Celebrate Life

Celebrate Life

Psalms 5:11

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

               If ever a people had reason to celebrate and be joyful, it is the people of God.  Who is blessed like us in all the earth?  Who else are the recipients of such great promises as given in 2 Peter 1:4, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  Who else has been called to be joint-heirs with Christ and to be seated with Him in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father?  Who else has had the Lord of the universe come and give His life a ransom for our sins that we might be partakers of His life and kingdom, that we might have fellowship and unity with the Creator of all.  All that we have is by the goodness of His hand and all that we are is by His grace and sufficiency that works in us.   

               This morning as I was reading 1Chronicles 29 about how the house of God was a labor of love for David.  He laid up tremendous wealth in materials to build the house of God.  It says in verses 2 and 3, “Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for [things to be made] of gold, and the silver for [things] of silver, and the brass for [things] of brass, the iron for [things] of iron, and wood for [things] of wood; onyx stones, and [stones] to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, [which] I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house.”  David has made it his joy and purpose to bless the Lord back with the abundance that the Lord has blessed Him with.  This joy in giving and in blessing God through the preparation of building His temple is contagious even among the people.  Verses 6-9 shows us how this became also the heart of the people, “Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly, And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they with whom [precious] stones were found gave [them] to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.”  These people had laid hold of the joy of giving unto the Lord and they were making a celebration out of it.  And why did they want to give so much to the Lord?  They gave, because they acknowledged and appreciated how much the Lord had given unto them. 

               Listen and read how David then blesses the Lord at this time, “Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed [be] thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour [come] of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand [is] power and might; and in thine hand [it is] to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who [am] I, and what [is] my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things [come] of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we [are] strangers before thee, and sojourners, as [were] all our fathers: our days on the earth [are] as a shadow, and [there is] none abiding. O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name [cometh] of thine hand, and [is] all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee.”

               This was also the time of Solomon’s coronation when David handed over the kingdom to him and the great task of building the temple.  Isn’t it interesting to note that in this great giving from a right heart and attitude of the people that Israel never prospered more greatly in its history than it did at this time?  Wasn’t it because the leadership and the congregation of the people all had a heart of thanksgiving and appreciation for all that God had done?  It says of Solomon in verse 25, “And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him [such] royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.”  We know that we can never out-give God, but isn’t it wonderful that we can give something back to a God that has blessed us so.

               The Lord has committed the task of building the house of God into the hands of the church.  We should know that we only labor in vain if we are building after the flesh and not after the Spirit.  For we are the workmen and the instruments of God for the building up of His house to the glory and honor of His great name.  What a privilege and honor to know and serve Christ.  We have great reason today to celebrate.  May we always have the heart to bless Him as He has blessed us through uprightness of heart and willingness to give. 

Blessings,

#kent

The Spirit of Thanksgiving

Psalms 103

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children-

18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.

22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul.

A Spirit of Thanksgiving

               Whatever the season of life, of history or time of the year, it should always be a season for thanksgiving and praise.  At this time in our history when we are standing at a precipice of economic disaster and gloom, we will perhaps be mindful more than ever before of all the blessings and benefits we have enjoyed in our prosperity.  As the Lord has been faithful in our good times, His faithfulness remains with us through the trying times ahead.  God’s faithfulness remains steadfast to those who fear Him and hold fast to His Word and promises.  What we see in King David’s life is that the tougher and more dire his circumstances the greater he proclaimed the faithfulness of God and looked to the Lord to uphold and keep his life.  We must follow David’s example.  Our resources may be drying up, but the Lord’s are just beginning.  It is at the end of ourselves that we truly find Him. 

               I remember our youth when Sharon and I were first married.  We were as poor as church mice and yet it was in those times that we saw God’s miraculous faithfulness time and time again.  He didn’t pour out great wealth upon us, but He was our provider and met our needs even in the small things.  This is a time for us to really know our God, as we perhaps never have before.  If you will give Him your whole heart, He will see you through.  He will make a way where there is no way. 

