I invite you to look at the title of today’s study, and ponder it deeply for a few moments. What if God wasn’t recording your sins? How would that change your life? How would that change the way you think, or the concerns of your heart? How would that affect your conscience, or the guilt and shame that so easily burdens us? How would this change your relationship with God and how you view Him?
In this study today, we will be looking at these questions, and the truth of scripture that surrounds them. We will be examining all of this through the lens of the grace of God, and in the light of the finished work of Christ – His sacrifice for you, and who you are today in Him.
As you see this truth today, your eyes will be opened to the amazing Grace of God, that we sometimes sing about, but never stop to consider the reality of what it means for us. And many chains of guilt, shame and condemnation will be broken as a result of seeing this today.
If you’ve been reading the Bible for any length of time, you may be familiar with the words of Proverbs 4:23, which counsels us to be diligent to guard our heart, because the “issues of life” flow from it. And this has been interpreted to mean many different things… but if we aren’t sure what it means then we also can’t be sure if our heart is guarded properly!
Thankfully, the scriptures do not leave us guessing about how to guard our heart, and the benefits of doing so; and as we examine this today, we can see that it is not only simpler to guard our heart than we might think at first, but also incredibly beneficial for us to do so.
You may have heard it said before, that Satan loves to blind people to the truth. But what truth does he blind people from seeing? And how does it happen? Without this information, we can’t really be prepared for it, or recognize it when it is happening. There are some people who genuinely believe that the Gospel of Grace itself is an attempt by the enemy to blind people from the truth of God’s Law. Is that accurate?
So you see, without more information it is impossible to truly stand against the attempts of the enemy to blind people. Thankfully though, the scriptures do not leave us guessing about exactly how the enemy blinds people – and this is what I want to share with you today, so that you will not be caught off-guard, or left wondering how it happens. The answer may surprise you…
When people think about receiving the fullness of God, many things might come to mind. Usually involving some type of sacrifice, work or effort on their part. They might think that receiving more of God requires diligent and prolonged periods of study, fasting, or other types of sacrifice. They may think that it comes from attending lots of Christian conferences, or reading a lot of Christian books or articles, or any number of things.
Yet the scriptures tell a different story. That the fullness of God, the totality of His righteousness, His holiness, His peace and all of His blessing, comes a different way, one that we don’t really expect.
What I want to share with you today, is the true vehicle by which the fullness of God comes. Not the religious man-made ideas about how to receive the fullness of God, but rather the truth directly from scripture. And I believe that as you see this today, the burden of religion and the self-effort of trying to reach for God will be lifted away, and you will be free to simply enjoy what Christ has accomplished for you.
Galatians 3 is a chapter of the Bible that has always made me laugh and cry at the same time. Every time that I begin reading it, it makes me laugh – and then it makes me cry because the same thing that the Galatians were being confused and seduced by, is still confusing and seducing people today.
There are many people who are seeking after God, seeking after His power, seeking after miracles, and many of them are good and honest people who truly desire these things and they want to be close with God with a pure heart. The problem is, that they are being deceived… they are trying to approach God from the wrong angle and with the wrong perspective.
The same thing was happening in Galatia, and as we look at what Paul wrote to them in order to correct their view and remove the deception, it will become clear for us today as well. As we look at this truth today, and see the marvelous Grace and mercy of God for all that it is, we will be free from the same pit that the Galatians were falling in to.
You may have heard the phrase before, You are what you eat. It’s a common phrase that is often used to promote a healthy diet and healthy eating. If you consume unhealthy foods, you will become unhealthy – likewise if you consume healthy foods, you will become healthy. That is the general idea behind this popular phrase.
Spiritual leaders have sometimes latched onto this phrase as well, saying “You feed your body healthy food, why not your spirit?” (or something similar to this). And it’s true, that many people pay more attention to what they are feeding on physically, than what they are feeding on spiritually; even though the spiritual is far more important.
Today, I would like to share with you about eating healthy, from a spiritual perspective. How to eat healthy… spiritually – and how by seeing this, we can also see how Christ is the best possible spiritual nutrition that you could ever feed on.
I titled today's study this way, on purpose, after some consideration, because these two things: prosperity and protection, are some of the most often attacked – not just by the world in general, but from inside Christian circles as well. In many places it is considered “radical” or “extreme” to believe in and trust God for prosperity, whether it be financial prosperity, or prosperity of other kinds such as prosperity in your relationships or prosperity in your health (i.e. healing).
There seems to be a disconnect in these areas, because the people that I often speak with, seem to have no real issue believing in a God who can give them eternal life, and save them from final destruction in hell; yet they have great difficulty believing that this same God is able or willing to provide for their temporal needs right now on this earth.
What I want to share with you today, is precisely what Jesus said about the provision, prosperity and protection, which the Father has for you, right now, today. And by seeing this, you will no longer be subject to the doubt that is so prevalent in the world today.
I have been asked a number of times, about the name ThrivingBranch. What exactly does it mean, anyway? And while I have explained it before, It occurs to me that I have not shared an actual study on it in quite a while.
So in light of that, what I want to share with you today, is not merely the explanation of the name (that wouldn’t really constitute a Bible study by itself), but the words of Jesus from where the name ThrivingBranch comes from, and the amazing truth contained in it. And as we look at this today, we are going to see some aspects of our identity in Christ that will have a profound effect, even in our daily life.