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

The Love of God

John 3:16-21

“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. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

The Love of God

               John 3:16 is one of those scriptures that many of us as young Christians memorize.  Sometimes in its simplicity we forget or miss how profound it truly is.  How many of us as fathers can really grasp what it would be like for us to give our only son as a sacrifice for someone else’s misdeeds?  Romans 5:6-8 tells us, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Even if you could be willing to allow your only son to be sacrificed for someone would it be your enemy?  Would it be for the one who deserved your wrath and judgement rather than you love and mercy?  When we really stop to analyze and think about God’s love for this world it should just blow us away, because it makes absolutely no sense to the natural mind or reason.  How can we take this manner of love so lightly?  How can we even regard it as common or ordinary?  Our God is such an extraordinary God that works through such a supernatural and incomprehensible love towards us and the world rejects it.  So many times, even we, as the people of God, treat as common place and ordinary this holy love, displayed and sacrificed for mankind.  If we do, it is because we don’t truly comprehend it or have it operating fully within us.  Those who go willingly and offer their lives as willing sacrifice for the gospel of Jesus Christ have come into a revelation of that love.  They comprehend that if this love is so great that even the holy Son of the living God and Creator would lay down His life for us then it is worth our laying down our lives as well.  Most of won’t even sacrifice our comforts let alone our lives. 

               One of the things a true revelation of God’s love will bring us too is that there is something so much greater at stake than just us.  It will give us the heartbeat of God for creation.  It will empower us to love the unlovely, the rejected and the destitute.  It will cause our hearts to hurt for the lost and dying, just as Father’s heart hurts and longs for them to come to Him. 

               As human beings perhaps one of the things we like least is having our darkness exposed.  We are often comfortable in our sin and deception even though it only brings us misery and pain.  We don’t want to see ourselves for what we are and as God sees us.  The capacity of the love of God is to see past our faults and see our need and it is to that need that He addresses Himself.  He created mankind to rule and reign with Him, but we exchanged the truth for a lie and righteousness for pleasure.  Romans 1:21-25 says, ” For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

               “For God so loved the world.”  What a blessing and a privilege that we have come to an acknowledgement and acceptance of this love by our faith in Jesus Christ.  Is our love now so shallow that His love towards us stops with us?  No, an immature child is one that is only concerned for their own needs, but when one comes into maturity they learn to become the givers and not the takers. 

               What is our revelation of God’s love in us today?  Are we still just content to take it and not give it?  God didn’t build us to be reservoirs to horde and store up for only ourselves, us four and no more.  He is wanting to impart His heart of love into us that we may become the conduits and pipelines of His love and blessing.  We are the salt of the earth and a city set upon a hill.  We are the outshining of his glory and the expression of His love.  If not us, then who? 

Blessings,

#kent

Instructions for Life

Proverbs 4:13

Take fast hold of instruction; let [her] not go: keep her; for she [is] thy life.

Instructions for Life

               Every day is a classroom of instruction, learning and experience.  Much like school when we were children, many of us still don’t pay very close attention.  God has something to teach us every day if we are tuned into the Spirit and we have spiritual ears tuned to hear what He is speaking.  As we grow to know God’s Word we are learning instruction in spiritual, as well as practical life.  God gives us the principles to live full, productive and satisfying lives, but are we listening, are we paying attention and are we applying these life principles to our lives? Often we nod, say an amen and acknowledge them with our minds, but have they gotten down into our hearts?

               Just like in school there is a time of listening, studying and learning; then there is a time of testing to find out what we really know and remember.  It is our testing that really tells us where we are.  God already knows where we are, but most of the time we really don’t.  It isn’t till we are put to the test of faith in certain areas that we see if we really have learned to trust God and apply the principles that He has taught us or if we resort back to acting out of the natural man and that way of thinking. 

