Put Your Love where Your Mouth Is!

1 John 3:16

Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

Put Your Love where Your Mouth is!

               John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Isn’t it ironic how John 3:16, the love of God through Christ and 1 John 3:16, the love of Christ through us, coincide so closely together?  Both of these scriptures involve the giving of a sacrifice in love.  Both of these scriptures involve the laying down of a life as the ultimate expression of love.

               My conviction today is how shallow and conditional my love is.  It is not nearly so focused on others as it is on its own agenda.  That self-love wants to preserve and cater to this life rather than sacrifice and give it.  Rather we think it out loud or not, how much of our life is motivated by, “what’s in it for me?”  What is even more convicting is how we so often treat the ones that are the closest to us and that we say that we love the greatest with the most contempt, disrespect and selfishness.  Where does all of that line up with the love of God in us?  We talk about the love of Christ, we preach it to others and we go through the motions, but is that love, that agape love, alive in action in our personal day to day relationships. 

               Husbands, why are we not bringing the love into the home?  Why do we not love our wives, like Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it?  Why do we not love our brethren, rather than using and taking advantage of them?  Should it surprise us that the world has so much contempt for us as Christians?  A good deal of the contempt and mockery of Christianity has little to do with how much we are like Christ.  Our hypocrisy betrays us.  When Christians and churches don’t pay their bills, borrow and don’t return, and only take, but never give, what does that speak about the love of Christ in our lives?   Many of us need a reality check about what the love of Christ is, because it isn’t being seen in us.   Where has the depth of God’s agape love gone?  When that love is operating, people will be drawn to Christ and they will know us by our love.  How do others perceive and know us now?  Is that self-giving, sacrificial love what we are known for? 

               Our prayer should be, “God make me a giver like You are a giver.  Make me a lover like you have loved me.  Make my life a living sacrifice daily poured out to You as I serve and love others as You have served and loved me.  Help me to experience in daily deed and reality what it is to love my neighbor as myself.  Help me to put Your love where my empty hollow words have been.  Amen.”

Blessings,

#kent

The Groan Within

The Groan Within

Romans 8:18-24

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

               As much as we can love the Lord and desire to be filled with the fullness and glory of His divine life, we find that as long as we are still of this earth we are still tethered to our body of flesh.  It is this body of flesh that poses our limitations; it is the dust to which we are bound and upon which the serpent feeds.  This flesh is ever demanding our attention and our care as it provides the earthly housing for our spirit man.  Yet it is the spirit man within us, redeemed and conformed to the image of Christ, that so groans to be set free from the limitations, the hindrances, the weakness, the sin and the failures that the flesh prompts and facilitates.   Every day must be a recommitment to crucify this flesh, hold fast our faith in Christ and walk in a manner that glorifies Him.  Yet every day it seems the enemy is at work in our lives to undermine, to seek some avenue of darkness that he might exploit in us.  Every day, it is necessary to set ourselves in array with our spiritual armor to combat our spiritual foe.  The battle is waged not so much without as it is waged within.  We battle our thoughts that are impure or out of alignment with the Word of God.  We war with our passions and our impulses to act out of our flesh rather than our spirit.  We war with the individual weaknesses that are characteristic and inherent within us.  “Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin and death (Romans 7:24)?”  Isn’t that our groan and cry to the Lord?  We often hate what we are still manifesting in our flesh, but we seem so powerless to gain the victory and righteousness that we so desire to see.  It is this reality that we continually face that causes us to know that we are the products of God’s grace and mercy alone and through no righteousness of our own.  It is His righteousness and life with which we now relate and identify.  The answer to our cry and groan for the deliverance from this body of death is still Jesus Christ. 

               We groan to see that full deliverance from the influence and power of our body of sin, but God in His infinite wisdom has chosen that even in salvation that we must walk in faith and trust for the in-working of righteousness and deliverance in us.  God has structured it in such a way that it is only in a holy and sustained union with Him and identification with who we now are in Christ that we walk each day in faith, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Our day to day victories are only accomplished as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that has set me free from the law of sin and death.  There are two laws operational in your life today.  Whichever law you make the choice to serve that is whose servant you are.  We know that, in ourselves, in this flesh, dwells no good thing.  We know that the heart is deceitfully wicked and who can know it?  This is why we need an ally to prevail over this body of sin. 

