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_outlineWeb 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 us—demands even—to close off to anything new. This makes it difficult for us to develop an awareness of God’s moving in the present because it might fly in the face of doctrines we learned in church, Bible school, or seminary.
Many people rejected Christ because His actions and teachings seemed not to fit the orthodoxy of their day. Orthodoxy today has the same effect of hindering rather than helping our relationship with God. Religion emphasizes doctrines that build walls around concepts about God rather than emphasizing a relationship with Him. Just look at the history of Christianity. Has the process of protecting doctrines and orthodoxy in the Church resulted in people knowing the Lord? It seems like it has resulted in divisions, accusations of heresy, and persecution.
We do not want to reject a true moving of God today because it does not fit our concepts of orthodoxy. The disciples who stayed with Yeshua (Jesus) when His statements challenged their orthodoxy did so because of their relationship with Him. The emphasis of Christianity must be our relationship with Christ. We do not need more teaching that builds denominational walls to protect our understanding of the Bible. We need to be taught a relationship with the Lord so that everyone comes to know Him. Father, bring us out of religion into a relationship with You.
Key Verses:
• John 5:8–16. “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”
• John 5:17–19. “Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
• John 5:39. “You search the Scriptures; … it is these that testify about Me.”
• John 17:20–22. “… that they may be one, just as We are one.”
• John 6:44–52. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
• John 6:63–69. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
• Jeremiah 31:33–34. “They will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”
Quotes:
• “With God nothing is impossible. Yet religion says almost everything is impossible. Everything is wrong that doesn't line up to the orthodoxy that has been developed.”
• “If all it takes is reading the Bible to have understanding of exactly what God is saying and what He's wanting, then I don't think we would be at this place of having all these thousands of denominations surrounding us at this time.”
• “We can read the Bible, and we can have it be totally beyond our ability to grasp what is being spoken. And that's where the Holy Spirit comes in—in the relationship with the Holy Spirit who comes to us from the Father.”
Takeaways:
1. Yeshua functioned according to a relationship with the Father and not according to religious orthodoxy. Scholars who knew the Scriptures but did not know the Father rejected Yeshua on the basis of orthodoxy and religion as they knew it.
2. Christian scholars have persecuted the Jews as well as other Christians based on their understanding of the Bible. Establishing orthodoxy by the Scriptures has not led to a greater knowledge of God. It has divided Christians into thousands of denominations. The only way we will have the oneness Christ desires will be through a relationship with Him.
3. We do not want the Lord’s coming to be like a thief in the night because we are unaware of Him. We do not want to reject God’s moving today because of our orthodoxy. We need the relationship with God that hears His voice and understands what He is telling us.