Despair of Life

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Despair of Life

               There are times in our life when we can come to the place that we just don’t want to live any more.  Untreated depression is one of the major causes of suicide.  The pressure and trials of life can sometimes become overwhelming.  It can come through illness, divorce, loss, abuse, low self-esteem, the feeling of failure, chronic pain, even genetics, along with many other factors which can all bring despair, despondency, depression and hopelessness.  Even the apostle Paul describes a situation in his life where things became so hard that it seemed beyond his ability to endure.  He says that the pressure was so great that they even despaired of life.  He says that in their own hearts they felt the sentence of death.   I believe there are some of us that have been in this place and the Spirit of the Lord is wanting to minister to some that may be in it right now.  God sees your pain and feels your heartbreak.  He has heard your cry and He is here to tell you and show you like He did Paul that your reliance is not upon yourself, but upon God, who raises the dead.  Even though you have felt the sentence of death upon you, God is going to raise you up.  He is able to deliver you from such deadly peril and He will deliver you.  Continue to set your hope upon God even in the midst of your desperation and despair.  He is your deliver and He will bring you through the valley of the shadow of death.  Gather other believers around that can pray for you and minister to you.  You don’t have to be alone, God has provided someone that can help you, but you must reach out to them. 

               The Father, who is the author of life, is the one to decide when our life is done and as long as we have life He is able to give us the grace to endure it’s hardships and abuses.  Let faith arise in your heart and confidence that you are not alone, but the hosts of heaven surround you and His angels will minister to you. 

               There is someone today that needs this encouraging word so that you can go on and not give up.  God knows who you are.  He so loves and cares for you.  When you don’t have the ability to endure, He becomes your ability.  In this place you are going to come to know, like the apostle Paul, that your reliance is upon God and not upon yourself.  Place your life in His hands, trust Him and hold fast.  He will see you through your dark hour and bring you again into the sunshine of His love and presence.  He is able to supply all of your need according to His riches in glory.  He is your life and you live for Him and not for yourself.  God is able to take seemingly hopeless and negative situations and turn them for good.  He does it all the time.  As long as you have breath He is not through working in your life and as long as there is breath, there is hope. 

               The enemy has such a way of clouding and distorting the truth.  He can fill your head with every thought of why we should not live, but then he came to rob, steal and destroy.  Christ came that you might have life and that more abundantly.  Choose life.  Choose Christ to be your life.  He is with you even in the darkest hour and He sticks closer to you than a brother.

               Father, help us in those times in our life when things look so bleak, so hopeless and so unbearable.  Help us in those times to enter into You and into Your hiding place where You would cover us with Your wings of mercy and protection.  Lord surround us in those times with Your power and love.   Encourage us and lift us up.  Set our eyes back upon You and restore the hope that we have lost.  You are our Hope, oh Lord, our Redeemer and our Deliver.  Just as David found consolation and strength as he reminded himself through the Psalms of Your greatness and Your faithfulness, even as he gave praise and worship back to You, he was strengthened in his inner man and given the courage to continue on.  Let all that are troubled and in despair find that in You today.  Amen.

Blessings,

#kent

Who am I?

Judges 6:11-16

11One day an angel from the LORD went to the town of Ophrah and sat down under the big tree that belonged to Joash, a member of the Abiezer clan. Joash’s son Gideon was nearby, threshing grain in a shallow pit, where he could not be seen by the Midianites.

12The angel appeared and spoke to Gideon, ” The LORD is helping you, and you are a strong warrior.”

13Gideon answered, ” Please don’t take this wrong, but if the LORD is helping us, then why have all of these awful things happened? We’ve heard how the LORD performed miracles and rescued our ancestors from Egypt. But those things happened long ago. Now the LORD has abandoned us to the Midianites.”

14Then the LORD himself said, ” Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”

15Gideon replied, ” But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am.”

16″ Gideon,” the LORD answered, ” you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you! Defeating the Midianites will be as easy as beating up one man.”

