Doable Discipleship

Originally Published Dec. 2024
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” – John 15:11 (NLT)
What if joy is closer than you think?
We all want to experience joy, but sometimes it can feel just out of reach. Life gets busy, circumstances become difficult, and seasons of anxiety, depression, or disappointment can leave us wondering where our joy has gone. Even when we’re following Jesus, we can find ourselves longing for a joy that seems difficult to experience.
But what if that longing is actually pointing us toward something beautiful?
In this episode of Doable Discipleship, Jason Wieland talks with author and pastor Alistair Sterne about his book Longing for Joy and what it means to recognize, cultivate, and experience the joy of the Lord. Together, they explore why joylessness happens, how our longing for joy draws us toward God, and how the beauty of creation, our relationships, and our everyday experiences can become opportunities to encounter God’s goodness.
They also discuss the surprising connection between joy and the Trinity, why joy doesn’t always look like happiness, and how learning to see other people as occasions for joy can transform our relationships.
In this episode, we explore:
* Why we experience seasons of joylessness and how to recognize what’s contributing to them
* How our longing for joy can draw us into a deeper relationship with God
* What Scripture reveals about the joy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
* How to recognize God’s goodness and experience joy through creation and everyday moments
* Why relationships are essential to cultivating joy and how we can become people who bring joy to others
* Practical habits that help us become more attentive to the joy already present in our lives
Joy is a gift from God, and learning to experience it is part of our ongoing journey of following Jesus. As we become more attentive to God’s presence, more grateful for His gifts, and more intentional in our relationships, we can begin to recognize opportunities for joy all around us.
The invitation is to pay attention, draw near to Jesus, and discover the joy that comes from living in His presence.
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.ivpress.com/longing-for-joy
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuw...)
Intro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Escape From The Town by SHANTI
https://tunetank.com/track/267-escape...
Outro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Peace by VictorWayne
https://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/

What do you do when simply getting through everyday life feels like a burden?
We live in a time when anxiety, depression, loneliness, and other mental health struggles are increasingly common. While we may be more willing to talk about these struggles than previous generations, many people still feel isolated in what they’re experiencing. And when suffering doesn’t have an easy solution, it can be tempting to wonder whether things will ever get better.
In this episode of Doable Discipleship, Jason talks with Dr. Alan Noble, author of On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living, about what it means to live faithfully in the midst of mental and emotional struggles.
Alan reminds us that two things can be true at the same time: life can be incredibly difficult, and life can still be a beautiful gift from God. Our suffering is real, but it does not get the final word.
In this episode, we explore:
* Why anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles resonate with so many people today
* How different generations approach conversations about mental health
* The difference between healthy vulnerability and oversharing
* Why suffering is not always a problem we can simply “fix”
* How to care well for someone experiencing mental or emotional struggles
* Why community is so important when we’re suffering
* How to move toward healing without pretending the struggle isn’t real
* What it means to believe that your life is a gift from a God who knows you completely and loves you
There may be seasons when hope feels difficult to hold onto. But our struggles are not the end of the story. Healing is real, God is present, and even in the midst of suffering, your life remains a gift worth receiving.
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Out-Bed-Burden-Living/dp/1514004437/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
https://www.amazon.com/Live-Well-Practical-Through-Chaotic/dp/1514002248/]
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuw...)
Intro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Escape From The Town by SHANTI
https://tunetank.com/track/267-escape...
Outro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Peace by VictorWayne
https://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/

What does it mean to live faithfully when life feels heavy?
Life is a gift, but that doesn’t mean it always feels like one. We experience beauty, joy, relationships, and moments of deep meaning alongside anxiety, disappointment, grief, uncertainty, and seasons when simply making it through the day can feel exhausting.
In this episode of Doable Discipleship, Jason explores the tension between the burden and the gift of living. Rather than offering easy answers or pretending that faith makes the difficult parts of life disappear, this conversation considers how we can honestly acknowledge the weight we carry while remaining open to the goodness, grace, and presence of God.
In this episode, we explore:
* Why life can feel like both a burden and a gift
* How our faith makes room for the full range of human experience
* What to do when anxiety, sadness, or difficulty feel overwhelming
* Why acknowledging struggle is different from surrendering to hopelessness
* How to recognize goodness even in difficult seasons
* What it looks like to receive life as a gift without minimizing its pain
Following Jesus doesn’t require us to pretend everything is okay. Instead, we can learn to hold joy and sorrow, beauty and brokenness, gratitude and grief together—and discover that God is present with us in all of it.
Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland.
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Out-Bed-Burden-Living/dp/1514004437/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuw...)
Intro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Escape From The Town by SHANTI
https://tunetank.com/track/267-escape...
Outro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Peace by VictorWayne
https://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/

