The Blue Flowered Box

It just happens. It happens so fast... “all of a sudden” but it could have been brewing for several hours, several days... maybe longer. Then it falls on me...and I find myself drenched in my own tears as I am shattered by my worries and concerns. I find myself torn, ripped to pieces by opinions that are hurled at me from all directions, causing questions that must be answered. I don't know quite where to begin... but then I remember... The Love Letters!

There is a box. Quite unique! I had the privilege of guarding it for years. Covered with blue dots, and pink and blue flowers; its double open top still holds my heart in check. Stowed away in it are the words that started my life journey with the most beautiful gift that God would bring into my life beside His Son; my Wife. It is a strange box containing obscure memorabilia - a combination of hers and mine. Nick- knacks , dried leaves, games, greeting cards, dried flowers, pieces of ribbon, cards, a piece of a veil, collapsed balloons... but the real treasures are the words tucked neatly in little envelopes that have traveled through the nights, the miles, the fights, the cutting truths, the forgiveness and the emotional weather ... to ignite and re-ignite love. If love begins to doubt, I go to the blue flowered box.

Let's transition to a parallel thought about an eternal love relationship that was started by Jesus, but offered to the most unlikely... even Me. Don't rob me of the truths that ground me in His love. His choosing me runs against all standards of profitability and gain. His love for me creates scowls on the faces of those who saw my unworthiness. His love confounds and shames those who still want to see me destroyed as the enemy. Whether you think my Jesus story is embellished or fantastical in its imaginative delivery … One thing rests deep in my childlike soul … Jesus loves even Me.

The truth about me had to be faced in order to truly begin to let Him love me – All my attempts to show righteousness was like offering a maggot infested leper's rag to comfort a crying baby. My fake selfless good was only for my selfish gain, and fueled my pride. I could only pretend to understand God because I had no understanding of His Holiness, and His true desire to rescue and deliver me. I only sought to identify myself with eternity when it would bring me favor, but I would cower from the connection if it meant the slightest bit of embarrassing persecution. I would completely alienate myself from His Way if it meant personal loss. And no way would I agree with His words if they contradicted my lifestyle.

My throat was an open grave quick to spew the death stench of self justification. I would argue my thoughts until someone other than I was thrown under the bus. I would make sure there was enough poisonous slander to keep my opponent out of the ring. I fully enjoyed the thought of my enemies flayed alive and left utterly destroyed. I was despised, I was miserable, I was without real peace (but didn't even sense my lost-ness until His love letter started flowing). Truthfully … I had to face the truth of who I was, in order to understand … “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” … “But God commended (proved the over-all value of) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” … “Father forgive them for they no not what they do!” … “For the wages of sin IS DEATH, BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord.” … “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Simple truth...easy to believe or: There are those today who would wish that I would lose the Love Letter or at least not mention the “negative” stuff within it that must be dealt with. There are those who would love to universalize, homogenize and quantize the message in order to eliminate any personal responsibility to receive the message and/or deliver it to a Christ-less world. There are claims of older revelations, newer revelations and personally deep interpretations that call on me to abandon my “misguided” devotion. Not gonna do it!

The Love Letter is only clear to those who meet Christ at the Cross with who they are, and walk out of the empty tomb with who he is … Believing.

John 3:15,16,17,18 keep reading if you like!

HLFA,

 Jeff

The Baby's Face

It is hard to describe the transcendent emotion that we feel when we look into the eyes of a small child, especially one related to us. The best way to describe it from my vantage point ... I feel unconditional acceptance, no fear, and hopeful anticipation ... all wrapped up into the burst of the moment. Wow! What would it have been like to look into the eyes of the baby Jesus?

Genesis 3:15 - "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heal."

The spinning flame of the Cherub's sword now stood guard over the thick mist that surrounded the fast fading memory of a glorious garden home. There was the slithering sound of the adversarial deceiver groveling in his own dust as he made his shame filled way into the darkness.

