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
W. Austin Gardner: Stop Earning God’s Love (Ephesians 3 & Grace)
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Are you tired of performing for a God who already loves you?
In this episode, W. Austin Gardner shares a raw and transformative look at Ephesians 3. If you have ever felt like your relationship with God depends on your performance, your prayer life, or your "good behavior," this message will change your perspective.
W. Austin Gardner—international speaker, author, and mentor with over 50 years of ministry experience—breaks down the "paycheck mentality" that keeps believers stuck in spiritual exhaustion. Discover what it truly means to be "rooted and grounded" in a love that you don't have to earn.
In this episode, W. Austin Gardner discusses:
- The difference between "working for" love and "resting in" love.
- Why the foundation of your faith is a finished work, not a project.
- Practical ways to experience God’s love rather than just studying it.
- Lessons from 5 decades of missionary and pastoral leadership.
- Official Hub: https://waustingardner.com
- Watch the Video Version: [INSERT YOUR YOUTUBE LINK HERE]
- Join the Society of Mentors: https://sociedaddementores.com/
- Daily Inspiration: https://followedbymercy.com/
ABOUT W. AUSTIN GARDNER:
W. Austin Gardner is a keynote speaker, missionary leader, and author focused on faith-based personal development. Having traveled to over 50 countries and overcome significant personal health challenges, he offers biblical wisdom combined with practical, applicable insights for ministry leaders and families alike.
Follow W. Austin Gardner on Social Media:
Twitter: @waustingardner
Instagram: @austininside
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Rooted Like A Tree By Water
Grounded On An Unshakeable Foundation
The Width, Length, Depth, And Height
Knowing Love Beyond Knowledge
Filled With The Fullness Of God
Beloved Identity And Trust
Creation, Fall, Rescue, And Rest
Austin GardnerI am so happy to share with you what the Lord is teaching me right now. You know that we are rooted in a love you can't understand. That's Ephesians chapter 3. That's where I'm studying and working now. And we always try to earn a place. Have you ever felt like you were running on an empty tank, trying to be good enough for God to finally notice you? Many of us live our lives as if God's love is a paycheck. It's a paycheck we receive at the end of a long work week. We think if we pray more, sin less, or lead better, the love will increase. But Paul prays a prayer in Ephesians 3 that turns that upside down. He's not praying that we should get more love. He's praying we'd finally wake up to the love that is already surrounding us. Today, we're looking at what it means to be rooted and grounded in love. That honestly is beyond my ability to comprehend. The love of Christ is beyond all of our ability to comprehend. The Bible says in verse Ephesians 3 17 that you being rooted and grounded in love. Now, rooted, I want you to think of a tree, like in Jeremiah 17, 7 and 8, and this tree is planted by the rivers of water. A tree doesn't work hard to grow, it simply puts its roots down into the water, and the growth happens as a bribe byproduct. You feed on love, not your works. Where are you rooting in today? Is it your performance, your reputation? If you root into those things, you'll wither when the heat or trouble comes. But if you're rooted in the love of Christ, even in a year of drought, your leaves stay green. You don't struggle to grow, you rest in the source. Now I want you to think about it: roots. The roots go down into the love of Christ. They draw up the love of Christ. The love of Christ fills us and strengthens us and gives us the power to do all because we're rooted in love beyond our wildest imagination, beyond anything we could ever understand. We're rooted, we're planted, and our roots are going down deep. And I just want you to see how great that is. But then it says, rooted and grounded in that same verse, grounded. The foundation. That's a constant, that's a construction term. Think of the house on the rock in Matthew 7. The one on the rock could take all the storms. In the Greek, these words rooted and grounded describe something that's already complete. See, it's already done. A house doesn't wake up and wonder if the foundation's still there. It just exists on top of it. Paul says you are already grounded. You aren't growing by improving yourself. You're growing by surrendering to the fact that he's already holding you up. I love it. Verse 18 says the width and length and depth and height. And I think probably the most important thing for us all to get a hold of right here is that love isn't a feeling. Love is a person. This person is Christ, and Christ fills every corner of our lives. His love is wide enough to include the prodigal son, the righteous older brother. It includes the parts of you that you try to hide. He loves you. His love is so wide, nothing could hinder it. It's length that's longer than your sin, and it lasts longer than your midlife crisis. It's an eternal love that nothing can ever separate us from. Romans chapter 8. Depth, height, it goes down to the basement of your shame, lifts you to the heights of your destiny, goes down into the grave and raises you back to life. Note that Paul says we understand this with all the saints. This is a wild one, but you can't love, you can't learn to love in isolation. You need to see it in others to believe it's true for you. In other words, the love of Christ is in us. We learn love in others, we're in community. Verse 19 says that this is a love that we cannot understand. To know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge. How do you know something that's beyond what you can learn? And by the way, the word and to know here in the Greek is a it's not about classroom knowledge. It's what you could call standing in the sun knowledge. You can read all the books you want to about the sun. You can study its distance and its heat and its chemical makeup. But that's nothing compared to walking outside on a cold morning and feeling the warmth of the sun hit your face. You see the light, you feel the warmth. Stop trying to figure out why God loves you. You'll never find a logical reason. Just stand in the warmth and surrender to the light. In Ephesians 3 19, he says that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. In other words, we're rooted in this love, we're grounded in this love. This love is flowing in us, this love is holding us, this love is our foundation, it's our it feeds us. But then we're going to be filled with all the fullness of God. It's kind of like an old dry sponge. It's hard and brittle. But when you let it sit in water, it becomes soft and heavy. It doesn't try to be full, it just stays in the water. This isn't a promise for when you get to heaven. This isn't now. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Now Jesus fills even the cracked places of your soul with his presence until fear has no room left to live. I want you to hear me and take this to heart. Beloved, that's your name. Now listen to me. Stop living like love is a reward for your behavior. The love of Christ is wide enough for your worst, long enough for your history, deep enough for your secret shame. Root yourself there. Ground yourself there. Don't try to understand it today. Just trust it. You are loved exactly as you are. You see, we are rooted and grounded in the love of Christ that we can't understand. And it's beyond us. To be honest with you, we don't understand. Why would he love me? I don't know why he loved me. But he's a good God and he loves me and he loves you. And that's what we're learning, and that's what we're taking into account for ourselves. I just want you to know you're loved. And I want you to know that you, because you chose to decide, we chose that we would become our own gods in the Garden of Eden. We would decide right and wrong, and we would decide if we're loved or not. We would decide if we're lovely or not. We decide if we're lovable or not. But in the beginning, God created us and he liked what he did. He liked what he saw. We were lost. We walked away from God, got where we weren't supposed to be. But he found you, he saved you, and he changed you. And he's trying to tell you just settle in my love. Relax in my love. Relax in who I am. Relax in what I'm doing. I love you. I love you so much that I died on a cross for you. I love you so much that I live in you and I experience life in you from your point of view. What a God we serve. What an opportunity to know him. And so if you have any questions or anything you want to talk about, feel free to get in touch with me. I challenge you to maybe go read W.AustongGardner.com where I'm writing articles every day. You can go to Alignment Ministries, to Austin's Pen and Alignment Ministries. I'm trying to talk there. I send out emails, I do it in Spanish. Man, I'm just trying to let everybody know God loves us, and we can rest in that. God bless you.
