Kindness

 Kindness is not only what we do, but how we are and why we do what we do. As example, it is a kindness to listen, and a kindness to bury the dead. It’s the kind of virtue which affects everyone and was considered part of the Knight’s Code of Chivalry. When a judge passes sentence, it can be done with kindness, just like when a parent disciplines a child, it should be done with kindness.

Be kind to yourself … the Lord not only calls us to be kind to our neighbor, but also to ourselves. Think about it: if you had a friend who spoke to you the same way you speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend? So many of us are very unkind to ourselves. We condemn ourselves in the mirror with demeaning names which no one hears but us and God. The Lord doesn’t talk to you that way, so, why do you? Or maybe you imagine He speaks to you in a contemptuous voice but it’s not true. That’s the voice of hell or maybe your mothers voice, but it’s not the Lord. Maybe some of us have an attitude that says, “if i were God, i wouldn’t like me either” … but that’s not what the Lord does … He is kind and His kindness changes us.

It is a kindness to keep our word … not keeping our word is a subtle betrayal which isn’t something only common to enemies … it happens with the greatest frequency and impact with those closest to us. It is kind to be loyal, and kind to be honest yet still practicing kindness in our being honest.

Ruth kept her word and went with Naomi out of love. Boaz recognized her action as goodness in Ruth 2:11-12 and calls it kindness in Ruth 3:10, “Then he said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, my daughter! For you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich.”

Wisdom says it is cruel to defame your family name and alternatively is a kindness to morally and ethically restrain yourself for the sake of a good name.

Webster’s Dictionary defines kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. To me, when the world defines any of God’s attributes, it rarely is long enough, wide enough, or deep enough to accurately portray His Heart.

Simply put, Webster’s definition isn’t enough, the Lord’s kindness is bigger than that, it’s a personal quality, a character attribute of His in which we participate.           Contrary to the doom-sayers who seem to just love the concept of God as a finger pointing, raging, accuser, He is quite the opposite … God is kind, hospitable, and generous, even to sinners. He is also considerate in that if He were demanding and line drawing, as it was in the days of the law, none would survive and we would have no point in being born except to suffer and die, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Friends, let us see that the kindness of God leads us to repentance, Romans 2:4.

The topic is the Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness. It’s a huge topic but a very important one considering it reveals the heart of the Lord and is a gentle but indepth look at another of God’s details.

           Ruth 2:20, “Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”

Surely we all know God shows His kindness to His people, but even to the dead? And who are the dead? Are they simply the ones who don’t breathe anymore? Just because people breathe and choose doesn’t mean they are alive. Living things begat livingness, and dead things begat dyingness.

Kindness is the power to lift up the fallen ones and those who are near to fainting in the heat of battle … it is having grace in the palm of your hands to pass out like candy from your pockets. Now that is so good, i’m going to say it again because i really want us to get it. This is truly important that we grasp this: Kindness is the power to lift up the fallen ones and those who are near to fainting in the heat of battle … it is having grace in the palm of your hands to pass out like candy from your pockets.

James 2:15-16, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you don’t give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” Doing life like that sure makes us look pious, but kindness isn’t about how you look, and is evident in how we treat others.

Here’s another angle from God’s perspective: Kindness is an action where we extend our hands of grace to others. Do you hear it? Extended hands of grace. Is that you?

Although … it’s good to practice when we don’t feel like it because “the rules of getting it right” say we should, but it’s best when it’s a condition of our heart that performs acts of hope, help, rescue and deliverance. There is a marked difference between good and best.

i think most of us practice kindness when we’re feeling pretty good … that’s easy. Being kind to those we think “deserve” kindness, or what i call “privileged compassion” is effortless, meaning it is easy for us to be kind and compassionate to someone who we think deserves it. In an incredible scene from the 1998 film Pleasantville, the father of the TV-perfect Parker family returns home from work, comes in the door and says the magic words “Honey, I’m home!”, conjuring up the vision of a smiling wife, adorable children, and dinner on the table.

This time, though, it doesn’t work and his words just echo down the empty halls. No wife, no kids, no food. Confused, he repeats, “Honey, i’m home!”, as if he must have said the magic words incorrectly. Long silence, still nothing. After he looks all through his empty house, he wanders out into the rain … while standing there in a soaking wet suit and tie, rain running down his face, he mournfully questions this suddenly strange malfunctioning universe, saying with profound bewilderment, “Where’s my dinner?”

We can feel bad for the man, he is pitiful … afterall, sarcastically, he’s worked hard all day and it pulls at our heart strings to see his world falling apart … he is so privileged and deserves kindness, right? Just like any hard working man, he just wants his dinner. Sometimes we easily practice misplaced kindness and compassion.

Kindness is not the stooping down toward the underprivileged from a privileged position because we are so “up there” and they are so “down there” and we are lowering ourselves in arrogant condescension to help those poor lesser beings. It is not a reaching out from our high platform to those who are less fortunate below. It is not a gesture of pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, kindness is going directly to those people and places where the disqualified, the poor and prodigal sons are and building relationships there.

We somehow conclude, by our own judgment using our own weights and measures, that the lifelong repeat offender deserves far less kindness than the person who’s only messed up their life a couple times. Many are inclined to practice kindness towards a fuzzy cute animal, but when it comes to other people, like the bankrupt and blind, it seems our hands are often pretty empty, if not just plain old closed. You know what i’m talking about, and it’s not about boundaries, it’s about how we lean in our heart towards God. When it’s part of our makeup and rises out of the overflow of our heart, even when we are down and broken, kindness still comes easily to our hand. Let this stick to you: Godly kindness flows out of the abundance of our heart, as it flows out of the abundance of God’s heart.

