The Sinner Revealed

The Sinner Revealed

John 8:3-11

3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

               How amazing when the hunter is caught in his own snare. 

               Jesus was considered a friend to publicans and sinners.  He didn’t shun them but loved them and ministered to them.  On the other side we have the pious religious leaders who are disgusted by any man that claims to be a man of God displaying such indiscretion and stepping out of the norms of proper social and religious behavior. They generally view themselves as above and more righteous than the lower crust of society.  After all, these are all sinners and lawbreakers that don’t worship and honor God the way that Moses intended.  As they brewed in contempt for this young itinerate preacher they came up with a plan that would nail Him either way He turned.  We’ll catch one of the local women in the act of adultery and then we’ll bring her before this Jesus and demand that He pass judgement on her.  If He refuses to condemn her then He obviously isn’t in keeping with the Law of Moses and we can arrest Him and accuse Him of heresy, not keeping the laws of Moses.  On the other hand if He does accuse her it will turn this motley crowd on Him and they will do our bidding for us.  How can we lose?

               Early the next morning they snare their guilty woman and bring her as bait before Jesus.  I’ve often wondered where the adulterous man was in all of this since it takes two to commit this sin.  The Law of Moses deals with both the man and the woman.  That aside, the religious leaders come throwing the guilty adulterous woman at Jesus’ feet and demand that He judge her.  You can imagine not only her shame, but also her fear as she is facing sure condemnation and death.  If Jesus doesn’t condemn her the religious leaders surely will. 

               While we can imagine the enraged, bloodthirsty religious leaders, demanding of Jesus a verdict they are sure that will seal His fate either way, they press upon Him.  I love the demeanor of Jesus as He holds His composure while being in perfect peace as He doodles with His finger in the sand.   

               Did you ever think, if you didn’t know how Jesus answered them and how the story came out, how would you or I have answered?  Would we condemn the woman to save ourselves? What would we do or say in this situation? 

               What does Jesus say?  He virtually takes that woman’s sin and convicts the whole crowd that they are really no different than she.  “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).”  He says, ““If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.”  This seems to be an example where Jesus just speaks a sentence and then lets the Holy Spirit go to work on their hearts.  Perhaps Jesus was writing the sins of crowd with His finger, we don’t know.   What we do see is the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon each one of them from the oldest to the youngest, that in condemning the woman they are condemning themselves for all of them were with sin as well.  It is interesting that even the pious religious leaders didn’t start the dirty deed by chucking the first rock.  The magnificent wisdom of one simple sentence saved that woman’s life, convicted the crowd and religious ones of their sin and taught a lesson greater than a hundred sermons.  Jesus basically taught them to judge others, as they themselves would want to be judged.  Did He condone the sin?  No, He looks up at the woman and ask her, ““Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 

Jesus tells us His mission in John 3, “17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  He came not to condemn the sinner, who already stands condemned in their sin, but to save them from their sin and condemnation through faith in Him.  May His loving Word and Truth judge and discern our hearts, so that we may see others through His love and mercy, knowing that, ‘ there, but for the grace of God, go I.’

Blessings,

#kent

Closing the Gates

Proverbs 4:23-27

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

24Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

26Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.

27Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Closing the Gates

               This morning as I was meditating on what the Lord would have me to write. I saw like a story above me, a ledge much like a balcony that was filled with flower pots.  The flowers had been covered with clear plastic and a cold wind was blowing.  From where I was looking the plastic was loose and the wind and cold air was able to get to the flowers and quite possibly freeze them, not because they weren’t covered, but because there was an entrance open through which the cold air could get to them. 

               I was seeing through this that there are gates and the openings we may have in our lives that allow the enemy access to touch our lives with his death and destruction; not because we are not covered with the blood of Jesus, but because there areas in our lives we have left unguarded and open for the enemy to come in.  These openings are what the enemy looks for to gain entrance and establish strongholds in our lives.  Often, they may be subtle, verily noticeable and maybe even quite acceptable to the world around us.  Jesus said even a tiny mustard seed can grow into a great tree.  If that is true about faith, then it can be just as true about doubt, fear, unbelief, unforgiveness, impure thoughts, desires and motives, along with numerous other seeds of the flesh that we can allow access if unguarded. 

