After four years of a man pursuing the Lord for a vision of what He, the Lord wanted to do, it finally happened and God gave him a vision and multiple confirmations as to the new direction. So the man gets rid of all his stuff, packs up his few remaining possessions, and moves across the country. Suddenly, he finds himself in a place he does not know, with people he does not recognize, to do something he has no idea about. He wonders about employment and how to pay the bills; the culture is very different than where he came from, they talk different, use different words to reference similar things, even food products are different. It is still food, but very little of it is anything he’s familiar with; the air is different, dust is different, the water is different, food is different, the bacteria is different, the land and soil are different, tax structure is different. But yet he is sure that this is what God has asked him to do. Uprooted and obscure, a seemingly inconsequential outsider, this fellow is so very uncomfortable. And now that he is at the destination the Lord has given him, he finds himself with one huge, over-arching, ever present question: Now what?

And all is silent.

Do you find yourself in similar discomfort? The circumstances may be different, but the discomfort is the same.

It would seem our nation is a country of uncomfortable people, frustrated and disquieted in our hearts. Some for good reasons, some for not.

Maybe God is gently getting our attention and we, as a nation, are simply, and quite probably, hard of hearing. What do you think? … and i’ll be right back.

In all the Bible, one of the most uncomfortable people, in my opinion, was Naomi, who’s story is revealed in the book of Ruth. Sure, Job was uncomfortable, but it was for a short while, whereas Naomi had a life of being uncomfortable. It seemed for the longest time nothing was working out. When situation after situation arose, i’d bet, at some point, she stared off into the distance, sighed, and thought, “Great! What’s next? Locusts?”

She, her husband and two sons lived in Bethlehem, Judah during a famine. i’d say times were tough for sure. Among themselves, they decided to move to Moab, evidently things seemed better there. During the next 10 years in Moab, her husband died; her two sons marry two Moabite girls, then the sons die also. She is left with no means of getting by, the light of hope is only a smoky dismal low flame, and everything about the big plans to prosper in Moab have just fallen flat. Her husband and two sons have died and she is left with only herself and two daughters in law. It likely seemed the way in front was shut, all doors appear closed, the fire was out, cupboards were bare, and the living room in their heart had taken on an uncomfortable chill. Even the mice were thin, hunger hovered in window sills, doorways, and down the street despair cheerfully sold tickets to tonight’s event.  Now what?

They heard God was giving food to her home people in Judah, so she and the two daughters in law set out for home after concluding their continued time in Moab was no longer sustainable. On the way back to Judah, evidently things were so difficult, she was so uncomfortable, she told the two daughters-in-law to go home. They were all so very uncomfortable. One daughter-in-law agreed and went home, but the other, ahhh, Ruth was the other, and she said, “Where you go I go, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” Ruth 1:20-21. Naomi’s heart was, “… Don’t call me Naomi; call me Bitter or Mara. The Strong One has dealt me a bitter blow. I left here full of life, and GOD has brought me back with nothing but the clothes on my back.” The name Naomi means pleasant, but life was very bitter, so she was saying she was not pleasant and to not name me with what i no longer am.

Can you relate in some way to this? Maybe you left a home or job, full of life, convinced you were following God’s lead, off on a great adventure, and came back with nothing, just nothing but the ashes of your dreams and the continued discomfort of your circumstances. Yea, i did that. i moved us all to a far away place, and came back 9 months later with my tail between my legs.

What do we do when we’re in the long night of our discomfort? It feels like our ship is sinking, the wind and ocean are howling and raging, and God is asleep in the boat — silent, silent, silent. Tough question. Honestly, i don’t even like to think about it. It’s just a very uncomfortable question.

Jonah is another person who had a time in his life of being extremely uncomfortable. i think Jonah was a real grouch, never the less, God gave Jonah a job, go preach to Ninevah. Now you may think this is a great thing, and i suppose, in a way, it was, but going to Ninevah was also something which terrified Jews of the time. Ninevah was well known for it’s hatred and abuse of Jews, even torturing them just for entertainment, and i think Jonah wanted God to simply kill them all, without giving them of any sort of hope. i mean, what if Ninevah repented and God saved that horrible nation of horrible people? So, Jonah ran away from God. Yea right, like anyone can actually escape God.

Jonah found a ship going far away. He was so uncomfortable with God’s request and his personal circumstances that he left everything behind, got on a ship and headed out to anywhere but where God was, or so he thought.

Well, everything about Jonah’s life got worse and even more uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable he became, the more uncomfortable things got. A storm of storms blew up, the ship and it’s crew were in danger of dying at sea, and i guess in an effort to escape God all together, Jonah resigned himself to die. He told the sailors it was all his fault. In Jonah 1:15 “Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.” Think and imagine a little here. How do you think that miracle of miracles affected the sailors?

