Naked Before the Lord

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

               Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth away from Him] or away from home [and with Him], we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him.

10For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].

Naked before the Lord

               There is an old saying that our clothing can hide a multitude of sins.  It is simply a reference that we can dress ourselves to hide many of our defects, faults and deficiencies.   Our scripture today refers to a time when we will stand before the Lord in judgement and all our clothing is removed.  All of the facades, the pretensions, the denials, the excuses and the justifications are stripped away and there we stand, naked before the Lord.  He looks at us in our raw state and every motive, intent, deed and work that we have lived is seen purely for what it is.  From this evaluation based on God’s righteous judgement we receive the due recompense for what we have done with our lives and how we have lived.  Whether it is good or evil, our life is taken into account and all that we have given it too. What did we spend our lives pursuing; was it life or was it wind?  What were the true motives and the intents of our heart?  Did we live for ourselves or for Christ and others?  Were we the takers or the givers? Were we ambitious for pleasing Christ or ourselves?  No matter how good we are at talking our way out of things, we aren’t going to convince God.  Things are what they are and they will be seen for what they truly are. 

               Now we have all sinned and we continue to have sin in our lives.  Fortunately, because we have embraced by faith Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins we have a confidence that our sins are forgiven.  Our judgement here is not about sin so much as it is about what we did with the life that God gave us and the knowledge of who He is and what He requires.   Our lives in this earth are the preparation and the precursor to eternity.  What we share with Him in eternity, what part we play is all being decided each day that we live our lives in this earth.  This why it is so important that we live each day for Him and that He is our everything in this life.  That will not change as we enter eternity.   1 Corinthians 3:11-15 sums it up like this, “11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

               God does not desire to condemn us, but to commend us for a life well lived in service to Him.  When we fail to live our life in faith and obedience, we condemn ourselves.  Paul’s attitude in verse 9 of our scripture is this, “Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth away from Him] or away from home [and with Him], we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him.”  This should also be our attitude every day that we live. 

               Most of us wouldn’t consider ourselves to be where we want to be if we were to stand naked before the Lord today and none of us knows how much time we have left to make a difference.   As sobering as this is, we can make a difference every day simply by living in the faith of the Son of God and placing our lives completely before Him now to work in us and make the changes we need to make.  As we seek His purpose and His will, we will have opportunity to express His life daily as we earnestly desire and allow Him to have expression through us.  As we walk by faith and repent of our sins, we can have a good conscience before God.  We would desire that the Holy Spirit would show us if it were otherwise.  It is not working to earn His favor; it is living to allow His favor.

               If we were to stand naked before God today, can we stand unashamed because our lives are being lived fully for Him?  If not, then now is the time to begin to make a difference, because one day we will all stand in that place.  What we all want to hear are the words, “well done my good and faithful servant.”

Blessings,

#kent

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Whether We Live or Whether We Die

Romans 14:7-8

For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Whether We Live or Whether We Die

               We speak to purpose this day.  All that we are in Christ is center in the purpose of His Being in us.  We are no longer our own, we are His.  Yes, we still have will and choice, but when we chose to follow Jesus, didn’t we make that choice?  It is often hard for us to function and think outside the paradigm of our earthly world, because we have grown up centered in that mentality and thinking, but this scripture moves our thinking out of the realm of time and into the realm of eternity.  Most of us have become rather attached to this natural life and for others they might be ready to do an early checkout.  Time is relevant to the natural man, but in God there is eternity, which supersedes the dimension of time.  We often look at life in terms of now, and then, when I die and go to heaven.  For us in Christ, life and death are really just life in different dimensions.  Eternity, God-Life, has already come into us.  In Him we now live in the dimension of His timelessness.  “In Him we live and move and have our being.”  Yet for the order of things God has given the dimension of time like the periods at the end of a sentence.  Your earthly life is but a sentence in the volumes of God’s library, but it is a sentence of purpose and relevance to what God has created you for.  If you only get one sentence, then wouldn’t you want to be very careful as to how you structure it?  You would want to make it as clear, concise and as meaningful as you possibly could.  That is what we want to do with our lives.  We want to be remembered and pondered for what that statement, that sentence of our life said to those that read it and saw it. 

