They would See Jesus

John 14:8

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

 

They would See Jesus

 

Even as the disciples were asking Jesus to show them the Father, there are those who are asking us to show them the Christ and they will be satisfied.  Have they been so long with us and not seen the Christ?  Is He not living, breathing, burning and expressing Himself through us?  Many have known us after the flesh, but they have not seen the Christ and known us after the Spirit.  They only observe our natural man and the weaknesses of our flesh.

This is a new season.  It is a season where we will be stretched beyond our earthly limitation and will have to manifest our heavenly presence.  We have comfortably abode in Babylon the Great and been content with the present economic, religious and political systems.  This morning the Lord gave me Revelations 14:8, “A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”  We are on the brink of collapse of those things that we have grown up living and trusting in.  Your day of preparation is at hand and that which the Lord has prepared you for is about to be put into action.  You are going to find in this hour that you can speak and do things that you never would have believed for prior to this time.  The times will demand it and faith must arise in your hearts.  This is not a time for the faint in heart, because now you must know what it is trust in the Lord and to walk in the power of His might.  It is not a time for you to be overcome with fear, but to overcome fear with the faith of God.  Father has not left you alone.  His Spirit abides in you and will be with you.  It is not a day to function out of natural understanding and reason but out of the directives of the Spirit of Christ within you.  He has told us that His sheep would hear His voice and they would not follow another.  Today you will hear His voice as never before and He will order your steps if you will obey Him.  The world will be in CHAOS, but My children shall walk in perfect peace.  The things that come are the judgements of this world.  You are a part of their judgement.  Where there is no hope, you will be that light and that hope.  Many will come to me through your light, the light of My Son in you and the harvest will be great.

Show men the Christ.  It is time to take your light from under the bushel and set it upon the light post that all might see and know of Me.  You are passing into new wineskins so that you might contain that new wine that I am pouring into you.  Rejoice for this is the day you have longed for.  Look up for your redemption draweth nigh.

It is only by the Spirit.  The Lord also turned me to Zechariah 4:6, ” So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”  The name Zerubbabel means, “born in Babylon”.  We have been born in Babylon, but now the Lord is calling us out, back into the spiritual state of Israel to restore His temple.  Roll up your sleeves and let the work begin.  It is not a labor of sweat and flesh, but the labor of the Spirit and power of God working through you.

Gross darkness is about to cover the earth, but the glory of My light is about to rise upon you.  Be encouraged, but turn your eyes and your heart from the world, for former things are passing away.  The fires have been lit and the judgements passed.

Supernatural faith is being imparted into those who will believe me for it.  I am your forward and rear guard.  Stand fast in Me.   I will take you through the fires that burn before you.

 

FEAR NOT

1. M. Beddome.

 

1 Ye trembling souls, dismiss your fears;

Be mercy all your theme;

For mercy like a river flows,

In one perpetual stream.

 

2 Fear not the powers of earth and hell;

God will those powers restrain;

His arm will all their rage repel,

And make their efforts vain.

 

3 Fear not the want of outward good;

For his he will provide,

Grant them supplies of daily food,

And give them heaven beside.

 

4 Fear not that he will e’er forsake,

Or leave his work undone;

He’s faithful to his promises,

And faithful to his Son.

Blessings,

#kent

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What We Treasure in Our Hearts

 

Psalms 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

 

What We Treasure in Our Hearts

 

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21)”

Think about the things we protect, hide away, keep and save.  They are the things that we value and that are meaningful to us.  Most of the things that we treasure and value are temporal and perishing.  Many of us save and put away money, possessions, jewelry and other items we consider valuable.  The most precious and lasting treasure of all lies upon the pages of the book we call our Bible.  While we treasure our earthly things, for many, the Bible sets upon the shelf and collects dust.  It might even get taken to church on Sunday, but do we really appreciate the treasure that is contained and hidden there among the pages of God’s Word.  The treasure that we find there is life-giving and eternal.  It has the power to change our lives and helps us to know the true heart and mind of God.  It has the power to show us ourselves and bring light where there has been darkness.

