2 Minute Disciple
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We found 10 articles with the tag “daily devotion”.
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Matthew Chapter 21
Article | April 27th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, healing, personal development, self care, spiritual growth, spiritual health, spirituality, worshipThere are two things in the first part of this chapter that I have totally missed over the years of reading and studying this passage. First of all, Jesus kicked out the money changers and the those selling animals in order to make room for what should really happen in the temple, healing and worship. I never caught the fact that his actions freed up space for the lame and blind to come in and get healed by Jesus. I have always gotten caught up in the audacity of Jesus to go in and turn over tables and his red faced anger that I missed the point of it, healing and worship. I also never caught the fact that the children who were shouting Hosanna in the streets followed him in worship into the temple. They were running (and we all no that you can’t run in church) and praising God. I’m sure that the lame that had just been healed were also running around. This just blows me away and it says something to me, we put up roadblocks to healing and worship unintentionally. We need Jesus to come in and break them down in order to make room for true healing and worship. What are the roadblocks in your life that Jesus needs to knock over?
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Matthew Chapter 19
Article | April 25th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, personal development, self care, spiritual journey, spiritualityJesus shows us again what living right side up looks like, the ones who we think are the top of the heap are really at the bottom. The rich are not automatically in God’s kingdom because they are rich and children are to be seen and heard. Nice guys don’t always finish last in God’s kingdom. When we give up things now, we will get even more than that in God’s kingdom. These words of Jesus today give me a boost, they are words that I need to hear and to realize that in God’s kingdom I have a place and I belong. I can breathe easier and hold my head up a little higher knowing that I belong in God’s kingdom. What are you learning from Jesus today? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
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Matthew Chapter 16
Article | April 21st, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, discipleship, personal growth, self care, spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spiritualityWho is Jesus? That is still the question that needs to be answered by followers of Jesus. This question is the heart of the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast, to discover who Jesus is so that we can follow him better. This podcast is for seasoned Jesus followers who desire to spend more time in the Gospels to get to know Jesus better. It is also for serious seekers desiring to discover who Jesus is for themselves and gain wisdom that will help them on their spiritual journey.
What is the answer to this sincere question, who is Jesus? He is the one that God had been promising that would come to rescue his people, usher in His kingdom and put things to rights. He is the one who heals the sick, raises the dead, casts out demons and sends out his followers to do the same. He is God in the flesh, not a distant God with his arms crossed waiting to zap us, but a God who walks among us as one of us. He has been the plan from the beginning and he is here. Do you believe it? -
Matthew Chapter 15
Article | April 20th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, discipleship, personal development, self care, spiritual development, spiritualityIn this chapter, I observed that persistence impresses Jesus. The Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking him to heal her daughter, but he first ignored her and she persisted asking the disciples and with Jesus until he healed her daughter. She would not take no for an answer and Jesus rewarded her persistence that was driven by her faith in Jesus. This makes me pause and consider my own prayers, am I persistent in asking or do I give up easily. If I’m honest with myself, I do give up too easily and back off when my prayers aren’t answered in as timely manner as I would like. My faith is not big enough at times and I’m not as persistent as I should be. This woman would probably be labeled a ‘Karen’ today and most of us don’t want to be perceived that way, so we back down easily in all areas of life. In my prayer life, I see that I need to risk being a Karen to grow my faith and see God work. That is a stretch for me, but if I am to become a better follower of Jesus, I need to stretch my faith muscles and be persistent in my prayers.
What did you observe in today’s reading? -
Matthew Chapter 14
Article | April 19th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, personal development, self care, spiritual journey, spiritualityMy biggest takeaway from this chapter is Jesus’ flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. After hearing of the death of John, Jesus planed for some solitude and silence, however, word got out about where he was going and there was a crowd of people who needed him. Instead of getting mad and sending everyone away, he has compassion on them and heals them. When supper time come, he feeds the crowds with a small meal that stretches to feed 5000+ people. He then sends his ride away with the disciples and finally gets the alone time he craves. Then he adapts by walking to his ride on the water. He calls Peter out to him and Peter is doing it and realizes it and the anxiety creeps back up, so he sinks. Jesus pulls him up and they get into the boat. Jesus did not fold under the crush of the people or the circumstances. The way that he handled these different situations inspires me to respond this way. I am reminded that I am also equipped by the Holy Spirit to be able to respond like Jesus. We saw this same way of ministry by Paul and he was able to do it like Jesus because of the Holy Spirit working in him.
