T.J.I.F.A.

Thank Jesus It's Friday Again!  
November 1, 2002  
Pass It On... & On... & On.   & On...

Subject: ALONE

Have you ever wondered why you have so many hours upon hours of loneliness?  
Have you ever considered getting deeper into the Word of GOD?  Do You know that many of the great Prophets and Teachers and Wise Men had to learn to be alone with and follow the leading of GOD.  

Greatness is born in solitude.

Noteworthy:
Don't forget to Vote!

In the Mirror:
A note from SLC regarding the subject.

Looking Forward
See Ya Next Time

TER


www.readywriter.com

Look here under‘ Newsletters' for this years' back issues.  



ALONE


Matt. 28:20b; lo I am  with you alway, even until the end of the world.

There are groups, memberships, clubs, organizations, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, Klans, denominations, sects, races, genders and gangs.  These groups, as uncommon as they seem to be, all have one thing in common and that is the cluster of people with a common interest and in this commonality there is found companionship.  Someone to talk to about the common interest.  

People find themselves joining groups of one type or another just so that they can be with other people.  It is a very lonesome feeling to always find yourself alone and without human touch or conversation.  Many people find that this condition is so alarming that it drives them to inordinate and unrestrained gestures of the emotions Some even find themselves in a state of depression and sadness that can lead to self harm and even suicide.    Many people who have been interviewed after gaining great pounds of weight, admit that they became hermits in their own homes and actually ate themselves into these large conditions because the food was the only pacifier or panacea for their out of control emotional
condition.  


When we see situations like these we have a tendency to explain it away with the all inclusive term, "Gluttony."  Is it gluttony when a person attempts to fill a void with food that can't seem to be filled in any other way?  I can't answer that.

There are people who will go shopping and buy a whole lot of things that they could do without, charging up their cards and praying that these purchases will somehow mysteriously relieve the emptiness that they seem to suffer.  

Look at the Addicts ; Drugs; Alcohol; Sex  and Pornography.  Then there's the Workaholic who works so much that they don't know when their children are grown and no longer  in the home .  

Within each of these groups, as well as these conditions you may find Christians...True Christians.  Christians who believe GOD and His Son.  Christians who have such terrible loneliness that it is groomed into some of these horrific past times.   Is there an answer?

Most of the problems of Society are relieved, according  to TJIFA, by JESUS CHRIST.......... This problem is no different.  

Jesus knew that we would experience and suffer the pains and torments  of loneliness.    While he was praying  at Gethsemane, he suffered loneliness.  He had asked his disciples to pray with Him and came back twice and found them sleeping.  The third time he just told them, as they slept  to," sleep on now and take your rest; it is enough the hour is come." [ref] Mark 14:32-42.

He knew that he alone was singled out for the Cross.  

Then another time of loneliness, for Christ, was hanging on the Cross, when He cried out to His Father, "Why hath Thou forsaken me?"  

So , Jesus knowing these feelings of isolation and despair, has said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5b)  This is a promise Jesus Christ spoke Himself, that the faithful apostle was careful to quote.  

If We believe His Words, we can find extreme relief in His Comfort.  He has also told us that, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." [John 14:15,16.]   Do we believe it?

Loneliness is a condition suffered in our society because of the demand to be popular.  There has never been a Miss America pageant where there was no vote.  The vote has to be in favor of the most popular contestant, and the most popular contestant is usually considered the most attractive with the most community qualifications.   Our Presidents, and legislators are put into office by the popular vote.  We are a voting society.  So, if you are one that doesn't have a following, you are probably, by all secular standards; unpopular, and unworthy of any type of following.    But, remember that the Kingdom of GOD runs in direct oppositions of the world, and thus we can't look at the number of the following and use that as a standard for the best to follow.      

When God singles out a person whom He wants to use in His Ministry, He calls them ALONE.  Some favorite examples: Moses and the Burning Bush; Joseph and his dreams; Abraham walking out Faith in Israel; Jacob wrestling with the Angel; Samuel, who was called in the night hour when he was only a young child; Daniel, who went into captivity and served as The Chief Wise Man for three Kings, who weren't Jewish; Hosea, who had to marry Gomer the ‘unfaithful'; Zacharias who went deaf and dumb until his son, John the Baptist was born.   Then there was Mary, the mother of Jesus; John the Baptist, who was called to herald in the coming of Jesus Christ, whose main meal was locusts and wild honey; Jesus who was called and anointed to save the world, who called individually each one of His disciples.  

The time that GOD allows for you to be alone can be time that He will groom you for the great work that is within you.  That great work can never be realized if you are afraid of being alone.  If you allow the enemy to take your mind in fear and then yield to addictions of every sort.  If you allow the voice of the enemy to be louder than the voice of GOD, you can be sure that the end result will be something, or someone that/who doesn't glorify GOD but humiliates self.

Christ is our example.  What would Jesus do if He were alone?  What did He do in the Garden?  Did He pray on the Cross?  

Great Battles Are Won In Closets...on Your Knees!

Looking Forward
See Ya Next Time

TER

NOTEWORTHY:

VOTE!  VOTE!  VOTE!

I pray that every registered voter finds the time to vote, this Tuesday.  





In The Mirror:  

"Loneliness isn't a matter of People;  It's a matter of PURPOSE!"
That statement is something that God allowed me to learn some years ago, and since that time I've found myself giving it a lot of time, thought, and attention because of the sensitivity of the subject itself. I find there's so much growth in the quiet moments that God allows in a man or woman's life, and what is a greater opportunity  than to know just a little more about Him!?

I have taken serious inventory and looked into science, biology, and nature; And would you believe that everything seems to ring out with, PURPOSE!

I would like to then qualify my belief that when I take a in-depth look at where God has placed us, and the position He's put us in,(here on earth) it's very difficult to begin to even think we have no ‘Purpose.'

In closing I would just ask that you pray along with me, that whenever there's a question of ‘loneliness' in our live's , that we'll only accelerate past it real real fast only to discover God's great PURPOSE in the midst of it all.

Submitted by: SLC