           Can we be kind without being compassionate? i believe it is not possible to act kindly and not be compassionate, unless it’s a total fake, like someone running for a political position and who needs to look kind today for the purposes of getting votes tomorrow. Doing acts of kindness and lacking compassion is no kindness at all but deception.

From the Hebrew words for kindness and compassion, there are, amazingly, words of grace which are linked by grace. Kindness is so intrinsic to the very character of God, that within the very word kindness is written the Names of God, which are powerful to break down strongholds and overcome darkness in high places. Within the word “compassion” there is the action of God for the sake of the Son, Jesus. Do you get that? Kindness and compassion are powerful to breakdown strongholds.

In 2 Chronicles 10 the people were burdened and grieved over taxes and governmental abuse, so the king took counsel with the older wisemen. They told the king in vs. 7, that if he would speak kindly to the people, and give them gentle words they would gladly serve him forever. Kindness and compassion are powerful persuaders.

i consider kindness and compassion like brothers, a team, verbs at their root which grew up to be masculine nouns … they go together and wherever you find one the other is nearby. When we practice kindness it is like we are giving to others the support which the Lord extends to us. Kindness describes an inward heart that bows before the Lord. i believe compassion and kindness drive each other … they both jump start, encourage and help each other, both being seen and unseen, revealed and concealed. When the “brothers” are concealed from others except for the recipients of their benefits, it is called “secret treasure”.

Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” i say, if you can’t find your heart, go look to see where your treasure is, and i guarantee your heart is laying around there somewhere.

Kindness is concern for our neighbor … .it knocks on the door to check on others, visits the invalid, the widowed and shut-in … it is being compassionate toward the needy. Kindness, out of compassion, gives of itself to others and helps to bring them into a redeeming relationship with the Lord.

Now as the Hebrews see it, and from God’s perspective, in the middle of the word for kindness is the root word for “goodness” which is an inspiration for repentance. Ha! Now isn’t that interesting! That the Lord accepts our repentance is a kindness, afterall, His kindness leads us to repentance. When we practice kindness and compassion, goodness, the goodness of God is enlarged in the eyes of the world, and as we know the goodness of God is like an axle to a wheel, it is central to everything which goes on with the wheel.

Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your fellowman as yourself.” By observation, i believe long standing isolation neutralizes… literally opposes life …  it interferes with our relationship with God … . kindness and compassion work to relieve the agony of those who feel abandoned, rejected, isolated and alone. With compassion always at the side of kindness, the truth will always prevail. Jesus was compassionate and kind, He prevailed and was more than a conqueror. He is the living personification of truth, kindness and compassion … they are alive because He is alive and sitting at the right hand of the Father Almighty.

Kindness and compassion always end up pointing to the King of Kings, are always inclined to teach others of the Lord’s purposes. They both are a thing of the heart, and if it’s faked, it’s called betrayal. Funny how when someone fakes kindness or compassion, others just seem to somehow “know” it’s not real and they tend to hold the poser in contempt. Even the world resents false compassion and kindness.

Kindness is NOT random, it isn’t something that just sort of “happens”, nor is it done without method or conscious decision. According to God, kindness and compassion never “just happen”, in fact, nothing “just happens”. i kind of doubt there is any such thing as “random kindness” because actually, kindness is very purposeful and intentional. There is only one God and His name is Yahweh, Father, Son, Holy Ghost and it is a kindness that we are included with Him.

            Where to begin with practicing kindness? How about being kind to ourselves as a place to start? When we are demeaning to the person in the mirror it’s more damaging and long lasting than if someone punched us in the face. I really do believe that. That sort of self-talk can whittle you down to your core, and make you believe things that are simply NOT TRUE. All because you told yourself such darkness, and allowed yourself to believe in the foolishness the enemy has gladly doled out. If God has thrown our sins as far as east is from west when we’ve accepted Christ’s atonement for our sins, why do we keep reminding ourselves of all our wrong? Is God’s goodness to us just too good to be true? Is it a point of us not having any worth? God says we were worth dying for, and who am i to re-decide what God has called truth?

By no means am i saying we should let ourselves off the hook of being responsible for our actions, but when we have made things right between ourselves and God, be at peace with others as much as is possible, and stop beating yourself up, stop doing penance. Stop it! Be kind to yourself. If you make a mistake, stop cursing yourself in the mirror. Think again, if someone spoke to you like you speak to yourself, how long would you let that person remain in your life? Don’t you know the enemy loves, i mean, LOVES it when we are stuck on what a failure we are instead of how blessed we are in Christ. Jesus has paid our debt, and the enemy wants you to bleed and bleed and bleed until he decides you have bled enough. Did Jesus bleed enough for you? And if He did, then be kind to yourself and move on. Did Jesus suffer enough for you? If He did, be kind to yourself and move on. Did Jesus die enough for you? If He did, then who is it who reminds us hourly of all the things we have done wrong? It’s not God, that’s for sure.

