Wednesday, August 29, 2012

One


One. Not so lonely as the song says.

A unity of factions. A bringing together under Christ.

Galatians 3:28 (AMP) - There is [now no distinction] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In Christ we are distinguished in Him, not who we were previously. 

All races, classes, and sexes are one in Christ and equal in rights and privileges regarding gospel benefits. They make one body with Christ as the head (1Cor. 12:13,28-31; Eph. 1:20-23; 2:19-22; Col. 3:11). The gulf between Jews and Gentiles, masters and slaves, male and female has been bridged by Christ and the gospel. 

This is the beauty of what Jesus has accomplished and why it's simply all about Him.

Be blessed!

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Mountain


It looms large. It overshadows everything in your life. Even when you're not thinking about it you're thinking about it. It's there when you go to sleep and it's waiting for you when you wake up.

It's the one dominant issue amidst all of your other issues.

It's a mountain. It's Goliath. It's the gorilla in the room.

It has to be removed. 

I could write a laundry list of what that mountain is for many people.  I don't want to go down the path of money woes, relationship difficulties, addictions, chronic illness, etc. Those are all very real, but I have to say, if you're pretty far down the road in serving Jesus and haven't conquered that stuff yet, then there might be greater issues that you need to deal with first.

I'm talking about the struggles of the wilderness. The awakening from the slumber of the religious status quo and seeing for the first time that everything has been for the most part...well...just plain wrong. It's a dry and uncomfortable place to be. 

The problem, the actual "mountain" is not what you've been "operating" in for perhaps years, but what to do about it.

That's the MOUNTAIN, and it's really big.

I've confronted the mountain so let me give you a bit of advice from one who has tried every failed method.

You cannot: climb over it, go through it, go around it. You cannot decorate it and make it look nice, you cannot live with it. It never becomes comfortable. If it is not conquered, it will conquer you. Eventually it will fall on you and bury you.

Jesus addressed it thoroughly.

Mark 11:23 (AMP) - "Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him."

What do you think He was talking about on the heels of cursing a fig tree which represented the spiritual failure of Israel?  He looked for fruit on a tree that was barren. It was useless.

The barren fig tree was as useless as a believer who is stuck in the shadow of the mountain of gospel ineffectiveness.

There is only one way. It must be uprooted. It must go away. It must be removed. 

Only when we can get out from under dry religious exercise and begin to react and respond to the gospel according to the authority that Jesus has given us, will we ever truly BE the Church of Kingdom Authority.

If your mountain is looming over you today, it is time to respond. How long are you willing to live in its shadow while Kingdom living seems to become more distant?

Are you the believer who has the signs following you? Or are you doomed to be one who will always be chasing the signs?

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Monday, August 27, 2012

Holy


The believer in Christ should be action minded. We should look at the situation around us with a sober mind, all the while knowing that Christ is revealed and is revealing heaven to us.

1 Peter 1:13 (ESV) - "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

When we trap ourselves in the negative former mindset we will never see a way out of it. We will always be looking "for" revival, but never living "in" revival. We will always see ourselves as the sinner and not the saved.

1 Peter 1:14 (ESV) - "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance."

This verse says it all. Peter knew a little bit about being trapped by his own ignorance. He never had a clue until the Holy Spirit burned it into him in the Upper Room.

The blank and vacant faces staring back at the preacher on Sunday morning often sum it up. 

The former ignorance sometimes is not so "former". Sometimes it is very presently in the now. It's also not very passionate. It's dull and listless. Quite unbecoming.

If we are going to be obedient children then we will be preparing our minds and not just trying to get through life.

"Just getting through" life is not living. It is just waiting to die.

1 Peter 1:15-16 (ESV) - "(15) ...but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, (16) since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

 Not should, but SHALL. Not becoming, but BE.

If you are waiting around to become more holy, it's not going to happen. You can't get more holy than the imparted righteousness you have in the indwelling Christ and Holy Spirit. You are either holy or you are not.

If you are a born-again, Spirit-filled believer than you ARE holy! 

Be what you actually are.

