Many times n the past when I would find myself troubled or hurting, a well-meaning Christian friend would tell me “Don’t worry, God knows what you’re going through.”
They intended for the comment to soothe and comfort me, but somehow on the inside, their comment only made the pain worse. If God knows what I am going through, why isn’t He doing anything? Why isn’t God helping?
Simply knowing that “God knows what you’re going through” doesn’t really do anything to ease the pain— in-fact, it hurts all the more, because God has the power to help!
If this describes you today, I have some good news, because God’s help is far more than merely a nice thought. Today we will explore how to receive real tangible help, for real problems.
Welcome back to part of our series looking at the blessings and promises of God.
In the introductory segment last week, we began by looking at the foundation of why you can be sure of your blessings in Christ. We also ended that video with an encouragement to start building your own personalized list of blessings.
Today we will continue from where we paused last week, and examine some blessings from the perspective of what it means to “know” them on a personal level.
Spend some time in the charismatic circles of Christianity, and you will probably hear the term “open heaven” used here and there. It’s a term meant to describe the resources and assistance of God and heaven being available and given to you.
There are a great number of believers today who are looking for an open heaven, and wondering how to get it. So today we are going to have a discussion about how this can be achieved, and how Heaven is actually open to you right now, today.
Welcome to the fourth part of our series on changing your lenses, your perspective of your circumstances, your identity in Christ, and of God Himself. And it is this last item – your perspective of God Himself – that we are going to focus on today. And this is probably going to be one of the most difficult discussions that we have ever had… not because it is difficult to study, but because for many of us (myself included) it requires us to take an honest and hard look at what we truly believe about God; and repenting (changing our mind) regrading our beliefs accordingly.
So join me today, as we have a tough, but necessary discussion regarding changing our lenses of God.
What is your view of God? Some people see Him as a mere observer or a bystander; someone who is watching your life go by, but not taking part in it. In this view God is seen as more of a score-keeper, someone who is just watching your life, seeing the decisions that you make and keeping a record of your performance in order to judge you.
With this view of God, it is very difficult (or even impossible) to have any kind of real relationship with Him. You can never really have any closeness with someone who has real power to affect change and offer assistance, but refuses to act, and instead just uses your pain to judge you. Would you even want to have a relationship with someone like that?
The real question is, is this idea of God truly accurate? Is this the picture of God that we see in the scriptures?
We will explore this today; and the answer may surprise you.
The title of today’s study might seem a bit silly at first, but it’s meant to cause us to honestly stop and think. Each of us carries with us a certain perspective of God – a perspective that has been shaped by the events of our life, the doctrines and traditions we have learned, and the general thoughts and feelings that we have on a day-to-day basis.
The question found in the title of today’s study, is one that each of us must ask… Do we actually see Jesus as a provider? – because it is one of the ways which He has clearly revealed Himself. A provider in every single way and sense of the word.
In some cases, there has been push-back against the idea of seeing Jesus as a provider, because they say “it makes God into a genie” – some have felt that it is flat-out wrong to ask God for things, or that it is somehow greedy, selfish or worldly. Others have been taught that God really doesn’t care about provision, because that is too carnal, and God only cares about spiritual things. But again, is that how He has revealed Himself? Is that the picture He has painted Himself as in the scriptures?
Today we will take a look at the picture of Jesus as a provider, as demonstrated in scripture, and see a crucial aspect of Himself, that is sometimes ignored, but one that He wants us to see and receive, as much as any other.
Many times I have heard people express to me, “I just don’t know what God wants! I just don’t know His will!”. Usually this is in regards to some type of situation, especially one concerning divine intervention. And this problem while common, is easily solved by simply knowing more about God and His nature and character.
That statement has offended some in the past, and they’ve gotten angry and said “are you suggesting that I don’t really know God!?” – to which I have responded with an honest: “not as well as you could.” Because God has made Himself known, even through the very names by which He calls Himself.
To God, and to the ancient Israelites, names were very important – they weren’t merely stylistic choices as we make them out to be today; rather names carried great purpose and meaning.
So today in this study I would like to share with you, the names which God has given Himself for us to know, and by these, we would get to know Him more, and understand His character and will, through the names which He has made Himself known to us.
All across the world, ministers are studying hard, stressing and struggling to lead the flock and come up with fresh food to feed the sheep, usually multiple times per week. This term “fresh food” can be a bit confusing, in that it is not that parts of the Gospel are stale – no, God's Word is always fresh, but that the Holy Spirit has a specific word for the people at that specific time, and there are many ministers today who find it difficult to know what that word is and how to deliver it to the people; or worse, they have utterly given-up.
So today, as part of our series on leadership, we are going to be studying how to have an effective ministry that is led by the Holy Spirit (which is the only way one can be truly effective). This applies not only to pastors, but also to every minister and indeed each one of us as well as we go about our day and encounter areas to minister and share Christ with others as well.