Romans 8:12-13 tells us, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  The key to a victorious life in Christ is living and walking in the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit putting to death the passion and misdeeds of the flesh. 

               It is not often an easy walk.  Sometimes we grow weary or complacent.  Sometimes we allow the moldy corruption of our sinful desires to have place under a cloak of righteousness, but eventually the stink of our misdeeds will be revealed.  Yes, we are often weak and we can all stumble.  We need to pray for one another.  We need the ability to be transparent with one another without judgement so that we can minister grace and encouragement to each other.  We are the body and with the life of Christ within each of us we must minister and function to the good and health of the whole.  As we hold fast our faith and hope, one-day that groan will be turned to the shout of victory, as we will triumph fully in Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

#kent

In My Name

John 14:13-14

13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

In My Name

               Obviously authority without responsibility can be a dangerous thing.  One might read this passage, and think, as so many have, all I have to do is say the magic words, “In the name of Jesus” and it will be done.  In reality we have not seen this to be the case.   So, is Jesus not true to His word? 

               When we ask something in the name of someone else we are asking in accordance with the will and purpose of the one whose name we use.  Jesus is true to His word, but there are principles that we need to understand.  For one, a name represents the nature and character of a person.  If I am using someone’s name then I need to be operating out of the nature and character of that name.  We can’t use authority that we are not in submission too and expect that authority to back up what we say.  We may mean well or think it is what Jesus would want or do, but are we moving by the unction and in the will of the Holy Spirit or out of what we think or feel in our natural man?

               Let us look at our pattern Jesus.  Did He go about doing good and performing miracles simply out of His will as a man?  In John 5:43 Jesus says, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”  Jesus was speaking and operating out of the authority of the Father’s name.  In John 6:38 Jesus says, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”  Here we see the authority and nature of the name that Jesus is operating out of.   Hear what Jesus says of Himself in John 5:19, “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”  Again in John 5:30 Jesus says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”  He then confirms the conditions of the authority that He has given us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  It becomes evident to us here that if we are to operate in the authority of the name of Jesus we need to be in an abiding relationship that is flowing out of the vine of His divine life and nature.  Without that we cannot truly be fruitful. The reason that Jesus gives us His name and authority is so that we can be fruitful to carry out His will and purpose in the earth for His glory and not for our selfish ambitions or desires. 

               In Acts 19:12-16 we read an account of those who sought to use the name of Jesus out of the context of a life of abiding in Him.  “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15(One day) the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”  Here we see that outside of the submission to the authority of the name that we invoke, there is no authority.  It is not simply invoking the name of Jesus that empowers us, it is operating out of submission to the authority of the name that then imparts authority through us, just as Jesus operated out of the name of the Father, because He was in the Father and the Father was in Him.   When we are in Christ and Christ is in us, our life is hid in Him and it His life that then has the authority of expression through us and whatsoever we ask in His name, He will do it.

Blessings,

#kent

Distracted but not Dissuaded

Distracted, but not Dissuaded

               Have you ever had those time when you were trying to pray or have quite time with Papa and your mind was continually inundated and distracted with other thoughts that you kept trying to put away, but they kept coming back?  It is like you couldn’t focus on prayer or the word, because of these mental imaginations and thoughts that were like magnets pulling your attention in another direction.  Sometimes it is brought on by an emotional turmoil or conflict I am having with some person or situation.  I find that this will happen occasionally and sense I seem to have very little control over it. That being the case, I might as well take whatever it is that my mind is distracted with and just give it to the Lord.  He said in all your ways acknowledge him, so whether my thoughts are spiritually inspired or not, still, all that I am is His.  What can I do, but simply say, “Father, I am sorry for all of this mental distraction, but since I am yours, I give it all to You. Lord, only your Spirit within me can help me to do as 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us to do. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  The primary thing is that I don’t want my thoughts and desires to be opposed to those of the Lord, so I am going to bring Him right into my mental barrage and say, “God here is what I am dealing with, help me get it in alignment with You, Your will and Your purpose.  Help me to cast down and overcome all that is not of Your Spirit and Your will.”   Satan loves to assault our minds and then turn and condemn us for the very thoughts he perpetrated upon us.  These are not my thoughts till I give them ownership by embracing and entertaining them.  Even if I find myself having done that I can repent and ask the blood of Jesus to wash me.  We must refuse to be robbed by the enemies’ condemnation anymore.  I am not going to allow myself to be separated from my identity in Christ.  When the enemy attacks me with distracting thoughts or temptation, he is assaulting and attacking the Christ in me as well, because my life is hid in Him.

