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  • Dig Out The Wells
    2026/08/27

    We are living in one of the most distracted generations in history, and distraction is not harmless.

    In the Season One finale, Heather shares a prophetic picture God gave her during a three-day prayer retreat in Mendocino: wells being clogged with dirt and debris, cutting people off from the water they need to live.

    What if distraction is doing something similar to our spiritual lives?

    Through the imagery of clogged wells, a dying fire, and Jesus’ words in John 15 to “remain in Me,” Heather explores how noise, busyness, worry, social media, constant information, and overfilled schedules can weaken intimacy with Jesus.

    This episode is both a wake-up call and an invitation to return.

    You’ll hear about:

    How distraction can slowly create spiritual dryness

    Why what we give our attention to shapes our appetite

    How fasting, prayer, Scripture, silence, worship, and rest become “rhythms of revival”

    Why intimacy with God doesn’t always feel emotionally intense

    What it means to tend the fire when all you have left are embers

    How stillness exposes striving, worry, and our need for control

    Why abiding in Jesus is the source of real transformation

    At the heart of it all is a simple truth:

    Jesus is the reward.

    If you’ve felt spiritually dry, distracted, distant from God, or simply hungry for more of Him, this episode is an invitation to dig out the wells, tend the fire, and return to intimacy with Jesus.

    Show Notes

    Dig Out the Wells

    In this Season One finale, Heather returns to the foundation underneath everything discussed this season: intimacy with Jesus.

    During a three-day prayer and fasting retreat in Mendocino, God gave Heather two powerful pictures.

    The first came from Genesis 26, where the Philistines stopped up the wells Abraham had dug. In an agricultural culture, water meant life. Without it, people, crops, and livestock weakened.

    Heather sensed the Lord showing her that distraction is doing something similar in our generation.

    The Source has not moved. Jesus is still living water.

    But our lives can become so filled with noise, information, entertainment, worry, comparison, busyness, and constant stimulation that our ability to hear, receive, and simply be with Him becomes clogged.

    The second picture came the next morning while Heather was building a fire.

    She noticed that when the kindling was packed too tightly, the fire couldn’t breathe. It needed space and oxygen.

    That simple moment became another spiritual picture:

    Our lives need room for the breath of God.

    Prayer, Scripture, worship, fasting, silence, solitude, and rest are more than religious duties. Heather describes them as rhythms of revival—practices that create space for our hearts to become attentive and alive to God again.

    The episode then turns to John 15 and Jesus’ invitation to abide.

    Fruit does not come from striving.

    It comes from connection.

    And even when intimacy with God doesn’t feel like a roaring flame, embers are still alive. The fire can be tended. The well can be cleared. We can return.

    Heather also shares personal journal entries from the retreat, including an encounter with God as the Ancient of Days and the realization that stillness helps expose the places where worry and control have replaced trust.

    Scriptures Mentioned

    Genesis 26:15–18

    John 15:4–5

    Psalm 46:10

    Key Lines From the Episode

    “Distracted by hunger, but eating the wrong things.”

    “What I look at fuels my hunger. It either stirs my appetite or suppresses it.”

    “Attention shapes appetite.”

    “Rot takes time to take its toll.”

    “Intimacy requires attention.”

    “The fruit comes from the connection.”

    “Jesus, You are my reward.”

    “Dig out the well. Tend the fire. And abide.”

    Season Two of Rise and Rejoice begins in October. Until then, keep pressing into Jesus.

    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    33 分
  • The Rise of the Kingdom
    2026/08/14

    We call Jesus King. We sing about His Kingdom. We pray, “Your Kingdom come.” But what does it actually mean to live as though Jesus really is King?

    In this episode, Heather explores the Kingdom of God as His rule and reign, and what that means for Christian discipleship, surrender, trust, fear, power, loving our enemies, and the way we represent Jesus in the world.

    From Buckingham Palace to the Sermon on the Mount, from wounds that can distort our view of God to Corrie ten Boom’s extraordinary story of forgiveness, this episode asks a deeply personal question:

    What does my life tell people about my King?