               The garden is a good analogy here, because in it we plant good seed of specific plants that we desire to grow to maturity and fruitfulness.  It is like the fruit of the spirit that we desire to cultivate through our relationship with Christ and the body.  For all of us that have ever planted and tried to raise a garden, we find that along with the good seed that we planted something begins springing up along with our good plants.  They are called weeds.  While they are uninvited and we didn’t purposely plant those seeds, yet there they are competing for the water and the good soil we provide for the good plants.  One of the necessities of a good garden is to not only water and fertilize or feed it, but to weed it.  It is one of those chores that requires continued diligence, for when we become complacent the weeds can come up and quickly take over; choking out the good plants and stunting their growth and fruitfulness.  We know that we have to frequently go in and weed that garden, get the weeds when they are young and before they have a chance to grow up and go to seed.  We know that if we just pull the tops off, we’ve just dealt with the surface issues and they will soon be rearing their ugly heads again.  As long as the root is still there we haven’t effectively dealt with the weed.  Sometimes, as our garden is immature and still growing it is hard to discern the good plants from the weeds.  We may see the same principle among younger Christians or even in discerning our own behavior.  It may be hard to tell sometimes what is of the world and what is not. 

               What helps us to discern the difference, even in our own lives, of what is of God and what is not?  Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  It is the instrument and tool that we use to uproot those weeds and bring separation between what is acceptable, good and perfect before God and what is not.

               Open areas in our lives, unguarded, unprotected and untended can allow the enemy an access to come in.  Most all of us have our areas of weakness and vulnerability.  These are the areas where we need to be particularly vigilant.  Remember who you are and your identity in Christ.  Renounce in the name and by the blood of Jesus any such thing that endeavors to rob that identity from you.  The enemy is always after our identity and if he can cause us to believe the lie then he can cause us to operate and act outside of who Christ has redeemed us to be.  Guard your heart, weed your garden and make sure the covering of the blood of Christ is secured in all areas of your life.

Blessings,

#kent

Fellowship with the Father

Romans 8:14

Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Fellowship with Father

               I just want to share with you some of what the Holy Spirit was speaking into me during my time with Him this morning.  I think the thing that we all desire from Father is a “now Word” that speaks to the season and the time that we are in.  I believe that what He is speaking to each of us is largely relevant to what He is speaking to His body at large.  At least to those who have an ear to hear His voice.

               The Holy Spirit is freedom, liberty, no more walls, restrictions or limitations.  He is a river that can not be dammed up or stopped.  He overcomes all obstacles in His path as we flow in the Spirit of God.  As we are filled with that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead we go where he goes and we also prevail against all obstacles and restraints.  The Holy Spirit flows and moves in the tabernacle and the tents of His people.  We must behold Him as the Israelites did as the cloud in the wilderness and move when He moved and stay when he stayed.  The children of Israel lived outside the cloud.  We now live within the cloud of His presence.  That is the shadow of the Almighty and the shadow and protection of His wing. 

               Respect and honor the Holy Spirit.  Hold Him in high and holy regard. He is not common or to be taken for granted. 

               Why sickness and affliction lingers?

               Like prison ministry you learn in the midst of the prison how to bring freedom in.  You learn how to express out of your weakness His strength and out of your need, His provision.  When man learns to find the heavenlies and God in his limitation, then, not only does he become free, he is able to bring others into that freedom.  The kingdom is not that which is without, but that which is within.  When you walk in the unseen, even in the midst of the reality of your natural world, then you walk in the Spirit and in faith.  It is more needful and important to see with the eyes of the Spirit than even with natural sight.  Faith moves your circumstances, it is not circumstances that determine your faith.  God’s people get discouraged because they don’t always see in the natural realm those things that are taking place by the Spirit.  All things have a time and season; a time of planting, cultivation, watering and then the harvest.  Faithfully walking in the “I AM”, even when you don’t see, hear or feel will over time and faithfulness produce the “I AM” in you.  Faithful is the man that does not see and yet believes.

               The mind of the Spirit doesn’t think as the world thinks.  It is not moved by worldly criteria or time.  It sees and moves in the eternal purposes of the Father.  The person that walks by the Spirit learns not to succumb or try to move according to earthly standards, pressures or human restraint.  So many miss the Spirit, because they don’t know and apply this principle.  They must only speak what they hear the Spirit speaking and do what they see the Father doing.  As Christ was in this earth, so must we be in this world.  The soul must learn submission to the spirit, under subjection to the Holy Spirit.  This is why, so few really move by the Spirit.  The soul has not yet been brought into subjection and obedience to the Spirit.  God’s Spirit is affirmed by the Word of Truth, because He is Truth.