Byron Wicker writes a weekly article usually. One week his article was titled, “Judas Come Home. All is Forgiven” … i remember thinking it was such a peculiar thing to say. The article was partly inspired by a book titled, “The Gospel According To Judas”, by Ray S. Anderson. Pastor Wicker wrote, “I did not even get past this first sentence in the prologue when I read what the author was telling me. I saw it in the men’s restroom in a restaurant in San Francisco, printed in block letters with a blue felt tip pen across the top of the mirror: JUDAS COME HOME – ALL IS FORGIVEN!”

“When I read that phrase it was like someone stuck a red-hot sword into my heart. All the memories from my own “Judas days” came into my mind. I remembered the feelings of rejection, loneliness and not having a place I could call home. I also begin to think about all the people I knew who had lost face in the church and suffered rejection, shame and eventually left.”

“Then I heard a whisper from Heaven saying to all the Judas’ out there, “Come home all is forgiven, I love you”. That little phrase really broadened my revelation of the Father’s heart and love toward us. It made me want to go to everyone I knew that had stepped into dishonor, lost face and run way and tell them, “Come home, all is forgiven, the Father loves you.” This is what Judas was trying to tell me – it was about how big the Father’s heart really is.”

“In the epilogue of the book Ray gives us a wonderful picture of the love and grace of the Lord. The Lord says, “My choosing of you counts more than your betrayal of Me!” Through His grace I discovered that the calling of God by which we become children of the kingdom does not rest upon our faith alone, but upon His faithfulness toward us.”

When you look in the mirror, do you see the eyes of Judas, the eyes of a traitor, a failure, the eyes of a reprobate staring back at you? That’s not what God says about you. We need to get this DOWN IN OUR HEADS, the Lord says we are a new creation in Christ in 2 Cor5:17, and “new” means “new”, not mostly or pretty much. The Lord says again in 2Cor5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Is it still considered kindness, not when it is a free offering on our part, but as a demand of obligation by someone else? Maybe, but i question how long can we sustain forced kindness when it’s not what’s in our heart? It is a kindness the Lord includes us, the greater includes the lesser, and we are to live a life of kindness and compassion in the same way Jesus did. Not because we “have to” as if someone demanded it of us, and not for the reasons of “following the rules”, being legally bound due to an obligation of some sort, but because kindness and compassion are intrinsic to our character.

Psalm 86:15 “But You, O Lord, are a God full of kindness, compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”

           Colossians 3:12-13, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another…”.

The apostle Paul linked kindness to compassion and humility; it’s linked to enduring with each other and not thinking more highly of ourselves than we should …  to being graceful to each other , exercising forgiveness. Kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit, one of the ear marks of how we know we are in the beloved. Some think of themselves as true believers yet don’t display, as an inner reflection of their true selves, any of the signs of true kinship in Christ. Now, you may think that is an odd thing to say, but there are many in the church who, by their actions and attitude, you might never know they are believers. So, i figure the following is a pretty good question: How should kindness be “shown” or proved without works? You know how James 2:26 says faith without works is dead, well i say that, additionally, kindness without works is dead also.

Having a heart in which mercy resides is kindness. Luke 1:78-79, “Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God’s Sunrise will break in upon us, Shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, Then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace.”

Do you know what your “epistemology” is? Epistemology is the study of knowing “what” you believe, “how” you came to that conclusion, and “why” you think it’s the best perspective. We can’t come to own solid epistemological doctrine by only looking at what suits us. If we’re truly interested in what God has to say, we’ve got to look further than our own rhetoric. If we never look beyond our own backyard, our own backyard is all we’ll ever see and we’ll never see the green shoots of grace at our neighbors’ house. Knowing the heart of the Lord and understanding the fruits and gifts of the Spirit is part of our epistemology. i want to know what the Lord means when He says “kindness” is part of our character … it’s is more than just being “nice”.  “Nice” is very subjective, so “kindness” must be defined by someone higher and bigger than ourselves, and i don’t mean your pastor, i mean the Lord, who IS the standard.

The Lord not only empathizes with us, He sympathizes with us. Not only does he help us when we are down and out, but He joins us in our troubles to bring us out. Isaiah 63:9, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.”

The Lord’s kindness is from everlasting to everlasting, like His mercies never come to an end. Isaiah 54:10, “For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”

i know two values that occur in the mystery of suffering: the first value is that all things get reduced to their lowest common denominator, and the second is that in the school of affliction, God turns our pain into kindness and compassion if we’ll let Him.

Honestly, i heard a man pray this morning thanking God for his suffering and the lessons he’d learned. It frightened me for a moment, but really, if that’s where we have to go to know the Lord, then that’s the best direction any one could ever take. The Lord is compassionate and kind to us and will not grind us to powder with trials. Think about, and even, amen, that’s a big “think about it” right there.

The caste system was originally based on someone’s idea of the necessary steps in order to be holy. From what i’ve read, there wasn’t much kindness and compassion, it was stiff and stringent, and there was often a lot of self-administered affliction. i’ve never read that Jesus ever did anything like that. He was kind to Himself and to others, and that very same kindness restructured the lives of others. We need to learn how to “sing the tears” of compassion when we extend our hands of grace to the needy. We often affirm our friendships with cards & trinkets of endearment, but our time would certainly be better spent if we maintained those relationships with the kindness of time given, gentle words, and encouragement.

This fruit of the Spirit, kindness, our extended hands of grace is essential to our character, it is foundational to whatever impact we make, everywhere we go, green grass grows. Practice, practice, practice, and the more often we are kind and compassionate, the more often we will be kind and compassionate. It’s not just doing or saying nice things, it is the contents of our heart given away in the action of our lives.

