Discipleship Tape Ministries

The final fruit of the Spirit is the steering wheel that keeps the others on course. Self-control is the will responding to the Spirit of God over the objections of the emotions or appetites. It is a life of balanced restraint. How do you deal with the emotions and appetites that attempt to rule your life? Test your anger. Test your envy. Test your gluttony. Test what you watch. Is it a calculated...

You and I were designed by our God to walk this earth as He did; not clothed in the pious arrogance of the Pharisees, but wrapped in the cloak of servitude, worn by God Himself. Is that how God sees you? The single most absent ingredient in the church today may well be a spirit of meekness; a gentle spirit towards man, reflecting a humble spirit towards self, because of a meek spirit towards God....

We live in a world where bigness is the norm, and performance is the yardstick by which all of life is measured. However, we see that what God is looking for are men and women who know they can do nothing. He is looking for believers who are so aware of their frailties that they become totally unaware of their strengths. The world calls it weakness. God calls it meekness. What is meekness and why...

Faithfulness is the lost art of remaining in place, no matter what, because the One who promised never to leave you or forsake you lives in you, and He will remain faithful to the end. The faithful man or woman is not trusting in circumstances to determine what to do, but is trusting in the word of the One in whom he has faith. Our study then should take a look at this God Who is faithful, for it...

Do you know what God wants from you? He wants you to be “good”. Do you know how He wants to do it? He wants you to get out of the way and let Jesus Christ walk in your shoes, talk with your mouth, work with your hands, and respond with your heart. He wants you to stop trying to imitate goodness and set free the real Goodness of God in its place. You will have done nothing. God will have done every...

Kindness is: God with arms that reach around the hurting; legs that run to their defense; eyes that see their very needs even before they surface. Because God so loved, when we were still dead in sin, totally unable to return that love, and totally undeserving of receiving the love, He demonstrated His grace in kindness. How does that translate to our responsibility to society? How does it apply t...

Patience is a virtue that cannot be measured, except by eternal standards. It is a quality of life that grows richer the longer it exists, and yet even the process of becoming patient requires patience. If you are a Christian, you have within you the capacity to be patient. The reason is that God is in you, and God is – perfect patience. Read lesson: 1210B

The peace of God. We were instructed by Jesus never to let our hearts be troubled and never to be afraid. Jesus is saying to us that since He in us is perfect peace, we simply must not ever, under any circumstances, allow ourselves to fall into a state of agitation or unrest; nor under any conditions are we permitted to fall into a state of fear. This lesson looks at how we can walk in the Spirit,...

The peace of God. It is a tri-faceted miracle of the nature of God. It allows you to have peace with God by surrendering to God and accepting His terms for eternal peace. It allows you to have peace with man by surrendering your rights and letting God be responsible for the outcome. It allows you to live in a world beset by trials, pain, and hostility with an inner rest that defies description. It...

How do you react to life’s intrusions? Do you respond with joy or do you wait until you feel joyful. Occasionally, you will feel joyful, and because you feel joyful, you will rejoice. But more often than not, the times you need most to express joy will be times when you feel anything but joyful. It is those times when the Scripture clearly instructs you to rejoice – to express joy by praise to God...

What is meant by the ways of God, is “the incredibly different means He uses to accomplish His purposes, so only He can receive the Glory.” The “ways of God” are cause for great joy. Meditating on how decidedly different His ways are will comfort you, encourage you, and fill your heart with gladness and rejoicing. As you begin expressing your joy through praise and go singing into battle, your hea...

Sometimes we forget what life was like before Christ came into our lives. We forget how gracious He has been in the past. We forget what it’s like to be content with virtually nothing, once we have lived with virtually everything. But as we forget, we lose our joy. We lose the joy of what He’s done. We need to keep reminders of the works God has done in our lives and the joy that those works have...

