The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

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#576: Faith Like a Child Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

We must come to God with this same simplicity and sincerity. Just as a child can have complete faith in the protection and provision of their parents, so we must come to God with such faith. We must completely believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the he alone can save us from our sins.

Main Points:

1. In the Gospels, Jesus uses the faith of children to teach us about the kingdom of God. He tells us that unless we become like little children, we will not enter the kingdom of God.
2. We spend our days stressed out, worried, anxious, afraid, frustrated, and even angry. Surely this is not God’s will for the lives of his children. Let’s come back to simple trust and childlike faith in a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
3. If there is any characteristic of a child that we must retain as it relates to faith, it’s the characteristic of being dependent. We will never outgrow our dependency on God. We need him today and we will need him always.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 18:1-3 - “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

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#575: Discerning God's Timing Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

Trust today that your steps are being established by the Lord. When it’s time to take the next step, God will it clear. As you wait, believe that even though the waiting may not make sense, God’s will is being performed in your life. His will, His plan, and His timing is perfect.

Main Points:

1. God is never early, never late, but he’s always on time. Our timing isn't God's timing. For us, God's timing often feels like a long, desperate delay.
2. I’m struck with how many verses there are in the Bible that talk about waiting on God. One Bible scholar has found that the word “wait” is in the Bible 154 times. That is a lot of waiting. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly enjoy waiting. Yet, if God makes us wait, there is a reason. There is something to be learned in the waiting and I don’t want to miss the lesson.
3. The Holy Spirit is alive and active in the life of the believer. One of his purposes is to bring guidance and direction to our lives. He is faithful to lead us to God’s plan, but He can also be trusted to guide us to God’s timing.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 31:15 - "My times are in Your hands ..."

Ecclesiastes 3:11 - "He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Proverbs 16:9 - “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

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#574: Love One Another Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

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.”

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#573: What Suffering Produces Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

I don’t believe there is anything that causes our spiritual roots to grow deeper than suffering. Most of us listening today have experience with reaching out to God in hard times. It’s here that we grow in our faith, we experience God’s grace, strength, and peace. In times of suffering, we learn that the promise is true. God will never leave us or forsake us.

Main Points:

1. No one wants to suffer. None of us want to go through hard times. Yet, we understand that the difficulties of life come to all of us, believers and unbelievers. Many things we face are unexplainable on this side of Heaven.
2. What we are discovering is that, in a spiritual sense, suffering produces some wonderful things in our lives. There is spiritual growth that we cannot experience any other way.
3. My prayer for you is that whatever you are facing today, you’ll give your questions to God. Even if you can’t find an immediate answer, you’ll hold onto to your faith. Recognize he is at work in your life and your roots are going deeper.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Philippians 1:29 - “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”

1 Peter 2:21 - “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

Romans 5:3-5 - “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

James 1:2-4 - “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

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#572: The Danger of Procrastination Mar 26, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

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.”

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#571: Our Battle with Worry Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

I’ve found that often times worry has to do with the fear of what could possibly happen. They haven’t happened. We don’t know if they will happen, but we fear it could happen. This internal stress causes anxiety, fear, and apprehension. Not only can it make us emotionally and mentally unwell, but it can also cause physical illness too. Is there a cure?

Main Points:

1. The dictionary defines worry as giving way to anxiety or unease: to allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulties or trouble, whether actual or potential.
2. So, is there an answer? Is there a cure for worry? Is Jesus’ command to not worry about our lives possible? What can we do?
3. I believe the answer is found in worship. In fact, it’s very hard to worry and worship at the same time. Worship reorients our focus. A shift is made. A transition happens in our thoughts and in our spirit. As we worship our savior, we focus on his greatness, his goodness, and his faithfulness. We begin to remember that he is in control and there is nothing he cannot do.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 6:25 - “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life."
Matthew 6:25-26 - ““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Matthew 6:27 - “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Philippians 4:6-7 - “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

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#570: Understanding our Sin Nature Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

Before we can fully appreciate the grace of God and the gift of salvation Jesus offers, we must first understand our own need for forgiveness. We must comprehend that we are sinners and that we stand in judgment before a righteous and holy God.

Main Points:

1. The goodness of man has never saved anyone. Our personal goodness is incapable of bringing us into a right relationship with God.
2. We will never confess and repent of our sins until we first understand and accept the truth that we are sinners. Not only are we sinners, but we have a sin nature.
3. Because of God’s great love for us, we are not hopelessly lost to our sinful nature. Jesus offers us grace, mercy, forgiveness, and power over our nature of sin.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Romans 3:10 - “There is no one righteous, not even one.”
Romans 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:12 - “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”

Psalm 51:5 - “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

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#569: God is More Than Enough Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

Think about this truth for a moment: The God we serve has no limits. There is no limit to his power, his ability, his creativity, or even his love. God is not limited in the ways he can meet your needs. He has infinite possibilities.

Main Points:

1. Sometimes I cry out to God to meet a need. I’m trying to bring my faith to believe God can meet it. But lately, I hear God’s voice challenging me to believe him for more. I sense God saying, “Yes, I can do that, but is that all you are going to ask me to do? Is that all you need?”
2. He’s not a “just-enough God.” He’s a “more-than-enough God.” He is El Shaddai, the Almighty God, the one who has no limits.
3. Be encouraged by the truth that God can do more than enough in your life, even more than we ask or imagine.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Genesis 17:1 - “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 - “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

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#568: More Blessed to Give Than to Receive Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

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.”

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#567: God is Close to the Brokenhearted Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

The Big Idea:

Everyone of us will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. No one is immune from grief and loss, but there is one thing that makes all the difference. He is with us! God is with us. We don’t walk this road alone. We don’t mourn alone. God’s presence can fill our soul and give strength when we need it the most.

Main Points:

1. God created us with emotions. We have the ability to feel joy, happiness, comfort, and peace. We also have the ability to feel stress, anxiety, fear, pain, and grief. No where in the Bible does it tell us to bury our feelings. It doesn’t tell us we are unspiritual if we feel our emotions.
2. I think that often we see more clearly as time goes by. When we look back, we realize that the only thing that sustained us during the dark days of grief was the presence of the Lord. We’ll often say, “If it wasn’t for Jesus, I don’t know how I would have made it through that difficult time.
3. Let’s find comfort in the promises of God. Yes, he is close to the brokenhearted. Yes, he does rescue those whose spirits are crushed.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 34:17-19 - “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”
Psalm 23:4 - “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me.”

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