Throughout my years in church, there have been many buzz-words, catchphrases, and confusing terminology that have been used. One of the most insidious has been “blind faith”. This term has been misunderstood and even twisted over the years to mean something very dangerous. Believing anything as being from God without any confirmation or solid foundation from scripture. With this kind of blind faith, every feeling is from God, every emotion is a divine sign and every word is the leading of the spirit – and this has led many believers astray because they do not understand the concept of Scripture which we will be studying today.
As you might have determined, God has something different to say about proper spiritual leading, and the scriptures actually do not teach “blind faith” at all. Jesus healed the blind, both physically and spiritually. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, and a shepherd never wants the sheep to heed any voice indiscriminately. So today we will be looking and God's direction on how to apply wisdom to our walk, and as we see the truth of Jesus in this area, we will no longer wander aimlessly into pits in our life, but we will be led on safe paths by our Good Shepherd.
The world is absolutely full of ideas on how to improve life and to make our daily lives better. All kinds of advice on every topic, covering every area of our lives both personal and professional. “Your life will be better once you have [blank].” is a common trap that many people fall into.
The Bible has a different idea when it comes to having a fulfilling life, and this well-known advice from Jesus has been a verse that many people prefer to skip-over in their Bible reading because of the unpopular language used. However we should never be afraid to study scripture, and I believe as we see the truth which Jesus is sharing in these verses that many people will be able to have truly fulfilling lives as a result of seeing more of Him.
Have you ever been given a blank check? Very few people have, but allow me to share with you a story of a wealthy man who chose three men off the street and gave them each a blank check, ensuring each of them that they could write whatever amount they desired and it would be given to them. The first man scoffed at the whole idea, assuming that it was a joke or a prank of some kind and refused the check outright and walked away. The second man was enraged because he saw the wealthy man's gesture as an insult to his own ego, and in a prideful fit, tore the check into pieces, threw the pieces on the ground and stormed off. The third man said “Thank you.” and accepted the check, but as he thought more about it, he began to believe that this was actually some kind of test of his character, and so he only wrote a modest amount of twenty dollars. When the wealthy man saw it he said to him “Sir, why did you take so little? You could have added many zeros to this number?”. The other man replied “I suppose I didn't really trust you.”. The wealthy man responded “Nobody did.”.
We also have been given a blank check from our Heavenly Father, with the assurance that we can take as much as we want from Him. Yet there are many people – both believers and not – who fall into the category of one of the three men from our story. The focus of our study today is going to be this blank check of ours and how to truly take advantage of it, and in so doing bring joy to our Father in Heaven.
Last week we examined the wealth of God and we saw that not only is God extremely rich, but that He desires for us to have riches as well. We also learned that the wealth of the wicked ultimately finds its way into our pockets, and that it is God by His grace and favor that causes us to succeed and prosper in everything that we do as our lives are orchestrated and guided by Him.
Today we will be continuing this theme by seeing how we can keep the blessings which God has given to us (both financially and otherwise) and we will examine some of the most common roadblocks and pitfalls that the enemy uses to try and rob us of what God has given.
The wealth of God has always been a controversial topic. There are those who believe that all wealth is worldly and evil, and that all money corrupts. There are churches that teach that a person must be poor to be holy and that poverty is a position of divine humility. These ideas have kept many people in financial bondage for a long time, sometimes their entire lives.
We will be studying today about the wealth of God – speaking purely of physical riches – and as we see the truth regarding this aspect of God, the chains of bondage will be broken in the area of finances for all who have eyes to see.
It's a safe conclusion that most everyone wants to be successful. And each person has their own ideas on how to achieve the success that they seek. Did you know that God is also interested in your success, and that He wants to actively cause you to succeed in every area of life?
When God prospers us, our success is assured and undeniable. So today we will be studying the key to unlocking this divine success from God in our lives.
This is a message that is very special to me, because I have personally seen it from both sides. The church is divided in the area of communion. Some think of it as a special rite that is only for the elite few who are worthy of it. Others believe that it is merely a ritual with no real significance. Still there are others who really have no idea what communion is or why they participate in it.
So today we will be studying communion; the purpose of it and the provision in it. As we see the truth of communion in the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ, I believe that chains will be broken and people will be set free from the confusion in this area.
God created our Universe by speaking. Everything you see today and even you yourself are a created being with the very breath of God inside of you. For centuries man has been trying to unlock this stored potential inside each of us to be more than what we are, not realizing that what we are is much more than enough, we are the very breath and spirit of God inside human vessels. So then how do we unlock this power in our daily lives?
Today we will be studying the topic of power; how we unlock it and how we use it. It may surprise some of you to know that Jesus told us the answer multiple times and in multiple ways in the Bible, which we will be examining today. If you have been experiencing a lack of effectual power in your life, then this study will deliver your breakthrough.
One of my favorite accounts in all of the Bible is the encounter between Jesus and the man who was born blind. Much has been said of this in the past, but there are a few details that have never really been explored, and for something as important as healing, I believe in seeing every detail no matter how small it may seem.
Today we will be studying this well known account from scripture, and we will be taking a look at the finer points of what transpired between Jesus and this blind man, and how this message from Jesus applies for us today.
In a previous study (Seeing the Heart of God in the Life of Jesus), we saw that the heart of God is to heal and that He does not make people sick or cause them to be feeble. Even so, there are still many pastors, preachers and leaders today who are basically parroting some common misconceptions regarding scripture and perpetuating some wrong beliefs that continue to hold people in bondage and fear.
Today we will be examining these misconceptions and wrong beliefs in the light of the scriptures, and as we see the truth of Jesus in the scriptures, these misconceptions and wrong beliefs will be utterly destroyed by the glorious light of Christ.