Hardwired with Jeff Wickwire

Precious metals are refined in fire. It's in the intense heat of the furnace that the impurities in the metal rise to the top, resulting in a purer material. And just like the most precious of gold, you and I need to endure periods of intense heat, so that the impurities in our own lives can be burned away. Pastor Jeff reminds us that we are never alone when we go through these times of refinement. God is by our side, and He will hold our hands every step of the way. He is our good and loving Father.

The laws of nature state that things cannot go from disordered to ordered without an outside influence. Buildings don't form on their own without builders, trees don't grow without energy from the sun, and children don't grow without food from their caregivers. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that relationships aren't strengthened without forgiveness. You won't be able to completely avoid conflict in your relationships, but a spirit of forgiveness can help you reverse the damage done over time.

A common phrase that people use to describe someone lashing out is anger is to say, “Well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back”. The truth of the matter is that every human has a limit to how much they can endure before buckling under the pressure. But what Pastor Jeff teaches you today is that you should have a strong will and not allow yourself to easily give in to anger, because being quick to anger can often result in you alienating those around you, pushing them away permanently.

No matter how you live your life, no matter how much money or influence you have, there are only two destinations for your soul after death: one in the presence of God forever, or one where you are separated from His love forever. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that there's no third option, and that many people will be deceived and fall short of spending eternity in Heaven. You reach Heaven by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and by making the choice to take the narrow and difficult road through life.

One of the important things you learn growing up is to learn how to separate your wants from your needs. Your wants may include things like a new car, the latest smartphone, or a big house in a fancy neighborhood. But how many of those things are really things you need? Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the Lord is a good shepherd and a generous provider. While His provision may not always cover all of your wants, He will help you meet your needs. God knows what you need and when you will need it.

Peter could have simply given up and abandoned Jesus after denying him three times! He must have felt so much guilt after acting like he never knew the man who called him out of his fishing boat. But Pastor Jeff reminds you that not only did Jesus restore Peter, He also gave him the chance to do what He didn't do before! When you give your mistakes and your bad decisions to the Lord, He will give you new opportunities to serve Him, new chances to show your allegiance to the Kingdom of God.

If you were a boxer and you had trained day in and day out to get ready for a big championship fight, would you give up the first time you got knocked down? Of course not! You would find that inner strength to get back up and continue the fight. And Pastor Jeff teaches you today that when you fail and disappoint God, your first reaction shouldn't be to give up. Instead, ask the Lord for the strength to get back up and try again, because you learn and grow stronger when you embrace your failure.

In regions with dry climates, wildfires and bushfires are very real dangers. All it takes is one spark, one improperly extinguished campfire, or one lightning strike to ignite a firestorm that can consume thousands of acres, do millions of dollars in property damage, and uproot thousands of lives. Pastor Jeff wants you to realize that if you tag along in someone's jealousy and gossip, you may be spreading that kind of wildfire. Instead, choose to love your brother and sister by helping them end the cycle of gossip.

Even among the body of Christ, there can be instances of conflict or bitterness that are too great to be resolved via human intervention. But something even greater than human intervention is divine intervention! Pastor Jeff encourages you today that if you have a brother or sister who has offended you and refuses to reconcile, you can bring that burden to the Lord! Just like you've learned to cast your anxieties on Him, you must also learn to take your grudges and leave them at His feet.

You're never going to find a perfect church! For better or for worse, every church is made up of human beings. And even though every person is made in the image of God, the curse of sin has marred the Lord's original design for the human race. Pastor Jeff encourages you today to continue going to church despite the obstacles that may be in your way. As he says, the Church isn't just meant for spiritually mature people. It's a place for people to grow as they begin to follow the way of Christ.

When we get offended, we want it to be everyone's problem. Saul's dilemma when David comes into the picture is one that all of us deal with at one point or another. When someone seems to be doing better than us in life, our first instinct is to be jealous of their success, and make other people defend us! Pastor Jeff reminds us today to be humble and not let ourselves fall into sin when we become jealous of someone. If we remember who God says we are, we can overcome those jealous feelings.

If you want to run a marathon, you can't just decide to run a marathon if you haven't been training in some way. You need to start small and work your way up to the big race. And just like a runner gaining strength and endurance, Pastor Jeff teaches you that living a holy life requires you to start small and work your way up until you're serving God with your whole being. By starting small now, it will be easier to make those decisions that have a greater Kingdom impact down the road.

Imagine your life as a tower of building blocks. Every new block you lay down is dependent on the blocks beneath it for stability and support. So if you want to live a long and fulfilling life, you need to make as many wise decisions as possible! Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the most important decision you can make is the one to serve God, but it is one that you must make on a daily basis, even multiple times per day. Choosing to serve the Lord every day will leave you with a rock-solid foundation.

