Kingdom Principles (Part 1) Introduction to the Kingdom

Kingdom Principles (Part 1)

Introduction to the Kingdom

Matthew 22:2-14

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son

3And sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they refused to come. 4Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my banquet; my bullocks and my fat calves are killed, and everything is prepared; come to the wedding feast.

5But they were not concerned and paid no attention [they ignored and made light of the summons, treating it with contempt] and they went away–one to his farm, another to his business,

6While the others seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and put them to death.

7[Hearing this] the king was infuriated; and he sent his soldiers and put those murderers to death and burned their city. 8Then he said to his servants, The wedding [feast] is prepared, but those invited were not worthy. 9So go to the thoroughfares where they leave the city [where the main roads and those from the country end] and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.

10And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so [the room in which] the wedding feast [was held] was filled with guests.

11But when the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at a man there who had on no wedding garment. 12And he said, Friend, how did you come in here without putting on the [appropriate] wedding garment? And he was speechless (muzzled, gagged). 13Then the king said to the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

14For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.

               Perhaps this parable of Jesus is a good overall summary of the kingdom of heaven.   Jesus talks much about the kingdom of heaven and speaks many parables about it, but to many of us it is still somewhat of a mystery.  In this parable and illustration, we see the King as Father God, giving a wedding banquet of His Son, which we can easily see is Christ.  Now the kingdom of heaven is not represented specifically as the marriage to the bride, but rather all that are invited to come to the celebration of the union.  In this parable we see the first invitations going out to God’s people who have been invited.  They have been invited through the dispensation of God’s Word, prophecies and promises of a coming Messiah, but they miss it, they reject it, they blow it off because they are to busy with their own things.  In some cases, the servants who bring the message are even abused, persecuted and put to death.  This represents the Jewish nation as a whole.  The Light came to them, but in their darkness, they perceived it not. 

               We can look back over history at the plight of the Jewish people and we can see through the destruction of Jerusalem around 70 AD and on, the people of Israel have been a scattered and persecuted people. 

               Because of Israel’s rejection, as a whole, the invitation to the wedding banquet or to come into the kingdom was extended to gentiles and to all that would respond, both bad and good.  We then see that as the King (God) viewed the guests, that there was a protocol; people permitted to the feast had to have a wedding garment.  We can easily assess from the scriptures that these garments represented the righteousness of Christ and those who wore them needed to be washed in the blood of the Lamb.  There was none permitted to stay that had their own righteousness or garments of the flesh.  Acts 4:12 tells us, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Now we can surmise through other parables that Jesus speaks of the kingdom that there is, for a time, a mixture of those who truly possess the wedding garments and those who don’t.  This one man that was cast out of the wedding may be representative of many who will have to answer to the King in the time of judgement.  We see it in the parable of the wheat and the tares where the two were allowed to grow together until the time of harvest.  Jesus was the kingdom come, but this coming was His first coming as the Saviour and the Redeemer of men.  Through Christ, men could receive the kingdom of heaven into their heart and be recipients of the King and his kingdom.

               Here we have an overall view of the kingdom of heaven as being the place to where we have been invited to Christ.  We see that we both, have to respond and dress appropriately to be acceptable in this kingdom.  We see that many are called, but few are chosen.  Hopefully we have all responded to the invitation and dressed appropriately through asking Christ into our hearts and are putting on Christ.

Blessings,

#kent

Spirits of Influence

Romans 13:12-14

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].

Spirits of Influence

               There are three primary wills that are operating in our lives today: the will of God, the will of man and the will of satan.  We have the right and the good on one side, the evil and the darkness on the other and we are in between.   We know that we are a spirit being, with a soul made up of mind, will and emotion.  Then we have a body that is able to physically and outwardly express that which is resident in our spirit and our soul.   We find that our souls are the battleground for that which possesses our spirit and that which manifests itself through our outward man. 

               As a Christian we have asked Christ to come in and indwell our spirits.  This is the beginning of our salvation experience.  While we have given our hearts and spirits to Christ, what we find is that there still remains spirits of influence in our outward man that continue to seek to find a place of residence and expression through our mortal man. 

               Why is it that as Christians we still display so many attributes of the flesh?  It is because there is still a mixture in our soul of flesh and Spirit.  When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised Canaan land, it was filled with inhabitants already.  The inhabitants were an idolatrous and wicked people.  The absence of the presence and working of the Spirit of God in that place had left it like a fertile field overgrown with weeds, thistle and thorns.  The possession of the land was through a physical and spiritual dispossessing of the former inhabitants and the spirits that possessed them. 

