Josh Ott's Podcast

Sometimes you just need to stay long enough to see what God will do. Don’t grow weary—breakthrough often comes right after we’re tempted to quit. Keep seeking God, and in His perfect timing, we’ll step into the victory He has for us.

Sometimes the solution is simple—yet also the best, the most powerful, and the hardest. We tend to overcomplicate things, letting awkwardness or discomfort hold us back. But if you’re wondering, “What should I do?” the simplest answer is prayer. It was Daniel’s first move—and his most important one—because if life was too big for him, it wasn’t too big for God. He prayed like everything depended o...

Pressure will reveal a lot about you. It separates the real from the fake. It reveals who you really are, your character and what you really believe about life, yourself and God. We try to deflect, stall or squirm our way out of pressure often relying on things that will inevitably let us down to see us through. Instead our faith could just prepare us to stand under pressure. Daniel was prepared,...

Resilient faith is a confident faith. Sure, it sounds crazy to celebrate the win early, but maybe that's our problem - we don't live like the victory is already ours. If you belong to Jesus, you’ve already won - Romans says we're more than conquerors. So walk in that victory, not with arrogance but with deep confidence. Declare the truth, defeat the lies, and live like you're on the winning side.

Resilient faith is so needed — a faith built on the right foundation, strong enough for the storms life throws at us. Daniel faced exhausting, terrible circumstances, but he knew what God had for him and how God directed him. So when everything went sideways, he was still standing - unshakable. In Matthew 7, Jesus shows us how to build a faith like that: it's tested, tried, and comes from not just...

The heart of this season isn’t about us getting everything perfectly in place—it’s about God’s love showing up in the middle of our mess. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men were all imperfect people with real-life struggles who found themselves at the center of Jesus’ birth. The true wonder isn’t that we’ve managed to make it to church or keep our holiday plans on track; rather, it’s th...

Being spiritually ready opens us up to experience the fullness of God’s work in our lives—especially at Christmas. Drawing on the stories of Zechariah and Nicodemus, we see two very different responses to God’s surprises. Both men’s journeys remind us that preparation isn’t just about having every detail handled, but about making room in our hearts for God’s presence. Are we missing God’s movement...

The best places in life are the places where the best stuff happens. These places make us feel something special, and we spend a lot of time trying to recapture those best moments in the best places. Bethlehem was statistically insignificant—which unfortunately is how a lot of people feel. A town of three hundred max was the birthplace of Jesus. See you can never say "well not me, not here" when i...

Let’s be real—life moves fast. We’re busy, distracted, and constantly hit with more than we can handle. It’s so easy to lose that sense of wonder. But if we could just hit pause, we’d see something incredible: God is with us. Joseph felt it too—overloaded, overwhelmed, and facing the worst. But right in the middle of his mess, God showed up. With a plan. With a purpose. And with a promise: You’re...

Hope, for people of faith, is resilient, powerful, and sustaining—not mere wishful thinking. Its strength depends on what you place it in. Is your hope too small or misplaced? True hope thrives even in the darkest moments when rooted in Jesus. Be intentional: place your hope in Him, and watch it grow into a sustaining force, even in life’s hardest trials.

There is an obstacle to your mental health, and it’s you. Just like when we refuse to ask for directions, or double down on an argument already lost, sometimes our pride prevents us from getting the help we need. Pride can mean different things, but the definition of the negative context of the word is having an inflated view of self. Our importance, abilities, self-centered-mess all are inflated....

Worry. It’s not the same as anxiety. Anxiety is a generalized feeling of fight or flight. It is a systematic and exaggerated response to a trigger. Worry is practical, day-to-day concern mongering. The difference is between a condition and a decision. No wonder Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to make a choice to not worry. He goes on to talk about "the more." Life is more than what you are worried abo...

