Accents. Life is bright more often than we think. The glow of fellowship after a meal, the warmth of coming home to a friendly place, going to sleep knowing God has got your back and things are well with you.  Seeing friends who are glad to see you and you them. That’s some of the wonderful things we gather to ourselves when we know God. Let’s not forget the glow of the goodness of God in the midst of all the distressing circumstances around us.

i was in a meeting yesterday and i noticed there was much talk about the things that might not be, the fear of what might not happen, or the fear of the bad which might happen. i noticed the lifestyle of deep concern over the phrase, “might be”, or “might not be”. i realized people don’t take out insurance because of the good things that might happen. All the same, it’s true, unkind things can and do happen to us all, but what about the good things which come our way also, what about the bad things which didn’t happen? There are many bright things in my life and i was thinking how easily i forget those times.

What bright moments have been salted into your day this week?

In the news a while back there was a story about a young man on a motorcycle who was in an accident and became pinned underneath a burning car. The bystanders rallied together and literally lifted the car off of the man then pulled him free. Presently he’s alive and recovering. That certainly was a bright moment, but how about the smaller ones, little things, the smell and flavor of your coffee or tea this morning? Fresh baked brownies, the leather smell of a sports car, being warm when the snow is blowing outside, the bird that came and sang outside your window? The phone call you got from someone who didn’t want anything from you and was just calling to say “hello, how are you?”? Maybe the view you had of the sun rising across the other side of a pasture, or the laughter of children playing? All of those are things worth remembering as well as the negative accents. It’s not like we should forget anything that wasn’t good which happened to us, after all, we don’t grow and mature when everything we do is a success. But let’s take a moment to remember the good times, the pleasant moments, the colorful accents of our days.

When i was growing up my sister had an old Brownie camera, and then one Christmas she got a Polaroid. You know, the one which, after you take a picture, it slides out the film that develops right in front of your eyes. i think i’ve got thousands and thousands of Polaroid pictures in my head – the time the neighbor boys, myself and my brother played football all afternoon. In my head is a snap shot of us all laughing, dirty, skinned up, but laughing. Forever in my mind as a good time. Or my son’s favorite hunting dog when he tree’d his first racoon. i’ve got a snap shot in my head of that moment! i can still see the pleasure on my son’s face and the dog’s face. Or my wife’s eyes reflecting in the stripe of sun light coming through the shades in the morning.

Leviticus 23:40 has a Polaroid picture in it of a bright accent. “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook;” Hmmmm … beautiful trees. Does just saying that inspire a picture in your mind? It’s as if the Lord is pointing out beauty. He calls them “beautiful trees”. Do we notice? Do you remember the big old tree in the park, or behind your house? The bark, the leaves, the shade? Remember how it looked and when you played near it or in it? Can you see it? All through the Bible God speaks of beautiful things, like He’s pointing them out for us to notice. God does not tell us things or point things out to us just so we can know. The passive version of the word “seeing” is very different than “purposefully taking note”, and then there is the idea of “seeing” meaning “to look with eyes wide open in amazement”. Can you see? Take note of beautiful words like in Genesis 49:21, beautiful cities in Deuteronomy 6:10, beautiful houses in Deuteronomy 8:12, beautiful children, women, or men, Queen Vashti in Esther 1:11, “was beautiful to behold”. Psalms says the city of our God is beautiful the way it is positioned, that praise is beautiful, that holiness not only is itself beautiful but make us beautiful, and that God makes all things beautiful in its time. God points out to us that Moses was a beautiful child. 1 Peter 3:5 speaks of a beauty not necessarily seen with our eyes, it speaks of an inner beauty that was gentle and gracious. Colossians 3:11-12 reveals to us that the glory-strength God gives, is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.”

What is beautiful in your life? All throughout the Bible, God is pointing out these types of things that we would take notice of the beautiful, the bright, the accented, His highlights. Star filled skies, sun rise, sun set, little girls eyes, seasons – like winter and spring, summer and fall, holidays, eating together, good companionship, the smell of the forest and the flowers, fresh cut lawns, evenings on the front porch. Do we notice that God is highlighting those things to us, or are we so neck deep in the mire of the world we constantly miss the bright and beautiful around us? The Lord set the Proverbs 31 woman as a standard of beauty … her accents are a glowing luster of goodness.

God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside. All the things around us which God has made beautiful and bright, none compares to Jesus. Psalms 50:1-2, “The Mighty One, God the Lord, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.”