               In our souls today we may well be struggling with spirits of influence that may be quite contrary to the Holy Spirit.  Each one of us has strongholds and weaknesses that the enemy seeks to infiltrate and exploit to his sinister end and purpose.  There may be areas that we are able to overcome relatively easy and have no real power or influence over us, but there are other areas that we struggle with and may feel constantly defeated in. 

               Satan feeds on flesh.  In Genesis 3:14 the Lord curses the serpent, satan and says, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”  If we ask the question, “what dust does he eat?” we find the answer in Genesis 3:19.  “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.”  Our bodies and our flesh are the dust that the serpent and his demonic host feed upon.  When we are in Christ, satan’s only right to us is through our flesh.  Satan had nothing in Jesus, because Jesus didn’t operate out of the flesh, but out of the Spirit.  This is why Romans 13:14 exhorts us to, “put on you the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof.”  What we feed, grows.  When we give place to those areas in our lives that are our weaknesses and areas of temptation then they grow stronger and stronger the more we give them life and place.  The stronger they become the more they bind and imprison us.  This is how the enemy gains a foothold in our lives and through time is able to destroy our testimony and faith.  This is the purpose and the goal of the enemy, to rule us with condemnation, guilt and shame.  The more these strongholds gain place the more isolated and unworthy we feel of God, thus the more we are separated through lack of faith, fear, doubt and condemnation. 

               The reality is God has never stopped loving us and caring for us.  The blood of Jesus has never lost its power of forgiveness, but satan has found occasion through our sin to cause a separation between our God and us. 

               Freedom is in laying hold of the key of faith that will unlock the door to our prison.  God has already set us free in Christ. It is our minds and the deception of the enemy that holds us captive.  The Word exhorts us to denounce the works of darkness.   Romans 13:12 exhorts us, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”  Our liberty is in putting on the armor of God’s Word and truth by faith.  ‘There is no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  We will no longer walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit in Christ Jesus.”  By the Spirit we will put to death the deeds of the flesh and we will take back the land of our soul and mortal bodies through the authority and the power of Christ in us.  We have reckoned ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto Christ.  We will press on, overcoming in that truth.   “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)” 

               Don’t allow the spirits of influence to rob you of your destiny and your purpose in Christ,

“ But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].”

Blessings,

#kent

A Prophet is without Honor in His Own House

Mark 6: 1-6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

A Prophet is without Honor in His Own House

               The passage is such an example of how faith and power so often works or doesn’t work according to our paradigm and mindset.  Jesus had been going about doing great miracles, signs and wonders.  He went about healing all who were sick and oppressed of the devil.  Then He comes back to His hometown.  What is obviously holy and sent of God to others is perceived as common and of no reputation among the home folk.  Why?  They saw this Jesus grow up from a young boy.  They knew Him as a tradesman and carpenter.  They probably all knew He was rather different and peculiar, but they always saw Him and knew Him after the flesh, but never really perceived who He was in the Spirit.  Consequently, when He comes to His hometown they can’t receive the maturity that He has come into as the Son of God and the Messiah.  Certainly, they were amazed by what they heard from Him as He taught and that He even did miracles, but they couldn’t get away from that natural perception of Jesus before He was demonstrating in power and authority the kingdom of God among them.  Their minds couldn’t let go of the humanity of Jesus in that He was simply the son of Mary and Joseph and that His family still lived among them.  So why is He suddenly so special?  In their eyes He is an ordinary person with a flesh and blood family.  How does He make Himself out to be so holy and sent of God?  As a result, they took offense at Him and could not receive Him for who He was.   It is among the people that have known you after the flesh who will most likely fail to recognize and honor you after the Spirit.  They still want to keep you in that old fleshly box and earthly paradigm because that is what they knew and understood, but now Jesus doesn’t fit in that box anymore, so they take offense at Him and reject Him as the man of God. 

               Doubt, fear and unbelief are the opposing forces of faith.  Where they exist and are prevalent the power of faith is hindered and unable to work.  These forces were obviously prevalent in the hearts and minds of Jesus’ former neighbors and townsmen.  They deemed that common which was Holy.  We often fall into this same sin as believers.  We often come to regard as common that which holy, sacred and to be honored and highly exalted.  The Lord becomes so ordinary and everyday to us that we often lose sight of His awesome greatness and the immensity of His love and grace that He has bestowed upon us.  It is often reflected in our attitudes, in our lack of obedience and how we flippantly can take Christ or leave Him at will, depending upon our mood or desire.  When we came to Christ we didn’t just give Him part of us; we gave Him all of us.  All that we are belongs to Him because He purchased us from our sins with the price of His own sinless blood. 

