doesn't want people to give up on life at all, but he did also say in Colossians, chapter 3, put your thoughts in heaven, where Christ is. Your life is there, hidden with Christ in God. He wants us to think about heaven. He wants us to think about being with Christ, and we just need that. That gives us a balance if we'll do that.
Speaker 3:In our culture we don't like to think about death. We actually push it away. We're getting to the point where we want it. A lot of people don't even want a funeral or a memorial service anymore. They just don't want to deal with that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:And yet what happens when that is true is that we don't ever really sit and think about eternity. We fill our lives with so much busyness, we fill our lives with so much noise so that we don't have to think about our mortality. God is saying to us live to the fullest. I gave you abundant life. I want this life for you to be abundant. And he understands that we want to stick around as long as we can, because this is what we know and love. But he also wants us to let our thoughts run to heaven. Think about it. Think about it. Take the word of God and every illustration that God gives us about heaven and think about what that really might mean.
Speaker 3:It's a new actually I don't want to get into this because it's a long conversation but God is going to bring heaven to earth once he sets foot on this earth, and it's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, and so everything we love about this earth is going to be enhanced and brand new in a wonderful way.
Speaker 3:But the stuff that we hate about this world is going to be gone all of a sudden. It's not all the sin and all the sorrow. So God wants us to think about that and balance that and be ready. If God, like you said, if God, when my time has come, I want to be ready to transfer my thoughts willingly and excitedly to Jesus, but until that time I'm going to live as fully as I can. And Paul said, I'm torn sometimes because I want to live here, but I also want to go be with Jesus, and so there's nothing wrong with that tension. We just need to make sure that we don't push away thoughts of death, because when we do that we rob ourselves of the ability to get ready and also to inspire others to be ready.
Speaker 2:I 100% agree with you. With that and that moves into December 7th, you speak on the importance of shine of God's light in the dark world. How can we effectively share God's light and love with others without compromising our own faith? Can you provide examples of how you have personally shined God's light into the darkness?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, god never intended for believers to circle the wagons and just hide away in our churches, and I really believe that his goal is that we intentionally create relationships with unbelievers. And he said don't hide your light under a bushel, you know. Don't cover it up and try to. You know God doesn't want us just going to our jobs and out into the shopping areas and stuff and then running back to our nice, comfortable Christian community and lifestyle and never encountering people in a deep enough way for them to see his life in us. He wants us to love them. There's a difference between making relationships with unbelievers so that I can enjoy their stuff, you know, and their way of life, and making relationships with unbelievers so that I have an opportunity to shine God's love and light into their lives and be a witness and a source of hope and comfort to these people. There's a big difference in my motivation and so if I'm trying to be part of the world because I love the world and I want to be like the world and I want the things of the world, then that's not shining my light and so we've got to understand that. But if I want to show God's light to people, to love people and show them God's love. I should want to build relationships with them. I should want to sit down over a meal with them. I should want to take time to listen to them and understand them. And I know, you know, I would way more prefer to be with like-minded people who understand me and who love the things that I love. But you know, god will have eternity to spend every moment with believers.
Speaker 3:We want to find as many people who are hungry for God and give them an opportunity to see the difference God makes in a life, god makes in our decisions and God makes in the way we respond to hard things.
Speaker 3:And if we don't do life with them, they will not see that.
Speaker 3:All they will know is what the media tells them about Jesus and about God and they'll reject that.
Speaker 3:But if they can truly see Him in the life of somebody who loves Him and is letting Him live His life through them in a winsome, kind, hopeful way, many of them are going to be drawn. We can't help the people who will reject light even when they see it, but we do want to be people who, when we shine light and there are those who are looking for it, they actually will see it, and that's what that devotional is about. Wouldn't it be sad if we got to the judgment seat and someone said to us you know, I was looking for light, but I never saw it in you Because we had hidden that light, just enjoying ourselves as Christians all the way to heaven? I think that would be a really sad day, and so we just really want to take our light and go out into the world and trust God to help us, be wise and stay pure, but be as kind and winsome as we can possibly be, so that Jesus has an opportunity to show himself to them.
