Before the Door

There before me was "The Door". I knew that upon opening it there would be no turning back. This was not the first time, nor would it be the last time that I would find myself here with great heaviness. So I stood momentarily, clenching the Love Letter close to my breast.

Be it known, this Door was not a barrier like fear that can paralyze me and keep me from moving forward. Nor would it cause me to hesitate because of a negative prophecy that I potentially could be carrying on my fragile shoulders. For daily, and many times, I would race to "The Door", burst right in, and climb into the Daddy Chair without even a jot of inhibition. "The Door" was a moment, a breath, a transition point that reminded me that not only did I have full access to what was beyond, but that when the door was closed behind me it would be just me and Our Pater (Father).

Here I was again ... no guarded feelings, no words reserved in caution. Here I was with the opportunity within my grasp to be loved extravagantly by the LORD of all Eternity; for He is my Father.

As I paused, I pulled the Love Letter away from my tight grasp and looked once more at His Words. {Please understand, I was in great duress. My life, as I knew it, was being ripped to shreds because of facial expressions, words, feelings, current events, suspicions, body language, past memories, and fear of a cursed and wretched future. The events of my current living were almost too oppressive to bear. They were like riding an unending nightmare of a rollercoaster with no way to get off.}

As I read over My Father's written words, I could hear His Voice saying, "Don't talk to me like you are an outsider or an outcast throwing useless accolades and oppressive psycho-babble my way... I am your Father." Wow! I almost stepped into that one because the events of my life had caused me to question if I even belonged to Daddy. Now my heart was settled enough to read on and let Him establish my thoughts ... Here is His outline to keep me on track before I moved through the door:

"Our Father, who art in Heaven" - I do belong to you and your influence is above me.
"Hallowed be Thy Name" - I can be still, because even at the sound of your Name I am in awe of how You are so wonderfully different than All of your creation.
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" - Your pattern of Love from Above is your desired pattern for Love Here Below; and you will have your desire... And your desire is me.
"Give us this day our daily bread" - First steps to living here below is to trust You with our daily needs, You will provide and You have provided.
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" - Forgiveness is to be our mode of operandi, not an oppressive lifestyle of keeping the books for repay or retribution.

HOLD ON! Wow!! I had to stop here because this is where I needed to start. I was not planning to forgive, and it was seriously affecting my view of the Father's forgiveness of me. Now I can claim what is ahead in the Love Letter "knowing" He will take care of me.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil" - Father, You don't want to just be there bearing us as we crawl helplessly in our own strength through trials and troubles, but You want to rescue us from the divisive impact and oppressive addictions that can cling to our lives when "trusting You" is out of our focus.
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever... Amen!"

Forgive me Father, for I lost sight of the fact that this whole life is so much bigger than me, but Your care for me comes from Your Unfailing Love that always welcomes me in with everything You are and all You have to offer...
O sweet eternity, kiss this fragile and broken time with hope from the Father, to keep me on my way until I am finally Home with Him, forever.

I pushed, The Door opened, and I raced into the arms of Our Father, He was there for me.
He is there for you!
Come to Him!

HLFA,

Jeff

Ref: Matthew 6:7-15

Beyond Our Wildest Dreams

Small children dream, and play. Teens dream, and play harder. College and Career age are taught that if there are no steps to a goal it is just a dream?? "What's up with that? Young adults put the dream on a "post-it note", and look at it from time to time. Young married couples try to merge and nurture each others dreams, until the "little one" arrives; and then the dreams may get transferred to the little one.
 
Empty nesters once again try to travel back in time and find the starting point of the dream, and then assemble the pieces that might have been collected on the way ... in an attempt for full re-assembly. The elderly shut in - has the dream in a frame and with eyes closed, sojourns in what ever "mind dimensional" direction sleep brings. LIFE is rarely what we dream, but that doesn't mean we can't live to the fullest in the moment and live a life beyond our wildest dreams.
 
