Letters from Listeners: Christ Is King

Dannah Gresh: Here’s a sweet gift we received recently from a listener named Sarah.

Sarah: Nancy and Dannah, I just wanted to thank you for your heartfelt ministry and devotion to God. You’ve seen me through depression, a hysterectomy, multiple kidney stones, marriage problems, moving across the country, and those are just a few. Thank you so much for your ministry!

Dannah: Well, Sarah, you’re welcome. And we’re going to hear more from Sarah very soon.

This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of the new advent devotional, Born a Child and Yet a King, for December 1, 2020. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Here’s Nancy on Revive Our Hearts a year ago this month.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (December 2019): You may feel in your circumstances that you are fragile and helpless, weak and frail. Maybe you're in a season of life where you feel that if one more thing comes into your life, it’s just going to make you snap.

Dannah: Well, that was December of 2019. And since that time, it would be an understatement to say a lot has happened.

Nancy: The Coronavirus.

Dannah: Too many tragic deaths.

Nancy: Stay-at-home orders.

Dannah: Racial tensions and social unrest.

Nancy: Hurricanes. Massive fires in the forests.

Dannah: Fires even in our cities.

Nancy: And an election and its aftermath here in the United States.

Dannah: And some of us have dealt with tragedies right in our own homes.

Nancy: Yes. This has been a year of cancer, times two, for Robert and me.

And we didn’t see any of this coming one year ago when we brought that message here on Revive Our Hearts.

Dannah: But God did know. He knew everything that was to come, and He still rules.

Nancy: Amen.

Dannah: As we near the end of this historic year, we’re going to focus on one theme throughout December. And that theme takes the form of just three words: Christ is King.

Nancy: I love that, Dannah. As the events of 2020 have unfolded, we have returned to that bedrock truth over and over again—Christ is King.

I’m so grateful that we’ve had the opportunity day after day to point listeners to that truth as well.

And today we’re going to hear some stories about how some of those individuals have experienced the Kingship of Christ in their lives and their circumstances.

We’re going to hear about a woman who acknowledged Jesus as Lord over her life for the first time.

And we’ll hear how Jesus rules over finances and provides for our needs.

Dannah: Let’s dig right in with the story of two pen pals—Rachel and Grace. They’re both 14 years old, and they came to a Revive Our Hearts’ recording session early in the year, before the Coronavirus hit.

Nancy: You two girls are sitting next to each other. For people who can’t see, tell us how you got to know each other and how you came here today.

Rachel: Well, we met through the Focus on the Family Clubhouse, I mean, Pen Pal program.

Nancy: How long ago?

Rachel: Three or four years.

Nancy: So you’ve been pen pals. Did you connect your moms to each other? Is that how that happened?

Rachel: Yes. Pretty much. (laughter) It was really funny because I’m always talking to my friends about Revive Our Hearts and hoping these ladies know about it because I’m trying to tell them, “I’m reading these great books. Do you know what Revive Our Hearts is?”

And then I found out that Grace actually knew, and I was so excited. But, anyway, our moms both . . . We grew up listening to it. I’ve been listening to the programs here and there since I was like ten or eleven.

And my five-year old brother recently asked my mom, “Have you talked to Nancy DeMoss yet today?”

And she said, “Well, I don’t talk to her. She’s on the podcast.”

“But I hear her every morning, and you’re talking to her on the phone!” (laughter)

So we’ve definitely grown up hearing all that.

Nancy: We made a little video for William today that your mom is taking home to five-year-old William.

So now today you girls are here. You got to see each other—one from Ohio and from Indiana, and your moms are here. You’ve been sitting on the front row all day.

I love how the Lord’s connected you to each other and your love for truth. This is my dream of what God would do in the hearts of women all around the world—younger, older, moms, daughters all following Him, seeking Him. Maybe someday you guys will be serving at Revive Our Hearts. It sounds like you already are, really. We’re so thrilled you’re here, and for the way the Lord connected you to each other and to us!

Dannah: How cool is that! Those two fourteen-year-old pen pals and their moms were here with us last February—in the days before social distancing. I am so encouraged these two young women are discovering Christ as their King so early in life.

Nancy: Yes. It was such a sweet thing to meet and talk with those two young women, Dannah. Think about how what God is doing in their lives now as they’re young teenage girls will impact them for the rest of their lives and potentially generations to come.