God no longer walks among us in flesh and blood as He did in Jesus Christ, but neither is He absent and gone from us.  He has left us the testimony of His Spirit and His Word.  It is His Spirit within us that unlocks the mysteries and reveals the treasures of His Word.  If we want to walk with God and have a closer relationship with Him then we must treasure, honor and revere what is precious to Him.  His Word is what reveals and imparts that to us.  Do we desire to please God?  His Word gives us that direction.  Do we desire to be free from sin and avoid that which is evil?  Again, His Word digested and hidden in our hearts is what transforms our thinking and renews our minds to think and see things as God does.  It puts within us the fear, the reverence and awe of God that we would in no way want to offend or displease Him and at the same time dispells the fear that we find in the world and in our minds.  We hide many things in our hearts, but far too often it isn’t the Word of God.

John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”  We know through the scripture that Christ declared that He was the Word.  We know that spiritual life is contained and obtained through Him.  When we possess the Christ and He truly possesses us then we will find that treasure that is hidden in our hearts.  He will take those words from a page and make them a fire in our belly.  His Word will illuminate and transform us.  Come and find that treasure that doesn’t perish with the using, that only increases and never decreases and brings you into the presence of the Father.

Where is your treasure today?  What do you value and store up in your heart?  “Where a man’s treasure is, there will his heart be also.”

Blessings,

#kent

The Will and the Way of God

 

The Will and the Way of God

 

1 Chronicles 15:2

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

 

There is a story in 1 Chronicles that tells us of David’s desire and zeal to bring the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem.  Here in 1 Chronicles 13:7-10 we read about his first attempt and see that not only was it unsuccessful, but it resulted in the Lord’s anger and the death of a man.   “And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. And David and all Israel played before God with all [their] might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.”  Our reaction to this account might not be so unlike David’s, somewhat shocked, stunned and thinking, “God, why were you so severe?”  When God responds to men’s actions and His judgement results in death, one of the first and foremost things it generates is a fear of God, not just in the “be afraid” sense, but in the sense that we can’t take God’s will and His ways for granted.

Think about if for a moment with me about how we handle the things of God.  When I examine my times that are supposed to be set aside and consecrated for Him, I see my own personal agendas and ways leaving smudgy, dirty little finger and handprints all over them.  Think for a moment of God’s will and way being like this huge plate glass window that is sparkling clean and transparent.  Then here come His kids.  They don’t even think, “I need to really be aware and respect the purity and cleanness of this window.  I can look through it, but I don’t want to put my hands on it or I will dirty it.”  If it was a sliding glass door then there would be a proper means by which we would pass through it, open and close it, without placing our hands on the glass.  This is a rough illustration of what David did and why Uzza died when He touched the Ark.  In Leviticus 20:26 God speaks of His desire for His people, “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD [am] holy, and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be mine.”

The Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred of the pieces of the Tabernacle.  Its place was in the Holy of Holies and it represented the very presence and place of God.  Throughout the Word there is an awesome respect and fear that is directed toward it, for what it represented.  It wasn’t that David’s heart was not in the right place because He wanted to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem, it was his methods that were wrong.  There are right ways and wrong ways to handle the things of God.  When we get careless and sloppy in our walk with God, we find ourselves incurring judgements and disciplines for the way we are handling the things of God.  Hopefully it won’t be as severe as Uzza, Nadab and Abihu, or Ananias and Sapphira.  These people gave their lives to be examples to us not to take the things of God lightly and not to do things our own way.  Many of us are far guiltier of this than we realize and I’m feeling the conviction that the Lord wants us to really begin to examine our relationship and our action concerning the things of God.  There was a right way that David should have been transporting that Ark.  That was a priesthood function that was laid out very explicitly by God in Exodus.  Do we fully realize that we are the priesthood of God that carry about the Ark of God in our spirits?  How are we handling the precious entrustment God has placed upon us to carry His name and His testimony in our daily lives.  Have we grown careless in our commitment and our obedience to Him?  Are we doing many of the things in our lives, both spiritually and naturally, our way instead of His?  Are we putting our dirty little hands of selfishness all over the window of His Holiness?  God wants us to transport His life in these bodies with immense joy, rejoicing and gladness, but He wants us to take special care that we do it His way and not ours, no matter how good it may seem.  Let’s ask the Lord to show us the areas of our lives where we may be dishonoring and disobeying Him.  Let’s covet His Holiness and Righteousness, seeking to be well pleasing and compliant with His will and His ways.  God has extended much grace toward us, but that is not our license for sin and dishonor concerning the Holy Life He has placed in our keeping.

