Hear My Heartbeat

Righteousness as vindicated, justification in controversy, deliverance to a prosperous victory: He weighs out what is right for us, and measures out what is just so that His people, by merit of His "covenant by sacrifice", can enjoy His salvation. This Heaven sent, fully empowered Righteousness shall move in amazing ways before His Face; and will appropriately fashion our purposeful placement in the way of the rhythmic pulse of His Steps. He is the beat, the pulse, the anvil, the anvil stroke, the footfall of our life, The Heartbeat … Walk with Jesus.

Awake to rhythm in His steps …"Once, twice, thrice, as His time on our time... At His repetition, at our pace, at His occurrence, His once, His now … Now; now at length, at one time...at another, with us in His Heartbeat." Being sensitive to His foundational "Life Beat" is the liberation of the joy of our life. Breathe in the daily newness of His path.

"Righteous shall go before Him, and shall set us in the way of His steps." Psalm 85:13

Oh that negative voice that would always taunt me from out of the depths of my pain; it was always trying to drown out the sound of His footfall. The voice of the pain would strive to usurp and steal the power of His authority over me. It would cause me to hesitate in staking my claim on the blessings that You would place before me. I would curse my day in the beginning instead of praising Your Name, because of the pain, because of the gnawing ache. 

The pain would constantly growl "you are a cripple" and in total agreement with my momentary halt-ness; but You cry "You are whole!" and Your cry pleas with my faith to only … Trust. So I will.

I would always pillow my head with full intentions of stretching out to praise His mercy and listen for His footfall early upon my next awaking; but pain and doubt are always ready to greet me. Falling on the face of my heart, the treasure chest of Your word opened before my brokenness … The truth was evidently proclaimed before, doubt was tearing at my ability to believe; then I quieted my soul to sense the meeting of Mercy and Truth, and tearfully watched as Righteousness and Peace embraced and kissed. 

But how can this be? Truth and Righteousness were the adversaries of my failures; and wasn't pain the proof that I was outside of the blessings of Mercy and Peace? I cried out, Then I heard the Footfall … And I felt His righteousness lift and carry me. Strength was returning as I was gently placed in His safety, and my eyes were once again opened before the terribly wonderful "Place of the Skull" … I heard the pounding pulse of the hammer and the sharp ring of the nail, I saw the blood, and shuttered at the pain that Eternal Love bore there for me. His Now was my now … Once, twice, thrice I heard the Footfall. I now stretched my handicapped frame in praise before Him and Grace kissed me. I am whole. 

"Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because Thou hast holpen me, and comforted me." Psalm 86:17 

HLFA,

Jeff

"He heard my fragile heartbeat, 

and paced His Heart to mine … 

Behold, now, I hear His heartbeat, 

O to know, Love Divine." 

Exert poem from The Scarlet Sinner

The Archer

"The dream began with a blinding flash of pure white light, and an explosion's impact right near me. I sensed that all my loved ones were in proximity but because of the smoke, fire and rubble I could only see images: nothing was clear. I tried to run but only to find myself falling. I tried to cry out but my voice was no where to be found. In the distance within my reach, I saw a skillfully crafted bow next to a sheath full of arrows that glistened in the few rays of light that were left in this battlefield scene.

I looked to the left and to the right of me, and saw others with bows that were bent carelessly wrong causing their arrows to actually fly off in perverse directions, even at the peril of their loved ones, instead of at the enemy. In the flashes of light, I saw that the misguided archers would look toward Heaven and their targets with their eyes closed. I had almost succumbed to the same posture had it no been for the pleas of Your Spirit and the Precarious Safety of Your Cliff. I reached for the Bow and Quiver realizing the Battle was His." - Exert from The Scarlet Sinner. 

Hosea 7:15,16 "Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. They return, but not to the Most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt."

Can we acknowledge that He is our Strength in this temporal fragile time of potential injustice? Remember the enemy truly has no weapon that can be formed against us, but those deceitful bows can threaten and reap havoc on our joy in the journey.

Psalm 78:56,57 - "Yet they tempted and provoked the Most High God, and kept not His testimonies: But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow." 

Can we turn away from the attempts by the enemy to scar us: with his arrows of deceit that are hurled our way from broken and twisted bows? Remember the enemy can't win unless we let him preoccupy our conversations and recollections with the lies fabricated by the deceitful bows.

