Finding Strength in God, Not Ourselves w/ Becky Beresford

Ever felt crushed under the weight of societal expectations? Join us in a heartfelt conversation with Becky Beresford, author of "She Believed He Could, So She Did: Trading Culture's Lies for Christ-Centered Empowerment." Becky opens up about her journey from feeling like a failure to experiencing Christ-centered empowerment. We discuss how she navigated the pressures of her professional and personal life, including her writing challenges and a trying period in her marriage. Becky's story highlights the transformation that comes from shifting reliance from oneself to God, experiencing profound healing, and witnessing God's miracles firsthand.

This inspiring story underscores the realization that our worth isn't defined by worldly achievements but by God's purpose for us. Through raw and authentic storytelling, we aim to break the chains of isolation and shame, reassuring listeners that true fulfillment and identity come from a relationship with God. We delve into the liberating power of "only God moments"—those times when surrendering to God's power brings profound freedom and acceptance.

Wrapping up we explore the concept of godly confidence, encouraging listeners to embrace their God-given identity and trust in His faithfulness rather than societal pressures. Through community support and celebrating our unique gifts, we learn that true confidence is rooted in God's unwavering love. Tune in to hear Becky’s insights and be inspired to live boldly for Jesus.

Becky's Favorites:
Book: She Believed HE Could, So She Did
Website: beckyberesford.com
Bible: Creative Journaling NLT
Favorite App/Website: First 5 App
Favorite App/Website: Pause App

Transcript

Ellen Krause: 0:04

At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. Our goal is to help you delight in God's Word and thrive in Christian living. Each week we talk to subject matter experts who broaden your biblical understanding, encourage you in hard times and provide life-building tips to enhance your Christian walk. We are so glad you have joined us. Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. I'm Ellen, your host, and today we are going to be talking about our culture and how it has fed women lies about empowerment, pushing them to rely solely on themselves. But what happens when that self-reliance becomes exhausting or even debilitating? Well, in this episode, B ecky Beresford, author of the book, S he Believed HE Could, S o S he Did: Trading Culture's Lies for Christ-Centered Empowerment. She is going to share her journey from embracing societal norms to finding true empowerment in Jesus. We must shift our focus from self-dependence to God-dependence, and Becky is going to guide us through biblical truths that are going to dismantle these common misconceptions that have been perpetuated by society. So to achieve this, we are going to learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit. We are going to battle cultural lies and live boldly for Jesus. And if we don't address this problem of self-dependence, we risk the cycle of constantly striving but never finding true fulfillment. We want to find strength and reassurance in Christ, lifting the burden of our being our own saviors, which we know we cannot be.

Ellen Krause: 2:14

Becky Beresford, lives in North Carolina and is happily outnumbered by her husband and three wonderful boys. She is an author, speaker and coach with a master's certificate in spiritual formation and discipleship from Moody Theological Seminary. Becky loves encouraging God's daughters Christ-centered embrace empowerment through the truth found in the gospel. Please welcome Becky.

Becky Beresford: 2:41

Hi, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for having me.

Ellen Krause: 2:57

It's such a joy to have you here, B ecky, and this topic I know is going to resonate with everyone that's listening, because what we're talking about here are societal norms, right Things that even you yourself believed, and I thought we could just start with you telling us a little bit about how you tried so hard to believe in yourself, but you still felt like a failure because you were believing these cultural norms.

Becky Beresford: 3:27

Yeah, I love sharing this story, but of course, I love sharing it now, when I was in the midst of it, in the fire. It's not as fun to say, oh, I'm so glad I'm here, but the Lord just takes us through these purifying seasons and opens our eyes, and I'm really grateful for how he's basically set me free from trying to be the savior of my own story and the savior of my loved one's stories. So back in about 2015-ish, G od called me to be a writer. A t that time I didn't really know what I was doing, writing wise but I was like, okay, L ord, I'm just gonna step out there. And he gave me an idea for a book and I started pursuing publishing for three years and I just got rejection after rejection, no after no for this certain book idea which isn't this one, by the way and so it was rejection after rejection and they literally were telling me this is how you're not measuring up, this is how you're not good enough, you don't have a big enough platform, you don't have this. And so it was really disheartening and discouraging for me, because I felt like the Lord called me to write and I was trying to step into that calling, but at the same time, I was really striving to do all the things, to be everything that the publishers were telling me I needed to be, but I felt like a failure and so there was a lot of shame that started to enter.

