To look at a tree as it stands in the woods, tall, majestic, alive, it isn’t very evident as to the beautiful music inside, or how would anyone know what to do with the wood or how it would be fashioned in order to make it sing? i figure God knows stuff we do not know and just because i don’t understand doesn’t make His word not so.

Somewhere along the line, God put it in the heart of man not only to need music, but to have the wisdom of how to fashion and form wood so as to draw the music and resonance out of it; how to pull strings across thin pieces of wood, or how to bend and carve parts of the tree, stretch a hide over it to make a drum, and then He gave us the wisdom and knowledge of how to make it better and better. i r-e-a-l-l-y doubt the universe came up with that….or maybe some think, “It just happened.” Right. But….well, nothing “just” happens does it?

I’m Social Porter and this is acoustic night here at Outposts. The cafe navigators, Rick and Jerry have declared every fourth Friday acoustic jazz night from dusk to closing. i think it’s a great idea….i think of it as the song in the woods, at the bend of the Ockluhwahhah River, in the edge of the forest by the trees which over shadow the rivers edge, home to a million fireflies in the summer. Acoustic night begins tonight and you’re just in time for brilliant music and contemplative conversation.

What is love to you? Who told you that? Is it love or lust? What are the stories of love you’ve heard or were told as a child which helped you form your ideas of love? Is there really someone called, “The One”, or is there just “One or two or more” or maybe just “whatever” for some who may be fed up with the search? Hang tight and i’ll be right back.

i read a really good article somewhere this week speaking of the difference between lust and love based on 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.” i’m going to pick the lust of the eye for simplicity’s sake considering the big three there in that scripture, together, are a huge topic, and i’d like to narrow it down to one… for now.

What in the world does “lust of the eye” mean to you? Who rules your eye gate … anyone? Do you just let anything in your eyes to roam around in your head, crashing and smashing whatever it likes? From scripture, “The Eye” from God’s view, is in terms of aims & perspectives, and you should ask yourself what i meant by “aims and perspectives” and is there a difference? Don’t let that one get past you.. Continuing on…. by “the eye” we set our end before us, the “mark we shoot at”, or a goal. “The Eye” is also used in the sense of “the eyes of our understanding”, the eye as a perception of practical judgment and conscience, the seeing part of us which guides and directs our motions. The eye is also historically used as one of many building blocks in the foundation of our character, conduct, and conversation, the Three C’s. Our inner and outer eyes help define what is our end and aim…so i suppose it’s good to ask then, Is it ourselves or the Lord, what is the end you’re walking towards, and how can you tell?

That’s a good view of what “the eye” is about but, what is “lust” anyway? i mean, nobody hardly talks about it anymore, probably not very politically correct. Or maybe the idea of lust in our society is typically only used to get rid of opposing bureaucrats when one party, selectively, wants someone gone. In other words, no one cares unless it can be used as a weapon against an opponent. In the news lately, one guy got famous because of his unbridled lust, and another guy got kicked to the curb for even thinking about it. Pretty mean bunch of people if you ask me. From what i can see, Love is the opposite of lust. To me, lust is an activity of the will in a very questionable sense, a disorderly and unregulated affection, a literal craving….it’s an overwhelming longing for something or someone we’ve decided we just can’t live without. Gimme, gimme, gimme. The best example of lust is all the way back at Genesis 3 where Eve and the serpent are having a conversation, the serpent saying “Are you kidding me? God really said you can have everything except that one thing?” Eve repeating God’s words saying, “Yea, He said that, AND He told us if we ate the fruit, we would die!” The serpent says, “Oh yea, right! You will not. He just doesn’t want your eyes to be opened and be like He is! He’s holding out on you, can’t you see that?” Let’s keep in mind here, Adam is oddly absent. i find that pretty strange. Everyone wants to blame Eve, but you know, Adam was responsible and he doesn’t even get a dishonorable mention, he’s just absent. Then in verse 6 it says Eve saw the tree was pretty, she saw it was good for food (how she made that determination is a mystery seeing as how she’d never tasted it’s fruit), and she saw it was “desirable to make one wise”. Here we go now, the first two words of vs. 6 are “So when”, “when” meaning “at what time, or what period”. Uh oh! To begin the sentence like that means she had thought about it all, rolling the serpents words around in her head, re-visualizing how delicious it would be to eat that beautiful fruit and possessing the very thing God said would kill her. Here we can see wrongness of character which drove her rebellion, inordinate desire, and disobedience ruling Eve’s eye gate. “She saw” meaning she contemplated with intent. Did you get that? “Contemplated with intent.” More than just thinking about it, she was planning some action to get it for herself. Contemplated with intent. In light of that let me ask you,  Who rules your eye gate … anyone?

By the Law of first mention, meaning the first time something is mentioned in the Bible, precedence was set in Gen 3 by disobedience and wrong desire … mankind decided to open their own eyes. God didn’t do it, man decided that, without God. It didn’t turn out well considering the entire universe came under a sentence of death, chaos and corruption entered in and we had a new master, sin.

i think this is a good time to give a good definition of sin, and it goes like this: Anything which weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God or takes away your relish for righteous spiritual things, anything which increases the authority and the power of the flesh over the Spirit…that to you becomes sin.

That day in the garden was the day disobedience and corrupt desire weakened mans reasoning; it impaired the tenderness of his conscience; it obscured his sense of God and took away his relish for righteous spiritual things; it increased the authority and power of the flesh over the Lord, and to Adam and Eve, to every human being and everything in the universe, that disobedience, rebellion, and corrupt desire became sin. It didn’t matter how good the fruit was in itself. In that moment man was left bowing & scraping to the power and authority of transgression and wrongness of character. And it all started at the fountain of someone’s person who’s heart became filled with the vision of “dubious want” and a “craving desire”, not to mention the lie that maybe God was holding out on them. And then to top it off, Adam was absent.       Again, by the Law of First Mention, the first person spoken of whom God opened the eyes of is Hagar in Genesis21:19, and i want you to know, when God chose to open someone’s eyes, things went much better than when the first two, without God, decided to open their own eyes. Ok, here’s some good wisdom for us all: With God, good idea. Without God, bad idea. C’mon, say it with me, With God, good idea, without God, bad idea (say 2x). Lust opened the first eyes, Love opened Hagar’s eyes.

When God opened her eyes, the first thing Hagar saw was water, the first thing she did was give Ishmael a drink. Adam and Eve first helped themselves, the first thing Hagar did was help someone besides herself. Adam & Eve raised “implusive necessity” to an all-commanding, conscience condemning, good sense over-ruling motivation. Without God as the governor of their eyes, they were self-promoting and self-satisfying, they promoted their own passions, and their opinion became the rule. Sound familiar, like “Have it your way”?

Is Love the governor of your eye gate, or lust… we’ve got a bad case of “got the gimme’s”…i want it, i want it, gimme, gimme, gimme, can’t live without it!

Jesus died for us so we could recover and be restored from a state of death. Where lust offers us death, Love offers us life. Lust draws us into a world of hypnosis, lost in the dazzle. The world around us is filled with dazzle and we are so easily captured by what we see. Our eyes take in vision 10 + 9 zero’s faster than what we hear, no wonder there is a huge spiritual war going on over our eyes! Advertising is always sureal, dazzling, car colors in photo’s are brilliant, delicious colors… flowers are portrayed as more brilliant and dazzling than they are, everything is just big, and bigger. Advertising works hard to make everything we see “pop”, always wrestling for our attention. Cities are blindingly bright, architecture is truly phenomenal; people are more beautiful than ever, everyone is encouraged to just “have it your way”.

But let’s look at it all another way, we can have all the world has to offer, lost in the world of having what you’ve got and wanting what other’s have too, but did you know desire can have offspring? i believe James 1:14-15 speaks of the sin in the garden like this, James 1:13-15, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticed. Then, when desire (or lust) has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

“Lust”, the desire for what is forbidden. We can either accept God’s gift of Love and live, or go with our lusts and die. Pretty simple. With God, good idea. Without God, bad idea.

Who or what governs our appetites? Here’s a contrast: Love lifts us up, lust chokes the air out of us, and we don’t know we’re out of air until we’re nearly dead. Love is concerned with the whole person and all their appetites, lust reduces us to one appetite and one craving, and that one thing becomes the all encompassing focus of our lives. Love is considerate and kind, lust reduces people to tools or toys – something to exploit. Love has inherent durability, lust dies at dawn. Lust may rise like a blood sucking vampire during the end of the day, but every morning it dies. Love isn’t an itch, or a twitch, but lasting and enduring, whereas lust, ahh….lust degrades whatever it touches and keeps on degrading until something becomes disposable. Love, the Love of God is a true love story, lust is a lie masquerading as love from the beginning. Will your heart follow after your eyes?

2Corinthians5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Constrain, as it’s used in vs. 14 means to “hold together or hold fast”, meaning for those who have set Christ as their “eye gate”, His love holds them together, His love holds them fast, and that’s a promise. His love and goodness are the bolts on our doors, the monitor over our mouth, and the compass for our heart.

Eugene Peterson wrote: “We live in a world awash with love stories. Most of them are lies. They are not love stories – they are lust stories, sex-fantasy stories, domination stories. From birth we are fed on lies about love.”        “When our minds and imagination are crippled with lies about love, we have a hard time understanding this fundamental ingredient of daily living called “love”, either as a noun or a verb.”

Who governs your appetites? Love or lust? Does your eye crave the dazzling things, or is your eye governed by the King of Love so you see reality through His eyes?

