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    Breathless Mercy
    Breathless Mercy
    Breathless Mercy
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    Breathless Mercy

    By john brooks

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    About this ebook

    With The Entire Universe At His Feet God Chose To Have A Personal Relationship With Us. This is the premise of Breathless Mercy. To many, including Christians, God seems too far away to touch and too holy for us to approach. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, verses 15 and 16 the writer encourages us with these words. "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

    The stories of the very real people portrayed in this book are in some way representative of each of our lives. We can relate to their choices, that result in times of both grace and disgrace. We understand their struggles and share their fears and shame. We too long for the breathless mercy that God so desires to pour out upon each of us without limit.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateApr 29, 2019
    ISBN9781543969818
    Breathless Mercy
    Author

    john brooks

    John Brooks (1920–1993) was an award-winning writer best known for his contributions to the New Yorker as a financial journalist. He was also the author of ten nonfiction books on business and finance, a number of which were critically acclaimed works examining Wall Street and the corporate world. His books Once in Golconda, The Go-Go Years, and Business Adventures have endured as classics. Although he is remembered primarily for his writings on financial topics, Brooks published three novels and wrote book reviews for Harper’s Magazine and the New York Times Book Review. 

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      Book preview

      Breathless Mercy - john brooks

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      ISBN: 9781543969818

      Table of Contents

      Author's Note

      Introduction

      Prelude

      Chapter One: The Desperate Need for Hope

      Chapter Two: Hope Held Captive

      Chapter Three: Hope Denied

      Chapter Four: Hope Restored

      Chapter Five: Compassion

      Chapter Six: The Empty Space

      Chapter Seven: Unable to Simply Observe

      Chapter Eight: Now What?

      Chapter Nine: What is Faith?

      Chapter Ten: Stuck on the Wire

      Chapter Eleven: The Uncertain Path

      Chapter Twelve: Loved In Such a Way

      Chapter Thirteen: This Unexplainable Love

      Chapter Fourteen: Humbled and Lifted Up

      Chapter Fifteen: The Winds of Time

      Chapter Sixteen: Incomparable Grace

      Chapter Seventeen: Breathless Mercy

      Author’s Note:

      I have attempted in all of my writings to be as brief as possible.  To make the point that God has placed upon my heart and move on.  It is my belief that God will bring to light what pertains to each of us, and will make clear His intention to our hearts.

      It took a long time for me to realize this simple thing.  That the God of the universe is capable of speaking to each heart without my intervention or opinion.  Today I find a great peace in saying only the words that I am to speak and letting God take it from there.

      It seems that many of us have the unwelcome tendency of continuing to speak, saying the same things over and over in a different way, when in fact we were finished some time before.  When I was studying in the seminary I had a homiletics professor, (in plain English, a sermon preparation teacher), who was fond of saying to us, when you are finished…….get off!  He had been an actor for part of his life and learned that when he had played his part it was time to leave the stage.  Oh, that we who handle the very word of life would both hear and heed that advice.

      Through years of continued mistakes and run on sermons I have learned that neither God nor my listeners are interested in everything that I know.  They need to hear a word for them…….that’s all.  So………I pray you will both understand and appreciate the length of these writings as I seek to share our Lord’s heart with you dear reader.  Blessings, John

      Introduction:

      The world continues to turn and life happens to us all.  Plans are interrupted at the most inconvenient times and dreams, once glittering and exciting, are shattered by the reality of living.  No matter how hard you try, or your level of vigilance you simply cannot control all of the forces in this world that effect you.  Plan as you may, in actuality, life is what happens when we get up each morning.  My advice……… put one foot in front of the other and live it to the fullest!

      These and many other things, both seen and unforeseen, leave us with scars and do their best to shatter our hope and faith.  Unrealistic expectations and reliance on our own ability have left many a fellow traveler broken and alone in the ditch beside the road.

      This leads the wounded, with downcast eyes, to ask where is mercy, pity and compassion?  Will no one help me to my feet?  Speaking from the darkness by which they find themselves surrounded, today shows no sign of being better than yesterday, leaving them to expect that tomorrow will be without the light of hope as well.

      But is that the message that Jesus came to give?  Did God sacrifice so much for us to be left to trust in our own wisdom and strength?  Are we to fight these spiritual battles alone……..to make a weak and pitiful attempt to face down an enemy that has the arrogance to believe that he can stand against God?

      The answer to all of those questions is a resounding no.  Lost and separated from God and our place in eternity by our foolish desire to worship the created instead of the Creator, we had no hope of finding our way back.  It was at this point, when we were lost in rebellion, that mercy and grace were showered upon us without limit or condition.  As the rain falls on the just and the unjust, so too has unlimited grace and breathless mercy fallen upon each of us. 

      Unwilling to lose even one of us to his adversary……..ABBA made the ultimate sacrifice.  For those who were underserving and sick with sin, Jesus willingly poured out his blood to pay for our sins.  When a man struck down with leprosy said to Jesus, If you will, you can heal me, Jesus responded, I will, and the man was made clean that very instant.  His words, spoken through bloodied lips as he struggled to breathe on a rough wooden cross,  Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing, still echo through the centuries, leaving non untouched.  It is his will that we be clean.

      As we travel this journey together it is my prayer that we will come with empty hands and open hearts to receive what can only be referred to as the greatest gift ever given.    Blessings, JB 

      ______________________

      Prelude:

      His day began as regularly as all days.  Rising at dawn and packing his belongings, he readied himself to start his journey from Jerusalem to Jericho.  The road was known as extremely dangerous and all were warned to not travel it alone.  Today he had no choice.  His journey was one of necessity and he would have to make his trek alone.  In the back of his mind were the warnings of bandits and stories of robbery, beatings and death of other travelers who were unfortunate enough to have crossed paths with these cowards who spent their day preying upon those weaker than themselves………But he had no choice, he was expected in Jericho and so opening the door of his room at the inn in Jerusalem, he stepped out into the sunshine and set his face toward Jericho………

      ______________________

      Jesus has come not to create a religion, or to enforce a set of new rules and regulations.  His coming was the sign of the divine and unending mercy, pity and compassion of His Father to breathe new life into His beloved creation.  Not just to wipe the slate clean……..but instead, to start anew.  Old lifestyles passed away and all things are made new as He took our place with His  sacrifice, death and resurrection.  When the stone rolled away from the tomb the world and the universe itself were changed forever.  God has come to man and now man can go to his fellow travelers exchanging grace for guilt,  hope for fear,  and freedom for bondage.  JB

      _______________________________________

      "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

      Jeremiah 29:11 NASB

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE DESPERATE NEED FOR HOPE

      The sun was already making the beginning of this day out to be a hot one.  Leaving his room the lone traveler covered his head to shield it from the heat, picked up his belongings and walked toward the gate that would lead him out of Jerusalem to the Jericho road.

      The trip along this road was approximately eighteen miles and a traveler would find themselves going from around twenty five hundred feet above sea level in Jerusalem, to the arid land around Jericho at eight hundred twenty-five feet below sea level.  The change in altitude contributed to the difficulty of the journey, making an already exhausting pilgrimage, a formidable trek.

      The difficulty of his journey was not the only thing on this lone traveler’s mind.  His thoughts ran to the possibility of crossing paths with ruthless bandits.  He knew that his very life depended on moving steadily and

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