Who am I?

               When trying to gain God’s mind, wisdom and will in a large decision in my life I was reminded of Gideon.   As I struggled with my decision and prayed about it I could see that my greatest fears, doubts and reservations were of myself.  I fear failure, making the wrong decision, the changing world and economy and so the doubts continue to race through my mind.   My greatest reservations are not of God, but of myself.  I, like Gideon of the Old Testament, see that in the natural I have no great qualities or strengths of my own to boast in.  What we see in Gideon is that sometimes it is people like us that are nothing in ourselves, but simply trust and love God, who are the ones he can use.  The Lord saw and spoke something into Gideon that he didn’t see or believe about himself.  The reason God can use us nobodies in the world’s eyes, which are not particularly gifted, or smart or successful is because God has the opportunity to be the One who is mighty in us.  In verse 14, “Then the LORD himself said, ” Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”  What I felt the Lord speaking into my heart was that your decision will not be without some adversities and trials, but I am your strength, your might and your provision is through Me in the midst of your adversity.  We really have no certainties in this life except our faith and confidence in our God and His truth.  Bottom line, what we must rely upon, is Him.   I know that in this fleshly mortal body of mine dwells no good thing.  I have nothing to brag about or boast in.  Yours and my success in life comes from what we allow the Lord, our Christ, to be within and through us.  It is by his might that our enemies will fall and He will bring deliverance through us.  It is by His might that we will do things that in our natural man we would have never dreamed possible.  The key is that our eyes have to get off of the natural man and onto the spiritual man.  We have to walk in the peace of God for our lives.  We must walk in humility and a constant attitude of submission and obedience to His will and not our own.  Most of us won’t have an epiphany like Gideon did or hear an audible voice, but we must grow ever more attuned to that still small voice in our spirits that says, “this is the way, now walk in it.”  Often times God may say no to our request and close the doors and sometimes when He says Yes, it is hard to believe that He would bless us and give us the things that He does.  The only thing we know for certainty is that we want to be in the center of His will and purpose for our lives.  You may get a lot of opinions from others about what they think God’s will is for you, but only you can really hear, know and have the peace of God for what He wants for you.  It is good to have a multitude of counselors, but let God’s council be the final word.  

               Gideon’s might was in the spiritual man he became as he put His confidence and obedience in the Lord.  Who I am isn’t dependent upon what I have been, it is dependent upon who I am becoming in Christ. 

               Rest in God that He is allowing your life to be the instrument of His using and enabling.  It is relinquishment of your will to His, allowing Him to take your hand and your life to write with it the living words of His purpose and expression.  You learn to cease from your efforts and works and become comfortable in fully allowing the Holy Spirit’s direction through your life.

Blessings,

#kent

Under the Shadow of His Wing

Under the Shadow of His Wing

Matthew 23:37

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not!

               Is this not a commentary on our nation today as we have little by little removed God from our schools, our government, our homes and our hearts?  The Lord spoke to Israel back in Deuteronomy 8 among other places.  He made promises to them of His provision and protection if they were faithful to not forsake and turn away from Him.  It grieves many of us as Christians to see the state our nation is in and where it is heading.  I can only think that it is because there are still many who do cry out against the abominations we see in our country and that we know grieves the heart of God, that God has mercifully withheld His judgement thus far .  The events of 9/11 and other nation impacting event are a wake-up call to us to bring us to that place of repentance and call us to return to the Lord with our whole hearts.  Thank God He has mercifully given us a godly leader at this time that is bold to hold up a standard of righteousness in strength.  One who promotes justice and truth and the right to life.  God forbid that we continue on as Israel did to their own destruction.  There is a place of protection in God and we have forsaken it. 

