Devotionals

Your Heart Belongs to God!!

On this beautiful Praise Thursday, we shared inspiring worship music, gave devotions, shared updates, and played a fun game of NTT! Check out our website wnzr.fm!

Gabriella’s devotion: A God-fearing woman is a good thing to be called especially by your children. On Rosie’s birthday her family wanted to go around and talk about the life she has lived. Her children said something that will never leave her soul. They called her “a God-fearing woman” and she felt a sense of accomplishment after. It should be everyone’s goal to be a God-fearing follower of Christ. Parents are a role model to their kids and it’s their responsibility to show them who God is. Proverbs 31:24-31 (NIV).

Ethan’s devotion: Tom was fighting a chronic illness and wanted to spend time with God, but he couldn’t find a way to position his body where it wasn’t painful for him. He fell to his knees in pain and that prayerful posture proved to lessen the agonizing ache. He felt comfort in the next mornings on his knees praying out to God. In painful and challenging times He helps us submit to His will and live out a prayer posture in our hearts, we can find comfort and peace in Him. 2 Chronicles 20:5-12 (NIV).

Just Pray!

On this beautiful Praise Thursday, we shared inspiring worship music, gave devotions, shared updates, and played a fun game of NTT! Check out our website wnzr.fm!

In the animated movie Toy Story, one character, a space ranger named Buzz Lightyear, shouts his signature catchphrase while flying about the bedroom: “To infinity and beyond! It’s a phrase that has confused many. Isn’t infinity as far as you can go? How can there be anything “beyond” infinity? Jesus seems to employ such exponential effort in the realm of forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus about forgiving another person, “How many times must I forgive him . . . seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22 ncv). Jesus goes on to tell a parable comparing a merciful king and an unmerciful servant, making the point that when someone truly regrets their error, there is no limit to the number of times we’re to forgive. That’s why we constantly need to ask God for His help. Only in His strength can we do this. Forgiven people forgive people. To infinity and beyond!

If you want to read more click HERE!

I realized I neglected to ask god for help in this stressful time of working on a work project with an impossible deadline. So i prayed… and immediately felt better. nothing changed- the project was still challenging, but peace washed over me. Perhaps David felt the same way submitting his fears and worries to God. In Psalm 6, he starts off describing his anguish at being hounded by his enemies. He continued to turning to God for help, he felt reassured: “The Lord has heard my cry… the Lord accepts my prayer.” Prayer isn’t a feel-good technique, but it’s a direct connection with the all-seeing, all-powerful One who will help is in His time and way. Feeling discouraged or down? Just pray- God hears.

If you want to read more click HERE!

Congratulations to Dwight of Mount Vernon for guessing our Name That Tune correctly and taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica. This week’s Name That Tune was Seph Schlueter’s Running Back To You. Come back next week to win a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Cast your predictions for the Dove Awards and get registered to win a special Dove Award Nominee Prize Package featuring special gifts from 2025 Dove Award nominees!! Tell us who you think will win “Song of the year” and “Artist of the year” at the 56^th annual Dove Awards. Go online to www.wnzr.fm and click on the Dove Awards Prediction Prize Giveaway banner. Tonight at 11:59 is the deadline!!

Tune in tomorrow for The NZ Top 10!

– Ethan and Gabriella 🙂

October 9, 2025 0

Walk in the Light!!

Today on Praise Thursday, we gave wonderful devotions, had fun contests, and shared upcoming events at WNZR! Go to our website wnzr.fm!

Many of us as kids loved playing in the dark and Karen’s nieces were no different. They loved turning off the lights and makin scary faces when they turned the lights off. In his letter to the early believers in Jesus, the apostle John talked about choosing to walk in a different kind of darkness. First John 1:6 refers to sin as “darkness.” Walking in darkness isn’t a momentary lapse but a choice to keep engaging in wrong doing. John reminds us that our holy God “is light” and “in him there is no darkness” (V.5). If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. Only when we live in full obedience to God can we enjoy the full blessing of relationship with Him and to with other believers.

If you want to read more of our devotionals click HERE!

We did another Mark Schultz giveaway! Win tickets for “an evening with Mark Schultz”, this Saturday October 4th! Be caller #3 when you hear the Mark Shultz music montage. Tomorrow during Congratulations to Ebony of Mount Vernon, Kari of Newark, and Nina of Mount Vernon for winning tickets to “an evening with Mark Schultz” this Saturday in the chapel!

