Genesis 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” It wasn’t merely good from God’s perspective, it was very good, and it could not have been good unless God made it. That means He imparted Himself into all which was made in order for it to be good. Here begins, a closer look to find the attributes of God Almighty intrinsic to all that was made. i am by no means a scholar, nor do i consider myself scholarly. i simply try, read, make notes, and truly have a heart to know the Lord. As i’ve said before, God is the most important person in the universe and He has the most important things to say in the universe. i’d really like to know Him and hear what He’s got to say, more than knowing myself, you, or anyone else. The simple glance of His eye is more important than the deepest things born of flesh and blood.

i reckon a great place to start is by looking at the book of “first things”, Genesis. What did God hide of Himself in The Heavens. Let’s “BREAK IT DOWN”.

There are two parts to the concept of “heavens”, one is physical which includes all that is above the earth, and the second is in reference to the beautiful base camp and dwelling place of God. For the sake of brevity, i’ll keep it to the physical.

In 1530 the word was translated as only the “visible dome or arch of the sky”, but at a closer look, God made it so much more. In Gen1:8 the heavens are referred to with the word “expanse” attached, which brings with it the idea that God “hammered” it out, so to speak, when He created the “vault above the earth” known as “the heavens”, that plasma blue dome over our heads. From my limited view of things, i imagine the Lord in the never ending extension of His dwelling place developing the “expanse of the Heavens” by holding His concept, like a malleable ball, in His hands. With His fingers, He pressed it down, pushed it over and stretched it back, rolled it all out flat, folded the sky back together, then rolled it out again, stretching and pressing outward until He got it to the right size according to His design parameters. Then with a precisely shaped Holy Ghost hammer, He tapped it all into place to become what we now see over our heads.

When the Lord created the heavens, that in and of itself was an infinitely incredible feat of wisdom, engineering, and rolling creativity. Isaiah40:22 says the Heavens are stretched and spread out like a tent or a curtain. From the Heavens we get sunrise, and sunset, sun, moon, stars, rain, snow, thunder, etc. Clouds and birds constantly find their course in the space we call the sky or what God created as “the Heavens”. We have many idioms and metaphors in reference to the heavens, like when Israel was disobedient, the Lord said He would make “the heavens like iron”, a metaphor meaning no rain and He would give a deaf ear to them except to hear their repentance.

The heavens tell of the glory of God in Psalm 19:1, they declare His righteousness and praise Him according to Psalms 50 & 69. The O.T. word is spelled in such a way so as to indicate that the Lord is revealed and also concealed in all He made, and i do believe something moves in our heart when we look into the expanse of the sky. Something deep within us responds to God who has hidden of Himself, wonder and eternity in the Heavens. The very idea of “the heavens” was designed for us by the Lord as a shelter, where God, who is the very geometry of creation, connects to us like a flowing stream. In English, we just say heavens, but God intends us to realize it is much larger than simply saying “the sky”. In all things which He made there is a common thread of God revealed and God concealed … “Deus absconditus/Deus revelatus” (God concealed/God revealed)….in other words, for many He is hidden from reason, and to others He is totally discoverable to them who press on to know Him.

Through the Heavens, the personification of the geometry of creation connects to us through the door by which the first breath, the spark of the Spirit ignites our imagination. Through the door of the heavens, God breathed the first breath on all things living. He created a need in the heart of man for the vastness of perpetual endlessness He calls “the heavens” as a reference to His great love for us. He gave it to us to look up and wonder, for us to know His goodness while watching the moon look back at us from behind night clouds. You may think this odd, but i must admit, i…have dreamed, in fleeting moments, of having tea with the stars and catching lunch with the morning breeze. We need the expanse of the Heavens.

A poet named Queenie wrote: Some people are like stars, so close yet so far away. Some people are like the moon, Shining so bright, but rarely noticed.

Some people are like comets, They burn so bright and so fast that they don’t last. Some people are like constellations, They look so put together when really everything is far from it. Some people are like the night sky, They look so dark far away, but really are filled with light.

