When your Past is your Prison

She had a haunted look that spoke of pain and sadness.  A quiet mourning that was near the surface but rooted deep.  Her eyes could meet yours, but not really connect in a personal way, as if preoccupied and full of a desperate intensity.  Her face bore a tightness around the eyes and the corners of the mouth as though the skin was under a tension tugging deep beneath the surface of her personality.

She leaned forward in her chair to speak, but turned her head to one side, listening to the voice of anguish deep within that pleaded for release, and yet screamed for silence. She was a young teenage girl, but she was hunched over actually embodying the posture of an 80 year old woman.

“You’re hurting deeply inside, aren’t you Sarah?” I spoke with a quiet gentleness, concerned not to startle her into her burrow of protection, yet seeking  to draw her out into the realm of reality and light.  Her eyes misted and brimmed with tears.  She nodded her head slowly.

“Sarah, it is clear that the inner turmoil that you are experiencing is flowing out a deep well of hurt, and emotional pain buried within you.  You have asked me to help you find the peace, and healing, that Jesus Christ has for you. However, unless you can share that with me, I cannot help you.”  I paused, waiting for some response.

Sarah breathed deeply as if to draw enough strength to speak of the unspeakable. She ran her hands through her hair as if to steady herself, and then she looked up and began to tell her story.

The unfolding of the horrific tale of abuse and deprivation that followed explained why she found it so difficult to recount it to anyone.  Sarah had somehow survived the terrible experiences, but not without the painful scars of hurt and bitterness.   

Now, at 19, she was battling feelings of shame, anger, and guilt.  She also felt confused, for feeling such guilt for not having stopped the abuse sooner.  “I feel so guilty”, she confessed quietly as the tears overflowed.”I should have told someone,” she said as she wiped tears from her face. “I was too afraid.”

“Sarah, you were seven years old when it started,” I pointed out. "It is hard enough for a teenage girl to go through the awkward changes in her own body, let alone reveal to another the terrible things that you were threatened and coerced into unwillingly participate in."


I paused and opened my Bible, sat it on my knees, and smoothed out the worn pages with my hands. When I looked up, Sarah looked at me intently.

“It was at thirteen when you fought back.  Don’t take the blame for what you, at such a young age, were made to do by a trusted adult figure.  That is a false kind of guilt, that is really a form of shame. It feels like guilt, but it is more focused on how you have been made to see yourself as a bad person, when you are anything but.”  

I looked out the window at the autumn leaves rustling against the glass with an urgency and impatience. “What concerns me is the painful hurting and anguish that is locked deep down inside of you.” Sarah nodded her head, and then looked down at her clinched hands that lay balled in her lap.

“Our inner self is like a kind of house, that is full of rooms that portray the memories and chapters of our lives. Deep within you there is a room full of suffering that you have not been able to give over to the Lord Jesus Christ. 

You know Him as Lord and Savior, but you have not allowed Him access into this part of your personal life. It has become a kind of prison, that keeps you like a prisoner within your own kind of personal bondage."

Opening my Bible to Isaiah 61, I reminded her that Jesus came to heal the broken heart, and to set the captives free. That included Sarah as well.

“But why am I so afraid to do that?” she wondered aloud.  “It terrifies me to even think of dealing with this part of my life…..but it is true, my past is my prison.” 

“What you may be afraid of is the emotional anguish of those six years of horrific abuse, and perhaps you may wonder if it will be too much for you to experience as you discuss it."  I paused and said, "You do not have to focus on or talk about the details of what happened Sarah. It is the hurt and burden of it that is keeping you a prisoner of the past."


Jesus said...

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…and you will have rest for your souls’.” Matt. 11:28-30.