John 10

               The way of entry into the kingdom of God is through Christ.  He is the only gate.  All who are His sheep hear His voice and they know His voice.  His voice is revealed in His nature, its love, its correction unto righteousness and its consistency and alignment with the Word of God. 

               John 10:14

               “I am the good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know  me. – Just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

               John 10:17

               The reason My Father loves me is that I lay down My life  — only to take it up again.” 

               If we are like Christ we must embrace this principle of willingness to lay down our lives. 

               ” Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mathew 10:39)”

               “Bear with Me church, for where I lead you will follow.”

Blessings,

#kent

Living Example of Love

1 John 4:13-17

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

Living Example of Love

We know that God is love and we know that God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so what is our response and responsibility?  John is a disciple who has a revelation of the love of God.  No other writer expresses the love and relationship with God the way that John does.  I think that we hear of the love of God with our ears, but do we experience it in the depths of our soul?  What is John saying here?

God is love.  His love expression is Jesus Christ.  We know that we now live in this love because we live in Christ and He lives in us through His Spirit.  What does this say about the atmosphere and the aura that surrounds our life and permeates our being?  In Christ we are saturated in the love of God.  If then we are saturated in this love shouldn’t this love define our life, our purpose and the expression of our being?  The judgement of God is not our fear, because the purpose of our being is to express the love of God to a lost world to rescue them from judgement. 

A fellow related a story to me this week about a time when his car broke down and stopped in traffic.  He said he set some safety cones out and was trying to get his car running again when a car came up behind him and began to honk profusely.   He thought. “I have designated that I am having a problem why doesn’t he just go around?”  He said he finally went back to see what this guy’s problem was and it happened to be the associate pastor at the church he attended.  He said when the man recognized him as a person from the church; he ducked his head and quickly pulled around and drove on.  He said he has never mentioned it since.  Now we could judge this associate pastor for his actions, but probably most of us, with a little thought, can think of times in which we acted no better.  We, like the scribes, Pharisees and religious ones have crossed to the other side of the road and turned our head to ignore an unpleasant or inconvenient situation we haven’t wanted to get involved in.   In fact, at times we have become down right irritated and angered at the inconvenience that others impose upon us. 

The question becomes who is our neighbor and what is our responsibility to love them?  Remember now, we are the ones who are saturated with the love of God.  I hope you see my point, because it is very convicting to me when I look back and see my actions and responses in the light of the love of God that should be prevailing in me.  If self-interest is still my predominate motivator then have I really gotten a revelation of the love of God that is resident in me?  It is one thing to know who I am, but then I have to become the expression and the substance of whose I am and that should be LOVE.  Love possesses me, He owns me, He fills and He lives in me.  If there is one thing that should be noticeable and stand out about our life it should be His love.   If we know and rely upon the love God has for us, how much more the world, without realizing it, is depending upon God’s love through us to reveal to them salvation and hope, “because in this world we are like Him.” 

Are we like Him?  Are we His expression of love?  In this world we must be the living examples of God’s love.

Blessings,

#kent

God has a Plan

Revelations 3:8

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

God has a Plan

Lord, I know you have a plan

To guide and direct my hand

Lord, you walk with me each day,

You show and teach me Your way.

You Lord, order my steps aright,

You stand with me in my spiritual fight.

You purchased me through driven nails,

Your blood washes me when I fail. 

Lord there is none like you in all the earth.

You raised me into You through kingdom birth.

Spirit filled and Spirit led,

You order my step from dawn till bed.

Lord, You keep me lest I fall.

Without you Lord I am nothing at all.

You have blessed me in so many ways.

 I look to You in awe-filled gaze.

Beyond all that I could hope or dream,

You bless my life with Your living stream.

You give to me faith to see beyond myself,

You make me a partaker of Your spiritual wealth.

Lord, You have a plan for my walk,

Life giving words You want to fill my talk,

You want us to see beyond our natural man.

And fulfill through You Your Kingdom’s plan.

Kent Stuck

Blessings,

#kent

Decision Safety

Decision Safety

Romans 5:12-14

12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

               It is mandatory now that if you want to obtain a hunting license you have to take a hunter’s safety course which entails so many hours of instruction on how to properly handle and safely use a firearm.  This came about because a lot of people were being killed and injured during hunting season.  People knew how to shoot a gun, but they knew little about how to do it safely and about the things that they needed to be aware of and watch for. 