               Often, we get so concerned about how others live their life, what they believe and that they are just like us.  God says we each have our own sentence to write and He will be the final critique on what was written.  Before Him we give account and before Him we stand or fall.  While we encourage each other to righteousness, we are not each other’s judges.  Write your sentence faithfully in the light of the truth and knowledge that you have.  Often, we find ourselves restructuring our sentence as we mature and grow in the knowledge and light of Christ Jesus.  The most important thing you want to remember is that whether you live or die, you belong to the Lord.  Allow Him to accurately structure the sentence of your life.

Blessings,

#kent

The Lord on High

The Lord on High

Psalms 113:5

Who [is] like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,

Praise the Lord who reigns on High,

Whose love and power and grace,

Pierce the earth and rent the sky,

Who looks upon His beloved with open face.

His heart is tender and His love is great,

As He gathers us as chicks beneath His wing,

His love is jealous over His mate,

As her song of love she sings.

The Lord is merciful to a thousand generations;

His forgiveness reaches through the span of man.

Redemption and salvation are His great vocation,

As He brings His beloved into His eternal plan.

His ways are high and past finding out,

Yet He shares His secrets through the Holy Spirit within.

He leads us in the way up into His high and holy mount.

Mount Zion is His throne-room where the issues of life begin.

Be still and reverence this High and Holy One!

Lay prostrate upon your face as unto the Lord you call.

Then rise to sing His praise and magnify the Son,

Who is worthy of all our praise, the Redeemer of us all.

His Holy Hand directs His Holy Plan,

As He searches out His own.

In weakness and utter dependency of man,

Is the glory revealed and His great power is shown.

It is not in us, who will or do,

But it is God who gives the increase.

It is His power and grace working in me and you,

That brings forth wonders that never cease.

Oh Lord, we wholly lean on Jesus name,

As we run this race in our soul.

Your Spirit life is the conqueror’s flame,

And Your HIGH CALLING is our goal.

Blessings,

#kent

You are His Specialty

Ephesians 1:4

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

               Did we come to the Lord by accident?  No more than your life is an accident.  Have you ever been at some activity where everyone is working together at one task or another?  They all have a place and purpose and you feel like a third wheel not knowing where you can fit in or what you can do.  Sometimes our lives are like that spiritually.  We don’t know where we fit in or how to be involved. 

Spiritually, God created us for His pleasure and purpose to be “holy and without blame before Him in love.”  We know that is a pretty tall order if we want to accomplish it on our own, which we can’t.  We know that it is the faith He has birthed in our hearts to believe in Christ and receive His forgiveness through the blood of the Son.  It is in that time that we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven by faith and are washed in the blood that we can begin to really fulfill the purpose of God in our lives.  Then, we are introduced to the Holy Spirit, who hopefully we come to know as our strength, our mentor, corrector, instructor, edification and power to be transformed into that holy vessel that Jesus so willingly and unselfishly died for.  The first order of business in our spiritual walk is to come to know the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  While we don’t often know exactly how we fit into the body, if our hearts are open to the Holy Spirit’s leading and direction, He begins to show us where our particular strengths, gifts, abilities and callings are.  As we begin to respond to those in faith and humility to serve, first Him, then others and the body of Christ we begin to find that we are no longer that third wheel standing outside looking in.  We begin to give and serve not out of what we don’t have, but what we do have.  Each of us is uniquely formed by Father to be the best that He has created us to be.  That standard is not measured against any other person or group.  Our standard is Christ and the Word of God.  We know that only as the life of Christ in us is allowed to have freedom and expression through us can we truly honor God and fulfill our purpose in Him. 

               If you are wondering what your purpose is today or where you fit, begin by glorifying the Lord through your faith expressed through good works.  As you do this in all areas of opportunity you will find Holy Spirit leading you into your particular strengths and abilities.  Doors will open as you submit yourself fully to the Lord’s leading and direction. 

               Since our first calling is to be holy and blameless before Him in love that needs to be our first and primary focus.  As we are faithful in this He will lead us more fully into all that He has purposed us to be. 

