How Desperate are You?

Matthew 15:21-28

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” 23Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” 27″Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

How Desperate are You?

If the testing of our faith is much more precious than gold, then should we be discouraged when it seems the Lord is ignoring us and refuses to hear us.  This story of the Cannanite woman teaches us a valuable lesson about “great faith”.  All of us move in a measure of faith, but it is interesting that in the New Testament Jesus saw great faith coming not from the Jews, but from the gentiles.  Those that grasped who He was had an unshakable faith in what He could do.

In Matthew 8:8-13 Jesus speaks again of great faith concerning the Roman centurion.  “The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.”  One of the things that we observe here in both the woman and the centurion is that they are not looking for proof of who Jesus is or if He can perform a miracle of even that He be physically present to perform a miracle.  All they need is a word.  If Jesus will speak the word then they know they have that which they have petitioned Him for. 

These stories should be somewhat sobering to us as Christians, because I think we now are where the Jews were then.  We are God’s chosen and the blessings and promises are first to us, but we, like the Israelites then often fail to have a great faith to lay hold of and seize what the Lord has already provided for us.  These gentiles, even though they knew that promises were not directly or first to them, didn’t allow that to dissuade them in their quest for Jesus to meet their need.  What is even more unusual is that neither one of these gentiles were seeking a miracle for themselves, but for someone else.  Their faith was standing in the place of that other person who was too sick to stand for himself or herself.  There are those that are outside of Christ today that may be actually, exercising and demonstrating a greater faith than we who have trusted in Christ, but we have become lax concerning our faith.  Jesus honored these gentiles’ faith because they seized the kingdom of heaven by force.  They refused to be denied and they pressed in until the Lord acknowledged their plea.  They don’t presume to be anything or deserve anything, but they obviously had a revelation of the nature of God in Christ.  They knew first that He was able and they knew that He went about doing good.  They prevailed upon His goodness.  They knew that even the leftovers of God’s goodness and grace were sufficient to meet their needs. 

If the Lord is willing to do this for the gentiles, what is He willing to do for us if we will exercise this great faith?  If we are so desperate for God that we refuse to be denied, will He do any less for us?  We have the wealth and the riches of the kingdom at our fingertips.  Philippians 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.”  The promise is there, but what is our motive?  Is our motive to make ourselves rich or to be the instrument to bring the riches of Christ’s love and promises to others?  Great faith was seen in Abraham when he was willing to offer Isaac in obedience to God and He knew God would supply and make a way.  Great faith was seen in Moses when he stood as an intercessor for the Israelites.  Great faith was seen in Christ when He offered Himself up for the sins of the whole world.  How will we operate in great faith?  What are we willing to believe God for and act upon in behalf of others?  Often our personal needs are met when we see past them and put others first.  Be desperate for God.  Seize the kingdom with violence and with the determination of Jacob when he wrestled with the angel.  Don’t give up, PREVAIL!

Blessings,

#kent

Eyes Upon the Lord

Eyes upon the Lord

Psalms 121

Lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

What a privilege we have when we are in Christ.  Yes, the sun still shines on the just and the unjust alike, just like we all experience the storms of life as well.  When we are brought face to face with mortality, and death looks back at us in the mirror, what a hopeless and empty feeling must be in those who do not have a relationship with Christ and know not where their help and their life comes from.  The loving arms of the Father are so awesome as He envelopes His own and draws them near to His heart.  When we can read scriptures like Psalms 121 and know in our hearts that our mighty God loves and cares for us so much, what a feeling of security and comfort that brings us.  We all have our bumps, spills and hurts in life.  It is inherent in the world we live in.  We live in a world that is still reaping the consequences of sin, but within us beats a resurrection, new creation, heart.  A heart that longs after God and has the assurance that nothing that we go through in life we must go through alone.  He is our Comforter, our Abba Father.  He feels and knows our heart.  He recognizes the frailty of our frame, that we are dust.  In these few brief moments that we tread this earth, we have found the joy of a life with purpose and fulfillment in Christ.  What we have found in Christ, even physical death can not take that away from us, but simply releases our spirit from this earthen vessel so that we may come fully into His presence. 

