Displaying items 11-20 of 41 in total of 2 Minute Disciple | Daily Faith Journey for Spiritual Growth with the tag "personal development".
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Episode 167: Mark Chapter 15
Episode | May 26th, 2022 | Season 2 | 8 mins 9 secs
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. -
Episode 166: Mark Chapter 14
Episode | May 25th, 2022 | Season 2 | 10 mins 37 secs
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.
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Episode 165: Mark Chapter 13
Episode | May 24th, 2022 | Season 2 | 8 mins 15 secs
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. -
Episode 163: Conversation With Adam Tomlinson
Episode | May 21st, 2022 | Season 2 | 10 mins 43 secs
christianity, discipleship, interview, leadership, leadership development, pastoral conversation, personal development, spiritual growth, spirituality
We have a special guest with us, Adam Tomlinson. Adam is the Lead Minister at Westwood Christian Church, in Madison, Wisconsin. He 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 have known Adam’s family most of my life, his mom babysat me and my sister while my mom was in Bible Study. I used to play church softball with his dad and I remember Adam in the stroller at the softball games.
In this special episode, Adam and I have a conversation about what he is learning from God in this season of life, enjoy the conversation… -
Episode 162: Mark Chapter 11
Episode | May 20th, 2022 | Season 2 | 6 mins 1 sec
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. -
Episode 161: Mark Chapter 10
Episode | May 19th, 2022 | Season 2 | 8 mins 8 secs
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?
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Episode 160: Mark Chapter 9
Episode | May 18th, 2022 | Season 2 | 7 mins 56 secs
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?
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Episode 159: Mark Chapter 8
Episode | May 17th, 2022 | Season 2 | 6 mins 23 secs
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.
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Episode 158: Mark Chapter 7
Episode | May 16th, 2022 | Season 2 | 6 mins 30 secs
audio bible, daily bible, daily devotion, discipleship, personal development, self-care, soul care, spiritual formation, spirituality
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?
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Episode 157: Mark Chapter 6
Episode | May 13th, 2022 | Season 2 | 8 mins 28 secs
audio bible, christianity, daily bible, daily devotional, discipleship, jesus christ, personal development, self-care, spiritual journey, spirituality
There is a lot going on in this chapter, but there was one insightful piece of information in verse 52, Mark 6:52 (The Message): 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?