Word of the Lord Concerning our Nation

Joshua 23:16

When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

Word of the Lord Concerning our Nation

Raise up a standard of righteousness lest you perish from your land which I have given you.  What you have formerly known is quickly passing away.  Wickedness has entered in and you have allowed sin to prevail.  My people have not raised up the standard of righteousness and as a result ungodliness has come in.  You have winked at sin and compromised with evil.  You have allowed your garment to become blemished and unclean.  You have taken you eyes off of Me and put them on the world and materialism.  That which has made you rich has also made you corrupt.  You have honored me with your voice while your heart has wandered from me.  It is evident what is before you and if you would change that then you must return to me with all of your hearts, humble yourselves and pray.  Repent of the evil you have allowed to come into your heart.  

It is my people that sets the example for the nation.  They are the standard bearers and the light of righteousness among the people.  When their light dims so does the nation.  Wickedness and evil are always present and seeking opportunity.  You have given them opportunity because you have compromised with the world and have been accepting of its values.  

I am the Lord your God.  I am the One who established this nation and redeemed it from the most powerful of countries.  I set My Name here and it was My standard upon which this nation was founded.  As I raised it up so can I cast it down.  My people Israel were for your example that you would not follow after the same example of disobedience, but even now, you, as a nation, follow in their footsteps.  

Return unto me oh people of God.  Rend your hearts and not your garments.  Repent and bring your heart and values back to the standard of My Word.  It is the people of God that are the spirit of a nation.  If the spirit is not whole, the body will suffer.  This is why I have declared in My Word, ” If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  Notice I am addressing My people who are called by My name.  You are the salvation of your nation and unless you take heed, act and pray your nation will be lost.  

 

blessings

kent

Advertisement

Our Priestly Calling

Our Priestly Calling

1 Samuel 2:21-24

And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD. Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for [it is] no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress. 

In the days of young Samuel the prophet we read of the priest who raised him up in the house of the Lord named Eli.  We read also of the corruption that was in the priesthood through his sons Hophni and Phinehas.  1 Samuel 2:12 says, “Now the sons of Eli [were] sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.”  Belial means worthlessness, good for nothing, unprofitable, wicked, ruin and destruction.   The Word indicates these were very base fellows abusing and misusing their office as priests, along with the offerings, sacrifices and the people.  1 Samuel 2: 17-18 tells us, “Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. But Samuel ministered before the LORD, [being] a child, girded with a linen ephod.” One more account in 1 Samuel 2:22-26, we hear the words of Eli denouncing their behavior.  “Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons; for [it is] no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’S people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.”  It is interesting that at each juncture where we read about the wickedness of Eli’s sons, we read about the spiritual growth and stature of little Samuel.  Samuel was growing up to be the anti-type of Eli’s wicked sons.  Even though he grew up in a household of evil practices and wickedness, Samuel chose righteousness, fear of the Lord and fellowship with the Almighty. 

What is the practical application to us in our relationship with the Lord today?  We see Jesus, somewhat like the type of Samuel growing in the office of a priest, but not of the same order as the natural priesthood which had become corrupt and even anti-christ  in nature.  Hebrews 7:26-28 tells us, speaking of Jesus, “26Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” Revelations 1:10, 5:6 and 20:6 all talk about the saints and how we are the kings and priests of God.  1 Peter 2:9 declares, “But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech [you] as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by [your] good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”  The lesson here is that we are now God’s priesthood.  Do you ever think of yourself as a priest; a representative, ambassador, and officer of His Holiness?  What manner of priests are we in our walk and ministry toward the Lord?  Do we honor and reverence the holy office that God has set us in or are we more like Hophni and Phinehas?  God is raising up the little Samuels of this generation who will minister and walk before Him in righteousness and truth.  We do not want to be a part of the corruption of the former house that uses religion for gain and is a stumbling block to others.  We are exhorted to “abstain against fleshly lust that war against the soul.”  We must learn by God’s grace and strength to live and operate in the calling and office of our priesthood toward God, honoring Him with our lives, our obedience and our sacrificial living and giving.  We are a priesthood after the order of Melchisedec, called forth out of darkness into His marvelous light to manifest the qualities and attributes of our High Priest and King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Blessings,

