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: Jesus The Source Of Life | 5 Minutes with Jesus | December 18, 2025
- When jesus left the glory of heaven.
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- To be born as a fragile baby.
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- He walked where we walk, loved like we long to be loved
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- All the time, showing us in flesh and blood.
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- But god, our father is like.
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- But the truth remains that unless we're able to grasp
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- Hold of that love
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- By the grace of god, to let that love into
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- Every little broken corner of our lives, we will remain alone.
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- We were made for so much more.
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- Remember this story.
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- So he returned home to his father,
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- And while he was
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- Still a long way off, his father saw him coming,
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- Filled with love and compassion.
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- He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
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- I love the poignant picture.
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- This verse from luke's gospel paints
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- Is such a compelling illustration of the love
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- That we all longed for, the kind that watches and waits
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- For us, that runs to us and holds us close.
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- I remember a boy in my class who seemed to have no friends
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- When i was growing up.
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- I'll call him sam,
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- As if loneliness was not enough of a burden to bear.
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- He was continually teased by other boys in school.
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- He was overweight
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- And he wore very thick glasses and he stuttered as he talked.
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- We were 12 years old and sam and i collided 12.
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- An age where life is challenging enough
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- Without the addition of cruelty.
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- So i was walking the short
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- Distance home from school one day
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- When i heard a commotion behind me.
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- So i stopped and i turned around to see what was going on.
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- Sam was being harassed by three boys
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- And i mean, their words were cruel enough,
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- But when one picked up a small stone, it threw it at him.
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- Something inside me snapped.
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- I dropped my school bag, and i pushed the bully so hard
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- That he fell into his friends.
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- And they all ended up in a pile on the sidewalk.
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- Sam and i walked home together.
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- We lived only one street apart,
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- And he invited me to come in and have some lemonade.
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- Why did you do that? he asked.
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- Because i'm just like you.
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- I said no, you're not.
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- He said, i am, sam.
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- I think we all are.
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- We're all broken in one way or another.
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- We want to belong, to fit in.
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- But life is hard.
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- It's hard for everyone.
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- But some of us conceal our struggles better than others.
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- Some have no choice but to wear their brokenness
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- In a visible way,
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- While others disguise it behind laughter and smiles.
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- But the pain is the same.
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- We long to be fully known
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- And fully loved, but that's a terrifying thought.
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- What if being fully known means that we would not be
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- Fully loved?
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- As we walk through this advent season?
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- We are invited into that very longed for embrace
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- Of our heavenly father.
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- The grace of such overwhelming love
- 00:02:57.889 --> 00:03:00.993
- Only became possible when jesus left the glory of heaven.
- 00:03:00.993 --> 00:03:05.130
- To be born as a fragile baby.
- 00:03:05.130 --> 00:03:07.766
- He walked where we walk, loved like we long to be loved
- 00:03:07.766 --> 00:03:11.770
- All the time, showing us in flesh and blood.
- 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:15.007
- But god, our father is like.
- 00:03:15.007 --> 00:03:17.609
- But the truth remains that unless we're able to grasp
- 00:03:17.609 --> 00:03:21.046
- Hold of that love
- 00:03:21.046 --> 00:03:22.414
- By the grace of god, to let that love into
- 00:03:22.414 --> 00:03:24.850
- Every little broken corner of our lives, we will remain alone.
- 00:03:24.850 --> 00:03:30.188
- We were made for so much more.
- 00:03:30.822 --> 00:03:33.358
- I think
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- I think we need to become a little bit more like mistletoe.
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- I did a little research recently,
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- And this plant has a lot to teach us.
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- Mistletoe can't survive or thrive on its own.
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- Its life is dependent on what it's connected to.
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- Here's how its journey begins.
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- A mistletoe seed germinates on the branch of a host tree
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- Or shrub,
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- And it becomes dependent on its hosts for survival.
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- The american mistletoe scientific name is fulford
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- Drawn, which is greek for thief of the tree.
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- It literally steals nutrients to survive.
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- Mistletoe might be a thief,
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- But you and i have been invited to be grafted into jesus,
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- To draw our very life and breath from him.
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- An interesting article from a bbc wildlife
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- Magazine says mistletoe is a hemi parasite
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- Which attaches to a tree via sucker roots and absorbs
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- Some water and nutrients from its host plant.
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- However, it also produces some of its own food
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- Via photosynthesis in its green leaves.
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- A picture god has given us in nature
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- To understand the source of our life.
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- I mean, i know i cannot survive without jesus.
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- I think i understand that more now than i ever have.
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- Daily. hourly.
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- Moment by moment i need him.
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- And as i receive from him, i'm then able to produce fruit
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- That honors him.
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- I was reminded of this when i was just 16 years old
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- And being baptized in a little church in scotland.
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- Several of us were baptized that night.
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- We were dressed in white robes.
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- We sat in the front pew and waited to be called forward
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- From the first note of the first hymn.
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- I began to cry.
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- I wasn't sure why.
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- I just knew i was on holy ground.
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- A pastor called us up one by one.
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- We were asked to give a statement of our trust
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- In jesus before being submerged into the water.
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- As each of us came out of the water,
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- We were given a scripture verse for our life.
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- This was the scripture given to me that night.
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- You didn't choose me.
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- I chose you.
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- I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit
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- So that the father will give you whatever you ask for using
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- My name.
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- I wish i
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- Understood that invitation from jesus more clearly then
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- I spent years trying to be good
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- Enough, strong enough, worthy enough.
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- I understand, though, it's never been about being enough.
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- Jesus makes us more than enough.
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- You and i get to come just as we are.
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- Jesus makes us more than enough.
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- We get to come as we are in the busyness of the season.
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- Remember the humble mistletoe
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- And cling to jesus with everything in you.
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- Let his life and love fill every empty space.
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- It's pretty.
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- Or we do confess that to you that we need you.
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- We cannot survive without you.
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- And so, even as we walk through this advent season,
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- Lord, we declare that we will cling to you.
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- That just as you feed us, and as we grow in you,
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- We will pray that our lives
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- Will be a light and a source of nourishment to others.
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- May our lives glorify you this christmas in jesus name.
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- Amen.
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