The Only Way to the Quiet Place

There is a pathway that we all must travel,

it is different for each of one of us.

Throughout the years on this pathway we trek,

we are pilgrims on a lifetime quest.

Were we to reflect on the mountains we’ve climbed,

or the valleys that we have been through;

Our stories would be similar, our joys and our pain,

a tapestry unique, for me and for you.

There are many bridges that we have walked over,

along this rugged terrain;

there is one that has collapsed, and is broken for all,

it is the one bridge that we all must cross.

The bridge to God’s heart must span that vast chasm,

and many try to cross that divide.

But when in the garden, man turned far from God;

we became lost with no where to hide.

There are millions of pathways across the horizon,

and they weave over the stark lonely landscape.

They are twisted like pathways to Mordor,
dark like the trail to Shelob's Lair.

Like a spider web woven with evil intent,

so the Serpent has darkened the way.

There are arduous twists, and turns full of suffering,

and the pilgrims cry out in dismay.

He lures many to seek remedy for their deep soul pain,

like those from the Path of the Dead,

Oathbreakers they are, who reject Jesus the King,

Who is Lord, and King over all other kings.

The pilgrims, are shackled with heavy chains,

burdened and bent, with yokes full of bondage,

seeking the Stone of Erech in vain;

amidst the shadow of the Tower of Cirith Ungol.

Multitudes who have sought for a way to the King,

found across that great rift, a bridge covered the span,

it was the Lamb’s altar, mankind’s pure sacrifice;

and all paths led to the bridge that was made from the Cross.

Then I awoke from a dream so real,

I could not forget all I did see.

The pathway across that terrible span,

is where He died to set mankind free.

It is urgent that we cross the bridge to find God,

for one day before the Lord we’ll all stand,

It was Jesus, who came to die for us all,

the Lamb that was slain for man.

He is Immanuel, the Alpha and Omega;

the Prince of Peace, and the true Deity.

The pathway across that terrible span,

 is where The King died for you and for me.

We all must receive His gift freely given,

and believe, and have sins all forgiven.

Walk over the bridge of the old rugged cross,

and bow your knee to The King of Heaven. 

Now we are wearing clean garments of grace,

tattered rags tossed away and forgotten;

This pathway is aglow with His Holy Light,

and ahead we find Jesus the Shepherd.

“You are Jesus the Christ, full Deity with the Father,

You are the Mighty God, Way, Truth and Life,

The Lamb of God, and Messiah and our Blessed Redeemer.

You are known by so many names through the Scriptures,

Why is that?” I did ask the Lord.

He turned toward the chasm and His hand gestured widely,

“There are millions of pathways all pilgrims will travel,

sincere and devout, in themselves they do trust.

yet each pathway still ends at the bridge now a cross.”

“I AM that I AM, the Way, Truth and Life,

and any can come there own way,

but unless they repent, yield their lives as a sinner,

each will stand on the other side lost.”

One day that old bridge will be closed to mankind,

no way across the chasm will be found.

This is the time to gain access to God’s mercy and grace;

Take heed, fellow pilgrim, for you stand next to God's Holy Ground.

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:6-7

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.” Acts 26:17-18

^“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”  I Peter 1:18-20

 

 “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

II Cor. 6:1-2

 

Some of the prose uses allegorical imagery and settings adapted loosely from the Lord of the Rings

Etymology:

The Sindarin name of Shelob's Lair was Torech Ungol, meaning "Spider's Hole." The word ungol means "spider" from the Quenya ungwe meaning "gloom" and ungo meaning "cloud, dark shadow." Ungoliant was the mother of Shelob and the ancestor of all the Great Spiders. The word torech apparently means "hole or lair," though its etymology is unclear.

It was on the Stone of Erech that Aragorn called on the King of the Dead, and the other accursed, to fulfill their oaths so that they could rest in peace. This occurred at midnight. The Oathbreakers helped Aragorn take over the ships of Sauron's allies from the south. They were finally put to rest by Aragorn for fulfilling their oath where they had not done so before.

Excerpts from http://www.tuckborough.net/An encyclopedia of Middle-earth and Numenor

The Sound of Silence in the 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 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

Take a few moments and hear this worshipful rendition of The Quiet Place

"A Quiet Place" by A Cappella

 

Trusting God in the Midst of the Storm

Every year there are numerous storms that rage across the landscapes of the world. So far this year, the Colorado State University Meteorologist Forecaster’s Team anticipates 17 tropical storms, with nine of those becoming hurricanes during the season that runs from June 1 to November 30. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, anticipate that 2014 will see an increase in storms lacing across the regions of the world in the form of Cyclones, Typhoons, Monsoons, and Hurricanes. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center regularly updates the hurricane outlook predictions. (http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/)



Cyclonic Storms around the World

The Hurricane 

A hurricane is a powerful, rotating storm that forms over warm oceans near the equator in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, or the eastern Pacific Ocean. 

