Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

Throughout the Bible, God has called people to give their very lives to receive a greater reward in Heaven. If you study Church history for even a brief moment, you will read story after story of people who faithfully answered this call. Now, Pastor Jeff isn’t trying to tell you that you will be forced to choose between the Gospel and your own life! But there will come a time when following Jesus will cost you something, and choosing to remain faithful to Him will grant you a greater reward in Heaven!

When you’re stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway, the only way to get out of traffic is to take an exit or to stay the course and wait to get through the bottleneck. But when we’re facing a trial in our walk with Christ, we don’t always get to choose how we overcome it! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches us that sometimes God rescues us from the difficult times we are facing. But there are also times when His deliverance manifests as a supernatural strength to endure and outlast our trials. 

Moses could have spent his entire life without giving a single thought to the plight of his fellow Israelites. He lived the life of a prince and had access to all of the riches in Egypt. While you and I probably didn’t grow up in royalty, we similarly have the opportunity to live for worldly things. But Pastor Jeff teaches us today that to live a truly fulfilling life, we need to reject the riches of this world! When we leave that all behind to obey the Lord, we establish a place for ourselves in His eternal Kingdom!

One of the three essential elements to building a strong spiritual root system is reading God’s Word! The Bible wasn’t just written for people two thousand years ago; it is full of wisdom that is relevant to you and me today! Pastor Jeff teaches us that we can never learn too much from God’s Word. Every day that we open our Bibles, we are opening new opportunities to hear from our Heavenly Father. The Lord has already given us all of the tools we need to succeed in this world, and it starts with His Word.

Trees can grow extremely deep and complex root systems! These roots help anchor trees to the ground, but are also useful to draw moisture from deep underground. These root systems can even stretch down hundreds of feet, depending on the environment! Well, Pastor Jeff wants to teach you in today’s message that your faith in Jesus is a lot like a tree. With weak, shallow roots, your faith can be uprooted in a mild breeze. But with deeper roots, you will be able to withstand strong storms.

Everyone knows that a boomerang is supposed to come back to you when you throw it, but have you actually tried it for yourself? It turns out that it takes some practice to properly throw that boomerang without it crashing to the ground. Today, Pastor Jeff teaches you about the story of Moses, and how his life began with a giant act of faith! His mother placed her newborn son in a basket on the Nile River, entrusting him to God, and was soon rewarded as Pharaoh’s daughter enlisted her to care for her own son!

In the documentary Free Solo, a rock climber named Alex Honnold (HAWN-old) performs the first-ever free solo climb of El Capitan, a three-thousand-foot-tall rock in Yosemite National Park. He has to have complete certainty of his abilities because he has no tools or helpers to assist him on his climb. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that Abraham had to have an even greater level of faith in God! He had faith that even though he was climbing a mountain to sacrifice his son to the Lord, he would not be returning alone.

In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape gives instructions to his nephew, Wormwood, on how to make a Christian man lose his faith. Wormwood is told to use subtle methods to undermine the man’s faith in God, so that it crumbles from the inside out. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that Satan will employ those very tactics against you! He places trials and obstacles in your life to attack your faith in God, but you can resist him by choosing to trust in God, despite your struggles. 

The easiest way to get discouraged from the difficult path you are on is to look back. After all, if the road ahead is so hard, wouldn’t it be easier to go back to where you were before? But Pastor Jeff encourages you today to stay on the straight-and-narrow path God has called you to! Abraham knew that God’s promises ahead were greater than the challenges he would face on his journey. He was able to stay the course and become the father of a great nation, all because he didn’t look back!

There are thousands of foreign missionaries serving around the world, doing work God has called them to do to bring the Good News to people who might not hear it otherwise. But let me tell you from experience, it takes a great amount of sacrifice to fully uproot your life and follow after God’s calling. Pastor Jeff wants to teach you today that Abraham didn’t just have to say “yes” to follow God. He had to depart from the only home he had ever known and leave his friends and relationships behind!

As a Christian, it is all too easy to look at the state of this world and be worried about the future of the faith. But Pastor Jeff encourages you to be hopeful today! There is a revival coming, where men and women, young and old, will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel into communities all around the world! While right now it seems like the soil of humanity is hardened to the Good News, there are people whose hearts are ready to receive the message of hope that Jesus provides.

