Days of Lies and Darkness

Proverbs 2:12-15

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,

13who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,

14who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

15whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Days of Lies and Darkness

               Father is giving us a spirit of discernment in this day as we will learn to hold fast His Word and listen to the Holy Spirit.  The days that are coming upon us will be filled with darkness and deception.  It is much like when you watch a magic show.  The magician is so artful at his craft that he causes you to believe the illusion rather than the truth.  Satan is the same way concerning the circumstances and the condition of this world.   He is leading many to believe the lie for the sake of manipulating public sentiment and opinion.  Our eyes and ears are being led by the piper as we are being led to a precipice of destruction. 

               The Lord would not have us ignorant of such devices.  He would not have us to dwell among the opinions and discourse of the people that are led astray by such things.  “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)” Father wants us as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves.  We know that true wisdom comes from above; from the Father of light and truth.  If we will truly listen to His wisdom and order our lives according to His ways He will preserve us.  It is exactly as our passage from Proverbs says, “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.”  But it is God’s wisdom and not the wisdom of man or the promises of man to bring change, peace, prosperity or to cure our woes.  Only God’s kingdom coming into the earth can do those things, but we hear these things coming from the mouths of men in high places.  Many will hear, believe and be deceived.  We are not to be among them. 

               Jesus says, My sheep will hear My voice and they will not follow another.  We must get tuned into the true voice of the Master, especially in this hour and time, for there will be many voices leading many astray. 

               Having eyes, learn to see by the Spirit.  Having ears, learn to hear the Spirit’s direction.  Having hearts, let them be tender before the Lord and sensitive to His direction and leading.  We are children of the Light and so we are called to walk in the light and be the light to the darkness that surrounds us, not believing the lie, but exemplifying the Truth.

Blessings,

#kent

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The Radiance of the Lord

The Radiance of the Lord

2 Samuel 23:4

And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the sun riseth, [even] a morning without clouds; [as] the tender grass [springing] out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

                The account in 2 Samuel 23 said that these were among the last words spoken by David, the Psalmist.  What do you hear in these words of David?  Do you hear “His mercies are new every morning?”  There is freshness in the Lord everyday and everyday as the sun rises He is fresh in His tenderness and love.  The blood of Jesus washes us clean each day as we bring our sins in repentance before Him.  He is like the fresh scent after a rain, the air of our spirits are clear and shining as the radiance of the Son shines through them.  We are His radiant ones because of the Radiance of the Mighty One who in-fills us with His precious Spirit and presence.  We are so wonderfully blessed to be called the children of the Most High God.  Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”  God has called us “the light of the world and a city set upon a hill.”  Who is that light, but the out-shining of the in-dwelling Christ in us. 

                Jesus gives an interesting account in Luke 11:33-36,  “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness.  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”  What is He saying, but that lights aren’t lit to be hidden, but to be seen?  They are given to be illumination for the path of others who are walking in otherwise darkness.  He is saying if our eye is single and our purpose in life is foremost and utmost Christ, then our whole body will be full of light.  Spirit, soul and body will be His candlesticks lit with His Spirit and Truth, but if we are double-minded and our eye is evil, looking unto other things, then our bodies are also full of darkness.  The light we think we have, will it then be not polluted with the flesh and the darkness of the world?  If our whole body then is full of the light of God’s truth and His ways then we will be full of light and darkness will have no part in us.  Our light, our truth shall be clear not only to us, but to those around us that they may clearly see their way to God through Jesus Christ His Son.   What a holy and awesome responsibility He has put upon his disciples and his followers, which we are.  If our life is askew, then we will direct others in the same way.  We have to be right because we are the signpost and the watchmen and the guardians of Truth that direct others on their journey through life to the “Way of Life”.   “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).” If we were to see our world through the eyes of the Spirit, I wonder if we would be looking into a dark place where we would see little beacons of light like fireflies in the night.  Perhaps they would even vary in their intensity depending upon the truth that was shining out through them.  How much illumination of God’s truth are we bringing to our world?  Ephesians 5:8 says, ” For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” How many of us have become lathargic in our Christian walk?  We have become complacent, dull, ineffective and asleep, neglectful of our calling and hope in Christ.  The Lord is calling to us, ” Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”  The Lord has not cast us off but He is giving us a call to action and purpose in our lives.  In 2 Peter 2:9 we are reminded of our calling and who we are, ” But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”  We have a responsibility as the children of Light to show forth the light of His presence and truth.  How shall the world know that Jesus is raised from the dead unless they see the evidence of His resurrection life in us? 