               Often we can be going through life filled with joy and being blessed and then suddenly wham!!!!!!!!!  We are hit with a punch that knocks our breath out.  Tragedy may strike, we are treated unfairly, we are fired, our spouse wants to divorce us, we are faced with a life-threatening disease in ourselves or one that we love and life no longer makes sense.  Any number of things may assault us at any given time.  How will we cope with these calamities?  This is where the rubber meets the road and theory meets reality.  Can we now make application in our lives of the things that we have learned and have knowledge of or are we sitting there stunned, shaking our heads and asking, “why me, God?”  God says that it rains on the just and the unjust.  Whether we are in Christ or in the world, tragedy and calamities are a very real part of life in this body.  The life, the power and the grace that takes us through these times are found in the instruction that God has given us. Fortunately, it is an open book test and if we are struggling to make sense of all that is going on with us we can go back to the instruction of God’s Word.  There we can find the answers that will help us to gain the perspective and even the faith that we need to prevail in difficult times 

               Jesus assures us that we will have tribulation in this world, but to be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33).  What does that mean to us?  If our life is hid with Christ, in God as Colossians 3:3 says, then you also have overcome the world.  The Overcomer dwells within you to help you walk where He has walked and prevail in victory where He has prevailed.  Yes, we will have tribulation, but we are promised that we don’t have to face it alone.  Christ is always there with us and the last part of Romans 8 assures us that there is no calamity or being or even death itself that can separate us from the love of God. 

               How do we pass the test?  It is first in listening and learning the instruction of the Lord.  Proverbs 6:3 says, “For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life.”  God in His love shows us, teaches and corrects us.  If we are wise we will receive His correction and we will grow wiser still.  Proverbs 9:7-12 teaches us, “”Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. 8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;

rebuke a wise man and he will love you. 9 Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. 10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. 12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.”

Learning and putting into practice our instruction is what is maturing us into the image of Him that is our teacher.  It is God’s purpose and plan is that we are like our Teacher and Master.  If we will humble ourselves before Him, He will give us the instructions to a godly life and He will help us in the tests to practice the principles that He has taught us.   Pay attention to His instruction and humbly receive His correction, ‘for whom the Lord loves He chastens’.  Hebrews 12:7-13 leaves us with this exhortation, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Blessings,

#kent

Why We should be Thankful

Romans 10:19

But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by [them that are] no people, [and] by a foolish nation I will anger you.

Why we should be Thankful

               Some nearly four hundred years ago God led a small handful of people out of the religious oppression and intolerance of Europe to a new land, unfounded and virtually uninhabited by the civilized world of that day.  These people possessed within their spirits a calling and a mandate of God to come out from among the religious beast of Europe that proclaimed itself to be Christianity.  They stepped out in the faith of God, forsaking all to become the pilgrims that we remember as the founders of our nation.  This little handful of people, who were no people in the eyes of the world, they heard a calling to a promise land that flowed with milk and honey.  A place where they could worship in the manner that they chose without fear of reprisals.  Here they could be true to themselves and to God.  It was this kind people with which our God founded this great nation we live in today called the United States.  If any ever doubts that there is a God or that He was the One who was at work to bring forth this great country, let them follow the true history and accounts that took place when this country was formed and through its growth, even till today.  All that we are and all that we enjoy is only due to the sovereignty, goodness, mercy and the blessings of God. 

               How it must grieve Him that now we have laws that we can destroy our unwanted children, laws that prohibit our teachers from teaching the truth of God in public schools, that deny God as the Creator and forbid His Word from being read, along with the freedom to openly pray.  We have tolerated those who would strike His name from every public place and have courts that will not even allow the display of His commandments.  What kind of religious freedom is this that tolerates every other religion being taught about in our public schools except the one true gospel?  What spirit have we allowed to come in that has blinded the hearts and minds of so many and even we, His people, have become complacent and lethargic? 

               These early pilgrims gave their very lives to establish a precedent of religious freedom.  Even when the captain of the Mayflower offered to take them back to England, not one of them would go, even in the face of such great adversity and loss.  They counted Him faithful who had called them out of darkness and brought them into the light.  It didn’t come without great sacrifice and loss.  Many of us don’t really think about or really appreciate all the sacrifice of so many throughout the history of this country that has sustained its freedoms and liberties. 

               Let us remember our heritage and how we that were no people, God has made us a great people with blessings like none other upon the earth.  He has taken that which was nothing and has made it something.  He has taken the weak and made them strong.  He has taken the poor and made them rich.  Great is the Lord!

               God, please forgive us when we take so much that You have done for us for granted.  Help us to truly acknowledge You and truly give thanks from the depths our heart and soul.  We are a blessed people and You are the reason for that blessing.

