The Deliverer
October 21, 2015
Psalms 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he delivered them out of their distresses.
The Deliverer
The Word of God is a book of deliverance. Time and time again in story after story we see God moving on behalf of His chosen people to deliver them. Many times it was their sin and rebellion that had brought them to the place where there was no way out but God. The ultimate Deliverer we have found in the person of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. He has not only delivered us from the law of sin and death, but He continues to be our Deliverer today. We, like the people of God before us, often cry out in faith for the Lord’s deliverance. Psalms 34:4 holds as true for us today as it did for David, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Many of us are seeking the Lord for areas of deliverance in our personal lives. We find ourselves captivated by fear, doubt, sickness, debt, sin, oppression and other areas that have brought us into a bondage in which we have no way out. I believe the Lord is that same Deliver He has always been, both in the Old and the New Testament. He will hear the cries of His people who humble themselves and pray. Some of us may believe the Lord is our Deliverer, but we have become discouraged in the wait. Our faith may be wavering as we may have stood for a long period in hopes of our deliverance. Moses had a similar issue when He was waiting on God to move in delivering God’s people from Pharaoh’s bondage. In Exodus 5:22 –23 it says, “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou [so] evil entreated this people? why [is] it [that] thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” Sometimes, like Moses, we know the Lord is faithful to His promises, but we don’t see anything happening. In fact, sometimes it just seems to get worse instead of better. There is a period gestation and pregnancy before a child is brought forth. So it is with many of God’s promises. When they are brought forth it is often through great travail and pain, but we can’t give up on the child of promise. We must continue to carry it till it is the Lord’s time. Galatians 6:9 admonishes us, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Continue to hold fast to the promises of God and His deliverance for He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Blessings,
#kent
The Wounded and Broken
September 23, 2015
Spirit Prayer
September 8, 2014
John 17:20-26
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24″Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25″Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Spirit Prayer
Sweet Spirit whisper into my heart,
Move through every part.
Dear voice of God, instruct me in my way,
Even help me as I pray.
Gentle Spirit Breeze,
Move me how You please.
Living in what is pure and true,
Moving and having my being in You.
Mighty Spirit of fire and power,
Transform me in this final hour,
Expression of God in me,
Instrument to set creation free.
Spirit manifest and Christ revealed,
Jesus break this final seal.
Bring forth your life from this broken earth,
Bring to maturity this second birth.
Spirit that raised Christ from the dead,
Join us now in the fullness of the Head.
Make our body of one mind,
That, which we travail for, let us find.
Spirit of God and power in me,
There is no longer me, but only Thee.
You are the righteousness, by which I stand,
I am the expression of Your hand.
Spirit full of love and grace,
Cause me now to see your face.
Beholding only You as I walk my course,
You are my everlasting power and source.
Amen
Kent Stuck
Blessings,
#kent
Until the Day Dawns
June 17, 2014
2 Peter 1:19
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Until the Day Dawns
Often when I see the sunrise in the morning I am reminded of this scripture. It speaks to us about how the prophetic word, the Word of God, is the light that shines in the dark place. The dark place is all that is around us. We live and walk among darkness. The earth still abides under the curse and travails for its day of release. The Word of God is the torch that gives us light in the night. It shows us the way, it dispels the darkness and it is what indwells us to make us light bearers. Peter speaks here to the validity of God’s Word as being the dispensation of the God and not of man. Holy men were simply the instruments to pen the Words that were given through the unction of the Holy Spirit. These words are the light and the life that lead us into the kingdom and the will of the Father. Peter exhorts us that we would do well to heed these words for they are a light shining in the darkness to all that heed them.
Peter also alludes to a new day that is dawning. It is a day when the Morning Star, the Christ, rises in our hearts, then that Word will become manifest and alive within us as Christ fully transforms us into His image and likeness. That which we have known in part we will know in completion.
There will come many in sheep’s clothing that will seek to malign, pervert and misuse the Word of God. They will be the cause of why the Word of God is blasphemed, mocked and ridiculed among many. These are false prophets that would seek to undermine the truth and deny the Lordship of Christ. You will know them because of the truth that abides in you through the Word and you will discern the fruit of their unrighteousness. From such turn away and expose them with the truth of God.
Blessings,
#kent
Enter In, the Third Dimension (Part 2)
December 23, 2013
Enter In, the Third Dimension, Part 2
Hebrews 9:16-22
This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And [having] an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
This scripture is pregnant with promise and while we as Christians enjoy a greater degree of intimacy and closeness in our relationship with our God, yet there is still an itch in our spirit that cries out to be scratched. We experience our God’s glory and presence in a measure, but we know that there is so much more we have yet to experience. In those moments in our walk with our God, when we taste of a deeper revelation and experience of His holy presence, when His Spirit comes over us and we are undone in ourselves and yet sense the fullness of joy and completeness that only His presence can bring, our spirits cry out, “Abba, Father, we want more of you”. Inwardly we groan and travail because we know that still we haven’t experienced and aren’t walking in the fullness of what He has created us for.
It is a principle of God that many times God gives us a promise that we lay hold of and enter into by faith, but we don’t always experience the full manifestation until its fullness of time. Abraham had the promises of God, but saw only a small portion of them fulfilled in his lifetime. God has given us principles here and in the Old Testament examples for entering into the Holy of Holies.