We have come to know that physical death is not our greatest fear, but spiritual death, a life devoid of God’s Spirit and relationship with Him; that is the greatest tragedy of all.  Without Him, what do we have but emptiness of soul, of purpose and a life that can only be lived for the present?  Without Him we only have the vain philosophies, religions and the devices of men.   What a sad and empty place to find ourselves in and then we die to face what?

It should never cease to astound us nor should we ever fail to appreciate the Lord and give Him praise for what a blessed and rich people we are who have come to know Christ.  We are not any better than the rest of the world in our own right, but God’s grace and salvation has and is taking us to levels of richness and blessing that we can not even fully comprehend. 

When we face adversity, trials and even death in our lives, we have a hope that is so precious to us.  It is our Lord we can cling too, depend upon and hope in.  He is not just a crutch for weak-minded Christians as the world may mockingly say; He is the substance of our life.  All that we now are is rooted and grounded in Him.  Whether we live or die we are the Lord’s.  The assurance we have in Christ is the Peace that Jesus spoke of that the world can not give. 

As you lift your eyes today, remember where your help comes from.  The Father loves you with a deep and unconditional love.  Your life is hid with Christ in God.  The world can never know the hope, the assurance and the security that we have because we are His own.  You are the apple of your Father’s eye.  He loves you.  He is proud of you and He sees the righteousness of His Son in you.  We are a very blessed and privileged people.  Never forget or lose sight of who you are and all that is yours in Christ. 

Thank You Father!  Thank You Jesus!

Blessings,

#kent

Countenance

Psalms 43:5

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.

Countenance

Your countenance is that which is revealed of you through your face.  We can often read the condition of a person’s soul by their facial expressions.  It is a non-verbal communication of an inward state of being.  In this scripture from Psalms we gather that David’s countenance is suffering because of what he is wrestling with in his soul.   We know our soul is partly made up of our emotions and our emotions are most often reflected upon our face.  Oh we can put on fronts and be pretentious about our feelings by changing our countenance, but in reality, if we are truly being ourselves our countenance will bear out our emotional state.  What we see in David here is that he knows that his soul is troubled, distressed, depressed, fearful, anxious and worried.  It is the Spirit man, the anointing within David that ministers to his soul.  It begins speaking faith, hope, and trust in the Lord.  It begins to praise God for who He is.  The Spirit man begins to remind David’s soul of God’s promises, of His faithfulness and the confidence he has in the Lord.  It takes the eyes of the soul off of the present circumstances and places them upon the Lord of glory who is our healer, our supply, our deliverer and our salvation.  Through the ministry of the Spirit, the soul is encouraged, lifted up and again a healthy countenance returns to the outer man, because of the transformation that has taken place within. 

Proverbs 15:13 says, “merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”  Our countenance and our heart condition are directly related.  When we are full of joy our face will reflect that joy.  When we are in sorrow our faces will reflect that sorrow.  That is why Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  In Psalms 21:1-2 David declares, “The king shall have joy in your strength, O LORD;

And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! 2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah”  

Our confidence, our relationship and God’s promises to us are a source of our joy and the lifting of our countenance when life is dealing us some hard and discouraging blows.  Don’t set your eyes upon your circumstances, but hope, trust and give God the praise for what you do not see and what you do not feel.  Allow Him to lift your countenance in the joy of His presence.  Jesus is the mountain in the midst of your valley so let your soul be lifted up and be encouraged in Him.  Put a smile on your face and a song in your heart and declare that the Lord is the glory and the lifter of your head.

I leave you with these passages from Psalms 3 and 89.  “O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. 7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah”

Psalms 89:15-17, “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.16 In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted.17 For You are the glory of their strength, And in Your favor our horn is exalted.”