God encourages each of us to lay our troubled past at His feet, by laying it at the foot of His Cross.  Let the Cross symbolize God’s remedy for broken and sinful lives.  As you release those years of pain to Christ, remember you are merely applying by faith His liberating promise to set you free. You are simply trusting Him for what He has already done for you at the Cross, and validated by His resurrection.” (See II Cor. 5:17-21)

Holding her trembling hands out, as if clasping a fragile container of suffering, she prayed, 

“Dear Lord Jesus, you have saved me and have given me new hope for my life.  Lord, I hurt so very inside yet.  Please take this hurtful burden from me." She wiped tears from her face with a Kleenex, and continued,  "I seek Your deep inner soul rest…peace for my soul.  I set this burden down, by faith, and ask You to release me from the anguish of my awful past.”

Pausing to wipe the tears from a face that was shining and wet, she exclaimed, “Lord, I am receiving your precious healing, and I am clean and pure in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I’m going to accept my new beginning.  Thank You for Your healing and grace.”

A ray of late afternoon sun seemed to reach in through the window to kiss the wall and brighten the room with hope. A new beginning for Sarah was not to be without its challenges, but begin she would. A new release within had given her renewed hope, peace, and as she thought with a smile, the prison cell door is open and I am free.

For Sarah there would be more sessions to sort out the twisted labyrinth of her past and discover how to walk in the new found liberty as a child of the King. I knew just the female counselor that I would refer her to.

Understandably, as she learned to grow in her faith, she would begin to leave behind the ashes of a painful heart, now replaced by a beauty that only Jesus Christ can bring to a broken, and bruised life. The rocky soil of her heart gave way to His creative new life, sprouting new growth, and she was aglow with the radiance of it.


* It is noted that photos of a variety different young women were portrayed in this article to give a reflective view of just how many youth struggle with the burden of When your Past is a Prison.

Trusting God in the Midst of a Life Storm

Violent storms are howling across the planet, leaving in their path, shattered demolished communities, destroyed businesses, and thousands of uprooted and displaced families. Picking up the pieces, and rebuilding shattered dreams are never easy. 

Storms are Increasing

The world at any given time is blanketed with an innumerable array of cyclones, tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes and lightning storms. The power and ferocity of these mega storms is incredible. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world's nuclear weapons detonated at once. 

The hottest place on earth is the air around a lightening strike, which can reach as much as 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, easily 5 times hotter  than the surface of the sun. Supercell tornadoes, with incredible downdrafts drag the rotating mesocyclone toward the ground and can create accelerating wind speeds of up to 300 miles per hour and can cut a swath across the landscape making it look like a war zone.

Life Storms are Inevitable

So it is with storms in our own personal lives. Many people throughout the world today are facing extremely difficult circumstances, and they are finding it very hard to cope with life. In any given season of our life, a storm will be allowed to blow in upon us, and the purposes while often unknown, are always allowed by God in His Sovereignty.

Life Storms can be Devastating

In reality, you do not have to go through a hurricane to be devastated by a Life Storm. The inevitability of life is that storms will never stop coming our way. When they will hit, where we will be at that moment, and the magnitude and severity of those storms are hard to predict. Life Storms are literally times of great trouble, painful suffering, grievous losses, and periods of extreme hardship.

They cause chaotic shifts in the way we usually live our lives. The very nature of our existence readily assures us that just like the seasons of weather in our natural world, Life Storms will regularly gust through our lives with incalculable ferocity. 

From the time we draw our first breath, our days are shadowed by trial and difficulty. The Patriarch Job reflected the following:

“Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue.”  Job 14:1-2

  

Life Storms are Unpredictable

While literal atmospheric storms are able to be tracked with technology like the Doppler Radar System, many Life Storms cannot easily be seen until they are about to crash down upon your life. The storms that hit our lives, often do so with hurricane force, and sweep in with a torrent of stress, chaos, and confusion. 

The Psalmist wrote poetically the following Psalm using the analogy of storms upon the horizon as illustrative of God displaying His divine attributes, power and majesty. 

“The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.” Psalm 77:17-19

He notes several insightful principles that are drawn from this magnificent display of God’s dealings with man in verses 17 – 18.

