Foundation for Faith
June 16, 2020
Foundation for Faith
Psalms 18:2
The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower.
We find in life that often we are a self-filling prophecy. We become and are shaped in the image of whom we think and believe that we are. Maybe we started out in our lives doubtful, fearful, with a lack of confidence and very little faith in ourselves that we could do much of anything or be anything. As long as we hold on to that mindset and it is coming through in our outward demeanor, do you think we will see much success in our lives? If we don’t believe in ourselves, then how could we expect others to believe in us? What if, on the other hand, we dare to believe all that God says about us and dare to believe all that He said He would be for us? Now we have a foundation for success. As we believe and then act upon that premise by faith and those beliefs, will our life change?
King David was a man who is a prime example of one who spoke, sang and wrote what God was to His life. Even in the deepest valleys of his life he dared not trust his soul, but rather He spoke out of His spirit and ministered to His soul the truths and the realities of God’s Word. He was constantly meditating and reminding Himself of the goodness of God, His faithfulness, His power, His salvation and all of the attributes and benefits of God and His nature. This is what makes the Psalms so powerful. They are Spirit anointed sonnets and songs of who God is and why life is worth the living because He is in it. David would recite the Word of God and encourage His soul. His faith would then lay hold of the truth that He spoke and begin to act upon it.
Many of us see ourselves as weak, untalented, insignificant people. That may be you and I outside of Christ, but what can we be in Christ? Are there any limitation to what God can do in and through us, except in our own mind and thinking? The foundation of faith is wrapping our mind and heart around God’s Word, assimilating it into our hearts and speaking into our doubtful and fearful souls. It is so often good just to pray the Psalms, reading and speaking them to God as if they were your own. It will inspire faith in your heart and courage to your soul as it did for David.
Who is the Lord and what is that to me? When we answer that question we find the foundation for our faith. Upon that foundation we can build a successful life, for our confidence is in Him who is able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or think.
What is the foundation of your life today? Is it the Rock or is it the sand?
Blessings,
#kent
The Increase of His Kingdom
June 8, 2020
Matthew 16:24-28
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Increase of His Kingdom
John the Baptist says in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I [must] decrease.” If we want to see the increase of His kingdom in our lives in this coming year this is how it will happen, you and I must decrease. As you decrease, God will increase. You must lose your head so that He might be your head. Only as you experience the circumcision of your fleshly heart will you experience both the agony and the glory of the cross. It is on the other side of the cross that you will begin to know and walk in resurrection life. This is a John the Baptist ministry that declares “prepare ye the way for the King is coming.” ‘His kingdom come and His will be done in earth as it is in heaven.’
God is leading us into a new season in our spiritual journey and experience. We will begin to see His Spirit move frequently and in wonderful and mysterious ways. You are a part of this movement if your life is drawn into Him. Even as a moth is drawn into the light and gives up its life, we will give up our lives as we are drawn into the light of His presence and glory. This body is simply a vessel in which we carry the presence of His glory. Paul speaks of it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:6-12, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” God’s paradox is that life issues out of death and death is the release of life.
Those of us who have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches must hear this. “Great things are going to come out of great sacrifice.” As we die, His life is going to be released through us to the nations. We are standing on the precipice where we must make the decision to turn back to Egypt or to go all the way. Discipleship comes with a cost. We must count that cost for it may well cost us everything that we have held dear in this earth. You can save and preserve your life, but in the end you will lose it or you can forfeit and lose your life now and know that He is your reward. We are moving into the Valley of Decision. Count the cost. Once you start down this road you don’t want to turn back. Judas Iscariot was a man that turned back.
Those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes will know His peace and provision, but it will not be without hardship and adversity. God has called us to such a time as this and where He has called; His people must obey His voice. We are crossing over Jordan into a new land. It is our land, but the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness rule it. In order to take our land there will be warfare of great spiritual intensity. Do not waiver in your faith for He who has led us to this land is well able to deliver it into our hands. ‘He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind.’
