Thank you!!

I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has graced this page and taken the time to read the revelations the Lord has bestowed to me.  I take no credit, even in my ability to try to interpret the great wisdom that comes forth in the name of Jesus.

I thought it important to express that God is no respecter of persons and He will speak to the hearts of all who are seeking Him! Acts 10:34: "Then Peter began to speak: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism."  What I share here on  the Fellowship With God 101 blog and on the radio show www.blogtalkradio.com/fellowshipwithGod101 are nuggets of truth and wisdom that He is eager to reveal.  He will do the same for you and more!  All you have to do is ask and seek Him with an earnest heart. Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a pure heart. O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

I am so grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ for being so patient as my theology has been tweaked and corrected. It may be, what you read here or what you hear on the radio, is different than what you have learned previously.  Actually, I would be surprised if you didn't experience this.

 The Holy Spirit comes and reveals all truth but first must deprogram parts of doctrine that we have received that are twisted due to a lack of understanding to what the Holy Spirit meant or an agenda of control within the teacher or Pastor teaching it. God is just and will lead you into all truth if you are willing to receive. James 1:5 "If any one of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."  I welcome you sifting the articles here and taking them before the Lord for confirmation.  I would want nothing less, for the Lord deserves to be honored in spirit and truth. Please take the time to consult the Lord on things that will change your perception and ask for His endorsement.

Last, but definitely not least, I love you all!  You may ask, "How can you love me if you don't know me?" Jesus says in John 13:35 "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Christian love is a love like no other.  We understand the grace given us by our Lord Jesus Christ and are grateful.  He is such a loving God that once we become a part of His family we grow into a heart like His.  Though we could never obtain the depth of love He has for His people, for it is immeasurable; we can love beyond what would (in the natural) be humanly possible. 

 The Spirit of God connects us, for we are one body in Christ Jesus. Romans 12:5, "so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." I thank Jesus for this mystery revealed!  You are loved my brother or sister, though I have never laid eyes on you.  Each and every one of you is precious to me and I pray for you often.  If you have any personal prayer requests that you would like to share in private, please email to fellowshipwithGod101@gmail.com and I would be honored to pray for you.  Have an awesome week and stay tuned for more wisdom coming from the throne!  All praise and glory to the of name Jesus!

In His love,

Kelly Stark

What is Humility?  Do I want it?

First, Let's Take a Look at Pride

You know the story... trouble comes into your life. You can hardly make ends meet; you lose your job, your house maybe even your family. In the trenches of such turmoil you think, "Well, at least I still have my pride."  We as humans grasp onto anything that makes us feel better in times of trial.  Pride is a false comfort, it is a trick of the enemy to make us believe we have the ability to pull ourselves up by the boot straps and make it through on our own.  This belief system is a worldly philosophy and will never add to our Christian walk.  If we are willing to yield our hearts in absolute surrender there is no end to what God will do in us!

Pride can work itself into every area of our Christian life.  Our service for God can be infected with it, our prayers can become selfish and motivated with personal gain, and even our hospitality towards others can be lined with ulterior motives.

It all started in the garden long ago.  Eve had everything she needed, even a personal connection with God. She and Adam were asked to do an important thing for God, TRUST HIM!  They were not to eat of the forbidden fruit and just trust that God had their best interest at heart. Satan came in and being he was very familiar with pride (having fallen himself) convinced Eve that God was holding out on her.  Let us read it in Genesis 3:1-6...

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

We know the rest of the story, Adam also eats of the forbidden fruit and the fall of man happens, creating a divider in our intimacy with God.  The good news is that Jesus Christ came to save us from such division and he reigns on the throne today. The word speaks about such liberty in John 3:16...

^" For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus made it possible to have an intimate, father to son, father to daughter relationship.  How we become a part of God's glory is by fully submitting to it. We give up self-glory and surrender to God's glorification.  In this place of humility and surrender we find ourselves.  As we decrease his light increases in us. We begin to notice the weeds in the garden of our heart and as we lay it at the altar the Lord removes them.  This  creates good ground for his word to take root thus being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)

 Ever heard of the expression, "He is so full of himself?" An example of the oppressed would be those who are arrogant, prideful, and yet have no idea why they are void of an intimate relationship with the Lord. The scripture warns of pride and encourages humility.

James 4:6 - But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Proverbs 3:34 - He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble.

Proverbs 16:19 - Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

A minister in the early 1900's by the name of Andrew Murray talked on this very subject with great revelation. He said, "Beautifully, grace has come to restore what sin has corrupted, and bring man glory by the pathway of dying unto himself living solely for the glory of God."

So what is humility? Humility is the outcome of a surrendered heart.  It is not something you can bring to God.  Many times we pray, ( I know I have in the past)  "Lord I come to you in humility". This is not possible. You can come to God in "surrender" but even your will to do so was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Humility is not something we can offer to the Lord.  Once self-denial takes place, humility then moves in and "self" moves out.

  Humility is the result of "selflessness." What I am saying is, all that you are able to surrender, equating to humility , is given to you by the working of Jesus in you.  You cannot even exert humility out of your own effort.  Humility and surrender go hand and hand and they are both inspired and brought to full maturity by the Spirit of the Lord and through the redeeming blood of Jesus.  All we must do is acknowledge we are nothing without Jesus and ask the Lord to groom our hearts so we can live as he did. 


 Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."