kent

The Glory of the Latter House

The Glory of the Latter House

Haggai 2:9

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts

There is spiritual principle in the second chapter of Haggai.  I believe it is prophetic of what God wants to do with a people in this day and in this hour if we have ears to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the church.  Through the years and all of our efforts we continue to come up short of God’s highest and His best.  There have been seasons through history that have seen mighty outpourings of God’s Spirit upon the earth and a precious flow of His anointing through various individuals.  For the most part all of our spiritual efforts have fallen short of producing what we saw in the Acts of the Apostles and early church times when God’s Spirit moved so powerfully and miraculously.  That early power of the Holy Spirit had diminished so much through the years that many in the church world have developed the philosophy that these demonstrations of power and anointing were just for the early church to get it started and until the Bible was written.  I believe the often used pretext for this is, “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (1 Corinthians 13:10).”  If the Bible is that which it referred to as the perfect then why are we still living in an “in-part realm of the Spirit”?  I’m not saying the Bible isn’t perfect, I am just saying that the Word is the road map and the life guide to direct us to that which is perfect.  I believe 1 John 3:2 might provide a clearer picture of the perfect that is to come, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”  Until the fullness of Christ is seen upon the earth the “in part” will remain.  In the meantime the spiritual temple needs to be rebuilt.  Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”  When we, His temple, are rebuilt then He will come in all His glory to fill that temple. 

Haggai gives a parable in chapter two that illustrates why we aren’t being blessed and why all that we attempt to do is coming short.  “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests [concerning] the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If [one that is] unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.  Then answered Haggai, and said, So [is] this people, and so [is] this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so [is] every work of their hands; and that which they offer there [is] unclean (Haggai 2:11-14).”  The holy flesh was that which had been offered on the altar of sacrifice and cleansed by fire.  We might see it in the context that we bear holy flesh in the sense of “Christ in us” born in the skirt of our garments of flesh or our bodies.  We are sanctified and made holy by Christ in us, because of our faith and trust in Him.  We are born again spiritually and cleansed of our sin.  While we are made holy by the blood and life of Christ it doesn’t mean that everything we touch shall be holy.  That holiness and cleansing isn’t transferred through our bodies, it is only the Holy Spirit working through us that can sanctify and make holy.  Without His life and power at work nothing is going to happen through us.  On the other hand, if we who possess Christ go out and touch the dead things of this world or have our fellowship with unbelievers we can be defiled and made unclean.  Why?  Because we have touched sin and the death that surrounds it.  As a result we don’t lose Christ in us, but we are defiled and made unclean.  How do we get clean again?  1John 1:7-9 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”There is the process of confession and repentance that again cleanses us through the blood of Jesus.  Are we trying to operate spiritually in a state of defilement and uncleanness?  Is this the reason, “I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye [turned] not to me, saith the LORD (Haggai 2:17).”  God’s desire is to bless us as never before. God desires to move us to that place of repentance, confession and sanctification where we are keeping our lives before the Lord and in a place of right relationship and holiness.  This is the place of blessing and increase he is bringing us too.  “…From this day on I will bless you (Haggai 2:19b).”

 

Blessings,

kent

Spiritual Water

John 4:13-14

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

 

Spiritual Water

 

The setting here is Jesus sitting at Jacob’s well and speaking to this natural woman of Samaria.  Jesus speaks a parable or metaphor that takes her natural needs and transcends them to a spiritual plane.  Here He is taking the essential need that we all have for water, which is a basic compound of life and showing us through this woman that He has something to give us where we will never thirst again.  This woman, like most of us, being naturally minded is still trying to comprehend this truth with the natural mind.  It becomes obvious that Jesus isn’t speaking about giving her some magical natural fluid where she will never experience natural thirst again, but He wants to give her the spiritual water of His life where she will experience having all that she ever needs and will see that all of her needs are met in Him.  Jesus makes this obvious when He tells her to go and bring her husband.  She responds in John 4:17, “I have no husband,” she replied.”  Jesus then says, “”You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” Like this woman, many of us go through life searching for the thing, that person, that experience or whatever it is that will fulfill us.  We are looking for what will give us our sense of purpose and being.  We can keep drinking from the natural wells of this world, but we will always thirst again.  Jesus is trying to communicate to this woman that I am the water that you need. When you drink of Me you are drinking of the eternal water that flows out of the throne of God.  In Me you can be satisfied and fulfilled. What begins as a drink will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  

