Do Not Abandon the Works of Your Hands
November 1, 2021
Psalms 138
I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
2I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.
4May all the kings of the earth praise you, O Lord, when they hear the words of your mouth.
5May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great.
6Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
8The Lord will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Do not Abandon the Works of Your Hands
Those who walk with the Father, in the Son and through the loving direction of His Spirit know, appreciate and worship how awesome He is. Our testimonies are many as we look back over His faithfulness in our lives. Before, all that are acknowledged as gods in this world, we exalt our God and sing His praise. We have embraced and been embraced by our love affair with Jesus and in the intimacy of that relationship we have come to know Him personally. As the scripture says, we have come to recognize that above and beyond all things stands the integrity, power and foundational truth of His Name and His Word.
God has put that awesome Word in our hands that we may live out of the power and the kingdom dimension of His holy truth. That truth He is not only forming in our minds, but conforming in our beings. We are becoming that truth, as we move by faith in that truth.
What is the name of God? Did you know that the Father gave Jesus His name? John 17:11 says, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your NAME—the NAME you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.” Jesus came both as the Word of God and the Name of God. He was the incarnate physical manifestation of those in the earth. Do we fully comprehend that when we have received Christ and embraced Him by faith, God’s Name and His Word have been imparted into us by the Holy Spirit?
God often takes us places in our lives where we begin to experience and lay hold of what is resident inside of us. As such we see Father move on our behalf in the midst of our troubles as we humbly lean upon His Name and trust in His Word. We live with the resources of heaven on our side. We are coming to know Him as our resource in every need. It is the trials and the testing that stirs us to begin to really draw upon the resources that Father has made available to us.
What we don’t sometimes see is that because He has invested Himself so much in us, we are His resource as well. Even as Jesus carried the Father in His earthen vessel to manifest His nature, character and love, so we carry Christ in us. Jesus declares more than once in John 17 how we are one with the Father and the Son. We are part of the Holy Family. We are God’s resource in the earth to communicate through every aspect of our being who He is. As we look over the earth it is evident that maybe we, as the body of Christ, aren’t really grasping and living into who we are. Religion has again become the replacement for what God looks like to the world. Only we, who have a revelation of the Father and who He is in us can truly manifest Him to the world.
Our cry in this hour is, “Father, do not abandon the works of your hands.” Bring forth in your true people the image and likeness of who you are. Allow the world to see you for who and what you truly are. May God’s Name and His Word be what is operating through us and providing the resources that we need to bring the kingdom of God to earth and to see His will done in the earth as it is in heaven. We are the resources of God’s kingdom building. We are what make up His holy mountain and the temple of His glory that will be exalted above every other mountain and kingdom. He has chosen us to be the light and the outshining of His glory in the earth.
“Father, do not abandon the works of you hands, but bring us into the fullness of what you created us for.”
Blessings,.
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The Highest Thing
October 14, 2021
Psalms 138:2 (Amplified)
I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!
The Highest Thing
What could be higher than the name of Yahweh, God Almighty? Is there anything that could be higher? The Psalmist David tells us there is. It is His Word. The Word of God is God’s guarantee of the truth that He backs and upholds by the integrity and reputation of His name that is above every name. If you doubt the Word, then certainly we doubt God, because who is the Word? John 1:1-5 tells us, ” IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. 2He was present originally with God.
3All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. 4In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. 5And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]. What God has spoken and what God has “in-Christed,” if you will, He has backed with the very character and person of who He is.
Now look at Hebrews 6:16-20. “Men indeed swear by a greater [than themselves], and with them in all disputes the oath taken for confirmation is final [ending strife]. 17Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath. 18This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us]. 19[Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it–a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil, 20Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek.” Is not the promise and the oath of God contained within His Word?
You see God has given us His Word as His divine promise, by which He can not lie or deceive that He will bring to pass all that concerns us. This is a steadfast, immovable anchor that we can take to the bank and never fear that it can be reneged upon. Because it is the Word that holds together the universe, “All things came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being (John 1:3),” it is more feasible for the universe to utterly collapse and extinguish than for God to not uphold His Word. That Word, that we often take so lightly and flippantly, is the power, authority and promise of the All Mighty. Everything that God is, rest in the integrity of what is in His Word. When we disrespect, doubt or knowingly distort the Word of God, we have stepped on and insulted the integrity of Father. Let us not ever take His Word lightly, because He exalts it above His very name. Let us stand in awe and wonder at just how powerful and holy God’s Word is. It is that power and the promise that brings us within the veil into His very presence. With all that is within you respect, honor and fear it. His Word is not just written words upon page in a book. They are alive, active and energized to carry out His purpose and His promise. When you hold the Word of God, you hold a loaded gun. It is a weapon that can kill or give life. This is why we need the Holy Spirit to operate in it properly. It must become a part of who we are, because He lives in us. We are the expression of that Word in Christ and His promises are being fulfilled as we carry in faith this Holy Word in these earthen vessels. Philippians 2:14-16 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”
Our walk with God is in the power and authority of His Word. What you carry, know and speak will not only change your life, but has the power to change the world around you. God is Spirit and He has given us a spiritual Word that we, being spirit and operating out of the Holy Spirit, might bring to pass what has already been written, declared, promised and foreknown.
