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Episodes
Each week a new verse-by-verse Bible study podcast given in expository style. Join us and see the Bible come alive as we study the truths that God‘s Word has for us.
Episodes
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
HOW TO BREAK SATAN’S STRONGHOLDS IN YOUR LIFE (EPHESIANS 4:22-31)
In last week’s message, we talked about what a difference God makes in the life of a true follower of Christ. We contrasted a life without God, to a life full of God’s grace and power. Yet, there are many believers who might say that they don’t feel all that different, that God is not working fully in their lives. The Bible tells us that the reason for this is that we allow Satan to have strongholds in our lives. If we want to experience the full measure of God’s grace and power in our lives, then we must remove the strongholds in our lives that Satan has dug in, and fortified, and is using to defeat us.
It is a tragic fact that there are many believers who get strongholds in their lives. And I believe that there are many people, who are listening to me today, who have in their heart, and in their mind, and in their life, a satanic stronghold. The tragedy of this is that not only is it harming them and wrecking their spiritual life, but they also, themselves, are contaminating the life of their family and the life of their church, because the devil has found an unclean place in that person, and the devil has made a campground, a foul nest, a beachhead, a citadel, a stronghold, there. And he uses that stronghold to war against God and against the work of God.
You are never going to cease grieving the Holy Spirit, you are never going to expunge Satan and get him out of your life, until you take these three steps: repentance, resistance, and renewal.
Click on the play button to hear a message on what these three steps are, and how to apply them to your life. How you shouldn’t try to repent until you are honest and face your sin. Don’t try to resist until you’ve repented. And don’t try to be filled until you resist—until you choose against Satan and yield to God’s blessed Holy Spirit.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Monday Mar 03, 2025
WHAT A DIFFERENCE GOD MAKES (EPHESIANS 4:17-27)
The Bible teaches us that the behavior of a true Christ follower is to be radically different from that of the person who does not know Christ as their Lord and Savior. That difference is God. That difference is the light, the strength, the presence, the comfort, and the wisdom, among many other things, that God provides to His children, to those who call Jesus Christ, Lord of their lives.
In our message today, Paul reminds us of the blindness of lost people. He reminds us that no follower of Christ should let such earthly minded, secular, and lost, people influence what they believe, or how they behave. People who are outside of Christ simply cannot think straight on moral and spiritual issues. They may articulate the issues, but they leave out the spiritual dimensions because they are blind to them. Therefore, they cannot come to any true conclusions
Man was created to be inhabited by God. God intended for the human spirit to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit was to enlighten the intellect, elevate the emotions, and energize the will. As a result, the life of man would express, in human terms, the life of God. The fall ruined all that. Sin entered and the Holy Spirit left. Without the life of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the natural man is spiritually dead, “alienated from the life of God.”
The genius of the gospel is that when we accept Christ as Savior, we are cleansed by His blood and regenerated by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the human spirit, making it possible for the saved person to have fellowship with God. They can now cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and begin to live the kind of life that God intended man to live—a life governed by the Spirit of God.
The understanding of unsaved people is darkened because they are cut off from the life of God. Their spirit is empty, and darkened, because the Holy Spirit does not live within their spirit. As a result, they are ignorant of the things of God. This is the cause of their deep-seated, inner blindness. It is a vicious circle. The darkness is self-perpetuating. The lost move from darkness to darkness in darkness.
Click on the play button to hear a message on the dramatic, radical, difference God can make in your life.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
Sunday Dec 08, 2024
A PRAYER FOR BELIEVERS (EPHESIANS 1:15-23)
In today’s lesson, we will be talking about Paul’s prayer for believers. Paul rarely prayed for the things that make up most of our prayers. Things like better health, more money, job conditions, family problems, and world crises. I am not saying these are not important, but Paul prayed that people might know God better, that they might become better acquainted with Jesus. It is when we are closer to Christ, and know Him more, that many of these problems we face on earth are less important. For our trust is in Christ to deal with our needs, as He has promised to do.
God has revealed Himself in two ways, in the inspired Word and the incarnate Word. He has said what He is like in the one, and He has shown what He is like in the other. Our responsibility is to get to know Him by getting to know the Scriptures and the Savior. There is no greater, or more important, occupation that we can have here on earth.