               Satan is always out to Shanghai our identity and our faith in God.  So, I will continually remind myself of who I am in Christ and remember that my purpose is for His glory and not my own. 

               We aren’t immune from the assaults of the enemy, distracting thoughts, temptations and interruptions.  Neither do we have to allow these to be grounds of condemnation and feeling spiritually inadequate.  We just never cease to acknowledge Father in all our ways, to continually worship our God and magnify Him in all that we do.  No matter how distracted or insistent the thoughts are, keep your heart on Jesus, keep your praise on Him and ask Holy Spirit to give you the victory and peace.  As Romans 8:27-29 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  I will continually acknowledge Him until my paths are made straight!

Blessings,

#kent

The Way of a Husband with His Wife

Colossians 3:19

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

The Way of a Husband with His Wife

               Father just spoke this into my heart to share about my experiences.  Whatever comes forth will be that which He brings up in me to share.

               Husbands, we often neglect our wives far more than we should.  We often can be harsh in our attitude towards them and transfer our frustrations and anger upon them.  Obviously God didn’t give us wives for our abuse, but as the objects of our love. 

               A young lady was sharing with me about her work and how the those she worked under were often unjustly abusive and unfair in how they treated her.  She was really struggling with trying to keep an attitude of forgiveness and love. 

               I felt the Lord through me begin to tell her that even in some marriages a spouse will often transfer their own anger and personal wrong attitudes and issues upon their spouse, because they feel they are a safe place to dump their issues.  Sometimes we treat and speak things to our family members that we would never dream of speaking to others, because it would be totally unacceptable.  Why is it that we would be willing to treat the ones we love so horribly?  In those cases, it is rarely because the problem is really with them; it is usually with us.  Because we are unwilling to confront and acknowledge our own demons, we may release those demons on the most precious ones in our lives.  Often we do it because we feel it is safe with them.  They won’t tell, because they love and understand us.  What we may not realize is that this spousal or child abuse, even if we don’t physically harm them.  Our words and anger can abuse, kill and tear down those we say we love.  The person who is the object of our abuse is quite prone to take this personally and come to feel that they are the one that is at fault, they failed and somehow they deserve the way they are being treated. 

               Listen to not my word, but the Word of the Lord.  Ephesians 5:22-32 tells us, ” Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” 

               Husbands if you are hating your wife it is because you hate yourself.  She is a part of you.  If she doesn’t respect and honor you, could it be because you aren’t treating her as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her? 

               What is the Lord speaking to both the husband and the wife here.  There is place of spiritual order and mutual honor and respect of each other. It is a commandment of love.

               Husbands, Jesus gave himself up for his bride.  That means he was totally unselfish and not self-serving in His attitude toward her.  It was not about what she could do for Him, but what He could provide for her.  He cleansed her with the washing of the water of the Word, to present her a radiant church, without stain, wrinkle or defilement.  Do our words wash our wives with praise, encouragement, appreciation, love and edification or do they defile and blemish them with criticism, harshness, sarcasm and belittling commentary?  Are we Christ to our wives?