Blessings,

#Kent

Forgiveness is in the Forgiving

Forgiveness is in the Forgiving

Matthew 6:12-15

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Forgiveness is a subject we have talked about before and while we accept the words of Jesus here in theory, how are we at practical application?  When someone really wrongs you, hurts, betrays, cheats or deceives you, how quick are we to release forgiveness.  Most all of us go through those times in our lives when we have every justification to really hate someone and not forgive them in the natural way of thinking. 

Allow me to use myself as an example here that may not be so different from something you have experienced and quite possibly you have experienced worse.  Recently I met a lady and did some work for her.  She is a professing believer, her dad she has told me, is a preacher and her mom a missionary.  She is a businesswoman running several companies.  She hires me last minute to do some work for her the same day and then the next day.  Each time she keeps me waiting three or four hours before her and her people are ready to go.  Both days we work quite late.  Now I have asked for a $500 retainer up front which she has her assistant pay me with a check.   Making a long story as short as possible she owes me over $1500 dollars for the work I have done for her.  While she has made many promises to pay she hasn’t.  What is worse is, I have since found out that a number of other people, including other photographers are owed money they haven’t been paid.  What is even worse is the check for the $500 came back after about two weeks with insufficient funds.  This is about the time I reached the end of my patience, put in a call to lawyers, and let the lady in a stern and blunt way know that I was ready to take action if she didn’t get this resolved.  Her promise was to pay me half in cash the next day and then the other half a few days later.  Well, again she didn’t follow through.  Do I have every right to be angry and sue her?  You bet, in the world I do, but what is God’s way?  If I pursue a legal course of action and do all that I can to expose her fraudulent behavior, have I really forgiven her?  Here is the practical place where our faith and trust in God and obedience to His Word has to override our natural feelings, emotions, anger and lack of forgiveness.   Does she deserve for me to forgive her?  Did I deserve for Christ to forgive me?  If I harbor that unforgiveness who is the one that is damaged most by it, her or me?  The Word says if I don’t forgive others, neither can God forgive me.  My personal forgiveness from God is dependent upon my forgiving others who have offended and wronged me. 

There are areas where some of you have been deeply wounded and hurt, far more than I was.  Perhaps, you may feel it is impossible for you to forgive that person or persons.  We often have to leave the judgement and the vengeance to God, that is His and not ours.   The key to our emotional and spiritual healing in these times begins with us simply confessing and giving it over to the Lord.  Our emotions and feelings may not be there yet, but if we can begin to take the step of faith to release those who have offended us, then we have taken a step toward our own emotional healing and recovery. 

Matthew 5 is full of principles that are utterly contrary to natural thinking and reasoning.  In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

I have shared this today so that in a practical way we all might see that God is wanting us to conform to the higher standard of His Word.   These kind of experiences are where the rubber meets the road and we have to live what we say we believe, otherwise how are we any different than those who have offended us? 

Blessings,

#kent

Where Your Mind is Set, Your Heart Will Follow

Colossians 3:1-3

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Where Your Mind is Set, Your Heart will Follow

Even the world has discovered the power of the mind and this principle of where our mind is set.  It is one of the reasons that we set goals and organize our plans.  If our mind is steadfastly set upon something, we are far more likely to accomplish it than if it is a whimsical, “I hope I do that” or “I would like to accomplish this”.   We tend to accomplish and attain that which is of the greatest priority in our own mind.  That can be either good or evil depending upon where our mind and affections are set.  Our affections deal with our heart and emotions.  The heart is usually more subjective in its feelings.  It is like a wife with her husband.  The husband may be responsible for the decisions that are made, but the wife is a strong influence upon the mind.  The mind is always wanting to please the heart and if the heart is set upon the wrong things, then that can get you into trouble and cause you to miss the will and purpose of God.  Here we are exhorted to bring the mind and heart together in one common purpose and that is to seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  We are reminded that we have died to the former affections of this world and our life, along with our mind and heart, is hidden with Christ in God.  This is a key verse, because it tells us where our position and our spiritual residence are.  If we are hidden with Christ in God, then that pretty much lets us know that our purpose and our destiny are centered and grounded in Him.  The exhortation for us here is to make sure that our heart and our mind are in alignment with our position and who we are in Christ. 