The first family of creation stood with the fragmented images of Christmas Future wrapped around their embarrassingly naked bodies. The breach of their relationship had placed death as the indelible scar on their castaway lives and fallen minds. In spite of the fact that they were now exposed to an unprotected life; that last moment with God in the garden, empowered them ...by the promise of the birth and death of Lamb of God, the "Seed" deliverer.

The string of prophetical themes that lead us: a shepherd boy turned king, a kingly line with promise, a star, a stable, a stall, a feed trough, an unnoticed young but devout couple, ... a "virgin" birthed baby ... the Son of God, the Lamb of God ... His birth first announced by angels to shepherds. What an amazing sneak attack... wrapped in swaddling cloth and placed in a manger, above the ground! Even the slithering serpent, Satan, did not feel the gentle vibrations of the arrival of this little stranger, who would grow up under the shadow of the Cross and an empty tomb.

The world was asleep as it is today ... broken, crying, longing for something or someone to release them from the seen and unseen bondage caused by the breach in the garden so long ago. There seems to be a desire to stay numb, anesthetized, detached, asleep, hoping to avoid the responsibilities and the consequences of the fall.

There are so many whispers from the Serpent that call for an over-arching proclamation of irresponsibility to the words of God. This proclamation offers religious detours and alternative beliefs to avoid of the need for a confrontation with God; but God in His wisdom always provides a way to Him that comforts even the most fragile soul.

What child is this Christmas Stranger? Why is His arrival so vital to the salvation of the human race? Why would His appearance disrupt the hands of time? Why would His birth be the subject of continued controversy? Why does this Child have such a hold on this season? Why does the sight of or the knowing of this Child create exceeding great joy?

Come close to the manger's edge of your heart...bow and peer into the vast comfort of God's love gift, Jesus. Worship and adore Him in a perpetual Christmas reception.

Matt. 2:10 - "And when the saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

HLFA,

Jeff

Awkward Prosthetic Faith

Sitting in such an awkward place to beg; his choice to reveal his need was in the most busy intersection he could have picked. Impatient drivers waiting to get completely off of an interstate highway onto a four lane main thorough fair while being held up by a fickle traffic light. Only one driver at a time could even be touched by his situation.

What he would reveal in the short moment to those being pushed by the hands of time? He had a poorly scribbled sign asking for "money or food" ... he was a "wounded veteran". He had a prosthetic leg that he was taking off and on; and almost appeared to be shaking it with anger at those that passed him by. Did he feel that everyone owed him because of his wounds? I have met wounded warriors, and my heart goes out to them. I find humble and broken souls trying to make the most of the next steps in their lives, but this was almost appalling and despicable in its presentation... from someone I did not know!

Song of Solomon 4:7 - "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee."
John 15:9 - "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love."

Flashback: Friday morning, woke up, but still broken hearted because of a movement afoot to remove the Bride from her key connection to the Groom ... His Spirit Breathed Love Letter. I was on my way to morning prayer and needed a clarification to wrap my thinking around. I needed to remove myself from the judgmental attitude that I was carrying so that I could approach the throne of grace to find help, not vengeance.

Then, there at the end of the exit ramp he sat -  I saw the angry one legged man... and here is where my thoughts went. (Perhaps these benevolent deceivers have experienced a great disappointment that scarred them for life, only Christ can make them "New".)

I truly believe that the Charismatic Bible Deniers are much like the angry one legged man ... something stormed or slithered into their lives or their kingdom walk, knocked their spiritual feet out from under them, made them bitter at a portion of the Word of God, and now they use this busy intersection of faith and doubt to unknowingly shake their prosthetic replacement in the faces of those who listen and will follow.

These that offer a Prosthetic faith truly cannot connect their disappointments to the goodness of God . It possibly scares them that no amount of positive thinking will rescue a loved one from a terminal disease, bring back someone from the dead or stop a small child's suffering. They would like to shout the enemy away and sing fear into the hearts of all that oppose them. Their creed carries damnable heresies all riding on the power of a positive attitude that will not accept negativism... "For our God is Great and our God is Good, there is no room for negativity."  They haven't quite figured out that "No" could be a rescue.