               Rejoice and thank Him for His great faithfulness.  It is the world that must fear and tremble, not us.  Even in this time of famine we will be God’s provision for them.  Prepare yourselves for the harvest that God is going to bring in.  We must learn the art of discipling and raising up those God has called into His kingdom in this hour.  We are God’s provision, even as He is ours.  So give great thanks and praise unto the Lord.  His kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  We are entering a new season and now it is incumbent upon us to no longer just know about our God, but to know Him in reality, spirit and truth.  Only in as much as we are given to Him can we be of service to those around us.  While others fear and tremble, let us thank God for what He is about to do through us.   Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.  Amen

Blessings,

#kent

Testimony of a Prisoner

Jeremiah 33:3

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Testimony of a Prisoner

I found this testimony of a prisoner named Billy Schmidt on Facebook through a man that friended me.  It was compelling as I read it and felt the Lord would have me share it with you for your edification. 

June1,2012

Please take the time to read this letter. Through it I explain something great that has changed my life forever. About four months ago I ended up in prison four a couple of months. While I was there Jesus Our God sent an angel of His to me. Along with the angel, Jesus sent with him the Most Powerful visual message I have ever seen In my life.

When I was placed In jail I asked to be put into solitary confinement by myself because at the time I was mentally crushed and exhausted from the miserable self-lead mislead life style that I had been living for over thirteen years of my life at that time.

For years now I have believed in Jesus our God and at times prayed directly to Him. But because of my own path that I chose to lead my life with I could never seem to put my life together for a long period of time.

While I was in solitary confinement by myself I begin praying to Jesus our God asking Him to help me in any way that He would. When I was there about three weeks I had a bail hearing coming up. Around that time I begin to read a Holy Bible that was in my jail cell, I read the book of Matthew and the book of Revelations both that are in the New Testament. Also about that time I asked Jesus to be in control of my life and to guide me and direct me and to have happen for me whatever He as God sees best for me. I explained to Him that if I did not get out of jail when I was to go to my bail hearing I would understand because He is God and God knows what is best for me. When I went to my bail hearing the outcome of it was that I had no one to bail me out of prison. I was not upset because I believed that this was part of the plan that Jesus had for me. So at that time I remained in custody and I was returned to the jail.

Again I picked up the Holy Bible and started reading it, This time from the beginning. I wanted to figure out how humanity and creation really did come to be. I became very interested in what the Holy Bible was saying and I believed what it was explaining did happen and that it was infact real. Throughout the next couple weeks from that time I read the Holy Bible quite abit. I was just over a couple hundred pages into the Holy Bible some were when Moses was leading the twelve tribes of Israel out of Egypt to the land that God promised Jacob, It was called the promise land.

So one day in around this time I was lying down on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds. I stood up and put my hands along the top steal bunk bed frame in front of me. I looked straight ahead towards the wall in front of me when I noticed someone beside me. He turned and stood right in front of me. In my mind I said a ghost then I said no an angel, I knew it right then and there. I could literally feel his presence from him it was a very strong alive feeling. He stood in front of me and I was amazed. I could not talk. He knew I noticed how different he was from us. The structure of his skull and jaw line was awesome and nothing at all like ours. Were our temples are on each side of our skull, his skull was wider there and on both sides there on each side of his skull was a round plate about three inches wide and round. The plates were not flush with his skull but slightly deeper in each side of his head. The plates held more color in them than the rest of his skin.

His jaw was a lot wider than ours. His jaw line reminded me of a spaded shovel. From the back of his jaw right around to the other side. This was truly the work of Jesus our God. I must say this angel was Hardcore and I knew because of his appearance that he has a grate life. He appeared to be about thirty years old and he was in his prime condition.

His hair was brown and nothing like ours. His hair came out of his scalp in tight spirals. It appeared that each individual hair on his head was much thicker than each of the hairs on our heads.

His eyes were brown in color and glossy. His eyes were much bigger than ours. I must add his entire eyes were dark brown. There was no white at all in his eyes. Towards the middle of his eyes mixed in the brown were black speckles. Suddenly he appeared right in front of me face to face eye to eye. I do not remember him moving forward towards me suddenly he was just there. I stared right into his eyes and saw something that I had never seen before that day. His entire brown eyes and the black speckles through them. Under his eyes there was no stress misery or pain. This was something that I had really noticed. Suddenly we were no longer face to face but he was standing back were he was standing before we were eye to eye. Again I do not remember him stepping back suddenly he was just there.