Romans1:20 reads that God’s invisible things, as his eternal power and Godhead, “are clearly seen” in the creation of the world, “being understood by the things that are made.” i can see how especially the heavens leads us to the knowledge of God. The expanse of the Heavens over our head preaches of God’s glory all night and all day, with each day always pointing to the next, declaring His salvation in all languages to every soul under the dome of the sky, in every part of the world, without ceasing. Now that is an amazing thing the Lord made. What do you think?

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

We have all been invited to meet the Beautiful Friend in the words of Jesus to “repent, believe, follow” from Mark 1:14-16. i don’t know about you, but i think most people can’t resist, in the long run, a divine invitation. When Jesus came walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33, He bid Peter to get out of the boat and walk with Him. He said, “Come”. That was a personal invitation by God for Peter to participate in that divine moment. You know what i mean when i say “divine invitation”? i think we’ve all got two choices in the matter of meeting our Beautiful Friend, we can either come to meet Him with our dancing clothes on, or we can meet Him from a stretcher as we’re carried into God’s hospital to meet with Doctor Jesus, or meet Jesus while looking up at Him from a hospital bed after recovering from Holy Spirit surgery. Dressed for dancing or on a stretcher, what’s it gonna’ be? Personally, i think i’ll get my dancing clothes on and begin learning some of God’s fancy footwork.

i’m confident the Lord will show us the dance steps. Afterall, dancing was His idea you know, and i don’t mean that nasty stuff the world does, i mean the kind of dancing that requires a relationship and some knowledge of your partner, matching steps, turning with the rhythm, dipping at the lulls, rising at the crescendo’s.

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

This is something special, something beautiful. We’ve got cool jazz and the kind of contemplative conversation that makes you say, “hmmmm…”, something smooth for the late night people, or maybe those on their way to work. i suppose some are sitting up late in their big arm chair, pondering the things which occurred today, or maybe the things which didn’t occur today. Others are just late night people, they just seem to function better after the sun goes down… i have no idea why, your reasons are your own. And then there’re the people who are up late because you can’t sleep. Stuck in that grey place between awake and asleep, the grey place where nothing hides, tossing and turning like a fish out of water.

God gives us beautiful words if we’ll listen closely enough. i want my words to settle into the hearts of the wounded, the beaten down, and for those who dwell in a loneliness so terrible that it has withered their hearts and bowed them to the ground. God will give us pockets full of hope to give away like candy in our pockets and words made beautiful with the anointing of the Lord, the infusion of the Holy Spirit, soaked in the Well Of Heaven, the Radiant One, Jesus. Oh yes He will. Lord overcome us with Your beautiful love.

i’ve listened to many a prayer offered up for other people, from myself and others, and every now and then, i’ll hear the most beautiful words flowing out of the mouth and heart of a believer, and it is a dancing melody that makes me close my eyes to see Jesus. Sometimes the words are like a cleaning woman dusting the shelves of someone’s heart with her emerald green dust cloth, making bright the sweeping purples, and dazzling yellows of that person’s life. Other times the words come like delicious, sparkling water, cold and refreshing, clear and alive with vision, peace, and discernment.

Jesus is the radiant dawn of hope, a gentle yet mighty river of compassion flowing endlessly into dry and weary souls. His presence is like warm sunlight breaking through storm clouds, illuminating every shadowed corner of the human heart with unyielding love. He is literally the personification of perfect kindness. Did you catch that? Not just compassion but a river of compassion, not just hope but the radiant dawn of hope. Jesus is like a tender shepherd whose gaze restores the weary and lifts the fallen with infinite grace. What kind of grace but infinite grace. In His eyes shines the wisdom of eternity, peaceful and profound all together, inviting all to drink their fill of forgiveness where no one is turned away.

i think i’ve grown weary of the words i’ve used as my old standby words and prayers. They just seem tired. All my words and methods, at first, were filled with light and anointing, but when i started using them repetitiously because i couldn’t think of anything else to say, that’s when i should have gone to God and asked Him for the passion and vision of renewed words of praise and prayer. But, instead, i lingered long on being perplexed over why everything seemed to go flat. Why did it take me so long to decide it would be good to ask God for words and inspirational prayers rather than be mired up in repetition? i have no idea. Matthew 6:7, “But when you pray, don’t use vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” i’d like God to give me beautiful words, words full of His presence, to a world which has lost it’s way, is at a constant loss for words and vision, and is repeatedly driven through a sieve of viscous circumstances. Lord fill our mouths with the prosperity of your goodness. We need you Jesus.

