Dr. Jim Richards

The cry of the world today is that there is injustice. Everything is unfair and slanted toward the white or the wealthy, this group or that group. The people setting buildings on fire, stealing, robbing, and killing other people all say they’re seeking justice. The problem is in how you define justice. One of the primary characteristics God conveys about Himself in Scripture is justice. He is just (Ps 7:11). He is fair and equitable, and He always seeks for justice to prevail in human interaction. The Book of Job is probably the most misquoted book of the entire Bible, not because people quote the Scriptures wrong, but because the Scriptures are taken out of context. They always quote the foolishness that Job and his friends said, not what God said. In Job 40:8, God asked one of the most critical questions in the entire book: “Will you indeed annul my judgment, and would you condemn me that you might be justified and appear to be the righteous one.” This is what the whole world is doing. But you can have pea

One of the most important aspects of God’s character is Justice. Eight of the Ten Commandments were about treating one another with love, respect, and value. When Israel entered Canaan, the Ten Commandments were expanded into a code of justice, based on the love of God. God’s system of justice was revolutionary. It provided protection and rights for women, slaves, servants, and immigrants. It abolished ancient codes allowing unjust vengeance. It was a marvel to the ancient world. If the Israelites had continued in that code of justice, the world would have seen God as He is! The world is exploding with hatred and violence under the guise of social justice. However, those who are supposedly seeking social justice are unjustly destroying the lives of the innocent, the poor, and the helpless. In this series, you will discover how God’s plan for social justice can bring peace to the world. It will open your eyes to the depths of God’s love, compassion, and patience. You will discover new insights into the goodne

All it takes to completely change your life is a heart awakening and in an instant, everything in your world can be transformed. One glimpse of healing can forever change your health. A single inspiration can lift you out of poverty or lack. When your heart awakens, it will transform you into what it sees. You can use the Word of God to show your heart a completely new reality, the one God promised, and the one you choose, not the one that was imposed on you by life. This week’s message, “Awaken to a Miracle,” will help you open yourself to a heart awakening! One glimpse into eternity and everything changes!

I want to help you get past your failures! Sadly, we tend to define ourselves by our past mistakes. The greatest success stories in the world came from people who simply used their failures as stepping stones to success: Albert Einstein, Babe Ruth, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison, just to name a few. If we were to put as much effort into learning from our failures as we do making excuses for them, we would never need another excuse! The Bible doesn’t say that a righteous man never falls; it says he just keeps getting back up. Join me for this week’s CyberChurch message, “The Wake-Up Call,” and turn your past failures into stepping stones for success!

We are not who we think we are! In early childhood we began to act like our influences dictated. We buried our true identity beneath the behavior our family required. Sadly, we came to believe we were our behavior. But that’s not the real you. That is what the Bible calls the old man: the man you think you are outside of Jesus! But the Bible tells us we can put on the hidden man of the heart. Join me this week and begin to discover the truth about the real you. You’ll love meeting the real you!

Of all the factors that can consistently affect our lives negatively, there is probably nothing more devastating than what the Bible calls a “broken” heart. Because the heart is the seat of who we are, it affects every aspect of life. It is the source of all abiding emotions, good or bad. From the heart emerges all of life’s boundaries. In other words, every sense of limitation we experience flows out of our hearts. We can spend our entire lives focusing on problems and limitations that we perceive to be outside influences when, in reality, these limitations are based on what we believe about ourselves in our own hearts! In this month’s series, A Heart Awakening, I want to help you understand how your heart was broken and how you can move beyond the control of a broken heart and into a life without limits.

The Bible says that the end will come “like a thief in the night”. But it also says it will come with the “sound of a trumpet”. This is either talking about two separate events or there is an interesting caveat that we need to recognize. The truth is; people that won’t know when the end is here either don’t want to know, don’t believe, ignore the signs, or are so overtaken by the lust of their flesh and living life that they just aren’t paying attention. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said it would be like it was in the days of Noah. People were getting married, had families and carried on with their daily lives … until the flood came. Then, suddenly, they were taken by surprise. But Noah and his family were not taken by surprise. We never really have to be taken by surprise. Wise people understand the signs and know when and how to prepare so that they are not overcome.I want YOU to be an overcomer! I don’t want you to be overtaken by everything happening in the world today. To learn how you ca