First, we know that there is no entrance without the blood of Christ applied to our hearts by faith. Secondly we see that Christ Jesus was not only the sacrifice, but also the high priest and it was only the high priest that could enter into the presence of Almighty God. In the Old Testament the high priest wore what was called an ephod or breastplate set with two onyx stones. These stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:12). When the high priest entered into the Holiest of All, all of the tribes and all of the peoples were represented there in that ephod. We could have no entrance before the presence of God in ourselves, but as believers, by faith, we are in Christ. The identification of who we are is no longer seen in that former sinful man we were, but in the Christ man that we are, one in Him. When we come before the Father in faith He no longer sees sinful, corrupt flesh, He sees the righteousness of His Son because we are in Him and covered by His blood. This is what gives us that boldness to approach His throne. We don’t come before the Lord with defilement. The Word says here, “ Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” We have touched on our ‘approaching in full assurance of faith’, meaning without doubt or wavering. It says that our hearts should be sprinkled from an evil conscience. We need to deal with heart issues that aren’t right with the Lord whether that be unforgiveness or sin we are still harboring in our hearts. These issues need to be dealt with and put under the blood of Jesus. Otherwise there is a defilement that brings separation. Our bodies are to be washed with pure water. It is Spirit and Truth, the washing of the water of the Word, quickened and revealed by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman in John 4:24, “ God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” It is not about where we worship that matters, it is about how we worship that matters to God.
Lastly let us discuss this area of worship because it is the atmosphere that God lives in continually. In heaven around His throne we see the picture that there are multitudes of heavenly hosts of angles and the redeemed of the Lord singing and worshipping their God continually without ceasing. This is the atmosphere that we need to cultivate within our spirit. There was a piece of furniture that stood at the entrance of the Holy of Holies. It was the altar of incense. The priest would burn sweet smelling incense and wave the smoke of it before the Lord. This is our praise. Our worship and praise is foundational to our entering into the Lord’s presence. Praise is used in some 216 verses, so the Holy Spirit is telling us this is a key not to be overlooked in approaching the throne of God. Psalms 22:3 says, “But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” If we want to enter in and experience the presence of the Holy One we need to worship in Spirit and in Truth. We need to create the atmosphere of praise and worship that invites His presence into our midst. We will experience more of the presence of God in this atmosphere than anything else we can do.
The body the Lord has given us is His tabernacle. We have a body, outer court, a soul, holy place, and a spirit, which is our Holy of Holies. What part of your being are you living out of?
Ours is a progressive walk in the Spirit as we seek to grow up into Christ in all things. By faith and the blood of Jesus we go through each entrance into a deeper level and experience with God. We have only touched on a vast subject as we briefly looked at each entrance into the greater depth and dimensions of God. In conclusion, let us share the vision that Paul had as He pursued the fullness of God for his life in Philippians 3:8-16, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”
The Labor of Love
September 3, 2013
The Labor of Love
Galatians 4:19
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
A woman and prospective mother endures all of the discomforts and demands of pregnancy for the joy and the hope that she carries within her. Then comes the day of the birthing, which without modern medicine is on the extreme of pain, discomfort and tremendous laboring. Yet she will endure all of that, not only once, but often, again and again for the joy of the life that it brings forth. Out of all that pain, discomfort and labor a miracle is brought forth. The miracle of a newborn life, formed in the image of its maker and its parents. This was Paul’s analogy in describing what it was to Him to birth Christ in others. It wasn’t just about telling them about Jesus and having them come to the altar and pray the sinner’s prayer. That may have been where it began, but certainly not where it ended. That was only the conception. The process of Christ’s life being formed in these former Gentiles and Jews was a long process of intense prayer and intercession, teaching and counseling, living before them the example of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, forming the likeness of Christ in them. Far too often, after Paul had poured out His heart and soul in love and instruction to these new converts to Christ, he would experience the heartbreak of them turning aside to another doctrine, or becoming caught up again in legalism or allowing sin to come again and pervert the purity of their faith. No one knows like a parent, the heartbreak you feel when your child turns away from the path of righteousness and understanding that you have laid before him or her. Slowly, patiently, repetitiously you taught your children from infancy, through childhood, puberty and into adulthood. You sought to instill your belief system and core values into them. All that you valued and hold dear, you tried to impart to them. You continually prayed for them and when they were younger you prayed with them to help them establish a relationship with their God and yours.
Oh, the sting and the heartbreak you felt if at some point they rejected your values, the truths you held dear, and made choices in another direction. You may not only have prayed for them, but pleaded with them and reasoned with them to help them to see and repent from the error of their ways.
This principle is true when discipling and pouring out your life so that Christ might be formed in others. Often it is those ones that so loved you and would have done anything for you that now take on a different spirit. Now they despise and reject you because of the truth you are trying to speak into them. In Galatians 4:16 Paul says, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” Often truth is no longer our friend, or the messenger who bears it, when it goes in the face of what we want to believe and the direction we want to go. As rebellious and as otherwise directed as some may become, the love of God compels the travail of love that seeks to love them and bring them back into the truth and right fellowship of who they are in Christ. It does not cease its travail until again Christ is formed in them.
We can all thank God for parents, teachers, pastors, mentors, friends and those ones God has placed in our lives to help establish and form Christ in us. Many of us can look back at times we may have erred or lost our way and yet these ones the Lord set in our lives did not forsake us, or reject us. They prayed for us, they may have tried to counsel with and speak the truth into our lives, but they continued to love us even when we rejected and were perhaps hateful with them. They continued to demonstrate the tenacious love of God for us that ‘it is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9).
Someone has labored over your life today so that Christ might be formed in you. Someone is caring and praying for you even in those times you may have slipped back or turned another direction. It is the Spirit of Christ in us that causes us to travail as Paul did. Sometimes the source of deeper inner groanings and utterances are birthed of the Spirit and not in the understanding of man. God’s desire for each one of us is not just for us to have a religious understanding of who God is. It is that the revelation of “Christ in you” is formed, birthed and established in you so that we would no longer live and function out of natural understanding and desire, but out of the mind, will, love and heart of the Christ that indwells us and of whose nature we now are. We all are the labor of His love.
Blessings,
kent