·  In the midst of a Life Storm, His Path is always there

“Your path led through the sea…”(19a)

·  In the midst of a Life Storm, His Way is not easy

“Your way through the mighty waters…”(19b)

·  In the midst of a Life Storm His Presence is always near

“though your footprints were not seen.”(19c)

Life Storms are Purposeful

There is a saying that always inspired me, especially when a Life Storm would come into our lives. 

“The Will of God shall never lead you where the

Grace of God cannot keep you.”

Holding onto God’s hand in the midst of a Life Storm is learned by trusting Him, relying upon Him, and believing that He will never let something come into your life but that it pass through the filter of His Sovereign purpose for your life.

When we face the unknown, it is important to remember that God’s primary purpose is to teach us to rely upon Him to be there always, and to learn how to draw near to Him, rather than trust in our feeble limited resources to keep us out of harm’s way.

Life Changing Principles to Embrace

In a Life Storm, things are not always what they seem, are often blown out of perspective, and often create doubts regarding God’s faithfulness in allowing the storm.

Isaiah 41:10; 13 provide 5 key principles to remember when you face a Life Storm:

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you; (Isa, 41:10) “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.” (Isa 41:13)

God's Presence within the Storm Alleviates Anxiety

“Do not fear, for I am with you…” (Isaiah 41:10a) 

God's Purpose within the Storm minimizes Confusion

“Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10b)

God's Provision within the Storm will Strengthen you

“I will strengthen you, surely I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:10c)

God's Perspective within the Storm will Encourage you

 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand” Isaiah 41:13a)

God's Protection within the Storm will Enable you

“Do not fear, I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13b)

If you find yourself in a Life Storm right now, you are not alone. Take some time in The Quiet Place where you can spend time with God alone, and reflect upon the principles found in here. Storms do not last forever. They always blow themselves out. So it is with Life Storms. 

The disciples discovered that they were not alone in the midst of the storm. Jesus was there in the boat with them and He promised them that they would get over to the other side. (Luke 18:22-27). So it is with each of us when we are caught in a Life Storm.

Within the storm, always remember that there will always be a light to shine upon His Pathway, He will always lead you through His Word to find His Way, and you will discover that He is always right there with you, even though you do not see His footprints, for His Presence is near.

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

Healing the Broken Heart in The Quiet Place

The silent burden of a broken heart…we have all experienced it at some time in our lives. It has been said that God can heal a broken heart if we give Him all the pieces. That is certainly true. but the real challenge is to first find all of the pieces, and that is easier said than done. Like shards of a broken glass, the pieces weave themselves deep into our hearts. 

The pathway to The Quiet Place is often bathed in the tears of those suffering the hurt of a broken heart. It is one of our life experiences that if unresolved, can ripple on throughout our lives, affecting each significant relationship in the future. If the woundedness within does not experience the healing that is needed to move on, it is very hard to build trust and intimacy with another. 

Working Through the Pain of a Broken Heart

There is a period of time, when the hurt within, literally takes away the capacity to breathe without pain. The painful ache touches a precious and vulnerable place often unknown to friends and family, but God knows it is there; an icon from an earlier time in our lives. When hurting is the only thing you can feel for a time, it can be a very lonely place. 

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

Those who are the closest may encourage you to get over it, to move on, and let it go, but relational hurt most often heals slowly. The struggle can come from close friendships gone awry, but mostly it is forged and cast within the breakdown of intimate relationships; a significant other that meant enough, that the loss cuts deeply into the marrow of our soul. 

“What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” Job 3:25-26

The Death of a Dream

We all dread loss. When we focus only upon the things that we count as loses in our lives, we become miserable. When an intimate relationship ends, it is as if a death has taken place, but there is no real shared funeral service to mark it as a place it our past personal history. Relational loss can linger on, and often whispers in the periphery of our minds, with feelings of deep regret, guilt, resentment and sorrow.