               The decisions we make in life and even the words that we often speak are like loaded guns; once fired there can be no taking it back.  Because the consequences of our actions can hold such great and lasting repercussion, we need to learn to be very careful about the decisions we make in our lives. 

               We were having dinner with my daughter recently and my grandson had just gotten a bow and arrows that had blunt ends.  I was talking to him about his awareness of safety and not shooting at people.  I was reminded and related a story of when I was a kid around ten or eleven and I had a bow and arrow.  I had target arrows so they had sharp points.  We had company over one time and they had two boys, one a little younger than me, and another, a year or two younger than him.  They were building a house across the street from us and for some dumb reason I was shooting arrows at the older boys brother who was ducked down behind a pile of dirt.  Then I shot one and it happened to hit his wrist.  It may have drew some blood and he started crying.  I knew I was in trouble and while I didn’t end up getting in a lot of trouble for it, it suddenly made me realize how stupid I was for even shooting at him in the first place, even though it was not my intention to actually hit him.  That poor decision could have cost him his life or maimed him.  He would have had to live or die with the consequences of those actions and what would that forever have done to my life?  We have all done a lot of dumb things in our life and many of them have passed without major consequences, but it only takes one time.  If Adam and Eve could have seen into the future all the heartache, pain and death their wrong decision brought to mankind would they have still made that decision?  Sin and temptation gets us so focused on the immediate gratification and pleasure so that we don’t count the cost and look beyond to the consequences that can and often do follow.  We just get caught up in the moment.  That short sightedness is like firing a rifle at a target without first looking to see what is behind the target.

               We often are resentful of God, just like we were of our parents for the restrictions that come with our faith and the direction of His Word.  Just like our parents, God is giving us commandments and direction that will steer us away from the consequences of sin and death.  Now God has given us a will and it is like a rifle.  We can go out and shoot it at whatever we want to, but the Word of God is like the hunter’s safety course that teaches us how to properly and safely use it for our benefit and not to our destruction or the destruction of others.  Proverbs 22:3 says, “A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.”  A prudent man is one who is cautious and careful.   Sometimes I get irritated at my wife because she seems to always assume the the consequences of what could happen, but that just means she is being prudent and cautious.  I might be wise to listen to her more. 

               Take a moment to think through your life and things that you may do that could result in consequences that you would never like to face.  Take measures to correct those wrongs before the judgements come upon you.  A nationally known pastor recently lost his church, his reputation and all that he had built for more than twenty years when his homosexual activity was exposed.  Ironically, he used to often say, “sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.”  It’s not that we don’t know what is right and wrong, but our sin left unchecked and undealt with will lead us to make decisions that will kill and destroy others and ourselves.  Maybe we need to focus on practicing some decision safety in our lives.

Blessings,

#kent

Growing Pains

Growing Pains

Ephesians 4:15

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ:

               It is hard growing up.  When we look back through our childhood and remember all the falls, scrapes, cuts and bruises and all the dumb things we did.  We marvel sometimes that we are still alive.  Then there were all the emotional issues we went through, with the acceptance of others and the mean and unkind things others would say to us or about us.  We were probably guilty of the same things.  Childhood and adolescence were a tuff time, but we always thought about when we would grow up and how different that will be and how we won’t have to put up with all the unpleasantness anymore.   We find our growing pains are still a part of life and while they may change their dimension, they seem to always be there at each stage of life, stretching us further than we want to stretched. They are causing us to address and deal with issues we would have been far more content leaving alone.  When we look at our lives in the perspective of life we realize that without pain, without adversity, without the stretching, we would become retarded, inadequate to the task, and unable to progress and mature in all of the areas of our lives.  It is the growing pains that have made us what we are today and what we will be tomorrow. 

