This Day
September 8, 2015
Isaiah 60: 1-5
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.”
This Day
This day are we seeing this scripture fulfilled in our midst. A tremendous stirring and emerging of the Spirit of God in the midst of His people is coming forth. We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of what the Lord is preparing to bring forth. There is a trumpet sound of heaven going forth and there is anticipation and excitement arising in the heart of God’s called out people in this hour. The Lord is assembling His troops. He is training them, preparing them and setting them in rank. This scripture is exactly why, we His people, do not despair or fear, because when gross darkness covers the earth it is a sign that we are about to take flight into heavenly places as the glory of the Lord comes upon His people and all of the earth is drawn to her light.
As I am speaking with God’s people I am so encouraged and in awe of what the Father is working and doing in the hearts of so many. Right now, in this moment many of us are standing at the end of our resources. God has brought us to this place for a reason. It is so He can show Himself mighty in His people and that He is all of the resource that we need. He has brought to the place where we are hanging on by a thread, we have cried out to God for help and He is telling us what scares the life out of so many of us, “LET GO”. Most of us are reasoning with our natural minds, “If I let go I will fall to my death and be dashed in pieces by the rocks below. All will be lost.” Jesus is saying, “He who seeks to save His life will lose it, but He who loses His life for my sake shall find it (Mark 8:35).”
The paradigm God is bringing us into in this hour is that our lives are not about us any more as individuals. Our lives are about kingdom purpose, kingdom principles and kingdom living. Our wealth is no longer about individual gain, but will be seen in corporate distribution. Our lack has come because we have been individuals seeking our own prosperity while the Lord’s house lies in ruin. It is time for us to join our resources, our talents and our abilities to build and restore the house of God, which is the body of Christ. We are each other’s greatest assets. We can not be truly blessed and prosper until the body comes together in unity and oneness of purpose. It is every joint supplying the need as it arises and we are able. We are no longer a bunch of individuals that meet together once or twice a week, we are a family that loves and cares for one another on daily basis.
Why doesn’t the world see the love of Christ? Jesus says, “By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)” This is not a day of denominations and religious camps, it is day when we must start flowing in the love of God for one another. If you love Jesus and truly know Him as Lord, it is not important that all of your beliefs are exactly like mine. You are still flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone in Christ.
The glory of God will fall when the love of God arises in the hearts of His people and they learn not to be takers, but givers. We will learn to no longer live just for our benefit, but for the benefit of our brother and sister. As we operate in these principles we will see wealth begin to flow into the body of Christ as never before. It the simple kingdom principle, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)”
This day God is stirring our hearts with His love as we come out of our private, guarded houses where we have lived for our own agenda and seeking our own prosperity. We are coming together to build the house of the Lord and when we do, from this day forth we will be blessed.
This day hear the trumpet of the Lord calling us together and assembling us for the common purpose of building His house. When we build His house, He will fill it with His glory!
Blessings,
#kent
Love is a Language of Action
July 28, 2015
1 John 3:18
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Love is a Language of Action
“I love you.” How many times have we said this or heard this? What does it mean? While the words can be meaningful and precious, it is what they convey, imply and promise that is of even greater weight. How many times have these been shallow words, void of promise and only speaking to someone what they so desire to see in reality? What gives flesh to these words are the actions that follow them. If we say that we love God, but we are cold and indifferent to our fellow man is the love of God truly in us or are we just clouds without rain, empty and void of the substance of God’s love.
For love to be meaningful, it has to be a language of action. Its expression is seen in our attitudes, our deed and in the true intent of our heart. I would say most of us often fall short of the kind of love we really want to have. Sometimes, even our best efforts seem in vain, but I believe God sees the motive and the intent of our heart. He is really the means by which we can truly love. The more expression we have of Christ in us, the greater our love, or rather the love of God in us, is expressed and made manifest. It will be seen, not only in the things that we give, but in our tolerance, our forgiveness, our patience, self control, our joy, our peace and in the way that we respond and act toward others. Christ in us is not measured in how much we know about the bible, or how much spiritual revelation that we have. It is not about how much we go to church or how religious that we appear. Christ in us is the measure of God’s love flowing through us. The less that we are in the way, the less restriction there is to the flow of His love through us. This is why we die to self, because self only hinders the flow of God’s unselfish love.
