Growing In God with Gary Hargrave

• GIG278 Walking With God Is Doing

  Growing In God Podcast Program Number: GIG #278 Title: Walking with God is Doing   Web Description: How do we walk with God? By taking steps to act on what God is telling us to do. The Scriptures are more than ideas to learn about and discuss. They are a way for God to speak directly to us what He wants us to do. We can know His will for us in the Scriptures when we are willing to do His will. And we can know the blessings of a walk with God when we find the way to do His will as He makes it real to us in His Word.   Show Notes: There is an abundance of material available to us for Bible study. We can do a great deal of Bible reading. We can memorize Scriptures. We can consume many Bible teachings. And God can speak to us through that. But if we never do anything about what God speaks to us, how beneficial is our study? Yeshua (Jesus) said, "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." The Scriptures are examples for us to live by. More than just studying them and discussing them, we are to take steps to walk in them.   That is what a walk with God is all about. It is learning what God wants you to do and then taking steps to do it. If a Scripture touches your heart, or the Lord makes something real to you, then meditate on it with the purpose of doing something about it. Seek the Lord about it and ask Him, "What do you want me to do with this? How do I express this in some type of action?" This is how we appropriate the Word in our lives. It becomes real to us when we are doing it.   Yeshua said that we will know if His teaching is from God when we are willing to do His will. And we know that God is at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. The purpose of Him working in us is not to learn more about His will or to talk more about His will, but to be driven to do His will. Let us begin to apply this to our Bible study. One way is to keep a notebook of action items that we can do in response to what God is showing us in His Word. Whatever method we use, let us strive to see the will of God accomplished in our lives.   Key Verses:   •       Genesis 17:1. "Walk before Me, and be blameless." •       Psalm 116:9. "I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living." •       John 13:12–17. "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them." •       Matthew 22:35–39. "LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD … LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR." •       Philippians 2:12–13. "It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." •       John 2:5–10. "Whatever He says to you, do it." •       Hebrews 13:20–21. "Now the God of peace … equip you in every good thing to do His will." •       John 7:17. "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching."   Quotes:   •       "It's not knowing the Scriptures. It's doing the Scriptures. It's not knowing the things of God. It's doing what He's commanded us to do." •       "We're not to read the books or listen to messages and then sit around and just discuss them. If we're going to sit around and discuss the Word and what God's saying, let's start discussing what we're going do about it and how we're going to do it." •       "He is working in you because what He is asking, or what's needed as a response to His Word or the teaching, may be a difficult thing to do. And so you have to draw on His strength and His enabling in order to go do that."   Takeaways:   1.    There is a tendency for us as Christians to consume a lot of material in our study of the Scriptures. But the concern is what do we actually do about what we are learning from the Scriptures? 2.    It is important to develop some methodology that helps us do something about what God makes real to us in the Scriptures. 3.    We have a greater grasp of Bible teaching when we have the heart to do it. And not only when we have the heart, but when we actively find the ways to do something about what God shows is in the teaching.

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• GIG224 (2) Thanksgiving—A Time of Gratitude

  Growing In God Podcast Program Number:  GIG #224 (2) Title: Thanksgiving—A Time of Gratitude   Web Description: Thanksgiving is a wonderful time set aside for giving thanks to the Lord. But the scriptural example of thanksgiving is not something that is done only on specific days. It is a continual practice of giving thanks and praise to the Lord every day. The pattern in our lives should not be thanking the Lord whenever we feel He has blessed us. We should have an attitude, a mindset, and an intentional emotion of gratitude for everything God is and does. Let this Thanksgiving be the beginning of a new lifestyle of overflowing gratitude before the Lord.   Email Subject Line: Thanksgiving—A Time of Gratitude   Show Notes: In the transition from the Tabernacle to the Temple, David commanded the Levites to thank and praise the Lord every morning and evening. This concept of giving continual thanks and praise to the Lord goes deeper than our concept of giving thanks. When someone gives us something, we say, "Thank you." And so our definition of thanksgiving still has this idea of thanking God after He blesses us. A better word for the scriptural concept of continual thanks to God is gratitude.   The Scriptures show us that we can develop a mindset, an attitude, and especially an emotion of gratitude before the Lord. Even when we face difficulties and negative situations, we can still have this emotion of gratitude because it is not dependent on our circumstances. We do not have to deny what may be happening to us, but we can continually focus on the Lord and develop within ourselves the sense of wonder and gratitude for all that God is and all that He does.    Therefore, let us celebrate Thanksgiving this year with gratitude. Let it be an expression of our continual thanks and praise to the Lord and not isolated to one specific gift or answer to prayer that He has given us. Let our gratitude become something that we develop within the depths of our being as part of our relationship with God, whereby we say daily, "Lord, we are not thankful for one or two things that You did for us. We are overflowing with gratitude for all things that You are to us and have provided for us."   Key Verses:   •       1 Chronicles 23:30. "They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD, and likewise at evening." •       Psalm 92:1–5. "It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High." •       2 Peter 1:3. "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." •       Colossians 2:6–7. "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, … overflowing with gratitude."   Quotes:   •       "We don't just want to say 'thank you' for something. We want to develop in our hearts an attitude of gratitude." •       "When we talk about gratitude, it's not just an action; it's an emotion that is being expressed from within the depth of our being." •       "There is an unending list and an unending focus of what we should be giving praise and thanks to the Lord for."   Takeaways:   1.    David introduced a new responsibility and ministry for the Levites. They were to stand every morning and evening to thank and praise the Lord. It is also important for us to find a new expression in our giving of thanks and worship to the Lord. 2.    It is good to set aside one day at Thanksgiving to express our thanks to the Lord. But we need more than just a practice of thanking the Lord on one day and afterwards reverting to a life of ungratefulness. We need the Levitical pattern of thanking and praising the Lord continually. 3.    Giving thanks when we are blessed is still a limited emotion in response to our circumstances. We need to develop an intentional emotion of gratitude that is a continual expression of praise and thanks to the Lord.  