“Lord, help us not to be foolish concerning our lives and walk in You.  Help us to always look upon You with the utmost reverence and respect.  Help us to honor and obey you, searching out Your will and Your ways of godly and righteous living.”

Blessings,

#kent

The Valley of Decision

 

Joel 3:13-14

13Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

 

The Valley of Decision

 

I believe the day is fast approaching where the line of demarcation is becoming more sharply defined and we all must decide if we are in or out when it comes to our faith and trust in Christ.  We are coming to the valley of decision before a day of judgement that must come.  We have come to the threshing floor where the wheat is being separated from the chaff.  Hopefully we know with assurance where we stand in Christ and if that would cost us our life then so be it.  Many others are not so decided.  They are the fair weather Christians or believers in God that are here for the blessing, but are very questionable when it comes down to the sufferings.

I see the Lord having a tremendous harvest of souls before His coming so that all that will may come in.  The valley of decision is where we choose not only physical life and death, but more importantly, our spiritual life or death.  The Lord wants to prepare our hearts and our lives to be the instruments that would bring in this great harvest of souls.  He has prepared many of us for such a time as this.  These many new believers will need someone to mentor and disciple them.  Their lives depend upon it.

The Word of God is sharper than a two edged sword, let us use it in the love of God to bring in the harvest of souls that are prepared.  We will see the Spirit of God begin to move in a mighty way upon the face of the deep.  The seas of humanity will be stirred up and the hearts of many will turn to Christ and the hearts of many will become hardened against him.  Then will come the day of the Lord and judgement will be pronounced, justice will be brought forth. On which side of the valley do we stand and what will we do to help others to reach the Lord’s side.  Let us ready our hearts for the day at hand.

Blessings,

#kent

Distracted, but not Dissuaded

Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart  and lean not on your own understanding;

6in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.

8This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

 

 

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.  Sometime 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 of 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 any more.  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 of 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 Journey is as Important as the Destination

John 4:1-3

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

 

The Journey is as Important as the Destination

 

Here is a scripture that we often read right over and don’t really think about as being significant.  There are events that happen in life that cause us to go from destination to destination.  Often, especially as men, we become only focused upon the destination and not the journey.  As Christians our ultimate destination is heaven and eternal life in Christ Jesus.  If that is all that we see then we will miss the importance of the journey that takes us there.

In John 4 it as Jesus is traveling to the destination of Galilee that He passes through Samaria and encounters the woman at the well.  That encounter was a life changing moment for this woman and for her entire town.  Most all of the miracles and works that Jesus did were while He was on His way from one place to another.  It is important for us to not only focus on our destination, but to be open to the Holy Spirit’s work and movement through us as we journey to our destination.  The journey is where we grow in experience and exercise of where we are going too.  Divine providence often accompanies us upon our journeys and it is important that we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit when He brings people into our lives that may just seem an inconvenience and annoyance to us.  The Lord has just brought to mind a story I recently read that illustrates this very thing.  I believe it is His purpose today to share this with you.

 

HAIRBRUSH EXPERIENCE OF BETH MOORE AT THE AIRPORT

 

For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is an outstanding Bible teacher, writer of Bible studies, and is a married mother of two daughters.

 

This is one of her experiences:

 

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting to board the plane. I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I’d had a marvelous morning with the Lord.  I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least

of which is your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight.  Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier.  His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair

hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back.  His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man. I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face.  As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I’d just had a Howard Hughes sighting.  Then, I remembered that he was dead.  So this man in the airport… An impersonator maybe?  Was a camera on somewhere?  There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him. Let’s admit it.  Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.

I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I’ve learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my

spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. ‘Oh, no, God, please, no.’ I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, ‘Don’t make me witness to this man.  Not right here and now.  Please.  I’ll do anything.  Put me on the same plane, but don’t make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience.  Please, Lord!’ There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, ‘Please don’t make me witness to this man.  Not now.  I’ll do it on the plane. ‘Then I heard it….’I don’t want you to witness to him.  I want you to brush his hair.’