Well, I was encouraged to hear from another young woman who lives in Florida. She said:

Mrs. Wolgemuth, 

I’m a junior in high school. I’ve heard your voice speaking truth for as long as I can remember, because my mama has listened to your programs since I was a little girl.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to listen to your podcast for myself. I always feel refreshed and challenged after listening.

At the end of one episode, you challenged your listeners . . .

Nancy (from a previous program): I’m going to invite you to make a commitment, if God is speaking to your heart, for the next thirty days, every day, spend some time alone with the Lord in His Word and in prayer.

This high school student said:

I was inspired and did it! For thirty days, I began each day with reading a chapter from a book in the Old Testament, a Psalm, and then a chapter from the New Testament.

Now I am on my seventy-second day! I just wanted to thank you so much for the truth you share daily. It has taken my walk with Christ so far.

Dannah: Oh, I love that! My heart gets so stirred when the teenagers step up to walk in truth. Doesn’t yours, Mrs. Wolgemuth?

Nancy: Absolutely, it does!

Well, throughout the month of December, we’re focusing on the theme: Christ is King. I can’t tell you how much encouragement that theme has given to my heart in this past year. It’s the theme we need this month, and it’s the theme we need every month as we go into the year ahead.

And today, some of our listeners are going to help us explore that theme. And wow, Dannah, this next story—which I just heard for the first time last night—puts the power of God on display in such a beautiful way.

Dannah: It sure does. It starts in March, just before everything shut down because of the coronavirus—6,000 women joined Revive Our Hearts for the True Woman conference in Monterrey, Mexico.

Nancy: And we’re still hearing wonderful, encouraging, inspiring testimonies from that conference. But this one, I think, is particularly meaningful. And to help us share it, I’ve invited Laura Gonzales, who heads up our Spanish ministry, to join us today.

And, Laura, what a beautiful story this is. I’d love to have you share with us about this one woman who attended True Woman ’20 in Mexico.

Laura Gonzales: That’s right, Nancy. Her name is Graciela, and she’s from Ecuador. She came with a big group of women who traveled to the conference. She was not a believer when she traveled, but a friend, who is a believer, insisted that she come to this conference.

She had no idea what Aviva Nuestros Corazones was. She had no idea who any of the speakers were. She just wanted to go. There were things going on in her life, and she just wanted to go to get out of the circumstances, and she thought this would be a good thing for her to do.

During the conference her heart became tender, and God started a work in her heart. After the messages she heard at Mujer Verdadera (True Woman ’20), the work that the Lord started in her heart, she came to Christ.

They had to stay there in Mexico for two months after the conference due to COVID.

Nancy: Her whole group?

Laura: The whole group had to stay there for two months due to COVID and all of the lockdowns. It was a time of sharing and of discipling and sitting with the lady with her Bible. And the ladies that traveled, they report that she was so tender to the Word and so thirsty and wanting to read her Bible. The Lord started transforming her life in her heart in those first few months.

Dannah: I can’t help but think that, as the world was shutting down, Graciela’s heart was opening up! Wow!

Laura: Yes. That is correct. The ladies that traveled with her, they say that her testimony, even with her unsaved daughters, was very impactful.

They had to stay in Mexico for two months. Since she was traveling with this group of ladies that belonged to this certain church in Ecuador, she was with them. They started connecting to the services from their church in Ecuador on Sundays. So this lady became part of this congregation digitally before getting back to Ecuador.

When they traveled back to Ecuador, they had to remain in quarantine in a hotel in Quito for fourteen days. The pastor came to visit his group of sheep there, and that’s when he got to know Graciela.

A few days ago, Maggie, who’s one of our staff members, received a message from the pastor, letting her know that this sister had passed away the night before from COVID.

This pastor testified of the work of grace that had begun in this lady’s life and how she was testifying in front of her family and praying for her unsaved family. The pastor was very emotional because he had seen the love that this lady had cultivated in her heart for the Lord, and he wanted to thank Aviva Nuestros Corazones for the work that the ministry is doing in helping women know Christ and then grow in Christ.

Dannah: Beautiful.

Laura: When the pastor sent the message, they were going to have a memorial a few days after for this lady. They were praying that the rest of the family would come to Christ through all this testimony, especially her daughters.

Dannah: Wow! So our sister, Graciela, is with her Savior today because we went to Mexico to partner with Aviva Nuestros Corazones. What a testimony! That makes everything we’ve done this year worthwhile. Doesn’t it?

Laura: Amen.