Terms like "He is a straight shooter" do not have the same comforting affect on me as possibly some others... To me straight shooters can also choose deceitful bows as their choice weapon of deception. Their arrows may not necessarily fly in our direction, but they do scatter and scar our thoughts and plans for the future. I have seen so called "straight shooters" over the years just turn out to be thoughtless selfish bullies, whose eye teeth desire to rip the poor from their possessions and whose eyelids are turned upward in attempt to discredit the Most High. 

• A true leader cannot and will not be disconnected from Eternity.
• A true leader is not afraid to love and be loved in the face of adversity.
• A true leader will strengthen weakened hands and support feeble but loving stands.
• A true leader will strive to remove the deceitful bows from the armory of broken dreams.
• A true leader will deal hope from the Truth to those who have been wounded by lies.
• A true leader will do everything in his or her power to deliver the broken to the Captain of their souls.

Why do so many leaders succumb of the lies of the roaring lion; inclining to believe that success is a ladder formed out of the dead bodies of those... naïve enough to trust, who were in the way, and became stepping stones to the leader's personal prerogatives? Survival of the fittest?? The easy way out??

Let's rewrite the definition of success as: "becoming a strategically skillful stepping stone in the eternal life of others"; a lively stone that will breathe new life and vivid direction into the future of those who are humbly trusting God, encouraging and empowering those who desire to be ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope that is within them. 

This is the life of the Archer of Love: The one whose heart reaches for God's best Bow and truth honed arrows, and carefully takes aim with truth to defend the helpless and bring renewed life to God's disheartened warriors. 

This is the way of the Archer of Hope: The one whose heart sees beyond the bitter scars and charred battlefield remains, and skillfully casts a new and lively vision of encouragement to those deemed unworthy by cruel leadership and by the battles of the past.

This is the Life of the Archer of God: The one whose fullest devotion is to his or her Most High Captain. The one whose lips flow with the Song of Jesus, and whose life emulates His love.

Be His Archer!

HLFA,

Jeff

Aha Kingdom Actors

You have probably met the "I'm truly blessed" actors that hang close to the Kingdom like vultures hanging close to a dying animal. Yes, Jesus alerted His disciples to these "birds" in the branches .... in the parable of the mustard seed. They are polished, refined, and savvy in the affairs of men. They are experts in the art of squeezing profitability out of the penniless. With a high and mighty demeanor, they "squint and gnats and swallow camels" while laying the "Aha, aha Burdens" on the meek and the lowly suffering pilgrims of the Kingdom.

Though they promise health and wealth through the sacrifice of the same, dare they risk any investment of their own? They are extortionists of the cruelest kind, because they prey on "the halt, the maimed, the lame and the blind" of the Kingdom. They are quick to point out that suffering is a result of a character flaw and a curse on the choice of life of an individual. They step on to the stage of life with a putrefying performance of vindictive pride... All shined up and full of positive smiling candor ... They will unashamedly hold themselves up to for the suffering to "Aha, aha - behold, we are pain free!"

Whether these profiteers are physically in our faces or they are in the oppression of our accusatory memory grid: they seek to extort the life and the ability to truly live from our souls . They criticize, demand, examine, inspect and expect homage from our souls while reminding us of our pitiful situations.

While they intensely seek our souls for harm... they are unaware that our groaning is heard and felt by an Advocate for our defense Who will rescue us. And all through their "Aha, aha performances they are accumulating internal guilt and amassing obvious confusion that will eventually turn them backward for the full reward of shame. 

Conversely - the Humble of the Kingdom are seeking the King with grateful expectations, love discovery inspections, and sustaining grace revelations that cause rejoicing and gladness in their King. Notably and openly He is their Help and Deliverer by His Salvation... Let Him be magnified! Though their faith is renewed Daily by His Faithfulness, Their prayer is still childlike in its plea - "please don't delay" - "Come Quickly, Lord Jesus". 

"Make hast, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: and let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: Thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying." Psalm 70:1-5. 

Read His Word ... Meditate on His Word ... Believe His Word until it drowns out the Aha, aha Voice Of the curse prophets of this generation and the discouragement of our own lied to hearts. 

Listen, Believe and Live! 

Jesus is our Shalom!

HLFA,

Jeff

Faceless Enemy

Psalm 59:1,2 - Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, save me from bloody men."

We will rarely see it this way, because of this life that is bound by gravity, but the enemy is not Flesh and Blood (Even though a face and a name might be breathing out threats right in our face) ... But the enemy we wrestle with is - Beginnings, Choices and Voices. 