Blessings,

#kent

This is the Way, Walk Ye in it

Isaiah 30:21

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

This is the Way, Walk Ye in  it

               Day by day we walk with ears and heart open, straining that we might hear that still small voice that speaks unto us the mind and the will of God.   As we abide and spend time in His Word we listen as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts, convicting us, teaching us, exhorting us and imparting unto us wisdom and understanding in the revelation and knowledge of Him.  Each morning we come to Him and we humbly say, “Father, give me this day my daily bread.”  We know so well that we can not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 

               What does God speak to us about walking in Him and His ways?   Deuteronomy 5:33 gives us a commandment with a promise. “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and [that it may be] well with you, and [that] ye may prolong [your] days in the land which ye shall possess.”  We are still possessing that land today.  It is the land of promise and inheritance that we have in Christ Jesus.  It is a land filled with the life, the nature and the character of God.  It is His kingdom come in the earthen man to fill us with the glory and the knowledge of God.  Each day we walk this land, exploring the scenery and the landscape as we listen, watch and obey the still small voice within us.  Some days we walk or stumble in dusk and darkness as we stray from the light of His Word and truth and look back to that from which we came.  The Lord exhorts us, ‘don’t look back to Egypt and the world from which you came, for you were no one and I have made you my own.  I have called you out of darkness into My marvelous light and life.  Here you will find abundant life if You will abide in Me.’ 

               Jeremiah 7:23 says, “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”  We are the sheep of His pasture and the children of His calling.  In Matthew 18:33 Jesus speaks, “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  As trusting, relying and obedient children we must trust and daily rely upon the Father to lead us in the way of righteousness.  Each day as we trust and give our hearts to Him anew in faith, He will lead us step by step into our destiny and calling.  Often that is not a direct route, but He may take us by the way of the wilderness so that He might teach us, prepare us, season us and establish us, before He ever really uses us.  Many of us tend to faint in the heat.  We begin to murmur and complain.  Far too often we can allow fear, doubt and unbelief to fill our hearts.  When we do, we grieve the heart of God.  It is not important that we understand why God does what He does, it is only important that we remember what Romans 8:28-30 teaches us.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” The call of God is upon you and I to walk with Him day by day in all His ways, for He is leading us in the pathways of life.

               2 John 1:6 says, “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”  The proof of our love is that we embrace the commandments of God, His truth, His principles and His ways and that we walk in them day by day.  Our spiritual life and health are dependent upon the way we walk.  Are we walking the High Way of Holiness or have we diverted to the low road of death and destruction? 

               God is holding out to us His word of Life and saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”  It is not an easy walk and it is not always what our flesh would want to choose, but it is the way of life and we don’t have to walk it alone.  We have the Holy Spirit, God’s own voice and presence, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Blessings,

#kent

Unthankful

Unthankful

2 Timothy 3:2

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

               We often talk about thankfulness and especially around Thanksgiving time it is a reminder, or should be, of all that we have to be thankful for.  We talk about thankfulness and all the benefits of being thankful.  It keeps us in a right spirit and frame of mind.  It brings us into the presence of the Father and in fellowship with Him.  It enables us to view life from a perspective of how much we do have rather than what we don’t have.

               What do we know about the unthankful?  On a human relational level, we have probably all experienced times when we’ve made a sacrifice or gone to trouble and expense to try and bless someone and their attitude turned out to be totally unappreciative.  It probably offended or hurt us that there was no appreciation on their part and no reciprocation of gratitude for our effort and thoughtfulness.  That is an ungrateful spirit.  God is often the recipient of an ungrateful spirit with regards to His created ones.  What is it that makes one poor woman with poverty and afflictions so thankful to God and another man so rich, powerful and blessed with health, so cynical and unappreciative?  It seems it should be the other way around, and yet often it is not.  The more some have, the more unthankful they become.  There is a greater sense of self and lesser sense of their need for God.

               In our passage from 2 Timothy today we can see that an unthankful spirit is one of the attributes of men in this last day.  If a person in their midlife compares the attitudes in general of today’s youth and younger generations and those of his childhood, what a difference.  As a rule, there was more respect, especially for those older than you and those in authority.  While more recent generations have been given more and prospered more, their appreciation, respect and gratitude have become less and less.  It has a lot to do with a self-centered mentality.  Instead of appreciating what others do for us, we expect it or think that somehow, they owe it to us.  One need only to read this scripture in 2 Timothy to recognize many of the other attitudes and attributes that accompany this unthankful spirit.  It really stems from an anti-Christ spirit.  It is a sign of a hardened heart.  Romans 1:21 describes it like this, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

               Does God love the unthankful?  Sure He does and they are still blessed just like everyone else. 

