The Spirit of a Jackass

Jeremiah 14:6
“Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyesight fails for lack of pasture.”

The Spirit of a Jackass

Oh that men would praise Him rather than sing mournful hymns and songs. Oh that men of the cloth would have restored to them spiritual vision and insight. The religious man perishes and is made like dry bones. He pursues God only with his mind and intellect while his heart is far from Him. He has not the faith to embrace and hold the things of God because he stands upon the barren heights of man’s religion and tradition. It is what he has been handed down from his fathers and it is what he has learned to embrace. Now, as a wild donkey, he stands upon the barren and desolate heights of religious intellect and the traditions of his fathers to find he like the jackal is looking for some dead thing to feed upon. His spiritual eyesight fails to see that God is so much more than the cathedrals of theology and learning. He is not only the God of the past, but of the here and now. He doesn’t know how to find and relate with God in his own present tense. His soul is lean though his head is full of knowledge. He dwells in the land of famine and feeds upon the fodder of human reasoning. He has a form of godliness, but denies the power thereof. Thus, he finds no pasture and rest for his soul, but wrestles with fears, doubts and unbelief. The product of this man is found across the landscape of religion. They have their structures, their forms, their incantation, ceremonies and holy words, but their lives are devoid of the life giving power of true relationship and fellowship with Father God. There God is kept in their holy box instead of being a living fire in their hearts.
Though the truth is spoken to them they can not hear. They will not receive for they are like the wild donkeys, stubborn and set in their ways. They, in fact, resent and despise those who live in and speak the truth, for they are the heretics of their religious box. The religion and their tradition have become their idol and indeed it is the religion and form that they worship and not God.
Jeremiah 14:10 says, “This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.” The strongholds of religion will fall. Their religious walls have only served to hide the hypocrisy and sin of those who inhabit them. The Lord Almighty has judged the form and tradition of religion, because like the law of Moses it has become an instrument of death and not life, it has only condemned with judgement and fear instead of giving life, liberty and freedom. God does not dwell in edifices and structures of men, but in the living stones of His peoples lives and hearts. “Unless the Lord build the house they that labor, labor in vain.” The Lord will establish His house. 1 Peter 2:4-10 speaks the mind of God concerning His house, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” This is God’s temple and this is His house that He has built through the hands of His Son, Jesus Christ.
God is calling His true people out of the former traditions and forms of men into the relationship with Him whereby you may cry “Abba Father”, Papa God. Our God is a God of relationship not of form and dead letter. He is desiring to bring you into the fellowship of His family and communion with His Holy Spirit. That relationship is not one of ceremony but of knowing Him in the intimacy of your heart and life through Christ. Wild Donkeys will not hear this word for they are stubborn and stiff-necked, determined in their own way even when it leaves them in famine and desolation, but those who have spiritual ears will hear and come out from among her to find that true and living church which isn’t in an organization, but is a living, functioning organism of His life, love and fellowship. This is the word of the Lord to His people this day.
Blessings,
#kent

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Where We See the Vision of God

Revelations 4:1
After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Where We See the Vision of God

Most of us expect that God is supposed to meet with us on our terms, in our earthly mentality and thinking. We are always wanting more of God, so we invite him into our box, into our preconceived and formed religious thinking and mindset. Remember when, in Acts 10, Peter was on the roof top praying and God showed Him a vision of a great sheet knit on four corners, let down from heaven. It was full of unclean animals, wild beast, creeping things and fowls of the air. A voice came to him and said, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” Remember Peter three times refused and objected because these were unclean. Peter said, “Not so Lord, for I have never eaten anything uncommon or unclean.” God was challenging Peter’s religious thinking and his doctrinal box. This didn’t fit in Peter’s theology at all. There comes a time when God takes the type and shadow and makes it a reality. There was a whole lot of this going on when Christ came as the fulfillment of so many types and shadows of the Old Testament. This is the reason that Judaism doesn’t fit comfortably in the mold of Christianity. The former was based upon types and shadows and the latter is based upon the fulfillment of those types and shadows in Christ. God’s Word does not change, but the times and the seasons of it do. We don’t reap our harvest in the winter, it isn’t the season. In God there are seasons and Jesus taught us to recognize the seasons spiritually. If our eyes are only fixed on this former season and our minds are narrowed to only walk in what have known, we may miss the season for which we were created and purposed.
In our passage in Revelations, God didn’t come down to John’s level of thinking and reasoning, He showed him an open door in heaven and said, “Come up here and I will show you the things which must come hereafter.” If we, in our generation, have come to this time of hereafter, then it is important that our spiritual eyes, ears and mind are open to the things that God is doing and speaking in this hour. They may well go against the grain of our former way of thinking as they did for Peter. We are quickly approaching the fulfillment of many of the things that the Word has spoken to us, but we have not comprehended them because the hour was not yet. I believe we are already standing in a new season of God and it is imperative for all of us to really be open for God to show us and bring us into a new dimension in our faith and in our lives. We are standing in a new day when the things spoken of as hereafter are now becoming present tense. Be ready for change, not in fearful way, but in a faith-filled way. Keep your eyes and your faith upon Him that when He moves, you move with Him, even if it is not the way it has always been. God is calling us up through that open door in heaven to come up and see the things He is about to do upon the earth. Even as God was showing Peter that He was about to bring the Gentiles into the kingdom of God, He is bringing us into a new season in Him. You will hear the word from God’s anointed and it will sound strange to you, but listen with your spiritual man, then move in obedience to what the Lord will be prompting you to do. This will not make sense now, but it will as the Spirit of God unfolds it.