(In the passage above) David, in the midst of the "people" that are lurking in the shadows and the dark places with mandates to slay him, sees beyond the flesh and blood and unveils the real culprit behind his troubles... In Psalm 59:2 he makes a statement that could be conflictive even for translators: "Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, save me from bloody men." Devotionally translated "Cause me to be snatched away, pulled up and out ... Away from the doings, the makings, the workings of sorrowful, idolatrous, wickedness; and deliver me from the murderous "stilling of the blood" desire of fallen man."

This is truly a faceless enemy. Behind the scenes in the shadows of depravity... there breathes a faceless entity that hounds the heart of mankind. It plants suggestions, desires, and images that create strong emotional ties to our fallen reflexes, which in turn derail us from the beseeching of the Spirit of God. Our flesh always wants to blame "somebody". That is why Jesus took the blame, the shame and separation so that He could be our Deliverer. Psalm 54:7 - "For He hath delivered me out of all trouble: mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies."

We have been accused: "Oh, you are so arrogantly presumptuous, assuming that God will deliver you via His Goodness!" What a viscous soul wounding statement as we are looking toward God for help! It is tough because we catch our selves being stared at by those that love us, only to hear our own voice bark out … "What are you looking at?"; and the tone of our Voice that carries that message usually is terse and biting. So immediately egos are bruised, and we all are embraced by the enemy - "rejection". 

We are no longer allowed to admire, there is no time allotted for that. By the time we stop to smell the roses the bush is retreating to its winter positioning and our noses will no doubt be stung by thorns.Psalm 58:9 - "Before your pots can feel the thorns. He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living , and in His wrath." 

God hates these "workings" that separate us from knowing the fullness of His Presence. He is touched and angry... as the crippling feelings of sin's infirmity arise in our fragile frames caused by these "workings" of iniquity. He wants to free us from the futility of the "people - flesh and blood" wrestling matches. People are not the enemy.

Psalm 59:4 "They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help, me, and behold." The killer is... that even though we may be innocent of many things - trusting God will always be our fault and that Trust makes us the target of Evil.

Here is a retaliatory statement that sounds fair, but is not totally true when placed in the light of scripture - "It's okay to dislike someone, but it is not okay to disrespect, degrade, and humiliate that person." Can we see the subtle lie that is woven into this statement; the statement plays on fairness but is misaligned with God's righteousness. 

How does this statement line up with Jesus' words "Love your enemies (people)"? Matthew 5:43-48 --- read it through and remember that the word "perfect" in verse 48 means "complete, wanting nothing". It is not OK to dislike someone. 

Psalm 59:17 & 1a

"Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense...

Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense...

For God is my defense: "Deliver me from mine enemies"

And the God of my mercy.

For God is my defense: "Deliver me from mine enemies"

And the God of my mercy...

The God of my Mercy...

The God of my Mercy...

O the God of my mercy is the God of my defense." 

The Faceless enemy is defeated when we are giving our retaliatory moments to the God of our defense and mercy … He gives us the power to see that our enemy is not others. 

Hate the workings of wickedness … but love the people... love your enemies. 

"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45 

HLFA, 

Jeff

One Step Could Change You

July 20,1969 on this day the US, by God's Grace, landed two men on the Moon, and on the 21th Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the moon (Buzz Aldrin Jr. stepped on to the moon also 20 minutes later). Oh those days were so different, people actually prayed and praised God without fear of offending someone. Phrases like "God Bless" "Creation" and "God willing" we're shared without inhibition. It was almost like that "all" knew that God was in charge of the protocol. 

Dive into the history of the prayer and the amazing "despised people" people that God raised up to work through this mission. Stop listening to our modern day skeptics and history "lie weavers", who climb into the garbage cans of their own bitter doubts and the stench of their "dead bones" closets. They know full well the historical safety of the shadow of the Almighty, but have no personal experiential clue to the rewards of the trust in the greatness of the hand of God. 

Psalm 51 may be appropriate for a nation to read (out loud on their knees), who would sooner slander and curse leadership than pray for miracles... Which are found in God's department of Grace.

