The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

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#1,177: Don't Put Off God's Calling On Your Life Feb 11, 2025

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Here’s what I want you to think about today: Whatever you are going to do for God, you need to do it now. What is it that God has put on your heart to do? What burden are you carrying? What calling do you have on your life? Have you been saying, “Someday I want to serve God in a particular way? Someday I want to do this for God.” Hear this word. Someday is today. Someday is now.

Main Points:
1. We cannot put off until tomorrow what God is calling us to do today. The days, weeks, months, and years are going by, and they are going by quickly. We cannot go back and change the past, but we can do something about today.

2. So, let’s get to it. Let’s get started. Not tomorrow, but today. What has God put on your heart to do? What passion to serve the Lord do you carry? Let’s get started. What can you do today? What small step can you take right now?

3. I don’t know what God is speaking to your heart, but I do know the Holy Spirit is always calling us to go, to serve, and to step out into the plan of God. Fear and busyness cause us to delay and to wait. They lead us to put off until tomorrow the things God has put on our hearts.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 49:7 - “No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them.”
Job 14:5 - “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”

Ephesians 5:16 - “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

Proverbs 27:1 - “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
James 4:13-15 - “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

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#1,176: Where Wisdom is Found Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Out of His abundance, God will supply what we are lacking, if we ask. It’s important to see that God doesn’t just bestow wisdom upon us automatically. Not every walking around today is living in the wisdom of God.

Main Points:
1. It is this deep awe, reverence, and respect for God and His Word that leads us to pay attention to His Word. We begin to listen and to obey the Word. We value God’s Word over our own thoughts and intuition.

2. The Lord says we should seek for God’s wisdom like a person seeking for a hidden treasure. If we do, we’ll find it. God will bless us with His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

3. It’s likely you are facing something today in which you need God’s wisdom. Is there a decision to be made? Are you facing a family crisis, a challenge at work, or a choice about your future? Ask God to help you like in the fear of the Lord. It’s here that we become open to the wisdom of God.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

Proverbs 1:7 - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”

James 1:5 - “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

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#1,175: Jesus Prayed for You Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Remember, this unity is only found in Christ. Unity is the oneness or harmony of believers in Jesus Christ. It is our relationship with Christ that unites us with each other. We are united in essential doctrine, mission and purpose, and love for one another.

Main Points:
1. Jesus prayed for the unity of His disciples. He knew if they would work together in unity, a unity that comes from the love of Christ, they would be effective in their mission. But if they allow division to come into their midst, if they begin to fracture their relationships, they would be ineffective.

2. Though we are different in many ways, Jesus calls us together in unity of purpose and mission. We love one another and live in harmony with each other. In a broken and divided world, this unity will be so compelling and so contagious that the world around us will see that Jesus is the source of our unity.

3. How do we maintain this kind of unity? Each of us must search our hearts and ask sincere questions. How can I support the purpose and mission of God’s church? What small differences should I let go of? Which personal preferences should I relinquish in light of God’s greater plan for His church? How can I show more love to my brothers and sisters in Christ?

Today’s Scripture Verses:

John 17:20-21 - “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

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#1,174: Are God's Blessings Conditional? Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

There are many times the Bible informs us of conditional blessings. These are places in Scripture where God says, “If you will, then I will.” We need to pay attention to the conditional blessings listed in Scripture because there are quite a few of them.

Main Points:
1. Sometimes, as a Father I bless my children simply because I love them. I do things for them, I surprise them, and I’m generous with them for no reason at all but that it gives me joy. I’m confident God does this too.

2. We should also pay attention to the conditional blessings of God. Be watching for where the Word of God says, “If you will, then I will.”

3. Meditate on this truth today: The obedient life is a blessed life.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Proverbs 16:20 - “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 - “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.”
Psalm 1:1-3 - “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

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#1,173: Jesus Must be First in our Lives Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

To love God first is to put him first in our affection, attention, and priority. If anyone or anything comes before God, it becomes an idol. We can even make ministry for him more important than a relationship with him. This too is idolatry.

Main Points:
1. Our motive for putting Jesus first in our lives cannot be the desire for blessings alone. The primary reason we put Jesus first is because He is worthy. Jesus is supreme. He is preeminent. He alone is God. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

2. What is true in our theology must be true in practice. What is true in our beliefs, must be true in our lifestyle.

3. You and I will never be fulfilled until we put God first in our lives. And we can never do that until we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ once and for all.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Revelation 2:4-5 - “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Colossians 1:15-16 - “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”
Colossians 1:18 - “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.”

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#1,172: Why we Must Share the Gospel with Others Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

So, what motivates us to speak up, while the culture is trying to silence our voice? What enables us to push past our fear of offending someone to let them know what Jesus has done for us? There is only one answer: it is our love for Jesus. We speak up because we love Jesus.

