Wells of Salvation

Isaiah 12

AND IN that day you will say, I will give thanks to You, O Lord; for though You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You comfort me.

2Behold, God, my salvation! I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and song; yes, He has become my salvation.

3Therefore with joy will you draw water from the wells of salvation.

4And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name and by means of His name [in solemn entreaty]; declare and make known His deeds among the peoples of the earth, proclaim that His name is exalted!

5Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent things [gloriously]; let this be made known to all the earth.

6Cry aloud and shout joyfully, you women and inhabitants of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

                Isn’t it wonderful to have a well of salvation to draw the water of life from?  Every day we must go to this well, for from it we draw the life, the direction, the strength and refreshment we need.  As we drink deep of the Spirit of Life we are refreshed, filled with joy and thanksgiving.  It is at this well we find the anger of the Lord turned away from us and instead we find forgiveness, redemption, healing and hope.  As we drink from this well we realize that all things are possible, because the life we drink from is not our own and it knows no limitations, short of our faith to believe and God’s wisdom in how He responds.  Faith becomes our bucket by which we draw out this water of life and we find faith’s increase in our sharing it with others.  It is with great joy that we draw this water, because we drink from the fountain of eternal life. 

The Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon spent his life in pursuit of the fountain of youth.  It was in front of him all the time and he wouldn’t even have had to leave home to find it.  He pursued the vanity of the flesh and no matter what we do with the flesh or how we operate on it, it is a corruptible commodity and will pass away.   What we can discover and drink from is a well that is so much richer, deeper and more lasting than any fountain of youth or means we may seek to preserve this natural life.  As we drink from the well of God’s eternal Word and abide in the Spirit of His life, we have great reason for rejoicing and praise.  Our greatest joy can be in sharing this life with others that they also may know the great joy associated with this well. 

                Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:10-15 about this living water and this well of salvation.  “10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11″Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

13Jesus 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.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.””  He is that well of salvation, that eternal source of life, hope and joy.  He is our strength, our portion, our deliverer and our very present help in time of need.

                Every day that I come to write I take a drink and ask to able to share some aspect of this water with others so that they also might be strengthened, encouraged, refreshed and partakers in this life.  The Lord spoke to the woman at the well that in drinking from this you will never thirst for another.  As we drink of Him, we become His well spring.   Out of God’s people is the issues of life as we share with others what we ourselves have found and rejoice in.  Take your bucket of faith and continue to draw and drink deep from this well, but then share the joy of the well of salvation with others that they also may know this great joy and likewise become partakers of so great a salvation.  You will be amazed at what God can bring up out of your life as you drink of Him and depend upon Him to be your source and well spring of life

Blessings,

#kent

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Face Your Fears

Face Your Fears

Romans 8:15

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. [ Or adoption] And by him we cry, “Abba, [ Aramaic for Father] Father.”

                You know there are basically two kinds of fears talked about in the Word of God.  One is the fear of God and the other is our natural fear.  We have dealt with the fear of the Lord before.  What is ironic is that the fear of the one moves us away from the fear of the other.  There are many verses throughout the Word of God that exhort us to fear God, but none that tells us to fear man, only to respect, honor and obey those in the place of authority.  There are none that tell us to fear the devil, only beware of who and what he is.   The fear of the Lord brings us into an awesome respect for who we are in the light of the Almighty.  Our scripture says that we have received the Spirit of sonship or adoption.  That makes the Almighty our personal Father.  We stand in the place of His sons and daughters.  Everyone that has had a good father knows that dads can be the greatest; they love you, they bless you, they’re your security and provision, but they can also correct you.  A father’s heart is always to embrace and bless his children, but his love also compels him to act always in their best interest, raising them in the character and nature of what he desires them to be.  If the children forget the other side of the relationship with their father then they begin to show disrespect, dishonor and then disobedience.  “He is a loving Father, therefore we can do what ever we want and he’ll still love us and forgive us,” so goes their thinking.  At that point the child has lost the fear of the father, they treat him as common and fail in the area of respect and obedience to honor their father.  This is where the correction of the father comes in.  Hebrews 12:4-11 tells us, “4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  So the fear of the Lord is understanding and operating in the proper relationship with our heavenly Father.  Psalms 25:14 says, “The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them” Psalms 34:4-10 says, “4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.”  In the light of this scripture we begin to see the irony of how the fear of the Lord delivers us from the fear of man.  When we fear the Lord our trust is in Him.  It is not in ourselves, it is not in others and it is not living in the fear of what others may do to us.  It puts our eyes on Father God as our whole source, supply and protection.  This is the place we want to be.  In the fear of the Lord is the deliverance from the fear of this world.  In this place we learn that we live out of the Father.  He orders our steps and our lives.  In the eyes of the world we may look weak, of no reputation and of no confidence, but when the life of the Father and the Son lives through us, there are no limitations on what He can do through those that love and fear Him. 

