Growing In God with Gary Hargrave

Growing In God Podcast
Program Number: GIG #315
Air Date: 8/19/2026
Title: Our Maturity Triggers the Harvest
 
Web Description: In the end-time, how will evil be exposed and uprooted from the earth? Will it happen because we are focused on what satan is doing and fighting what he is bringing forth? Not according to Christ's parables of the end-time. The tares planted by satan are removed when the wheat planted by God matures. Evil is removed when we, who were born by the seed of God's Word, grow into our maturity as sons of God.
 
Show Notes: Islam is expanding and exerting control in Europe, with many areas under Sharia law. But this has been happening in the United States as well. Using our constitutional freedom of religion, Islamic centers continue to expand their influence in regions, working to impose rules of society that are contrary to the liberties assured by our constitution and to our Judeo-Christan values. This and the many woke agendas that are undermining our society operate behind a smokescreen of satanic deception. We must not be clouded and confused by the smokescreen but instead be those who bring the evil to light so God can judge it.
 
How do we do that? The answer is in the parable of the wheat and the tares. According to this parable, evil is exposed when the sons of God bear fruit. We are the good seed that God has sown in the earth, and we begin to grow. And the evil seed sown by the enemy is growing alongside us. But there is no clear distinction between us and the evil in the world until we become fruitful. And so our focus should be on our growing, maturing in God, taking on the fullness of His likeness, and moving in the things of God. This is what brings real solutions because it is the only thing that exposes evil and initiates the removal of that evil by the Lord.
 
The maturity we need is explained in another parable. The Parable of the Sower describes the Word of God as the seed sown on various types of soil. The good soil that bears fruit is compared to the one who hears the Word and understands it. We are to grow in understanding until we can cut through the confusion that is currently clouding people's ability to make the right decisions for their lives. God is not confused, and the Scriptures tell us that He will give understanding to His people, so they can walk in a clarity of knowing what to do and how to do it. When we possess this understanding in our full maturity as sons of God, the tares will be removed, and wickedness will be pulled from the earth.
 
Key Verses:
 
•       Matthew 13:24–30. "When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also."
•       Genesis 1:31. "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good."
•       John 4:35. "Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest."
•       Matthew 13:18–23. "This is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit."
•       Ephesians 4:13. "Until we all attain … to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."
•       Daniel 12:8–10. "None of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand."
•       Ephesians 5:17. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
•       Proverbs 2:1–11. "The LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
•       Proverbs 4:5. "Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!"
•       Psalm 33:15. "He who fashions the hearts of them all … understands all their works."
•       1 Corinthians 14:33. "God is not a God of confusion."
 
Quotes:
 
•       "We in our hearts are oriented to a purpose to see God's Kingdom come into this physical earth where Christ rules and reigns as King and sits on the throne of David to accomplish that."
•       "I want to have us come into a clarity, out of the fog, out of the confusion, and be able to move in what God wants us to do."
•       "We need to be praying for the Body of Christ to come to this fullness of what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to grow up in all ways into the likeness of Christ."
 
Takeaways:
 
1.    Satan likes to hide what he is doing in a fog, clouding the issues to bring confusion. But we are not to be confused about what our focus should be and how we should intercede.
2.    Evil needs to be exposed. But that does not happen because we focus on the negative. The tares are removed when the wheat matures. And as the wheat that was planted by the Lord, our focus must be on our maturing in Christ.
3.    One of the most important things we need in our maturity is understanding. We need the understanding of the Word that brings clarity and direction for our prayers and for the things we are to act on.

Growing In God Podcast
Program Number: GIG #314
Title: He Has Committed to Us Reconciliation
 
Web Description: When we are reconciled to God through Christ, we are brought into God's plan for the earth. And God's plan is that all the people of the earth will be reconciled to Him. That is why He gives us the ministry of reconciliation. Our personal salvation makes us part of God's holy Kingdom of priests who minister to others the reconciliation that He provided for all by the sacrifice of His Son.
 