Then his eyes changed and in each one of his eyes the black speckles formed together as a black pupil in each brown eye. Then in each black pupil I seen something that I have never seen before. At first I could not even comprehend it. Then I realized that in his pupils was the look of Powerful Strong Peace. Peace with such Strength that at first I could not grasp. Then in each pupil of each of his eyes his pupils literally began to swarm with such a Peaceful Power. Then in each of his pupils along with the swarming Peaceful power came a White swarming mist.

Then the angel came forward and locked his eyes directly into my eyes. Then In each of his eyes I saw a dark brown Powerful Cross. Then suddenly I no longer saw the angel or anything else. What I did see was one dark brown wood grain Cross on a hill. Then the Cross I saw began to form silver capping around each end of it.

Suddenly I was standing near the edge of a mountain on the mountain flat were Jesus was crucified died and gave His life for the salvation of humanity. I noticed that the mountain flat that I was standing on was very flat. The mountain appeared to be made from some shiny beautiful black gem. I remember looking ahead of me and far back behind the mountain flat were miles of nice yellow fields of hills that went straight back.

I saw the Cross of Jesus coming up the side path that comes to the back of the mountain flat. From behind the Cross I heard the Loudest Thunderous Sounds following the Cross of Jesus. The Cross reached the back of the mountain flat then turned and started coming towards me. The Cross was Tremendous and held the Most Power I had ever seen. Then the Thunderous Sounds followed behind the Cross and up the mountainside path and up over the hill on to the mountain flat. Than I saw that the Thunderous Sounds was Powerful Flames of Burning Fire that stretched out in a long half circular shape row behind the Cross. The Fire went from the far left side of the Cross, behind the Cross and over to the far right side of the Cross. As the Cross Of Jesus came closer towards me the Flames of Burning Fire grew Extremely Tall with such Powerful Strength.

Once the Cross of Jesus moved forward to the spot were I believe was the very spot were Jesus our God was crucified and died for humanities sins, The Most Powerful Cross and its Supreme Flames of Burning Fire then stood still. I remember looking over my left shoulder towards the mountainside cliff ledge. The cliff side of the mountain edge that was on the side of my left shoulder went out a lot more then the other side. I remember that beyond the cliff ledge down below from a distance was a round white city.

Then It was if the Most Powerful Power of the Cross of Jesus and Exceedingly Great Burning Flames of Fire and the Superior Sounds of Thunder all became One. The mixture of this was the Extremist Most Powerful Power I had ever seen and herd in my life. I realized that what I was starring at was the Power of Jesus my Lord my God the Holy Spirit. I knew then, Jesus our God is the One and only Extremist Power in all existence.

Then suddenly I was no longer standing on the mountain flat in front of the Cross of Jesus our God. Then again what I remember seeing was one dark brown wood grain Cross on a hill. Again silver capping began forming around each end of the Cross, But this time in the middle of the Cross shone the brightest ray of LIGHT I have ever seen.

Then I saw two Most Powerful Crosses with Wild Burning Flames of Fire behind the Crosses. Again along with the Flames of Fire was the Loudest Sounds of Thunder from the Flames of Burning Fire. Again the mixture of the two Most Powerful Crosses the Burning Flames of Fire and the Thunder became the Most Powerful Extremist Power I have ever seen and herd.

Then again I realized that I was face to face with the angel and that the Most Powerful two Crosses and Flames of Fire behind the two Crosses and the Thunder was in each eye of the angel. In each eye of the angel was the Most Powerful Cross of Jesus the Extremist Flames of Burning Fire and the Wildest Thunder. Again I was watching the Power of Jesus The One Only True Extremist God Of All, through the eyes of His messenger the angel. Then the Crosses in each eye of the angel and the Burning Fire and the Thunder from the Burning Flames of Fire and the angel suddenly all disappeared.

Then I realized that I was standing in front of the bunk beds in my jail cell. I then realized that the entire time the angel was standing in front of me he was standing exactly were the metal bunk beds were. When the angel was standing in front of me the steal bunk beds were they should have been were not even there. The angel was there. The bunk beds had disappeared. Then when the angel disappeared the bunk beds reappeared.

