GIG249 The Ministry of Bethesda
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: How do we bring the healing that we need and that the world today needs so desperately? The example of healing at Bethesda is a lesson for all of us to apply. When Christ asks us, “Do you wish to be healed?” Our answer needs to be an emphatic, “Yes!” And not, “We are waiting for someone to carry us.” Christ is the source of our healing. He is always willing. And we pick up our own bed and walk in what He has provided. Show Notes: During the first church service of Bethesda Ministries and the ordination of Silas as pastor, a...
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GIG248 Remembering our Dear Brother, Pope Francis
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: On the death of Pope Francis, we must do more than reflect on his legacy. We must be in intercession for the selection of the new Pope because this will impact how the entire Body of Christ moves forward. Let us pray by the Spirit to create the Pope who will not only continue what Pope Francis started, but will break new ground in our oneness, our functioning by the Spirit, and our connection with the Jewish people. Show Notes: As the Catholic Church remembers Pope Francis, we also remember our connection with him and with Catholics...
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GIG247 Christ Given His Kingdom, Daniel 7:14
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: After a vision of men turning away from evil because of the force of the Kingdom of God in the spirit realm, Gary laid out a burden for greater effectiveness in our prayers to see real change happen in the earth. Our meditation should be something that connects with the Kingdom of God that we have already received and then manifests the power of God in the earth from within us. Show Notes: Daniel saw the Son of Man come up to God from where He was given “dominion, glory, and a kingdom.” He saw this before Christ ascended to the...
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GIG246 This Is the Day
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: The book of Zechariah records the specific day on which Zechariah’s prophecy was voiced. This emphasizes the significance of this prophecy and how much we should be expecting God to fulfill His Word in our day. We look eagerly for the fulfillment of these promises of God’s blessings on Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. This is the day they come to pass. Show Notes: The prophecy of Zechariah is one of the greatest messianic prophecies that we have. And in Zechariah 1:7, we are given the exact day when that prophecy came. The significance...
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GIG245 I Stand at the Door and Knock
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: The Lord begged the church in Laodicea to open the door to Him, so He could dine with them. This need to dine with God does not make sense to our Christian thinking. But it makes total sense in the Hebraic context of making a covenant over a meal. God is knocking on the door of the Church in this day. And regardless of how far removed we are from Him, if we open the door, He will make a covenant with us to bring us into everything He has promised. Show Notes: The Laodicean church was a lost church, having fallen away from God. Yet...
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GIG244 The Difficulties of Deliverance
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: At the Passover God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt to bring them into the land He had promised their fathers. But their focus was on the difficulties that this deliverance meant to the life they had adapted to. Moving from our present age into God’s Kingdom can also feel like a disruption to the life we are comfortable with in this world. Our focus must be on His Kingdom and not on the difficulties of deliverance. Show Notes: Passover celebrates the deliverance of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. When they first heard that the Lord had come...
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GIG243 Christian Persecution
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: Christianity is suffering tribulation today even if we as individuals feel unaffected by it. We need to be one with our fellow Christians who are suffering and be praying for them. Let us not be fearful of what satan might do to us because Christ defeated him at the cross. Even if we must face death ourselves, we overcome satan by simply exercising Christ’s victory. Show Notes: The Lord said to the church in Smyrna, “I know your tribulation and your poverty.” Just as God knew then what the Christians in Smyrna were suffering, He is aware of what Christians...
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GIG242 Religion or Relationship?
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: The religion of their day prevented many from receiving Christ when He appeared in the flesh. Religion is no different in our day. Religion tends to establish orthodox interpretations about God rather than lead us into a relationship with God. However, the promise is that we will all know the Lord. And we need to honestly deal with that which prevents us from knowing Him, even if it is our own religious thinking. Show Notes: It is important to understand the degree to which our lack of awareness is based on our religious upbringing. Religious orthodoxy encourages...
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GIG241 Will You Be Aware?
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: The Scriptures warn us that just as we are unaware of a thief at night, we could be unaware of the Lord’s appearing. Perhaps the greatest problem we face is not the circumstances in the world but our own unawareness of God. It is imperative that we seek the Lord for a greater awareness and understanding of what He is saying and doing today. Show Notes: A characteristic of the end-time is the unawareness on people. We see this in the flood of anti-Semitism that is moving through the world today and even sweeping through many churches. What enables the anti-Semitism...
