Have you ever tried to find the picture hidden in a picture? It’s like, the more you try and see “in” the picture, the more you only see your first impression.
A picture in a picture is called a stereogram, which is typically, nothing more than a tiled pattern, and it’s not just a play of imagination, the hidden image is very realistic and it is just a matter of seeing it.
Isn’t the Lord and scripture very much like that many times?…often the answer to our prayers is there if we give ourselves time to let God re-focus our eyes, minds, and hearts to grasp His intents and purposes. Scripture is like a 3D picture to me…i read the passage, and re-read it, and then re-re-re-read it, sometimes for many weeks, over and over again…there are parts that are obvious, of course, but as you know by now…with God, there is always more. The parables Jesus told were many-faceted, and as often as we read and understand them one way, over time, the Lord unfolds them in a new way, right before our very eyes.
When the Lord gives us ideas, i see them like looking at a stereogram. It might be just a word, a dream, a snippet of a vision, or a repetitive whisper in our hearts. It may be so faint we’re not sure if we should take it seriously or not…we all think lots of things, and learning what to take seriously is a learned, educated choice. 1Cor1:9 says God is faithful, and we must believe and know He is exactly that. Because He is faithful, even when we aren’t sure that what we saw is really what we saw, He’ll run it past us again, and then a little later He’ll give us another idea to accompany the first idea, a little scripture, a word from a friend or even someone we don’t know bringing a confirming word. But, little by little, He draws us deeper into a relationship with Him, clears our vision, opens our ears, and inch by inch, we start getting God’s big idea…and yes, every single one of His ideas are a big idea, and a big deal.
i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a weekly, semi-live broadcast, 30 minutes or so, meant to give everyone a little cool jazz and a bone to chew on as they go their way to the rest of their work-a-day world. This programming isn’t just a run-of-the-mill discussion about the Bible… it would be like everyone else, who all too often, do the easy things to have a little content out there…my intent is to speak to people about 3” below the surface of their presentation face, right down where they live. The contemplative conversation may be challenging, and maybe even a bit irritating at times to some, but the entire purpose is that there are things, we as believers, simply must talk about. i don’t mean we have to agree, but we do need to begin to, more specifically, address the issues that prevent us from coming to a better understanding of the heart of God. Church, we’ve truly got to change if we’re going to go around telling everyone we are world changers…let’s stop sitting where we are, stewing in our own secret mess going nowhere fast.
How do, or did, you get those “big ideas” you have… where’d you get’em or better, who gave’em to you?
There was a man who inherited some property from his uncle. It was quite a bit more than just a few acres. The man had always lived in town and in his youth he’d only gone to visit the uncle once in a while with his folks, and when he had gotten older he continued to stay in town and still only visited the uncle from time to time. When the uncle died he left it all to the nephew who was clueless about what to do with it all… the empty barn, the pasture and woods, not to mention the uncle’s old house. Seeing as how the man was given to prayer in the evening on a regular basis, one evening, he got the bright idea that he should just go out to the old place, sit in the barn, and talk to the Lord. It was a great idea and was easy enough to do… the next evening he went out there and set a spell, praying and thinking. He thought about a lot of things sitting up there in that old barn… he could almost hear his uncle telling him stories about riding horses, barn catfights, kids playing hide & seek after dark, tending cows and chickens… you know, typical farm stuff. He thought it was all so nice, that he decided he’d come back the next evening and pray and think again, and then the next evening, and the next until he had returned every evening for a week. Into his head came another idea that he’d like to make being at the old place a regular occurrence. He started heading out there early on Fridays, staying at the uncle’s house through the weekend, and didn’t come back to town until Sunday evening for church. Eventually, he started staying out there an entire week at a time, then he decided he liked it so much, he just moved from town altogether. It wasn’t long before he had the notion he’d like a barn cat or two and some chickens. It was just delightful. Then he got a cow/calf pair and filled the loft with hay. The months came and went, and as life goes, he met a girl he eventually married, and raised a whole bunch of kids, right there on that farm, the very same one he paid no attention to as a kid… then one day, it all became apparent right in front of him… God had done this thing, and it was beautiful.
