Imagine being stranded in a desert, the sun beating down on you relentlessly and your tongue so dry that it's nearly glued to the roof of your mouth. You're desperate for even the smallest drop of water, and just as you think all hope is lost, you glance into the distance and you spot a flowing stream. You rush to it in joyful anticipation, and as you lower your hands in to scoop out some cool fresh water, you find out that it was merely an illusion, and you almost drank a handful of hot sand instead.
Would it surprise you to learn that this scenario is playing-out every single day for people all across the world? Today we will be studying the encounter that a certain woman had at a well, when she encountered a man that she wasn't expecting, and found a treasure she never even knew existed.
Grace... you may hear a lot about it, and many people think that they know what it means, but the truth is that there are still many misconceptions about it. There are some who believe that grace gives them a license to live in sin or however they want to. There are others who think that grace allows them to live selfish lives chasing after their own pleasures. Then there are others still who honestly think that grace is a false doctrine.
Well, God does not want us to be in confusion, and so today we are going to address all of these various ideas about grace, and as we see the truth regarding this topic in the scriptures, we will not be in confusion any longer, but we will be secure on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
The topic today is one that is often thought of and usually taught in a negative way. The very idea of glorying in our own weakness is counter-intuitive to our own nature. Yet it is a concept described in several places throughout the Bible and in one particular well-known group of verses which we will be taking a look at today.
This is an important principle that every believer should understand, and unfortunately through wrong beliefs, the idea has been twisted to mean something other than what the Bible actually says. If you have been struggling with the concept of glorying in your weakness, this study will set you free.
Over the past months, we have studied about various promises of God. Financial, Physical and Spiritual promises all made by God to us, to demonstrate the riches of His grace towards us. We have studied how to receive them, and how they can be stolen from us by the enemy. Today we will be studying how to remain in the land... specifically the land of promise. Once you have received the blessings of God in your life, obviously you want to remain there, and the Bible tells you how to do it.
Now you may say “James! I'm not there yet!” Don't worry, God has you covered today as well. We will also be studying how to get there. So this is going to be a rather detailed message, but be attentive to hear, and you you will catch what God has to say today.
All across the world, ministers of the Gospel are struggling daily to tend to the flock and feed the sheep of God. Many think that the job of a pastor is a one-day-a-week job – only on Sundays and maybe a Wednesday or Thursday night service thrown-in as a bonus. However as every minister knows, the demands of not only time but also patience, and faith are extreme.
I read a book some time ago, which told the story of several different church leaders, all of whom became burnt-out and ultimately quit their ministerial positions because of frustrations, stress and an inability to deal with problems effectively. One leader even became so stressed that he manifested physical sickness. Now God never designed this to be, and while the book cited the problem-people to be the cause of the turmoil, I am inclined to point-out that none of the leaders were taking advantage of the provision that God has given to deal with such situations. And this provision is what we will be studying today. If you are a minister or even a layperson who is dealing with stressful people or situations, this study will benefit you today.
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.