Paul prayed that his fellow believers might have a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that they might be occupied in gaining knowledge of God. “Get to know Him” is Paul’s basic answer to all of life’s problems and questions. Knowing God would solve most of the present-day problems that cause people to run to the psychologist or the family counselor. Knowing God would affect how people cope with all areas of life, for the Almighty God of all Creation has an abundant supply of wisdom, power, and answers for all of our needs, trials, and tribulations. Best of all, is that He wants to share them with us.
Click on the play button to hear a message where Paul describes what he most desires for the believer to know and understand about God.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Monday Dec 02, 2024
Monday Dec 02, 2024
THE WORK OF REDEMPTION (EPHESIANS 1:7-14)
In today’s message, we will be talking about the work that God, in all three parts, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, did to obtain our salvation, to redeem us, completely forgiven for our sins. It is a wonderful story of God’s love, and God’s grace, that He would sacrifice so much so that we might have redemption from the sins that stain our soul. It is a story of the completed work of redemption, and eternal life, that is ours if we make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
It was God’s eternal counsel that the Lord Jesus should first give His life for us at Calvary, and then give His life to us.
Eph 1:7
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
KJV
God the Father, planned our salvation by grace and not works. It was His idea that God the Son, Jesus Christ, would go to the cross to die and then be risen to walk in life and victory over death. It is because Jesus came to this earth as a God incarnate in man that The Father now sees us in the Beloved. He looks at us and sees Christ. No angel among the heavenly hosts has more acceptance than we.
Paul states, “The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Notice that word “grace.” Paul uses it again and again in his letters. For, our redemption is by grace, God’s unlimited grace. Grace is unmerited favor. It is getting something we don’t deserve. Paul strikes this note over and over. Paul tells us that there is more of God’s grace to follow, an unending supply, when he talks of the “The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
We can thank God that He is rich in grace. God has revealed Himself to be a God of infinite power, a God of infallible wisdom, a God of inflexible holiness, and a God of unlimited grace! Amen, hallelujah, and praise the Lord.
Click on the play button to hear a message on the wonderful work of redemption, that God did to provide a completed salvation, if you will only accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
KINGDOM AUTHORITY (EPHESIANS 1:15-23)
In our lesson today, we will be talking about a tremendous Biblical truth about a believer’s “Kingdom Authority.” God wants you to discover Kingdom Authority, to enjoy Kingdom Authority, and to exercise Kingdom Authority. And my heart is so full, because I’m afraid that you’re going to miss the blessing, miss the truth, if you do not listen to what the Holy Spirit has to say to us today. But my prayer is that God will impregnate your heart with this great, dynamic, life-changing, truth of Kingdom Authority.
Paul tells us in the first chapter of Ephesians about the Kingdom Authority that belongs to the children of God. And if you’re a child of God, meaning that you are a true, twice born, follower of Christ, then I want to tell you something, you have incredible authority and power. Whether you have discovered it or not, it’s there, inherently. You already have it.
Have you ever seen a real live king? Well, would you like to see one? Did you know the Bible says that God has made every believer a king and a priest?
Rev 5:10
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
KJV
Look to the person to your right, the person to your left. There’s a king, and there’s a priest, if they’re saved. Go home, and look in the mirror, and, if you’re saved, if you’re a child of God, looking back at you will be a king and a priest. God has made us a kingdom of priests. Now, that is absolutely wonderful!
However, you don’t have to be a preacher, teacher, or even a member of a church, to be a king and a priest, or a queen and a priestess. Paul, says very plainly, you just have to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, because God has given to all His children Kingdom Authority. And that’s what we’re going to be looking at, and that’s what we’re going to be studying, today.
Click on the play button to hear a message that describes what Kingdom Authority is, how God graciously gave Adam dominion over all the earth, how Adam legally lost that dominion to the devil, and how Jesus righteously regained that dominion when He came to this earth as a man.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
BACK TO BETHEL (Genesis 35:1-15)
Today, I am going to challenge you. If you have never listened to one of the messages that are attached to these blogs, if all you have ever done is just read this blog, then I am going to challenge you to listen to the recording that is found in this link, because it may be that God is using this message to speak to your heart.
