Why? ... Not "Why!"

No doubt the ache of life can close in on us to the point where it becomes very personal, and at times ...down right embarrassing. Life on this side of Heaven can deal some harsh blows to our flesh that cripple us and cause to cower from the gaze of mankind. In those moments ... all we want to do is lock the door, pull down the shades and bury ourselves in the noncritical nature of sleep; but even sleep can flee from us as we struggle from one troubled dream sequence to another. There seems to be no relief and definitely no notable answers to our impertinent and impatient prayers. And we struggle on unnecessarily because of a "question" that we are told not to ask ... Even to the point where we are led to believe it may be a sin to ask.

That type of day had come to me; oh but not all of a sudden. The pain had being poking and jabbing at my frame for some time almost to the point of in-concealable debilitation. As the first dull light of this particular day was trying to poke through the voids in my dark window coverings, I was conscious of my faltering movements that were highlighted by these invading rays of judgment. Each piercing beam felt like a cruel prison spotlight that illuminated the embarrassing changes that were now chained to my mortal frame. "Nobody can see me like this!" I muttered hopelessly, "I am so worthless!" The negative self fulfilling prophesies were beginning to choke any resolve for Hope and forward movement ... When out of the corner of the room came a Voice that shattered the gloom -- and all it said was "Let not!" (My heart, though troubled, was still connected to His spirit through my times in the Word, and immediately filled in the blanks).

I stopped in my sorrowful pain, and prayed ... And prayed and prayed even more fervently ... Then I stopped. The air around was dead still almost gloating in a symphony of "nothing" to subject my faith to even more abuse, AND RIGHT THEN ... NOTHING!

Still there was no immediate relief, and just I was going to reflexively begin the complaining from my overwhelming feeling of abandonment -- the Voice whispered strange a distant hope as it said clearly ... "Be Still!" So I quieted the noise that was haunting my soul and waited before Him. I had a question that was being held back by fear and by the keepers of my voice. The fear had tentacled its way into my prayers because of the curses placed on "the asking of this question" by disenchanted or disconnected teachers. These individuals have passed on their biased reasoning not because of the truth of God's Word but potentially because of the overshadowing of a disappointing event where they may have "skied" this question but failed to wait on earth for the answer. Some of these teachers may have come to where I was and because of the same erroneous teaching handed to them also ... failed to find what they truly needed in that moment because they would not ask that vital question.

The Voice came again and broke the chains of fear that were holding back that question - "Fear not ... Ask!"

So I did.

"WHY?"

... Nothing happened, I wasn't struck down but I wasn't raised up ...but the power of needing to hear the voice again caused me to wait ... In my waiting, the voice spoke again and said "My God, my God ... Why hast Thou forsaken me?" ... It was quiet again and I was left with Jesus asking "Why?"... Quiet a little longer I realized that I was left with what I was really needing ...to know Him.

Psalm 20:1-3 - "The Lord hear the in the day of trouble; the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee; send help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt offerings."

Let's break down this blessed admonition from the heart God through of Psalmist, not in terms of "If God is with me?" Because of Jesus ... Let's look at it in light of amazing revealed truth - "Emmanuel" God with us ... in answer to a need to be freed from covetousness "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee!" Hear the truth for believers "He is with us, and in us and will work through us" ... Believe!

Now to Psalm 20:1-3 to open as a firmer anchor for our souls: "The LORD is hearing you, right now in whatever is perplexing you, His Name is your defense as He is your defender; His help will be an extension (He is always reaching help to you and He will not pull back) of His personal time that you come apart with Him (a holy place where you hold nothing back from Him because His love will cast out all fear), He is actively present bringing strength from these Parched Places that call for the water of His Word (personally, read afresh and drink deeply). He does not cast off your gifts of love to the sea of forgetfulness - He remembers all of our attempts to love Him; and He extravagantly anoints the sacrifices that we let Him utterly consume."

Give the dark moments of "Why?" willingly to Him, and wait as you ask why ... He will pull you closer in His everlasting arms.

Don't just say "Why!" ; And walk away totally crushed.

