Without Arguing or Complaining

Without Arguing or Complaining

Philippians 2:14-18

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

               This scripture hits upon an area I think may be a real weak point among many of us.  Many of us don’t have to reflect much to remember the strife and arguing with our family and spouses, perhaps others as well.  Many of us are so stressed out, keyed up and agitated that we would bark at anything that would press our buttons or look at us the wrong way.  No one can usually press your buttons more than family.  As a result, many of our homes are filled with tension, arguing and strife.  We are often missing the will and higher intents of the Lord in these areas.  I know, I probably don’t understand the situation, but God does.  He is our peace.  He is our love.  He is our longsuffering, patience and forbearance.   Many of us have gotten in such a habit of just letting our emotions rip whenever we get agitated, irritated and angry that we just go off on those around us, giving little thought to what we are planting with our words of anger.  Obviously, we all have differences that need to be addressed and dealt with, but our anger, complaining and arguing aren’t the resolution, they are only the vent of our frustrations.  The problem isn’t always entirely with the person getting angry, often times we are guilty of provoking anger by our insensitive actions, words, deeds or misdeeds.  So, can we come together to listen and resolve our issues in the spirit of peace, letting the love of Christ rule and moderate in our hearts? 

               What is it about our complaining?  Complaining is like a dripping faucet that you can’t shut off. It wears on you.  What is worse, it is a cancer to our faith, for it focuses and dwells on the negative and always looks at what isn’t rather than what is.  Complaining and arguing are counter-productive to our faith and walk in Christ.  The apostle Paul is communicating to us that if this thing is prevalent in our lives, then we need a change of attitude, because this doesn’t complement our Christian walk and lives.  Paul is saying we are called to be something different than what is typical of the world.  We are to stand out and shine like stars in the universe.  A star can’t shine very brightly if it is always consumed with arguing and complaint.  It’s light, the Christ, is hidden from view.  It becomes like the moon, a reflection of its surroundings rather than a source of light and warmth. 

               The reality is that all our lives will hold elements of adversity, trials and obstacles to overcome.  Rather than becoming just one who reacts to our circumstances, we must choose our actions and our attitudes.  We are the stars that hold out the Word of Life to a dark, crooked and depraved world.  They must see in us something that they don’t see in themselves or the world around them.  There must be a joy, optimism and purpose that shines through even in the midst of adverse circumstances. 

               When Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison, they had every reason to be angry, mad and complain.  Instead they chose to sing hymns and songs of praise.  Which attitude rocked their world of darkness, which attitude brought salvation and blessing?  Maybe a lot of us need attitude adjustments today and to repent of those areas in our lives we’ve let the flesh and emotions rule.  We make choices and if Christ is alive and filling our hearts and minds, those choices are a lot easier to make, for then is He our strength and our righteousness.  Be the star and the outshining of God’s glory for which He has called and purposed you to be.  Let the peace and love of God rule in your hearts and minds.  Let this same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

#kent

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You are the Seasoning

Mark 9:50

Salt [is] good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

You are the Seasoning

               Throughout our lives we are often among people or in places that aren’t necessarily our choice.  Many of us have jobs that are unpleasant or the people that we work around have ways that really challenge us and try us.  Often life places us in those scenarios that wouldn’t be our choice, but we are stuck with them.  Remember that old adage that says, ‘when life offers you only lemons then make lemonade’?   We are surrounded in a strange land with a good many of the people in this land not really knowing God, His life and His salvation.  You and I are sojourners in this strange land.  We look for a city, which has foundations, whose builder and maker, is God.  We are God’s salt brought to a bland, tasteless and unsavory world.  If you are one of those blessed ones in those unpleasant places then know that God has chosen you to be the seasoning.

