The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

I hope you’ll see this truth today. God cares about your emotional state. We’ve often been taught to hide our emotions. I know that I struggle to express my emotions in public. We’ve been taught to stifle them. Be strong. Don’t let anyone see what is going on inside. But God cares about our emotions. Main Points: 1. Throughout Scripture we see men and women feeling and expressing emotion, but nowh...

We keep in step with the Spirit by a continual surrendering of our lives to the will of God. His will is revealed to us in His Word. As we follow and obey the Word of God, we are walking by the Spirit. As we abide with Jesus through prayer and worship, our hearts stay in tune with the Holy Spirit. Main Points: 1. In the New Testament book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul instructs us to keep up with...

Our relationship with Jesus is the source of the strength, wisdom, patience, and power we need to serve God, help others, and meet the challenges of today. Through our relationship with Him, we can overcome our uncertainty and feelings of inadequacy. Main Points: 1. In myself, I recognize my limitations. I am not talented enough, smart enough, creative enough, and I am certainly not strong enough...

You can outlive your life.  Today you are writing the chapters that will be told of you, long after you are gone.  There will be a service for you one day, in which eulogies, memories, and stories will be told.  The life you live today determines what story lives on. Main Points: 1. Over the years I have met a lot of Christians who started well.  You could say they’re on fire for God.  They love G...

I imagine David, hiding in the back of a cave, writing by candlelight. He’s thinking about days gone by. He remembers times when he was worshipping with God’s people. He’s longing for the house of God. He’s remembering the blessing of experiencing the presence and power of God and he comes to a revelation: the love of God is better than life itself. Main Points: 1. Today, people value a lot of dif...

Every time we are asked by God to wait, it comes with a choice. Will we be impatient, frustrated, or irritable, or will we learn to wait with calm assurance that God is in control and the waiting is for my good? Main Points: 1. The Bible repeatedly calls for us to wait on the Lord, and to do so patiently. But you might ask, “Why? Why wait? Why would God make us wait? Is there a benefit to waiting?...

The Bible teaches us that repentance brings the refreshing of the Lord into our lives. Do you need to be refreshed and revitalized? Is it because you are carrying the weight of sin and need to come to the Lord with repentance? Main Points: 1. Sin is a burden to carry. It’s a heavy weight. We’ve all felt the load of grief and weariness that sin makes us carry. 2. A critical part of our salvation is...

Use the measure of faith God has given you. Cry out to Him… “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” Once again trust our great God to meet you in your time of difficulty and to give you the faith you need. Main Points: 1. We want to believe, but sometimes faith is a struggle. When you have been through so much, when you are weary, and when it seems like options are few, it can be hard to bel...

In the book of Galatians, Paul is correcting some erroneous teaching and practices among the believers there. These Christians had been deceived and had come to believe they had to keep and obey the Law of Moses in order to be saved and in right relationship with Christ. Main Points: 1. Christ was the fulfillment of the law when he died for us on the cross. Our salvation is not based on law-keepin...

As I prayed about today podcast episode, I sensed God saying to me that there would be people listening today that are ready for their lives to change. In fact they would be desperate to change.  Main Points: 1. Some of you here today need to hear a word from God.  And what he wants to tell you is that he wants to change you.  The Christian life is fundamentally a changed life.  His change is not...

Satisfaction apart from Christ is an elusive search. Our flesh craves more and more. More everything. More anything. No matter what we have, whether it’s money, possessions, recognition, sex, accomplishment, experiences, we still want more. Yet, like Rockefeller, we have discovered that more doesn’t satisfy. Main Points: 1. What is satisfaction anyway? The dictionary defines satisfaction this way....

Our words have the power to build up and the power to tear down. You and I have likely been on the receiving and giving end of both. You can remember words spoken years ago that encouraged and inspired you. You can probably also remember words that brought deep pain and suffering. Main Points: 1. Throughout the day, I’ll have the opportunity to speak to a lot of people. I’ll speak with my family,...