His Word + A crushing moment + a Why + a wait = His answers of love from His Word.

Isaiah 40:31

HLFA,

Jeff

"Starlock's" Now Open

Now the Story begins: "Starlock's" , a Time to get real!"

I was way too thirsty for this time of the morning; BUT the bonus... The hands of the clock said "Coffee? Go for it!". There was a new Café in town, and with the strange reviews in the media, I was dying to check it out ... ("Starlock's" who were they kidding with this type of cloning?) ... AND THEY HAD A DRIVE THROUGH SERVICE ... My kind of place!

Approaching the place made me do a double take - WOW ... Retro 60s? The drive through had a large warning sign "Extremely restrictive passage ... What? As my vehicle entered the drive way ... I realized that, they were not kidding! Both right and left tires of my car were being challenged by the narrow space (I thought, hey ...they should have had a car wash hook-up, wow!) Somehow I did manage to make it to the call box ... (what in the world)????

A big green button was staring me right in the face, and right above it was a tattered speaker that was labeled "Push, Hold, Talk and Release"; I really wish I had read that before I started yelling at the box.

"OK" ... "Green button pushed" - "I would like a large high test with 2 creams and 7 seconds of honey please!" I released the button and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited ... Just as I was about to push and yell again, the speaker crackled with some extremely inaudible noises ... that carried an irritating voice of sort, that quickly spoke some non-comprehensive gibberish language that I think was repeating my order, and then it said something that sounded like: "OK - pull up to the window!" So I did.

Driving another precarious distance and almost scrunching up to the window ... I waited for someone to come to take my money and give me my coffee. Something was a little strange, it almost looked as if there was no way for the window to swing nor to slide open ... Hmmmm?? But still I waited; and waited; and waited, and waited ... BUT No attendant. Man this was starting to rub me the wrong way, so I squeezed my car out of that chute-like drive-thru, and parked it in their ridiculously spacious, but empty parking lot. ???  With my car securely locked behind me, I ventured into the doors of this strange but welcoming café. (Weird ... Really ... But weirdly familiar.)

Wow...Upon entering, I still can't describe the comfort of the aroma that caressed my face, and O the aching that the aroma brought to my senses! I just had to get a sip of whatever was brewing, it smelled better than the fondest memories of "Home!" ... AND Bonus, a cup of this would be mine, ... and soon ... I had placed my order! Right! Right??

I Walked up to the counter with enough verve that my gestures were loudly saying, "Hey, I am here ...I AM HERE! ME, MYSELF and I, Where is MY order? ... MY ORDER!"

And just as I was about to verbalized that very sentiment or something of that essence, I found myself futilely staring into a mirror with my reflection staring back at me. Awkward! I saw myself with the most arrogant of facial expressions; and I stopped short of making my verbal announcement.

Stunned as I was; I clearly heard a small ... but deep ... confidently, comfortable voice. It spoke from a small corner table (that I hadn't even noticed in my "puffed up" - "I'm gonna have it my way", royal entrance into the café). And the voice said "It has that wonderful effect on all who stand there!" "Kinda catches us at our best, don't you think?"

Although I hadn't turned yet to see from whom the voice was coming; I felt like the individual talking had access to my deepest thoughts, and almost welcoming them without malice or judgement??

"Too much of a hurry?" ...

"Too many burdens?" ...

"Oh, so many distractions!" ...

"Far too much confusion about what is really important" ...

"Gotta run, can't be late!" ...

"Feeling so purposeless and bearing such secret pain!"

When I turned to see the vessel that was conveying this Voice of Reason: The image that came into view was strangely familiar, though I was quite sure we had never met(at least not like this). ... And as I was sure that I knew that voice ... And my senses were about to rope in a matching description of this familiar stranger to name Him ... Just as He began to speak with me again ...

"What is it that you really want?"

"What is truly important that you must have it right now?"

"What do you really want out this life that you are living?"

I was trying not to let my mouth go with what my smart-Alec mind was thinking ... When He sat up in His chair and spoke as if He was reading my heart ...like it was an open book ... As He spoke with a trust for me that I never had felt before, and said...