               Our spiritual life parallels these natural events.  Like in the natural, it is the trials, tribulations and adversities in our lives that stretch our faith and cause us to keep our eyes and dependency upon Christ.  Isaiah 54:16-17 says, “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] of me, saith the LORD.”  The Lord says that He has created the instruments of adversity in our lives, “the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire… and the waster to destroy.”  Why, does God want to torment and hurt his people?  No, He wants to show Himself mighty and strong in those whose hope and confidence is in the Lord.  He goes on to say, “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper” and every tongue that judges you He will condemn.  “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me.”  The enemy is simply a tool in the hand of God to bring forth and purify His people.  God is making vessels of pure gold out of the raw ore with all its impurities.  The process is painful as the pure gold is extracted out of the impure ore.  It is crushed, fired, smelted, beaten and formed.  In the end the ore has passed from a piece of rock with only potential worth to a pure, beautiful and costly vessel of pure gold.  It has passed, so to speak, from death to life, from dishonor to honor.  It is easy in this process to feel God is pretty harsh and unfair to us at times, but He sees from the beginning to the end.  He sees us for what we shall be and not what we are at this stage of the process.  We are not going to always understand the hand of God, but like the song says, ‘we can trust His heart.’  We know that the Father’s heart towards us is perfect love and He will do what is necessary in us to work in us His highest, because we know that “nothing can separate us from His love.”  Yes, all through life we will be stretched and experience the growing pains of being conformed to His nature and image.  

               Again, we can look to Jesus as our example.  Hebrews 5:7-10 says, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”  If Jesus learned obedience through the things that He suffered, can we expect less?  Will we not walk in His footsteps even to the crosses in our lives that Lord brings us too?  Our joy is not in the death, but in the life that we see by faith beyond it.  We know that to experience the fullness of His life that the death of the old is a necessary part of it.  Don’t grow weary or discouraged in those growing pains because they are what are stretching you and I into divine life and helping us to become partakers of the divine nature.

Blessings,

#kent

Building Blocks of Fulfilling God’s Purpose

Building Blocks of Fulfilling God’s Purpose

2 Timothy 1:8-10

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

               Back in the times of the gold rush there were a few men that discovered gold just lying on the surface of the ground or in the water.  Word spread that you could become rich and all that you had to do was just pick it up.  It was just there for the taking.  Men would come from far and wide with the idea of getting rich quick.  They would leave behind all that had been important to them before to come and pursue the gold.  They caught a vision and they believed in a dream.  Some did find the riches that they sought, some met with limited success and many found nothing at all. 

               When God revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ and manifested the riches of His glory in human flesh.  Men saw the gold of God revealed.   God had given nuggets and revelations of His gold throughout the ages that led up to Christ, but now His gold is revealed as He fully unveils His purpose of salvation through faith in His Son.  Suddenly it begins to become apparent that we can become partakers of the riches of an inheritance in Christ Jesus.  Jesus, and His disciples that followed, laid out the way and the plan for us to become rich.  We have the treasure map of those riches laid out for us in the Word of God.  Many embraced Christ thinking that it was the quick way to having all their needs met and realizing heaven on earth.  Many have become disillusioned because Christianity wasn’t the quick fix to all their problems, wants and needs.  While the Lord has revealed some nuggets and gold on the surface and has given us the earnest of our inheritances and riches through the Holy Spirit, the greatest treasure realized is through a lifetime of mining into the vein of God’s nature and purpose. 

               Some of us may have thought that in a few short years we were going to walk into the fullness of Christ and do all that He did.  It is not to say that God can’t and won’t do that through some people, but time isn’t as important an element to God as it is to us.  What most of us come to find is that the nuggets of God’s truth and purpose need to mined and sought after one day at a time.

               A purpose is made up of a reason and goal in mind.  God’s purpose is to apprehend us for His family and for His glory.  Our purpose is to apprehend Him that we might lay hold of a transformed life and be partakers of His divine nature.  Our purpose and goal are met through a lifetime of building blocks; each day is a process and a development into God’s purpose.  Sometimes we may feel there is more tearing down going on in our lives than building up, but sometimes for God’s purposes to be realized the old must be done away with so that the new can take its place. 

               The important thing about purpose is to never lose the vision of what your purpose is.  Ephesians 1: 3-14 is one passage that lays out for us God’s purpose. “Praise 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.”

               You and I may not find ourselves possessing in outward manifestation all the fullness of Christ that we had hoped would be evident by this time in our lives and in our walk with the Lord, but don’t despair.  The important thing is that we run the race well, staying on course and keeping the finish line in sight.  Even if our expectations haven’t been met, it doesn’t mean that His have been thwarted.  Purpose is fulfilled in faithfully living out one day at a time, through His grace and strength, lives that are yielded to God’s purpose.  It as Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not 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.” Never lose your vision and never forget your purpose.  Every day that you walk in the faith of Christ Jesus your purpose is being fulfilled.