One morning as the fellow woke up, he started remembering how God gave him a little idea, and then another idea to go with the first idea, and as he followed the Lord’s leading, it was peaceful and easily entreated and he just followed along with what God was doing. He couldn’t see, at first, where it was all going, and it had never entered his mind in his early life that he would ever live out there in all that green, away from the city. The man saw, with both eyes, in stereoscopic vision, that the Lord had led him out of where he was, to a better place to raise a family. Little by little, God’s big idea became apparent and he had been so clueless all along, in fact, for the most part, he thought all those ideas were his own until the Lord showed him the long view, and then he saw it… everything came into sharp focus… it was the Lord, even before he had inherited the place. God had been planting the seeds of that life, long before he got there.
Seeing the Lord and understanding scripture is like looking at a stereograph… we stare and stare, focus and focus, and then one day, our eyes relax and we stop trying so hard… we might see double a little bit… and then, oddly, things come into view within the picture… and there He is, glorious Jesus.
Don’t you know, God gives us all ideas? Matthew 5:45, “… for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” i believe if God didn’t give man good ideas, he just wouldn’t have any… good ones that is. Mankind left to himself tends to spiral downward, but with the Holy Spirit in our middle, we tend to spiral upward.
But what is it that impairs our having ideas and understanding, with understanding being the mental putting together of ideas, or connecting the dots, so to speak?
For those of us who know the Lord and read the Bible but still struggle with perception and understanding, there may be underlying issues that need to be acknowledged and addressed, like what i call, “spiritual binocular impairment”, which is where our spiritual eyes are unable to align properly, creating two slightly different views of God within ourselves. Some would call this a type of “spiritual cognitive dissonance”, two schools of faith at war with each other in our heads.
Many believers suffer from either being nearsighted or being farsighted, but neither of those seem to actually impair our ability to grasp God’s communications. Aside from that then, what else would impair our ability to hear and see the Lord? i have some ideas, and yes, i do believe the Lord pointed them out to me over a period of time concerning myself. One problem would be to suffer from a “lazy eye”, meaning one part of our spiritual vision is busy focusing on the Lord, but the other component of our stereoscopic view of Him seems to not be in any hurry to participate, it’s just too much trouble. Proverbs 26:14, “As a door turns on its hinges, So does the lazy man on his bed.”
How about having “spiritual wall eyes”, meaning both eyes look away from the point of focus, making balance and navigation a real challenge? Neither eye wants to cooperate, making vision a near impossibility. John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
And then there are those with “wandering eyes”, which do work together, but are easily led astray and have a lack of fidelity… they are not loyal to God or the rest of the body of Christ… they do what they want, when they want, and aren’t committed to anything but their own vision. Jeremiah 2:19, “Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that’s what you’ll get. You’ll pay dearly for your disloyal ways. Take a long, hard look at what you’ve done and its bitter results. Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?”
i had a dream once where i was traveling around town with a couple of angels, and everywhere i looked, there was a large black spot right in the middle of the vision in my left eye. It was a dream of “spiritual macular degeneration”… i was seeing, but not seeing… not that the view was messed up… it was me who wasn’t seeing it. i fully believe that if God doesn’t open our eyes and ears, then we will not see or hear His divine ideas and visions which He gives to us. Luke 24:30-31, “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him… ”
All of those are treatable vision problems, but i do think we have to be interested enough to let the Lord repair those conflicts… the first is to admit there is a conflict in our heads and hearts, to begin with.
