Do We Believe the Facts or Truth?

Do We Believe Facts or Truth?

Psalms 33:4

For the word of the LORD [is] right; and all his works [are done] in truth.

               It is interesting to note that the word “fact or facts” does not even occur in the King James Version of the Bible one time.  On the other hand the word “truth” occurs some two hundred and thirty-five times.  The point this brings us too is that the Bible is a book about Truth.  While it may well be factual, it is not based on fact; it is based on truth.  We may ask what is the difference?  I thought facts were truth.  Facts are based on information presented as objectively real, such a real occurrence or event.  It is something having a real demonstrable existence.  It is something that can be seen or proven in our natural world.  Truth can be more real than fact even though it is not always seen or yet manifested in the real or natural world. 

               We grow up being a fact-oriented people.  We look at science and mathematics as being disciplines built upon facts.  That works pretty good in a natural world made up of natural people, but we have discovered that there is far more to our world than just the natural existence around us.  As we have come to know God, we who are believers in Christ have come to accept that God is the epitome and standard for truth.  Deuteronomy 32:4 says,”[He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.” We know and believe that the very nature and character of God is truth and with Him it is impossible that He should lie.  Numbers 23:19 tells us, “God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”  While we don’t yet see the existence of all that God has promised manifested in this natural world, we can take it to the bank, that if He has promised it He will make it good.  Hebrews 6:17-18 tells us, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability (unchangableness) of his counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”

               As believers in Christ we activate the promises of the truths of God by our faith in those promises.  Our very salvation was our act of faith to believe and receive Christ into our hearts and become joint heirs with Him of the promises of God.  Even though we reached out and received our salvation, we didn’t see the fullness of it in that moment.  What we see is that as we plant the seeds of faith in the truth of God’s Word it begins a process of producing the fruit and the fullness of that truth.  We don’t plant a kernel of corn in the ground and then say that seed is a lie because I don’t see any corn produced yet.  We know that through time and patience we will reap that which we have sown.  In due season it will bring forth the fruit of the seed that was planted in the ground.  God’s Word operates under this like principal.  As we walk in the truth, as we plant our faith in the promises of God, we abide in the confidence that in due season it will produce fruit.  The reality of that fact is dormant in the womb of truth until it is given birth.  That which gives birth to the manifestation and fact of a truth is faith. 

               We live in a very negative world in many respects.  There is much in our world that speaks contrary to the Word of God.  In the natural world we readily accept these things as fact.  In a spiritual dimension we can see that the Hand of God is moved by our faith that activates and brings into being His promises.  Though God is sovereign, He has integrated man into the bringing forth of His plans and His promises by the working of faith.  Hebrews 12:1 tells us that, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.” 

               What is fact and what is truth in our lives today?  Many of the facts that we see are not the truth that we want to see revealed.  In fact, they may be there contrary to God’s will and highest for us.   We don’t plant weeds in a garden but they are very much a fact.  A good garden is purged of the weeds, those things contrary to the seed we have planted in faith and the product of what we are hoping for.  We likewise must purge from our lives the thoughts, words and actions that are contrary to the harvest we are believing for.  Let us begin to stand upon the promises of God’s eternal and ever true Word, declaring the things that are not as though they are according to the quickening of God’s Word by His Spirit.  Let us by faith plant that truth of God’s promises into our every situation, believing God for His faithfulness to bring to pass that which He has declared.