Many of us have found this truth and have drank of this living water.  Some of us neglect and take for granted the dynamic power and life that is in what we have drank.  We become complacent and again turn our attentions to natural things.  This is a time that we want to be drinking deeply of Him.  We are His springs of living water that are coming forth throughout the earth.   We are His wells of life giving water that can refresh others with this living water.  Every day opportunities present themselves to share life.  Are we seizing those moments and offering the living water to those that are thirsting and searching? We are His springs, but we mustn’t allow ourselves to be a spring shut up and a fountain sealed.  With love and compassion let us give those a drink who are thirsting.  Let us share with them the living water, so that they may never thirst again.  

 

Blessings,

kent

The Authority of Faith

Matthew 8:5-13

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6″Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” 

7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8The 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.

The Authority of Faith

This story of Jesus and the centurion teaches that faith acts upon and through an authority.  This centurion understood what so many of the Jews did not.  He understood that if you need something you have to go to the one in charge of releasing what your need is.  For instance, let’s say that Jesus needed natural protection from those who sought to take His life.  He could have gone to the centurion and presented his need and because the centurion had authority over protection he could have assigned bodyguards to protect Jesus, because that was his authority and position. The centurion had such faith in the authority of Jesus over sickness that he didn’t even have to see a physical act.  All he needed was for Jesus to speak the word and he knew that it would be done. 

The Lord commands a multitude of host of angelic beings.  Hebrews 1:14 says, “14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”  When we are in Christ there is a delegation of authority to act and speak in His name.  Obviously this is not like people being loose canons, with a magic wand speaking and doing whatever they want.  Even Jesus did not act in this way when He had the authority of the Father.  He said in John 5:30, “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.”  Jesus also speaks some very powerful and keywords in John 14:10-14 when he says, “Don’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.”  Our faith in Christ brings us into that place that the Son possessed with the Father. The Father brought forth His will through the Son, because the Son’s meat was to do the will of the Father.  Our meat is to do the will of the Son, and in that place He has granted to us His name, nature and authority to carry out His will.  As we live in Christ and act out of Christ we have authority and the angels themselves carry out the will of that authority and word.  

Faith acts in obedience to the authority that is over it.  In that place of submission and divine authority the will of the Lord is performed through us, His people, because He has given unto us the authority of His name.  

 

Blessings,

Kent 

Enter In, the Third Dimension (Part 2)

 

Enter In, the Third Dimension, Part 2

Hebrews 9:16-22

This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin.  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And [having] an high priest over the house of God;  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

 

This scripture is pregnant with promise and while we as Christians enjoy a greater degree of intimacy and closeness in our relationship with our God, yet there is still an itch in our spirit that cries out to be scratched.  We experience our God’s glory and presence in a measure, but we know that there is so much more we have yet to experience.  In those moments in our walk with our God, when we taste of a deeper revelation and experience of His holy presence, when His Spirit comes over us and we are undone in ourselves and yet sense the fullness of joy and completeness that only His presence can bring, our spirits cry out, “Abba, Father, we want more of you”.  Inwardly we groan and travail because we know that still we haven’t experienced and aren’t walking in the fullness of what He has created us for.  

It is a principle of God that many times God gives us a promise that we lay hold of and enter into by faith, but we don’t always experience the full manifestation until its fullness of time. Abraham had the promises of God, but saw only a small portion of them fulfilled in his lifetime.  God has given us principles here and in the Old Testament examples for entering into the Holy of Holies.  

