Followed By Mercy
The Followed By Mercy Podcast
Real Grace, Honest Hope
You might notice a new name and a fresh look, but the heart behind this podcast is the same. After years as the World Evangelism Podcast, I sensed God leading me to a deeper, more personal path centered on His relentless mercy and the kind of honest hope that can reach into every hurting place. That’s why this show is now called Followed By Mercy Podcast. The format may shift, and the tone may be a bit more personal, but my mission hasn’t changed: I still believe the world desperately needs to hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. You are welcome here if you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found us now.
What if God’s love is more personal, stubborn, and relentless than you ever imagined?
Welcome to The Followed By Mercy Podcast, where we get honest about pain, hope, and the kind of grace that finds you right where you are, five days a week. This isn’t about religious performance or church routines. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt worn out, unseen, or unsure if they belong in the story of God’s love. Every conversation is rooted in this reality: God loves you right now, just as you are, and He isn’t giving up on you.
Here’s what you’ll find in every episode:
Experience God’s Relentless Love
Every show starts by reminding you that the Shepherd knows your name, cares about your story, and isn’t offended by your failures or questions. This is personal—it’s about God’s unwavering affection for you.
Find Your Place in His Heart
Once you grasp how fiercely you’re loved, sharing that love with others doesn’t feel forced. It becomes the most natural thing in the world. Real grace overflows.
Prayer That Changes You
We pray together—not just for the world “out there,” but for the battles and hopes you’re carrying right now. These prayers are honest, rooted in Scripture, and meant for hearts that need a gentle touch from the Shepherd.
Discover Your Unique Role
Whether you’re called to go, give, serve, or show kindness in your corner of the world, God’s mercy meets you where you are. You’re not just a bystander. You are His beloved, invited into the story He’s writing.
When life knocks the wind out of you, this is a place to catch your breath. You’ll hear the encouragement that meets you on your hardest days, and your honest questions will be welcomed. No pretending, no heavy-handed advice—just the reminder that your Shepherd is right there with you, walking every step with you, even when you feel like giving up.
Why does this matter? Because some days, it feels like nobody sees you or cares what you’re going through. But the truth is, you have a Shepherd who never takes His eyes off you, lets you slip through the cracks, and never gives up on you. That kind of love can put you back on your feet, and it might be the hope someone else is waiting to see in you, too.
If you’re longing for more than just religious talk—if you want to know you’re not alone and that God’s mercy is following you all the way home, you’re in the right place. Whether you listen in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment, let every episode remind you: God’s mercy is after you right now, ready to bring real grace and honest hope.
Subscribe today and join a community to discover what happens when loved people become loving people. The journey’s just beginning, and there’s a place for you here.
Followed By Mercy
The Comforter Lives in You
What if the most incredible spiritual truth you need right now is also the simplest? You are never alone.
David once celebrated that God was with him in the valley, but as followers of Jesus, we have something even more astonishing—Christ isn’t just beside us; He has moved in. The Holy Spirit hasn’t just stopped by for a visit or promised to stand close in times of hardship. He’s made His home in the middle of our mess, inside our very bodies, as our Comforter and constant companion.
This changes everything about how we face life’s valleys. Hospital rooms, empty homes after heartbreak, the places where you feel most lost or unseen, none of these are outside the reach of the God who lives within you. You don’t have to run to Him. He already ran to you. You don’t have to measure up to Him. He measured down to you.
Somewhere along the way, most of us start slipping from grace into performance, trying to earn what was always a gift. But victory isn’t found in striving to be good enough. It’s found in resting in the love of the One who calls us His own, right where we are. The Shepherd doesn’t just walk alongside His sheep anymore. Now, He lives inside them.
So, even in the shadowy valley where fear and danger feel overwhelming, you can take a deep breath. Not because you’re strong but because the Creator of the universe occupies every corner of your life, every cell of your body. You are His temple, and He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Let this episode be a gentle reminder: you don’t have to earn God’s nearness, and your failures do not disqualify you. Meditate on this today: your Shepherd isn’t just with you. He lives in you.
If you’ve been caught in the exhausting cycle of trying to earn what’s already been freely given, take a moment to rest. And if you know someone who needs this reminder, share it with them. The truest thing about you today is this: you are never alone.
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you are never alone. You are never, ever alone. You need to know. He said, psalm 23, 4, thou art with me. And if ever that was true, it is true in the New Testament. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit moves into us. He becomes our comforter. And so whatever was true for David and for them is much more true for us. We don't walk with Jesus. He doesn't come on us occasionally. He lives in us.
Austin Gardner:Listen to what Jesus said. He said I'm going to pray to the Father and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. He may abide with you forever, he may live with you forever. He said he will be the spirit of the truth and the world can't receive him because it won't see him and it won't know him. But he dwells with you and he shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. That's John 14, 16 through 18.