The Nation has changed by the spirit of the prince of dark influence, within the realm of man's curiosity to be his own god. Have we changed with the tide of darkness? Are we adorning ourselves with the fruit of the Antichrist " lust, dissatisfied unrest, impatience, rambunctious cruelty, mistrust, crudeness, and characterless indiscretion {Read Gal. 2:22-23 in comparison}. Out of this spirit proceeds all the seeds and plans for (Galatians 5:19-21) … Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditious, heresies, envying so, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: ...they which practice such things are outside of the inheritance of the Kingdom of God. (The list above sounds like an outline for our current daily media to search on for news to report).

"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." II Corinthians 3:17,18

AND/OR are we changing by becoming less and less like the adorning glitter of this planet and more and more like Jesus?

- What would you think of a life that had power to omit things that have nothing to do with a love relationship with God? 

- What would you give for a life freeborn from Above that was no longer in bondage to the shameful and chain-full life without God? 

- How who you feel about positioning yourself in the style of Heaven, as a rebellious advocate of loving obedience to the Word of God?

- Instead of trying to profiteer from the life that totters so close to destruction that it doesn't even remotely resemble the heart of Heaven, why not truly Live the Abundant Life?

If "His mercies are new every morning," who are we to hold malice, anger, bitterness and unforgiveness against an offender: Stranger or brethren? There is a problem in the Kingdom with those of us who have chosen the "me god" over My God and create our own personal system of excommunication, separation, and isolation. 

Let's look at a judgment cry to some of the obvious symptoms:

Hey filthy talker! Your lips are profane as they proclaim your are a "tough guy" or an "edgy" Christian; and that your particular style of grace gives you license to spew the verbs of hell if needed... Jesus' lips would not utter filth and lewdness.

Hey lewd thinker! Your mind is soaked with rebellion against the scriptures or you have stolen things from the Word of God that you can warp to support your addiction. You reflexively shun as "archaic" any of His wisdom that creates conflict with your "My Way" ideals. Jesus thought, spoke and lived His Father's Words.

Hey anger monger! You have all the justification for revenge and hatred while you grow even angrier as forgiveness and peace alludes your hardening heart. Jesus taught us that hate filled anger was murder.

Hey defamation lover! You continually give your faith to lies in order to appear elite and higher educated than the "simple minded idiots" that chose prayer over gossip and slander. Jesus prayed in the garden to make it to the cross, so he would die for your sins and those you slander.

Hey hypocrite detector! The stage you stand on, is sinking sand while you point out the faults of others, purporting to be standing on a rock of offense instead of the "pansy" lifestyle of those who love and forgive too quickly. Jesus acted out the love of the Father with every moment of His Life; You probably still can find fault with Him if you pervert Love too far.

Do we really think that there is a loop hole in the clauses of scripture that command us to love, to forgive, and to tenderheartedly be kind? I am so glad that God's Love is unsaleable, unscalable, unoffendable; unrelenting in in His power to love and keep us and relentless in His Love to free us... LIBERTY is ours if we just clearly see what our sin did to our Savior and what it does to our ability to fully experience all of His eternally extravagant love supply to us and through us.

O the Rich Man may have thoroughly despised the wretched Lazarus as he ate from the crumbs that fell from the Rich Man's table; but when the tables were turned at death, the Rich man's perspective from the flaming torments of Hell was quite altered. The Rich man's envious thirst was unquenchable as he desired just a cooling drop of water from the finger of the wretched Lazarus, who was now secure in the extravagant comforts of Paradise.

If you see the Cross of Jesus as salvation, why do you choose to live so close to Hell? Is it possible that you are being changed, but not by the Word of God?

Take note: That by 1976 there was already a self-published book that attempted to purport the theory that the moon landing was staged. It took all of 7 years and the doubt was being published as "a Hoax that cost taxpayers billions of dollars". What spirit was this preying from and on?Be careful that your disappointments do not turn your heart away from the truth ("Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.").

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." I John 1:9,10

HLFA,

Jeff

"I'm Sorry."
"I forgive you."
"I love you."
Use these gifts without inhibition.
Annihilate "My Way". 

Infirmity Filter

"You gnarl your face at my words, you repulse and push away at my incidental touch, you show disdain when I appear, you sicken at the smell of my presence and turn your nose at my breath. The typical response to my offerings of love is silence, I only experience your complaints and cruel grumblings. Of all men I am most miserable as I stare through the broken perception of my pain." The Scarlet Sinner to the Lover of his soul.

The capacity to think on God and receive His Truth is constantly filtered by: what you know and believe of His Word; what you have touched, seen and desired to experience in the world; and your "infirmity filter".