You may be asking, "How will I know where and when to deny myself? The answer is... do so in everything, asking the Lord.  No one can give you the right answer but Jesus himself. The more you let Jesus work on your heart the more the carnal nature will lose it's hold. We must believe Jesus will do a complete work in us. The power of faith being we believe in the power of eternal life that works in us daily, giving glory to Jesus who is our life. Philippians 2:3 says it best,

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

At all costs starve pride.  Give it nothing to feed on. Let God alone always obtain the glory. Observe all that is good in his children, praying earnestly for the areas that you know need revelation of the truth.  The nearer we are to God the less we are in ourselves and the stronger we are in Him!  Humility trusts in God for the outcome, pride trusts in man's wisdom.  We should try not to trust in our own human wisdom about things that are of the spirit. We must renounce the sinful self. Pride is the root of all sin, learn to hate it!

What does humility require and do I want it?

Humility requires you to be completely yielded to all that glorifies Christ. It requires you to be stripped of the attitude of entitlement and have gratefulness for everything that God does for you including the fact you exist for him. Humility will require that you give up who you think you are so you can become who God destined you to be!  Do you want it?  This is only a question you can answer but the scripture states that you will be content, joyful and secure when humility is diligently working in your heart.

Humble( surrender) yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 KJV)

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5 KJV)

I leave you with this quote again from Andrew Murray, our predecessor who strove to abandon the self to become as Jesus' likeness..."It is easy to think we humble ourselves before God: humility towards men will be the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real; that humility has taken abode in us;and become our very nature;that we actually, like Christ, have made ourselves of no reputation."

Let us pray and ask for humility with a pure motive; hungry for radical change within the heart. 

Lord,

I need you!  I cannot do anything without you.  I breathe because you ordain it to be. I ask that you would forgive me for all pride, self-gain and glory stealing tactics.  I want your heart Lord.  I pray for humility. I want what you desire for me and what you desire to do through me, giving all glory to your Son Jesus Christ!

In Jesus holy name,
Amen


I pray this teaching blessed you and brought you to a new level of understanding.  May the revelation of the word of God be evident in your life and may the Lord's wisdom be ever present in your heart.

In His grip.

Kelly Stark

 

 

Complacency

Shall we stir the waters today? Let us go deeper in Him.

 The thing I have found the hardest to conquer in my 33 years as a Christian has been "complacency".  When you look the word up in the dictionary (which I did) it doesn't sound so bad. The definition reads, "a feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction." Well one wouldn't think that is a horrible discretion, I mean aren't we meant to think highly of ourselves and to have good self-esteem?. But it is a sneaky snake in the Eden of humility.  Humility is what births holiness and holiness is what keeps complacency at bay!  I am not talking about the holiness that is many times displayed on the Christian Network as opening your wallet for a sizable contribution so your family member can be saved. And yes this happens, for real! What I am talking about is a deep core holiness, in the center of who you are. It's an acknowledgement of God that includes all parts of you and surrenders every particle of your being!

So let me describe to you the common scenario that takes place when dealing with complacency. Let's say you have a decent job; you like "Bob" who is your boss and has been for the last 10 years.  Your job is boring but not terribly stressful.  You have a few friends that you meet up with on Friday night, Red Robin is the common hang out, and around them, laughter is not hard to come by.  Your children are almost grown, they are still present in your home (you can tell by the almost always empty fridge) but they pretty much have lives of their own. You go to church every Sunday, and heck you even throw in an occasional Wednesday, now and then. Ah yes!  Life is good! But is it?

 You have noticed in previous nights you have awakened at exactly 4:53am but decided it must be heartburn, though there was no evidence of belching. At work you finish the daily grind early and there is a gnawing at your heart to read the Bible but instead you decide to check out the latest celebrity shoe blog and get a candy bar from the vending machine. Your best friend calls and invites you to a Christian conference but you decline due to the fact you have met your quota for church this week. What is happening?  Slowly, bit by bit, you are losing your relationship with Jesus. A slow avoidance of solid communication with Jesus results in the habit of doing things on your own. Doing things on your own creates pride and pride produces a heart that is unprepared when trials hit.

Humility is key to becoming exactly what God called us to be.  We can never become satisfied with where we are at and expect to be fulfilled spiritually.  There is an earnest hunger in us to feed our spirit. As we do this the more constant the drive and desire for pure revelation will be.

It is important we avoid "stagnancy", coming to a comfortable place in our walk and staying there. If you take this stance in life, you will only travel half the journey. You will have no reference to information needed to kill future giants. Life's storms hit and you find yourself spiritually paralyzed.

 The word talks about those who are unprepared.  In Luke 12:47 it says,
"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows."

 1Thessalonians 5:6 states, " So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled."

If we go moseying along in life, only seeking God when we have an occasional crisis; we fail to become what God desires of  us.  We need to be of the utmost use for His kingdom.  We must remember our greater purpose for being here is to be a light in a dark world.  Our light will shine brightly as humility is weaved into the fiber of our human hearts.

 In  the book of James verse 4:10 (NIV) it states, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." So you see,  God will lift us up. We do not need to seek the deceiving monotony of a relaxed life to receive peace. We must give our whole heart to God on a daily basis.  We must remember why we live and for whom.  If we walk in the understanding that the Lord's will for our life, is the best life lived; everyday becomes an adventure and wisdom becomes our best friend.

 NEXT BLOG: Humility, How do I Get it? Do I really want it?