Speaker 2:I agree with that so much and I'm so glad that you said that, because I, not so long ago, was having a hard time dealing with the Christian community because of the way that I feel God uses me to be a vessel, being growing up the way that I did and having the relationship with the genre of people that I've come up with, right, and the people that look up to me or the people that I know that appreciate me as the personality and the person I am. I believe so much in God and my faith is huge. It's huge in the football field, right, and so people know that about me. They know that about me and they know I stand to intose in it, however, the Christian community, and not all of them, but you know what I mean when I say that they want to put you in a box. Oh, you can't speak like this. You can't talk like this. It's a lot of you can't, you can't, you can't, and you have to live like this, like this, like this, like this, in order to be approved as a staff on as a Christian, or you're going to hell, and those were the things that they was spew at me because of the people who I ministered to, or the people who I felt God was leading me to, and I had to have a strong faith in who God was and his calling for me and understand that it was not a conference call. God chose me, he qualified me, so that's all that matters to me Now, the way that I, that God gives it to me to ministers or other people. I don't have to worry about their judgment of it. I know that it's pleasing in God's sight because he blesses it and he continues to bless it, and he blessed it so much that he put me on a platform that's global, when nobody knew who I was.
Speaker 2:I was at the bottom. Okay, I was. I was literally maybe 20, 30 followers on YouTube and God said you know what, leave that network, start your own from scratch and I will put you where you need to be, but keep doing it the way that I tell you to do it. You may not talk with a certain you know I have an accent when I talk, I speak a certain way and just because you may not be the same culture as me or you may not have the same background as me, when we get on here, miss Shirley, I'm going to talk to you the same way I talk to everybody else. My accent won't change, my music won't change. The way that I run, my platform will not change. I will not compromise who I am or what I believe in or the way that God wants me to deliver it. Because of you, know, I won't change like a chameleon.
Speaker 2:I am who I am and God loves me for who I am and that's the reason why Jesus, the same way he, his disciples were all sinners, his disciples were all sinners. God doesn't judge. Those are the ones that he wants, because he wants the people that people feel have no. You know that the human eye has feel, has no hope. Yeah, he's gonna take the one that has no hope and he's gonna rise that person out of the ashes like a Phoenix and he's gonna put them to the top and he's gonna show everybody and that is what proves to people that God is real.
Speaker 2:They know where I came from. They know that I grew up, you know, and in a broken home, homeless, domestic violence, sexual assault. You know molestation and incest, molestation. I grew up and all you know my mom and dad on drugs. I grew up Foss, the home, the foster home. You know shelter, shelter. And look at me now. Look at me now, and when you look at me, you will see that God is in me. You will know that there is a God, because I, I God cover me. Well, I say that I just I didn't suffer, absolutely not. But what I will say is that I made it out of that storm. God covered me through that. Yeah, god covered me through that and and it was nobody but him and I give him all the glory.
Speaker 2:And when you, when you do it that way and you're real about it, and people can say, oh, when she hit on the, on the, on the platform with these people, she's speaking, she talks different. Or when she gets on the foot, when she get over here, she act like this. No, they will never say that about Jackie. No, they will know. No, jackie walk in the same way she is, she walk in like that. Now is she a little more polished? You get, can people understand her work? Does she pronounce her words more adequately? Absolutely, but Jackie gonna be who she is, through and through, and that because that's the way that God made me and he loves me for me, and I will never change that and that's what God appreciates. I just want to thank you for that, because a lot of people feel like, oh, this person is not Christian, you shouldn't hang with that person.