Blessings,
#kent
Who is that Person in the Mirror?
June 2, 2016
James 1:22-25
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
Who is that Person in the Mirror?
When you look into the mirror what do you see? You see the reflection of your outward man from which you derive your identity and perception of how you look. Even though you see a real-time reflection of how you appear is that really who you are? Two people looking at the same thing will see it different ways. A woman may look in the mirror and be thinking, ” Oh my goodness, look at the bags under my eyes, that blemish on my nose and I can’t do a thing with this hair. I just look horrid. Her husband may come into the bathroom and say, “Honey, did I tell you how beautiful you are today and how much I love you?” Wow, two totally different opinions of what you look like. Which one is true? The truth is in the perception and we tend to act according to the perception we hold.
The Lord began to show me that what we reflect on often becomes the image of our reality. The people that we associate with often do a lot to influence and shape that perception and image of who we see ourselves as being. We may often mirror what others do because we want acceptance by them, but is that who we really are?
Most of us have seen the mirrors at the amusement park that are distorted to make us look fat or skinny, but we readily recognize that these are not true representatives of what we really look like. We would be surprised at how many times life puts these kind of mirrors in front of us, but instead of recognizing their distortion of the truth we begin to believe their lie. Our behavior and self-perception can be strongly influenced by the feed back and input we get from others. We are always reading this to get a sense of how others see us and how that relates with who we are.
Often, with our children we tend to major on their shortcomings and minor on the positives and accomplishments. If my son comes home from school after trying his best and everyday I greet him, “Hi looser, what did you mess up today?” What is that going to do for the image of how he sees himself, because I am a mirror to him of his self-worth. Many of the problems we see in people come out of a distorted perception they have of what they should be like. It is influenced by culture, media, friends, social groups and relationships, parents, relatives, school, work and the constant feedback we get from the world we live in.
The only really true perception we can get of who we are, our worth and value, is what we get from God’s perspective. We know that He is truth and can not lie. If we want to be mentally and emotionally healthy then we need to focus on what God has to say about us and what we need to do to become what He has created us to be. James says it is not in just listening to the word and then forgetting what it taught us. We need repetition for remembrance and application for change to take place. When a woman goes into the bathroom to get ready for work she doesn’t generally just look in the mirror then turn around and forget what she looked like and go to work. She starts a process of cleansing, conditioning, make-up and grooming. All that she does is to conform her to the image of what she wants to look like. When we look into God’s Word it has to be much the same way. If we just go and listen to a sermon on Sunday then leave and forget what was said how does that change anything? If we continually position ourselves in front of God’s Word through our reading it, reading inspired books, listening to inspired messages and then praying and meditation on all that we are taking in, we are like the woman who is conforming her looks to a certain image. We are working on conforming our hearts to the image of Christ. That is why it is important that our focus isn’t on the world or the things of the world. That is not the image that we want to be conformed too.
Take into your spirit the promises that God has for you. Heed the warnings that He gives to you that will end up perverting His image in you. Act upon who you are in Christ, acknowledging that it is no longer you that lives, but Christ in you. ‘As He is so are you in this world. (1 John 4:17)’ That is the identification you want to remember and walk away with. When you look in the mirror know that you are created in His likeness and you are becoming His expression and you are being conformed into His image. That is God’s reality of who you are.