If we think that we truly love God and have His love in us then may our actions speak it and not our tongue. Let us manifest the works that He did. The manifestation of His love through us is God loving His world; this is what signifies to the lost that God is love when they see us give what they do not deserve. Are we a people of words or action?
Blessings,
#kent
Our God Forever and Forever
March 13, 2015
Psalms 48:1-3,14
Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 2 It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King. 3 God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Our God Forever and Forever
You know there are times that I look at myself probably like many of you. I see all of my weaknesses, my frailties, failures, sins and faults. If I only had eyes to see myself, I could become very discouraged and depressed. Sometimes it is not only hard for others to live with us, it is hard for us to live with ourselves and still keep our hope. We can become very discouraged with life and want to give up. We can easily reason how the world would be so much better off without us. Maybe we feel all we ever do is screw up, make mistakes and fall so short of what we hoped we would be. There are times in our lives we can feel pretty beat up, battered and condemned. So why do we continue on? Why should we still have hope?
When I read passages like this one in Psalms it helps me realize that I am not an island, but I am part of a much greater plan. That faith I have in God and Jesus Christ rises up to show me that there is a mighty God that is so great and wonderful beyond my comprehension and that this God really loves me, even the way I am. He created me. He knows my heart, my thoughts and my intentions. He has not left me alone, but He has brought me into Himself to be a part of something so magnificent and glorious. He made me a part of His City and His Presence and Being indwells me. ‘This God is my God who is with me for ever and for ever and He will guide me even to the end.’
I realize that maybe He allowed me to have so many weaknesses and flaws for a reason. Maybe it was so that I could never boast in myself, but I could only boast in Him, in His grace and sufficiency for my life. What gives me courage and hope is that I know that my God is for me, that nothing can ever separate me from His love and that the reason that I am a conqueror and an overcomer is because of the Christ that indwells me.
I know that the purpose of the enemy and of satan is to destroy that life which you and I possess. Jesus tells us that in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.” While the enemies’ purpose is to destroy us, Christ’s purpose it to build us up and to give us life abundantly. No, we may not feel worthy or deserving of that life, but He has given it to us just the same. Through Christ we can have eyes to see into Him and what we are in Him. We no longer have to focus on the mess that we have been and the inadequacies that we feel. I know that we are still struggling through so many of these issues. Our faith takes us where our present experiences have not yet been. It takes us to what God has to say about us, what His Word declares over us and promises to us. In these things we find hope, we find life and reason for being.
I love the scripture that Paul gives to us in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” Maybe that is why He chose me and that is why He chose you. In our weakness He is made strong and when people observe the marvelous things that can come forth from your life they will recognize that it is not you, but Christ in you. God knows how to take cracked pots and use them for His glory and praise. So before you and I give up and succumb to our discouragement, let us draw courage from the God of strength and life. I thank God for who I am because it makes me keep my eyes upon Him and my praise toward Him. I have to trust Him for every aspect of my life.
Yes, I see my faults, my failures and my weakness, but more importantly I see His life, His promises and His strength. These are what we are going to lay hold of. These are what will pull us out of the pit and set us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. HE IS OUR STRENGTH, OUR LIFE AND OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE IS OUR FAITH, OUR FORTRESS AND OUR SALVATION. HE IS THE ONE THAT GIVES ME HOPE IN THE NIGHT AND JOY IN THE MORNING. HE IS OUR GOD FOREVER AND FOREVER, HALLELUJAH AND AMEN.
