Proof

2 Kings 2:1 - "And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into Heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal." Have you read this amazing story of the home going of Elijah?

This has been a season of grief's impacts, unplanned epitaphs and tear covered obituaries among the Kingdom of men. The question seems to haunt the souls of men ... What security proof and satisfying connection is there between these sorrowful events and the provision of eternity? Or to put it simply How can we know for sure our loved one is in Heaven?... So many times I hear sorrow filled lips spout out, "well at least they are not suffering any longer" , but then I gaze into the windows of their soul and find little solace there because of that lingering question ... Can we really know for sure?..

Through some of details of the story of Elijah's departure, let me take your heart on a journey that hopefully will give us direction in our lives that enriches the few moments that we have that we call "our lives".

It was Elijah's last day! Elisha (the up and coming replacement for the office of Prophet) would stay with Elijah on Elijah's last walk. Though ridiculed by the other prophets (because everyone knew it was the day that Elijah would be taken up by God in a whirlwind), Elisha was determined not leave his master's side on his last day. At the end of this "beyond emotional" ordeal Elisha would have a "Double Dose" of Elijah's spirit for the rest of his life.

FIRST: Let's Watch the movement through the literal meaning of the names of the towns related to Elijah's last day --

1. From Gilgal (meaning "The Wheel" - the turning mechanism - the first encampment by Joshua in the promised land) There is point in all of out lives, like a crossroad, where the thought of eternity becomes a draw or desire to know - Is it real and what secures my home in Heaven -- Jesus is drawing us to Him?;

2. To Bethel (meaning "House of God" - the Place where Jacob received his new name' "Israel", after a wrestling match with the Angel of the Lord) This may be that moment where we truly try to call out to a personal God, not letting go until we know it is OK - and that encounter changes our life forever -- Jesus is securing us as His;

3. To Jericho (meaning "it's moon" - going "to the moon" could not have been any more impressive than the battle of Jericho - memories of a shout and a miraculous decent of impassible, unscalable walls -- first miraculous battle conquest in the promised land by the children of Israel ) Once we have secured that relationship through faith in Christ - we will know miracles, though some would think that we are crazy, but Jesus loves us extravagantly;

4. Then finally to the Jordan ("the Descender" - the dividing line for every conquest, this river would be where the "next" movement would happen. This little muddy stream of a river, except in flood season when it would overflow its banks, was the center of many a Bible - Change. Facing death will change every one of us ... but will we let it be a God change - For Jesus will never leave us nor abandon us.

SECOND: The Jordan -- It was so amazing that this was where the dividing would take place -- both Elijah and Elisha would experience the same miracle. With a slap of Elijah's mantel on the waters edge they would both walk a dry path across the Jordan River. Both Elijah and Elisha would be parted by a flaming Chariot. Both would be changed at that moment, but Elijah was caught up to God in a whirlwind while Elisha would walk alone with God in the days ahead with a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah(God's Spirit).

THIRD: We all will come face to face with the separation caused by death and dying. We will all experience the loss of a loved one. Many Believers and unbelievers alike will face the unavoidable appointment with death ... and there is no real comfort there, unless the Real Comforter is there. Death is real but for the believer it is just a shadow.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this ... The judgement: so Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Hebrews 9:27

Faith can be as deep as we need it or as shallow as we can handle it - but the childhood promise that can't be overdone unless it is done out of mockery or quackery stands forever to comfort us ... if we will allow it -- John 3:16 - "FOR GOD so loved the world, that HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON ... that WHOSOEVER ... BELIEVES on HIM, shall not perish, but HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." Believe on Him, JESUS.

Some will want to scrutinize faith at the most inopportune times -- like at the death of a loved one. The whispers of Hell will want to rob us of hope by throwing out death-lines of doubt causing us to question that the one that has passed was "GOOD ENOUGH?", "CLOSE ENOUGH?", "CLEAN ENOUGH?", "FORGIVEN ENOUGH?", "TRULY SAVED?" ....