Blessings,

#kent

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Spirituality Begins at Home

Luke 2:51-52

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Spirituality Begins at Home

               Today’s scripture is a reference to Jesus and the relationship He had with His parents as a child.  We see His subjection unto His parents even as a child when in reality His understanding was, no doubt, way beyond theirs.  Jesus could have easily been proud and arrogant in who He was, but He wasn’t. He was humble.  I am reminded again of a definition I once heard of humility.  Many often relate humility with wimpiness, weakness and lack of strength, but true humility is simply, “true strength under control.”  Jesus didn’t become spiritual when He was baptized and the Holy Spirit came upon Him.  He grew up day by day practicing a spiritual life in daily living.  Our greatest spiritual training and practice is not what we do before others, but what we do at home.  Our ministry should be a byproduct of who we are to our family and household.  Our true spiritual character is revealed in our daily relationships with our wife, children, parents and siblings.  The ways we serve and treat our families is a rue test of our spirituality.  What we are perceived as being in the spiritual community should be a reflection of who we are when nobody else is around.  There is no greater place to practice and perfect our spiritual walk than with the people we rub shoulders with everyday.  We might be in the place headship or in the place of submission, but both require a Christ nature to do well.  Many times we are less tolerant and more critical of the ones we love.  We are familiar with them.  We know their weaknesses and often we fail to respect and honor them as we ought.  Within our home and family, are we as diligent to build up and encourage one another in our strengths as we are to criticize and find fault with their weaknesses? We should already know that we are all cracked pots, we just have our cracks in different places, so the pot should look at its own color well before it calls the kettle black. 

               The true demonstration of our spirituality will be seen in our home, because that is where we are ourselves and all of our pretenses leave.  If we live the Christian life with our family and walk the walk with them, then we should have no trouble when it comes to living it in the world.  I pray that God will help us to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man by the way we live at home through our daily relationships.  How does our spirituality look in the light of your home life?  It is here that we will get an insight into ourselves and the areas we need to grow more in our spiritual walk with Christ.  True spirituality begins at home.

Blessings,

#kent

The Radiance of the Lord

The Radiance of the Lord

2 Samuel 23:4

And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the sun riseth, [even] a morning without clouds; [as] the tender grass [springing] out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

                The account in 2 Samuel 23 said that these were among the last words spoken by David, the Psalmist.  What do you hear in these words of David?  Do you hear “His mercies are new every morning?”  There is freshness in the Lord everyday and everyday as the sun rises He is fresh in His tenderness and love.  The blood of Jesus washes us clean each day as we bring our sins in repentance before Him.  He is like the fresh scent after a rain, the air of our spirits are clear and shining as the radiance of the Son shines through them.  We are His radiant ones because of the Radiance of the Mighty One who in-fills us with His precious Spirit and presence.  We are so wonderfully blessed to be called the children of the Most High God.  Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”  God has called us “the light of the world and a city set upon a hill.”  Who is that light, but the out-shining of the in-dwelling Christ in us. 

                Jesus gives an interesting account in Luke 11:33-36,  “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth [it] in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when [thine eye] is evil, thy body also [is] full of darkness.  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”  What is He saying, but that lights aren’t lit to be hidden, but to be seen?  They are given to be illumination for the path of others who are walking in otherwise darkness.  He is saying if our eye is single and our purpose in life is foremost and utmost Christ, then our whole body will be full of light.  Spirit, soul and body will be His candlesticks lit with His Spirit and Truth, but if we are double-minded and our eye is evil, looking unto other things, then our bodies are also full of darkness.  The light we think we have, will it then be not polluted with the flesh and the darkness of the world?  If our whole body then is full of the light of God’s truth and His ways then we will be full of light and darkness will have no part in us.  Our light, our truth shall be clear not only to us, but to those around us that they may clearly see their way to God through Jesus Christ His Son.   What a holy and awesome responsibility He has put upon his disciples and his followers, which we are.  If our life is askew, then we will direct others in the same way.  We have to be right because we are the signpost and the watchmen and the guardians of Truth that direct others on their journey through life to the “Way of Life”.   “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).” If we were to see our world through the eyes of the Spirit, I wonder if we would be looking into a dark place where we would see little beacons of light like fireflies in the night.  Perhaps they would even vary in their intensity depending upon the truth that was shining out through them.  How much illumination of God’s truth are we bringing to our world?  Ephesians 5:8 says, ” For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” How many of us have become lathargic in our Christian walk?  We have become complacent, dull, ineffective and asleep, neglectful of our calling and hope in Christ.  The Lord is calling to us, ” Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”  The Lord has not cast us off but He is giving us a call to action and purpose in our lives.  In 2 Peter 2:9 we are reminded of our calling and who we are, ” But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”  We have a responsibility as the children of Light to show forth the light of His presence and truth.  How shall the world know that Jesus is raised from the dead unless they see the evidence of His resurrection life in us? 