               We often have a choice.  We can become the victims of our circumstance or the masters of them.  No, we don’t always get to choose the things that affect and touch our lives, but we do make the choice of whether these circumstances rule over us or we rule over them.  When ugliness, darkness and calamity greet us, we have the choice to respond in the beauty of Christ, giving forth His light and maintaining His peace.  That is what it means when our life is hidden in Him.  That’s what it means to be the salt and the seasoning of God.  We don’t respond the way the world responds.  We don’t fall into the pit of self-pity and faultfinding.  When light comes into a dark place it dispels the darkness, because light is greater than darkness and darkness simply fills the voids where light is not present.  You are the torch of God and where you go, you bring with you light.  Now we can obviously hide that light or we can let it shine. 

Darkness can only overcome light by putting it out.  What does the enemy do to us?  Doesn’t he try and condemn us, discourage us and tempt us into sin.  Isn’t he there to ridicule, mock and demean us whenever he can?  Those are all devices to put out your light.  If we walk in the flesh, then we will respond in the flesh, but if we walk in the Spirit then we will respond and act out of the light.  We will bring the seasoning of God and His life to every situation, environment, workplace and gathering.  Others will see and take note that the Spirit of Christ is among them.  They will often test the light and the seasoning of God to see if it continues to hold its brightness and flavor.  Once they know that you have the real thing, that it isn’t just words, or religion, then they will be drawn to that light and they will want to partake of that seasoning of God’s life and blessing. 

God doesn’t want us to be a people that just react to our circumstances, especially when they are negative.  He wants us to act out of His life, strength and nature.  That is hard to do when we are still too full of ourselves, because then it is still all about us.  When it is Christ living through us, then we act and speak more as Jesus did.  We will take authority to speak the mind of Christ and not simply respond and react to the prodding of men.  When men asked questions of Jesus to try and entrap and snare him, He looked past the surface of the question and into the heart of the asker.  He responded and addressed heart issues, not falling into the trap of human reasoning.  One of the reasons that we maintain a close relationship and fellowship with the Father is not just for our benefit, but also that the fragrance of His life might emanate from us and fill the atmosphere with the aroma of His presence.

Are you in a difficult place today?  Maybe you are there because God wants to spice it up and you are the seasoning.  Be sensitive to His Spirit in the midst of the spirits that you are surrounded by.  You are the priest of God, His ambassador and the administrator of His peace and life, so spice up your world.

Blessings,

#kent

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Bridge over Troubled Waters

John 14:1

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Our hearts are often burdened and troubled with many things, our children, our marriage, our loved ones, our finances, our health and the list goes on.  Jesus tells us this is a part of this earthly life.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)” It is true to the selfless nature of Christ that in the last hours before His apprehension and subsequent crucifixion Jesus is not trying to find comfort for Himself, He is instead comforting and reassuring His disciples, preparing them for what is to come.  In our lives we will come to these crossroads of great tribulation when our world will get turned upside down.  It will be hard to make sense out of the devastation that we feel and heartache we may incur, but Jesus wants us to know that He has not forsaken us in these times.  The Holy Spirit has been given to us to be our comforter, our peace, our reassurance that God has not left us or forsaken us.  Our Father doesn’t rescue us from all the tragedies of life.  We are destined to walk through them and the consequences that sin has had in the earth.  The peace we have is that our Christ lives in us.  He is the source and the resource of our ability to walk through the fires and trials of life and not have the smell of smoke upon us.  Invariably our first inclination is to begin reasoning and fighting in the power of our flesh, but our salvation is not in us, it is in Him.  It is entering into the rest of our God and knowing ‘He is working all things to the good of them that love Him and that are called according to His purpose.’  Our peace comes only as we enter into that place of faith and trust.  We know that we serve a great God, who is sovereign over all the earth and the affairs of men and while God doesn’t always change the course of history or events for our particular circumstances, that doesn’t mean He isn’t at work in them.  We get so nervous when we are not in the driver’s seat, but God is well able to guide and direct our situation far better than we are.  When Job was met with the tremendous tragedies that took his children, his wealth and his health, was he effected emotionally?  You bet that he was.  What made the difference with Job is that he knew life was not about the things of this earth, it was about his relationship with the Father.  Job 1:20-22,”20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”  How different from so many today who face trials only to blame God and turn away from him because He let these bad things happen to seemingly good people.  Even as the second set of trials were laid upon Job with the afflictions of his flesh, his response bore out his rest and full relinquishment of his life to God.  Job 2:7-10, “7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish  woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” 

