The Love Rendezvous

O the heart palpitating times of youthful love ...The love rendezvous - the secret moments of nurturing love as a couple, still stays as beautiful snap shots in the heart as two have moved forward with becoming one in their lives together. No couple would have ever grown closer together without those times; and two words would have killed those precious moments - "not now!" Your God whispers "Meet with Me, my love; come away with me and let us grow closer!" ....Not now?? ... O the travesty of those words.

Haggai 1:1, 2- "In the second year of Darius ("lord") the king, in the sixth month in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD (Jehovah) by Haggai ("festive" - the Festival Dancer) the prophet unto Zerubbabel ("sown in Babylon" - heated up, burnt, dried up - wormwood like, reduced to poison) , the son of Shealtiel ("I have asked God") , governor of Judah ("Praised") and to Joshua ("Jehovah is Salvation") the son of Josedech ("Jehovah is righteous") , the high priest, saying: Thus speaketh (once and for all, standing as eternal) the LORD ("Jehovah" - all sufficiency) of hosts saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built."

And there stands the conflict - "NOT NOW!"

In the small, two chapter book of Haggai there is a description of a core conflict that we face in every day living ---Here is a brief historical snapshot: A Hebrew remnant in two waves of migration had come back from their Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. One crew of pilgrims are to rebuild the walls and the other to rebuild the temple. This book is dedicated to challenging the group of pilgrims, who returned, with a heart to rebuild the Temple. This task had been derailed and cluttered with the struggles of life that can cause anyone to forget the voice of God... that lovingly says, "I AM with you!"

So begins the daily conflict - (We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with ("principalities") beginnings: There is always the "home base" that needs to be set up, right? So homes are built for the workers, and then comforts are desired, and then a way to make a living needs to be established, and of course food and clothing provisions must be raised, made or purchased, and then decorations to further beautify the ownership, and then maintenance, and then home improvements ... on and on until the daily driving focus is no longer the mandate from Heaven but gnawing cry of a very real, temporal need.

It became apparent that the remnant had lost sight of their initial purpose of rebuilding the temple by their efforts to sustain their dwellings. This disconnect with their original purpose impinged on their success to accomplish sustaining their own dwellings; it created a constant battle of 3 steps forward and two steps backwards. Haggai, whose name means "festive" ... knew from the LORD, that the joy of the vision of temple building would be lost in... the physical struggle of daily living (our houses are not done), the mental oppression of defective memory comparisons (our work on the temple will never be what was), and constant debating of "what is holy?". His job as prophet was to bring God's people to understand that their re-adjusted and misdirected focus was killing their "Joy in the LORD!" Their failure to effectively handle the temporal was directly affected by their omission of the joy filled task of living for eternity ... "Build the LORD's Temple!" (His dwelling in and with you).

Our true supply for living is in the Lord. Our relationship with Him is not just maintained to be effervescent adornment, but it is our only real wellspring and effectual supply for the consequential events of our lives. True success is not based on our conquest of the world around us through momentary temporal acquisition, but true success is found in a daily sustaining of that "thirst" for His Eternal Presence that effectively and festively satisfies the eventful needs of our lives.

We spend so much time paneling and adorning our houses while the house of God crumbles within us via daily negligence. Panel and adorn our lives with the daily secret love rendezvous with our God and watch the power of His resurrected temple rise and reign. Neglect His temple building of you and your temporal success will be unstable and unsustainable. Rise up and see ... now is the time to come apart from the temporal and Walk with your God ... Dance in Love within the Holy Rendezvous!

HLFA,

Jeff

Tale of Two Cities 2 - Where the Heart is ...Momentarily!

The two cities ... the same radio, TV, and Internet choices ... The same insatiable search for Satisfaction. The Media buffet that is set before humanity to tempt and attempt to feed all the dimensions of our physical, intellectual, and spiritual existence is supplied from so many different directions. The key to the success of a Desire Vendor involved in this "Satisfaction Guaranteed" Buffet, is the relevancy of the connection of the product to the desires of the listening "naive" consumer. What happens to a city if it buys in to the barrage of "personal satisfaction noise" ... in so much, that the search or desire for God fades midst the immediate insatiable desires of its occupants?

Will the need to be satisfied "now" ever be satiated? The natural progression in the heart of man is a growing desire for "more" - and is also driven by an ever waning ache for the "different". Where we allow our "wants" or lusts to be directed will definitely determine the extent of our abilities to sustain a desire for the Eternal.

