A Parent’s Desire

A Parent’s Desire

1 Kings 6:3-9

And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day. And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I [am but] a little child: I know not [how] to go out or come in. And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

                There are none so bound to the heart of a parent as their children.  From the time we become those bumbling parents with a newborn baby, trying to adapt to parenthood our hearts are bonded to that child.  They are a part of us; an extension of our dreams, hopes and aspirations.  Somehow we hope to see accomplished in and through their lives the things we maybe never accomplished or was able to do.  We want to see their lives mature to be successful in life, marriage, but most of all, we usually desire to see them excel in the passions of our hearts.  For some parents that may be sports, for others it is financial success and higher education.  The parent that has a heart for God wants more than anything to see His children grow up in godly character and have a life and a walk with God that is even greater, deeper and richer than their own.  We want to pass that torch of a godly heritage and spiritual truth on to our children, that they in turn might pass it on to theirs.  We want to look back from heaven and see a long lineage of godly men and women, our ancestry, which has kept the faith and didn’t break from it.  We want to see our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up in the fear and admonition of the Lord as our parents may have well planted that holy seed in us. 

                This subject was brought home recently by a birthday card my parents sent me that was very edifying and encouraging as they reminisced about when they were young parents first starting out with me and about the little prayers that I prayed when I was three.  They spoke of a tenderness I had in my heart as a child toward God and how they were blessed that I had grown up to walk with Him and was sharing with others through this writing ministry.  I felt that unity and oneness of heart for my own children and their walk and relationship with the Lord.  It is almost a standard line when our children will ask my wife or I what we want for our birthday.  We simply say, “you know what we want and what we want money can’t buy.”  Our children know that our greatest desire is for them to walk and be in right relationship with the Lord.  We want them to fulfill the destiny and answer the unique call that God has for their lives.  We rejoice when they have good marriages, when they are financially successful and they have a good life by the world’s standards, but our heart’s cry is for Christ to be the utmost in their lives and for them to raise up their children by this same standard of godliness.  Psalms 127:3 tells us, “Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.”  Malachi 2:15 reveals to us the reason for the institution of marriage,”15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one?  Because he was seeking godly offspring. ^[a] So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.”

God’s desire from our marriages and homes is godly offspring.  That is why it burns so deeply in the hearts of godly parents.  That is why many spend many hours, days and even years on their knees before the Lord, interceding on behalf of their children.  Their heart’s cry is for godly offspring to fulfill the will and purpose of God.  This is why the sanctity of marriage and the home is so important.  It is the cornerstone of perpetuating the Church and the heritage of the Lord. 

                Children, understand the heart of every parent is for the welfare and well being of their children.  They can’t live your lives for you or make your decisions, but they will cry out to God for you and they will give you godly counsel out of a heart of love.  Just as my heart is for my children to become all that God has destined and purposed they should be, so that is my parent’s desire for me and their parent’s desire for them.  The desire of a godly parent is for a spiritual legacy, that passes the torch from generation to generation, uninterrupted and committed to the call of God on our lives.

Blessings,

#kent

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Precious Seed

Genesis 38:6-30
Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.
13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”
“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah.

Precious Seed

Out of the loins of Judah and through the seed line of Judah and Tamar came forth Jesus. Very simply put, the moral of this story concerning Judah and Tamar is to not withhold the seed from whom it is due. Tamar was being robbed of her rightful seed through the lineage of Judah. Patiently she waited. Patiently she had to endure while she was ignored, put off and rejected. She was not willing to be denied indefinitely and siezed the opportunity to receive this seed. Even Judah conceded that she was more righteous than he was since he denied her by not giving her his son.
There is a precious seed within you and I. It is the seed of Christ. It is the seed of eternal life and godliness. Are we being like Judah in that we are denying to give that seed to whom it is due? If we withhold that seed when there are hearts that are hungry to receive it then we are acting wickedly like Judah and his sons. Share the seed of Christ and give forth freely of His life. There are those Tamars in our life that are longing to receive and it is God’s will that they do. Share that life within you.

Blessings,
#kent

Establish the Earth

Isaiah 49:8-9
8Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable and favorable time I have heard and answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; and I will preserve you and give you for a covenant to the people, to raise up and establish the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and cause them to inherit the desolate [moral wastes of heathenism, their] heritages,
9Saying to those who are bound, Come forth, and to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, Show yourselves [come into the light of the Sun of righteousness]. They shall feed in all the ways [in which they go], and their pastures shall be [not in deserts, but] on all the bare [grass-covered] hills.