We remember what Jesus said was the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:26-30, “”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”   Our obedience to the exhortation we have here in Colossians 3 is in direct alignment with fulfilling and walking in the commandments of God.  Jesus said, ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.’  These four verses layout an outline, goal and the mindset for our lives. 

In 2 Corinthians 10:2-6 Paul differentiates his standards from those of the world.  “I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For 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.”  Isn’t this a good explanation of setting your heart and mind on things above?  For most all of us, our biggest stumbling block is our own stinking thinking.  We have to shift our paradigm and way of thinking to line up with who we now are in Christ.  Our greatest victory comes when we are identified with His life and not our former nature.   The enemy’s greatest victory is in keeping us in our former mindset of this world’s standards.  Our thinking, acting and even our reasoning must now come out of a regenerated and transformed mind.  It is just as Romans 10: 1-3 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do 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.”  Where our mind is set, our heart will follow, but if we fail to keep our mind set upon the things above, the things below will distract us and turn our affections and attention to the things that are soon to pass away and upon the things which the judgement of God is soon to come.  Hebrews 12: 1-3 exhorts us this way, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Our lives are now hid with Christ in God; it is God’s will and purpose that we keep our minds and hearts there as well.  Paul described that position so well when he said in Galatians 2: 20,

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  

Blessings,

#kent

Container of God

John 14:9-14

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 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.

Container of God

Philip asks a rather superficial question of Jesus that evokes a response from Jesus that unveils all that He is.  “Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Philip, like so many of us, is only focused on the outward and so he, like so many of us, misses the real truth.  The truth was the Father had been there all the time in the person of Jesus.  Their lives and identity are woven as one and you can’t have one without the other. 

What is the relationship that Jesus Christ is communicating to His disciple in these last hours that He has with them? There is such a powerful truth here that we so often read over it, but like Philip, we really haven’t grasped its reality.  Jesus tells Philip (paraphrasing), “I am the expression and the manifestation of my Father.  He who is Spirit is revealed to you through my flesh.”  What we see in Jesus, His life, His words, His love and His expression is Father’s nature and character expressed through humanity, into humanity.  No one had ever gotten closer to touching and seeing God than when they beheld and touched the life form of the Father in Jesus.  What Jesus expresses here and through his Spirit anointed prayer in John 17 are truths that we seldom dare to truly believe and embrace.  In John 17:20-23 Jesus prays, “”My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.””

Jesus came into the world hidden from the world’s view, because He was nothing significant or important as the world views it.  Those who truly know their identity in Christ are most often like Jesus, insignificant in the world’s eyes.  What sets the true people of God apart is that they are embracing the reality and truth that as the Father was in Jesus, so Christ is in us.  Even as Jesus grew up obscured from public view.  Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”  God is maturing Sons (both men and women) that are the expression of His divine character and nature.  These Sons are not their own.  They have relinquished self for sonship, even as Jesus was not His own.  What He heard the Father speak, He spoke and what He saw the Father do, He did.  As the Father had expression through the Son, so the Son has expression through us as we will yield our beings to Him.  Jesus relinquished His will for God’s will, just as we must also relinquish our will for His.  Jesus, through His prayer to the Father and later through the giving and imparting of the Holy Spirit into us as believers, He came into us with the purpose of being one with us.

Can we hear that today or are we like Philip who could only see the superficial relationship, but hadn’t truly grasped that Jesus Christ and the Father were one?  We see and often view the Father and Christ as up in heaven and if we keep looking up we will see him come back some day.  That is a Philip mentality.  The Christ is right here with you.  He is residing in you.  Many of us have just lacked the revelation of who we are in Christ.  We are still identifying ourselves in an old Adam mentality.  We are still looking into the natural mirror and seeing Adam reflected back rather than looking into the mirror of God’s Word and seeing Christ reflected back.  Who are you going to embrace and believe? 

