Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

What would you think if you paid to go on a tour of Paris, only to find out your tour guide had never been to Paris before and thought that the official language of France was Spanish? Your guide should have a deep understanding of the place they are giving you a tour of. Pastor Jeff wants to remind you today that the tough experiences he has faced in his own life allow him to empathize with your situation! He has learned to rely on God’s grace and will teach you how to do the same.

A gemologist has all kinds of tools to determine whether a jewel is real or fake. But one of the simplest tests when examining a gem is to test it with a refractometer. You might be able to make an inferior material look like a real diamond or emerald to the naked eye, but the refractometer reveals the true nature of the gemstone. Pastor Jeff wants to teach you today that God sees right through your actions and into your heart. He knows if you are truly following Him, or if you are chasing after your own pursuits.

Trying to control the Holy Spirit is like trying to control the flow of whitewater rapids. In the end, you will realize that you cannot control where the waters are going; you just have to let yourself be swept away by the current! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that you cannot control the Holy Spirit by your own efforts. But what you can do is allow the Spirit to guide you and direct you, even if what He is telling you to do isn’t what you expected to happen. After all, His direction is always better than your own direction.

Sometimes we can forget that the Holy Spirit isn’t a nameless and faceless force, but that He is a part of the Trinity, equally powerful as the Father and the Son! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the power that Jesus had when He performed miracles on Earth is available to you now, and it is all because of the Holy Spirit living within you. That power has been given to you so that you can continue the ministry that Jesus began two thousand years ago. The task isn’t over until all have heard the Gospel.

A valuable lesson for us to learn is that our actions have consequences. When you throw a baseball at a window and break it, you are responsible for replacing it. When you get distracted while driving and rear-end another vehicle, your insurance will find you liable for the accident. Pastor Jeff wants us to realize today that our actions have eternal consequences. Whether or not we accept Jesus’ salvation can mean eternity in God’s rest, or eternal separation from His presence. 

Whenever I’m on a long road trip, the hardest part of the journey is usually in the last couple of hours before I reach my destination. I’ve been going for so long, but my destination feels so far away! But then, something clicks, and I get a second wind as I begin to think of the rest that awaits me! Pastor Jeff reminds us today that when the hope of Heaven takes place in our hearts, we become equipped to endure this world! The Gospel gives us that second wind, as we look forward to our eternal reward!

What happens to a flower when you pluck it from its roots? It may stay in bloom for a short amount of time, but before long, it will dry up and die, unless you provide it with water and nutrients from a different source. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you are one of God’s flowers, and the only source of life that can truly sustain you is the vine of His Word. When you become separated from the vine, you seek sustenance from other sources, but they can’t give you lasting fullness.

Living in God’s Holiness is something that we cannot do on our own. The majority of us cannot get through a single day without sinning in one way or another. But when that happens, God doesn’t want us to wallow in self-pity and regress to our old nature. Pastor Jeff teaches us today that the process of sanctification happens one step at a time. Becoming more like Jesus isn’t a short sprint; it is a marathon that will take us our entire lives to run. There is a great reward awaiting us at the end!

By today’s standards, Moses would probably have been considered a difficult preacher to listen to. He did not mince words when it came to calling out the people of Israel for their sinful behavior. He desired to see his people live in God’s favor, as they were pressing on to the land that God had promised to them. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to recognize that a spiritually robust Bible teacher will not sugarcoat Scripture, because God’s Word demands to be taken seriously.

When you were first filled with the Holy Spirit, a flame was lit within your soul. But that first encounter with the Holy Spirit was just a spark. You need a continuous re-filling of His Presence if that flame is going to last in the long term. In today’s message, Pastor Jeff wants you to learn about the importance of being constantly filled with God’s presence, because the filling you received a week ago isn’t going to help you get through today. You need a new outpouring of the Spirit each and every day.