The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

Episode 368 -  Show Notes: No matter who we are, where we are from, or what we did with our lives, none of us will escape this moment. It is surely a sobering thought.  I’ve heard people say, “When I get to Heaven I’m going to tell God a thing or two. I don’t understand why he allowed this or that.”  No, in the radiance of his glory and power, we will likely be speechless.  No one will spend etern...

Episode 367 -  Show Notes: I have a conviction: God wants to use your life to make a difference. Despite your background, your race, your gender, your ethnicity, your strengths, your weakness, God wants to use you. In fact, all of those things may expand what God wants to do through your life. The thing about salt and light, they are both very small, but they are highly influential.  It doesn’t ta...

Episode 366 -  Show Notes: Inside all of us there is a thirst that nothing in this world can satisfy.  There is a thirst within us that only God can fill.  Think about all the things people pursue to fill this spiritual thirst. People search for Power, Influence, Authority, Money, Fame, My big break, Prestige, Opportunity, Connection, Community, Success, Meaning, Purpose, Affirmation, Relationship...

Episode 365 -  Show Notes: A little over a year ago, I was at home. Likely, you were too. Everything was shut down due to Covid-19 restrictions, and here in California there was little we could do. Church services were only online, stores were closed, all forms of recreation had been canceled. We couldn’t even go out to eat.  With most of our normal church ministries put on pause, I began praying...

Episode 364 -  Show Notes: Maybe as you listen to this episode you have one family member in mind. At this point, you are not even sure how to pray anymore. Let me encourage you. Pray for their hearts to be receptive to God. Until their hearts respond to the grace of God, there can be no salvation.  Pray for their spiritual eyes to be opened. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinde...

Episode 363 -  Show Notes: There is a driving force in our society for significance.  I would say that people are desperately seeking significance.   One of the questions we struggle with is “How do we define significance?”  We know how the world defines it.  But how does God define significance?  And which definition have you bought in to?  I believe significance is determined by value.   So ofte...

Episode 362 -  Show Notes: As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we learn to submit our feelings and emotions to God. We are becoming more like Christ in our responses and in how we speak to one another.  The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of our growth and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Some of the fruit of the Spirit are patience, peace, and self-control. As we grow in Chri...

Episode 361 -  Show Notes: There is a prevailing assumption in our world: Good people go to Heaven. This is an assumption by all classes of people, all races, and most world religions. Likely, it is an assumption held by people you know, people you love, people you work with, and people you go to school with. Unfortunately, it is a false assumption. The Bible doesn’t teach us Heaven is a place for...

Episode 360 -  Show Notes: The Bible tells us what happens at our conversion. We were dead spiritually, but have been given new life. We were lost in our sins, but we have been found. We were the enemies of God, but now we have been made friends, and sons and daughters of God. What a powerful thought. Heaven rejoices over you! There is a celebration in Heaven over every person who repents of their...

Episode 359 -  Show Notes: It’s often that the uncertainties of the future cause us to feel stressed and overwhelmed. This can lead us to feeling unhappy in the present. When you are overwhelmed it can feel like you are the only one who is struggling, but, here is an important truth:  Everyone listening to this podcast episode is going through something.  It’s called life.  We all have insecuritie...

Episode 358 -  Show Notes: One of the character traits of God that we are to emulate is generosity. God is a generous God. He has generously blessed us with salvation, grace, and forgiveness. He generously meets our physical, emotional, relational, and financial needs. Most of us want to be be generous. We like the idea of living with generosity. After all, we want to be like Jesus. But the truth...

Episode 357 -  Show Notes: What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? Is there any significance to this? Are these just words?  Do these words have any meaning? Do they have power? Praying in Jesus’ name means praying with His authority and asking God the Father to act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. Praying in Jesus’s name is not…. - Merely the conclusion of our pra...

