What are you afraid of? Fear can be one of the most debilitating forces in our lives. Fear can cause a person to never venture out into the world, to stay at home, to avoid others, and to miss many great and wonderful opportunities. Fear can also cause us to miss many blessings from God, including salvation if we are too afraid of God to come to Him.
So in this study today, we are going to take a look at how Jesus frees us from fear, and how as we truly listen to His Words, the bondage of fear is broken in our lives.
Last week we studied how God will always lead us to righteousness, and how as believers today, we serve in newness of the Spirit and not the Old Covenant of the Law. We also saw that the first area that the Holy Spirit affects when He fills us, is our tongue, because when our tongue is under control, our entire body can be under control as well. There is indeed great power in our words and what we speak.
Today we will be continuing this study by taking an in-depth look at the power and benefit that comes from speaking the words of the Holy Spirit. How letting Him control our tongue can bring life and healing to not only our physical bodies, but to every area of our lives.
There are many forces in this world that put themselves in a place of leadership. Men desire to lead other men; simply turn on the television and you will see countless people all eager to give their opinion and advice on all kinds of things, setting themselves up in positions of leadership. We in moments of pride, desire to lead ourselves, and of course Satan has always desired leadership as well.
However, when we follow these leaders, or ourselves, where do we end up? The Bible says in 2nd Peter that those who follow other things and people are led into sin and darkness. However there is One Good Shepherd; One who does not lead astray, but leads into true rest and freedom from all bondage and oppression. This is what we will be studying today. Following the Good Shepherd into Righteousness.
The topic today is one of extreme importance. The poverty mindset or poverty mentality is one of the most widespread and also one of the most insidious devices of the enemy, not just in this generation, but all throughout history as well. It has affected a great number of believers and robbed many of receiving the full-measure of blessings from Christ, and they don't even realize that it is happening.
What we will be studying today is exactly what this poverty mindset is, recognizing the forms it takes, and how through Christ Jesus we can break this bondage and receive all of what Christ has given us. If you have been struggling to receive in a particular area of your life and just can't seem to understand why the provision isn't coming, then this study will benefit you today.
When you hear the word “righteousness” what comes to mind? The Biblical definition of righteousness is “right-standing with God”. However for many people, the idea of attaining this right-standing righteousness conjures up ideas of piousness and a need to work to earn righteousness before approaching God.
You may be a person well established in the Gospel of Grace, but you might be surprised how this mentality of trying to earn righteousness filters into our lives, even on a subconscious level. There are many people in churches today, serving not out of an abundance of God's divine love and provision for them, but because they feel as though if they were not to, they would somehow lose spiritual points with God and fall out of favor with Him. But this idea exposes a lack of understanding regarding the righteousness of God, and so this what we will be studying today.
Over the last few weeks, we have been asking a reoccurring question: Do you know? Do you know that you have an inheritance in Christ? Do you know that you are safe and secure in His hands? Do you know that He loves you beyond measure? While countless blessings have been given to you in Christ Jesus today, if you do not know them or receive them, they will not do any good in your life.
So today we will be studying the goodness of God, because it is when we truly see His goodness directed towards us in all things, that we can have the belief necessary to receive all of His provision for us.
This week I was watching a Television show about the rich and famous. It showed the homes and property of the super-wealthy. A comment was made that it would be nice to be a part of that family just for the inheritance. That comment got me thinking, that we as believers are also part of a wealthy family, but many believers are still living far below their means.
Today we will be studying the inheritance that we have in Christ, specifically for the here and now. You see, we all know that we will receive a divine inheritance up in Heaven, but very few recognize that there are benefits on this earth as well, and so this is what we will be studying today.
There's an old saying which says “Home is where the heart is”, and it is actually founded in scripture, Matthew 6:21 says that wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, do you know where your treasure is today? The world offers us many choices, many roads for us to follow, many rainbows to chase after, but what will we find at the end of the rainbow? Will it be a pot of Gold, or a pot-hole for us to fall into?
The Bible tells us exactly where both our home and treasure can be found in no uncertain terms. This is what we will be studying today, and as we see the truth of scripture, our blessing will always be sure.