BUT here is the secret if you can hear the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 63:1,2,3: 
"O God, Thou art my God ...early will I seek Thee:" (Knowing Him can cause a gnawing desire to seek Him ... first thing, early, before and because:)
"My Soul thirst for Thee," ( "My Soul" - Self needs Identity . Life needs Breath. The creature needs Creation. A person needs Purpose. An appetite needs Fulfillment. A mind needs Understanding. A living being needs a Validated Life. Desire needs Focus. Emotion needs Direction. Passion needs Love. Thirsting after God, brings it all ... and causes more thirst.)
 "My flesh longeth Thee," (This temporary fleshy body that we get to dwell in, has a longing to put on something more than fatigue, pain, hunger, sweat, dirt, tears, age, impatience, anger, worry, etc... God has caused us to long for Him. Seeking Him early satisfies the longing of the Flesh because He is the MORE that we long for."
"In a dry and thirsty land where no water is." (The need for Him becomes even more intense as we continue on our journey through this dry and water draining land. For what is your life - without Him - it is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.)
 
"O God, Thou art my God ... early will I seek Thee" Why? ...
"To see Thy power, and Thy glory, so as I seen Thee in the sanctuary." ( You will know that the dream is drawing closer as you find the most desired and precious time in this world is when you spend time alone with Him - in your sanctuary. Early you will be caused to desire to seek Him and you can experience His awesome strength and abundance to take care of you.)
 
 "O God, Thou art my God ... early will I seek Thee" Why? ... because there I find Thy Grace ... "Because Thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee." (And there I truly learn to praise Thee, because beyond my wildest dreams is His loving kindness and it carries me way beyond this life!)
 
  Dream early, dream daily, before the Almighty; commit your way unto Him, He will cause you to dream , and He shall bring it to pass.
 
 Early will I seek Thee!
 
  HLFA,
 
  Jeff
 
  Take time to remember - Memorial Day 2015

Peeking Through The Wall

This may not seem to fit what comes next but it needs to be carried through to the end of this devotion... How do you value others?

Awake my love - Come into the Garden of the Redeemer. As the hedge is pulled aside you will find a wonder. There is a Scarlet Worm that has stretched herself out and attached herself to a tree. She will never leave that tree alive. As she attaches herself to the tree she gives her life in the birthing of her young.

Once the birthing process is complete, she continues to be the protective covering for the newly birthed larva. As her life drains from her, a costly scarlet flow secretes from her body that hides her young as they begin their cycle of life. O the amazing images that we can find in the Garden of the Redeemer to keep our hearts close to His and His to us.

But my eyes kept straying toward the Western Gate, where the sun seemed to be forever setting. As my eyes strayed, so my body wandered; and there I would find ... "the Wilderness". God knows that our lives are either spent wandering in the wilderness or in fighting the battle of the land(or so some of us have been told). In the Wilderness God offers reminders of His provision -- Isaiah 41:19-20 – “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.”

My first glance was the planting of trees and the setting in place of other trees ...trees - trees - trees! What is in this planting of trees that can cause me to see, to know, to consider, to to understand that the Hand of the LORD has done this? Done what? The death ... the burial ... the resurrection - year after year in its season.

Day after day the provision that extends because of Our Scarlet Worm's sacrifice. Think upon each tree and watch Him plant and place the provisions into our lives as His Desire.
  
The Cedar - "Strength" - Courage for the Soul,
The Shittah Tree - "Scourging" - Discipline
The Myrtle - "Sweetness" - Shelter/Home
The Oil Tree - "Security" - Anointing/Position.
The Fir Tree - "Stateliness" - Royal Access to the Throne Room
The Pine - "Strength" - Fortitude for the Body
The Box Tree - "Straighten" - Direction - purpose.

All these are pictures of the provisions of God in the Wilderness. Not just seeing these trees in the Wilderness - but knowing their symbolic connection, considering and understanding that these are there by the Hand of God.

This life is not just a "hit and miss" timeline of disconnected events. This life is meant to be a Walk with the King. This life is meant to be a blessing vertically and horizontally. A life of daily, Heavenly provision of which His kids are partakers and distributors.

What wrong do you commit in imagining and believing that God is in this for your good and for His glory? Trees - Trees - Trees! All pouring provision and praising ... of the tree that Jesus died on for you and me. Partaking of these provisions will change you and the way you look at others – everyone’s value will be weighed in the fact that they are souls for whom Christ Died.