It has been said that time heals all wounds, but that isn’t really true. In time, the memory of something painful may dull, but the rasp of its presence upon our consciousness needs only a nudge to awaken its tenacious hold upon our memory. For some, there is the discovery that someone you thought you couldn't live without in your life, becomes someone you wish you had never met. 

Only God can Heal a Broken Heart

There are countless ways to numb the pain that is within the human heart, and the world has an innumerable array of temporary remedies that simply do not last and never truly heal the hurt within. Only the God who created us knows the intricate and complex nature of inner woundedness in man. Only He can heal us deep within, when our hearts are broken and we are in deep anguish. 

There are many people who suffer through their grief alone, and are unwilling, and resistant to be vulnerable with God, even in the midst of great sorrow. Some blame God for the break-up, feeling that if He loved them He would have prevented the loss.

“In quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it” Isaiah 30:15

Opening your Heart to the God who Created you

 
David was struck with a sense of wonder at the all-knowing depth of God’s insight into the human heart and soul, and wrote in awe the following:

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” Psalm 139:1-3

David put action to that truth, and humbled himself before God to thoroughly search his heart, and reveal to him any unhealthy hurt within.

“Search me O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

The Hebrew word “hurtful” in the NASB version, is more literally translated, “…way of pain…” David requested that God explore his heart to see if there might be any, “way of pain,” within him, perhaps suggesting that even he might not realize the existence of a painful woundedness within.

The Pathway to Healing a Broken Heart

When a relationship ends the hurt left behind can be debilitating. Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never knew. One must bring the hurtful burden of that loss to God, in order to find a comfort that only He can provide.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  2 Corinthians 1:2-4 

You must first drive a tap into the Maple tree in order to draw out the sweet sap to make Maple syrup. Likewise we must step forth in faith, and personally tap into that comfort, in order to experience His healing and gentle quietness within. Otherwise we may pray unceasingly, yet continue to experience unrelenting grieving, without any relief from the burdensomeness of the sorrow.

Finding God's Comfort in The Quiet Place

During a time of great distress, David found a secluded quiet place, and communed with God and penned,

“I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”  Psalm 131:2

We have all seen the sweet peace, and contentment that a child often experiences in the tender, nurturing arms of his mother. When you draw near, you can almost hear the infant cooing and purring with satiation and contentment. 

If you are struggling with a broken heart, remember that it takes time to heal. Consider the following few suggestions that have proved helpful to those that have also experienced a broken heart:

• Allow yourself time to Mourn the Loss

• Take Responsibility to Care for Yourself

• Work through Unresolved issues of Forgiveness

• Spend Devotional time in The Quiet Place 

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm147:3

When Mom is Standing There

Sometimes I find my heart still grieves since Mother passed away.

I find it's when life takes me back to times where she would say,

"No matter what have to face,or if troubles come this day,

thee is the man you are inside that will always finds a way."

It isn't just the sound of rain upon my windowsill,

Or wind that whispers through the trees, and calls me to be still.

It isn't heaven so vivid blue or clouds that paint the sky,

The presence of her standing near, reminds me yet to try.

She gave me inspiration and she filled my mind with words,

And ever since I was a child, her voice I understood.

When times were tough, I'd want to quit, she wouldn’t hear of that,

She'd dust my shoulders, tousle my hair, and pat me on the back.

A thousand ways she gave to me what no one else could give,

I wonder now that she is gone," Mom why did you not live? "

I miss the sparkle in her eyes, the smile upon her face;

and on those lonely, empty nights, your memory I do trace.

 

"You gave me love and pride and hope, you made me understand,

that even if you were not here, you'd always hold my hand.

To others I do seem so sure, so confident, and poised.

But when I'm in the midnight hour, I'm just your little boy."

 I stand upon the precipice of now, what time will be,

and look at all that I must face, the challenge just for me.

I will not fail, I won't give up, I ever more will stand,

and be the man she made of me, to walk upon this land.

"So mother, I am thankful, that you helped this man today,

a man that will embrace his dreams and conquer come what may.