We require true stories of love if we are to live truly. The true love story of eternity is that God gave His only son, Jesus, who said in John 10 “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”

i suggest we set Jesus as the Governor of our Eye Gate, “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” If we don’t take our thoughts captive, they will take us captive, because one way or another one of us is going down in chains, and i’m determined through Christ, my thoughts will be my captives! Where do you stand, who governs your appetites? Love gate or Lust gate? You choose. Think about it.

It has been another beautiful evening here at Outposts, it’s a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River.

i’m Social Porter, and this production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, and the brilliant minds and dancing fingers at Area 22 Guitars. i’d like to shout out a special thanks to Walt and Elisa, Seldon and Alma Stepp at the post office, Curtis at the A&W Drive In, Quality Tire’s very own Jimmy Payton, Kenny Maxwell at Farm Equipment Company on Chimney Rock Rd., the Mill End Store and Silk Shop out in Clear Creek, Mary Sexton for Kalmia Dairy, and Trinity Bakers, that’s right, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Set anew Christ as the governor for your eyes, take care what you allow in your head, and let Jesus be the authority of your appetites. Take your time to lounge when you eat, learn to sip and enjoy what you consume instead of gobble everything in front of you. i hope to talk to you next time. Have a good evening, and amen.

Visiting

It’s the end of the week here… i trust you have walked all the way to the end of another week with a heart full of peace. If you haven’t, ask yourself, “what can i do about that?”

Don’t stand outside, come in the house and join me for cool jazz and contemplative conversation…. we’re semi-live from the late evening cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge and every evening is pleasant. There is just something about this place, somehow people are inspired to stay engaged after they’ve eaten, and become involved in casual conversation. By observation, i would say most simply love to visit and be visited. This evening our contemplative conversation piece is about visiting and hospitality.

Visiting means attend to, pay attention to, seek out, go to and stay with, or to come to in order to comfort. The word “to” is used there expressing motion in a direction beyond ourselves. There is an action and a reason in it. Along with visiting, here is another of God’s attributes: hospitality, and wouldn’t you know, “visiting” and hospitality go hand in hand. i find The Lord to be the most hospitable person in the universe; he is generous to all who come to His house.

i think “visiting” and “hospitality” are something which has been missing from Christianity for a long time. As we all know, we can’t be pals with only so many people at a time, which is really only a few, but somewhere, somehow, taking time to talk to people, to see them and let them know they aren’t forgotten is important to happen. Ya know, you can’t give away what you’ve got if you’re not there to give it away. Do you visit? Are you hospitable? Or do you minister, and you have to say that with a big voice and draw the word out a little so it sounds VERY important to the listener: “minister”. Telling each other about how we “minister” to others has a certain “condescension” about it, almost, as if “visiting” and being hospitable wasn’t important and elevating enough. Friend, check your attitude at the door please. Think more about what is important to God rather than “how can this situation prosper my own agenda.” Think on that and i’ll be right back.

i find it interesting how many believers don’t visit, but they will tell you they “minister”. Many times we are invited to “minister”, as it would be called in the old religious vernacular, meaning to contribute and attend to in the sense of lifting up, not condescending to. i find, more often than not, most of us who come to “minister” as opposed to “visit”, come to tell answers… often to questions which may not have been asked yet, if ever. A difficulty lies in that we assume people know the questions which cause our answers to make sense. We show up, we “minister”, people smile and nod, and we leave, often much later retelling the story of the time when “we began to minister”. Jesus did, indeed, minister, which means… He was a servant, He attended people, He assisted and comforted, He was patient and took His time with people, …He visited. He was involved in the lives of people. He didn’t just sell them His books and CD sets, He didn’t make a market for Himself selling His DVD’s, booking events where He could make money, He was involved with people’s lives, He listened, He helped, He shared Himself with them and encouraged them to share themselves with Him. How much of yourself do you share with God? 10, 20, 40, 80%? More? Really? How can you tell? If you were to ask God to reveal to you how much of yourself you give to Him, what do you think He’d say? What can you do to change that?

In the early, early, early years of the church, the idea of giving money was partly for church leadership to propagate and support hospice, and not in the sense we have today as in a place to go only for those in their last days. The early idea of hospice was for hospitality and making a safe place for visitors and travelers. In fact, visiting and hospitality were thought of as an absolute essential action and attitude if someone was going to be considered for leadership. Hospitality was one of a candidates leading attributes to be assessed when being considered for a temple or church office.

St. Benedict wrote, “”Let all guests that come be received like Christ Himself, for He will say ‘I was a stranger and you took Me in.’ And let fitting honor be shown to all, especially such as are of the household of the faith and to wayfarers. When, therefore, a guest is announced, let him be met by the elders, with all due kindness. Let them first pray together, and thus associate with one another in peace . . . Let the leadership pour water on the hands of the guests, and himself as well as the whole community wash their feet . . . Let special care be taken in the reception of the poor and of wayfarers because in these things, Christ is more truly welcomed.”

Notice… Benedict didn’t suggest leadership delegate the lesser duties of pouring water and greeting guests to the “lower downs”, but as in the practice of humility for those elders in leadership. i hope i’m never too important to be humble and practice hospitality. Check your attitude at the door please.

James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Of course, this is only one verse. Right, but doesn’t the whole of Scripture testify that one trait of Christ-likeness is caring for people the way God has cared for us? Let us consider how He has cared for us in order that we would know how to care for others.

When we visit with people we are more involved with their lives than just telling answers. Anyone who only tells answers doesn’t need friends but only subordinates. Do you typically just tell answers, assuming the other person actually knows the questions, or do you ask gentle open-ended questions which invite the other person into a dialogue, which is part of “visiting”? Answers don’t make much sense unless you know the question. Do you affirm the other person, practicing your reflective listening skills and summarize periodically, or are you only waiting until you can talk, marginally listening to the other person? Affirmation, reflective listening, and periodically summarizing are part of hospitality as well as visiting. It’s being involved with the lives of others. How has God cared for you?

When we were spiritual paupers, God gave us great grace. When we were spiritual widows, He became our bridegroom. When we were spiritual sojourners, He welcomed us into His home with all hospitality, and He visited with us. The idea of visitation and hospitality was associated with early monasteries so much so, they all had a spare room or two as a provision representing the hospitable heart of God towards strangers and travelers. When Jesus said, “Come unto me all who are burdened and heavy laden”, He was painting us a picture of God’s hospitable heart towards the “whomsoevers” of this world. Visiting is different from those who pose themselves somewhat aloof in saying they came “to minister”. There is something personal about visiting and hospitality, don’t you think?

When we were orphans, He adopted us into His family. It is the truth… spiritual growth involves active love for actual people. Love a flesh and blood person in need of your risk-taking, cross-bearing love which reaches beyond what is convenient for you. That’s exactly what James is getting at with the word visit.

i think this next part is fascinating. The word “Visit” is used throughout Scripture and it doesn’t mean to drop by for a donut and stay a moment. The root word is the word from which we get a word for pastor – one who comes near, a shepherd. The Greek word for pastor is “poimen”, which is a Greek derivative of the word we get our English word “poem” from, making the root attribute of someone who visits and comes near….A poetic visitor, or shepherd, meaning “one who tends and feeds, who has rhyme and rhythm”. Isn’t that interesting! A poetic visitor with Holy Ghost rhythm and rhyme. Wow, what visual! James is urging believers to “shepherd” the orphan and widow and to visit with them, being hospitable.

Luke 1:78, “Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.” When God visited his people, He was involved in their lives and displayed His grace in their need. Visiting is MORE than just going “to minister”. It is meant as a hospice as associated with hospitality, not just palliative care for the dying, but providing and being a shelter of comfort, humble confidence, wisdom and hope for whomsoever is in need.

Hospitality means to be generous to guests. In Luke 7:46, it reads, “ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.” Anointing was an act of hospitality, it was something that happened when visiting or being involved in people’s lives. And yea…i know…being involved with people’s lives is messy and inconvenient, but look at it this way, maybe while you’re visiting and being hospitable, it’s a good time to explore your own values and boundaries. i find i have often been instructed with learned ignorance, furnished by those who have assured me that they are wiser than myself.

Genesis18:2, “So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground.” Abraham gave them water to wash their feet; he called for food to be made. This is how hospitality looks. This is how visiting looks. Abraham was generous to his guests, they accepted his hospitality, and, sat down under an oak-tree. There was visiting and hospitality, how exactly does that NOT apply to us today, ‘cause i believe it does.

Romans12:12-13, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” There are five things there for us to model: hope, patience, steadfastness, distributing to those in need, and providing shelter and care.      1Timothy3:2 uses the title, “bishop”, who is a superintendent, elder, or overseer of a Christian church, saying, “a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach.” According to scripture, a bishop isn’t someone dressed in gold trimmed clothing walking around in glory, loving the accolades of the masses, taking peoples money, merely sitting in high places looking pious. A bishop is a title endowed on someone of true humility, wisdom, and given to hospitality and grace. Humility comes before honor my friends. That same overseer, or elder, according to Titus 1:8, must be a “lover of hospitality,” meaning, not just being hospitable as a requirement in order to satisfy a religious office, or striking a pose in order to maintain a title, but a “lover of hospitality”.

1Peter4:8-9, “And above all things practice the outstretched Love of God among yourselves: for His overwhelming Love shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” The word “love” in this verse is in the sense of practicing the “Agape” of God, without inwardly groaning because you have to make nice and smile about it.

Our true life motivation is In love, because of love, and due to the Love of God in our hearts…. from there….we “visit” and are “hospitable”.