(00:01) - INTRO

(01:42) - Marker 02

(03:26) - INTERVIEW

(06:50) - PRAYER

(32:31) - Marker 01

There’s a question at the heart of the new book “Delighting in Jesus” that caught my attention: it says, “I know I should read by Bible and pray every day, but I’m just not consistent. For many Christians, ‘daily devotions’ and ‘spiritual disciplines’ strike guilt and shame in our hearts. But what if we got it all wrong? What if our Christian experience hinges not on perfect spiritual disciplines, but on the perfect love of a Father who delights in us?” 
 
This has been a topic I’ve been interested in for a while now: what does relationship with Jesus really mean. And now there’s a new word entering the conversation: delight. We often talk about joy or happiness, but I’m so grateful to my guest today, Asheritah Ciuciu, for focusing in on the word delight. Asheritah is the host of the Prayers of Rest Podcast and author of many books including Full, Bible & Breakfast, Walking with God, and her latest, Delighting in Jesus. In this conversation, Asheritah and I talk about why “delight” is an important word when thinking about our relationship with Jesus, why we don’t need to be afraid of being broken, how to build your joy center in your brain, and much more. I want to note too, in the show notes for episode you’ll find links to purchase Delighting in Jesus (which I highly recommend) and also a link to a devotional personality quiz that will help you understand better how God created you to feel most connected to him. I hope you enjoy both of these resources.
Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. 
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.asheritah.com/
https://www.delightinginjesus.com/
Devotional Personality Quiz - https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/65654f1a7d4c35001488e815
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuw...)
Intro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Escape From The Town by SHANTI
https://tunetank.com/track/267-escape...
Outro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Peace by VictorWayne
https://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/

(00:01) - INTRO

(01:42) - Marker 02

(03:26) - INTERVIEW

(06:50) - PRAYER

(32:31) - Marker 01

“Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” - John 15:12-13
We live in a time when it has become incredibly easy to disengage. It’s easier to stay home. Easier to keep scrolling. Easier to avoid someone else’s mess. Easier to say “I’m sorry you’re going through that” than to actually enter into what they’re going through.
But easier doesn’t always mean better.
In this episode of Doable Discipleship, Jason explores an idea he calls “moving in”: intentionally choosing engagement over isolation and moving toward people rather than away from them. Scripture repeatedly calls followers of Jesus to value others, carry one another’s burdens, love our neighbors, and enter into meaningful relationship with one another.  
In this episode, we explore:
-Why our culture makes isolation and disengagement increasingly easy
-What it means to intentionally “move in” toward other people
-Why meaningful friendships require choosing engagement even when it’s inconvenient
-What the Good Samaritan teaches us about compassion that actually costs something
-How technology can contribute to isolation, but doesn’t have to determine our choices
-Why carrying one another’s burdens is central to following Jesus
-How Jesus Himself modeled a life of moving toward people
In the story of the Good Samaritan, two people saw a hurting man and kept moving. The Samaritan saw the same man, felt compassion, stopped, and entered into his need. His decision cost him time, energy, resources, and money, but he chose the harder and better path.  
Moving in is a choice. We can choose what is comfortable and convenient, or we can choose relationship. We can stay on the sidelines, or we can enter into someone else’s life. We can see people as interruptions, or we can see them as invitations to love.
And ultimately, we move toward others because Jesus first moved toward us. He didn’t remain distant from our brokenness. He came close, took on flesh, bore our burdens, and entered our mess. As followers of Jesus, we’re invited to reflect that same heart by loving deeply, serving generously, and building the kind of community that reflects His Kingdom.  
If this episode encouraged you, consider subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing it with someone you want to intentionally “move in” toward.
Key Scripture: Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 6:2-3, John 15:12-13, Matthew 22:39, Luke 10:25-37
Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland.
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and to the Doable Discipleship Youtube channel. 
Intro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Escape From The Town by SHANTI
https://tunetank.com/track/267-escape...
Outro Music:
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Peace by VictorWayne
https://tunetank.com/track/5040-peace/

(00:01) - INTRO

(03:26) - INTERVIEW

(06:50) - PRAYER