Blessings,

#kent

Presumptuous Ways

Presumptuous Ways

James 4;13-17

Go to now, ye that say, Today or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.

               Most of us become pretty independent with our lives, our routines and our activities.  We may even pray about our day, but then continue on with little thought of what we asked the Lord to guide and bless.  We are often quite presumptuous with what the Lord’s will is in a matter.  How many opportunities do I miss to live for Christ, to be a witness or even to minister the love of God to someone because I’ve zoned out what God’s purpose is for me each moment of my life and I’m off on my agenda.  I see how often I do that with my wife with ignoring or being insensitive to her needs because I become so engrossed in what I’m doing.  How much more do I do it with the Lord?

               Perhaps the Lord wants us to step back and just take a look at our lives to see how much we lend ourselves to be sensitive to the way the Holy Spirit wants to lead us.  The truth is, most of us live more in our will than in His.  As a result, our focus is about us and what we have accomplished or what we want to accomplish.  If I really want to be what Acts 17:28 says, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being…” then where I am living in each moment of time is all relevant and purposed by our Lord.  Each moment, each accomplishment, or act should for His glory, and submitted to His will and purpose. 

               Obviously we have lives, jobs, demands and responsibilities.  We are not making every little action and decision a matter of intense prayer.  James says in the last sentence of this passage,  “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.”  There is the instruction to live our lives in the light of what we know to be good and right.  When we live contrary to that we are in sin.  The closer and more mindful we walk our daily lives in the light of His Word and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, the more we are going to be aware of when we are out of the will and purpose of God.

There is an attitude conveyed here that I am to presume nothing, but continually be mindful that if my faith is truly in Christ, then I am trusting Him to guide my steps and order my ways.  I should be willing to have my day and plans interrupted if the will of God so orders it.  After all, I am His agent, living in His service not the other way around.  Usually we want God’s blessing on what we decide to do rather than becoming the blessing of His will and purpose in everyday life.  All that we are, all that we have and even the few short years we have on this earth are a gift from Him.  We must be careful about arrogantly boasting about our lives or accomplishments.  We are the products of God’s grace and workings, not our great ability. We are most effective for the Lord when we are least full of ourselves and most full of His Spirit and life working through us.  That happens as we let God be God in every moment of our lives, having our mind, affections and purpose continually set upon Him.

Blessings,

#kent

Building Blocks of Fulfilling God’s Purpose

Building Blocks of Fulfilling God’s Purpose

2 Timothy 1:8-10

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

              Back in the times of the gold rush there were a few men that discovered gold just lying on the surface of the ground or in the water.  Word spread that you could become rich and all that you had to do was just pick it up.  It was just there for the taking.  Men would come from far and wide with the idea of getting rich quick.  They would leave behind all that had been important to them before to come and pursue the gold.  They caught a vision and they believed in a dream.  Some did find the riches that they sought, some met with limited success and many found nothing at all. 

              When God revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ and manifested the riches of His glory in human flesh.  Men saw the gold of God revealed.   God had given nuggets and revelations of His gold throughout the ages that led up to Christ, but now His gold is revealed as He fully unveils His purpose of salvation through faith in His Son.  Suddenly it begins to become apparent that we can become partakers of the riches of an inheritance in Christ Jesus.  Jesus, and His disciples that followed, laid out the way and the plan for us to become rich.  We have the treasure map of those riches laid out for us in the Word of God.  Many embraced Christ thinking that it was the quick way to having all their needs met and realizing heaven on earth.  Many have become disillusioned because Christianity wasn’t the quick fix to all their problems, wants and needs.  While the Lord has revealed some nuggets and gold on the surface and has given us the earnest of our inheritances and riches through the Holy Spirit, the greatest treasure realized is through a lifetime of mining into the vein of God’s nature and purpose. 

              Some of us may have thought that in a few short years we were going to walk into the fullness of Christ and do all that He did.  It is not to say that God can’t and won’t do that through some people, but time isn’t as important an element to God as it is to us.  What most of us come to find is that the nuggets of God’s truth and purpose need to mined and sought after one day at a time.