He is called “the perfection of beauty”. He is more beautiful than flowers, and according to God, as far as earthly things go, flowers take the cake. Do you notice? What kind of snap-shots to you have of the beautiful and bright things in your life?

In Psalms 90:17 we are beautiful when the beauty of the Lord is upon us. Isaiah 28:5: The Lord, Himself, will be our crown of glory and beauty.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Amid the media barrage of bad news, vicious circumstances, and questionable reporting, let’s lean into Jesus, think on the bright and beautiful things around us. Remember the memories you’ve got of good times, good friends, good fellowship, worship and praise. Like Philippians 4:8 says at the end, “… think on these things”.

What do you think?

          Recently, a man says to me, “Why do we so often defer to anyone and everyone except God?”

You know, that’s a real good question. Why do we do that? National Geographic has published several articles in the last year which consistently made scientists out as having discovered everything from the origins of the universe, to the source of happiness. The titles, as advertised on the cover, would lead anyone to believe archeologists and scientists have found the true source of everything, yet when you read the article, the writer is careful to use words like, “probably”, “maybe”, “it’s possible”, “we think it might be likely”. The articles almost always exclude God in any fashion, and point the reader to everything NOT God. Through that kind of publishing people are influenced to defer to scientists, archeologists, their family doctor, college professors, or even the pastor of their church, virtually anyone above God. Why?

In the Hebrew word used in Leviticus 19:15, scripture reads, “You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” For “defer” or “deference” in this case, it doesn’t mean to prolong or procrastinate but to hold another up above others. In the word itself, God has hidden a more specific explanation, meaning that when we defer to another, we are making a conscious choice to open to God for life, or to be closed to Him for our own alienation. The word represents a giant life-determining fork in the road as the beginning of greatness or the beginning of degradation. The path of our lives have many intersections, many circling back to the main road, and some which lead off into only God knows where. Who we choose to defer to isn’t a small fork in the road but a major, galactic intersection. It may seem small that little five letter word “defer”, but the direction we aim our feet determines our heart and mind set, and is easily seen in how we conduct ourselves and the details of our lives. Who or what we defer to influences what we see and hear, and the more we are influenced, the more we steer toward our deferences. Jesus said in Matthew 13:12, to those who have, more will be given, and to those who have not, even what they have will be taken away. That’s like saying, the more we go towards the influence of our deferences, the more we’ll be influenced by those we defer to.

In the end, either we defer to God or we defer to the world. i don’t believe for a second that we can defer to God a little and the world a little. In our heart of hearts, many seem to believe there is some sort of middle of the road of faith … i think that’s called being “luke warm”, which is to never really buy into all the Lord has, and never really buy into all the world offers without God. And i can say with confidence, there isn’t anyone smart enough to do life without Jesus. Regardless of what we may think, there really are only two choices, Heaven or hell. Who’s side are you on? It’s the same question God asked Adam in the garden when He said, “Where are you?” He wasn’t asking for a geographical location, He was asking, “Who’s side are you on buddy? My side or the devil’s side?” It was a choice Adam and Eve made, consciously choosing to defer to the snake over the word of the Lord.

For what reason do we often defer to anyone but God? Anger? Unbelief? Self-centeredness? Hurt? Indifference? Probably all of those and more if we’re honest.

In my efforts to not be hurt by others, the enemy often accuses me of being indifferent, and i’ve struggled with believing i actually was. Here of late, i’ve discovered something though. i know i defer to God with all my heart and i’m peddling my little tricycle just as hard as i can go in the name of Jesus, but yet i struggle with believing i’m indifferent versus caring too much. i’ve realized my apparent nonchalance is not indifference, but trust. i’ve also realized my own tendency to go over the top to maintain favor, or to defer to everyone i encounter, being Mr. Go-Along-To-Get-Along. Often, i find myself among others in ministry who are viciously, while smiling, competing for roles of power, working day and night to build an incredible Christian resume. They seem to operate under the theological assumption that they use their gifts for the greatest opportunities to the fullest capacity, which results in success driven leadership. We defer to them because they often “imply” to us, in the way they treat others and how they present themselves, that we should defer to them … and we even defer to that implication, thinking it is “the way you’re supposed to do this thing”. We need to defer to God instead of deferring to someone who has a knack of turning everything into an emergency where they are the only ones who are skilled firefighters.

i say we should defer to God and God alone. Not what does your pastor or some scientist think, but what does God think? Like when Elijah encountered the dry bones. The Lord asked, “What do you see”, Elijah’s heart was revealed in his deferring to God by his reply of, “You know Lord, You know.”