So blow upon the window rain, wind whisper midst the trees,

I know that it will be alright, for Mom was here with me."

Thinking of you on Mothers Day Mom

The Sound of Silence inThe Quiet Place

 

Silence....we all long for it at times. Throughout our lives, parents, school teachers and older siblings have admonished us to: "Be Quiet" to "Hush" to "Be Still" to "Settle Down" or in some cases, to "Not Speak unless you are Spoken to."

If we were not compliant with those admonitions, the directive would then be to "Go to your Room!" or "You are Grounded" or "No friends over and no phone privileges." Sometimes it would be for a week, a month, throughout the year, or even threatened that it would be for the rest of our lives.

The youth of today would specifically be restricted by having: "No Cell Phone use, No Lap Top, and No Internet, iTouch, iPhone, iPod, iPad I or II, or Smart Phone use." In other words: Stay in, be alone and be separate from the usual social activities with family and or friends.....and by all means, learn something valuable from the experience. "No Face Book, Twittering or anything that involves contact with others." and furthermore, "That means also No Radio, No access to the TV, No watching DVDs, Blue Ray, or other media." In addition, "No use of a VCR (if there is one), and never mind using Dad's music Cassettes or even the 8 Track player. Right, they will get that one.

 The Quiet Place is a Place of Privilege

Be Quiet....and spend some time alone. That was the message that we received, and it continued to be the message, as we grew up. However, it was all too often tied to a form of punitive disciplinary action. Isolation, was one of life's most painful, awful, no-good-very-bad  kinds of punishment.  Strangely enough, years later as adults, we find ourselves longing for times of silence, and it ranks as one of life's top three daily fantasies. Time alone...

On the other side of the spectrum, poets and songwriters have produced countless ballads, poems, have written prose, lyrics for music, plays and or screenplays, on the topic of loneliness: the long term experience of isolation, relational rejection, and abandonment. Often the solution to the dilemma is to fall in love, and find someone to love you back. The myriad number of love songs ever written, could likely circle the earth so many times, that it would look like a gargantuan tangled ball of yarn.

The sad reality is that if we are unable to connect meaningfully with a close friend or a significant other, a painful loneliness sweeps slowly in upon the soul like a misty winter fog, and it can camp there for a very, very long time. The worst part is not in being lonely, it is being forgotten by someone that you could never forget. It is believing the notion that to be alone is life's punishment for being unwanted by another. When being alone is so depressingly painful, we miss the value of being close to the one companion that we will have from birth to death - ourselves.

"What a commentary on civilization, when being alone is being suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, and hide the fact that one practices it - like a secret vice."  ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The Secret Strength of Solitude in The Quiet Place

There is a deeper life lesson to be learned from all of this. It is important in life to discover that there is a profound difference between loneliness, and carefully planned periods of solitude. It is not in the rushing cascade of the river that a beautiful sunset is mirrored, but in the quiet waters of a still lake. There is keen insight in David's Psalm where he poetically penned, 

“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside Quiet waters, He refreshes my soul.”  Psalm 23:1-3

Sadly, we all too often find short term more immediate ways to adapt to the stresses of life, and label that as "My Chill Time." 

For many, taking time out for personal contemplation, daily journaling, private reflection, and or spiritual worship, is seen to be impractical, and unrealistic in light of today's frantic pace of life. However, silence speaks when words cannot. We can slowly become conditioned to finding "other things" to keep us calm in the midst of chaos, rather than seek out a Quiet Place to deepen our inner peace and renew our strength in a way that God alone can provide.

Whispers in our Memory in The Quiet Place

It is hard for most people to remember a time when they found themselves in a tranquil Quiet Place....to remember that moment, when one is enveloped in a peaceful stillness, and the dissonance of continuous noise had all but disappeared. To discover that no sounds were scratching at the periphery of your thoughts to distract you. It likely didn't last long, but when it happened, you vowed never to forget the sweet sound of silence.

