Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Following Jesus Won't Always Be Easy | The Gospels | John 15:18-27

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

Why doesn't following Jesus guarantee an easier life? Where can you find peace when the world pushes back? How can you face hardship without fear? In today's episode, Tanya unpacks John 15:18-27 and explains why Jesus's promise of the Holy Spirit gives us lasting courage, peace, and hope. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 15:18-27

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. Our guide, Mutie, laid out the map on a square table in the gathering room of our bed and breakfast. An hour ago, we were sitting at that table, four of us, drinking coffee and wondering what lie ahead. We had chosen this trip, and now that we were here, we were discovering for the first time what we had really gotten ourselves into. I mean, it's one thing to train for a week running on mountain trails when you live 250 feet above sea level. It hits differently when you're on another continent at elevation and preparing for a week-long run through the mountains. Mutie was old school.

He didn't use all trails on his phone. He had a worn map, creased where he folded it and put into his running vest, along with his crackers and his water filter. All he needed for several miles and hours. in the wilderness. We were wanting a bit more information than what we gathered from Muti and the map. What's the elevation? How many miles on the way up? How many feet are we climbing every mile? What kind of nutrition should we pack in our running vest? What's the temperature up there? Mutie was calm. The trails were to him, like going on a run in his backyard. He assured us that he would bring up the tail of the group and we would all make it back. It will be hard on the way up,

but I've got you. We'll enjoy a beer when we get back. Doing hard things brings people together. It also works on our perspective, our endurance, and our understanding of our own weaknesses. When we encounter challenges, we realize something important. With few exceptions, we make it through. John 15 is more than a goodbye, and I love you from Jesus to his followers. His commandment to love one another dominated the earlier section, but once we get to chapter 15 verse 15 Jesus' words are almost scary. If he was laying out a map on a table, the disciples would have been worried about what to pack for the journey ahead. Jesus says to them, if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. He says, they will do all these things to you on account of my name.

He says, the one who hates me also hates my father. This is not a bright, sunny picture of the disciples' future. calling. I really do, though, love the honesty of the Bible. I like how it doesn't paint a picture that isn't true to what we experience. I am glad it doesn't ask us to deny the reality of our experiences or our feelings. The Bible is full of flawed people, grueling circumstances, and undeniable evidence of the brokenness of the world. But it is also saturated with hope and amazing grace. And so are Jesus' words to the disciples in chapter 15. He reminds them again, and again have his ongoing presence with them.

Remain in me and I in you. Verse four. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. Verse nine. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. Verse 11. He assures them that he will not leave them, but will send the Holy Spirit,

whose ministry provides ongoing comfort and counsel. this world can be a tough place to be. There are circumstances we dread. There are situations that we don't know our way out of. There are people who don't like to hear us talk about the hope and peace we have in Jesus because it makes them angry or uncomfortable that we admit that we are lost without him. There are times when people don't like our boundaries or our choices. There will be times when you feel like you've been singled out.

But in all of this, there's a real reason to have peace and hope. It's not the peace that comes from people pleasing or from circumstances working in our favor. It's not the peace that comes from having margin in our time and money that makes us feel comfortable. There's a sturdier peace to be found in Jesus' words here. It comes from knowing your rescuer is not afraid of what makes you afraid. It comes from knowing your Savior was not defeated by what you think has the power to defeat you. Peace comes when you rest in the fact that grace has connected you to the one who has already overcome every worry on your mind and every thought that troubles your heart.

Nothing can ever sever the connection. That is why Jesus commands us to remain in him. Take five to ten minutes today. Grab a cup of coffee or LaCroix. Sit down, read all of chapter 15 so you can hear, start to finish, why Jesus commanded us to love one another, why he warned us about the challenges of this world and why we can completely trust him to help us. Ask him to show you and ask him to give you the energy to do what he's prompting you to do. The spirit is active in a believer's life. The body is weak, yes, but the spirit is active and strong. Ask God to give you an abundance of energy and wisdom to walk through whatever he has for you. He will not leave you or forsake you. The thief, once you're tired, distracted, and alone with your avoidance.

Jesus, once you alive, awake to what he's asking of you and strong enough to do it. That is the life he came to give. Amen.