Discipleship Tape Ministries

Do we obey joyfully? Do we obey because the Word says to, or do we wait to be moved to obedience? In this lesson, we will look at six principles concerning joyful obedience. We'll begin with a definition of joy that tells us that it is based on fact not feeling. It is an inner attitude of spiritual excitement over the character of God that is not affected adversely by adversity. We will look a...

The Scripture tells us that it is important to finish what we start. There are at least four areas in which we tend to sprint and then quit in the Christian life. These are in the areas of our relationships, our ministries, our jobs, and the disciplines of life. How, then, do we know when God is through, and it is time to press on to something new? We will take a little side trip discovering what...

If we know what God wants us to do, the Word of God teaches that He expects our obedience to be complete. In other words, He expects us to obey to the letter and to the end. God is One Whose mind works in great detail. He wants us to pay attention to detail, because it is the details of our lives from which our life message comes. If you doubt it, ask Noah. Can you imagine if Noah had not listened...

Obedience is responding to knowledge by following instruction. As we begin this series on obedience, we will look at four of God's measuring sticks of obedience: a) How quickly do we obey? b) How completely do we obey? c) How consistently do we obey? d) How joyfully do we obey? In this lesson, we will look at the rewards of immediate obedience as well as the consequences of a lack of obedience...

This lesson is the beginning of a series on obedience. As we begin this series, we want to first look at how God looks at obedience. Then we will begin to get into the real test as we learn what it means in terms of practically obeying the Word. Is it obeying Scripture to drive 56 MPH when the speed limit is 55 MPH? What if you are convicted of gossiping, but you pick up the phone and say to yours...

We know that in everything we are to give thanks. We are to praise God for who He is and not focus on the circumstances around us. Our vantage point needs to be eternal, so that we can see things as God sees them. The question then becomes, Now what are we going to do to see that we never stop praising Him? How do we make sure that knowledge gets turned into wisdom? This lesson will give us a few...

If we actually learn to live in this world with our eyes on the next, our praise will be multiplied as we envision what awaits us in the endless eternity just beyond that momentous experience of death; an experience the world calls ‘tragic'; that God calls ‘victory'. The purpose of this lesson is to take a quick journey through the Scriptures to grab hold of some of those promises, and to...

Why is it we are not more thankful? What is it we must do to become that way? Why do we take life so for granted and God for granted, that we assume that before we can be thankful, God owes us some form of mystical standard of living, or some kind of preconceived physical blessings. These are questions we will attempt to answer in this lesson. Read lesson: 967B

Long-term prison experiences for most of us are those experiences that appear to have no immediate relief such as incurable illnesses, a bad marriage, financial bondage, or terminal loneliness. What are we to do when faced with these experiences in our life? Yes, we are to praise. We are to let the Word of God flow from our hearts and begin to praise Him for who He is. We may see the doors of our...

We are who we are because of what God has allowed us to go through. Others are looking at God through what we have become as a result of what we have been through; and our very ministries will in most cases be the result of passing on to others the same grace that God gives us. The issue then, isn't simply learning to accept those things as something we could not help, but rather the secret is...

The purpose of this lesson is to paint once and for all indelibly upon our consciences the need to regularly visit the Hill. Our goal is to take our ungrateful spirits back to that garden and then to that Cross, where ingratitude melts into grief, and selfcenteredness dissolves in an ocean of praise. The reason for this study is to remind us that regular visits to Calvary are the Master Physician&...

Do you want to develop a life of praise? It is not enough just to thank Him for what His love has done for you. That still allows you to share the spotlight with Him. What we are to praise God for is that, in essence, He is love. Learn to praise God...just because He is! This lesson will take a look at five characteristics of God's love that demonstrate His nature so that as we come face to fa...

Many of us simply do not live a life of constant praise. We are affected by our emotions, and we are affected by our circumstances. There are those of us who can only be thankful when we feel thankful. If we don't feel thankful or don't have something tangible that appears worth being thankful for, then what do we do? God has given us a clear answer in Scripture in I Thessalonians 5 where...

God invented the original "Good Neighbor policy". It was certainly not in any way like man's, but it was certainly superior to man's. Man says love your neighbor - if your neighbor is lovable. Love your neighbor - if it is convenient. Love your neighbor - if your neighbor loves you. God redefined love. It is a love that knows no limits, holds no restrictions, requires no response...

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment." In one sentence, Jesus swept away the tattered remnants of the legalistic straitjacket that had enslaved men and held them in bondage to their own works. Jesus proclaimed that man had two basic reasons for being - the first and foremost w...

This lesson looks at the basic discipline of the Christian life; the things we do that enable us to finish the course with joy. What are the deterrents to discipline? What character qualities are involved in discipline? What are two of the basic disciplines of every believer's life? Through certain basic disciplines, God has ordained that we can become his disciples. He is calling us to dare t...

Besetting sins are those things that Satan knows have a grip on you. Even though we seem to be growing in the Christian life and seem to be gaining ground in many areas, these pesky, sometimes devastating tendencies seem to make us feel as though we are taking one step forward and three steps backwards in the process. The greatest problem most of us have in this life of faith we live is that we ca...

Is there someone in your life with whom you have never made things right? Is there someone whose name comes up whenever you try to pray seriously, someone you've wronged, or someone who thinks you have wronged them and has never forgiven you? Have you gone to them and sought their forgiveness? The Scripture tells us clearly that we are to be reconciled with our brother. In taking inventory of...

Satan uses all kinds of things to sow seeds of resentment that blossom into weeds of bitterness. What will be our response to those unpleasant circumstances, and how will we keep free from developing a bitter spirit? The Bible gives us many examples of those who had to deal with a bitter spirit. How did they break the chains that bound them in the dungeon of bitterness? We will look at the life of...

God has clearly defined in Scripture what it is we have to be guilty of, who's to blame, and what to do about it. Satan, on the other hand, has created a cleverly disguised counterfeit of the real thing. This lesson teaches us what is true guilt, and what is false. It also teaches us how to deal with guilt and how not to deal with guilt. We can be forgiven, and the God of mercy allows us to st...

Every time we turn the pages of a new calendar year, we have the perfect opportunity to see our lives begin again. As Christians, we ought to take inventory just the way a business man does, but in this lesson we will be dealing with the business of the Spirit. In this series of lessons, we will take an inventory of the storehouse of false guilt, our personal supply of bitterness, the category mar...

Lordship is more than dedication, more even than commitment. It is abandonment. It is throwing the entire weight of our lives on Christ, leaving all the results to Him. Proverbs teaches us that we are to "in all thy ways acknowledge Him." Have we made Jesus Christ Lord of our lives? Read lesson: 931B

Are we encouragers? Do we radiate God's perspective of life to those about us? If we are to become men and women of wisdom, we must become encouragers. The book of Proverbs has much to say about the Christian and a positive perspective. Read lesson: 931A

God is looking for sensitive saints. Not sensitive, meaning easily offended or unnecessarily jumpy, but sensitive meaning alert, aware and available to those with whom they come in contact. This pilgrimage through Proverbs for the scent of sensitivity will begin as God asks these questions: Have you learned to be a listener? Are you a reflector or an inflictor? Do you respect the rights of those a...

Paul gives us some principles of giving in Philippians 4 and Acts 2. Follow Paul as he outlines for the church eternal principles of giving we cannot escape. We will also take a look at some suggestions Paul gives us about some practical questions. To whom do we give? How much should we give? What are the enemies of giving? Read lesson: 930A