The message today is about Jacob, and Jacob needed to come back to God. And perhaps today you need to come back to God. You may indeed be backslidden, just like Jacob was. Let’s take the test today and find out if you are. Answer these two questions:
The first one, “Was there ever a time in your life when you loved Jesus Christ more than you do at this moment?” If the answer is yes, then you are backslidden.
Alright, let’s say you answered “no” to the first question, then here is the second one. “Was there ever a time when God was more real to you, and prayer was more precious to you, and the Bible was more valuable to you, than it is at this time, this day, this moment?” If the answer is yes, then, you are a backslider.
Today, we will see how we can come back to Bethel. Back to that condition of your love for Christ like it was when you were first saved.
Click on the play button below to hear a message on how God is the God of a new beginning. Our God is the God of a second chance. We find that is true all through the Bible. And the God that said to Jacob, “Jacob, come back to Bethel,” is the God that’s saying to you today, if you are away from Him, “Come on back! Come on back! I’m the God of a second chance.”
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday May 26, 2024
Sunday May 26, 2024
LEARNING TO LEAN ON JESUS (Genesis 32:1-28)
The title of the message today is “Learning to lean on Jesus.” Now, in order to learn how to lean on Jesus, there is a battle that each of us will face, and it is a battle that I hope you are going to lose. It is that battle that we will be talking about today.
We have been studying about the man Jacob and how God loved him. Why did God love Jacob? It is for the same reason that He loves you. God did not love Jacob for what he was, but for what He knew He could make out of him. For, in spite of all of his faults, Jacob had a heart for God. The question that you need to ask yourself today is, do you have a heart for God?
Secondly, I want you to notice that God did not change Jacob so that He could love him; He loved Jacob in order to change him. And I’m so glad that God loves us today. With all of our weaknesses and with all of our faults, God sees something in us that He wants to make out of us. And so, He just loves us, and He keeps working with us. Thank God for His infinite, marvelous patience.
God wants us to come to a place of total, absolute, dependence upon Him. Most of us have never come to that place. Most of us still have enough Jacob in us to say, “Well, we hope He’ll bless us, but if He doesn’t, we’ll figure out a way. We’ll figure out a way somehow.”
God had to bring Jacob to a point where he was leaning on Jesus instead of his on self-confidence. It is the place that God wants to bring every one of us to. Paul said we are those who “have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3)
Do you know what most people want to learn? Self-confidence. You go into any bookstore, and there will be a wall of books on self-confidence. Having self-confidence sounds so good that to speak against self-confidence sounds terrible. But, the Bible tells us that the one thing we don’t need, is self-confidence. Ok, when you hear me say that, right away your mind threw up a wall and you said, “Oh, yes, we do”—“yes, we do.” Everybody wants that self-confidence. We’ve been taught everywhere that we have got to have self-confidence.
Yet, Paul tells us that, “[We] have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3) We have no confidence in self. Now, understand that I am not saying you should not have confidence, but, if you are going to have confidence, then you just have it in Jesus, have confidence in the Lord. That doesn’t mean that you are going to go around like a doormat. You go around like a real person. If your confidence is in Jesus, then you will really have confidence. Jesus is someone you can have real confidence in. Jesus is someone that you can truly lean on.
Click on the play button to hear a message on how God is battling with you to learn how to lean on Jesus. I hope you lose this most important battle with the Lord. This is a battle you cannot afford to win. And when God the Holy Spirit is striving with you today, why don’t you just throw in the towel and say, “Lord, I’ll not let you go except you bless me,” and no longer be dependent upon the flesh.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Monday May 13, 2024
Monday May 13, 2024
God needed to get the attention of Jacob, and He did. It had been a long time since Jacob had heard the word of God in a clear voice. Now, with the world becoming suddenly menacing, the voice and words of God became suddenly clear and meaningful. Many times, that is exactly what we need to get us out of our comfort zones. When things are going good we reason, why do we need to listen for the words of God? Yet, when things start going bad, our first question is, why God? Why is this happening to me?