               Our peace in the midst of our tribulation comes from not being devastated by what is happening without, but by turning within.  It is by worshipping our God, in the midst of trials, by placing ourselves fully within His hands to perform whatever it is He would work out through what we may only see as evil.  He is our ark of safety, our fortress, our high tower, our shield and buckler.  The Overcomer dwells within us.  He has conquered death and the grave; He ever lives to make intercession our behalf.  If our eyes and our heart are upon Him, then we are already looking at our victory regardless of what is happening without.                 Is your heart troubled today?  We have become anxious about many things.  Perhaps we are angry with others because they are not doing something to help us.  Martha was upset with Mary, her sister, because she was sitting at the feet of Jesus feeding off His words, rather than helping with the natural food preparation.  Complaining to Jesus, He tells her, ““Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”” Instead of being anxious, we also need to choose the one thing that is needed, which is feeding off the Word of God and sitting in His presence.  If you need that peace today, you will find it there in His presence as you rest in Him.  He is that bridge over troubled waters

Blessings,

#kent

A Healthy Spirit

A Healthy Spirit

Proverbs 18:14

A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

               The true life of an individual is contained in their spirit.  The spirit is the center of hope, faith and the reason for living.  A healthy spirit is one that is broken and contrite before God, but whole and mighty concerning the adversities and trials of life. 

Psalms 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”  The full humility and submission of our spirit toward the Lord is the sacrifice that He will not despise.  In that condition we are in alignment and submission to His will and purpose in our lives.  We have positioned ourselves to be reliant upon His strength and live out of the hope and faith we have in Him.      

On the other hand there is a broken spirit that is not good and is the most detrimental to our health and our life.  Psalms 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good [like] a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  A merry and joyful heart is like a medicine.  It proceeds out of a spirit and heart that is rejoicing and has found joy in the Lord, in spite of circumstances that might dictate that it feels to the contrary.  That joy and merriment is an expression of faith, not necessarily of feelings, because our heart has its hope and confidence in the Lord.  Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”  We can go through almost anything as long as our spirit is healthy and our hope and confidence remain in the Lord.  Our greatest danger, even over physical or mental illness is when our spirit becomes unhealthy and broken.  Our spirit is our lifeline to God.  It is the medium by which we communicate and maintain relationship with the Almighty.  When our spirit becomes broken then the physical man will dry up as well.  The power cord of our life is maintained through our spirit.  When the conduit and conductor of our life becomes interrupted or broken then we are running on batteries and true life is ebbing away.  It is through our spirit that faith is generated, and hope is maintained.  There are times in our lives that circumstances can be so overwhelming that our spirit can be crushed with grief and despair.  We can lose our hope and even our desire to live ceases.  What strikes me in Proverbs 18 is that it is our spirit that sustains us in sickness.  There are many trials in life, including sickness, that can come in like a flood and overwhelm us with a sense of hopelessness and despondency. 

               I am reminded of the disciples who were crossing the Sea of Galilee when they were caught up in a terrible storm that threatened their very lives, while Jesus lie sleeping in the bottom of the boat.  They had come to the end of themselves and hope was leaving them when they awoke Jesus.  Luke 8: 24-25 says, “And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”  When our spirit becomes broken our faith leaves us.  When we lose faith, we lose hope.  Faith and Hope are always right there in the boat with us in the person of Christ.  He says He will never leave us or forsake us, but He doesn’t tell us that we won’t feel that way.  That is how the disciples felt in that storm.  They felt helpless, afraid and were losing hope when all the while the Author of Life itself was resting in the hull of their boat.  Is any storm or adversity in life greater than He who is the Lord and Master over the winds and the water?  If we perish, we perish, but we must never allow our spirit to remain broken.  When life is overwhelming and it feels as if all hope is gone, allow your spirit to crawl up in DADDY’s lap, hold fast to Him with all of the strength of your being until your storm passes over.                 Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”  Allow the name of the Lord to be the strong tower that protects your spirit from becoming broken.  It is your steadfast faith in Him that will keep your spirit from being broken in those most difficult of times.   Remember what Colossians 3:3 says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”  You have already died to this outward life, so don’t allow it to rob you of the inward life that is hid with Christ in God.  Maintain a healthy spirit that you might live in hope and in faith.