The words were so clear, my heart leap into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top.  Do I witness to the man or brush his hair?  No-brainier.  I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, ‘God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I’m on this Lord.  I’m your girl!  You’ve never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life.  What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed?  I am going to witness to this man.’

Again as clearly as I’ve ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. ‘That is not what I said, Beth.  I don’t want you to witness to him.  I want you to go brush his hair.’

I looked up at God and quipped, ‘I don’t have a hairbrush.  It’s in my suitcase on the plane.  How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?’  God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God’s word: ‘I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.’ (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies.  I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, ‘Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?’

He looked back at me and said, ‘What did you say?’

‘May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?’ To which he responded in volume ten, ‘Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you’re going to have to talk louder than that’

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, ‘SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?’  At which point every eye in the place darted right at me.  I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks.  Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, ‘If you really want to.’

Are you kidding? Of course I didn’t want to.  But God didn’t seem interested in my personal preference right about then.  He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, ‘Yes, sir, I would be pleased.  But I have one little problem.  I don’t have a hairbrush.’

‘I have one in my bag,’ he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger’s old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing.  I stood up and started brushing the old man’s hair.  It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted.  I don’t do many things well, but must admit I’ve had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls.  Like I’d done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull.  A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man’s hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared.  There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me.  I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair.  I know this sounds so strange, but I’ve never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life.  I believe with all my heart, I – for that few minutes – felt a portion of the very

love of God.  That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.

The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God’s.  His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant’s. I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him.  I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knee and said, ‘Sir, do you know my Jesus?’

He said, ‘Yes, I do’

Well, that figures, I thought.

He explained, ‘I’ve known Him since I married my bride.  She

wouldn’t marry me until I got to know the Savior.’  He said, ‘You see, the problem is, I haven’t seen my bride in months.  I’ve had open-heart surgery, and she’s been too ill to come see me.  I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride.’

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we’re completely unaware of the significance.  This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known.  It was a God moment, and I’ll never forget it.

Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane.  I was deeply ashamed of how I’d acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks.  She said, ‘That old man’s sitting on the plane, sobbing.  Why did you do that?  What made you do that?’

I said, ‘Do you know Jesus?  He can be the bossiest thing!’

And we got to share.

I learned something about God that day.  He knows if you’re exhausted, you’re hungry, you’re serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge.  He knows if you’re hurting or feeling rejected.  He knows if you’re sick or drowning under a wave of temptation.  Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed.  He sees you as an individual.  Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way … all because I didn’t want people to think I was strange.  God didn’t send me to that old man.  He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’

Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, ‘Wow!  What a ride!  Thank You, Lord!’

Blessings,

#kent

Principles of Fear

 

Principles of Fear

 

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

 

Fear can be a dreadful thing, a strong motivator, a real or imagined substance and an object of reverence and respect.  I went through and looked at all of the scriptures that dealt with fear.  Did you know that fear occurs some 400 times in the King James Bible?  I would say that makes it something we have to deal with and do deal with.  We have all known fear and in different forms.  We have known fear in a scary sense, an awesome and respectful sense, a sense of reverence, a dreadful sense and in the sense of terror.  So this one word fear can have different connotations to us, just like the word love can.  It doesn’t carry the same meaning and context in every situation.   What is more, is that I was surprised to find that the Word of God deals more with the fear of the Lord than any other fear.  We might not think of fear as having positive and negative effects, but it does.  If we looked at love as a comparison; the highest form of love being the love of God and the lowest form of love being hate.  The highest level of fear is the fear of God and the lowest level of fear is terror.