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• GIG277 Love Is the Antidote

  Growing In God Podcast Program Number: GIG #277 Title: Love Is the Antidote   Web Description: The world is experiencing an increase in lawlessness and a corresponding decrease in people's love. As a byproduct, anger and hatred are spreading like infectious diseases. We need an antidote. And that antidote is the Father's love in Christ. As believers in Christ, we have the ability and the responsibility to deliver this antidote to the world.   Show Notes: When describing the end times, Yeshua (Jesus) said that the increase in lawlessness would cause people's love to grow cold. Yet also during these times the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world. And what is the very foundation of the gospel of the Kingdom? It is the love of Christ. The love of Christ is the antidote for the sickness in the world that is draining love from people's hearts. How is this antidote delivered? As believers in Christ, we need to wake up to the fact that we are the ones to do that.   Only the love of God, which we have received in Christ, can be effective in fighting the anger and hatred that is spreading like a virus in this age. This virus has even infected the Church. We have seen division, anger, and hatred infecting the hearts of believers. Now more than ever Christians must be loving one another because our oneness is the sign that the Father sent Christ into the world. In these days when darkness is spreading, we have to let our light shine. And our light is the love of God that is manifested in us.   Not only should we be expressing our love among ourselves, but we should also love everyone around us, even our enemies, as the Lord commanded. In this day when Judeo-Christian values are being attacked and the persecution of Christians is increasing, we cannot draw back or hide our light. We are to love even our enemies as Christ did and show that we are sons of our Father. It may seem like everything in the world is becoming darker. But that means God is giving us an even greater light to shine. If the world is getting sicker, then we have an even greater antidote. Let us minister the antidote of God's love freely to everyone and spread the gospel of love throughout the world.   Key Verses:   •       Matthew 24:12–14. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold." •       Matthew 5:14–16. "Let your light shine before men." •       Proverbs 4:18–19. "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn." •       John 8:12. "I am the Light of the world." •       1 John 3:11. "This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." •       Romans 13:8–12. "Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." •       Peter 1:22. "Fervently love one another from the heart." •       John 13:34–35. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." •       Matthew 5:43–48. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father." •       Luke 6:27. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." •       Luke 6:35. "Love your enemies … and you will be sons of the Most High."   Quotes:   •       "The world is dark and darkness is coming. The world is sick. It's upside down. Good is bad and bad is good. And it doesn't seem like necessarily there's an answer. But there is an answer, and the answer is God's love." •       "This love that we have is being compared to a light, and it shines brighter and brighter. And we should expect to see more and more the love of God manifested in us and being able to be conveyed and imparted to this age." •       "It is the time for us as believers to wake up to the need and to wake up to the reality that within our hearts we hold the antidote to the wickedness, to the evil, to the hatred that is so widespread in this age."   Takeaways:   1.    The love manifested in us and through us to the world repels the darkness from us personally. And it is the antidote that people in bondage to the darkness are needing. 2.    People will know that we are Christ's disciples because we love one another. Our oneness is a sign to the world that the Father sent Christ into the world. 3.    Our love cannot be just for fellow believers. It must also be for those who hate us, who are our enemies, and who persecute us. That is what shows that we are sons of the Father. 4.    It is not so much what we preach. It is what we express and minister as light in the darkness, showing God's love to all His creation.