Becky Beresford: 4:59

Just the professional life. Now the professional life, now my personal life, was more of a hot mess. So we go to that side, and my husband and I were going through a particularly hard, dark season in our marriage where I just didn't know how we were going to make it through. It's one of those okay, lord, you're going to have to part the seas, you're going to have to be the miracle maker. I don't know how we're going to be restored here. Like it just seems almost, almost hopeless. You say you're the God of hope, but it's like it's almost hopeless. I'm I'm hanging on by a thread and so spoiler alert, you know, in 2019, the Lord did do a really big miracle in our marriage. He actually gave me the word miracle for our well as the word of the year, and so I was like I'm applying that to my marriage, you know, and so I prayed for a miracle. I prayed for a miracle, and in December, I kind of say it was last minute. I thought he was a last minute God, but that's never. He's never last minute, he's always on time. And so he really did this big healing in my husband's heart. That, basically, was a catalyst for us healing as a couple and as a family, and we're still on that journey. But it was in 2015 when he called me to be a writer.

Becky Beresford: 6:26

It was hard and I felt constantly like I could never be a good enough wife. I could not as a fixer, as a helper, like I always try to like oh, I see someone in need, how can I fix the situation, what can I do to help? And so that's what I was always trying to do with my husband, but also I was going through a lot of stuff too. So I don't want it to seem like it was just him, but there's two, two in a marriage, and you know I had things I had to heal from as well, but I just felt like I was never um, I was always missing the mark, and Shane just came in there.

Becky Beresford: 7:03

In the midst of that as well, I became a mom and in motherhood, you know, I felt like such a failure in so many areas. But in particular. We're a special needs family. So our oldest son is autistic and I felt like I could not do the balance, I could not do the dynamic of helping our oldest son, who needs more attention, he needs more time, without making the other or other sons jealous, hurting their feelings, and I'm just like I can't get this right. So I didn't feel like I could help all three of them thrive equally and I just felt like I was missing the mark and I was a failure as a mom. And then we had chronic illness going on in our family and financial strain with therapies and it was just like I said, hot mess, we're in the fire.

Becky Beresford: 7:54

And so in the midst of this, and then feeling like I'm a failure as a writer, I'm like God what am I going to do? My husband got me a sign and this is important from a Christian bookstore that said she believed she could. So she did. And you know these phrases that seem nice, they're well-intentioned, they're out in society, they're trying to empower women, but they're empowering them to look inside. They're empowering them to believe in themselves, them to look inside. They're empowering them to believe in themselves, to try to find the strength, the sufficiency, whatever you need to get it done. It's within you. And so those lies are just everywhere, even in our not just the culture, but it's infiltrated into the churches, it's infiltrated into our Christian bookstores, you know so, and they're sneaky. They're sneaky lies that the enemy puts in there. And so, anyway, he got me this sign that said she believes she could. So she did, and I put it on my writing desk.

Becky Beresford: 8:53

Be like, okay, I'm going to not give up, G od, I'm going to believe in myself, I'm going to believe in you. And you can just almost hear the tension there, how I was actually striving and trying to do everything in my own strength and God was my backup plan. So it's kind of like, all right, G od, I will come to you when I need help, when in reality it's supposed to be the reverse, where we rely on God for the strength and sufficiency and he invites us into what he calls us to do. He's not our backup plan, he is the plan. And so I felt that tension and I was staring at that sign and I was like, wait a second, maybe my feelings of inadequacy they are not wrong, because that points me instead to Jesus. What I don't have, my lack helps me experience God's gain and his goodness, and I can lean into that. But the sign, the sign is wrong.

Becky Beresford: 9:54

And so I went and I got a permanent marker and I crossed off the S in the she. So it says she believed he could. So she did, and I'm like that's the message of the gospel, right? I don't have to be the savior of my story. I already have one and he's really good at doing his job. I need to believe in him. I need to rely on his capacity and his care, not my own. And it was just this freeing feeling, like these weights coming off my chest, like I don't have to be the main helper, like God is the helper and I'm going to, I want to be dependent on him.

