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: Live by the Spirit | 5 Minutes with Jesus | March 20, 2026
- So often, if you're like me,
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- We rely on feeling god's presence.
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- But i've discovered feelings don't have brains.
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- We don't have to rely on what we feel.
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- We can rely on what jesus has promised.
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- If you find yourself at the end of your rope today,
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- Right now, jesus says always,
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- I will be with you always.
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- And always still means always.
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- I love how eugene peterson, in the message paraphrase,
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- Interprets romans chapter eight, verses one and two
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- With the arrival of jesus the messiah.
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- That fateful dilemma is resolved.
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- Those who enter into christ's being here for us no longer
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- Have to live under continuous, low lying black cloud.
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- A new power is in operation.
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- The spirit of life in christ, like a strong wind,
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- Has magnificently
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- Cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime
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- Of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
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- So what's he writing about?
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- What was this fateful dilemma that paul was writing about?
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- Well, if you read romans chapter seven, it's clear
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- Paul talks about something
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- That i am very familiar with, and perhaps you are too.
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- He writes, i decide to do good, but i don't really do it.
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- I decide not to do bad, but then i do it anyway.
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- My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions.
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- Something has gone wrong
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- Deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
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- It happens so regularly that it's predictable.
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- The moment i decide to do good.
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- Sin is there to trip me up.
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- I truly delight in god's commands,
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- But it's pretty obvious that not all of me
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- Joins in that delight.
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- Parts of me covertly rebel.
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- And just when i least expect it, they take charge.
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- I've tried everything and nothing helps.
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- I'm at the end of my rope.
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- Is there no one who can do anything for me?
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- Isn't that the real question?
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- The answer, thank god, is that jesus
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- Christ can and does.
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- Paul is writing about the power of the holy spirit
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- To help us live lives that honor god.
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- He's very honest about the reality of the human condition,
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- But totally convinced of the power of god
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- To help you and i live a spirit led life.
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- He. does that mean we'll get it right all the time?
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- No. absolutely not.
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- But that's where the gift of repentance comes in.
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- That's an old fashioned work.
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- Honestly, it's one of my favorite words.
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- The original word for repent is the greek word metanoia,
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- Which literally means to change your mind, to change direction.
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- This word has nothing to do with guilt or shame.
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- It's an action.
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- It's about thinking differently and acting differently.
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- Someone asked me the other day,
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- How do i know that i'm
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- Following the prompting of the holy spirit,
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- And not just the pizza that i ate the night before?
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- It's actually a great question.
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- When i feel the prompting of the holy spirit,
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- There are a few things i measure that up against.
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- First of all, does it contradict god's word?
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- If it does, that's not the holy spirit.
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- I got a private message the other day from a woman
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- Who said to me that god had told her to divorce her husband.
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- I texted back and i asked her if she'd been abused in any way
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- Was her unfaithfulness.
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- She texted back, said no,
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- I just think god wants me to start again.
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- The holy spirit will never tell us to do something
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- That is contrary to god's revealed will in his word.
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- So we all need to know god's word.
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- There are so many wonderful teachers
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- And preachers that we can glean from online,
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- But that never takes the place
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- Of knowing the word of god for ourselves.
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- I've also learned the benefit of running things
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- By 1 or 2 people who are spiritually mature.
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- Those i trust and respect.
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- And another important element is the peace
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- That comes from making a right decision.
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- We read in colossians chapter three verse 15,
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- And let the peace that comes from christ rule in your hearts.
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- Something i'm learning more about at the moment
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- Is the gift of of quiet,
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- Of being still in the lord's presence
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- And asking the holy spirit to speak to me.
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- I don't want to be the one who's always talking.
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- I want to learn to listen for the voice of the lord.
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- Perhaps most importantly of all,
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- Remember this promise from jesus.
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- Teach these new disciples to obey
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- All the commands i have given.
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- And be sure of this.
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- I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
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- So often, if you're like me, we rely on feeling god's presence.
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- But i've discovered feelings don't have brains.
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- We don't have to rely on what we feel.
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- We can rely on what jesus has promised.
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- If you find yourself at the end of your rope today, right
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- Now, jesus says always, i will be with you always.
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- And always still means always.
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- Let me pray for you.
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- Lord, thank you that you have promised
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- To be with us, that we will never be left alone.
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- And lord, i want to thank you for the power of the holy spirit
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- Working in our lives to remind us who we are,
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- And you help us to study your word.
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- Help us to hear your voice clearly.
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- Help us to develop
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- Such a relationship with you that we can tell
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- When you are speaking to us.
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- That we can back that up with the word of god,
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- And with the counsel of those we love and trust.
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- We want to live lives that bring you glory.
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- And we ask that in the powerful name of jesus.
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- Amen.
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- Bei.
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