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
Who is the LORD, keeping mercy, forgiving
The Lord Is My Shepherd—And That Changes Everything
When the psalmist says, "The Lord is my shepherd," he boldly states who God is: someone who's always been about relationship, not distance. From walking with Adam and Eve in Eden to pursuing them after their disobedience, God's actions always showed His desire for connection.
Psalm 23 isn't just a meditation; it's an invitation to know the Shepherd for who He really is.
When God introduces Himself in Scripture, He doesn't lead with power or judgment. He leads with mercy, grace, patience, and unshakeable truth. And this: "I keep mercy for thousands." That's not just a line—it's loyalty. It's love that sticks around, whether or not we deserve it. Even when we fall short, "He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. "We change. He doesn't. That's what keeps us steady.
What's wild is how God handles our mess. He doesn't sweep sin under the rug. "I am" doesn't pretend it didn't happen. He takes it on Himself. Think of it like this: when someone gets bitten by a snake, you don't hate the person; you hate the snake. That's how God sees sin. He's not out to crush the sinner; He's out to crush what's hurting us.
But many people get this wrong. They see God as this angry judge waiting for them to slip up. That's not who He is. "God is love. "And Jesus, calling Himself the Good Shepherd, backs that up with His life. He walked with us, lived among us, died for us, rose again, and still walks with us now. Not from a distance. Up close. Personal.
So here's the question: Who's your Shepherd, really?
He's not looking to catch you in failure. He's already carried your failure. His mercy doesn't run out because you've earned it—it endures because that's who He is. He's steady when we're shaky. He's faithful when we wander.
Today, wherever you are, remember this: You have a Shepherd who doesn't quit on you. He forgives fully, loves deeply, and never backs off. He paid the price. And He's still with you, every step, every season.
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Well, I'm back with you talking about our shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord Yahweh I am, is our shepherd. He's a relational God. That's who I am is. From the very beginning, it was God who desired a relationship with man. He walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. That was a sweet, wonderful thing, until they sinned and they were separated from him. And when they were separated from him, he goes back to the garden. He says where are you Adam, where are you Eve? What are y'all doing? And it's not an accusing thing, it's a relational question, because he wanted to be with them. That's who your shepherd is. He loves you and he wants to be with you. The Lord is my shepherd.
Austin Gardner:And we have seen, because we're studying, we're, you know, we just meditate, and each day a little truth to get us through the day. And so you know, we've already looked at this. But he said what's your name? And he said to him my name is I Am, I Am, that, I Am. And then he proclaimed and he said the Lord is merciful and gracious and long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. And then today, I just want you to think with me on this thought he said about himself I keep mercy for thousands. I keep mercy for thousands. Now, isn't that funny. I keep mercy, keeping mercy for thousands. He says See, I am as loyal I am, protects you, I am has a loyal love that preserves and protects you I am, defends you. You see, I am. Keeps his word, he stays faithful. He said when I just tell you who I am, I say to you, I am a guy who keeps mercy, I keep on keeping mercy. And that's exactly what you see in 2 Timothy 2.13, when the Apostle Paul writes out to us if we believe not yet, he abides faithful. He cannot deny himself. That's who God is. Do you understand that? God says if you mess up, I don't, if you start doubting me, I won't quit on you. If you don't do what you're supposed to do, I don't change. You may change, but I don't change. He is the God who keeps mercy. He cannot deny himself. Now, what a beautiful thought about the God that you have.
Austin Gardner:Today. We've been seeing wonderful things. He is merciful and he is gracious. He is slow to anger. He's abundant in goodness and truth. And he says and I just keep on keeping on being that way. And the next thing he says, and when he's describing himself, he says to his people he said I am the one that keeps mercy for thousands.
Austin Gardner:And then he says and I forgive iniquity and transgression and sin, but I don't clear the guilty. And I want you to consider that with me just a little bit today, as you consider who God is. And so you see, he says I forgive iniquity and I forgive transgression and sin. That means he releases you, he lets it go, he takes it off of your account. That's what forgiveness is.
Austin Gardner:Forgiveness is the same idea of the word divorce. It's like God says I split you from your sin, I divorce you from your sin. I take away your guilt, I take away your shame, I take away your wickedness and your sin. He said I take your burden, the weight of your sin. I take that on me. He takes our sin on himself and he pays for it. And he's redundant here In the verse.
