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: Light in the Darkness | 5 Minutes with Jesus | December 17, 2025
- As she finished the story that night,
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- Ruth reminded me that we all get a little lost at times.
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- You know, we disappoint each other.
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- We fail each other.
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- That's why jesus came.
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- If you feel a little lost or forgotten this christmas.
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- Lift up your head.
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- Because christ, the light of the world has come.
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- Remember these words from the prophet isaiah.
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- The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
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- For those who live in a land of deep darkness.
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- A light will shine.
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- One of my most treasured possessions is a book
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- That was given to me by ruth belle
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- Graham, called beside the bonny brier bush by ian mclaren.
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- It's an old well preserved book, and inside the front covers
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- Is the name of its first owner, a gentleman named george.
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- He dated his purchase year as 1898.
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- It was then addressed the book to me
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- And gave it to me one evening when i was spending some time
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- With her in her lovely home in the mountains of montreat,
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- North carolina.
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- I first met ruth when i was invited to sing
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- At the billy graham crusade in england in 1984.
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- I'd never met anyone like the graham team
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- Of billy graham, bev shea and cliff barrows before.
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- It was so kind, welcoming to a nervous young scottish girl.
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- I remember it being very cold on the platform that night,
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- And bev shea was 75 years old at the time,
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- Took the blanket that was over his knees
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- And gave it to me with a big smile.
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- He exuded joy.
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- There was such a fiery passion and conviction in mr.
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- Graham's voice as he preached.
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- I watched in tears as hundreds of people
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- Made their way forward to receive christ,
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- A light of the world, a tsunami of joy.
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- My first impression of ruth was just how elegant and graceful
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- She was.
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- I looked to see where she was sitting on
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- The platform that night, but she wasn't there.
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- One of the team later told me that she loved
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- To be in the crowd, to feel the lord moving among people,
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- But it was at my lowest moment
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- When ruth reached out and rescued me.
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- She reminded me that joy can be found again
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- At the feet of jesus,
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- Even when it feels as if it's gone forever.
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- I had just spent a month in a psychiatric hospital
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- Diagnosed with severe clinical depression.
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- I received several letters during those four weeks
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- Condemning me for my lack of faith and trust in christ.
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- After one
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- Dear friend found out that i'd been put on medication,
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- They told me that we were no longer friends,
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- As i should have placed my trust in jesus, not in medicine.
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- I found it heartbreaking.
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- I felt so alone and afraid.
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- I felt as if i'd like to thank god and the community of faith,
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- And there was no way home for me.
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- That was when ruth called and asked me to come to montreat.
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- Mr. graham was out on crusade, and it just be the two of us.
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- I'll never forget those days.
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- On that first evening after i went to bed,
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- Ruth brought me a cup of tea and asked
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- If she could read me a story.
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- She read a story from beside the bonnie brier bush
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- Called the transformation of lachlan campbell.
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- It's hard to read this book unless you were raised
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- In scotland, as it's written in such a strong scottish
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- Dialect with words known only to us.
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- So let me share a little of this joy soaked story.
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- It's a story about a lamp in a window.
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- So lachlan campbell was a severe religious man
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- Whose wife had died, leaving him
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- To raise their daughter flora alone.
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- He was harsh and strict with her.
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- And finally, flora ran away from home
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- And made her way to london.
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- Lachlan had no grace for her in his heart,
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- To the point he even erased her name from the family bible.
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- Flora had broken his rules.
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- She didn't
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- Live up to his expectations, and he was done with her.
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- Well.
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- Meanwhile, in london,
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- Flora was at the end of her rope as she walked the streets.
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- She realized that
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- Not one person there cared if she lived or died that night.
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- She was alone.
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- As ruth read those lines.
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- Tears fell down my cheeks
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- To pass me a tissue and said, hold on, sheila.
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- There's hope.
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- She continued reading, and it became clear
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- In the story that god was at work.
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- Truth is, god is always at work,
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- Even when we can't see his plan.
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- When lachlan showed a dear friend that he had erased
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- Flora's name from his bible,
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- The woman told him that if god treated us the way
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- He had treated his daughter, we would all be lost.
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- A conviction fell on lachlan in waves and he cried out, god
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- Be merciful to me, a sinner.
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- In london that same night,
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- Flora crept into the shadow of a church and wept.
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- I should listen to the music.
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- She felt compelled to go inside,
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- And she heard the preacher say, you are not forgotten.
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- You are missed.
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- So she decided to go home.
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- Unsure of the welcome she would get.
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- But as she made her way from the train station
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- Through the woods,
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- She saw something that filled her heart with joy.
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- A blazing light from a lantern in the window of her home.
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- It was a message that said, welcome home.
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- You are missed.
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- As she finished the story that night, ruth
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- Reminded me that we all get a little lost at times.
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- You know, we disappoint each other.
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- We fail each other.
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- That's why jesus came.
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- If you feel a little lost or forgotten this christmas.
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- Lift up your head.
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- Because christ, the light of the world has come.
- 00:05:49.394 --> 00:05:52.531
- Remember these words from the prophet isaiah.
- 00:05:52.531 --> 00:05:55.233
- The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.
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- For those who live in a land of deep darkness.
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- A light will shine. let's pray.
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- Lord jesus, how do we find words to thank you
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- For coming into our dark world with the light of your presence.
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- Thank you for the grace that you bestow on us.
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- The one who wanders away
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- And the one who stays at home in self-righteousness.
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- Your mercy is the same.
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- So, father, thank you for that.
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- I pray if anyone feels a little lost this christmas,
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- They will remember that you always leave the light
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- Of your life on and your arms are wide
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- Open to welcome every single one of us home.
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- In jesus name, amen.
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