Discipleship Tape Ministries

Nothing in life is by chance. God has a plan in everything that He does. It was no surprise, then, when God sent Elijah to a sad widow and her son. The Lord does hear our cries and in His perfect timing gives His solutions. God is patient and never writes off anyone, even a widow and her son who are on the brink of starvation. As Elijah prayed for the little boy, God demonstrated the power of pray...

God has a personal, private, wonderful plan for your life. It may include drying brooks and starving widows. It may include standing before kings and presidents. It may include none of these. One thing is for sure, God has to take you to some out-of-the-way places if He’s ever going to use you. He’s going to have to let some rivers run dry to teach you to trust, then let some people with needs cro...

This is the first in a mini-series on the living legend, Elijah. This lesson comes from 1 Kings 17 and concerns determining the will of God in regard to His direction, His timing, His purpose and His provision. Living by a dried up brook was not Elijah’s idea of a perfect plan, but God knew that it was just what Elijah needed. Each step of the way was a divinely designed training mission that the...

This is the final of a four-part series outlining a “Blueprint for Battle” from the life of Jehoshaphat. As we saw the enemy bearing down upon Israel, we saw Jehoshaphat pray, surrendering his will to God’s. We saw him stand in the midst of battle and watched to see what God would do. This lesson is about what to do when God has handed us even the smallest of victories. We need to stop and praise...

In this passage of Scripture, God paints a vivid picture of the kind of victory that is ours when we set Him free to be Himself. The enemy has no chance against God. The battle is not ours – it’s the Lord’s. In this passage, God outlines a principle for spiritual warfare that is so essential that there is no hope of victory without it. It is a three-fold plan of stationing ourselves, standing, and...

How do we pray when hope is gone? How do we pray in the midst of circumstances that are very difficult? As we continue our study in 2 Chronicles, we again take a look at Jehoshaphat as the enemy was bearing down upon him. As he calls the people together to tell them what is happening, he begins to pray. It was not a prayer for God to deliver them, letting God know how bad their circumstances were...

The Christian life is not a bed of roses. There is lots of heartache and lots of warfare. In our study of 2 Chronicles, God portrays the reality of the Christian life. He uses a man named Jehoshaphat, a splintered remnant of His people called “Judah”, and an unexpected invasion by their neighbors as a backdrop to paint a three dimensional image of a life of victory in the midst of a life of warfar...

There is probably no single characteristic of fallen man more consistent than his desire to be “in charge”. The kings of Israel were perfect examples of the subtle dangers of being leaders in the kingdom. Such is true in the church as well. This lesson is a word of warning given to those who were given the reins of authority among God’s people. And even in our day it is a word of warning to those...

In this lesson, we will take a look at the life of Jehoshaphat and glean some spiritual principles that we are prone to violate as believers. Jehoshaphat did not choose to listen to man’s wisdom, but wanted to hear a word from the Lord. This message tells of receiving wise counsel and not compromising and allowing the cunning ways of Satan to deter us from the path in which God is leading. Read le...

What is God looking for in his children? He is looking for a heart that is completely His. He is looking for a heart that is guileless and pure before God. It should be constantly his heart’s desire to let God be God. A perfect heart doesn’t produce a perfect life. The flesh will jump in and make mistakes. But even those mistakes will be followed by immediate grief, not just at the consequences, b...

Asa did good and right in the sight of the Lord His God. He did it God’s way. He realized it wasn’t his kingdom, it was God’s. He humbled himself before God, and he stood tall before men and did what had to be done. Here was a man who believed that God was who He said He was, and could do what He said He could. He called an entire nation to repentance. How can we discover the power of Asa’s God? W...

Rehoboam was a man destined for greatness simply by virtue of who his father was, and yet a man who missed greatness, simply because he forgot who his heavenly Father was. He did evil, because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. He wanted to enjoy the fruits of the kingdom without surrendering to the disciplines of the King, so he missed it, and his name goes down in history simply as one o...