In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape says that the easiest road to hell is a gradual one, without signposts or warnings along the way. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff warns you how easy it is to harden your heart against God. Most people who reject the Lord don’t do it in some big emotional moment; it’s usually the result of many small decisions over a long period of time. But you can make small everyday decisions to open your heart towards God as well!

The book of Hebrews shows us that there is a throughline connecting the stories of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. We’ve learned that the safest place for us to be is walking right alongside God, obeying Him and following in His footsteps everywhere we go. This world around us has been plunged into chaos, but Pastor Jeff wants us to remember that we have a loving Father who knows exactly what to do. If we are faithful to obey His instructions, He will grant us His blessings and peace.

Atoning for your sins is an area of your life where you don’t want to take shortcuts. After all, in God’s eyes, you are either guilty of sin or you’re not. There are no half-measures. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff teaches you about Cain and Abel, and about how Abel’s offering recognized God’s requirement of blood to atone for sins. However, Cain wanted to take a shortcut by sacrificing the fruit of his fields, but in doing so, he rebelled against God. The Lord doesn’t accept insincere offerings. 

The valley of the shadow of death may be the darkest valley that you ever cross in your life. It’s a place where the fear of loss can cause as much damage to your soul as the loss itself. But God doesn’t leave you to face that valley alone! In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to recognize that the Lord is your good shepherd, and He is always looking out for you! It’s not hard to find His hand reaching out to guide you. Knowing that His hand is there in the first place is the hardest part of the battle.

We all need a GPS at some point in our lives. Maybe we’re traveling to someplace new and need directions, or our usual route isn’t available because of a road closure. Well, Pastor Jeff is here today to remind us that God wants to be our guide, helping us through life, and leading us into peaceful pastures. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be difficult times to go along with the calm moments, but we can be equally assured that there is no safer place than walking right by His side.

Did you have an irrational fear of quicksand growing up? Most of us have seen at least one movie where our brave heroes find themselves sinking into a dangerous trap. But the way you sink in quicksand is by standing still. If you walk quickly and don’t freeze, you can avoid the worst danger. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you must keep moving when you’re in a dark valley. You can trust in the Lord to make a way for you. All that He asks is for you to keep walking, one step after another.

Allowing offenses and grudges to become implanted in your mind will only lead to more negative thoughts. It becomes a great big feedback loop, as your mind spirals further and further into depression and despair. Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that God offers you a different way to live! In order to break free from the spiral, you must focus your thoughts on God! His grace gives you the ability to let go of the things that used to offend you, so that you can live in the freedom that Christ offers you.

One of the most important jobs of a farmer is to prepare the soil for the seeding of plants. Soil must be tilled, fertilizer must be added, and seeds must be carefully placed in the ground in a way that they can grow and flourish. Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you in today’s message that the process of being born again starts with the seed of the Kingdom of God being planted in your heart. That seed doesn’t take root at the same time for everyone, but the fruit it bears is always based on God’s perfect timing!

Did you know that coffee can taste different when grown at different altitudes? As you go higher in elevation, the air becomes thinner, and the temperatures become cooler, creating a coffee cherry with more acidity and sugar content. Well, Pastor Jeff isn’t trying to tell you that you’re a coffee plant! But what he does teach you today is that when you’re facing a season of pressure, it’s not because God wants you to suffer! Instead, God wants to give you the opportunity to grow stronger in your faith!

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 (BAH-cuh), 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.

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! 

When was the last time you came across a street preacher or someone witnessing in public? Maybe you cringed inside as you walked past them, or tried to hide away from their gaze as you crossed their chosen street corner. But Pastor Jeff wants you to realize that those people understand the urgency of the Great Commission! No one knows the day that Jesus is going to return for His bride, but it is the responsibility of every believer to make sure that as many people as possible are saved before that happens.

The book of Ecclesiastes isn’t just a book of lamentation and despair, but it has a narrative of its own! It leads the reader on a journey where Solomon has fallen away from his faith, but rediscovers it along the way. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that life isn’t always a straight line going slightly up over time; there are setbacks and struggles that may require you to reset. But when you look back on how far you’ve come, you realize that God never left your side; He’s always been there for you.

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!

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.

The most important person at any public pool or beach is the lifeguard. While they will spend 99% of their time doing nothing but watching the waters, they are always vigilant to save someone if they start to sink below the surface of the water. Pastor Jeff wants you to recognize today that God is the ultimate lifeguard for your life! When things get difficult, and you start to look at the waves around you and start to sink, He will be right there to pull you out. He will never let you drown in the storm!