Can’t see it yet? --- Look to the trees in the Wilderness!

HLFA,

Jeff

Watch Your Step

Stress - Frustration - No one to help - No one really listens, and even if they do...it is just another conversation with no real solutions. WATCH YOUR STEP! In my analysis of most human stress filled situations; going to God for help is definitely not a reflex; and many times it is way down on the list of options especially when we are under the gun. Even when positioning ourselves as a receptor of the burdens of another ... just watch the reaction to - "Have you prayed about it?". What is that look you get? and what does "Yeah but" mean? YEAH BUT --- WATCH YOUR STEP!

YEAH BUT - There are a multitude of excuses/reasons that we don't go to God immediately with our "issues". AND if we were to take the time to analyze the excuses/reasons ... they would all funnel into the realm of "fear of the Unknown that is involved in trusting the Unseen." My heart aches for this generation because of the speed and ease accessibility to information and resources. Easy button answers and plastic card solutions many times cause us to sacrifice our future on the altar of the immediate. Their ease of access have taken the place of waiting, working, and saving... "I want it NOW and deserve it NOW" seems to be the perspective of this entitlement generation. Patience and trust is an archaic notion, so with the abandonment of these Godly attributes, God is no longer an option because we may have to wait and have faith... and that is not fair!

Someone lied to me and told me "It is an unhealthy obsession to always talk about God". "People who have a fixation on the Voice of God all the time, may be on the verge of a mental illness." Although I don't believe this, it has made me self-conscious of my God Talk and it has dampened the courage that I should have. We are not odd-balls because we believe - it actually talks more denial of reality to not believe.

Psalm 29 has been shouting through my soul all this week (I am enjoying my "illness") ... I have sent it on to more than a few people because of its focus -- The Voice of God, and mans need for Real Strength and effectual Peace that can only come from the Voice of the LORD.

Psalm 29:1,2 - "Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due His Name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." In what ever area of life that you have conquered and feel self-sufficient ... this is the area that you must watch your step -- ascribe all the glory and honor of any of your earthly success to Him.

Vs. 3 - The Voice of the Lord is the Stabilizer over the uncontrollable depth of the oceans...it thunders above in the uncontrollable depths of the vast sky above. He is upon the many waters. Trust Him with the uncontrollable depths of your life.

Vs. 4 - "The Voice of the Lord is powerful" - strength and power in your life., it is the royal adornment that is "full of majesty" and splendor...The voice of the Lord is the desired adornment.

Vs. 5 - "The Voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." His Voice is the only thing that can break through Pride - we need Him to break the pride of our personal purity that conflicts with trusting His purity.

Vs. 6 - "He maketh them to skip like a calf; Lebanon (Whiteness) and Sirion (Breastplate) like a young unicorn." This is amazing when you get the picture of destructive pride, dancing away like the young playful animals of the field.

Vs. 7 - "The Voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire." Get this hidden gold: Like the skilled builder of noble palaces, His Voice will dig, cleave, hew, cut out, dig out, cut down, quarry, line up, and engrave His Name on the turmoil, the burning, and the testing in our lives to present us as a beautiful habitation for His Presence. God empowers those who hear His Voice in the flames of life.

Vs. 8 - "The Voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh (Holy)" - Some times our personal holiness puts us in a wilderness of uselessness, His Voice will drive you out of that wilderness -- but it may be painful, hypocrite (oops - any time our trying to be holy eclipses God's Holiness, we have created an embarrasing blindside in our lives!)

Vs. 9 - "The Voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovers the forests: and in His Temple every one speak of His Glory." New Birth, New Truths, and glorious conversations among those in His temple ... are all brought to you "by the Voice of the LORD".

Vs. 10 - "The LORD sitteth on the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King forever." Challenge Him and face the flood; or be challenged to be changed by Him and bow before the King of Glory.

Vs. 11 - "The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace." Constantly given Strength and continually being blessed with Peace ... O we need these especially when at the end of our resources.

Understand and trust this: God's intense endeavor to give us these is intentional, continual, powerful, and personal ...

WATCH YOUR STEP,

and HEAR HIS VOICE.

and Live!
 
HLFA,

Jeff