Main Points:
1. It’s as simple as this: If we love Jesus, we will obey his command to make disciples. If we love Jesus, we will look for opportunities to tell others of His saving grace. We should not feel afraid or intimidated. We have been given the Holy Spirit for this very purpose, to empower us to be a witness.

2. And remember, the gospel is good news. The truth that Jesus died for our sins and rose again is good news. That God would offer us grace, mercy, and forgiveness is good news. The promise of eternal life is good news. Why would we keep this good news from anyone?

3. Our love for Jesus, must overcome our fear of offending people. Why do we assume they will be offended anyway? We don’t know, but perhaps the Holy Spirit has been working in their heart and they are perfectly ready to hear the good news about Jesus.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Romans 10:14 - “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 - “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

John 14:23 - “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.”

1 Peter 3:15 - “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

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#1,171: Fear Not Jan 31, 2025

Show notes

God has given us to power to overcome our fears. We don’t have a spirit of fear, we possess the Holy Spirit, which enables us to face life with the confidence that the Lord is with us in every situation.

Main Points:
1. Fear goes by many names. Perhaps in your life, fear manifests itself as worry, anxiety, dread, concern, apprehension, nervousness, panic, or timidity. Regardless of the label, we give the emotion, its root is deep in fear.
2. The first step in overcoming fear is to recognize that it is not from God. God does not want us to be afraid. Rather, God has given us three gifts: power, love, and a sound mind.
3. Bible scholars tell us that over 300 times the Word of God commands us to not be afraid. It’s the most repeated command in scripture. I think the frequency of this command is telling us something. God knows our predominant negative emotion would be fear and this fear would keep us from being who He created us to be.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

2 Timothy 1:7 - “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Isaiah 41:10 - “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

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#1,170: Take Up Your Cross Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

The call to discipleship is a call to deny ourselves. We take up our cross as we die to earthly sin, values, and lifestyle. It is to wholeheartedly embrace the life of Christ. It is a life of surrender to Christ and an abandonment to things of this world. To take up the cross means to identify with Christ in His rejection, shame, suffering, and death.

Main Points:
1. It’s common today when speaking of a hardship or difficulty someone has to live with to say, “Well, I guess it’s just my cross to bear.” Yet, in Matthew 16, Jesus is not talking about carrying burdens or living with adversity. He is talking about identifying with the suffering and death of Jesus.
2. The call to take up our cross is a call to absolute surrender to Christ. Although the call is difficult, the reward is beyond compare.
3. Commitment to Christ means taking up your cross daily, giving up your hopes, dreams, possessions, and even your very life if need be for the cause of Christ. Why would anyone be willing to do this? Because the reward is worth the price

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 16:24-26 - “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

Philippians 3:8 - “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.”

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#1,169: Citizens of Heaven Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

Citizens not only have rights and privileges, but they also have responsibilities. The same is true for us as citizens of Heaven. Let’s not only experience the blessings of our new citizenship but let’s conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Main Points:

1. You may not have thought about this, Heaven is not just a place you are waiting to see, but it’s a place of which you are already a citizen. You have a legal right to belong in Heaven because the blood of Jesus has paid for your entry.
2. As citizens of Heaven, the Word of God calls for us to live as citizens of Heaven. We are not yet in Heaven, but we are to live with the values of our new home.
3. Paul says we can live as citizens of Heaven by conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. In other words, if you are saved, live as someone who is saved. If Christ has come into your life, it should be noticeable in how you live. We are not worthy of what Christ has done for us, but we should do our best to live as though we were.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Ephesians 2:19 - “You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.”

Philippians 1:27 - “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.”

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#1,168: Revive Your Prayer Life Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

I talk to a lot of Christians who are unsatisfied with their prayer life. They even feel guilty, knowing prayer should be a more consistent part of their Christian life. But sometimes, it feels difficult to get going again. It seems hard to restart your prayer life. Here are some things that will help.

Main Points:

1. First, ask God to give you a renewed passion for his presence. It’s a prayer God will answer because He wants to spend time with you too.
2. Second, decide on a place and a time. Set a reminder on your phone. This is half the battle.
3. Third use a prayer journal/list to help you stay on track. Each morning, I use the 5-minute discipleship journal to walk through my time with God. The journal provides a simple strategy for engaging with God in His Word and prayer. I enjoy using the “Pray First” App that was designed by the Church of the Highlands.
4. Finally, recognize that prayer is your lifeline. Everything we need God can provide.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Acts 3:1 - “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.”
Mark 11:24 - “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 - “pray continually”
Colossians 4:2 - “devote yourselves to prayer”

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