First, we know that there is no entrance without the blood of Christ applied to our hearts by faith.  Secondly we see that Christ Jesus was not only the sacrifice, but also the high priest and it was only the high priest that could enter into the presence of Almighty God.  In the Old Testament the high priest wore what was called an ephod or breastplate set with two onyx stones. These stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:12).  When the high priest entered into the Holiest of All, all of the tribes and all of the peoples were represented there in that ephod.  We could have no entrance before the presence of God in ourselves, but as believers, by faith, we are in Christ.  The identification of who we are is no longer seen in that former sinful man we were, but in the Christ man that we are, one in Him.  When we come before the Father in faith He no longer sees sinful, corrupt flesh, He sees the righteousness of His Son because we are in Him and covered by His blood.  This is what gives us that boldness to approach His throne.  We don’t come before the Lord with defilement.  The Word says here, “ Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”   We have touched on our ‘approaching in full assurance of faith’, meaning without doubt or wavering.  It says that our hearts should be sprinkled from an evil conscience.  We need to deal with heart issues that aren’t right with the Lord whether that be unforgiveness or sin we are still harboring in our hearts.  These issues need to be dealt with and put under the blood of Jesus.  Otherwise there is a defilement that brings separation.  Our bodies are to be washed with pure water.  It is Spirit and Truth, the washing of the water of the Word, quickened and revealed by the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:24, “ God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.”  It is not about where we worship that matters, it is about how we worship that matters to God.  

Lastly let us discuss this area of worship because it is the atmosphere that God lives in continually.  In heaven around His throne we see the picture that there are multitudes of heavenly hosts of angles and the redeemed of the Lord singing and worshipping their God continually without ceasing.  This is the atmosphere that we need to cultivate within our spirit.  There was a piece of furniture that stood at the entrance of the Holy of Holies.  It was the altar of incense.  The priest would burn sweet smelling incense and wave the smoke of it before the Lord.  This is our praise. Our worship and praise is foundational to our entering into the Lord’s presence.  Praise is used in some 216 verses, so the Holy Spirit is telling us this is a key not to be overlooked in approaching the throne of God.  Psalms 22:3 says, “But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”  If we want to enter in and experience the presence of the Holy One we need to worship in Spirit and in Truth.  We need to create the atmosphere of praise and worship that invites His presence into our midst.  We will experience more of the presence of God in this atmosphere than anything else we can do.  

The body the Lord has given us is His tabernacle.  We have a body, outer court, a soul, holy place, and a spirit, which is our Holy of Holies.  What part of your being are you living out of?

Ours is a progressive walk in the Spirit as we seek to grow up into Christ in all things.  By faith and the blood of Jesus we go through each entrance into a deeper level and experience with God.  We have only touched on a vast subject as we briefly looked at each entrance into the greater depth and dimensions of God.  In conclusion, let us share the vision that Paul had as He pursued the fullness of God for his life in Philippians 3:8-16, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” 

 

Blessings,

kent

Enter In, the Third Dimension (Part 1)

 

Enter In, the Third Dimension

 

As we touch upon the entrance of this Dimension we do so with utmost reverence, respect and awe for in this place the very presence of the Almighty God dwells and resides.  In the Old Testament tabernacle the glory cloud of the Lord rested over this place.  The Holy of Holies was a foursquare room inside of the Holy Place.   It contained the Ark of the Covenant with the Mercy Seat that covered it.  Within the Ark it contained the ten commandments, the golden pot with manna and Aaron’s rod that budded.   In Holy of Holies only the high priest could enter once a year to make a blood atonement for the people of Israel.  The high priest had better be right in his heart and life when he entered into this dimension, because he would fall dead if he entered with any defilement.  He had bells on the bottom of his robe so they could hear if he was still moving and they would tie a rope around his waist in case he died so they could pull him out.  