Establish the Earth

Christ came to establish the kingdom of God in the earth. He came as a prototype and first fruits of that company of people that He would use to propagate and infuse this kingdom into the hearts of men throughout the earth. The Lord Jesus gave us a commission to go out into all of the earth and bring the gospel and the good news to them. What the Lord began with the Jews He has accomplished through the Gentiles, because as a whole, His own received Him not.
Romans 11:25 says, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” The rejection of Christ by the Jews has become the Gentile’s salvation. We have reaped the benefit and blessing of their rejection. God will not cast off His people for all time, but will again establish and restore their habitation and ruins. God has given us as a new covenant in Christ. He has also given us the commission and the honor to establish this covenant in the earth. What God has given us as a commission to do, He has not left us in our own strength and devices to carry it out. Religions of men are built on such devices and the strength and wisdom of men will always fall short. The Lord has given us His signet ring, His authority and power for us to go to those who are bound in spiritual darkness and bring them into the light of the Son of righteousness.
We are more than we think we are. There is more potential power and authority in you than you can even imagine. There is about to be a spiritual explosion in the earth. The spirits of darkness and of light will manifest themselves as never before. God has prepared us for this hour to magnify, declare and, with all spiritual authority, establish His Name in the earth.
Most of us look at ourselves and say who am I? What do I have? What can I do? You can be the instrument of God’s righteousness and deliverance. Through our obedience and faith we can and will walk in places of spiritual authority and power that we have never known. Take your eyes off of your flesh and get them upon Christ, for His headship and His life is being expressed through His body to carry out His will and covenant. Our weakness is insignificant next to His strength.
In 1 Chronicles 28:7-8 the Lord speaks concerning Solomon, “Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave [it] for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.” The Lord has given us His covenant to establish His kingdom. What is working in us, will work through us, as we are constant to keep the Lord’s ways and set our hearts steadfastly upon Him. The Lord is stirring in the hearts of His people to prepare our hearts. that we may walk in the faith and footsteps of the Son of God.

Blessings,
#kent

Who’s Your Daddy?

John 8:42-47
42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

The question we ask today is “who is your real Father?” In this passage from the discourse that Jesus was having with the Jews they were quite convinced that they were of the seed of Abraham and that therefore God was their Father. Jesus was telling them it is not a matter of natural descent. Many people in this country and even in others think they are Christians by virtue of fact they grew up in a Christian heritage and that is their general belief even though it may have no effectual working in their lives. Many even call themselves Christians and claim God as their Father because they go to church, or they are involved in church activities or they have a religion. Muslims believe that God, or Allah, is their Father, so much so that many are willing to sacrifice their lives and yours too for what they believe is His cause. What Jesus was telling many of these same types of people are that God isn’t your Father, you only think that He is. If God were your Father, then it would stand to reason you would know His Son. The reason you would know His Son is because the Son is just like the Father in nature, in character and in purpose. The true children of God are able to hear the Father. They are able to receive spiritual instruction, exhortation and even rebuke. The true children of God embrace the Son of God, for they recognize and acknowledge that it is only by His life we have access to the Father and are adopted into sonship. The difference is seen in the fact that we have a new nature and what is more, we have put off the former nature with the sins and lusts that it carried. God’s children no longer pursue the flesh, but walk after the Spirit. We are as Romans 8:12-17 puts it, “12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship And by him we cry, “Abba Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” We live and operate our lives under the influence of who our Father is. We have to ask ourselves what is the fruit of my life, what am I producing and is it in likeness of God’s character and nature?
The Bible and Jesus himself warns us that in the judgement day, “21″Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).” This tells us that it is not even the outward miracles and demonstration of the Spirit that are true evidence of who one’s Father is, it is the faith and the fruit produced by one’s life. It is seen in whom we listen too, whom we obey and whom we follow. We, like the Jews, can profess that God is our Father, but how much do we look like the Son; are we like it says in 2 Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” It is not our outward appearance and demeanor that always reveals our true nature and descent. It is our heart for God, our love and faith in His Son and our obedience to His Word as the Spirit that speaks to His Fatherhood in us, leads and directs our lives. Who’s your daddy?

Blessings,
#kent

Take a Moment to Appreciate

Take a Moment to Appreciate

Romans 1:21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

We have one day a year we set aside to be thankful and acknowledge God’s goodness, but our thankfulness and appreciation of God should be a daily continual occurrence. When we fail to acknowledge Him in all of our ways, our ways begin to become perverted and distorted. In America we live with such abundance and blessing that we take so much for granted. Our level of expectation is very high and we often complain or are discontent when it is not met. We most likely don’t really want to view the conditions and lifestyle of third world countries. Maybe somehow we feel we are more deserving of the wealth and abundance that we enjoy because we are a “Christian” nation. It is evident that we richly enjoy God’s blessing and bountiful provisions, but it is becoming continually more evident that many have failed to see and acknowledge where those blessing have come from. More and more there is pressure and movement to rid godly influence from education, government and the public in general. Many are failing to acknowledge and appreciate that we are great for one reason only, because God’s blessing and goodness alone has made us great.
Our scripture today points to a passage that tells about humanity when they fail to recognize, appreciate and acknowledge the Lord in all of their ways. They follow after their vain imaginations and their foolish hearts become darkened. They embrace homosexuality, idolatry, fornication and all manner of perverse things. Is that what we are becoming today as a nation and as a people?
It is so important that we do acknowledge the Lord in all of our ways and that we maintain a continual attitude of humility and thankfulness toward the Lord. What the Lord has given He can take away. We have what we have because of the godly heritage that established this country and did acknowledge the Lord in its founding. The Lord must always be the foundation of all that we do and of all of our ways. Without Him all is lost.
Let us be mindful to not become so busy and full of ourselves that we forget the great and awesome God that has provided all that we enjoy and so often take for granted. If we acknowledge and appreciate the Lord in all of our ways He will direct our path and keep it from perversion and corruption. Take time and with great frequency, acknowledge and appreciate the Lord, for He is so worthy and deserving of all our praise and thanksgiving.
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Blessings,
kent