Ask yourself, how much effort do you spend, making sure you maintain that other person’s favor in order to keep the relationship? If you didn’t defer to them, would they still be onboard with you? In our society, our identity is measured by our contribution, and it’s actually easier than we think to translate our standing with God to a platform of performance. It feels more like a contortion than deferring. Believe me, “they” don’t “know”, but God does and He’s the only one we should defer to, first and last as a habit.

What do you think?

Pondering….what a pondersome thing to ponder upon.

Pondering is powerful stuff. When i was a kid i was told to let my mind wander to imagine life from a different angle, then, by another adult, i was told to stop daydreaming because i wasn’t present in the room at school. It was very conflicting. Yet, to this day, pondering the Lord is my great addiction. There are not many things in this life i can do all i want till i’m satisfied, and pondering and chasing after Jesus is number one…and two, and three on the list of priorities. Interestingly, pondering on the Lord always leaves me satisfied, and always inspires my need to know Him more, all at the same time.

Luke2:19, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” The Greek word, “sumballo” (soom-bal-o) is translated “pondered” here, and it means “to combine together for comparison.” For us, the word represents our method, which the Lord has given us, that we would learn to come to conclusions, whether for good or not it speaks of a process. To “ponder” the days events is to remember the words and events of the day, do a comparative analysis searching for God’s direction, in hopes that it all might yield more light to the astonishing unfolding days of our lives. As we ponder, we keep adding to our valuable treasure pile, holding it all as possibly important. We put some things on the back burner and some things to the front as we unpack our ponderings, spreading them out on the table of our heart to make “circumspect decisions”. We take it all out, roll it around, consider it this way and that … each time rearranging the pieces a little differently. As i ponder the events of the day in the evening, i might put the morning phone call from a friend in front, behind the scripture i read. Then upon remembering a dream from the other day which seems relative to things in the moment, i might file it visibly behind the first two. A few days from now, i might rearrange it all until the word of the Lord begins to come clear, with every rearrangement held up to the Lord and compared to the other valuables in my bag.

That is pondering from God’s perspective. It’s not just dreaming of whatever and letting anything float through our minds, it is more specific and is a tool God invented to help us “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. Note the words in Philippians 2:12, “work out”, which means to lay your hand to, think, consider and take action in order to accomplish it. In addition i’ll add that it also implies to not ignore the things which hinder you, in the sense that we’ll have to “live with it, until we deal with it.” What are you willing to live with which is not good, in order to avoid being uncomfortable and inconvenienced?

In 2 Kings 19:14, Hezekiah has received a letter from the armies of Syria which had surrounded the city to destroy it and take captives. Scripture says, “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.”

You see there where he “spread it before the Lord”? That is a Hebrew idiom meaning he split the letter up in parts and pages to get a better circumspect view, then made an invitation for the Lord to join him in pondering the events of the day. In the following verses, he goes on to ask God for His wisdom and help. Not only did he spread it out to ponder, but in vs16 he talks to the Lord about it all just like he’s making conversation. He’s basically saying, “Look at this ridiculous letter. Check it out Lord, this is just crazy, and what’s worse, this arrogant king-person is calling you names, and that’s just wrong, wrong, wrong. What do you wanna do here, ‘cause i’ve looked at this from all different angles and the path on what to do is just not clear.” He had pondered to a conclusion that only God knew what to do, and he believed the answer would come.

Sometimes, we need to, “mature an idea, uninterrupted, brooding on the matter”, letting our thought patterns become more like a staircase than simply filling out a block diagram. Many things the Lord extends need to be treated like wine. Don’t get in a hurry, let it mature, trust that the Lord will make it come clear in due season. You’ll see.

In Acts 4:15 it says they “conferred with each other”. The word “conferred” is the same word translated as “pondered” like the example of Mary. They combined ideas, good and bad, made good points and argued over counterpoints to decide an issue. A similar scene can be observed in Luke 24, where two men were walking to Emmaus, and scripture says they “talked, and discussed” as they walked, in other words, it wasn’t idle chatter, they were deep in a serious conversation, pondering the recent things which had happened. They discussed, and reasoned together with the intent of understanding the heart of the Lord. Then Jesus appeared and began to explain it to them, though in the moment they didn’t recognize Him. At the proper time, the eyes of their understanding were opened. It was a huge AH-HA moment.