               I was speaking to an older Christian woman at a tradeshow a while back and she shared how her and her husband had began to speak blessing over one another at the beginning of each day.  I thought what a marvelous concept and practice.  I began to practice this on my wife, Sharon.  Wow, it is like pouring buckets of blessings upon your spouse.  It will change the atmosphere of your home.  It will change the way you see them and they see you.  We are experiencing a much greater closeness with each other and in our together relationship with the Lord. 

               So often in marriages at the beginning of our relationship with our spouse they could do no wrong, but over the course of time that can change into they can do no right.  There is a saying that, “familiarity breeds contempt” and oftentimes that can take place in our marriage.  We all are going to have times of differences and conflict in our marriage, but how we handle those conflicts is so important.  Do we really just deal with the issue or do we make it personal by assaulting the other’s character, resulting in wounding and hurting one another.  As time goes on we continue to carry those wounds, hurts and disappointment.  They probably are reinforced and continued through the dynamics of how we deal with each other.   One day we come to the realization that we are incompatible and no longer have the feelings of love and intimacy that we once felt. 

               If we as husbands and wives will practice God’s word in our marriage, have His attitude toward our spouse and practice His forgiveness for their wrongs, we can be healed.  You didn’t get to where you are in a day so don’t expect the results to be immediate, but if we practice blessing one another, unconditionally loving one another and seeing them for who they are in Christ then our hearts will change.  We have to choose to release forgiveness for those past hurts and offenses and we both need to truly repent to one another for the hurts and wounds we have caused.  We must see that when we dishonor our spouse, we dishonor Christ.  When we abuse them, we abuse Him.  If you are struggling with this then get the help of a Christian counselor who can help you work through these issues.  There is no shame in that.  It is a greater shame to live in denial until your marriage and all that you loved is destroyed and lost. 

               Let’s change the way we do marriage and the way we treat one another.  Let us quit reacting when our buttons are pushed and actively act in love and forgiveness.  Let us return good for evil, blessing for cursing and honor for dishonor.  Let us restore the honor of marriage in the body of Christ and husbands let it begin with us.

Blessings,

#kent

Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Forgiveness

               I would dare say that all of us have had experiences in life where others have wronged or hurt us and in some cases quite severely and repeatedly.   It is often these experiences, wounds and hurts that we can not seem to release.  They are a trauma upon our lives.  It is in these adverse life experiences that we are confronted with a choice to forgive and release an offense or to hold on to it and maintain the unforgiveness.  When we are hurt it is our natural inclination to want to hurt back. 

               In the natural we often are wounded through life and most are superficial.  In most cases they require a little attention and then they heal and we go on.  There are those times when we are wounded more deeply and without cleansing the wound and putting something on to disinfect, we can get it infected.  When infection sets in the wound festers and will not heal.  In fact, untreated, it will become worse and more compromising to our health.  It can actually be the infection that comes into us through the wound that could end up killing us rather than the wound itself.  That is what unforgiveness is like.  With emotional hurts and wounds there is a natural healing process and with the right heart and attitude those wounds will heal.  They may leave some scars, but life goes on.  Unfortunately, for some of us, there are places and ways that we have been hurt where we let the infection of unforgiveness come in.  It is a form of hate and it can even be toward ourselves as well as others.  It is the love of God that is the antibiotic that heals the infection of unforgiveness.  It is when we see Jesus, unjustly accused, mocked, ridiculed, beaten to the point of being unrecognizable and then nailed to the cross who can, before he breathes his last breath, say,” Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” that we see what forgiveness really looks like.  It is only as we are willing to apply that same forgiveness of love toward our offenders that we can receive the forgiveness of our offenses.  Before God, we stand no less guilty of sin and offense than those who have wounded us.  What we ask of God, we must be willing to extend to others. 

               It is the love released through making the decision to forgive, not just the feelings, that is the antibiotic that will bring healing and restoration.  First it restores our relationship back to Father and then it works to restore our human relationships.