Austin Gardner:So I just want you to get a hold in your heart. You are not alone. I know you're discouraged, I know things can get you beat up, but you are never alone. It doesn't matter If you're in the hospital, you're not there alone. If you're alone because your family left you, you're not alone. If you're alone because you walked out, you're not alone. If you're alone because you're living on the streets, you're not alone.
Austin Gardner:We have a comforter, another comforter, one just like Jesus, the same sort as Jesus. You want to know what he's like? Check out Jesus, god, the Holy Spirit. Jesus God, the Holy Spirit, abides with us forever. He dwells in us, he lives with us, he is in us, he comforts us. We not only have a shepherd outside of us to follow who leads us, but we have a shepherd that lives in us and comforts us and guides us and directs us. Now, don't forget that. It's so easy to get caught up and get discouraged, but he lives in you.
Austin Gardner:Sometimes some of these things were taught to us in a negative sense, like God was fussing at us, but it's not true. He lives in you, the comforter, comforter. I want you to think about that. He comforts. I know you think the scolder, I know you think the angry God, but that's not what's going on here. Jesus said I know y'all live in a sin-cursed world and I know everything's messed up, and I know you mess up and I know who you are, but I'll be there with you. I'll be there when Lazarus dies. I'll be there when you fall back in sin. I'll be there when you fall back in sin. I'll be there when you deny me, to love you and bring you back.
Austin Gardner:Not only that, we can go even further. Because we're New Testament Christians, we know more. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Bible said in 1 Corinthians, 6, 19 through 20, that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God. God dwells in us, god in us. Can you wrap your head around that?
Austin Gardner:God, the creator of the universe, lives in you, as alone as you may feel. He lives in you. So, while the shepherd is near the sheep, he's with them. But we have more. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want we have more Thou art with me. We have more Thou art in me. He has moved in. He has made us his house, his abode, his temple. He lives in you. It's all through the scripture.
Austin Gardner:Don't deny the truth. Your shepherd lives in you. God moved in and took up residence. You are crucified with Christ. It's not about you, it's the shepherd who lives in you. Christ lives in you. Your life is not your own. Galatians 2.20,. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, not I, but Christ lives in me. God lives in you. Christ lives in you. So, while the shepherd lived with the sheep, he now lives in you and through you. We live by the very faith of the Son of God. He lives in us. We believe God because it's Jesus who gives us the power to do that.
Austin Gardner:I want you to leave this thought and understanding that the shepherd, the I am, is always with you. I want you to leave with that today. I want you to think on that today. I want you to meditate on that today. He's not, I will be, he's I am. The Lord is my shepherd right now. The Lord is my shepherd.
Austin Gardner:You can believe that and say it with all the confidence in the world, just like David did. The Lord is my shepherd. You can believe that and say it with all the confidence in the world, just like David did. The Lord is my shepherd. Tell God you know that he's with you. Say thank you for being with me. See, the main thing you need to do here is open your eyes. You don't have to run to him. He ran to you. You don't have to measure up to him. He measured down to you. You don't have to go up to him. He came down to you. He loves you, right where you are. So speak to yourself and tell yourself the truth, and tell the world and tell the devil. The Lord, god of heavens, is with me. The creator is with me. He lives in me. I am his.
Austin Gardner:Forget about worrying whether or not you're worthy of being there If you mess up. You trust the shepherd, not the sheep. It's the shepherd, not the sheep. He said I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13, 5.
Austin Gardner:So you may be in the worst position of your life, you may be in the valley of the shadow of death, but the Lord is with you. The world may be terrifying, you may feel like you're in real danger, but you can know that your shepherd is with you. Now I just need you to spend today meditating on the fact that the Lord is with you. The Lord is your shepherd and he is with you. He will not leave you. Listen, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. How can I not fear evil? I'm in great danger. I'm in the valley of the shadow of death. How can I not fear evil? Because thou art with me. Thou art with me, you are with me and I can live because you are with me. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He lives in my life. He lives in me. He occupies every particle of every cell in your body. He is in you Now. We'll get to this tomorrow, but it's the shadow of the valley, of the shadow of death. That's real danger. No doubt it's real danger, but he's not going to be afraid because the Lord's with him. Now, before I leave, I need you to know you don't feel worthy right now. You feel like I don't deserve to be loved. I don't deserve for him to care about me. I don't deserve to have this relationship.
Austin Gardner:You never did For by grace are you saved through faith? That not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. You've known that all along. But somewhere along the way you changed from salvation by grace to performance-based salvation. You moved out of. I know God saved me when I wasn't worthy. I was a filthy, rotten sinner and he saved me. And now I got to measure up. You never have measured up and you never will measure up. None of us can ever measure up. I mean, who are you going to measure up to Jesus. You can't. So he moved in and he lives in you. You have victory today because the Lord's with you. Don't you listen to the devil, don't you listen to yourself, don't you listen to your fears? You listen to this. He loves you, he's with you, he is with you right now. The comforter lives in you.