Finding people who are willing to simply go and see others, listening to their stories without being religious, hyper-spiritual, or manipulative isn’t always so easy…remembering that those who visit due to love have to be “God raised”, not schooled, submitted, or titled into it. This is important: If people have to have a title to be important, well, they probably never will be important.

i’ve wondered if those who have a heart to visit and be hospitable are the real evangelists and shepherds, the real raisers of the dead.  Those who “go out” should have a working vision of the Love of God (not gotten at a conference or from a book), as people of great grace for a world greatly in need of grace, people of God-worked-compassion-and-mercy, imparting courage, strength, and peace, who find rest in their time of visiting and hospitality. It’s not just an exhausting job, it’s an invigorating privilege.

We are to be given to hospitality, the sort of people who, indeed, are “submitted” but we don’t play “dominion games” with titles and self importance, we aren’t “owned”. We walk with a limp and won’t be bought.

God makes us who we are, people of Great Grace. He brings those sorts of people in, and they are often like “secret agents”… in that they are willing to be unknown, having titles but refusing to announce themselves, giving away what they’ve got, being sons & daughters of the Living God. We who believe on Jesus ARE the children of God Almighty, not slaves of a disavowed and fallen ex-worship leader who encourages us to play on a religious grid of elitism….we need the kind of people who “get on a plane and get gone”, who have the nerve, on behalf of others, to ask the Lord for all the favor He will give them, people of audacious faith. Does that seem ambitious to you? i think it sounds like the “Real life of a true believer”.

The real Evangelists and Shepherds are more than just people who go down town and quote Bible verses, tell about Jesus, and “minister”. It would seem the responsibility of all believers (who are “testators” and do “testify”) is to open their hand to others as a profession of their faith. Real Evangelists and Shepherds go out in earth trembling power, in life changing, chain-snapping, rope-cutting, heavy-load-loosing, darkness rebuking, life-changing power…and the gospel is seen in the momentum of their lifestyle, not just because they stand and speak gospel words, and “minister”. The gospel of God is more than just telling answers, singing great songs, having good programs, and making good sermons. If that’s all it was about, we would have long ago entered Heavens gates. It is BEING the people of Great Grace! Think about it.

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, a live broadcast in the late evening hours, reaching out to those who are still awake for… whatever your reasons are, possibly tossing and turning trying to rest, caught in the grey place between awake and asleep.

This production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, the brilliant minds at Area 22 Guitars, Art Fuller at Skyland Battery and Ignition, Dan over at Dan’s Restaurant, Bob Cheadle, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, Joe Beck, Jake Langley, J.J. Johnson, Benny Golson, and Larry Coryell. All music use is licensed by BMI.

Visit a friend this week, take the time to be involved with someone’s life besides your own. Open your hand and offer hospitality as God has offered it to you, He always cares about the details of our lives. Read your Bible, the Lord has a great deal He’d like to talk to you about. Thanks for joining me and i’ll catch you next time.

Here at the Outposts cafe, lately, we’ve been on a tangent of discussing appetites, what are our appetites which need to come under our personal authority, and who or what governs those appetites? Of course this too could be another immense topic, but let’s narrow it to Matthew 4:1-11.

i hope all the words of these programs reach and stick to those who want more from their spiritual life than they’ve been getting. It is brave for many to adventure with God and the Bible in these brief monologue of topics which, often, maybe politically incorrect for some, uncomfortable for particularly religious folks to think about, or, most times, i’m simply taking aim at more clarity…..all in an effort to better understand what Jesus, the Lord our God is saying. Personally, i’m VERY interested in everything God has to say. How about you?

It is evident most of us don’t relate well to many King James words, at least in the sense of how God means them, like “licentiousness”, “reveling”, “debauchery”, or “lascivious”, neither do i believe many relate well to words like “favor”, “love”, “sin”, “redemption”, “circumspection” or “rampart”. When’s the last time you heard someone use the word “rampart” in a sentence? Even though we use words like “purpose” and “provision” with some authority in our voice, i have a sneaking suspicion what we think we mean by the use of those words, and what God means are anywhere from slightly divergent to widely at variance.

The word, “appetite” isn’t used, per se, in scripture, but it is an issue most directly addressed on many levels. It is high time we started to move with a greater determination towards understanding what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about.

Besides, you know at what point of history we stand; so it is time for you to rouse yourself from sleep… The night is almost over, the day is almost here. Let’s put aside our self-centered lives and arm ourselves with the weapons of light. Let us live well, as people do in the daytime — not partying and getting loaded, not engaging in the abundance of immorality and other excesses we are constantly bombarded with and so easily swept away by. i think i’ll add to that by saying we should seriously think about leaving behind our quarrelling, one-up man-ship, and being jealous also.

I’m Social Porter and thank you for joining me this evening…it’s a little bit of your time spent listening in on late evening cool jazz and contemplative conversation. i’ll be right back.

In Matt 4:1-11, there were 3 elements of Jesus which were attacked by satan: in His flesh, His mental facilities, and in His Spirit. The first was a physical hunger, and no, it wasn’t sex, that’s absurd. In fact, if anyone thinks sex is an all powerful appetite, they’ve never been hungry. i can’t say i’ve fasted for 40 days, but i can say i’ve fasted for 20 days, and i’m here to confess, it is the truth, after about the 15 to 18 day mark, the drive for food was truly overwhelming. And yes, as silly as it sounds, everything started looking like food…in fact, the very idea of food filled my mind in virtually every waking moment.

The scenario is first viewed in the opening scenes of Matt 4:1-4, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ “

Right off the bat, the identity of Jesus was struck at by the adversary in saying, “If you’re the Son of God”. Don’t misunderstand, the devil knew exactly who Jesus was. The idea wasn’t proposed as in, the devil didn’t believe, it was posed in order that Christ would doubt Himself, banking on His flesh being more powerful than His spirit. Also, i think  it important to point out that Jesus was hungry and weak after fasting for forty days, but he chose not to use his divine power to satisfy his natural appetite for food. Food, and eating are good, but the timing was wrong. Jesus was in the desert to fast, not to eat. And because Jesus had given up the  unlimited, independent use of his divine power in order to experience humanity fully, he wouldn’t use his power to change the stones to bread. We, too, might be tempted to satisfy a perfectly normal appetite in a wrong way or at the wrong time. i understand many of our desires are normal and good, but God wants us to satisfy them in the right way and at the right time. Jesus was able to resist all of the devil’s temptations because He not only knew Scripture, he also obeyed it. satan, yea, he knew some scripture too, but he didn’t obey. Because Jesus faced temptation and didn’t give in, we too can overcome in and through Christ. Really, really….we can truly win against temptation through the blood of Jesus.

In Matthew 4:5-6, The identity of Jesus was struck at by the adversary once again in saying, “If you’re the Son of God”. The same adversary is constantly asking us “Who do you think you are, a child of God or something?”, hammering at our identity. If the adversary thought he could get Jesus on an identity issue, how much more does he hammer at us? i am confident the devil believes he’s a hammer and we all look like nails. i say, i don’t think so! We need to be sure of our identity and not doubt, and oh, don’t i know from personal experience, just how easy that is to say. The very word, “doubt”, in it’s Hebrew form, means to tear off in pieces from a secure place, like a wild animal would tear chunks off of its prey. Pretty graphic, but quite an appropriate picture concerning why we need to do something about our doubts and not allow them to continue like we do. Slander, or casting shadows on your neighbor, inspires doubt, slowly ripping their character and reputation to pieces. It is subtle, yet very real violence.

We, as the people of God need to realize doubts can weaken our trust in God. There is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism about some things, and there are times when we should take our rising doubts seriously, but to doubt God and His Word, well, that’s an entirely different story. The serpent tempted Eve by getting her to doubt God’s goodness. In Matt 4:5-7, not only did satan try to influence Jesus to think He was not who His Heavenly Father said He was, Jesus was attacked from another angle: To doubt that His Father’s promise was sincere; to doubt that the Lord really meant what He said. The Lord replied, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ “  BAM! He hit the devil right between the eyes with that one, leaving His knuckle prints in his forehead!

We all have occasional doubts, but on the other hand, we especially need to be aware of the outcome when our doubts are left to stand, unresolved. Doubt must not be allowed to erode our trust in God, especially in a day when trust in anyone or anything is difficult. Remember if our enemy knows that once we begin to question whether or not Jesus was God, it’s far easier to get us to do what he wants.

James 1:6-8, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

William Shakespeare said, in his play, “Measure for Measure”, Act 1 scene 4, “Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win By fearing to attempt.” To date, the serpent is still practicing identity theft and influencing us to doubt God, and the sad part is, we often play along and blindly go with him like sheep to the slaughter. i mean, when pressed, we know better, so why do we go along with stuff we know is a lie? Is it laziness, and complacency. Or maybe we’ve gained an appetite for indifference as long as it doesn’t directly affect us?

Other than blaming Adam and Eve and our general propensity for the unsavory, where do we get our appetite for lying? Not just what or how, but why are we ok with it? Oh, i know we say we’re not ok with it, yet we allow the practice to persist when it’s to our advantage. Among other definitions, a lie is the truth with chunks torn out of it by doubt, slander or shadow casting, and suspicion, with suspicion as acting out judgment without having all the facts. Thankfully, not everyone seems to have a twisted appreciation for lying, but we can say many have developed an appetite for it by our buying into a false narative which is intended to be false, and although we’re not ok with it, we take no action against it, thereby passively agreeing by our letting it stand without rebuttal. Why? ?Have we been fed on lies and doubt so much we’ve gained an appetite for disappointment and wormwood which comes with deceit? Friends, don’t let your eyes get used to the dark.