Have you ever looked back on your life, or on the life of someone you have studied about in history, and thought to yourself, “How different it all would have turned out, had it not been for that one major mistake.”? The difference between the greats of the ages and the goats of the ages has often been told in the story of one simple wrong decision. Instead of following the advice of his father’s...

Solomon’s wrong choices and compromises have caused a gradual drifting away from the absolutes of God. God then comes to Solomon with three questions concerning his possible judgment. However, in  2 Chronicles 7:14 , God in His merciful way provides a way of escape. As we study this verse in depth, we have a beautiful portrait of true revival. God, in this verse, gives us His plan to restore harmo...

Solomon didn’t set out to defy God, but in the midst of his prosperity, his values changed. In the midst of his success, his confidence shifted, and he took liberties with the Word of God. Tasting no immediate consequences, he quietly began to wrongly assume that either a Holy God had a special set of rules for him, or the Word of God had somehow become null and void. How did Solomon’s wrong choic...

Few things in life are as important as keeping our word. It is the lens through which the world views our integrity. It is that character quality perhaps more than any other that typifies the nature of God. Once the unbelieving world comes to realize that God’s Word cannot fail, it is only a matter of time till they begin to listen to what God’s Word says. That is the subject of our lesson in our...

Everything God ever started, He finished. It is imperative as we journey though life that one of the qualities that we earnestly seek for the Spirit to reproduce in our lives is the quality of completion. As we take a look at Solomon’s building of the temple, we see that he did not have an easy task. It took seven long years before he could enjoy even one minute of worship from the labors of his p...

Solomon, the Living Legend, was demonstrating to us what it was like to live life when the literal, living wisdom of God is actually flowing through us. When God’s wisdom is flowing though us, others know that it comes from God. When God’s wisdom is flowing through us, it is immeasurable when compared to the world’s wisdom. When God’s wisdom is flowing through us, there is created a literal pipeli...

Just as God asked Solomon “What shall I give thee”, He is also asking the same question of us. We can choose to be responsible for our own lives, and set our priorities and sights on becoming successful, wealthy, or powerful, or we can seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We can choose, like Solomon, to give our lives to having the Mind of Christ. If we could only have one thing an...

In this lesson, we see David sharing his life through the Psalms. This portrait of David’s responses would touch millions upon millions of people for years to come. We do know that as we close the book on this man after God’s own heart, that though he was a man who failed God many times – a man who fell into grievous sin – he was as well, a man who, when confronted with his transgressions, seemed...

As we look at the close of David’s life, we see a man who had gained God’s perspective. What is it that David learned through his many mistakes as well as victories? How did he become a man after God’s own heart? As we listen to the closing prayer of David before he goes to meet the Father, let’s see what the one consuming message was that he left to those who followed him. Read lesson: 961A

David decided to take a census of his people. It doesn’t sound like a sinful idea, but in the eyes of the Lord it was. David began to delight in his power and in the number of his armies. His trust and his glory began to be moved away from God to the things that God had provided. How often do we as Christians, or we as churches, begin glorying in our ministries? All glory belongs to Jesus. Read le...

David, though old in years, still has giants to face. However, the danger David faced and the danger we face is that we believe the devil’s lie, that because we are too tired or because we are too weak to face the enemy with the same youthful exuberance we once possessed, the giants no longer fall. In our seasons of self-pity, encouraged by an age that has relegated us to premature senility, we ma...

Who was in charge? Our story about the life of David evolves into his twilight years as his generals go off to battle, each wanting to outdo the other. As we look at the issue of division of God’s family or in God’s families, we see very clearly a few basic principles that are engraved in Scripture from beginning to end. We will see that in all relationships, division is the tool of Satan. He has...

Our study revolves around three little known characters and their responses to the King. Those characters are Shimei, Mephibosheth, and Barzillai. Shimei represents those who have sinned and are at the foot of the cross asking forgiveness. Mephibosheth, on the other hand, represents those who simply have gotten misled and missed the heat of the battle. Perhaps you may have given your allegiance to...