Show Notes: We can see God's heart for the world in His relationship with Israel. When God brought them forth as a nation, He told them to be a kingdom of priests. And what is the purpose of being a kingdom of priests? It is to minister to all the nations of the earth. As Christians who have been grafted into the covenant and promises of Israel, we share in this same purpose to be a kingdom of priests. As our High Priest, Christ reconciled us to God by His blood. This ministry of reconciliation is how a priest functions. And when we receive Christ, we also receive the ministry of reconciliation.
 
We miss this aspect when we focus only on our personal salvation. God commanded Israel to be a kingdom of priests, but He also told them to be a holy nation. You cannot have one without the other. God wanted Israel to be holy so that they could serve as His priesthood that would minister to the nations. The same is true of our salvation. When God saves us, He forgives our sins. But that does not mean we are supposed to do nothing except sit around and be forgiven. We are forgiven and cleansed of our sins so that we can be the priests who serve Him in His presence.
 
If we truly are concerned about what is going on in the world today, then it must be real to us that God wants salvation for all mankind. We are not here to be caught up in the hostility of this age that pits one nation or people or individual against another. We must be those who stand in the presence of the Father and contend with Him, by the sacrifice of His Son for all the world, that everyone in this age will be reconciled to Him. If we are Christians, then we have become His royal priesthood. We have become His priests with the ministry of reconciliation for the nations.
 
Key Verses:
 
•       Exodus 19:5–6. "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
•       Revelation 1:4–6. "He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father."
•       Revelation 5:9–10. "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God."
•       Romans 11:17. "You … were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree."
•       Genesis 12:3. "In you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
•       2 Corinthians 5:18–20. "God … reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."
•       1 Timothy 2:1–6. "God our Savior … desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
•       2 Peter 3:9. "The Lord is … patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
•       Isaiah 60:10–12. "Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you."
•       John 3:15–17. "God did not send the Son … to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."
 
Quotes:
 
•       "There's a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham in that all the nations now are being included. And you know what? God has made you also, like Israel, to be a kingdom and priests unto God."
•       "The purpose of the Church is that it become the priesthood of God ministering in the earth."
•       "For people to die in judgment means that they became part of satan's kingdom. I don't like that. I don't want him to have anybody in his kingdom. I want all to come to the understanding and the knowledge of the salvation that the Father has given us through His Son."
 
Takeaways:
 
1.    Our personal salvation is not an end in itself. It is what enables us to stand in His presence so that we can function as His priests.
2.    We have been reconciled to God in order to enter His Kingdom as the priests who will minister His reconciliation to all the nations.
3.    Let us contend with God that He exercise His true heart for the world that all people come to Him, be saved, and be part of His Kingdom.

Growing In God Podcast
Program Number: GIG #313
 
Title: Before the Foundation of the World
 
Web Description: At the Lord's Supper, we are to examine ourselves and judge ourselves rightly. But are we actually doing that when we focus on digging up every negative thing in our flesh? We need to view our flesh according to all that we are in Christ. We operate from the heavenly realm, not from the fleshly realm, and His power is in us to fulfill what He sent us in the flesh to do.
 
Show Notes: The apostle Paul wrote concerning the Lord's Supper that we should examine ourselves. But does that mean we focus only on the negative things of the flesh? If we examine ourselves, we should also see that we are not of this world just as Christ is not of this world. We should see that He sent us into this world just as the Father sent Him. We should see that we are the ones God chose before the foundation of the world to be with Him, to be in His image, to be in His likeness, to be filled up to His fullness.
 
It is important that we see ourselves correctly in relation to the flesh. Christ took on a physical body to minister to this world, and we have a fleshly body for that same purpose. He came in the flesh to be the firstborn among many brethren. That means we share in His sufferings in the flesh, but we also share in all that He is spiritually. This is the perspective Paul had when he instructed us to examine ourselves. Paul had not known Christ in the flesh. He only knew Christ as He is to us now in resurrection life at the right hand of the Father.
 