It seems Jonah figured dying was better than being as uncomfortable as he was. i’d call it a sort of suicide in a way, only he was letting the sailors to do it for him by getting them to throw him in the raging sea. It was a permanent fix to a temporary problem, when quite probably, all Jonah had to do was STOP his running and face God.

When we are uncomfortable, so often, i think we attribute that discomfort to our doing something wrong, or God is pressuring us to repent or something like that. On the other hand, it is entirely possible our discomfort has nothing to do with doing something wrong and everything to do with simply being in the Lord’s transition. Regardless, if you can’t out run the difficulty you’re in, stop running, turn and embrace it. We’re going to live with it until we deal with it, and pretending an unfortunate situation isn’t really there, doesn’t solve anything. Actually, if anything, that pretending thing we do only increases our discomfort.

Is that, as a nation, what’s going on with us? We need to stop, STOP what we’re doing and face God. You know, i heard a man say once that God will get our attention, one way or another. He’ll work to get our attention in our spirit, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll work to get our attention in our minds, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll get our attention in our flesh even to the shedding of blood, but one way or another, He WILL get our attention.

So many people are looking for work, and these days there’s a lot of work available, so they can no longer say they aren’t working because there isn’t any, but now must be honest to tell the truth, which is “i want to get what i want and i don’t want to work for it.” A very uncomfortable place to be i’d say.

Many are uncomfortable at church, and uncomfortable even in their best chair. They are uncomfortable in their beds, in their kitchens, sitting outside, with friends, without friends, it’s almost as if all of life feels like wading through cold, sticky, wet mud. We plant 100 and reap 10, we extend ourselves to 10,000, and only 50 respond. We leave a difficult situation and shortly find ourselves, in yet another difficult situation, one little nagging thing after another. We get into a conflict with a friend or at work, and we don’t resolve the conflict, we just leave it to stand hoping it will simply go away, and of course, it doesn’t really go away, it just changes shape to morph into, yet, another conflict, which we’ll have to live with until we deal with. Many sail from storm to storm, so often, the storms seem to be normal operating conditions.

Imagine each life situation as a brick. One brick of one unresolved situation maybe inconsequential, but when it is many bricks of many unresolved situations, what was once just a brick is now a wall, walling the world out, but also walling ourselves in. There are two sides to every wall. God calls to us and we’re not listening. The phone is ringing but we pretend to not hear.

We have become a nation of uncomfortable people who tend to want to move away from or avoid what we don’t understand. Many times rather than ask an uncomfortable question, we simply smile, keep quiet, and move away. In our avoiding the Lord we have become increasingly uncomfortable. We eat but we’re not satisfied; we store up and conserve but in the end nothing is saved; we build houses but don’t get to live in them; we drill wells but don’t get to drink the water; it’s almost like we plant but don’t get to harvest; we do the work of crushing grapes but don’t get to drink the wine. We invent machines and tools to help us save time in order to have extra time, but in the end we still seem to have no time. We are frustrated and very uncomfortable.

What do you think is up with that? And what are we going to do about it?

James 3:17 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” It would be simply brilliant if we stopped what we were doing and turned to face the Lord. It just seems wise to find out what He’s got to say. Not so we can shut Him up, but because all our own efforts are getting us no where and that we, in and only of ourselves, are completely unable to sustain our existence. Like Jonah, we need to stop running away and meet with Him. i really believe the discomfort will continue until we turn ourselves to meet with God Almighty.

Mind you, i don’t believe God has sent work into our hearts that we would labor mindlessly as some sort of vindictive punishment, that is not His character. i fully believe if there is laboring and work in our hearts it is because we have put ourselves there. At some point we are choosing. Listen though, that doesn’t take into account that in the middle of transition, it is highly likely there’s going to be struggles and exasperations, because there are. i’m talking about our evading issues, running from God and metaphorically plugging our ears singing “La-la-la-la” to drown out the call of God.  It is more that He has simply allowed us to have our determined self-focus, self-determination, and self-declaring which all is an effort to leave Him out of our lives.

An old horseman had a very difficult horse once. i asked him what he was going to do to persuade the horse to yield and do things the man’s way. He said, “I’m going to simply give him his head, and let him run square into the law.” He did exactly that. The next time the horse wouldn’t yield the old guy let the horse run where it wanted and it ended up deep in the most awful briar patch you ever saw, cut, poked, bleeding, and frustrated. After a couple times like that, the horse and the man got along just fine. Very interesting how that works.

God has given this nation it’s head and He will let us go as we insist until all our efforts completely come to a grinding, radically uncomfortable halt. Do we r-e-a-l-l-y think we can ignore the Lord? Do we really think He’s just going to take a passive-submissive posture towards the very creation He created? C’mon, who are we kidding?

Is it possible, we in America are so uncomfortable with life that we just don’t notice the world around us?