              A purpose is made up of a reason and goal in mind.  God’s purpose is to apprehend us for His family and for His glory.  Our purpose is to apprehend Him that we might lay hold of a transformed life and be partakers of His divine nature.  Our purpose and goal are met through a lifetime of building blocks; each day is a process and a development into God’s purpose.  Sometimes we may feel there is more tearing down going on in our lives than building up, but sometimes for God’s purposes to be realized the old must be done away with so that the new can take its place. 

              The important thing about purpose is to never loose the vision of what your purpose is.  Ephesians 1: 3-14 is one passage the lays out for us God’s purpose. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Blessings,

#kent

Gifts and Callings

Romans 11:29

For the gifts and calling of God [are] without repentance.

Gifts and Callings

              When God created us for a purpose He put within us gifts and callings.  The gifts and callings are like the resources within the earth.  They may or may not be evident upon the surface, but often they need to mined out of our earth, developed and refined.  God is faithful.  He doesn’t take back that which He has placed within us.  Now we might take what He has given us and run with it to our own ends and for our selfish purposes, but in ourselves it will never produce the life and blessing that He has destined it for.  A gift is not just for receiving, but for giving.  This is the beauty of the mystery of the body of Christ.  We are gifted and called in different ways, but brought to together under the unity and submission to the headship of Christ we function in our many different offices like parts of the body function to the health and wholeness of the whole body. 

              You have a gift and a calling in your life.  Have you found, discovered and developed it?  Are you using it for God’s kingdom purpose or just for your own benefit?  Often our gift and calling is tied to our passion, the thing that we love to do.  When we have a passion for something then it isn’t a chore, it is what we enjoy doing.  Don’t think that what you have is unimportant, less significant or not as needful to the body of Christ.  The body truly is only healthy and functions properly when all the parts are in place and functioning in submission to the Spirit.  True Christianity is not a spectator sport.  It requires that we are in the game and performing in our gifting, position and calling. 

              Some of us have yet to discover what our particular gifting and calling is, but it may well be right in front of you.  You may be doing some aspect of it right now in your daily life.  It may not look real spiritual and in fact it can be quite functional.  Our gifts and callings take on so many different forms and are as unique as we as people are.  Some people are organizers, some benefactors, some have skills with crafts, music, speech, writing, listening, helping, encouraging, some in leadership and some in support of leadership. 

Perhaps a good guiding scripture for us concerning our lives, how we live them and how we carry out our talents, gifting and calling is found in Colossians 3:17.  It says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”  All that we do in life we want to be directed to the praise and honor of the Father.  Now some of us are good at talking about what should be done and we may think our gift is to judge and critique everyone else.  Sorry, now you are trying to take on God’s job.  Romans 14:10-13 exhorts us, “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:  ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ “12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” 1 John 3:18 says it this way, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 

              Each of us has a calling, gifting and an election in Christ Jesus.  Find your calling and begin to function in it.  The rest of us as the body of Christ need what you have.  A lost world needs what you can contribute.  None of us are without something that we can give.  You will find your joy and fulfillment in doing so. 

Blessings,

#kent

Random Order

Random Order

Psalms 119:133

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

              God does not operate out of chance.  He does not spin a wheel and wherever the ball lands that’s the direction He goes.  Our God is a magnificent God of design and order.  He has a plan and He knows the beginning to the end.  Your life and mine aren’t a chance happening, they are ordered of the Lord.  He has put within each one of us a destiny and a purpose for our being. 

              Someone may be thinking, “You don’t know my life, what I have been through or what a mess I am.”  God does and He is able to take what the enemy has meant for evil and destruction and turn it around to be a stronghold for His glory and praise.  He is able to lift you up out of the death and darkness you have been in and set your feet in the way of light and truth.  He is able to take our weakness and turn them into the strongest areas of righteousness and victory in our lives.  God has a destiny, plan and purpose for your life, but the only way you will fully realize it is as you allow Him to order your steps according to His Word.  God has a divine and fulfilling plan for each of us, but we don’t have to follow it.  It is sin and rebellion that have caused us to miss it and that is why many of us are in the misery we are in. 