We are all composite people. There are no self made men and women. Every one of us is a product of the input that he or she embraces as his or her reality. The sad state of affairs of the human condition is that we usually espouse the "first experience" as proof. This is why we wrestle with principalities (or beginnings). 

If it smelled good, tasted good, looked good, felt good and had minimal negative repercussions, then it was probably not bad, ok, good or left undetermined and open for further experimentation. If it isn't outright catastrophically evil than it may not be sin. Hence we apply the "moderation in all things clause" to provide an alibi for our momentary self inflicted ignorance of potential eternal truth. 

The flip side can be just as devastating to a faith walk - it smelled bad, tasted bad, looked awful, felt bad and had ongoing negative personal repercussions, then reflexively it is bad and to be avoided. Again the sad state of affairs of the human condition is that we may even consider God as the source of suffering and thus shut down the avenue of healing by trading for a painful commitment to "this is my lot in life or my cross to bear". Hence, we provide a filter to out life that handicaps us from the potential blessing of God.

"Will the Lord cast off for ever? And will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy clean gone for ever? Doth His promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah." Psalm 77:7,8,9 

There is a rhetorical answer that pride blusters against and instinctively pushes back from at every twinge of pain ... But if pride would fall the answer would be "NO". 

But the gift of a reason that the these questions are even being asked is found in verse 10 with a plan of action that takes on gratitude as the enabler and not bitterness.

Psalm 77:10 - "AND I SAID, THIS IS MY INFIRMITY: but I WILL REMEMBER the years of the right hand of the Most High." (I will remember His story, His past mercy, His wonders, His doings, His sanctuary, His greatness, and I will declare His strength among my peers... Read to the end of this chapter).I will be totally saturated with the memory of My God and override the infirmity filter.

"The Natural man receives not the things of God!" Don't get bent out of shape when the Word of God you try to share creates conflict; for so it potentially created a conflict in you until you surrendered your will to that Truth. If you are going to get bent out of shape, get bent into shape... Choose the kneeing shape and Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

"When I decided it was my infirmity that was ruling my vision instead of Thy Word, I broke desperately before Thee. At that moment I regained the clarity of vision needed to see through the issues that had burdened me so. Now I could see this magnificent Kingdom in its splendor. Mercy painted its glory across the Heavens in the changing of the lights; faithfulness extended it beauty as it reached the clouds; as mountains arose in the azure beauty of righteousness, judgement flowed strong and true to the depths of the oceans. There was plenteous supply for the preservation of man and beast, and loving kindness was the power that extended in all directions to the children of men that put their trust under the shadow of His wings. There I stood in captive amazement." exert from The Scarlet Sinner - Starting Anew.

Culture must not dominate and define the Kids of the King. Pain must not dictate our willingness to live openly in His truth. The King's Word and His Spirit must invade every area of our living so that we can live abundantly ALIVE becoming transcendently relevant in thee culture and through the pain. 

Let God be our Filter.

BOW, RISE UP and LIVE!! 

See Love!

HLFA,Jeff 

PS: The picture of the TWO fighters - they Praised to the end

Zip-Lock Death

Years ago my wife was extremely excited to join the Arbor Day Foundation. Upon joining she was to receive 10 free trees … cool, almost. After weeks of waiting a small box was delivered with the 10 trees; but there must have been a failure to deliver because in the box were 10 small bags with what looked like dried up - almost rotting roots. There was a note in the box explaining that the trees were specially packaged as "dormant" and care instructions were given for "potential" success to "start" these trees and foster them to maturity and replanting. Out of the 10 trees only a few made it due to my non-green thumb, delay in transplanting and weather. Coming out of dormancy isn't always successful. 

STAY CLOSE TO THE SOURCE AND GROW! 

Psalm 76:1-3 - “In Judah ("Praised") is God known: His Name is great in Israel ("God Prevails"). In Salem ("Peace") also is His tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion ("Parched Place"). There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.” 

Think about it - He is known when He is truly Praised. His Name is great because He Prevails. His worship is Peace. His Dwelling is in the Parched Places in need of His refreshment. 

Psalm 28:7 - “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him.” 

The LORD is - MY strength (material, physical, political, social - external and internal strength to function complete within the pressures of this present life) and MY shield (defense, buckler, protection); MY heart(the seat of my character, emotions, and thus decisions) finds Him the perfect source of trust, “In Him”; and I am helped (supported, undergirded): the result is a surge of exaltation and praise in MY song that is about and toward Him. 