Nancy: And what a beautiful display of this powerful truth that Christ is King! And what a joy it is! I was getting goosebumps as I was listening to you tell this story and thinking about how the Lord allowed Revive Our Hearts and the Spanish part of that ministry that you lead to play a role in the salvation of this precious woman!

I know that there were so many of our listeners who prayed for the True Woman ’20 conference in Monterrey, Mexico. So many supported Revive Our Hearts so that we could host that conference. And that means you are a part of Graciela’s story, too. And thank you for being a part of this ministry and for the leadership you’re giving to the work that God is doing in the hearts of Spanish-speaking women around the world. Thanks for coming on and sharing that story with us today.

Laura: Amen. It is my joy, Nancy. Thank you for having me.

Dannah: Wow! In a year full of crisis after crisis, Graciela discovered true peace as she acknowledged Christ as her King.

Nancy: And, Dannah, that’s such a thread in what we’ve heard from women throughout this year.

I’m thinking of another young woman who wrote to Revive Our Hearts to share how God had used some of our resources to get her into God’s Word and to transform her life. Why don’t you read that email?

Dannah: Yes. I love this letter. Of course, moving into the year, at this point now, we’re in quarantine and sheltering in place all over the world. This sixteen-year-old girl from Ohio wrote to say:

I live in a Christian household. I’ve been attending church since before I could stand but never really understood the gospel. I never really prayed. I had no connection to Jesus. I never opened the Bible.

This past winter was very, very hard for me. I was hopeless, exhausted, frustrated, and depressed. Then, during quarantine, my mother suggested we read a book called Choosing Gratitude.

It’s a book by you, my dear friend Nancy. And what a wise mom! She continues to write:

It sounded cheesy, and I only agreed to read it to get her to stop bothering me. I reluctantly began to read, and the Holy Spirit instantly began to work. Reading about the marvel of salvation and the great joy and gratitude that flows from the heart of a believer was so interesting to me. I wanted to know more about exactly what was going on here.

For the first time I can remember, I picked up my Bible and began to read. It was the most profound, gratifying, and joyous experience I can remember.

Nancy: Let me interrupt you, Dannah, to say this: This is the work of the Holy Spirit moving in the heart of someone that wasn’t looking for the Lord, but opening her heart to respond to Him. As the Lord did that work, she began to develop a hunger for God’s Word that she’d never had any interest in before.

Dannah: In fact, she writes:

I started a six-month plan to read the Bible. There were nights I would just clutch it to my chest and sob because I finally understood the love of Christ, the grace of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Now I see that the Lord set aside the spring of 2020 to be the time when He called me closer to Himself.

Today I’m still learning, still exploring, still solidifying, but I am filled with an abundance of joy, hope, peace, and gratitude.

I want to thank Nancy for her book and my Lord Jesus for calling me by name.

Nancy: Wow!

Dannah: That’s good!

Nancy: And you just see, Dannah, how she started out by saying she was “hopeless, exhausted, frustrated, and depressed.” And then through the COVID shelter in place, rather than falling more deeply into that pit, God lifted her up out of that pit by the power of His Word and the power of His Spirit and brought her to a place where she says, “I’m now filled with an abundance of joy, hope, peace and gratitude.” How precious and powerful is that in the life of a high school student!

Dannah: I love it!

Nancy: I believe that during this year of COVID and all kinds of other crazy things going on in this world, God has been at work drawing people to Himself, accomplishing His purposes, because Christ is King—not coronavirus, not cancer, but Christ is King.

Dannah: Yes.

Nancy: Well, in the midst of the COVID shutdowns this past spring, a school teacher in Nebraska sent this to us. She said:

I’m struggling with belief in God’s faithfulness. I know there’s a God, and I know He has a plan, but sometimes I question His plan. How can all of this really be good for the world? How come He provides for and heals some, but others He doesn’t?

And you may have had some of those kinds of questions yourself over these past months. Well, this teacher said:

What I’m learning in all of this is that I’m struggling with trust issues. Each day your ministry encourages me to turn to God’s Word, and that gives me hope.

I love how we’re able to encourage women to get into God’s Word, and whatever their circumstances, He then uses His Word to give them an infusion of hope and perspective.

And then, Dannah, because of what God had done in her heart, she was eager to see this happen in other people’s lives, so she enclosed a check with her letter, and she said:

I’ve heard that you have a financial need. [This was back in May when we were closing our fiscal year.] Today I felt God was calling me to donate part of my stimulus check.

And this is a woman who had just said she had been struggling with trust issues! But she said,

As I learn to have faith in God and believe He will see us through this, I’m taking a tiny step today to trust God in this area. 

