God wants to be real to us–he wants us to see him through our own eyes, not through the eyes of our parents, our friends, a person in a church, or the world around us. Today’s story is about a guy named Jacob who discovered God for himself by getting into a fight with him. Check out this Mini Quiet Time episode to learn from the story of Jacob that God becomes real to us when we stop running from who we are.

Show Notes:

Job 19:27 NIrV

Genesis 32:7-9,11,21 NIV

Genesis 32:24-25 NIV

He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself, Russ Ewell

Genesis 32:26-28 NIV

One of the many great things about having a personal friendship with God is that he satisfies. We don’t have to keep chasing unreliable things like attention, approval, or achievement to make us happy—we have a source of security and love in our lives that won’t change, on our good days or our bad days. To learn more about how to build this kind of secure, satisfying friendship with God, listen to this Scripture Playlist episode about how God is enough for us. 

Show Notes

Psalm 23:1-3 TPT

John 4:13-14 AMP

Psalm 142:5 ERV

Hebrews 13:5 CEV

Philippians 4:11-13 GW

Psalm 73:25-26 Voice

Psalm 73:28 ERV

Lamentations 3:19-24 CEV

Psalm 63:1,5 NLT

Psalm 90:14 NLT

Psalm 131:1-2 GNT

Philippians 3:8-9 CEV

James 1:3-4 NLT

Isaiah 58:11 NCV

Matthew 5:6 AMP

Proverbs 19:23 AMP

Psalm 107:9 NRSV

Jeremiah 31:25 Voice

2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT

John 10:10 NLT

Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT

Endurance is one of the most important qualities Jesus had, and it's one we should all learn to develop if we want to change the world the way he did. Pain makes us break down, and the pain that is most difficult to handle is the pain that comes from sin. Talking about sin not only releases us from its mastery over our lives, but also helps us develop the endurance to resist it. Jesus endured the pressures of sin, and we can learn from him how to do the same. Check out this episode of One Quick Thought to learn more about how Jesus changed the world.

Show Notes:

Discussion Questions

The church we read about in the New Testament was not made strong by the celebrity of an individual superstar preacher. It was made strong by the powerful walk with God of each individual Christian, which collectively made the early church a transformative force in the world. This transformative church can live again, but it will require a paradigm shift in how we live and lead in our churches.

Check out this snippet from Chapter 7 from the audio version of our new book, He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself.

Show Notes

As we continue our series on building a church that changes the world, we have to decide whether we want a biblical or a traditional church. The church of the New Testament embodied five qualities that we can learn from if we want to build a biblical church: conviction, transparency, discipleship, purpose, and unity. Watch this episode of One Quick Thought to learn more about how Jesus changed the world.

Show Notes

Discussion Questions

Have you ever watched a friend go through a storm, and felt powerless to help? Or maybe you tried to help and made it worse? God is the ultimate friend to us when we go through storms, and he can show us how to be a good friend to other people. Check out this Mini Quiet Time to learn how Jesus helped Peter through a tumultuous time, and how we can follow his example by being a calm and steady presence in our friends' storms.

Show Notes:

Proverbs 17:17 NIV

Matthew 14:22-32 ERV

Jesus shows us how to walk with God. Even though he was equal to God, he chose to humble himself in prayer and rely on God's power. Our human pride makes us strive, push, and work to get things done, but we end up missing out on the humility that comes with walking with God. Humility is the core of Jesus's relationship with God, and it's what he taught the New Testament church to have. Check out this part of our series about how Jesus changed the world to learn to walk with God in powerful humility like Jesus did.

Show Notes

Many people come to God expecting a quick miracle that will make everything better. What the Bible actually emphasizes is "building," which is a long-term view of life. Those whose lives collapse almost always have ignored building the emotional aspect of their spiritual lives—they were not willing to dig down deep. Building or rebuilding our emotional lives will allow us to grow our character as we walk with God and develop our strength from the inside out.

Check out this excerpt from chapter six of our new book, He's Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself⁠, which is available now on Amazon!

A lot of people are searching for hope right now, and we can find that hope if we look at Jesus. Jesus wanted the church to be built on hope. In this episode, we learn how to build a church on hope the way Jesus did—by cultivating purpose, humility, endurance, impact, and inspiration. Check out this episode of One Quick Thought to learn more about how Jesus changed the world.

Show Notes:

When we feel discouraged about something we’re trying to do, it’s easy to get tired and lose heart. In our moments of frustration and failure, we need to turn to God and his Word to find the strength to keep going. Check out this Scripture Playlist for Bible verses that help us believe our efforts make a difference.

Show Notes

Colossians 4:2 CEV

Galatians 6:9 NASB95

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 CEV

1 Corinthians 15:58 AMP

Isaiah 54:10 TPT

1 Corinthians 1:7-9 MSG

2 Corinthians 6:4 ERV

Ephesians 6:18 ERV

Psalm 34:18 CEV

Deuteronomy 20:3-4 NLT

2 Thessalonians 3:13 AMP

Psalm 119:25 TLB

Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV

Psalm 61:2 GW

1 Chronicles 22:13 NLT

Isaiah 42:1-4 NLT

Isaiah 49:4 CEV

Hebrews 6:9-11 Voice

2 Corinthians 7:5-6 NLT

Colossians 2:6-7 TPT

James 1:2-4 CEV

2 Timothy 4:7 BSB

Hebrews 10:35-36 ERV

Hebrews 3:6-8 CEV

1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV

Don’t Lose Heart