Merry Christmas 2015

Galatians 4:4 - 6 " But when the fullness of time was come, God sent for His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, Crying, Abba, Father.

"Wow! -- Here it is Christmas 2015 sitting right on our door step. The same old minions of Hell have slithered out once again to sing their songs of denial and to plant their slimy festering spores of doubt into the hearts of the double minded; but what they cannot account for is the great need of men for Everlasting Hope.

The words of the scripture above - "In the fullness of time" allows us to understand the amazing complexity of what God did so many years ago and is still doing today. Think of Hope as a massive sailing vessel that has been fortified to withstand the crashing waves of adversity, to stay refreshed in the droughts of history, and to sail through the devastatingly abrasive winds of time. This Ship was being painstakingly prepared before creation; and its Architect carefully continued building and supplying through the Fall, the Flood, and the rise and fall of Nations. The Captain, the Crew, the Cargo and time of departure was an amazingly orchestrated event that moved all men, all historical events and all Kingdoms into place to create an undeniable portal of entry for a Salvation that "whosoever believeth" would have the full security provided by the Hand of God.

Oh -- you can find the loveless heresies that float out of the stinking heart tombs of Faith Rejecters. You can trust that they have ignored the obvious in an attempt to make truth oblivious. You can hear their broken bias and their totally depraved depurative methods to oppose the obvious miracle of God. They conjure up remote erroneous historical references as their proof to stand in opposition to the greatest love story the world will ever know.

Oh how embittered these unbelieving hearts must be; and how fain their joy is in light of eternity. So much wiser they claim to be, but unlike the "Grinch who stole Christmas" -- They may never give Christmas back; they reject it and do not want it for fear that they may become as naïve and ignorant as "those truths" that they are fighting against. What a sad existence! Merry Christmas sorrowfully empty hearts!

Hey, Kids of the Father! -- Do not be shaken by the rumors of "so called scholars" ;who have squinted at gnats and swallowed camels; who have studied error until they have emptied their lives of truth ... Let your faith burn brightly from the bow of HOPE -- shining God's Salvation because of the Birth, life, death and resurrection of the One - Jesus.

Final Biblical Note:

Faith and Free Will are two amazing gifts endowed upon us from Creation. These two siblings should never have been separated, because alone they actually separate and isolate mankind from Eternal Glory ("For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God" Rom. 3:23). These two were separated at the fall, and the distance between them could only be closed by a Savior; and that Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ. The dis-connection between faith and free will can only be revived by true Spirit Birthed Son-ship.

Faith = Hebrews 11:1 - "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."

Free Will = Romans 7:19 - "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil that would not, that I do."

Reconnection = Romans 10: 9, 10 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with mouth confession is made unto salvation." and Romans 10:13 = "For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved."

Freely Receive Him and He will freely save you --- Forever!

Openly Share Him - and let others enjoy Him also - Forever!

Merry Christmas!

HLFA,

Jeff

Ask Anything!

"Ask anything..." This challenge, if given to the fearless heart of a child, would definitely encourage a response that would be shaped by the child's world of influences, but the child's imagination would be the only limit. Years and tears added to the blitzkrieg-like media assaults on this fearless heart, in many cases, has rendered it numb and dreamless. So sad ... that even in this Season of the potential culmination of millions of childhood dreams... there is a blank expression on the faces of the misdirected masses of humanity. We can't even begin to lift our disappointed hearts to expect a miracle, let alone move our lips to request one ... for the thought of one more unanswered prayer is just too painful.

BUT please don't give up ... "Behold!" (1275 verses in the Bible contain this word - "Behold" -- which means see this, don't miss this) Chapter 7 of Isaiah tells a story that parallels the emotions of many a heart today -- The days carried all sorts of tremendously horrible rumors of death and destruction.

There was a massive assault from an enemy that had absolutely no mercy... BUT In these dark war filled days of King Ahaz - God sent Isaiah to him to bring an amazingly unbelievable message of hope (one of those almost "too good to be true" event promises), AND on top of this message was an offer of a proof "sign" -- Verse 10,11 (don't miss this) "Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying --- Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above" ... Ahaz... had a heart that had been hardened by the combination of lust, sin and pride ...( like all of us )... but God still gave him an amazing opportunity for a personal connection -- the LORD himself spoke to Ahaz --- Ask anything! Ask for the earth to move, ask for the stars to dance, ask anything below or anything above... But you check out the story: Ahaz wearied the LORD with a pompous "adult-like" answer, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD".

God knew how bogus this answer was, but this offer of a sign was not going to be wasted on a moment of eternal anger, but was going to expand the scope of its offering to generations of "Believers" - those who were willing to become as little children once again by the miracle birth from above provided by a miracle birth below... AND THE SIGN WAS GIVEN: Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."Ahaz and his generation would now have to look forward in faith for an event to come, just as we have to look back in faith to an event that happened. The key at this juncture of our history is to BEHOLD -- BELIEVE-- and LIVE!

Every Christmas season has the drone of the discord of selfish temporal gathering, while the song of Emmanuel still sends out its pure sweet eternal refrain. Every generation has the opportunity to reverberate the sound or resist the sound. LET US REVERBRATE THE MESSAGE!