    Show Notes

    In this episode, Heather explores:

    • What Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God
    • The “already and not yet” reality of the Kingdom
    • Self-rule, surrender, and whether we truly trust the King
    • How pain and past wounds can shape the way we see God
    • The Sermon on the Mount as a picture of Kingdom culture
    • Loving our enemies when love is costly
    • Corrie ten Boom’s encounter with a former Ravensbrück guard
    • What it means to be an ambassador of Christ
    • Why fear, domination, and winning at any cost cannot define Christian witness

    Key Question

    If someone formed part of their understanding of Jesus by watching my life, what would they think my King is like?

    Scriptures Referenced

    Matthew 5:3–10, 44
    Matthew 6:10, 33
    John 17:14–18
    John 20:24–29
    Philippians 3:20
    Colossians 1:13
    2 Corinthians 5:17–20
    Hebrews 12:26–29

    Connect with Heather

    Instagram: @heather.murdock

    Facebook: Heather Murdock

    TikTok: @heathermurdock1


    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    50 分
  • When Christians Become Consumers
    2026/07/30

    What happens when Christians begin to approach faith like consumers?

    In this episode, Heather examines the difference between being a consumer of Christianity and becoming a disciple of Jesus. We can attend church, listen to sermons, know Scripture, use our gifts, and still avoid the deeper work of transformation.

    This episode explores how our habits, attention, expectations, and definitions of success shape who we are becoming, and why Jesus cares about more than what we know or how involved we appear to be. He is after lives that increasingly bear His fruit.

    This is not a message of condemnation. It’s an invitation to honestly ask:

    What is the Christianity we are practicing actually producing in us?

    Show Notes

    In this episode, Heather explores:

    • The difference between consumers and disciples
    • Why church attendance and and biblical knowledge are not the same as discipleship
    • How our habits and repeated rhythms shape our hearts
    • Why the battle for our attention matters spiritually
    • Why suffering often reveals the depth of what has actually taken root in us
    • How Jesus continues to lovingly transform His Church
    • What it means for our lives to increasingly reflect the character of Christ

    Key Takeaways

    Every repeated rhythm shapes us.

    What repeatedly receives our attention will eventually shape our affection.

    Gifting is not character. Visibility is not maturity. Attendance is not discipleship.

    Information is not transformation.

    Consumerism asks, “What am I getting?” Discipleship asks, “Who am I becoming?”

    Reflection Question

    What is being formed in me, and does my life increasingly bear the fruit of having been with Jesus?

    Scriptures Referenced

    1 Corinthians 5:12–13

    Matthew 7:16–20

    Mark 4:1–20


    Connect with Heather

    Instagram: @heather.murdock

    Facebook: Heather Murdock

    TikTok: @heathermurdock1









    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    40 分
  • Jesus Didn’t Call Us to Build Impressive Churches
    2026/07/16

    Jesus didn’t call us to build impressive churches. He called us to make disciples.

    In this episode, Heather asks the Church to examine the difference between what looks successful to us and what Jesus actually values. We can build ministries, create powerful experiences, fill rooms, and stay busy, while still missing the deeper work of becoming people who reflect Jesus.

    Through Scripture, including the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, this episode explores church culture, discipleship, spiritual maturity, obedience, and the danger of confusing activity with transformation.

    This is not a call to criticize or abandon the Church.

    It’s a call to return to Jesus as the center.

    Show Notes

    In this episode, Heather explores:

    • What Jesus measures versus the ways we often measure church success
    • Why church attendance and activity are not the same as following Jesus
    • The danger of building impressive ministries without developing mature disciples
    • What the church of Laodicea reveals about spiritual self-sufficiency
    • Why influence, visibility, and activity can never replace obedience and transformation
    • What it means to return to Jesus as the center of the Church
    • How wholehearted discipleship changes the way we live beyond the church walls
    • Why being the Church matters more than simply attending church

    Key Question

    Are we becoming the kind of people Jesus is calling us to be?

    Scriptures Referenced

    1 Samuel 16:6

    Revelation 3:17, 20

    Selected passages from the Gospels

    Connect with Heather
    Instagram: @heather.murdock
    Facebook: Heather Murdock
    TikTok: @heathermurdock1

    Share this episode:

    If this message encouraged or challenged you, share it with someone who loves the Church and wants to see the body of Christ become more like Jesus.

    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    16 分
  • Why Do I Keep Doing the Things I Don’t Want to Do?
    2026/07/02

    Why do we keep repeating unhealthy patterns, even when we genuinely want to change?

    Why do we react in ways we later regret? Why do fear, shame, comparison, people-pleasing, striving, or control keep showing up in our lives?

