Before - Beyond - Exceeding

Before - Beyond - Exceeding

Risk? In Matthew 25: 14 -30 The only one taking the risk was the "wicked servant" - God gives every man a valuable gift of a measure of eternity to respond to ... There are two types of people in this passage - The "Saved" investors and the "Lost" hider. The investors are those who because of redemption see the value of the Gift of God and multiply it. Read this passage carefully (a week ago it was presented in a Sunday morning service by the Pastor in an attempt to teach risk ... But we may have missed the point in scripture) Matthew 25 ... Only those given the "talents", who were connected to the Master, would take up what is given....take the gift as theirs ...and multiply the entrusted investment to the glory of God. 5 doubled, 2 doubled, BUT 1 was hidden.

When we don't have the God given perspective of the "safety in the Lord" through His salvation ... In our "lost condition", we will see the Lord as harsh and unfair; which in the Kingdom is to not see God in it ... at all.

Why does the "risk" always have to be in the parenthesis of the church program and how is it a risk within the safety of the Kingdom?

"I was afraid" ...no trust in the Master's goodness... No desire to share the Master's joy. This parable of the Kingdom is a spot on target picture of the heart of lost-ness ....the biggest and most foolish risk is to not Know Him. The Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord - but to bury that gift - out of sight, out of mind carries with it the consequence of eternal condemnation. The cross reveals God's compassion on us and the resurrection reveals His power for us....why not move forward in trust. Why should we be shamed by what others think is risk?

Instead of risk minimization, risk management, or risk avoidance ... (All are characteristics of a "natural" not a "spiritual" life) ... Why not allow our hearts to be unchained from fear by the obvious limitless promises of the word of God?

Sad are the following verses concerning the Servant who hid the Gift...

Matthew 25:25 - " And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine." (This lost servant never took salvation for his own but buried the opportunity "in the earth" ... Why think of Heaven?).

Mathew 25:29 - "For every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." (The lost servant ... lost the opportunity completely).

Matthew 25:30 - "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Only the lost, unprofitable servants face this end ... Never are the "saved" cast into outer darkness).

Let's be saturated by some God perspectives and move forward in the courage that He supplies through His word.

Ephesians 1:19 (Grab all of this Chapter it is overwhelmingly powerful in our favor) " And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,". KNOWING JESUS!
Ephesians 2:7 - "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." KNOWING JESUS!

KNOWING JESUS brings us into the constant festival of the Gospel ... We live in the joyful sound of His Death, Burial and Resurrection. Stay close to the Gospel!

Psalm 118:27 - "God is the LORD, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." O give thanks unto the LORD for He is good ... His goodness was carving the elements before us, His goodness goes beyond the exchange of our daily decisions and consequence; and His goodness is always exceeding our expectations above all that we ask or think--- because ... His mercy endures forever (in spite of what we may perceive).

But there can be a problem ... It exists because of our perception in the moment ... We will have to choose between Faith and Sight. Sight may suddenly sadden, but faith will carry us to the Father's future.

God is the LORD... He has shown us light and He is becoming our light ... Life in His presence becomes a vibrant ever flowing festival, especially if we fasten the festival with living weavings (of the encounters of our life) to the Altar of Sacrifice -- the Cross. Cherish the moments for this festival could be the last that we share on this side of Eternity.

"Jeff" ... "I am 85, not doing anything has me stiffening up...at least when I drove the truck I could move ... I want to drive 2 more years, and then that is it."

I asked "What then , retirement?"

Dad had no words ... Only a distant look...driving all his life made it near impossible to see the "then" after the "that's it."

As he got into his car he proceeded to break into an overwhelming emotional moment ..
"When life is young and you can go anywhere and do anything with the love of your life ... You never even for a moment imagine that it could be like this ... I am very disappointed with it all."
He continued, "It is not fair ... This is not what I imagined it to be, the pain is so limiting and the dreams are all but gone. Well I have to get back to the nursing home with Mom, see you later!"

"Dad ... Jesus is coming soon!"

His reply. "That would be ok!"

"I love you Dad!" ...

"I love you too, thank you ...Jeff!"

I watched as his vehicle pulled away with the "Jeff" still echoing in my mind ... I cried a bit as I stood there, realizing we may not do this again next Thanksgiving... BUT because of Jesus, eternity's prospects were still bright in spite of the momentary pain and seasonal tears. Of all the things in life ... That we "must" ... We must believe.