We examine ourselves according to that perspective. That means understanding the purpose for which God created us before the foundation of the world and sent us into the world to fulfill. That means understanding that Christ came in the flesh to die to the flesh and remove the flesh nature from us. That means understanding that we are with Him in the heavenly places, functioning in this world from that place of authority in the power of His resurrection. When we come before the Lord at the Communion table, let us do it in remembrance of all that He is to us and all that He predestined us to be.
 
Key Verses:
 
•       1 Corinthians 11:23–30. "He … eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly."
•       John 12:26. "Where I am, there My servant will be also."
•       John 17:13–18. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."
•       Romans 8:26–39. "Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son."
•       Ephesians 1:2–11. "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world."
•       Philippians 3:20. "Our citizenship is in heaven."
 
Quotes:
 
•       "The Communion should be an experience that takes us back to the understanding of who we are because we are examining that reality in detail."
•       "We were foreknown by Him. But to be put into the image of Christ, it was necessary that we go through this time being in a human body because that is the image of Christ."
•       "Our eternity started before we landed in this realm of the material world, before we were born into this fleshly body."
 
Takeaways:
 
1.    Paul's perspective was not from his experience with Christ in the flesh on the earth but from his experience with the resurrected Christ in the heavenly places at the right hand of the Father.
2.    It is from this perspective that he told us to examine ourselves, not negatively according to the flesh, but according to what Christ is, what He has done, and what He is doing in us.
3.    Just as we share in the flesh with Christ, we also share in the power of His resurrection and victory over the flesh.
4.    Judging ourselves rightly means we are seeing ourselves as those predestined by God before the foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Growing In God Podcast
Program Number: GIG #312
Title: Our Prayer for Our Nations
 
Web Description: Daniel's prayer for Israel while they were in captivity is not simply a historical story. It is an example for us to follow. Just as Israel ignored the warnings from God that led to Jerusalem's destruction, the nations today are ignoring the abundant warnings in the Scriptures about the destruction set to happen in our day. It is time that we follow Daniel's example of seeking God, asking His forgiveness, and praying for His blessing to be on our nations.
 
Show Notes: The United States of America has enjoyed tremendous blessings since its founding. And we celebrate those blessings every July 4th. But even more than that, we celebrate the fact that God was involved with our founding. This nation began because people were seeking God and acknowledging Him in its formation. But we must do more than remember what great things God did in the founding of this country. We need to be walking with Him today in such a way that the blessings, the gifts, and the peace that we have experienced in this country will continue.
 
This applies to all nations; and Christians everywhere need to be seeking God that His covering and blessings will rest on their nations. A great example of this from the Scriptures is Daniel. Daniel was very concerned about his nation, the nation of Israel, and he prayed, "Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You." When we look at all that is turning our own nation away from God and away from the values that are the source of the blessings we enjoy, we should feel a deep personal shame and seek God as Daniel did.
 
Daniel walked uprightly before the Lord and had not done any of the things God was judging Israel for. Yet he humbled himself and accepted responsibility along with all Israel for the situation they were in. As Christians we cannot exclude ourselves from responsibility for our country. Let us evaluate our own hearts and minds. Let us lift our own thinking and ways of acting before the Lord for Him to examine. Let us be honest with ourselves about why we are in the circumstances today that are troubling the nations. Those circumstances are God's way to get us to turn to Him. Let us turn to Him with all our hearts and seek Him for His blessings to be restored to us.
 
Key Verses:
 
•       Daniel 9:2–12. "Open shame belongs to us … because we have sinned against You."
•       Psalm 132:14. "This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it."
•       2 Chronicles 7:16. "My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."
•       Daniel 9:16–22. "For Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary."
 
Quotes:
 
•       "I wish we as a global community of the Body of Christ would seek God on behalf of all our nations."
•       "God so loved the world and He so loved mankind that He's bringing about an opportunity of grace for us to cry out to Him and find deliverance through Him."
•       "If we get instruction and answers from God, let us not this time harden our hearts. Let us not at this time close our ears and our minds to what His Word is speaking to us. And let's believe that He brings, in this generation, the insight and the understanding that will, by His grace, bring deliverance to this age."
 