Tune in next Thursday for a chance to win a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Guess the song title and the artist correctly for Name That Tune and you will win!

Tune in tomorrow for The NZ Top 10!

– Ethan and Gabriella 🙂

October 2, 2025 0

Lamenting To God!

On this stressful and heartbreaking anniversary, we took a step back to read devotions from Our Daily Bread Ministries!

Here’s our devotional we talked about for Praise Thursday!

“See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed.” Lamentations 1:20

“I viewed the opening displays of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City with curiosity but kept my emotions in check. That changed when we entered the inner exhibit, which the curators have wisely closed off from children and those wanting to shield themselves from the more heartrending images. As I encountered story after story of heartbreak and loss, waves of lament rose within me. This kind of honest crying out to God can help us to grapple with painful atrocities such as what happened on September 11, 2001, or other current-day evil deeds. We look to God for help, hope, comfort, and justice.”– Our Daily Bread.

Reflect: When you witness wickedness, how do you keep your heart tender before God? How might He lead you to pray for those who are hurting today?

You can read more about what we talked about HERE!

Today we played a 15 second clip of a song that we listened to on The Afternoon Drive for Name That Tune!

Come back next week for Name That Tune for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow as we introduce a new song and this week’s count down for The NZ Top 10.

Thank you so much for listening!!

-Gabriella and Ethan 🙂

September 11, 2025 0

An Eternal Hope And Joy!

We took some moments to take a step back and breathe for Praise Thursday on The Afternoon Drive. We read devotionals from Our Daily Bread Ministries!

Here is the devotional we read and talked about today!

The author of the devo we read today talked about how she and her friends tried to go to a restaurant, but had to go back because it was full. Disappointments like that will happen in this life, but even in situations when we feel upset or down, we can take heart knowing that in the end, it is just temporary. As believers and followers of Jesus and our sights set on Heaven, we can sit on the edge of our seat every day, awaiting what God has for us in His plan, and not worry if Heaven will be too full for us. There is room for everyone who says yes to Jesus!

In Revelation 21:2, John saw “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem” which shone of God’s glory. As believers and followers of Jesus, we know that in “the new Jerusalem”, there will be no more fear, sorrow, pain, or sin! Our hope is sealed in the fact that Jesus paid our debts and sins on the cross once and for all, and that His resurrection from death shows that we are not in our sins and that are hope is not empty! In the end, Jesus has already won!

You can read more about the devo we read today by clicking HERE!

Today we played a 20 second clip of a song we listened to on The Afternoon Drive for Name That Tune!

This Week’s Name That Tune song was “If I Got Jesus” from Ben Fuller!

Congratulations to Chris from Gambier for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow on Friday as we check out a new song being introduced to WNZR and this week’s countdown for The NZ Top 10!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

August 28, 2025 0

God Couldn’t Love You Any More Than He Does Right Now!!!

We took some time to slow down and take some moments to breathe on Praise Thursday today. We listened to some worship music, talked about a powerful message from one of MercyMe’s songs and read some devos out of Our Daily Bread Devotionals!

We listened to MercyMe’s song Best News Ever during The Afternoon Drive today. We talked about the message of this song, which is that what Jesus did on the cross was and is enough! He has been pleased with you the day you called His Name, and there’s nothing you can do to ruin that.

Something we as believers try to do is try to earn our grace, or earn our attention from God. Something we need to realize is that we need to stop trying so hard, and just accept the truth that the cross was, is, and always will be enough. “What if I were the one to tell you that the fight’s already been won?” There’s nothing more you can or need to do to earn His grace. Believe the cross was enough and that as you accept Jesus as your Savior, you are changed, made holy, righteous, and redeemed!

We looked in a new Our Daily Bread devo book for these next three months! The one we looked at today talked the boundaries, and how they set us more free than we think!

A study was made by architects who would provide a fence for a preschool. What the architects noticed was that when there was no fence, the students would stay close to the building, and stay a little secluded. However, when they built a fence, the students enjoyed all of the area that was in the fence, not just the little area next to the building.

We see here that boundaries set a greater sense of freedom! And we see how God sets boundaries with the Ten Commandments, which He promised would provide good, quality life within these boundaries. We also saw Jesus say in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We see that boundaries are for our good and provide us freedom, rather than restraining us!

To read the entire devo on this topic, click HERE!

Today we played a 20 second song clip from a song we listened to on The Afternoon Drive for Name That Tune!

Our song today was Jesus Loves from Zach Williams!