Each of us who awake to another day ... Are greeted with the festival power of every promise from His Word ... Start there, stay there until we move forward in victory, as He makes a way for us through our doubts and disappointments.

"Dad" ... "Jesus loves you and Mom so much. He is intimately touched by your feelings in this ... Look for and be grateful for the miracles as they present His glory to you daily (no matter how insignificant they may seem to others) and continue to trust Him in hope of His future."

HLFA,

Jeff

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

I Don't Want Your Toast

"I don't accept toast from strangers."

It was early morning in a remote town at a Gas Station-Convenience Store-Restaurant Combo -- and a working class man was accosted by a stranger at a gas pump - extending toast in his direction. The thought of the stranger was ... "I do not eat this, hate to waste it so I will offer it to someone ... Surely someone would love an offering of fresh toast ... Free".

Some surprises are not well thought out and become a little disconcerting to the recipient of the surprise. The event of the "toast offering" was quite out of sequence -- no relationship established, no need was discovered and a solution from left field was offered ... Would you have taken the toast from the hands of a stranger at a gas pumping moment?

We would like to think that God works that way...BUT ... God's surprises are way beyond "well thought out"... They are sent from the heart of God with the eternal intent to extravagantly love each and every one of us.

NOW THOUGH (and pay attention to this) There is an enemy with a temptation aimed at our "soft spot" ... Satan is the enemy of all of God's creation, and That original sin ("you shall be gods, determining what is good and what is evil) is our "soft spot" for his attacks. This "soft spot" is the target of the enemy that he knows ... binds us so deeply to self servicing decisions, and deep disappointment ... When penetrated it fights against time with a reasoning that has mankind chained to time and timing.

God works in behalf of us within the structure of our time and timing needs, but He is not held captive by our perceptions of the "when", the "where", the "what", and the "how" ... of our rescue. He is not bound by timing or time ... But His "Why" is so compelling: It is His "Love" that is unequalled, unparalleled, undiminished, unmerited, and unending... For us.

Do the following "seems out of sequence" verses bother you because of the order/timing in scripture?

"(It was that Mary which anointed the LORD with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)" John 11:2.

"Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." John 12:3

Look at the address of the verses above and think for a moment... The word revealed that the Father knew of Jesus' need for anointing for burial prior to Mary's offering. Wow!

Has our life with the LORD gotten to the place where it is like a mindless heathen worship ceremony with constant repetition and boring ritual; where surprises aren't even noticed because of the narcoleptic life style that we have chosen. Worship that is Alive is not a religious activity that we perform or a moment in our formal community church services where we gather together to "hype our faith" with our "cup of tea" songs.

Worship is our Life blood in Christ. Worship is our daily adventure into the goodness of our God. Worship is where daily bow our lives with the "dog lick" to open our hearts for the reception of His amazingly creative... Love rescue of our lives.

Matthew 6:8 - "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."

The answer, the awesome well orchestrated rescue is already be on the way.

Living a life of ritual before the Lover of our soul is like a gas pump, dirty hand, unwrapped, toast offering to a King. The King will probably say ... "Depart from me with your toast... I do not know who you are; and I don't make it a habit to receive toast offerings from strangers."

Wash your hands ... Empty your life of limiting expectations... And like a child of wonder ... Get ready for Him.

HLFA,

Jeff

Matthew 6:51 - "And He went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered." This is where He wants us.

Timeless

What time is it? Isn't it strange that we all have a strong desire to never get sick, never grow old and make special moments last forever. We are all captured and controlled by the thought of time, even when life takes a turn for painful dereliction. We all secretly desire ... Not to die... But if we must let it be peacefully, painlessly and possibly in our sleep.

Time rules men. Our ever expanding limitless universe is like a growing monster alarm clock. Between gravity and sight things change to remind us of the race from day break to dusk's dwindling light. We have approximately 12 hours where our senses are subjected ever changing light; but there is an eternal light that can bring constant value and connection within those hours, not to mention rest in the night season. Jesus is that light,but if a man walks without Him, walking in the night, the guaranty is that he will stumble ... and he will fall.

