The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

Joy in the Biblical context is not an emotion.  Joy is an attitude of the heart.  It is not necessarily based on something positive happening.  Joy is something that lasts; happiness is something that is temporary.  When happiness fades away, joy remains.  Joy is something God deposits into us through the Holy Spirit.  Main Points:1. In these verses, Jesus actually gives us the key to living our lives with joy. We also see that God intends that His joy would remain in us and that our joy may be full. Imagine being full of joy! How would that change your life? Your outlook? Your attitude and your words? Being full of joy would change a lot of things in our lives.2. But here is the key. It’s found in “abiding with Jesus.” What does that mean? It means living your life in a close relationship with Christ. It’s daily spending time with him. Pursuing a close and intimate relationship with God on a daily basis. The result of this relationship with God is a joy that only He can give.3. If you find yourself living a joyless life, recognize that it can change today. Begin pursuing more of God. Press into God. Seek Him. Abide in Him. His joy will be yours.Today’s Scripture Verses:John 15:9-11 - ““As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”Psalm 16:11 - "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

Loving our neighbor is not simply a good idea or an admirable ethic, Jesus called it the second greatest commandment. We first love God and second, we love our neighbors as we love ourselves.Main Points:1. The idea of loving our neighbor is beautiful to think about so long as it remains an idea. But the concrete reality of loving our neighbor, the difficulties and the challenges, strips the beauty away.2. If God is not the love of our lives, there is no way that we will truly love our neighbor as ourselves. Something happens when you experience the love of God and then begin to love God in return.  3. God desires you and me to love our neighbors. Let’s let his love shine through our lives to those we meet. Let’s make it more than a theory, let get practical and put love into action.Today’s Scripture Verses:Romans 13:10 - “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”Galatians 5:14 - “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”John 13:34 - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”1 John 4:20 - “…For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

What a tragedy it is when there is a loss of spiritual identity.  I believe you can lose your true identity, give it away, forget it, waste it, or change it for better or worse.  It’s also possible that some individuals go through life searching for their true identity and never find it.Main Points:1. If you don’t know who you are, then you are vulnerable to other people telling you who you are.  But the concrete, solid, gospel truth is that as a follower of Jesus, you are who God says you are, and no one else has a vote in the matter.2. The phrase “in Christ” is used about 140 times in the Bible.  We are said to be “in Christ.”  It is the most used term to describe a follower of Jesus.  God’s Word is saying to us that if you are trusting Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord – “You are in Christ.”  This is your new identity!  This is who God made you to be.  This is the real you!3. Reject any label the world tries to give you. As a believer in Jesus, your Heavenly Father has given you your true identity as a child of God.Today’s Scripture Verses:John 1:12 - “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”Galatians 2:20 - “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

Can I ask you an important question? What do you do when you become discouraged? You need an answer to this question. You need a plan, and you need it now. Discouragement comes to us all. Everyone will face it. Everyone will battle it.Main Points:1. Discouragement will make you want to quit. Maybe even right now, as you listen to this podcast episode, you have been fighting the feelings of wanting to quit.2. There are going to be times when you have to encourage yourself in the Lord.  No one else is around.  The pastor is not there.  No friends are around to help you.   Your family is not there.  Do you know how to encourage yourself in the Lord?  Have you done this?  Can you grab God’s Word and feed your soul, can you find a place of prayer and pour out your soul before the Lord.  Can you worship in times of trouble?3. If you are discouraged right now, remember God's past faithfulness and begin to thank Him for what He has already done. As you worship, watch the discouragement disappear.Today’s Scripture Verses:1 Samuel 30:6 - "David encouraged himself in the Lord.”Galatians 6:9 - “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

From scripture, we come to see that love is more than words, feelings, and emotions. Love is action. True love calls for us to do something, and also to refrain from some things. Main Points:1. Love, when truly demonstrated, is not just an emotion expressed to family and close friends. Love is seen the clearest when it is given to those we think don’t deserve it and those who don’t expect it. 2. When God’s love changes us we begin to notice others. We begin to see what God sees. We’ll notice the lonely, the hurting, the broken, and the discouraged. We see those who desperately need to be loved.3. So, let’s ask, how can I show love today? To whom can I show love? What loving words can I share with someone? What loving acts can I do to show God’s love? Who can I serve? Who can I bless with the love of God?  Your loving actions might just change their lives.Today’s Scripture Verses:John 13:34, Jesus says to his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”1 John 4:19-21 - “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

