2 Minute Disciple | Daily Faith Journey for Spiritual Growth

Mark Chapter 16

Article  |  May 27th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”

What strikes me most in this chapter is the importance of women to the ministry of Jesus. They are the first to see him alive and Jesus entrusts them with the important message of his resurrection. I love that God sees us all as vital to his kingdom, no matter your sex, race, ethnicity or financial status, we are all a part of God’s kingdom.

Mark Chapter 15

Article  |  May 26th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal development, self-care, soul care, spiritual formation, spiritual journey, spirituality

We are making progress in our journey through the Gospels and we find ourselves at the end of the book of Mark. We have seen Jesus in action, from healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding thousands of people, and walking on water. We have also seen him get away from the crowds to pray and recharge and he has been teaching us about the kingdom life that he is ushering in. The one thing about Mark 15 is how much Jesus told his disciples that it was going to happen and it did. This was what Jesus came to do, to take the abuse of violent people to open up God’s kingdom to all of us.
At the moment that Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The significance of this moment is that God is opening up access to himself to everyone. Now we can have direct access to God and not have to go to the temple and have someone else go into God’s presence for us. His sacrifice made that possible for us. The other thing that I am pondering is the fact that God had to watch his only son die at the hands of wicked violent people. God knows what it’s like. God stands with those who have lost children senselessly by wicked violent people and he weeps with them. He also points to the torn veil and says today your child is with me.

Mark Chapter 14

Article  |  May 25th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, leadership, personal development, self-care, spiritual formation, spirituality

I was struck by the depth of pain that Jesus was in while he was praying in the garden. Jesus really felt the weight of what was going to happen to him, from the betrayal, abandonment, rejection, beating and crucification. He really wanted to skip all of this if he could, but in perfect obedience, he went through it. I’m glad that he went through all of this, because we have a God who knows exactly what we feel and has been through it and worse, quite frankly. When I am tempted to tell God that he doesn’t know what I’m going through, this is the gentle reminder that he does and he cares for me.

Mark Chapter 13

Article  |  May 24th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, leadership development, personal development, self-care, spiritual formation, spiritual journey, spirituality

What jumped off the page and is rolling through my mind is this statement: “When the time comes, say what’s on your heart—the Holy Spirit will make his witness in and through you.” Times are tough for Christians right now, and part of it is our own fault for allowing the world to press us into it’s mold and for holding up a standard that we are not living to. We look way more like those who killed Jesus than we do Jesus. It’s also tough to be a Jesus follower, because the world hates him and those who shine light in the darkness.
However, we still have to speak to those around us and it is comforting to know that all we have to do is speak from our heart and the Holy Spirit makes his witness in and through us. God will use our words for his glory and witness for those around us. God is so good and his forgiveness is so thorough and his grace is enough, however we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and keep listening to Jesus and work his words into our lives.

Mark Chapter 12

Article  |  May 23rd, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, spiritual formation, spiritual journey, spirituality

What stuck out for me in this chapter is that the people who are supposed to have it all together in their religious and financial lives are the ones arguing with Jesus and trying to trip him up. However, all of these people are set alongside a widow who is faithful to God and gives her everything without quibbling. Again we see the scriptures as a mirror to our souls, who are we most like if we are completely honest with ourselves? As we pray, ask God to help you to be more like the widow.

Mark Chapter 11

Article  |  May 20th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, personal development, self-care, spiritual formation, spirituality

Jesus’ teaching on prayer in this chapter, jumped off the page and slapped me in the face. I know that the things he said are true and I want to live them out them in practice, but when it comes down to doing it, I freeze. God wants me to bring everything to him in prayer, but I hold back. I’m not sure exactly why, but it could be because I think it’s not big enough to bother God with. It could be because I think I can handle it or that he doesn’t care enough to do those little things for me. However, I know better and want to take everything to him, I want to walk into God’s everything, I want to take everything to God and ask big things, but why do I doubt and hold back, when I know that if I include everything in prayer, I get God’s everything.
There is a lot to work on here for me, bringing everything to God and letting go of my pride.

