
Hosted by Fielder Church · EN

Our sin comes from our defiled hearts that twist and distort God’s ways to make them fit our ways. Instead of conforming to His image, we try to make God into our image, and that distorted, man-made God can do us no good. Our hearts are so wicked that Christ had to die to pay for our evil. But he was willing to, and on the third day, he rose from the grave in glorious power by which he can give us a new heart. We must not pretend that we are good when we are bad. We must confess we are bad so that he can make us good!

We tend to trust ourselves or worldly power to satisfy our greatest need. We are spiritually hungry and helpless, and we put our trust in earthly kingdoms when there is only one king who can satisfy and save. Jesus is the compassionate and sovereign king who provides what sinful and broken people cannot provide for themselves. Earthly kings take life, but Jesus does more than just give life; he satisfies it. We can trust our king with all that we have, because his resources never fail.

Doubt cripples even Jesus’s work. When we doubt of what God can do, we forfeit the power of his dominion in our lives. He is infinite in power, but his power is only available to those who believe in what he can do. Doubt dams up the flow of God’s power into our lives and the lives of those around us. Jesus had the faith to face an undeserved death, and he had the power to overcome it. When we remember who Christ is, in all his glory and splendor, and when we have faith in what he can do, we receive his authority to supernaturally advance his mission in this world.

We tend to let fear keep us from experiencing the power of God. We forget that fear is the enemy’s tool to keep us trapped and powerless. The gospel teaches us that freedom is found in faith, not fear. When we approach Jesus with faith, we experience his power and freedom. When we live in fear, we experience despair and powerlessness.

We tend to respond to the unexpected things in life with fear towards our circumstances rather than faith in the one who rules over every circumstance. Jesus calls me to trust Him in the midst of difficult circumstances that he is still in charge and can hold me in perfect peace. When he brings me through great things, I must testify to his goodness in my life wherever I go.

Sin hardens our hearts, ultimately causing us to reject the message of the Kingdom, resist the transformation God wants to bring, and live fruitless lives. Jesus has revealed his kingdom to us, and we have the choice to receive it or reject it. When we receive it in true faith, he supernaturally causes the small, seemingly insignificant seed of the kingdom to grow in us, transform us, and make us bear fruit.

If we don’t recognize Jesus as Lord, we will end up fighting against him. If he is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. We can’t follow him half-heartedly. Jesus’ defeat of death proved he is Lord of all. We must come to believe it. Sometimes God lets our needs draw us to need him enough to believe him. When we join him and choose to fall under his authority, we get his authority to build his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We have hard hearts that make us distort God’s purpose and place in our lives, so we miss who he is, what he offers, and how we should live for his glory as Lord. Jesus is the Lord of all, from the most macro of macros to the most micro of micros. He is the rightful, Lord, Master, and King, proven by his death, burial, and resurrection (macro of macros) and his lordship even of the meaning of rules of Sabbath (micro of micros). But we must trust his lordship, soften our hearts to his ownership of us, and live under his rule as Master.

Jesus came to heal those who needed healing. Our problem is that we think we can decide who needs healing and who doesn’t. We need to believe that we need Jesus’ healing. We must also believe that Jesus came to heal all, not just those who deserved it. Our biggest sign that we need healing is when we think we don’t need it, yet say that others don’t deserve it. The gospel of Jesus teaches us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

We tend to underestimate the Authority of Jesus in every area of our lives and overestimate our own authority. This is why we fight a losing battle for control over our circumstances rather than surrender to the one who is greater than our circumstances. Jesus has authority over everything – Every realm, every space, every part of our lives: Spiritual, Emotional and physical. To believe the gospel is to surrender all that we are to the authority of Jesus, and when we do, He redeems every part of who we are.