Drive carefully this week, be kind to yourself and your neighbor. We’ve tried being harsh and accusing to ourselves, and thus far, it’s not gone well. Let’s try something different like kindness and compassion, speaking words of peace and encouragement to the person in the mirror instead. Rejoice, Jesus knows your name, and i’ll talk to you next time. Amen and amen.

The sky is clear, i mean not a cloud in the sky this evening, just blue and blue as far as you can see in any direction; as to God’s brilliance about His color – blue – it’s the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, and twilight; blue supposedly symbolizes the Virgin Mary, and a pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. It is often the chosen color by conservative people; blue is calming, which easily makes it a wonderful color for the sky, in your house, or even a good choice for pajamas. Dark blue speaks of truth and moderation. If i were to give someone a blue iris it means their friendship is very important to me. Wednesday’s color is blue. Wow, wasn’t God brilliant to create a visual treat such as blue sky and put it in the heart of man to need His vision.

There is a deep feeling of renewal these days seeing the grass starting to come alive, little buds on the trees, and the smell of warm days ahead in the wind. From here i can easily see the river, casual, deep and clear, moving slowly past us on its way to another place.

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

This evening is devoted to Words Of Praise. i know this may seem strange to say, but when i was a boy my mother would add oats or bread crumbs to hamburger when she made meat loaf. It was filler used to make it larger than it was, similarly i felt like i used filler in my prayers to fill up space in order that my praise and prayer time would be larger than it was. i felt like i was just saying the same words of praise over and over. Father God, Father God, Father God this, Praise you Lord, Praise you Lord, Praise you Lord that, etc etc  …yea, me and all my repetitive terms and phrases. i slowly began to realize, what was once well meant praise was now just filler when i didn’t actually have anything to say. Sometimes i used my repetitive little phrases as place holders so others would know i was still speaking and to not butt in, like saying “uh, uh, uh” over and over till i thought of something else to say. Other times i told myself i was just being passionate, reasoning that, “It’s just the way i pray” without considering the mindlessness of my own mouth. i want all my words to have value, and if i’ve got nothing else to say, i need to learn that it’s ok to stop praying or praising. i’d like to have no useless filler in my mouth.

Actually though, no matter how i cut the mustard, the repetition was still filler for when i didn’t have anything to say…they were more products of my prayer momentum rather than anything of value. i began to wonder, how would my prayer life sound if i didn’t use any filler words and instead, cut to the chase with real heart words? i thought …. “you know, i don’t talk to anyone but God like this, why do i talk to Him with such chanting litany, as if He’s entertained by my “much speaking and repetition”?”

In my heart was a pressing urge to ask the Lord for new words. So, i went on a quest, starting with prayer, asking the Lord for more creative words, asking if He’d help me word-craft my prayers in order to be more effective. i felt like i had gotten stuck in the rut of just using phrases i’d heard at church or from other people, and i wanted to do a better job of expressing myself about the King of Everlasting. i went to digging through my Bible to see how the hero’s of our faith prayed. i figured it wasn’t like my prayers weren’t effective, but i wanted to be …more creative. Do you get where i’m coming from? As i studied how people of scripture prayed i noticed, it wasn’t recorded anywhere that they used any kind of repetitive phrases, they said what there was to say, and left it there, their prayers were good enough as they were and didn’t need to be embellished with repetition. i wanted to use inspired words to describe the landscape of Heaven, His heart, His intentions and the beauty of the everlasting love of God. This evening, i’d like to make a stab at giving us all other words to insert into our prayers. What’d ya’ think? Come go with me, let’s see where this goes.

Hold your ground and keep your peace.

James 5:16 “….The prayer of a person living right with God, possessing the rightness of character, is productive and is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

And with that in mind, i’d like to make a stab at some words of praise:

“You Lord are God, You are one and are three in the One; You are always God, i am always me and there is never a time i am You, and never a time You are me, although, You live in me and we go together, You are distinctly You, and i am distinctly me. Your name is clear and originally Yours. As our resounding and resonant Hope, You have sharp and recognizable ideas with well defined, unmistakable hopes and dreams; i am completely caught up in your clear and obvious purposes. i will never be the same, thank you Jesus. Your attributes make You and all You do recognizable and distinguishable – You are not hidden to the eyes of any who would look to see. Cause us to see you Lord.

Your love sweeps me from everlasting to everlasting, from the beyond of the beyond you have reached to us, having become the profound bridge between the finite and infinite; You built the blood bought bridge for us who are finite, to go across the asymptote, the untouchable line, to You, Jesus. You bridged the gap making it so we could touch the heart of Forever.

You invigorate me and set me on fire with passion and compassion about Jesus and the people of this world, believers and not, to have a heart to inspire the world around me to live restored, reconciled, and redeemed lives which will bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus.

You have made me, who was a twisted, deaf mute, to be an artful conversationalist, living to fulfill Your Word, no longer a betrayer and covenant breaker, for now i am an encourager of others in prayer, bringing home the lost, and building disciples. You, yourself, are my path, You are the Singing Light, the Brilliant Sky Who rains upon me, the Radiant Gift who lives in me in Splendor; i say loudly, let all the earth declare Jesus is our Living Poem who lifts the corners of our mouth, and the Light who poured Himself in a cup to refresh our thirsty hearts. Taste and see the Lord is Good, for He is good, and there is never a time He is not good. Lord, let your goodness go before me and after, like a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Bless Your great name, for You alone are worthy to be praised.