It doesn't mean that you are a robot. Paul as well as Peter has made it clear that we need to conform our minds to what has been done in our spirit. This is why these verses all work together.

The conformed mind to the will of God is a prepared mind. A prepared mind makes it possible to be obedient to God. An obedient child to God is a holy child by every understanding of what God has called us to be.

Start looking at yourself in the same way God looks at you. Stop living in your past. 

You are no longer anything like you used to be. Start living as the person God says you are.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Friday, August 24, 2012

Broken


How precious is our relationship with God? I think about it often. I am saddened about those who don't know Jesus. I rejoice and am elated over the many beautiful relationships I have made over the years within the fellowship of the Church.

I cringe over how Adam and Eve could just throw it all away.

Genesis 3:23 (KJV) - "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."

The sad end to a once son of God. Estranged by his willful rebellious actions against the Father.

He placed us all in the same precarious position generationally from then to now.

How much God loved us to send Jesus to right the ship and make sure that we all have the opportunity to be accepted into His House as His children once again.

I hope you are in touch with that today. It's a driving force behind the broken heart for the lost.

Once we were lost, but then we were found.

There are so many others that are still lost.

Is your heart broken enough today to do something about it?

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Jesus In Our Midst


Religious people will always make a big issue over access to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. They will surround it with ritual,  liturgy, dogma, and tiers of theology and doctrine.

There are more layers to get to see Jesus than on a rich bride's wedding cake.

All along He is more accessible than anyone or anything.

Matthew 5:1 (AMP) - "SEEING THE crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him."

Jesus places Himself where you are. There is nowhere to look for Jesus.

He's in front of you. Open your eyes.

His disciples always know where He is.

Do you know where He is today? If not, find one of His disciples and ask if he will lead you there.

He would love to just sit down with you and chat.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Team Jesus


I have been on essentially two "teams" while living my life. I have been on the side of Jesus 25 years next month.

Previous to that I was on the "other" side.

There are only two sides. There is no "intermediate squad".Life is not an intra muros (intramural) activity.

Lines and boundaries have been drawn. Standards have been set. God knows exactly where we stand.

Matthew 12:30 (AMP) - "He who is not with Me [definitely on My side] is against Me, and he who does not [definitely] gather with Me and for My side scatters."

 In our perception of what is fair in life, it probably seems unfair that there is no gray area to pause in while we weigh the pros and cons. No fence to straddle. No DMZ or Mason-Dixon Line.

We like to create those "nether" places where we feel we are safe from decisions to make (or have made against us).

"Home" in a game of tag was always the safe place to take that much needed breather after being relentlessly pursued trying to not become "it".

This is not the way Kingdom Dynamics operate. It's either or. Make your choice.

If you have not chosen Jesus you have served the other side by default. You are numbered among the scattered.

You are lost.

Joshua said to "choose this day whom you will serve."

Everybody needs to get there. Some think they have chosen Jesus but their actions proclaim otherwise.

This is not lip service. This is life and death.

Choose wisely. Choose efficiently. Choose life. Choose Jesus.

Keepin' it Real,
Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Keys


People wonder why the lack? By lack I mean lack of anything that should rightfully be instilled into the midst of the Church of Jesus Christ. Power, miracles, financial solvency, salvation, healing, impartation, spiritual authority over darkness, etc.

I've wondered many times over the years. I felt it in my bones but it was always just "out of reach". I craved it, but craving isn't enough. I prayed for it, but praying isn't enough. I laid claim to it, but that also is not enough. 

Sometime back. I realized through a revelation and vision that the one thing that was lacking was that we were not, I was not, experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven. I may have been in the midst of the Kingdom of God, but not the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Then God revealed it all to me in an instant in a vision. It took me several weeks to figure it out, but when I did it was as if a lightning flash went off in my brain! There are "keys".

The keys unlock the power and authority of Heaven itself. Remember earlier this week I mentioned the verse "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"? It's right there and accessible, and until we reach out and seize it (violently, as if we cannot live without it, Matt.11:12), then we will never unlock all it holds for us, and what it holds is the answer to everything the Church is lacking.