Becky Beresford: 10:29

And so I took the sign and I just shared it on Instagram as a fun little. Look what I did, you know. And the response that I heard from women to that was like, oh, I can, I can stand behind that sign. Something was off before with that other one, and that's because Jesus was taken out of the equation, because we're not supposed to believe in ourselves, we're supposed to believe in our good God. You know, I'm not enough on my own, but I am more than enough in Christ, and so when we put Jesus back into the equation, we put God back in at the center. That's when our hearts as women were like, yes, I can stand behind that. And that's when the Lord was like this is more than a post, this is actually a book. And so he had me write a totally new book, and that's where the message of she believed he could, so she did, kind of came from.

Ellen Krause: 12:17

Thank you for sharing so vulnerably about, you know, some of the struggles that you've had. I personally, I can relate to this so much and you know, when I got your book, I was so challenged by it because it forced me as well to take a look at my own striving and I was thinking too about just you know, even at Coffee and Bible Time here we're experiencing some like financial struggles, and it was kind of like you know what w e can't just keep doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, like we need to trust God in the process. And it also is just so interesting because our pastor just did a sermon on trust opens the door to peace, and so, if we like it, just both of those things combined, I really felt you know God speaking to me in that way. So I get it that so many people resonate with how you changed that. What are some of the other lies? You think that the enemy wants women to believe about their identities.

Becky Beresford: 13:46

I think one thing like actually I did kind of research with women what are some empowering phrases that you hear that make you feel, you know, strong and empowered? And one of the ones we hear everywhere is you can do hard things, which we can as women. We are strong. God has made us strong. I mean we can literally co-create life with him and birthing children alone you have to be so strong to do that and then nurturing children and families and so much more. Like he's given women strength to be able to do things, but the lie is that it's only on us. So what I do for each chapter is I cross out the common phrase and I replace it with biblical truth so you can do hard things is replaced with you can do hard, hard things the easier way, and that's by not relying on ourselves.

Becky Beresford: 14:42

And as women, I think we can sometimes be doers and for me, what he's shown me is I don't have to do all the things. Like there's such freedom when we come to God and say Lord, is this a thing that you actually want me to do, or is it something that I'm kind of appointing myself to, or it's something that I think I need to do because everyone else is doing it, or this would make me a good Christian. Or, you know, you name a good wife, a good friend. You fill in the blank. And it's really freeing to come to Jesus and surrender all the things and say I only want to pick up the things that you want me to do, and I know you are going to empower me to do those things Because we can very easily.

Becky Beresford: 15:29

I mean, I have done this so much so often I fill up my to-do list and then I end up being so weary, so burnt out at the end of it and I'm like, oh God, what, you are, my strength, why am I so tired? And he's like did I ask you to do everything on that list? Did you come to me and ask me first? There's an easier way to do this. So that's. That's one of them and our worth.

Becky Beresford: 15:54

I tied my worth for so long and I still struggle with this to what I was doing, to what I was accomplishing, and that's not what makes me me. I am God's daughter, first and foremost, period, and it doesn't matter what I do or what I don't do for him. His view of me never shifts, never changes, and so when we keep that in mind. It helps us take that pressure off to perform and strive and do and just lean into. Okay, lord, what do you want me to do? Holy Spirit, you lead my steps, you lead my decisions, and it's just a way that I have experienced freedom in such a big way. So that's just one chapter.

Ellen Krause: 16:42

This really caught my attention. It was one of the stories that you have about you know people's very honest and vulnerable stories, and this one happened to be Shauna's story about going from working in corporate America to staying home with her kids, and I just found it so interesting that kids. And I just found it so interesting that you know, when we say yes to God's purpose for us over our constant performance and sort of the trap that we can get into, that we are only, you know, identified as what we've accomplished or how far we've gotten up the corporate ladder. I just feel like that really hit home with me. Yeah, I know you know parents that stay home to take care of their kids. Somehow society can tend to make it seem less significant or important.

Ellen Krause: 17:53

So I love that you include, like these, real life examples of people that are going through these exact things that you and I are.

Becky Beresford: 18:05

Yes, we're not alone. I mean, that's another thing. I think the enemy wants us to feel like we're. We're the only ones struggling with shame, we're the only ones struggling with worth in our identity and misplaced putting it in wrong places, you know, but we're not. And when we share vulnerably and be authentic with one another, that's when that connection is created and then also the things we're struggling with are brought into the light and then the enemy doesn't have power anymore to make us feel isolated, to make us feel alone and to kind of just shame us into those little corners. It brings us out into the beauty of fellowship with other sisters. So I really wanted to share and make sure that other women's stories were included in this book so we could see like it's not just me, it's all of us.