If you want His kingdom to come and His will to be done then know that it first starts in your earth as it is in heaven. He must increase and we must decrease.
Blessings,
#kent
Prophetic Word of Rain and Harvest
June 5, 2020
James 5:7-8
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Prophetic Word of Rain and Harvest
Are you beginning to sense the change and shift in the spiritual atmosphere? Every place we look we are seeing the evidence of it. We see it in the world economy. We see in it in all of the natural events of nature that are taking place upon the earth. We are seeing it as darkness and light are beginning to more and more polarize until we will see lightning and storms of the spiritual as well as the natural. Fear not, this is what we have been so patiently waiting for.
Can you smell the rain with your spiritual nostrils and senses? As the Lord dropped this scripture into my spirit this day I believe He is saying to us, “Get ready, for the rain is coming! It is not just any old rain and it is not just a spring shower. It is the former and the latter rain, the autumn and the spring rain together. It is not only rain for sowing into the earth, it is the rain for reaping from the earth the great harvest that God has prepared. Even now we are feeling the raindrops as the Holy Spirit falls here and there; touching healing and restoring lives. We are just beginning to taste and sense the outpouring of His Spirit upon the earth. The Lord’s coming is near. His Kingdom is about to rain down upon the earth in unprecedented ways. Ways we have never seen or beheld before. The Word of God asks, “Can a nation be saved in a day? Yea, says the Lord, You will see torrents and waves of salvation like the world has not seen before when My rain begins to fall.” Your buildings will overflow with the souls that I will bring in. Prepare yourselves for the harvest. When My rain falls the ingathering will begin in unprecedented measure. Your barns will not be able to contain them. Even as the catch was so great that the nets began to break when I blessed Peter and his fishermen, so your nets will be strained and begin to break as I bring in the catch of heaven.
Prepare your heart and rend your soul, not your garments. Prepare your spirits for you will all have many to disciple and teach the ways of the Lord. Humble yourself before my presence in this hour that I might do a quick work in you. My Spirit is even now brooding over the earth. It is stirring the deep. It is bringing awareness of sin and depravity to the place where men’s hearts will be sickened by what they see. They will long and cry out to be set free. Prepare the nets my people, for you are the net and it is My spirit that networks you together and binds you to one another that you may be unified of Spirit and truth. What I am bringing in the earth is not religion, it is My kingdom come and My will being done in earth as it is in heaven. You have been created for purpose and my purpose is to gather in the nations before the time of great judgement. You are my net to gather in the nations. Circumcise your hearts and put away your differences. This is so much greater than your petty divisions and quarrellings. The Spirit of My Love is the order of the day. That is how the world will recognize who you are, by your love.
The patience of the farmer is about to see his reward. He is about to see this valuable crop come to fruition. Prepare for the harvest for it is before you. The fields are white unto harvest, pray the Lord to send forth laborers into the fields. This is the season of ingathering. This is the season of the former and latter rain and the latter glory of My house shall be greater than the former.”
Blessings,
#kent
God Will Take Care of Us
May 20, 2020
God Will Take Care of Us
Matthew 6:25-30
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
It was shortly after we were first married and I was called into the supervisor’s office where I worked. There I was informed that the company was going bankrupt and they would have to let me go. As I brought that sad news home to my young, then pregnant wife, she was devastated. Suddenly all of her security was gone and future uncertain. I remember it was this particular passage that God gave me to share with her that began to renew hope, faith and a confidence that God was there to take care of us even when I couldn’t. No doubt many of you have experienced similar situations where the future looked bleak and no provisions were on the horizon. All we could do is say, “God you are a ‘Way Maker’. You make a way where there is no way.”
As I was reading through the many accounts of Jesus touching, healing and delivering people in need, it was evident that their need was met in response to their faith to believe. Jesus would sometimes say to them, “be it unto you according to your faith”. The Lord is continually stretching our faith to believe Him for greater and greater things. Even in those things that don’t turn out the way we hoped or wanted we can know that, “God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).”