Please don't judge me as cruel and unfeeling; but while we should always be kind and loving to people, there are times when we need to fearlessly snatch some, having compassion, from the beckoning flames of Hell, even though we despise the very garment they are wearing. We may have to proclaim some negative truth in order to administer a healing.

Jesus came to those who knew they were in need of a physician. Admitting their "illness" allowed them to see that Jesus was the answer. Only in Christ can I be declared righteous ... "just as if I had never sinned". Proof of this declaration is only found in the Word of God. No man can declare us children of God without our taking personal responsibility for our faith moment to leave our sin at Calvary.

Sin is abominable in the sight of God. No sin will enter God's presence. Death is sin's penalty. Hell is the ultimate penalty for the Devil, his fallen angels, and Christ rejectors. Jesus' death on the Cross paid the price to free believers from the ultimate penalty. His resurrection secures their lives ... because He lives they will never die. His Spirit is their security deposit while He teaches them (every time they open the Word) and changes them so that they are less and less like the world, and more an more like Jesus. Some day maybe soon they will hear the voice of their Eternal Love.... "Well done!"

Don't use your disappointments to separate you from God, let your disappoints carry you right into His arms.

HLFA,

Jeff

No prosthetic faith...give me Jesus!

Walking Into The Mirror

I walked into the mirror even though I didn't even realize I had. This confirmed that the only potential I ownes was to look into the mirror. Did you ever find yourself somewhere you didn't want to be? I actually wondered if there was a way to move forward with some sort of vibrating energy that would move me into the mirror and stay within the thin pane of glass. (The mirror was nothing more than the media for reflection.) Oh to be the glass, the tool that was neutral to the things happening around it, or possibly to be less affected like the unbreakable highly polished steel mirrors of ancient civilizations. Job 37:18 - "Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?" 

Here at the mirror decisions must be made ... brush my hair, brush my teeth, wash my face, remove the unsightly blemish??? OR I can just walk away, forget what I saw and let the chips of life's critics fall where they may. The inevitable will happen ... I will be blindsided. James 1:22-24 - "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

There is no blessing in bearing "the reproach" from something that I could have but didn't personally change because I decided that it was not up to me to make the change.

I "face planted" into the book even though I didn't realize I had. Fatigue that had carried me into the dreamy world of "winkin', blinkin' and nod" confirmed that I only owned the potential to look into the book on this side of the writing. Did you ever find yourself facing words that you did not want to hear? I actually wondered if there may be a way to melt in a pulp like fashion and fuse my way into the very paper of The Book. This would place me inside the paper, away from the vantage point of having to respond to the words, for The Words of The Book are alive and will cause a response: Nehemiah 8:5 -"And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:"

Here at The Book, decisions must be made ... open my ears, open my heart, removal of an unsightly blemish??? OR I can just walk away, forget what I heard, and let The Words of the Judge, the Redeemer of the Universe, fall where they may. The inevitable will happen ... I will be blindsided. James 1:22-24 - "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

There is no blessing in bearing "the reproach" of something that I can trust (but didn't ) to have changed, because I decided that it was not up to me to listen and trust for change.

Just because you believe real loud or shout real loud ... that "the mirror and The Book will not control your life", does not negate the consequences of patriarchal and providential truth. Rebellion against truth always puts an individual in the cross hairs of Enemy's "whispered-lie-filled" blessings but also puts one at risk of bearing the built in consequences of violating protective Truth. Genesis 2:16-17 - "And the LORD God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." And it happened in the Garden, and the effects still reverbrate throughout mankind.

The mirror will visually reveal the need for external change ... which will alleviate embarrassing visual social situations. The Book will reveal the need for a NEW Heart and a Renewed Spirit through Jesus Christ ... Who will deliver us from eternal shame. As we heed His Word, we will begin to exchange our stubborn, life robbing attitudes for the glory of His Life Giving Image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 - "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

"The looked into the mirror" - I washed my face, I brushed my hair, I brushed my teeth and took care of an unsightly blemish. "The looked intently into Book" - I bowed my heart, I renewed my spirit, and trusted all my coddled soul blemishes to The Author's Loving care.

1 Corinthians 13:12 - "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

HLFA,

 Jeff