Blessings,

#kent

Who Are You?

Who are You?

Ephesians 1:3-14

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For 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— 6to 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.

               The emphasis of so much of what is written in these papers deals with who we are in Christ.  Why is that so important and such a big deal?  If you never fully comprehend and lay hold of the revelation of who you are “in Christ”, how then will you ever have the faith to lay hold of your destiny, calling and predestination?  How will you ever be what Christ has chosen for your life?  Brethren, we have such a high and holy calling that it is difficult for the finite natural mind to fully comprehend it.  Yet by the mind and revelation of the Holy Spirit we can.  Let us put on the mind of Christ as we look at this passage in Ephesians.  Comprehend with me that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.  You and I have been created with a destiny.  We have been predestined to be God’s sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.  Not only have we been freely given redemption through His blood and forgiveness of our sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace, but He has also given us wisdom and understanding.  With that wisdom and understanding He has made known to us the mystery of His will, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ. 

               Stop and meditate for a moment on what the scripture has just told us.  Destiny is fulfilled in a person who is purposed in that in which they have been called.  Without purpose and without vision how will you fulfill your destiny?  Our natural mind isn’t going to grasp and lay hold of what God has called us too, it is only by the mind and wisdom of the Spirit of God that we will see it, seize it and realize it. 

We don’t often hear a lot of preaching about our destiny and calling in Christ.  We hear a lot about getting saved, living a good life and going to heaven and I would take nothing away from that, but there is more.  Peter speaks of it in Acts 3:19-21, “19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”  We, who are in Christ, groan within ourselves because we long to fully put off this body of sin that we may put on Christ in His fullness.  As we have quoted many times in Romans 8:22-25, “22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  Verses 28-30 go on to say, “28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

               Presently, the Word tells us we have the foretaste and the earnest or the down payment on that which is to come. It is a done deal, but it has its time to be revealed.  Meanwhile we have two ways to view our destiny, either count it as off in the future and just live for the present or by faith seize the promise and calling before us and set our faces to press into the destiny God has given us.  This destiny is not determined by whether we are physically alive at the day of its arrival, but by how we laid hold of the vision and pressed into it by faith in our generation.  Even as Paul proclaims in Philippians 3:12-16, “12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”  God has marked your life for great things, but you must know and act upon who you are in Him.  Be faithful where you are at, but constantly realizing that your destiny and calling is about who you are in Christ and how you are living that out now.

Blessings,

#kent

What the Lord has Cleansed, Don’t Call Common

What the Lord has Cleansed, Don’t Call Common

Acts 10:9-16

On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat

 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice [spake] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, [that] call not thou common.  This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

