His Presense

Psalm 81:8 - 9 "Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god."

When will we ever get it?

Read the verses above ---For the sake of reading in context and with continuity, I took liberty to join them together as they were meant to be read, regardless of the scowl that I get sometimes from those more terse in their interpretation of God's Word. Verse 9 gives an eternally soul ringing command if left to itself; and if it is left by itself we may be left with a "how in the world?" BUT reading the essentials that are found in verse 8 gives us the relief, and God's personal "come along side of" coaching in the "How to!" "IF THOU WILT HEARKEN UNTO ME" ...Don't isolate the command as your duty alone, see it for what it truly is "If" we Hearken, Listen to the Voice of God - His Voice will fan love's fire and keep us alive and away from the addictions that stem from idolatrous relationships.The potential to obey is found in the desire to listen to the Voice of God.

Just a few days shy of 40 years ago, a young broken hearted couple stood amidst: the birth of a beautiful baby boy with grave physical issue, the choices of "Medical non-practice" (actually "Euthanize by closing our eyes") and "Choose Life", the distance between our Newlywed apartment Chambersburg, PA and Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, IL, and the stress of trying to make sense out of an event that made no sense ---

Let's do the Math:

1. Saved and sold out to ministry.

2. Leaving Family and Friends in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

3. Moving hundreds of miles from home to get a Bible Education via the "call of God".

4. Trusting God fully for the provisions to move 590 miles from home --(no job, no apartment, no idea except -- going to Bible College).

5. Secretly Expecting our first child. God worked out everything --

We left with a $300.00 gift from a very special close friend, and God directed our steps and provided for our needs ... Right up to the moment of the birth and delivery of our first son, Justin. That was when our world of Faith was turned upside down.

Up to that moment we had learned that God could be trusted for provisions, but at that juncture where Eternity reached into our trembling temporal existence, we learned in an undeniable way that His Personal Presence would be there for us in times that were way beyond our capacity to cope.

Not to minimize the emotions and the scars on our fragility, but 40 years has not washed away what we needed most in that moment - WE NEEDED HIM. AND HE WAS THERE. Although Death is but a shadow, it was a real threat ... we needed Him close in the lonely hours of empty arms, in the valley of unfamiliar decisions, and sorrowfully ... in the planting of our son in the safekeeping of the Love of our God. And the young couple stood by the tiny gravesite ... supported by His Presence, because He literally wrapped His arms around them.

Sin separates and idolatry isolates us from the plans, the provisions, and the presence of God. Here is the RUB -- IF we pay attention and stay tuned to His Heart's Messages to us from His Word - There is no permanent "For Sale" space in our lives for strange gods. And when we are in tune to the fullness of the extravagance of the Voice of Christ's LOVE for us, worship given to any other stranger is not a palatable nor viable option.

Sorry to repeat this but there are some that may read this far and still have not caught it -- still legalistic in the responses connected to Eternity!

- Obedience without love is always looking for loop holes to disobey in secrecy.

- Obedience without love sees only oppression and control that invades the "My Way".

- Obedience without Love will be swallowed by bitterness because it's motivation is only fear, guilt, and regret.

If the only support for love is the empty hope and promises of man, love will soon be swallowed up in the choices led by the festering infection of the self fulfillment of unbridled lust. Give loving attention to His Voice in the Word of God, the Scriptures ... And HE will fill up the void of your soul that could make place for strange gods. Give loving attention to His Voice in the Word of God, the Scriptures ... And worshipful love from and for God will allow no room for idols.

Do you get it yet --- maybe?

Try this (every day)Claim a fresh start right now by spending a few personal moments with the Father in the Word and in prayer to begin "daily" rekindling the Love relationship that He desires with us. Let His Love grow in us as the Word begins to have its perfect work in us ...loving us into a joyful obedience of eternity.

Justin ... We will see you on the other side, thanks to Jesus!

He has Promised!

HLFA,

Jeff

Fragile

There once was a fragile soul that was seeking the truth with all of the soul's tender heart. The soul felt that it had heard the Heart of God in the words of scripture. The soul sensed that God was speaking healing into its life; but then a well meaning "older and wiser" more studious Saint enlightened the searching soul to the fact that it was presumptuous of one to assume that God would personally speak to us ...affirming "that the scripture is not any personal interpretation." This strong inference that God would not personally care for "one" caused the tenderhearted soul to fade into the darkness in great sorrow.

O the shame of those embittered by the winds of adversity and doubt to infuse their root of bitterness into the life of a tender hearted seeker.