                In 1 John 1:7, John deals with us about the practical side of the light we say we have in us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  That light is going to be evident in our relationships and attitudes toward others, for he says again in 1 John 2:9-10, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”  That light of Christ will be seen in us as the love of Christ is manifested toward those within and without of His body.  That doesn’t mean we accept the ways of those in darkness, but we reprove them with the truth, making manifest their evil ways.  We speak and act out of the love of Christ, but with the same uncompromising conviction and authority we saw in our Lord.  Thus, we are exhorted in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 

                In John 8:12 Jesus says, “… I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  May that Light so shine and radiate through our lives that it exemplifies and magnifies the Author of Light and Truth who desires that all men be shown the way of Life. 

Blessings,

#kent 

John I: 4-5

In him was life and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.

The light is Christ who is the light that has come to dispel the darkness of ignorance and sin.  Does darkness want to lay hold of light?  No.  Where light is the darkness can no longer remain.  The secret to overcoming sin, ignorance and the darkness that filled our hearts as a result is to let Christ fill every part; every nook and cranny and closet of our hearts.  Where He is, darkness has no place. 

God’s Word and Holy Spirit are the guardians of our mind, heart, soul and spirit.  As we openly, minute by minute invite the Holy Spirit of God to abide in us and search us for any unclean or “dark” place He illuminates us with His grace and begins the process of unseating the strongholds of darkness that don’t want to be expelled.  It is my will submitted to His that is my strength.  I can not do it without Him.  Roman 8:13 “If you live after the flesh you must die: but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, we shall live.”  Life is Christ.  “In Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28a

Blessings,

#kent

Our Hiding Place

John 3:19-21

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.”

Our Hiding Place

              You know what is strange is that most all of us say we want more of God.  We want His presence, we want to see His power and we want to see the Holy Spirit moving among us.  The truth is that many of us really don’t want God to move much in our lives. Why is that?  Because we have found our comfort zones.  Our lives may be a mess, but we are comfortable.  It is what we know and are content with and even though we know that we need so much more, our flesh withdraws from it.  Why is that?  It is for the very reason stated here in John 3; we fear the light lest our deeds be exposed.  We are much more content to hide in our comfort zones, play church and feign religion than to let go and come out of our comfort zones and into His presence.  So even if God is willing to meet with us, we are so often unwilling to meet with Him.  Even as Christians we often love our darkness and the comfort of where we are.  There we can live, as we want too, do as we want too and still be religious if we want too, but God don’t shine your light on me.  We have become complacent and apathetic, blinded to our own darkness and state of impotence.

              Sometimes it is guilt and condemnation that keeps us away from God.  We believe the lie of the enemy that God would never love us or accept us for who we are.  If God doesn’t love you and won’t accept you for who you are then why did God so love the world that He gave His only Son?   While we were yet sinners and enemies of God He loved and gave Himself for us.  How could He love you and accept you any more than that?  God loves the sinner, but He hates that sin that is the cancer destroying our lives.  His desire is not to beat us with a big stick of condemnation, the devil does that.  What we are blind too is that we already stand condemned outside of Him.  God in His infinite love is simply trying to save us from our own destruction.   God doesn’t send us to hell.  We send ourselves to hell by refusing His mercy and truth that can save us and bring us back into right fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ. 