               Many of us today in our Christian walk don’t consider ourselves to have prejudice or be judgmental.  We really feel like we have the love of God toward all men until God begins to bring us into the presence of something or someone that flies in the face of all that we consider holy, right, just and good.  How do we respond when God places us in the midst of drunks or drug addicts, gothic peoples with colored or spiked hair, tattoos and piercings?  How about ministering to people that are slow, poor of speech and dress, lacking in cleanliness, etiquette and manors? What about old people, incapacitated and lacking in faculties and social skills?  Can we really love those extremists, god-haters, abortionist, gays, idol worshippers and those of false religions?  You might be thinking, “well, wait a minute, God hates sin and a lot of these that you are mentioning are sinners and anti-god.”  Yes, God hates sin, and what were we before He saved us and washed away our sin?  The truth is that, like Peter, we all have prejudices; rather we acknowledge them or not.  All of us can be put in situations with certain people groups that we would feel uncomfortable to say the least.  The fact is that, consciously or subconsciously, we avoid or condemn what we don’t feel comfortable or accepting of.  There are times in life when God will put us right where we don’t want to be.  What we would often protest to God, that is unclean, common and should be rejected, is exactly what He suffered and died to redeem and sanctify.  Not unlike Peter, we don’t want to be the ones to defile our hands and dirty our righteous garments.  We are faced with a crossroads at certain times in our lives.  Will I live out of a pious religious attitude that says to me, “I am better than these people, I will just cross the street and walk on the other side and ignore their existence?”  Is the Holy Spirit convicting us in these times that, “you are not your own, you were bought with a price, it was the same price that Christ paid for these you deem undesirable and rejects.”  “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

               Don’t think it strange when God begins to move in what we might consider some unholy arenas and areas of humanity.  Jesus loved that demoniac that no one else would dare to go near.  We have to be willing as the priests and ministers of God to operate out of a love that requires that we die to personal prejudices and feelings.  These are still a part of our natural man and not a part of the Spirit and love of Christ within us.  Jesus was never afraid to roll up His holy sleeves and get his hands dirty with tax collectors, sinners, adulteresses, people demon possessed, sick, diseased, criminals, enemies of Judah, crippled and lepers.  Those that no one else wanted anything to do with, Jesus loved and ministered life, health and deliverance.  Quite honestly, most all of us have lived in our comfort zone where nothing we consider common or unholy enters in.  In that place we can live piously, comfortably and enjoy our little religious, well-groomed lifestyles.  The truth is that Jesus went to hell to redeem the most defiled and ungodly of sinners.  Dare we turn our backs on those He so loved and died for? Will these not stand up to testify against us on judgement day?  The Love and nature of Christ in us will take us outside of our comfort zone if we will really listen to the Spirit within us.  His love reaches out to the depths of humanity. When He cast out His net of salvation He draws in the clean and unclean alike. 

               We, like Peter, must have a revelation of our prejudices and God’s incomprehensible love.  We have to be willing to lay down our lives, our pride, our dignity, so that Christ might reach through us to love and save the lowliest of men.  Are we willing to get our hands dirty?  Even the priest of the Levitical order had to get bloody, stinky and dirty as they prepared the sacrifices for the altar.  It went with the job.  Whatever it takes we must be willing to do, wherever He leads us we must be willing to go.  We have been called to be Christ to the Nations.  Are you truly willing?

Blessings,

#kent

Whirlwind

Whirlwind

Nahum 1:3

The LORD [is] slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit [the wicked]: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds [are] the dust of his feet.

               Are things being stirred up in our lives?  Have you thought of having an orderly life only to find it going in more different ways than you ever thought possible?  There is a whirlwind moving through our lives, a force of separation that is stirring up and sifting all that is chaff in us.  Left to ourselves, we would be content to let the mud settle out in our lives and the water clear.  On the surface we would look pretty clear and clean, but God knows what lies down in the inner recesses of our hearts.  He is not going to leave it alone and let it stay there.  There is often a whirlwind that passes through our lives and circumstances that stir up things in our lives we might not have even known were there.  There are areas of our lives, feelings, emotions, passions, desires and appetites, that may lie suppressed but never dealt with.  Have you ever thought why is it that things are suddenly coming out of my mouth I would have never thought to say, or things are coming up in my soul I thought were gone?   God is often the whirlwind in the storms that moves through our lives and soul.  The purpose of the whirlwind is to deal with the hidden things in our hearts that have been forgotten, repressed or that we weren’t even aware that they had residence in us.  These whirlwinds that move through our soul can be very unsettling because the Holy Spirit is revealing and showing our true heart in areas.  Sometimes that can be a much uglier sight than we care to admit.  He doesn’t do it to condemn us or embarrass us, He does it to purify us and bring into the light those things in all of us that we have cloaked in darkness and tucked away in the closets of our heart.  The Lord is cleaning His house, He is getting into the closets of our hearts and pulling out all that junk that we had so neatly packed away.  We all know that when we clean something out, in the process we can have quite a mess as we sort through and separate the good from the bad, the needed from the unneeded.  Sometimes our lives can get in quite a mess as the whirlwind of the Holy Spirit is moving through areas of our lives and cleaning house. 