Blessings,
#kent
How Great is Your Vision
October 22, 2015
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
We Have the Mind of Christ
September 22, 2015
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ
We Have the Mind of Christ
What a bold statement that the apostle Paul makes here when he says, “But we have the mind of Christ.” If you or I were to come out and say something like that many Christians might consider us heretics. It is made clear by what is written preceding this that we can’t make this statement if we are walking and reasoning out of the natural man. It is after we live and walk in the Spirit that we become spiritually minded and put on the mind of Christ. We can discern that the man who is not centered in the mind of the Spirit is often one that is a mixture of flesh and spirit. Most of us have seen or heard of someone who thought they were “the Christ” and were caught up in a God complex where they spoke as God. We all know of Jim Jones and David Karesh, for example, that led many astray and to a tragic end. Paul is not speaking in this context, because we never see ourselves as “the Christ”, we see that we are in Christ with the Lord Jesus being our head and yet He is bringing us into His likeness in mind and in being. Many are so afraid of identifying with Christ that they rob and deny the power of what He has called us to be in Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing, but as a part of Him all things are possible. Our faith is taking what God’s word says and counting it as so, even when the physical world and natural evidence doesn’t support it. Faith is what bridges the gap of time and space and the eternal. In Christ and in the flesh we stand between two dimensions and we are trying to reconcile who we truly are. In the natural we often see evidence in us that is often contrary to what we know we should be, but our faith renounces the old, repents of the shortcomings, sins and mistakes and then embraces God’s word and promise as to our true identity. Satan is always trying to convince us of who we are not, through feelings of unworthiness, condemnation, keeping our eyes on the natural man. Christ is saying to us, “Count that former man of the flesh as dead, as crucified with me upon the cross. Identify with me in resurrection life, for the power of sin over you is broken. You are a new and spiritual creation that no longer has to be subject to the law of sin and death. You have been called to be the children of God who walk after the Spirit and put no confidence in the flesh. As a part of your faith in identifying with me I am imparting my life to you and through you by My Spirit that dwells in you.”
God’s word provides our pattern of thinking and living. His Spirit is guiding and leading us into all truth. He is exploring our inward parts and revealing those areas that still need to line up with His nature and character. The difference is that the Spirit doesn’t bring conviction in us to condemn us, but to transform and change us. It is the man of the soul that must come into submission and obedience to this man of the spirit. As this happens our spiritual mind becomes more and more a way of our daily thinking and reasoning, for the natural gives way to the mind of the Spirit.
We have the mind of Christ, but it is our choice to embrace it and put it on by faith that leads to good works and righteousness.
Blessings,
#kent
Keep to the Path
September 4, 2015
Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Keep to the Path
There are many and diverse paths that we can take in life, but there is only one that we should be focused and sure to stay on. It is the path of the justified in Christ, the path of righteousness, the path that is leading each day into light that is shining more and more unto the perfect day. It is when we stray from this path that we begin to err from life. There are many exhortations from the Lord and many prayers from the saints to stay true to this path. Psalms 27:11 says, “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. “ Psalms 119: 35 speaks, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” Psalms 119:105 continues saying, “Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” These scriptures acknowledge the importance of learning and keeping to the path of the Lord. We see that it is the Word of God that is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path. It shows us the way and so we continually rehearse it and put it before us so that we might keep to the path.
The book of Proverbs, in teaching us its wisdom, instructs us in like manner. Proverbs 1:10-18 warns against following the pathway of sinners. “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul; 12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse”- 15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. 17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!” It exhorts us to avoid the temptation of hanging around bad company where we can get caught up in the snares of the enemy and stray from the path of life. Proverbs 2:6-8 tells again how to find and maintain our walk in the path of righteousness, “For the LORD gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path.” Proverbs 4:10-15 give us this advice, “Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.” Finally we are left with this godly counsel in Proverbs 4:20-27, “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
It is imperative for us as the children of God to maintain diligence in holding to the path of the just. That requires that we maintain a vital relationship with the Lord in fellowship, prayer and in His Word. It means that we are always examining our ways to make sure we are not deviating from the path that Jesus walked before us.
There may be times when we find ourselves off of that path and out of the way then what do we do? In Isaiah 30:15-18 the Lord says this, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” The Lord is waiting for you, repent and keep to the path.
Blessings,
#kent
Count Your Blessings
September 3, 2015
Matthew 5:45
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Count Your Blessings
The rain falls softly upon my head,
Water droplets diffuse vision on my glasses,
But I lift my head to heaven to say “Thank You.”
Each raindrop is a blessing, from Father’s hand it passes.
In the midst of the storm that rages,
I appreciate Him who reigns above it.
Even in its darkest times,
His Word is the candle of promise lit.
God’s throne room is filled with lightening and thunder.
He hides Himself in the clouds.
He shows Himself strong in those who trust Him.
He lifts the humble and crushes the proud.
Take heed of this mighty God we serve.
His everlasting covenants obey and preserve.
Can you count the raindrops as they fall?
Such are the blessings from the God of all.
Kent
Blessings,
#kent
Perfect
August 19, 2015
Matthew 5:48
Ye therfore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Perfect
Most of us would look at ourselves and readily agree that we are anything but perfect. Even if we didn’t acknowledge that we weren’t perfect, there is no doubt a spouse or near relative that would set us straight. Why would Jesus make a statement like He did here in Matthew 5:48?
Throughout this chapter and through the next couple Jesus is addressing a higher order of living than what would be considered normal to the world. He is talking about kingdom living and values. How can God change the lives of others through us if we are not first changed ourselves? If we want to see a greater move of God and we want to be a part of that move, then we must realize that the move of God begins within our own heart and being.