If you talk to anyone who has successfully climbed Mount Everest, you'll hear them describe how difficult the journey was. Many people have attempted the climb but failed to reach the summit. But those who do reach that summit are rewarded with the knowledge that they have reached the highest peak on the planet! Pastor Jeff reminds you today that while following the narrow road is the more difficult path to take through life, it is the only one that has the reward of Heaven at the end of your journey!

If you believe that what the Bible says about the afterlife is true, wouldn't it be an obvious choice when it comes to how you want to spend eternity? After all, heaven seems like a much more enticing place to spend eternity than the alternative! But in today's message, Pastor Jeff reminds you that you still need to make a choice. You are still given the option of how you want to live your life, because God isn't going to force you to do something you don't want to do. What path will you choose?

There are some burdens that are simply too heavy for you to carry on your own. Unfortunately, since humanity lives in a world rife with sin and suffering, it is all too common for people to carry burdens greater than what they can bear. However, God is a merciful God. He will take whatever burdens you lay on Him and give you rest. Pastor Jeff encourages you today to cast every burden and anxiety at the feet of the cross, and leave them there. Don't take them back with you into your normal life.

Have you seen how a group of fans react when their favorite film franchise releases a trailer for the next entry in the series? Even just a title and release date can cause cheers of joy and excitement. Well, shouldn't Christians be just as excited to see God working in their lives? Pastor Jeff encourages you today to have a childlike faith, one that looks at the works of God with anticipation and excitement. The Lord never does things exactly the same way twice, and you'll never know what to expect!

In ancient times, information was a valuable resource. Messengers were often instructed to guard messages with their lives, and some even resorted to clever methods to conceal the true contents of the messages they were carrying. As followers of Jesus, you and I are carrying messages that aren't secret to anyone. But Pastor Jeff reminds us to hold that message, the hope of the Gospel, near and dear to our hearts, as precious cargo. You need to be a faithful steward of the Good News!

Sometimes life feels like drinking from a fire hose. You get immediately overwhelmed as soon as you try to process everything that is going on around you. Some of this is just because of the chaos of this world, but sometimes, that chaos can be a targeted attack from Satan. Pastor Jeff reminds you that you are a representative of Jesus wherever you go, and you never know when you may be called on to be the light of Jesus to someone who has never had a relationship with Him.

People have always liked to be prepared for the worst. Some spend their entire lives building stockpiles of supplies so that they can be prepared to endure all sorts of disasters. But when you put on the shoes of the Gospel, you aren't preparing for disaster. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that having those shoes on and ready to go at all times means that you are ready to speak the truth of Jesus to someone who needs it. When you are prepared for anything, there's no limit to what God can do through you.

When a city is under siege, it is difficult for supplies and information to get in and out of the city. The longest siege in recorded history lasted 26 years! Can you imagine being blockaded by the enemy for that long? Well, Pastor Jeff reminds you to never give up when it comes to intercessions for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes, all you need is to be persistent. You never know when the moment will be right for your prayers to break through the enemy's blockade!

No matter what you do for work, there will be days when you struggle to find the meaning in your labor. You start to think that there's no way that your work is making an impact for the Kingdom of God. But Pastor Jeff encourages you today by reminding you that being a faithful and good worker is the very action that brings glory to God! Submitting to your employer or your client shows humility, and that humility draws attention to the power of Christ that is within you.

If you keep a journal detailing how God has been working in your life, you'll have a written account of God's faithfulness to you! Whenever you get down and feel like help isn't coming, Pastor Jeff reminds you today to look at God's faithfulness like a history book: it can prevent you from making the same mistakes you have made before, but it can also give you a roadmap for how to act in the future. And once you've faced a trial once, you can be ready to face an even tougher challenge in the future.

The easiest way to fall into discouragement is to get tunnel vision. You get so caught up in the struggles you're facing at the moment that you can't turn around and see how far God has brought you. That's exactly what the laborers were doing in Nehemiah chapter 4. But Pastor Jeff reminds you that when you take your blinders off and take the time to see how far you've come, you'll see how God has been intervening on your behalf this whole time. He'll help you see the task through to the end.

Is there a leader in life you disagree with? Whether it's a boss at work who irritates you or a political leader whom you don't like, everyone wrestles with honoring people who have been placed in authority over them. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that Scripture's guidance is to submit and honor your authority figures. You may not agree with all of their decisions or the way they choose to operate, but you are being obedient to God by honoring the authority that people have been given over you.

Paul's instructions in Ephesians 5 are meant to call out both husbands and wives as they read this passage. Pastor Jeff explains that wives are called to submit to their husbands in respect, while husbands are to put aside their own ambitions and self-interests to love their wives. This is an illustration of how two become one by putting aside their own desires in order to become closer together in the pursuit of unity. When two become one, they become stronger than when they were apart.