In the hush of the morning when the sun stretches wide,

God whispers soft wonders that tickle the sky!

He sprinkles the mountains with mysterious sparkle and shine,

And dresses the rivers in ribbons of light so fine.

Oh, the colors! The giggles! The breeze soft on my face!

Flowers burst open with joy in a glorious push.

Stars dance and twirl in the deep velvet night,

While clouds puff and float like balloons taking flight.

His beauty is everywhere, wild, free, and grand—

In every small leaf and the warmth of a hand.

It bounces and beams, it sings without words,

A marvelous, marvelous God of the birds!

i remember my younger days, so often my words were toxic, and now looking back i’m pleased no one died from drinking my water. But God has changed my source of water supply, He has caused His poetry to overwhelm me, causing me to become a rhythmic and rhyming life in Him instead of a toxic well of my own making. Fear masquerading as conviction is still fear you know. To me, the Lord is a dazzling, a one of a kind compass who not only points in the right, and righteous direction, but sings a lullaby of peace and hope, a gentle song of rest and the promise of becoming and overcoming through Jesus who is the Radiant Lover of my soul. Jesus causes me to look out upon the world around me with brilliant, clear eyes and to know His dance steps. He is the only one who walks among the broken with healing in His touch and peace in His words.

He leads me through His dance while the stars sing to us as only stars can, they sing between their joy and laughter in unbroken praise.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The Lord sees us as His poetry, and by the blood of Jesus, God planted His glory in our heart for the world to behold. He lives in us, He is singing rain, and dancing light, and because He lives in those who believe, !Yes…. you too can sing and dance.

Many years ago, i had a dream, and in that dream i was broken, filthy, and twisted in a dark so dark it was suffocating. Suddenly from far away, a door opened and Light stepped in the dark. i could see it was a person, strong and straight walking towards me. When He got closer i could see it was someone who emanated their own light and wore a crown. He stopped in front of me and called for me to come to him, He said, “Come”. i abhorred myself in His presence but He called again. i couldn’t resist the divine invitation. As i went towards Him, who was the Beautiful light, my filth fell off, my twist became straight, and my brokenness became whole so that by the time i got to The King, i was beautiful like He was. He leaned down and looked at me closely, and He said, “You can dance!” Then He Smiled so big the universe bent around Him. Music began to play from the light around Him; He pulled me up to stand on His feet, held my hands high, and we waltzed all over the room. The closer He gets to all things, the more all things become like Him.

Yes, you too can dance.

Do you know how beautiful you are? Do we know God sees each of us as the apple of His eye, not the worm in the apple, but as someone beautiful? i think more than a few only see the eyes of Judas the betrayer staring back at them from the reflection in the mirror. Because He lives within our heart, we are empowered to respect life and to abhor murder, loving justice, empowered to ardently honor the covenant of marriage between a man and woman, despising adultery and betrayal in any fashion. We are empowered by God to highly esteem the property of others to overcome our fleshly inclination to steal what is not ours, and enabled and authorized to be like Jesus in that we are honest and transparent, refusing to take a bribe. We are not for sale. Say that with me, we are not for sale.

Psalm 33:1 “Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise from the upright is beautiful.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

1 Peter 3:3-4, “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”

The Lord makes us, His people, to be beautiful, and He gives us the authority to make beautiful the world around us. Don’t you know according to 2 Corinthians 2:15 “… we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” His reality and substance whispers freedom to captives of fear, offering rest to the burdened and purpose to the wandering. Jesus is the master artist of redemption, weaving back together broken threads into tapestries of glory, turning the ashes of our old ways into breathtaking new life. He has and is boundless generosity, the humble servant-king, and the quiet strength that calms raging seas within.

He gives to us who believe on Him His fragrance, sometimes like the fragrance of rain, sometimes like grapes or flowers, that’s my Heavenly Father’s cologne and i’ve smelled Him many times. Like the little girl who nearly died, and one day, years later, when it was going to rain, she asked her mother, “Mom, can you smell that?” The little girl crossed her arms across her chest, closed her eyes, rocked a little bit and said “That’s what He smells like when you lay your head on His chest.”