The sheer craftsmanship of the Lord is breathtaking, revealing a kind of artistry that has never been seen before by any, anywhere, anytime in history or the future of forever; He is the EverLord and OneKing; Praise You Jesus, i love Your clean lines of clear design, the interplay of light and dark; You offer a myriad of possibilities in a centimeter of space as a delight in structure, composition, and texture. i am awed by You God. There is indeed none like you.

i am inspired by the Lord’s play with perspectives, His jostling with angles, combining foreshortened, exterior scenes with larger, emotional interiors, setting my expectations of Him on it’s head so i see, and see again His multi-faceted marvels. “You, Lord, are the prince, originator, and end-all of multi-dimensional work in the true sense of the term. You are life in layered, split-images, resonating with multiple meanings — complementary, sometimes seemingly contradictory but never opposing. Brilliantly executed, unfailingly interesting. You alone, Lord God Almighty, set the course and mission of imagination, You frame our dreams and cause us to think of you like romantic poets; from You come the vision and words of praise. You answer my prayers for better words to praise you with by causing me to see the world new every morning through Your eyes, and i remain, every time, always, truly “wowed” by You in body, mind, and spirit, for all my breathing is before the Lord.”

“Your vision plays in me day and night, dreams and visions which are saturated with texture, the borders of your purposes are bursting with design themes and everything born of you explodes with this – heroic and repolarizing power. You alone Oh Lord of the Starfields are the artist and the art, being the perfect marriage of things seen and things dreamed. In Your presence i can’t help but fall face first to the ground. Oh my, Your inexorable and inescapable presence defines me, for all my days are before the Lord!”

“You call and we become. In Your call is the design and purpose given to whom so ever and what so ever you call. As you called the Light, it was, as you called the dark – it became, as You gave Adam the power to name the animals and whatever they were named they became their name, so you called me and i was, i am, and by the Blood of Jesus i ever shall be. By Your Love and wisdom the universe began and will end, for Your Love is merciful, necessary, relentless, determined and forever, and the qualities of Your persistent, wonderful love pursue me day and night, for goodness and mercy shall follow and apprehend me all the days of my life.”

All too often it seems we quickly run out of the few praise words that we have learned in church and revert back to the language of complaining, running down our list of wants, wishes, ideas, and repetitive words. We need to expand our praise vocabulary. i may not get it right in this program, but i’m trying, so please bear with me:

“Lord, you are for us, not against us. Don’t we know, You applaud us when we run, consoling us when we fall, and cheer us when we rise to try again. Your heart is towards us, never holding us who love You in contempt. You Lord are the strength in the deep roots of trees as you are the strength of my roots which run deep in you. Your creation is straight forward and built without forsaking the character traits that give us our individuality. Everything You have said and done is meant to communicate the opportunity open to all the universe – a glistening path home to You, the very path which was left behind by men, You framed with love and grace, swallowing up death and dying, and then rose up in resurrection that we would have life more abundantly. In sin all things pass away, and in You, all things are redeemed and made alive again. Lord…. we extend our hands to You, palms up, declaring the name of Jesus, the Word; our praise is our sacrifice, professing and confessing You, it is our entrance into Your presence. i confess, i have been delivered from the power of darkness and have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of Your love; i confess i am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me; i raise my hands and confess, my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus; i concede and declare, by the stripes of Jesus I am healed.

By Your name you stabilize me, never letting my mind lose it’s balance, in You is the miraculousness of existence and definition of form. No one can prevent me from carrying you in my heart where i go. No one can rob me of Your name; in You i always stand victorious. i never have to meet you in my sanctuary and then leave you behind when i go home; where ever You and i go, we make green grass grow, the rhythm of my heart always steps and breaths with You. You alone, oh Lord have given it to me to believe and Act. You have caused me to know You, and i have the promise of knowing You more. i can say with confidence i know God and He knows me. i know the kind of lyrics You like; i know what sounds become resplendent in your mind and i’ve felt your feet jump and whirl. Thank you Lord for the renewal of words of praise in me, for all my days are before the Lord.

You Lord have put Your words in my mouth, words that are the sharp edge of lightening and the soft middle of clouds, they are the patterns in the praise You have taught me how to articulate back to You. The glint in the eye of my God becomes the vision of truth in my heart, sprinkling the air with the effervescence of peace and the power of praise. Praise His Name, for i will never forget where i was, i will always and forever be taken over with Your dreams and frame of the Kingdom of Heaven, the dream which you imagined first in me. You gave me a dream, a night vision, and i saw You whirling under a soft bright rose that hung from an invisible stem in the sky. Then i saw You charging on a horse which was so white and oozed valiance; You stood in the stirrups and declared the charge with the voice of ages, cracking the universe; riding as the very definition of glory and fierce power, You were robed in light, with a brilliant white shirt, a vest of purest blue, and pants so red i thought they had been dipped in blood, and Your name was called “The Word Of God”.

The thunder of Your coming raged at the edge of the horizon with all of Heaven’s infinite army with You; then i heard someone say, “Behold the charge of the Light Brigade, led by The Light Of The World.” And there was rolling thunder, i can still see the rolling wave as it crackles across eternity.