Who ever thought that it would all be contained in the one simple, redundant, repetive prayer we learned as children? 

"Our Father Who is in Heaven".

"Your will be done, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!" In my opinion, that's THE KEY!

From that we can understand what Jesus ACTUALLY meant here...

Matt. 16:19 - "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven."

This is the LITERAL establishment of KINGDOM living in our present environment, whatever and wherever that may be. 

I'll tell you what is illegal and unlawful. Sin, sickness, poverty, strife, immorality, that's what is illegal in Heaven! And if it is illegal in Heaven then Jesus says we can declare it illegal here on earth!  I can LOOSE what is LAWFUL here on earth because it is what is legal and binding in Heaven.

If Jesus is really saying (and I believe He is) that His will is completed here on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, than is it any wonder we have missed it by vainly reciting it like a religious mantra? Power filled words recited without power! 

All I can say is WOW! I am undone. There is no going back. 

He has changed the hearts of people, He has excited people to a greater degree than we could ever accomplish in the flesh. The carnal, the fleshly, the sensory, is slowly fading away and is being replaced by a new fire. Out of the dusty doldrums of repressed worship and praise has sprung new Kingdom Living!  The future is bright and inviting!

It has ripped me from my comfort zone. I am not the same person, the same pastor, that I was even two months ago. There are people who are being changed Sunday by Sunday, week by week. 

It's God. We have wrestled with Him and refused to let go until He has blessed us! We have stood on each others shoulders and pulled down the Heaven within our reach! 


Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Monday, August 20, 2012

Pray Or Praise?


We are admonished to pray. All God's children must pray. People have their own perceptions about what exactly that entails or how we should do it, but for the purposes of looking at it strictly as a spiritual discipline, we see that David prayed three times a day.

Psalm 55:17 - "Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice."

Does this mean we should pray three times a day? Not at all. In fact, in the New Testament, Paul says the believer should pray without ceasing. Of course that's an impossibility unless we realize that Paul considered prayer more of an attitude than some rigorous religious ritual. Our life should be a prayer.

However, there's an interesting passage in Psalms, and also by David, which shows us that not only did he pray three times a day, but that he PRAISED SEVEN times a day! 

David prayed three times, but he praised seven times.  Hmm... Curious.

Psalm 119:164 - "Seven times a day and all day long do I praise You because of Your righteous decrees."

In fact, not JUST seven times a day, but ALL DAY LONG!

Understanding the premise of Paul on praying, it would not be presumptious to assume that David hit on something here.

Praise more, or as much, as you pray.

God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3).

Here's a tidbit. Praise is not reserved for when only good things are going on in your life.

Praise is most effective when things are going wrong, maybe even horribly wrong.

That's when you want to praise God because that's when you need Him to inhabit (to visit, to enthrone Himself over your troubles).

God loves when we praise Him when He knows it's not easy for us to do so. God is not an egomaniac who needs to be reminded how great He is. God is impressed by the humility of the believer who shows appreciation and love to Him when He knows we are struggling.  God is moved by that. God is spurred to action by that.  God is inspired to dwell upon us by that.

Pray by all means, but praise Him more.

Go ahead. No matter how bad you feel right now, no matter what trial and difficulty you are facing today, lift up your arms, open your mouth and just PRAISE HIM in your own way! Thank Him! Tell Him you love Him! Tell Him you are expecting a great move of His indwelling Presence in you even at this very moment!

I guarantee it will change you in an instant!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Friday, August 17, 2012

If This Is The "Good" Son...


A lot of fuss was made over the return of the lost son in what has been called the "Parable of the Prodigal Son".

It's a beautiful story. It's particularly meaningful for us who have been given so great a salvation in Christ because essentially the story is about us. 

We are the Prodigal. We were once lost, but now we are found.

There are other characters in the story. We must not forget that there are two sons. One has returned after being lost in sin in the far country. The other had remained in his father's household.

One would think that we could draw the conclusion that if we were to divvy up the accolades between the two sons, that the latter son would be considered the "good" son.