What happen to me that day was so powerful and much for my mind to comprehend that I was disoriented afterwards for some time. I remembered the angel up until about were he locked his eyes onto my eyes. After that the rest of what had happened took some time to sink in. That swarming Peace that I saw in the angels eyes right before the angel locked his eyes onto my eyes. I’m sure that was the Holy Sprit and I believe Jesus our God sent that with the angel as a gift for me. When the angel locked his eyes onto my eyes the angel put that swarming Peace that was in the pupils of his eyes directly into my soul and it healed me on the spot. Much of my misery and fear for life is gone. I sleep better and now see this life of mine completely different than before that day when all this of what I explained happened. I no longer crave the addiction to misery that I once had.

Jesus our God sent me a visual message with His messenger the angel. The message was Jesus. Jesus our God. The message strait out showed me that Jesus is our One True Only God. Jesus came to this earth and let Himself be crucified on His Cross. Jesus died so that humanity could have forgiveness of sins. Jesus is our Savior from death. If humanity believes in Jesus through Him we can enter eternal life forever.

This Is all real. Jesus our Lord our God is real. The Holy Spirit is real. Prayer towards Jesus our God Is real. The Holy Bible is real. There is no shame at all if you honor our LORD JESUS THE HOLY SPIRIT. Jesus is our Savior from death. The forgiveness of our sins. He is Jesus our God. He created us and it is thanks towards Him why we are here on this earth. From what I have seen I now Know that Jesus our God is the Extremist Power in all creation. JESUS is our LORD our GOD the HOLY SPIRIT. He is more than any of us will ever be. Jesus our God has literally saved my life and I believe my soul forever. If you honor Jesus our God and ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and to have Him help you with your soul and your life, your life through Jesus our God can only become better.

Billy Schmidt

Blessings,

#kent

God’s Toolbox

God’s Toolbox

Romans 12:4-8

4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to hisfaith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

               We have often heard the analogies of how we are members of one another in the body of Christ and how as such we serve one another.  Perhaps another way of looking at the body of Christ, and its members in particular, is that we are God’s toolbox.  He has a world of broken people down here, and many Christians are among them.  They are broken, hurting and in need of attention and fixing.  We know that God is a Master Craftsman concerning His creation, but He has chosen to work with and through His tools.  Think today that you are a unique and special tool of God.  God has given you characteristics, gifts and abilities He didn’t give to everyone else.  There are ways and areas you can operate in that others can’t.  Those gifts and abilities He has placed in you, some naturally and some divinely, are so that He can use you as His tool to do a work that perhaps no other tool can do quite as effectively.  What’s more, He will put you in circumstances and with people that need the ministry of those gifts and abilities.  Obviously, you are most effective as your life is yielded to the Holy Spirit so that He can direct and use you to fix, mend and encourage the broken, damaged and discouraged.  Sometimes we often take for granted what our lives can mean to the well-being and spiritual health of others if we are truly yielded and available to the Holy Spirit to use.  How often we miss it because of our self-will.  We take ourselves out of God’s hand to pursue our agenda and our priorities.  We often rob others of God’s ministering, healing touch through us.  We rob God from doing a divine work of grace in some broken person’s life and last but not least, we rob ourselves of being that tool in God’s hand that could have made the difference, that could have brought the healing and the restoration.  We didn’t have the time, or the energy or our own agenda was more important.  Haven’t we all been guilty of that? 

               God wants us to realize how important and vital each one of us are to His Kingdom coming forth in the earth.  Isn’t that what we pray?  “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven.”  If God’s kingdom isn’t fully come in us, possessing us and living through us, then how can it come in the earth?  Jesus says the “Kingdom of God is within you.”  We are the vessels and the conduits through which His kingdom flows out to the earth and waters the dry ground.  The kingdom must first come and be revealed in us.  Christ must have expression and license through us and through our will to perform His.  That means to be effective tools, we must be yielded to the Master’s hand.  As readily as He will use someone else to work grace in your life, He wants to use you to work the work of grace in another’s.  We are created for a purpose and that purpose is to fulfill what God has fashioned us for.  Everyone is different, but everyone is just as important to the whole. 