Blessings,
#kent
Fearful and Unbelieving
April 25, 2014
Revelation 21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Fearful and Unbelieving
I am reminded of a word our pastor spoke recently about how we tend to measure sins by the degree of their sinfulness. We don’t think of telling a little white lie as being the same as murder or stealing. We tend to categorize our sins and even our righteousness. Romans 14:23 tells us that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” At this point we might ask ourselves do I live my life out of faith or fear? While we may tend to judge the ungodly for their sin look who leads the list of those who are bound for the lake of fire. It doesn’t fall in our neat little prioritized list of sins from greatest to least. Sin is sin, but the greatest failure we can have is not to believe God’s Word and to fear the things of this world more than we fear Him.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” God is the one who can destroy both soul and body. Satan or man can kill the body with God’s permission, but the only way that he can destroy the soul is by bringing us into that place of fear, doubt and unbelief. When we are drawn out of our place of faith in Christ then sin has place to work. Fear and doubt creep in and they rob our confidence and assurance of who we are in Christ.
The conditions of this world can lead many of us to a place of fear and doubt as we see our economy dissolving before us and our way of life, as we’ve known it, quickly disappearing. If our eyes are on the outward things we will begin to be swayed by fear, doubt and unbelief, but this is an hour our eyes must be fixed upon the Lord as never before. This world is not the believer’s economy and kingdom. We have come into a heavenly kingdom and a kingdom economy. Ephesians 2:4-10 tells us about what God has delivered us out of and what He is bringing us into. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” It tells us here that we are not redeemed by our righteousness, but by His grace and ‘God raised us up with Christ and seated us in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus’. Many of us have grown up with the concept that we can’t go to heaven until we die, but right here it tells us that those who are in Christ are already seated there in Him. It is our faith in Christ that maintains and secures this position that we have with Him. Fear and doubt bring us out of the realm of godly thinking and trust in Christ and bring us back down into the corruptibility and fear of this world. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” The spirit of fear does not come from the Lord. Our courage, our optimism, our faith in the midst of a fearful world is centered in our faith in Christ. In Him we overcome the world, because the divine Overcomer resides in us. ‘We can do all things through Christ that strengthens us.’ In this hour do not let fearfulness, doubt and unbelief grip your heart. You may have been weak in that former man, but that man is dead and you are a new creature in Christ; one that is filled with the Holy Spirit and with power. Unbind the strong man, Christ in you. The way you unbind Him is by your faith and confidence in Him. Fear, doubt and unbelief are what bind up the grace of God from abounding in our lives. Rise up and be loosed from fear, doubt and unbelief by declaring the Word of God over you life and circumstances and then praise Him as if you already have the manifestation of it, because you do, but it may not yet be revealed in this realm.
This is what the Lord was speaking into my spirit this morning and I pass on this exhortation to you oh mighty people of God. “Contend manfully oh mighty men of valor. Stand your grand. Hold fast your faith. Be not moved by fear or the trepidation of men. YOU are the testimony to the Almighty of His life made flesh.”
Blessings,
#kent
Today’s Trials are Tomorrow’s Victories
March 19, 2014
Romans 8:28-39
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? 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? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We often struggle with why the people of God go through so much suffering and trials. Some might say it is because they don’t have enough faith or they must have sin in their lives. I tend to believe that it is often the sweetest and most precious grapes that make the best wine, but in order for them to offer up their vintage taste and sweet fragrance they must first be crushed. Suffering and trials have been the plight and portion of many a saint. It is not a new concept. We struggle with that because we think in our hearts, even if we don’t outwardly say it, “God if you are sovereign then why don’t you deliver the afflicted and the suffering, especially those who are calling out to You?” The victory of life in the natural and fleshly man is not always living in health, wealth and prosperity. It is not about what we have in the good times of our life. The true metal of a godly nature is tested in the fire. All of our works will be tested in that fire at some point. Some may be going through that fire right now. Perhaps you are very weary; the enemy has assaulted your faith and your God. Your friends may be like those that Job had, only content on you confessing your sins or shortcomings. It takes a tremendously faithful person to go through the fires that God sometimes allows in our lives. The real victory is not in whether or not we see our earthly deliverance; it is in how we live our lives in the midst of those trials. God’s Word says in 1 Peter 1:7-9, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls.” It is not the suffering and trials that God rejoices in, it is the faithfulness of His saints in the midst of it. That faithfulness and praise in the midst of suffering is the sweet aroma and incense that rises into the heavens. It is a sweet smelling savor unto the Father’s nostrils. Nothing can speak louder to God that we love Him for who He is and not just what He can do, than our faithfulness in the midst of our suffering and trials.