Ellen Krause: 19:02

Yeah, yeah. How can recognizing you're not enough, be encouraging for the people that are listening and even freeing?

Becky Beresford: 19:14

Yeah, that is actually probably the biggest lie that has brought the most freedom in my life. And I think you know when you think about I don't know if you like Princess Bride, I love that movie but there's a Niga Montoya and he says you keep using that word but I do not think it means what you think. It means, when we say I am enough, what we're actually meaning and this is what I found, because I've gotten a lot of pushback on this and women are like but I am loved, but I am accepted, like they are actually meaning I'm loved, I'm accepted, I'm chosen, I am perfectly and wonderfully made, I'm important, I have worth, I have value. All those things are biblical, all those things you can find in scripture. However, the actual statement you are enough, I am enough, humans are enough on their own is found nowhere and that's because, again, it takes Jesus out of the equation. And I looked up the definition of the word enough and that means like I am fine on my own, I do not need anything else.

Becky Beresford: 20:31

And when we say I am enough, whether we are meaning it or not, we are also saying I am enough, I don't need anything else, including a savior, which I know I need a savior. Like I cannot do this on my own. I don't want that responsibility. I've tried it, I mess up, the enemy comes in and he condemns me. I see the cycle. We go down, down it, down it. I don't want it, I need, I need Jesus and I'm actually more than enough in Christ. The Bible says we are filled to all the measure of the fullness of God. Like that's some, that's a completeness that I cannot do on my own. I need Jesus for that level of completeness. But the enemy just wants to make us rely only on ourselves and what I? And I always go back to the garden. I just love the Garden of Eden.

Becky Beresford: 21:28

But you see, in the beginning Eve and Adam were walking with God. They were complete and made whole with him. They had this beautiful relationship. And then the serpent comes in and she is enough in God, right. But the serpent comes in and he's the one that tells her you aren't enough. You aren't enough, you need to reach for something more, to be more like God. You need more knowledge, right, he's holding out on you. You need more knowledge, reach for that fruit.

Becky Beresford: 22:00

And it became this very cruel, self-fulfilling prophecy that when Eve reached out for that fruit and took that bite. It was in that moment that she became not enough. She already was enough, and so I can see the I am enough in culture as just our heart cry to go back to Eden. Right, we are trying to go back to being enough, but the thing is, we are trying to be enough in and of ourselves versus being enough in our Savior, and that's the only way that we're going to have that fulfillment, that satisfaction, that deep love that our hearts are craving when we say I am enough, that deep acceptance that can only come through acceptance that is found in God. And so that's how I've experienced so much freedom from being like I don't have to be enough, god's enough for me, and I'm good with that and I'm going to lean into that.

Ellen Krause: 23:01

Yes, yes, you know, you get to this point where, um, it was another thing that I had highlighted in your book that said, oh and actually I just read it this morning at our staff meeting because I thought it was so great um, let's see, you say, at point, everyone will encounter an only God moment. It's the eye-opening realization that we've done everything we can and yet we can't change what is happening. And it's almost like when we get to the end of ourselves that we are able to. You know, kind of unfortunately. We should be turning to God every moment, not when we just get to the end of ourselves, but that you release it, let it go and sort of experience this freedom that you're talking about.

Becky Beresford: 24:01

Right, and it's a daily decision, like don't ever want to feel like or anyone to know or think. I guess I should say that I've arrived at being Christ-centered, empowered, like I don't think there's a full arrival. It's a daily decision to depend on God and sometimes, like you said, there are those situations where you have nothing else but to rely on God and those moments are the only God moments that make us believe in him for the miracle in him, for the answer in him, for the provision, whatever it is, because we can't do it. We just can't. But there are other times where it's almost more tempting and tricky, because we could.

Becky Beresford: 24:51

You know, like I could do this in my own strength. I'll be worn out, I will be um, you know, I don't know if it'll fulfill me. I don't know if it'll fulfill me. I don't know if I'm going to have joy in it. I could do it though, so I guess I will. You know, it's in those moments where we feel like we can kind of be the savior, the quasi savior, where it's hard to be like, but I'm going to stop, I'm going to pause and I'm going to say Lord, what do you want me to do in this situation. How can I rely on your strength, on you, holy Spirit. You guide this, you empower me. I could do it, but it's probably not going to end up. No, not probably. It won't end up as good and beautiful as if I did it your way.