               Take time to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Be careful that we don’t blow past those divine appointments we have in life and the opportunities to minister the love, grace and gospel of Christ.  A tool that is not used eventually becomes rusty, stiff and of no use.  Be that tool at the top of God’s toolbox that He can lay hold of and use often in His work of grace in the lives of others.  Be that yielded vessel that God can perform the will and do of His good pleasure in and through.  We are God’s toolbox and He deserves only the best tools.

Blessings,

#kent

What Does this New Man Look Like?

What does this New Man Look Like?

Colossians 3:9-11

9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

               We have been talking about what this new man, who we are in Christ, is.  What does this “new man” look like?  Well, we know that this new man who is being renewed in the image of Christ is what we generally term a “Christian” or a “born again believer”.  If you went out on the street or to different parts of the world and took a poll of random people, what do you think they would say a Christian should look like?  No doubt we would get multiple answers and opinions.  Some might say it can only be a certain race people, or only males can be Christians, or only certain religions or denominations can be Christians.  What does the Word say a Christian is?  It says it is a person that “is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”  In other words, it is one that looks in their behavior to be like Christ.  It is one who doesn’t think like the world thinks, but is aligning their thoughts, goals and lifestyle with the Word and the will of God.  It plainly says here that there is no outward distinction or discrimination of sex, color, race or creed that defines you as a “new man or person in Christ”.  The transformation is within and is expressed without.  The defining factor is that Christ is all and is in all.  In the Christian’s mind and heart, this should be at the forefront of all our thinking, all of our plans, all of our goals and in all that we are.  Is Christ everything?  If He is everything in you and I, then what are we going to look like, what are we going to reflect, emulate, and express?  What is going to be our nature and character?  It is Christ, for He is all and in all.  He is what our life is all about.  He should now define who we are.

               Now being honest for just a moment, how many of us can say that is totally where we are at in our thinking, in our lifestyles and in our behavior?  What we have to grasp and get a hold of is that Christ wants Christians who are wholly identified with Him.  In other words, He is to become our identity.  What does Christian mean?  It means “little Christs”.  In the Old Testament to be one of God’s people you had to be one of the circumcision, that defined you as set apart for God. The New Testament tells us in Philippians 3:3, “3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— ”  Natural circumcision could only apply to males, but spiritual circumcision, which is the removal of our fleshly heart and attitude, giving place to the headship of Christ in our lives, knows no gender, but is applicable to all.  This new garment we are putting on is a spiritual garment that is in the likeness of Him who created us.  That is our purpose and our reason for being.  We are to be the expression of Christ in the earth.  It is Him living through us.  Is that what our world is seeing in the majority of Christianity today?  Do they really see anything that looks much different than them except in name only?  Are they able to see the difference in our behavior, our integrity, our divorce rate or family life?  The truth we face is that most all of us are missing the mark.  Christ really isn’t our all in all, He is only part of our all.  We must all come to the place of prayerfully, honestly, and with a broken and contrite heart defining who we really are.  Maybe we are somewhere between dirty underwear and blue jeans and a clean shirt, but we haven’t fully put off the old man with his former deeds.  There is a tremendous work of transformation that needs to take place in most of us.  God can only work in us, as we are willing to relinquish our will to His.  James says, “a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.”  How many of us are abiding in that place of only being lukewarm for God?  He is not our everything; He has become our occasional, our “when I feel like it”, if it is convenient, and when it is acceptable in my circle of friends.  What is Christ to us?  Is He the garment that we put on every morning and wear every day, or has He become something much less?  God has called us and provided for us to be so much more than we have been.  It is time for us to rise up and answer the trumpet that is sounding and calling us back to our faith, our full commitment and confidence in Christ.  He must be our all and who is in all. Christ in us, is our hope of glory.

Blessings,

#kent

Rest is Found in the Heart of the Father

Hebrews 4:6-11

Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.” 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

Rest is Found in the Heart of the Father

God’s rest is the soul relinquished and relaxed into the arms of the Father and the direction of the Spirit.  When we rest it is no longer effort or work, it is simply being.  Even when we go on vacation it is a time of rest, which means we cease from our normal activities.  We stop pushing ourselves and forcing ourselves.  Our mind is in a different state and our body in a different mode.  God’s rest can not be found in the world, the activities of the world or the mentality of the world.  It is a rest in His Word and His promises.  It can’t be found in being anxious, worrying or trying to solve the problems.  It is found in faith and obedience to Him who promised. 