We know in our hearts that God’s arm is not short that He can not save, but nothing torments and discredits satan more than a Christian who will only honor and praise His God even when satan is twisting his arm behind his back. What focuses us more on God’s grace and strength than our trials and tribulations? In those places where we have no further human resources or help in the flesh to lean on, we learn to take hold of the grace of God. We learn the patience to enter into His rest and know that these earthly vessels of clay and the very life that they we breath are in His hands. Deuteronomy 32:39 says, “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.” We have offered ourselves up into God’s hand to do as it pleases Him. Our lives are for His glory and not for our own. We struggle with the perspective of suffering and trials because we see it from a human standpoint. Our view is the preservation of the natural life. God’s view is not in the importance of the outward haul of the seed, but He is looking to the life within. The threshing floor was a place of separation between wheat and chaff. The outward man with this body is like the chaff. The separation is really a claiming of the Christ nature and a revealing of it. No one has the goods like the one has passed through the fire. Their testimony is not one borne out of head knowledge; it is a witness of experience. Before Job went through his trials he knew a lot about God and had a relationship with Him, but it didn’t compare with how he knew God when he went through the fire. In the conclusion of what Job went through and after his discourse with the Almighty he says this in Job 42:1-6, “Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”” Many of us know about God, but it is only as we have gone through the fire that we come into a place where we have seen Him. When we have seen Him, all foolish doubts and questionings cease and we repent in dust and ashes.
God loves us. We have been called out and set aside for a purpose. He has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. His Son learned obedience through the things that He suffered. If you are in that place of suffering then God is only proving your faithfulness and your faithfulness is a mockery of the enemy. He is raising you up in LIFE even when your body only seems to be experiencing death. Lay hold of the resurrection and the Life within you and live out of Him. His grace is sufficient and He will raise you up to the praise of His name. Hold fast your faith, you are more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus!
Blessings,
#Kent
When We Doubt
February 12, 2014
When We Doubt
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
When We Doubt
There is a thief the comes to steal,
The identity he says that is not real.
He brings with him doubt, fear and unbelief,
He comes to rob my faith because he is a thief.
What if all my faith is in vain?
Then I can hold on to all my guilt and shame.
What if this message of the cross is just a lie?
Then wretched and most miserable of men am I.
Let me return to the sin and death from which I came,
Let me forsake life and hope if God’s Word is just a game.
Let me return to when my heart was perverted and my walk was lame,
If all roads lead to God, then Jesus why did you come to die in vain?
The Jews passed down the account of all the works that God had done.
They did this so they would not forget all the battles by Him they won.
Take some time to recount all of your blessings, one by one.
You will be find yourself amazed at what the Lord has done.
Intellects want to rob your faith through philosophical clatter,
But what you know in your heart is really what does matter.
What you know to be real in your heart, let no man steal,
Christ in you, redeemed by the blood, that is what is real.
Satan and man can throw up all kinds of smoke and mirrors,
But in the end it is the power of Christ that removes all doubt and fears.
If you embrace the lie it is to your shame,
You’ve been stripped of the truth of why Christ came.
There remains no other sacrifice to take away your sin,
You’ve been robbed of life and power that is only found in Him.
Beware of your reasoning that tells you that Christ is a fairytale,
Lest in that time when all hope is lost, your heart will begin to fail.
If Christ be a lie I will still embrace Him until the end,
Because I have experienced His love and know Him as my friend.