              As we look back over our lives, what do we see?  Are we satisfied and content with the results?  Do you feel you have lived your life to the fullness of God’s will and design for you.  We must come to the place that we realize our greatest joy, happiness and fulfillment doesn’t come out pursuing our own pleasures and desires, it will only be realized in the unity with God’s will and order for your life.  As I look back over my own life and the times I have walked close to God and the times I haven’t, I can see that my greatest joy, blessing and fulfillment are the times when I am passionately pursuing Him and seeking the fullness of His will for my life.  Our Father didn’t give us His Word and commandments to imprison us and make us miserable.  He gave them to set us free to be the children of righteousness and holiness that could enjoy the riches of all that He has for us.  It is our own sin and rebellion that prevent, inhibit and imprison us from enjoying the full blessings and promises that God has given us. 

              Our God is a God of divine and precise order.  We can look all around our universe and see the evidence of that in all of creation.  Only the fool could truly say the world and all its wonders were created by mere chance, how absurd.  An atheist has to have more faith to believe that, than a believer does to believe in God.  All of creation is a testimony to the wonder, greatness and order of God.  We have to realize that so much of our thinking, values and beliefs have been the persuasion of a lie.  All the chaos, disorder, anarchy, rebellion and discord in the world is the result of the devil’s influence on the minds and hearts of men.  We at war with terrorism today because men bought the lies of satan and in the name of religion and their god they terrorize by killing, wounding and maiming innocent men, women and children.  That certainly has no connection with the God I know. 

              If our steps are ordered of the Lord then He will not allow iniquity to have dominion over you.  In fact, in Christ, He has already empowered you to have victory and dominion over sin and iniquity.  He is our righteousness and we stand complete Him today because of Jesus.  Jesus did it all. He has issued us all the equipment we need to go out, conquer and prevail.  All we have to do is, in faith, put it on and use it according the operations manual of the Word of God, your Bible.  If we are living in defeat, oppression and failure in our lives, then we are like a homeless person using hundred dollar bills to stuff the bag he is sleeping on.  God has given us the resources, but we must rise up in the authority of His Word and the name of Jesus Christ and use them. 

              We cannot live our lives by random order and expect the fullness of God’s best in our lives.  It will be a hit and miss proposition.  As we live methodically and purposefully in the principles of God’s Word then we will reap the benefits of His promises and provisions.  If you want victory, joy and fulfillment in your life then order your steps in the Lord and in His Word.

Blessings,

#kent

Speaking to Purpose

Ephesians 2:6-10

And 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.

Speaking to Purpose

Do we ever think much about why God created us?  Why He saved us by His grace when we could never earn or deserve it?  He tells us His purpose in this passage of scripture.  You are His workmanship.  Now most of us realize that we are a work in progress, but also know that God beholds you as the finished product of His grace and workmanship in Christ Jesus.  He sees you far beyond what you can even comprehend of yourself.  He sees you as a good works people, not your good works, but His.  You are the administration of His righteousness in the earth.  You are the outshining of His glory and goodness.  You are the divine expression of His love and compassion.  In and through you is His divine nature revealed, because that is what He created you for.  

In this present state we see ourselves as in an apprenticeship for a greater works ministry.  The Holy Spirit is currently working in our lives to stretch us, train us and exercise us in righteousness.  As we yield in obedience to His dealings we often find ourselves going places we would not have gone and doing things we would not have done.  As we apprentice for this good works ministry Holy Spirit takes us out of our comfort zone and complacency. He exposes our prejudices and wrong motives and attitudes.  He is constantly dealing and meddling in our hearts.  The precious thing about the Holy Spirit as opposed to religion is He doesn’t expose our faults to condemn us, but to grow us and deliver us out of the place of our weakness and into the place of His strength and strong standing.  We have to understand that where He is bringing us is not out of the place of our righteousness, but out of the righteousness of Christ in us.  So as we present ourselves unto Him He begins to do in us what did in Joshua in Zechariah 3:1-10, ” Then he showed me Joshua  the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2  The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

      Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”

 5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

 6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

8 ” ‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

10 ” ‘In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

You see we, like Joshua, we were created and destined of God to be the kings and priests of our Most High God.  Jesus has taken our filthy garments off of us and clothed us with the garments of His righteousness.  He puts a clean turban upon our head signifying a renewed mind in Christ Jesus.  He gives us this same charge that He gave Joshua, ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.’ It is this people that He has prepared with His vesture to remove sin from the land in a single day.  The scripture says specifically, “‘Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come.”‘  That branch is Christ who has removed the sin by His blood shed upon the cross, but the administration of that righteousness is through His holy priesthood and His holy nation.  