This is the highest and most holy realm of all.  The Word says that anyone who beheld God would surely die.  Our flesh can’t stand before Him and live.  In this place God was pretty much separated from man.  It was only the blood sacrifice and the atonement that allowed any access at all.  It is important that we see that in every dimension the blood never looses its power, but it is the only substance that provides access into the presence of the Almighty from beginning to end.  This is why Christ Jesus is so central and the key of our salvation is in Him.  In the Father’s eyes He is the sinless Lamb of God, offered upon the cross and His blood was shed for the atonement of all mankind.  The blood of animals only stood as a substitute until the fullness of times came and Christ Jesus came on the scene to be that eternal, once for all, sacrifice for all of mankind, past, present and future.  Not only did Jesus become the supreme sacrifice; He is also the spiritual High Priest of our confession no longer after the Levitical order of the Old Testament priest, but after the order of an eternal priesthood, the order of Melchisedec.  This is explained in Hebrews 7.  There is so much here and I can only hope to begin to touch on it, but Hebrews 7:22-26 says, “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this [man], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” What we now see is that with the New Testament and the advent of Christ there is a new order that changed the old order of how things were.  When Christ Jesus hung upon that cross and gave up the spirit something supernatural and even superspiritual happened.  Matthew 27:51 says, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;” The veil was the thick seven layered curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place.  God was revealing that through the death of His Son, the veil, representing His flesh was torn and access was now provided that had never been available before into this most Holy Place.  Hebrews 9:16-22 says it like this, “This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin.  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And [having] an high priest over the house of God;  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”  

We will continue this in the next session and speak more of Entering In, the Third Dimension.

 

Blessings,

kent

The Undead

Romans 5:12-17

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

 

The Undead

What if all of humanity had become the undead, like zombies, functioning out of a body of consciousness, but dead in spirit?  

What if Spirit life was true life and we never really experienced it because our zombie way of life was the only life we had ever known?   

What if sin had infected all of humanity through one man and brought all of humanity into this state of spiritual death where we no longer lived the life we were created for, but only lived according the dictates, needs and passions of this human corruptible body?  

What if the One who created this race saw this wretched state that humanity had become and desired to make a way for them to be truly alive again, so He commissioned HIs Son, who had the fullness of His Spirit life, to go and come in the body of these undead, but yet having the fullness of Spirit life within Him?

What if He was to grow up in this zombie world and demonstrate to this world what true Spirit life looked like; letting all of the world know that by believing in Him they could die to this zombie life and be born again in the newness of this Spirit life He had come to give them?  

What if He allowed the zombies to kill Him, by nailing Him to a cross so that through HIs death He could take upon HImself all the disease and consequence of sin that had infected every living creature?

What if He were then to rise again, by the power of the Spirit’s resurrection life, conquering this disease of sin, death and the grave and giving the gift of true Spirit life back to mankind by His love and grace?

What if by simply believing in Him and asking HIm into our spirit we could be made alive again and experience a spiritual rebirth that would allow us to live in this Spirit life and partake of the Creator’s divine nature? 

What if the undead zombies, could truly experience and walk in the true Spirit life they were created for again and what if that was available to everybody that would believe and partake of this life?

Why would we want to remain zombies if true Spirit life was offered to us and why would we want to continue living this undead, zombie life when our spirits had been quickened and all the fulness of Spirit life was available for us to grow into? 

Why, as though dead to our former zombie life, would we not wish to live, no longer to ourselves, as the other zombies, but as alive from the dead and sharing this life with the walking dead we live among? 

 

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”  Romans 5:6-11

Are We Easily Offended?

Proverbs 17:9

He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Are We Easily Offended?

What is our first reaction when somebody, ruffles our feathers, steps on our turf, wounds our pride, pushes our buttons or does something hurtful to us?  Don’t we see ourselves as the victim?  The one who has been wronged and hurt?  So our first inclination is to share it with someone who will sympathize with us and reinforce that this person has wronged us.  When an offense is shared and spreads to others it, in turn, brings division and separates us into camps.  As a result there is discord and separation of fellowship and relationship.  Our offense then becomes a stumbling block to others.  