Dannah: That makes me so happy! God has used the generous gifts from her and others just like her to help us move the ministry of Revive Our Hearts forward so that we can continue calling women to greater freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

Nancy: And, Dannah, here’s another sweet story from a listener. She was responding to an interview that we did with Judy Douglass, who is the author of When You Love a Prodigal. We had a lot of response to that series of women who had prodigal sons or daughters and were so encouraged by this conversation with Judy Douglass.

And one of those women wrote us and said:

I’m sitting in my living room listening to your program and Judy Douglass’ story. Her story is mine almost exactly.

And then this listener said:

You mentioned, "I feel like some mom needs to be encouraged and have hope.”

Nancy (from “When You Love a Prodigal”): I know that there are many moms and grandmoms with hurting hearts for their prodigals.

And then this woman says:

I told the Lord, "Yes, it is too painful, and I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t keep doing this.” Something Judy said let me know that I truly cannot, but the Lord can. My heart gave up today, but the Lord just reminded me that He knows I cannot, but He can. He gave me new hope. [And then she signed her name.]

And we hear so frequently from moms and grandmoms who have prodigal children. They’re discouraged. They’re waiting, praying, longing for years, perhaps, for God to turn the hearts of these sons and daughters. So it was so sweet to see the Word of God to come to bear on this woman’s specific kind of pain.

So I want to say to this listener, “Thank you for sharing your story. I know there are many others who feel the same way.”

Dannah: In fact, I feel like I should mention that you can hear that interview on prodigal children by visiting ReviveOurHearts.com. In fact, you can hear all the programs we’re mentioning today.

We’re hearing from listeners about ways they’ve seen Christ reign as King in their life this year. We have several more stories to share, but I want to pause and remind you: Each of these stories is possible thanks to the support of our listeners, friends who pray and give to help Revive Our Hearts keep coming to you day after day.

Typically, about half the donations we need each year arrive in December. So your year-end gift will make a big difference in our ability to share messages like these in the year ahead.

Nancy: And, Dannah, I’m so thrilled that the Lord has put a burden on some friends of this ministry who see how God is at work. And they want to encourage others to give to support Revive Our Hearts, so they are going to match each gift that’s given to Revive Our Hearts between now and December 31.

And today, December 1, is Giving Tuesday. And that means that any gift you make today will be doubled.

Dannah: Giving Tuesday was established as a practical way to counter the consumeristic mindset of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s such an opportunity for each of us to invest in kingdom purposes.

Nancy: Now that matching challenge will be available throughout the month of December but I want to give a challenge to our listeners today. I’d love to see us reach a one-day goal here on the first day of December of $100,000 in donations here on ‘Giving Tuesday.’ And remember: We can reach that goal twice as fast because any gift you give today will be doubled.

Dannah: I just wanted to say, “Wow!” in my heart, and I’m excited! Let’s do this, friends. Just visit ReviveOurHearts.com to make your donation, or call 1–800–569–5959.

Nancy: We understand that there are a lot of people who have been impacted by the financial challenges of 2020. Perhaps you’re one of those who has lost your job and hasn’t been able to get it back yet. Some people just are not in a position to give what they wish they could at the moment, and we understand that. But I want to encourage you to consider asking the Lord to provide something so you can give.

In fact, Dannah, I just heard about an email we got from one of our staff who said to our team, “Hey, you guys. I just opened a letter that had a $70 donation in it along with a note explaining where the money came from.”

But rather than just reading you that note, we called this listener, and she told us the story herself.

Sarah: Hi, this is Sarah. I’m from Georgetown, Texas. I wrote to Revive Our Hearts in September because God supplied an amazing way for me to donate to the ministry.

Nancy has always talked about donating to our home church first and then to the ministry second. So we’ve always donated to our home church, but I always knew that God would provide money if I prayed for it. This has happened more than once, but recently the Lord supplied in another amazing way.

My mom had sent money for us to buy a shop vac for our new home as a housewarming gift. I took that money, and I went online to the Home Depot, and I bought the shop vac, and they accidentally sent two.

I called them, and they told me, essentially, that if I returned one to the Home Depot that my debit card would be refunded. And that kind of left me at a crossroad because I didn’t feel like taking the second one back and essentially getting the first one for free. So I prayed about it, and I sold it on Facebook Marketplace, and I just felt like the Lord was leading me to send the money to Revive Our Hearts, as I had been praying about it so close to that time.

