Don’t Settle for Forgiven

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On This Episode -

Spiritual Growth Part 5 –
Don’t Settle for Forgiven
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode emphasizes the hard work of searching after God after receiving God's righteousness in Christ. Many believers today content themselves with the imputed righteousness of Christ, where God declares them positionally righteous because of the blood of Christ, but don't make their actual condition a priority. Hosea tells us that we need to seek the Lord "until He reigns righteousness" on us. The righteousness here spoken of is actual righteousness where believers reverse bad sowing and plant new seeds of righteousness. Much of the episode addresses hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mt 5:6), which is only satisfied when our condition matches our position in Christ. This craving for actual righteousness manifests in a life-long searching after God. The outcome of this search is transformation into the image of Christ AT THE SAME TIME we grow in the knowledge of God. We progressively know Christ, who is the Truth, and are made free. (John 8:32, John 14:6) It culminates in the beatific vision, where we are so radically transformed that we see God face to face. (1 John 3:2)

Today's Topics -

On This Episode -

Spiritual Growth Part 5 –
Don’t Settle for Forgiven
Coming from Hosea 10:11-14, this episode emphasizes the hard work of searching after God after receiving God's righteousness in Christ. Many believers today content themselves with the imputed righteousness of Christ, where God declares them positionally righteous because of the blood of Christ, but don't make their actual condition a priority. Hosea tells us that we need to seek the Lord "until He reigns righteousness" on us. The righteousness here spoken of is actual righteousness where believers reverse bad sowing and plant new seeds of righteousness. Much of the episode addresses hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mt 5:6), which is only satisfied when our condition matches our position in Christ. This craving for actual righteousness manifests in a life-long searching after God. The outcome of this search is transformation into the image of Christ AT THE SAME TIME we grow in the knowledge of God. We progressively know Christ, who is the Truth, and are made free. (John 8:32, John 14:6) It culminates in the beatific vision, where we are so radically transformed that we see God face to face. (1 John 3:2)

Today's Scriptures-

Hosea 10:11-14, Hebrews 10:14, Matthew 5:3-6, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 7:24, Romans 8:2, Romans 5:1, Psalm 42:1, 1 John 3:2-3, 1 John 2:12-14, Hebrews 9:14

Break up Your Fallow Ground, and Let the King of Glory Come In!

This final episode of the series encourages and challenges believers to break up fallow ground and seek the Lord until God rains His righteousness on them. (Hosea 10:12) The series has lately highlighted how genuine and consistent seeking after God doesn’t just lead to righteousness but encounters with God Himself. The psalmist in Psalm 84 consequently longs for God’s dwelling place, and in psalm 26:8, David calls it the place where “His glory dwells.” Taken together, the Scriptures call for believers to balance the call to deny themselves in breaking up the fallow with the ultimate reward of being so transformed that God Himself, the river that never runs dry, satisfies the longings of the Christian. The latter part of the episode addresses the challenges of breaking up fallow ground. While it definitely includes hardened sinful habits, the program deals with the thought life of many believers that, while not overtly sinful, nevertheless amount to vast fields of wasted mental engagement on things that go nowhere. God wants to dwell in our minds, so the initial daunting task of reorienting thought life around what is pure, noble and excellent (Philippians 4:8) is nevertheless a mandate. The episode closes with a practical challenge to seek God consistently through prayer and reading of the Scriptures, to the exclusion of social media and even news.

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Are You REALLY Seeking after God?

This episode contrasts “crises searches” with “love searches.” Many seek God principally based on crises and don’t pursue Him on a regular basis. The ideal is that we seek God continually, based on our desperate need to be molded by Him into the image of Christ. Hosea 10:12 highlights the positive motivation behind love-searching..”until He rains righteousness on us.” Many unfortunately don’t transition from crisis seeking to love seeking and consequently “invite” more God-orchestrated crises into their lives till they seek Him continually based on love. The latter half of the episode addresses the model “love search” of the psalmist in psalm 84:1-7. The psalmist is only happy in God’s “dwelling places,” and “highways to Zion” characterize his heart on perpetual pilgrimage. The program then applies the highway metaphor to Ephesians 3:16-19, the sanctification road in which Christians who abide in Christ are empowered by God and come more and more under His Lordship, resulting in greater capacity for God’s presence.

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Seek His Face, Not Just His Hand

This episode addresses the motivation behind searching for God. While God honors “crisis” seeking, where He aids us in crisis moments, He intends that all believers become life-long “love”-seekers who hunger and thirst for God Himself. The program addresses the dynamics of how God transforms crisis-seeking to love-seeking, often by making lasting victory over sin and circumstances elusive, requiring persistent seeking after God Himself. This resting in God is discussed based on Ephesians 3:16-19, where progressive abiding in Christ leads to greater capacity for His rule, potentially leading to being “filled up with all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:19) This quasi beatific vision is based on an intimate knowledge of the love of God where the diligent search for God is rewarded. The episode repeatedly emphasizes that mere crisis searching is unacceptable. Love seeking is the Biblical ideal that culminates in the knowledge of God.

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