Have we gained an appetite for rotten fruit because that’s what we’ve been fed, so often, we’ve taught ourselves to believe it’s not so bad? i call that “learned ignorance”. How do we overcome poor identity and doubt? It’s easy to say, “Just go read all the scriptures about who God says you are.” Well….that is true, knowing who God says we are is indeed important, but just because we read about it doesn’t mean we’ve entered into being it. Wrong identity starts with wrong definitions, wrong perceptions, and wrong counsel. For example, if you are a child of God, i believe honesty is an attribute. If you are not honest, start walking in being honest, and the more you walk in it the more your actions influence your character, just like our character influences our actions. Ask the Lord to show you how to BE who He says you are…. Doubt is overcome in a similar fashion, with the help of God of course. We resist doubts by practicing trust in God.

Moving along, Luke 4:5-8 “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'”  The identity of Jesus is still being hammered at, and the enemy of the Lord was hoping Jesus had an untamed appetite for self-promotion, and self-advancement. What Jesus was being offered was worldly power, but Jesus knew worldly power can turn us away from God, worldly power is temporary. Friends, worldly power is still subject to the sovereignty of God whether we like it or believe it, and was offered to Christ in hopes He would violate Kingdom values.  We seem to be so easily impressed by worldly power, or the three P’s, power, position, and prestige. Our unfettered appetites for the three P’s take us far from the Lord and into an ever increasing gloom of unhealthy competition, manipulative criminal thinking, and arrogance. The Lord says, repeatedly in scripture, He has a better way.

In all of this, scripture is the final authority, the Logos and the Rhema of God. In Luke 4:4, when Jesus said “but by every word of God”, the Greek word for “word” there is Rhema, meaning the “now word of God”. Not only did Jesus quote Logos, but He’s also saying to act on the “now word of God”, in conjuction with logos. Not just the scripture word, but the now word.

Jesus was tempted in His flesh, in His soul, and in His spirit, and yet our Savior overcame, He overcame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. If Jesus over came, we can overcome the temptations of our adversary also. It is no walk in the park that happens overnight, but our overcoming is a thing of practice. Yes, we will fail at times, maybe more often than not, but think…. God wouldn’t have called us overcomers, and more than conquerors if it were not possible. i think back to the times i’ve simply gone along with really bad ideas, and yes, i remember considering the word of the Lord, but it was easier to be “Mr. Go-along-to-get-along”. i remember being exhausted in all my resisting, disappointed at my constant capitulation, and when i thought issues were resolved they continued to raise their ugly heads to taunt me over and over until i gave up and gave in.

For those who believe on Jesus as Messiah and Savior, God has extended us identity with Himself, and by the blood of Jesus, we are able to take on God’s attributes, for we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. What do you say when the devil tempts you? Do you think to yourself, “Nobody is actually getting hurt?” Friend, aren’t you a somebody and what is your idea of hurt? Actually, declaring “nobody is actually getting hurt” lets us out of the responsibility for our poor choices born from our “out of control” appetites. How often, in my own life, when tempted, how often have my appetites driven my choices? i know, i KNOW i ought not to eat that triple cheese burger with double cheese and extra bacon, but because i want it, really really want it, staring at the picture, imagining, nearly drooling on myself thinking about it…. i reason, “Well…it’s only this one time, and i’ll go back to losing weight tomorrow.”??? Do you agree with temptation, being complicit in the plans of darkness as your conscience screams at you “Don’t do that!”, or do you speak scripture back to the devil, using the word of God as your shield? Falling down is easy, getting back up though, that takes character and determination. Hmmm…that’s a lot to think about.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening cascading banks of the Ockluwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

This production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, and Area 22 Guitars where everyone can find a chord of divine reality, Gentle Bruster at the Bruster Hotel, Eddie Youngblood, our local home delivery man for Beck Brothers Pharmacy, Mrs. Margaret Whitmire, a true southern bell of the finest design, J.B. Metcalf, and Bill and Nell Yopp on Highland Avenue. A special appreciation goes out to our good friends, Jeff and Karen at Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.”

John 16:33 ^“…In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus over came all that is in the world, and according to John 16:33, rest assured if Jesus over came it, we can overcome also. Who or what drives or controls your strong desires or liking for this thing or that, otherwise known as “appetites”? Do you have authority over them, or do they have control over you?

Don’t let the world obscure your view of God nor wound your conscience. Go this week knowing there is the heart of a champion in every listener out there. As much as possible, be at peace within yourselves and with each other. Peace my friends, peace in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

“Scaredy Cat”, by Carolyn Warvel, is a child’s story of a lion cub who meets Daniel in the lion’s den. God shut the mouths of the hungry lions when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den in Daniel 6, the story says the lions ran away in terror, and all that was left was Daniel and the little cub. As Daniel befriended the fearful little lion, he asked why it was nicknamed Scaredy Cat? The little lion replied, “Because I’m scared of everything. I’m afraid of the dark, being alone, people, other lions, mice, spiders, dirt, the clouds falling on me, getting hurt, monsters, getting lost, snakes, and…” After a pause, the little lion, Scaredy Cat, asked Daniel why he wasn’t afraid of the big lions, wherewith Daniel said, “Because I know God is with me. He has helped me before and I knew He would help me now. You see, God is my special friend.” “Whenever I’m scared or confused, I just stop and pray and He comforts me. I have learned to trust Him over the years.”

Considering fear is so prevalent and paralyzing for us, it would seem to be a good thing to find out more about it. Most fears, it seems to me, are about not living in life, but more living in our minds, it’s always about “what’s going to happen next”. And seeing as how “what might happen next” is not here yet, “next” does not actually exist, and if the fear is about what does not exist, the fear is 100% imaginary.  AND….if we fear what does not exist, our psychological medical community calls that insanity.

Let’s talk about our Being In The Grip of Fear and why are we such Scaredy Cats when God is such a sure foundation to us and all our tomorrows. i’ll be right back.

Fear! Dread! Terror! The things that go “bump” in the night in our dreams; dark hallways, floating specters of faceless, nameless, unsubstantiated evil hovering around us in our minds and imagination in seemingly looming unconquerable fear. In the back of people’s minds there seems to hover, what i call, the “dread of tomorrow”. All good counseling has a standard reply to people who are “afraid”: give your fear a handle and don’t just let it loom, unknown, nameless, faceless and without substance…give it a handle, and i don’t mean the name of a spirit, but what is it we are afraid of. Be honest, and name your fear.

The less important trusting God becomes, the more fear and suspicion (suspicion being the Ishmael of discernment) begin to take over, and we know fear and suspicion are ALWAYS close allies! Fearful people are far more rooted in their mind than in reality, in fact, suspicion is largely responsible for prejudice. Prejudice is when we make judgments or decisions on someone else’s behalf without having all the facts or truth. We make value judgments based on personal prejudices all the time, and it’s all rooted in fear and not having all the facts or truth.

How often do we not have enough information, and as a result we tend to “fill in the blank” with “negative assumptions”? Rather than tell ourselves we don’t have enough information, in our impatience, we “fill in the blank” with what we “think” MIGHT be in our future. If we do that often enough, we’ll begin finding our footing rooted in fear and not faith. What “MIGHT” be is imaginary, it does not exist yet. In our dreams when there comes things which go “bump in the night”, we “fill in the blank” about what it “could be”, and we project our fears of monsters, spiders, or something terrible into that blank place of identity. Sometimes i wonder if “fear” is one facet of what is alluded to in Psalm 91:6 in mentioning “…the pestilence that walks in darkness…”

Fear is an intolerant, demanding, iron fisted task master, driving us to behaviors and actions we would never choose if we were free from its relentless call lulling us into it’s grasp, woefully declaring “not enough”….not enough love, not enough money, not enough power, not enough faith…just not enough of anything for anyone or any situation. Without trust in God we easily become subject to believing we are unloved, unwanted, and unneeded…hard driven by a life thrust upon us, like slaves on a slave ship, starved, abused, and trapped in the dark.

Do you spend your time being “Led By God” –OR- “Driven By Fear”?

Mark4:37-41, “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much so, it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they woke Him up and said, “Teacher, do You not care we are perishing?” We are going to die here, don’t you even care!!?? Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it you have no faith?” And verse 41, “And they feared exceedingly, saying to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

The fear Jesus rebuked was one projected by the disciples who had visions of sinking into the deep and drowning. It had not happened therefore it was a fear of something imaginary. True, it was a potential, still though, it was a fear of what “MIGHT” happen. The other “fear” as spoken of in vs. 41, was different yet was translated as “feared”. It is the Greek word we got our English “phobia” from, and a “phobia” is an “irrational fear, horror, aversion, as in panic-type fear, or terror. It became the common word for “fear” through the notion of “panic coupled with fright”.

We as a society in America today are largely, hugely driven by fear. The Lord doesn’t suggest we not be afraid, He commands it, “Be Not Afraid! Fear Not”. 68 times, “fear not for I AM with you”, “fear not, peace unto you”, “fear not for I have heard your prayers”, “fear not for I AM in this place”, “fear not, nor be discouraged”, etc, etc. But yet we are so terribly driven by fear.

i have 21 pages, over 500 legitimate, documented… exaggerated, illogical, and inexplicable fears that Americans, today, right now, are riddled with … they are called phobias. Top ten, fear of  the dark, fear of heights, fear of open spaces, fear of closed spaces, fear of spiders, fear of pointed objects, fear of germs, fear of disease, fear of snakes, and here is the most incredible …

Fear of the number 13. Triskaidekaphobia … this phobia is so pervasive in Western practice it has actually influenced an entire modern culture. Typically no 13th floor on high rises, no 13th row on many airplanes, many times people won’t buy a house which has the number 13 in the address, we don’t often see 13th avenue or 13th street, and rarely is there “Road” or Hwy 13.