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GIG240 Purim—How God Works Deliverance
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Growing In God Podcast Web Description: In the story of Esther, the king was not personally involved in delivering the Jews from the destruction imposed by Haman. However, his signet ring in the hand of Mordecai gave Mordecai all the king’s authority and power to deliver the Jews as if he were the king himself. Likewise through the name of Yeshua (Jesus), we have been given the signet ring of God Himself. Let us accept who we are as His instruments and use His authority and power to bring Christ’s deliverance to the earth. Show Notes: In the story of Esther, King Ahasuerus gave...
info_outlineGrowing In God Podcast
Web Description: In the story of Esther, the king was not personally involved in delivering the Jews from the destruction imposed by Haman. However, his signet ring in the hand of Mordecai gave Mordecai all the king’s authority and power to deliver the Jews as if he were the king himself. Likewise through the name of Yeshua (Jesus), we have been given the signet ring of God Himself. Let us accept who we are as His instruments and use His authority and power to bring Christ’s deliverance to the earth.
Show Notes: In the story of Esther, King Ahasuerus gave his signet ring to Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai then used that ring to seal a decree against those who were attacking the Jews. Having the king’s signet ring in those days meant having the power of the king himself. A decree sealed by the signet ring had to be obeyed and could never be revoked. As Christians we also believe in using the King’s signet ring, the name of Yeshua (Jesus), to accomplish the will of God.
We need to acknowledge that this is how God moves. When He works to brings deliverance, as the king did with Esther and Mordecai, God uses human instruments to bring about His will. God did not come down and deliver Israel from Egypt by Himself. He used Moses as His instrument. Again, God did not redeem humanity on His own. The Father chose to move through His Son. Then after Christ had ascended to the right hand of the Father, He moved through the apostle Paul to fulfill the sufferings of His Body.
We live in a time when the world has a desperate need for God, and as the Body of Christ today we must begin to accept what we are. As He has done in so many ages, God is going to work through vessels that He chooses and who are willing to give themselves for that purpose. Open your heart to that which God wants to do through you. Be open to receive the signet ring of anointing and authority that God can place upon you to work through you for His purposes to bring about the conclusion of this age.
Key Verses:
• Esther 8:2–8. “The king took off his signet ring … and gave it to Mordecai.”
• John 5:17–23. “Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
• Colossians 1:13–24. “All things have been created through Him and for Him.”
• Colossians 1:29. “I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
• John 14:12. “He who believes in Me … greater works than these he will do.”
• Esther 4:12–14. “Who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Quotes:
• “What God was doing in bringing Christ forth in the flesh—bringing the Word into flesh—is He was manifesting Himself in humanity so that He would move in full power and authority through Christ as His human vessel and representative.”
• “We don't want the Body of Christ to be perishing in this time because we refuse to take our place in what God has called us to do.”
• “We may be facing threatening times. It may even seem like there is a decree of death and destruction on this age, on the Church, and on God's people—the Jewish people in Israel. But who knows whether we are not the ones who have come into this anointing and relationship with the Lord for such a time as this. Let's believe that God can work in us and through us to accomplish His will in this day.”
Takeaways:
1. The king giving his signet ring to Mordecai represents an important aspect of Purim. When sealed with the signet ring, whatever Esther and Mordecai enacted had the full authority and power of the king behind it. When we act in the name of Christ, it is like having God’s signet ring, bearing His authority, power, and presence.
2. God chooses to move through human instruments just as the king did through Esther and Mordecai. We have examples of this in Moses, Yeshua, and Paul. If we want the authority and power of God to impact this age, then we need to be God’s instruments.
3. Haman once had the king’s signet ring and had the power to destroy all the Jews. Their deliverance happened when the king took the signet ring from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. As ruler of this world, satan also had the authority to destroy mankind. But that authority has been removed from him and belongs to Christ. As instruments of Christ, using His authority, we can abolish the decree of destruction against mankind.