Let me complete the story which i began all this with … the man in the first part of this conversation stopped his own actions, prayed morning, noon, and night … sought the Lord with all he had, and for all he was worth. In his looking for the Lord, God has given him a vision of what’s next. Life is largely still a puzzle, but things are moving, not so fast he’s lost his way, but bit at a time as the Lord grows his character to fit the next appointment. Inch by inch, life is a cinch. Yard by yard it’s very hard. We need a vision of where we’re going so we’ll know how to be where we are. Think about it!

Our time is up and we’re at the end of the road for this production of Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. i’m Social Porter sitting on the deck with Tony, Paul and a late evening cup of coffee, talking and laughing, cutting up and watching the river flow by. Tonight, as usual, has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Miss Jackson at the DeLuxe Beauty Shop, Frank Edney at the Hot Spot, Bruce and Mildred Harrell, White Knuckle Studios, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Pete Minger Quartet, The Brecker Bothers, Dissection, Bill Bruford, and Jazz for a Rainy Day.

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;” Acts 17:27-28 “…so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being…”.

The Lord is our direction, He alone is our comfort, and in Christ alone will we ever in this life gain the peace we need. Let us cease from our own works and seek Him. Let us stop from our own doings and stubborn way, turn and face God. It’s time to inquire of the Lord, don’t you agree?

Thank you for listening, i hoped i’ve inspired you to call upon the Lord. Drive carefully, be sure and use your turn signals, take your time and breathe man breathe. i figure if we’re in that much of a hurry, we should’ve left sooner. Amen.

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Proverbs 4:5 “Get wisdom! Get understanding!”, and again in vs 7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” If we know the facts but don’t understand what we’ve declared we know (i know! i know!), actually, we’ve got handfuls of air.

The Lord calls us in the beginning and in the end to get from Him understanding. In all our amazing technological advances in medicine and science, i would suggest we, as general mankind, actually understand very little of the Everlasting, Glorious Who behind the what. i don’t believe God would repetitively call us to get wisdom, knowledge, and understanding if we didn’t actually need it. He diligently calls to us to get the incredible and ultimately necessary triplet, “wisdom, knowledge, and understanding”. Don’t we know our life longevity and quality of life hinge upon wisdom, knowledge, and understanding? God has a lot to say about this. Daniel 2:21, “He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

If God did not insert and interpose Himself, giving us those wonderful three, even to those who don’t know He’s given to them, we would be no smarter than animals, surviving on instinct and pressing desperation to survive but always falling short and being disappointed. He designed us to be better than that.

i also think we are headed for a giant, incredible series of “Ahh-HAH!” moments as the world gets darker and God becomes brighter and more present in our understanding. Just like the disciples did in John 12, they had a huge, “Ahh-hah!” moment. John 12:16 “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and understood they had done these things to Him.” When Jesus was glorified, they remembered and said, “Ahh hah” … they understood. Please see this as not an Ahh-hah, as in screaming in someone’s face but more as clarity, as distinct and specific kind of clarity, a moment when we might say, “Ohhhh!”, and i’m just calling it an “Ah-hah” moment.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. It’s a wonderful cafe at the end of Old Field Road where every Friday for 30 or more minutes is cool jazz and contemplative conversation. Let’s go together and better understand what it is God is saying to us.

i went to the Firecracker 400 at the Daytona Speedway one year. All the people and all the cars all jammed together for a day of racing… there were SO many people. Great day in the morning! Part of that race event was something called “qualifying”, which is where each race team puts their car on the track and makes the fastest lap possible, with the race officials measuring the time it takes to go around the track in one complete lap. “Qualifying” places the drivers, from fastest to slowest, in the starting lineup… of course the faster the better, of course being at the front is better than being at the back.

How many of us are using our knowledge and understanding to elevate ourselves and to somehow qualify amongst our brethren in hopes of a better position as it relates to those around us? God never, ever asked us to qualify for His love or grace. It is not “if” we do such and such He will love us, nor is it “when” we do such and such then, yes then He will love us more and extend us extra grace. Many believers have strayed a pretty good ways away from the basic gospel message that Jesus loves us… period… and we need understanding that we don’t have to qualify. We were born and breathe, therefore we are qualified to receive the Love of God. Without understanding we are just part of the blind multitudes whose minds still wear the veil of “not understanding”, and not until we meet Jesus is that veil pulled away for a huge “Ahh-hah!” moment.

Let’s segue into a brief discussion of what this wonderful triplet God is pointing out to us.

Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are gifts from God, but more importantly, they are more than just a gift in the sense of “this gift” or “that gift”, as three completely separate, equal things, but are what i call “progressive gifts” in that they come to us as in a natural sequence or progression. One builds upon the other or one tends to lead into the next. One of the interesting things about this sequence is the Bible uses it in this order: Wisdom, Instruction, and Knowledge. That is what is called a Hebrew poetic view of the three, but the logical progression, is not a rigid count of which word appears first. The practical framework is knowledge, understanding and wisdom, with knowledge being the raw facts and information, understanding being the insight into the meaning and connections of those facts or the “Ah-AH!” moment, and wisdom is the skillful, godly application of knowledge plus understanding.

The idea of “understanding” is the act of discernment, having the faculty for insight, recognizing what is understood, and practicing the practical skill, or maybe even craftsmanship in our possessing understanding.

Bezalel is a great example of Holy Spirit-given ability and understanding as an artisan of the Temple. In Exodus 31:3-5 God says of him to Moses, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and understanding, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.” God gave it to him to understand, to have intelligence and vision to know how stuff works, how materials go together, and gave his hands skill to accomplish God’s purposes.

My wife’s brother is kind of like that. He’s a mechanic, but on an entirely different order. He just seems to know how machines work and it makes sense to him. He has understanding.

Let’s move on. i’ll say it again, we don’t have to qualify for God’s love or favor, Jesus qualified us all at Calvary when He was crucified for our redemption and was raised from the dead that we would have life, and have it more abundantly. Let us understand and grasp this fully in the sense of “Ah-HA!”: we don’t have to qualify for God’s love, He does love you and is relentless in His pursuit of you, whether you hold your mouth right, say the right things, or make good decisions. It’s not God loves you “when” or God loves you “if”, it is simply — God loves you. Got understanding?

Many years ago i needed to know what God wanted to do; i was at the end of the road in the place i was living. i had no understanding what to do next. i prayed, fasted, read my Bible, inquired from my well traveled friends as to the Word of the Lord. Technically, i was doing everything right; still nothing, just silence as far as i could tell as to what God wanted to do. i would ask Him, “What do You want to do?” i perceived His reply to me as, “What do YOU want to do?” We went round and round, honestly, it was a bit maddening. i had no clue what i wanted to do but believed if i persisted and pursued Jesus, He would show me. i was determined, for possibly the first time in my life, i was determined, doggedly determined to not make a move until the Lord gave me clear direction. Yes, highly unlike much of my life up to this point. i knew God would bless me either way i went, but i didn’t want to do what “I” wanted to do, i wanted to do what God wanted to do and leave my ideas out of it all. For four years i listened, wrote down my dreams, took notes, listened very carefully to those i respected and trusted (by the way be v-e-r-y careful who you give your ears to), listening for any Holy Spirit Resonance in their words. Also, i studied like a man crazy obsessed to understand. Metaphorically, i had my long-distance field glasses out all day and night, watching the horizon for any sign of God’s word to me. i desperately needed the Lord’s practical application. Even after all that, still there was silence. Oh, and don’t you know, everyone had an idea of what they thought i should do, or what i was doing wrong as if it was my fault i wasn’t getting an answer from God. They seemed to think i could slap an answer out of God’s hand. That’s completely ludicrous! It seemed no one, i mean NO ONE suggested i was doing things right and it was simply down to waiting on God. Don’t get me wrong, i did indeed have significant dreams and there were many times scripture came alive to me, but i knew i couldn’t make my dreams and visions fit my agenda. That’s just a bad idea. The outcome of that is just terrible. i’ve done that before and it simply doesn’t end well. i had to wait. i remember crying out to the Lord saying “Lord, please, we’re on the same team here! You and i talk all the time. i feel like sometimes the enemy knows more about what’s going on than i do. Why is that? i don’t understand!”

In all the words i had received, all the dreams and visions the Lord had given me, the truth was i didn’t understand what He was getting at in the dreams and visions. All that knowledge seemed just obtuse and not connected to anything relevant. It was as if there was a veil across my spiritual eyes and my knowing and understanding had met a brick wall, not operating together like two people shaking hands in agreement. i felt “wall-eyed”, one eye looking to the left and the other looking to the right and nothing was in focus. In complete desperation it seemed a tipping point came one morning when i truly fell apart before the Lord, “Why don’t You tell me what i want to do, then i can ask You for that and You can then give me understanding as to what to do?” i think that prayer was two things, it was the prayer of a righteous and desperate man, and it was from a heart which was abandoning all things in order to understand God’s direction. From then on, the Lord slowly began to unfold His plan, but even at that, most of the time i didn’t understand what i was hearing and seeing. But it did get better. Over time, i became interested in looking at property in a different part of America, west and north of the Mississippi. i didn’t know why i was interested, i just knew i was interested. Into my mind came the idea to get rid of my stuff. Ugh! So much stuff. i had a dream where i was an observer and i was watching an airplane which couldn’t fly well because there was too much ballast. In the dream it did manage to get off the ground but i could see the flaps were down and i could hear the strain of the engines, but it wasn’t gaining any altitude. In the dream the Lord said, “You weigh too much and you’re flying too low.” So, i divested myself of all my stuff, reducing all my possessions down to next to nothing. Ahhh, i began to understand — the Lord gave it to me to put together the dots so to speak, exercising my mind. Then one day, in a sweep of God’s hand, i understood, (TING!). i was going to move and i even knew where. Now i began to understand, to comprehend. i gave away my extra car, tools, and most everything else.