Austin Gardner:He takes away our sin, he takes away our transgression. I like to joke about how you know different people, like my wife, when she might be upset with me. I'll say are you mad? She said I'm not mad. I said well, are you upset and are you angry? What's going on. And so God's like maybe you think I don't.
Austin Gardner:I forgive sin, but I don't forgive transgression. So he starts naming it all. He forgives your iniquity. So he starts naming it all. He forgives your iniquity, your transgression, your sin. He forgives all your misdeeds, all your crimes, all your wrongdoing, all your wickedness, all your faults. He takes away the painful burden or weight of wrong. He takes away the offense to morality that you might have committed. He takes away any action, desire, purpose or omission. If you didn't do right or if you did wrong. He takes that away everything and nails it to the cross of Calvary. He says you messed up, you didn't keep the law, but the law was never given for you to keep. It was given for you to know you need me. You were missing the mark when God says I am the guy who forgives. He forgives in love. He doesn't ignore sin. Isn't that the beautiful thing. Instead of ignoring sin, he comes and says I'll take your sin on me. He doesn't ignore sin, he pays for sin. He does what it takes to fix it. It's not like God said I'm going to save you and then I'm looking to get you for your sin. God says I saved you and I rescued you from all past sin, present sin and future sin.
Austin Gardner:You see, you believe a lot of lies about the Lord. You've kind of thought God isn't interested in your life or in you, but that's not true. You've kind of thought maybe you're on your own that's not true. You've thought maybe God abandons you, not true. You thought God only loves you when you're good, not true. You thought God wants to give you rules and judge you. That's what he likes doing, not true. God can't wait to judge me. You think that is not true.
Austin Gardner:You see, I am is love. I am is love, and I need you to understand that. The Lord is my shepherd, the Lord I am, yahweh is love. The Bible says in 1 John 4, 8, god is love. Love is God. God is love. You can't get any more direct than that. 1 John 4.16 says. And we have known and believed of love that God had to us. God is love. See, god's love. I just need you to understand today, because we're going to dive into Psalm 23, and I know it seems like I'm taking forever to get there, but if you just meditate in the Lord, your relationship will improve.
Austin Gardner:Already from the beginning he explains who he is. He explains who he is. He is mercy, he is graciousness, he is slow to anger, he is abundant in goodness and truth. He keeps mercy. And then what's he say here? I forgive sin and transgression and wickedness and all of it. Iniquity I do, but I don't ignore it Because see, what he did is he took sin. Sin destroys you and sin destroys your children. Do you realize he hates sin because it's hurting you. You think God wants to judge you like the sinner. When God wants to judge the sin, god doesn't hate you because a rattlesnake bit you. He hates the rattlesnake that bit you. The God of heaven loves you. I need you to know today that he loves you. I am Yahweh. The Lord is my shepherd. You need a clear picture of who he is before you go much further.
Austin Gardner:Jesus takes that to another level. When you get to the New Testament, he says I am the light of the world. Jesus is the light of the world. That's God. In fact, jesus is so much the light of the world that when we get to heaven we won't need a sun because the light will be there. Jesus said I am the door of the sheep. He is the door of the sheep. He's the one that opens the door for our salvation. It's not you, it's him. It's not you who saved you, it's him. It's not you who saved you, it's him. And then we know who the shepherd is Now.
Austin Gardner:Now, see, we haven't even gotten into Psalm 23 yet. The Lord is my shepherd. Who is the Lord? Well, the Lord is all the things we've seen. But Jesus said I am the good shepherd, I am the good shepherd.
Austin Gardner:Now, is he the good shepherd? He said I am the resurrection. He said I am the way, the truth and the life. He said I am the true vine. You see, jesus is all of that, and so I need you to know, before you go on much further, that you are serving the wonderful, sweet, beautiful I am. Jesus is our shepherd, god in human flesh. See, jesus is our shepherd, god in human flesh. See, Jesus is God, come down from heaven, who became a man, became one of us and lives among us, died on a cross, was buried and rose again, and still alive today as a man who understands you and loves you. He is your shepherd. So, as you go through the day thinking about your shepherd, think about this he forgives sin, but he took it on himself. He keeps mercy because he paid the price and he is a good shepherd. God bless you today.