Throughout history, we see Godless people, Godless regimes, world leaders hungry for power, and greedy people attempting to take over all the resources available in Planet Earth. Each monumental war has gotten more violent, more wicked, and more brutal. Jesus said that the time would come when we would have a tribulation on Planet Earth that would be far worse than anything that has ever happened. Many people have asked me if I thought we were in the Tribulation. “No, I do not!” People in Russia, China, the former Soviet Union, and all over the world have gone through worse than what we are going through right now. What we are going through will get worse unless we stop it. People who don’t know history, don’t know the Bible, or don’t understand how we got here, don’t know how to stop it. You may be asking yourself, “How did America get here?” I want to answer that question for you. I want to show you a Biblical perspective on how we reached this point. Once we understand how we got here, then we can unders

So many people have asked me if this is the end of time. If you’re asking that question, you don’t really understand what the Bible means when it talks about “the end.” In Matthew 24, when Jesus talks about the many things happening and says, “This is not the end”; He is talking about reaching the end or completion of the goal (the reason all these things are happening), not the end of time. These things are happening to destroy people’s confidence in God. The good news is that Jesus isn’t coming back to bring about the end of time. Jesus is coming back to bring an end of the destruction that’s done by wickedness and lawlessness and to give us a thousand years of peace before we reach the end of time. Don’t let your heart be troubled. In the end, we win because, in the end, God has already won. I want to help deliver you from the fear that comes from the deception happening in the world. Watch this week’s CyberChurch message, “Is This the End?” to learn more.

When Jesus returns, it will not be to bring an end to the world but to prevent the antichrist and evildoers from destroying the world and mankind. Until He returns, there are ways we can manage ourselves so that we can be over-comers no matter what’s going on around us. Part of this is knowing how to read the signs and being aware of what’s going on in our country, our city, our state, and even in our own lives. Once you know how to read the signs, then you know the kinds of decisions you need to make. God wants you to make decisions that lead to life, peace, and joy. And I want to do everything I can to help you get there.If you want to discover more about how to read the signs and how to usher in the return of the Lord, watch this week’s CyberChurch message, “How to Read the Signs”, where I give you simple, practical, biblical wisdom that you can put into practice and put you ahead of the game. You can be an over-comer when everyone else is giving in to fear!

Anyone can look around and see what is happening in the world today. But God wants us to see what’s happening and properly understand “the times.” Unless we understand the times, i.e. "why" these things are happening, we can never properly understand what actions to take.Observing an event is like standing on a boat and looking at the surface of the water. Seeing the surface doesn't reveal what is going on beneath the surface. God's Word explains how you can get beneath the surface to see and understand the times. Then, and only then, can you know what to do!

The simplest and clearest representation of Jesus becoming our sin, freeing us from the wrath of God, and at the same time making us the righteousness of God, fully accepted as a sweet-smelling savor, is the Old Testament sacrifice using the two goats of salvation. Of all the Biblical models that will help you grasp what you have in Jesus, this will be the clearest!

Historically, we have been influenced by religious thinkers to believe that sacrifices were made to appease God, move God, or compel Him to do something. That is not at all what sacrifices to God are about. Sacrifices were designed to benefit and influence our hearts and draw us closer to God, not to earn something from Him. Under the New Covenant, our sacrifice has already been made in Jesus (the sacrifices laid out in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Him). There’s nothing we can do for or unto God that will add to what Jesus has already done on the cross. The only action left for us is to decide if we believe it in our hearts. When we believe it in our hearts it changes our connection to God. It transforms how we feel about God and ourselves and it empowers us to a whole new quality of life. We choose to engage our hearts with the sacrifice that God made through the Lord Jesus. The purpose of sacrifice has always been to draw our hearts to God, not draw God near to us. God has never left us. We separate

We can only have faith in God to the degree that we believe He is Who He says He is. When we trust and follow Him, we are confident He will bring us to the ultimate in life (Jn 10:10). This is where we activate the blood of Jesus in our hearts and lives. Faith in the blood is to deliberately remind ourselves and reflect on the price Jesus paid through His shed blood, which cleanses our conscience (Hb 9:14). We participate in that by faith. One reason we carry guilt and don't experience much of God’s love is because we don't approach God based on what Jesus did through His death, burial, and resurrection. We don’t reason, "It should have been my blood. It should have been me giving my life."