He provides everything to allow MY heart to thrive and My life to give life, fully alive. So why do I settle for dormancy? Why do I quit in defeat? Why do I allow discouragement? And why do I entertain dark desires? Why do I listen to the powerless advise of negative woe wishers? 

Interruption - distortion is unavoidable. BUT - He is able! BUT - We are fragile. It is hard to encourage a heart that never hears the words “I love you”, never hears words of intimate endearment. And, oh by the way, there are scars that will be delivered via expressions that devalue and degrade. Do we speak love? Do we speak gratitude? Do we give praise? Do we bless with value? Do we seek peace? OR have we boarded up the lips of our hearts in disappointment and anger? 

The heart needs strength and protection so that it can trust, exalt and praise. This is the flowing stream or "water" course of a healthy flow of life. How do we feed that to others? The power of life and death is in the tongue. What are we delivering? 

Take a risk and bring value to others no matter what is thought of you. There is so much discouragement in our day... information that sells seems to lean towards the ugly and the awful revelations of the worst possible news. 

Good news is quickly becoming a rare and inconvenient commodity that is quickly fading even in the congregation of faith. There is a slanted grace message being heralded from the pulpit, but a death sentence in pews, aisles, hallways, meeting rooms and exit doors. The "failure" and "embarrassing falling" of the saints is greeted with a pious personal disappointment and a disgraceful public shunning. 

The meetings of the saints have become a time to pretend to be perfect while we grow more and more numb by the harboring of untreated infection. We live in fear of being known for who we really are on the inside... instead of being seen as one primed for the rescue and redemption. 

The Church is finding itself in specially sealed storage/shipping bags prepared for destinations that are not where we are. We are told that we can bring it all to the alter, but in so doing we are made to feel dirty and exposed; the promised cleansing is just another step into a baptism of expositional nakedness. Where is our Father, our robe and our ring? Instead there is a stripping of our dignity, tatter rags for covering, and shackles of shameful identification are locked onto our lives. 

Then we hear "Go into the world, and preach the good news!" How obscene when we have been so abused: Upon delivery to the world in need, we have either been reduced to beggars ourselves, or our fruit of the Spirit is so dry and withered (waning and much in need of water and light) that we have nothing but bagged, dried, withered and rotting roots to offer. 

We were told and believed that this marriage to Christ, this amazing grace Salvation, was to bring a thriving, and abundant life; not a zip-lock "rot in the fridge" type of dying life. When will the world hear - "I am sorry!" - "You are forgiven!" "Thank-you!" - "You are welcome!" - "I love you!" ? If our lips refuse to take the Risk from Above and truly, openly love for the sake of Jesus - what will be left of those around us, who are so in need of His love through us? 

A dormant plant can only stay contained for a determined period of time before it rots in its shipping container. If the price has been paid for the plant, we will bring it to water, light and life with a full sense of urgency? 

Psalm 28:7 - “The LORD is MY strength and MY shield; MY heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore MY heart greatly rejoiceth; and with MY song will I praise Him.” 

Take ownership of His Love Venture! 

It is mine, and yours. 

HLFA, 

Jeff

The Obvious and The Owl

Psalm 16:5 - "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." 

Reflect on this: (The LORD is the "exact accounting" of the revealed obvious portion given to me(He is my everything), and the compressed but unseen reckoned measure; He grasps my way: holding me up to support my choosing, supporting me for the things chosen for me, and keeping me for the result of the choices). 

The Math of Heaven is amazingly in our favor, at all times. He has given us all things; and all things are within our reach, are for our benefit, tailored for us, and are kept safe (from moth, rust and thieves) in His Love Repository. "The LORD is the portion (all things) of mine inheritance (the seen allotment)" And "The LORD is the portion of my cup (the unseen, pressed down, "owl" requisitioning)." 

"All things" = "the realized/seen daily provision x gratitude" + "unseen cup, the owl who hunts in the night, the secret thoughts of the heart x a passionate devotion for Him". 

Take a little bit of time with this. The true power and blessing of our life comes from two sources: 

1. A Delightful Gratitude for the Obvious Blessings of God - The Inheritance. 

2. A Devotional Passion for the Secret Time with Him - The Cup (the Owl). 

The amazing thing ... In our day, the LORD is drawing us to the treasure chest of true completeness - true Shalom, true wholeness... that is found only in Him.