Speaker 2:Well, how did you become a Christian? Yeah, you had to get practice right and everybody's in it. It's just like a hospital, right, you go to get better, so everybody in the waiting room is sick. Okay, you are going there, doctor, you are going to the, the house of the Lord, to get that word to get better. So you got a ill. It may not be like the next person's, but he was without seeing cast the first stone. I bet you won't pick up a stone. Yeah, and that's just my two cents on it.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, jackie, several years ago the Lord showed me a scripture in Romans 14 About a condemning people, and it says you must not condemn. He's talking about whether people eat certain foods and all that stuff, but he's just saying you must not condemn people who do for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they will stand or fall and with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval. And I do feel like you know we, we, we don't trust the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we want to be the Holy Spirit for people and and it's hard for us to trust when we see people Maybe doing something that in our minds doesn't fit our preconceived notion.
Speaker 3:Rather than pray and say God, you know, please show this person or, you know, help them and and if I'm wrong, show me kind of thing, we just Speak out and and say whatever comes to our mind and and it's usually judgmental and critical, and so I should say usually, but many times it is but, but this scripture really helped me in my relationship with my husband even, or, you know, in Relationship with people in the church or anybody.
Speaker 3:You know, who am I to judge another man's servant. If that person loves the Lord and seeking the Lord, then God is able to tell them what to do and when to do it. You know, we have our own agenda too. We want them to Because we experience God in. You know, step one, step two, step three in our lives, the same steps that God took us through in that order may be totally different than how he's going to take somebody else, and we may be thinking why hasn't they, why haven't they given that habit to the Lord? Well, maybe God's working on something else inside or another thing. You know, I cannot be the Holy Spirit and I need to make sure that I don't try.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, because, like I said in the beginning, even though we are not God, we are of God and God uses us as a best treat us to shine, to shine his light through us, and it's nobody can can judge, you know.
Speaker 2:And I had to tell the lady the other day because I I actually I reposted a memory that I had from I think it was about two years ago and that was when, miss Pastor Shirley, I was in my, my cousin stage, I think. You know I used to love to cuss, oh, and I'm gonna tell you why because when I was a little girl, I used to always go to my aunt's house and my aunt used to cuss like a sailor and it just I was just like in all of those custom words. So I was like, when I get grown, you know, when I get, when I get grown, I'm gonna cuss, just like that. And I adopted it to an art I had, it was like a science. So I used to cuss and I use a curse word and it wasn't a bad curse word in the, in the status that I put up two years ago. But I also was thanking God as well, right, because I'm in my transition stage, right, I'm in my transition stage.
Speaker 2:And instead of her Acknowledging the good that was in the message, all she saw was that one person word and she was like, oh, how can you just curse in the same text as the, the Using God's name? And then and I, and I politely told her like I sent an email I mean an inbox and I said you know what I said. I appreciate, while I value your opinion, I said that that was a repulse from two, two years ago, when I was in my transition. You know I was becoming who I am today. I said, but you can, I'm pretty sure that you can give God his gavel back, because I don't think you know like, you can give him that gavel back now, because I don't think that God gave that to you. You know like, don't judge people based on what they do and where, because you never know where they're at in their journey. And I try to meet people where they are, give them my testimony and then, just sometimes I don't even get people a testimony. To be honest with you, miss, you know what I do I. I just leave my profile public and any time I have a testimony or something good happens I post it, because I want people to see what God is doing in my life and in my family's life and in my kids life and in my husband's life and in my mother-in-law's life and so on and so forth. Right, because every time people see a post for me it's always a blessing. It's always a blessing whether it's me becoming a world record holder, me becoming a 40 under 40 influencer, me becoming Three-time best-selling author.
Speaker 2:My son, 12 years old, went in the key to the city for the city of Aurora and the Martin Luther King Award, having his own clothing line. My youngest son coming out with his own book Getting a best-seller. Both kids both of my kids bestseller. My husband decorated war veteran. Like we are talented family. Like my mother-in-law just booked her the major role in sister act To stay musical and she's also going on the voice. Like we have a talented Family.