David often found the way of provision was released through the voice of praise and thanksgiving. This is the voice of faith and it stirs up faith within our souls as well. Sometimes it is really hard for us to grasp and believe that such an infinitely wonderful and great God could care individually and personally so much for us, and yet He does. If He can care and provide for all of the small creatures and His creation, then surely He can care for you and I as well.
Let’s say someone shows up at your door today and says, “Here is a check for a million dollars. Take it and spend it anyway you want.” Obviously, we are going to be pretty elated and our initial response is quite likely going to abound in praise toward God. After a few weeks and all the bills are paid and the needs are met. We are enjoying the good life. Now, where is God in the light of our prosperity and good fortune? Is our dependency, trust and reliance still as great then as it was before? Is God still at the forefront of all our thoughts and activities as we use that money, or has He faded back to a lonely second position, as our new lifestyle compels us to think less of Him and more about us. This is our human nature at work and as much as we say, “I wouldn’t be like that, we would be amazed at how quickly God can lose His significance in the light of our prosperity.” Herein lies its danger, we begin to love and trust in the money more than our God. God warns Israel about this when He promises to prosper them after they come through all of their trials in of the wilderness in Deuteronomy 8. It is a great chapter to read and reflect on. “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of [mine] hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for [it is] he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as [it is] this day And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish (Deuteronomy 8:17-19).” At the forefront of every blessing, of every trial, of every endeavor and circumstance in life, God must continue to reign as the Lord of all of our life. Our reliance upon Him is not to change whether in much or in little. The Son is forever to be the center of our universe and the One to bring life and warmth to each day, winter, spring, summer or fall, in good times or bad.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).”
Blessings,
#kent
The Realm of the Unseen
May 15, 2020
The Realm of the Unseen
2 Corinthians 4:18
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.
Christianity is unique in that we exist and live in a world and reality that is both natural and spiritual. We operate in two different realms that come together in faith. We don’t just worship gods or ideas; we worship the one and only true and living God of all creation and glory. We have seen His face in His Son, Jesus Christ and He not only exist outside of us, but He also inhabits His believers with His Holy Spirit. The true Christian, likewise, in his spirit, indwells heaven and touches the dimension of the spiritual realm. Our faith is all about how these two worlds come together in our daily lives.
How do we know this other world outside of our natural self? It is revealed to us through God’s written Word and it is made alive within us through the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:24-25 tells us, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].” A Christian doesn’t worship, serve and hope in a God that he tangibly sees, touches and acknowledges with just His natural senses, but the true believer steps into the dimension called faith where we call things that are not as though they were. Many of us still struggle with this concept, because our natural mind still wants to operate in a sense realm mentality, touch it, taste it, smell it, see it and hear it. Many have rejected Christ because they will not allow themselves to believe and enter into the realm and dimension of faith, where realities are laid hold of in the spirit, before they are ever manifested in the natural. Many of us as Christians are still missing it because even though we were able to embrace Christ as our Savior by faith we fail to carry that on through as a part and portion of our spiritual walk and life. As a result we are natural minded Christians who only see limited blessings. As spiritually minded Christians, our realization is that, the less of the natural man is given place the more the spiritual man, in the image of Christ, can come forth. It is not like we zombie out and just let the Lord possess our bodies, it is a union whereby the soul gives the place of lordship and dominion over to the spirit which is the habitation of the Holy Spirit. Thus by faith and knowledge in the Word of God, we can grow up in Him in all things. We learn to live and operate out of a place of trust in the Lord as we are obedient to His will and commandments to our lives. We learn to know, practice and operate out of the principles of the Spirit realm and not just the earthly. We know that our obedience to the principles and commands of God’s Word will bring forth God’s promised results. By faith we have embraced them and our hope stands in the gap waiting for that which we have not yet seen, but believe we have. The results and manifestation of our faith may be seen in a moment, days or over the course of years. Sometimes it even supercedes our natural lifetime and extends into generations. Look at the promises that Abraham believed for. They are still seeing their fulfillment over the course of thousands of years. God doesn’t promise a time, He just promises His faithfulness.
