One question that seems to come up over and over is the question of activity. People have said to me that they want to “do things for God”, they want to be useful and they aren’t sure what He wants them to do. I’ve heard the frustration and confusion and uncertainty in the voice of people when they tell me how they feel like they are stagnating and they are searching all around for some way that they can be “used by God” and that thought and that drive consumes them, and they feel as though their life and time is being wasted doing nothing.
Let me tell you today that while I certainly understand the heart behind those feelings and the desire to do something, I must also tell you today that the answer I give to each person who expresses those feelings to me is the same… and it is a word from God that catches a lot of people off-guard.. maybe God wants you to not do anything right now, but receive His love. You see, most people are so busy looking for something to do for God, they have forgotten the real reason why they were created in the first place – to be filled with the Spirit and the fullness of God and receive His love. This is what we will be studying today.
There are many different opinions among believers today when it comes to healing. There are entire denominations today that have built complex doctrines around whether God heals today or not. People in general have a hard time believing in the miraculous aspects of God. If they can’t see it, touch it, or feel it, then it is not “real” to them. This of course is nothing new, people have always been this way, and Jesus understands that. In John 14:20, Thomas declared that he would not believe that Jesus was risen unless he saw the physical evidence for himself, which Jesus indeed gave him, but Jesus also said to Thomas, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Today we will be taking a look at the healing which Jesus provided for – specifically for your physical body. This is important because there are a great number of believers today who are suffering in their physical bodies. They are suffering with sicknesses, diseases, disorders and pains that God never intended, and He went to great lengths, suffering and dying on the cross, bearing the full punishment for your sin and mine so that we would not have to suffer any longer. As we examine this truth today, we will see how important this truth is to God, and to us as well.
We have previously studied how walking uprightly according to the truth is not about performance, but it is about believing rightly the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receiving His righteousness. It is the understanding and acceptance of this truth that enables us to truly live the abundant life in Christ, free from uncertainty, worry and fear. Yet many people are not experiencing this, because for the most part, this truth is not taught in today's culture. We are not hearing the original Gospel that Paul preached and received from the LORD Jesus, and therefore we are not experiencing the same results from the Gospel either.
That's why in this study today, we will be examining what the true Gospel is, and how by believing and receiving the message of truth, we can live the abundant life of Christ as we are meant to.
The idea of bearing fruit can be seen all throughout the New Testament. Jesus spake of it, and we can all agree as believers that we have a genuine desire to bear good fruit to God as mentioned in the scriptures. That being said, what exactly is good fruit? And how exactly do we bear it?
As it turns out, believers have many differing ideas about what good fruit is and how to go about producing it in their lives. However, we are not interested in the ideas and opinions of man, but only what the Bible says on the subject. And it may surprise you to learn that the Bible describes how to produce effortless good fruit in our lives. If you have been stressing, struggling or striving to produce good fruit, then this study will set you free from that burden today.
Where does God live? When asked this question, many believers will say “in Heaven”, while many children fresh out of Sunday School will answer “in my heart”. While this may be a very pleasant thing to think, the scriptures have something different to say regarding this question, and the answer lends itself to explain why many are not experiencing the richly fulfilling relationship with Christ that they so desperately need.