"Merry Christmas!" - The war cry of those who have brought their sin and shame to Him to find full cleansing and restoration because of the "Sign".

"Merry Christmas!" - The heart cry of "hopeful reciprocation" from the "seekers" who are taking the risk to be associated with the "Sign".

"Merry Christmas!" - The greeting of those in agreement with God as to the fulfillment of the "Sign" that causes such celebration.

"Merry Christmas! - The challenge to all to "Ask Anything!" God's Promises are not too good to be true ... God's promises are true.

Behold Jesus in this hour of great need.

Behold - do not miss this opportunity.

"Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night, O night divine!

O night, O Holy Night, O night divine!

Did you know that the words to "O Holy Night" were written by a Wine Seller by trade? Though Actually not the most noble of trades, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure (1847), being challenged to write a poem for Christmas by his parish priest(though he himself was not a church goer), upon looking at the Luke 2 - and the Christmas "Sign" again -- He wrote words that still stir our hearts today.

OK, it is in our hands once again -- Here is the Christmas Choice: 

Stay anesthetized by our sin, shame and unbelief;

or BEHOLD!!!

Ask Anything!

HLFA -

Merry Christmas!

Jeff

Emergency Exit UP

Strange sight (probably just to me)...as I was on an airport shuttle on my way to a rental car facility, I noticed that directly above where I was sitting there was an emergency exit hatch. I had to catch a picture of this because at first it made me chuckle ..."Emergency Exit...Up?" ..."Use in case of a trumpet sound ... Cool!" With the click of the phone on my camera it went into digital memory and out of mind. All it took was One incoming personal phone call of worldly trouble, (that literally opened the flood gates of the heart through my eyes) and I was crying for a Heavenly escape hatch.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man, but GOD IS FAITHFUL, He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it." I Corinthians 10:13 

The phone receiver to my ear had me groping for some Words from the Father. I just wanted to find a strategic place to nail in a rescue karabiner, to hook and to secure a life-line to and through an emergency exit. Oh the cruelties that can be hidden in the heart. A heart that was meant to be the reserve for multidirectional love. A heart that could be reached by the Spirit of God to be challenged to great acts of compassion and kindness. Without an emergency exit UP, a heart felt trapped and abandoned will lash out at those who just happen to be in the way at that moment in time. Anger (which is only one letter short of Danger) loosens the very fires of Hell because of the flawed bridle placed on the tongue. The biggest temptation in life is to justify our existence out of anger, and then from that trench of destruction, verbally abuse the lives of others "because they had it coming" or "I'm not gonna take it anymore" or "I'm in a bad mood"..

"But will with the temptation make a way to escape" - As the flames begin to burn inside... in the smoke of self-justified, so called, righteous indignation, sitting next to each other is my Sin and my Escape. Their difference is so obvious that a child can figure out which to choose. Let's take a breath ... look at them ... and then choose wisely the way of escape; because it is the Way that leads to life ("For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 6:23). Choosing to turn from your Sin is the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. There they sit "Hate" and "Love". Breathe ... Look carefully ... choose LOVE. The Father chose love. The Son chose love. The Spirit chooses love. The choice of Hate may give you a momentary feeling of victory, but when you turn and look...you will see the carnage left behind when you unknowingly beat and crucified Love.

Christ's cross was not only the mark on the planet that frees trusting humanity from the ravages of eternal Hell, but look carefully at Jesus' sacrifice: The cruel cross is a display of what the choice of sin really looks like, and how devastating it truly is. Christ became sin for us on the cross that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. Although the words of Christ from the cross ( written below) have deep connective meaning - the face value of these words place a different spin on the reality of sins devastation:

"My God, my God, why has though forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1) - The Choice of sin will make us feel abandoned by God.

"Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) - The Choice of Sin will make us feel others can be forgiven but not us.

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43) - The choice of sin will make us feel we deserve death today ("It would be better for everyone if I was dead").

“Woman, behold thy son!” and “son behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27) - Sin will turn our loved ones over to others to care for them.

“I thirst!” (John 19:28) - Sin never satisfies, it always leaves us thirsty.

“Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46) - Sin will cause us to give up.

“It is finished!" (John 19:30) - Sin will convince us that there is no hope, the only victory is to give up... don't even try to make it right.

None of Christ's wounds on the Cross were self inflicted but examine the wounds and the placement of them for a further sense of Sin's devastation: The Crown of Thorns -- sin's reign of physical and mental anguish. The Beating - sin scars beyond recognition. The Nails - hands and feet that will never feel soundness again. The Pierced Side - a broken heart. BUT BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S RESURECTION WE CAN BE RESTORED AND WE CAN BE USEFUL AGAIN --- BUT WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

Today we may be sitting at anger's crossroad and there are two phantoms pleading with us to go their way - HATE and LOVE. Hate will lead us to sin, but love will lead us to the Cross.

Breathe - take a good look at the Cross - and choose love!

"Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Eph. 4:32

Love - God's Emergency Escape - UP!

Don't hesitate - Choose love!

HLFA,

Jeff

May 1984 - Chorus from "Little Child"

"Little Child, with the heart to please the Father.

Little Child, wanting so to be loved.

Was it that your heart --- was made to be broken.

Was it that your eyes --- were for tears and not joy, and not joy ... and not joy?"