Takeaways:
 
1.    We should be those who acknowledge our own responsibility for whatever direction our nation is going and whatever troubles it finds itself in. And we should be seeking God for our nation to return to Him and see His blessings return to us.
2.    Let us not follow the example of those who ignored the warnings, hardened their hearts, and turned away from the prophets and the Word God was speaking. Instead, let us follow Daniel's example of admitting our guilt and seeking God for His grace and forgiveness.
3.    We need to change the atmosphere of anger in this country. The drive to not listen, to not learn, to not love, but rather to hurt one another leads to violence. And violence will beget violence until we find ourselves on the brink of civil war once again.

Growing In God Podcast
Program Number: GIG #311
Title: The Fast of Tisha B'Av
 
 
Web Description: The fast of Tisha B'Av this year will be another time of fasting and mourning for the Jewish people. But also this year there are many who cry out as the comforters of God's people—who speak kindly to Jerusalem, and who voice in faith the Words of the Lord that prophesy the rebuilding of the city and the reestablishment of the fortunes of Jacob.
 
Show Notes: The fast of Tisha B'Av is observed on the ninth day of the month of Av, which in 2026 begins at sundown on July 22 and ends at sundown on July 23. Tisha B'Av is a fast of mourning for the tragic events in Jewish history occurring on the ninth of Av, but primarily for the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. The prophecies of Yeshua (Jesus) concerning the destruction of the Second Temple, which are recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, are applicable to this fast.
 
As Christians we need to see how specific these prophecies are to Jerusalem and to Israel. And it is important that we observe this time with the Jewish people because we have a purpose to fulfill. That purpose, as we read in Isaiah 40, is to comfort God's people. With that purpose in mind, how do we pray for Israel and the Jewish people at this time when they are suffering so much from war and the threat of war? We pray for God's promises of restoration to be fulfilled.
 
God's promise through Zechariah is that the times of fasting will be replaced by feasts of joy and that the nations will not return to Jerusalem with sword and spear but will go up to the house of the Lord. Also Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Amos prophesied that the fortunes of Israel and Judah will be restored. We step up to be those who speak kindly to Jerusalem, who comfort God's people, who declare that God will restore their fortunes today.
 
Key Verses:
 
•       Luke 21:5–9. "See to it that you are not misled."
•       Matthew 24:1–6. "See to it that no one misleads you."
•       Luke 21:24–28. "Straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
•       Isaiah 40:1–2. "'Comfort, O comfort My people,' says your God. 'Speak kindly to Jerusalem.'"
•       Zechariah 8:18–23. "The fast … will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts."
•       Isaiah 41:8–14. "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God."
•       Isaiah 61:1–4. "The LORD has anointed me … to comfort all who mourn."
•       Ezekiel 39:25–29. "I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel."
•       Amos 9:13–15. "I will restore the captivity of My people Israel."
•       Jeremiah 30:15–20. "I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob."
•       Jeremiah 33:7–9. "I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel."
 
Quotes:
 
•       "Many say, 'Oh, you know, we have been hearing of wars and rumors of wars around the world forever.' Well, He is not necessarily addressing rumors of wars around the world. He is talking about the destruction of the Temple. He is talking about events that are going to happen in Jerusalem"
•       "When these things begin, then you're to take a certain position, which is that you're to stand up. You're to lift up your head because your redemption draws near."
•       "It's so easy to look around in this time of mourning to anxiously wonder what will happen. What will tomorrow bring? What are the days ahead going to be like? But He says, 'Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God.'"
 
Takeaways:
 
1.    Tisha B'Av is a time of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the Temple. And this is specifically what Yeshua's prophecies of the end-time are about, as we read in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. We generally apply His prophecies to events taking place in the world. But He was speaking of events that will happen in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount, and in Israel.
2.    When we see these things happening, as we are seeing them in Israel today, we are not to be focused on those events. We are to look up. We are to reach into the heavenly places to be focused on God and on Christ and on what they are doing to bring forth the Kingdom.
3.    The command in Isaiah 40 is directed to Gentiles. We are to comfort God's people and speak kindly to Jerusalem. In our prayer and intercession, we need to declare God's promises of restoration to Judah and Israel.