Celebrating God’s Goodness, Ep 1 of 5

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Regardless of what it may feel like to you at any given moment, God is good and regardless of whether you feel it or not, God loves you and wants you to have His best. These are truths about God that we need to counsel our heart with.
Diana Gresh: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude. For August 31st, 2026. I'm Diana Gresh. Can you believe it's the end of August? Wow. All month long, we've talked about the seasons of a woman's life: singleness, motherhood, grandmotherhood, and more. This week we're shifting gears to talk about a special season in the life of Revive Our Hearts as a ministry. That's right. It is almost time for Revive Our Hearts to turn, drum roll please, 25 years old. We're taking some time to review and celebrate the goodness of God. This week we mark 25 broadcast years for Revive Our Hearts, so we thought we'd share with you some highlights of Nancy's teaching throughout the history of this program and podcast. We especially want to feature some of the main themes she's focused on during those years. Nancy, what would you say are some of the main recurring themes throughout the course of your ministry here at Revive Our Hearts?
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Well, for anyone who's listened to Revive Our Hearts for any length of time, I don't think that any of these will come as a surprise. For starters, I've really tried to focus on our vertical relationship with the Lord. Spending time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, and a lifestyle of repentance, holiness, and surrender. And then I've also talked a lot about our relationships with others, how the vertical affects the horizontal, when it comes to things like forgiveness, keeping a clear conscience, mentoring, passing on the baton of truth to the next generation. And then I've also sensed a need in our day to focus on what we have called biblical womanhood, helping women to understand and to embrace our unique, God-created design as women. And then I think another theme that has figured prominently in my teaching over these years has been the whole area of suffering, how to deal with dry times, difficult times, times of despair, and how to get God's perspective on our suffering and how to glorify Him in the midst of it all.
Diana Gresh: And we'll focus on each of those topics this week. Today though, we're going to focus on your teaching about God Himself. We'll review some of the teaching you've provided on the nature and character of God. Well, one of the ways Nancy has helped us focus on God over the years is to remind us that we can trust Him to keep us safe. Even when the storms are raging all around us, and haven't we needed to be reminded of that over and over throughout this year? Well, one of the early series Nancy recorded for Revive Our Hearts was called Under His Wings. Let's listen.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Psalm 57 paints for us a picture of the wings of God providing this refuge. And the setting of this psalm is again David speaking, when he was fleeing from King Saul, who was a violent, insanely jealous king. And so he cries out to the Lord, Psalm 57 verse one, and he says, "Be merciful to me, oh God, be merciful to me, for my soul trusts in You." And in the shadow of your wings, I will make my refuge until these calamities have passed by. I would not want to have been outside in that storm last night. I'm glad I had a shelter in the midst of that storm. And David is saying, "Lord, there's a storm passing by. There are calamities that are pouring in on my life." But I have a shelter. And the shelter is the wings of God. That's a refuge, and I'm going to stay in that shelter until these calamities have passed by. You see the same thought in Psalm 61, where David says, "Hear my cry, oh God, attend to my prayer, from the end of the earth, I will cry to you when my heart is overwhelmed." We don't like to be in places where calamities are passing by or where our hearts are overwhelmed. But more often than not, that's what it takes in our lives, I find, to get us to the place where we cry out to the Lord. When there are no storms, we can just go through life without ever thinking about God. But when the storms come, that's when we think, I need a refuge. I need a way to get out of this storm. I need some protection, a shelter in the midst of this storm. And so David says, "In the midst of this storm, I will cry out to you when my heart is overwhelmed." "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." "For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy." "I will abide in your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings." You see what he keeps coming back to? Lord, you have provided a shelter, a refuge for me. So what do I have to do? I have to run into that place, and then I have to trust. As those little birds, those little chicks come under the wings of the mother, the wings of that hen, and trust, and wait on that parent to meet its needs. A few moments ago, some of you shared some of the storms, some of the challenges that you're walking through in your life. There are a number who mentioned physical challenges and health issues. Someone mentioned that a daughter's marriage is in crisis. Some of you are facing the challenge of an empty nest, no pun intended here. And then some that were challenges and storms even bigger than what we could mention. I was just reminded as we were listing these challenges. You and I have a safe place, a refuge, a shelter in the midst of a storm. And so we come to the Lord and we say, "Lord, I come to find refuge under your wings." "You are enough, you are sufficient, you are my hiding place, and in you, I am safe."