Think about this nugget of faith -- "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name." John 1:11,12 ...

HEAVEN depends on the ONE

Who is good enough,

Who is close enough,

Who is clean enough

-- with Power to Forgive and Power to Save.

JESUS IS OUR ASSURANCE. JESUS IS OUR PROOF.

HLFA,

Jeff

"Jesus Wept." John 11:35 ---- This line was recorded in scripture because Jesus' tears were so different than the tears of men fake and real at the funeral of Jesus' friend Lazarus.

... If He was to look at your life ... would He find faith there or would He shed tears for His loss of you.

Look again at the picture attached --- Except you become as a little child ....Believe!!!

Brefore I Go any Further

Before I go any further I would like to thank anyone who has taken the time to allow my thoughts to walk beside your thoughts over the years( of "God's tap on my shoulder" that so soon becomes a knock at your door). For those of you who have opened the door of your heart and welcomed me into your lives...I truly am humbly privileged by your listening. Those of you who have responded back - It has been awesome to watch the growth of your love for Eternity.

Psalm 39:1-2 - "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred."

There are assumptions that I walk with God on a daily basis, truth be known - To walk with Him is my broken soul's desire. I often find myself running behind Him and when I arrive in the great congregation looking for Him, I feel so disconnected that often the "corporate worship" angers me. I want to belong just like anyone else.

I do not try to be a non-conformist, but I have found that in presenting my body as a living sacrifice - the transformation of my mind puts me somewhat out-of-sorts with the desires of the flesh. Superficial religious shows truly make me feel like someone is literally scratching the blackboard of my integrity (I just want to scream!).

Psalm 39:3-5 - "My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah."

I have learned (in this walk with the King) that I carry things from my heart to the written page that when read, cause even my eyes to glaze over... and my mind to shut down in "overload". SO many times I will sit still and not speak, though there is flood of consequential verbs flooding my soul. Where is the voice of Love when so many formerly good men and women pant like dogs in heat after strange destructive lusts, rancid addictions, and illicit affairs? Where is the voice for justice when so many die daily for faith and family at the hands of barbaric hatred? And where is the voice of compassion while human beings by the millions are force-birthed into trash cans or social exile?

Psalm 39:6-9. - "Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it."

I have learned that sometimes God keeps me quiet so that the fallen life around me becomes a mirror of who I really am ... Fragile, weak and flawed at best. Sometimes my silence brings personal repentance that also saves me from further shame and scars. If I can face the fragility of the most noble self-serving -endeavors, then the efforts of my days will focus more on things that last forever (instead of "stuff" that feeds my momentary hunger but leaves me empty in the end).

Psalm 39:10-11 - "Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah".

I truly have a tough time with a generation that hates their Fathers and a generation that does not bless their Mothers. I see red when a generation claims that they are pure, but that generation reeks with the unwashed filth of their own life choices. I ache and cry over those that display arrogant antagonism toward faith and close their eyes to any love from above. My heart burns angrily toward the generation that gets their kicks out of disqualifying and desolating the fallen and less fortunate. But how different am I than they? The only difference will be the shorter duration it takes for me to cry before my God. My actions, like so many, are apathetically hesitant.

I weep over images of those whom I know that have "moved-on" further and further into irresponsibility, never truly considering those that they have left behind... wounded by their breach. Some of these will still watch from a distance in the future, broken, as they see media images of love growing ... But Without them.

Psalm 39:12-13 - " Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more."

My prayer with this communication ...O Lord Jesus, please strengthen us as We live in the "Middle". Help us to love people and use things (not the other way around). Give us the miracle of time to redeem ... to allow Your Life and Love to be sensed by those who you bring into the path of our walk with You. Please let the impression left on those lives that You seek through us, be one that awes with the extravagance of Your Love offering through Jesus Christ, Amen.

HLFA,

Jeff

And He Called Upon

And he called upon ...