              How long are we going to keep running away from the love of God?  While we are looking back and worrying about avoiding God we are running headlong into the oblivion of destruction.  God is not your enemy; He is your advocate, your deliver and your friend.  It is His mercy and love that He wants to pour out into your life.  It is the liberty and deliverance of His Spirit that He wants to bring you into.  True abandonment to God is extreme life.  It is living life on the edge with full confidence and trust in Him and not in ourselves.  If we remain content to live in the darkness of our sin then we will end up dying in our sin and the consequences will be reaped from what we have sown. 

              God has a better way for us.  Remember the little boy that gave up his five loaves and two fishes that Jesus used to feed a multitude of people?  What if the little boy hadn’t been willing to give up his lunch?  What if he said, “Sorry, they should have packed their own lunch?  They will just have to go hungry.”  God is not asking us to be anything that He hasn’t made us to be.  He is simply asking that we be available to allow Him to manifest His strength and purpose through us.  In our weakness He is made strong.  We will never be good enough to deserve God, because it is God’s goodness that we need in us and that is only a gift that He can give as we come into His light and allow Him to have our lives just as they are. 

              If we don’t come into the fullness of God’s light soon the darkness of this hour will overtake us.  God is calling for us with outstretched arms. 

“Come out of your comfort zones and become available to Me.  I will be a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet.” 

Submit yourselves to the love of God and to the light of His truth.  There you will find true life and liberty.  There you will find His life and purpose for you that is so much greater than you ever imagined or have ever lived in.  In the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy.  Come out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.

Blessings,

#kent

Living Out of the Unseen

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Living Out of the Unseen
Natural eyes, physical sounds, human reasoning, life circumstances, what others tell us, five senses, human conditions, perceptions, surroundings and our understanding all feed into what we perceive as real. In the moment and with all that processes through our being, that may be what seems real and factual. As believers, the word teaches us that there is a realm beyond just human natural perception. This realm is not ruled and governed by the same principles that govern our earthly realm. This realm is not dictated by earthly facts or circumstances. This is a realm that God wants us to more and more operate out of, because it is the realm of the kingdom of God and its principles are truth. Its government and dictates are spelled out in the Word of God. It supercedes that which is natural, for what we currently perceive and understand as reality is passing away. It is temporal, but that which now unseen will take its place for it is the eternal.
Currently, we see in part the invisible realm invading the natural realm, but until it has ran its course in fullness of Father’s time, we will not experience the fullness of the currently unseen realm made manifest. 1 Corinthians 15:50 tells us, “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” In this present corruptible world we can not inherit the fullness of that kingdom which is incorruptible until death is swallowed up with life. This is currently taking place in measure even now as Christ comes forth in us and we live out of His life. His life is swallowing up the death in us.
Before the apostle Paul says this he gives us understanding of the state that we have been in and that which we are moving into. “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As 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. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” Now while we may see Jesus as the last and only Adam to presently demonstrate the fullness and likeness of the man of heaven, the Word of God and the message of Christ reorients the mind of the believer to not just be operating out of this earthly realm. Ephesians 2:6 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” Colossians 3:1-4 declares, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
In light of these scriptures we can see how our spiritual position has changed as we have died to the old Adam and are raised up in the last Adam. In that spiritual identification we see that God has positioned us in heavenly places and in that unseen realm that is eternal. From that position, what does He tell us to do? ” Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” While our physical perspective and position hasn’t changed, our spiritual position has. Now you tell me, which one does God want us to live out of?
Romans 8:5-11 teaches us this, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” You can see where we run into conflict; we find ourselves in two different states, but in Christ we have made a declaration and a statement of faith to disenfranchise and disown our former natural man even while we still abide in this earthen vessel and have put on Christ and identification with His eternal life. That is the position we are to operate our physical lives out of. Even though we don’t see the fullness of that yet manifest we are as Romans 8:22-25 states, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
In that patient hope we aren’t focused on the temporal, corruptible and that which is passing away, but we are embracing the eternal as we declare and decree by faith the Word of God and its promises. It is out of these kingdom principles we now live, move and have our being as we walk by the Spirit and live no longer according to the dictates of the flesh. We are a new creation being made conformable in the likeness of Him who has translated us from darkness into His marvelous light, from death into His incorruptible life.