                In 1 John 1:7, John deals with us about the practical side of the light we say we have in us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  That light is going to be evident in our relationships and attitudes toward others, for he says again in 1 John 2:9-10, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”  That light of Christ will be seen in us as the love of Christ is manifested toward those within and without of His body.  That doesn’t mean we accept the ways of those in darkness, but we reprove them with the truth, making manifest their evil ways.  We speak and act out of the love of Christ, but with the same uncompromising conviction and authority we saw in our Lord.  Thus, we are exhorted in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” 

                In John 8:12 Jesus says, “… I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  May that Light so shine and radiate through our lives that it exemplifies and magnifies the Author of Light and Truth who desires that all men be shown the way of Life. 

Blessings,

#kent 

Knowing Jesus All the Way

John 14:6-7a

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” 

Knowing Jesus All the Way

                Most of us as believers think of ourselves as knowing Jesus.  And we do know Him in some sense of the word, but notice that in this scripture in John 14:6-7 that there are three levels of knowing Jesus. 

                We first come to know Jesus as “the way”.  The Lord reveals Himself to our spirit in such a way that we understand and receive by faith that Jesus came to die for our sins and that by believing in Him we have “a way” of relationship restored to us by which we might really come to know the Father through His Son, Jesus.  For some, it is fire insurance.  If there is Hell and I don’t want to go there, then Jesus is my insurance and assurance, because He promises me eternal life with Him and to keep me out of hell. 

                Our initial encounters with Jesus and our acceptance of Him bring us into the relationship of knowing Him as “the way”, but that is only one aspect of how Jesus wants His disciples to know Him.            Perhaps we should make one more distinction.  A disciple is always a believer, but a believer is not always a disciple.  A disciple is focused upon the discipline of learning the ways of His master and becoming like him.  A believer may only be content to know about the master, but never really integrate the ways of the master into their lives.  Their faith is more superficial in nature.  It is more prone to be built upon the sand rather than the rock.  They may come and hear the word of God, but they don’t allow it to become their life, by putting it into daily practice and practical living.  They may easily talk about Jesus in the right crowd, but their life isn’t centered around living for Jesus. 

                The next aspect of knowing Jesus, is knowing Him as “the Truth”.  We come to know Jesus as the truth through His Word and knowing that Jesus is that Word as John 1:1-4  says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”  We come to know who Jesus is in our heart and our life.  We gain spiritual wisdom, understanding and insight about our Savior.  Our relationship deepens as we endeavor to walk in “the Truth” of His ways.  We become truth seekers, because we want to know more about Jesus. 

               Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:23-24 what true worshippers are.  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  Those who know Jesus as the way and the truth are often true worshipers.  They have followed the spiritual journey from the outer court of tabernacle, the salvation experience; to the holy place of spiritual encounter.  There, they are led by the Spirit and the Spirit is leading them into truth.  This is a glorious place of personal encounter, revelation, understanding and the beginnings of intimacy as we are discipled by the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. 

While it is wonderful knowing Jesus as our “way” and our “truth”, ultimately we want to know Him as our “LIFE”.  This is the Holy of Holy of intimacy and relationship.  Here we step through the rent veil of the flesh of Christ as we come boldly before God’s throne.  In that place of holiness there is no room or place for our former life or that way of thinking.  We have stepped into a heavenly dimension of relationship with Him where we know Jesus in true intimacy.  Earthly values give place to heavenly ones, facts give way to truth and we become kingdom minded.