The Severe Tropical Cyclone

A cyclone is a closed, rotating wind. Cyclones rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Typhoon

A typhoon is a violent tropical cyclonic storm that forms in the Western Pacific Ocean. It derives its name from the Chinese word taaîfung, which means Great Whirling Wind.

Life Storms hit Everyone 

Everywhere we look there are multitudes of recurrent Life Storms that are raging across people’s lives. These unexpected events impact financial resources, destabilize a family's economic security, and in some cases greatly affect their capacity to survive. Life Storms crash into us in recurring waves, just like the great whirling winds of cyclonic storms. 


Each wave envelopes us before we have fully recovered from the impact of the previous one. We often continue to cope with each storm the very same way we did the last one. We hunker down, hang on and try to survive the onslaught of the storm. It may be a death in the family, the foreclosure of the family home, the collapse of a business, or any number of tragic events.

Life Storms can Transform our Faith

You may think that God is punishing you, or isn’t taking care of you, but life storms hit everyone, and they often come without advance notice. When a storm hits your life, after a period of intensity, there will always be a period of calm. It often does not mean that the storm is over, for you just might be standing in the eye of the storm. Without tough times, faith does not grow. Stormy trials are periodic disruptions in our life to keep our faith riveted in God, and not our financial portfolio, our financial consultant, our 401 k or anything else that can easily become a false god in our lives.


In the Eye of the Storm
 

“On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 

"And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  Mark 4:35-41

Restore your Faith in God

 Like a howling hurricane, whose counterclockwise motion goes in a circle in the opposite direction from the way a clock moves, Life Storms cause us think through problem solving impulsively, irrationally and often not Biblically. The Devil likes to make us dizzy, overwhelmed, and confused during a Life Storm. 

Jesus had told the disciples,“Let us go over to the other side."

They kept their eyes on the storm instead of holding firm to the promise of His word to them. He promised that they would make it to the other side, He just didn't mention that  a storm would hit them on the way to test their faith.

Surrounding the eye of the storm is the eyewall. It is a band of thunder clouds. The eyewall has the most rain and the strongest winds of the storm, gusting up to 225 mph.

The devil wants us to try to break through the wall of the storm in our own strength, or run away from it. That would be disastrous. Stand firm in the Eye of the Storm and look straight up, and you will see the sun shining in the sky above. Storms are not something that God cannot see you through. God will always show us how to respond Biblically in any situation. The details may vary, but principles from His Word do not (See Proverbs 3:5-6).

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. “ Psalm 119:105

Renew your Strength


In The Quiet Place we are able to draw strength from God’s presence, and be renewed through His Word. Give the burden of your Life Storm to God and lay it down at the Throne of Grace. (See I Peter 5:7; Hebrews 4:16) 

It becomes a way of thinking the more we practice the presence of God in our prayer life. It is a discipline of being present in His presence, no matter what is going on around us.

 

“My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [ the promises of ] Your Word.”  Psalm 119:27-28 (AMP) 

Even the beginning of new seed faith in our trust in God gives spiritual awakening in our heart and produces renewed faith.

Pray to God to give you strength today for whatever Life Storm that you are going through. “In the day when I cried you answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3

Rest in His Word

There is a calm assurance that comes to one who has trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That confidence comes through our daily time of worship in The Quiet Place as we pray and read the Scriptures. 

“Remember the Word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your Word has revived me.” Psalm 119:49-51

God will reveal how to get through the Life Storms that crash in upon any of us. He calls us to spend time with Him in The Quiet Place. He will show us how to stand firm in the Eye of the Storm, strengthened in our faith as we trust in His Word, to show us the way. God will always be faithful.

Take a few moments to listen to this very inspirational video. Remember, there is no storm so great, that takes God by surprise....He is right there...reach out to Him.

 
                                             


My new book for the storms in your life:

One of the most challenging times in our life often comes when we find ourselves on the edge of facing a distressing life storm for which we feel completely unprepared, and inadequate to deal with it. As the storm builds with intensity upon the horizon, we know we are at the very edge of our ability to cope, our capacity to access urgently needed inner resources, and we desperately need our faith to see us through.

myBook.to/trustinggodinthemidstofalifestorm