               You may be saying, “yeah, but you don’t how many times this person has hurt me.”  Peter addresses this question unto the Lord in Matthew 18:21-22, ” Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  You see sin kills, but God’s love is the multiplication of forgiveness that triumphs even over the depth and death of sin.  It is the grace of God’s forgiveness that brought each one of us into a place where we can know the restored fellowship and relationship with the Father.  We receive that only through His forgiveness for us, because we all deserve condemnation and death.  Luke 6:37 exhorts us, ” Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” 

               For some of us it is time that we examine our hearts and lay down this cross of unforgiveness that we have been carrying.  We must realize that the unforgiveness is doing far greater damage to us than even the offense.  It is keeping us from our own forgiveness and right relationship with the Father.  Ask the Father for His love in you to release the unforgiveness you have been carrying, no matter how awful the offense.  As He forgave us, we ought also to forgive others.  How can we have Christ come forth in us if the very prominent part of His nature is forgiveness?

               First come and release it to the Father and then release the individual or individuals.  When you release you will be released from the judgement that unforgiveness can hold over us.  ” If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36).”  Isn’t it time to come into the freedom and the release of His Love?

Blessings,

#kent

Losing My Head

Losing my Head

Philippians 4:12-13

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

               As I was praying this morning my thoughts went back to my childhood where I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents on their farm in Oklahoma.  I remember times when my grandmother would get a chicken that she was going to prepare for a meal.  She would put its head under a metal bar, step on it and pull its head off.  I’m sorry if that is a little gruesome and graphic for some.  The thing that was coming to me is that after the chicken’s head was removed I saw them do things that I never saw them do in everyday life.  They might just flop around, but I saw some of them fly distances that I had never seen a chicken fly before.  How could they do that without a head?  I know, involuntary reflexes and such.   The thing that struck me is that if they could do that in death, why did they never do it in life?  The only time a chicken would leave the ground normally is if it was being pursued and took flight out of fear. 

               I believe what the Lord was showing me is that our greatest limitation is between our two ears.  We grow up saying, doing and being what everyone else around us does.  Think of the disciples.  Here were twelve very ordinary men.  I imagine not all of them were the sharpest pencils in the drawer, but they all did one thing, they left all to follow this man Jesus.  As they followed, communed and lived with this man they observed someone who was not like all the other chickens in the hen house.  They observed someone who thought differently, acted differently and did things they had never imagined anyone could do.  It was a process over time where the normal way they used to view their world changed.  They begin to see and understand their world from a heavenly and kingdom perspective rather than an earthly one.  After the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus they received power from on High when the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost.  Now Jesus was physically gone.  They had lost their earthly head and a new mentality had to kick in.  The mind of Christ had now come within them for them to carry on the work of the Kingdom with power and authority.  They began to speak under the anointing of the Spirit and would see thousands respond and come to Christ.  They had miracles happening as they extended their wings in faith.  In some cases people were even raised from the dead.  These ordinary men were doing exploits that rattled the religious order of the barnyard.  The religious leadership thought that they had rid the hen house of this One that upset the natural order of things.  He was obviously out of the pecking order.  Now there were more of these people doing the same kind of things while proclaiming this Jesus as the Christ and the Messiah, not only in word, but also with signs and wonders. 

               What we have to realize is that when we accepted Christ as our Savior we became identified with His death on that cross.  In effect, our head got pulled off.  We are no longer like every other chicken in the barnyard.  The great news is that we didn’t just lose our head, we put on the headship of Christ in the process.  We lost our mind that we might have His.  Like the disciples before us we have began a process of changed thinking.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  It goes on to say ‘don’t think of yourselves more highly than you ought.’  It is never this earthen vessel that is great; it is what fills it. 

What fills you my friend is what gives you the power and abilities to do what you have never done before.  It gives you the ability to rise to heights that in the natural mind you never thought possible.               

               There are wings of faith in God’s Word that must be stretched and exercised.  We have had them all along; we just have never really used them.  God has given us the ability to be extraordinary people and maybe not in the way the world views as extraordinary.  We have the power within us now to be different, something more.  That more may not be as the world views greatness, but it will be seen in the power of an obedient life yielded to Christ and available for His power to manifest through in the ways that please Him and further His Kingdom.  Have you lost your head and put on His?