Under the hierarchy of God there is an order of authority and leadership.  When each one is in submission to their respective head and leadership there is a divine order of protection and blessing.  When that order is forsaken through disobedience, rebellion, self-will and sin, the umbrella of God’s blessing and protection has been stepped out of.  The shield of faith has been dropped and we have made ourselves vulnerable to the mortal wounds of our adversary.  We see this breakdown in God’s order all around us from the individual, to family, to church, to government, to God Himself.  God founded this nation to be a type of New Israel.  He divinely fashioned and established it.  He has blessed it to become the greatest nation on the earth, but we are going the way of our forefathers, natural Israel.  God, through the Holy Spirit is speaking to His Church and to His nation to be gathered in the unity of the faith under the shadow and protection of the wings of our God.  In that place of obedience nothing touches us but what it first has to go through our God, but in our state of rebellion and disobedience we remove the hedge of His protection. 

               I remember a precious friend and saint of God many years ago was given a vision when her children were still young and in the household.  She saw a horrible and hideous beast around her house checking every door and window, looking for some way in to get to her children.  The Lord showed her that as long as her children remained in submission and obedience to their parents they were protected, but if they refused and chose to go out from the house they removed themselves from the hedge and umbrella of protection and were prey for that beast.   What we sometimes forget and take for granted is that when we get out of order and remove ourselves from God’s protection, then we not only make ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy, but also those that are under our authority and responsibility. 

               The Lord is calling us back to His heart today, to repent and come quickly back under the shadow of His wing.  Let us return to Him with our whole hearts and stand in the place of intercession for the hearts of so many that have grown cold and callused against the Lord.  We can only expect that in the last days the division and the line between light and darkness will become more pronounced and distinct.  This is a day for spiritual battle and we must prepare our hearts and spirits for it.

Blessings,,

#kent

Lover of My Soul

Song of Solomon 4:9-11

You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace.

10 How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse!

How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!

11 Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue;

And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

Lover of My Soul

               The Lord gazes upon His bride with such love in His heart.  Sometimes He just observes her from the distance when she is unaware.  She is the desire and the love of His heart.  All that He has done and been was to express His deep love for her.  She has ravished His heart with her eyes of love, trust and obedience.  He has become the expression of her heart and life.  All that she is and does is the expression of her life of love for Him.  There is such a passion between the Lord and his bride.  They are of one heart and their love drips like honey from the honeycomb on the lives around them.  The sweet fragrance of Jesus is all about her.  Her pursuit in life is for Him and her expression in life is to adore Him.  You will know who she is because the love of her lover is within her and overflows out of her.  Her lips drip as the honeycomb with the praises and the adoration of the lover of her heart.  Honey and milk are under her tongue and with wisdom and sincerity she speaks the truth of her beloved. 

               She is not just any woman and she is not just every woman. She is a special and unique woman that is lost in the love of her lover Jesus. There are sisters, concubines and daughters of Zion and Jerusalem, but there is only one who is the bride and His spouse.  She is what she is not because she has to be or is commanded to be.  She is what she is because of love.  The love of Christ has so captivated her heart that He is what she thinks and meditates upon day and night.  What is important to His heart is important to her heart.  Because He lives in the intimate and secret places of her heart her love continually pursues Him. 

               This love affair is a costly one.  It is one that she will lay down her life for because His lovingkindness is better than life.  She will forsake all and she will give all to pursue Him.  For her there is none other that can fully satisfy and fulfill the longing of her soul.  Only His love will console and satisfy her. 

               Are we that lover?  Are we willing to pursue Him with every breath that we breathe and with every heartbeat of our heart?  Is He everything to us?  If He is, then every motive of our heart will issue out of the heart of His love.  Others will smell His fragrance upon our garments and they will know that we have been with Jesus.