    In this episode, Heather explores the connection between our beliefs, thoughts, emotions, desires, behaviors, and the results they produce. Drawing from Romans 7, Romans 12, Proverbs 4, and practical insight into renewing the mind, she explains why lasting Christian transformation rarely begins by simply trying harder to behave differently. Jesus goes deeper—into the heart.

    In This Episode

    • Why behavior is often the fruit, not the root
    • How false beliefs can quietly drive unhealthy patterns
    • The connection between our thoughts, emotions, desires, and actions
    • Why self-awareness alone is not enough to produce lasting change
    • What renewing the mind looks like in everyday life
    • How Jesus transforms us from the inside out

    Whether you’re wrestling with anxiety, comparison, people-pleasing, striving, burnout, control, or simply feeling stuck in patterns you can’t seem to change, this episode will help you begin identifying what may be happening beneath the behavior, and point you toward the freedom and transformation Jesus offers.

    Connect with Heather
    Instagram: @heather.murdock
    Facebook: Heather Murdock
    TikTok: @heathermurdock1



    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    33 分
  • Why God Wants More Than Your Obedience
    2026/06/18

    Why does God place so much emphasis on the heart? It’s referenced more than 1,000 times in Scripture

    In this episode, Heather explores a foundational truth of Christian discipleship: God wants more than outward obedience. He wants our hearts.

    Drawing from Proverbs 4:23, Heather unpacks what the Bible means when it speaks of the heart and why lasting transformation happens from the inside out. Our thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, beliefs, and choices all shape the course of our lives, and Jesus is interested in more than behavior modification. He is after wholehearted discipleship.

    If you’ve ever wondered why change can feel difficult, why knowing the truth isn’t always enough, or what it really means to follow Jesus with your whole heart, this episode is for you.

    In This Episode

    • Why Scripture places such a high value on the heart
    • Why obedience alone is not the whole picture of discipleship
    • The difference between behavior modification and real transformation
    • What the biblical heart includes
    • How beliefs, perceptions, desires, and choices shape our lives
    • What wholehearted discipleship looks like in everyday life
    • Why God’s work in us begins from the inside out

    Reflection Question

    Does Jesus have my obedience, or does He have my heart?

    Scripture Referenced

    Proverbs 4:23

    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    19 分
  • The Story Behind the Message: How God Transformed My Life
    2026/06/03

    In this deeply personal episode, Heather shares the story of how Jesus transformed her life.

    Growing up in poverty, abuse, substance abuse, and dysfunction, she spent years searching for love, validation, and identity in all the wrong places. That search took her from a small town to Hollywood, New York City, heartbreak, addiction, and devastating loss. When her younger sister was killed in a tragic accident, grief and unanswered questions nearly ruined her.

    But God was pursuing her long before she knew Him.

    In this episode, Heather shares how a series of unexpected events led her to encounter the love of Jesus, experience the power of forgiveness, and find healing in places she once believed could never be restored. She also shares how God delivered her from a 20-year battle with bulimia and began a lifelong journey of transformation.

    This is more than a personal story. It’s a testimony to the faithfulness of God and the healing, restoring power of Jesus.

    If you’ve ever wrestled with shame, grief, unforgiveness, identity, addiction, or the question of whether God can truly heal what’s broken, this episode is for you.

    Jesus still heals.

    Jesus still restores.

    Jesus still transforms lives.

    Arise. Shine. Emerge.

    Connect with Heather

    Instagram: @heather.murdock

    Facebook: Heather Murdock

    TikTok: @heathermurdock1

    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    32 分
  • Why Rise and Rejoice? The Vision Behind the Podcast
    2026/05/21

    Episode 1 introduces the heart behind Rise and Rejoice and the message that will shape this podcast.

    Heather shares the journey that led her to finally launch the show, why clarity matters in this season, and why following Jesus wholeheartedly matters in a noisy, distracted world.

    This episode explores wholehearted discipleship, spiritual growth, emotional health, leadership, and the kind of inside-out transformation that changes the way we live, lead, love, and respond to God.

    If you’re hungry to grow deeper in your faith, live with greater purpose, and become not just informed but transformed, this is the place to begin.

    Connect with Heather

    Instagram: @heather.murdock

    Facebook: Heather Murdock

    TikTok: @heathermurdock1


    www.riseandrejoiceministries.com

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    12 分