In John 14:9-14 Philip is asking to see the Father, but it is because he doesn’t yet have a revelation of the Father.  If we are still looking to see Jesus, it is because we don’t yet have a revelation of Christ.  ” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  Jesus, Himself, has declared that we are that greater works ministry.  That was the purpose for which you were created  for.  Yield yourself to the in-working of the Holy Spirit for even now He is preparing and bringing you into the good works, ‘which God in advance, prepared for us to do.

Blessings,

#kent

The Worth of a Child

 

The Worth of a Child

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 

There is no knowing the potential that each child holds.  Every one of us is unique and special.  God has His purpose and design for each one.  Most all of us are made up of a mixture of strengths and weaknesses.  We can be so outstanding in one area while very lacking and needy in another.  

We are God’s children, children of destiny and purpose.  How many of us are living up too and into the purpose and destiny that the Lord created us for?  So often it is our will that God has given us that can subvert the desired purpose of God in our lives or yield to His design and plan through us.  Most of us seem to have this concept that we can do things in our lives better than God and we are always wanting to get our hands in His kitchen and change the recipe.  

The first thing that all of us must realize is how valuable we are to the Lord.  He couldn’t have stated that any better than His willingness to come into humanity and pay the price for our sins.  It is important that we are not proud or arrogant in who and what we are, but some of us want to perceive ourselves as of little or no worth or value.  We develop a self-defeated attitude.  We devalue in ourselves what God has created for His glory and purpose.  Often it really takes on the form of self-pity and a “woe is me” type of syndrome.   We need to realize that the source of that attitude is selfishness and sin.  That may surprise a lot of people in this category, because this is their view of humility.  It doesn’t glorify God to take what He made and talk down about it whether it is someone else or us.  Our potential is in Christ and not in ourselves.   The fullness of who we are and who we become is never going to realized in any of us in our own merit.  It is realized in who we are in union with Christ that transforms this lump of coal into a diamond.  

My grandson recently got a gift from his babysitter.  He is 8 years old and she gave him a necklace with that said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  That faith in that scripture is our power and our calling.  We all need a necklace or bracelet or just to remind ourselves daily of who we are in Christ.  The enemy’s victory is in getting us to forget that.  When we forget who we are in Christ we get out of Christ-reliance and into self-reliance.  We either get full of ourselves or we get discouraged and defeated in ourselves.   That phrase, “in Christ” is used some 224 times in scripture, do you suppose that the Holy Spirit is trying to communicate to us that this phrase is a pretty important part of who we are?  We are so prone to forget that our life is not about us, it is about Him.  We all have the potential and ability to love and serve God in whatever means and abilities He has bestowed upon us to do it with.  It is not about how much we have or how gifted we are; it is about what we do with what the talent God has given us.  You may be as the widow who had nothing and yet gave more, in the eyes of God, than all that had wealth and riches.  It is within God the Father and in Christ that that all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid as it says in Colossians 3:2; those treasures become a part of us as our lives are hid in Him as well.  

God has not created you and called you to be something that you are not able to be, but to live by His strength, to the potential that He has called you to be.  That must be the legacy of our lives, to live well the life He has called us to live in the faith and confidence in Him.  

You and I are children of worth as are our children and their children.  We just must always remember that our worth is only fully realized and invested into the kingdom of God as we invest the fullness of ourselves in loving the Lord our God with all of our hearts, our minds, our soul and our strength.  It is the Lord that gives our lives value, purpose and a reason for being.  Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  You are of great value and worth, live accordingly. 

Blessings,

#kent