Dr. Jim Richards

Few believers realize that everything we seek through the miraculous is actually promised to those who walk in wisdom. I am thankful for the miracles that have saved my life, but many times I have struggled to believe for a miracle. But the one thing I can always believe is this: God will give me wisdom to lead me into a life based on His promises. Join me this week and acquaint yourself with the promise of wisdom, and when you face your next challenge go for the sure thing!

Anytime we face that which is beyond our capacity to resolve it is overwhelming and can be emotionally paralyzing. Once we become paralyzed our thinking becomes confused and fear-based. The starting place for all situations is to connect intimately to God. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will either find security from having a plan, or from being with someone we trust. Connecting to our Shepherd is the starting place. When we sense and feel that connection we no longer need to know the plan; He has the plan. All we must do is follow Him. Join me this week as we discover the starting place of coming out of any difficult situation.

Every believer has a way they tend to respond to difficult situations. Some just “hunker-down,” grit their teeth, and try to survive. Others immediately begin to feel helpless, as if there is nothing they can do about it. Many pray for a miracle. This week I want to tell you what Everyone Needs and nearly no one wants when facing difficulty: wisdom. The Bible actually tells us when facing difficulty we should seek wisdom, not a miracle. But the paradox is this; wisdom will always lead you to a miraculous outcome. Since wisdom comes from the mouth of the Lord, seeking wisdom always starts by connecting intimately to God and listening for His still, small voice. Join me this week and let’s discover God’s prescription for overcoming stress, difficulty, testing, trials, and temptation.

When man partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil everything in the world changed. God had created man in His likeness and image. Man was God’s ambassador given the task of ruling planet earth. Up until the moment man rebelled he ruled the earth under the leadership and direction of God, which meant the end result of all decisions led to harmony with God. The moment man alienated himself from God he began to make his own determination of good and evil, thus the world has become as it is today. Not only is it out of harmony with God, it is out of harmony with the human race. Every decision we make will be us partaking of the tree of life - relying on God’s wisdom, or it will be partaking of the knowledge of good and evil - relying on our wisdom. JOIN ME this week and discover how every decision can keep you in harmony with God.

Man was created to live in a pain free, drama free paradise in perfect harmony with God and His creation. Before the fall man’s soul, the place where we emotionally experience all things, was under the influence of his spirit. After the fall man became flesh, meaning that now his five natural senses dominated his soul. This means that man began to rely on the flesh for emotional gratification. The knowledge of good evil acquired by eating from the tree was knowledge without God’s wisdom revealing what was good or destructive. Now the one factor for determining if something was good was whether or not it gratified the flesh. This was the beginning of the battle that still rages today between the spirit and the soul, and the Apostle Paul says that war is waged in your soul. JOIN ME this week and discover how to follow the Holy Spirit and avoid the pitfalls of the flesh.

Do you pray in the name of Jesus? If so, why? Do you think repeating His name at the end of your prayer ensures God will hear and respond? If you do you’re no different than most 21st century Christians. Praying in the name of Jesus is for those who have faith in that name. That means you know what His names mean, and what they reveal about God, and what you can trust God to always do. Jesus was the exact representation of God; the word made flesh. His life and ministry revealed all the names of God in daily life and application. JOIN ME this week and discover a new dimension of faith as we examine the power in the name of Jesus.

If I were to ask the average Christian how many of the names of God they knew, the number would probably be embarrassingly small. Some people respond with, “God is God; what difference does it make?” God revealed Himself to the world originally through His names. A worshipper could know what to expect from God by knowing His name. In fact, if we knew God’s names we would not blame Him for the bad things that happen in our life. Many of the promises of God are to those who know His name. It’s not about having the right answer to the question; it’s about trusting Him for who He revealed Himself to be. JOIN ME this week and rediscover the forgotten name of God!

About twenty years ago I was deeply moved by a story about a man who lived in dire poverty and distress all his life. He eventually sold the land he inherited from his family and was rendered homeless, dying in utter poverty. The person who bought his land discovered that, almost in plain sight, the land was filled with diamonds. He obviously became incredibly wealthy. Like the man who lived in lack and died in poverty, almost every married person I’ve talked to doesn’t realize that he or she has nearly unlimited resources at their disposal! They don’t know where to look, and they don’t know how to mine them. Join me this week as I help you discover your greatest untapped resource!

How many times have we heard someone say, “That person walked all over me”? That’s actually a phrase taken from the Bible. God’s Word warns that our heart can become chaotic and confused as a result of the footprints left on our heart by the people who have walked on it. These scars on our heart affect us at the deepest level of who we are; they affect our ability to see God as He is and to see ourselves as we really are! Everything Jesus taught was aimed at healing our broken hearts. Join me this week and discover how to erase the footprints on your heart and leave that pain behind!