Blessings,

#kent

The Crown of Our Legacy

The Crown of our Legacy

1Thessalonians 2:19

For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

            Recently on a trip down into southern Colorado I had some time alone where I was just scouting the countryside and doing some photography.  Old broken down cabins, homesteads and a cemetery happened to be interesting subjects that I found that day.  It is always good that when we have these times, we ask the Holy Spirit to speak into our hearts lessons and truths that can help us in daily living.  As I look back on this particular day, I remember thinking who were these people that lived in this old cabin and who were these people that now rest in this old cemetery dating back to the early 1900’s?  Then you begin to think who will remember me fifty to a hundred years from now.  When we begin to think of our mortality; we begin to think of the brevity of life and how quickly it is here and gone.  We think about the meaning of our lives and the impact we have had during our lifetime.  How will people remember us?  How will God remember us?  Did we make a difference in the lives of others and the world around us or did we just exist to ourselves and for ourselves?  These are haunting questions we all tend to ask ourselves from time to time. 

            When we look at the life of the apostle Paul, we see the importance and the eternal value He placed on the lives He discipled into Christ.  His focus wasn’t on material success, or his education, or where He had been or what He had done.  It was on the difference He made in the lives of others spiritually.  What a crown and legacy Paul has in the kingdom of God, because His whole life was dedicated to seeing others come too and grow up into Christ.  Because of that passion and ministry, much of Christianity has grown and been nurtured from the writings and teachings of Paul to the early churches.  Paul will never be forgotten in earth or heaven because of the legacy He left behind. 

            Don’t we desire to have that kind of impact on the lives of others and especially our children and families?  What a heartbreak it is when parents have laid down their lives for their children and done all that they could to instill Christ and the children turn away and reject this most precious gift they have sought to give.  Yet, despite what the outward circumstances say, they will persevere in prayer and faith to see those loved ones return. 

            Philippians 4:1 starts by saying, “Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, [my] dearly beloved.”  Those ones that Paul helped birth into the kingdom of God were his children.  They were his godly seed, birthed and brought up for the glory of God.  In Malachi 2:15, talking in reference to the marriage covenant and the reason God created marriage it says, “Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.”  If we value what God values, then we must know that God is looking for godly seed in the earth.  Whether it is in our natural children whom we should be raising in the fear and admonition of the Lord or those we lead to a personal relationship in Christ.  It is not just about the birth, that is only the beginning.  Jesus tells us Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.”  God is looking for spiritual parents to disciple and raise up His spiritual children to maturity.  This is our legacy.  This is what we want to be remembered for in heaven and in earth, that we made a difference in the lives of others and helped them become the godly seed that God desires. That seed perpetuates itself in others leaving us a joy and a crown that we can rejoice in when see them in Christ at His coming.  Let us live to leave an eternal legacy for that is our purpose.

Blessings,

#kent

Who is this Zerubbabel

Zechariah 4:6-10

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.

7 “What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ “

8 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you.

10 “Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“(These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the earth.)”

Who is this Zerubbabel?

               Zerubbabel was the grandson of king Jehoiachin and leader of the first group of returning exiles from Babylon.  His name means, “sown in Babylon”.  He was a descendent of David.  I believe he stands as a type and a shadow of a man today.  He is the man that has laid the foundations of God’s true temple and his hands will complete it.   This is one that was born into, but came out of the confusion of this world and its religions of many voices and messages.  He came out for a purpose and a reason.  It was to lead people out of the traditions and captivity of a religious system and to establish again the true temple of God.  We might be quick to say, “Oh, this represents Jesus.”  In one sense we might be right, but there is more here than Jesus.  Zerubbabel is represented as a man of the earth, but with a royal seedline and a holy calling.  He is a man not operating out of his own strength, vision or purpose and yet he is a man of strength, vision and purpose.  What he is able to accomplish is ‘not by his might or his power, but by my Spirit,’ saith the Lord.  He is a man of authority in God.  A man before whom mountains become level ground.  One other interesting point here is that he not only laid the foundation, but “he will bring out the capstone to the shouts of ‘God bless it, God bless it!’” So who is this man of which Zerubbabel is such an interesting type? 