Being open to the Lord’s ideas, taking a chance on what we see and hear, that it actually might be the Lord… i believe is a learned behavior… it sort of goes against everything our society, and even some churches, tell us. Some say God doesn’t speak to men anymore… well, that’s just stupid… why not? Personally, i don’t see what the problem is. He has a mouth, we have ears. John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” He speaks, we who have ears to hear, know His voice. Three times in the book of John, Jesus said plainly that the sheep hear His voice, comprehend who is speaking, and follow Him… i think that’s pretty straightforward.
Evelyn says, “The Holy Spirit is so close to us, He gives us ideas and we think we thought of it.” How open are we to the Lord’s ideas and visions?
Stereopsis is an aspect of “normal” healthy vision. Here’s how it works. First, both eyes must be accurately aimed at the same target. Then, because the two eyes are located in different positions, each takes in a unique view from its own perspective. The two separate images are sent to the brain for processing. When the two images arrive simultaneously in the back of the brain they are united into one picture. The Lord has given us stereo vision, which is how we have depth perception. If you have stereo vision, then count your blessings!
Ask the Lord for ideas, visions, and imagination. i don’t mean we should do whatever pops in our head, but we can learn what to keep and what to throw out. And sure, we’re all going to get it wrong here and there, but somewhere along the line, we’ve got to step off the page of rules and regulations and walk on water.
In Matthew 14 the boat was in the middle of a turbulent sea in what the writer called, “a contrary wind”, contrary meaning antagonistic, whipping back and forth, creating confusion. It would appear that in the middle of all this, Jesus came walking on the water, scaring the soup out of everyone. Jesus said, “Keep your shirt on fellas, it’s me, don’t be afraid.” Then, in vs28 Peter, good old Peter, got the bright idea to walk on the water like Jesus was doing. The rest of the story is history which any of us can read. My question is, where do we think Peter got the big idea to walk on water? Do we truly think he thought of doing such a preposterous thing all by himself? Scripture is silent about that, and i realize we can’t build sound doctrine from a platform of silence, but i think the Lord gave Him the idea. Vs 29, Jesus says, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” i get it that Peter was pretty daring, and, occasionally, i am too, but who was it that persuaded Peter that this was a good idea? i believe it was the Lord. Peter may have considered that he thought of it by himself, but haven’t you ever had daring ideas, and taken action, only to realize later that it was the Lord who gave you that idea, and initially you thought you thought of it all by yourself?
Everyone wants to do exploits with Jesus and go on adventures with God, but you know, it takes trust in God, careful examination of the idea, scriptural alignment, and confirmation. The Lord always confirms His word to us. He gives us what i call, “prophetic markers” along the way… a word from a friend, a confirming dream, scripture to support our motivations and faith. Carefully, we have the big idea to “test the waters” so to speak. James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure [morally and spiritually undefiled], then peace-loving [courteous, considerate], gentle, reasonable [and willing to listen], full of compassion and good fruits. It is unwavering, without [self-righteous] hypocrisy [and self-serving guile].
i was self-employed for quite a while and loved what i did, but somewhere in my head was the nagging thought that a crossroads was coming up and i was going to need to change direction. One day i had the faint little thought that it would be good for me to go back to school. i ignored it… but like a drifting vapor, the idea came back around several more times, enough so, that i decided not to ignore it any longer. Years earlier, i never was one to enjoy school much, but this time it just seemed like it was the thing to do, and the more i thought about it, the more it was a great idea.
i started looking at local college classes that were available and enrolled in one. i found i really enjoyed college… then enrolled in a few more, with much success, very unlike high school. i began to see that the entire thing was the Lord directing my paths. Of course, over the next few years, there were a few very trying times… there were some really hard classes that i just wanted to quit and go back to the life i had before… but the Lord inspired me to persist… just keep going. In the words of one fellow, i figured i didn’t come that far to only come that far. There was more, and i became determined to finish.
All along, it was God Himself giving me ideas, even helping me understand complex academic concepts. i’ve never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, so i absolutely know it was God who gave me understanding. Eventually, i got a degree and to this day, i still have a sense of incredible accomplishment.