Ellen Krause: 25:40

Well said for sure. I think one of the things about our society today is that we have so many tools and internet and searches and all these things that we feel like we can always figure things out, which is why, you know, we may be turning to God, you know, later rather than sooner, but I think of, like missionaries that are in places, and I talked to someone once who said they just prayed every day that the one vehicle they had would start, and it was old and God provided for their needs, you know, and so we're just so bombarded with having so much here that we lose the sense of urgency for reminding ourselves that no, god's got this. Yeah Well, you have another quote in here that I loved. That I loved.

Ellen Krause: 26:48

You said that women are done, being lied to, done, being told what empowerment should look like without considering the Bible. Done, looking inward, when their spirits were pointing them upward, and I thought that was so beautiful. So, for those that are listening, what are some practical ways to go about doing this process? Like you said, it's something daily, but tell us a little bit more about the balance between doing and trusting.

Becky Beresford: 27:17

Yes, Well, I think it's very important that we need to just have an honest conversation with God. He knows us, he knows what we're struggling with and so what is most helpful for me? Just practically, I sit down and I make a list of things that I'm really having a hard time surrendering to the Lord. I think it all starts with surrender, and so I sit there and I list off the things that this is hard to let go of, G od, and it's I'm going to be honest with you, J esus it's because I probably don't trust that you're going to take care of this situation better than I could, because what would be the reason for me to white knuckle it and hold onto it unless I felt like I could keep it safe, I could be, I could come up with the solution and the answer better than God. And so sitting down and just literally listing the things out and going to the Lord one by one with them has been really, really helpful to me. And you know, I think, at least in my life, one reason I don't want to let go is because maybe past trauma or hurt or past experiences are influencing me to hold on to it more. But we can kind of take that to another level and say so. If we think about past experiences, I'm going to then put this list to the side and I'm going to make another list and say so. If we think about past experiences, I'm going to then put this list to the side and I'm going to make another list and say how has God been faithful to me in the past? So then I make another list Okay, G od, how have you come through for me this week, even this month this year? And so I start writing out okay, he's done this, and at first it might be a little slower, a little hard, but soon, when your heart gets in that posture of thankfulness and just worship, really, really, that's worship You're. You're writing out like thank you for coming through for me, for this, thank you for bringing my dog back, like when you're talking about that only only God moment.

Becky Beresford: 29:22

That story was. It was in reference to our dog running away into a cornfield in the Midwest right before night and the coyotes were coming out and it was just. I was heartbroken. She's my girl, like, I have three boys and she's my girl, I love her, she's my dog and she my shadow ran away and we did everything we could to try to bring her back Right. We called all the shelters, we put up the signs. I even I had all of our old like dirty clothes hanging out on our porch and her, her cage was there. I took my other dog and had him pee all over the place. I'm like I will do anything, everything that I know how, and she wasn't coming back and that's the only God is going to be able to do this.

Becky Beresford: 30:12

And beautifully, on the third day, there was this rainbow and it was right where she ran away and it started to rain and Callie came back, like through where that rainbow was, and it was just the most beautiful reunion that only God could do. Because I got to a point in my prayers I was like Lord, would you send guardian angels to bring my dog back? If she's hiding, can you bring her out of hiding? Let her know she's okay and, like, bring her back. And I fully believe that's what happened. And so only God brought my dog back, and so that's something to put on there God, on that list, you brought my dog back.

Becky Beresford: 30:54

So it can be big things, it can be small things. Like God, I am breathing. I guess that's not a small thing, but I am breathing right now. Thank you that I have breath in my lungs and so just listing off how God has been faithful, that helps us put trust in him for our future and for our present. And we can then sit there with those hands that are white knuckled, holding on to the things that are most precious to us, and we can say you've been there for me in the past, you're going to be here for me now. I'm going to release this and surrender it to you, and so that's just a kind of practical, everyday kind of thing that we can do. But I think it really starts with surrender. If we don't surrender to God and we have our hands that are closed to him and we say I can do this, I can do this, we can't receive. We can't receive unless our hands are open. So that would always be square one for me is surrender.

Ellen Krause: 32:00

Yeah, great advice, something that we all need to do, for sure. Well, as we start to wrap things up here, becky, let's just sort of end on how can we practice godly confidence in who God has made us to be, as opposed to our own internalization of what we think we can do?