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our LORD Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty." Quote by the former fisherman Peter (2 Peter 1:16)

Itching ears, curious minds ... Hungering to be the first to a new truth, have unknowingly taken the lead in creating disaster for those less diligent to search and those bent to believe a lie. Their never ending, dead-end search has been for the secret darkened pathways that have been cunningly devised by other bereaved by disappointment ... who in every generation have moved off of the eternally laid and solidly sure "highway" that leads to the vanishing point. (There is a way that seems right unto a man but the end thereof is the ways of death.) This Most Sure Highway (that these curiosity seekers have stepped aside from or avoided altogether) was not devised by cunningly sculpted fables that do nothing but cause the curious to err from the Words of Eternity, but this Most Sure Highway has been brightly lit with the blood of The Savior, the power of His Spirit, and the truth of the eternal Word of God.

Within the dawn's early light of the Garden - a diversion was already being slithered out to purposely lay the pathway of doubt for all who would question the creator and distort the purpose of His creation. "God hath not said?" - would find its way into the hearts of fallen men; and many would be enticed by the mystery of the fragments of the sparkling serpentine scales left in the wake of this original "turn away".

"We have also a more sure word of prophesy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophesy of scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophesy in old time came not by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:19-21

Oh "older and wiser" more seasoned veteran of doubt --- here is what scripture really says to the Tender Heart -- "Have great confidence and consolation, knowing that scripture was not a private earthly human venture in its loosing on the hearts of man kind; It was not willed nor guarded by faulty human intellect in its revelation...BUT distinctly different Men "set apart" in their desire for God, Spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They were used to be the voice of God to the heart man.

Honor God, give Him the glory by allowing all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your spirit, and all of your strength to Love Him and acknowledge Him in His extravagant love for you.

Happy Father's day to those Fathers how daily seek God and Know Him,

HLFA,

Jeff

YES - God does personally speak LOVE to His kids ... Be still and listen!

Air Brushed Out

During a re-acquaintance of a dear friend, Steve, this week; we were able to share humorous stories back n' forth. As you know me, even a bit of humor may carry a "gold nugget life lesson" hidden within it. (By permission to obliterate his tale by virtue of the re-telling)His story began with the reintroduction of his autistic daughter, Shannon, (who is now 40 and still the same little girl in her mind) and her ability to make life amazingly focused and full of value. And now to Steve's story:

A farmer that lived near Steve and his family decided to give them 2 little kittens (like all good farmers are willing to do)... and of course Steve's daughter, Shannon,  welcomed the little fur balls into the family and even named them -- one she named "Donut" and the other she named "Hot Turkey Sandwich". Neither cat had the characteristics of the foods by which they were named ... but those just happened to be Shannon's favorite foods.

Within a short period of time Donut was just gone...not there anymore so the focus now was to love and care for "Hot Turkey Sandwich". One day "Hot Turkey Sandwich" went missing also. The family looked everywhere to no avail, but the mystery remained on their minds.

Some time later the most curious event took place: There was a knock on the door of the family's house. Upon opening the door, there stood a smiling salesman who immediately jumped into his pitch for his unique product - Aerial Photos of "Your beautiful Home" ... "which can be purchased as individual photos for sharing with family and friends up to sizes that were frame worthy" - and he produced a beautiful (Possibly) 11 x 14 full color, almost painting like finish of the property.

Steve was aghast and quite humored by the detail of the photo and asked the Salesman to hold it right there... for he wanted to get his wife. The anxious salesman (probably feeling that he had done a marvelous job of selling the product, was just about to close the deal) eagerly encouraged Steve to go get his wife. Steve, trying very hard to hold back his laughter that was about to roar forth like a might wind ripping though a forest tree line, brought his wife to the door to see the photo.

Without even directing her eyes to what he saw ...Steve said, "What do you think honey?" ... immediately her eyes were drawn to an image captured at the end of their driveway. Low and behold, the timing of the aerial photographer had recorded an event that was unseen by the family, and opened the discovery to the key to the mystery of missing "Hot Turkey Sandwich". There captured in beautiful panoramic color that could be posted in the finest National Art Gallery was a flattened "Hot Turkey Sandwich".

Steve's wife saw the flattened cat immediately ..."Oh my, so sad, so that's what happened to our cat." Without even a flinch of sympathy the salesman looked quickly at that detail of the picture and immediately retorted, "We can air brush that out for you!" WOW - that sure clinched that sale ... NOT!!!