                When we think about all of our little phobias, which are fears, that cause us anxiety and unrest, we must face our fears.  Is our God the Lord?  Are His authority and His name above every other?  2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, ” For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  We have to overcome our timidity and cowardice, because that insecurity is based on our lack, not His supply.  We must learn to live out of His Supply and not our lack.  We can only do that as we fear and trust the Lord. 

                1 Peter 3:14 tells us, ” But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear [ Or not fear their threats]; do not be frightened.” [ Isaiah 8:12]” Today is a day to face our fears.  “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1John 4:4)”

Blessings,

#kent

Time and Chance

Time and Chance

Ecclesiates 9:11

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Things in life don’t always go according to plan or in the direction that we may have thought they should go.  We all have preconceived ideas about the way life is and how it should be.  Things happen in life that takes us in directions that we didn’t expect.  Life can bring upon us both good and evil in ways we didn’t anticipate or plan for.  We live according to certain principles that we expect to yield certain results, often it happens that way, but there are times that it doesn’t.  We may find ourselves coming into great riches and wealth or be diagnosed with cancer, neither one of which we would have expected to happen to us. 

                If we can’t rely on what life will bring us then what can we rely and base our lives upon?  What is a constant that we can count upon to not change?  There are a lot of principles and wisdom keys that we can use to govern and live our lives.  At the end of Ecclesiastes, Solomon sums it all up in these words in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.”  We don’t have control over all the things that can touch our lives.  What we can have is faith and faithfulness to the One who has our lives in His hands.  Most all of us will enjoy times of blessing and all of us will endure times of adversity, but it is the Lord who is with us in all that we face in life. 

                No matter what you are facing today, no matter how inadequate you feel, or how bad you think you have failed, there is hope.  Ecclesiastes 9:4 says, “For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.“  Life may not hold the quality that you had hoped for, but don’t give up on it.   God is the One who has our lives in His hand and we must never presumptuously take it from Him, but rather set our eyes upon Him.  What we truly long for and cherish is not found in this world, but in that which is to come.  The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”  It wasn’t the joy of this life that brought Paul pleasure, but the assurance of that life he had in Christ that made it all worthwhile.  Whatever place in life you are in today, never lose your hope or fail to put your faith in the Lord that holds your life in His hands.

Blessings,

#kent

Kindness

Kindness

Colossians 3:12-13

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.

                Kindness, an obvious word with an obvious application, it is often descriptive of one of the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit.  Kindness is so obvious and so simple and yet so missing among so many of us.  It is simply goodness and favor toward another person.  Many families and relationships are missing this little social grace from their words and actions.  Even in our everyday encounters with strangers and people that we interact with, we fail at this little thing called kindness.  Oh yes, we feign kindness through superficial words and platitudes, but is it an issue of our heart?  True kindness pities, it empathizes, sympathizes and identifies with another’s need.  Kindness puts itself in the place of its neighbor and then responds appropriately according to how it would want to be treated.   Kindness isn’t a social mask that we put on to give the illusion of our graciousness; it is something that issues out of the foundation of who we are in Christ.  Kindness genuinely cares for another and will not hesitate to go out of its way to minister or help another.  Kindness overlooks the opportunity to be right when it is at the expense of another.  It complements the rest of the attributes of the Spirit and it chooses the high road even at its own expense.  Kindness is what covers another with grace and favor even when they may not deserve it.  Kindness is slow to be offended and it returns good for evil.  True kindness is often the brunt of abuse and is commonly taken for granted.  Yet, it is the kindness working in us that causes our Father to smile and reminds Him of Himself. 

                Today and each day of your life, develop the habit of random acts of kindness, not just on the deserving but on the undeserving as well.  Practice that kindness on the ones you say you love and yet always rub you the wrong way.  While others may not always appreciate it and it may be abused by some, you will never regret the warmth it leaves inside and the smile it puts on the face of God.

