Touching Lives with Dr. James Merritt Audio Podcast

In today’s key passage of Scripture, we see a picture of a defendant in God’s courtroom. This courtroom has everything you would imagine. There is a judge. There is a defendant (that’s you). There is a prosecuting attorney. And as the defendant, you’re facing the question: will the verdict be “guilty” or “not guilty?” The answer to this question all depends on who you are and where you stand with...

Have you ever been in a difficult situation and found yourself saying, “I can’t do this anymore”? Have you ever wondered how you were going to handle the circumstances you’ve been dealt? Have you ever worried about how you were going to fix the problems in front of you that seemed impossible to solve? Well, the good news is, you are not without hope. There is nothing too difficult for the God of t...

Today we are going to look at one of the parables Jesus tells to His followers that is recorded in the gospel of Luke. There are three specific elements to this parable: the sower, the seed, and the soil. The sower represents the follower of Jesus. The seed represents the message of the gospel. And the soil represents the heart of the non-believer. What we will learn from this parable is simple: i...

As we wrap up this series, I want to talk about the last gift I want for Christmas, which is a real love, not an “I love you now but tomorrow is negotiable,” kind of love. Not an “I love you as long as things go my way but when they don't...” kind of love. Certainly not the Hollywood kind of love that really is more lust than love. I want you to see today that real love comes from above. I want to...

The biblical word “hope” means “certainty.” It doesn’t mean possibly or probably, but surely. It is a certainty based not on a feeling, nor an optimistic intuition, but it is based on God's Word. Having biblical hope means having a sound assurance in your heart that because of what God has promised, His plan for you will come to fruition and will not disappoint. With that in mind, in this message,...

Do you know what a day trader is? These are high-risk investors who jump in and out of the stock markets often many times a day and they try to capitalize on price changes in the market. They have no interest in the companies of the stocks they are buying. They are just simply trying to make a buck. There are a lot of people in the church today who are day traders. They don’t know very much about...

As we wrap up this series on the family, I want to speak directly to the children. Whether you’re still living at home with your parents, or if you’ve moved out and started your own life but still have your parents around, this message is for you. If you are a child of God, then your goal should be to be a godly child. And while that is a responsibility you should take seriously, it’s also a respo...

So far in this series, we have talked to husbands, wives, and fathers. Today, we are going to talk to and about mothers. I know from both having one and being married to one that the dad may be the head of the home, but the mother is the heart of the home. I read one time where someone said, “A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” That being sa...

I love what President Franklin Roosevelt said: “We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future.” In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul gives fathers the best advice and wisdom on how to be the father your children need you to be. In a simple but sublime sentence, Paul shares with us four things we need to give our children to...

Last week we talked about how husbands should give their wives leadership, love, and loyalty. We have already noted that Paul had a lot of strong things to say to the husband, even more so than he did to the wife. But now let’s now turn our attention to the wife. Paul lays out two principles for a godly wife to follow to be the wife that God wants her to be and to be the wife that her husband need...

I don’t believe there has ever been a marriage in the history of the world that did not end up happily ever after when the wife was the wife God wanted her to be and the husband was the husband that God wanted him to be. This week and next week, we are going to see what Scripture has to say about what it looks like exactly to be the kind of husband and the kind of wife God wants. In Ephesians 5, w...

Marriage is tough. Marriage is hard work. Dating reveals the best in you; marriage can reveal the worst of you. But that doesn’t mean marriage isn’t worth pursuing. Marriage was God’s ideal idea. It was His creation, and therefore it is meant for good. Does that mean it doesn’t come with challenges? Absolutely not. But it does mean that marriage can be an incredible tool of sanctification and a be...

As we wrap up this series, I’m going to share with you a one-on- one encounter that happened two thousand years ago that gives us the perfect example of how to engage people one-on-one with the gospel. God did not allow you to hear about what Jesus did for you, believe what Jesus did for you, and move you to accept what Jesus did for you just so you could just keep it to yourself. Salvation is not...

In today’s key passage of Scripture, Jesus is talking to two groups of people – sinners and Pharisees (people who were banned from going to church and people who never missed it.) One group was so bad they didn’t think God would ever accept them. The other group was so good that they thought God had already accepted them, but they were wrong, so He told this parable. Another misnomer is that the s...

In probably the most famous parable Jesus ever told he shows us why if we have the heart of God, we will have a heart for one - for that one person who doesn’t know God, for that one person who needs to hear the gospel, for that one person who is lost and needs to be found. The problem was that the religious crowd only cared about the people who were in the temple while on the other hand, Jesus ca...

Every day of your life is just like money – you spend it. You can’t save it and you can’t store it. You have to spend it and you either spend it wisely or foolishly and the way we spend the days of our life will determine the legacy that we leave. So how would you like to leave a legacy? You want to be able to look back on your life and say at the end of the day, you have no remorse, no regret, no...

What did Jesus mean by “the abundant life” in today’s key verse? I know what He didn’t mean. It is not a life that is found in stuff, money, possessions, or financial security. When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him, every one of them left everything behind. Even though He promised them an abundant life, He never offered them financial security, physical comfort, a retirement plan, health i...

The first question we are going to tackle in this series is, “What Lord am I going to love?” I freely admit that this question carries an assumption that I believe is true. We all worship and love something or someone above everything else. Whoever or wherever that is, is your lord. That lord may be your ego, your money, your family, your job, power, influence, pleasure, happiness, and even your o...

Bitterness is harbored hurt hidden in the heart. Of all the emotions I will cover, I believe this one may be the most dangerous. I fear bitterness in my life more than anything else. Do you know why? Because bitterness is an acid that destroys its own container. In a New Testament book called Hebrews 12 there is some strong warning about the danger of bitterness, but also some great wisdom on how...

As we continue our series on feelings and emotions, today we are going to look at anxiety. I would define anxiety as a lethal combination of worry and fear that dominate your mind, saturate your heart, and devastate your soul. We are abiding in fear. It is that feeling that continues to linger long after the actual threat or fear has dissipated. It is a far greater intensity than just worried. Peo...

God’s word has a lot to say about our feelings and our emotions. One of the things I love about Scripture is that when God paints the portraits of his men and women, they are not photoshopped. You see warts and wrinkles. You see flaws and faults. Today, we are going to look at one of the most famous men in the Bible – a prophet named Elijah. If God had a Hall of Fame, Elijah would easily be electe...

Being thankful is so important to God that He actually commands us to be thankful. A man in the New Testament by the name of Paul went through a tremendous amount of suffering and heartache that would cause anybody to be bitter and ungrateful and maybe even mad at God. He wrote these words, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) Y...

Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the greatest writers and poets in American history said, “Every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty-seconds of peace of mind.” Not only do I agree with that statement, but I will candidly admit I have given up a lot of time of peace of mind. I can get angry, and I know I am not the only one. Thankfully, God’s Word has a lot to say about anger. In the book of Ephe...

Jesus came to give us joy, peace, satisfaction, and contentment. Paul understood that probably better than anyone, even as he was writing from a Roman prison, when he wasn’t going anywhere and was stuck where he was. He wasn’t going to have any more than what he had, and he certainly had no computer and no cellphone. He pens this letter by talking about how he had found the secret of satisfaction....