                In John 14: 7 where Jesus says, ” If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”  This word “knew” and “know” here is the Greek word, “Ginosko”.  It means to lean to know, come to know, become known, understand, but it is also the Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.  This doesn’t speak about being acquainted or knowing about someone.  This speaks to the depths of human and spiritual relationship.  We come to know Jesus as our LIFE. He is the life seed of all that is planted within us coming to fruition.  He becomes more than the “way” and even more than “truth”, He becomes our “LIFE” and we become His.  There is a spiritual union of one flesh or one spirit if you will with Jesus.  Jesus was speaking here to His disciples of a new door of intimacy and relationship that had not previously been open; “From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him” speaking of the Father.  If you really want to know the Father it is through the intimacy of a love relationship with Jesus that takes you into the presence of the Father where you no longer distinguish between the two, because they are one in His love.   The cross that Jesus faced was the ultimate expression of the unified love of the Father and the Son.  When we know Jesus as the “way”, the “truth”, and the “LIFE”  then we also will be consumed in His love.  ‘The things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace’, as the song was written. 

                This is that journey that we want. That which is consummated in His LIFE!   Out of that LIFE we live, move and have our being.  Out of that LIFE we live out of the power of the resurrection life and the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead.  Out of that LIFE we will overcome and prevail, for it is the LIFE of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit living through and out of us.  Out of that LIFE comes our Sonship and our unity with God to walk, live and operate fully out of our destiny and purpose.  Let us come to know Jesus all the way as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Blessings,

#kent

You shall not Die, but Live

Psalms 118:17-18

I will not die but live and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

You shall not Die, but Live

              “Has fear and doubt come against your mind?  Has your faith been sorely tried?   Reach out your hand from whence cometh your help.  It is Jesus, for you He has died.  Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus.  Let faith arise in your heart.  Reach out your hand from whence cometh your help.  It is Jesus, for you He has died.” 

              I was just impressed that the Lord was bringing this song up in my heart as I began this writing.  There are those of you who need this word this morning, because it is the Word of the Lord for you.  If you need it, take hold of it with all faith and don’t let go.

              Oh, the Spirit of the Lord has heard your cry as you have faithfully cleaved to Him.  He knows your every need and He is your healing and your answer today.  Take hold of Him, nothing wavering.  Set your face as flint upon the promises of His Word and refuse to be moved, ‘for has the Lord spoken and will He not make it good?’  “God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent.”   Ephesians 5:30 says, ” For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.”  “The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. (Romans 8)” 

You are no longer identified with this man of the flesh, even though you can be touched by its infirmities and weaknesses.  “You are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved you and gave Himself for you. (Romans 8)”  1 Peter 2:24 declares to us, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”  We, who are in Christ, already possess our healing, it has already been done for us in Christ.  The fact that we are afflicted doesn’t negate the truth that we are healed.  Healing is not something we have to get.  It is what we already have.  When the circumstances of this natural realm presume to rob that from us then we have to stand in truth and declare the truth of God’s Word over our circumstance and affliction.  We are not of this world, even though our natural man is still subject to it.  We are kingdom people “who worship God in the spirit and put no confidence in the flesh.”  As God’s children who set at the right hand of the father in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6), we have been raised up to declare and to live out God’s kingdom on earth.  “His kingdom come and His will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.”  We live our lives not out of the life of this natural man, but out of the Spirit of God.  We are identified and one with a risen Savior, Christ and Lord; bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.  God has declared life into us by the power of His Son and the manifestation of His Spirit. 

              We declare the Word of the Lord today over all sickness and death that is at work in God’s people.  Declare this scripture in Psalms 118:17, “I will not die but live and will proclaim what the LORD has done.”  Do it out loud and with all authority.  The Lord is touching you even as you read this, believe and declare His Word.  You shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.  Remember Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”  Align your heart, your faith and your declaration with the Word of God. Stand believing and proclaiming what He has said.  Don’t look at your symptoms as the proof of your healing, keep your eyes only upon His Word.  Truth is greater than all the facts of the world.  They that stand in it, will be vindicated by it.  Rise and be healed in the name of Jesus! 

              This is the Word of the Lord to you who are sick or enduring the trials of affliction today.

Blessings,

#kent

Who is that Person in the Mirror?

James 1:22-25

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Who is that Person in the Mirror?

When you look into the mirror what do you see?  You see the reflection of your outward man from which you derive your identity and perception of how you look.  Even though you see a real-time reflection of how you appear is that really who you are?   Two people looking at the same thing will see it different ways.   A woman may look in the mirror and be thinking, ” Oh my goodness, look at the bags under my eyes, that blemish on my nose and I can’t do a thing with this hair.  I just look horrid.  Her husband may come into the bathroom and say, “Honey, did I tell you how beautiful you are today and how much I love you?”  Wow, two totally different opinions of what you look like.  Which one is true?  The truth is in the  perception and we tend to act according to the perception we hold.  

The Lord began to show me that what we reflect on often becomes the image of our reality.  The people that we associate with often do a lot to influence and shape that perception and image of who we see ourselves as being.  We may often mirror what others do because we want acceptance by them, but is  that who we really are?  

Most of us have seen the mirrors at the amusement park that are distorted to make us look fat or skinny, but we readily recognize that these are not true representatives of what we really look like.  We would be surprised at how many times life puts these kind of mirrors in front of us, but instead of recognizing their distortion of the truth we begin to believe their lie.  Our behavior and self-perception can be strongly influenced by the feed back and input we get from others.  We are always reading this to get a sense of how others see us and how that relates with who we are.  

Often, with our children we tend to major on their shortcomings and minor on the positives and accomplishments.  If my son comes home from school after trying his best and everyday I greet him, “Hi looser, what did you mess up today?”  What is that going to do for the image of how he sees himself, because I am a mirror to him of his self-worth.  Many of the problems we see in people come out of a distorted perception they have of what they should be like.  It is influenced by culture, media, friends, social groups and relationships, parents, relatives, school, work and the constant feedback we get from the world we live in.  

The only really true perception we can get of who we are, our worth and value, is what we get from God’s perspective. We know that He is truth and can not lie.  If we want to be mentally and emotionally healthy then we need to focus on what God has to say about us and what we need to do to become what He has created us to be.  James says it is not in just listening to the word and then forgetting what it taught us.  We need repetition for remembrance and application for change to take place.  When a woman goes into the bathroom to get ready for work she doesn’t generally just look in the mirror then turn around and forget what she looked like and go to work.  She starts a process of cleansing, conditioning, make-up and grooming.  All that she does is to conform her to the image of what she wants to look like.  When we look into God’s Word it has to be much the same way. If we just go and listen to a sermon on Sunday then leave and forget what was said how does that change anything?  If we continually position ourselves in front of God’s Word through our reading it, reading inspired books, listening to inspired messages and then praying and meditation on all that we are taking in, we are like the woman who is conforming her looks to a certain image.  We are working on conforming our hearts to the image of Christ.  That is why it is important that our focus isn’t on the world or the things of the world.  That is not the image that we want to be conformed too.  

Take into your spirit the promises that God has for you.  Heed the warnings that He gives to you that will end up perverting His image in you.  Act upon who you are in Christ, acknowledging that it is no longer you that lives, but Christ in you.  ‘As He is so are you in this world. (1 John 4:17)’  That is the identification  you want to remember and walk away with.  When you look in the mirror know that you are created in His likeness and you are becoming His expression and you are being conformed into His image.  That is God’s reality of who you are.

Blessings,

#kent

Christ in You

 

Matthew 25: 35-40

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 

35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 

36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 

37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 

38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 

40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 

Christ in You

You are a ray of sunshine.