One morning, as i was speaking with a friend, she pointed to the sky and said, “Look!” There, in the sky, an airplane was sky-writing. It read, “Time to go”. Then i had a very vivid dream where i was standing on a large dock looking at an old sailing ship. As plainly as can be, i heard God say, “The wind and tide are with you, weigh anchor, set your sails, drop the tiller, get up and get gone.” (TING!) i understood. So i packed up all my stuff and drove 2700 miles to my new home. i only knew one person there, and i didn’t understand what i was going to do, but i understood what to do for the time.

If we ask the Lord, He will show us. God always confirms His word to us. Hold! Hold! Wait for it, and position yourself. Get ready. Remember, there may be a lengthy character-building exercise He does in order to prepare us for what’s next, so don’t get in a hurry if you can help it. If we ask God for understanding and are willing to pursue Him and wait, He will give us what we’re looking for. Do you get me?

Ephesians 1:17-18 ^“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”.

Understanding – it’s one of the benefits of knowing Jesus. When God gives us understanding He emphasizes perceptive insight that goes far beyond mere information. The Lord imparts to us the ability to distinguish, evaluate, and act wisely. These days it seems there are many in Church-world who have wandered away and seem to have lost their ability to distinguish, evaluate, and act wisely. Lord bring them home for they have drifted away like a vapor on a breeze.

Understanding is one of God’s attributes which He shares with me, and for me, i don’t know about you, but for me, i’m ever so glad God shares this quality of Himself. According to Ephesians 1:17-18, if God didn’t give us understanding we wouldn’t have it. Oh, we may think we have understanding, and man, do we love to walk around saying “i know”, “i know”, but we don’t know n-e-a-r-l-y as much as we think. Some of us may avoid that truth, but it is still the truth none-the-less. When we believe in Christ, confessing Him with our mouths and believing on Him in our hearts, there comes an unveiling, an “Ah-HA!” moment that does not stop. Unless the Lord unveils our hearts, we will be like the people of 2 Corinthians 4:4, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” But because we have believed on the only begotten Son of God, our eyes are opened and we are made alive. 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.” In this case, the word understanding means a “mental putting together”, and in Hebrews 11:3, the idea of understanding means to exercise the mind, observe, connect the dots, and comprehend. Get discernment. Ask the Lord for it.

In John 8:27, when it says, “They didn’t understand that he spoke to them of the Father,” “Didn’t understand” in that verse is used in the sense of perception not linked to grasping what was said, so we get the picture that to perceive, or know, is not always linked to understanding. Oh, they had information alright, they still didn’t get it, didn’t realize that Jesus was referring to the Father.

Just because we have knowledge, facts and information, doesn’t mean we’ve gained understanding. There are many, many things i know of but i have no clue as to understanding the application. In Luke 18:34, when scripture says, “they understood none of these things”, it means they had not mentally put together the dots in order to comprehend what Jesus was saying. They probably had information, but there was no “Ah-Ha!” moment of understanding. When we possess knowledge, again, the facts and information, and God discloses the inside scoop to us, we call that “insight”. Ah-HA! Luke18:34 reveals that what Jesus was saying was hidden from them, hidden being the word “krypto”, and not until Jesus unveiled their eyes did they have any understanding. That word, “krypto” as is used in Luke 18:34 points to something concealed so that a thing is not known or understood, as in Jesus’ prediction about His suffering, death, and resurrection which was kept hidden from the disciples. To reiterate, i can only conclude if God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it, and it is a kindness He extends mankind wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and it’s not His fault we choose to not listen.

Consider Matthew 5:45 where Jesus says, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” It is the impartial giving of sunshine and rain to the righteous and the wicked alike. Rest assured, God knows the difference between the just and the unjust, yet He does not withhold His gifts either. To know God rightly is to know Him as this kind of Father. The Lord is generous and we should be also.