Blessings,
#kent

Wise Counsel

 

Wise Counsel

Proverbs 24:6

For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors [there is] safety. 

Most of us appreciate wise counsel, especially in the hard decisions of our life, but we have a choice of who we choose to hear and receive counsel from.  Essentially all of our decisions are made from counsel that we gather mentally from different sources, then evaluate and arrive at our decision.  Where are we going to get our counsel?   

The fruit of our lives will reveal the source of our counsel.  If we are walking in the counsel of the ungodly, then our actions, decisions and choices are going to be ungodly.   Psalms 1:1 exhorts us, “Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”  

Most all of us want and need wise counsel.  We realize that we are not all wise and experienced in many of the areas of life we must make decisions, so it is quite common that we would seek out those who are wiser and more experienced in these areas of life.   Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established” 

Proverbs 19:20 exhorts us, “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.”  As Christians, most of us have come to realize that our best advice and counsel comes from the Word of God and His people who are skilled and experienced in His Word.  One of the reasons we go to church and bible studies, listen to tapes and read Christian books is to hear the counsel of the word of God and it’s interpretation.  It is a resource we can use to make wise decisions for the direction of our lives.  

One of the names of God and Christ is “Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).  One of the seven spirits of God spoken of in Isaiah 11:2 is “counsel”.  God is our greatest resource of wise counsel and direction for our lives if we take the time to seek it out.  Too often we are in a hurry with the decisions we make or we have preconceived notions about what we want.  As a result we don’t take the time to wait on the counsel of the Holy Spirit or pursue the counsel of wise and godly men.  This is difficult for many of us because we are not given to patience.  We want our answer right now.  With God, His requirements are often that we wait upon Him, that we are “anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6).”   Proverbs 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man [is like] deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.”  I believe the same is true of God.  We have to take the time to draw out what is the wisdom and counsel of God for our lives and the decisions we must make along the way.  Proverbs 19:21 tells us, “There are] many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”  We have to discern in our hearts and sort out what is of God and what is of natural reasoning and thinking.  We do that by connecting the points that make a straight line through the things that line up with the Word and counsel of God.  God’s counsel shouldn’t be confusion; it should bear witness with itself all along the way.  

It is most important, if we want wise counsel, to keep our hearts in tune with the Holy Spirit, seeking His counsel and wisdom through prayer and the Word.  It is equally important to check the attitudes and the condition of our heart and motives to be sure they are pure and submitted to Him.   Proverbs is a wonderful resource concerning the wisdom, understanding, knowledge and counsel of the Lord. Let’s conclude with a passage from Proverbs 2:1-8 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,

2turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—3indeed, if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding, 4and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6For the Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  7He holds success in store for the upright,

he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”  

 

Blessings

kent

Wise Counsel

Wise Counsel

Proverbs 24:6
For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counselors [there is] safety.

Most of us appreciate wise counsel, especially in the hard decisions of our life, but we have a choice of who we choose to hear and receive counsel from. Essentially all of our decisions are made from counsel that we gather mentally from different sources, then evaluate and arrive at our decision. Where are we going to get our counsel?
The fruit of our lives will reveal the source of our counsel. If we are walking in the counsel of the ungodly, then our actions, decisions and choices are going to be ungodly. Psalms 1:1 exhorts us, “Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Most all of us want and need wise counsel. We realize that we are not all wise and experienced in many of the areas of life we must make decisions, so it is quite common that we would seek out those who are wiser and more experienced in these areas of life. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established”
Proverbs 19:20 exhorts us, “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” As Christians, most of us have come to realize that our best advice and counsel comes from the Word of God and His people who are skilled and experienced in His Word. One of the reasons we go to church and bible studies, listen to tapes and read Christian books is to hear the counsel of the word of God and it’s interpretation. It is a resource we can use to make wise decisions for the direction of our lives.
One of the names of God and Christ is “Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6). One of the seven spirits of God spoken of in Isaiah 11:2 is “counsel”. God is our greatest resource of wise counsel and direction for our lives if we take the time to seek it out. Too often we are in a hurry with the decisions we make or we have preconceived notions about what we want. As a result we don’t take the time to wait on the counsel of the Holy Spirit or pursue the counsel of wise and godly men. This is difficult for many of us because we are not given to patience. We want our answer right now. With God, His requirements are often that we wait upon Him, that we are “anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6).” Proverbs 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man [is like] deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” I believe the same is true of God. We have to take the time to draw out what is the wisdom and counsel of God for our lives and the decisions we must make along the way. Proverbs 19:21 tells us, “There are] many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” We have to discern in our hearts and sort out what is of God and what is of natural reasoning and thinking. We do that by connecting the points that make a straight line through the things that line up with the Word and counsel of God. God’s counsel shouldn’t be confusion; it should bear witness with itself all along the way.
It is most important, if we want wise counsel, to keep our hearts in tune with the Holy Spirit, seeking His counsel and wisdom through prayer and the Word. It is equally important to check the attitudes and the condition of our heart and motives to be sure they are pure and submitted to Him. Proverbs is a wonderful resource concerning the wisdom, understanding, knowledge and counsel of the Lord. Let’s conclude with a passage from Proverbs 2:1-8 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
2turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—3indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding, 4and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”

Blessings,
kent