RISK

There is a risk that we could take (or is there?) ... A risk that could place us even more strategically among the fragility of mankind ... A risk, as it would be,to be totally engaged in the mysterious conquest for the Kingdom.

The risk would not be to flood a digital social media site with pictures of creation (which is a pretty cool idea), but to reveal the Creator at every encounter of life. The goal of the risk:  To live loudly, compassionately and appropriately always revealing what He truly means to us in the NOW of our lives,  while bringing Christ into every moment, every human interaction, every venture, every proposal, every acquisition and every expenditure of life. The Premise of the Risk: Truly unveil the Hope of Glory that dwells within us unashamedly amidst a potentially antagonistic reception.

The Solitary Life, Sacrificial Death, Victorious Resurrection and Soon Return of Jesus Christ has never been a "politically correct" subject among the ruling class of nations, nor an openly received topic in the market place of daily blue collar interaction. Why? In these anger and apathy festering "last days", open wickedness is encouraged by the spirit of Anti-Christ and cruelty is rewarded by God haters. Even those in legal counseling positions advise public leaders to not pray before meetings, nor embrace their faith openly in business settings, nor impress their faith upon subordinates for fear of unnecessary lawsuits .

At ground zero for faith interaction, We have been terrified by some unseen threat behind the age-old smug statement "Two things we never discuss - religion and politics!" These two engaging entry ways to philosophical battle grounds have been the source of engaging change for centuries. To avoid the discussion of either is to become a mute drone or to commit intellectual suicide.

Mark 8:36,37 - "For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Our value system, since the fall of man, hesitates to answer these two rhetorical questions with the obvious "NOTHING!", because the grip of our flesh on "things" ,that briefly satisfy, is almost like the rigor mortis grip of the dead. It can be broken but many times not without something else breaking. There is a flip side to this verse - "For what shall it profit a man if he lose the whole world and gain his own soul; or what shall a man gain in exchange for the world? -- the rhetorical answer EVERYTHING.

Get this vision in front of your life and reckon the eternal value that Jesus has placed on your life: Isaiah 52:10, 14 - "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.... And as many were astonished at Thee, His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Yes the sacrifice of Jesus for us was an eternally catastrophic "visage marring" event that changed the course of the relationship between God and men ... The horror of that moment on the Cross can rescue a receptive soul from the horror of the continual eternal marring of Hell.

Would God do this for me?

YES...

so is there really a risk to totally committing our daily lives to the fullness of His LOVE?

NO.

So live!

HLFA,

Jeff

Wait-less Vision

Limited Vision? Why is that we squint when we are trying to hear something better?

Going through an intersection, just outside of Greensboro, NC on Rt. 220, a car directly behind me (a small profile car with limited view around me and of the road ahead of me), started laying on his horn because it appeared that I was not moving fast enough. Problem; his vision did not allow him to see the car directly in front of me nor the string of cars ahead that literally had a line-up that stretched ahead of us more than a mile or two long ... due to construction.

As we moved ahead, the road briefly opened to the right of us and he raced his engine to go around the right of me to gain a better position ... right in front of me (I made the space for him so that he did not end up headlong into a concrete construction barrier .. wow!! He truly made dramatic progress.). If had hadn't allowed him the space to get in front of me he might have faced greater devastation than bearing impatience. The reality was that he was now in the same delayed position, just ahead of me, and behind an larger vehicle than mine. Aren't we all much like this when our focus is getting there instead focusing on the One who forges the road ahead of us.

Psalm 25:5 - "Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art The God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day." Here is a great formula to start a day, a week, a moment ... a journey : Developing a daily reflex to desire to follow His Leading, (He desires to teach us His Truth)and then living every day - all day -  in the expectation of His personal tutoring.

And why would we assume that He would do this? Here is a very valuable truth to get a hold of ..."Thou art the God of my Salvation ... my total moment by moment Deliverance!"

When we have abandoned our faith to the finished work of the Cross of Jesus for our eternal rescue and reclamation, God not only declares us righteous for all generations, but He molds and makes us to be less and less like the world and more and more like Him with ever step of our existence on this side of Heaven. In final deliverance from this temporal existence, we are fully passed from any hint of Hell (total separation from life) unto an eternal absolutely fulfilling life in Heaven ... forever with Him.