Ephesians 2:5-6 declares, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”  Why are we looking up to heaven when we are already seated there in Christ?   Even as Jesus Christ was the kingdom of God come into the earth, He wants to establish His kingdom through a many membered Christ.  Unless the His kingdom is come and His will is done in you first how can it be made manifest to the world? 

Has the Son been with you all this time and yet you have not seen Him?  Jesus makes an almost incomprehensible statement here in John 14:12-14, “12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 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.”  If you have the spiritual eyes to see and the faith to receive, then Jesus is telling you what He has just demonstrated through His life, you can do in like manner through yours if you know who you are in Him.  This is not about you being God or having a God complex.  This is about you being dead and Spirit of Christ being released to live through you.  It is all right there, resident in you now if you be in Christ.   Embrace the identity you have in Him, for He created you and purposed you to be a container of God. 

Blessings,

#kent

The Righteous Shall not be Moved

Psalms 55:22

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

The Righteous Shall Not Be Moved

If we go back and read the context of Psalms 55 we’ll find that David wasn’t in a warm and fuzzy place when he wrote this.  He was surrounded by evil and wicked men that sought his life.  Even his close friends would betray him.  So how could David write something like this in a place like that?

Was he troubled by the circumstances around him?  Obviously, he was, because he describes them at length in this prayer to the Lord.  Here is the thing that we see about David, and it applies to us, “in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world,” said Jesus.  Our circumstances don’t dictate our position and state of being with the Lord, our faith in Him does.  Through all that David endured as he fled from Saul’s endeavor to kill him and all of the perils that he faced, he kept his eyes upon the Lord. 

Listen to how David starts this Psalm, ” Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;

2hear me and answer me.  My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught 3at the voice of the enemy,

at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.

4My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.

5Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.”

Do we ever wrestle with fear, doubt and unbelief in the light of the circumstances we see around us?  And where is God in all of this?  Maybe He is not showing up and doing what we think He should be doing at the time we think He should be doing it.  This didn’t move the faith of David, because even when he might have been wrestling with faith in his soul of mind, will and emotions, he was not moved in spirit, except to greater dependence, trust and reliance upon the Lord.  In verses 16 through 18  David writes, ” But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  17Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.  18He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.”  David’s confidence and faith were so great in the Lord that he did not allow the outward things to move him from his faith and reliance upon God.  He couldn’t control his circumstance or even how God did or didn’t move, but he could put his life and dependence upon the One whom He knew could rescue him out of such peril. 

When David speaks these words, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved,” he is speaking from a place of spiritual experience and confidence in His God.  He obviously doesn’t mean we won’t go through anything, but what He is confident of, is that, if we will put all our worries and troubles upon the Lord, He is faithful to sustain and keep us through our trials.  God won’t allow that to move us from our position and place in Him.  Outward circumstances can’t define who we are in Christ if we keep our faith and eyes upon Him.

We may observe perceived injustices where the wicked seem to triumph and prosper.  David once shared this feeling.  In Psalms 73 he writes, “This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.  13Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.  14All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.” 

Maybe we have shared these sentiments at times when it seemed all we were getting was the short end of the stick, while the wicked prospered.  Then David goes on to make this observation, “If I had really spoken this way to others, I would have been a traitor to your people. 16So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper.  But what a difficult task it is!  17Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.  18Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. 19In an instant they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors.” 

What we must always remember is God is always faithful regardless of what we see or understand in the moment.  “When you don’t understand His hand, trust His heart!”

Blessings,

#kent

Spiritual Senses

Matthew 13:10-17

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ” ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Spiritual Senses

All of us are aware of five natural senses of touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing, but not all are aware of the spiritual senses that we possess.  What did Jesus mean when He quoted Isaiah as saying, “’You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving?” 

In the natural realm the eyes see, the ears hear and the mind processes that information.  Spiritual things aren’t naturally discerned, so when we hear spiritual truths without the Holy Spirit they are not spiritually discerned.  Jesus makes it clear hear that even a religious person can know all about God, but still be spiritually blind and deaf. 