Blessings,
#kent

How Great is Your Vision

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.

How Great is Your Vision

Our natural circumstances and surroundings often dictate what we can see and believe for. If our circumstances are less than perfect it can affect the way we feel and then our feelings dictate what we perceive our world to be. Before long we may find ourselves murmuring, complaining and doubting. We can become despondent, cynical and critical. Through these we open the door to fear, because fear is the absence of faith. For many of us, it is time that we get our head out of the sand and look up. If your perspective is always looking down or just seeing what you don’t have then you will always see life from a negative point of view. The one thing that God has given mankind is hope. It is faith to believe in the things that we don’t yet see. This is a day to increase your vision beyond what you can see. You can’t have what you can’t see, but if you can see it, then all things are possible to him that believes. These are the words of Jesus, not me. There is a vision of the natural man that sees only through natural eyes, in real time, the world around him. We also have another set of eyes. It is our mind’s eye. It is what we can see beyond ourselves and the current state of affairs. This is why it is so important to be constant in reading and studying God’s Word, because it gives us the mind of Christ and gives to us a heavenly hope and vision. Romans 10: 17 says, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I would be in the greatest place of despair if I really believed that all I had to hope in was myself. I know my frailties and how weak I am, but my hope is not in me, it is in the One that I have placed my faith and trust in. I marvel at where He has brought me, what He has done for me and given me. I really can’t glory in that, because I know in my heart where it came from. The glory can only go to God. Our pastor shared that once when he had prayed to God and asked if he could have something or if it was possible, the Lord spoke to him and said, “Can you see it? If you can see it you can have it.” Most often our greatest limitation is our natural mind and thinking. God’s Word shows us that with the life of the Spirit in us we have the energy and the dynamite of God to carry out His will and purpose. The Word says in Romans 8:31-32, “…If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” You see it doesn’t matter what we go through or what circumstances that we find ourselves in, our hope is not in ourselves, it is in Him. Even in those darkest of hours, His presence is with you rather you can feel it or not. You know that because His promises say so and God is not a man that He should lie. So the question today is how great is your vision? How far can you see with the eyes of faith? Start embracing that vision through your praise and worship to God. Give thanks for what you have yet to see with your natural eyes. We always speak of great men as being men of vision. Obviously their vision was not limited to the natural realm. They could see something beyond what was currently present and they set themselves on the course to achieve and walk into it. They didn’t let the naysayers or doubt, unbelief or failures dissuade them, but they kept pressing into that vision till they realized faith becoming substance. How great is your vision? “If you can see it, then you can have it.”

Blessings,

#kent

In the Beginning

In the Beginning
Genesis 1:1-4
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