Now as Christians we should know this and not so readily fall into this trap and yet it seems like we are some of the worse when it comes to being offended.  If we truly have our identity in Christ then, are our feelings really the issue or is it about hosting Christ’s presence, love and forgiveness, even in the face of legitimate offenses.  What Proverbs is telling us here is that if we are the promoters of God’s love, then love covers a multitude of sins, even as the love of Jesus has covered and forgiven a multitude of ours.  Every time we choose to sin, is that not an offense to God?  If God brought us into condemnation every time we offended Him with our sins, we would continually live in condemnation and separation of fellowship.  That same love that is in the heart of God to tolerate us and forgive us has to be the same love that we carry in our hearts to forgive others.  

We should make every effort not to offend others whether they are Christians or not.  1 Corinthians 10:31-33 instructs us, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.”  

There are so many saints that pass from church to church, fellowship to fellowship because of offenses.  We have to know who we are in Christ, where we have been planted and what our purpose is in where we are at.  People are always going to hurt our feelings and disappoint us and it may be the pastor, elder or someone we look up too.  If your eyes are on them then we are following the wrong one.  Keep your eyes upon Jesus, stop majoring on what others do or don’t do and focus on who you are in Christ and what that is suppose to look before others.  Let’s let our feelings not be so sensitive to others, but sensitive to the Holy Spirit and getting God’s heart and mind in a matter.  Sometimes we may be a hundred percent in the right, but still need to go and apologize to someone for the perceived wrong that we have done in their eyes; not because we are wrong, but because it is the love of Christ to reconcile a matter to restore peace and right relationship.  There are some who use being offended as a means of control to get their way, because people don’t want them to be upset.  That is witchcraft, from such turn away if they are unwilling to repent. 

The enemy does his greatest works in the dark and the misunderstandings of our minds.  The more we can bring things to the light and approach them with God’s nature, the more quickly they are resolved and dissolved.   When we speculate about what others are thinking, or what their non-verbal communication is saying, we open our minds and emotions to the deceptiveness of the enemy.  1 John 4:16-20 reminds us of this nature of God’s love.  “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

18Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19We love each other because he loved us first.

20If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.” 

Colossians 3:13 instructs us, ” Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”  Let’s practice drowning those offenses in love and forgiveness. 

 

Blessings,

kent

Looking in the Mirror

 

Looking in the Mirror

James 1:21-25

But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 

23For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 

24For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. 

25But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).

 

When we got up and looked into the mirror this morning who did we see?  Did we just see the old earthen man with all his flaws, his wrinkles, his sins, his failures and shortcomings?  Or did we get up and reflect on the mirror of God’s Word and see what He says we are?  Look past that outward man that is perishing and passing away, because there is a new man coming forth and this is the man that we must see and dwell upon.  This man bears the image and likeness of Christ.  This man is renewing his or her mind in God’s Word.  This man looks into the mirror of God’s Word and comes into agreement with all that it speaks of them.  1Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”  Who we are, is not based on all the trials and tribulations we go through, but we are victorious in them all because of who He is in us.  Romans 8 says, “Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter. 37Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.”  

It is easy for us to behold who God says we are in the mirror of His Word and then turn and so quickly forget what manner of man He says we were.  Look again for a moment, this is who He says we are in Ephesians 1:4-11, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  It is absolutely awesome when we can see ourselves the way that God sees us in Christ. We can not really see ourselves in this light unless we look with the eyes of faith.  He sees in us so much more than we could ever see in ourselves.  The wonderful thing is that He is the One that is transforming us into that image as we walk in faith and obedience to Him.  It is not up to us to try and perform our way into His likeness, but rather identify ourselves with it.  We have to see that this is now how we are fashioned because we are in Him.  

Why are we so content to dwell on the outer man when there is something so much glorious residing in us?  We are always so quick to believe the natural of what we see, touch, taste, hear and feel, but these things are perishing.  They are temporal.  What God is working in us is eternal.  

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:7, “Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he [is] Christ’s, even so [are] we Christ’s.”  1 John 4:17 makes this awesome statement, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” Take another look into the mirror of God’s Word and continue to fix your gaze there, for it will reflect who you really are.  “When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4).”

 

blessings,

kent