"You want to snap back with ...'all I want is coffee, and I ain't got time for this!' ... Don't you? But at the start of every day, you sigh with the feeling that there is so much more!" "Yes, you may have thought that all you needed was a quick coffee-like picker upper, but you know that what you really desired was time with Me."

I was fully captivated ...This intriguingly familiar stranger gestured for me to take a seat near Him; and I was overcome with the feeling: That as a Father longing for the nearness of a son... So, He was beckoning me; and I was compelled to sit with Him.

With love in His eyes, we quietly shared the sound of the clock's ticking that was pounding away at my "gotta git r done" fibrous character, as He reached out His hand for my shoulder, and consoled my innermost being as he said,

"Your coffee is now ready, please take it and run ... I have it covered... I will be waiting here for you ... tomorrow."

"Slow down, don't move so fast ... Just a little earlier, let's make these moments last. Tomorrow; I really want to spend some time with you!"

I climbed back into my car to head into my day; but that moment had changed my life's desires. I was determined to get to "Starlock's" earlier everyday ... For there The Father waited for me. If He was willing to wait, so He could unlock the stars of His love for me, I would long to be there.

"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Psalm 17:15

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament show His handiwork." Psalm 19:1 (Savor the aroma of the whole Psalm, drink it into your life).

HLFA,

Jeff

When we pray something is happening between Heaven and Earth. (Luke 11).

Prayer; above miracles and miraculous events challenged the Apostles ... They sensed it was the key connection... {to learn to pray was the only thing that the disciples asked for in fervor ...teach us to pray "like you" do}

Prayer is something we can all continue to learn. Matthew 6:9-13 -- And Jesus taught them how he prayed:

Father, our Daddy, You are so different ...

You are Holy; and let Your Kingdom grow in us ...

Here is our needs. As we wait keep us from being pulled away from You

for ...Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory...for ever Amen.

Prayer is not a performance ... It is an opportunity to be real before God.

Pray must incorporate "Importunity" ... A Shameless persistence to ask, seek and knock ...

When we pray, let us pray with persistence.

Ask...Seek(because His answer is going to be bigger) ...Knock... We are at His Door.

Prayer is not a single transaction...but a continued conversation.

Prayer is an invitation to enter into an intimacy that opens our hearts to knowing Him, our Father. "Spending time with God" is to be treasured about all else.

Every thing you want is behind the Door... Stay with Him in the intimate opening of that Door.

He will unlock the door to the vast expanse of His provision ... As the stars sing out there is "no limit" to His love for us.  Dedicated to Pastor Lawrence - CFCOG - Grand Point Church

Where is There?

One day in the back seat of my daughter's car, riding with my Granddaughter strapped in her Car seat (she was facing backwards of course), we looking at cows, trucks, tractors, horses that we found scattered throughout our cross country drive from her home to ours. In the process of our "excited to discover" conversation on the drive, I would say.. "Look over there at the cows sleeping," she would retort as she looked in the opposite direction "Over there?" And she would giggle as I would point and say "No, over there". She would continue to look in the opposite direction and repeat my words "No, over there". Or "No, over here." --- until I would look her square in the face and say "Where is there?" Her answer was interesting " My there is here!" Again pointing and looking the opposite direction.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that our wandering flesh-fueled distractions keep us from clearly and directly studying the "Where is there" that God's Spirit tries to lead, guide and direct the focus of our attention. And rightly so in our world... because even the mention of God says to most "The Law ... Obey or else"; and that harsh vision, though gloriously above our opinions, seems to bring in a cloud of separation over our plans for life. We see God as the "Big Eternal Party Pooper" Who gets His heavenly kicks out of putting the "Kibosh" on our ideas of fun.

But if we would allow His Truth to be opened and availed to us while we offer the sacrifices of righteousness - A broken and contrite heart, mind and spirit - we would be able to experience the refreshing, life changing wind of the Spirit that revitalizes the soul so we can focus on His ... "Where is there?"