How would you like to be filled with the joy of the Lord – constantly, consistently, enthusiastically – even in the storms of life? One way is to meditate day and night on the nature of God – Who He is. The joy of the Lord is God’s nature revealed in the Christian in the all things of life. It is seeing God in man’s circumstances and thus rejoicing even when those circumstances give no cause for h...

Are joy and happiness synonymous? The world would think so, but Scripture says differently. Joy is a heart attitude that reflects excitement and pleasure over things eternal. If we know what joy is, then how do we appropriate it? Or if it is already resident within us, how do we release it? Begin to meditate day and night on the Worth, the Words, the Works, and the Ways of your God. Read lesson: 1...

To seek to define love is either the most impossible task known to man, or it is the simplest, depending on your perspective. Apart from Calvary, love cannot be defined. However, as we look at Calvary, God has defined love for us. Love is the essence of Who God is and the foundation for all God does. It can best be defined by a Cross. You say, “But I can’t love like that.” True. But God in you can...

The need of the hour in a nutshell is transformation. The objective of this lesson will be to look intently through the lens of the Scriptures at the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit that God tells us is a perfect reflection of His life as it flows through the believer. As we begin meditating on the fruit of the Spirit, our lives will be transformed with the power of God into His likeness. Read lesso...

Meditation is the most overlooked source of spiritual power in the Christian world. It is not an option, but a command by God. Just how do you do it? Is there a pattern to follow? Learn from this lesson how to meditate on a portion of Scripture until it becomes a part of you. This is God’s plan for transformation. Read lesson: 1205B

As Christians, we possess all that is needed to live the Christian life. It has been given to us in the form of God’s Spirit who indwells us and enables us, and God’s Word which directs us. The issue is not whether or not we will have what it takes to live in victory. The issue is whether or not we will take what He has given us. So we begin a new series of lessons on taking the land that is ours...

As we draw towards a conclusion of the study of God’s amazing grace, we need to take a Biblical look at this subject of peace. We need to steal away into that place of quiet rest near to the heart of God and see what there is about it that makes it so special, and what there is about us that causes us to rush from that garden so frequently and leave behind the serenity we found there. Just what is...

Comforting grace. It is one of those wonderful commodities that lies in the storehouse of God’s wonders and waits to be called upon. But once invited, it flows like a river into the heart and life of the believer until he is lifted up beyond the circumstances and into the waiting arms of Jesus. Truly, underneath are the everlasting arms. It is the grace of God that lifts us up and wraps about our...

The grace of forgiveness. It is a gift from a forgiving God that sets us free and sets Him free to be Himself in us. But remember, only God in you can make it happen. He can do something even more wonderful than that. He can actually fill your heart with love for the very person you have hated for so long. He can fill you with a desire to pray for them, to bless them and to do good to them. Read l...

As we finish part three on agape grace, we come to understand that Jesus in us wants to take what we’ve learned, lay aside our robes of spiritual self-satisfaction, and go into the ghettos of life, and love the unlovable. In this lesson we will look at how to put agape grace into action. Read lesson: 1352A

Are you willing to open your eyes to the crying, the hurting, and the grieving that you pass by on a daily basis? I did not say “Are you able?” The question is “Are you willing?” For it isn’t natural. It has to be supernatural. It has to be of grace. God isn’t asking you to do what only He can do. He wants you to examine His word, surrender to His will, and ask Him for the grace to do what He call...

Love. What an unusual word. It is the essence of God’s being. God, remember, does not simply possess love. God is love. That means that everything God does issues forth from what He is, and He is love, so everything He does and says is a reflection of His love. We have already looked at the two-fold expression of that love to man; His mercy which withholds from man the punishment he deserves, and...

We have to die before we can be resurrected. We have to die to self before grace can make strength out of weakness and take control of our lives. We don’t like the idea of dying, and we don’t like the idea of not being in control. So we study faith, grace, and sovereignty with the same intellectual intensity we would use to study geography, psychology, or mathematics. How foolish! This is not an a...