In John 9 we read of Jesus healing a blind man on the Sabbath, the interrogation of the blind man and his parents and then the blind man’s reply that ‘only a man sent from God can heal the blind’.  This gets him excommunicated and afterwards Jesus finds him to share this truth in John 9:35-41.  “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36″Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

37Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” 

The blind man not only regained his natural sight, be receive and a revelation and insight that this was the Messiah.  He received spiritual as well as natural sight.  Whereas the Pharisees who claimed they had spiritual understanding were blind to the Messiah that stood before them, not seeing, hearing or perceiving the things of the Spirit. 

Jesus gives this application of spiritual as opposed to natural seeing and hearing when he rebukes his disciples in Mark 8:14-21. “The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15″Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

16They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

20″And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

21He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

We see here some principles for spiritual seeing and understanding.  It involves spiritual understanding, remembrance of what we understood and application of what we understand and remember.

We are people of God in whom the Spirit of God is supposed to be dwelling, but we can become dull of spiritual seeing and hearing just as the disciples did.  The more we walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit the more dull and callused we become. 

Finally, James 1:21-25 gives us this insight into spiritual seeing and hearing, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

We serve a God who is Spirit.  He has given us a spiritual book to reveal Himself.  It only follows that we must have the mind of the Spirit if we are to have understanding of it.  Even though you have revelation and understanding, revelation without remembrance and application spiritualizes us, but doesn’t make us fruitful.

Blessings,

#kent

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

Ephesians 1:7-10

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

Forgiveness is a word that we use a lot and often fail to really consider the depth of what it implies and what it accomplishes.  Forgiveness is a necessary ingredient before any true restoration and reconciliation can take place in a relationship where an offence has occurred on the part of one or both parties.  Where an offence remains not forgiven, it may be pushed down or ignored by the offended one, but when forgiveness is not released it is like getting a splinter under the skin.  Even a small splinter that is not released will begin to fester and be a constant source of agitation until it is removed. 

God, in His great wisdom, saw all the offences we committed toward Him as human beings.   While we might have good intentions, we have come to realize that God’s standards of holiness and righteousness are not obtainable in our fallen state and so we are a constant source of offense to Him.  We have come to realize that under God’s mandate and law we are all destined for judgement and the eternal consequences for our sins.  This was not God’s plan.  His plan was to provide for us forgiveness.  Through the sacrifice and the shedding of the blood of His perfect Son, He could extend release and pardon to us for our offences and sin.  God’s heart is to reconcile, redeem and restore His creation back to Himself and He paid the ultimate price to do so.  We all know what we deserve, but the mercy and grace of God said, “no”.  He has extended to us the olive branch of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation through the blood of His own precious Son.  God, in Christ, has done all the hard part for us and all we have to do is extend the hands of faith and receive this great and precious gift of forgiveness and pardon. 

Imagine that you have murdered someone in the heat of passion, and you have been tried, found guilty and sentenced to death.  Nothing you can do, can undo the consequences of your sin.  Then one day the son of the president comes to you and says, “You know that you have committed a crime and the debt and punishment for that crime has to be paid.  I am here to take your place, pay for the crime and let you go free.  It will be just as if you had never committed that crime.  It will be erased from your record.”  If you accept this exchange, then the doors to the prison open and you are free to go.  As if that were not great enough, the president’s son tells you that now that you are free, he wants you to assume the position of the president’s son with all its rights, powers and privileges.  Wouldn’t we be a fool not to accept such an offer?  Obviously, in turn we would owe the president and his son our lives for that exchange.  Obviously, what he is offering is far better than what we were facing.  We don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.  The point is that if we never accept the pardon and we hold on to our offence then it can never be pardoned or released.  With every gift given there is an exchange, but for the exchange to be complete it must be received.  The gift isn’t mine till I accept it from you, and I can never open it and experience its contents until I am willing to reach out, take it and open it.