Congratulations to Alex from Howard for calling in and guessing the song title and artist correctly, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow as we count down the top 10 songs in Christian music on the NZ Top 10, and as we take a look at new music getting added to WNZR!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

August 14, 2025 0

God is always holding on!

We took some time to slow down, listen to some worship music, and read some devotionals during Praise Thursday today. We took a look at some encouragement from Daily Bread Devotionals:

We see the story of a woman, Carol, who goes through some back-to-back hard circumstances. She went through a severe infection and then her daughter fractured her foot at school. All Carol could really do is ask God for strength and keep trusting in Him that everything was going to be okay.

This reminds us of the story of Job where we see Job go through so much loss and pain, but despite all of this he still kept his eyes, his faith, and his trust in God. Job led an incredible example of what how we should respond when we are faced with tragedy and pain. He definitely did not know why he was going through everything he went through, but God showed that He will take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for His good and His glory! He will use what you went through to help others and build His kingdom!

You can read the full Daily Bread Devo by clicking HERE!

We also talked about having a generous heart!

Sadio Mené is a soccer player who displayed such generosity when he said he wants to use the money he’s made from playing sports to build schools and give to the poor rather than buy private planes or diamonds. This reminds us of the verse in Hebrews where it says “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (13:16)

Something we talked about was just being generous with how you treat people. Be selfless, like how Jesus was. Give people kindness, a smile, and a hand to help them out. Jesus was the perfect example of this, the biggest thing being that He died for all our sins on that cross!

We listened to a 20 second song clip for Name That Tune! Here was our song today:

Running Home by Cochren & Co.

Congratulations to Brenda from Fredericktown for calling in and correctly guessing the title and artists for this week’s song clip, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for the NZ Top 10 and New Music Friday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

July 31, 2025 0

Forever Jesus Shall Reign!

Today we talked about some of the songs we get to listen to on WNZR, and highlighted the songs “Hymn of Heaven” by Phil Wickham and “When I Fall” by Katy Nichole.

In Phil Wickham’s song, we worship Jesus for Him and who He is. We know and remember in this song that Jesus is forever victorious and all-powerful, regardless of our circumstances, or what may be going on in the world right now.

Katy Nichole expresses through her song how we desperately need God’s help. Whether we’re on a high mountaintop or the lowest of valleys, we need Jesus. This song is Katy Nichole’s cry for help, and we related this song to the Scripture in Matthew 11:28-30, where it says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” He wants us to come to Him as we are. He is faithful to give us rest for us.

Today we played Mystery Monday! Here was the prompt we had this week, with the top four answers:

Name a common item people forget to take with them when leaving the house.

Keys (50)
Phone (25)
Wallet (15)
Sunglasses (10)

Congratulations to Pat from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing the top two answers correctly, taking home that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for Artist Newsday and Song Poetry!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

June 23, 2025 0

God Is SO Graceful.

Today is Praise Thursday, and we got to listen to some worship music as we winded down the day!

Something God put on my heart was the realization that He is not here to wait for the moment we sin or make a mistake to punish us or condemn us. Rather, He is graceful and instantly forgiving, knowing the position of our hearts. The song that this reminded me of was Danny Gokey’s “More Than You Think I Am”. In the song, he sings:

Rumour has it, there’s a gavel in my hand,
I’m only here to condemn.
But let me tell you secrets you would’ve never known
I think of you as my best friend.

This is so freeing for us that we can be sure to know that as believers and followers of Jesus, we don’t need to worry about getting punished or condemned for every little mistake or sin we make. He is graceful and forgiving! “For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.” – Proverbs 24:16

We also God’s grace, from a story found in Our Daily Bread Ministries, and we remember that we are washed completely clean from our past sins and mistakes. It doesn’t matter who we are, what we’ve done, or what we look like. His grace is sufficient for everyone, no matter where they are, or where they’ve come from! “Oh what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!” – Psalm 32:1. To read the quick, full story, click HERE.

Today we played Name That Tune! We played a fifteen second clip of a song played on WNZR so you can guess the title and artist of that song!

Today’s song clip came from bodie and his song Whisper and the Wind! Congratulations to Olivia from Mount Vernon for guessing the title and artist correctly! Make sure to tune in tomorrow from 4-6pm for The NZ Top 10!

Thank you so much for watching!
– Xander and Ethan

June 19, 2025 0

Driving Notes

The Official Blog of WNZR's Afternoon Drive

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