redemption – ThrivingBranch

Healing Truths From Jesus (part 1)

May 1, 2022April 20, 2022Leave a Comment

Healing is a fascinating topic in modern Christianity. Depending on who you ask, you might hear a range of perspectives from “healing is hogwash” to “oh it happens every day”

It’s easy to get emotional when discussing healing because we all know someone who has needed healing at one time or another, or we might even need healing ourselves right now.

Although the topic of healing evokes powerful feelings, it’s critical to not be driven by emotion, but allow the Master Healer to guide us in this realm… It is God Himself who identifies as our Healer, and later I will share with you some things I saw in the account of Jesus healing the paralyzed man in Luke chapter five.

Breaking Strongholds (part 1)

February 6, 2022January 18, 2022Leave a Comment

Do you have a nagging thought or feeling that you just can’t seem to shake? Perhaps an addiction, or sin that seems to persist despite your best efforts? Some camps within Christianity would claim that this is a sign of demon possession or that you need a spiritual intervention, usually in the form of a special deliverance or healing.

Such rhetoric can breed a lot of fear and uncertainty, leading to thinking that there’s something wrong with you, or that you’re not even saved.

Countless Christians have lost hope or given up entirely because of these ideas; so today we will explore how to truly break strongholds, through our union with Christ.

How Jesus Conquered Your Sin (#4): Total Salvation

May 23, 2021April 5, 2021Leave a Comment

Welcome back to part four of our series on how Jesus has conquered your sin. In the previous three parts, we’ve seen what sin is, and how it goes deeper than outward actions. We Laos saw how Jesus changes our spiritual identity through His sacrifice and the indwelling of His Spirit.

Then, last week, we saw how the Holy Spirit convinces us of our righteousness in Christ, confirming the status of our cleansed conscience— and that in Christ our conscience is free from the guilt, shame and condemnation of our old identity, and rightly focused on Jesus Christ.

Now, today, we will be focusing on the most crucial aspect of Jesus conquering sin, the Salvation, and what it means from a practical standpoint of daily life.

The Works of God Manifested in You

April 18, 2021April 18, 2021Leave a Comment

One of my favorite accounts of healing in the scriptures is found in John chapter 9. In this chapter we see Jesus healing the man who was born blind. It is one of my favorites, not because of the scale or the scope of the healing, but rather because of what it teaches us.

Jesus’ words regarding the blind man are very potent, and we often read passed them quickly to get to the healing itself, without absorbing and meditating on what He said. By doing this though, we miss something very critical to our understanding about God and the gift of healing that He gives. I’m excited to share this with you today. Let’s get started.

The Key to Powerful Belief (part 1)

February 21, 2021December 20, 2020Leave a Comment

The last couple of weeks, we’ve been examining perspectives and how we see Jesus from a practical standpoint. We’ve seen the importance of looking at Jesus with the proper spiritual lenses, with a proper understanding of what He has accomplished, and your spiritual identity in Him.

Today, we will be transitioning into a tangental, but equally essential topic of belief — specifically belief on Jesus, and how to have truly powerful belief that leads to spiritual victory.

Join me today, as I’m excited to share this topic with you!

The Amazing Blessing of Communion (part 4)

November 8, 2020August 17, 2020Leave a Comment

Welcome to the fourth and final part of our series, taking a look at the amazing blessing of communion. Far beyond the ritual, into the reality of our union with Jesus Christ. What a fantastic journey this has been!

We’ve seen how communion is not merely a corporate ritual, but a very personal time. A time not to reflect on your sin, but to reflect Christ’s finished work personally for you. A time to see how His finished work has changed your spiritual identity.

We also saw in last week’s study how the cup of the New Covenant, goes much more in-depth on a personal level, than what we typically hear about in most communion services. The fact that Jesus Christ took your sin upon Himself and paid the penalty in your place should be life-changing, but we often don’t give it the weight or attention that such an accomplishment deserves.

Today we will fit all these puzzle pieces together to see a fantastic picture of Christ’s finished work. Let’s get started!

How to Love God (By Receiving His Love)

July 5, 2020January 7, 2020Leave a Comment

How many times have you heard that you need to love God? This popular phrase is often heard when referring to Christian living and the Christian life, and is used in an attempt to conjure up reciprocal love for God.

However, when a person is trapped in legalism, with the burden of religion weighing them down, this phrase “you need to love God” takes on a heavy meaning which causes people to be introspective and focused on their own ability to love, rather than focusing on the root of the issue, which is God’s love for them.

I’ve spoken with a great number of people (and been one in the past as well) who were so consumed with trying to love God, that they completely missed His love for them – and in reality, the only way that we can truly love God at all, is by receiving His love for us in the first place!

So today in this study, we will be exploring the topic of how to truly love God, not by trying harder, but by receiving His love for you.

The Backwards Mentality of Religion

June 21, 2020December 26, 2019Leave a Comment

I had a conversation with a gentlemen once who asked me what I did [for a job] – and I told him that I was a Gospel minister – to which he paused awkwardly, and then said “Oh, I’m not religious”. So I chuckled and said, “That’s okay neither am I!” – after that we each went our separate ways.

It wasn’t until three days later, that we met again and he said to me in a puzzled voice: “What did you mean, when you said that you weren’t religious?!”.

You see, religion is not at all the same thing, as having a relationship, a union with Christ. And sometimes I think that we use the words and say these phrases, but haven’t really stopped to consider what they mean, or what the implications of them are.

It may also surprise you to hear that a great number of Christians also do not understand these differences. And so we are going to explore this today, and look at how the mentality of religion, is actually quite backwards to the truth of the Gospel of Christ taught in the scripture. And right-away I need to mention that when I say “backwards mentality” – I am not using that term as slang for stupid or unintelligent; not at all…

What I am saying, is that there is a religious mentality among many Christians, that is actually 180 degrees opposite to what the scriptures actually teach, and what the Gospel of Christ actually says. And this is what we will be exploring (and exposing) in today’s study.

Jesus’ Payment For Your Emotional Peace

April 12, 2020October 11, 2019Leave a Comment

If you have been viewing the studies here for any length of time, you have probably heard me mention that Jesus has made complete redemption available, and that He has made complete provision for your spirit, your soul, your body and even your finances. And indeed we have studied about His provision for your spirit, His provision for your body, and His provision for your finances.

Yet it occurred to me that we had not really explored His provision for your soul (that is your mind and emotions), in quite some time. And this area of His provision is just as important, just as powerful, and just as freeing as the others; and so we will be looking at it today in this study.

God is Not Just Your Light, He is Your Salvation

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019Leave a Comment

We recently did a study on how God is Light, and the Father of it, and it is absolutely true. The plain and simple analogy here is that without Him you can’t see anything clearly (or at all!). It is certainly true that He is Light – but that is not all that He is!

You may think that this is an obvious statement, but let me tell you that back in the days when I was entrenched in legalism and the religious performance mindset, I never really saw God as anything other than light. Oh sure – I knew of the scriptures which stated that He was more, but for myself personally on a daily-basis, I never factored-in anything other than God merely being a source of spiritual light. And there are a great number of people today who are still in that exact same place.

The implications of this are widespread and quite damaging to our relationship and union with Christ. For example, seeing God as only a light to point you in the right-direction, which you then must strive for through your effort and work, can actually totally negate the finished work of Jesus Christ.

So what I want to share with you today in this study, is the fact that God is so much more than light. He’s not just a pointer to salvation; but rather He is salvation.