5 Minutes with Jesus is a daily devotional series for people in the midst of real life, whether facing anxiety, grief, questions of purpose, or simply needing encouragement and connection. Hosted by Sheila Walsh, each five-minute episode offers Biblical truth, honest reflections on faith and emotions, and closes with a moment of prayer.
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| Sheila Walsh: God’s Voice or My Thoughts? | 5 Minutes with Jesus | April 22, 2026
- Do all you can
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- To remove distractions and be quiet in god's presence.
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- Now and honestly, that really is a learned discipline.
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- It's much
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- Easier to school on our phones or turn on the television,
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- But it's a beautiful thing to sit quietly
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- In god's presence and learn
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- To listen for his voice.
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- Do you ever struggle to hear god's voice?
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- Like, do you ever ask yourself?
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- Is that god speaking to me?
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- Or did i just kind of make that up?
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- You know, we live in a world
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- Full of voices clamoring for our attention.
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- My husband, barry, and i process life very differently.
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- He has the ability to have the television on while
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- Listening to song on his iphone, with the balcony window open
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- To a magnificent chorus from all the neighborhood dogs.
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- I do not.
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- If i'm watching something on television.
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- And barry asked me a question,
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- I'll immediately mute the television,
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- Which is confusing to him,
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- As he could process both things perfectly well
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- At the same time.
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- I just find life very noisy.
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- I think part of the difference is he's an extrovert
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- And he's energized by a lot of things going on at once.
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- I'm not.
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- I'm definitely an introvert.
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- I probably should have been a monk or a
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- “monk-ess” in a silent order.
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- So acknowledging that we live in a noisy world,
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- How do we learn to distinguish god's voice
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- From our own thoughts?
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- So i have a few suggestions.
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- Number one, god's voice will never,
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- Never contradict scripture.
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- A lot of people these days use this phrase my truth.
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- For me, there is one truth.
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- As jesus said, i am the way, the truth, and the life.
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- No one comes to the father apart from me.
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- If if you feel that you want to do something,
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- But it clearly goes against what scripture says, just know
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- That's your voice.
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- It's not god's.
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- Number two the gift of god's peace.
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- Paul promised in philippians chapter four, verse seven,
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- And the peace of god, which surpasses
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- All understanding, will guard your hearts
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- And your minds through jesus christ.
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- God's voice brings peace and calm.
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- Whereas my own thoughts at times simply bring anxiety.
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- My good friend, doctor jeremiah johnston,
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- Is the general editor of the new peace of god bible.
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- It is fabulous.
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- One of his peace notes says you won't find peace in the
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- Church, in christian service, or in any expected place.
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- Peace comes from jesus,
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- The way, the truth, and the life.
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- Number three
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- The gift of conviction over condemnation.
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- In chapter seven of paul's letter to the church in rome,
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- He talks about how hard it is just to be human.
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- You know, we want to do the right thing,
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- The thing that will honor god.
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- So often we do the exact opposite.
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- He writes at the end of the chapter in despair,
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- Who is going to help us with this?
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- Oh, what a miserable person i am.
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- Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin
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- And death?
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- The answer comes in chapter seven, verse 25.
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- Thank god the answer is in jesus christ our lord.
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- Then he goes on in romans eight verse one.
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- Paul writes one of the most liberating truths of our faith.
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- So now, because of jesus, there is no condemnation
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- For those who belong to christ jesus.
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- Condemnation comes from our own minds,
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- From the enemy of our souls, and pushes us far away
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- From god's presence.
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- Conviction comes from the holy spirit and draws us close.
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- Number four
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- Do all you can to remove
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- Distractions and be quiet in god's presence.
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- Now and honestly, that really is a learned discipline.
- 00:04:22.452 --> 00:04:25.655
- It's much
- 00:04:25.655 --> 00:04:26.856
- Easier to school on our phones or turn on the television,
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- But it's a beautiful thing to sit quietly
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- In god's presence and learn to listen for his voice.
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- Jesus tells us that he is the good shepherd.
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- One of my favorite chapters in the whole bible
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- Is john chapter ten, describing himself.
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- Jesus says he calls his own sheep by name
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- And leads them out.
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- After he's gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them
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- And they follow him because they know his voice.
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- They won't follow a stranger.
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- They will run from him because they don't know his voice.
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- And in verse 15 again jesus says, i am the good shepherd.
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- I know my own sheep.
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- And they know me just as my father knows me,
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- And i know the father.
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- That's our call, our joy
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- To learn the voice of jesus.
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- Let's pray
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- Over it.
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- What a joy.
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- What an absolute joy and privilege it is to know
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- That you are not just our savior and our lord,
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- And our deliverer, and our healer and our provider.
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- You are our shepherd.
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- Lord, teach us
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- To recognize your voice in the midst
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- Of all the noise that's going on in the world.
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- Help us to get so close to you, lord,
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- That we recognize your voice immediately.
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- And lord, help us by your holy spirit.
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- Give us the discipline to carve some space where we can
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- Simply sit in your presence and enjoy being with you.
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- I ask this in the beautiful name of jesus.
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- Amen.
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