The Everlasting Arms of the Father

The Everlasting Arms of the Father

Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy [them]. 

Perhaps you have memories like I do of times when you were little, at nighttime, when you had been put to bed.  Your imagination would start to work and you would imagine shadows as being monsters or think there was something under your bed that would get you if you got up.  As your imagination worked you would become more and more fearful until you might jump up in a panic and go running into your momma and daddy’s room crying and afraid.  Maybe they would put you in bed between them and all of the fear would dissipate in the safety of their embrace and presence.  You felt confident that no monsters were going to get you while mom and dad were holding you and your peace would return.  

Ironically life often isn’t so much different as we become adults.  Obviously it is not practical to go running to mommy and daddy anymore.  The truth is that sometimes our monsters still seem very real and they still perpetuate fear in us.  We can be very anxious about areas in our lives, things we must face and even spiritual attacks that can come upon us.  There are some that are reading this today that are facing such fears.

Some years ago, after we had our middle child, through some rather traumatic events my wife began to experience demonic types of attacks.  There was a dark presence that would come to her and assault her in different ways.  Naturally she was petrified with fear.  These would take place fairly frequently over the course of about a year and usually happened when you she was in a state of semi –sleep.   These events were very terrifying to her and as she sought the Lord about it and she felt the Lord asking her, “Does this presence ever really harm or physically hurt you?” 

 She said, “no Lord.”

“Then why are you afraid.” 

What the Lord began to teach her was that when these attacks would come she would enter into Christ, she would just crawl up on the lap of the Father and this presence would have no power over her and it would have to leave.  Finally the time came when during one of these attacks she became angry and bold.  She reached out as it were in the spirit and laid hold of this spirit and she said she literally broke its arm until she heard it snap as it was screaming to get away.  Strangely enough a man prophesied that evening in a meeting that we had in our home that ‘the arm of the enemy had been broken this day’.  He knew nothing of what had just taken place.  

This may seem a little extreme and bazaar to some of you.  It is certainly not something we like to share often, but rather we would like to share it or not, there may be some of you wrestling with your own demons.  The truth that we discovered is that there is safety and refuge in the arms of the Father.  You can still run and jump in Daddy’s lap, bury your face in His chest and allow Him to wrap His loving arms of love and safety around you.  He is your refuge and your hiding place.  Remember that you are seated at the right hand of the Father in Christ Jesus.  Nothing can touch you except it goes through Him first.  You are not alone.  The way the enemy perpetuates fear and defeat in you is by separating you from the faith of who you are in Christ.  This why it is so important feed upon the Word because it ministers into you life, faith, and reinforced confidence of who you are in Christ.  My wife often goes to sleep now by putting on CD’s of the Word and just listening to it as she goes to sleep.  

Just remember you have the strongest and toughest Daddy that has ever been or will be.  You are His kid and if you run into His arms you are safe no matter what might be going on around you. Lose your fear and find your peace in the everlasting arms of the Father.

Blessings,

#kent

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A Calling unto Righteousness

1 John 3:1-3
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

A Calling unto Righteousness

When it truly dawns on our understanding and we comprehend the love that God has extended toward us to call us His own children, then it ought to truly change the way we view our world and ourselves. If we are truly born of God and His nature then our viewpoint and the way we live our lives should be fully from His perspective. We don’t see the full manifestation yet, but God’s purpose is to make us fully like Him. We may be infants in our understanding, but the direction of our crawl, our walk or our run should always be into the Father’s arms. He has called us out of sin and darkness to be a praise unto His name and an expression of His character and life. If we truly comprehend what He has called us unto then why wouldn’t we want to dress our life in purity and righteousness. 1 John 3 goes on to talk about how if we are in Christ we are in an attitude and direction of righteous living and being. It doesn’t mean we never sin or fall short, but sin is no longer the attitude and the abiding place of our hearts. Verses 4-9 say, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” If we are in Christ we can’t continue to live in an attitude and lifestyle of sin. That is contrary to our nature. Some of us have gone down that road for a time, but we know the grieving it brings in our spirit and our heart. We can’t truly love our God and continue to live like the devil. The purpose of Christ is to destroy the works of the devil; we can’t live in harmony and peace with God if we are recreating the works of unrighteousness through our lifestyle and behavior. God’s Word is pretty strong on this point; “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.” So who’s our daddy? Is it Father God or is it the devil? We will live out of the nature of the one to whom we belong.
God is calling us to sanctify and separate ourselves unto righteousness and purity. Our Christianity can not just be an ideology it must be who we are and what we live, think and breathe. For us to walk and live in sin is for us to deny the Christ and crucify Him afresh. If you are His then you have been called unto righteousness. Settle for nothing less and purify yourself in the hope of that calling.

Blessings,
#kent