Through the new birth, all that God has is ours. We can’t get what has already been given through works (Eph 1:18, begging, or force (Matt 11:12). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus obtained and secured it for us, thereby ensuring it is always active and available. Our only qualification is to be in Him (Col. 1:12), and our ability to share in that inheritance comes from being one with Him. You can only experience what is yours in Christ to the degree you believe it in your heart and walk it out in faith with God. Ask yourself: when I’m pursuing the promises of God, is my faith based on my works or on the fact that Jesus already obtained it for me? Find out how to look to Jesus who obtained it for you and how to trust in Him to live it.

The contractual agreement God made with Jesus is called the Covenant of Peace. By its very name, we can understand the foundation and boundaries by which God chooses to relate to us and what His intention is for us. Yet, nearly the entire world believes God is angry at them, so they try to appease Him through pious living, works-righteousness, and using faith as a tool to manipulate Him. The Good News, however, is that God is at peace with us! At any time we choose, we can experience the tranquil state of being that comes by knowing who God is and that our every need has already been met through the Lord Jesus Christ. Feeling peace with God is absolutely essential to trusting Him. What we’re able to trust God for can’t be separated from what we believe about Him, and most of what we believe is based on what we’ve heard. If you haven’t heard the Good News Gospel (Ro 10:15), you’ll continue struggling to trust Him, but once you’ve heard it and believed it, you’ll never doubt Him again!

Everything God has revealed about Himself can only be understood through Jesus’ life, teaching, death, burial, and resurrection. Learning to apply this revelation knowledge to our lives is preceded first by experiencing it in our hearts. God revealed His Son to the apostle Paul first, as he meditated on Old Testament Scriptures about the Messiah (Gal. 1:16-17). After Paul brought this to life in his own heart, he was set apart into his apostolic ministry. One reason the early apostles changed the whole world was that they followed this same process. They knew the Word of God, experienced that Word in their hearts, learned how to live it, and then they showed it to the world. You, too, can change the world just like they did when you first experience God in your heart as Jesus has revealed Him to be.

Since everything in life stems from what happens in our hearts, the beliefs we form about God ultimately determine the sum total of our life experience. God's covenant with Jesus is a covenant of the heart—upheld by His Name and His Word, establishing what we can expect from Him. Until we’re fully persuaded by who He is and what He’s said, we’ll struggle to make the covenant work. But the real struggle isn’t to make it work; it's to persuade our hearts to believe that the covenant is as good as God says it is because He’s as good as He says He is! To the degree we persuade our hearts in the promises of the Kingdom determines the degree of life that we experience (Mk 4:24). The more you establish your heart in who God really is, the more you’ll experience the promise of a life that’s “easy and light” (Mt 11:3).

Have you ever considered how you formed your beliefs about God? How did you come to believe what you do? While we may be truly passionate to serve Him, many believers don’t know who God really is. In ancient times, a name revealed the character and identity of a person. This is why God put such emphasis on all of His names. In His first introduction to Moses, He said, “I AM WHO I AM,” indicating that He never changes. Just like His Father, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Everything Jesus did and taught was in harmony with the Names of God. God also revealed Himself through His Covenant and His Word which are always connected to and congruent with His Names. What makes this so remarkable is that our actions can’t change who God is! Jesus had an unwavering trust in His Father because He understood that God never violates His Names, His Covenant, or His Word! As He was and is to Jesus is exactly how God wants to be to you!

God is a Covenant Keeping God… what does that mean for you? In business transactions, contracts are created so there are no misunderstandings: everyone knows their terms and benefits. In a simple contract you are never left to guess at what you are getting; and you never have to presume what is required of you. A covenant is a contract. God is a covenant keeping God. Why? He wants it to be clear what He is providing and how you can participate. With God you never have to be in dark; you’re never left guessing what His will is, in a given situation… unless you haven’t read or don’t trust the person who wrote the contract! There is much confusion in the body of Christ concerning God’s current contract with humanity. Much of what is taught about faith, prayer and even righteousness is based more on the Old Covenant than the New Covenant! Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises, Heb 8:6. To operate under any part