Have you ever taken someone’s hands and told them to relax and just allow your hands to move theirs in the exercise you were trying to show them?  Perhaps at some point they gained an element of enlightenment or thinking that they knew now what you were trying to show them.  Suddenly their hands ceased to rest in yours and they began to take over the activity and exercise you were trying to guide them in.  At that point you became helpless to guide their hands with the skill and knowledge that you had.  They had resumed control and they had ceased to rest.  This is what we do with our wills all the time. We take them out of the will of the Father and resume our own self-control.   So often we start out in rest by simply seeking God and asking Him to have His way, but them somewhere along the way, His way, becomes our way as we take what He is doing and run with it our own mindset.  We also see that often it is disobedience that takes us out of that place of rest.  Romans 14:23b tells us,  “…. for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.”  We must become rested in the confidence of who we are in Christ. 

Rest is found in the arms and will of the Savior.  That is a hard place for us to remain, for our flesh wants to rise up to play or seek out its own activities.  The rest of God will bring us into the presence of God.  It causes us to behold and applaud the works of His hands.  We begin to see and appreciate that He is the finished work and we are simply the fulfillment of all that He has already accomplished.  If you want the rest of God in your life, then learn what it is to live and move and have your being in Him.

Blessings,

#kent

Maintain His Standard

Maintain His Standard

2 Chronicles 14:-2-12;15:1-8,

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest. 7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men. 9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.” 12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14 They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD had fallen upon them. They plundered all these villages, since there was much booty there. 15 They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.

               In these scriptures we see a man given to doing right in the Lord’s eyes and in trusting Him. We see that the Lord honored him with peace and prosperity.  We see that when evil forces rose against and even though their numbers were great, when they put their trust in the Lord, the Lord fought their battle and gave them great victory.  The prophet speaks the word of the Lord to Asa and says, “The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”  These are good words for us to take to heart as God’s people and as His nation.  We have seen our nation’s history was founded on men who put their trust in God and who sought His wisdom when founding and creating the constitution that has been its foundation.  The foundational truth that was established and that which has even been printed on our currency is “IN GOD WE TRUST”.  What do you think will become of us as nation and as people when we depart from this foundational principle?  If we look further into the end of Asa we will see. 

2 Chronicles 16

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.

7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen ? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

11 The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.

               I believe this is prophetic of our nation in this day and this hour.  It is not just how we start the race, it is how we finish it.  Asa started well, but he finished foolishly and to his own demise.  Our nation started well and even though we were but a weak struggling infant nation God delivered and gave us victory over England, the strongest nation of the world at that time.  Now we, as the people of God, must intercede for our nation and its leaders as we see it quickly descending into this path of forsaking the Lord.  As you exercise your freedom to vote and be heard, hold up the standard of the Lord in all that you vote for.  Those who put their trust in the arm of the flesh will fail, but those who lean wholly and fully trust in the Lord will not be disappointed.  If we, as the people of God, will not lift up His standard then who will?  The spirit of darkness is strong all around us.  We can see it even in the media and news.  We are the light of the world, so let our light shine before men.   If we forsake the Lord, He will forsake us.

Blessings,

#kent

God’s Process

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father

of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning.

God’s Process

                In the light of day there is no darkness, but shadows still move away from the direction of the light much the way our hidden sins move away from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  It is when we come into the noon day of His presence that there is no shadow of turning and there, all things are exposed to the light.  When the light of God is put directly over every area of our life then whatever shadows were there fall beneath you and are no longer projected from you. 

               A fire will seek to consume everything combustible and the hotter the fire the more completely combustibles are burned.  All that is considered of the sinful nature is combustible and subject to the fire.  When we pass through the baptism of the fire of Christ’s love He is not rejecting you, but accepting you and promoting you.  What His love is burning up may be very grievous to our flesh, but it is purifying us from all the flesh and defilement that has held us back from a deeper walk in His presence.  When we don’t understand the process, we can become angry, disappointed and offended with God.  We don’t fully understand the principle and concept that before a seed can bring forth much fruit it first must fall into the ground and die outwardly so that the life within it can spring forth and bring forth much fruit.  If we want to be fruitful there is a process. 