Blessings,

#kentstuck

The Crown of the Curse

The Crown of the Curse

Matthew 29:27-28

27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.

               Let’s talk briefly about the crown of thorns that Jesus wore to the cross.  We can readily understand through the Word the significance of the crucifixion of Christ and how our redemption was bought and our sins paid for through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.  We also can grasp the truth that, “ by His stripes we were healed.”  It was another aspect of suffering on the part of Jesus that brought healing to our mortal man.  Sin, sickness, disease are all aspects of the curse Adam brought upon mankind, along with the thistles and thorns that come up to choke out the precious life giving seed.  Genesis 3:17 –18 tells us, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.”

The crown of thorns represented another aspect of our salvation and redemption through Christ and what He suffered.  Jesus died to free us from that Adamic curse and so He dealt with all of the aspects of that curse.  Galatians 3:13-14 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit”.  We can readily see through the Word how that Christ came to be the anti-type of Adam.  What Adam accomplished in his disobedience to bring the curse upon man and sin into the world, Jesus Christ came to redeem man from that curse through His act of obedience to God.  Romans5: 14 –18 explains it, “14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”  Jesus Christ’s act of obedience through His Passion deals with every aspect of the curse under which man has lived and is the way of salvation from it all.  Our salvation isn’t just for our soul, it goes far beyond even that, to ultimately redeem and transform the whole man, spirit, soul and body. 

               We see thorns coming up in the waste place and in places where they can choke out the good seed.  It must be like the unregenerate mind that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. It is seen in the religion and vain philosophies of men, the cares of life and the world, the imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.  They are all the things in life that divert our thinking and meditation from God and His Word.  Isaiah 7:23-24 says, “23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. 24 Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.”  The thorns are what come in to choke out life and blessing.  It is so like our minds that are the fields and the seed is what we plant in them to bring forth a fruitful harvest.  Left unattended or given over to the natural order, thorns and thistle will come in to choke out the good seed.  Jesus used this illustration in Matthew 13 when he gave the parable about the sower who went out scattering his seed. He explains about the conditions of the soil, or if you will, the state of men’s minds and attitudes. “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.” When the disciples later questioned Jesus about what this meant, he told them in Matthew 13:22-23.  “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

               Thorns are something we hate because we know that if they get into our skin they cause great discomfort and continually distract and divert our attention until they are dealt with and removed.  That is the way satan is.  He is that thorn continually diverting our attention from the Word and the life that it produces.  The thorns continually want to choke out that life in us with all the cares and worries of life.   The crown of thorns represent the curse that robs our mind of the precious seed of God, thorns want to spring up and choke out the life in people.  Ironically, we often mistake our crown of thorns for our crown of glory, because we are so diverted in our own accomplishments that we are missing the crown of righteousness.   In truth, Christ bore our crown of shame that we might wear His crown of righteousness that He has for those that love Him.  In 2 Timothy 4:8 the apostle Paul tells us, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

               Christ wore the crown of shame, the symbol of our curse, beaten down on His head with the rod of man’s religion and authority.  He wore it that, in return, He might give us a renewed mind through which we might experience and lay hold of the transforming power of His mighty Word through the in-working of His Spirit. 

               Some of us are still allowing the thorns to reign in our lives when Christ wants to impart to us the crown of His righteousness.  We have been redeemed from the curse.  By faith we must appropriate what Christ has so graciously and mercifully provided, but as in any garden, we must remove the weeds, the thistles and the thorns that still want to come in to rob and choke out the precious seed of Life.

Blessings,

#kent

Three Dimensions of Jacob

Three Dimensions of Jacob

Genesis 32:22-32

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

               Many of us will remember this story of Jacob.  We often say that Jacob wrestled with an angel.  As I was meditating upon Jacob this morning I felt like the Lord gave a little insight into this man Jacob.  Jacob’s life is like our spiritual journey.  Consider with me some of the analogies I felt like the Lord was showing me and I know there is so much more to this than what we will share here today. 