We are an impatient people and often we are prone to give up on our faith and let it go. Some of the things that God teaches us through faith are patience, perseverance, and prevailing in the face of doubt and discouragement. Often things are established in the heavens long before they are seen upon the earth. How many things are still in heaven that never made it to earth, because our faith failed and we gave up. With our faith we need to release praise and thanksgiving, rejoicing in expectance for what we hope for, but have not yet seen with our natural eyes. Here we need our spiritual eyes to see and embrace God’s promises, despite what natural circumstances tell us. Here, in the unseen realm, we call those things that are not as though they were.
Blessings,
#kent
Wellness in the Body of Christ
May 7, 2020
James 5:12-16
Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Wellness in the Body of Christ
Wellness in the body of Christ is maintained as we uphold the integrity of who Christ is in us. The body of Christ is not unlike our physical bodies. There are times when sin and disease can gain access to the body. In the case of the body of Christ we know that the purpose of satan is to kill, steal and destroy the body of Christ.
We all understand that as of yet, in this natural man, none of us is walking in perfection. It is true that we are to identify with Him who is perfect in us, but we are still in that state of transformation where body and soul are to line up with the Spirit of Christ. As such we still see many imperfections in one another. Satan often capitalizes on our weaknesses and imperfection to bring in division, dissention, disease and darkness. James is calling upon us to act in such a way that we not only maintain individual purity and health, but health as the body of Christ.
The first place he exhorts us here in James is regarding the integrity of our word. “Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.” One of the most important areas we must be careful to preserve and guard is our honesty and integrity. Our whole reputation and character hang on these essentials. There is stern warning to us here that if we don’t do that, we will be condemned. I don’t believe it is talking here about our condemnation here just coming from man.
When we compromise our integrity and honesty it is not just man that we offend, but God Himself. This is especially true regarding His body. When we don’t allow our yes to be yes and our no be no, especially with regards to our brothers and sisters in Christ, then who are we really lying to, them or the Holy Spirit? If we dishonor the body, then we dishonor Christ.
Ananias and Sapphira didn’t start out intending to lie to the Holy Spirit. I think they initially had good intentions and they may have been well regarded within the early church. Their fault wasn’t even in the fact that they sold their land and didn’t give it all at the apostles feet. Peter even tells them it was your land to do with what you wanted, but your sin was in your conspiracy to lie about what you gave. When they lied to the body of Christ, they lied to the Holy Spirit and we know the condemnation that came from that in Acts 5. The Lord was showing us our body, soul and will are the land that we own. It is ours. The Lord gave it to us and he gave us power over it to give to Him or not. Now if we come and say we have totally sold out to Christ, but conspire to withhold areas of our life from Him is that an Ananias and Sapphira complex? Would we not be more honest in confessing our sins to one another as it exhorts us to do in James 5:16? We realize that while it may be our desire to be totally sold out to Christ, there are areas in all of our lives that still need to be reconciled to Him. It is not the standing in our strength that makes us strong and whole, it is in the strength of the whole body that we can be brought into alignment with wholeness. It is in recognizing and confessing our weakness to faithful men or women so that they can pray with us and stand with us so that we may be healed.
One of the greatest tools the enemy uses to destroy us is isolation. Sin can only work in darkness. When it is brought into the light, it loses its power. What we should all desire and pursue is transparency and accountability to one another. That is not to say we judge, control or manipulate one another. It means that we all understand that in this natural state, sin still is at work among our members trying to bring in disease and destruction of the body. The way we war against that is by taking off our religious and self-righteous mask and being real with each other. I never would consider someone that came to me to ask for prayer in an area of weakness, a person of weakness. I would totally respect them and see that indeed they are spiritually mature in that they recognize their weakness and desire others to stand with them in their battle to overcome. There is not enough of this happening in the body. We have learned to be so independent and spiritual in our own right. As a result many of us are truly sick and afflicted in our sin, but are too proud to confess for fear that we will be viewed as weak or unacceptable. “A person that is transparent, even with their faults, is more pure than the person who portrays goodness outwardly, yet inwardly harbors darkness and deceit.”