Not in the top ten, but certainly in the top 20 are 4 in particular, Atychiphobia, fear of failure or of being wrong … absolutely pervasive in our society. Socialphobia, fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations. Sedatephobia, fear of silence. And Ymophobia, fear of being contrary or being in opposition, just going along to get along, fearful others won’t like or accept us.

If we will trust God and cast our cares upon Him, hope will spring fresh in our hearts, and in hope we will step into faith.  In the silence of the righteous, as we wait upon the Lord, there is hope! Hope & Faith!

Faith is the opposite of fear. Hope is the forerunner of faith.  When we find faith we can believe hope was there first. Our fears are largely about what might happen tomorrow, yet from somewhere way, way back in our mind, fear drives us to have this perpetual nagging that something is wrong. We can’t put our finger exactly on what it is, but we feel like, something, just something is wrong…. but we don’t know what it is.

Hope generates a vision of transformation, and we need more “trans” in our “formation”.  Hope, the expectation of becoming and overcoming, and every believer in Christ has an expectation, in one fashion or another, of being a “becomer” and an “overcomer”! Hope must have an object to act on, and the object of Hope is Expectation.  Hope is a character trait of the righteous, they have an attitude of anticipation with expectation that something will happen to further fulfill the vision of transformation.  Our hope is based on God’s faithfulness, and is a result of trusting God, remembering what He has done.  Hope lifts our face, and opposingly, despair causes the face to drop.

i’m addressing the fear of tomorrow, or next week, month, or year, and the trust we need to put in God today concerning tomorrow. Tomorrow looks like looming doom to many people, although tomorrow doesn’t exist and is imaginary. People seem to, so easily, forget about all the good things which might happen. The Lord says trust in Him, not in tomorrow.

Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”    2Timothy1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Genesis32:11-12, “Please deliver me from the hand of Esau, my brother, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me and the mother with the children. But You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”

Jacob feared what Esau “MIGHT” do to him, in saying “…just in case he comes and attacks me…”. He also recounts the promise of what God “WILL” do with him. Both the fear and the promise are about the future. Jacob was driven to run for a long time based on “MIGHT” instead of “WILL”. Fear driven vs. God driven. There’s another Good discussion.

The circumstances caused fear about what “MIGHT” happen, God spoke a promise about what “WILL” happen. Both are about future circumstances. !BUT!, God’s promise had already happened in His heart, and because God doesn’t lie, His promise was a reality, not a potential. God’s promise was more sure than tomorrow! In the place where things are truly non-existent, God’s promise still stands!

          When we doubt God, we are projecting the potential of our history on to His promises. Example: In the past people have let us down and all the viscous circumstances which followed are in our mental data base of possibilities for the future. People break their promises, God does not. When God promises us things of our future, our fear influences us to project our experience with men onto God, and unsurprisingly, we find our fear very believable. We are unsure of tomorrow, because tomorrow isn’t here, so tomorrow is a giant “fill in the blank”. There is nothing wrong with carefully and wisely “filling in the blank” unless we… “fill in the blank” about God according to our history with men. As a result, fear and anxiety often drive us to silence.

What drives our silence, even to the point of consciously, but passively participating in things we know are wrong? Silence may be golden, but it isn’t always the right choice.

We are silent when the enemy threatens to expose our past.  We are silent for fear of rejection, persecution, being marginalized or minimized. We are silent many times to justify our own behavior while citing someone else’s. We are silent when words are about to be spoken and shouldn’t.

There are times when “filling in the blank” is a good idea, and i believe it’s a process the Lord gave us as part of our decision-making mechanism. We test out “what if” scenario’s to decide the best path to follow, and we decide the future of how we do business based on history… it is wise.

!BUT!, and there is a giant “But God…” in the middle… when God steps into the middle of our circumstance and makes a statement and a promise, His Word trumps all our experience and circumstance……and that just blows my mind because my decision-making machine is so used to doing business as it has been trained, according to the world. We can be trained by the world, or trained by grace….so i have to ask, who’s your trainer?

        i’ve never met anyone who fears the past, except those who fear the deeds of their past will catch them and determine their future, so it’s STILL all about the future which has not happened yet…. Here are three facts about tomorrow: 1) it does not exist yet, 2) tomorrow will come, 3) God’s promise today is tomorrow’s truth, even though tomorrow doesn’t exist yet.   Nothing about tomorrow exists except God’s promise which is more sure than tomorrow. Even if you don’t know where you’re going, the Lord is already up ahead waiting for you.

          Friends, fear does not need to control our lives. It has many faces, but with the Lord’s help, we can learn to trust Him and break the grip. i’d bet most of us haven’t begun to fathom how many of our thoughts, opinions, and choices are controlled by anxious feelings or imagined scenarios that keep us from trusting God. Suspicion, dread, and doubt can plague our lives to the point that we feel continually anxious over our well-being, our career and finances, or even the remaining years of our lives. By continuously living in fear and anxiety, we eventually become resigned to life under a long, dismal, stream of lukewarm gray water with high percentages of over concern, and trepidacious worry. Think! Are the fears which knock you off your feet, are they real? We don’t have to be afraid, as in paralyzing dismay. How about we practice being brave in small steps creating a pattern of success, stretching the envelope to expand our territory of courage, driving our binding fears and distrust of God backwards.

Many times our fears are born of carrying burdens which are not ours to carry, living under a yoke that is not ours to own. Jesus said His burden was light and His yoke was easy, and i believe the inverse of that is also true in that ALL other yokes are hard, and all other burdens are too heavy. Actually, fearfully responding to circumstances can be a habit, and only when we reach the panic stage do we realize we have succumbed, again, to our foreboding uneasiness.

Deuteronomy 3:22, “You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you.'” God makes them a promise about their future, and His promise is as good as accomplished in the things which are not yet.     Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Did you know that in Hebrew, “nor be dismayed” means “don’t fall to pieces in the face of your circumstances, and throw yourself on the ground screaming and crying.”   God’s promise of “WILL BE” trumps the fear of “MIGHT BE”… The Lord promises He will be with us in all our tomorrow’s. Think about it.

        In the middle of fear, the Lord gives us a “But God…” which trumps all possibilities of the terror of tomorrow. i love it when the Bible says, “But God”.

“But”, meaning on the contrary, or “except for the fact”. The world tells us one thing, then there is “But God” that is to the contrary. The devil persuades us one way, then there is “But God”, which tells us the truth which is on the other hand from the world or the devil.

Let us not fear imagined pursuers who might do us harm, nor contrived creeping things which hunt us in the night. Matthew28:18-20, “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. I am commissioning you to go out, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: live by example in word and deed, instructing them to do, with all their breathing, thinking, and feeling, everything whatsoever I have commanded you: and, take this to heart, hear this, I am with you always, all the way to the end of the world. Amen.”

There is nothing to fear but fear itself, and if God is for us, who can be against us. i’m no scaredy cat, How about you?

i’m Social Porter and thank you for joining us here at Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. This production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Sisters Coffee in Sisters, Oregon, Lee Arwood of the Druid Hills Grocery on Asheville Hwy, Mr. Fine, you know who you are, the Mebane Freedom League, and Dot Cleveland at Nettie’s Beauty Shop. When you’re down town, stop in and see Jeff and Karen, the makers of fine confectionaries, at Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven, and it’s oh so good!

Fear not friends! If you know Jesus, you have a “But God” in your midst and God’s promise is more sure than tomorrow!

Eph2:3-4 says we were once children of wrath, “but God” made us alive in Christ.  In Psalms 73:26 “My flesh and my heart fail; “But God” is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  Many wander in despair, “But God has called us to peace”.

Remember the words of Jesus in Luke12:32 as you go your way this week, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Until next time, be strong and courageous!

An astounding thing God gave me this morning during prayer was the glimpse into hearing as He hears. It took me a moment to get my bearings, i’m sure grace braced me, but how do i describe this? It was beyond me, more than me, which may not seem like much to you, but to say i perceive something as more than myself is a confession that i am insufficient and the Lord is more than sufficient. You can say you don’t believe it. That’s ok. Remember though, just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t make it not so, it only means you don’t believe it.

i first thought it was madness, but then, i was aware of God’s grip on me so i decided it wasn’t madness. In the time of praise and worship, my ears became super-ears. i could hear everything around me. i heard the spider across the room at the base of the wall crawling, and i thought to myself, oh Mr. Spider, and you thought you were being quiet…mind you though, the sound of the spider wasn’t loud and intrusive, but just a gentle stepping. Outside my window there was a sparrow on a branch, waiting in the morning sun….to my amazement, i could hear it breathing. The clarity of everything was overwhelming, i marveled that i could hear something as soft as birds breath. Don’t get me wrong, i don’t mean overwhelming as if i was being driven to hallucinations and insanity, but overwhelming in the sense of being aware, aware of the sound of living things like maybe God hears it all. Everything i heard was distinct and clear, separate and of it’s own. It wasn’t a jumble of chaotic noise. It was like orderly music.

i’m Social Porter and i’ll be your host with cool jazz and contemplative conversation. We’re talking about hearing and listening for a short while…they’re both a gift and a talent. Being able to hear is a gift of God, and listening is a talent, a learned thing which is also something brought to us by the goodness of God.

We hear the world around us, even people who are hearing impaired have a sense of hearing in a way, they may interpret it differently than those of us who hear, but it is a perception of sound in some capacity or another. How many of us stop to hear? Do we sit in silence and listen to what is in our spirit, in our heart? Maybe some of us practice so much of such introverted listening, we are the only voice we hear….think about that, tap your toe and dream a little, i’ll be right back.