How are we supposed to deal with such people?  Luke 6:35 tells us, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”  The thing we must remember if we are among the grateful and the giving, is not to become embittered or resentful toward the unthankful.  They may not appreciate who you are or what you have to give, but then you don’t do it for their gratitude; you do it as unto the Lord as an expression of your gratefulness to Him and to reflect His attitude of mercy and grace upon the ungrateful and unthankful of heart. 

               A truly thankful heart is one that is rich in humility.  A truly unthankful heart is rich in selfishness and conceit. Where are our hearts today with regards to true thankfulness?  Have we ever taken the time to sit down and just write out all the things that we have to be thankful for?  When we do that, we will see why we have so much to thank God for.  Our true thankfulness opens our hearts and spirits to Him and rejoices in His presence and fellowship.

               An unthankful heart closes the door to a God with outstretched arms of love, salvation and grace.  Its focus is always on what I don’t have, what I need and what I want.  It will use and then cast aside all that help it attain its desires.  If we see an unthankful heart in us, even in certain areas of our life, we need to repent.

 ‘We will enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise; be thankful to Him and give Him praise (Psalms 100:4). ‘

Blessings,

#kent

The Deserts of Marriage

The Deserts of Marriage

1 John 4:11

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

               Tears once more roll down the streambeds of her cheeks.  Her heart is broken, discouraged, without hope, as once again she a has surveyed the landscape of her marriage only to see what appears to be but a desolate desert with the only moisture being that of her brokenhearted tears.  Between the sobs and heartbreaks she only sees the ruins of what have been the years of her youth, the investment of her life, feelings and emotions.  Dispersed in the pain are the feelings of anger and resentment that are like the cactus and thorns that are among the few things that now grow in this desert that is called a marriage. 

               Somewhere, in another room, another place or perhaps a bar, there is a man sitting quietly with his head hung down and a lump in his throat.  Is this finally the end of the line?  Has our love totally shriveled up and died?  Has my insensitivity and inability to meet her needs put the final nail in the coffin of our marriage?  Have my selfishness, my insensitivity and her continual nagging and criticism brought the closing act to our marriage? 

               Both lost in their thoughts and hurts think back to when they first met, their younger days of romance and early marriage.  How different it was then.  It was like the Garden of Eden.  They were so in love.  They never wanted to be apart.  They thought about each other constantly and there was hardly a time when either of them could do wrong in the other’s sight.  Things were so perfect.  They dreamed together, they talked of what the future would hold for them and what they might accomplish together.  Their hearts were swollen full of love and joy.  They had found the perfect mate, the one that would fulfill all their dreams, expectations and fantasies.  She would be the perfect submissive wife.  She would live to meet and fulfill all his needs.  She would cook and sew, raise the kids, make the place a lovely home, always continue to be cheerful, joyful and full of love.  She would be there when ever he needed her to meet his every need as his companion, friend and lover. 

               She likewise had the picture in her mind that he would always be there to share his heart with her, to spend lots of time communicating and talking.  He would always be fun, exciting and making her laugh.  He would often show up at the door with gifts and surprises, take her to unexpected places and constantly sweep her off her feet with romantic ways.  He would be her security, her tower of strength.  He would provide for all the desires of her heart and fulfill all the dreams she had as girl.  He would become rich, but still have bountiful quantities of time to spend with her.

               As our honeymoons fade into the reality of everyday life we start to gain a greater and greater revelation of shortcomings of this one that we married.   Many times, our enchanted dreams of all that our marriage would be begin to slip into disillusionment as this person of our dreams begins to become more of the nightmare of disappointment to us.  That person that could do no wrong, slowly becomes that person that can do no right.  We begin to verbalize these complaints in hopes of changing our spouse’s behavior.   On the other hand, they are seeing all the places that we disappoint them and fail to meet their expectations.  Most often a lot of shouting gets done, a lot of emotion gets expressed, but the results are far less than we hoped for because our alienation from one another only deepens and our intimacy grows less and less.  We find ourselves dividing from the oneness we once shared into two emotionally separated islands dwelling under one roof.   Hurt, resentment and anger continue to grow into walls of division, until we find ourselves at the place where this couple now stands, at the door of separation and divorce. 