In Acts 17, when Paul was in Athens, vs 18 says he “conversed” with the philosophers who gathered to exchange ideas. The word “conversed” is the same word previously translated “ponder”, meaning that Paul listened, laid out ideas, points and counterpoints, they spread out their ideas so they could see them and held each one up, comparatively, to see if it, “held water”, so to speak. They pondered together.

Proverbs 4:26, “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” That is a slightly different word, which means to “roll flat, fold back together, revolve, and weigh,” like someone kneading dough. That is God’s idea of pondering. It is a tool which the Lord gave us to help make good choices in life, yet there are many who simply take the words of a respected person for granted without “working out” what the Lord is saying to them, specifically. No one but you are responsible for the people you prefer to defer to, concerning what you believe, how you came to that conclusion, and why you think it’s a good idea, which is called “epistemology”.

If we don’t hold each piece of our ideas, thinking, and insight up to the Lord, rolling it flat, weighing the information, then folding it all back together again, what are we actually doing except blindly following along. The Lord never, ever, asked for blind followers.

What do you think?

          Today the idea of prosperity is on the table. i know what i think it is, but what does the Lord say about it?

So much of my life has been spent struggling to keep my head above water in keeping the bills paid. Don’t get me wrong, the Lord has always made a way, sometimes quite spectacularly, nevertheless, being well and being able to provide for my family has always been such a stinkin’ struggle it is unbelievable. i’ve never considered myself a prosperous person, at least according to my definition of what i thought it meant. You know … i’ve been wrong. i’ve realized in the last few years that i’ve been merely surviving, and God says i’m supposed to be prospering.

So, one day, while walking, i entered into a conversation with the Lord out of concern because i knew i had spent most of my life merely surviving and wondered out loud as to what He meant when He used the word “prosperous”. Shortly, a question or two floated across my mind. “If your bills were paid, would you see yourself as prosperous?” Yes. Then i wouldn’t have to worry if we’ll pay the electric bill or not. That would be amazing. “If you and your wife were the spitting images of health, would you see yourself as prosperous?” Yes. Then i wouldn’t be so troubled about if we couldn’t work, how would we make money to pay the bills. That would also be amazing. “If you drove a nice car, had heat when it was cold, had hot and cold running water, comfortable furniture, a great smart phone, your bills paid in advance, and were gloss-photo examples of health, then would you see yourself as prosperous?” Uh oh. Now i’m beginning to see where He’s going, and i’m suddenly, none too comfortable.

When i got home, i set off on a journey to better understand God’s view of prosperity, and for a large part, it’s not what we think, nor is it what we are often taught. Isn’t it absolutely absurd to teach other believers that if they aren’t wealthy, they are on the outs with God, or that there is sin in their life. i find that especially cruel to burden people with that sort of crazy doctrine. How would we explain that kind of thing to the believers who live in desperate places, or is our man-made idea of prosperity only for the elite in America?

Straight out of the gate, David declares in Ps33:12 that any nation whose God is the Lord is prosperous, prosperous often being translated as blessed. Jesus is our perfect and just weight by which we measure our well being. He called Himself “the door”, so through Him do we possess our righteous reflection, through Him is all our aspiration of well being, continually capturing our breath as unto the Lord. THAT is prosperity. Christ alone is our standard of humility, and by His living in our heart, we exude the impression and spark of His person. THAT is living in prosperity. Jesus is the image through and by whom we come to covenant peace, wholeness, beauty, and a perfect heart in the eyes of the Father.

13 times in Matthew Jesus used the word “blessed” which is to also say “prosperous”. That is prosperous in the sense of parents with fine children, mothers with admirable sons, and a bridegroom who has won an excellent bride. It is used in the sense of those who have found great joy in love, and those who have good wisdom and understanding. With prosperity comes a striding of honor, not strutting in self-elevation, but striding of honor. God appointed honor and respect is also called prosperity. The Lord considers us prosperous when our inner Christ-likeness is visible.

Proverbs 20:7 is translated using the word blessed for prosperity, so we can say the children of those who are righteous and walk in integrity are prosperous. A prosperous person is one who walks in fullness of life, or the fullness of your space, has honor and wisdom, wisdom being a consistent mark of prosperity from cover to cover in the Bible. A lack of wisdom is also an earmark of poverty. Near to the Lord is to be prosperous, and far from God is to be among the poor. Jesus said in John12:8 the poor will always be with us, and the use of poor there doesn’t mean those who don’t have stuff, but more a spiritual, moral, or ethical poverty.

