Our Resolute Hope Podcast

God created us to be filled with the treasure of His life.  Only when His life overflows in us can we really love our spouses the way they need to be loved.

Proper understanding of giving requires proper understanding of the covenants.  We are to receive freely and give freely, led by the Spirit, not reluctantly from guilt or obligation.

Few topics are more sensitive than money.  The tithe supported the theocracy of Israel, but in the new covenant, giving is from the heart, an act of individual worship.

Throughout his epistles, Apostle Paul describes all our Father has done for us in Christ.  Paul then uses that as a foundation to describe how we should then live.

Often overlooked, this empowering word shows how what God has done can transform our lives and conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

True worship always produces the fruit of service, offered heartily unto the Lord.  As living sacrifices, we serve by doing the most redemptive, constructive, and honoring things for others.

This glorious word means to bow down, to prostrate yourself before the One Who is greater.  It’s a mindset rooted in trust, a determined choice that says, “Not my will, but yours be done”.

Not a word of compliance or conformity, obedience works a miracle in our lives.  It transforms us into people who can do the impossible … love others the way Jesus loves us.

Obedience means to listen under.  It’s a word of relationship, of trust, of love.  Through it, we become all our Father created us to be, unique expressions of His life in us.

When we give God permission to work in us, He changes how we view ourselves.  He gives us His perspective on living as servants in obedience to Him.

Let is an action word.  In Scripture, it’s a command to remove an obstacle and allow something to happen.  It’s a point of spiritual warfare, where we must choose to permit God to work in our lives.

If God is grace, why do bad things happen in our lives?  As with Job, He allows them … so we can know Him better.  His grace always does the most constructive, redemptive thing for us … even if it hurts.

Grace doesn’t make us passive, despite what some believe.  It motivates us from within, so we can abound in every good work.  Paul wrote, “I work harder than any, though not I, but God’s grace within me”.

Many believe grace alone leads to license, so we must balance it with law to stop sinning.  But grace and law don’t work that way.  Grace brings us life, law brings us death.  Only grace can teach us to honor God with our lives.

Grace isn’t something God has, it’s something He is.  Grace does the most loving, constructive, redemptive, and honoring thing for us … and does it with elegance, treating us like royalty, kids of the King.

We use the word grace often, but what does it mean?  It’s not an attitude, a doctrine, or a message.  Grace is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Every facet of God’s grace is wrapped up in Jesus.  He is grace personified.

Philippians 2 presents the greatest ‘But God’ in Scripture.  While we were dead to God, because of His great love for us, He made a way for us to receive what we need most … life together with Christ!

God provided kindness, forgiveness, comfort, and restoration for Joseph and his brothers in the nightmare that was Egypt.  The brothers' intended evil became God’s miraculous path of good, fully turning their mourning into joy.

Few phrases change our perspective more than ‘But God’.  Joseph’s time in Egypt shows how Father can use the worst circumstances imaginable to bring about His greatest glory ... and our greatest good.

Self-made religion, and the efforts which accompany it, abound in the modern church.  These behaviors might look good, but they fail a key test.  They are useless against the indulgence of the flesh.

Many focus more on ‘proper Christian behavior’ than on Christ Himself, and they miss out on the full blessings of being God’s children.  We’re to stand strong against any who will lead us away from Jesus.

Many confused believers focus on the law’s shadows rather than on the substance of Christ.  And they fail to see Satan for who he really is … a shamed, disarmed loser who can do nothing but tempt us with lies.

Our death, resurrection, and identification with Jesus rest on two fundamental truths … He forgave us ALL our sins, and He became our curse over us, sheltering us while He let our curse of death fall on Him.

Baptism, our complete immersion into Christ, testifies to the fundamental change we experienced at salvation.  We were dead to God and in bondage to the flesh, but He made us alive together with Him.

We’ve been circumcised, buried, and raised with Christ.  Because of these, we are free from sin’s control in our lives and from all it’s baggage … condemnation, guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, and emotional bondage.