I have been doing ministry all wrong for years, I tried hard to be like Jesus without tapping in to the power that I have been given, the power of the Holy Spirit. Doing ministry without the power of the Spirit only gets you anxiety and high blood pressure. This week, I want to allow the Holy Spirit to power me through and guide me just like Jesus. -
Matthew Chapter 13
Article | April 18th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
active listening, audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, spiritual journey, spiritualityWhat is the Kingdom of God like? Jesus has been teaching that God’s new government is here and has been showing it’s power through his miracles of healing and casting out demons. He has also sent out his apprentices and empowered them to usher in the kingdom. Now we find him telling stories that answer the question of what is God’s kingdom like? The stories that he uses to describe it in this chapter are all about seeds that grow. It brings to my mind gardening, I love to garden each summer and I make all kinds of things from the vegetables and herbs that I grow. God’s kingdom is growing and it produces wonderful fruit from small seeds. The thing that stuck out to me was this question, “Are you listening, really listening?” That is such a crucial question, because of all the noise around us, we get used to tuning things out, but for the seeds to grow in our live, we need to really listen to Jesus’ words. Are we listening?
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Acts Chapter 28
Article | March 30th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, self care, spiritual journey, spiritualityI love the last 2 sentences of the book of Acts, “He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open” (Acts 28:31 The Message). I want that to be said of me. What about you?
Tomorrow begins a new season for the 2 Minute Disciple Podcast. We will start back at Matthew Chapter 1 and journey through the Gospels again to discover who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow him. See you tomorrow. -
Acts Chapter 27
Article | March 29th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal development., spiritual growth, spiritual journey, spiritualityAll through Acts, we have seen God move his people to spread the message of Jesus and his new life from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. He is now taking Paul to Rome as a prisoner on a ship through a storm. Paul is assured that he will survive to get to Rome, but not without a shipwreck disaster to go through. We find that God did what he said and continued to give Paul an audience for his message.
This makes me think about my calling to this podcast, it kind of feels like I have been through a shipwreck to get here. However, we are almost to 2000 downloads and quit a bit of encouragement to keep going. Once we finish Acts tomorrow, we will begin again in Matthew Chapter 1 for season 2. -
Acts Chapter 26
Article | March 28th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, spiritual formation, spiritualityI love this chapter, because we get to hear Paul’s turnaround story again and my favorite part is the two different responses. The first response is from Festus, and it’s the "You’re crazy" response that many of us who follow Jesus have heard before. The second response is from King Agrippa, and it’s the "if you keep this up, you’ll make a Christian out of me response". This is the response that we really want to hear. What strikes me here is that Paul was ready for both responses and expected both. I think that sometimes we just want the second response but when we get the first, we give up and stop sharing. Not Paul, he kept going and I love what he said to Agrippa in verse 29 (The Message): Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”
His response is a challenge to me, because I tend to pray more selfish prayers and I need to be praying for this when I talk about the Gospel with people. What do your prayers look like? Are you willing to pray for others the way that Paul did? -
Acts Chapter 25
Article | March 27th, 2022
By Nick Oyler
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, jesus, personal growth, spiritual growth, spiritualityIn this chapter, we find Paul appealing his case to Caesar. The Jews wanted him brought back to Jerusalem so that they could kill him and Paul knew that God wanted him to get to Rome so that he could proclaim the Gospel to Caesar and others in Rome. In the meantime, Paul gets to share the Gospel with another leader named King Agrippa. God just kept putting the audience before Paul and all that Paul had to do was speak. That got me to think about the audience that God has put before me through this podcast. My job is to stay faithful and keep reading the Gospels and Acts and sharing it with anyone who will listen. Who is your audience?