               Is it disturbing, is it unsettling, is it often bringing us shame or feelings of unworthiness?  Yes, it does all these things.   Once it is out in the light, then we need to decide what we are going to do with it.  Luke 12:2-3 says, “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.  Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” 

               An unfortunate part of life to us, is that often, our pain reveals to us problems we would continue to ignore if it weren’t significant enough to draw our attention to it.  We know that we can experience more than physical pain.  It is often our heart-felt pains, that bring to light our heart problems.  Praise God He loves us just the way we are, but too much to leave us that way.  Don’t despair if you’re going through this process in your life.   We must be willing to relinquish these areas to the Lord, lay them upon the altar, repent of them and find our right standing in His forgiveness and deliverance that He wants to bring to us.  In God’s process of cleaning us up our waters are going to get pretty murky at times as His whirlwind is passing through, but it is because He is working a deeper and purifying work in you.  1 Peter 4:17, “For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

Blessings,

#kent

It is Time to Rebuild the Temple

Haggai 2:15-19

” ‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on —consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD’s temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,’ declares the LORD. 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

“ ‘From this day on I will bless you.’ “

It is Time to Rebuild the Temple

               Haggai has a strong message for us in this hour.  Then, it concerned a remnant of people that came out of the captivity in Babylon.  They have returned to their holy city and temple that has been reduced to ruins.  The basic message here is that we have a temple of God that needs to be rebuilt, but we have been too focused on building our own little kingdoms and attending to our own needs that God’s house lies in ruin.  God is asking this people through Haggai, “Have you wondered why everything you touched and labored at come up short?  Why things don’t ever seem to work out or come together?”  God is speaking to them that just as when a person touched a dead body they became unclean and everything they touched became unclean so it is with our spiritual works.  They have been defiled because they have been mixed with the flesh, the dead body that was crucified with Christ. 

               If we wonder why we only see God working in a small measure of His glory and power here is where we may find our answer.  If we want to see the glory and power of God and if we want to see the release of His blessing upon our lives then it has to become about Him and not about us.  God is giving His people a promise and I believe it is the promise He is speaking to us in this hour.  If we will come together, lay aside our agenda and our dead works we will see the blessing of God. 

               More than ever before I find myself praying,  “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  This is the day and the hour for the temple of God to be restored in the spirit.  He is restoring a spiritual house that will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.  In that place He will be Lord and He will move according to His will and purpose and no longer ours.  Church will no longer be a place we meet once or twice a week to go through religious motions and exercises.  It will become a central part of our lives, because we will all come together, to labor together that the body might be built up into spiritual maturity and wholeness.  In that spirit will we see God’s Spirit poured out upon us.  It is God’s heart to bless us in ways that we can’t imagine, but He is waiting for us to step into our purpose as the body of Christ and to walk by the Spirit and no longer in the flesh.  When His body is in proper alignment and place He will shake heaven and earth.  Even now we are beginning to see the shaking taking place.  This is not a place for us to fear, but a sign to us to move into the purpose of God for our lives personally and corporately.  God has a blessing awaiting us and the increase of His kingdom is upon us, as we will move into the restoration of His house.  Those called out ones from Babylon which are represented by Zerrubabel will become His government and the signet ring which represents His divine authority to bring to pass His will in this earth. 