Hearing is first mentioned in Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” i have wondered, what does God sound like when He’s walking in the cool of the day, at the time when the thermal currents of air begin to transition from their place in the heat of the day to a cooling off period at night? Either way, Adam and Eve knew very well who they were hearing. The footsteps of the Lord are so unique even the sound of His steps declare His person. Not only did they hear, but they listened and accurately identified who they were hearing. He was coming to talk to them! They heard Him before they saw Him, oh and don’t you know, i’ll say it again, they knew well the sound of His footsteps! They had experience with the sound of the Lord moving around, even the sound of His coming which was common only to Him.

To “hear” is a verb meaning to give an ear or to lend an ear, discern, to perceive. The value of hearing God above all things seems to have become devalued in the world today, it seems unimportant to most people. Even to people who want to hear God, many may have become convinced they can’t hear Him so “hearing God” has become a low priority seeing as how, in most people’s mind, the probability of hearing God seems minimal. As a result the idea and hope of hearing Divinity is at the bottom of their list of important things.

On the contrary, of all the voices in the universe, hearing God is a necessity above all necessities in life. His voice IS life, as His presence is life, as His dreams are life, there is life infused in all which comprises the person of Christ. John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

i hold that everything the Lord says and does is more important to understand and own over anything else in the universe. He has something to say and i’d really like to hear it. Therefore, every word from the mouth of God, teaches us the fundamentals and deep things of God and faith. “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Many people lend their ears to “commerce and media” and fill their heads with unfounded doubt, leaving no room to hear that “small, still voice’.  …and if they’re not pouring the foolishness of the main stream media into their heads, they’re filling their ears with political talk, words of their work-a-day world, pornography, or just the common misleading information that comes in from the cable network.  It’s no great wonder people are so frightened when we tell them we “hear God”. Metaphorically speaking, many live in that “septic tank” that I compare “commerce and media” to.  Think about it… IF we’re inside that tank, we can’t hear anything outside.  We have no contrast.  We only know when somebody “flushes” and when you hear the plumbing “rumble”, you anticipate the discharge of waste from elsewhere.  But when the inside of that septic tank comprises your entire world, you don’t know there is an entirely different world just a few feet over your head … just a few feet of dirt and a concrete slab dividing you from brightness of day, stars at night, fresh air, and the presence and voice of God.  But many people have chosen to live in a “tomb” and they’ve been there so long that things which should be common between them and God are now unthinkable to them.

What will it take for us, as humans, to be interested in hearing God’s voice again? For me, even if God comes to chastise me, i would rather hear the voice of the Lord who loves me and died for my sins, than to not hear Him at all. Jesus said in John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Where it says “word” is the word “logos”, meaning “the sayings of God” as in what is “uttered by the living voice”. Personally, i really need to hear Jesus. Not just want, but need.

His voice, the sound of His moving and doing, His very name has slowly become so intrinsic and systemic in me and the life I lead, He is like the pith of a plant, water in a tree, the strength in roots, and the green in leaves in my life. This morning as I was praying I was thinking about that and I could not imagine life without His voice and name being alive in me. God wants to speak to us, and yes, you can ‘know’ that you hear His voice.

The desire of God’s heart is to fellowship and communicate with us, it’s a two way street. Why? Because no one can really have a relationship unless there is true dialogue. And how do we get to know someone? Of course by communicating, talking, and listening. You may not understand it or be interested, but the truth is we need His words. No one is smart enough to run their own lives, and no self-help guru, or political party will ever, in the history of forever, be able to give you that.

It makes sense that the Living One speaks Living Words, that are Life Giving for those who are without life that they might have Life if they would hear and listen to the Living One who speaks Living Words. Some people avoid the sound of the Lord, they look to the stars for answers. Is it smarter to look to the stars for answers, or look to the maker of the stars? The stars don’t have any answers, in fact, the stars all point to the glory of God. If we ask the stars, “Where should i go to school?”, they will reply, pointing to God, “Ask Him. He knows.” If we tell the universe, “I need wisdom, please help me.” They will say, pointing to God alone, “Ask Him. He knows.”

If we can’t hear God, just what do we hear? If we aren’t listening to God, who are we listening to?

David prayed in Psalm 51:8 that the Lord would ‘make him hear joy and gladness’. We should pray the same thing. Oh, and let us all be assured with all confidence that God hears us. Oh yes He does! Psalm 65:2 states that He is the one “who hears prayer”. Not only is Jesus a speaking King, He is also a listening King…. Not only does God hear us, but we hear Him. Some say God doesn’t speak to men anymore, and that’s just foolishness. i say if that is so then there was no point in the words of Jesus in John 10:3-5, and this is important, so please listen, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

He has a mouth and speaks, i have ears and can hear, i say, “Why shouldn’t He speak to us?” Where the word “voice” is used it means, “uttered words, speech”. Voice means exactly what it says and not some alternate means of perception. Isaiah28:8    says to lean in towards God, listen with discernment, focus on the words of the Lord to drown out the chaotic noise around you, and comprehend with your head and heart. He meant exactly what He said. i hear God, i have friends who hear God, so i’m compelled to ask you, Do you hear God? If not, would you like to? Can you overcome your own unbelief to hear Him when He speaks? He’s saying a lot these days, can you hear Him? The question to investigate isn’t, “Why won’t God speak to me?”, but more “God is speaking, why can’t i hear Him.”

Isaiah 32:3 “The eyes of those who see will not be dim, And the ears of those who hear will listen.” There is another place in the Bible where hearing and listening are used in the same sentence, and i’m mentioning this for the sake of those who might believe “hearing” and “listening” are the same. Isaiah 42:23, like Isaiah 32:3 use both words, and there is a difference. If we give attention to God and incline our ears to Him, which is to hear, (according to Isaiah 32:3 and 42:23) we can will also perceive His words and grasp His intent, which is listening. Hearing is to give attention to and incline your ears towards. Listening is to become aware of and grasp the intent.

Jeremiah29:12-13, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Believe me, if God wants you to hear and understand, He is entirely capable of making Himself known and getting His point across. And it’s not like He “tries” to speak to us, as if He would fail. The point is not whether God is speaking, but are we hearing and positioning ourselves to understand?

Like in 2 Chronicles 20:17 “…Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you…. Do not fear or be dismayed …for the LORD is with you.”

Put yourself in the position to hear and listen to God. He will gladly give to us the riches of His hands, but we’ve got to make an effort. We can’t just sit back in our lawn chairs in casual repose, drink our mint juleps, and expect Him to make all the effort. What a lazy, passive, indifferent posture to assume. The heart of the Lord is that we would participate with Him in our own salvation. i fully believe the Lord wants a running dialogue with His people. These are the days that if we are brave enough to ask the Lord, He will answer … the catch is it helps immensely if we are actually interested in hearing Him. Position yourselves, stand still, turn down the volume of the world in your head and the world around you. Ask the Lord, He will answer, i assure you. And when He does, listen! The word “consider” in the Bible means to “incline you’re heart and focus until you have understanding”. i’ll say that again because it’s really, really important: The word “consider” in the Bible means to “incline you’re heart and focus until you have understanding” The question posed earlier is also worth repeating: If you’re not hearing the Lord, who ARE you hearing? And if your not listening for the Lord, who or what are you listening for?

God does speak, and we can hear. The date is today, the time is now, and forward is the way we’re going. Can you hear the Lord? Now is the time, position yourselves and incline your ears to Him! He will answer. Put on your thinking cap, and think about it.

A fellow told me years ago, “Son, there are only three voices in the earth: God’s voice, my voice, and the voice of the devil. You can know the difference so don’t let anyone tell you different.” He was right and i have seen it in my own life. Paul wrote that we can train our ear to recognize the voice of God above all the noise and chaos around us. Hebrews5:14, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” It is by practicing, by reason of use, that we are able to discern whether what we hear is of God, our flesh, or the Devil. We can hear, and we can grasp the Lord’s intent.

Thank you for listening this evening! i pray our ears will be opened and we will hear the life giving words of the Living God.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night cascading banks of the Ockluwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

This production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, and Area 22 Guitars where everyone can find a chord of divine reality, Anna LaMonica at Kalmia Dairy, Alex Rubenstein who resides in the thriving metropolis of Grimesdale, and all the wonderful folks at the Fireproof Coffee Shop in the middle of the Skyland Hotel. Let’s not forget Trinity Bakers, the makers of fine confectionaires where there’s always something good in the oven.

Open your ears, position yourself to hear God. As the days get darker, i believe the voice of the Lord will become more prevalent. Can you hear Him, He’s there and He is very interested in speaking to you. Be careful as you go your way, read your Bible, practice discernment. Thanks again for joining us, Amen.

Life is often very inconvenient, sometimes for the reason that more than a few things really do take a long time, and others feel inconvenient because, well, we just have a heart full of “don’t want to wait” unless circumstances benefit us exclusively. This evenings topic is about what is suited to our personal comfort and easy to accomplish with as little effort as possible. Convenience seems to always be about saving someone time, effort, resources, or frustration. But here’s the rub: for the worldly at heart, Godliness is inconvenient, holiness is inconvenient, honesty and transparency can result in some very inconvenient circumstances…. and justice, oh don’t we know, real justice is VERY inconvenient. Real justice takes persistence, patience, carefully stepping between the cracks in the path, and constantly, incessantly being present and in the room for conflict resolution. Ohhh, it can be so tedious. Many people live their life as though justice is just too much trouble. They’d rather pay a fine for something they didn’t do as opposed to go to court and protest the matter. It’s just too much trouble. How much of your life is driven by convenience? Let yourself breath, sit back and let it play. i’ll be right back.

