child – ThrivingBranch

Your Identity as A Son of God

August 27, 2017August 27, 2017Leave a Comment

Do you know who you are? It sounds like a strange question at first, but I have conversations with people every day who are still confused about their spiritual identity… that’s why I teach so often on this very subject, because there are a great number of people in the church who still suffer from some sort of spiritual identity crisis. Not seeing who they are in Christ, but still identifying with their old nature. The part of them that is dead, they still see as alive, and they have bought into this lie that their still trying to become the new creation in Christ and they get stuck trying to fight a battle that is already won by Jesus Christ Himself.

God, of-course doesn’t want you to fall into this trap. He wants you to fully embrace the identity which He has given you. He wants you to walk in this identity every single moment of every day… It’s why He continually moves me to teach on this. I have been on a tangent for years now, because God’s heart is so strong for this, because so many of His children have bought into this lie that they are less than what they actually are in Him. So today we will be examining your identity in Christ Jesus – and even if you have been here for our previous studies on this subject, this will still be a good refresher for you, because faith comes by continually hearing, not just having heard one time.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

August 6, 2017August 13, 2017Leave a Comment

One of the mot famous children’s songs sung in churches and Christian households is “Jesus Loves Me”. It was one of the first (if not the first) songs I ever learned, and even the melody is instantly recognizable to most people. The lyrics of the song are simple, yet profound… they are as follows:

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

Of course there are additional verses, and some modifications to the main song in certain regions, but even so, this song had “gone around the world”, with millions upon millions of people singing it. Today, I would like us to examine this song, as the Holy Spirit reveals the truths of Jesus, hidden in what appears to be a simple children’s song.

Healing is Your Right in Christ

July 10, 2016July 10, 2016Leave a Comment

Over the years I have talked with a lot of people about healing. And it is surprising how often the conversations take the same paths over and over again. Many people suffer from the same misconceptions and wrong beliefs when it comes to the blessings of God and specifically healing. Sure they know that God is capable to heal, but they do not believe that he is willing to heal, and this can take many different forms, such as God is using a sickness to teach me a lesson, or that God is keeping me sick so that I can be a greater witness for Him – even though none of these ideas are supported in the scriptures. However, the fact that these wrong beliefs are not taught in this scriptures, has not really stopped them from spreading to many people in the body of Christ, and caused them to develop a wrong understanding of the nature and character of God as a result.

That’s why in this study today, we will be examining how healing is actually your right in Christ Jesus. He has paid for you to have it, and He wants you to be healed even more-so than you can possibly imagine. God is not withholding healing from you, nor is He your enemy. As you see these truths from scripture, they will expand and increase your ability to see the goodness and mercy of God, and will help you to replace the many misconceptions about God and healing with right believing founded on Biblical truth.

Jesus is the End of Your Punishment

February 7, 2016February 21, 2018Leave a Comment

How would you evaluate the current state of your life? It may seem pretty good right now, or it may seem like a total mess, or anywhere in between. Often times what we tend to do is take stock of our life and then use what we perceive as good or bad circumstances as a barometer for the love of God towards us. When things are good, we feel as though God is happy with us and loves us and we are on cloud nine; but when things are not going our way, we feel as though God is angry with us or that we have some kind of test to pass or a lesson to learn.

The truth though is that today God is not angry or wroth with you anymore. He exhausted all of His righteous and holy wrath on the body of Jesus Christ in your place. He suffered and died as you so that today you can receive all fullness of blessing and life as Him.

The Love of Jesus in Matthew 18

October 11, 2015July 31, 2015Leave a Comment

You may have heard it before “If your eye offends you, pluck it out! If your hand offends you, cut it off!” These words spoken by Jesus are absolutely true and necessary – however when these verses are quoted, they are unfortunately extolled in a very negative and condemning way which fails to demonstrate the love of Jesus and reveal His heart.

That’s why today we are going to examine these famous words of Jesus, and see the details in what He said which will allow us to see that He was not speaking out of harshness or hardness but that He said these words out of His Perfect Love and care for us.