Psalm 17:14 - "From men which are Thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly Thou fillest with Thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes."

Continual belly filling...replicates ... its offspring become the next generation of belly fillers... but every generation leaves all of their temporal amassed treasures behind. The temporal satisfaction stops at the death of one generation but this selfish insatiable desire begins "here" with the next generation. Will this insatiable desire for "things" protect the next generation from the consequences of a life that has no desire for God?

What does our focused search for satisfaction in this temporal existence do to our children, and our children's children? Where is your heart ... momentarily?

Psalm 17:15 - "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I SHALL BE SATISFIED, when I awake, with Thy likeness".

Continual Spirit filling ... replicates ... its offspring become the next generation of Spirit fillers... but every generation leaves all their temporal amassed treasures behind ... the temporal satisfaction stops at the death of one generation but the personal insatiable desire for Him has the potential to overwhelm and protect the next generation from the consequences of a life that has no desire for Jesus.

What does our focused search for satisfaction in this temporal existence do to our children, and our children's children? Where is your heart ... momentarily?

Seeking "stuff"?...When we are done here...where will we awake? Could we lose everything, even our souls? Seeking Him?...When we are done here...we awake in His likeness, we loose nothing...especially our souls.

The Miracle of lasting Satisfaction is found in a direct and active connection to Eternity through Jesus Christ: the Living Word of Promise, and the Bible: the written Word of promise. The miracle manifests itself in a satisfying desire to grasp an incomplete but progressing opportunity to perceive and to understand our God.

TWO CITIES - One seeking things, and the other seeking Him. Where your heart is, there is your treasure ... and the tale of your City.

HLFA,

Jeff

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Two Cities - Where is the LORD?

As the small band of war torn refugees approached the purported city of refuge (Known as the “City of the LORD” and the “City of Peace”), they gathered everything within their souls to muster up enough strength to travel the last mile of their frightful journey to the hope of safety. Still a bit blurry within that last mile of distance, the full sight of their hope begins to slowly diminish as their blurred vision starts clearing to see that the “Beautiful City of Hope” has become another city of oppression. {This city, potentially, is a greater threat than the battles they had faced. } They now have turned abruptly, just plodding forward with what little strength that remains, to at least die with dignity beyond the clutches of the city that was before them … What had happened to that city of promising peace and safety? Where was the LORD? (Read Zephaniah 3)

Within each of our lives there is a tale of two cities. This tale is actually the story of our choices of life that can bring hope or oppression to our lives and to the lives of those with whom we daily interact. Within our hearts there is either a transforming story of a progressive desire to trust in and draw close to our God; or a decadent tale of a refusal to trust and (even in great despair ) to keep our distance from the only One that desires to save us.

Our lives can offer up a daily breath of fresh air and spark a renewed hope to those around us. But if our choices are focused solely on what we can get for ourselves, amassing the sum total of the getting for our own consumption, we become a life sucking vacuum in the lives of others. There is also an expectation to be loved by friends and family that can lead to further pressure in their lives if all we have to offer is “give me!”. The LORD can be found in the life of every city, every soul … because (as stated in II Peter 3:9) “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Where is He in your city … your life? How is He positioned to keep His promise?

In the City or the Life that is poured out solely for self-gain and self-pleasure where there is a purposeful or ignorant movement away from God, this is how He is positioned: Zephaniah 3:5 – “The just LORD is in the midst thereof; He will not do iniquity: every morning doth He bring His judgment to light, He faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame”. He is right in the midst of the oppression. He will not do wrong. He stands in all fairness as the constant reminder that He will not vary in His judgment of sin; but those who are unjust refuse to blush and refuse to let their shame turn them towards Him. A sad oppressive city!

In the City or the Life that is poured out for others, where there is a purposeful movement towards God (although there may temporal calamity and poverty because “we are in the world, not of it”), the Lord has positioned Himself to be the Rescuer, the Rejoicing Encourager, and the Joyful Singer over us... all because He is satisfied within His Love for us (John 3:16). Zephaniah 3:17 - “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing”. When the Lord is “thy God” ...He “is mighty”... “in the Midst of thee” in His daily declaration of His joy filled love for you. Such a stark contrast to His positioning in the midst of the life that chooses to be without Him. A Joyful City of Refuge!