               The Lord reminds me of a scripture in Hebrews 11.  In Hebrews 11 we have the hall of faith where we read the tributes to many of the great men and women of faith, but in the last verses, verses 39-40 it says this, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”  Concerning the foundations of the temple which Zerubbabel laid we read this in Ephesians 2:19-22, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens (Babylonians, born in Babylon), but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”  In Ephesians 4:13-19 (Amplified) it further expounds upon this concept,  “He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest). 11And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.

12His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),

13[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.”  It should be becoming apparent that this Zerrubabel is not just one man, but the enchristed one, Christ in man, the body of Christ, God’s holy temple not made with hands; from the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ the Corner stone to the head and Jesus Christ the Capstone.  It is Christ in His people.  It is the government and the kingdom of God in our midst.  It is the Spirit of God operating in the people of God to bring us all into the unity, maturity and the full stature of Christ.  The climax being when the Capstone is set and Christ returns in the fullness of His people, one new man from first to last, complete, resurrected and established in Him.

               Zechariah 4:10 says, “”Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”  This is God’s kingdom come in the earth to bring judgement and justice, to set every crooked path straight and dispense righteousness in the earth.  We are a part of this man.  We are the Zerrubabel of this hour.  God is awakening us and calling us to attention.  He is calling us to throw off all those old paradigms of who we think we are not and come into the full revelation of who we are in Christ.  We are God’s people and His workmen to complete this task in these final hours.  You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people for God’s own possession.  What He has called you too, He has empowered you to do.  Take up the authority of who you are in Christ and begin to walk in that authority, vision and purpose.  You are the Zerrubabel, sown in Babylon, but called out of Babylon for such a time as this.  Rejoice and lay hold of your calling.

Blessings,

#kent

The Loving Hand of Correction

The Loving Hand of Correction

Hebrew 12:5-8

5) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.  6) For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  7) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  8 )  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

               Most of us would rather run away from discipline and correction.  Especially when things are going well, the last thing we want is someone to rock our boat, especially heavenly Father.  Every motive and action of God is birthed in love, for He is love.  For God to leave us to our own devices and ways would not be very loving on His part since we are His children and His responsibility is to raise us as such.  While many of us say we love God we can be just as stubborn and rebellious about spiritual things as we can about natural things.  Out of God’s great love for us, because we are His children, He corrects and disciplines us in many different ways.  Even though that goes against the grain of our flesh, what is the greatest hindrance to our spiritual walk if it is not the old natural ways of living and thinking?  The trials and tribulations that touch our lives are exercising our true faith, spiritual obedience and substance.  I find, I can think I’m a pretty good egg until the Lord allows me to be tested in an area and what comes out of me or how I respond is often a pretty good indicator that a definite work of grace and correction is needed in that area of my life.  Unfortunately for most of us, God has to keep taking us around and around some of the same mountains in our life, because we still can’t seem to get it right.  How often have we read about the Israelites of the Old Testament and shook our heads at the fact we saw a continual cycle of rebellion and disobedience to God, His warnings and exhortation to turn from sin, their continued path of disobedience, God’s rod of discipline and correction, the repentance and turning again to God.  Then it would start all over again.  1 Corinthians 10: 11 says, “Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”  Here we have 20/20 hindsight, but do we make any better choices and demonstrate a greater measure of obedience and submission to the Lord than our Israelite predecessors? 

               Those who have trusted God for their salvation are at the heart of God’s love.  Even Jesus is our example, for it says, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrew 5:8).” Let us not take the discipline of the Lord as a sign of His displeasure or anger toward us.  Though our discipline is not pleasant while we are going through it, the Lord does it for our profit and good.  The end result is that it works the peaceable fruits of righteousness in us when we have been exercised by it.  Like the loving Father that He is, He is not allowing us to grow up spiritually being the self-willed, self- serving children we would be inclined to be, but the children that are being conformed to image of the Father by His loving hand and correction. 

               Let’s thank God He loves us the way we are but loves us too much to let us stay that way. 

Blessings,

#kent