Let's take a gander at the "good" son:

Luke 15:29-30 - "But he answered his father, Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me [so much as] a [little] kid, that I might revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends; (30) But when this son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you have killed for him that [wheat-] fattened calf!"

We could ask if he would like a little cheese with that "whine".

Ahh...the way the Kingdom turns.  The "bad" son turns into the "good" son, and the "good" son, well here's the kicker...he actually didn't turn into anything. He was probably always that way, but had been considered a faithful and loving son because he had everything he ever wanted so he never complained. He was spoiled, and like most lavishly spoiled people, he seethed with resentment and anger underneath. We see what he really thought of his little brother when he refers to him as "this son of yours".

That's who this is about. The sneaky, resentful, and angry Christian. 

Ever notice that in many instances the people you help the most resent you the most? The more love you show them, the more you give to them, the more you care for them, after awhile it will somehow be turned back against you? It's a phenomena that we wouldn't expect in the Church but it's there. 

It's been there all along and God has shown us so in this parable.  The older son has never gone without, yet here we see him complaining that he never received what his returning brother just received. Well, he also never had to go through the pain and torment his younger brother did either. Essentially there is really nothing to complain about.

The father (who represents God in this story) replies most graciously.

"(31) And the father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. (32) But it was fitting to make merry, to revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!"

Having been in the position of the father a few times in my life, I can't help but think that he must have at least thought "Where's this coming from!"

Sometimes petty jealousies and bitterness will not allow people to see the blessing. They will go so far as to put themselves into an undesirable situation, cutting off their noses to spite their faces so to speak, because of their inner rage and unhappiness. 

This is why Jesus spoke of love and forgiveness and why the commandment of love is the one we are to keep above anything else. This older son had some hate in his heart and the Father reminded him that there was no need for it because "all that is Mine is yours".

Have you contemplated that lately? Especially when you're feeling like your being passed over or not getting enough attention?

All that He has is yours. Ask yourself if that could be sufficient for you today.

Wow.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Fullness Of Newness


There is a peculiar understanding of what exactly happens to the person who accepts Christ into their life and becomes born again.

Some people believe that we basically stay the same, but only forgiven, that our sins are merely "covered" rather than completely washed away by the blood of Christ.

This first of all contradicts 2 Cor. 5:17, which testifies that when we come to know Jesus we are regenerated, or born again, into a completely new person. Paul specifically says that "the OLD is gone, and the NEW has come".

Jesus Himself spoke about this spiritual and supernatural phenomenon. 

Luke 5:37-38 - "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the fresh wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined (destroyed). (38) But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 

The New Wine is Jesus.

We like to think we can have the New Wine of Christ inside our old defective and sin wrecked wineskin.

We can't. We must be willing to receive a new wineskin. We must be willing to allow Jesus to make us into a completely new person.

Understand this today because it is critical. This is not a refurbished old wineskin. 

We become BRAND NEW. A literal new creature in Christ!

I'm not sure why some folks find that so hard. Jesus is the Author and Creator of everything (John 1:3). Could He not create us anew in Him?

Yes He can, and He does!

Our old self had a lot of religious ideals that had to be tossed out. It was never going to adjust and accept what Jesus has in store. 

All of our faulty schemes and plans, religious or otherwise, were going to burst at the seams under the new enlightenment and illumination of Christ.

We would never have been able to withstand Jesus as we were.

Yet, some try to make it work. They like the idea of having Jesus to turn to, but they want to have Him live inside of a garbage dump. Resistance.

It's just not going to work. We will become undone. We must be changed into something greater.

We must become new creatures in Him!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

In Touch


What is your method of communication with God? How do you keep the conversation fresh over time? What energizes you to keep seeking, even craving, a close relationship with Him?

Believe it or not my main way is by writing these devotionals every day. It keeps me accountable. It forces me to get into the Word even during those times that I'd rather be doing something else.

Yes, even doing something else.

What? Do you think it's any different than maintaining any other relationship? It takes commitment and cultivation and sometimes we just don't feel like putting in the time.

The good news? God always feels like it.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20).

"This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us -- whatever we ask -- we know that we have what we asked of Him" (1 John 5:14,15).

