The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

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.”

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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.” 

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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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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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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:
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