The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE REVELATION OF GOD'S WILL (Genesis 45:9 to 46:7)

THE REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL (Genesis 45:9 to 46:7)

Does God have a purpose in the events of this world? Does God have a purpose for your life?  If the answer to those two questions is “Yes”, and it is, then the better question is do you know the purpose of God for your life?  If not, how do you go about discerning the purpose, or the will, of God in your life?  This is what our lesson is about today.  I want to speak to you about The Revelation of God’s Will.

Your great desire ought to be to know His will.  Your great delight will be to do His will.  Your great danger is to refuse His will.  Nothing is right for you, if it is not God’s will.

It may sound simplistic, but the will of God for you is Jesus, just Jesus.  Jesus is the head of the church, and the church is the body.  What is the will of my body? My head.  What is the will of the church of the body of believers? Jesus, the head of the church.  The will of God for your life is Jesus.  He is your Lord.  Know Him, know the will of God.

Here are three principles about the will of God.

First, The will of God is for your welfare.  It is not something you have to do; it is something you get to do.  

Second, The will of God will never take you where the power of God and the grace of God cannot enable and keep you.

Third, You are free to choose.  God will never force His will upon you.  You are free to choose His will.  You are not free not to choose.  When you say, “Well, I just won’t choose.” You just made a choice.  You are free to choose, you are not free not to choose—and pay attention, you are not free to choose the consequences of your choice.  You make a choice to follow God’s will or not, and that choice chooses the consequences for you.  

So, what should we do to know the will of God? Ask the same questions that Jacob did.

Lord, who are you?  Do you know that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Saviour? Do you have an intimate relationship with Him?  Is your mind conformed to the mind of Christ?

Lord, what do you want me to do? Are you willing to do whatever God will enable you to do?  Are you surrendered to God?

Click on the play button to hear a message on how to know the will of God for your life.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE (Genesis 37:1 to 39:3)

GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE (Genesis 37:1 to 39:3)

Let me start this blog by making a statement and you tell me if you believe it or not.  Are you ready? God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  Now, do you believe that?  Well, I want to tell you, that without a doubt, God has a wonderful plan for your life. God has a divine destiny for you. And, what a shame it would be if you missed it. Today, I want you to think with me on this subject, “God’s plan for your life.”

Now, I’m not just saying that God has a plan for Abraham’s life, or Joseph’s.  Certainly, God had a plan for their lives, but God also has a plan for your life. Yes, even you.  God has a wonderful destiny for you, and I don’t want you to miss it.  Even in your old age, God has a plan for your life.  Otherwise, you would not still be here on this earth, for there would be no purpose in it, and God has a purpose in all that He does.  And, I believe as we study the life of Joseph today, we are going to find some things about his life that we can certainly apply to ours as we learn how to know God’s Plan for Your Life.

Click on the play button below to hear a message on how you can discover God’s plan for you. How you can let God give you a plan and a purpose for your life. I’m not talking about something you cooked up, but be in contact with God so however God wants to speak to you, He can. And, I believe the way that God wants to speak to New Testament Christians is presentation plus transformation equals revelation, that we might know the things that God has prepared for us.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

GOD TEACHES JACOB TO DEPEND ON HIM (Genesis 31:19 to 32:18)

GOD TEACHES JACOB TO DEPEND ON HIM (Genesis 31:19 to 32:18)

In our message today we will talk about God teaching Jacob that he must depend on God to lead him and solve the problems that Jacob will face.  Jacob’s whole life had been about conniving and deceiving others to solve his problems.  But that is not where God needs Jacob to be in his spiritual relationship with God.  Jacob must be dependent on God.  

Jacob was a man who was clever, who thought that he could get by with sin, but God didn’t let him get by with it because God has made it very clear that whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Jacob had refused submission to God at home; so he was forced to submit to his uncle. Jacob came to receive a wife in dignity, but he was made a servant because God respects the rights of the firstborn. Jacob had deceived his father; so he was deceived by his father–in–law. He revealed a mercenary spirit that displayed itself in the way he got the birthright, allowing his mother to cover his hands with the skins of goats. Later on, we will see that his own sons will deceive him in very much the same way. 

Jacob deceived his father about being the favorite son, and he will be deceived about his favorite son, Joseph.  In all of this, we see that God’s truth is that whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. 

Click on the link below to hear a message on how God wants us to depend on Him rather than on our own efforts.  Many of us take our burdens to the Lord in prayer. We just spread them out before Him. Then, when we get through praying, we get right up and put each little burden right back on our back and start out again with them.  What does this say about the trust we have in the Lord?  It says that we don’t really believe Him.  We don’t really trust Him as we should.

