Dr. Jim Richards

Most people make resolutions at the start of a new year, and unfortunately too many do not see them through to completion. What we don't realize is that no matter how insignificant a resolution might seem, the lack of seeing it through causes something to change inside us that jeopardizes our confidence to follow through on future decisions. Join me this week for a biblical approach to making resolutions and you'll know you can see them through to the end!

Everyone goes through times of discouragement and despair. So often in those times we make bad choices that further exacerbate our pain. It is often in these times we write things on our heart that keep us locked into a life that is less than we want and less than God has provided. The quicker we can pull out of discouragement the less likely we are to cause more pain and destruction. Join me this week and I’ll show you how to win over discouragement and move on to the life Jesus died to give you!

Life is a journey. Like every journey we come to many forks in the road and must choose which path we will walk. Sadly, few people use the tools God provided so we could know in advance the outcome of the path we have chosen. When we use God’s tools we can avoid those paths that look great in the beginning to only end in failure, pain, and loss of the things and people we value. Join me this week and I will share God’s truth about how to stay on the path of life, wherein there is no death, destruction, or loss!

Life is a journey. Like every journey we come to many forks in the road and must choose which path we will walk. Sadly, few people use the tools God provided so we could know in advance the outcome of the path we have chosen. When we use God’s tools we can avoid those paths that look great in the beginning to only end in failure, pain, and loss of the things and people we value. Join me this week and I will share God’s truth about how to stay on the path of life, wherein there is no death, destruction, or loss!

Steven Covey in his book talked about people who spend their life climbing the ladder only to reach the top and discover their ladder was leaning on the wrong building. There is nothing sadder than to watch people try really hard to get the life they want, but they don’t realize they are trying hard at the wrong things; and there’s nothing more frustrating than to be trying really hard, but never seeing the desired results! Join me this week and I will help you discover what battle you need to win to have the life you desire. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you win only to discover you won the wrong battle.

The way most couples attempt to resolve conflict and pain usually makes the matter worse. This week in Stop Fighting and Start Solving Problems, I’ll share how easy it is to actually solve problems, end conflict, and avoid the fight.

Our heart is like a garden; everything we hear, read, or think is like a seed being planted. The degree of thought, reflection, and remembering we give to any of these seeds is like watering and feeding that seed to make it grow. If we spend more time reflecting and remembering our hurt than our joy, the seed growing in our garden will produce more and more hurt and pain. Join me this week as I share The Heart of The Matter, to help you choose what you want to grow in the garden of your heart.

Every choice we make will take us in one of two possible directions: pain or pleasure, blessings or curses, life or death! When we are emotionally hurt our response to that pain will determine if we are set on the course of life or death. Join me this week as I share The Cure, and I’ll share how you can move past the pain and see clearly to walk the path of life.

An antidote makes you immune to a particular disease. The Pain Antidote prevents you from ever having to deal with offenses and their consequences. Jesus warned that offenses would come, it’s inevitable. But He also gave us an antidote; when applied it immediately neutralizes the pain. Join me this week and I’ll share the Pain Antidote, so you can put an end to your suffering.

We often find ourselves paralyzed, afraid to move forward, for fear we will encounter the same pain we’ve experienced in the past. By applying Jesus’ teaching about dealing with offense, we can be sure we will never experience the kind of pain in the future that we have experienced in the past. Join me this week as I share Avoiding Future Pain.

Jesus gave His disciples very simple instructions about how to get rid of pain. But He also gave them a stern, but loving warning. You only have two options when it comes to dealing with pain: you either get rid of it or you hold on to it. There isn’t a third choice! Even though you probably didn’t know it, there is a way to put an end to the pain of the past. Join me this week and I’ll show you Jesus’ method for getting rid of pain.

All it takes to make your future better is to sow different seeds in your garden. Our heart is the garden from which everything in our life grows. Based on the law of the seed, we know all we have to do to get the crop we want is to plant the right seed. Join me this week and we’ll discover aspects of the law of sowing and reaping that guarantee we will always have the life we desire!

A safe filled with valuables is only difficult to open when you don’t have the combination. Most of God’s Word that we can’t seem to get functioning is simply because we don’t know the combination. There is one Universal Law that applies to everything in the physical universe, our bodies, our emotions, and our heart. Applying this one Universal Law in faith is the combination that opens everything. It is the most important law for establishing, guiding, and guarding our heart! Join me this week and discover the most important Universal Law of God!

According to Jesus it is impossible to avoid offenses. An offense is the pain one feels after being insulted, judged, or criticized. It’s that feeling of being inadequate, unworthy, or unacceptable that we feel after a negative comment or a violation of our boundaries. Even though Jesus said they would come, He didn’t leave us helpless. Join me this week and we’ll begin to discover Jesus’ method for getting over offense from the past and preventing future offenses!

The children of Israel only desired to see God’s power i.e. His actions. They had a slave mentality. They had no sense of knowing God, like people who think like slaves, they just wanted the benefits. One distinguishing factor that set Moses apart was He wanted to know God’s ways. When we know one’s ways we know the person. Moses gained the wisdom of knowing His ways, which meant he knew God was trustworthy. Many believe seeing miracles will increase their faith, but that is rarely the case. Knowing God, His character and His way is the secret to incredible faith. Join me this week and discover Moses’ journey from seeking wisdom to finding incredible faith.

Moses was a man who walked by incredible faith. He defied the most powerful ruler in the world. He motivated and led thousands of Israelites who had been slaves for hundreds of years. He set out to a land neither he nor the people had ever seen. And, he overcame natural obstacles. The secret to Moses’ faith is so simple we tend to overlook it. Join me this week and you’ll see why Moses had such great faith and how you too can have the very same kind of immovable confidence in God.

God’s wisdom never violates His character. That’s why the scripture says all His ways are perfect. Perfection has as much to do with the outcome as it does the journey. The amazing thing is when we follow His voice our ways, our process, the path we walk, and the destination at which we arrive becomes perfect for us. Join me this week and we’ll discover how to always stay on the path of wisdom, which always leads to God’s quality of life!

God is the only source of unfailing wisdom. Because He is omniscient He is the only being capable of knowing every person and every factor involved in any endeavor; therefore, He is the only one who can lead us to a successful outcome in any situation. God wants us to hear and trust His voice so we will always enjoy the best outcome. Join me this week as we explore Wisdom and the Ways of God.

Through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil man attempted to find the life God promises by information, independent of God. The Tree of Life is where we experience the life God promised whether we understand it or not. The two trees reveal who and what we trust: knowledge or God Himself. Formula-based Christianity seeks to find life through knowledge; faith in God seeks to find life in God and knowledge follows the experience. That feeling that we need more information before we can trust God is very often actually the fact that we trust information more than we trust God. Join me this week and begin to understand how we have subtly reversed God’s process for experiencing Life. It may be what’s thwarting your genuine efforts to experience God’s promises!

Based on the meaning of the Hebrew Word for life, when Adam or Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of life they actually experienced the life, i.e. the solution they sought, and the knowledge and understanding followed. When we commune with, i.e. partake of, the fruit of Jesus’ resurrection, we too instantly experience our need being met in our heart. Having this experience gives us a knowing and understanding that cannot be had through intellectual knowledge. It is this tree of life experience that makes us immovable until the full manifestation occurs in the natural world! Join me this week and discover how to partake of life even when you don’t have all the answers or understand the situation.