“In the beginning, God…” Think back to that day when God started a new beginning in you. Do you remember the day when God said “let their be light in the midst of your soul” and you agreed and said yes. Do you remember how He took you when you were formless, void and dwelling in darkness and He caused the light of Jesus Christ to dawn upon your soul? The Lord began a new day in you that separated light and darkness.
John picks up on this theme in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Christ is the express Word of God, the expression of all of creation, the breath of God’s own life, the light of His glory and countenance. Christ is that light of the world and the author of life to all of its inhabitance. The light is never a part of the darkness, but rather it always dispels darkness relative to the intensity with which it is present. Darkness cannot comprehend light because it is contrary and opposite in nature to light. Isn’t it only God’s grace and the opening of our understanding by His Spirit that we begin to comprehend the Light of the World? Every candle has a wick, but until it is lit, it remains an object of darkness. Hearing the Word of God, coupled with a quickening of understanding by the Holy Spirit gave us the empowerment to light the candle of faith that burns within our hearts. This light of faith, that flickers and burns within us is of the same nature and characteristic as that which burns in the Light of the World. He has placed His light in us. He has called us to a new day and to walk in the light of the knowledge and revelation of God that He has imparted to us in the Word and through His manifest presence. When lights gather together they grow in intensity, greater dispelling the darkness and lighting the place with His glory. What’s more, is that now, as we walk and dwell in this light, we have fellowship with the author of light and life.
1 John 1:1, John carries on this theme of the beginning, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” Because we have embraced this life, John 1:12 – 13 tells us that now we have a right to become the sons of God, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” When you are born of God you are given the right to fellowship and commune with God. You are given the privilege and the mandate to live to the praise and glory of Him who now indwells you. You are given entrance and fellowship into His presence with others of like faith. From this beginning we become children of the day who walk in the light, as He is in the light. We become the living signposts, the neon lights that show and direct others to the author of light and life, so that they also might experience a new beginning. We have the fellowship and relationship with the Lord that it speaks of in 1John 1:5-10, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” When we embrace the day and choose to walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we live and dwell in the power and love of God’s forgiveness and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our darkness and sin. We know that we have all had darkness and sin in our lives and in fact we are still struggling with its temptations, but as we continually turn our faces into the light and away from darkness, the power of the blood dispels the darkness with its light and life.
Christ is the beginning and the end, the first and the last and He wants to be that to us throughout all of our existence, both in this life and that which is to come. Continue on in the light of the good work that God began in you from your beginning. Bathe yourself continually in the light of His countenance and glory and that light wherewith He has lit our souls, let is so shine to be a light and a beginning for others.

Blessings,
#kent

Faithfulness in What you Have

Matthew25:14-28
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19″After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21″His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22″The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23″His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24″Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26″His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Faithfulness in What you Have

Most of us are probably familiar with this parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 25. What the Lord was showing me in this parable this morning is that it is not how much talent or resources you have to work with, it is your faithfulness in what you do have. Father is speaking that integrity and faithfulness starts with the little and small things. If we don’t have the heart and the nature of Christ in those we won’t have it in the bigger things.
The servants that had the two talents and the five talents were faithful about utilizing what the master had given them, even in His absence. Their focus was first on their service and faithfulness to the master. The servant that had the one talent wasn’t even faithful in the little that he did have and it was really his own selfishness, fear, doubt and unbelief that caused him to bury it and not work it. Obviously if he buried his talent, he wasn’t about the master’s business, he was about his own.
Many of us may not see ourselves as having much talent or ability, especially in spiritual matters, but in God’s eyes it is not how much we have, but how faithful we are with what we have. It is not in your ability that He calls you, but in His calling to you He provides the ability to do what He has called you to do. Don’t look to your abilities, look to His ability within you and be faithful to what He has called you to do no matter how small or great. Therein lies your reward.

Blessings,
#kent

The Wounded and Broken

Deuteronomy 32:39

See now that I, [even] I, [am] he, and [there is] no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand. 

 

 

The Wounded and Broken

 

In the Garden of Eden were two trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life.  Choices were given to man as to which way he would come to know God and walk with Him.  When wrong choices were made, consequences ensued that brought darkness, sin and death into our world and all of creation.  We must know that this came as no surprise to God and that His plan was before the foundation of this world.  Life and death have become the cycles of life that have carried down since the beginning.   In between that cycle of life and death many things touch our lives.  Life can bring much joy and blessing, but it can also bring us much heartache and pain.  Many of us today bear in our lives the marks of pain and suffering.  That can take many forms, mental, physical, psychological and even spiritual.  Pain has many avenues.  Many times it comes as consequences of what we sow knowingly or unknowingly into our lives, bodies and minds.  Sometimes our pain comes from the consequences and actions of others.  Sometimes it comes as part of the fallen world that we live in.  However it comes, we are left to endure.  