Diana Gresh: That's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth from a series on Revive Our Hearts called Under His Wings. It's one of many series since our start in 2001 that focus on the nature and character of God, and that's our topic today. Another series Nancy taught early in the history of Revive Our Hearts is called El Shaddai. She told us the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah and how God revealed Himself as El Shaddai, the all-sufficient one.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: This is a wonderful name of God that shows the tender care and compassion and grace of God on our behalf. The name El is a shortened form, as many of you know, of the name for God, Elohim. It's the name of God that speaks of His power, His omnipotence, His strength, His might. I love that name because it says that God is able to do anything He wants to do. But He's not only El, He's El Shaddai. That word Shaddai is a tender, touching word that is actually formed from the Hebrew word Shad, S H A D, which is the Hebrew word for breast. It speaks of a nursing mother who takes her infant to her breast and supplies for that child all that the child needs. It's a picture of God as a tender-hearted, compassionate nursing mother. Now you put that with El, the powerful, omnipotent, mighty, all-able God, who also is the tender, nursing, caretaker and provider for His people. He's the one who supplies, He's the one who nourishes, He's the one who satisfies. And so we see God not just as the almighty God. And everywhere you see this name translated in our English Bibles, it's translated Almighty God or God Almighty. But as you study this word out, the commentators agree that a better translation would be the all-sufficient one. The all-sufficient one, El Shaddai. This is the God who delights for us to be in a place where we are helpless. As Abram and Sarai were, helpless to meet their own need, helpless to fulfill God's promises. But the more helpless we are, the more we are forced to rely on El Shaddai. And when we rely on Him, and then the promises are fulfilled, the wonderful thing is, we can't get the credit. God gets all the glory. Everyone knew that Abraham and Sarah could not have children. So when that little child Isaac was born, everyone knew this is a miracle. God has done this. God is the provider. Abraham had to learn his own insufficiency, the futility of relying on his own efforts, and the foolishness of impatiently running ahead of God. Is there a need in your life today for which El Shaddai is your solution? Physical, financial, emotional, relational, vocational, spiritual. God says, for all of your need, I am your El Shaddai. I am your provider, I am your nourishment, I am your all-sufficient one. And we've seen that God sometimes waits until we're at the end of our own sufficiency. When we've come to the end of our own resources, and there's absolutely nothing else we can do to solve our situation. And then in desperation, we stop looking outward, we stop looking inward, and we look upward and we say, "Oh, Lord, I need you."
