The stone wall behind our barn brought a great revelation to my heart. These stones no one wanted. They were in fact dumped on the property and have spent the last 7 years or so without purpose. These stones were not purchased they were the waste product of some failed project in some other man’s field. But as I looked at the worthless stones now fit into the wall, God reminded me they have been redeemed, and as such they are part of a priceless plan to gather in souls for His kingdom. They now are part of a great purpose–a heavenly plan to retrieve what was lost. The Spirit of God says, come hear ‘the gospel of the ruined stones.‘ 1 Peter 2 says, Jesus, who although rejected by men was the chief cornerstone of God’s building. The word further states, that in Him, we are living stones being redeemed into His building becoming fit only for His divine purposes. What are the ruined stones and what is the gospel that they preach? The stones say: “what is rejected by men will become alive and useful to God.” They no longer declare an earthly cause, but live for a heavenly purpose. The stones reveal to your life that Jesus does not build by conventional means, but with supernatural power to take your ruined places and make them a thing of His beauty. Will you hear the gospel of the stones and what they can say about your worth to God? Understand your waste places can be redeemed. Understand your reading these words right now say to you God’s heart is to take the wasted space and fill it up and redeem it with the priceless purpose of Christ. Say yes to God, say ‘Lord I want you to redeem and change me’. Do it now!
Tag: Jesus
The Love that Listening Inspires
The Spirit’s role is to make your life a conduit inspiring the greatness of God in others through faith. It is important, not that you just read or hear, but comprehend His love and word by listening! Listening involves a developed skill by which you gain awareness, a capacity for spiritual growth and greater understanding. In Mark 4:24-25; Jesus says, ‘take care how you listen’. Listening will ensure your place in the Kingdom by giving you access to ‘spiritual capital’ which is the riches of Christ. Your life will be full and satisfied, and from it, your abundance will overflow to many others. Are you failing to comprehend His love and desire for your life? Listen more closely…get still….put sin away…and come to His word. Jesus promised, if you truly belong to Him, you would hear His voice speaking, going ahead of you and bringing you to an awareness which will make you fully satisfied as His follower actualizing an anointing for the greatness of God in you and through you. Your life will accomplish His purpose inspiring faith and love for God in others…when you listen. He says, be careful how you listen, because I am seeking to reach many who are on your watch. Come! There is a love that listening inspires and I would have you to know its abundance.
Garments of Glory
This is a word to disciples; disciples are wise servants of the kingdom who have been cleared for glory. They are those who have an understanding of their kingdom position making wise use of what has been given to them to produce garments of praise. Be careful in your journey or you could be missing the way to into the kingdom. In Luke 17:11, there is an important message about faith. You will remember the story of the 10 lepers Jesus cleansed. When they ask Jesus for help from their torment, He responded by telling them to show themselves to the priest for a testimony. The word indicates they believed Jesus in faith by doing as He said. It was in the going they realized they had been cleansed of their condition. However, only one realized his healing was more than an outward cleansing by turning back to give glory to God. The literal rendering of the greek words here indicate two distinct events, one which left a mere outward cleansing fit to satisfy the ceremony the law required; the other, a deeper healing that could make a man whole. All the lepers who were cleansed believed Jesus in faith, but only one found the deeper healing on his face with a loud voice of praise. Jesus would note this man’s faith made him whole, saved him and rescued his life. When Jesus asked where were the other nine, they were getting their life back by showing themselves to the priest who could then certify they were clean to return to society. The Spirit of Christ would say to you if you want to be His disciples in these days, you must find yourself in pursuit of His glory and accept your place there on the fringe of His garments. They are garments worthy of glory and most deserving of your praise. These garments are meant to make you distinct as His disciple, so much so that you begin to fill out your proper role as His agent managing well all the resources spiritual and otherwise that He has endowed you with. He says, ‘display a faith that comes to my glory and settles for nothing less, so that you will be careful not to squander the things I give you by touching lives now for eternity.’ ‘Comfort others with the comfort that you have been comforted with–that is not mere cleansing, but in a healing that goes deeper than skin to touch the heart and change the condition of men’s souls.’ He says, ‘My return is immanent; don’t squander my glory on yourself, come to me and I will produce a splendor that will surely touch souls for my kingdom.’
Here’s the take away for you today: Is your faith cleansing you e.g.g., making you ceremonially fit, religiously clean, just so you can get your life back, or is your faith making you whole by giving you a garment that affects your worship bringing you to find your life of glory facedown at His feet?
The Wilderness of His Glory
Often we find ourselves in a fog, wondering where God is in our circumstances. We may feel as though we made a decision to follow the Lord way back when, but the enemy would have us convinced that all those decisions for what we believed was right and honorable have left us in the middle of the desert. You think, after all these years life should be more comfortable, but instead you feel like your life is in a wilderness and everything you believed is being tested. You are not alone though you may think you are. How you handle the wilderness will be the defining moment in your Christianity. You said you wanted to serve God and be his disciple, but what you may fail to realize is; there is no effective ministry without a wilderness. Matthew 4:1, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. This wilderness is for His glory. This wilderness is defining your call. Many a young person may think it well to serve God without fully removing the harmful effects of sin, pride, or rebellion, but without a wilderness you will serve God by what is born out of ‘pop culture’ pursuing what is popular and not what is holy. Remember Moses? It was the wilderness that led him to a place of holy ground. The wilderness defines my call by leading me to holy ground to meet a holy God not given to the popular, but to the pure. The wilderness defines my identity as being in Christ and in Him alone because there is nothing else to cling to. It is here the enemy comes to question your sonship saying, ‘If you’re a son, then do this or do that for instant comfort’ but in the wilderness you must discover it is Christ alone your hope of glory. It is a place of understanding my identity as the Apostle Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me….” You may feel you have spent your whole life serving people and even family, only to be kicked in the teeth. You may have worked so hard to accomplish some purpose only to be disappointed in some way, yet is it the wilderness that defines my God. He uses the wilderness to prove the true object of my affection. Was my service just my gratification or was it for His glory? You see, the wilderness makes the object of our affection very clear; will my god prove to be self as I bemoan the circumstance, or will I recognize the greatness of our God by completely trusting Him as I offer Him my praise. Often we have come to make worship about the “lights, camera and the action”. In the wilderness, He proves there is no power but His, and He wants to be the main attraction. While He makes us to sing, it’s not the music, it is the message. Jesus said in the wilderness, “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the Mouth of God”. The good news is, this wilderness will define your victory by advancing the kingdom for God’s glory. Just remember this fact from the life of Christ; wilderness advances the kingdom (Matt.4:17;19). As you are hidden in Christ and His life is yours, you will advance His cause bringing many sons to glory. The wilderness God is using produces glory every time. After the wilderness, Moses saw God liberate a nation in just a few days. After the wilderness, Jesus moved with might and power. And this wilderness you may find yourself in at this present hour is for His glory to give you a future and hope that through your tried and proven testimony He lives, He moves, He saves, He redeems, and He alone is able to rescue and recover when no one else can. God is using your wilderness to define your Christian faith so embrace it, embrace Him and glory will follow.
GraceLife 