As Christians, we desire to walk in victory and truth, overcoming all the works of darkness. We want to be able to tell others that Jesus can heal, deliver, restore and bring them into perfect victory as well. It all starts with getting honest with ourselves about our failures and temptations, and then looking to God to bring us into the victory that the cross has provided.

This episode covers five myths about temptation that rise up and rob us of an honest walk before God as we try to seek His face and grace to overcome. It concludes with four keys to victory, which are covered in greater depth in Pastor Joe's eight-part MP3 series, How to Overcome Temptation. Full transcript and show notes available at empoweringgrace.org/podcast41.

In this episode, Pastor Joe discusses the three kinds of faith found in Scripture –

1. Faith in God (from our hearts directed towards God as the object of our faith)
2. Faith of God (God working something in us; giving us a spirit of faith)
3. God kind of faith (expressing that faith outwardly and in the authority of Christ – the kind of faith that commands)

One of the things people sometimes do is try to operate in a mature faith – a faith that commands, or faith that receives answers to prayer – before they have learned to trust God with their whole hearts. They hear a powerful testimony from someone and then immediately shoot for the faith of God and the God kind of faith, without first establishing faith in God ... and they can get discouraged. Nobody likes to be a beginner. We all want to be at a PhD level, when, if we're being honest, many of us are barely in college yet.

But there's good news! God wants to make it easy to establish our relationship and trust in Him so that we can advance to bigger and better forms of faith! Tune in for four foundational principles to establish your faith in God.

This episode is from sermon one in the Have Faith In God series newly available at empoweringgrace.org. Show notes, full transcript and more resources available at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast40.

Our Season Two finale episode contains the two truths you need to know about about persevering through trials. Pastor Joe McIntyre also will share:

• How do we "count it all joy?"
• What is a positive confession of faith and why is it important?
• How do we come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need?
• Is it okay to grieve that a trial has come upon us?

A full transcript and show notes are located at www.empoweringgrace.org/podcast39.

Season three of the Empowering Grace Podcast will return fall 2023!