Diana Gresh: That's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth from a series here on Revive Our Hearts called El Shaddai, the all-sufficient one. We're celebrating 25 years of ministry by highlighting some major themes she's taught on over the years, today is the nature and character of God. Here she is reminding us how God is our Father, from the series The Lord's Prayer.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: All real prayer starts with God, not with us. The prayer is directed toward God, our Father, first two words. That puts God at the center of our prayer, not us. You say, "Why do you need to keep saying that?" Because we keep forgetting it. We're so self-centered, and we're so naturally bent on me, from the time we're infants, and we grow up, we find more sophisticated ways of being self-centered, but still self-centered nonetheless. And Jesus in teaching us to pray says, "Get your eyes off of yourself and lift your heart and your eyes up to God, our Father." When Jesus says that we should pray "Our Father," it reminds us that prayer is something very personal, the personal nature of prayer. We're not talking to the air, we're not talking to ourselves, prayer is talking to God. To a person. You know He exists. There's the assumption here that God exists first, and secondly that He hears us, He's listening to us and He's going to do something about our prayer. Hebrews 11 tells us, "Without faith, it's impossible to please God. If you come to God, you must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." So when we come to pray, it is an expression of faith. It's, "Lord, we can't see You, but we believe that You're there." We believe that You really do exist. We believe that we have a Father who wants us to pray, who is listening when we pray, who can hear us and who can do something about our needs. I think that Father is one of the most distinctive names that we Christians use for God. I learned while I was doing this study that Muslims have 99 names for God. Names like the powerful, the irresistible, the all-compelling subduer, the magnificent, the majestic, the sublimely exalted, the protector, the benefactor, on and on, 99 names that Muslims have for God. But not one of those names is Father. Only Christians in the truest sense of the word can call God Father. Jesus is telling us to pray to "our Father." Now I want us to stop and realize, if we had been in the setting of those disciples in those days, coming out of the Old Testament era in this bridge to the New Testament era, I want us to get a picture of how astonishing it would have been to hear Jesus say that we should pray "Our Father." We're so used to this prayer, it doesn't strike us as anything out of the ordinary. But to the ears of those Jews living in the time of Christ, this was an astonishing way to start a prayer. The disciples would have never thought of starting their prayer "Our Father." Jesus said, "You should pray to our Father."
Diana Gresh: Isn't it amazing? We can call God by the intimate name, Father. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has been showing us why that's so incredible from a series called The Lord's Prayer. She'll also show us why it's amazing that God is willing to dwell with us in a series called A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The series was based on Psalm 46. And here she's focusing on verse five, which tells us that God is in the midst of His people.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: God is interested in relationship. God is interested in being near to His people. Proximity matters to God. He doesn't want to be just some God out there that we hear about and we talk about or we give, mental assent to. He wants to be in us, to dwell in us, to be related to us, to make His dwelling place in us. And that is the picture that we have in the Old Testament temple, the tabernacle. What was the point? Not just a building or a tent where people go to have religious services, but God says, "I will dwell with you. I will be in you, I will be among you." And we have even that sense of that being God's goal in the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 2 verse 10, "Sing and rejoice, oh daughter of Zion, for behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst," declares the Lord. God, the God of the universe, Lord of hosts, Yahweh, Elohim, the God, the transcendent God, the creator, the preserver, He says, "I will dwell in you?" "I will dwell in your midst. I will dwell in your church, in your family, in your life." The presence of God, everything in our lives that's good and holy and valuable and wonderful flows out of God dwelling in our midst. God says, "I will dwell in your midst." John chapter 1, this comes to the New Testament, the Word became flesh. God put on human flesh and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us, and we have seen His glory. We know Him as Immanuel, God with us. That's what Psalm 46 looks forward to, God is in the midst of her. And when Jesus returned to heaven, He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit. John 14, Jesus said, "He dwells with you and He will be in you." Christ in you, the Holy Spirit in you, your hope of glory. See, this isn't just a psalm a phrase you can just pass over. Psalm 46, "God is in the midst of her." So what? There is a huge so what to all of that. God is in the midst of you makes all the difference in the world.