Mark Chapter 10

Article  |  May 19th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, jesus, personal development, self-care, spiritual journey, spirituality

In our upside down way of looking at things, we want to earn our keep. It is common sense that if you work hard, you can achieve whatever you want. However, Jesus teaches that it is not that way with entering God’s Kingdom. No amount of work, charm, merit or money can gain you entrance into God’s Kingdom. Then how do we get in? We let God do the work and trust in Him. It’s that simple, but also that complex because it’s not that easy to trust Him when it’s wired in our brains to pull ourselves up. We have to forget about striving for our gain and embrace giving ourselves away and we will get everything back and more in God’s Kingdom. How hard is this concept to wrap your brain around?

Mark Chapter 9

Article  |  May 18th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal development, self-care, spiritual formation, spirituality

Quick summary of this chapter: God’s kingdom on display on a mountain top…admiring excitement upon seeing Jesus…a demon that won’t leave until Jesus forces it to…an argument about who is the greatest settled with the embrace by Jesus of a child. I think what amazes me the most about this chapter is what really puzzles the disciples is Jesus’ foretelling of his death and resurrection. I see it from my perspective of 2022 Easters later and I’m like how do you not get it? However, when I put myself in their shoes, I can start to see how they can miss the point. It is a foreign concept to talk about rising from the dead and it’s hard to see beyond the moment we are in to grasp the future. Even with Jesus saying, this is going to happen multiple times, it just wouldn’t sink in. I am now getting a clear picture, there was so much going on, that they couldn’t see the forrest for the trees. So that makes me think, what are we missing?

Mark Chapter 8

Article  |  May 17th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal development, self-care, spiritual formation, spiritual journey, spirituality

It’s allergy season right now and my eyes are red and watery. Sometimes, things are a bit blurry which is no fun when I’m taking pictures. I found some eye drops that help but I’ve struggled with this all of my life with some years better than others. I can relate to the blind man who said he saw people who looked like blurry trees. This chapter makes me smile, because I love the play between physical blindness and spiritual blindness, we can see the disciples see in one moment and then not see in the next. They are making their way out of spiritual blindness, things are a bit blurry, but they are starting to see. What about us, where are we in our spiritual blindness? Are things just a bit out of focus or are they coming in to focus? We need Jesus to “spit” on us and touch our eyes so that we can see clearly.

Mark Chapter 7

Article  |  May 16th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”

We get so focused as people on outward appearances. If everything looks good on the outside and we have it all put together, people see us as good people, but if we are a bit cringy on the outside, then that’s what people think of us. That causes us to work hard to curate a good online presence so that people think good of us. However, it is what we put on our souls that really matters, because that is were our attitudes and behaviors originate. Good things come out when we clothe our souls in good things and bad things come out when we clothe our souls with bad things. What are you clothing your soul in?

Mark Chapter 6

Article  |  May 16th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”

There is a lot going on in this chapter, but there was one insightful piece of information in verse 52, “They didn’t understand what he had done at the supper. None of this had yet penetrated their hearts.” These guys had seen so much, healing, casting out demons, feeding the hungry and walking on the water, but it hadn’t sunk in yet. I get it now, in the big moments like they were going through with Jesus, it takes a little bit for it to sink in and penetrate our hearts. There are so many things that we face in life that don’t sink in right away. What is God doing in you that hasn’t yet penetrated your heart?

Mark Chapter 5

Article  |  May 12th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal development, self-care, spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spirituality

I can feel the desperation of Jairus and the woman who reaches out to touch the edge of Jesus’ robe. I can sense their anxiety and determination to do get the healing that they needed. Then to be caught by Jesus, I can feel her face get flush with embarrassment and then the relief with Jesus’ compassion toward her. I appreciate this story more now because I have been desperate to get what I need from Jesus, if I could just stretch out and just touch a little piece, then…I know it is cringy to come across as desperate, but over and over in scripture, we see that desperation before God is rewarded. He wants us to come to him when we are desperate and he will provide. The most important thing that we see with the demon possessed man is that once we get what we need from him, we need to make it known to those around us.
What are you desperate for God to do for you? For me it is getting a new job to be able to support my family with. Each rejection hurts and threatens to take me under, but God provides the encouragement I need to keep believing and trusting at just the right time.