Fundamentally true... The most in most important "where" can be stated as:

"Where" is where He is.The "there" is what our hearts discover when we are "where" He is.

Life of true Liberty -  Freeborn - no longer a slave... love is the new law.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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." 2 Corinthians 3:17,18

Life of a Home with Him - Heaven is our Home in Christ

"And if go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3

As we look at our nation today the distractions have overwhelmed us to the point that each of us needs to stop and return to His Where ... Daily. The closer we are in our walk with Him - the more we will realize that He is our value and He positions us as His priceless possession ... Allowing His likeness to become more and more the image that those around us perceive. This brings the validity there to the words of hope that we can have the privilege to deliver.

Here is some wisdom from the Word to lead us on:

2 Chronicles 7:12-15 - "And the LORD appeared unto Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people. If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will II hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend the prayer that is made in this place."

Our value is not measured by any personal achievements, self-sacrificial acts, amassed fortune, righteous exposition, or earned position; likewise we are not devalued by our foolish choices, our reflexive fears, nor our debilitating scars caused by our solo acts of stubbornness to do and to be. Oh that we would be reflexively humbled by being called by His Name, His Fame and His Word.

For by Grace we are saved as His through Faith in Him. Now this positions us in the world with a power that transcends all the wickedness and hate that can be thrown our way. We do not have to be controlled by the muting of mediocrity, the numbing of apathy nor the brow beating of the status quo; we belong to the King. Our power is founded in the Perfect Love that comes from Above. Our greatest duty is to become living sacrifices ... Daily being that passive vessel that allows Him to pour through us -His active, life changing Spirit of Love.

Proverbs 10:12 - "Hatred stirs up strifes; but love covers all sin." -- Hatred arouses and constantly incites contention; but love covers with a new clothing ...that conceals from harm and overwhelmingly protects from all transgressions. This clothing is found in God's provision of forgiveness as he removes the incident, the guilt and the punishment via an offering of an overwhelming covering of Christ's Blood...

Where is there?

He is where, and there we will find Him - all in all, our everything!

Hey ... much ground covered, but I love you or you wouldn't be getting this message. And if you are reading it ... Thank you!

HLFA,

Jeff

Take the Stage

To Every Generation: "There is someone coming after you!"

"As the fog was lifting, I found that I had wandered to the edge of a brilliantly lit stage with a beckoning curtain call that filled me with a strong sense of self awareness and fearful resolute responsibility ... I heard the call for me! ..But I, the Scarlet Sinner, what offering would I have on the Stage of Men that could change the course of posterity and sway the hearts coming after me to open wide their floodgates to the outpouring Love from above?"

                                                                                     Exert from the Scarlet Sinner.

"Hamlet: To be, or not to be-- that is the question: Whether 'this nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles.." William Shakespeare

We will all come upon the stage of men, we will all make our appearance in history, we will all become and be, we will all have our time of performance. Consequently ... We all strive on some level for purpose, and we all want to be appreciated and thought of with worth. Most of us will learn our manner of acting on the stage of life by watching others who have taken the stage before us, and rightly so. Taking the stage and earning a hearing is an achievement in itself.

Now, there is no evil in choosing a pattern that has made it to the stage and has left a good impression on us. Many good leaders are among us and have gone before us ...but... Warning: The image before us may be just a mirage without the power connection of an eternal source off stage. Be careful, there are patterns of performance that publicly appear Godly but in private are flawed by a secret animosity towards the Words and Presence of God.

(Jesus is that "off stage" eternal connection to true life).

For the sake of others looking on to you for a pattern of performance on the stage of life, when you are unseen... study the person of Jesus Christ through His Word, the Bible, and through intimate fellowship in prayer with Him. This is the "off stage" connection we all need so that there is true power on the stage of men and not just hype.

We will mimic someone, consequently; mimic Jesus.

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour." Ephesians 5:1,2

2018 - LIVE LIFE FULLY ENGAGED WITH JESUS - OFF-STAGE AND ON-STAGE... MAKE A LASTING LOVE DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES WHO ARE LOOKING ON!

HLFA,

Jeff