There are all kinds of negative characters. It isn’t just Negative Nancy. Here family is just as messed up. Critical Carl, Perfectionist Patricia, pessimistic Peter, inadequate Ian, catastrophic Cathy, overthinking Olivia and so many others. Left unchecked out negative thinking consumes us and distorts our view of life. It’s a spiritual problem and there is hope to be experienced through the renew...

Loneliness is a serious issue that is on the upswing. 10% of people deal with it on a daily basis and 30% feel lonely weekly. It is an epidemic and it is not a respecter of persons. The effects are devastating. Where is God when we are lonely? The story of Hagar and her son is a powerful story reminding us that God sees us, provides for us and gives us his presence to help us through the lonely sp...

Feeling stuck dramatically affects our mental health. We can feel stuck in our circumstances, I. Our relationships, in guilt and shame, purposelessness, fear, bitterness, comparison…. It is a long list. Paul was literally stuck in prison yet he wrote a letter that in the Bible is called the Book of Joy. It’s Philippians and in chapter 3 verses 12-14 we learn his key to living un-stuck. Paul was ab...

Feeling overwhelmed? I think most of us are. Or at least in today’s fast paced, high expectation world most of us will face feeling overwhelmed at some point. It might be triggered by work, or home, or relationships, or by trying to keep all of those things in balance; however we end up there it is a smothering, paralyzing feeling. It impacts how we think, feel, behave and believe. This passage te...

Depression is tough. It isn’t just sadness. It’s a desperately empty, dark, hopeless state. It is an imbalance of Gods design. Psalm 88 gives us a tough picture into the heart cry of a person who was really struggling with the darkness. This is the “saddest” Psalm. But in the sadness there is help and hope. If you are struggling with depression please know your feelings aren’t permanent. They chan...

Life will throw unrelenting waves at you. Challenges that will mess with your balance. Some of them are big and some are small. When you are worn down, even the littlest wave can knock you off balance and send you crashing down. Anxiety works like that. Our brains get overloaded and our fight or flight response gets triggered. The unrelenting waves become harder and harder to deal with. We need a...

Grief is something we will all experience at some point in our lives. It might be the loss of someone or a relationship or dream. Regardless of what you are grieving, it is so important to mourn. Don’t run. Don’t hide from it. Grieve. In this message, we look at the story of Naomi found in the book of Ruth. She had so much. She lost so much. It was bitter. But God worked in her circumstances to br...

Fear is often running under the surface. Fuel for the struggles we have with our mental health. As tough as we want to act everyone has a weak spot. Elijah was a warrior prophet. He had lived so courageously. He had done some incredibly bold and brave things. Yet in a moment of weakness, he gets hit with an empty threat and it blows up his world. Fear untethered will drive your life diminishing th...

If you had asked me how I was doing in the middle of my own mental health crisis, I would have told you “I’m fine.” I was far from fine. Maybe you are too. You aren’t fine, you’re lonely, depressed, anxious, grieving. You might even feel like there is something wrong with you. After all, everyone else seems to be smiling. The reality is their smiles are often hiding deeper fears and concerns. You...

Some of our biggest mistakes come when our souls are hungry and we seek satisfaction outside of what God has for us. Just because something looks good doesn't mean it is good for us. Thankfully God provides for the needs of his people even in the dry spaces of life. With Him, the seemingly mundane obedience has divine significance. He can turn harm into a blessing. He can draw the toxic out of our...

Jonah is having an epic meltdown in chapter four. Like most of our meltdowns, it is driven by a narrow focus and a selfish heart. He chooses anger in light of his perception that justice has failed. That is often why we choose anger too. But don’t forget that you are the recipient of grace, the benefactor of God’s patience, and the object of His pursuit. God cares more. He is patient. He loves eve...

We often overcomplicate things. Sometimes when looking for answers we look for the big, dramatic, or flashy. What if the answer we are looking for is just simple obedience? Want to know God’s will? Simple obedience. Need to find your way through a mess? Simple obedience. Jonah has come to a point where he finally is attentive, has a willing heart even if it is a bit reluctant, and puts movement in...