               Jesus said in John 15:12-13, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  Who is a closer friend than our spouse has been.  Are we failing to keep the commandment of Christ when we fail to truly love one another?  There may be a hundred reasons why they are unlovely and unlovable to you, but we have to factor in who we are in Christ Jesus.  Did we have to earn our love from Him?  Did He wait till we were good enough and met His expectations before He came and gave His life for us?  Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”   When we see our human love in the light of His agape love, we see how shallow and empty it can be.  The greatest problem for all of us in our marriages is our own selfishness.  At the center of all our complaints is “my need isn’t being met.”  Often one of the greatest problems for our disillusionment with our spouse is that we may have entered into marriage expecting them to meet areas of need in us that only Christ can meet.  They are never going to be able to meet those needs in you.  They are not a replacement for your intimate relationship with your Savior.  We need to be complete and secure in our Lord before we ever enter into a relationship with a spouse, because He is your source of true and greater love.  He is the one you can turn too, not only when your spouse fails to meet your needs, but also when you fail to meet theirs.  We should enter into marriage and keep the perspective that I married that person to make them happy, marriage is not about me, it is about them.

               When we gave ourselves in marriage we pledged the most important part of ourselves to one another, our hearts.  It is to the shame of many of us that we have become very careless with that precious commodity that was entrusted into our care.  Often we have dropped it, stepped on it, abused and misused it.  We have not tenderly loved, protected and cherished it like we promised to do.  If we are to keep Christ’s commandment of love, even to the one we promised to love, it can only truly be revealed as we abide in His unselfish love.  If our commitment could be again to always submit ourselves to one another in unselfish love.  Can we have enough of the unselfish love of God present in us that we would make it a priority to consider and minister to our spouse before ourselves?   Can we obey the Word of God to release the offenses, the hurts and the unforgiveness that have become the walls of separation between us?  If we can’t truly exercise and practice the love of God in our homes, how will we succeed in demonstrating it to the world? 

Don’t lose your hope.  Don’t give up or give in, there is a love that conquers even death and it can bring life back into your marriage.  Let us come together and commit our hearts as one before Him who is our reconciliation.  What is impossible for man is not impossible with God.  When we become reconciled to God’s will and love for our lives with each other we will find again the joy and fulfillment that we had lost.  Streams will come again into the deserts of our relationships, as the love of Christ is truly manifested in our hearts and lives.  God hates divorce, but He has made a way for us to experience and find more abundant life in our marriages, if we are willing to become one in Him and the unselfish nature of His love.

               Ecclesiastes 4:12, “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”  Think of the natural and spiritual strength that you have, as the two of you are one in Christ.

Blessings,

#kent

A Call to Respond

A Call to Respond

Luke 9:61-62

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

We have heard a call to respond to Christ in our lives.  Some of us have heard the calling to salvation and relationship and others have heard even deeper callings to service and ministry.  Whatever our calling we so often don’t want our separation from what we were called from to be without strings and attachments.  We still hold affection for those former things.  What Jesus speaks in the scripture is a hard thing.  Most of us would feel that the man’s request to say farewell before following Jesus was not unreasonable.  It makes me think about how many times that the Lord has impressed upon my heart to do something or say something and I’ve hesitated, procrastinated or felt I would do it when I finished doing something else first.  The Lord is speaking to our hearts to really come to full and unconditional surrender of all other affections with regards to the kingdom of God.   The Lord is asking for a commitment from us where we will not turn around and look back at what we left behind and what we were called out from.  He wants our immediate obedience and complete faithfulness. 

We have been called to press in, press on and prevail through our faith in Christ our Lord.  We have come out of death and into life.  We can no longer turn back to death that is now behind us.  We must press on with faith and obedience into the Life that’s before us.  Perhaps it is our hesitancy and lack of full obedience and response to Christ that makes us lukewarm and unpalatable to the Lord that he would spew us out of His mouth.  Our love for Christ is demonstrated and seen in our obedience to Him.  Today He is calling us to let go of what we are holding onto, the former things of the world that are anchors and hindrances to our relationship and service to Him. 

Hebrews 12:1-3 exhorts us, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”   A soldier, when he enlists, no longer has an allegiance to himself, but to the one he has enlisted to serve.  Our calling is no different. 

Blessings,

#kent