The Bible has a lot to say about time. The most important thing it says is something we know already—that our time is limited. Time can be used or wasted, it can be invested or squandered, but either way, once used, it can never be regained. Time matters because we have such a limited supply. Main Points:1. We always have plenty of time to do everything we need to do. This means that all of my time belongs to God, and therefore how I spend my days is a sacred issue. Someday you and I will answer for what I did today.2. The truth is most people know the right thing to do.  You know the right thing to do.  It’s just we put it off.  We delay.  We don’t do it.  We say tomorrow.  Later.  Someday I’ll…  “One of these days I’ll get around to it.”  We keep putting things off.3. I encourage you to count the cost.  Count the cost of your delay.  There’s always a cost in delay.  There’s always a price tag that goes along with procrastination.  You have one life to live for God.  Don’t waste the opportunities God is giving you.Today’s Scripture Verses:Ecclesiastes 3:1-4:"There is a time for everything, And a season for every activity under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die, A time to plant and a time to uproot, A time to kill and a time to heal, A time to tear down and a time to build, A time to weep and a time to laugh, A time to mourn and a time to dance."Ephesians 5:15-16 – “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

I’m convinced that most of us listening today would say we have been blessed by God. In fact, many would say that we have been greatly blessed and blessed beyond what they deserve. God has been so good to us. So what do we do with our blessings?Main Points:1. Jesus teaches us that the blessing is found in the giving. The blessing is found in the serving. The blessing is found in ministering to the needs of others. 2. Continually, the scripture speaks to the heart and motive behind our actions. The Bible teaches us that if we give to be seen by others, well, then we have our reward. If our motive in giving is to receive something back, we give with the wrong motive.3. Remember this truth today: We have been blessed to be a blessing. What are we to do with our blessings? We are to bless others. Proverbs teaches that those who hoard their blessings will no longer be blessed. The blessing is found in the giving.Today’s Scripture Verses:Acts 20:35 - “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”Proverbs 11:25 - “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

There is no truth more fundamental in all of God’s Word than this truth. God is for us. God is not against us. God is not neutral towards us. Because of Jesus Christ, once and for all the question is settled. God is for us.Main Points:1. Paul’s question is, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” In other words, who can really fight against us, who can defeat us, if God is on our side?2. Name the enemies of the people of God. Can the devil stand against us? No, because he has been defeated. Can the world stand against us? No, because Jesus has overcome the world. Can the flesh destroy us? No, because in Jesus Christ we overcome the temptations of the flesh. So, today, let’s be secure in our victory! Who dares to stand against us if God be for us?3. No matter what Satan, our accuser says, no matter the circumstances we face - nothing can come against the love God has for us and win. We may be mocked, beaten, bruised, or even killed for our faith in Jesus. Even if we face the worst of circumstances, we are loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.Today’s Scripture Verses:Romans 8:31 - “If God is for us, who can be against us?”Psalm 23:4 - “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Matthew 28:20 - “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”. Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

We should desire to be like Jesus in our values, beliefs, character, and behavior. The only way we can be imitators of God is that we would follow him. We must come to know Him. We must learn from Him, and it’s only then that we would know what to imitate.Main Points:1. In some ways, we cannot be like God. You and I will never be all-knowing or all-powerful. We will never be omnipresent. We cannot be unchangeable like God. But there are characteristics of God that we can emulate. 2. We can imitate His characteristics like love, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, patience, grace, and mercy. We can be like God by living in purity, righteousness, and holiness. 3. To imitate God means that we follow his example, and we should follow it closely. When we were born again we entered into his family. We belong to God and we bear his name.Today’s Scripture Verses:Ephesians 5:1 - “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”Romans 12:2 NLT - "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”Ephesians 4:13 - "...“become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show

When we come to Jesus and make Him our Savior and Lord, he begins to work in our lives and strips away old ways of living that conflict with scripture and dishonor the Lord. Through the Word of God, He teaches us a new way of living. As we break with the old sinful patterns and habits, we form new ones that please God, but also give joy.Main Points:1. It’s through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to break the patterns of the world that we have lived by for so long. Now, through Jesus, we can be transformed, and this transformation takes place by a renewal in our minds.2. In today’s culture we sometimes talk about habits in their negative connotation. We’ll say, I’m struggling to break some bad habits.” But what if you could form some new habits. What if you and I developed some holy habits? What if we created some habits that helped us grow spiritually?3. Remember, there is a difference between behaviors and habits. Anyone is capable of a particular behavior from time to time, but a habit is done instinctively and consistently. How do we develop a habit? Through regular repetition. As we do so consistently, the behavior becomes a regular and almost involuntary part of our lives.Today’s Scripture Verses:Romans 12:2  - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook GroupSend us Fan MailSupport the show