Blessings,

#kent

Maturing in Him

Ephesians 4:14-16

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Maturing in Him

               When we are young and inexperienced we easily believe and accept many things.  We are more impressionable and impulsive.  We tend to respond to our senses and our feelings and often we perceive this as being spiritual.  The more we come to know Christ, His Word and the Spirit, the more we know them and what is of them.  As we mature into Christ we become more seasoned and just as in the natural we grow more and more out of our foolishness, impulsiveness and feelings.  The Word of God becomes the foundation upon which we build every understanding and interpretation of truth.  As we mature we find that our understanding of the basic truths that we have learned deepens and grows from that two-dimensional understanding to a multi-dimensional understanding.  We see that God’s truth is like a diamond with many facets that reflect different aspects of that same truth.  We come to understand that God, His truth and His ways are not something we can put in our boxes and think that we begin to comprehend and understand all that He is.

               That being said, we know that many different and varied teachings come to us.  They are often seasoned with truth to sound like truth, but here is where discernment, maturity and the truth of God’s Word must come into play to properly judge the doctrines that we hear.  One of the primary ingredients in any truth of God is that it will flow in alignment with His love.  Another is that it will always be to God’s glory and not to man’s.  It will never deny or take away from the name of Jesus, the cross, the blood of Christ or the salvation that is through grace of Jesus Christ.  It will not bring us again under fear and bondage to laws, creeds, ceremonies and traditions.  It will not limit the power and authority of God.  The truth of God will always promote His love wherein we serve one another and minister to one another according to the gifts and abilities that God has uniquely placed in each one of us.  Through the Spirit of Christ operating as the nerve center throughout His body, each member gives and receives, “joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” 

               The enemy and false doctrines will bring schism, divisions, and dissentions and disrupt the unity of the brethren to flow together in love.  It is much like a disease that attacks the body.  Outwardly the carrier of this disease looks good, seems sincere and loving, but judge the fruit.  What are they producing, what is their true motive and does the Spirit bear witness.  Just because they can do miracles and operate in the gifts, that is not the seal that they are sent of God.  The enemy has his counterfeits. 

               We are on a journey and we all want to grow up into Him who is the head, even Christ.  In order to be like Him we must truly know Him and become fashioned like Him.  We don’t do this alone.  God has ordered and gifted each one of us to play a part in the growth of those around us.  We can only do this as we walk in love and give out that which the Holy Spirit has placed within us.  Together we watch out for one another, edify one another and help each other to come into the maturity that Christ has called us too.  Right now, you are a vital link to someone else’s growth and maturity, just as they are a vital link to yours.  Exercise yourself in all that Christ has called you to be.  Guard your heart in the knowledge and love of Christ.  Set your eyes and heart to only fully trust Him who has called you to Himself.  Don’t allow your eyes or your heart to trust in man.  With man that are always disappointments and failures.  Keep your eyes and heart fixed on Jesus the author and the finisher of your faith.

Blessings,

#kent

Love Yourself

Galatians 5:14

The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love Your self

               It is interesting sometimes as a photographer to see how people view themselves.  Often, when viewing family or individual photographs people can be very critical of themselves.  Most often it is the women.  They can see and magnify weaknesses or faults that most everyone else considers normal and a part of them.  It is not uncommon that great family portraits will fail because mom doesn’t like the way she looks. 

               In today’s age of technology we have the skills and abilities to actually go in and alter the way someone looks.  We can lift and tuck some of the sagging parts, hide the blemishes and soften the wrinkles, but the real issue may not be how we look to ourselves outwardly, but how we perceive ourselves inwardly. 

               On the other hand I have photographed attractive ladies who may have had a scar that could have easily been removed but they consider a part of them and want it showing.  I find it is often best to ask people what they do and do not want taken away, because assumptions can get you into trouble.  These women that I refer too wanted their scars to remain, because to them they were a reminder of what they had been through and the gift of life that they still had.  In today’s world many of us feel the pressure to live this façade of a perfect life, have a perfect body, beautiful looks, a perfect home, children and husband or wife.  The truth is that that is not the real world.  We all have scars, wrinkles, handicaps and weaknesses whether they are outwardly evident or not.  Brushing or photoshoping over them isn’t going to take the reality of them away, nor should it.  These blemishes upon our lives are the evidence that we have lived and experienced what life had to offer and that it wasn’t always nice or kind. 

