Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

At the end of Rocky, the title character is in a boxing match against his rival, Apollo Creed. Even though he gets knocked down, Rocky gets back up and continues the fight, and he finishes the fight with his head held high. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the difficult trials you face now are helping you build the endurance to face stronger challenges later on. If you’re still standing, still breathing, and still praising God, the outcome of your trial doesn’t matter! You are victorious in Christ!

I remember seeing a viral video of a grocery store whose entire computer system went down. Instead of sending all of the customers home without their groceries, the manager informed the customers in the store that their groceries would be given free of charge. They couldn’t have paid for their groceries, even if they wanted to! Now, your salvation isn’t given to you by some cosmic glitch, but Pastor Jeff teaches you today that it is given to you as a free gift, and you cannot earn it by any other means.

There’s always going to be someone trying to buy their way into Heaven. They think that if they just give enough money and say enough prayers, Jesus will accept them into His heavenly family.  But Pastor Jeff is here today to remind you that none of those religious rites can earn Jesus’ gift of forgiveness! The Bible teaches that salvation only comes by grace through faith. Salvation is a gift, and the only thing you have to do to receive it is to allow Jesus into your heart and enter into a relationship with Him! 

In Old Testament times, the only way to receive atonement for your sins was to sacrifice an animal. The shedding of its blood was sufficient to atone for your sin, but only until the next time you sinned. God knew that this was an imperfect system, so He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be a perfect sacrifice! Pastor Jeff reminds you today that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament traditions, and His atonement isn’t temporary. It brings you forgiveness for the sins of your past, present, and future.

Have you ever thought about how much work went into designing spacecraft and spacesuits? Outer space is in a vacuum, completely devoid of air, and mankind has developed ways to sustain human life in the most hostile of environments. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the Holy Spirit acts like a spacesuit to sustain you in the valleys that you face in this life. Without His protection, you wouldn’t even be able to breathe! But with the Spirit’s covering, you can thrive in the wilderness.

Have you ever met someone with a one-track mind? Once they’ve settled on a task, they will not stop until they see it to completion. Well, even though this trait can be a sign of stubbornness, it can also be a virtue to be admired! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches about the valley of Baca and how it represents the sorrow that we will face in this life. But instead of being paralyzed by it, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus and treat sorrow as an obstacle that we have already overcome.

Sometimes it feels good to receive a little bit of recognition! After all, you’ve been working hard, and it’s about time something went your way. But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff warns you against people who compliment you with ulterior motives in mind. A good spiritual leader is someone who will challenge you just as much as they build you up. Showering someone with praise without challenging them to reach higher can be an unhealthy practice if it encourages them to become stagnant in their faith.

Every action you take in this life makes a deposit in your Heavenly savings account. You can build up an account full of sinful actions, but eventually, you will have to answer for the balance when you face God on the day of final judgement. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that if you build a savings account full of good and Godly deeds, the Lord will look on you with favor! The Bible reminds you that the things you sow in this life will one day be reaped. Are you planting good seeds today?

Have you ever watched Pinocchio? In that movie, Jiminy Cricket is tasked with becoming the titular puppet’s conscience, reminding him of right and wrong. But, spoiler alert, Pinocchio eventually chooses to ignore Jiminy Cricket, and he eventually faces consequences for his sins. Well, Pastor Jeff isn’t trying to make you picture your conscience as a cricket in a top hat! But he does teach you today that when you ignore your conscience, its voice will become more and more muted in your mind.

It’s much easier to do evil than it is to do good! After all, our selfish impulses are usually our first ones, especially if we didn’t grow up with self-control or discipline. That’s why Pastor Jeff reminds us today that the good works we do cannot earn our salvation, but they can be indicators of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit inside of our souls! We’re reminded that when we follow after God, we’re prompted by the Holy Spirit to set aside the desires of our flesh, and to instead do good works for His Glory.

Walking in righteousness is like painting something with spray paint. No matter how hard you try to stay within the lines, you will probably get some paint on other surfaces that you weren’t trying to paint. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that when you drift outside of those lines, you’re supposed to course correct and get back on the right path! When you’re following God, you shouldn’t mistake His mercy for an endorsement of your sinful behavior. Instead, His grace is meant to drive you to repentance.

There is an ancient Japanese pottery technique called kintsugi, where a potter will take a chipped or shattered piece of ceramic and repair it using precious metals instead of simple lacquer. The repaired piece doesn’t hide its imperfections; instead, they are highlighted in gold, silver, and platinum. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff encourages you by reminding you that God has a plan for you, even when you’re stuck in a dark valley. He can take that broken time in your past, and turn it into a symbol of hope! 

I’m sure you can think of a time when you’ve felt isolated from God because of your sinful behavior. Despite our best efforts, we as humans are prone to giving in to the desires of our flesh from time to time. But Pastor Jeff is here to remind us today that that separation isn’t permanent. All that God asks of us is to repent of our sin and turn back to Him. Even if we are walking through a difficult valley, God will be faithful to turn that darkness into a wellspring of hope when we return to His loving arms! 

What is something that you worship in this life besides God? Some of us worship our favorite musical artists, our favorite sports teams, or even our favorite hobbies. Honestly, anything that can be worshipped has the potential to get between us and God. Pastor Jeff reminds us today that we will end up worshipping something. We can worship God, our Heavenly Father and the Creator of the universe, or we can worship the things of this world that will inevitably turn to dust. 

Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” God has left His fingerprints all throughout this world He created, and the wondrous things we see in this world point towards His divine purpose. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that God has revealed Himself to humanity through creation, but that alone cannot bring you into a relationship with Him. Creation can point you in the right direction, but you must choose to answer His call.