So I just feel like God always answers our prayers and provides. And in His time and in His way. He can be so creative, even with a shop vac.

Nancy: Wow! In the Bible we read how God provided a coin in the fish’s mouth so Jesus and His disciples could pay the temple tax. And here God provided for this listener through an extra shop vac. And let me remind you: He will provide for you whatever He knows you need.

Well, here’s what Sarah went on to say:

Sarah: I’m near tears, actually, when I say this. But Nancy and Dannah, I just wanted to thank you for your heartfelt ministry and devotion to God. I started listening to Revive Our Hearts in 2013 from an older woman at church.

At that time I didn’t know how much the ministry would bless my life, but I’ve listened to your library and all of the old messages time and time over again. I was able to start listening at a time when I was going through postpartum depression. Since then, suffering has not gone away, but the Lord tells us we can expect it—and I’ve learned that through your program.

You’ve seen me through depression, a hysterectomy, multiple kidney stones, marriage problems, moving across the country—and those are just a few. I don’t think that I could have done it without God’s great grace and your messages.

I used to live in Washington, and now I’m in Texas. I still feel like I have my best friends on the other end of the line when I listen to your podcast. Thank you so much for your ministry!

Dannah: What a precious testimony! I love how as God produced fruit in her life, she is partnering with Him and with Revive Our Hearts to produce fruit in the lives of others.

Today we’re hearing from some Revive Our Hearts listeners about how they’ve seen Christ reign as King even in the middle of a crazy year

In September, Revive Our Hearts and Nancy both marked a milestone. Some of our listeners sent congratulations. It was Nancy’s birthday, and we started our twentieth year of on-air ministry.

Dionna contacted us. She lives just a few hours down the road from us in Indianapolis.

Dionna: September 3, 2020 marked the nineteenth anniversary for the Revive Our Hearts ministry going live on the air with Nancy DeMoss as the host.

Dannah: She writes, “I first heard the radio show while driving to work one morning.”

Dionna: Those years of my life were pretty tumultuous as I was in a pretty bad relationship, and I just remember being drawn to the words that Nancy spoke. At the time I was not very knowledgeable of God’s Word, but from what I did know, something in me told me that this woman really knew what she was talking about.

So, now in the year 2020, my level of appreciation toward Nancy and her teaching is honestly so heartfelt that it cannot be put into words.”

Dannah: And I’m so grateful for the model that she is for younger generations.

And then she writes, “The circumstances in my life have drastically changed since first hearing the Revive Our Hearts broadcast. I’m so very grateful because God has granted me freedom.”

Dionna: A freedom in Christ. Freedom from my alcohol addiction. I’m free from the heavy load of sin that I was living in. In all of this, God has been more than good to me.

Dannah: It’s amazing to know that it’s all a part of God’s plan.

She says, “Thank You, Lord. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and the Revive Our Hearts ministry will always be loved and cherished in my heart.”

Nancy: Wow, Dannah, so, so precious! I never get tired of hearing stories of how God is at work through this ministry in the lives of our listeners.

And today our listeners have been telling stories, reminding us that Christ is King! That’s been true throughout 2020. And you know what? It will still be true in the year 2021. Whether we get a break from crises, or whether we continue to see conflict and calamity in this world, Christ is King. And regardless of what happens in our world or in your world throughout the year ahead, Revive Our Hearts wants to be here, proclaiming that Christ is King.

And we’re going to need your help to do that. Typically, over half of the donations that we receive for the entire year arrive during the month of December. So today, which is also Giving Tuesday, is important for the health and outreaches of this ministry throughout the year ahead.

Dannah: Yes. We’re actually asking the Lord to provide at least $100,000 today, right here on Giving Tuesday. When you give to meet that need, your gift will be doubled by some friends of Revive Our Hearts. They’ve set up a matching challenge for the month of December.

So if you’ve been blessed by Revive Our Hearts, and if you’d like to be a part of helping women like the ones we’ve heard from today, would you consider donating to support this ministry? To do that, contact us at ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1–800–569–5959.

Nancy: And, Dannah, I can hardly wait to see how the Lord provides today and throughout the month of December. And then all the fruit that will result in the lives of women, just like those we’ve heard from today, throughout the year ahead.

Dannah: I couldn’t agree more, Nancy.

Well, what does your heart long for? Tomorrow we’ll hear from a woman who, more than anything, longs for the Lord. Stacey Salsbery will be here to tell us what that looks like in her life. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Reminding you Christ is King, Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

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