- Why is it that His Truth is not embraced daily to help us get our bearings for one more day?

- Why ... out of all the relationships that could be cultivated for our total benefit that The Key Relationship is given the least attention?

- Why is it that of all people that could live victorious, we are pulled down by gravity most?

- Why do we let disappointments from the past hunt us down and continue to blur any vision of hope and success for our future?

- Why do we feel that God would only give us seconds, scraps, and crumbs instead trusting His love for us with His abundant availability to offer us the best?

While we live in the squander and the feces of our own perceived failure and rejection of ourselves - He waits for our slightest turn of hope, so that He can rush in and open the resources of eternity to us.

STOP WHERE WE ARE, JUST AS WE ARE and realize NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME ... NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! In our frustration to push ahead, to get our own way ... because the person in front of us is blocking the way ... we are missing the gift of "Waiting".

Is it BECAUSE we have not yet learned to wait on Him? Why are we so afraid to wait on Him? Could waiting on God, who holds time and eternity, be a waste of time (Never we say?)? ... While we wait ...Are we willing to listen? If we are listening, do we truly hear? If we have the opportunity to hear ...what do we truly want to hear? What do you desire for Him to say to you?

Psalm 27:14 - "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Brokenhearted? Need courage and strength - "I Am" your courage and strength.

Psalm 37: 7 - "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him that prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." Troubled by the pressures of the present world? Look no further - "I AM" your rest, trust what I will give you.

Psalm 37:9 - "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth." Tempted to be like everyone else? "I AM" your inheritance.

Psalm 130:5 - "I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope." I Wait - every bit of me --- "I AM" your hope, hear my word.

Many times in my adventurous excursions through this life -

I find that rain appears on my soul's windows

My heart cries out "I want to hear you,"

"Please love me with Your Spirit, "

"Please love me with Your words."

And as I wait, and the adventure slows, the excursion stills -

I find a Wind from above, now sweeps and holds,

Your heart cries back "I do love you,

"Wait on My Spirit to show!"

"Wait on My Word and know!" -- "I love you!"

There is no traffic ahead of me: it is You and I on Your road together, eternity ahead, in Your time!

Wait-less Vision is the unrecognized Blindspot of the impatient saint.

HLFA,

Jeff

1 John 2:11 - "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not wither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."

Like So Many Faces

It only took a second with my poor peripheral vision to be waylaid by the oncoming bustle of the masses of wandering humanity(although most had places to go; but in a drone like fashion). All I wanted to do was to get from point A to point B (not at all worthy of being labeled a heroic task), but to maneuver through the maze and minefield of androgynous obstacles was no easy task . Isn't this the way most of our days go; and then our hearts simmer with disdain for any thing or anyone that gets in our way, and anyone that delays our objective. Eternity is always in the way.

Why is it so hard to keep eternity in perspective? Oh not to fault the things we do, the accomplishments we wear like medals of valor, nor the treasures we amass along the way ... all of those can be very valuable tools in the struggle for the liberation of those blind to eternity. Eternity walks in front of us and behind us. Eternity both laughs and cries in the daylight as well as in the darkness. Eternity brags and begs within shouting range of each other. Eternity can burst into fits of uncontrollable joy and in the next breath expel murderous oaths. Eternity sits in cafes, on buses, in theatres, in traffic, in comfortable settings, in hospital beds, in abandoned alleys, in marble palaces, in cardboard boxes, and behind large polished hardwood desks. Eternity is standing at thoroughfare toll booths, peering through veiled windows, watching from weathered door frames and gazing from the last minutes of blue skies.There are so many silent and unheard expressions of emotion that filter through the layers of our oblivious daily existence, and sad to say... when eternity looks at us, they are just another face.

(Take a peek at Ezekiel 16) -- The mighty prophet, Ezekiel, was going from point A to point B when there was a shallow whimpering cry coming from a desolate abandoned lot off to the side of the thoroughfare that he was determined to travel. But a cry caught his heart. As he carefully stepped into the small useless parcel of ground (following the faint cry), his eyes beheld the heart wrenching reality of not only Israel's condition but the divisive beginning of all mankind. There amidst the brambles of time and twisted foliage of emptiness was an aborted, tiny, helpless infant left to die in the putrefying birthing tissue and fluids of a hasty painful unwanted birth. The excrement of the adulterous mother was the added gift as payment for the futureless plans of this untimely child.