Speaker 2:That, but it's built on the word. The foundation is the word. We live, breathe, eat the word. Now, are we perfect? Absolutely not. Do we fall short? Of course, I just had to get on my oldest. He's 12. I just had to get on his case. His grave dropped to a sea. I said no, we do straight ace in this house.
Speaker 2:So you know like those things will happen. You know nobody is perfect, but when we stay rooted and our foundation is is is firm and Districted in the word. When we have problems, we go to the word and that's how we get through. And, like you said, as far as marriage, we're in it for life and and we are rooted in the word and that's how we make it through. That's how we get through those storms because, just like my book, mountains can't rise with our earthquakes. We have to have those earthquakes to rise up right. We have to be able to understand that even. That's why, that's why we have rainbows. It's always a gift at the end of the storm. It's always a bow, a present, a gift at the end of every storm. After the rain, you know, there's a rainbow, there's a gift, there's a present in the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 2:So I truly, truly appreciated your devotional. I didn't get all the way through 365 pages, but what I read, because it's every day, is a devotional and it comes with a wonderful scripture. But I did read what I read when you, when I first purchased your book, and I want everybody, please, if you do not have this book, please go get thoughts to ponder From God's heart to my heart, to yours. Go get it on Amazon, or can you tell people where they can reach you how they can purchase your book. This is an amazing book, guys. I truly, truly, truly Appreciate this book and if you are not a person of faith, just get this book anyway, just to help you and give you some positive affirmations to wake up every day and read. Can you tell people where they can find your book and where they can get in contact with you?
Speaker 3:Okay, well, you can reach me at Author at Shirley berthoffcom, and that is B E R T H O L F. That's how you spell my name, surely is H S H I R L E Y. So author at Shirley berthoffcom. The books are are available on Amazoncom and Very easy to purchase. We have hardback and Paperback and then, of course, the e-book, and I do have copies of the book at my house, but at this moment those are the places that they are available. We are hoping that they will Also be be able to be Put in bookstores in time. This is a self-published book, so right now we're the ones that are doing it and we're doing it through Amazoncom, but hopefully they've made it very simple for people to get.
Speaker 2:Amen, and I want to thank you so much again. And, shirley, your book truly, truly blessed me. Like I said, I did cheat because I need to know what, what I need to know. Well, thank you, but I truly, truly adored your book and I adored that you are a March baby. You are Pisces like me and that's why we mesh, because you are a March baby like me as well, and God know what he do when he, when he, when he bring these people in In the March, in the first and the second week of March. God just knows, he truly, truly knows. We are truly dynamic people and it's been such a pleasure having you today.
Speaker 2:And, if you don't mind, can you, can you end in prayer and then I'm gonna play. I don't know if you heard this song before, but it's called worthy of it all. Oh, absolutely, yes, I love that. I hope if you're not able to hear it, don't worry, because this will be a Distributed on all 40 platforms, so you'll have the opportunity to go back and listen to it and you'll be able to hear it. Okay, and Also, I want to thank the lovely author and minister and speaker and singer, miss Shirley Birth off, for joining us today and she's going to close out in prayer.
Speaker 3:Oh, heavenly father, thank you so much for the way you bring people together, the joy of communicating our faith with each other. Thank you that you love the world so much that you gave your one and only son, and Lord, help us somehow To open our hearts to that love and to your voice. Lord, help us to recognize the word of God is your way of Communicating with us who you are, how much you love us, what you want to do for us and give us a desire and a longing To hear your voice in the word of God and to seek you with all of our hearts. Thank you so much for this opportunity today and for every person who will hear this broadcast. You know, lord, what needs we come with and what it's going to take for us to come to know you, and your goal is to pursue us and woo us so that we can Open our hearts to that love that you have for us and and receive all that you have to give us. We praise you in Jesus name, amen amen.
Speaker 4:And that will conclude today's episode of listen Linda Featuring Shirley Berthoff, minister and author. Everyone, have a blessed and wonderful rest of your day. Bye you.