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• GIG276 Renewing Our Minds

  Growing In God Podcast Program Number: GIG #276 Title:  Renewing Our Minds     Web Description: When we get into spiritual warfare, we tend to become focused on things outside of us. But it is actually an internal battle that takes place in our minds. We are fighting a battle against mental speculations that attack the knowledge of God and draw our focus away from Him. Let us bring our focus back on Christ the King and enforce His victory with the divinely powered weapons He has given us.   Show Notes: The practice of building a booth, or sukkah, at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) involves leaving the roof open. And we can draw a lesson from the fact that in our sukkah, we are not looking out; we are looking up. Instead of a focus that looks out on everything happening in the world, we are to be training our minds to focus on the Lord. This principle applies directly to our concept of spiritual warfare. The battle for our focus is not happening outside of ourselves. It is taking place in our own minds.   According to 2 Corinthians, the weapons of our warfare are powerful to the pulling down of strongholds. We are destroying speculations and taking every thought captive in obedience to Christ. We are warring against strongholds. But those strongholds are not separate from us. They are strongholds built from the speculations and thought processes of our minds. These speculations of the human mind are what raise themselves up against the knowledge of God, against the truth of God, and against Christ. Our warfare is with the thoughts of our own minds and the things within ourselves on a human level.   In our society today we see many who are embracing twisted ideologies and belief systems that literally claim that truth is a lie, and the lie is truth. These belief systems have become a stronghold like a fortress or a walled city that seems impossible to break through. We need to believe and exercise our powerful and effective spiritual weapons that are able to destroy these speculations that war against the knowledge of God within us. These weapons are divinely powerful because they come from God, and we fight this war effectively by keeping our minds focused on Him.   Key Verses:   •       2 Corinthians 10:3–7. "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God." •       Romans 12:2. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." •       1 Corinthians 2:16. "We have the mind of Christ." •       2 Corinthians 5:17. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." •       Hebrews 11:10. "He was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." •       Psalm 2:1–8. "As for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion." •       Psalm 96:10–11. "Say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns.'"   Quotes:   •       "When our minds develop these speculations and then coalesce those speculations into a belief system, all of a sudden we realize that these things are fortresses that are absolutely against what God is trying to say." •       "I don't need to argue with you about all of your morality and all of your philosophy and all of your theology. I just need to tell you one thing: Christ reigns. He reigns as Lord Supreme. He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords." •       "We can either be aware of the battle, or we can be aware of the fact that the battle is already won."   Takeaways:   1.    The weapons of our warfare are for destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. A speculation is a thought process, and we need to see that spiritual warfare is a battle that takes place in our minds. 2.    Speculations and belief systems of the fleshly mind become a fortress, and we cannot fight that on a fleshly level. We must use the spiritual weapons that are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 3.    We need to change our focus. We need to take our focus off the world and put it back on the Lord so that our minds are stayed in Him, and we are bringing His divine presence constantly in our thoughts.

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• GIG275 Christ the King

  Growing In God Podcast Program Number: GIG #275 Title: Christ the King   Web Description: Why are the nations in an uproar? Because God has established Christ as King and has given all the nations to Him. God is not moved by their uproar, and neither should we be as believers in Christ. He is our refuge, He is our focus, and His unshakable Kingdom is the reality of our lives right now.   Show Notes: We read in Psalm 2 that the nations are in an uproar, and today we see how true that is. It is difficult to find a nation where positive things are happening. Every nation is facing negative consequences as people devise a vain thing. Like no other time in history, whole populations all over the globe are embracing vain and ridiculous ideas to believe in. Meanwhile, governments and rulers take their stand against the Lord, His will, His Kingdom, and His people. They counsel together against Israel and against Judaism and Christianity everywhere.   It seems like the world is spinning out of control. And as much as we pray for things to change, they just seem to go from bad to worse. That should come as no surprise to us as Christians. The Scriptures make clear that things will be difficult in the days before the Kingdom of God is established. And we are to be focused as believers on His Kingdom coming. So do not be focused on whatever is happening in the world. Instead, keep looking to the Father, to Christ, and to His Kingdom, knowing that God is in charge.   How is God responding to all the ridiculous ways the nations are acting in their defiance of Him? According to Psalm 2 He is laughing. In other words, He is not bothered. He is not losing control. He is not moved off His throne. God is securely planted as the One who is in charge. And He has installed His King on Zion, His holy mountain. That is where we stand in Christ. We can live today in His Kingdom, taking refuge in Him, seated with Him in the heavenly places, and proclaiming that He is ruling over every situation.   Key Verses:   •       Psalm 2:1–5. "The kings of the earth take their stand … against the LORD and against His Anointed." •       Psalm 2:6–8. "But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain." •       Psalm 2:9–12. "How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!" •       Psalm 24:1. "The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains." •       Ephesians 2:4–6. "God, being rich in mercy … seated us with Him in the heavenly places."   Quotes:   •       "This is the scream of people who are refusing the Lordship of Christ, the Lordship of the Scriptures, the Word of God in their life: 'The Word of God is not going to be our moral compass. It's not going to rule over our life and how we live it and how we act one towards another.'" •       "There is going to be a moment where God begins to respond to each and every one of these that He's dealing with, each and every one of these ones that think they are bringing about their will on the earth and their kingdom on the earth, including satan himself. They are going to be addressed personally by the Lord, and they are going to be terrified at His response." •       "Whatever you're experiencing, whatever we're going through, whatever will happen around us in this uproar of the nations, take refuge in Him. Keep your focus upon Him. Keep absolutely in the front of your mind and heart that He has installed Christ the King upon Mount Zion."   Takeaways:   1.    The nations are in an uproar. But they are in an uproar because the Father has granted the ownership of those nations to Christ. 2.    God is not shaken, and Christ the King is not shaken by whatever is going on in this world. He is laughing at the plans of the world because they are already thwarted by His Word as the God of all creation. 3.    We tell of the decree of the Lord that He is the King. We take refuge in Him personally. And we are those who proclaim that the nations are His, and He has installed His King upon His Holy Mountain.

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