It is then that we begin to listen to what God has been saying for a long time. In Jacob’s case, it was “Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred.” Suddenly, the words of God had a meaning for Jacob. For twenty years Jacob had been away from the land that God had promised him. During that time Jacob had prospered. Yet, Jacob testified to his wives that his prosperity resulted not from his own cleverness, but from God’s grace. This was quite a change from the arrogant, self-sufficient, man that had rolled the stone from the well and chose his own wife, confident in his own wit and wisdom.
This was an important step for Jacob. Because it is not until we recognize that our success, our blessings, our strength, come not from ourselves, but from the grace of God, that God can truly begin to use us to do His work.
Click on the play button below to hear a message on how true prosperity is spiritual, not material, it does not reside here, but where God is. We have to look higher than this world for true prosperity.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday May 05, 2024
Sunday May 05, 2024
JACOB AND LABAN (Genesis 29:1 to 30:30)
As we study Jacob, we see a man who is confident and sure of his ability to handle anything this world can dish out. Jacob knows God, and God has promised to be with him at all times. Yet, Jacob has not learned to be led by God. Instead, Jacob is leading and expecting God to back him up.
That is the way many believers treat God. When times are good, they choose the way they want to go, and what they want to do. Yet, just as soon as things turn bad, they turn to God to get them out of whatever mess they have gotten themselves into. They never think to ask God to lead them; they never ask God to choose the path they will go down, and they never humbly surrender their life to the will of God.
In today’s study, Jacob will find himself deceived by his Uncle Laban, trapped in a job he wants to leave, caught in the middle of a battle between two wives for his attention, and ultimately with 13 hungry kids looking at him for food and provisions. Sounds like a normal day in one of our own lives, doesn’t it?
That is what makes the study of Jacob interesting, because Jacob is a story about us. Think about your own life, are you retired but forced to work a job to meet your financial needs, are you stuck in a job you feel taken advantage of in, are you having marital problems, do you feel deceived by those you should be able to trust, or do you have hungry kids, sometimes adult children and their kids, looking at you for dinner and a house to live in?
Do you ever ask yourself, how did I get myself into this mess? Do you ever ask yourself, and honestly answer, did God lead you, or did you lead God?
As a believer, God has promised to always be with you, and He always will be, wherever you drag Him, but the real question you need to ask is, have you totally surrendered to the will of God in your life? Are you following God as He leads you, or is God following you as you lead Him? Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says “God is my copilot”? Listen, if God is your copilot, then you need to move over and let Him be Captain. God is to lead you.
Click on the link below to hear a message on the importance of living a life fully surrendered to God.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.
Sunday Apr 07, 2024
Sunday Apr 07, 2024
Genesis, chapter 26, is the only chapter in the Bible devoted solely to Isaac. In this chapter we get a look at the actions of Isaac, and we see that he will repeat many of the same sins that Abraham did. Isaac was not a spiritually strong man. He was a man easily molded by the circumstances around him. He was willing to let them bend and shape him rather than seizing them and shaping them to his will. He was a man who had reached his spiritual peak on Mount Moriah, and then he spent the rest of his days stumbling and somehow kept going for God.
So, what is the lesson that we can find in this chapter? Well, one of them is patience. Patience to wait on God to work things out as He has promised. This is a message that many of us need, including myself. The second part of the message from this chapter, that goes along with the patience to wait on God, is to trust God to fulfill all of His promises to us. Both of these lessons go hand-in-hand. In order to be patient to wait on God, we have to trust that God will do what He has promised he will do. Isaac, and actually his whole family, were neither patient, nor did they trust God to do as He promised.
Isaac’s problem isn’t that he is dishonest, although he is. His problem is that he is not willing to rely on God. It is this lack of trust in the Almighty God that leads Isaac, and all of us, to take matters into our own hands to resolve. It is this lack of trust in God that leads us into a good share of the problems we face. It is this lack of trust in God that leads to many of the heartaches and pain that we encounter in this life.
Click on the link below to hear a message on how a lack of trust in God, takes us away from Him, and leads us into the world; away from our new nature, and toward our carnal nature; and away from performing God’s will, to performing the will of Satan. It is also about a loving and merciful God that will bless us in spite of our failings. None of us deserve the blessings that we receive from God. Yet, we receive them. None of us deserve salvation, yet God has provided it for us.
This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.
Amen.