Jesus is making a bold statement here. He doesn’t ask if we want to be perfect, or if we think we can, He is speaking a command to us. He is speaking a living word to us. The natural mind is like Sarah in the tent when the angel tells Abraham they will have a child in their old age, it laughs in unbelief. “How is this possible?” With God all things are possible. If we want to begin seeing the possibilities of God then we have to have faith enough to take and believe Him at His Word rather than looking to see if the natural bears it out or not.
When we enter into Christ we are entering a new realm of being and living. With us still being in our natural bodies and operating in a natural world, with natural minds, we are like little birds floundering to find our wings. Baby birds aren’t born flying; it is something that they mature into because that is what they do by nature. In Christ we are of a different order and different nature of being than what we formerly were. Jesus it painting us a spiritual picture of the difference between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit, through these passages that we read here in Matthew. There are two different mindsets. Jesus is calling us to mature into our Christ nature. This is where we must have our hearts set. Yes, we will flounder and miss that mark, but our eye is set upon our destiny and our destiny is in God and kingdom living. No, we will never perfect ourselves into God’s nature, nor can we, of ourselves, be like Him. It is a God work through faith. It is a transformation that can only take place as we are in union and oneness with God and His purpose. He doesn’t violate our freewill, therefore we must daily yield up our will for His. Not my will, but His be done.
While many generations have not seen the fullness of God manifested in His saints, the Word declares that there is a season when Christ is birthed through us. The ages are growing ripe for this promise child to come forth, even as Christ came in the fullness of time. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 says, “and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might when He shall come to glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed in that day). To which end we pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every work of faith with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
God is calling us in this hour to set aside our unbelief and worldly mentality. We are to put on the mind of Christ, living and viewing our world from a kingdom perspective. You don’t have to change yourself. As you embrace Christ in every aspect of your life and thinking, the branch will take upon it the nature of the vine and the two will share one life source and one nature. Your perfection is resting in Him and walking with Him daily in obedience and faithfulness. He is at work in you to perform His good will and pleasure as you are abiding in the vine. Our perfection is in Christ, it is not in this natural man. The perfection is manifested as we mature in the grace, the nature and the love of Christ, it is a process of His Spirit working in us and we are growing up into who we are in Christ.
Blessings,
#kent
For My Own Sake
July 8, 2015
Isaiah 48:8-11
You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open. Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth. 9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. 10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.
For My Own Sake
We are not so unlike Israel of old to whom the prophet speaks these words from the Spirit of the Lord in verses2-4, “you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name: 3 I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. 4 For I knew how stubborn you were;
the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze.” You know we can be very self-willed at times and determined to go ahead and do what we are going to do. We are the Lord’s people and yet we often don’t really listen and obey what God is telling us in this hour. We are complacent. We are caught up in our personal lives and agendas that aren’t about our God. They are about us, what we idolize, esteem and deem important. Thus it often takes God’s strong hand to align us with His word and purpose for us.
Many of us know that as parents our children can bring us praise or they can bring us reproach by their behavior. They may have been instructed and taught better, but if they ignore their instruction and upbringing, doing what negative things is in their heart to do, then don’t you bear the reproach of their actions as a parent? What we don’t realize is that we are the Lord’s glory, but we can also be His reproach when the world observes us living in unrighteousness and contrary to what we teach and believe. How does God get the glory from that? God is still dealing with the rebellious nature that still wants to manifest in many of us and He will take us through the furnace of affliction, not for our destruction, but for our transformation.
The Lord says in verse 11, “For my own sake, my own sake I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.” If we have been created and purposed for the glory of God, then God must do whatever is necessary to bring us into that purpose that He may be glorified. God is not glorified in our selfishness. Selfishness seeks God’s glory for its own and God says, “I will not give my glory to another.” If you are the Lord’s glory then you must be wholly His. How can you see the glory of the Lord fully expressed from you until you are wholly His?
In this hour God is giving us the word to return with all of our hearts unto Him. Again, He is speaking great and wondrous things to our generation through His word and through the prophets. The trumpet is sounding, but if you are too caught up in the noisiness of your own life you may fail to hear it and even if you do hear it, it is easy to ignore and become distracted. It will be as the Lord says in verse 3, “I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.” Are you ready when the Lord acts upon what He said? We must not allow our stubborn and rebellious ways to cause us to miss what God is doing. It is for this purpose that you were created. We must not foolishly miss the train that is headed for our destiny. Our destiny is to be the expression of His glory, unto His glory and for His glory alone. Hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, “Prepare you hearts and pursue His presence. Let all else become secondary to your relationship with Him. In Him you must live and move and have your being.”
Blessings,
#kent
tricklesoftruth 