No, I don’t understand the mystery of all of His ways,
But I believe when He calls me up, in Him I will be raised.
So you go ahead and embrace the lie if you will.
But I choose to embrace my Savior still.
I have identified with Him, and so I am no longer my own,
I am becoming flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone.
I will not let fear, doubt and unbelief rob me of the identity that is mine.
In Him my life is hid and out of His righteousness my life will shine.
I know who I am and I will not let anyone take that from me.
For in Christ I live and through His blood I have found my liberty.
Poor indeed is the man that let his faith be robbed,
In the day of judgement bitter tears he will sob.
Stand your ground and hold fast the truth proclaimed,
When faith has stood the test, His promises you will claim.
Kent Stuck
The Righteous are not Forsaken
February 7, 2014
The Righteous are not Forsaken
Psalms 37:5
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Psalms 37:4 says, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” As a people in general and as Christians I doubt that there are very many of us who don’t face times of real trial and struggle in our lives and many of us more than we would care to talk about. For many of us, life is often a continual struggle, especially as we attempt to walk out our faith with faithfulness and obedience. When we do really try and walk closely with the Lord we may find all of hell seems to be unleashed against us or we make some mistakes and then we are overwhelmed with guilt and condemnation because we blew it. There may be those times we fall, stumble and falter in our walk with the Lord, but remember there is someone stronger than you walking with you. Praise God we don’t have to rely upon our own strength and righteousness to get us to heaven. Jesus is our High Priest and Intercessor who is always standing in the gap for us and pleading our cause.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 tells us, “The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him. 12If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us. 13If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.” The desire of the Father’s heart is that we grow up in the fullness and likeness of Christ. He has given us the Holy Sprit to help us in that process. It has been said that the Holy Spirit is a perfect gentleman and doesn’t violate or force our will if we make choices other than Him. In fact, we often don’t realize how we can offend and hurt the Holy Spirit by our attitudes and actions. Many of us need to reconcile that relationship with Him. The thing about God is that if most of us received what we deserved we would have been cast off a long time ago, but God’s heart is always to draw you back to His righteousness and to Christ. The enemy would like you to think that you have burned your bridges and there is no way back, but the grace and love of God is so high and so wide and so deep that it can span the greatest chasms of sin. He just wants us to repent and give our lives, without reservation, back to Him. Even when we fall and fail, the Lord is there for us to pick us up again if we will let Him.
Life holds many tests and trials for us, some we pass and others we don’t. We are all in the process of maturing and growing, all too often we poop in our pants and make messes along the way. We must remember that our past failures can be our future stepping-stones to victory and overcoming. God will let us fall down. He will let us make our mistakes and we often have to suffer the consequences, whatever those may be, but He hasn’t turned His back on us. If we will cry out to Him, if we will repent and begin seeking Him with our whole heart we can find that place of forgiveness, fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit again.
If some of us, or others that you know, are struggling today; God hasn’t abandoned you. He has finished the reconciliation upon the cross and now He lovingly waits for us to respond back to Him. Many people perceive God in unfair and unrealistic ways because of how they have been treated or how they have been impressed and perceived God by the example of those claiming Christianity. They are turned off to God because of us. We, like Paul, must remember that our whole mission in life is to suffer whatever is necessary so that others may come into the kingdom. In 2 Timothy 2:10 Paul says, “Therefore I [am ready to] persevere and stand my ground with patience and endure everything for the sake of the elect [God’s chosen], so that they too may obtain [the] salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with [the reward of] eternal glory.” May God’s love likewise be extended through us so that we are willing to love even the unlovely for whom Christ died. Let us continue to encourage and exhort one another to faithfulness. God loves us and will not forsake us, even in our weaknesses and times of greatest trials. He may not miraculously save us out of our circumstances in the way we might like to see, but He is there with us, walking it out and giving us grace.
Don’t give up, don’t give in, but always fix your eyes upon Him. He will carry you through and He will provide the way and the means.