               When Jacob came into this world, he came in with his first-born twin named Esau.  Now Esau was hairy, red and ruddy.  He was a man of the earth and field.  You might say he was the Adamic nature.  The scripture that gives us great insight into these three dimensions of Jacob, which is type of us, is found in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49.  “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”  While Esau is a type of the body, which is pretty much self-centered and driven by its needs and wants, Jacob is a little more subtle.  Jacob is a type of the soul.  The soul is where our identity lies.  It is our mind, will and emotion.  It is expressive of who we are as a person.  Like Jacob, most of us have our spiritual side and then we have our fleshly side, for our soul is a mixture of flesh and spirit.  Even the name Jacob means “heel holder or supplanter”.  The truth was he was an artful manipulator.  Even so, Jacob had a spiritual side that hungered for the things of God and the desire for the inheritance or birthright that would normally go to the firstborn.  The trouble with the firstborn is that he had little or no appreciation for the birthright.  Yes, he wanted the blessing that came through the birthright, but he didn’t have a heart or desire for the legacy and the responsibility that it carried with it.  Jacob on the other hand did, but he sought to gain it through unscrupulous means, even though prophetically it had been spoken that the older would serve the younger.  Jacob is like us in so many ways.  He was always cunning and devising in the flesh how he might obtain the things of the spirit.  Whether it was his life, livelihood, his wives or his children, Jacob set about with natural wisdom and understanding to obtain them.  That is not to say that Jacob did not have his spiritual side.  He encountered God at Bethel in the dream of the stairway or ladder with ascending and descending angels.  He experienced God’s blessing, protection and wisdom in his life, but like us, we often seem to struggle and work so hard only to come up so short of our dreams and strongest desires.  We have that Labon in our lives, Jacob’s father-in-law, that is always promising so much and delivering so little.  No wonder, like Jacob, so many of us are frustrated physically and spiritually. 

               Even though Jacob knew God and had a relationship with Him, he had his shortcomings, his fears and demons to face.  His biggest fear was his brother Esau, the one he had taken the birthright and the blessing from.  It is like even though we possess the promises and blessings of God we face our own mortality.  Faced with who we are in the natural we fear.  In the natural we perceive our weaknesses, our failures, the ungodly part of our nature.  That is what Jacob faced in Esau. 

               In Genesis 32 we see Jacob escaping Labon and his stronghold to return to the promise land, but there he must face his Esau.  In this place of fear for himself and his family, he is crying out for answers and favor from God.  Try and scheme as he will, he fears the strength of the flesh that is represented in Esau and his ability to take all that he has labored to build.  While he possesses the promises and the birthright they are of little value to him in his own identity. He sends his family and the others on ahead and takes them over the ford of Jabbok, which means emptying.  He sent away his family and all that he had and now, empty, he is left alone.  There he encounters this third man.  The scripture doesn’t say it is an angel, but it is definitely an agent of God.  There, Jacob wrestles with this man till daybreak.  Could this be the spirit of Christ in us?  The spiritual man that we need to change our nature?  The first thing that had to happen in Jacob was an emptying and laying down of all that he loved and possessed.  Then there was a battle, the struggle and wrestling with that old nature of Jacob, the heel-holder, supplanter and deceiver.  These two men seemed pretty equally matched for strength for they wrestled through the night till daybreak.  Is this our place of prayer and intercession where we are in a spiritual battle.  Have we come to the place that we are going to lay hold of God and let go of everything else until He blesses us?  Are we the overcomers that will prevail with God and man?

What is our greatest blessing?  Isn’t it to be delivered of our former nature?

               That morning, at daybreak, the man said, “let me go, it is daybreak.”  Jacob said, “I won’t let you go till you bless me.”  In Genesis 32:27-31 it goes on to tell us,” The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.”  It is there that Jacob prevailed with God and received a new name and a new nature.  The new name is Israel, “God Prevails”.  The man touched Jacob in the hollow of his hip, so that the sinew shrank and he crossed over Peniel, which means, “facing God”.  Jacob would always walk with a limp, no longer dependent upon his own strength and ability. 

               We have a similar word to us in 2 Peter 1:19, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”  There is a day for our transformation and new nature to come forth in its fullness, but we wrestle on through the night till we, like Jacob, prevail with God and lay hold of the promises of our inheritance.  Then, no more do we need fear our strongholds like Labon or our mortality and flesh, like Esau.  No longer are we afraid to lose the things we possess and love.  The losses and the wounds we suffer are a small price to pay for what we lay hold of.  God’s nature and character will prevail in us if we faint not.  We will see the face of God, our Lord, and live; no longer after the flesh, but after the spirit.  These are the three dimensions of Jacob, body, soul and spirit.

Blessings,

#kent