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: Proclaim the King | 5 Minutes with Jesus | December 5, 2025
- Perhaps you've been through something this year.
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- It's been very hard to bear.
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- And we be tempted to ask.
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- Where were you last sunday?
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- Being bold enough to ask those questions
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- In the presence of god can lead us to a deeper faith
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- And restore our hope in a loving, merciful god.
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- When we hide our pain, it's hard to find healing.
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- I love the sound of church bells.
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- I didn't grow up in a tradition
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- Where bells were part of worship,
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- But when i was a student in seminary in london,
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- There was a church in our town
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- Whose bells rang out each sunday, calling us to worship.
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- The sound was carried through the air,
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- Reminding us that this day was special.
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- It was holy.
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- A day set apart for the lord.
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- When god instructed moses to build a tabernacle,
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- A place of worship where god's presence would settle
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- With his people, bells rang out and his presence.
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- We have only one
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- Mention of bells in scripture to be used in god's presence.
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- They were a sign that the high priest
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- Had entered the holy of holies.
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- Aaron,
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- The first high priest,
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- Was the only one allowed to enter the holy of holies.
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- The place for the glory of the lord was present,
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- And only once a year on the day of atonement.
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- Bells were an important part of aaron's robe.
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- Make the robe that is worn with the effort
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- From a single piece of blue cloth,
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- With an opening for aaron's head in the middle of it.
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- Reinforce the opening with a woven collar
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- So it will not tear.
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- Make pomegranates out of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn
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- And attach them
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- To the hem of the robe with gold bells between them.
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- The gold bells
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- And the pomegranates are to alternate all around the hem.
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- Aaron will wear this robe
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- Whenever he ministers before the lord,
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- And the bells
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- Will tinkle as he goes in and out of the lord's presence
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- In the holy place,
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- Because
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- The holy sanctuary was covered by a thick veil.
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- A tradition of birds suggested
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- That the high priest
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- Were a rope around his waist, in case he died
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- While he was in there.
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- How would you know?
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- He died if no one else was allowed to enter?
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- Well,
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- They would know
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- Because the bells stopped ringing
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- And they would be able to pull him out.
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- So the ringing of bells was good news for aaron,
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- And it's good news for us now.
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- They were good news, too,
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- For a poet who had fallen into despair and lost
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- The will to write or even to live.
- 00:02:26.769 --> 00:02:30.073
- Henry wadsworth longfellow was one of the most widely known
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- And best loved american poets of the 19th century.
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- He's best known, perhaps for paul revere's ride,
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- But he fell into a deep depression in 1861
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- When his beloved wife, frances suffered fatal burns.
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- Her dress caught fire from a candle that she was using
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- To seal envelopes, while the burns were so extreme
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- That she died the next day.
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- Henry sustained severe burns
- 00:02:57.600 --> 00:02:59.369
- To his hands, arms and face trying to put the fire out.
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- He was so sick
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- That he hadn't been able to attend his wife's funeral.
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- Two years later, he suffered another crushing blow.
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- His son
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- Charlie, against his father's wishes, snuck away from home
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- And enlisted in the federal army in washington, d.c.
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- While at dinner one night, longfellow received
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- A telegram that son had been shot.
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- Charlie survived
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- But is recovering at home with his father.
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- Took months.
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- When those kind of tragedies strike,
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- It can impact the strongest believer.
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- It can shake your faith to the core.
- 00:03:35.905 --> 00:03:38.641
- Perhaps you've been through something this year.
- 00:03:38.641 --> 00:03:41.244
- It's been very hard to bear, and we can be tempted to ask,
- 00:03:41.244 --> 00:03:45.081
- Where were you, lord?
- 00:03:45.581 --> 00:03:46.516
- Sunday's being bold enough to ask those questions
- 00:03:47.550 --> 00:03:50.219
- In the presence of god can lead us to a deeper faith
- 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:53.623
- And restore our hope in a loving, merciful god.
- 00:03:53.623 --> 00:03:57.360
- When we hide our pain, it's hard to find healing.
- 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.897
- Well, that was certainly true for henry wadsworth longfellow
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- On christmas day, 1863,
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- As he heard the church bells ring out,
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- He sat down and he wrote these words
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- To carol, now known and loved in many parts of the world.
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- But the poem actually shows his struggle,
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- The temptation to believe that evil wins.
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- And yet, even as he wrestles with his pain, hope
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- Rises up again. this is how it starts.
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- I heard the bells on christmas day.
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- That old familiar carols play.
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- And wild and sweet the words repeat.
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- Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.
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- And then despair.
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- I bowed my head.
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- There is no peace on earth, i said.
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- But hate the strong.
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- And mocks the song of peace on earth.
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- Goodwill to men.
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- Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.
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- God is not dead nor dirty.
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- Sleep.
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- The wrong shall fail.
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- The right prevail.
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- With peace on earth.
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- Goodwill to men.
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- That was the message the angels brought.
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- As the song ran out that night in bethlehem.
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- Like the sound of a million bells.
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- I love the classic film it's a wonderful life.
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- But i have to part ways with the conclusion.
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- I think that every time a bell rings,
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- We're reminded of our coming king.
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- Let's pray.
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- Lord jesus, we thank you that not only are you
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- A baby willing to be born on that christmas morning,
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- But you are our soon returning king.
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- Lord, thank you that even into the deepest spare
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- You can speak words of hope.
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- I pray that right now, lord, for anyone who is struggling,
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- For anyone who feels as if they've lost hope in jesus name,
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- I pray that you would restore that hope.
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- I thank you in his name.
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- Amen.
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