There seems to be many who hate because they have no recognition of the destiny available to all humanity. The Beautiful One, Jesus, The One King and EverLord calls us all to His perfectly designed destiny. He says to us, “Come” as an invitation to participate with Him in His divinity. The book of Luke is about Jesus, the son of man, The book of John is about Jesus, the Son of God. i call the Book of John the “book of whomsoever”, because whom so ever can come to Him to be made beautiful, you can do that. You too can dance! If you have two left feet, so to speak, God will redeem the time, and restore what you’ve lost so you can join Him in dance. He says, come, throw off your morgue outfit, your death clothes and put on your dancing clothes!

You can sing beautiful words. Don’t you know God has made in you a perfect music making machine? It is your voice. At best man-made sound systems are 50-60% efficient, but the human voice, ahhh, now there is an amazing instrument. The man made sound system is typically in a tuned box, a box that is fixed size, and the only way it could become more efficient would be for it to be able to change size for each note the speaker must reproduce.    But God, that’s right, But God has given it to all men to be able to make perfect music. As our voice rises or falls to sing a note, our sinuses expand and contract to the correct tuning of what our voice is doing. Making it so if a low note requires a lot of air, our sinuses expand to make a long sound chamber so the low note is resonant. If we need to sing a high note, our sinuses change to shorten the amount of air needed to go high. With a little training, it is a perfect sound creating gift God has given to all man kind.

By the grace of God you can sing, you can dance, and you can know beautiful words from the Heart of the Lord to give away. You, Yes You, in Christ are beautiful, and Jesus has made you that way on purpose!

Genesis 49:21 “Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.” The word beautiful there is Hebrew for “goodly, or glistening”. Start now, looking to the Lord for glistening words for yourself and others. Ask Him, it is His good pleasure to give us good gifts. According to Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

There will come a time in Heaven called “The Day of Stars”. It will be a time of singing and rejoicing, when the stars, whom God knows by name, will walk down the streets of Heaven. Banners of praise for the Lord will stream, cheering and singing by the inhabitants of Heaven will roar, music from the Glory of God will bring us all to our feet. That’s the day we’ll meet the stars of Heaven, the ones who caused us all wonder and marvel for all our lives, who guided our paths on open seas, through mountain passages, across deserts, inspired hope and peace, and assisted in guiding the wise men of Matthew 2. What a day that will be when our mouths will never be turned down again, our eyes will have smiles in their corners, hearts will be filled with the presence of God, and the light of the Lord will be our light forever. What a beautiful day, what beautiful people, what an amazing and beautiful Jesus we will dance and sing with. You too can have beautiful words. Put on your dancing shoes, the music has started in you, i can hear it from here. Think about it.

In Genesis12:14, it says when Abraham came into Egypt, they saw Sarah was very beautiful to behold. In Ezekiel 33, the Lord describes the prophet’s ministry as being “like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument.” The Lord has called all of us to walk in the world around us similarly, as one who has a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well. Zechariah 9:16 portrays us who are ransomed from death, saying, “And the Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are as stones of a crown, sparkling in his land. For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs!” Friends, let us be God’s beautiful words, speaking garlands of grace in the ears of the lost and dying.

This has been Outposts, brought to you semi-live from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees lean gently over the rivers edge, and every evening is oh so pleasant. i’m Social Porter and this production has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Clarence Cable at the Sky Line Drive In, the wonderful ladies out at Ruth Originals, Kevin, Perry, and Tommy of the Mebane Freedom League, White Knuckle Studios, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

The Lord has so many beautiful things to say, they always fill me with hope. i need to hear His words, i want to hear them. God’s words change everything. His beautiful words have changed my life.

My friends, the thunder of His coming rages at the edge of the horizon, for He is coming back for what is His, you and i. We are beautiful to the Lord, we may not be perfect but He thinks we’re to die for. The Lord will give us His beautiful words, He’ll teach us His beautiful dance, and He’ll empower our voices to sing with the love and power of our beautiful Savior. If you look for Him, He will find you. Do this with me: Put your thumb and first finger together, rub them around, do you see that little space between the two fingers? If you give Him that much, just that little bit, He will show you how to walk to Heaven to touch His face.

Thank you for listening , amen and amen.