Let’s bring the “real” back to the body. Let’s come to the place where we are not afraid to be transparent with one another and to pray for one another. When we do that in His love and with no condemnations or judgements in our hearts then the Holy Spirit can work through us to bring healing, deliverance and victory because we then stand in His strength and not our own.
Blessings,
#kent
Fear in the Mind
March 19, 2020
Fear in the Mind
1 John 4:14-17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
After this article on “Face your Fears” another writing was shared with me that gave the inclination we needed to go a little bit further with this subject. Our scripture today is somewhat of a mystery and would appear to be a contradiction to what we have shared about the fear of God. What we need to understand about the fear of God is that it is what compels us into the nature of God. The fear of God is one of the spiritual attributes that Christ possessed. Isaiah 11:2, speaking of Christ and those of Him, says, “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Fear is something that compels us away from something we are afraid of. In God, that fear abhors evil and cleaves to what is good. The aspect we identify with fear gives place to love in relationship with God in Christ Jesus. The blood of Christ removes all fear of judgement, for it has atoned for our sins and we have right standing and relationship with God because we are “in” Christ. What we must lay hold of is the strategy of the enemy is always to unsettle us from this place of trust, rest and love we have with Father. We have come into this place by faith and trust, not by any acts of righteousness on our part. “We love Him, because He first loved us.”
We said before that while the fear of the Lord draws us into relationship and assurance in Christ, the fear generated in the natural and by our adversary, the devil, draws us out of relationship and rest in Christ. Mark 4:16-17 says, “And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” What one sister brought out in her writing was the distress that so many of us endure through mental persecution. She found that this word persecution carried with it the meaning and connotation of dread, timidity, faithless and fearful. We know that the greatest battleground we face in our Christian walk is fought in the mind. We are constantly assaulted in our minds with doubts, fears, and feelings of inadequacy, failure, questionings and unbelief. We can feel so solid and confident in an aspect of our faith and relationship with God and after a barrage of mental assaults by the enemy; we can suddenly find ourselves wondering if there is a God. This mental persecution is an assault of fear. This fear will rob our faith, it will rob our joy and peace, and it will destroy us if left unchecked. What preserves us is our root or our putting on the whole armor of God. We see the example of Jesus as He is led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and the devil begins his series of mental persecutions and temptations, but he couldn’t unsettle Jesus, even in His weakest state, because He was rooted in the Word of God. While the devil tried to pervert the scripture to unsettle Jesus from His faith, Jesus would give back the Word of God in truth, as His rebuttal.
Many of us struggle in our faith because we are succumbing to the circumstantial reasoning and mental persecutions. For satan to undermine your faith and confidence in Christ, by first always getting your focus on you apart from Christ is His first and primary strategy for your defeat. Every time we are dwelling on us, outside of who we are in Christ, it is going to bring us into defeat. Our victory is in who we are “in Christ”, He is our hiding place, more importantly, our identification, because He has given us His name. God allows us to be shaken, so that once we are shaken enough, we will become settled in the truth and will be shakable no more. Hebrews 12:27-29 tells us, “And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God [is] a consuming fire.” The fear of the Lord empowers us with the boldness and authority of the Word and the God who wrote it. It is the day to break free of the death shrouds of our timidity and fearfulness and a day to walk and live in the authority of who each of are in Christ Jesus. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)”
Blessings,
#kent
The Righteous shall not be Forsaken
March 9, 2020
The Righteous shall not be Forsaken
Psalms 37:25