Mark Chapter 4

Article  |  May 11th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal growth, self-care, spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spirituality

We have a special guest reader today, Adam Tomlinson. Adam is the Lead Minister at Westwood Christian Church, in Madison, Wisconsin. Adam grew up in Illinois and Wisconsin before going to Milligan College where he met his wife, Lauren. He has been in ministry since 2014 and they have 3 children: Nathanael (7), Caleb (4), and Junia (1). I used to play church softball with his dad and I remember Adam in the stroller at the softball games.
At the end of this episode, Adam and I will talk about the chapter, which is Mark chapter 4, so let’s dive in.

Mark Chapter 3

Article  |  May 10th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, personal development, self-care, spiritual journey, spirituality

Lions and tigers and large crowds, oh my! The large crowd has become to many of us overwhelming and something to be feared. It’s getting a little less fearful to gather in large crowds, but the large crowds pushing to get to Jesus, the few chosen on the mountain and Jesus’ family on the outside of the crowded house jumped off the page at me. Now that we live in a post pandemic world, the idea of large crowds really got my attention in this chapter. I am intrigued by the thought of all of these sweaty stinky people crowed together just to get to Jesus for what they needed, healing of body and spirit. Jesus had to get in a boat so that he wouldn’t get trampled and chose a handful to set apart to spread the message of the kingdom and kick out demons. When he got home, another crowd wanted to be healed by Jesus. I can totally relate to the skepticism of the religious leaders, this can’t be real. I tend to want to beat up on those religious leaders, but when it comes down to it, I can relate more than I care to admit. Would I brave the crowd to get healed or would I be on the outside talking it down?
The real question that stirs in my heart is, am I willing to brave ___________________ to get what I need from Jesus? The second question then is, am I open to what Jesus is doing or have I closed my mind and heart to him?
Where are you at?

Mark Chapter 2

Article  |  May 9th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, personal development, personal growth, self-care, spiritual journey, spirituality

The thing that stuck out to me is the fact that Jesus and his disciples are keeping company with the so called riffraff and as unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become believers. Then Jesus famously says that he has come for the sin-sick, not the spiritually fit.
I notice that Jesus is not hanging around with the likely people, the ones who ‘have it all together’ spiritually, but those who don’t. He hangs out with people who are a little shady and have a past. They probably cuss a lot and break most of the rules. I admire Jesus for going to the people that you wouldn’t expect him to go to and the fact that some of them believe and follow Jesus.
I feel great comfort with the fact that Jesus hung out with the ‘riffraff’ and I love his emphasis on looking out for the down and out and the forgotten, because that’s how I’m feeling right now and each time I go to church, I hear my inner critic chastise me and tell me how I’m not good enough to be a pastor and that I haven’t amounted to any thing and I never will. To see Jesus hanging out with the down and outs, I am comforted and I am able to shut up that critic by saying, “see, Jesus wants to hang out with me.” What sticks out to you.

Mark Chapter 1

Article  |  May 7th, 2022
By Nick Oyler | Host of the Daily Bible Devotional Podcast “2 Minute Disciple”
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotional, personal development, prayer, self care, solitude and silence, spiritual journey, spirituality

In this chapter, the action comes fast and furious, it’s kind of like how I like to read on audible when I’m reading along, cranked up to 3x speed. You can just feel how fast things are happening and then while it was still dark, Jesus got away from everyone to pray and we catch our breath. That moment just speaks to my heart and reminds me of how important it is to get away from the speed of life and the crush of people to just be with God on 1x speed or slower. The other thing that jumped off of the page to me was that Jesus touched a leper. You never touched a leper, because it would transfer over to you and you would be unclean too. But Jesus touched him and transferred his wholeness to the man. That is so cool, God is here and he has come to make us whole.