Followed By Mercy

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Imagine switching family lines, moving from an inheritance of death to an inheritance of life. That’s the transformation that takes place when we move from being “in Adam” to being “in Christ.”

In this episode of Followed by Mercy, we look at Ephesians 1:11 and discover the incredible truth of our inheritance in Christ. Being part of Adam’s family meant we inherited sin, guilt, and separation from God. But through faith in Jesus, we are born again into a new family and receive a completely different inheritance: righteousness, peace, acceptance, and eternal life.

Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 remind us that it’s not about what we do, but about whose family we belong to. God’s love doesn’t rise and fall with our performance. Like a good Father, He loves us because of who He is, not because of what we achieve.

This truth frees us from the exhausting burden of trying to earn what is already ours. You are God’s beloved child, and your inheritance in Christ is secure. All that remains is to live out of the identity you’ve already been given.

Listen in and be encouraged to stop striving, rest in God’s love, and walk in the inheritance of life that is yours in Jesus.

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What does real faith look like when it meets real suffering? In this episode, we explore the deep connection between faith and love through the story of the Good Samaritan.

Paul once commended believers for their “faith in the Lord Jesus and love for all the saints” in Ephesians 1:15. Those two always go together. Jesus taught the same truth when He said that loving God and loving our neighbor sum up everything God asks of us.

The parable of the Good Samaritan brings this to life. The religious leaders walked past a hurting man, unwilling to risk their comfort or reputation. But an outsider, the one least expected, stopped, showed compassion, and bore the cost of love. His response challenges us to consider our own. Are we too busy protecting our image, or are we willing to get messy with mercy?

True faith isn’t a performance or a checklist. It’s the kind of trust in God’s love that overflows in compassion for others. In a divided world, what if Christians were known most of all for their radical, boundary-crossing love? That kind of faith changes lives and communities.

Listen in and be encouraged to rest in God’s love, letting it flow through you to others. Share this episode with someone who needs to be reminded that faith and love always walk hand in hand.

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Have you ever felt like you had to earn God’s love? In this episode, we explore how liberating it is to discover that God’s love isn’t something we earn. It’s who He is.

We walk through Luke 7 and the moving story of a woman known for her sins who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. While others looked at her with judgment, Jesus saw her with love and forgiveness. His parable of the two debtors reminds us that those who know how deeply they’ve been forgiven also learn how to love deeply.

This conversation challenges performance-based religion and points us back to grace. God’s love isn’t dependent on our behavior. It’s unconditional, unchanging, and meant to flow through us into the lives of others. As Galatians 5:6 says, what really matters is “faith working through love.”
If you’ve ever wrestled with guilt, shame, or the pressure to “do more” for God, this episode will encourage you to rest in His love and let that love shape how you see yourself and others.

Listen in, and then share this with someone who needs to hear that God already loves them completely, unconditionally, and forever.

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Are you living with boundaries on God’s grace that He never placed on you? Many of us have all we need in Christ yet walk through life like spiritual beggars, blind to the power already at work within us.

In this episode, we look at how easily we restrict God’s power in our lives, much like the early settlers of Manhattan who built a wall, never imagining the city would grow beyond it. 

Paul, chained in a Roman prison, spoke of “the exceeding greatness of God’s power” with a freedom that no cell could contain. His secret wasn’t denial of suffering but a shift in perspective. He wasn’t Rome’s prisoner. He was the Lord’s.

The truth is life-changing yet straightforward: you don’t need to seek resurrection power. You already have it. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you. The tragedy isn’t facing trials but going through life without realizing the inheritance that’s already yours in Christ.

This episode will encourage you to see your challenges through new eyes, to stop striving for what is already yours, and to trust that your past doesn’t have the final say. Resurrection power changes how you parent, how you work, how you face temptation, and how you love.

What would shift in your life if you truly believed that Christ Himself is alive within you today?

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Have you ever felt abandoned by God in your darkest hour? In this episode, I share from my own journey through cancer, surgeries, and treatments that left me questioning everything, only to discover that God’s mercy never left my side. 

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me” isn’t just poetic comfort; it’s a living reality that has carried me through despair and turned my pain into a ministry now reaching thousands across the world.

At the heart of this message is a liberating truth: many of us carry distorted views of God, imagining Him as a stern taskmaster keeping score of our failures. But Jesus showed us the Father’s real heart, compassionate, welcoming, and full of delight in His children. When He touched lepers and embraced outcasts, that was God Himself saying, “I want you near.”

Grace means you are already accepted because of Christ’s finished work. You don’t have to strive or perform to earn His smile. It was secured at the cross. If your faith has stolen your joy, you’ve picked up a counterfeit version of it. Real grace frees your heart to rest, even rejoice, in the middle of life’s valleys.

Whether you’re facing sickness, loss, or deep doubt, you are not alone. The Shepherd walks with you, sometimes carries you, and never lets go. His mercy is following you right now.

Share this episode with someone who needs hope—they may not see it yet, but mercy is on their trail.

Here are links to the books I have written. 

Pain to Praise

Fulfilling Marriage

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Have you ever read God’s promises and quietly wondered if they were too good to be true? In this episode, we look at Ephesians 3:12 and the staggering truth that in Christ, you already have boldness, access, and confidence before God, not one day when you’re “good enough,” but right now, just as you are.