Jeremiah 11 - has been a universal draw as a promise for prosperity or success from many sources, but the true message has been garbled by our almost covetous need for tangible wealth and "stuff" or a desire to be rid of symptomatic pain and distress. True Shalom is not found in the obvious, but always recognize that the obvious blessings of God need to be greeted with a delight filled gratitude. That is only half of the road less traveled. 

While pondering a partial sign along the road that appeared to say "For I know the thought that I have purposed for you, thoughts of Prosperity ..." The car spun around the corner of a remote highway before my Father-n-Law could catch the Scripture reference ... But just up the road in the dark, stood an owl - just glaring at him as swerved by him. An owl, standing in the middle of the road - just glaring at him. He needed to put this together. 

Upon arriving home he searched for the scripture, but this was what he found contrary to the modern day tout for riches : Jeremiah 29:11, 12, 13 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." 

After this study, in his travels he found more and more people that he would share Jeremiah 29:11 with, would tell him "That is our verse!" Or "We have kept that as a promise!" ... And the scripture was making connections with other believers; ... But what about the Owl? 

Father's Day 2018 - Dad and I collided in a study and when he heard the word OWL connected with a devotion to God in the secret times. He opened his heart to the dire importance of the Owl ... The passionate desire to seek the LORD in the secret times where the only eyes that would see him would be God's eyes. He learned that for the sake of all the children looking up to him ... Knowing Jesus would have to be his passion in the secret instead of ungodly vises. Wow what a revelation! 

Note: the Hebrew word for "CUP" in Psalm 16:5 is also translated "owl" ... Think about an owl: Silent in its flying, nocturnal in its hunt, focused in hunting the object of its unseen desire ... Though thought of as unclean. A sinner, normally bent to searching for the forbidden pleasures of sin in the dark, NOW saved by grace...can find that sin will lose its grip on him if the choices made in secret are choices made in a passionate desire to know Jesus. 

Dads and Moms - for the sake of the Children - seek Jesus in the secret ... Remember the Owl! 

Be Grateful for God's obvious blessings and passionate about knowing Him in secret; 

Shalom will grow within and around you. 

HLFA, 

Jeff

Inner Kingdom

As the slats on the blinds were opened, and the morning sun began to filter into the room -- I began to rejoice in the Greater Light: "Hey...I love you!" Came out of me almost reflexively and then the discussion began; "There is no remaining curse where You are, correct? You loved me first, and I love you. There is nothing in Heaven or in the Earth that can separate me from Your Love. Why do I have to ache so much ... because the battle of the "Land of the Leb" is still facing me today?

Please let the battle diminish under the Royal power of Your mighty presence. Amen.

Psalm 10:16-18 "The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. LORD," 

(O that my "heathen reflexes" would perish out of my inner land) 

"Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare their heart," 

(I am leaning heavily and humbly on You to prepare the Land of my heart) 

"Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of earth may no more oppress."

(My children are depending on my Heavenly connection to banish the oppression of the "man of the earth" - that old nature, in the preparation of my land. - MY Sin has a way of making my children fatherless and oppressed long into their future ... But there is victory as the LORD is royally welcomed into my Throne room.)

What noble thoughts can challenge our "land of the heart" to submit the rule of this unseen kingdom to the Unseen King of Glory? Does posterity really matter to the self-absorbed and self-inflicted childless ones? Do "others" matter when we constantly grapple with our own self exaltation?

Contrary to popular belief... Loving others is not a token of the goodness of humanity; but the ability to give and to leave "lasting love" is totally dependent on the relationship we have with the God, who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. "God is Love!" (Read 1 John 4:8,16) - So what is love without God? Not Love from Above, sorry.

Due to it still being the age of time, every gate to the inner Kingdom has it's flaw. 

- The guards of the eye gates have a tendency to catch every flicker of fantasy that shines in their direction.

- Even the eyelids have a tendency to close upward or droop earthward at the sound of eternity. - The ear gate is too closely connected to the mouth gate, especially when it comes to leaking gossip or spouting slander. 

- The nose gate has a tendency to flirt with the familiar the aroma of the forbidden; and with every strange breeze that would blow its direction it would capture the essence with gusto. 

- The keepers of the memory habitually detain the guilt and the shame that separates the land of the heart from God; while at the same time allowing the thief to come in a steal the gold and gems of promise from the treasure chest of eternity.