For the one whose world is silenced due to deafness, quietness became the unwelcomed guest who stopped by without invitation, and refuses to leave. The prison of imposed silence, however it comes to one's life, is not the discovery of the precious essence of quietness, unless it is discovered as a strength rather than a disability. To lose any of the 5 senses is monumental. The reality of the priceless value of cherished times of silence, are only discovered on a very personal and spiritual level, whereby a gentle hush transcends the senses.

The Sounds of Silence in The Quiet Place

Paul Simon, who wrote and sang folk ballads in the 1960's, released the familiar song, "The Sound of Silence." Performing in Greenwich Village, Simon and Garfunkel, relevantly expressed what many people were feeling at that time throughout the world. To many, the lyrics of the song whisper gently from our memory, at just the reminder of it. For some, poignant phrases were mentally etched upon the walls of memory with a tenacity that still remains. Why is that? Was it the profoundness of the song's lyrics, or the timeless melody that embraces the words like a warm blanket, carrying it into our consciousness and memory? Maybe it is both.

Many have pondered questions about the meaning of The Sound of Silence. Whether it was the personal reflection of a dream that Paul Simon had one night:

"Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence."

or a grassroots cry to society to refuse to be led blindly into accepting whatever any political power might dictate to be the standard for social ethics, virtues, or values:

"And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence."

or perhaps it is a challenge to not follow the media as mesmerized children, stumbling after the humanistic worldly Pied Piper to a perilous end.

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence."

or was it a call to resist media manipulation, and rather listen to the genuine cry of a different way to address real social issues of the day, found etched in Graffiti-esque literature in dark urban subways and tenement halls:

"And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets 

are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence."

We still cry out today to stop the injustice, tyranny and cruel domination of so many people across the world. We also yearn in our own lives, to stop the noise, the unrelenting stress, and the tyranny of the urgent. Regardless of one's race, color or religion, it rings true for everyone across the 194 countries throughout the known world.

The Irreplaceable Value of The Quiet Place

God whispers to each of us to discover the irreplaceable value of The Quiet Place and guard it as a time to meet with God in the Holy of Holies of undisturbed, and worshipful silence. Instead of, "Hello Darkness my old friend, I come to talk with you again" our prayer becomes, "My dear Heavenly Father, I come to commune with you again." 

There is a Quiet Place and we can each kneel reverently in the blessed hush of God's presence, however, the pathway is only accessible through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ (John 14:1, 6 and 14). 

There was absolutely no other way for any of any of us to have intimate access to a Holy God. None of us could pay the debt of sin's terrible cost, so Jesus paid the debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay.

The Undeniable Cost of The Quiet Place

As precious drops of His sacrificial sinless blood touched the altar of atonement, The Lamb of God died for every one of us. The veil that separated mankind from God in the Temple in Jerusalem, from true intimate worship with God, was torn asunder. In a Holy flash, the way was made open for all of us. His precious blood was sprinkled upon the Mercy Seat of meritorious atonement for our sins, and it continuously opens the pathway to each and every one of us, but we must embrace Him as our Lord, Savior and King.

There is a Quiet Place.... Find the time and place where you are undisturbed, inaccessible and unhindered by life's distractions, and treasure it as non-negotiable moments that are etched upon your daily schedule with indelible ink.

The Intimate Enjoyment of The Quiet Place

There is a Quiet Place....reach out and seize it, and make it your own. Cherish it as a foundational part of each day of your life. It is your time to walk in the Edenic Garden with your Creator, where you and God enjoy sweet and precious moments together. It must be priceless to Him... for He gave His very life to ensure that nothing could ever separate the two of you again.You just have to reach out to Him, and you will already discover His hand already waiting for yours.

^“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8: 31-39

Please put the music player on pause while you watch and enjoy the following two renditions of A Quiet Place

"A Quiet Place" by A Cappella

In Remembrance of Whitney Houston - "A Quiet Place"