Vindication for the Upright
January 11, 2022
Vindication for the Upright
Daniel 6:3-5
Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit [was] in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he [was] faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find [it] against him concerning the law of his God.
If we are going to get into trouble for something let it be because of something like Daniel. The excellent spirit that Daniel possessed was the Holy Spirit. He walked with such integrity and righteousness that he was like a light in a dark place. The objective of darkness is to extinguish the light, so men, moved by the unseen forces of greed, jealousy and treachery, sought Daniel’s destruction.
Most all of us know well the story of Daniel and the Lion’s den and how these evil men persuaded the King to pass a law to worship only him; which they knew Daniel would have to violate because of his uprightness and faithfulness to God. It looked like the plan had worked and Daniel, by law was thrown into a Lion’s den to be devoured for his disobedience to civil law. This was much to the dismay of the King, but he couldn’t go back on his decree.
Daniel walked and lived in Kingdom principles. He obeyed and submitted to civil law in so much as it didn’t cause him to violate the higher law of God. His integrity and uprightness stood as a beacon and testimony of his commitment and faithfulness to God, as ours should in this time.
Many of us have experienced times in our lives when we were persecuted, defrauded and even legally prosecuted for making a righteous stand. It wasn’t because it was the easiest thing to do, but we knew it was the right thing to do and so we made our stand. We were in effect, thrown into the lion’s den. Our confidence is in our God. We know that whether He vindicates us in this life or the life to come He is our shield and protector. He is our righteousness and our life is hid in him. Daniel 6:22 speaks of God’s faithfulness to Daniel’s faith and confidence in Him, “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God”. God can be glorified when we stand for him on issues of righteousness. Is there a price to be paid? often there is, but Romans 8:17 says, “if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.” Not all have experienced the miracle of deliverance that Daniel did, but God was no less faithful. We have confidence that our faithfulness and commitment to God is rewarded with an eternal weight of glory.
1 Peter 4:12-16 expresses this position so well in that it declares, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [are ye]; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or [as] a thief, or [as] an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” It is often not the easy way when we make a righteous stand. Often the cost is high and painful, but when we stand in Christ we will never be disappointed, for His Spirit stands with us and His angels surround us. He will vindicate us in due season if we are careful to not to become reliant upon the flesh and our abilities, but wait upon Him and trust Him through it all. When God is involved outward circumstances never have the final say. Let God have control as you make your stand in righteousness and integrity. The battle is in the spirit and not in the flesh.
Blessings,
#kent
Hypocrisy
April 16, 2014
Hypocrisy
James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
The definition of a hypocrite is, one who answers, an interpreter, an actor, stage player, pretender, one who is feigned, disguised or is insincere. It is one who wears a mask or false identity. It is a fact of human nature that what you see is not always what you get. From the time we are children we grow up learning to play the game of human interaction. We learn to put forward what others or society expects of us which often is not who we really are. We want to be people pleasers and accepted of others. Sometimes we have so many identities we don’t even know who we are.
Then, when we become Christians we are introduced to the religious system and we learn how to wear that mask. We learn the right phrases, how to act and put forward what is “acceptable Christian behavior.” Never mind the arguing, fighting and ugliness we showed toward our spouse and children as we were getting ready for church and on the way. As we step out of the car and walk into the church suddenly this transformation takes place. Suddenly we put on this godly smile and countenance and to those we encounter all is right with the world. If we are honest all of us have experienced this kind of behavior in our lives and probably still do. There is this duality in our lives that keeps us from being who we really are for fear that that is unacceptable. Many of us spend our lives living a lie and fashion ourselves around the dictates of others. We are so afraid of being seen in the nakedness of who we really are. It is true that many of us have some pretty hideous deformities and abnormalities in our lives, but are they ever dealt with and healed by masking them over. Our lives become one big game of pretending to be something or someone we really aren’t. What is worse, we then judge others out of our pretentious hypocrisy, because they don’t live up to the standard. The truth is they just don’t play the game as good as we do.
Is this what God wants us to be? If ever Jesus railed on anyone, it wasn’t the outright sinner it was the hypocrite. The one who liked to condemn and point the finger when inside he was no different than the ones he condemned. ” For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye (Matthew 7:2-5).”
We have been talking a lot about light and darkness. It is time we all come out into the light and be real with who we are. The truth is that most all of our lives are a mess in one area or another. We know that God sees us for who we really are. We know that it is only His power and grace that can transform us. How can this take place if we can’t even face up to who and what we are? It starts with us being honest with ourselves and with God. His love and mercy has already been extended to us in that, “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” He loves us no matter how ugly the sin our lives has been, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. His desire is bring us out of darkness into the light so that there it is exposed and we can repent, receive forgiveness through the blood of Christ and begin a path in the opposite direction of our sin, dependent upon the Lord to help us walk that way. We are all in this walk together and we are going from glory to glory, but we are at different stages in our maturity and walk with God. Our purpose as a body is to help each other along the way. We have to deal with these sin issues with honesty if we are going to be set free of them. If we want to continue to hold on to them then the dealings must become more severe, because these are stumbling blocks and hindrances to who we really are in Christ and what He has called us to be. Romans 12:9 says, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” It is time that we quit playing games with God and with others and be real. Let’s deal with who we really are, because only then can we come into what God wants us to be. It is time we stop living the lie of hypocrisy and become the forgiven vessels of His mercy and grace no matter how humble that may be. “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently: (1 Peter 1:22).”
blessings,
#kent
The Treachery of Riches
October 9, 2013
The Treachery of Riches
Psalms 49:4-20
I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle: 5 Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me- 6 those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? 7 No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him- 8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough- 9 that he should live on forever and not see decay. 10 For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. 12 But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. 15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah 16 Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; 17 for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. 18 Though while he lived he counted himself blessed— and men praise you when you prosper- 19 he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life. 20 A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
In the natural world it is the rich and powerful who think they have arrived and are in control of life. That is the goal of many, to have riches, fame and power. We are under the delusion that if we have these in abundance then our kingdom and our goals of success are secure. We think that when we pass on, our riches, our kingdom and our accomplishments will be carried on in our descendants.