               The Lord tells us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, but some of us don’t really love ourselves, so how can we love our neighbor properly?  Understand that all real people have weaknesses, faults and frailties.  That is a trait of our humanity.  Don’t be ashamed of yourself and don’t boast in yourself, but rather see the completeness of yourself in Christ.  Christ is not a crutch; He is the fulfillment and the completion of our humanity.  The scars, the wrinkles and experiences that we share all testify that by the grace of God we survived them and we are still taking hold of life.  The wonderful thing about our relationship with Christ is that where we end, He begins and where we are weak, He is strong. 

               Don’t be so harsh and judgmental of yourself.  I know that sometimes I think, “God, why am I stuck with being me?”  It is because in my weakness He is made strong and His grace is sufficient for all of my needs, my infirmities and my weaknesses.  If you are down on yourself today it is because you don’t have your eyes on Jesus.  Take courage, take heart and know that you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you.   Love yourself as Christ loves you.

Blessings,

#kent

God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

God of All Comfort

Perhaps we have heard it said that what we endure and go through is not for just for ourselves, but it is to equip us to minister life, blessing and comfort to others in their distress and tribulation. It is one thing to preach and teach something out of head knowledge, but when you have already passed through the fires that someone else is currently in, then the weight of your ministry and comfort increases dramatically, because experience outweighs knowledge. It is from our experience that we have gained the knowledge of God’s comfort, strength and sufficiency that was there for us in our time of need.

If Jesus, the Son of God, was made perfect through the things that He suffered, then it tells me that a part of God’s working grace in and through me will come through suffering. There are many different kinds of suffering and each one of them is able to reveal and bring forth God’s grace in that situation. The comfort and strength we find in our tribulations is a supernatural one, because it is an attribute of Papa; that He is a God, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

The apostle Paul makes the statement, “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” Suffering is a topic that much of the Christian community likes to side-step, because it is much more positive to talk about blessings and prosperity, but we do an injustice to the body of Christ if we neglect this part of the Christian walk. Paul says that he shares in the sufferings of Christ. We know that Jesus suffered as much or more than any other man. What is suffering, but our weakest, most painful and vulnerable moments. It is when we are hurting and our weakness is most evident. Those are the times we can find our God to be our greatest comfort and strength. Those are the times we lean most heavily upon His mercies to give us the endurance to overcome, persevere and find our ultimate victory in Him. It is out of these desperate places that we glean the consolation we can minister to others as they face these same hardships. When I see what you have gone through and how God has been faithful to you, then my faith and hope are increased, for what He has done for others, He can do for me.

What is an overcomer, but one that has walked through tribulation and suffering, in the strength of the Lord. In that weakened dreadful state, we often feel like anything but an overcomer, but it is in that place that we reach the deepest to lay hold of the revelation of Christ in us, the hope of glory. We are brought to the painful awareness of how utterly weak and frail we are in the natural, but in that place we find a strength, a comfort and confidence that is not our own. It is birthed out of the divine life that resides within. It is God that gives us the ability and strength to continue on when everything within us wants to give up.

We may be crying out, “To what end Lord must I continue to suffer and endure?”

He replies, “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in you, so your consolation also abounds by Christ toward others.” You are prepared to be the instrument of encouragement, hope, faith and salvation to those who follow in like manner of sufferings.”

Paul, like Jesus, was a man quite acquainted with tribulation and suffering, but he makes the statement in Romans 8:15-18, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Jesus said, “Now am I glorified.” What preceded that glorification was an immense and intense suffering.

1 Peter 4:12 bears witness in that it says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

We have often been made to feel condemned, less spiritual or worthy it we are going through trails and sufferings, like real Christians shouldn’t have to endure such things. If that be true, then I guess Christ and the early Christians weren’t very spiritual or we are neglecting a component that is inherent in our faith, that of suffering, tribulation and trials.

