From the desk of Steve Shultz:
We are in a crucial time in our nation – to pray for our land and for our leaders. Kim Clement shares a much needed word in this hour for our nation. He also takes on a subject that sounds backwards called "The Gift of Pain." That always works everything out for our good – because that's His nature.
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Kim Clement:
The Gift of Pain
What a wonderful time that we just celebrated this beautiful nation's independence and freedom. God has incredible plans for America and no matter what some people may believe or declare, I believe so strongly that God is speaking life, prosperity, deliverance and abundance for this great land. America, you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I encourage all of you to speak life over our nation.
I've recently been teaching on my weekly broadcasts, From the Matrix every Tuesday and Thursday night at kimclement.tv, about "Night Vision." What blocks our spiritual sight? Why is it that during difficult, dismal times we are almost blind? One of the greatest reasons is that our circumstances dictate our perception of the "other world," and we align ourselves with our circumstances, or whatever we are bombarded with. Do you ever hear anyone speaking in contradiction to what is "evident?" Look at this...
Elisha's statement in the presence of an entire Syrian army proves to be the height of ridicule: "Those who are with us are greater than those who are against us!" Then there's Elijah's statement in a massive famine and an economic disaster, "I hear the sound of an abundance of rain!" Are these the ravings of madmen or did they actually SEE something in the "other world"? Something gave them confidence to speak out and declare with boldness the truth that they were seeing. Be inspired by these great men of old and stand with boldness declaring the promises of God for this nation, your family, your children and whatever God has spoken over your life.
The Gift of Pain
Let me tell you about the gift of guilt and the gift of pain. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? Don't get me wrong; I believe that guilt is destructive, as darkness is destructive. However, guilt can work on your behalf as well, in certain instances. Guilt is the early warning sign of danger, the first indication that something is wrong.
Uniquely in creation, humans have a complex method of registering moral failure. The guilty conscience presents itself as an inner voice, a most personal form of communication, and can proceed to have a powerful effect on both body and persona.
Philip Yancey wrote this: "My own perspective on guilt changed during my work with Dr. Paul Brand, the first person I met who championed physical pain. As an orthopedic surgeon working with leprosy patients in India, Dr. Brand had made the startling discovery that all the manifestations of that dreaded disease came about as a result of painlessness. A tiny pain cell that makes most people blink every few seconds falls silent, and the leprosy patient soon goes blind for lack of lubrication provided by blinking. Patients lose toes by wearing too-tight shoes, and because of painlessness they lose toes, fingers, etc."
I began to view pain not as my enemy, but as the language the body uses to alert me when something needs attention. THE VERY UNPLEASANTNESS OF THAT LANGUAGE MAKES IT EFFECTIVE. GUILT DESERVES OUR GRATITUDE, BECAUSE ONLY SUCH A POWERFUL FORCE CAN NUDGE ME TOWARDS RECONCILIATION WITH THOSE I HAVE WRONGED.
Like guilt and pain, darkness is not always a bad thing, and in the Bible, darkness is not always portrayed as evil. We do know that the kingdom of darkness is evil, and the way of darkness is wrong, but there are other statements, like the one in Psalm 18:11 where it says, "He made darkness His hiding-place, His pavilion round about Him." Or in Isaiah 45:3, "I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel."
The word darkness there in the Hebrew is chashak, which also means blindness, dim or hidden. I believe that all sin removes the light from our eyes so that we are blinded or dim-sighted. In Saul's case in Acts 9, he was blinded by the light so that he could see...Christ, the truth, and his redemption. His blindness, or darkness, was the very thing that led him to salvation and to become the great apostle and writer of three-fourths of the New Testament.
What do you see? The fact is that we are spirit beings, and while we live in a physical body with limited faculties, God has provided us with certain rules that if applied can completely dictate our language. What you say is what you see. One of my favorite sayings is, "You gotta say what you hear, so that you can see what you said." Every day of our lives, we "see" and comprehend evil, injustice, pain, and all of this seems to be normal in this day and age. But Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, "Unless one is born again, he cannot SEE the Kingdom of God." You cannot enter what you cannot see. The Kingdom of God is all around us, but very few see it, and very few enter it while living in this body on this earth.
You are able to see beyond your circumstances and the things that make for our destruction. You may see fear – don't enter it; you may comprehend depression – don't apprehend it. See the invisible and make it visible by speaking it and living it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Independence Day and took some time to remember the foundational truths of this nation. Declare that America is the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Speak life and abundance over our great land.
"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety, deserves neither liberty nor safety." – Benjamin Franklin
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." – John Adams
Kim Clement
Prophetic Image Expressions
Email: hope@kimclement.com