Becky Beresford: 32:29

Yeah, you know there's a lot out there that's telling women that you can be whatever you want to be and you can choose whatever path you want to do. You can follow your heart to your heart's content. But what makes us, I think, for me, what makes me feel alive, is when I know I am living into the person that God created me to be, because he did not make me to be the best version of myself. He made me to be like a spirit-filled version of his son and an imitation that's unique and diverse, and so we need to celebrate how God has made us uniquely to represent his personhood to the world. And it's different for women and men and everyone.

Becky Beresford: 33:17

But I think I guess men can do this too, but women, we can kind of slide into that comparison trap where we kind of look at ourselves and be like, well, I'm not like her in this way, or I'm not gifted in this way. And you know it's not just like jean sizes and hair or clothes, it's like giftings from the Holy Spirit. Well, G od's gifted her with hospitality and I hate cooking. Like, why am I not more like her? What's wrong with me? You, you know, and I can start like beating myself like um, but God has created us uniquely to be light to the world and to show different aspects of his personhood to others. And so the way we combat comparison is to celebrate each other, to say look at you know, come alongside them and support them, and they support us and in community. And so I think that helps build confidence, not in who we think we should be or even who we think other people should be or whatever with the comparison stuff, but it helps build godly confidence in who God has created us to be and we can walk in that and just be joyful about it.

Becky Beresford: 34:35

And I also think something else that's helped me when it comes to being confident in something is, like I said, I'm a doer and I like to try to do things well and that's good, you know, like God rewards hard work and so we can be diligent at doing whatever he's called us to do, but ultimately we're diligent and dependent on God at the same time. We depend on him for the results. He's the faithful one, he's going to be faithful to us, and so that's another way I've kind of practiced the idea of godly confidence, like I'm going to do what the Lord's called me to do, but ultimately it's up to him. He's going to come through for me, he's going to come through for you, he's going to come through for all of us, and it's not just solely dependent and reliant on us. And so godly confidence isn't about self-confidence, it's about God confidence.

Ellen Krause: 35:32

Agreed, agreed. You know, I think you just made a new sign here and it's going to say diligent but dependent. All right, becky, how can people find out more information about you and your book?

Becky Beresford: 35:52

So the best way to stay in contact with me is my website, beckyberesford. com, and I have some resources there that can sign up to be a part of my Empowered Email Tribe, and I also actually have a prayer journal that I made that people can. You know it's a freebie if they join my Empowered Email Tribe and it helps them process through each chapter, so that's on my website too. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook and the book can be purchased anywhere books are available. If you like to save money, like I do, I always check out Moody first, just because sometimes they have really good discounts.

Ellen Krause: 36:32

All right, excellent. We will make sure we have links to all of those in the show notes. Before we go, B ecky, I need to ask you some of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What Bible is your go-to Bible and what translation is it?

Becky Beresford: 36:55

So it is my Bible for Creative Journaling and it is NLT. I love New Living Translation. I've tried other ones, but it just I don't know. That one just speaks to my heart, and I love how it has the margins I can write in. I'm one of those people that writes in their Bible and underlines, and it also has fun little coloring that you can do in it. So that's my go-to.

Ellen Krause: 37:11

All right, good recommendation. Do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study time?

Becky Beresford: 37:21

I always have a journal with me as well. I don't have like a favorite like pen or anything like that. I kind of like markers, I like colorful. So when I'm, when I'm writing, I like to make my, my journal, all sorts of different colors, just because I think it's, it's alive, it's the word is living and alive. So I want my journal to kind of look living and alive as well.

Ellen Krause: 37:47

Excellent. I bet it's very colorful. I'd like to see it. Lastly, what is your favorite app or website for Bible study tools?

Becky Beresford: 37:57

So, I love Blue Letter Bible If you want to get in like in depth with commentaries and you want to learn the context and just the meaning of words. I write for the First Five app for Proverbs 31 Ministries, so that's one that I love to use. And then I have another app that I love just for my heart and helps me with meditating on the Bible. So not necessarily studying it, but it's the One Minute Pause app by John Eldredge. He's one of my favorite authors and so that one is just wonderful. It helps you practice that idea of releasing and surrendering everything to God in the midst of your busy day. So that one, I always recommend that one.

Ellen Krause: 38:43

All right, Excellent suggestions. We will have a link to those in the show notes as well. Well, Becky, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for showing us that Jesus offers a much better way by trusting in our faithful God and embracing true Christ-centered empowerment. A nd for our listeners. We appreciate you so much. Thank you If you leave us a review, we would greatly appreciate it. Have a blessed day.