Daylight Meditations

Today’s meditation is taken from Psalm 42. We have a yearning for God, for being with God. We were made this way. Sometimes, we don’t know why we’re sad but our heart knows that God will comfort us in that sadness. Our memories of joy-filled times with others, draw us to seek Jesus and remind us that hope and praise and trust are the essential ingredients for turning our minds from discouragement toward hopefulness.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is Psalm 20. This Psalm is a blessing for you. May our great God hear and answer you, keeping you safe and strengthening you in times of trouble. May He grant your heart’s desires and answer all your prayers. With these blessings, may all of us cheer when we hear of it all. Ours are stories of rescue, of redemption and of great victory. May we always boast in the name of our God who always hears and always answers. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam MaddockAnd please check out our other podcast, Lamplight, featuring insightful messages and conversations from real people pursuing hope and change. Lamplight is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, or you can find it here: https://anchor.fm/pod/show/cfo-north-america

In the second half of Psalm 27, we find ourselves right where we didn’t want to be – questioning if God heard us, wondering if He’s nearby. The honesty of these words tell us its OK to call out, to question where He is and to look for him.. When my heart whispered, “Seek God,” my whole being replied, “I’m seeking him!” That’s it! -- Look for Him. Stay with Him. Trust Him, and don’t quit. He is with You and He won’t leave You.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is Psalm 16. Listen closely to the ways the writer of this Psalm identifies God’s involvement in their life. From our inheritance to our destiny, from the privileges to the wisdom given from following God’s way we are not alone, always guided on life’s path and can live in peace and joy no matter the circumstances. God is with us, always close and always talking. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

Today’s meditation is taken from Psalm 27. Sometimes we need to speak the truth out loud. We need to hear ourselves confess our allegiance to God. We need to say ‘why’ we trust Him and ‘why’ we praise Him. The beginning of this psalm offers a few reasons. It is enough to get us thinking in the right direction. To be reminded of God’s faithfulness to us. God’s belief in us! From that place of understanding, we remember we don’t have to be afraid. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is Psalm 25:12-22. Over and over we read – you are my shelter, you are my only hope, you only can save me. Our lives are full of these stories – where our feet were freed from traps and the sorrows of our hearts overwhelmed us. Yet, God… yet, God… was there in it all, with us. Our circumstances don’t always change – but our hearts do. Come closer to us now, Lord. We need your mercy and we need these burdens lifted. We trust You, God. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

Today’s meditation is based on verses 1-8 from Psalm 63. This psalm, this poem might be worth memorizing- it is praise and it speaks of a relationship with God that is both personal and vulnerable. It is a reminder that telling God how much he means to us, how we recognize His help, and His presence and our need for Him in our everyday. “Your hand keeps me safe.” Yes, your hand keeps me safe. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is based on selected verses from Proverbs 8. Much of the book of Proverbs is focused on the purpose of wisdom, and is told to us as if Wisdom could talk. Perhaps we discredit Wisdom in thinking otherwise? If the power of life and death is in the tongue, in the words spoken, might Wisdom’s words be speaking into life into us, if we are willing to listen, to accept and to apply what we hear? Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

What do we seek in life? For many of us, it is comfort and opportunity. Perhaps adventure is at the top of our lists. Can we honestly say it is to walk in wisdom and to discover our purpose? Verse 21 goes on to claim that these empower us! Of course, they do, when we think about it… to gain experience and insight into living well and to know why we’re here – that is how we count our days. That is why our blessings matter and that is why God cautions us to speak life into others’ lives. Our purpose includes learning and demonstrating what being an apprentice of Jesus looks like today. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is taken from Psalm 25. Three times in this Psalm reference is made to God’s ‘unfailing love’. It is a promise, a reminder that God’s love for us won’t fail, it won’t be less than all that we need – every moment. When others intend harm, and insult, God leads us in truth. He point the right way to go. A heart turned toward God will be rewarded with a love that covers sins, a hope that our Lord indeed hears and clear guidance for growing in grace. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

Wisdom is defined as “the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight”. Verse 17 in this third chapter of Proverbs sums it up nicely: The ways of wisdom are sweet, always drawing you into the place of wholeness. That is what our hearts seek – to be whole, to live in that place of wholeness where we understand and accept ourselves and more importantly we ask God to add to us: knowledge, experience, common sense and insight so that to we are truly whole and living as holy beings in His world. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is Psalm 15. The privilege of dwelling with God is experienced when our hearts are aligned with right thinking and a posture of humility toward others. Daily we choose what we will say to and about others, how we will respond when rumors fly and to what end will we fulfill our promises? Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. (Ps. 51:10, NLT)Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

What are the rewards for seeking wisdom? In Proverbs 3, we’re told it is a satisfied life. That being faithful to what we learn, shapes integrity into our souls. It is from our souls that we live. It is there where our character is formed. It is there that our loyalty and values are shaped. With wisdom we can pursue the best God has for us, bringing health and completeness to our very souls. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Today’s meditation is based on selected verses from Proverbs 4. If we remembered nothing else from the Bible, the words we will speak from Proverbs chapter 4, might well be some of the most important that we ever hear. We are to fill our thoughts with God’s words, taking time to unwrap them so they ‘impart true life and radiant health into the very core’ of our being. If we guard our hearts, paying attention to our inner selves, life will flow out of us. With plenty of hope and wise council, we are invited to take these words as truth. They will save us from a seared and hardened heart that cares not for our future or even ourselves.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

The scriptures say love is supreme. We love to love others and to be loved. God’s love empowers us to give out more than we might get back. It replenishes us and gives us the confidence to know even when life is tough, love softens and smooths over the rough spots that disrupt our hearts and interactions. Love deeply, friends. It is God’s way.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

So much of our character is worked out in living with others. It is in community that we learn to love others more than ourselves. We are challenged to love when we don’t feel like it, to be real when we’d rather hide. Community is where we find ourselves leading others and following as well. It is where life becomes real and rewarding. Hard and endearing. It’s where we grow up – with family.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

As you listen today, open your heart to the transformation God births in you every time to hear His words. These words change us, and in turn we make choices and decisions that are God-breathed, and life changing. Live in the hope and calling of His perfect plan for you- a transformed life in Jesus.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Mercy is Grace’s twin sister, the expression of compassion in response to our cry for help, for forgiveness, for a friendship. It is the kindness of strangers, the extravagance of love undeserved and the willingness to stay in it for the long haul. Mercy is a posture of loving well, as Jesus loved us. Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock

What does redemptive living look like? How do we now live? It is moment by moment. Facing each decision, each interaction with the determination of becoming like Christ. We live with the knowledge that we are changed and that in that change our decision to love others in new and redeeming ways will change those we meet. May it be so.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Adam Maddock, and Phil Reaser

Grace is a word we use often, yet I wonder if we’re aware of the power and magnitude of the word. As an action of God, it erases our guilt. As an action of ours, it should pardon the sins of others. We are quick as seek acquittal yet we can be slow to grant it. Father, would you show us where we can be more like Jesus in this? Would you remind us of the strength in this characteristic of love – that keeps no record of wrong, but embodies the gentleness of forgiveness in the midst of justified wrongs.Daylight Meditations is a daily podcast from CFO North America. Please visit CFONorthAmerica.org to learn more about our retreats, and online courses. If you are encouraged by this podcast, please consider supporting us. Contributors: Michelle DeChant, Nancy Holland, and Adam Maddock