But think about that for a moment ... "We can airbrush that" out of your life. What tools we have in our armada to do small and great cover ups in our day and age! In fact, the faster we race on into technological oblivion with years flashing by like seconds, we get better and better at leaving gold in the after burn of our need to appear OK. Transparency, although touted as a characteristic of a good leader, is really rough on the pride of most individuals trying to lead organizations , let alone there own families. Faking it will not cut it, but here is the reflex we need to develop to be victors in this present life: Psalm 71:1,2

"In Thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: --- Trusting our strength is a recipe for failure.

let me never be put to confusion. --- He can and will help us sustain our sanity.

Deliver me in Thy righteousness, --- We can count on Him because of His Righteousness... not ours. and cause me to escape: --- His escape plan never involves life threatening addictions.

incline Thine ear unto me, --- Call on Him, He is inclined to listen because of His love for us.

and save me." --- Any other deliverance is not complete enough for out fragile humanness ---

Only Jesus Can Save us! 

NOW ---Today!  The air brush is not an option --- We live in a frail estate of human affairs in which we precariously hang on the edge of eternity. With His Spirt indwelling and leading in the life of "we as believers", we now find that "All things work together for good to them that love God and who are "the called" according to His purpose."

All things --- All people --- all events --- all joys --- all heartbreaks --- should never come under the decision to airbrush them out of the full purposes of the Divine. All is key to the ever endearing of God to us and us to God.

As crazy as it was - "Hot Turkey Sandwich" was part of the lives of a family, and the dramatic answer to the mystery of a cat's disappearance will now be indelibly etched in the minds of the family. Steve can look back with humor, but with events like these engraved in his memory , he will never deny the care of Almighty God.

If an aerial photographer can catch that moment ... then there is no doubt that the God that sees the sparrow fall also knows all of the needs of the heart.

No apologies but this life needs no air brush only an uninhibited heart full of the awe for God and an unbridled tongue filled with the praises of GOD who loves us with an everlasting love.

Psalm 71:14 - "I will hope continually, and will yet praise Thee more and more."

HLFA,

Jeff

Messiah Complex

It is so hard to describe what was actually going on. There was a panic in my heart; my life was out of kilter; I was very easily distracted by unrequited desires ... something wasn't quite right. Leaving my comfortable position among the western world success syndrome, I tried to rise above the amassed pile of "needed and wanted things" to get some fresh perspective, only to immediately discover that a raging vertigo had set its course in my soul's equilibrium.

Rise up to walk and fall ... was not an option; knowing the precarious nature of the path I was needing to take, I decided to crawl to the silent dark mirror to try to get a clue. As I turned the unread pages of the mirror, the fogged image seen in its leaves appeared to have sweat dripping from every pore of its eternal existence. For a moment I saw a tinge of Crimson color mingling within the mixture of perspiration, and small dog-like hellish beings lapping at the moisture with an intense effort to drain my existence dry. The closer I looked these beings looked like me?

With an urgency that was one notch above panic, I threw open the medicine cabinet door and riffled through the contents. Pain killers, anti-everything's, Vitamin A, Vitamin B 12, B-Complex, Vitamins A-Z, on and on until my eyes fixed on a strange looking container with a coarsely hand written label that read - "Messiah Complex". Could this be the pill to cure this illness that had dislocated my sense of balance? It seemed that all that was needed to be done was to unscrew the cap, swallow the pill, and all that I was experiencing would vanish as a cruel distant memory.

There seemed to be ample supply by a discerning shake of the container. Even the lid on the "Messiah Complex" came off with a simple twist; but upon closer examination the jar was empty. Alas ... Hope is lost?

Why is it that we so soon rush to treat symptoms and stumble over the root cause? "Instant" is what we seek even though the dreaded symptoms did not happen in an instant. The symptoms came about by a long practice of looking away from the mirror, giving into the "world" of distractions, harboring resentment of others, guarding old wounds, despising Heavenly options, fearing spiritual appointments, hating God's people, and reflexively shutting down any communication from above.

We medicate the unbreakable chains and stains, but our Savior wants to heal us from within by removing us from the stench of the death blow of sin and replacing it with the sweet smelling savor of Grace.

Hear why Jesus Came ... from the words of Eternity - shouting out from the pages of the Mirror. 

From the Prophet - "The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because He hath anointed Me to preach glad tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim Liberty unto the captives, and the opening of prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that morn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, thee planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified:" Isaiah 61:1-3

And from His lips - "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy; but I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

Rejoice if you went to the medicine cabinet and found that the "Messiah Complex" bottle was empty, "Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because HE HATH POURED OUT HIS SOUL unto death; and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Isaiah 53:12

Now -let's read the pages of the mirror, listen to the Spirit,  sing the songs of Zion,  and love the people of God; and hate the sin that so easily besets us and keeps us from knowing Him more!!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in his wonderful face,

And the things of Earth

Will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and Grace.

HLFA,

Jeff