Bleswsings,

#kent

Through the Heat of Battle

2 Corinthians 2:10

For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds

Through the Heat of Battle

                 In the trenches of spiritual warfare you are not often going to look your best.  In the daily battles and encounters we have we are often sweaty, dirty, tired and even bloody, bruised and wounded.  Those who are walking out their faith are not dressed for ceremony they are dressed for battle.   In the battle you most likely will not feel like a good warrior or hero.  You may be scared, discouraged, fatigued, hurting and just trying to survive.  While you may feel inside to be anything but an overcomer, that is who you are as you endure the battle and stand faithful to the banner of your faith.  The survivors and heroes of war weren’t wearing their medals on their chest in the midst of the battle, those medals were the result of their fortitude, their faithfulness, their courage in the midst of the battle when all they were seeing around them was pain, suffering and death.  Yet there was something in their character and in their hearts that brought them through the battle.  Those men and women weren’t decorated with medals because they conducted themselves well, when everything was going good and they were at peace.  Most medals are won in the midst of battle where, if we get through it, it is not without loss and pain physically, spiritually and emotionally. 

                Many of you are on the spiritual battlegrounds today.  It may not have been your choice, but you are there in the midst of the battle none the less.  Most of us would like to just speak a word and have those battles resolved and go away, but we find that we are in a war that often rages on day after day.  Some days we are not sure we can make it through another one, but somehow, by the grace of God, we do.  God wants you to know that this is not a sign of your weakness or your defeat, it is the proving ground of your victory and your triumph.  The enemy is fighting to take your life, but by your faithfulness and the fortitude of your faith, God is forming in you the heart of courage and the qualities of heroes.  By your continued faithfulness you are prevailing and you are conquering, even though in your heart you may feel very discouraged and defeated.  It is in these places that we learn to crawl out of the weakness of our flesh and put on Christ who is our strength and our life.  We may have to endure the battle while in these weak and frail bodies, but in our spirits and in our hearts we have put off the flesh and put on Christ who is our strength.  Through Him we are more than conquerors and can do all things.  If He leads us into battle then we must trust that He can sustain us through it. 

                Whatever your battle and whatever front you are fighting on, whether it be health, finances, job, emotional, family problems, persecution, or whatever, He is there for you.  In these places of battle the enemy tries to strip us of our dignity, our faith, our confidence and assurance.  He rails upon us with condemnation, throwing before us our weakness and defeats.  We can not take his bait.  Sometimes he causes hurts so severe that we will harbor, hate, anger and unforgiveness.  He assaults us on many fronts, but we must be wise and discerning of His tactics, holding fast the Word of God as our standard of truth and reality.  We are what the Word of God says we are.  1 Peter 2:9-11 says of us, “9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 

                Be encouraged today; strengthen yourself in His faithfulness.  Stay the course, endure the battle and finish the race.  “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. (1 John 4:17)”

Blessings,

#kent

Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am God

Psalms 46:10

Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

                One of the most difficult things for us to do in our busy lives with all of its demand is to really be still before the Lord.  Even in our prayer life, don’t we tend to want to say our piece to God and then move on?  Most times we don’t want to take the time just to be still in His presence, to listen for His voice and meditate on His wonder and greatness.    Psalms 4:4 says, “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah”

We tend do with God what many of us are guilty of doing with our loved ones, “I would really like to talk with you about it, but I’ve got to run.  Maybe we can talk later.”  Is that similar to the words that come out of our mouth sometimes?  It is often, really hard for us to be still, but until we do, we often don’t really hear the things we need to hear.  Ecclesiastes 9:7 says, “The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.” Even in our human and family relationships, we don’t really hear their hearts until we are willing to take the time to really interact with them and listen to them.  The greatest mysteries, the greatest truths, the revelations we receive are most often heard in the quite and still places.  Those are the places and times when our minds are at rest and peace and we take time just to listen and focus.  We all really need that time every day with our God and with each other to stay in tune and in touch with the ones and the One we really love.  Perhaps one of the reasons we don’t want to sit and be still is because, even subconsciously, we are running away from facing issues or confrontations or unpleasant dealings we really don’t want to deal with.  Maybe the reason those things even exist in the first place is because we don’t take the time on a regular basis to talk, heart to heart, on a human and a God level.  We want the quick fixes of our present society and culture to handle our relational problems, but they don’t.  They still take the investment of our time and our true heart to really deal with them effectively.

                Our lives are incredibly busy and full, but we need to set aside those times every day when we can just be still and know that God is God and be able hear, should He wish to speak to us.  More than likely He is speaking to us, or at least trying to throughout our day, but we aren’t tuned in to see and hear Him working in our lives and circumstances.  The way we get ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart that is tender before the Lord, is to be still and really know that He is God in our lives.  Don’t neglect the valuable time it takes to get quiet and be still before the Lord.