So in my vision in the late night, i changed into my best clothes in hopes of joining in your dance, in hopes of riding with You in the Charge Of The Light Brigade in the Name of God Almighty. i couldn’t help but weep at the glory of Your charge from beyond the edges of the horizon. You are the EverLord, the Dancing King, the Singing Light. i saw you dancing near the roof of the world, calling for me to join You. i thought, Lord, i can’t get there unless You bring me to you, for i am thousands away it seems, and unless You bring to me to you, i can only be where i am seeing what You have given me to see. Draw me near to You, for You have unfurled my heart, healed my wounded wings, and called me to step high above this broken universe, finding my footing in your presence upon cosmic yellows, dazzling blues, blazing greens, and deepest purples, finding my rest in the warm breeze of your incomprehendible peace. You are a refuge for all the lost and hopeless, the aimless and crushed, the lonely and sad, all the “whomsoever’s” can come in to the harbor of peace in the city of refuge. The sun and planets are humbled at your rhyme and rhythm, your stride in stride… the stars and stones only wish they could move like You. You call them, and they sing on Your behalf. My mighty wonderful Jesus, all my days are before the Lord. Amen. Think about it.

Psalm 148, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.”

Tonight, i made a stab at new words, at least from me, of praise for our God and King. i apologize if my words fall short, it’s the best i could do.

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

i hope maybe you’ll try out some new words of praise in your prayer time. Think about your “filler words” and ask the Lord to give you new, creative words. i wonder, how would your prayers sound if you cut to the chase and left out the repetition? Would it be a less effective prayer, or would it be more effective when you left off the hype. Watch the vision, listen carefully, i bet it won’t be long until He begins to increase your spiritual vocabulary. Be strong and courageous, hold the line, and i’ll talk to you next time.

In this life, there are very few things which are always. Unless we’re speaking about strict identities, like man, woman, up, down, etc, most everything else can change it seems.

i realize we’ve spoken of the words “always” and “never” before, but it seems the Lord wants us to know more about the “always” things which are alive in scripture.

In Romans 1:9, Paul writes, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.” And Luke18:1, Jesus said that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Always, meaning every which way, waking and sleeping, in a way which says, “you are always on my mind”. i used to wonder how anyone could pray without ceasing. Can you hear it? i can. In the back of my head, by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is entirely possible there is a song and prayer continuously going on. Listen, it is there. Does a lack of prayer in the heart and soul of a believer imply somehow there is also a loss of heart?

Jesus said in Matthew 26:11 the poor are always with us. Now that word “poor” means more than simply without monetary means, God means something larger, as in poor in spirit, poor in common sense, beggarly allegiances, poverty stricken in self-control, peace, and rightness of character to name a few. Let us also note that the reason the poor are always with us is that oppressors, the unjust, and manipulative to gain a personal agenda are also always with us.

John 8:29, “…for I always do those things that please him.” Jesus is speaking of the will of the Father. The preferences and standards of the Father are the preferences and standards of Jesus. Let us also adopt an attitude of heart which is determined to own Gods standards and preferences for ourselves, always doing the things which please the Lord.

In John 11:41-42, Jesus made a statement which we need, NEED to believe and know as He knew. He said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me…” He made this statement so those around Him would believe also that God hears us when we pray, Always. He knows it, it isn’t a suspicion which would indicate unsureness lurking around in His head. He said, always, meaning without a doubt, at all times; on all occasions, without fail. We n-e-e-d to know this one in particular.

2 Corinthians 2:14, “But thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ...” Those in Christ will not triumph mostly, not pretty much, but are ALWAYS caused to triumph, singing the honor of His great name. Believe it! Gods always means exactly what He said, always. When we are sure we are water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again, we need to know there is nothing SO dead, God cannot grow life out of it. He ALWAYS causes us to triumph.

2 Corinthians 5:5-6, “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage.” God has prepared us, we are equipped, going forward with His guarantee, therefore we always are of good courage. Gods guarantee means “always”, without a doubt, by which the result is brought about that we are no longer slaves of fear. We bank on Gods guarantee that Jesus has overcome the world, going forward in the power of the Spirit. Be of good courage to stand up in His name.

David describes a heart posture that is necessary for us when he wrote in Psalm16:8 that he has “set the Lord always before him, therefore he will not be shaken.” To set the Lord always before us, means to purposely, put God first, always, surrendering to Him the pre-eminence in all things… before my ambition, before my self-advancement, before my objective for building a church… before everything, i have set the Lord before me. To “set God before us”, means we make Him the standard. As a result, when i am cornered and chaos surrounds my house, the shalom of God encapsulates me and i will not be moved. All my days are before the Lord.

Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that God is able to make all grace abound towards us, that we would always have all sufficiency in all things in order to super-abound in excess in every good work. It is always good to be zealously affected for a good purpose, bound and driven to thank God always, without fail, continuously with joy.

By the power and guarantee of God we can set ourselves in a continual position for our speech to always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that we can know how we ought to answer each person. 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “always, always, always follow after that which is good, that is Gods version of what is good, looking to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Friends, let us always labor, in all things, for the glory of God, rejoicing always as it says in Philipians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.”

And the creme-dela-creme, the cream of the cream, Jesus said He will never leave us, and is always with us, and i’ll say it over and over until i get it down in my head, God means what He says, and always means always, and there’s never a time He meant something other than always. As a result, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Christ, since he always lives to make intercession for us.

What do you think? There are actually more than 18, how many can you find?

Never. Just as there are several important things for us to know of the Lord which are always, there are several important things which are “never”, meaning at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever. “Never”, as God uses the word is an absolute negative.