Episode 356 -  Show Notes: The Bible has a lot to say about spiritual gifts.  There are at least 20 of them listed in the Bible.  You can read about them in these passages of Scripture:  Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4.   It’s important to understand that these gifts from God are different from our natural abilities.  Everyone has natural ability.  But only believers have spiritual gi...

Episode 355 -  Show Notes: If you are feeling lonely today, I want to remind you of the promises of God. He has promised that you will not be alone, you will not be abandoned. Even if your family and friends forsake you, the Lord will still be with you. Though others turn away, He will not. If you belong to Him He has promised that no matter what comes up along the way, he will never leave you or...

Episode 354 -  Show Notes: My heart longs to see the church come alive. I want to see the church awakened to the presence of God. We must come to a place of repentance and surrender before God. I desire to see us filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and reaching our communities for Christ. Revival is the visitation of God which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping and restores a de...

Episode 353 -  Show Notes: After all the lessons Jesus imparted, he had one more thing to say. After Jesus’ resurrection, he spent 40 final days with his disciples before his ascension back to the Father. He had a final opportunity to give them instructions. What would he say? Today we call these verses Jesus’ Great Commission. Jesus had prepared his disciples for three years. Now they were ready....

Episode 352 -  Show Notes: Experiencing God’s love is the most life changing thing a person could ever encounter.  God created us to love us.  Yet, many feel that because of their mistakes and failures God couldn’t possibly love them.  The great news is that God’s love is unearned and undeserved.   Human love is generally a response to conditions and circumstances around us.  We love because someo...

Episode 351 -  Show Notes: Jesus tells us there are far more important things than looking out for what we think we are entitled to.  Instead of focusing so much on ourselves, and what we think we deserve, we should instead put our focus on others, and love them like Jesus did. If we hold onto our right to personal respect, our immediate reaction is going to be an insult back.  But here, Jesus is...

Episode 350 -  Show Notes: Most of us know people who once walked with Christ. They were passionate about Jesus. They had such a strong faith and relationship with God. But over time, they lost their passion and their love grew cold. We wonder what happened. What a tragedy for our love for Jesus to grow cold. When we love the world and the things of this life, there is little room left for Jesus....

Episode 349 -  Show Notes: When we are brand new Christian and we just learning to follow Christ, we are at the beginning stages. There is much to learn and so many areas in which we grow and change to be like Jesus.  Growing in Christ is something that should never stop. There is more to experience. There are deeper depths and hight heights. There are more steps of faith to take. There is a riche...

Episode 348 -  Show Notes: Like Moses, most of us have our favorite excuses. We are too busy. We are not qualified. We are not ready. We struggle to see how and even why God would want to use our lives. We often fail to see what God sees in us. Why does God put such a great treasure in such weak vessels?  In other words, why does God want to use my life, with my flaws, my failures, and my weakness...

Episode 347 -  Show Notes: The Bible presents us with the spiritual discipline of meditation on scripture. This is the practice of thinking about the Word of God. How many times have you read some Bible verses in the morning as you started your day, only to never think of them again? What would happen if you began to meditate on Scripture? What if you picked a verse for the day or the week and you...

Episode 346 -  Show Notes: As followers of Christ, you and I are in the midst of a spiritual transformation. While we have received complete forgiveness of our sins, we are still in the process of becoming like Jesus. Sanctification is a process of separation from our old way of living before we met Christ. We are letting go of old values, old patterns of behavior, and old ways of living that conf...

Episode 345 -  Show Notes: I believe one of Satan’s strategies is to tempt us to be offended over the words, actions, and even inactions of others. Becoming offended at someone is a choice. We don’t have to become offended, but we often do. Offense is a hidden trap set by the enemy. The reason it works is because we feel justified in our emotions and our response. Tragically, there are people who...

Episode 344 -  Show Notes: The questions of death and eternity are questions we all face.  I believe the Christian faith offers the only solid answers to the final questions.  The Bible tells us everything we need to know about life after death and it tells us everything we need to know with certainty. For the Christian, we are to live our lives with eternity in view. We know this life is not all...