Dr. Jim Richards

A safe filled with valuables is only difficult to open when you don’t have the combination. Most of God’s Word that we can’t seem to get functioning is simply because we don’t know the combination. There is one Universal Law that applies to everything in the physical universe, our bodies, our emotions, and our heart. Applying this one Universal Law in faith is the combination that opens everything. It is the most important law for establishing, guiding, and guarding our heart! Join me this week and discover the most important Universal Law of God!

According to Jesus it is impossible to avoid offenses. An offense is the pain one feels after being insulted, judged, or criticized. It’s that feeling of being inadequate, unworthy, or unacceptable that we feel after a negative comment or a violation of our boundaries. Even though Jesus said they would come, He didn’t leave us helpless. Join me this week and we’ll begin to discover Jesus’ method for getting over offense from the past and preventing future offenses!

The children of Israel only desired to see God’s power i.e. His actions. They had a slave mentality. They had no sense of knowing God, like people who think like slaves, they just wanted the benefits. One distinguishing factor that set Moses apart was He wanted to know God’s ways. When we know one’s ways we know the person. Moses gained the wisdom of knowing His ways, which meant he knew God was trustworthy. Many believe seeing miracles will increase their faith, but that is rarely the case. Knowing God, His character and His way is the secret to incredible faith. Join me this week and discover Moses’ journey from seeking wisdom to finding incredible faith.

Moses was a man who walked by incredible faith. He defied the most powerful ruler in the world. He motivated and led thousands of Israelites who had been slaves for hundreds of years. He set out to a land neither he nor the people had ever seen. And, he overcame natural obstacles. The secret to Moses’ faith is so simple we tend to overlook it. Join me this week and you’ll see why Moses had such great faith and how you too can have the very same kind of immovable confidence in God.

God’s wisdom never violates His character. That’s why the scripture says all His ways are perfect. Perfection has as much to do with the outcome as it does the journey. The amazing thing is when we follow His voice our ways, our process, the path we walk, and the destination at which we arrive becomes perfect for us. Join me this week and we’ll discover how to always stay on the path of wisdom, which always leads to God’s quality of life!

God is the only source of unfailing wisdom. Because He is omniscient He is the only being capable of knowing every person and every factor involved in any endeavor; therefore, He is the only one who can lead us to a successful outcome in any situation. God wants us to hear and trust His voice so we will always enjoy the best outcome. Join me this week as we explore Wisdom and the Ways of God.

Through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil man attempted to find the life God promises by information, independent of God. The Tree of Life is where we experience the life God promised whether we understand it or not. The two trees reveal who and what we trust: knowledge or God Himself. Formula-based Christianity seeks to find life through knowledge; faith in God seeks to find life in God and knowledge follows the experience. That feeling that we need more information before we can trust God is very often actually the fact that we trust information more than we trust God. Join me this week and begin to understand how we have subtly reversed God’s process for experiencing Life. It may be what’s thwarting your genuine efforts to experience God’s promises!

Based on the meaning of the Hebrew Word for life, when Adam or Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of life they actually experienced the life, i.e. the solution they sought, and the knowledge and understanding followed. When we commune with, i.e. partake of, the fruit of Jesus’ resurrection, we too instantly experience our need being met in our heart. Having this experience gives us a knowing and understanding that cannot be had through intellectual knowledge. It is this tree of life experience that makes us immovable until the full manifestation occurs in the natural world! Join me this week and discover how to partake of life even when you don’t have all the answers or understand the situation.

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!