1. To put a name upon, to surname - to be given a name that intimately connects the recipient to a distinct family.

You really would not understand; neither did I ... until the Light of the True Day sliced the truth of its revealing rays right through the mirage of my life of debilitating squaller. I looked at what I had become under the scrutiny of these defining rays, and was truly appalled by the scars caused by my choices. When I was tossed like a filthy rag into the gutter of darkness, my enemy whispered that my name was "Mud". "Please, if there is a Father of Lights give me a name that connects me to more than this ruin!" And he called upon ...

2. To permit one's self to be surnamed - the will must bow and the spirit must yield to receive the eternal surname.

"Well if Mud would be my name, then I would show them what Mud was made of!" And my life became more and more disconnected until this Pure Light began touching my filthy life. Almost like a scanner from head to toe and back again, my cancerous flaws were exposed for the oozing mess that they really were. The Rays of the light seemed to carry a power within them that moved me to begin loathing what was revealed on the surface of my life. At the same time the Rays would pause to reveal the true lost condition of my heart and soul ...fear swept over my soul ... "Please, I am lost and a stranger to whoever You are ... Please reveal Your Name!" And he called upon ...

3. To be named after someone - this is the name of another that becomes the name that defines our life - who we are.

My life to date was defined by the name given by my enemy, Mud; and I am quite sure that I have been fulfilling the prophesy of that name over me. All the while it had made me a nobody with no lasting purpose, with no real power over my fall, and no strength to pull myself out. "Please, tell me your name for I am nobody desperately in need of somebody to pull me out!" And he called upon ...

4. To call out a reason for the crime and realizing the charge associated with the crime (and reproach) and summon the prosecution to lay the blame where it must rightfully fall.

The Light had performed it's perfect work, for now I stood naked, scarred, and truly alone with my name and my crime. The blame had fallen on me and I was all but undone until ... Out of the darkness of the mist of hopelessness there arose a sweet song and strange sight as my eyes were now able to see: I saw the torn image of a man being gently lowered from a cruel, rugged frame of torture and death. Those lowering Him looked my way and spoke into my soul - "He did this for your crimes, your nakedness, your scars, and your loneliness." At first I wanted to deny that I was in need as spoken to, but how foolish it is for the naked to pretend that they are clothed. So I cried out... "If this was for me, I want His Name ... Please tell me His Name!" And he called upon...

5. To call to invoke the Name as helper, witness, ultimate judge and deliverer.

The vision and words of the servants who lowered the Man...had me on my knees in a moment of surrender. With my eyes closed, I pleaded for whatever the Dead Man could offer to save me from what I had made of me. When my words ceased, near by me there was a hiss, and then a whisper that oozed out a sympathetic sounding question, "But what can a dead man do for you? ... He is dead!" Then I called upon, still I knew not whom ... "If He is dead then I must be dead too ...please tell me his Name!" And he called upon ...

    

6. To call upon by pronouncing the Name as the explanation and expression of the fact that this Living One is the Way, the Truth and the Life - there is NO OTHER way to the Father but by Him. When I opened my eyes within that moment of my fear and hopelessness - I saw a bright mist now gathering about an empty cave like tomb, and one all dressed in the pure light that had shown on me saying --" The One who you seek is not among the dead, He is Risen!" All that was within me cried out, "Please tell me His Name so that I may call upon Him!" "His Name is Jesus!"

And he called upon the Name of the Lord, Jesus!

Epikaleomai - call upon...

Romans 10:13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved."

Romans 10:14 - "How shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"

HLFA,

Jeff

Sumpascho

Sumpascho..."to suffer with because the suffering has been the same" ... Personally and private with Christ; and corporately as a people of God with Him we suffer. This creates the draw of Christ to us - through us - to Him... Related to the "similarity of Suffering!" our handicaps, scars and valleys of suffering actually make us a receptor for hope to those currently walking through suffering.