It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. But it is the spirit in man, meaning the breath and inspiration of the Almighty which makes him understand, according to Job 32. True knowledge begins with knowing who God really is. Once we know that God treats His enemies with ongoing generosity, several implications become clear: God’s love is not earned by performance, His children are expected to resemble Him in character, not merely claim a title and demand a seat upfront for themselves. The distinguishing mark of the Father’s children is love that goes beyond reciprocity, and the sun and rain represent more than meteorological facts; they are daily, visible sermons about God’s generosity and His Father’s heart. Understanding here is the discernment that connects God’s providence to our ethics. Character, character, character. It sees that the same God who gives sunshine to the wicked is the One who calls His sons and daughters to pray for their persecutors. In fact, The wise response is to love enemies and pray for them, thereby embodying the Father’s own generosity. Be generous, true, but let us be generous as God is generous, which is not how the world defines generous. Friends, This is costly, counter-intuitive to the world-kind of wisdom. It does not deny that people are evil or unjust, but it refuses to let their character dictate our own character. Get that. It treats the enemy as still within the sphere of the possibilities of God’s grace and therefore within the sphere of our own God-given, active goodwill, or at least should be. Check yourself..

Let us stand in faith that the Lord is faithful to give us comprehension in the time we need it, to possess a “mental putting together” in all things, the path to comprehending the incomprehensible. The Lord is faithful, and it is the desire of His heart for us to understand.

i read somewhere that those with understanding are able to abstract the meaning out of information, meaning they “see through” the facts to the dynamics of what, how, and why. On a side note, there is truly a difference between the facts and the truth. Understanding is a lens which brings the facts into crisp focus.

Understanding produces “rules of thumb” or principles. i have witnessed miracles in my life, but really didn’t know what i was observing until the Lord walked me through the reasoning which was knowledge that became understanding. i’ve heard it said Knowledge is the facts and knowing the truth. Understanding is the ability to lift the meaning out of the facts, and Wisdom is knowing what to do next, it is the “living it out” particular way of life. i think that maybe a little narrow, but it’s pretty good. Knowledge is recognizing that we see, the information, and understanding is connecting the dots to become an “Ah-Ha” moment. In short, consider Matthew 5:45 is an invitation to let accurate knowledge of the Father’s grace deepen into having discerning understanding of what that means for human relationships, and finally, to flower into the practical wisdom of loving even those who oppose us. This is how the children of the Father learn to live as He does.

Proverbs 23:23 “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” i’m confident most of us want the wisdom and understanding but don’t want to sit through being instructed, yet the truth is, we’ll have to be willing to let the Lord instruct us. Think — if you’re not willing to sit with Him and let Him teach you, what makes you think you’re going to come to understanding without Him? We desperately need to seek the Lord for Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom. Additionally, the truth is, the world is completely lost without the Love of God, for without God’s redemption, there are no alternatives except to be lost. There is no other door to Heaven than through Jesus Christ. The god of this world demands we prepare a table before him, but God in His generosity and kindness prepares a table before us. i am no one important with titles and accolades, but i can say this, i am a foot soldier in the army of the Living God, desperately trying to hear and understand what the Lord is saying.

Got understanding? Think about it.

We’re out of time. It’s been a wonderful evening on the deck of the cafe, overlooking the beautiful, casual Ockluhwahhah River. i’m Social Porter for this evenings’ production which has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Rim Of The World Productions, the amazing Paul Powers, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

There are things of God which are beyond our ability to understand, like His peace – Philippians 4: 7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” His peace is beyond the beyond of this world. God is the perfect poet and He will never get tired of dreaming and imagining us. The Love of God is beyond me, i don’t understand, but yet there He is in all His divine infinity, guarding our hearts in His endless pursuit of us, the object of His affections, regardless of ourselves.

Look to the Lord for your understanding. Go in peace this week, be strong and courageous.

It’s acoustic jazz night, it being the fourth Friday of the month. Sit back, relax, let the smoky mood and soft rhythm settle into your ears. ?Can you see the vision as it’s cast in your mind? Trust God to open the eyes of your heart and soul to see what He sees. Just…..let His vision in you play.

Turn off the main highway at Old Field Road and go all the way to the end. I’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening, cascading banks of the Okluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. And yes, the Okluhwahhah is a real place in a real town, no kidding.

So glad you are here this evening, we always enjoy spending some time with you in contemplative conversation. Speaking of contemplating, i’m still learning to sip life, taking time to taste, rather than gulp and swill. A few years ago i watched my son eat a hamburger…he totally inhaled it in about 4 bites, it was astounding. i don’t think he actually tasted it much. Internally, i asked the Lord where my son learned to eat that way, i heard Him say, “From you.” Oh. From that point on i determined i’d take the time to sip and taste life rather than gulp and swill.

Are we strong and courageous? How did we get that way? Were we born like that, or is real strength and courage as God has granted grace to men?

Let’s let the music play a moment, coffee refills are free after 7 here at Outposts, so as we say, tap your toe, dream a little, and i’ll be back in a moment.