Jacob will struggle with this almost until the day he dies.  I pray that the study of Jacob will bring this truth home to your heart, and it will make a difference in how you trust God.  It is not easy, as Jacob illustrates, but the reward of a life that is fully trusted to God, is a life that is a testimony to the lost souls of this world.  A testimony to the power of God to transform, a finite life here on earth, to an everlasting life with Him.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

JACOB AND LABAN (Genesis 29:1 to 30:30)

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.

THE FAITH THAT CANNOT BE TESTED, CANNOT BE TRUSTED (Genesis 22:1-18)

In today’s message, I want to talk to you about your faith.  The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 16:13 to be strong in faith.  I want us to think about our faith, and I want us to look at our faith. I want us to examine our faith. I want us to test our faith, because, you see, the faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted.

How do you know that your faith is real and strong? Well, would you like to fly on an airplane that had never been tested?  Would you like for it to be built, but never once put to any test?  Would you want to get on it and commit your life to that airplane, and it had never been tested?  I don’t think so, right?  Would you like for a doctor to do surgery on you who went through medical school without a test?  He just got a diploma as a participation trophy?

Do you want to put your faith, and your confidence, in something that hasn’t been tested? Again, the faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted.

If you were to measure faith, how would you measure it? Well, you could measure it with the dimensions of faith. You could measure it by its depth. You could measure it by its height. You could measure it by its length. Or you could measure it by its wideness.  And that is exactly how we are going to measure faith today.  We are going to study how God tells us in His Word how Abraham’s faith was measured.  He is going to tell us how it was qualified.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how our faith is measured by the depth of its devotion, the height of its sacrifice, the length of its obedience, and the wideness of confidence.

Let me ask that the next time you pray to your Heavenly Father, pray these words, “Lord, increase my faith. And, Lord, when the test comes, when you ask of me something—to go somewhere, to give something, to sacrifice something—Lord, help me to obey. May my obedience be quick, intentional, instantaneous, impassioned, intelligent.” You don’t have to think up things to sacrifice. You just have to say, “Lord, all that I am, all that I have, belongs to you.”

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE BIRTH OF ISAAC (Genesis 20:1 to 21:34)

Today’s message is about spiritual highs and lows.  If you have been a Christ follower for very long, then the mountain top experiences when you feel so close to God, are right there alongside the deep valley experiences when you feel so far from God.  The Bible describes Abraham as a hero of the faith, and I certainly agree with that description.  Some of the things that we have seen Abraham do in our study of the book of Genesis, and some of the things that he will yet do in this book, are truly remarkable examples of a man who is filled with the Spirit of an all-powerful God.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I never like to see my heroes stumble.  I mean, the Lone Ranger never told a lie, he was never mean to people, and he always rescued the girl, and defeated the bad guys.  That is just the way it works, our heroes are not supposed to do the same kind of foolish things that we do, especially twice.

So, when you have the type of expectations that I do for my heroes, chapter 20 of the book of Genesis is a chapter that you would like to just skip over.  That is because Abraham does all of the things we just talked about.  He lies, and he is mean to Hagar and Ishmael.  Worse, he repeats the same sin that he committed when he went down into the land of Egypt and lied concerning Sarah, saying, “She is my sister.” It is the same story, all over again. But in the end, Abraham defeats the bad guy, or the sin that has been in his life, he obeys God’s commands, and he gets the only girl God has wanted for him from the beginning, which is Sarah.

Yet, this story tells the truth about all of us as Christians.  No matter how great we think we are, each time we try to solve our problems using the world’s methods, using our own strength, instead of depending on God, we will fail.  And there is nothing more miserable than a Christian who has failed because he did not depend on God.  The lost see this person as the hypocrite they are, and they want nothing to do with that kind of shallow belief.  

Click on the link below to hear a message on how our faith and trust in God is the foundation for living a victorious Christian life.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

TO BE STRONG IN FAITH (Genesis 17: 15-17)

Archimedes was a philosopher and physicist, and he said, “If you will give me a lever long enough, if you will give me a fulcrum with something to rest it on, and if you will give me a place to stand, I can move the earth.” He was right.  For us, that lever is faith, that fulcrum is the Word of God, and that place where we stand is in His grace.  With it, not only can we move the earth, but we can move heaven as well, if we learn to be strong in faith.

It is strong faith that releases the grace of God.  Rom. 4:16 says, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace …” meaning that without faith, you will never know grace, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure.” 

What is grace? Grace is “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” Grace is God giving us and showing us His great wonderful love. There’s nothing we can do to deserve it, or to earn it.  Grace is the unmerited love and favor of God that is just given to us. 