I have been young, and [now] am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Often times the walk of righteousness is not an easy walk. As we draw near to God and more and more relinquish our life for His, we sometimes can be become discouraged and disheartened. All around us the wicked and the ungodly seem to be prospering and enjoying life while it seems we are facing one struggle after another. While life is an uphill battle for us, it seems to often be a roller coaster ride for others and we may be tempted to mummer, “This is unfair Lord.” The psalmist saw the same thing in his day. He gives an account in Psalms 73 of how he envied the prosperity of the wicked. “For I was envious at the foolish, [when] I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalms 73:3).” Do we ever get discouraged and think I’m tired of this walk of righteousness. Everyone is prospering and enjoying life and I’m trying to be godly and yet I’m struggling through life. Where is the equity God? The psalmist goes on to explain what he discovered and the folly of his reasoning. “This is what the wicked are like- always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies (Psalms 73:12-20).” Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy [is] he.” There are times when our vision becomes obscure when we start to look back at the world instead of steadfastly upon the Lord. The enemy would begin to coax our minds and hearts into thinking that the way of the world is far better. He is only able to do this as we get our eyes off of Jesus. We only need to enter into the sanctuary of His holy awesome presence to be reminded of what the end and the destiny is for the wicked and unbelieving. God is not withholding His good from the righteous, He is raising up His righteous to possess and rule all things. In order to do that the “things” cannot possess us. Only He, The Lord God, Pure and Holy, must possess us. Our destiny is not of this world, for this world and all of it goods soon are to pass away and perish with the using, but the possession we have in Christ is eternal and only increases from glory to glory.
Don’t allow yourself to become discouraged by the struggles you have in this world. It is by patience and steadfast faithfulness that we enter in and possess the greatest prize of all, God’s holy nature and manifest presence in our lives. What our God desires to give us is unmatchable by anything in this natural world. We must have the vision of what God’s heart and desire for us is lest we perish in the wilderness, failing to enter in and possess our inheritance by unbelief.
Let us take heart and faint not, knowing that the fullness of our salvation is near at hand. We can know that Paul was right when he said, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:16-19).” We don’t need what the world has. They need what we have, for the scripture declares that the sons of God will the instruments of God’s restoration and restitution in the earth. The outward apparel does not always reveal the wealthy man. The righteous is being purified to be the containers of God’s wealth and blessing. The blessing that seeks not it’s own, but is the dispenser of the life and love of God even as Jesus, the pattern Son.
If we want renewed vision and purpose we need only draw near by the blood of Jesus and enter the sanctuary of His presence. When we experience the richness of His manifest presence we will know without a doubt that there is nothing in this earth richer or more satisfying than Christ is Himself.
Blessings,
#kent
Tales of Jealousy, Betrayal and Revenge
February 12, 2020
Tales of Jealousy, Betrayal and Revenge
Matthew 26:6-14
6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9″This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
14Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
The Lord began to open up some interesting parallels in the Word concerning jealousy, betrayal and revenge. As I read the above scripture I believe it was no accident that the story of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet and the decision of Judas to betray Jesus are sequential. It brought to mind the story of Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:2-8 gives us this account, “Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”
The parallel we see here is that, as the woman was presenting her sacrifice of tears, precious perfume and the washing with her hair, Judas was despising her offering and John 12:4-8 shows his heart as he suggests a better sacrifice and offering than wasting the perfume on Jesus. “But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5″Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7″Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” It may be conjecture, but it seems to me that Jesus’ rebuke to Judas created an offence in his heart much like the rejection of Cain’s sacrifice. Whenever we hold an offence in our hearts of bitterness, jealousy, and rejection we open our spirit up to the darkness that is waiting to enter in. Suddenly there is anger, the desire for revenge and the seeds of murder. What Cain and Judas share in common is a heart that was self seeking and unwilling to give its best and its all to God. God even spoke and pointed out to Cain the problem with his attitude, “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Had Cain or Judas or the other examples we could give, such as Saul and David, been willing to humble themselves and acknowledge a wrong spirit and attitude in their hearts and repent of it they could have been accepted. Humility and repentance are the mastery of sin. These characters chose to hold on to the offense and then act out their anger; giving place to murder in their hearts.