One thing to note: There will be conflict in both cities until “The Day break and the shadows flee away”... until the Beloved Ones enter the final, eternal city of their God. If our minds are clear, none of us want conflict, but it is that “once and for all” Faith Choice in Jesus Christ as our LORD and Saviour that now has made us a target for the battering of the oppressor. If the oppressor can discourage our daily decision to live openly and joyfully in Christ's love (the only place of life changing power), then the Song of Saviour may be silenced for other war torn refugees seeking the true City of Salvation.

His Love Will Conquer All! Rest in His love, He does.

HLFA,
Jeff

Zephaniah 3:19,20 (Hang on to this vision when the going gets rough, and weep for the outcasts) - “Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth (that is lame), and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.”

This grand prophesy is for Israel, but the active daily prophetic implications are for His people who are in the conflict for the souls of men, women and children. Fight a good fight for the Souls He puts us in contact with...they are not the enemy.

Marked & Scarred - Her Tattoos Were Obvious

Marked and Scarred - Her tattoos were obviously there to cover her “cutting” because not all the scars were to be hidden. There was lifeless, monotone conversation blurting from her lips as she tried to serve me with some professionalism in her “sandwich maker” position. "Lord help her!" I cried inside of me, as I tried my hardest to bring out some color of her personality other than the shades of gray that I was experiencing. She was someone's precious daughter, someone's beautiful baby girl, possibly someone's future nurturing mother... now stripped of the color of life. "What value to you are these who have made the choice to deface their existence because of some moment of irreparable pain?" Then I saw her value beneath the shadow of Your bloody, rugged Cross. “O how extravagantly You desire to love her !”

Psalm 60 is a powerful declaration, sung from out of the total oppression borne of one because of an incurable wound, an unhealed scar. Don't pass this one by ... read it to understand; read it to reach deep into your refusal to let go of the horror and embarrassment of the moment that your soul was plundered. Let's strip away the big words and hard to pronounce names, and Devotionally let the words of the Spirit conquer the shattering, trembling world within us. Tear away the torn rags of our fading covering, and unleash the abundant life found in the liberty of love that Jesus provides for us.

{Background laid out in the first half of Psalm 60:1} The Musician must write this intensive musical composition. It must be written to ride its melody upon the former lilies, the former beauty of the Beloved... which are now indelibly stained. It is to be written so the listener can hear, understand, and learn: The Beloved, was in the midst of a battle that he should have won. The battle turns, and now the focus of the Beloved is to get away before he is totally decimated and ruined. The Battle was with emotional underground raging streams and exalted prideful displays in the midst of the conflict … the Beloved's Battle was with himself. So devastating was the moment that “Jehovah is Father” was caused to turn around and slay 11-19,000 “red”, human lives in the Valley of Salt (a place of former horrific judgment)”.

Hear the prayer of the tortured soul as written by the musician at the end of verse 1:
“ O God, Thou hast cast us off..” … we are the stench, we are the totally banished castaways! “Thou hast scattered us...” ...we are broken into, down, and through; we are forever ruined!
“Thou hast been displeased...” ...all we hear is Your hard, dis-pleasurable breathing … no comfort! “O turn Thyself to us again.”…though it feels so final, return to us again: return, return, return for us!

We all try to handle our embarrassing failings, our obvious faults, our overt shortcomings, our hindering handicaps, our viral sicknesses, our shameful sins, our indelible stains, our putrefying sores, and our distasteful scars... with some sort of self righteous cover up; while deep from within our souls there is shout against our covering lie. This is the hopeless and inaudible cry of the totally abandoned. Any violations of our dignity via another cruel human perpetrator adds even more validation to our hopeless self-depreciation that feeds into this unavoidable cry.

We pretend we are “OK” until the unseen, underground streams of spiritual antagonism churn “the Past” until these streams topple all our attempts to win the “I'm Somebody” battle. This battle stance is maintained with even more rigger when we find ourselves trying to find acceptance within the community of purported faith. Faith doesn't have to fake self righteousness, faith trusts the totally adequate covering of God's Righteousness through Christ. A community that pressures it's followers to pretend perfection is failing in its example of the Love of God. His righteousness, that exceeds all others: is freely given without regret, is superimposed upon the life that has trusted the Song of the Saviour, and allows enough room for human failing and open forgiveness. His righteousness is all that is needed for acceptance in the gatherings of the True Beloved.

Psalm 60:9 - “Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom?” Who will lead me to face me … who will bring me to face my scars? Can you answer without hesitation --- “JESUS”?
Psalm 60:11, 12 -“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He is is that shall tread down our enemies.”
The end of me is the beginning of You...Your Love Conquers All!
Thank you Jesus, my Love, my Victory!

HLFA,

Jeff