One of the first things that is never is that God is never man, and inversely, man is never God. Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” We may work to reduce the Lord to being on equal footing with us imagining the Lord to struggle with things like we do, but that is only what we may wish except in no wise is it true, ever. He is always God and there is never a time He is not, i am never God and there’s never a time i am.

The Lord God does not sin, and if there is no sin, there is no transgression, nor is there iniquity. 1John3:5, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” Jesus did not miss the mark, fall short in any fashion, nor was there or will be a place for death and dying to find a foothold in Him.

God is never late, and as long as we live it is never too late. In Luke 11 there is a story of Jesus showing up right on time. A mother’s son had died and was being carried out to be buried. The young son had obviously been dead for a least long enough to be prepared for the burial, so it wasn’t like in the last minute or two he stopped breathing. No, the boy was dead, real dead. What did Jesus do? He encouraged the mother to not worry, and told the boy to get up from his death bed. Jesus was not late, but right on time. God is not the God of the last minute, he’s always on time, perfectly, and never late.

Love never fails, and God never fails! 1John4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love”, and 1 Corinthians13 tells us that Love never fails. In addition, God never is envious or a braggart, never arrogant or rude, He is never irritable, resentful, and never, ever, ever is glad anyone does the wrong thing.

The Lord will never betray us. Psalm89:33, the Lord says, “….but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.” This is important because we often want the Lord to be guilty of the things we are guilty of, but He is not. God should not descend to join us in our iniquity so we don’t have to be guilty, but we should ascend to join Him in His righteousness instead. Even though Jesus became flesh and took our sin to Himself, He had no sin, never did He sin or transgress, nor did any of our sin stick to Him that He would be defiled.

God is never tired, He never grows weary and never needs a nap. Isa40:28, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” Oh, and that last part, his understanding is unsearchable, that means the wisdom of God is never ending, He understands all things so perfectly, there is no end to His insight. The Lord never gets tricked, never is manipulated, and never is out maneuvered. Never.

The Lord will never leave you. We who are believers tell each other He will never leave us, forsaken like orphans, but once again, the details of our lives tell another story. God never lies, so it is true, He will never leave you, so let’s cut out this “woe is me” attitude saying one thing but then, when we do something wrong or act out inappropriately, stop acting like, “The Lord has left the room. You know, God can’t be where sin is, so he’s not with me.” Gosh, what another lie, an absolute colossal lie at that. If God can’t be where sin is, then how could He be where you were when you got saved? Forgive me for using such a forceful word, but it’s the truth, that’s just stupid and self-validates our attitude of, “If i were God i wouldn’t like me either.” Well, Hey! It’s your lucky day, how fortunate for you, you aren’t God, because that’s not how He thinks or feels.

God never wastes, not one little piece, of all that we go through. Remember Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”? That’s no fooling around, the Lord never speaks glibly, saying stuff He doesn’t really mean.

Lastly, God will never die, or fade away. He is everlasting, unending. Psalm90:2 says the Lord is “from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” He came from eternity and He stretches into eternity. God never made application to some ethics board or to some gov’t agency for Him to be God and operate as He does. He never asks their permission to be the Lord, they should ask His permission to be an agency or a government.

Set these things in stone in your heart and mind, bank on them, and re-think how you see the Lord. We truly must address our twisted ideas of the Lord.

What do you think? There are actually more than 18, how many can you find?

In another room in the house is a blue metal box with a small lockable latch, though the key is long gone. i’ve had it for years now. In it are things from when i was a boy, memento’s, little things which remind me of someone, or some place i went a long time ago. Like the baseball cards.

There’s only 2 in the box now. There used to be a whole stack, but i suppose i’ve given most away and probably lost a few in moving here and there. When i put my hands on the two which are left i remember how my brother and i used to go to a little package store down the road from our house, and for a nickel or a dime we could buy a pack of Topps bubble gum that came with 3 baseball cards. It was the worst bubble gum there ever was, but the real prize was the cards. One of the two cards i’ve still got is a nearly worn out 1963 Pete Rose rookie card, with Pedro Gonzalez. Over the years, from time to time, i used to stare at the faces on those cards and dream of being on a big league field…all that green on a cool summer evening. Funny how i’ve still got it, and when i touch it all those memories come back. Another thing in my little blue metal box are the ownership papers when i paid off my tractor. That was the day it was mine, and it was so significant. i’ve also got my first magnifying glass that i used to study bugs with. As a kid with an extra nickel burning a hole in his pocket, i won it out of a drop-n-grab machine where you drop the claw and pickup one of many items in plastic, snap together bubbles. That little magnifying glass was the forerunner to a microscope. In that blue box is my first pocket knife my dad bought me when i was 5, and i’ve been carrying a pocket knife every day of my life ever since.

i know another guy who keeps some things. He doesn’t have a box, but it’s a drawer in the night stand, and in it is his great grandfather’s hammer, his grandfather’s hammer, his dad’s hammer, and his first framing and trim hammer… i suppose he just likes hammers. Like myself, he keeps a couple knives, one was his dads, the other was his grandfathers. He hopes to pass them down to his son one day.

These sorts of things are small to others maybe, but to us who keep such a box or drawer of “moments to be remembered”, they’re things which are significant in the process which made us who we are today.

i reckon we all tend to keep things which you wouldn’t think were important really. i’ve got a friend who has the first marbles he ever won. It’s only a handful, but they are precious, not precious like money, but precious as in what they represent. He won those marbles fair and square, but then he ended up having to fight to keep them. The bigger boy decided even though he lost them, he was gonna get them back. My friend went home with a busted nose and skinned knuckles, and a pocket with about 3 hard won marbles too. He won them, and then he won them again…. something important happened inside him that day, and to this day when he looks at those 3 little old marbles, he still feels the pride and courage it took to win them.