               2 Corinthians 5:14-17 tells us, “14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  We can no longer regard Christ from a worldly point of view, even though we see and behold His humanity.  In the same way we can no longer regard one another as just people of the world who are simply flesh and blood.  We must see one another for who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us.  The power and anointing of the Godhead abides in your Christian friend Joe and when God begins manifesting His power through him don’t be offended or surprised.  Even if you have known Joe and even seen his weaknesses and faults, don’t judge him after the flesh.  The power and life of Christ abides in Joe and that power can manifest at anytime to bring Joe into the supernatural moving of God.  What is true for Joe is also true of you, if you are in Christ Jesus.  We can’t treat as common the Lord in our lives, nor can we count as common those who labor among us.  God will blow the lid off of this earthly covering.  It is just a matter of time, maturity and His season.  Don’t be offended when one of your brothers or sisters begins to move in the power of God, rather discern the Spirit of the Lord manifesting through them and honor them as you would the Lord.  Let us not be as the hometown people who knew Jesus the man, but missed the visitation of Jesus the Son of God.  Honor the prophet, even if He is one who has grown up among you.

Blessings,

#kent

Temptation through the Back Door

Mark 14:38

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Temptation Through the Back Door

               How often have we found ourselves in sin because we were in a place of complacency and we had let down our spiritual guard?  We all can easily get distracted with natural things, events and happenings around us.  It is so easy to slip out of that attitude and place of prayer and vigilance, and then find ourselves in a place of giving place to the devil. 

               That word “watch” means exactly that; be on the look out, give attention, be cautious, active.  Take heed lest through a letting down of your guard, laziness, sloth or apathy you give place to temptation.  Because the body and the flesh is weak, we can never be dependent upon our natural abilities to walk in righteousness and not be overcome by sin.  Our walk in the Spirit is what gives us victory over sin.  Romans 8:12-14 tells us, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  We can plainly see here that it is not by the efforts of the flesh that you put to death the flesh.  If the flesh can find in loophole and means by which it doesn’t have to fully die, it will take it.  So much of the sin in our lives is like when we go out into the garden to pull weeds, if we just tear off the top, but don’t get the roots pulled out and we all know that it won’t be long until they come back.  The Holy Spirit can help us find the root of our sin, so that it can be permanently extracted and have no more power over us. 

               Romans teaches us that our power over sin, is by understanding that we live under a new law.  The old law of sin and death brought us into awareness of sin, but didn’t give us victory over it, it condemned us for it.   The new law that we now live under is that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  Under that law we no longer live out of the weakness of our flesh, but out of the strength of the Spirit of God within us.  It is God’s Spirit empowering our spirit that gives us victory over sin and temptation as we walk in Him, relying upon Him and drawing from His strength. 

               As the flesh is ever present to demand its way and to seek its own, we must ever remain vigilant and watchful that we abide in the Spirit and practice the presence of Christ in our lives.  We know by His word that we are dead to the natural man and alive unto Christ, but as long we walk in these natural tabernacles the world, the flesh and sin exerts its influences and pull upon us.            

               This is why knowing your identity is so important.  You can’t be what you are, if you don’t know who you are.  We have the identity of Christ and in that identity of “Christ in us the hope of glory.”  We host His presence and honor Him by allowing Him to have the expression through our lives and no longer the former man of sin. 

               The enemy is always out to rob your identity or to try and give you another.  When he can get our eyes and our heart off of who and what we are, then he can lead us into who we are not.  Maintain that place of watchfulness, vigilance, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)” 

               Let’s end with this exhortation from Ephesians 6, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

               Somebody needs this today to overcome a temptation in your life.

Blessings,

#kent

Put Your Love where Your Mouth Is!

1 John 3:16

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

Put Your Love where Your Mouth is!

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent

The Groan Within

The Groan Within

Romans 8:18-24

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent

In My Name

John 14:13-14

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

In My Name

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent

Distracted but not Dissuaded

Distracted, but not Dissuaded

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent

The Way of a Husband with His Wife

Colossians 3:19

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

The Way of a Husband with His Wife

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent

Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15

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

Forgiveness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings,

#kent