When we read the context of scripture here in 1 John we might well question, “Why does the Word tell us so many times to ‘fear God’ and then turn around here and tell us that ‘there is no fear in love’? “ As I was meditating on these things the Lord brought to mind when I used to be an electrician in a power plant.  Before I became an electrician and didn’t understand a lot about electricity, it was a lot scarier to me.  Without understanding there was ignorance and ignorance gave way to fear.  I didn’t know exactly how electricity worked, but I did know it could be dangerous and that it could hurt or even kill you.  The more I learned and worked with electricity the less fearful I became and the more confident I was to work with it.  Electricity can be a lot like God, it can have awesome potential and power, but it has principles and laws that it operates by.  In order to work safely with electricity I had to learn the laws, principles and ways that electricity worked and respect those laws.  If I became complacent, careless or disrespectful of those law then I was opening myself up to hurt.  While I didn’t have to be afraid of electricity in a dreadful sense, I had to always maintain a respectful fear of it.  Even though I couldn’t see it, if I violated it, it could definitely hurt me or kill me.  My safety and my peace were in obedience to the laws and parameters with which I worked with electricity and its related equipment.  The same holds true of God.  He has given us an instruction manual and codebook to know what the principles of God are and how we are to relate with Him.  The more I come to know, experience and live with God in my life, more comfortable and at peace I can feel with Him.  I can never lose my respect for who He is and what violation of His principles and laws will bring.  Now I no longer have to fear God in terror, because I am operating out darkness and ignorance, I am learning to fear God in the highest form of His love.  My obedience and submission to God has moved from being motivated by fear to being motivated by love.  Jesus says, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”  As I am caught up into the love of God it supersedes the fear of God.

Let’s take it a step further.  Have you ever wondered why birds can land on power lines with thousands of volts going through them and not be killed or even hurt?  It is because their body becomes that same potential as the power line.  As long as they are at the same potential no harm comes to them, but if they had a long enough legs or wings to reach over and touch and another phase wire or ground they would be toast.  In our unity and oneness with Christ we are at the same potential as He is.  We are conducting His power and life, but if we take that God life and identify it with the flesh, now we have a problem.  Spirit and flesh are at two different potentials and they don’t mix without problems.  We short circuit God’s Life in us and then we become the problem and no longer the solution.  Thank God for the blood of Jesus that is the insulator and the repairer of those conflicts, but it is not the permission for them.  Sin brings us out of the fellowship of love and back into the realm of fear.  Maybe you see how the perfect love of God cast out fear because it can bring us to that place of being at the same potential that He is.  That doesn’t make us God, but it does make us the conduit and transmitter of His life and love.  The potential that exists with us in this place is far greater than when we were on the ground.  As long as we stay in the flow of His love, walking in the Spirit, submitting our whole selves to the principles of His Life, we are operating at an unlimited potential because of that Life that is flowing through us.

Hopefully this illustration helps to see how the fear of God and the love of God come together

Blessings,

#kent

Where do We Find Guidance and Understanding?

Daniel 4: 4-8

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 6 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 8 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

 

Where do We Find Guidance and Understanding?

 

The secrets and mysteries of God are hid with God in Christ.  Isn’t it funny how men and even Christians will seek other sources to reveal these mysteries and guide their lives?  How many of us read horoscopes, listen and read other philosophies, listen to spiritualist, talk show host and look to other sources to guide us and give meaning and interpretation to our lives?  Instead, how many of us are seeking out the wisdom of the Spirit?  Even this powerful king of Babylon recognized and acknowledged that there was only One that could interpret the mysteries that he had dreamed.  Why is it that whenever so many of us have needs or lack understanding God is often our last resource rather than our first?

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 teaches us this, “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: 16″For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

We are not so unlike Daniel in that we also have the Spirit of God abiding in us and it is this same Spirit that gave the interpretations to Daniel that now reveals the mysteries of God to us.  The natural mind can’t comprehend and process such things because they are spiritually discerned.  We often quote the verse in this passage that says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”, but rarely do we complete it when it goes on to say, “10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”   Paul goes on to say here that we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God that we may understand what God has freely given us.  That is what God wants us to grasp today, what He has freely and abundantly given us in Christ Jesus.  Among those things are the spirit of wisdom and knowledge.  How do we know the mind of God?  Verse 16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.”  It is in this mind that we can walk in the Spirit and comprehend the things of the Spirit and know the mind of God in a matter.  Paul says that he speaks this message among the mature, those that are stable and grounded in their faith.  When we have the mind of Christ and understand what we have then we don’t have to look to other sources for guidance in our lives, we look to the Lord first and foremost.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Acknowledge whose you are and whose mind you possess and then walk in the revelation of that knowledge and wisdom.