Now as unpleasant as pain is, it is not all bad.  It often works in us what no amount of blessings could.  It is much like our enemies, as unpleasant as they are; they can touch areas in our lives that friends never will.  Often we wonder, “God why all of the unpleasantness?  Why all of this pain and suffering?  Why do our enemies persecute us?  God why must I suffer?”  Joseph, in the book of Genesis 50:20 reveals it so well, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.”  We have an enemy of our soul that perpetrates evil upon us, but what he has thought for evil, God has meant for good. How can this be good?

Romans 8:18-25 helps us to see into the eternal and far reaching purposes of God. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  The Word says that God is the one that subjected creation to this frustration, but in hope, hope of what?  “That the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage and decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children or the sons of God.”  

Jesus Christ was the prototype and firstfruits of this glorious liberation.  What did He say His purpose was?  It says of Jesus in Luke 4:14-20, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18″The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.””  The people were murmuring, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”  This was a proclamation that Jesus had stepped out of the earthly paradigm of humanity into His divine purpose of eternity.  What was begun in the headship of Jesus, He will complete in and through His body which Ephesians 1:23 declares is, “…the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”  

Pain and suffering can rend our hearts and bodies like few things can.  They are processing tools that bring us into the purposes of God if we catch that revelation.  They are areas we can see God work supernaturally in, both in the areas of healing and deliverance, but also in the areas of tribulation, patience and longsuffering.  Job certainly wanted to be free from his pain that he felt unjustly afflicted with, but it was a process that brought him into a double portion anointing and priesthood that he would have never experienced without it.  David would certainly have not chosen to be fleeing his enemies that sought for years His life, but it was preparation for kingship.  Joseph wouldn’t have chosen captivity, slavery and prison, but it prepared him to rule and reign.  Even of Jesus it says in Hebrews 5:7-9, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”  We, like our Savior have been called to a royal priest hood.  We also will pass through our seasons of suffering.  When we pass through these valleys, for however long we must endure them, let them have their perfect work in us.  Allow them not to discourage you, but to encourage you that, “whom the Lord loves He chastens.”  He doesn’t discipline bastards or illegitimate ones, he disciplines His sons that in due time it might work the peaceable fruits of righteousness (Hebrews 12).   God is preparing us for greatness and what the evil one has meant for evil, God has meant for good. 

 

Blessings,

#kent

Coming into the Light

Coming into the Light
John 12:44-50
44Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47″As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

When we see and comprehend Jesus as the Son of God, that understanding brings spiritual light and illumination. We have before us a pathway of light that we might walk into and take on the nature of that light. Many who have seen Jesus have seen a great light. They even acknowledge that He is that light of God that is come into the world. Many of them sit in church every Sunday and while they acknowledge the light they still abide in darkness.
We can see the lights of a great city from a great distance. We can acknowledge that it is a city and we may even admire it, but until we move there and abide there we are not citizens of that city. Many who acknowledge Christ miss this point. We are not children of God by mere association and agreement with Truth. We must come into Truth and have our residence and being in that place.
If we simply hear the words of Jesus and the gospel, but they never really become a part of who we are and part of our nature then it will be the very Word that we said that we agreed with that shall judge us. When we are truly born again of Spirit, we are no longer trying to be holy or spiritual by association, we are holy and spiritual because we have embraced the Light by faith and asked Him to come into our hearts. Now we are to be the expression of the Light that burns within us. We abide in the truth and in the Word of God because that is now who we are. As the children of Light we must continually exercise the Light of God’s Truth so that we are conformed to the same nature as the Light that we possess. God has called us to be the Light of our world and to be the expression of His truth before men. Our obedience to the Word of God is our abiding in the truth and the light. Faith embraces it and obedience brings it into substance.
Are we abiding in the Light? We can be all around the Light, but until we become the vessel of the Light we abide in darkness. The Light glorifies the Father and acknowledges Him in all of its ways. For He is the source, the generator, the dynamo of all that is Light and Truth. All that embrace God’s light and power will put away the works of darkness and come into conformity with the Light.

Blessings,
#kent