Soul Food: Recent Episodes
Melody Franco
A podcast of conversations that are good for the soul.
Let's journey together to taste and see the full, abundant life Christ promises us. Leave feeling a bit fuller than when when you came. All are welcome, and there is always a seat at the table waiting for you, so come and feast!
A lot of us like the idea of God bringing ultimate justice to the world.
However, reading Isaiah this week has got me thinking- am I a participant in, or an enemy of, God's justice?
And how do I take steps towards participating in that reformative work?
Perhaps the call to intercession is a good place to begin.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Hello, friends! It's been a while! (:
And since Easter was this past weekend, I've been reflecting on the meaning of the Resurrection and how that informs the way I live.
But no spoilers here- let's chat!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
We live in a society that is full of flattery.
As Christians, we know we are called to encourage one another, but what does that actually mean?
Perhaps our encouragement is supposed to look differently than the compliments of the world.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Imagine this: you travel all the way from the U.S. to Peru to see Machu Picchu! You finally arrive to the top of the mountain and look out, expecting to see a breathtaking view and...
you can't see anything but clouds and fog.
Yup, this happened to me this past week.
Today, I want to share this story with you, and what it taught me about trusting in God when I can't see the view I expected.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Is it just me, or is it absolutely wild that we are called to imitate God?
Crazy!
But how do we imitate him without first knowing what matters to him?
So let's find out what things matter most to God, and may those things matter most to us as well!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
So, you're feeling a bit burned out? Overwhelmed? Burdened?
Know that not only are you not alone, but that there is a better way for you to live.
The gospel is "good news," not just for your eternity, but for your here and now.
And Christ has freed you not only from sin and death, but from your own weariness.
Let's come to the only one who can give us rest for our souls!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Do you ever feel like you are the one pursuing Christ, instead of Him pursuing you?
Or like God is withholding good things from you?
This week I've been reminded that God is good, and He wants to give good gifts to His children- which includes the Holy Spirit.
My hope is that you are encouraged to keep seeking, keep knocking, and keep trusting God's goodness when it differs from your expectations of what would be good.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
In our efforts to walk faithfully as Christians, we can often grow blind and desensitized to the hurting that is all around us.
But Jesus came, not as one distinguished by being a good church goer or commandment follower, but by being a good neighbor.
Because the world does not need a bunch of people with minds who know God, but people with hearts moved by compassion.
God, open our eyes to see the broken and open our hearts to care when we see it.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
We often are taught that a life devoted to following Christ is one of great mystery and uncertainty.
While this is generally true, we must equally emphasize to how God has already revealed His plan and will to us.
Perhaps our faith journey is more about waking up to what is already ours, rather than working to gain something we don't yet have.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
What differentiates Christians from non-Christians?
Often it seems to be our self-righteousness more than our love for one another.
So today we are taking it back to the "basics"- let's talk about love!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
It can feel like a lot of pressure to share the Gospel in a way that is "appealing" and "effective" to others.
However, maybe that is missing the whole point.
Perhaps we are called to faithfulness, rather than effectiveness in sharing the Gospel.
But how do we share the Gospel in a way that is faithful?
Tune in to join the conversation!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
It can be easy to assume that God "doing a new thing" requires an abandonment of the old.
"New year, new me."
"Out with the old, in with the new."
Sound familiar?
But perhaps the Lord is doing a new thing, not by entirely removing all that is old, but by redeeming and restoring the old.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
If you're anything like me, you already have a laundry list of goals, resolutions, and expectations for the new year.
And maybe you feel like God has a laundry list for you, too.
Well friend, today we are talking about how, rather than adding to your list, God desires to simplify it.
So lighten the load you are carrying, because your loving and being with God and others is the best way to spend your days in 2022.
Have a happy New Year, everyone!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Many of us have heard the phrase "the weary world rejoices" at some point this Christmas season.
And I think that is a fairly accurate summary of the world we live in today- it is weary, and perhaps you also are weary.
Well, friend, today I want to remind you that you can rejoice!
The light has come, you are free, and you can rejoice, though you dwell in darkness!
Thank you, God, for sending Jesus.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Today we have a special guest! So get ready, because on this episode, you get to listen in on me and mom chatting about waiting on the Lord.
Waiting is tough, but we hope this episode is an encouragement and reminder to you that you can wait hopefully.
So let's worship in the waiting, let's fully surrender in the waiting, and let's be intentional in the waiting.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Have you ever wondered what it really means for Jesus to be your "Prince of Peace"?
Often we want the peace of God without living under the authority of God.
Perhaps we will find that the areas in which we lack peace are the same areas in which we are clinging to control.
In this Advent season, let's intentionally reflect on the areas of our lives in which we lack peace and relinquish those areas to Christ our King.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Alright gang, I've been on the struggle bus and just needed to take this week to re-focus my perspective.
So this episode is all about that- taking time to refocus and remind myself, and you, that maybe we're overcomplicating knowing God and being known by Him.
Here's your invitation to listen in and remember who God is and the great redemptive story He is writing.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Does it ever feel like the night will never end?
Like the sun will never shine and morning will never dawn?