Blessings,

#kent

The Power of Our Words

 

The Power of Our Words

 

Matthew 12:30-37

30“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

33“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

Words are powerful utterances that have the power to work not only in the seen realm but in the unseen as well.  This scripture here tells us that words are pretty important because by them we are judged and must give account.  “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”  Why are words so important?  Words are the expression of the heart and it’s condition.  If our heart is evil, our words will reflect that and if our hearts are pure and just, our words will reflect that as well.

In the first part of this study let’s begin to look at the power of God’s Word.  There is a creative power in words that cannot be denied.  Perhaps the greatest and foremost of these is seen in John 1:1-5, “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.”  All of creation is held together by “the Word”, which is Christ Jesus.  He was the spoken Word of faith proceeding out of the Father’s mouth that set all of creation into being.  That Word has expression through a person Christ Jesus who is the divine mouthpiece of God.  Jesus even said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.”  What Jesus spoke in this earthly ministry was not idle chatter; they were the foundational building blocks, the DNA of eternal life.  Our faith in those words and the God-man that spoke them is the essence of our faith and the hope we have in eternal life.  It is the power of God’s Word that has the power to change and transform our hearts and lives.  Again in John 14:10 Jesus 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.”  Jesus again confirms that His presence and His expression are the extension of the Father and not His own as a separate entity.  Through our unity in Christ Jesus and common faith in Him, He has joined us to Himself for us to, in turn, be the expression of His Word.  Our unity and alliance with the Word is seen in our obedience to it.  Because Christ was the Word, His life lined up with it in total obedience.  Jesus tells us our lives must do the same if we are a part of that Word.  In John 14:23-34, “23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.””

Jesus expresses His mission and what His Word is to accomplish in and through us in John 17:6-8, ““I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”  Then in verses 14-19 Jesus prays, “14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”   We should begin to grasp how central God’s Word and truth is to all that He is imparting into the believers.  Words are a creative and dynamic power we will continue to expand on as the Lords leads.

Blessings,

#kent

Tenderhearted

 

Tenderhearted

 

2 Kings 2:19

Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard [thee], saith the LORD.

 

What is the condition and state of my heart today?  As you and I ask that question of ourselves today, what is the true answer?   Through our life experiences, choices and decisions, we can find our heart in many different states.  It can become hardened because of sin and willful living.  It can become broken from abuse, disappointment and hurt.  It can be elated with life and living or it can become cold and unfeeling.  Life and experiences can have a lot to do with shaping the condition of our hearts, but so can the choices we make with what comes to us in life.  It would be safe to say that no matter what befalls us in life our safe place is a place of a tender heart before the Lord.  That is the condition of the heart that touches His heart.

Sometimes life can be so devastating that we feel like we are like a tree that has been cut down and all hope of life is lost.  Yet even Job, in his state of abject suffering and loss makes this statement in Job 14:7-9, “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; [Yet] through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”  I believe a tender heart toward God is our hope in every circumstance of life.  Only the Lord can take that which bad and turn it for good.  Only He can bring life out of death.  Only He can take the crushed grapes of our life’s sufferings and trials and make sweet wine.  James 5:11 makes the observation about the condition of God’s heart toward us when we continue in a place of obedience and tenderness before Him. “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”

Jesus is the Rock and it says that with Him one of two things can happen, either we are broken upon the rock through a tender and repentant heart or we become broken by the Rock through a rebellious and hardened heart.  What is the state of our heart today?

Isaiah 66: 1-2 says, “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest? For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”  The Lord is looking and desires above all our sacrifices and the works of our hands that our hearts are right and tender before Him.  If He is ever going to manifest His presence and perform His works through a people, it is going to be a people who have a tender and contrite heart before Him.  2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him…  “No matter what life has dealt us let our hearts become tender, broken, pure and right before the Lord.  This is the condition of heart we need to have in order to experience His visitation and presence.  This is the place where we find the rest and the true fast of God.  This is the ground that is broken up and is ready to yield the fruit of His divine life.

Blessings,

#kent