Blessed Life Fellowship

THE NEW YOU: Understanding Your New Identity in Christ

We now live in a time when most people have an orphan mentality.  They have no idea who they are or why they are here.  And even many Christians struggle with this.  And it causes people to have so many insecurities that they try to medicate through various self-destructive coping mechanisms.  But when we get a revelation about who we really are in God's sight, it changes everything; life takes on new meaning and we can rest in knowing we are very special to our Heavenly Father, causing our insecurities to begin to melt into peace and strength.  This teaching will give you a new glimpse of who you REALLY are, not what you think you are, and not what other people say you are.  

AS A MAN THINKETH: From Glory to Glory, pt. 6

WARNING: SACRED COWS TOPPLED HERE!  Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.  We are essentially products of our most dominant thoughts.  So if we wish to go from glory to glory, there are most likely a few things we need to think differently about.  The way we think about ourselves can propel us forward or cause us to crash and burn in our careers, in our marriages, in our health, and most certainly in how we relate to God.  Learn in this teaching why the way we think and use our imaginations is so vital to every aspect of life, and how to change how we think about ourselves to line up with the Word of God.  

FOCUS ON THE FRUIT: From Glory to Glory, pt 5

Jesus said He requires fruitfulness from those who would follow Him.  But what does it mean to be fruitful?  To some, being fruitful means to read the Bible regularly and to avoid the "big" sins.  But fruitfulness is much more than this in God's eyes.  Being fruitful for the Kingdom will require a total commitment to God's Kingdom, not a half-hearted one. At times it will require courage in the face of risk and obstacles. If you want to go from glory to glory and victory to victory, your life must be one that is focused on bearing good fruit for the Kingdom.  This teaching will help you to do just that.  

REND YOUR HEARTS: From Glory to Glory pt. 4

To "rend" is an old word meaning TO TEAR.  God uses this word in the scriptures to encourage those who have fallen into complacency and lukewarmness to return to Him in repentance, mourning, and fasting.  And in Joel 2 where God commands His indifferent people to rend their hearts, God also warns of a coming judgment against His people...the kind of judgment that will lead to true repentance.  In today's modern culture of such widespread compromise in the Church, there may also come a time when God will have to come in judgment to awaken His people from their slumber so that we return to loving devotion to Him in purity and with all our hearts.  This teaching is a word in due season for the American church, and for each of us personally.    

REMEMBER THE PIT: From Glory to Glory, pt. 3

Can you think of 10 things you are exceedingly thankful for?  We all can, but so often we magnify what is wrong in our lives rather than what's right and good.  And that tendency keeps us from enjoying our relationship with God on a deeper level because we tend to forget what He has done for us in the past and fail to magnify His wonderful work in our lives.  If we want to continue going from glory to glory in our lives, we have to remember the pit we were pulled out of when Christ redeemed us, and be continually thankful for all He's done for us and will continue to do for those who remain grateful.  

HOW TO WALK IN CONSISTENT VICTORY: From Glory to Glory, pt. 2

Living in close communion with God and enjoying victory isn't a difficult concept that only a few people get in on.  It's available to everyone.  But not everyone wants to lay aside the things that hinder their closeness to God and the overcoming life. While there are sacrifices to make, the benefits far outweigh what we give up.  In this 40-minute teaching, you'll learn one of the key factors that, when implemented, can turn your life around for the good.  Similarly, when this principle is ignored, the joy, peace and victory you could otherwise have in your relationship with God is drained.  At the end of this teaching there is also several minutes of discussion time where members of the congregation add some very profound and helpful thoughts that put the exclamation mark on this teaching.  

FROM GLORY TO GLORY: Avoiding the Yo-Yo Syndrome and Instead Walking in Consistent Victory

Are you a yo-yo Christian, up sometimes and down at others, never really feeling like you are in a consistent place spiritually?  That describes a lot of people, but our walks with God aren't supposed to be that way. The Bible tells us that God is near us all the time.  So during those times when we feel spiritually dry and distant from God, it's not God Who moved.  God is not variable.  But you and I sometimes are.  Learn in this teaching why we so often experience that yo-yo syndrome and how to avoid it, and instead live from glory to glory and victory to victory.  

New Wine and Old Wineskins

Doesn't it seem like God is up to something new these days?  And if we are to keep up with Him, we may have to think about things we once held dear a little different.  Jesus' parable about the new wine and old wine skins is about people who are willing to receive what God is doing NOW. We don’t necessarily need to scrap the patterns created in the past, although we might be interested in reforming them to some degree.  There is definitely some good in old traditions.  But much more important is whether, as people of God, we treat the traditions we have come to know and love with flexibility, grace, and compassion for others so we can stay in tune with the new thing God might be doing now.

RESUMING NORMALCY: Resisting the Spirits of Fear and Division

It has been said that a movement should never let a crisis go to waste.  This means that a crisis can be used to exploit and advance a political or social agenda, and in many ways that certainly seems to be happening with the COVID crisis as people of the same mind and heart begin to turn on one another and fear begins to grip people's hearts.  In this short 10-minute address by pastors Andy and Donna, we discuss this satanic strategy of "divide and conquer," and why we need to resist fear and division.  But we also discuss some "rogue" medical opinions numbering in the thousands of physicians who believe we must abandon the media-fed standards of social distancing and resume our normal lives.  

Trusting God in the Storm

This past Sunday at BLF we conducted a Zoom meeting where several members of the congregation provided their perspectives and life lessons on the times we are living in.  While that Zoom meeting wasn't recorded, Pastor Andy provides an overview of that discussion here and the high points of each participant's input.  The theme interwoven throughout each participant's talking point were that we can trust God in the storms of life, and while it may not be comfortable at the moment, it's all going to work out for our good.  At the end of this short 20-minute post, Pastor Andy provides his own input on the Biblical response during times like these.