Blessings,

#kent

Hope Deferred

Hope Deferred

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but [when] the desire cometh, [it is] a tree of life.

                Have you ever hoped and prayed for something that seemed like it would never come to pass?  I think we all have hoped in such a way and we probably still are.  It is hope that compels us in life.  The Word says we were birthed in hope.  Psalms 22:9 says, “But thou [art] he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope [when I was] upon my mother’s breasts.”  God instilled a hope within us.   It is in the knowledge of God and His Word that we have hope.  We stand upon the promises of God, faith being the substance of our hope.  It is faith and hope that bond us to our God.  Psalms 33:18 expresses, “Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.” 

                If we were all honest we would probably admit that there are times when our hope and our faith run thin.  There are times when all of the odds seem to be against us and there is no hope in sight.  We begin to question and then to doubt.  The heartbeat of our hope becomes shallow and weak. We faint because it seems we have endured so long without beholding the substance and if the substance of faith fails to stand in the gap of that which we believe for then hope begins to fail us.  In these times we must encourage our souls even as King David did on more than one occasion.  Several times He speaks this scripture including Psalms 42:11, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.”  He often encouraged his own soul not to lose hope by such words as Psalms 71:5 and 14, “For thou [art] my hope, O Lord GOD: [thou art] my trust from my youth.” “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.”  It was the encouragement of praise that He used to stir his waning soul back into the position of faith and hope. 

                Romans 5 teaches us that hope isn’t something we often realize right away, but it is something that we believe so strongly in that we won’t give up.  Verses 1-5 teach us, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And werejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  Everything around us and the circumstances in the natural can testify against our hope in God’s Word, but we know that ‘God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent.  Has he said and shall He not do it or has He spoken and shall He not make it good (Numbers 23:19)?’ Against all odds never lose your hope and confidence in God.  We may not understand His hand or His ways, but we can trust His heart and His Word will not fail.  Our hope isn’t in this life and the linear matter of time, it is in the eternal and the everlasting God, Lord and Savior that has called us to salvation and eternal hope.  Paul makes this statement about this present time and age in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”  Things are quite likely to be very rough at times in this life, but it is not in this life that we hope, it is in the life of Christ that transcends time and space.  Philippians 1:20 also states, “According to my earnest expectation and [my] hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but [that] with all boldness, as always, [so] now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether [it be] by life, or by death.” 

                Don’t attach your hopes to this life, but put it in the One who is life.  Hope that is prolonged does make our heart sick and it is often hard to hold on too, but when the desire and the fulfillment of it comes, it is a tree of life; even the very life of Christ made manifest.

Blessings,

#kent

The Finger of God

The Finger of God

Exodus 8:18-19

And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This [is] the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

                None of us, I don’t believe, would aspire to be like the Pharaoh of Moses’ day.  When we read this account we think how could that man be so stubborn and why would he continue to harden His heart when, without a doubt, the finger of God was moving in these judgements.  Pharaoh could well be looked at as the god or ruler of “Self”.  We have a pharaoh that still wants to set upon the throne of our hearts and be god.  He doesn’t want to relinquish his place and lordship to the Almighty.  We could also say it is a type of satan, but where it affects us personally is in the dominion of our own souls. 

                If we were to get totally real and honest, just between God and us, most of us could probably identify an area or areas in our lives that we really struggle to relinquish control of.  There are strongholds and bastions of self that still want to bow their neck to the cross.  Our spirit may grieve over them and surely we wrestle with them, but we don’t want to really let go of them even though the finger of God may be upon them and the Holy Spirit is convicting us of them. 

                There was another young man in Jesus’ day, who truly loved the Lord, but he struggled with this same issue in Luke 18:18-25.  “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none [is] good, save one, [that is], God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”  Here was a godly man.  Clearly, he loved God and desired to follow Christ, but what happened when the finger of God touched that area that was not submitted to God?  Jesus put His finger on the Pharaoh in His life, the area that would harden in resistance to God.  It says he was very sorrowful.  This word means to be exceedingly sorry, one definition says, “overcome with sorrow so much as to cause one’s death”.  It is the same Greek word used to describe Jesus’ condition in the Garden as He prayed before the crucifixion.  The difference is Jesus faced a Pharaoh of self-preservation as well.  He even prayed, “Father, if there be any way let this cup pass from me.”  Jesus struggled till great drops of blood dripped from Him as sweat, but He overcame His Pharaoh.  He relinquished and laid self upon the altar and said, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”  The young ruler didn’t experience such a break through, though he loved the Lord immensely, there was something in his life that had a greater hold on him than his love for God.  Do any of us struggle with a similar issue like that today?  Is there anything we aren’t willing to bring to the altar and give totally to the Lord?  We can never be totally free until everything is His.