               It wasn’t in the natural desire of Jesus to suffer what He had to suffer and die like He had to die.  He prayed and asked the Father, ‘If there is any way let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.’  When we make our commitment to fully give our lives to Christ, we probably don’t really grasp what that might entail.  Father is gracious, He doesn’t confront us with everything at once, but He begins to take us through the process of refinement.  He begins to expose those shadow areas in our lives and desires to bring the light of His purification to illuminate them, dispel them and consume them.  In a lot of this process we have our will to submit or withdrawal from this process.  In others we go through experiences that are beyond our control and often through those difficult times we may find God in a greater dimension than what we had previously known Him.  Sometimes in the things that we must pass through, they are not just for us, but they are to train us up and make us forerunners for those who must pass through similar circumstances.  We then have the experience and the grace of God to speak into their lives from a heart of empathy and understanding just as Jesus was tempted in all areas just as we are. 

               There are many different types of terrain that we pass over as we journey with Jesus.  The truth we must always keep close is that we don’t journey it alone.  Even though all others would forsake us, Father never will.  In Hebrews 13:5 we are given this exhortation, ” Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

6So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?”

7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Jesus has never changed His mind toward you.  His love for you has never wavered.  His faithfulness is always the same and steadfast.  

               Father is taking us through the process of purification.  It is not by our works or efforts, but more by our submission and obedience to Him.  We co-labor in the process of purification that is taking place within us.  Romans 8:12-17 shares with us, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”  The power of overcoming is by our partnering with the Spirit of God within us, to put to death the misdeeds of the body.  It is not by just our strength, but neither is it by our passivity.  We are in the midst of a commitment to Him to allow the DNA of His Spirit to transform us from what has been put to death into what is of His life and godliness.  Thereby we are called the Sons of God if we are led by the Spirit of God.  You also notice that it is in sharing the suffering of Christ that we also share His glory. 

               At every juncture, at every turn, at every circumstance and in every encounter may we have the heart to say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, have your way, whatever that entails and whatever that takes me through.  I just want to be conformed to You.”‘

Blessings,

#kent

First the Test, Then the Blessing

Deuteronomy 8:1-5

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

First the Test, then the Blessing

               As a people of God we can often relate with the children of Israel out in the wilderness.  Most all of us have experienced our share of trials and tribulation and some of us more than others.  While we pray and trust God, sometimes we may be tempted to murmur, if not out loud, then in our minds.  When we pray, we expect God to just listen up and get that prayer answered.  So why doesn’t it always work that way?  Why do we sometimes have to wait and endure so long to see our answer? 

               One of the first things we need to remember here is who is the parent and who is the child.   Who is training whom?  There are many instances in our present-day society that it is evident that the child is in charge and not the parents.  When the child demands the parents obey promptly to keep that spoiled child happy and content.  God wants to bless us, but He doesn’t want to spoil us.  He is not the great celestial Santa Clause that some like to imagine and even believe that He is.  God is the Father and He is not just any Father.  He is the awesome creator God and Father.  The first thing we must learn is to operate in alignment with His kingdom, is that we are not in charge, He is!  That seems an obvious statement, but it is one that we often seem to forget in practical living.  

               James 4: 3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”  Our Father is not raising his children to walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit, so when we ask we are often tested to see what is truly in our hearts.  It is not so much for God’s benefit as for ours, so that we can really see our true motives. 

               What leaps out to me as I read this passage in Deuteronomy 8 is “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna.  What came first the test or the provision?  It has to be obvious, even to the unbeliever, that well over a million people could not have survived out in a wilderness without a supernatural provision.  It is apparent in this scripture that when they received the manna and the provision it wasn’t always in accordance with their timetable and expectations. As a result, many of them would begin to grumble, murmur and complain.  While I am sure none of us reading this have ever been guilty of doing that, it is enlightening to know that in God’s economy, provision and blessing works on His time table and not ours.  Why do we need faith if we never have to believe in hope for the expectation of its manifestation?