Today God will give you an opportunity. I believe it happens every day. God gives you and me opportunities to serve Him through our witness, acts of kindness, words of encouragement, and steps of faith.  Main Points: 1. So often we miss these opportunities to serve God because they are small. We don’t recognize them as a chance to be a blessing to someone because, after all, it’s such a small thin...

God has given everyone a general revelation of himself by displaying the beauty and power of creation. Though some reject this truth, it is obvious in the heart and mind of man that there is a God. Main Points: 1. As we look around at our world, we see the clues God has left. When you stand at the Grand Canyon, you can’t help but be overwhelmed at the mighty power of God to create such magnificenc...

Do you recognize the presence of God in your life? In one sense God is always with us, but I believe if we seek him, God will show up in manifest presence and power. Let’s ask God to give us a greater desire and awareness of His presence.  Main Points: 1. Imagine how incredible this moment was for Moses. He was in the very presence of God himself. There was a work God wanted to do in him and throu...

Jesus leaves the glory and majesty of Heaven and takes on flesh and blood. He becomes one of us. He doesn’t leave his deity behind, but he takes on humanity. He is fully God and fully human at the same time. Yes, it is miraculous. Main Points: 1. Not only does Jesus take on humanity. He moves into our world, our neighborhood, our very lives. He experienced what we experience. He knew joy, happines...

The identifying mark of Christ's followers is not in how we vote, what we wear, or the causes we embrace. Scripture may inform God’s desires in all of those things, but the according to Jesus, the identifying mark of His followers is to love them with the same love we have received from God. Main Points: 1. In the New Testament, as Jesus is preparing His disciples for his departure and their...

Let us remember that nothing is a substitute for earnest prayer. Nothing can take its place. Today’s church does many important things, but we must make prayer a priority.  Main Points: 1. This is a remarkable story of God’s power and deliverance, but what stands out to me the most from this story is the commitment of the church to prayer. This miracle happened in the middle of the night. The chur...

Let this truth encourage you today. God knows you. He sees you. On this planet of almost eight billion people, God knows you. He loves you. He has a purpose for you. Main Points: 1. While we often limit the extent of what we share with others, there is one who knows it all. God sees and knows all things. God has intimate knowledge about your life. 2. I suppose that for some this is a scary thought...

What would the world be like if we viewed everyone as our neighbors?  And, what if we truly loved our neighbors as we love ourselves? Main Points: 1. Our relationship with God is inseparable from our relationships to the people in our lives.  We can’t be in a love relationship with God and not act in love towards other people.  This is what Jesus calls the greatest commandments:  love God, and bec...

It’s so easy to become distracted and to turn our eyes to other things. Whether it’s other people, mistakes or failures, or simply the cares of life, we are tempted to look away from Jesus. We don’t usually do this intentionally, we just become distracted. Main Points: 1. The scripture likens the Christian life to a race that is to be finished. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. It’s the only way we...

The God we serve is a gift-giver. He loves to give gifts to His children, but not just any gifts. He always gives good gifts. He will never give you a gift you don’t need and can’t use.  In fact, he knows what we need better than we do. Main Points: 1. In Several places in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is called a gift.  To be filled with the presence and power of God is an incredible gift.  ...

If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are a child of God. This is your God-given identity and purpose. You are to live for God and his glory. You are to fulfill His purpose for your life. There is no higher calling and no greater joy than to live for God. Main Points: 1. For the Christian, identity shouldn’t be an issue. The Bible makes it very clear. We have been created in the image of God...

Divine healing is a gift of God’s grace for all.  Just as salvation comes to us by God’s grace, healing does as well. We do not deserve it and cannot earn it. In the NT people did not view healing as a right, but as an act of God’s grace. We are in no position to demand God to give us healing. Main Points: 1. In the church today there is a lot of false teaching about healing.   What the Bible teac...

In the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever seen, Jesus, the Son of God, willingly lays down His life as a sacrifice for sinners. Christ died for us so that we won’t have to die. Motivated by love, Jesus takes our place on the cross. He becomes our substitute. He satisfied the justices of a holy God, by taking our penalty.  Main Points: 1. This love is not conditional—it is rooted in...