John 2:13-16 (NKJV) ^“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Yes sir, the Pharisee’s had a real profitable little business going on there, selling sacrifices and making money on the currency exchange rate. That’s right, making money on the currency exchange rate. They wouldn’t receive Roman currency, they insisted the people pay in Jewish currency, so everyone who only had Roman currency had to change their money at the current temple exchange rates. They literally, were selling people spiritual well being, with people having no choice but to buy into it, considering that the temple leaders were the only game in town. Not only that, but God said they SHALL NOT do business in the temple like that, nor allow livestock in the inner courts.

In scripture, the last time we saw Jesus at the temple was approximately 18 years earlier as seen in Luke 2:42-49. Now i’m going to “fill in the blank” and suggest he and his folks went to passover in Jerusalem every year, and as a result i think it’s safe to assume Jesus had been looking at the stockyard going on IN the temple and the money changers for 18+ years. Every year He witnessed the defiling of His Father’s house by business people and the temple leaders who allowed all the buying and selling. i’m going to “fill in the blank” here again and suggest that more than likely, the temple was getting a cut of all the business done IN the temple. And !right there! is the problem, it was “in the temple”, not business or a stockyard in the parking lot, but IN the temple. It was a convenient service, and a pretty good idea, but it was IN the temple. Think about it, there were a lot of people coming from many miles away for passover and they couldn’t necessarily bring animals 100 miles or so and the sacrifice still remain prime, so a “convenience” was set up….to sell to those who lived in town or came from a distance the necessary sacrifice. Not a bad idea. A VERY convenient and money making idea. BUT, they moved it into the temple area so the stock yard and the sacrificial alter were very conveniently located….that way, no one had to go to much effort, it saved time, and handling of the livestock. It seemed to make life easier for sure….but there was a huge problem: the livestock and money changers (who conveniently were there to convert Roman currency to Hebrew coinage) were IN the temple and it was expressly forbidden by God Himself to either do business or bring livestock IN the temple. But….well, the need for convenience seemed to supersede the word of God…. i’ll just say, the day Jesus went to scattering money and throwing over tables and chairs, it wasn’t a good day for business.

It was inconvenient or too much trouble to do what God asked, it didn’t suit the lazy, indifferent heart of the people! It was all for the people, sacrificers, sanctifiers, and money changers who didn’t want to be inconvenienced with the effort and time to be obedient.

Our lives are largely made up of conveniences. i went to a church meeting once where the pastor opened with a prayer over the congregation rebuking the spirit of poverty and indebtedness, but 30 mins later, while taking up the tithe and offering, the same church leader announced that the church was now able to take people’s tithe and offerings on their credit card, for the sake of convenience. In one breath he rebuked the spirit of poverty and indebtedness which was driving his congregation backwards … and in the next breath he was inviting them into poverty and indebtedness for the sake of convenience. i almost ran out the door… completely shocked. All to make it so giving money was not inconvenient, even if people had to borrow money to give. “Don’t drop your tithe and offering in the box at the back. Keep your seat and we’ll come to you. That way you don’t have to do anything but sit back, be comfortable, make out a check, or dig in your wallet.”

For most, it’s too much trouble to actually BE concerned and take action on behalf of down and out people because it’s messy and inconvenient. Amazingly, people seem to be OK with feeling concerned without actually being concerned – it’s inconvenient. People seem to be OK with feeling honest without actually being honest – it’s inconvenient. The  ramifications of truly being concerned, or being honest, and taking action seem to be far too inviting of inconvenient circumstances, in other words, it doesn’t suit our personal comfort….and yes, it’s true, actually being concerned, taking action and being honest isn’t easy to perform. As i’ve said before, we need to become disillusioned with the devil’s illusion, and don’t you know, you can’t become DIS-illusioned unless you first have an illusion. And that is the honest truth, and yes, it does go against the grain of what is convenient.

Our daily lives are so very built around conveniences. As was previously mentioned, justice is a huge inconvenience….our court systems have made it so easy, so convenient for people to falsely admit guilt and pay the fine rather than do what law makers would call, dragging the courts system down by insisting on the inconvenience of justice.

Our society is all about convenience. We buy what is called “convenience products”, which is a product bought by consumers without much thought to price or comparison. Part of the list of “convenience products” are milk, house thermostat w/heating and air, vegetables and meat at the grocery store, already started flowers & vegetables, automatic dishwashers, clothes dryers, highways, pre-prepared food, teflon cookware, public restrooms, computers, cell phones, and the list goes on and on. Many years ago, people didn’t have these conveniences. Back then if you wanted to be warm in the winter there was wood to chop and split. Not many had indoor toilets, indoor running cold and hot water, or electric lights. Much of gift giving at Christmas is providing people a product in the local mid level income bracket right up front as you walk in the doors. It’s not a poorly or well made item. It’s not priced too high or too low. There’s a lot of trinkets and do-dads, clever items for men, and pretty, baubles, beads, and ornamental knicknacks for women.

Here’s another one…. because voter turn out has declined in recent years, either from depression or lack of interest, now we can do “mail-in” voting, all done in hopes more people will vote because it is more convenient. Granted, it makes voter fraud so much easier, but it’s ok, just sit back, relax in the comfort of your own home, and we’ll come to you. That way no one need be disturbed anymore than necessary. Hey, you don’t even have to spend any money on stamps because the voting ballot comes with a postage paid envelope.

Convenience also changes with time. For example, at one time a car was considered a wonderful convenience, but over time the automobile has come to be regarded as part of everyday life. Having a car, even a bad car, is better than walking to work or school….all that walking, ughhh, what an inconvenience!      It’s all about saving time, saving money, saving effort as reasons to create added convenience; making life easier. But what if God didn’t do all the things He has done for us because it was inconvenient? Where would we be?

Do you realize that nowadays, we can purchase food, household items, and even furniture from virtually any room in our house with just the press of a button, and even have it delivered to the door within the hour many times. We can pay for stuff with just a tap on our watch or phone. At what expense have we pursued convenience? Proverbs12:24, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the lazy will be put to forced labor.” The more we are unwilling to be inconvenienced, the lazier we get. i knew a man who, after many years of being dedicated to laziness, and had such an aversion to being inconvenienced, if he had a job tasting pies at a pie factory, he wouldn’t show up because it was too much trouble. That’s right out of Prov19:24.

We want rain without clouds, bountiful gardens without plowing, a house without the work of building, riches without risk and investment; we want love without commitment, forgiveness without repentance, receiving without giving, wisdom without suffering, joy without sorrow, offspring without pain, and Heaven without hell. We seem to want miracles from God without actually being in a relationship with God. The relationship takes effort and time and, although seemingly inconvenient, our relationship with God is far more important than the miracles from God. Many want to give testimony but being the testimony is inconvenient. Jesus did not consider man an inconvenience, but often man considers Jesus an inconvenience. It was not convenient for God to give His only Son, but if He had not, we would still be under the bondage of law, sin, and death, and THAT would be a colossal inconvenience.

For those who are inconvenienced by yielding to God, Jude1:12-13 reads,  “These people are spots in your love feasts as you worship and eat together, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Love is not convenient, but though sin appears easy in the moment, convenient. But in the long run it is an inconvenience of incredible proportions that need not be endured. Ephesians5:4, “Don’t give place to filthiness, foolish talking, nor crude joking, which are not convenient and are improper, not reflecting the nature of Christ within us. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.” Friends, you can be sure that using people, religion or things just for what you can get out of them because it is convenient will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God. Think about it.

        Our love of conveniences, or our open disdain for being inconvenienced, really does drive much of what we do. When encountering problems arising out of our addiction to convenience, we seem to think the solution must also be just as convenient as the problem. Convenience stores are not called convenience stores for nothing, and it’s not that things are convenient that’s the difficulty, but us who no longer do the diligence of participating with the Lord in our own well being because dealing with conflict is inconvenient. When we let real life slide because we don’t want to be inconvenienced, it’s expensive. I think we’re going to need to rethink our love of conveniences. Heavily processed and artificially flavored food takes so little work that we do it in huge amounts. And again, the solution, for many, must also be convenient — they don’t want to cook their own meals or put in hours of exercise. They want fast but healthy meals which are ready, instantly, made in a few minutes. It’s easier to take pills to solve our problems than it is to see a counselor and really get to the root of the conflict, or get surgery that solves our fat problems. It is inconvenient to get too involved with the Lord and other believers, but you know, convenience always comes with hidden costs. The cost is a doctor endorsed societal drug problem, homelessness, lack of a prayer life, all things which affect us all, but hey, that’s Somebody Else’s Problem.

This has been Outposts, a late night semi-live broadcast, from the deck of a rural cafe, overlooking the broad and beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

i’m Social Porter, and this production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Mountain Guitars where reality strikes a chord with everyone. Every Tuesday is a special Tuesday at Mountain Guitars, this week is no different, so stop by and see Billy, tell him the rural cafe at the end of Oldfield Road sent you. Additionally let’s give notice to the girls at the Jump Off Rock gift shop, Walt of the only two coin operated launderettes in town, Betty and Elisa at the Opportunity house, and of course, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Let your life not be made up of convenience. Let us extend ourselves, let yourself reach past inconvenience and make a difference in the world around you. Time is short, the days are filled with God-opportunities, every day determine in yourself to do something nice for someone.