Don't get offended when you seem to be the target of someone's rage or venting --- it may be your connection to the sufferings of Christ that puts you in a unique position to minister to the "hurt". Don't become overwhelmed if the socially and physically handicapped find comfort in your presence. You may find yourself asking this stupid question - "why can't I have any normal people for friends?" Please don't you dare define normal.

So our story really begins with my head spinning from a parallel study of Romans 8 (Mercy) and Revelation 8 (God's Final Justice) and a question for God "What is in this for me?"

... Then the flood of emotion began with a memory of the sun starting to set, water balloons flying through the air and bursting against the windows of the house; as a joyful figure hobbled about the back yard --laughing uncontrollably. Though being chased by unmerciful children, who were hurling these soaker grenades at him, for the first time in a the longest time Bob felt safe and at home. He was an easy target because of his scars from birth that created his hesitant handicapped movements, but it was like he hesitated on purpose to be hit; and the explosion of the bursting projectiles seemed to scream love to his soul.

The Redding kids in their crazy play were washing Bob with safety, they were bringing him into a family. The kids never realized that just a few weeks later Bob would be missing from his stealth visit's to the Mission Chapel ... But would be found lifeless, alone and hanging in his cold apartment closet. Though it was deemed suicide -- we knew Bob's handicap all to well - he had neither the strength nor the muscular control to pull off what was told. (The world wants to wash the memory of the hurting into the sea of forgetfulness - but God Remembers).

We drove Bob home that night of the Feast of the Love Balloons, and the boys asked ... as Bob walked away from the van (waving all the way into his apartment building) - "Will we see Bob again?" They were feeling the Sumpascho ... No words could describe the unseen burden that we carried for Bob.

Backing up just a few short weeks - we (the Redding Family ... Dad, Mom and kids) got its first introduction to Bob while corralling young people into a storefront chapel for a Thursday night "yelling about Jesus" time and pizza: "Freak! Come on back and fight like a real human being, you #%&*@&* freak!" He was not hard to look at, but he tried his best to be invisible. He was physically different for sure. He had no earthly gifts to offer but his bag of dirty laundry. And when not afraid, he had such a beautiful smile that sang a strange and distant harmony with his sorrowful mysterious eyes. He didn't say a lot, but this night in particular, he huddled close to me (though a stranger) while he shook with fear. I chased away the "punks" that were threatening him, and that night he never left my side. We drove him home because of the look of terror on his face when he knew we were about to say good bye. We couldn't leave him, it was blocks to walk home alone to his apartment, and we wanted to keep Bob safe. That night the boys asked - "Do you think we will see Bob again?" Happily we did get to see Bob again and again for 6 weeks of our lives.

When the unbelievable soul shaking news of Bob's death was delivered to us a week after Bob went missing --- we cried our private tears of disbelief, and the boys asked "Do you think we will see Bob again?" In the silence after that question, we all knew Bob was finally Home ... For on that first night of Bob's hiding near us ...he heard and found the message God's Love; and with simple childlike faith trusted Jesus, becoming part of a more secure family.

If given the opportunity, we all might ask -- What happened to Bob in that closet of sorrow , why would God allow it to happen? I will leave you with this -- Jesus sweat great drops of blood in the garden for all. The Spirit of Christ makes intercession for us with "groaning that cannot be uttered". And God is touched by and touches the heart of his kids, who are willing to share in the brokenness with Him. As they suffer with the Savior, they pour out Love. - Sumpascho. Six short weeks to love.

Rom. 8:17 - "If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that ... We suffer with (Sumpascho) Him, that we may also be glorified together."

Rev. 8:13 - "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe , woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the voices of the three Angels, which are yet to sound."

Someday the "suffering with" will be over, and "alas, alas, alas" - hopelessness will take its place... O the darkness.

Reach out to rescue the fallen, bring them into the Light of Living Hope, especially in light of the hopeless future if Christ is not received.

HLFA,

Jeff