How many times have i been told by some well meaning soul, that the reason i wasn’t prosperous was because there must be sin in my life. Their idea of poverty was barely having enough money, not having a nice car or a comfortable place to live and influential friends. Friends, if we think material possession is prosperity, God has told us different and we have refused to listen, which, again, the word “stupid” comes to mind because we have refused to listen.

The Lord says a little about being well off, fat, and having plenty of everything, and many times that is right on. But by far and large God’s idea of prosperity is seen in the wonderful word picture of Gal5:22-23. The O.T. idea of prosperity, and this is amazing, so listen, the O.T. picture of prosperity is of an ox, that is so robust, and has a neck that is so massive, it literally snaps the yoke from it’s neck. THAT is God’s idea of prosperity. His intent is to make you and i so robust and massive, all yokes of bondage snap off our necks. Pretty incredible, and way different than the picture of prosperity we’ve been often taught from the pulpit.

Having lots of stuff and your bills paid doesn’t necessarily make you prosperous, it just makes you having lots of stuff and your bills paid. More importantly, do you exercise wisdom and understanding, are you prosperous in your having received the message of salvation? Our strength for right conduct is indicative of thriving prosperity. Outward success is aligned as “fleeting earthly happiness”, and there is a rebuke in Malachi 3 to those who decide that they are prosperous according to outward success.

We are prosperous in Christ, the humble door, reflection and image of righteousness, who is alive in us. You and i, as children of the most high are highly favored, and greatly blessed. We are prosperous not merely surviving.

What do you think?

Prayer is the breath of our spiritual life. A Christian life without prayer is like not breathing and expecting to continue to live. Prayer is our lifeline to God, it is something we, as Christians, must do regularly, even as often as we take in air. A wise man once said, “… Prayer is the breath of a newborn soul, and there can be no life without it.” Many people speak of having a “prayer life” as casually as they speak of breathing, but it isn’t just some structure or form of our spiritual life, but the thing we do which keeps our life in Christ going. It is a lifestyle, not just a “thing” we do.

There are many advantages of living under the banner of God’s love, one of those wonderful benefits is answered prayer. In Matthew 16:9-13, Jesus outlines how to pray and what to pray. In prayer we acknowledge God’s sovereign fatherhood when we say, “Our Father, who is in heaven.” We get to praise Him by name for His name represents His nature, we praise His very being when we say “Your Name is holy, sacred and set apart” or “Hallowed be Thy name.”

In our time of prayer we use that time for confession, repentance or the pursuit of the path home, forgiveness …. and asking God for His grace in our relationships with other people; our forgiveness of others goes hand in hand with God’s forgiveness for us. Psalms 103:3 “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies”. If we expect our prayers to be answered, one of the keys is that we forgive others, as seen in the words of Jesus in Luke 6:37 “…Forgive, and you will be forgiven”. Probably, one of the most powerful prayers anyone could give voice to is one word to God, “help”. And we can’t be rethinking His answer. Many times we ask the Lord a question, what He said was “not now”, but we rethink it to meaning “no”. Friends, not “no”, but “not now”. Be patient and listen for the rest of the story from Him. Easier said than done, but it is wisdom,

Through prayer we align with God and He keeps us on the path of His kindness and purposes, keeping us in His power and anointing, and defends us from evil. He answers our prayers for help and in Him we find “lovingkindness and our fortress, He is my high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge” (Psalm 144:2).

We are guaranteed God will hear us and will answer us in 1 John 5:14,15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” In John 14:14, Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

In Psalm 86:7, David said, “In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.” This is still true for us today. He may not answer right when we want Him to, but He WILL answer.

Answered prayer, our petitions we hold up before the Lord will be and are addressed. It is a feature of our relationship with God Almighty that is completely unique within any, ANY system of belief. The universe doesn’t answer people’s questions. It has no voice, no eyes, no ears, no compassion, no mercy, no judgment, no purpose, no dreams, no ideas, no personality. The universe is deaf, blind, and dumb with no ability to rescue you in your time of need, But. God, our God, not only does give us hope, mercy, purpose, dreams, ideas, hearing and seeing, He has all those things and more. His listening ears are always listening, and He even answers our prayers. These are a few of the things God gives to us His children, with abundance.

1. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
   That calls me from a world of care,
   And bids me at my Father’s throne
   Make all my wants and wishes known.
   In seasons of distress and grief,
   My soul has often found relief,
   And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,
   By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

If you ask God, He will answer. Test Him out, talk to Jesus, He has exactly what you need. The Lord will always act in your best interest, He will hear you when you call, and He will answer.

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries.