Prior to this was the program “God of the pits”, well, this as the addendum, which is an item of additional material.

God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your honor and glory. With every step and breath we honor Your great Name.

Augustine said, If we had never known discomfort, we would have never known comfort. If we had never known fear we would have never known faith. If we had never known sadness we would have never known joy. We know good times because we have had bad, sorrow exposes joy.  Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the kingdom.

God does not suffer from DI-VISION, split vision, or a multiplicity of divided perception. He has singleness of eye and singleness of focus and He’s looking at us. The Lord has “vision”, not “di-vision”.  In the eyes of God, His vision is never separated. He does not tell us things just so we can know, thus God does not comfort us solely to make us comfortable, but that we would learn to be comforters of others.

The word Comforter is applied to the Holy Spirit four times, John 14:16 and again in vs. 26, John 15:26, and again in John 16:7. Jesus promised His followers that The Strengthener would be with them forever. This promise is not a child’s song that gently lulls us to sleep, nor is it for those who lack fortitude … it is a blood transfusion for courageous living, and not just today, but more far reaching than we can imagine. If it is tomorrow which fills men with dread, God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before they can get to us.

Jesus makes a promise of comfort and consolation to us in Matthew 11:28 saying, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

In Psalm 9:9, the LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

He does not “coddle” us, but comforts us. Consider then, coddling is different than comforting. To “coddle” means to “treat in an indulgent, excessive, or overprotective way,” and “comfort” means “to give strength and hope to, to ease grief or trouble.” It would seem that to “coddle” someone is  enabling, enabling them to continue their bad behavior, whereas to “comfort” might actually involve friction by being direct with our friend. Giving strength and hope is not always a gentle, soft spoken thing.

— C.S. Lewis wrote, “God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger – according to the way you react to it. And we have reacted the wrong way.”

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.      Therefore, we will not fear, though we are rejected and cast down, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

When contrary winds blow, and nothing seems to work, the Lord is there, never abandoning us whom He loves.

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

The Hebrew word for “comfort” is used 100 times in the O.T. alone, and “consolation” 15 times.  In the spelling of the word for comfort and consolation, in it’s very root is the idea of God’s support toward those who breath strongly for sorrow …. weeping in grief. He is compassionate and kind to sad and weeping hearts and is the master of consolation.

It would seem to me, from God’s perspective, “comfort” and “consolation” are important to Him for us to possess and understand, especially now, when the world is in a downward spiral, the church, much at its’ own hand, is viewed as swindlers, liars, adulterers and thieves, and life in general seems visionless, dark, and down cast.  Many of us are like 2 Corinthians 7:5 in that we feel as though our bodies have no rest, there is trouble on every side, outside are conflicts, and inside are fears.

Jesus Christ is the “God of all comfort.”  Jesus is with us when we are in the “pits” of life: no matter how down we may be, He is with us. Did you catch that? For those who believe, no matter how down we may be, God is with us. Jesus said always with you and never leave you, and if He said it we can bank on it. And for those who are still pre-believers, God is never far and is always ready to act if we’ll simply call.  63 times, the Lord repetitively tells us, “Fear not”, not counting the variations on the theme “fear not”.  Deut 13:6 says God will never leave us or forsake us, and God doesn’t kid around.  The Holy Spirit will come to us and strengthen us through life’s trials and difficulties if we ask Him to. Ask Him and then let Him do it! He is waiting for you.  When we have learned firsthand what it means to be comforted by the Holy Spirit, then we can truly serve comfort to others. God comes to us before He goes through us, which suggests that before pouring out to others in service, the Lord builds character in us and we need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He knew that even the kindest words are not consolation enough when we are pressed by death and loss … as a result, He went the next mile and sent his Son to save us, and sends his Spirit to bring us to Him. Jesus IS our consolation.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:6 “Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast …”. “Downcast” is the Greek word “tapeinos” (tah-peen-‘oahs), literally meaning “low to the ground, brought low with grief, depressed.”  Metaphorically, the word signifies “low estate,” “lowly in position and power,” “humble.”  God comforts those who are low to the ground, and He is on the side of people who have been put down by life.  God is right there for His people when they are sad, lonely, and confused.  When His people are in the “pits” of life, He is there to lift them out and to put their feet on higher ground.  Listen, life throws “curve balls” to everyone not just you, no matter how “spiritual” we may be.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  The sun rises and sets on us all, good, bad, righteous and unrighteous.  You are not alone in your trouble for Jesus still remembers when the world forgets. In 1816, in “Come, Ye Disconsolate,” a hymn written by Thomas Moore in 1816 one line is “earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal”. Jesus is the answer, always.

God is a loving, kind, and caring Father who is always there to offer comfort and consolation to us. David mentions three times the key to overcoming being cast down, grieved, and low to the ground saying, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God …”.  Hope, the expectation of becoming and overcoming. Let us hope in God.

So let us know, Let us press on to know the Lord, “As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground.” Hosea 6:3.

Hosea 6:3 is our promise of comfort and consolation, and God NEVER breaks His promises, even if we think He has, does, or will, let us be assured, God keeps ALL His promises and is completely faithful. Hypocrisy is the Achilles heel of all mankind for God is the only one who always does all, and exactly what He says. The Lord will come to us like the rain.  Let us comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God, and if we have an abundance of comfort and consolation, pay it forward.

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

1 John 5:7, KJV, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”

There is a noteworthy distinction between being as one, together, and merely agreeing; simply because people agree doesn’t mean they are united as one. Considering the divorce rate in America today, it would appear many men and women who have gotten married don’t really see themselves as having become one, still seeing themselves as two individuals who have a contractual agreement, yet somehow they’re together, agreeing, but basically independent of each other. Yea, i’d guess that doesn’t work too well.

When we are one, it is “us” and “we”, but when we only agree, it is just “you” and “me”.

The Lord said in Matthew 19:4-5 “… Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’” (That’s two), “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (that’s two again) and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

Two becoming one, and that’s more than agreeing, that is becoming unified as of the same mind and purpose. His face in her face, her face in his face, unified with singularity of vision, which is God’s idea of marriage.

One, two, and three … simple numbers which everyone uses, one way or another, everyday. To some people, numbers are a problem, and i suppose that is easily seen in U.S. math skills as compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. ranking 24^th out of 29 countries. Maybe it’s not actually a problem with numbers but more about not understanding the importance of math skills, or not believing we have the skills. Just not smart enough, or something like that.

But, tonight’s topic isn’t about numbers as something to add or subtract like in a summation, but more in the sense of how it relates to the Lord and ourselves.

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

Go with me a little ways and let the words sink into your ears, and i’ll be right back.

Shemah! Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”

The Lord our God is One, perfectly united, of one mind and purpose in the same space, He is all together and endures no division. James 1:17, “… with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

All His parts are in unity. The word for “one” in that verse is the word “ehad”, meaning, “one”, “one and the same,” “as one person”. By Himself He is sufficient and plenty with no lack or distraction. By Himself in the universe, before and after time and for all eternity, beyond all horizons, God is One. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do more than just agree, we’re talking perfect unity here. As The Father sees, the Son sees, and the Holy Spirit sees as the Father with no after thoughts or variance or hidden agendas. His sight is singular, He speaks with one mouth, what one hears all hear as with one ear. There is no independence one from the other, He is all together, acting together in harmony and unity. Our Lord is One and there is only one.

God, who is One, is also one in the sense of priority – He is to be first —the highest priority—in our hearts and minds. In Deut 6:4 the Lord was speaking something to Israel about Himself which was vital for them to know. Israel had just come out of Egypt well steeped in the Egyptian gods for 400 years and the people of the land had deified many gods, small “g”; additionally, Israel was poised to enter a land whose inhabitants were steeped in worship of many supposed gods and goddesses, and it was vital they know that the Lord, and that God was One in unity, was the only One and there was not another.

Another scripture which is foundational in the One-ness of The Lord of the Starfields is Isaiah 44:8 “Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” This says the Lord is One, as in unity, and, again, there is not another. He is saying in Isaiah 44:8, my paraphrase here, “I AM the only God, and seeing as how I AM God, if there were any other God’s, I would know them, and I don’t know of any.”

In our land, today’s people seem to have many gods, small “g”, and we’re also especially encouraged to include ourselves as gods. Idolatry is truly thick amongst us. Some may call themselves gods, but that doesn’t make anyone God, it just makes us ignorant, arrogant, blind, and dead. On a side note: Personally, i’m very pleased i am NOT God … i wouldn’t know what to do if i was and i’d be saying “i don’t know” a lot. Also, i’m very very pleased the Lord is God, He has all the answer i need, even to questions i have not asked … yet. Jesus calls to us to believe in Him and join Him. Jesus, by way of the cross and resurrection, created a path for us to be included with Him. God, who is One, has now included us with Himself, and God plus us makes the number TWO!

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or more are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Two is a number of balance, diversity, partnership, and marriage among other meanings.

When Frances Havergal, author of the hymn, “Take My Life and Let It Be,” was a teenager, her parents moved to Dusseldorf, Germany, where she was placed in a German school. She was the only Christian among 110 pupils. The others made fun of her, teased her, even persecuted her. Her response? “It was very bracing,” she wrote. “I felt I must try to walk worthy of my calling, for Christ’s sake. It was a sort of nailing my colors to the mast.”

In light of that, are your colors plain to the world around you? Are your colors run up the flagpole of your life, or are they fuzzy and unclear in order to get along and not “offend” anyone, just going along to get along? Standing your ground as a Christian means holding firm to your faith and God’s standards regardless opposition. It’s about courageously defending truth, trusting God’s strength, and long suffering with a Godly heart posture even in the face of conflict. Prayer is your habit and wisdom is your friend. You can do this and can be steadfast, reflecting the high shine of unwavering resolve while fostering peace and understanding.

In 1King18:21-40 Elijah went up against the 450 prophets of Baal. But it wasn’t JUST Elijah, it was one plus God which was the majority. It was truly a dark day, but Elijah passionately nailed his colors, so to speak, to the mast for all to see. The Lord includes us and shines bright in us, even when we are weak and fearful, He is alive in us and includes us in His plans. When the Lord is with you, remember that even the most feeble light is best seen in the thickest darkness. Don’t be afraid to nail your colors to the mast. Two is a wonderful number, God plus you makes two and you plus God is the majority. Afterall, Romans 8:31 really is the truth, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Listen and think, The number two holds profound value: it symbolizes duality, balance, and partnership. It is no mere number. It’s the foundation of binary systems which drivs technology. Two represents connection—think of pairs, or twins. It is also the smallest prime number. One author wrote about the number two as, “it embodies simplicity and strength, it shapes math, philosophy, and human relationships with harmony and contrast.” That’s a little over my head but i’m sure you get the drift.

Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead that i would have life, and have it more abundantly. The Christ of God included me with Himself, God plus me makes two, and if i’m included with the Almighty, i’m part of the One. THAT is an amazing heritage. The One Himself is also Three, we call Him the Trinity. He is One and He is three, and the three are in perfect unity in mind and purpose. Three includes One and two.

John 2:19 “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

Three really is an interesting number!

Pythagoras calls three the perfect number, expressive of “beginning, middle, and end,” therefore he calls it a symbol of Deity. Man is threefold, or having three parts incorporated together (body, soul, and spirit as spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 5:23). The world is three-fold as in earth, sea, and air. The enemies of man are three-fold, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our Christian graces are threefold, or having three parts incorporated together, Faith, Hope, and love in 1 Corinthians 13:13. Anything labeled as “cardinal” means something of foremost importance, or paramount. The cardinal colors for TV and computer screens are three in number, red, green, and blue and are electronically mixed together to make different colors. The number three holds some truly profound philosophical significance, some think it symbolizes balance, harmony, and completeness. There are triadic structures in nature, as in birth, life, death, to concepts like past, present, future, human ear parts, clover leaves and parts of an atom.

There are three witnesses in John 5:8 “the Spirit, the water, and the blood”, and of course, above all, is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who is One, and Three.

Milking stools always have only three legs, because the ground surface the stool would often be set on was uneven and a four legged stool would always be rocking, the fourth point always looking for it’s resting place. Three points are always balanced. Triangles are made of three points, anything less than three points is just a straight line between two points, and a fourth point added to the three points is always looking for it’s own plane.

Bridge supports, roof systems, floor truss systems, to name a few are built out of any series of triangles which are geometric shapes made of three points. I’d say when God invented the number and concept of the number three it was absolutely brilliant.

The number three includes the numbers one and two. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the triune God, three persons in one, and the three more than agree, they are One. Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

The Father is God, and He is One with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:17 “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,”

Jesus is God, and He is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 1:8 “But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.”

The Holy Spirit is God, and He is One with the Father and the Son. In Acts 5:4 Ananias was told He lied to the Holy Spirit, that he lied to God.

That’s three. God is One, God in us, that’s two, God who is all in all – three in one, the One is three.

One is God,

for He is the First and the Last,

Alone, He is all encompassing,

self-sufficient,

self-existent,

and self-revelational,

He alone, just by Himself, is enough and plenty.

The One can stand alone.

The Lord is God and He is One.

Now,

One plus God is the majority, that’s two.

thus One plus one is two because Jesus included us in His death and resurrection.

We qualify under the theme of the book of John, we are the “whom so ever”.

Considering Three…

three is superior

and each point accompanies the other two points.

Three is One, and Three includes One and two;

In the case of God, One is Three,

Three is superior to anything more than Three because God is superior and He is the first, the middle, and last, the beginning and the end.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

He as One

the One is Three

and the Three are One

three always includes One and two, which includes me and you.

Always.

i don’t know about you, but i can’t help but to marvel at the mysterious oneness of the Father, Son, and Spirit, who is One, especially as was manifested by the Lord Jesus in His brief life here as the son of man. Yet the Lord prayed before His crucifixion, “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me”. Think about it.

Romans 8:32, “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all—how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” We who believe are organically one with Christ. We are identified with Christ, who lives in us. It is this identification which makes coming into the likeness of the Son possible, as the greater includes the lesser. Colossians 3:3 “… your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Jesus prayed John 17:20-21, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” This prayer clearly conveys God’s desire that man share and enter into the oneness of the Divine Trinity. Like God, it is personal and relational, always. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Three In One God now dwells in His believers according to Ephesians. 4:6 to live in oneness with Him and with one another. If you’d like, check out John 14:20 also. Ultimately, God desires that all His people be built up into the one Body of Christ as the house of God to express the oneness of our Great King.

Friends, let us take action and do Colossians 3:2 which says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” and be at peace as you go your way. Amen.

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

In the beginning, when God made all things, i believe He created a thing called “stories”, and then put the need in man’s heart to need parables, romances, records, and chronicles.  God saw the need in man’s heart for the ability to recite that which had already occurred, a description of past events, and to this idea of stories, He also added a heaping double tablespoon of remembrance. Stories are a way of recording life, communicating with others, and even creating inspirational images for the listeners or readers to play as often as they want, like a video reel in each person as they imagine what they heard or read.

What are stories then and why are they important? From my perspective, stories are narratives, something told, retold or recounted, which convey our experiences, ideas, and even emotions through some type of plot, complete with characters and props which aid in the telling of the story. They can be fictional or true, oral or written, and often aim to entertain, educate, or inspire. They are powerful to shape cultures, preserve histories, and connect people across time, helping us to envision empathy and imagination. Stories are a fundamental part of our human experience, and are a bridge between individuals, cultures, and generations. So, so much of the Bible is story after story, parable after parable, metaphor and idiom buried in narratives, themes, and stories, over and over and over. Why would God do that? Stories are a brilliant idea invented by God and built of words or pictures. They captivate our imagination, recall and arouse emotions, and many times cultivate empathy by allowing us to step into someone else’s shoes for a moment.

Through narratives and stories, we explore complex themes, confront moral dilemmas, and find meaning in chaos, making sense of the world around us, and we also use stories in an effort to understand and reckon with the intersection of The Divine and ourselves. The stories, metaphors, and idioms are inventions God gave man so that man, the finite, would have a way of relating to God, the infinite.

Like the Old Testament stories start with the birth of the universe, the fall of man kind, and include the multi-faceted stories of the faithfulness of God, friends and those who oppose God, slaves to freedom, rebellion and redemption. The story of Abraham and his three “Hear i am’s”, his leaving here and going there recounting the adventure and drama of all the life and times which he lived between his leaving and arriving. Imagine the stories in the metaphor heavy Psalms read in parallel with the story of David all the way to David’s last breath.

This was all God’s idea to put it in the heart of man to need stories. Think, stories preserve history and cultural identity, the pass down values, traditions, and lessons through generations. From ancient cultures to modern novels, they shape our understanding of the past and allow us a glimpse into the Heart of God to inspire future possibilities. The ancient Jews used something called oral Torah, passed from one generation to another, father to son, father to son and so on until today. Their oral tradition served to unite communities, creating shared experiences that strengthen moral, ethical, and social bonds.

As example there is Passover which is celebrated every year. The idea of celebrating Passover is to “tell the story” of God’s great deliverance for Israel. In re-telling the story we recall the trials, hardship, and deliverance of Israel from slavery to the blood of the lamb, complete with God bringing plagues upon Egypt, Moses calling to “Let my people go!”, to the spectacular parting of the Red Sea. The retelling of the Passover story inspires us to imagine, from Egypt to the promised land, of God’s ability to deliver His people. The Lord is faithful!

Biblical stories are timeless links to ancient traditions, legends, archetypes, myths, symbols and the poetry of metaphor and idiom. In our effort as finite beings, we struggle, in our limited vocabulary to describe the infinity of God in an attempt and intention to relate to the one called “the Beginning and End”, “the first and last”, “Lion of Judah and Lamb of God”. As a result we tell God-stories and write God-thoughts which connect us to God.

We tell stories which might start out saying, “one time we were praying” and then there follows a series of supernatural happenings. Or we open with, “He is like” followed by a series of comparisons describing His glorious character and personality traits, His qualities, behaviors, attitudes, and values. We tell the story of Jesus for others that they would know our God and King, that they too could be set free from sin, death, hell, and the grave. God is NOT that hard to know, we’ve just got to find our “want to”.

Stories challenge our assumptions, spark curiosity, and encourage critical thinking. Yea, critical thinking. Now there’s something we all desperately need. Whether through books, films, or oral traditions, stories provide a safe space to explore honesty, humility, compassion, understanding and their practical applications. Like in Mark 12:30-31 Jesus says to “love your neighbor as you love yourself“. In our story telling we can explore how we are going to love ourselves so we have an idea of how to love our neighbor. Stories make, what appears as abstract concepts relatable. One man said, “they make life touchable and influence us to repent, believe, and follow”.

Friends go with me on this. From cover to cover the Bible is personal and relational. From cover to cover it is the story of God and His ultimate goal, His mission, otherwise known as the “missiology of God”, to be known and for Him to know us. It’s the story of God’s house and the Kingdom of God.

Tell your story of redemption. Tell it. Ultimately, our stories are vital because they connect us, teach us, and inspire us to dream and believe, reflect and speculate, to cultivate and grow. Everyone has a story or two. Tell the story of your path to Jesus, oh, and please spend more time on the goodness of God than the badness of yourself. Remember, ultimately, stories are vital because they connect us to God, to each other, and as a testimony to the dying world around us. Tell your story and watch God move.

       There are no extra words in the Bible. No irrelevant words or characters in the Bible at all. No fluff. All of the words, from cover to cover relate to other words, and all the words form the story of the love of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Cover to cover it is personal and relational because God is always personal and relational. God never even calls the devil and all the denizens of hell “it”, He calls them “they”.

The concept of God, Yahweh, the King of the Universe as personal and relational is, not only central to the word of God, but also unique among the religions of the world. Unlike an impersonal force or abstract principle, our personal God possesses attributes such as, hope, love, peace, consciousness, will, and emotion which enables a dynamic relationship with humanity, with “dynamic” being defined as “everything that happens between ourselves and God because we are in a relationship Him”. The Lord has a desire to engage with mankind in a purposeful, personal way, which facilitates a connection that shapes human purpose and identity. That’s a big deal. Did you catch that?

And how are we, who are so finite, going to know God who is so infinite? Probably the biggest way is His personal nature being revealed throughout the Bible, not only in words and paragraphs, but in themes, narratives, testimonies, and even poetry. His very heart is revealed in page after page of the stories of God’s people, of battles, exiles, of kings good and bad, of prophets and preachers, and the coming Messiah. The Bible portrays God as the one who speaks, loves, and acts with intention. In fact, the Bible opens with God being the first one to speak in the universe, with it being recorded by Moses as “God said” 29 times in Genesis alone. God created humanity in His image AND reflection meaning how He looks as well as how He is. This points to a shared capacity for relationship and creativity. The narrative of God walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden illustrates and illuminates a relational God who pursues companionship with His creation. And it doesn’t stop there, this theme continues throughout scripture, as seen in God’s covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, each reflecting a personal commitment to guide and sustain His people, not to mention the creme de la creme of Jesus getting eyelevel with mankind for the first time in history. If that’s not personal and relational then i don’t know what is.

Not what but Who is God’s mission most revealed in? His very nature is relational and is most profoundly expressed in the person of Jesus. In theology, or the “study of God”, Jesus is God incarnate, exemplifying His everlasting love and bridging the gap between humanity and God. It’s personal and relational. Through His life, teachings, and sacrifice, Jesus demonstrates God’s desire for reconciliation and intimacy with anyone who is willing to come to Him. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The entire New Testament emphasizes this through passages like John 15:15, where Jesus calls His disciples friends, not servants, highlighting His relationship built on, not doing the rules, but being and living differently, in communion and community with God.

Additionally, the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in sustaining this personal connection. Described as a comforter in John 14:16, a guide in John 16:13, the Spirit dwells within believers, 1 Timothy 1:14, and offers ongoing communication with God, Romans 8:26. This indwelling presence cultivates and inspires prayer, worship, and continually creates a sense of God being ever present, reinforcing the relational dynamic, and i hesitate using the word “dynamic” because most of us probably don’t use that word much, but in this case it’s a good fit.

Do we realize the implications that a personal and relational God are profound? It suggests that humans are not alone in an indifferent universe but are known and valued by a God who seeks their being whole, redeemed, healed, and healthy, by His standards, not according to our own low hanging fruit standards. This relationship invites individuals into a dialogue of faith, where they can experience love, forgiveness, and purpose. Ultimately, the belief in a personal God transforms abstract theology into a living daily experience, where divine love becomes the foundation for hope and connection. The Lord our God is always personal and relational.

40 years ago my son was seeing a girl and i asked him if it was serious. He replied, “oh no dad, it’s just a hook up, nothing personal, nothing serious.” i didn’t get it at the moment, but my heart was terribly disturbed, yet, no matter how much i thought about what he had said, i couldn’t identify why i had such turbulence in my heart about it. At least not until recently, 40 years later. While at a meeting of sorts, in front of me was a young man with a book and a Bible. The book said something in the title about principles, so being inquisitive, i asked him what the principles were. He said, “The first one is don’t take things personally.” Hmmm … i asked what he meant. He said, “Like the crucifixion of Jesus, don’t let it upset you, don’t take it personally.” Immediately i was appalled within myself and all at once i realized why my son’s words and this young mans bid to not take some things personally bothered me so much. Sex is very personal and to call it “merely” a meeting for sex not personal is absurd. In today’s casual “hookup culture”, one of the most personal things two humans do is reduced to making each of them into a mere tool, something disposable. The crucifixion of Christ is the most personal and relational thing to ever happen in the universe. i said to the young man, “A slap to the face of Jesus was personal. Matthew 26:67. A spear in His side was very personal. With every hammer blow driving nails in the Saviors hands and feet was very, very personal, unavoidably personal. See Philippians 2:8. The Bible, cover to cover is God’s story and how we fit in His paradigm called the “Kingdom of God” and it’s completely personal and relational.”

Always. Matthew 22:37-39 is personal and relational. 1 Thessalonians 4-5, encouraging one another is personal and relational. And that’s just a very few.

God is always personal and relational and we should be also. Even when we say, “nothing personal, it’s just business”, it is personal and it’s not merely just business. Let us read our Bible like lovers looking for their beloved, God was personal and relational before the beginning and He will be personal and relational after the end. Think about it.

Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.

Hmmm … in His image AND His likeness. In His image, image being a word, basically, referring to a representation. What kind of representation though? Five times it is used of man as created in the image of God. You know, some translations seem to over simplify the length and width of the word of God until we begin to lose the context, but let me add, i am, by no means a pro or a highly educated anybody. Regardless though, it isn’t difficult to understand that we are more than just arms, legs, and eyes similar to the Lord. Some people seem to want to relate to God so bad they are willing to redefine the High King of the Universe as someone similar to themselves. Uhh, yea, don’t do that. It’s like they want God to be like them, instead of them finding identity in being like Him. We are supposed to become like Him, not refabricate God in our own image, yet i fear for many, that’s exactly what we’ve done.

We may say He is too high above us that we could relate to Him, but that’s not true. Jesus Christ came to us that we would relate to God almighty, He leveled the playing field, so to speak. He came and got next to people right where His eyes and their eyes were on the same level, physically, metaphorically, and spiritually. He got eye level with us, right down where we live. He came not only to relate to us in the way we look, but also searching for those who reflected His heart. Not only an image, but His reflection also.

Ok, so i’ll just say it straight out, not everyone is a child of God. We may have an image of His person, but we have to do more than simply appear similar in form. We may look similar to our neighbor, but we are not of their family and they are not of ours. They don’t act like us, they don’t have similar ideas or values and we don’t have theirs, and God is the same. Unless we reflect His preferences and standards, and possess His faith and values, washed in the blood of the Son, we simply are not in the House of God. i did not make that judgment, it’s the standard of the Lord Himself.

Up until the advent of Jesus Christ, the Lord was not “eye level” with us, but when Jesus came to town, God got right where He could look straight in the eyes of mankind. God gave us His face.

Some would simplify the whole concept down to saying it is “meeting people where they are”, which truly is a good idea, but i believe the Lord has something more in-depth in mind. The idea of “eye level” has everything to do with where your horizons are and what exactly is your focal point. Being able to see our horizons helps us put objects, both near and far, in proper scale and perspective in relation to where we are.

It’s nice that some just want everyone to be ok, everyone to just get along, sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya and Michael Row the Boat Ashore, but that’s a dream. If everyone was in the family of God, and anyone was considered a child of God, murderers, rapists, crooked politicians, first responders, even the down and out total desponders, no matter what they believed, if anything at all, then Christ didn’t have to be crucified nor be resurrected from the dead to bring us home. We would already be home and His suffering and death would have just, what? Been for funnzies? Not hardly, not ever. Consider that in Christ, who is the truth, are the gates of the glorious city revealed, He is the prince of the Kingdom who reigns supreme in the city of God’s presence, and in His righteous person is all wisdom which we can lean on. In the external and internal appearance of God is our standard of how to look and how to have our being.

To reiterate then, when God said He made man in His image and likeness, He was referring to His external and internal appearance.

In the word for “image”, His external appearance, we see that through the cross is revealed the gates of the city of God from which rivers of living water flow. All of that points to the idea that the character of the cross was worked in the heart of God from before the foundations of the universe were laid.

And in the word for His “likeness”, or His internal appearance, it means He is someone mankind can lean upon, THE one in whom we can find safety, right standards, and salvation. In His internal appearance is the ultimate voice of authority as a strong leader. He knows the truth and He is the truth, for there is no such thing as a “little falsehood”, or “little lie”, and there is neither in Him.

Romans 10:9-10, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” More than saying some magic words and boom, everything is fine, just fine. No. It is more.

From the beginning, God set in motion that through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is the door of salvation for all who would come to Him.

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Once we have asked Jesus to live in us, we take His person, His reflection upon ourselves as a new creation. We who are in Christ are more than just an outward appearance but also the reflection of His person. Without God’s reflection, we are only half of who the Lord has called us to be. We are not ALL the children of God, and only get to be in His family by the blood of Christ who gave Himself a ransom for us.

What do you think?

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