You are the extension of God’s divine.

You bring healing in the midst of pain.

You are heaven on an earthly plane.

When you walk into a room it brightens up.

When you spend time with me you fill my cup.

You are my companion when I feel alone.

The voice of love is in your tone.

You are the servant that gives your all.

You pick those up who stumble and fall.

You encourage those who have lost their worth.

You share the life that brings new birth.

I see His face when you smile.

I see His walk when you go the second mile.

I see His love in your unselfish ways.

Yes, you are His expression day by day.

Kent Stuck

Blessings!

Forgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Forgiveness

I would dare say that all of us have had experiences in life where others have wronged or hurt us and in some cases quite severely and repeatedly. It is often these experiences, wounds and hurts that we can not seem to release. They are a trauma upon our lives. It is in these adverse life experiences that we are confronted with a choice to forgive and release an offense or to hold on to it and maintain the unforgiveness. When we are hurt it is our natural inclination to want to hurt back.
In the natural we often are wounded through life and most are superficial. In most cases they require a little attention and then they heal and we go on. There are those times when we are wounded more deeply and without cleansing the wound and putting something on to disinfect, we can get it infected. When infection sets in the wound festers and will not heal. In fact, untreated, it will become worse and more compromising to our health. It can actually be the infection that comes into us through the wound that could end up killing us rather than the wound itself. That is what unforgiveness is like. With emotional hurts and wounds there is a natural healing process and with the right heart and attitude those wounds will heal. They may leave some scars, but life goes on. Unfortunately, for some of us, there are places and ways that we have been hurt where we let the infection of unforgiveness come in. It is a form of hate and it can even be toward ourselves as well as others. It is the love of God that is the antibiotic that heals the infection of unforgiveness. It is when we see Jesus, unjustly accused, mocked, ridiculed, beaten to the point of being unrecognizable and then nailed to cross who can, before he breathes his last breath, say,” Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” that we see what forgiveness really looks like. It is only as we are willing to apply that same forgiveness of love toward our offenders that we can receive the forgiveness of our offenses. Before God, we stand no less guilty of sin and offense than those who have wounded us. What we ask of God, we must be willing to extend to others.
It is the love released through making the decision to forgive, not just the feelings, that is the antibiotic that will bring healing and restoration. First it restores our relationship back to Father and then it works to restore our human relationships.
You may be saying, “yeah, but you don’t how many times this person has hurt me.” Peter addresses this question unto the Lord in Matthew 18:21-22, ” Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” You see sin kills, but God’s love is the multiplication of forgiveness that triumphs even over the depth and death of sin. It is the grace of God’s forgiveness that brought each one of us into a place where can know the restored fellowship and relationship with the Father. We receive that only through His forgiveness for us, because we all deserve condemnation and death. Luke 6:37 exhorts us, ” Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
For some of us it is time that we examine our hearts and lay down this cross of unforgiveness that we have been carrying. We must realize that the unforgiveness is doing far greater damage to us than even the offense. It is keeping us from our own forgiveness and right relationship with the Father. Ask the Father for His love in you to release the unforgiveness you have been carrying, no matter how awful the offense. As He forgave us, we ought also to forgive others. How can we have Christ come forth in us if the very prominent part of His nature is forgiveness?
First come and release it to the Father and then release the individual or individuals. When you release you will be released from the judgement that unforgiveness can hold over us. ” If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)” Isn’t time to come into the freedom and the release of His Love?