You may be thinking to yourself, “There's no way I can love my spouse the same way that Jesus loves the church!” Well, what if I told you that that's the point? Pastor Jeff reminds you today that the standard of love that Paul lays out in the book of Ephesians is greater than what any human is capable of giving. That's because, as a follower of Jesus, you are supposed to draw on the strength given to you by the Holy Spirit. Pull from that well and love out of the abundance of love that God has for you.

There are some Christians out in the world who believe that because they are followers of Jesus, they are not subject to the laws of Earth. But Pastor Jeff wants to squash that notion with today's message. He reminds you that the authority of kings and governments comes from God, and the only law that supersedes the law of the land is the one found in the Bible. As long as the laws of the land do not prevent you from following God's commandments, you should obey the leaders He has placed over you.

How hungry do you get when you miss a meal? If you start to miss multiple meals, you'll start to notice it affecting your energy levels and your mood. Your body needs food to stay alive, but your soul needs God's Word to sustain itself as well! Pastor Jeff reminds you today that it is important to develop a consistent habit of consuming the Word of God, because that is where your spiritual strength will come from. Without God's Word, you may have to face the trials of this life all on your own.

Have you ever watched something evil happen around you and wished you had done something to stop it? Well, that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit reminding you to call out and confront evil when you see it. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that John the Baptist didn't let fear of death stop him from calling out King Herod's evil actions, and that confrontation would cost John his life. But John knew that he was in God's hands, and he knew that death wasn't going to be the end!

When you receive a wedding invitation from a friend or a loved one, there is usually a dress code listed among the details for the celebration. If you show up underdressed to a black tie formal event, you may be turned away from participating in the occasion. Well, Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the wedding ceremony of the Lamb demands the strictest dress code. You must be clothed in the robes of salvation to attend, and that only comes from accepting Jesus into your life.

There are lots of people who make a living off of trying to tell you how to find relief and healing from this painful life. Talk show hosts, podcasters, health gurus, and even some pastors will claim to have the secret cure that no one else has. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today that only one person can actually follow through on what they promise, and that person is Jesus Christ. If you are weary and worn down by the trials of this world, come to the cross of Christ and lay your burdens on His shoulders.

If you want to be an example of the love of Jesus in this world, you need to learn how to control your tongue. Your attitude on the inside can change to match the words you have been speaking on the outside, if you're not careful. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the first thing you must do to turn your heart around is to get your speech under control. Not only will your words cause harm to those around you, but they may also leave doors open in your soul for sin to seep back in.

Love is the fuel that propels the Gospel across the world. When you look at the miracles of Jesus, His first response to someone is to show someone love and compassion before addressing their needs. Pastor Jeff reminds you today that when you have love for your brothers and sisters in Christ, the bonds that are formed are stronger than anything that the world can break. The unity of the body of Christ is what gives it its strength, and that love becomes part of the testimony of the global Church.

When you're learning to drive a car, operate heavy machinery, or even shoot a firearm, the first thing you learn about is safety. That's because, if mishandled, those objects can cause destruction and pain to those around you. But unfortunately, one of the most dangerous tools you can wield doesn't come with a safety manual: your speech. Pastor Jeff encourages you today to learn to exercise self-control with your words, to make sure that your words are building others up, and not tearing them down.

Eventually, every believer will have to acknowledge and surrender their rights to Jesus. When He purchased your salvation, He also purchased the rights to your life! Your duty for the rest of this time on Earth, and your time in the life to come, is to serve the will of God. So, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that when you acknowledge that need for surrender now, while you're still living on Earth, you will be able to better manage your anger and not react as strongly to injustices against you.

Jesus doesn't just want to be held on the same level as some kind of historical figure, who taught good life lessons and lived a peaceful life. No, Jesus demands the glory that is due to Him! Pastor Jeff implores you today to not be satisfied when people say that Jesus was just a good man, because He isn't just a good man! Jesus is God, and Jesus is man. His dual nature is the whole point of the Gospel – God became man and made His dwelling among the human race. That's what set Jesus apart.

It's important to understand that not only did Jesus humble Himself to take on a human nature, but He also stepped into the concept of time. Scripture shows that God doesn't function on a timeline like the human race does; He is the beginning and the end at the same time. But Pastor Jeff teaches you today that there was a specific event, the Incarnation, where God took on human flesh and came to Earth in the form of Jesus. A person who had a fully godly and a fully human nature, at the same time.