In our human relationships, forgiveness is an important part of our interactions with one another.  We offend and hurt one another rather intentionally or unintentionally all the time and we need to ask and extend to one another forgiveness.  As Christians we are commanded of God to forgive others as Christ has forgiven you and gave Himself for you.  Many of us are struggling with our relationship with both God and man because we have been unwilling to release forgiveness.  It doesn’t mean that we extend forgiveness and are expected to continue in a hurtful or destructive situation given a choice, but we need to forgive to set ourselves free.  It is the only way we can get those splinters of offense out of us.  When we withhold forgiveness, we create a dam that withholds the love of God from flowing through us.  We close our heart and emotionally detach ourselves. 

Many of us need the restoration and the reconciliation that can only come, as we are willing to release forgiveness.  We can’t always be responsible for the other party accepting it, but we can release it and thereby release ourselves.  Often pride, on both sides, is the greatest hindrance to our reconciliation.  You can see why God loves humility in us, because it is not too proud to say when it is wrong and it is not too proud to forgive someone, even when they don’t deserve our forgiveness. 

Unfortunately, our unwillingness to forgive can become for us a puddle of self –pity that we continue to wallow in and feel sorry for ourselves.   We can do the same thing with our unwillingness to receive forgiveness.  We remain in the bondage of our offenses.  

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful instruments of love that the Lord has ever given to us.  We all need to take it, use it and exercise it often.  Nothing can set us free and restore right relationships like forgiveness.  It can unlock the many prison doors of our hearts and sets us free to love and be loved with the love of God. 

Search your heart and if you find their a hurt, a wound and offense that someone has committed either intentionally or unintentionally, exercise the gift of Father’s love and forgive them.  You are right.  They may not deserve it, but then neither did we.  When we set others free, we free ourselves and become again an instrument and a heart that God’s love can flow through.

Blessings,

#kent

Acknowledge Your Guilt

Jeremiah 3: 13-18

Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’ ” declares the LORD.

14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the LORD, “men will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.

Acknowledge Your Guilt

Jeremiah spoke these words to what the Lord called a faithless Israel and faithless Judah because they had forsaken the Lord and committed spiritual adultery through their idol worship and foreign gods.   What God is speaking to us is that we also have become complacent about where we put our affection, our hearts, our eyes and our worship.  Father is speaking to us today to examine our hearts and be honest about all the things in our lives that take our time and attention away from Him.  The Lord is not here to condemn us, but to awaken us to the urgency of this hour and to the spiritual condition of our heart. 

What are some of our idols today?  Materialism, shopping, fashion, sports, television, eating, computers, games cell phones and texting, hobbies, social functions, religious activities, pleasing others, being successful, pornography, work, parties and all of the areas that cater to our flesh, take our attention from the Lord, but are spiritually barren and unproductive.  We most often don’t really acknowledge that a lot of these things in our life are wrong or need to be dealt with.  We have our time slot for God and that should be adequate in our mind.  For those of us who are in that mind-set, how is that working for you in having a close and intimate relationship with your Savior?  Are you hearing His voice?  Are you experiencing His presence? 

Jeremiah wasn’t very popular, because God used him as a mouthpiece to speak some very unpopular messages in his day.  Today He is speaking this message to us.  “Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’ ” declares the LORD.”  This is the scripture the Lord spoke into my spirit as I sat down to write this morning.   He is speaking into the hearts of each one of us to honestly examine and acknowledge the areas of our spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to the Lord.  He is not putting His finger on our sin to condemn us, for look at His expression of love in the next verse. “”Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”  Father is reconciling us to His heart if we will listen, repent and obey Him.  It is hard for many of us to let go of our past affections and desires, but we are at a fork in the road where we have to choose between the highway to holiness or the low way of judgement and separation.  Choose this day whom you will serve.  Remember when Joshua brought the people of Israel to this point of decision in Joshua 24:15?  “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” 

We are being called to step up into a higher place, a heavenly place that is requiring of us a greater degree of holiness, fidelity and commitment to our God.  How can He use us if we are unfaithful and compromised?  “”Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you…”

Blessings,

#kent