Three random passages that speak of ourselves and God. What we do. What He does. And how that all comes together in fellowship.

My best advice? Relax. God's relaxed. It's not some formal business meeting. Talk. Enjoy. Smile. Laugh. Cry. Express yourself. Even get angry if you feel a need to. In all healthy and solid relationships there is as much listening as speaking. 

Talk to Him today. There is a wealth of health to be gained in body, soul, and spirit.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Qualified


What qualifies you as dispensers and purveyors of the gospel of Jesus Christ? A wall of sheepskins? Ordination certificates? Accolades and praises of men?

Believe me, there are plenty of people who think exactly that, and perhaps that accounts for some aberrations in the Church of Jesus Christ.

To think or believe that, one has to stray from the truth of Scripture. Paul is crystal clear today:

2 Corinthians 3:6 (Amplified Bible) - "[It is He] Who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers and dispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but the [Holy] Spirit makes alive."

It is Jesus Christ who has qualified us. He is the One Who "makes" us fit for service in the Kingdom of God on earth. 

Because of that, and that alone, we are qualified to "tell the story". 

Yes, the gospel. It's THE "story". There is none greater. 

You are fit for service. You have been qualified and made ready. So get out there and tell the story of the redemption of the human race from sin by the Savior Jesus Christ.

It's a simple message. Don't be afraid. You already have the words in you. Trust Him that He will bring them out.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Monday, August 13, 2012

Is Your Word Alive And Full Of Power?


Is it? Or is the Word to you a simple book of "Chicken Soup For The Soul" type stories? Maybe it's a "road map", or "instruction manual".  Perhaps you subscribe to the acronym, (B.I.B.L.E. "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth").

Those are all cute and stuff, but they fall far short in explaining what the Word is to the believer.

Here's what the Word says about itself:

Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified Bible) - "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."

No road map or instruction manual can do that.

The Word of God violently impacts the life of the believer. It is real. It is active. It has life. It is supernatural because the Word is the Eternal Logos, Jesus Christ (John 1:1).

When this powerful weapon, which Paul refers to as "The Sword Of The Spirit" in Ephesians 6, is wielded by the blood washed, Spirit filled believer, it will cut, slash, chop, expose, and lay to waste anything that stands in the way of TRUTH.

It will also offend. It will turn friend against friend, it will upset households and split apart factions. It will cause others to become accusers of the brethren. It will even make people leave the Church. 

When the thoughts and purposes of the human heart are laid bare people have but two places to turn. They can run to Jesus, or they can run away to some place they see as another safe haven.

If it ain't to Jesus than it ain't safe!

Have you found yourself enjoying God's Word lately? Or have you found yourself dreading the hearing of it? Have you been avoiding church because you know what you will hear? Are you having trouble opening your Bible because you are afraid God will cut you with it?

Bare your heart and soul to Him. Allow His Word to penetrate even if it cuts a little deep. 

In the end your heart will be pure before Him and you will be able to function as He intended you to.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com

Friday, August 10, 2012

Eternal


It's a fantastic thought isn't it? I try to stay connected to that thought because the longer we follow Christ and travel with Him down all of the pathways of living, we can lose sight of the big picture.

Eternal life. Wow. Yes...I am actually going to live forever!

That might even sound scary for some. It's so...so...magnanimous a thought!

But, what does it mean? What is it actually?

I could get real cerebral on this topic and get so deep we miss the loftiness of it.

Let's keep it simple because that's what Jesus did.

John 17:3  - "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

 Knowing God and Him revealed in His Son Jesus Christ.

That's it.

That's what? You mean that's all there is?

Well, yeah. Jesus said "This" is eternal life, and He masterfully explained that it is simply knowing God.

Sure, there's more. There are fantastic details, and wondrous perusals, and beauteous meanderings, all for your future contemplation.

But as far as exactly what eternal life IS...it's knowing Jesus Christ.

If you know Him, and by knowing Him I mean deep in the depths of relationship with Him. A disciple. A follower. A believer. Then you have inherited the Kingdom of God and eternal life.

Follow Him here. Live with Him forever.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><
www.reallifect.com