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...
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GIG239 You Are Born by the Will of God
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: Get out of your mind that you are here on the earth by happenstance, wondering, “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” Instead of spending a lifetime trying to answer those questions, simply know that you were brought to birth by the will of God to be on earth at this time. And God is working in you and through you to accomplish exactly what He wants to accomplish. Show Notes: There is so much confusion in this age that it can be overwhelming. This level of confusion can lead people to feel ineffective in their lives and even develop a sense of uselessness or...
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GIG238 Appropriate All His Provisions
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: The parable of the king who invited guests to his wedding feast is something we want to apply to our hearts today. God has made a great provision of salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. It is His free gift to us by His grace, but we still must show up before Him and appropriate all that He has made available. This means we need to get rid of any excuses and everything that we would value more than God’s great provision. Lord, help us to come before You with prepared hearts, worshipping You with thankfulness for all You have given us. Show...
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GIG237 God’s Word Is for Now
Growing In God with Gary Hargrave
Web Description: If God put us in this world by His will, then we accept that He has enabled us to do His will. That means whatever He makes real to us in His Word is not something only for the past or waiting for the future. His Word is something He wants us to walk in now. Therefore, we ask God’s help to end our double-mindedness by making our conscious and subconscious minds a united force to manifest His Word in the present. Show Notes: As Christians we believe that the Scriptures are the Word of God. But we need to change our conditioning that relegates everything in the...
info_outlineWeb 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 are suffering today. And there are many Christians today who live under tribulation and endure great poverty. These are not people with whom we have no connection. They are fellow members of the Body of Christ with whom we are one. We should be aware of their suffering and be crying out to God for them.
According to Open Doors, a group that ministers to persecuted Christians, more than 380 million Christians worldwide suffer persecution and discrimination. This is the reality surrounding all of us in Christianity right now. We should be aware of it, and we should be prepared for however God would lead us. The Lord said to Smyrna, “Do not fear … Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” We should not be fearful even if it means giving our lives for Christ, just as many believers are doing today.
Maybe you believe in the rapture and are planning to escape tribulation. That does not change the fact that many Christians are now in tribulation, experiencing hunger, imprisonment, and even death for His sake. We should remove any fear from our hearts and refuse to be separated from the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us deliberately study and become aware of what is really transpiring in Christianity throughout the world we live in. We need to be interceding for the Body of Christ in this day.
Key Verses:
• Revelation 2:8–11. “I know your tribulation and your poverty.”
• Revelation 12:9–12. “They did not love their life even when faced with death.”
• Romans 16:20. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
Quotes:
• “Even if you say, ‘Well, I am not suffering,’ be aware that your brothers and sisters are suffering potentially great tribulations and also poverty.”
• “We need to reach in for a faith before the Lord that gives us a freedom from fear and allows us to recognize that satan is on the earth raging. And he is casting believers into prison and people are being tested in their faith and there will be tribulations that come.”
• “As believers in this day and age, facing the raging of Satan in the earth in this time, we must not be fearful. We must not love our lives unto death. And we must be ready to sacrifice and give our life if that is what is necessary because this battle will rage. But we know that the battle will be won because it has already been won on the cross.”
Takeaways:
1. Much of the Body of Christ today lives in the midst of tribulation and poverty. We need to put some time into studying what is happening to believers throughout the world, become aware of what they are suffering, and intercede for them.
2. As Christians there is no guarantee that we will escape tribulation. Many Christians are already suffering from satan’s raging and it could happen to any of us. The Lord told the church in Smyrna not to be fearful. And we should ask the Lord to remove any fearfulness from our hearts.
3. Those who overcame satan loved not their lives even when faced with death. Even if we die in this war with satan, we have the promise of the crown of life and freedom from the second death. So we exercise Christ’s victory over death and become those who cast satan from this earth.
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