Blessings,

#kent

Immeasurably More than We can Ask or Imagine

Ephesians 3: 14-20

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Immeasurably More than We can Ask or Imagine

                Often God’s greatest supply comes in our times of greatest need.  It is in that place of lack that we become more focused upon who our supply and provider really is.  In our times of abundance we are so prone to take our Lord for granted.  After a time, we even develop an attitude of entitlement as if God owes us the blessings that we enjoy or that it is by the works of our own hands and minds that we enjoy our success and blessing. 

                Thank God that He allows us our times of testing and trials to remember that we are but dust apart from the breath of His life.  He alone is our abundance, wealth, health and success, lest we should boast in our own works.   It is in our time of need that we see and recognize how vital our relationship and connection with our God is.  It is only in our humbling that He can exalt us, lest we exalt ourselves and fall.   Why the enemy causes me pain I do not know, because that is when I praise and call out to my God the most.  That is when my heart is most focused on His provision, blessing and deliverance.   It should be that our hardships drive us into our closest relationship with the Father.  A child is content to play by itself until they stub a toe or cut their finger and then whom do they come running too?  It is their mom or dad they look to, to make it all better.

                It should be in the place of trust and obedience that we learn to really love God and serve Him, not for what He can do for us or all that He can give us, but for who He is.  Our riches of life are not in possessions, our standing in the sight of others or even our health; they are in our relationship with Him.  His very presence is our abundance that exceeds all that this world can offer us. 

                I pray that His glorious riches are not what pads my wallet, or even what gives me health, wealth or notoriety.  I pray that His glorious riches may strengthen me with power through His Holy Spirit in my inner being.  If we have His power and life living and working within us we have transcended earthly riches and temporal blessings.  We have begun to live out of the eternal and the supernatural.  Let us lift our vision to see beyond our earthly limitation into “Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.  To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever!  Amen.”      

Blessings,

#kent

Ministry of Reconciliation and Restoration

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me because the LORD has anointed me

 to preach good news to the poor.

 He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives

 and release from darkness for the prisoners,

Ministry of Reconciliation and Restoration

                The greatest gospel we can preach doesn’t come out of theological words and sermons, it comes out of our hearts and our actions.  The greatest revelation any of us can get is that God really cares about and loves me.  He cares about my hurts, my fears, my weaknesses and the bondage that I live in.  When I know that He really loves me and accepts me, in spite of my sin, my failure and the mess I am, then I have hope.  Isn’t it strange that the anointing of the Lord didn’t come upon Christ and those who walk His ministry to preach to the religious, the rich and famous or to those who think they have it all together.  It is only when you come to the revelation of who you are and what you are without Christ that you are truly open to your need for Him.  Often in this state we are the most needy and unlovely of people.  We are the ones that others shun and reject, but the world’s rejection is God’s treasure.  From these “are nots”  God will bring to pass the things that are.  Through the rejects, the misfits, the brokenhearted and the meek of the earth will God come to rule and reign. 

                Do you want to preach the gospel of the good news, but you’re not an ordained preacher, or minister or anyone really recognized by the church.  Father wants to ordain you with the gospel of His good news.  He wants you to go out into the byways and the highways of your community and city.  He wants you to bring the love of God to the street level; to love on those that no one else cares about or is attracted too. 

                A word of warning.  You won’t be able to minister there with just your love.  Your love isn’t enough for this high calling in the lowest places.  You need an Isaiah 61 anointing of His love and grace that can flow through you; that can look past the filth, the sin, the stench and the vileness of humanity.  It has to be the eyes of Jesus that sees straight into the heart; who doesn’t regard the fault, but sees the need.  There is where you minister the love, the forgiveness and the mercy of Jesus.  There you preach the good news of the gospel.  There you will find your anointing and your ordination. 

                God is speaking this word to someone today and that someone may be you.  No, it is not a ministry of honor or glory.  Often times, it won’t even be appreciated or accepted, but it is a high calling in the Father’s eyes and He highly regards with His favor those who are willing to give up themselves to move into this place.  If you have a calling to a ministry here is the place to start.  When you can effectively minister with the love, reconciliation and the restoration of the Father in these places, then He knows your faithfulness to be used anywhere.  The Lord has been speaking to someone’s heart and this word is confirmation of His calling upon your life.  If you respond in obedience He will give you the grace to do what you have been called to do. 

Blessings,

#kent