Hey. Come stand outside with me for a minute. Imagine yourself standing on the deck of a rural diner, overlooking a river. It’s seriously overcast and evening seems to have come early. Oh…it’s beginning to rain. First a few drops here and there, then more often. Singles then triplets. Can you see it? Can you see the circular patterns of the rain striking the surface of the river? It’s hitting the roof, dripping into the gutters, splashing across the windows, and starting to drip off the hand rail, leaving a subtle jasmine-and-gingerbread sort of fragrance, warm and fresh, giving the land a certain sweetness like no other. If we were sitting inside the car, we could see the drops formed on the windshield. We would watch one drop, starting at the top, and running down, like it’s on an exploratory adventure. It runs down, gives a little, gets a little, disappears for a moment, then reappears, gathering and giving, until it nears the end of its journey where it finally blends into all the rest of the water at the bottom of the glass. i figure we’re like that. We give a little, get a little and run our course until the end when we join the eternity of our Father’s house.

This is Outposts, an evening of cool jazz and contemplative conversation. It is my pleasure to join you in the vision of rain, the coming of refreshment and revitalization here at the edge of the Ockluhwahhah River. i am honored to stand with you, barefaced, looking up to Heaven waiting for refreshing from the Hand of our God, who will come to us like the rain, watering the earth. In our lives there is the “slip” and “grip” of life. We grip and gather to ourselves light and hope, God’s love and peace…. we also let slip from our grasp the seeds of faith and wisdom, kindness and blessing to be planted in righteousness. It is like the rain on the windshield of your car, we start at the top, run down, get a little, give a little, planting, sharing, receiving, doing our part in weeping joy and singing obedience.

Sometimes i feel like this dance we do with God is like a giant waltz, three feet off the ground and it’s a clear, starry sky’d night….stepping and  spinning with the Lord, His eyes looking courage into us to follow more closely. Our feet step high over the top of fields of wild flowers, we dance over tree tops, spin under clouds, then dip and gradually drop to the rivers edge. There is a warm rain on our faces, the eyes of my Jesus smiling in the ecstasy of dancing with His most beloved, over the hills and far away.

Our lives in Christ are like a painting being put together by a master painter. Sometimes He paints with two hands, other times He’s got the tiniest brush imaginable, painting with colors we’ve never seen, accenting in sounds and smells we have yet to imagine, far beyond our dreams, far beyond the sun of this world. Many feel dry, parched, and i’d like to give you the vision of rain.    Have you ever smelled rain? It’s like the Father’s cologne. i’m reminded of the wife who gave birth to a very premature child. The doctors all said the child wouldn’t live but the parents refused to give up, and they pounded on Heaven’s doors with weeping and tears for the life of their child. To all the doctors amazement, the child lived. Years later, the child was sitting in her mother’s lap on the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother’s baseball team was practicing. As always, the daughter was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, she asked, “Do you smell that?” Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, her mom replied, “Yes, it smells like rain.” She closed her eyes and again asked, “Do you smell that?” Once again, her mother replied, “Yes, I think we’re about to get wet, it smells like rain.” Still caught in the moment, the little girl shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced with her eyes shut, “No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.”

Can you smell God’s cologne?

It’s going to rain for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. There will come rain in our lives from Heaven’s open doors to inspire and grow the coming Kingdom of God. It’s going to rain. Psalm68:8, “…The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;”. The very word for rain in Ps68:9 is a shower as a mercy flashing wisdom on our minds. It causes us to pause and ponder the concealed truth of God that He is faithful even when we can’t see, understand, or hear. In prophecy rain is change, even in our mortal hearts, rain is hidden goodness, like a flame is bound to a coal, even though we can’t see the flame, it is there, which is why i say it is God’s faithfulness, even when we can’t see. You know what i mean? Can you see it?

When God shows up there will be refreshing for the parched hearts, restoration for the beaten down, redemption for those too tired to continue in the heat of battle. We will know the value of shading the eyes of warriors who have nearly fainted in the noon day sun, the Lord will send the rain to re-invigorate those who’s invigoration has ebbed away.

In Leviticus26:4, the Lord says,  “…then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” In those days, the character of the righteous shall bloom and bear much fruit, fruit that shall not fade, fruit born of the goodness and good pleasure of God.  What do you think of when you think of rain? Imagine rain, close your eyes and see it. Can you see it yet? Do you think cold, grey, ugly, irritatingly wet? Inconvenient maybe. It might be a good time to remember that behind the clouds and past the rain there is blue sky and sun. When I think of rain, I think of dancing. Yea, odd, huh? Maybe. i think not really.

i can remember as a boy, we went camping in the deep woods at the edge of a lake. As i sat there looking out over the water with the trees as my backdrop, there began something like a whispering in the air. i didn’t really notice at first, but i remember sensing the air cooling off and it even smelled differently. Somewhere in me i knew things were changing. The day had been beautiful and the sky was like a dome of plasma-blue, and all day the clouds had looked like a platform for angels, drifting under the gleaming disc of sun. Somewhere far away, there came a pattering sound on the leaves of the trees and the lake looked like all it’s shimmering was being interrupted by something else. Then i saw it. Rain. While i wasn’t watching, the clouds had covered over the expanse of blue and were now spitting beads of water which sounded like a lovers whisper in your ears. i could see some geese across the way making happy noises, ducks wiggled and carried on like things couldn’t get any more wonderful. Little birds sat still in the trees all fluffed out. We all moved under the tarp at the folding table, listening to the putting sound as rain struck the canvas…i noticed we all found watching it rain hypnotic. To this day, i’m still hypnotized by rain. Here at the cafe, when it rains, i occasionally find myself hoping the windows will fog and we can write God-thoughts on the glass. John Ruskin wrote that “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” Some folks argue and mumble to themselves when it rains, but i say… when it begins to rain, probably the best thing to do is let it rain. It’s not like we could complain enough to make the rain do anything other than what God has set it’s course to accomplish.

When God’s presence comes, the rain begins to fall, beginning like a whisper in our ears, getting louder the closer He gets. He has hidden music in the drops upon our hearts, making a sound we’ve never heard before, unless we have ears to hear. In the season of heavy rain, we are not able to stand outside. Friends, come in the house. Who wants to be like the elder son in Luke15, who, when his younger brother came home and the father threw a party, the elder brother resented the younger brothers favor with the father so much, he refused to join the party. He was “of the family” but was “not in the house” and wouldn’t come in the house either. The Lord wants us to come in and not stand outside. When the Lord sends the rain, it will surprise some, others will be pleased, yet there will also those who don’t see it as God’s blessing, but a mere inconvenience.

i read somewhere that if beauty is God’s signature, then rain is His final flourish. It’s time to come home, it’s going to rain and there will be singing and dancing. Come in the house.

Often in movies, when something terrible is about to happen, or there is some depressing or oppressive situation, it is raining. Just seeing wet streets and rain dripping from roof edges and gutters inspires us to bundle up. Just seeing it gray and drizzling outside motivates us to stay indoors, make soup, and watch old movies. But in God’s economy that picture isn’t so. Of course there are times when rain and storms are very destructive, but that isn’t what we’re talking about.

i believe there is a seeing which comes with God’s presence, in fact, the very Greek word for “presence” ties to several words used for seeing, the kind of seeing spoken of in a visionary experience. 1Samuel12:17 “…and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see …” Does that mean, in the presence of Almighty God, altogether like a symphony, there is thunder, perception, rain, and sight? Something deep, prophetic, and intimate happens in the heart of man when it rains.

God gives birth to our spiritual perception and sight, to those who have Him present in their thought, who set him before their mind’s eye. My soul longs for the soaking through of God’s promise of rain, rain …it is a good companion sometimes.

We, as humans, have a commonality with rain – It is often overcast and shadowy when it comes and we are regularly overcast and shadowy; it disturbs life just a little bit and puts things off centre as we are recurrently a little off centre. i remember hearing a fellow complain because it was going to rain, and i thought to myself how silly his complaint was. Without the clouds of moisture which fall to earth in the form of rain there would be no snow, there would be no drinking water. If the earth’s moisture didn’t make the circle from sky to earth, and then back again to the sky, round and round, if it only went to the sky, we would all be back in the days of Noah, when it didn’t rain for about 300 years. That was a very dry place!

When the rain from Heaven is at it’s height, i don’t want to be found sitting under an umbrella of my own making, i want to be thoroughly wet with refreshing from the heart of the Lord, Rain. If ever there was a time people needed refreshing, i believe it is now. It’s going to rain, can you hear it coming? Wow, i can smell it. Can you see it in your mind, those of us who have set Christ as the gate to our vision? i want to be found dancing the wild dance with our wild God, who will sing over us and dance in the rain with the audacity of holiness and redemption. i thought to myself if i could leave you with anything tonight, i would give you the gift of knowing it’s going to rain, and i would encourage you to see…. i’m saying, “See” in the Name of Jesus. With the “look ahead sight” God gives us, there comes provision, preparation, and celebration. See. Let the dancing in His presence begin and see into the distance of God’s purposes. See He is the master painter, painting you into His vision that plays in your life. Come dance with me and share in His vision. Write your words, draw your pictures, sing your songs, dance your dances! It’s time! Let it rain, it’s time! Hear the feet of dancing, hear the singing of rejoicing! Listen carefully, it’s there. C’mon, it’s time to set your feet in motion! C’mon! It’s time! Let’s go!

The drips and drops of Heaven’s rain have already begun, can you hear it, can you see it, can you feel it? Are you just in the family, or are you in the house? Come in the house where the Father is throwing a party for His Son….come in dancing and singing, come into the rain of God’s presence…C’mon, there is a party going on at God’s house….forever.

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, a late night broadcast, broadcast semi-live from the deck of a rural café, overlooking the broad and beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

Put on your dancing shoes, it’s going to rain. Can you smell the nearness of God’s presence? My Jesus is close and my feet are anxious for the dance. Take care this week, and enjoy the goodness of God in front of you, regardless of your circumstances. Be blessed, and amen.