Alright, moving along. i’m going to use a previous conversation between a boy and his father which goes like this: A little boy said to his dad: “Dad, how am I going to be brave if I’m always afraid?” The father replied: “Son, it’s the only time you can be brave.”  Is it possible to really know the value of a good thing unless you’ve had something which totally didn’t work? i may say “i’ve got the best hammer in the world.” But my wise friend might ask me, “How can you tell? Have you ever had a bad hammer?” If i’ve only had one hammer and never used any other nail driving device, truthfully, i have no concept of the contrast of good and not good.

i find God to be the Lord of contrasts. i believe it’s true, He’s constantly speaking in many ways, but among all that He’s always speaking to us in contrasts, like day and night, good and evil, hope and despair, honesty and dishonesty, plus and minus, up and down. And this evening it is the contrast of strength and courage vs. weak and afraid. i have held off speaking of the concept and value of being strong and courageous because i’ve realized that i can’t effectively know how to talk about “being strong and courageous” unless i understand the contrast of “being weak and fearful”. To be honest, i’ve realized the idea of “weak and fearful” has been far more prevalent in my life than “strong and courageous”. The Hebrew perspective of the word “weak” is one of wings too limp to catch enough air to lift off or the inability of a mist to move even the simplest things. And i’ll just say this about fear: Faith and fear are complete opposites, they cannot reign in the same heart. While fear cowers, faith stands. While fear frets, faith prays. While fear looks within, faith looks to Jesus. Fear despairs, faith hopes.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul says: “…And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” That word “weakness” means literally, without strength. In other words, God’s amazing favor and His dynamic explosive power are made perfect in the midst of our native feebleness and moral frailty.

Ambrose Redmoon said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” And Winston Churchill adds to that “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Are you a courageous person? i think most of us have probably spent a lot of our lives being scared rather than courageous, and we’ve fixated on the outcome and opinions of others rather than sticking to our faith.

Courage seems elusive sometimes, especially with people who need to find courage to just leave the house or go to the grocery store. i say if God asks you to step out and you’re afraid, do it afraid, that is courage under fire. We all do things which require courage on a daily basis, and what is a conscious effort to be brave to some is merely second nature to others. i have been told i am very brave, but if the truth be known, at the time, i was more clueless as to the consequences of my actions, so it wasn’t conscious bravery, but more sheer ignorance which caused my appearance of courage. One time a buddy and i were throwing rocks at a hornets nest that was big as a watermelon. Another fellow nearby said we were brave. That wasn’t brave, that was colossal ignorance as to the potential consequences. Stupidity can masquerade as bravery, but the truth is, it’s just stupidity.

Ignorance and stupidity aside, sometimes it takes the third – or fourth – or fifth – or hundredth time of practicing courage before the intensity of fear dissipates, the idea is to persist until we overcome. Now there are two good words for the week, “persist and overcome”. The deep breath which precedes a jump into the ocean is the same as that which precedes a step into an unknown situation or a different space. How do we find that courage and strength we so desperately need? Most times courage isn’t shouting, being loud and defiant, but is seen in just saying at the end of the day, “I’ll try again tomorrow.” One of the greatest afflictions upon the Body of Christ today, is a loss of courage and being overwhelmed in our own systemic lack of strength.

Psalm 18:2 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Oh, and i know well how easy it is to say “Just trust in God”, and it often irritates me when some well meaning person says, “If you’d just…” then they tell you a scripture to quote to yourself. “If you’d just…” is easy to advise others of, but when it’s only you looking in the frightened eyes of yourself in the mirror, “If you’d just…” doesn’t hold much water. We don’t find courage and strength by turning scripture into a mantra, but we do find courage and strength when we grip to Christ in faith. And for some, maybe even that seems sort of lame to say, but it is the truth. Somewhere there, we must find courage and strength to persist and overcome even if all circumstances say we should just quit as many others have done. The courage and strength we are looking for is in Christ and Christ alone, really and for reals.

i have searched high and low for another source of strength and courage and there is none other than Christ. i’ve tried to have strength and courage in and of myself, and that was worse than a dead end road for it was no road at all, it was just a big “no where”.

Admitting to God that we are weak and fearful is a good thing. James 5:16 “Make this your common practice: Confess your faults to each other and pray for each other that you may be healed.”

The sincere prayer of confession by anyone who is living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Courage is a thing of intention and leadership. It is like powerful waves washing upon the shore over and over, and is intrinsic of God who is the faithful one, and because He has courage, we have courage. In our leading a life of being strong there is exemplified grace of the crowned believer who carries the sword of the spirit, and in our transforming practice of strength comes a constant invitation for more transformation. Like saying the more i practice my strength in Christ, the more i am strong in the power of the Holy Spirit. The more we are courageous, the more we are courageous, and the more we are strong, the more we are strong. To those who have will be given, and those who have not will be taken away. On a side note…i believe honesty and transparency is systemic to courage and strength.   .

i must say though, it seems that admitting our faults, in the eyes of some people, appears to them as weakness, and it inspires their hyper-religiousness to kick in, motivating them to counseling rather than relating. To many, admitting to ANY difficulty or fault just looks like weakness, when really, it is strong and courageous to be honest and real, while employing tact and diplomacy. E.E. Cummings said, “It takes courage to grow up and be who you really are.”