Well, friend, today I want to remind you that your sunrise is nearing the horizon even now.
And gradually, yet seemingly all at once, you will find that you are surrounded by light again.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
If there's anything I think we can learn from the history of God's people in Scripture, it's that humans are quick to forget what God has done.
As we approach Thanksgiving, let's set aside time to look backwards at this past year and purposefully reflect on how the Lord has been present with us.
In doing so, perhaps our faith will increase and our perspective will widen on just how near the Lord is with us in the present, too.
Let's make this a week of remembrance!
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
How are you doing?
Many of us may come feeling weary today, and my prayer is that these three truths would remind you that you are free to live in the rest and peace of your beloved identity.
Take this invitation to take a pause from all you are doing and still have to do, and receive the gifts the Lord is offering you even now.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Rather than asking, "What would Jesus do?" maybe we should be asking, "What is Jesus doing?"
Our faith takes on a whole new meaning when we come to recognize that Jesus is already present and active in every setting we enter into, and that He is always moving towards those we most often avoid.
Perhaps as we intentionally and patiently prioritize those Jesus prioritized, we will find that we become more like Him.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
One of the primary ways we as the Christian community can serve one another is by bearing the burdens of one another.
But is it actually okay to be a burden to someone, or to allow someone to be a burden to me?
Does "being a burden" violate boundaries and self care?
Maybe part of our calling as Christians is to not only bear the burdens of others, but to also be a burden to others.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Have you ever questioned if giving up your dreams, plans, or pursuits to follow Jesus is worth it? Will it be something you regret in the future looking back?
Discipleship requires the death of something.
Yet, when we labor for the Lord, though we die, we lose nothing.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
When it comes to spiritual disciplines, are you living in obligation, guilt, and doing it because you know you "should"?
Or have you abandoned spiritual disciplines in your life due to its difficulty, impracticality, or because it just feels pointless?
Many of us lack motivation to be disciplined spiritually, or enter into these routines in order to prove our belovedness, to feel self-righteous, or so God is obligated to be "good" to us.
But what if the purpose of spiritual disciplines is not about bettering our own stories, but so that we might give up our own stories entirely?
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Do you feel lonely and unsatisfied with your current community, or lack thereof?
Most of us probably think that our community is something we choose.
But what if your community is not something you choose, but something you receive?
Perhaps community is right in front of you.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Did you know that every sin you have ever committed is rooted in ingratitude?
That means that when you practice gratitude, you are actively combatting sin in your life.
But gratitude is a choice- and there is always the opportunity to choose bitterness instead.
So let's go back to the basics together and cultivate this simple, yet overlooked, virtue.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
While we know the truth that God is ever-present with us, it can be hard to internalize that truth since His presence typically isn't tangible.
Maybe that's why He's given us fellow believers- to make God tangible to one another.
Perhaps the ministry of your presence is the greatest thing you can offer to your neighbor, to this world, and to the Lord.
But are you willing to embrace a life of inconveniences, interruptions, and mystery to live out the ministry of presence?
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Do you ever wonder what in the world you're supposed to do with your life?
It can be easy to believe that your calling is the way you will distinguish yourself as significant.
But what if, instead, your calling starts from a place of already having realized your significance?
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Is it just me, or does waiting typically feel unproductive? Like a waste of time? Like God is being unresponsive?
We often confuse waiting and stillness with stagnation and passiveness.
But what if, instead, we realized that in our waiting, we are moving forward?
Tune in to hear about the importance and value of trusting God enough to wait, and the realization that sometimes the best thing you can do, is simply to be.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Much has happened in our world in the past week, friends.
I have found myself feeling burdened by the devastation I see around me, and I know I am not alone.
Today's episode is simply a prayer- a prayer for a people and a world that are good, fallen, and being redeemed, all at once.
Consider this your invitation to join me in prayer, and to lay down every burden you are feeling before the Father.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
It's easy to overlook the power our minds possess in keeping us trapped in our former ways of being.
The good news? Jesus died, not just so you could have eternal life, but so that you could have an abundant life while still on earth- and that includes your thought life.
Join Melody as she hears from her dear friend, Erin, about her story of overcoming social anxiety, finding peace, and gaining deeper connection with the Lord. May her words encourage and challenge you to live into the fullness and freedom the Lord has promised those who love him.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please share with a friend to support the show.
Do you find yourself wishing that things around you would change?
We often believe that once our circumstances change, we will feel, act, or be better.
So we often pray for our surroundings and situations to change.
But what if the Lord is making all things new, not by changing your circumstances, but by changing you?
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App and share with a friend to support the show.
Are you feeling hungry today?
Tired, worn out on religion, searching, and craving for more?
You are not alone.
Often we can fool ourselves into believing that we are living in freedom and fullness, when really we are just living a malnourished, scarce faith, void of the abundant joy, life, and satisfaction Christ promises us.
So come as you are, take a seat at the table, and join Melody in this journey of tasting and seeing the goodness of God, and finding sustenance for our souls.
Thank you for listening! If today's episode helped fill you up, then please leave a review in the Apple Podcasts App and share with a friend to support the show.