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 LORD "IS"
“The Lord is my shepherd.”
Five simple words. But they’re not just poetic—they’re personal. And they’re present tense.
David didn’t say “was” or “will be.” He said, “is.” Picture him on the run, hiding in caves, surrounded by enemies. Still, he says it with confidence: the Lord is my Shepherd. Right now. Not someday. Not when things get better. Now.
That word—is—says something huge about who God is. He’s not stuck in the past or waiting in the future. He’s “I AM.“ Always present. Always steady. Always here.
One of our biggest mistakes is thinking God the Father is distant or harsh while Jesus is gentle and merciful. But Jesus shut that idea down when He told Philip, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” God’s not divided. We see the same patience, mercy, and compassion in Jesus—that’s who the Father is, too.
God’s shepherding isn’t a future hope or a nice memory. It’s active right now. We spend so much time worrying about what happened yesterday or stressing about what might go wrong tomorrow. Meanwhile, God is here, steady, meeting today’s needs with today’s grace.
Think about actual sheep. Sheep don’t stress over where the next pasture is or whether the Shepherd’s having a good day. They follow. They trust. That’s the life we’re invited into, not fear or regret, but present trust.
God doesn’t change when our circumstances do. He doesn’t have bad days. “I am” doesn’t get moody or distracted. He is faithful—not because we’ve earned it, but because that’s who He is. Faithfulness is His nature.
So, what are you facing today? What storm’s overhead? Whatever it is, you’re not alone. Your Shepherd hasn’t stepped away. He sees it. He’s in it with you. You don’t have to clean yourself up or prove yourself worthy of His help. He’s your Shepherd because that’s who He is—and caring for you is what He does.
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.
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The Lord is my shepherd.
Austin Gardner:I want to go back over that with you again today, and I will continue to go over it for a long time. The book of Psalm 23 has literally taken control of my life. God has used it in such great ways to show me so much about him and his relationship to me, and so let me just go through these words today the Lord is my shepherd. I will show you over the next few times those five words we have talked about, that he is the Lord, he is fellowship, he is relationship, he is love, he is good, he is merciful, he is gracious, and so many words that we want to think he is patience personified. Now I'll stop here, just so to make something really clear to you. If you want to see God, all you do is look at Jesus. If you want to know what the Father's like, jesus made the comment to Philip. He said if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Jesus basically said I've been with you so long and you don't know who the Lord is, you don't know how he is, you haven't caught on. You don't know who the Lord is, you don't know how he is, you haven't caught on, you don't know who I am, and somehow, in our dysfunctional religious society we see God, the Father, as being harsh and mean and rough and tough, and Jesus as being sweet and kind, and we're almost a little aggravated any time you portray Jesus as such a sweet guy, when the truth is he is that sweet guy, guy, and he's betraying who the father is. But I, I want to. I just want to think through the those words there. The lord, the lord is patient, the lord is mercy, the lord is merciful. We've seen that he's slow to anger. He's all of those things he can't deny himself. He's a forgiving god, he, he is. The second thing, though. In the verse we've seen the Lord. We've talked about him. How about is? Is the Lord, is my shepherd? It's a present tense right now. See, david's going through horrible times. He's probably hidden in a cave off in some grove of trees somewhere with his soldiers outside. Everybody's afraid that David will be killed at any moment. He's going through horrible times. Enemies are all around him, but he knew something. He knew that God had not changed. Circumstances might have changed and where David's living might have changed and how things are going for him, but god hadn't changed. The great I am is always present tense. I am is my shepherd. He is always the god of present tense. He's the god of today. That's what present is I am is.
Austin Gardner:If you ever notice in the scripture how many times he makes it so clear. He says I want you to ask for your daily bread because I am. We're not talking about yesterday, we're not talking about tomorrow, we're talking about right now I am. He's the God of now, he's the God of this instant. Whatever you're going through, wherever you are, he is there for you. He's the God of each day. He gives you enough for every day. So don't worry about anything. Plants, don't worry. Animals don't worry. Don't you worry. Sufficient to the day's evil. Just live today. That's what he's saying. Because he is. His name is I am. I am present tense. That's who he is.
Austin Gardner:The Father, god, the shepherd says cast all your care on him because he cares for you. Cast all your care on him because he cares for you. He is like the unchanging rock in the middle of the storm. He is here right now. Whatever's happening in your life, whatever's going on, whatever's got you torn up, whatever's got you worried, your shepherd is the Lord Yahweh. I am.
Austin Gardner:He doesn't take care of his sheep on a good day and abandon them on a bad day. He is our shepherd. He is our shepherd. He is not your shepherd if you do this or that. He is not your shepherd as long as you remember to do right. He brought you with his blood sacrifice on the cross. He brought you back from sin. He brought you back from punishment and he is your shepherd. He knew you in sin before. He ever loved you and brought you in. He took your sins on himself, amen. He gave his life for us. We belong to him because he created us. He rescued us and he rescued us from sin and shame. He gave us our dignity back. The Lord is. He is our refuge, he is our strength, a very present help in trouble.
Austin Gardner:He is because love never fails and God is love. He is because love never fails and God is love. He is because he never fails. Love never fails. Circumstances change, people change, our feelings change, but I am does not change. He is, he is unchanging and he loves us unconditionally. He loves us unconditionally and he loves us intentionally, on purpose. God is not faithful because we are faithful. He is faithful because he cannot be anything else. God can't be unfaithful. You can, I can, but God can't. He is simply I am, I am what I am. I am who I am. I am, I am. That's who God is. He promises and he cannot lie. His character never changes. He never wakes up in a different mood. He's a great I am and that's who my shepherd is. He never wakes up thinking I've had a bad day, I didn't sleep well.
Austin Gardner:He is the eternal present. He is never confined to the past. He is not locked up in your past memories or he's not locked up in the future. He is right now. He's actively engaged in every part of your life. He is present, tense, right now. He's actively engaged in every part of your life. He is present, tense, right now. He loves you in the joyful moments and he loves you in the difficult moments. He loves you when things are going right and he loves you when things aren't right. He is I am and he lives in covenant. He gave his word, not a contract, not a if you do, I will. He promised and he can't change and he won't change. I am lives and operates and loves in the now, in the immediate, in the active. He cares about where we are right now. We are his sheep. He'll never leave us or abandon us or forsake us. He will never deny himself.
Austin Gardner:Now, before I close with this I want you to think about is is he is your shepherd. I want to remind you. So often I get locked up in what happened yesterday and I see I keep bringing up things from the past and I keep trying to get things from the past, or I keep worried about what's out in the future and I forget that he is my shepherd. What sheep ever said to himself? I wonder what's going to happen. I wonder if my shepherd's going to take care of me. I wonder if he knows where the green pastures are. I wonder if he knows where the water is. The shepherd, the sheep's just like that's my shepherd, he's going to take care of me. That's my shepherd. He's going to take care of me. My shepherd knows where to go. My shepherd knows what to do. He's just happy he's got a shepherd.
Austin Gardner:The Lord is my shepherd. I want you to think on that. I want you to meditate on that. I want you to accept that the Lord is my shepherd. He is Right now. The Lord is my shepherd. What are you going through? Do you feel like he abandoned you? He didn't change. He didn't abandon you. He loves you right now, right where you are, whatever's going on in your life, he loves you. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. God bless you.