Trepidation: a nervous or fearful feeling of uncertain agitation, or apprehension. i liked this definition too, “reluctantly trembling”. The word carries connotations of disquiet and foreboding about a potential upcoming threat. A 1940 issue of the Circleville Herald, an Ohio newspaper, printed this statement: “A trepidacious Europe today remained tense, worried, fearful, for the outcome of what military men predict will be the greatest battle in the history of the world.” That meant all of Europe was trembling at the thought of conflict and bloodshed. And as we all know, soon to follow was World War II, a war which nearly swept the entire world into calamitous collision, strife, and struggle, not to mention the swirling arduous uncertainties as to everyone’s future. People were inundated with arduous uncertainties!

Tense, worried, fearful, and reluctantly trembling. Most seem to have no understanding of the trembling going on in their hearts, minds, or the ground under their feet. It’s almost as if there’s an incredible number of small earthquakes going on, in the physical, spiritually, and metaphorically.

In fact, physically speaking, according to IRIS, that’s I-R-I-S, an organization which tracks earthquakes as they happen, in 2005, there were, on the average, less than 300 every 30 days. In 2011, there averaged around 350-400 in a 30 day period. in 2013 there were 794 earthquakes of 4.0 magnitude or higher in the earth in only one month alone. To date, in 2025 there are now 1449 earthquakes in December 2025 alone. Yes, that’s just in December.

Baby, there’s a whole lotta’ shakin’ goin’ on, and that’s just speaking of the physical shaking under our feet.

I’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, cool jazz and thought provoking conversation …. tonight’s conversation piece is titled: trepidation nation, or maybe that should be trepidation nations, plural, as in all nations of the earth are presently trembling, all together, for the first time in history.

i hope to not present this topic of ponderance in too much of a political fashion, and i’m saying that so we’ll know this isn’t headed toward getting anyone to vote for anyone other than Jesus Christ.

Stan Reynolds of Sage Point Financial, Inc writes:

“In 1970 America, gold was $35 ounce, gasoline was .20cents/gallon, an average house was $15,000. The total debt was $2 Trillion.

In 2012 America, gold is $1700/ounce, gasoline is $4/gallon, an average home is $170,000. The total debt is $16 Trillion.”

In 2025 America, gold, on the average, is $3435/ounce, and on high days it’s around $4300-$4500/ounce, the average gasoline price was $3.10/gallon, an average house is around $410,000, and the total debt is around $37.6 trillion.”

Mr. Reynolds continued, “Our government went off the gold standard 57 years ago last August. By uncoupling the gold standard from the dollar our government gained enormous flexibility with what it could do with the dollar. BUT, unfortunately, to date, no government of any nation, anywhere on the planet, anytime in history has ever been able to resist the temptation to spend what they do not have through their power over the creation of money. Like everyone else in our nation of trembling, unsure, and nervous people, governments are just people, and like everyone else, they are flawed by selfish desire to get things without paying the full price in pain to get them.”

“In 2012, our country was spending $3.8 trillion/year while only bringing about $2.5 trillion, which means we must borrow $1.3 trillion.”

That was in 2012 and this is 2025, although things have changed for the better for sure, with the concept of “better” being pretty subjective, the idea of spending far more than we take in still exists. And even if the current administration has improved things, we, as individuals are still practicing the same habits which bottomed the nation out in 2008, only with a renewed vigor. It is not “their” fault we, as individuals, are, on the average, terrible money managers. Each of us is choosing and so many are constantly only one pay check away from the street.

Ok, i know this is a lot of numbers, so don’t get lost, go with me on this.

Let me continue to quote Mr. Reynolds, “The ONLY area Congress can budget for contains everything we call government, example: highways, health services, the military, courts, FBI, CIA, etc, etc. The amount they will spend is, honestly beyond my ability to deal with amazingly large numbers. Which means, this year, to make all the functions of government to continue, we must borrow every dollar Congress budgets for.”

“There are only two options to balance the budget at this point, either….1. Shutting down, not just take a break, but shutting down every governmental department from the military to the department of transportation to the FDA!

• OR –

Raise taxes on EVERYBODY by 50%!