"If only Jesus was here" this would not have happened in that defining moment? DO WE TRULY REALIZE THAT: Time has no bearing on the rescue of God; He never misses His opportunity to love us. AND His intervention will be glorious. He knows our times and our seasons but is not threatened by the changes because HE CHANGES NOT!

But for us:
The call will come ... It will shake and shape our world ... It will challenge our light, and it will tug furiously to close the curtains, to limit the rays of hope and to glorify the chains of darkness. The hands of time will forcefully extend grief and press unfounded worry into our already weakened frames.

The call came two days earlier ..."These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." John 11:11

Four days later ... "Jesus wept." He wept as he saw all the distorted dimensional crags and clefts of man's emotional hiding places. He wept .. But not because He was late with help as accused, but because of the inability of humanity in general to see that the Glory of God is not restrained by time and the measure of it. Jesus is eternally present... His "I AM" "Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already." John 11:17. (Seeing Him would bring the statement - "If you had been here this would not have happened.")

Understand this - In these moments of our potential deepest disconnect because of shock, grief, fear, and/or the feeling of personal abandonment ... HE places Himself "in the midst of the impact with us" in order to carry us to a place of greater security in faith. He does not "put us through hell to test our faith". Stuff happens because that is just the way it is on this side of Eternity's Veil and HE IS EVER PRESENT WITH US.

Time always limits the boundaries of our faith - prayerfully read the discourse between Martha and Jesus in John 11:21-27 -- See the weight of time on Martha's vision and how it stifled her expectations. Then embrace the pinnacle of the fulcrum of the conversation:
Jesus, "Do you believe Lazarus will rise?"
Martha, "Sure, he will rise in the Resurrection on the Last Day!"
Jesus, "I AM THE RESURRECTION!"

This encounter was going to be a violation of the sacred fences that had been planted long ago to bring be an anemic "hope" ally for our already fragile faith. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick:" Hope strung along, dragged along, delayed by "time" will chip away at the health of faith. Hope that desires Jesus will be a constant source of renewed life. "but when the Desire comes, it is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12.

Do you believe that you will be helped, delivered, rescued, or healed? Don't hang on to "when?"; desire "Him" ... Hear this -
"I AM the Help!"
"I AM the Deliverance!"
"I AM the Rescue!"
"I AM the Healing!"

What do we need in that moment of painful personal struggle?We need Him.

Rest, O my soul, He has this!

HLFA,

Jeff

John 11:40 - "Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldst believe, thou should see the glory of God?"

The "Glory" is the decision ... And He has decided to love you.
Trust that Love ... Not the measure of your ability to trust in time.

He is the Solitary

He is the Solitary!

As I stepped out briefly into the crisp early morning air, there He was in all of His regal but quiet splendor , and all of His majestic sweetness. I sent a whistle into the silence of the moment and watched as creation lifted its head in a gracious response and paused to listen to the crown of God's creation. I lifted up a blessing their way, and turned as He engulfed me in that moment when eternity's robe parts revealing the true source of power and light and healing ... Brokenness.

Psalm 68:6 - "God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land."
HE IS THE SOLITARY - WILL YOU RECEIVE HIM .

"I AM the way, the truth and the life; no man come the unto the Father but by Me." John 14:6. HE IS THE ONLY "LIFE" OPTION.

"And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: This is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." I Corinthians 11:24
HIS CHOICE WAS TO LOSE HIS LIFE THAT HE MIGHT SAVE US.

John 9:3 - "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
WE WILL ALWAYS FACE CONUNDRUMS ... WILL WE SEE THEM AS GOD OPPORTUNITIES?

The continued revelation of Jesus is found in the passive snapshot of the way God works...the invisible, becomes actual...realized as overwhelmingly more real than the current reality. Stuff is and stuff happens on this side of eternity that is no ones fault. Our choice is to blame God and man, or to see the "stuff" that handicaps as an opportunity that the works of God may be manifest.

Here is the key to experiencing the Blessings of God:
"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hath his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." John 12:25.

Let's unpack the essence of this verse so that it can go viral in our heart and mind by the Spirit of Truth in the Word: He that is wrapped up in nurturing his own life by feeding and fueling the things connected to this life will ultimately tear down, weaken, and finally destroy our life; but he that hates his life, that is wrapped up in this world of adornment that is in opposition to life, shall guard it towards eternal life.

He is the solitary. He is the One.
Let us offer our chains and cease our rebellion.

HLFA,

Jeff