It is these very components that seals and solidifies our faith; that takes it from words and concepts to faith in action. Faith will never be proven real until it is tested. When we found God’s faithfulness in the midst of our testing then we likewise have the ministry of mercy, consolation and comfort to encourage others through their moments of tribulation and trials. It is in passing through the fire that we walk into the glory.

Blessings,

#kent

Giving

Giving

Philippians 4:15

Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.

               This hardly seems a subject that lacks attention these days, but one the Holy Spirit wants to address.  Giving is the outward expression of something inside.  That something should be love.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the World He gave His only begotten Son.”  We know the nature of God is love and the outward expression of His Love is giving to us all good things that pertain to faith and godliness.  I believe God delights to give and it is His heart to bless.  All of us are richly and abundantly blessed in so many areas of our lives.  Of course, we tend to focus on what we don’t have or think we should have rather than what we do have.

               Isn’t it strange that only the Philippians communicated with giving and receiving concerning the Apostle Paul?  This “communicated” means to share, come into fellowship or partnership or become an associate with someone.  When we come into partnership, fellowship and association with God, something should be happening in this area of giving because of the nature that has been birthed in us.  God is not interested just in the area of finances, but wherever we see the need and have the means to meet it.  I speak for myself when I say that it is so easy to get blinders on that only allow us to look straight ahead, focused on our own little world and objectives and ignore the needs all around us.  It takes time, energy and resources to reach out and meet those needs and after all, our lives are too busy to get involved in all of that.  My problem and your problem may be that we are too focused on our own little world and agenda to “communicate” with the heart and love of Christ in us.  As harsh as that reality is, it is telling us we are out of balance and we are focused more on us than others. 

               The other part of giving is receiving.  There is an exchange that God wants us to have, especially in the body of Christ, where we are communicating with each other.  Filling up one another’s needs according to the abundance or gift that we have in whatever area we may be blessed.  Paul was certainly able to “communicate with the Philippians on a spiritual level.  He poured into them the riches and encouragement of God’s Word.  They in turn reciprocated to meet His physical needs.  Paul doesn’t strike me as much of one to tell others about his needs other than the Lord, but I think he was blessed and grateful when the Philippians had the spiritual maturity and sensitivity to reach out and meet his need.  The principle with giving is that you “reap what you sow”.  Our motive for giving should not be about receiving, but receiving is the byproduct of our giving.  I thank God for the wonderful examples I have had in my life, through my parents and others that have faithfully and consistently modeled these principles in action.  As I desire to be more of a giver it easy for me to say “if I just had more I would give more”, but what God would say to me and to you “is be faithful in the little and I will make you faithful over much”.   It is not in what we don’t have, but in what we do have, in whatever area of our life we have it, to communicate it with others. 

               Lord; give us your heart to be givers, to pour out our lives and substance into the needs we see of those around us.  Help us to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and be there, communicating your love in the areas we have been blessed.  Make us like you Lord.  Make us givers.

Blessings,

#kent

Treasure Life

Treasure Life

Psalms 17:14-15

¹⁴ O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,

       from men of this world whose reward is in this life.

       You still the hunger of those you cherish;

       their sons have plenty,

       and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵ And I—in righteousness I will see your face;

       when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

               Those who have come into spiritual understanding of God’s plan through Christ Jesus have come into an understanding that real life isn’t about the here and now.  We grasp that beyond this time and dimension, we live, walk and are pressing into life eternal.  It is a life and treasure that we contain in these earthen vessels with their limitations and weaknesses.  It is a light that shines in proportion to the amount we live unto this God life as opposed to our natural life.  Like moths drawn to the temporary pleasures and gains of this world we are often drawn to the flame of our passions and desires that will only consume us and frustrate the purpose and will of God for our lives.  What life is it that we treasure most of all?  Is it a life of hedonism, self-indulging pleasures and earthly wealth that we seek or do we have an eye and heart for the greater treasure, the eternal treasure, the treasure of God’s life and intimate fellowship? 