Diana Gresh: That's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth from a series called A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Today we're focusing on the nature and character of God, one of Nancy's main themes on Revive Our Hearts as we're about to enter our 26th year of ministry. We're celebrating that milestone all week. As we review some of Nancy's teaching on the character of God, it seems fitting to end with what's probably her most well-known message about God. Her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, has sold over a million copies. In it, Nancy challenges women to confront lies they believe about God. Here she is reminding us of some of the truths we need to replace them.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: I read a tweet the other day as I was thinking about this subject. I want to share it with you. It said, "When we are anxious, depressed, or irritable, it's likely because we're believing a lie about ourselves or about God." And you think about that. When we're anxious, when we're depressed, when we're irritable, like, who hasn't been one or more of those things within the last week, 24 hours, maybe the last hour. Anxious, depressed, some of you live this way. Anxious, depressed, irritable. This writer said, "When we're anxious, depressed, or irritable, it's likely because we're believing something that isn't true about ourselves or about God." So, we don't want to just focus on the lies, we want to point ourselves and others to the truth. Susannah Spurgeon, the wife of my friend Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said, "In times of trouble, the soul is greatly helped by cherishing great thoughts of God." In times of trouble, the soul is greatly helped by cherishing great thoughts of God. Now, in order to do that, you have to stop. You got to get rid of some of the clutter and the noise in your head that's putting all kinds of other thoughts to fill your mind. You need to pull away, be quiet, get into this book, let this book get into you, that's the Word of God, that book. And in times of trouble, your soul will be greatly helped by finding, discovering, receiving, embracing, and cherishing great thoughts of God. And the reason I wrote the original Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, and the reason we've spent the last year or two updating and expanding that book, so now we have the new Lies Women Believe, it's all to encourage you to cherish great thoughts of God. That's the purpose. So throughout this book, not only in the chapter about God, but throughout, we talk about the truth that God is good. Regardless of what it may feel like to you at any given moment, God is good. And regardless of whether you feel it or not, God loves you and wants you to have His best. These are truths about God that we need to counsel our heart with. There's another truth that God is enough. If we have Him, we have everything that we need for our present peace and happiness. And not only our present peace and happiness, but our eternal peace and happiness. God is enough. The Lord is my shepherd, the psalmist said. I have everything that I need. That's the truth about God. Here's another truth, God can be trusted. God can be trusted. My husband and I are going to be writing a book this year to release next year, Lord willing, called, "You can trust God to write your story." Whether it's your love story, or your financial story, or your pain story, or your children's story, whatever your story is, you can trust God to write it. God keeps His promises. He's promised never to leave us, never to forsake us. He's promised that those who trust in Him will never be disappointed, Isaiah 28:16. And at times I have to remind myself, you may need to remind yourself of the same thing. That, listen, soul, has God ever let you down? Well, no. There were times when I thought He might, but has it ever? No. God has never once let me down, and He's not going to start now. We need to remind ourselves of these truths about God.
Diana Gresh: That's Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, reminding you of truths about God you can base your life on. Today we've been exploring the nature and character of God by hearing from several series Nancy has taught over the years. You can hear all of those by visiting reviveourhearts.com or the Revive Our Hearts app. Just go to the transcript of today's program and you'll find all the links you need. As we're celebrating 25 years of ministry, we're reviewing some of the main themes that come up on Revive Our Hearts again and again. When you boil it all down, we really just want you to know the freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness that's found in Jesus. No matter your age, life stage, or current circumstances, He offers abundant life to you. That's what our August resource, the Finding Beauty in Every Season photobook is all about. There's beauty here today, no matter your story, because Jesus is part of it. Now, it's the 31st, which means it's the last day I'll be mentioning this resource. To make a donation, visit reviveourhearts.com or call us at 1-800-569-5959. We'd love to get that in the mail to you.
Diana Gresh: Well, Nancy, it just hardly seems possible that Revive Our Hearts will be turning 25 this Thursday.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: And what a sweet journey this has been. And what a joy it is to meet people as I travel who say, "I've been listening to this program for the past several years," or "I've been listening to this program since I was a young single woman and now I'm a mom with three kids." Some who've even listened since the very earliest days.
Diana Gresh: In fact, over the next week or two, we're going to hear from some of those listeners who remember the beginning days of Revive Our Hearts. But we're grateful for our new listeners too.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: And this ministry has been made possible over all these years, and it continues today because of the generosity of friends who've said, "I want to support this ministry so that women around the world can experience greater freedom and fullness and fruitfulness in Christ." Thank you so much for your support of this ministry over these past years and, Lord willing, for many years to come. God bless you.
Diana Gresh: Tomorrow, we'll continue reviewing some of the main themes on Revive Our Hearts since our start in 2001. We'll be focusing on our vertical relationship with Jesus.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Our churches and our ministries, so many of them are filled with stressed out servants. Busy people who need to get to the feet of Jesus and sit and listen to His Word. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts. This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.