Some people think keeping things like marbles, baseball cards, or hammers is just dumb. i’ve been told that sometimes i hold on to the past so hard, maybe for no other reason than it happened to me, it has started to take up way too much space in my head, and maybe i don’t have room to adventure out to something new. i disagree in that those things are important. If we don’t remember our history, which is part of our identity, we lose sight of our own reflection. It’s one of the purposes of an inheritance and being an heir. Purpose, as in the “conclusion of a dilemma that we take action over”. Those little things we keep add to our purpose, describing us as named and designated by God, holding His preferences and standards in front of us to accomplish with all our breathing, thinking, all our feeling, and strength. We are made in the image and reflection of God Almighty, and there are reflections of Him in all parts of our lives, even the smallest things are important. Those small things in my box of valuables are things which describe me, and you too if you’ve got a box or drawer of similar stuff. There is nothing in our lives which “doesn’t matter”. It all matters, it’s all important. Every little rise and fall is relative to our composition, the way in which a whole story is compiled and told again. We are like a work of music, literature, or art, and we are poetry in the eyes of the Lord.

Isn’t that yet another fabulous facet of the Lord to ponder?

What do you think?

During a pressing need to sound spiritual among other spiritually knowledgeable people, i’ve used the word “purpose”, as in praying out loud, “Lord, help us that we would be more involved with your purposes.” But, here lately, the Lord has been addressing my little ideas of what i think He means, and what He really means, thereby giving me clarity on how my perception of Him needs a course change. Sometimes, it’s only a course change in small amounts, and other times it requires i shift my weight all together.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” That’s according to God’s will, which includes His preferences and standards. And YES, we can know His will. In fact, there are several places where scripture says, “and this is the will of God…”

What was Paul referring to there in Romans 8:28 when he uses the phrase “the called” and then uses the word “purpose”? From God’s perspective, what does He mean?

Those who hold Jesus as Lord and Savior are “the called”. Matt22:14 says many are called, but there is a difference between “many” who are called, as those who have received an invitation and those who are labeled “the called”. Many are called but few are designated and named. Being believers makes us not only Christians but also in the sense of someone who stands in an office, invited and designated. i think of it as…. the day i accepted Christ was naming day, like the time Adam named all the animals. It was naming day, a day they were designated. To accept the call of God is also to be named, and it means we set another purpose other than our own before ourselves. The very word “purpose” literally means to set something before our heart and eyes, like the show bread was set before the tabernacle. Prothesis is the Greek for our word “purpose”, and stems from the Greek root word wherewith we get our word for “thesis”, and a thesis is a statement put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved. i believe i often think of purpose as something resolved, but in this case the word comes as not only something resolved but calls for the addition of an action verb. So not only is a purpose drawn from God’s preferences and standards, but is a conclusion to a matter for us to take-action to accomplish. Did you hear that? A “conclusion and resolution of a dilemma that we take action over.”

We are “the called” because we have a new purpose after we have received the invitation of God to join Him in His works, gladly stepping into our place in the Kingdom. We are named and designated by God and we hold His preferences and standards in front of us to accomplish with all our breathing, and thinking, all our feeling, and strength. All, not just 10% as a minimal tithe, but all. We bide our time, patiently, with full expectation, trusting and knowing the Lord will do all He says. The word “wait” in vs 25 is a “now” word as a statement of fact. Now, now, now, now and never becomes then until the end of all things, which exclusively conclude at His feet. All my days are before the Lord, and all my days will conclude at His feet, regardless of if i like it or not.

Seeing as how we are the ones named and designated by God, the called, who hold His preferences and standards in front of us to govern all we think and do, His purposes, and seeing as how we know all things conclude at His feet no matter how we cut the pie, knowing these things, how will we walk our days out, knowing every moment and every split second of our lives will rest before the great high King of Heaven? Can we really, truly, actually actually, continue to ignore the call of God? Oh sure, most of us have responded, but what of the rest of the call which is a call to action? What will we do with the rest of His calling? Just because we forget to remember the Lord, and just because we ignore until we no longer hear God calling to us doesn’t mean His calling has ceased. How arrogant of me to think just because “i” can’t hear God must mean He isn’t speaking, or just because “i” don’t believe must mean it isn’t true anymore. God did not cease to invite us, we are the ones who simply can’t hear and don’t respond. It’s like the people who say God doesn’t speak anymore. Ha! That’s such narcissistic, arrogant foolishness.

Here’s what we’re going to do. Because the Spirit makes intercession, we will stand in our designated place at the call of God and make intercession. In vs 27, the words “make intercession” is a “now” verb, and it means now, now, now, now, it does not stop being “now”. It is a word which isn’t episodic or an event, it is an action with an on-and-on motion. Because God hears the faintest cry for help, we will not only hear but will respond. Because the Lord opens His mouth and does justice and stands for right morality, we will stand in our designated place, holding His preferences and standards as the governor for all we breath and do, and we will open our mouths for justice, doggedly standing up for right morality. We will stand with Him, proud of our blood bought heritage. As the called of God, STAND! And after you’ve stood all you can stand, stand therefore.