Many people feel that to admit there are times when they are weak and fearful gives other people power over them. But regardless of the possible down side of admitting i am sometimes weak and fearful, in my confession, i am strong in Christ. Here’s another personal admission, in hopes others will relate rather than put on their religious suit of counsel: i’ll be honest – i don’t have what it takes. i don’t have it and that’s the truth. But Jesus does, and He lives in my heart, and in Christ i am strong and courageous, AND i am prosperous and highly favored! Not merely surviving, but prosperous and that so doesn’t mean having money and stuff either.

Personally, i’d like to NOT be SO acquainted with “weak and fearful”, but the facts are, there are times when I AM…. 2 Corinthians 12:10, “….. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” And Hebrews 11:34, “….out of weakness they were made strong, became valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Coming to resolve about what exactly God is talking about in those scriptures has very little to do with lifting weights, boxing championships, or being tough. Admitting my own lack of courage and that i’m weak doesn’t mean i’m stupid, a failure, worthless, or a whining, spineless, sniveling, pasty, potbellied old man. Practicing spiritual, emotional, and intellectual honesty in today’s environment is truly an act of courage and bravery. And that’s not being honest on behalf of someone you think is not being honest. We can’t be honest for them according to our perception of what they aren’t being honest about. God never asked us to take a fearless moral inventory of our neighbor you know. That’s not our job. i’m speaking of honesty about ourselves, from God’s point of view, not capitalizing on all our badness, nor living out a fairytale of only seeing and hearing our sparkling moments with no responsibility for our secret actions.

i’ll be the first to say, most of us will never know how strong and courageous we are until it’s the only option left.

In 2Kings 18 when the King of Assyria came against little Judah, Hezekiah was the King at the time. The Assyrian generals called for surrender, speaking fear and defeat to the Jews, telling them all sorts of terrible things. In 2Kings 19 we see Hezekiah, in what i believe is a terrible and stressful situation, going before the Lord on his hands and knees, laying out the Assyrian letters of challenge, saying to God (my paraphrase here), “Can you see this? This is terrible! This is a black day, a terrible day—doomsday! Babies poised to be born, but no strength to birth them. What do You want to do?”

Hezekiah was desperate for courage and strength because he knew if God didn’t step in, they were goners, done for! Not only did Hezekiah step out in faith towards God, but i believe the Lord gave him courage to face down the Assyrians and not surrender. That night, the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army, leaving the invading army dispirited, slump shouldered, useless as weeds, fragile as grass, insubstantial as wind-blown chaff. Judah was saved. They were truly weak and fearful, and they knew it, but in the Lord their God, Yahweh, they found strength and courage to persist and overcome.

Jesus creates hope in the middle of discouragement and gives us endurance in the midst of trouble. Jesus inspires the depressed and motivates those who are feeling down and out. Jesus is the foundation for being courageous and the fuel for the engine of persistence. Friends, let’s put the pedal to the metal for courage and persistence and not be moved from our position of faith. Tell the truth even if your voice shakes.

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” Joel 3:10 “…. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”  Say this with me. No, i’m serious, say this with me, “I am strong in Christ!” And again, “I am strong in Christ!” Tell that to yourself in the mirror every morning and night. Tell yourself that as often as necessary until you get it, and get it down in your heart of hearts! Let your ears hear what your mouth is saying…  say out loud, “I am strong in Christ!” Write it on the mirror in every bathroom in the house, so every time you look at yourself, the words go in your eyes to remind you.

Let us take the word of the Lord to heart, and stand on it, believing God more than men or the devil, being strong and courageous, persisting and overcoming through Christ our Lord! Think about it.

i’m not a fearful man, but i have been told that it’s not that i’m so courageous but more i’m not smart enough to know when to run away. Either way, in my heart of hearts, i see myself as a strong and courageous man, yet honest and vulnerable. How about you? How do you see yourself, the unvarnished truth?

This has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, a fine establishment in the crook of the river, at the end of Old Field Road. i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Harley Stepp, Ed Zangerle at Zangerle’s Farrier service, Rev. Ralph Banning, Charlie and Jenny McDonald – 2 of the finest people i’ve ever known, old dancing fingers himself – Eddie over at Area 22 Guitars, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by the Hadouk Trio, Antoine Dufour, Darol Anger, Billy McLaughlin, and Didier Malherbe. All music use is licensed by BMI.

As we go our way this week, present to the world God’s character in you, it’s the fruit of rubbing shoulders with God, not the performance identity of a job, or the presentation identity that we display to others. Every day with Jesus is a day of defining, moments which bring us solid, consistent definition in a very fluid, mobile, and inconsistent world.