What is the lesson God is speaking? Offense and unforgiveness in our hearts, that goes unrepented of, will open up our spirit to the darkness of revenge and even murder. That murder may not be physical, it could come in the form of the words we speak, slander, gossip, betrayal or undermining another in some other way.
There are times in our life we feel rejected, slighted, passed over and we feel it is so unfair and maybe it is, but watch your attitude. Humble yourself before the Lord and allow Him to show you what is acceptable and good. When I look back over my life and the times I didn’t get the promotion or I applied for jobs and was rejected, I can see now that God wasn’t rejecting me, He was protecting me and leading me in the way that was best for me. I can see how through times that I was rejected, in time it led to even better things and greater opportunity when God did open the door.
Let go of any offenses or jealousies that you are harboring in your heart. Repent of them and trust God, rest in Him, He will show you the acceptable way.
Blessings,
#kent
Yielded to Whom?
January 30, 2020
Yielded to Whom?
Romans 6:12-14
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Imagine when you receive Christ as your Savior and the Holy Spirit comes to abide in you. Before that, you are in this chaotic marketplace of humanity. It is loud with its music. There are voices all around you calling you and enticing you to come and partake of their merchandise, while they make all of their promises of how it will fulfill you and satisfy your needs and wants. Come buy this desire, buy this experience, if you only have this then you will have peace and contentment. Many of us have spent a good deal of our lives in that marketplace of worldliness and ungodliness. We have partaken of many of it wares and merchandise, but always we came up lacking, always there was this same emptiness inside. What brought happiness and pleasure for the moment was always fleeting and temporal, never eternal and continual.
Then, one day, we heard about this Jesus, who was the Son of God. We heard He could take away all of our sin and bring us into a right relationship with God the Father. As we listened about this Jesus, it was different than all of the other religions we heard about before where it was up to our goodness and works to get us to heaven. This Jesus said He did it all for us, not only did he take away our sins and give His life for all our bad, but in its place He gave us all His good. All we had to do was believe on Him and ask Him to now come in and be the Lord and King of our hearts. We felt this tugging and drawing in our hearts. Something in us was saying, “this is right, this is true, I need to do this.” Yet, there was a part of you that wanted hold back. It was saying you don’t want to do this, then you will be obligated to live for this Jesus and you won’t be able to buy and sell in the marketplace of humanity like you did before. There is a lot of good merchandise out there; are you sure you want to give all of that up? Yet something greater rises up in you, that is greater that the reasoning of your natural mind. Something in you says, “I need this, this is what I have really been looking for all of my life in all of these other things that never fulfilled their promise to satisfy and give me the peace and contentment I’ve been searching for so long. ”
Suddenly you make the decision and you step forward, by faith, embracing and receiving into your heart this new Savior. It is like you stepped out of this marketplace of the world and into this sphere, this dimension, this place where the peace and love of God filled the room of your soul. Suddenly this tremendous weight of sin and condemnation was lifted off of you, your heart and life felt clean and pure again. You thought, I will never leave this place, this is what I have been looking and searching for. While the brightness of that experience fills the room it is like the walls or the sides of that tent are somewhat transparent and outside of it you are aware that the former world and marketplace exist. Over time, as you again are forced to walk and live around the marketplace, its spirit and influences begin to return with their enticing voices seeking to lure you again into its dominion and darkness.
Here is where you can lose sight of who you are and what you have become. The Lord shows you that you were never just your own. You were always a slave and a servant; the big difference was who your master was. When you came through that door of salvation you, by faith, placed your self-life of sin upon that Cross with Jesus. When it died you traded the master of sin and death for the master of righteousness and life. Perhaps you, like most of us, are hearing voices from the grave of your old man as he may be trying to resurrect himself in your life. On one thing you must be clear. The life of Christ is one that is built upon His Word with absolute faith that He is true. The sense realm of the natural man will always perceive this outer world as real. The reality of who you are in Christ is said here in Romans 6:22-23, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Blessings,
#kent
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