               Romans 5:1-5 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have 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 we rejoice 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.”  We love to rejoice in the goodness and blessing of God.  We love to rejoice in the salvation we have in Christ and the forgiveness of our sins.  We should, these are glorious, but then look what it says we should also rejoice in.  Suffering!  Why should we have to endure suffering?  Didn’t Jesus do all of that?  No, He was our example of suffering and what it works in us.  Suffering is a training tool to teach us obedience along with the attributes of obedience which are patience, perseverance, character and hope in what does not disappoint us. 

               Hebrews 5:7-10 says of Jesus, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”  God is calling those that can hear this to this same high priesthood in Christ Jesus, but to walk in the priestly calling we must be willing to walk where Jesus walked and suffer like He suffered.  This identification with His life will bring the ultimate blessing, but first we must walk through the ultimate test.  Do not despair if you are in this hard place of testing and suffering, use it to learn the perseverance, patience, character and hope that you need to press into His highest and inherit the blessing.  “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. (Luke 6:40)”

Blessings,

#kent

The Hard Places

The Hard Places

Genesis 18:14

Is any thing too hard for the LORD?…

               Are you in a hard place today?  Does an answer and a solution seem almost impossible?  Then we must pose the same question that the Lord posed to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who laughed when the Lord told Abraham that she would have a son in her old age.  Sarah, being around ninety years old and her husband being older had a hard time believing even the Lord when He spoke this word to Abraham.  “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 

               There are times in our lives when we are in those hard places where the only place we have to look is up.  Unfortunately, so many of us leave God as our last resource rather than our first.  This is often why our situations go from bad to worse.   The Lord wants our hearts to be submitted wholly to His will and purpose.  It is often the hard places in our lives that bring us back to a place of humility and desperation for Him.   There is no where else to turn, so we turn to Him.  Sarah laughed because she didn’t see how even God could give her a child in her state of life and yet He did just as He said He would do.  We have a bad habit of pretty much shutting God out of our lives when things are going well, but here we come running when things go south.  While the Lord is so often gracious to help us in these times of need, it isn’t always, as we would expect it to be.  The Lord is interested in something more eternal than our immediate crisis.  Sometimes we don’t get the answers we think we want, because there are times God allows things to be torn down, so that He can do a new thing that could never happen if we continued on as we had been.  “Nothing is too hard for God: “but then, “His ways are not our ways,” so the results and answers to our cries in these hard places may be different than we had anticipated.  We can never put God in a box and say He will do things a certain way, even if He did do them that way last time. 

               The hard places are the places we stand upon the Word of God and His promises.  It is also a place where we must say, “not my will, but thy will be done.”   The promises of God are for a purpose.  They are not there to meet our every whim and desire; they are given that we may be partakers of the divine nature.  “Hereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4).”  Sometimes our hard places are the result of the corruption that is in the world and in us.  God’s promises are to bring us out of that place and not to pacify and accept it.  If God doesn’t seem to be meeting our cries for His help in those hard places maybe we need to step back and see why we might be there and what we need to do to correct areas of our life that may have brought us to that place. 

               We are speaking in general terms, but that Holy Spirit wants to talk to some of us today.  He wants us to know that nothing is too hard for Him, but what we see as deliverance may only result in our further destruction.  How many times have we seen kids get themselves into dire straits, which were really the consequences of their actions?  If we as parents always bailed them out, then the consequences never worked there intended purpose which was to bring correction and discipline to turn that person away from making more bad choices.  That is why God doesn’t always rescue us.  There may be lessons we need to learn first, there may be areas we need to seek the Lord about and areas we need to repent and ask forgiveness. 

               God is there for us in those hard places, but those hard places are there to do a greater work of grace in us.  1 Peter 4:12-19 puts our trials in perspective to what the will of the Lord is: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [are ye]; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or [as] a thief, or [as] an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 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?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”  Through your hard places allow the Lord to have His perfect work in you.  Hold fast to Him no matter how he chooses to answer.  Job waited a long time to see His answer, but he never lost his confidence toward the Lord and we mustn’t either.  God is faithful in His time and His way not ours.  “Nothing is too hard for Him.”

Blesings,

#kent