What amount of money can redeem life, purchase forgiveness or deliver us from death, hell and the grave? What power among men, commands and rules over death? Even, as the beasts of the field perish, so we also have a limited number of days before our bodies will see corruption. When the rich, powerful and worldly successful men are in the grave, what then can their riches, their princely mansions and the power they wielded on earth do for them? As the word of Job 1:21 says, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. “ What then did the pursuit of riches and power gain the rich man when he goes to join the generation of his fathers who will never see the light of day? It as the Psalmist concludes, “A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”
Is it wrong to possess riches or power? No, not if your trust, your love and affections aren’t given over to them. Those things have no power or life in regards to our eternity. It is shortsightedness on our part if our life is dedicated to the pursuit of things that will so soon pass away from us. It begins to make sense what Jesus said in Luke 12:33-34, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our eternal riches aren’t found in our bank account, our investment portfolio, our houses, lands or inheritances. They are only obtained through giving, not getting. Eternal riches are a paradox to the world. It is not till we pour out and give our life, first to the Lord and then to others, that we truly begin to become rich. The richest people in heaven won’t be those who had all of the wealth and power in the earth. The elite of heaven will be comprised of those who walked in the footsteps of the Master, who poured out their lives for others and who became poor that they might make others rich in Christ.
Many of us think in terms that if only we could win the lottery, look at the good we could do. We forget that we are already rich in the things that matter most. Most of the time and for most of us, earthly riches would only detour us from the eternal riches we already possess in Christ Jesus. The sacrifice of His life and the cross was the only thing worthy enough, powerful enough and rich enough to purchase us from eternal corruption, hell and death. We are a very rich people who possess the Lord. Take your eyes off of the outward and begin to tap into the riches you possess in Christ in order to give and bless others. Then you will possess the riches and the rewards of heaven that will greet you at death’s door rather than those riches that flee away from you. Many of us are rich beyond measure and don’t even realize it. I read a quote the other day that said, “the poorest man in the world is the man that only has money.” Hebrews 11:24-26 says that Moses saw this truth when, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”
The apostle Paul also prayed that we would get a revelation of our true riches in Ephesians 1:18-23. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
The bottom line is that we don’t want to make the mistake of putting our trust in the treachery of the world’s riches, for the love of these things will result in our greatest poverty, life without Christ. Comprehend what the true riches are and that you already possess them in Christ. Now, let us go and invest them in His Kingdom that does not wax old or pass away and there they are laid up for us as an eternal weight of glory. The richest of all men are those who realize who they are in Christ.
Blessings,
kent
Leap of Faith
August 26, 2013
Leap of Faith
Acts 3:4-8
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted [him] up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
The context of our scripture today comes from the account of the lame man that sat daily by the temple in Jerusalem at the gate “Beautiful” begging for alms. This had been his routine for years. All through the New Testament we see examples of people that had accepted their infirmities until one day they have an LCE (Life Changing Event) happen in their lives. It does something so miraculous that their lives are never the same again. Have you had an LCE in your life yet? Has God figuratively reached down into your life and circumstance and raised you up and set you on your feet? Some of us will say “yes,” others may say “no, nothing really extraordinary has happened to me.” I would hope we could all say that concerning our salvation and our coming into relationship with Christ, for nothing can change your life like having Christ come into it and having our lives filled with the Holy Spirit. Even at that many of us have grown complacent. Perhaps we have been enduring long time afflictions, sicknesses, or other trials of the body, mind, and spirit. Perhaps we, like this man, have grown accustomed to looking to man to meet those needs in us. Day after day we cry out in our state of weakness, begging of men not our deliverance, but our subsistence. We have grown so accustomed to the natural, that we no longer consider the supernatural.
I believe God wants to do a supernatural work in many of us. That won’t happen while we are still content with the natural things. It is going to take us hearing the Word of the Lord with spiritual ears out of the inner man and fixing our eyes in faith on the Lord whom is Lord of all. Do you believe that God is not only able, but it is His desire to lift you out of your lameness and restore you unto wholeness? We must be willing to reach up and embrace His hand in faith, so that He can lift us upright. We must be willing to step out into that which is the unknown for us. The leap of faith that embraces a Word made flesh, a revelation Word that becomes substance and life in us. We may be the vessel and instrument, like Peter and John, through whom the Lord would impart His power and grace. Do we believe that God wants to be glorified through our lives? Then we must act in accord with His will and purpose. God is great and wants to do great and marvelous things in and through our lives.
Today, don’t limit what God can do for you or through you. You have the bomb of the Holy Spirit within you. In Him there are no limitations, all things are possible to him that believes. Fix your eyes on Him today and allow Him to bring you into that Life Changing Event. Take that leap of faith.
Blessings,
kent
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