Blessings,
#kent

Light of the World

 

Jhn 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Light of the World

John 1:4 says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”  

      Have you ever felt your way in the darkness?  You’re feeling around holding your arms out while you move them back and forth feeling for objects in your path, gingerly putting one foot in front of the other while you seek to find your way.  Especially in unfamiliar surrounding we develop a distorted view of what our surrounding are really like in the darkness.  If we lived in this condition continually then our reality would come to be based on the distorted perceptions that we would develop.  Then one day someone pulls back the curtains lets the light shine brightly into that environment we had been dwelling in so long without light.  Perhaps our initial reaction is one of confusion and bewilderment as we struggle to adjust to this illumination of the area we thought we had all figured out while it was in darkness.  We begin to realize that if we saw anything at all it was just the highlights of our surroundings, but so many details we had missed.  Suddenly the light has brought a whole new meaning and dimension to life that we had never been aware of before.  In that light so much is revealed and lot of it isn’t good.  We see all the messes, the dirt and the filth we had been able to overlook in the darkness.  The light introduced a whole new dimension in our lives that wasn’t there before.  Now we are faced with a decision, do we walk and live in the light and begin to operate our lives based on this new insight or do we see all of the things we are much happier to leave hidden in the shadows and darkness of our lives and choose to pull the curtains back shut, continuing to live in the darkness?  

      God was the one who pulled back the curtain of spiritual ignorance and allowed the light and knowledge of Christ to shine fully upon the spiritual darkness of this earth.  Jesus brought the spiritual light to men and shone into our darkened hearts with the truth of His Word.  

What will we do with the light of His truth?  Will we receive the light of Christ and in union with the Holy Spirit begin to clean out the garbage that has polluted our lives or will we do as John 3: 19-20 says, “ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

      Will we allow the light to fill our lives and bring us into the light and life of God or will we pull the curtains and reject the light, choosing darkness and spiritual death?  God has left the choice to you.

Blessings,

#kent

Joy Unspeakable

1 Peter 1:3-9
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Joy Unspeakable

Isn’t it amazingly awesome that this Truth, Jesus, that we possess, through faith, can bring such continual and inexpressible joy in your hearts, in spite of your circumstances? You know what protects and shelters that inexpressible joy? Our faith.
What God has promised and has given us is shielded through faith until it is fully revealed and made manifest. That is not dependent upon our lifetime or life lived upon the earth. We are eternally secure through faith and all that we are promised is secure as well.
This is why we can rejoice, even in the midst of all of our trials and tribulations upon the earth. These only come to enhance and intensify the flavor and aroma of our faith. While the enemy would use them to destroy us, as we trust in Jesus, we wax stronger. Our faith is strengthened as in our weakness we find His strength. In our losses, He is our greater provision. In our suffering He remains our hope and comfort.
Jesus is our joy unspeakable. Though we haven’t seen Him, yet, we so intensely and fervently love Him, because we know Him after the Spirit and not after the flesh. That faith fans the flames of our relationship and bond with Him. Our faith brings us through the fires of our trials and tribulations. It is proved genuine and refined by the fires it has passed through. Instead of discouragement and defeat we continue to stand, abounding in the joy of the Lord. Because we believe and because we can experience the power of the inner relationship we have, we are comforted and find our assurance.
Circumstances do not dictate our relationship with God. God is still the Lord of our circumstances, no matter how grim they may be. We don’t look at the doom and gloom of the world around us and get caught up in its terror, because we know the One who has written history and the future. He is the same One that is the author and the finisher of our faith. So today we will be encouraged! We will be exceedingly joyful, because our God reigns in the heavens, in the earth and most importantly to us, in our hearts!
If we are enduring trials and tribulations today, may those pains and pressures only drive us to worship and praise God more intensely. May they drive us deeper and more intimately into Him, who is that hiding place of our safety and our victory. The trials and tribulation of this life should only embed us deeper into our Papa. There, that shield of faith and confidence in Him shields us from the enemies’ darts and arrows. Papa covers us with the shadow of His wing, for He is our refuge and our fortress.
Let not doubt and fear overtake you. Remember your God, all of His mighty works and all of His unspeakable benefits. We are His children. What can man do to us, but drive us deeper into His presence? Let us remember and praise Him with unspeakable and resounding joy. Our God is the salvation of our souls and the Redeemer of all who call upon His name. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!!
Blessings,
#kent