In 1 Sam 27, David was being hunted by Saul. In the opening verse, we read that David “thought to himself” that eventually, Saul was going to nail him, and the best thing he could do was get his men together and go hide out in Philistine country. His big idea to hide out amongst the Philistines saved his life, Saul called off the hunt.
Did David think of such a good idea all by himself? i doubt it. The Lord was with Him and David was available… so he took the idea and ran with it.
In Judges 6 there was this guy named Gideon who was a real scaredy cat. In vs 11 an angel came and sat under a tree while Gideon secretly threshed wheat in a wine press, hiding from the Midianites. The angel told Gideon he was a mighty man of valor, and Gideon basically replied with a big “Yeah right!” Gideon even argued asking if what the angel said was true, then why this, and why that, and even challenged him to prove it. The Lord just kept reassuring Gideon that he was the one to deliver Israel with confirmation after confirmation. He tested the Lord about every way i can imagine, and God met him time after time. Eventually, in one last confirmation, the Lord sent Gideon down to the enemy’s camp where he heard a dream interpretation that caused something to “click” in him. In Judges 7:17, when he heard, he worshipped and set the army in array to liberate Israel. He bought into God’s big idea, regardless of his fears and doubts, he tested the Lord and found God to be true.
Do you have any God-breathed ideas going on with you? What have you done with them? How long do you think you can ignore the Lord, after all, He was the one who birthed those ideas in you, and they aren’t there just for your entertainment? The Lord has an endless line of ideas for your blessing, health, prosperity, and welfare, we simply have to be willing to take a chance and go with the flow of the river. Think about it. Think about it
And now, the biggest idea of all of God’s big ideas… is Jesus, the Christ of God as Savior, Messiah, our salvation and deliverer… literally, the biggest and best idea God ever had, forever. Isaiah 46:9-10, “… For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’”
From before the foundations of the world were laid, the character of the cross was worked in the heart of the Father, so from the beginning, before there was such a thing as sin, God had a plan of salvation for whom so ever would return, coming in the gates of home as a victorious penitent.
Sending the Son to redeem us was an absolutely amazing idea that had been in motion before anything was anything.
God’s idea to raise up Moses to deliver Israel and become a powerful testimony today, was off the charts… He had the idea to take the Israelites through the Red Sea and make miraculous provision for them was most spectacular. God had the idea to send righteous prophets to tell His story, reflect His heart, and foretell the coming of the Messiah, which was totally unique… it was God’s idea to bring Jesus in by way of a virgin. He had the design to resurrect Jesus, and it was His plan to give us ideas about how to do things, create things, and develop concepts… doing righteous business was His big idea, and even smaller things like the need to bury the dead as a kindness was His idea. It was God’s idea to make flowers, flavors, colors, and scents and to give man the ability to perceive and appreciate all those things. He was the one who put it in the heart of man to need music, dreams, sunrises, and sunsets. The Lord has really big ideas and i’d like to join Him in all He wants to do. Come, go with me! In the meantime, i’m going to ask Him for new ideas, visions, and words… in our bedroom, on the wall above the dresser at the foot of the bed are three large words that i see every morning: dream, believe, imagine… and it’s like every day my God is reminding me to exercise those three in His Name every waking minute, to let go and allow Him to take me into His infinite imagination of restoration and goodness.
i’m Social Porter with Cletus Iaomi and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the deck area overlooking the beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge and every evening is pleasant.
This production was supported by Living In His Name Ministries, Tommy, Perry, Alan, and Kevin at the Mebane Freedom League, The 20/20 Men’s Group, Sister’s Coffee Company, and of course, the ever-strong and reliable, Jeff and Karen at Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.
. What big ideas do you have? Do you think you thought of things all by yourself, or is God at the roots of it all? What are your God dreams, visions, and words? You’ve got them, i guarantee it, you just need a way to make it happen. Let’s pursue the Lord together to release the vision of His heart to the world… afterall, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” Think about it, and Amen.