Most believers trust God for heaven but live like they’re still on probation here on earth. But grace is not probation. It’s adoption. The gospel isn’t a set of instructions on how to get inside; it’s the announcement that Jesus has already brought you in. You belong. You’re home.

This isn’t about arrogance. It’s the freedom of a child who knows they’re loved. Your access to God doesn’t depend on your performance but on Christ’s faithfulness. Even on your worst day, when shame whispers that you don’t belong, you can come boldly to the Father because Jesus Himself has already opened the way.

If you’ve been weighed down by guilt, fear, or the feeling that God is disappointed in you, this message will lift that burden. The guards of condemnation have no authority to block you. Christ has walked you straight past them into the throne room of grace. The cure is complete. You’re healed. Now it’s time to live like it.

Share this with someone who needs the reminder: you’re not living on probation, you’re living in the full access Jesus already secured for you.

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Faith, love, and thanksgiving. Three simple words that carried Paul’s heart even as he sat chained in prison, facing the shadow of death. Instead of despair, his letters overflowed with joy. How?

In this episode, we open Ephesians 1:15-16 and discover what it means to trust Jesus completely, to love others freely, and to give thanks no matter the circumstance. Faith isn’t just wishful thinking. 

It’s leaning your whole weight on Christ, like Hudson Taylor trusting God to provide, or Jim Elliott declaring that surrender to Christ is no loss but gain. 
Love isn’t reserved for the easy people. It’s for all saints, even those who’ve hurt us. It’s choosing forgiveness and blessing instead of bitterness. And thanksgiving? It’s the natural language of grace, the kind of gratitude that refuses to be silenced, even behind prison walls.

Through stories of missionaries who endured loss yet loved, and wisdom from Scripture and history, we’ll see how faith is the root, love is the fruit, and thanksgiving is the song of the Christian life.

What would change in your life if you anchored your faith in Jesus, loved someone practically today, and spoke words of thanksgiving out loud? That’s where real freedom begins—because you can chain a man’s body, but you can’t chain a heart filled with faith, love, and thanksgiving.

Share this episode with a friend who needs encouragement, and let’s walk together in the grace Paul knew so well.

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This message was preached at Shady Grove Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia. 

Have you ever introduced yourself by your failures? “I’m divorced.” “I’m an addict.” “I’m a mess.” What if your true identity had nothing to do with your past mistakes or even your greatest achievements?

In this episode, we open Ephesians 1:1 and discover the breathtaking truth of who God says we are: saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. This isn’t a title we earn by flawless living. It’s a gift we receive by grace.

Just like a name given at birth or a new surname in marriage, our spiritual identity comes from God’s declaration, not our performance. Through Christ, we are transferred out of Adam’s family of sin into God’s family of righteousness. He no longer defines us by what we’ve done but by who we are in Jesus, holy, blameless, and dearly loved.

We’ll discuss how this identity shift changes everything:

• Why being “in Christ” means His righteousness, acceptance, and position become ours.
• How God sees beyond our past and into our potential, just as Jesus saw Matthew, the tax collector, as a future apostle.
• Why holy living isn’t about striving harder but about resting in who God has already made us to be.

You don’t have to keep introducing yourself by your worst moments. Your most authentic identity is found in Christ alone. Listen now and discover the freedom of living as who you really are: a beloved child of God.

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What if you could stop trying to earn God’s approval and finally rest in the truth that you already have it? In this episode, we walk through Ephesians 1:13–14 and discover what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

God’s seal isn’t fragile or conditional. It’s as real as DNA inside your body, an unshakable mark that says you belong to Him. This seal doesn’t vanish when life gets messy, when you lose your temper, or when doubt keeps you awake at night. It is permanent, personal, and proof that you are His.

We’ll discuss how salvation isn’t based on your performance, but on God’s promise. The very moment you believed, He sealed you, not after you proved yourself, not once you got it all together. That seal makes you part of God’s family, with no second-class citizens.

The Spirit within you is God’s down payment, His pledge that He will finish what He started. Every glimpse of peace in the middle of chaos is a reminder of what’s ahead, the fullness of redemption, when even your body will be made new.

This truth sets you free from spiritual anxiety. You’re not on probation with God. You’re not one mistake away from being cast out. You are secure, loved, and kept until the day of redemption.

Stop living like a spiritual orphan, afraid that God might change His mind. He won’t. Live with boldness, knowing you are fully loved and fully His. Rest in what is already yours. Walk in the confidence that God always finishes what He begins to the praise of His glory.

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For many, the word predestination brings more fear than comfort. Visions of a distant God choosing some for heaven and others for hell can feel unsettling. But what if that’s not what Scripture is saying at all?

In this episode, we look into Ephesians 1:11-14 and discover the breathtaking truth: predestination isn’t about God excluding people, it’s about God making a way for everyone through Jesus. Long before the world began, God wrote your name into His divine will. He didn’t overlook you. He chose you to receive the greatest inheritance possible, not riches or lands, but Christ Himself.

We’ll talk about what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, how every taste of God’s joy now is only a foretaste of glory to come, and why the family of God has no outsiders. At the cross, all walls come down. Every believer is equally loved, equally chosen, and equally secure in Christ.

If predestination has ever unsettled you, this conversation will change your perspective. Instead of fear, you’ll find rest in God’s love and confidence in your eternal inheritance.

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