Now, how can you get in on this unmerited love and favor of God?  Only by faith! If you begin to work for it, if you begin to pay for it, then it is no longer grace.  It is no longer grace. If it is by grace, then by definition, it is no longer works, otherwise work is not work.  And, if it is by work, then by definition of the word work, it is not by grace, otherwise grace is no more grace. This is what the Bible says. You can’t mix grace and works, so the only way that grace can be grace is through faith.  That is the only way that grace can be grace.

Now, it is important to understand that unbelief holds grace prisoner.  If you are an unbeliever, grace will never work in your heart and in your life. The Bible says it is by faith so that it can be by grace. 

Click on the play button above to hear a message on how a strong faith is the key to unlock God’s grace in your life.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

HOW TO MEND A BROKEN FAITH-PART I (Genesis 12:1-10)

One of the great reoccurring lessons in the Bible is the need for the Christian believer to have faith.  Not a hope-so faith, but a know-so faith based on the promises found in God’s Word.  This know-so faith is absolutely required for the believer to live a victorious Christian life.  

Abraham is called “the father of all them that believe” (Romans 4:11).  When we think of Abraham, we think of faith, and we can learn some incredible lessons about faith as we study how he struggled to become this great man of faith. And, by the way, when I’m talking to you about faith, I’m not talking to you about something insignificant like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I’m talking to you about something that is so important that I can hardly think of an adjective to describe the importance of faith. It is of monumental, inestimable, importance.

Once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, how are you going to live the Christian life? By trying? No. By trusting. The Christian life is lived by faith. Four times, the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.”  God says it one, two, three, four times.  Now, do you think He’s trying to tell us something really important? I’m telling you, the way to live the Christian life is by faith.

Click on the link below to hear a message about the school of faith, and that’s a wonderful school, but sometimes we don’t make very good grades. And I want to talk to you about “How to Mend a Broken Faith,” because there are just times that we don’t do all that good in God’s school of faith.  Now, life is the classroom in the school of faith. Obviously, the Bible is the textbook in the school of faith. The faculty includes the prophets and the apostles. But the dean of the school of faith would have to be Abraham.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM (Genesis11:10 to 12:8)

Chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Genesis mark an important turning point in the Scriptures.  Up to this point, the story has been that of the whole Adamic race.  There has been neither Jew nor Gentile.  All have been one in “the first Adam.”  

From this point forward in the Scriptures, the human race must be seen as a great river from which God, in the call of Abraham, and the creation of the nation of Israel, draws off a small stream through which He may at last purify the great river itself.  Israel is the tool through which God chose to bring a Savior to the world.  It is important for us to note that neither Abraham, nor Israel, were perfect, they didn’t do anything special to deserve this.  In fact, as we will see today, Abraham was far from perfect.  But, when God spoke to him, Abraham responded, and that is exactly what God was looking for.  It was by grace that God chose Abraham, and the nation Israel, to bring revelation and salvation to the world.  It was through the faith of Abraham that the nation Israel would be called.

Click on the play button to hear a message on how our obedience to God comes after we have stopped telling God what we want to do, and listen to what He wants us to do.  Let me illustrate that with a question, how much of your prayer time do you spend telling God what you want, rather than being quiet and listening to what He wants to tell you?  That is a measure of how much you harken/obey God, for you cannot obey God until you know what He wants you to do.  Abraham was obedient to God because he listened, and then transformed what he heard into action.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

HAS YOUR FAITH BEEN TESTED? (Hebrews 11:17-19)

God is going to give you some trials, some tests, to see if your faith is real.  Not for Him to know anything about your faith, for He already knows all about your faith, but for you to know that your faith is real and that it can be trusted no matter what.  Warren Wiersbe said that “A faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted.”

Tests, and trials, and temptations come in two kinds. The devil solicits us, tempts us to do evil, to cause us to stumble. God tests us to do good in order to cause us to stand.  What God wants to accomplish by testing us is to make our faith strong and pure. How will it be tested?  It will be tested by fire.  Then, what is the purpose of the testing?  God is going to put your faith in the fire to purify it, to make it stand no matter what comes.

God is going to test your faith by asking you to do something that may surprise you—not by giving up the wrong things and the bad things, but by giving up the good things. It would be relatively easy if God asked us to give up the bad things, to give up lying, and stealing, and cheating, and pride—to show that we love Him. But that’s not what God is asking.

There are some things that we give up for the Lord. But the test of faith that God will give you is not what you are willing to give up for the Lord, but are you willing to give back to the Lord of the blessings that you have received.  Are you able to give your blessings back to God? Not, are you willing to give up your sins for God? Are you willing to give your blessings back to God? The test of faith is not primarily between love and hate, but between two loves, those things we love dearly and that which we must love supremely.

Click on the link below to hear a message on how God wants you to be strong in faith. For without faith, it is impossible to please God.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.