The moment had the signature of love over it as the prophet began to spread his life over the future of this child. Grace would be unveiled to the life of this aborted "little one". He would invest all the goodness and grace of life's treasures that there were to be had and to be held. He knew that the unfolding of this life would potentially would end up in pride and filthy rebellion... once again covered in the putrefying tissue and fluids of an adulterous life amidst the brambles of time and the twisted foliage of emptiness ... but love and grace would always be found near to redeem. "Nevertheless I will remember the covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant." Ezekiel 16:60.

There is a silent and unheard cry, but the LORD God hears and desires that we hear also. Will we bow our hearts before our Redeemer and let Him open our lives to the need and true desire of humanity: Jesus? Every face has a story and every story has a disconnect; but with each disconnect is the opportunity for New Life in Christ. He calls every Jesus believer and Jesus follower into the loving fellowship of this Eternal, Grace Rescue Plan. Instead of focusing only on getting from point A to point B ... focus on listening to the Voice of God that connects us to the cry of mankind. We will get to point B the best way ... but His Grace, in His Love ... in His Time.

  "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee: but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah 6:8

Like so many faces, but Unlike any other face is the face of God.

Lord, make Thy face to shine upon Thy servants.

HLFA,

Jeff

The Leap off of the Ledge

She had no choice but to run straight forward even though she knew the cliff was straight ahead; but she must run forward. She could feel the pulsating heat of "its" breath on the back of her neck. She was sickened by the smell the hellish stench of the destructive words that roared from "its" lips. No time to turn though, unbelief wanted her to look back to see if her soul's vision of hope had deceived her... What nagged her was the pleasure that was "back there" and beauty that had dazzled her eyes at times and momentarily thrilled her flesh. She was too quickly at the edge ...She leapt into the vast safety of His Will.

This running had not just happened by reflex, nor would she have had strength to continue the pace to the edge. If she would have hesitated, she would have been immediately consumed by the enemy. It started with a challenge from Beyond the Veil: "Blessed is he who is actively absorbing the written Words to fully understand and stand in the middle of the pages for living; blessed are they who intensely listen to the words to fully engage with the unfolding truths, the engulfing reality, and the call to value and commitment beyond their temporal moments; and blessed are those who treasure and hold precious the Words as "glorious" in their own intrinsic revelation as written: for the unfolding and closing of time is at hand." Rev. 1:3 And she was ready.

As I looked across this moment of life's suspended spiritual animation, I realized that the blessed life is not one that just stays focused at the unfolding mysteries of eternity, but also is comforted by the closing of the desires for this life to fully satisfy. There is no way to describe this transition; but deep in the souls of believers, who saturate their days in the reading, the listening, and the keeping of God's Word, there are glimpses of glory, echoes of the beyond, and the overwhelming assurances that His Word is extravagantly Faithful. "This too will pass", "Behold, I make all things new!" This causes the believer to be satisfied for now by being in the middle.

Her life had run its course. Cancer was no longer the enemy, but the friend that would take her to Heaven's door. She had hurled herself wholeheartedly into the trust found on the Edge of "The Cliff" ("I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my cliff...." - Psalm 18: 1, 2 ). Now she lay anxiously in and out of restless, but sweet sleep hoping to open her eyes to welcome the warmth of the smile of her Savior's face. She would practice with every awakening with the following greeting, "Oh, I love you so much; and I have been waiting for You!"

She found that whether it was family, friend, or stranger that she greeted upon waking, the gift of the those words were never wasted. She wouldn't even entertain disappointment if her waking gaze had not found the Lover of her soul, Jesus. For she had learned that always being ready to give love as the reason for the hope that was within her was never a waste, never a useless gesture ... for the love, that is empowered and emboldened by the Promises of God, is the ultimate gift that one can offer to those for whom Christ died for ... And the scope of that offering includes all.

The exact moment of her actual verbal expression of Heavenly Love to her Savior went unnoticed by family, friends and strangers because it was so quiet, so peaceful, and so pure; but the heritage that she left behind in the advent of her home-going still ripples within the hearts of those who knew her. Her life has made us long for the Cliff.

Happy Mother's Day!

Dedicated to the memory of Mom, Theresa Dean Buhrman, Redding, Lambe.

HLFA,

Jeff