BUT fear not, the King is not caught unaware of the Battle we face. He is more than ready and powerfully able to step in for the rescue. His arm doesn't grow weary in delivering and His ears do not grow tired of our cries for help. But here is the reality: Without Christ we are condemned already; In Christ there is now no condemnation. BUT - Sin separates and makes us believe that God has turned a deaf ear in our direction and pulled back the rescue that could have been ours. 

SIN creates the dissonance, discord, and disconnect in the inner Kingdom of believers.It is amazing that the choices we make in secret rebellion of His word, create the words that we use to slander ourselves --Nothing breaks the heart of the Father more than to know the self inflicted anguish in the lives of His children. 

There are no ""black Sheep" in the family of God -- that is Sin's subliminal trash talk because of choices that led to feelings of judgment.. that lead inevitably lead to being "out of favor" ... Sorry but every man has the Black Sheep Syndrome, "For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God." (Romans 3:23) It is "the bend" of the man of the earth. "But God commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8).

Now as His Children, He has stated in 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

Here is a potential chain breaker -- 

- Daily, start hearing His Word

- Daily start listening to his Word

- Daily start living the Word

- Daily start sharing the Word in love and in the Power of His Spirit

- Daily rush to forgiveness and not self degradation. 

Remember - in the inner Kingdom - "The Lord is King for ever and ever!"

Let's Bow our hearts before Him.

HLFA,

Jeff

The Edge of Between

Am I the leper?...So untouchable and so unworthy to even be seen, (all that is known of me is this disruptive voice crying "unclean, unclean". Those words spread the fear ... Don't touch or you will be like me!) - there is really no space of love reserved for a leper.

My disease, which seems more assigned and appointed than real, has me longing and aching; While I hang "in between"... While I hang in "the middle" ... Between Heaven and Earth, between the living and the dead; there is a gnawing sense of needing to know that I belong; needing assurance that I am loved, and needing to know that I have worth. Oh to know the spontaneous touch of Eternal Life, and the feel of that Life being given and shared without regret, reservation or remorse. 

I see that You are heading my direction; I stand in anticipation that You will stop Your movement for me, and long enough to embrace me before moving on: And so I wait with bated breath for those everlasting arms to hold me. I wait ... Eyes closed and head bowed. You are there and honored by my waiting ... For You.

I can still smell the mysterious eternal bouquet of your garden of Grace.I can sense the refreshing cool air that flows with your presence in the moment.And still remember the youthful butterfly kisses and playful gestures of love as you encircled and engulfed me in Your Worth ... Making me feel strangely appropriated and treasured beyond my wildest dreams. Oh How I Love you, Jesus.

It was the First Love; it was so new, every fiber of my senses vibrated in sympathetic harmony to the melody of Your Song over me. Every movement of this life was in stride to stay close to you, though you were always near; although I could wander far in a split second, I could never get so far, so high, so low, so fallen ... That You were not there. You bore my shame, You washed my wounds, You anointed my scars, You ravished me, and You captured my heart. And For no other reason than Love, You held me ... For You drew me from out of my nowhere, and raptured me from Above... To be Your Beloved.

I always find myself missing You in those empty moments when my choices have been selfish and full of sorrowful tears; When parting and becoming a castaway had seemed so near, because it would have been my pitiful solution. It was in those moments that Your Longing for me seemed even stronger... in those strangely "in the middle" - "in between" moments, it was there that I bowed to the safety and closeness of the Edge of Between.

There on the Rock, the Cliff again. Safe in the Risk of All You are.There and only there, with no other place to go, with no one to turn to, no one else to trust ... All idols die ... As Jesus has us as we have Him.

Jesus is our All, and all He has ever desired to give us is ours.

Live in the Freedom of the Cliff! Stay on the Edge of Between!

Psalm 18: 2 - 

" The LORD is my rock, (the Safety of the Cliff)

and my fortress, (the Provision of the Stronghold)

and my deliverer; (the Security of His Escape)

my God, my strength, ( My God, no idols climbing this insurmountable Wall) 

in whom I will trust; (Who in my only sought after Protection)

my buckler, (My ever adjusting/adapting Defense)

and the horn of my salvation,(the obvious shining rays of my Deliverance) 

and my high tower." (My High Retreat - Vision of the Future)

I want no other ... So with the appointment of "Leper": I will be His Leper on the Edge of Between.

HLFA,

Jeff