               It is a day not to look to the economies and systems of this world.  They are passing away.  We are moving into a divine economy and kingdom whose builder and maker is God.  That means our way of thinking and doing must change drastically for many of us.  The principles of God’s kingdom are the principles of His Word and Truth.  Today we are called to line up with these principles.  People aren’t going to be made holy just because they brush up against the holy flesh we are carrying in the skirt of our garment, or the Christ in us.  They are going to be made holy, as they personally become partakers of the flesh and blood of Christ.  God is looking for the laborers and the priesthood to take this message to the world.  Come and let us labor in His house by His Spirit that we might partake of His blessing and be a part of that blessing to others.

Blessings,

#kent

The Essential Thing We Tend to Avoid

The Essential Thing We Tend to Avoid

Mark 8:34

And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

               As we prepare for our day, don’t forget that essential thing we need daily, “the cross.”  In that cross is contained all of the essentials for spiritual life.  Meditate on what it is and what it means in your life.  It is the cost of discipleship and the reward of obedience.  It is death unto Life.

Blessings,

#kent

Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking

Colossians 3:3

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

               Please take just a minute and try and absorb the impact and implication of this one verse.  Sometimes I think I comprehend this truth mentally, but do I possess a real revelation of what it should mean in my life?  This truth should continually revolutionize my world view and perception of reality.  The spiritual reality and implication to this is that this self-life is dead.  That could seem pretty dreary and boring if it were not for what I traded it for.  If I am dead to myself, that means that I am free to be fully alive in Christ.  That means that God’s life inhabits me, fills me, expands and promotes beyond human limitation what I have the possibility of being “in Him”.   Say your name and put Christ behind it.  You are now that expression, uniquely and divinely His. 

               Now someone will be thinking, “what are you saying, that we should now have this god-complex?”  If we are indeed dead to the flesh and alive unto Christ, the God in us is in reality Him and not us.  We understand that whatever God does through us, great or small, it is by the power of His in-working grace and Holy Spirit.  We are simply the living organism of His expression, unified with Him and in full corporation with His intent and purpose. 

               Perhaps one of the most staggering handicaps in Christianity today is, “we don’t really know who we are” and if we do get a hold of that, we so quickly forget it as we are quickly caught up in the life and economy of the world that we walk in.  The reality is that we are ‘dead men walking’ with regards to the flesh and our former soulish life, but we are resurrected people of the spirit who should be walking in the newness of life and hope in Christ Jesus.  If you are dead to the world then you have nothing to fear from the world.  The most the world could do is take your temporary existence in this world, but “your life is hid with Christ in God.”  That means that for anything to truly touch your life, it has to go through God to do it.  Will God allow things to touch you?  God will allow what will make you stronger and continually work a greater measure of His grace and perfecting work in you.  You are His family.  When He corrects you, it is for your good, because of His exceeding great love for you.  He wants kids that hold the family resemblance of holiness and purity and love.  He wants kids after His nature and likeness.  That is who you are!  Every time we look in that mirror we should see no longer just an outward man that represents our soul, we should see an outward man that possesses and is the habitation of the Christ.  Because that is who we are, we are focused not on the temporal and earthly life; we are focused on the things above.   We are as it says in Hebrews 11:13, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”  Peter picks up on this same thought in 1Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”

               The greatest victory for the enemy and the saddest defeat for the Christian is for the devil to steal your identity.  You talk about identity theft; there is no greater case and point than when you go around believing the lie about who you really are and who you really are not.  God’s Word tells us who we are.  It is the mirror we must continually look into until it becomes so ingrained in us that we are no longer this former person in the world, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus.   Romans 12:2 exhorts us in the light of this reality, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  We can never be the overcomers that God intended we should be while we still identify with these weak sin-laden bodies.  Quit focusing on what you don’t think you are and start focusing on what God says you are.  Because we experience some mistakes and setbacks, that doesn’t make us failures, it should only make us more determined to allow God to be our all in all.   1 John 4:17 tells us, “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.”

Blessings,

#kent