Did you know that you have the tools to save someone’s life? Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the Gospel is a message of good news for all people, and it is literally a matter of life and death! It’s your responsibility to share the Good News with people who need to hear it, without worrying about the consequences you may face in this world. Have courage, because this world cannot take away your salvation or compromise your relationship with Jesus if you are obedient to Him! 

When a home inspector is preparing a report on a home, they will check for signs of rot or water damage that warn of a huge problem! You can cover up small stains with paint, but they will only cover over the deeper problem. In this message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that sin is an evil form of rot, and it works its way into the core of your soul. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were only able to cover the stain of sin, but the blood of Jesus can fully cleanse and restore what has been corrupted by sin.

When you rent a car, you are expected to return it in the same condition it was in when you rented it. That means you shouldn’t leave trash behind, and any scratches or dings on the body of the car may be held against you. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that you are also technically a rental! Your entire being belongs to God, and that includes your physical body! By taking care of your body and not corrupting it with unhealthy substances and habits, you bring glory to your Father in Heaven!

Before we came to know Jesus, our default human nature tended to be more selfish. Sure, we might have moments of sympathy and compassion, but our first impulses are usually to serve our own interests first. Well, Pastor Jeff is going to teach us today that when we come to know Jesus, we become filled with the same compassion that He has for us. Now we are able to share the love that Jesus first shared with us. Even the hardest and most stubborn of hearts are softened by His compassion.

In order to make pure gold, a refiner will heat impure gold, or gold ore mined from underground, to extremely high temperatures, and then use a chemical process to make those impurities float to the surface so that they can be scraped away. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that God doesn’t put you through storms and trials to punish you for your sins. Instead, that difficult process is intended to strengthen you and to produce a purer faith. The Lord wants to make you stronger!

Throughout the Bible, God has judged people for their sinful ways. He has used floods, fire, brimstone, and earthquakes to cast down those who stand in defiance against His authority. But Pastor Jeff reminds us today that God will cast one final judgment on the Earth during the last days, and the things of this world that don’t glorify Him will be destroyed and reduced to dust. If we don’t follow the Lord, we risk getting cast aside in that final judgment, and losing out on His presence forever.

In my adult life, I’ve learned to be grateful for the discipline I received not just from my parents, but from other leaders and mentors who were placed over me. While I may not have enjoyed being disciplined, even when I knew I had done something wrong, that discipline made me into a better person today. Pastor Jeff reminds us today that the Lord also subjects us to discipline because the constant refinement that takes place in our souls will make us into better reflections of Christ in this world.

The next time you watch a tightrope walker, take a second to notice where their eyes are. They’re not looking down at the view below them, or at other things in their surroundings. They have their eyes set on the other side of the tightrope because that is how they maintain their focus on the task at hand. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that this life is like a very long tightrope that all of us are walking on. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we won’t be distracted by the things of this world.

In 1873, Horatio Spafford wrote the words to the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul, in response to a tragedy that resulted in the death of his four daughters as they journeyed across the sea to England. Even though he was a faithful man, Spafford faced great tragedy! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that your faithfulness to God doesn’t make you immune from difficult situations in this world. But your faithful attitude enables you to seek Jesus in your trial, so that you don’t get lost in the waves.

Abraham Lincoln’s presidency was defined by his leadership of the Northern states during the Civil War. But five days after the Confederate generals surrendered, President Lincoln was assassinated. He didn’t get to see the states reunited, but that doesn’t mean that his leadership wasn’t worth it! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff tells you that the heroes of the faith did not live to see all of God’s promises fulfilled. But He still used them to do great things in this world for centuries to come!

When we get into an emergency situation, we know that the first number to call should be 911. The longer we wait, the longer it will be before help arrives. Well, in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds us that the same thing happens when we face a storm in this life. God is ready to guide us through the storm, but we need to keep our focus on Him to make it through. The sooner we can fix our eyes on Him, the sooner we can get out of the troubled waters. God is always ready to guide us to safety.

The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is our constant guide and counselor. He is the one who speaks to us in the quiet and still moments of our lives. But today, Pastor Jeff reminds us that He is also there to help us in times of trouble. When we are facing a difficult storm, we are supposed to focus on what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us. If we can drown out the noise and listen to His still, small voice, we will be able to resist fear. We won’t get lost in the turmoil and chaos of the storm.

We don’t have a lot of time in this world. In the scope of the universe, our lives are little more than a flash in the pan. That’s why, in today’s message, Pastor Jeff encourages us to make an impact for God’s Kingdom with the time we have. If you only had one chance in your whole life to change the world, would you use it to bring glory to yourself? Or would you rather use your one shot to point people towards Jesus? The Bible teaches that if you glorify God with your actions, He will reward you in Heaven.

Following God is hard! He carries a high standard for His servants, and you will have to say “no” to things you used to enjoy in your past life in order to remain faithful. But in today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that all of that effort is worth it. You can’t take the riches of this world with you when you leave it, so you should set your heart on things that will last forever. Enoch had faith that following after God would earn him far more in the long term than what he could gain in this world.

Sometimes, we can think of Jesus as our magical genie in a bottle. We think that if we just fold our hands, close our eyes, and ask nicely enough, He will give us anything we want. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches us today that Jesus doesn’t grant our every wish like that! The Lord answers us when our prayers are in alignment with His Will. Something that happens when we grow closer to Jesus is that our desires begin to look more like His, and that is when our prayers of faith begin to have an effect.

Some people think they can buy their salvation. They believe that by giving enough money away and doing enough good deeds in this world, their good works will cover up the pain and the shadow of their sin. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that sin corrupts even the most well-intentioned of people, and the greatest philanthropists of our time will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven if they don’t receive Jesus’ gift of salvation. That’s the only surefire way into God’s Kingdom!