When you're working on a jigsaw puzzle, a common tactic is to piece together all the edge pieces first and then work your way inwards until the puzzle is complete. But if you are missing pieces, it will be impossible to have a complete puzzle. Pastor Jeff says today that without God in your heart, your life is missing a huge puzzle piece. The world will try and give you sex, drugs, and sinful behavior to fill the hole in your life, but only the presence of God can bring lasting restoration.

In any team sport, there are substitute players who may spend the entire game waiting for their chance to make an impact on the field of play. And when their number is called, whether as part of the normal flow of the game or in the case of unexpected injury, they need to be ready to make an impact for their team. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that it also falls on you to be ready to make an impact for the Kingdom of God when your pastor or leader calls on you. How can your talents be of use to the Lord?

If you were to ask someone to describe you in one sentence, their description would probably be lacking. That's because humans are complex beings, changing over time due to experience, wisdom, and even time. So, Pastor Jeff reminds you today that your assignment in ministry may change over time as well. While you may have a single gift that you are most used to, God may use you in ways that you don't expect for a season! The Lord is a creative God, and He can use you in many ways.

Every single athlete who wins a championship does so because they had a solid team behind them. Even in individual sports, a fierce competitor has coaches and trainers to help them hone their skills. Pastor Jeff wants you to know today that you can't go out and start a new work for God on your own. You're not meant to! The Lord has placed people around you to guide you and assist you. Without guidance and accountability, you won't be able to complete the mission that God has given you.

The apostles of the New Testament held some very important roles in forming the early Church. Much of what we know about the life and ministry of Jesus comes from the accounts of the apostles throughout the New Testament. Pastor Jeff teaches you today about how the apostles wrote words without error by the guiding of the Holy Spirit, and how those words give life to a Church today whose members believe despite not being direct witnesses to Jesus' ministry on Earth.

When you get the keys to a car, you're not being given the keys so that you can show off your influence and authority to others! You're given those keys so that you can put the vehicle to use, to transport people or things where they need to go! Pastor Jeff teaches the importance of understanding that while Peter was given the “keys to the Kingdom” by Jesus, he wasn't being given a role of authority. Peter was being empowered to serve others, to meet them on their level and share the Gospel with them.

When Jesus encourages you to have endurance, He isn't trying to say that salvation is something you can just lose! Rather, the endurance that Jesus is talking about is the ability to withstand the world's trials. Pastor Jeff teaches you today that the world will try all kinds of deception and trickery to distract you from the path of righteousness. But as long as you keep your eyes on Jesus and on following the path He has set for your life, you'll be able to withstand the storms the world is throwing at you. 

How do you react when you meet a fellow believer who has a different viewpoint from you? Most denominations within the Church have more in common than you might realize. Pastor Jeff reminds you that it isn't worth the effort to get into petty fights with your fellow believers about minor issues of doctrine or theology. The body of Christ needs to present a unified front against a world lost in sin. The world needs to see the light that is present when the Church is united against evil.

What do you see when you look in a mirror? The image you see isn't a real object, but it is a reflection of the environment around it. And just like a mirror, your life is a reflection of God's work within you! So, Pastor Jeff wants to ask you some simple questions today: Are you a good reflection of the Lord? Are you representing Him well to the world around you? Pastor Jeff will show you Paul's three commandments in the book of Ephesians that guide you to become that better reflection.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus says that He is knocking at the door of your heart, waiting for you to let Him in. And in today's message, Pastor Jeff teaches you that God will work in your life only if you let Him in. All throughout history, you can find examples of God working in the lives of people, and turning them into vessels of His Glory, but He first requires the person to let Him in. Will you answer the Lord when He calls to you, or will you keep your heart shut and miss out on His plans for you?

There are some people who are born with the unique gift of a photographic memory. In the most extreme of cases, they can even memorize pages of information with just a short glance. But what Pastor Jeff wants you to realize today is that you can memorize every single verse of Scripture, every single description of God's character, and still not really know Him. Intellectual pursuit can only get you so far, you need to have a personal relationship with Jesus in order to be truly saved.

What you believe about God is just as important as believing in Him to begin with! If you only think of Him as a vengeful and wrathful God, you probably won't have a very good relationship with Him. But Pastor Jeff reminds you today to focus in on what Scripture says about God's character. He is a father who loves His children, the shepherd who leaves 99 to go after the one, and a God who gave His own Son to redeem the debt of your sin. If that's not a God worth entrusting with your life, who is?

Do you consider yourself to be someone who is easily offended? Well, being a Christian is going to be a difficult challenge if that is the case. Pastor Jeff shows you today how Jesus wants you not to be easily offended, and to instead react with grace and love towards those who persecute you. Don't allow yourself to be steamrolled by someone making credible threats against you, but when you show that you aren't afraid to be called names because of your faith, those insults will just slide off your back.