               Look at Moses for a moment.  Here he is the prince of Egypt, the most powerful and influential country of its time.  He had it all at his disposal, power, wealth, authority and all the pleasures of this life.  He had everything that most of us have only dreamed about. Hebrews 11:24-27 tells us, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.”  God has given His people insight and spiritual vision to see beyond this present earthly realm and momentary pleasures.  Because of the faith we have in this vision we are willing to forsake all things, endure all things and count it all lost that we might win Christ.  What does Paul tell us about the excellency of the knowledge of Christ?  Philippians 3:7-14, “Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.  Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

               Treasure Life, the life that lifts us and holds promise beyond this present temporal existence; the life that leads us into the promises of the divine nature and the fullness of His presence.  “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

Blessings,

#kent

They would See Jesus

John 14:8

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

They would See Jesus

               Even as the disciples were asking Jesus to show them the Father, there are those who are asking us to show them the Christ and they will be satisfied.  Have they been so long with us and not seen the Christ?  Is He not living, breathing, burning and expressing Himself through us?  Many have known us after the flesh, but they have not seen the Christ and known us after the Spirit.  They only observe our natural man and the weaknesses of our flesh. 

               This is a new season.  It is a season where we will be stretched beyond our earthly limitation and will have to manifest our heavenly presence.  We have comfortably abode in Babylon the Great and been content with the present economic, religious and political systems.  This morning the Lord gave me Revelations 14:8, “A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”  We are on the brink of collapse of those things that we have grown up living and trusting in.  Your day of preparation is at hand and that which the Lord has prepared you for is about to be put into action.  You are going to find in this hour that you can speak and do things that you never would have believed for prior to this time.  The times will demand it and faith must arise in your hearts.  This is not a time for the faint in heart, because now you must know what it is trust in the Lord and to walk in the power of His might.  It is not a time for you to be overcome with fear, but to overcome fear with the faith of God.  Father has not left you alone.  His Spirit abides in you and will be with you.  It is not a day to function out of natural understanding and reason but out of the directives of the Spirit of Christ within you.  He has told us that His sheep would hear His voice and they would not follow another.  Today you will hear His voice as never before and He will order your steps if you will obey Him.  The world will be in CHAOS, but My children shall walk in perfect peace.  The things that come are the judgements of this world.  You are a part of their judgement.  Where there is no hope, you will be that light and that hope.  Many will come to me through your light, the light of My Son in you and the harvest will be great. 

               Show men the Christ.  It is time to take your light from under the bushel and set it upon the light post that all might see and know of Me.  You are passing into new wineskins so that you might contain that new wine that I am pouring into you.  Rejoice for this is the day you have longed for.  Look up for your redemption draweth nigh. 

               It is only by the Spirit.  The Lord also turned me to Zechariah 4:6, ” So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”  The name Zerubbabel means, “born in Babylon”.  We have been born in Babylon, but now the Lord is calling us out, back into the spiritual state of Israel to restore His temple.  Roll up your sleeves and let the work begin.  It is not a labor of sweat and flesh, but the labor of the Spirit and power of God working through you. 

               Gross darkness is about to cover the earth, but the glory of My light is about to rise upon you.  Be encouraged, but turn your eyes and your heart from the world, for former things are passing away.  The fires have been lit and the judgements passed. 

               Supernatural faith is being imparted into those who will believe me for it.  I am your forward and rear guard.  Stand fast in Me.   I will take you through the fires that burn before you. 

FEAR NOT

C. M. Beddome.

1 Ye trembling souls, dismiss your fears;

Be mercy all your theme;

For mercy like a river flows,

In one perpetual stream.

2 Fear not the powers of earth and hell;

God will those powers restrain;

His arm will all their rage repel,

And make their efforts vain.

3 Fear not the want of outward good;

For his he will provide,

Grant them supplies of daily food,

And give them heaven beside.

4 Fear not that he will e’er forsake,

Or leave his work undone;

He’s faithful to his promises,

And faithful to his Son.

Blessings,

#kent