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Insights From Ephesians Part Four - Christians obey God to express appreciation for what God has done and continues to do for them in Christ. Christian obedience says, Thank you, to God. It is an expression of faith for those in Christ. It is not some form of hell insurance. If obedience is viewed as a means to obligate God, it is horribly misguided. Nor is obedience a way of getting God to act favorably toward us without our having to place trust in God. Bible Study at God's Message Insights From Ephesians Part Four Podcast lesson

Insights From Ephesians Part Three - One of the most powerful negative forces that exist in our society today is discouragement. This force is even more powerful in the church. There are likely more people who worship no where, or have changed to a different kind of church, or who are a loud, negative voice in their congregation because they have been discouraged, than any other negative influence among Christians. That is why our faith in God should never depend on people. No human is perfect. Every human needs God's mercy and grace. Bible Study at God's Message Insights From Ephesians Part Three Podcast lesson

Insights From Ephesians Part Two - God wants everyone to turn from Satan, have confidence in Jesus, and be in Jesus Christ. As Peter once wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. Insights From Ephesians Part Two Podcast lesson

Are There Real Answers For Aloneness - Why is it the law of Christ that we bear each other's burdens? Why? Because Jesus bears your burdens. He bore our burdens on the cross. Our sins were placed on his body as he died (1 Peter 2:24). He bore our burdens when we were baptized. When in faith and repentance we were baptized, Jesus destroyed every sin we had committed by removing all those sins with his own blood (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:7). He bears our burdens every day of our life. As we daily confess our mistakes to him, he totally cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Bible Study at God's Message. Are There Real Answers For Aloneness Podcast lesson

When Knowledge Exceeds Understanding - Understanding what God wants us to be is simpler than understanding what God wants to accomplish through us. Knowing what God wants me to be is simpler than understanding what God wants me to do. Know what God wants the church to be is simpler than understanding what God wants the church to do. It is easy to come to the conclusion that God's greatest concern or God's only concern is what God wants us to be. It is easy to conclude that it is not as important to serve God's purposes as to it is to be what God wants us to be. It is easy to conclude that God's purposes are obvious and simple. Bible Study at God's Message. When Knowledge Exceeds Understanding Podcast lesson

You Are To Be A Blessing - As you think about the incredible ways that you are blessed, as you think about your need to be grateful to Jesus and to God, would you ask yourself this question: "How should I thank God?" Learn your answer from God's direction to Abraham: "You are blessed to help achieve my eternal purposes. You are blessed to be a blessing." Use every blessing that God has given you to help achieve His purposes. Never forget that you are blessed to be a blessing. We invite you to Jesus Christ. Bible Study at God's Message. You Are To Be A Blessing Podcast lesson

Followers, Why Do You Follow - How much does discipleship factor in what you believe? How important is Jesus Christ to your faith system? Is he the primary factor in your faith system, or is he no factor at all? Could you remove Jesus from all your thinking and all your motives and your faith system remain intact, unchanged, doing all the same things that you have always done? If that could happen, I ask you a very serious question: are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do you allow him to teach you? Bible Study at God's Message. Followers, Why Do You Follow Podcast lesson

Insights From Ephesians - Without God's gift to us of Jesus His son, none of us could ever stand before God uncondemned. The only reason we can approach God is because of what God did for us in giving us Jesus. The only help to us that is eternal is our right to come to God in Jesus Christ. Do not put your confidence in yourself. Do not put your confidence in your deeds. Do not put your confidence in another human. Do not put your confidence in the congregation. Put your confidence in Jesus Christ. Only he is our source of every spiritual blessing and gives us access to God. Bible Study at God's Message. Insights From Ephesians Podcast lesson

Christianity and Relationships Part Four - Please, remember that sacrifice and love are inseparably linked as we devote ourselves to godly living. Please, understand that respect, kindness, and love are a part of being godly. Please, learn that showing these things to your family is truly an important part of being godly. Sacrifice for these things because these things are a part of God's ways. Never forget that God made great sacrifices to extend you His respect, kindness, and love! Bible Study at God's Message. Christianity and Relationships Part Four Podcast lesson

Christianity and Relationships Part Three - I think it is appropriate to end where we began. (1) We listen to God because of what He does for us. (2) We are not terrified of God, but see God as a source of hope. (3) We understand that the way we treat people is the way we treat God. Understanding those things, our marriages and homes are blessed because we belong to God. God, in love for us, teaches us how to commit in marriage because we have learned to love from God. Bible Study at God's Message. Christianity and Relationships Part Three Podcast lesson

A Common Cause Of Great Joy And Great Suffering - Every person is powerfully impacted by marriage--either by their own marriage, by their parents' marriage, by both marriages, or by the fact that their lives have never been touched by a marriage. Marriage causes joy or sorrow, causes happiness or heartache, brings peace or generates anger, and either nurtures or opposes spiritual development. Add to those truths these insights. Every good marriage can be better than it is. Every bad marriage can be worse than it is. Every good marriage has the potential of becoming a nightmare. Every bad marriage has the potential of becoming a powerful blessing. Bible Study at God's Message. A Common Cause Of Great Joy And Great Suffering Podcast lesson

Decisions, A Whole Congregation Affair - As In these four lessons, we have noted that Christ died to produce a new people, a people who are unlike any people who existed. Each person who chooses to let Jesus Christ possess his or her life becomes a new person. All persons belonging to Christ make God's new people. We saw that these new people were given a new type of leadership. In Acts chapter one, the first of these new people participated in the leadership process in a way that had never occurred before. Bible Study at God's Message. Decisions, A Whole Congregation Affair Podcast lesson

. . . And Then They Died - As I see the picture of those men kneeling in the dirt with their hands tied behind them and think about the thousands of others who have been executed, I wonder. In the weeks that they awaited execution, what were their thoughts? Did they have any form of hope to sustain them, or was there only despair? Did they have any peace within to turn to, or was there only fatalistic acceptance? Did death have meaning, or were they only relieved to end the inevitable? For the person whose heart trusts and depends on what God did in Jesus Christ, and for the person who never heard of Jesus Christ, those questions have very different answers. Bible Study at God's Message. And Then They Died Podcast lesson

Leadership Profile, From Shepherd to Shepherd - Place yourself in this situation. You have a very important decision to make, and this decision must be made. This decision will affect your future significantly. The truth of the situation is this: it will be impossible for your future not to be affected though this decision. One of two things will be true: your future will be much improved because of this decision, or your future will be much worse because of this decision. The potential for good or for bad in this decision literally is too great to be measured. Bible Study at God's Message. Leadership Profile, From Shepherd to Shepherd Podcast lesson

Decisions, New People Ownership - At Judgment, you won't say, That was them. Because it's all us. We are God's people. We all entered His family the same way. We were all forgiven in the same way. We all serve for our own salvation. It is just us as His people. When we become a Christian, we are automatically added to His church. I am then personally in relationship to God's family. We invite you to be a part of the people of God. Then grow in awareness and responsibility toward God and His family. What you have to give matters. Your presence is important. We don't save -- Jesus does. Bible Study at God's Message. Decisions, New People Ownership Podcast lesson