God promises He will never leave us, fail us, or forsake us. If that is true why do we so often feel alone, struggling, and abandoned in our time of need? We have become so accustomed to living by our five senses that we have lost our capacity to realize any other reality! The ability to perceive God is something that occurs in our heart, yet sadly, we seem to have lost the ability to recognize this part of our being! Our heart is not a part of who we are; it IS WHO WE REALLY ARE. The reality is our lack of awareness of God’s presence is a direct manifestation of not having an awareness of who we really are. Join me this week and discover the secret of experiencing your true identity as well as experiencing the abiding presence of God.

One of the most important things in any endeavor is to discover what the most important thing is. The most important factor in our relationship with God is having a real heart-to-heart relationship. In fact, when looking at verses about love, faith, identity, obedience, and pretty much every other aspect of our life the one common denominator is a reference to the heart! Sadly, the modern world has little concept of what it even means to believe in the heart, live from the heart, or connect to God from the heart! Our involvement with God is only imaginary if it is not from our heart. All God offers us through His promises only work when they are embraced in our heart. Join me this week as we explore The Heart Factor: the one factor that must be present for us to experience that which God freely gives.

There is only one way to conquer sin and the destruction it brings: faith in Jesus’ victory over sin through the resurrection. If you’re tired of struggling with sin and temptation, join me this week and place your faith in His victory over sin thereby experiencing the same power that gave Him victory over all sin! You can put an end to the struggle!

On the cross God reconciled the world to Himself. The word reconciled means to buy back, or to exchange one thing for something else. Jesus took our sin, sickness and disease, death and suffering; He offers us the opportunity to take His righteousness, life, health and healing. Paul said, we are ambassadors for Christ; we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, 2 Cor. 5:20. Faith in the work of the cross: death, burial, and resurrection, is how we enter into Christ and participate in reconciliation. Join me this week and step into this great exchange where you experience what Jesus deserves, because He experienced what you deserve.

The power of salvation is based on our beliefs about Jesus’ resurrection; the aspects of salvation we experience are based on what we believe about the resurrection; and every New Covenant promise is based on what Jesus obtained through the resurrection! Therefore, our top priority for living by faith should be to learn everything we can about what Jesus accomplished through the resurrection. Join me this week to expand your faith and experience of resurrection power!

We are all called to live in resurrection life. This is the power that worked in Jesus to raise Him up conquering sin, death, and the devil. When your faith is rooted in Jesus’ resurrection it is that same power that will work in you to raise you up over all your circumstances. We attempt to win our victories with a general kind of faith, simply believing the promises. True faith trusts what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection and shares in that same power. Join me this week to discover more about this limitless power which is available to you!

Every battle Jesus won for us on the cross and in the grave was won by His faith. He faced mental and physical opposition. After all, He had taken on our every mental and emotional pain and sickness. But He continued to believe and acknowledge God’s promises to Him in the face of all opposition, and He overcame it all! The resurrection power that worked in Him is the same power that works in us when we face opposition. Join me this week and discover how the very same resurrection power that worked in Jesus can work in you!

How long was Jesus in the grave? When asked that question almost every believer would day three days and three nights, because that is what Jesus said. But then if you ask them when Jesus was crucified the great majority of Christians would say Friday. Since the first day of the week began on Saturday afternoon at Sundown, this would mean that if He were raised on the first day of the week He would have only been in the grave one day and one night. We know what the scripture says, we know what Jesus said, but we believe what religion said! What else has religion told us about the death of Jesus that isn’t completely true? Join me this week to discover what really happened to Jesus in the grave and why it is so important to your faith!

Fake news isn’t anything new; it’s been around since Lucifer made his appearance on planet earth and told Eve a partial truth. The thing about a partial truth is this: it usually appeals to our logical mind; it’s close enough to the truth that we stop searching for the truth, and we accept the circumstances created by a partial truth as acceptable. The partial truth about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection has caused us to accept a substandard quality of life. Join me this week and raise your standard for life in Jesus!

Religion talks about the resurrection of Jesus, but never really tells you the real news about the resurrection. Exactly what happened on the cross? What happened for three days and three nights in death? What happened at the resurrection? And most importantly, why did those things have to happen? Without answers to these questions we limit our faith and the degree to which we can experience the resurrection life of Jesus. Every aspect of salvation and its benefits to the believer are based on our faith in what happened from the cross to the throne. Join me this week and discover specifically what Jesus did on the cross, in the grave, and at the resurrection, and what that can mean for your life!

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had determined certain miracles that they said only the Messiah could perform. Jesus performed all of the Messianic miracles and they still didn’t follow Him as the Messiah. But then Jesus performed the one Messianic miracle foretold in the scripture and still they refused to believe. Jesus gave them the sign of Jonah, which He offers to every human being. He offers to give us the proof of His resurrection which serves as the security for every promise God has ever made. Join me this week, connect to the ultimate Messianic miracle, and discover why it is the doorway to every other miracle!