Mind you, this program was written in 2012, so keep your shirt on. Continuing on, there is no money left, we spent it all and then borrowed much more than we spent. From 2025 looking forward, the next president, and it doesn’t matter WHO it is, will not be able to get this nation back on track without a lot of pain shared by all.”

Let me add, due to America’s collective unwillingness to embrace such pain, or any pain for that matter, we will get what we are given by those who we wish weren’t in leadership but yet we put them there.”

Now let’s move this into the “now”. We can aim our fingers at government till the cows come home, but the bottom line is each of us must change the way we handle our lives. i don’t know about you, but without Christ, in no way fashion or form, am i smart enough to do life by myself. We need Jesus.

i believe Stan is speaking VERY plainly to something the American

public is VERY blind to, purposely or not. These are facts that are disquieting and may very well be a main ingredient in the shaking ground we all seem to be standing on….

It is virtually impossible to take something away from people once they have been promised it and it’s been given to them for so long. Usually riots and chaos in the streets and in government follow. Maybe printing more money would help but in the long run it just becomes green ink on white paper. i tell ya’, when people realize, i mean really realize they are not safe, almost anything can happen. When the calendar ticked from 1999 to 2000, there were a lot of people who suddenly said, “I don’t feel safe.” i remember thinking, you’ve got to be kidding! You weren’t safe before, and without Christ, your illusion of safety was just that…an illusion.” i heard other people say, “i feel like big brother is listening.” Are they kidding? Big brother was listening all along, the difference is you guys are just now waking up to the realization. And what’s worse, after they found out they were being watched and listened to, by way of tacit approval of the governments actions, people became indifferent as long as they got free food, education, free college and houseing.

How to deal with this in a pragmatic, prayerful, watchful way without being panicky and overly reactive is a good question. It’s easy to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God said it, it is absolutely the truth, but i’m pretty certain the “heal their land” part does not mean we’ll all get to live on easy street, dining on sweet things, riding merry go rounds, and dreaming in the moon light. i sincerely doubt God’s idea of restoration means to restore us to our old “let us exclude-God” state of mind and heart. When most people quote that scripture, i believe what they’ve got in mind is to go back to some sunny, whimsical, magic time in their life when they felt all things were good and they were catered to, hoping to devise a way to escape our trouble by getting away on a vacation. What we don’t realize is that even if we went back to that time when “everything was ok”, today, it is all different now. Old friends have moved on, we ourselves are different, roads have changed, businesses have ebbed away into the past and new ones have sprung up, the old home place is long gone, and the farm is now a shopping mall or parking lot. There is no going back.

Let’s look at a simple 10 year window at how things went when we, as a nation, purposely started excluding God, which began around 1960-63. Between 1962 and 1973: Teen pregnancies jumped 400%, sexually transmitted disease jumped 272%, sexually active teens jumped nearly 400%, murder arrest for ages 13-18 up 230%, violent crime in general crept way up over 400%, reported child abuse leapt 330%, and the list goes on and on. Here’s a real zinger, since the introduction of Viagra, sexually transmitted disease among men over 55 has skyrocketed over 600%. That’s right, 600%.

i’m sorry, but without the Lord, that’s where we are, and the same downward trend is to follow. Without the love, protection, and direction of Jesus in our lives, there is no choice for society and all those in it but to spiral downward toward self destruction.

So, here we all sit, feeling apprehensive, arduous uncertainties keep us awake at night, we have a nervous trembling in our hearts, and all around us the world changes moment by moment. There’s this funny tension in everything, have you noticed? It’s like everything and everyone is trembling with either anxiety or expectancy. Like i said, there’s a whole lotta’ shakin’ goin’ on!

So, so many people can’t sleep so they have gone to their doctor and gotten a prescription for a pill, a sleep aide, completely ignoring the side effects. i kid you not, i saw an advertisement from a pharmacy company of some sort the other day, and it said, with calm smoothness, “If you are sleepless, tossing and turning, your anxiety is high, we can help. One pill a day will keep anxiety away.” i thought to myself, you’ve got to be kidding! Don’t deal with your emotions, Heavens no, why would you do that? Just take a pill where you’ll be zipped off to la-la land, never too high, never too low, just always in the middle of calm. You’ll sleep like a child!. Gosh! And how many people think all that’s a good idea? Did they even read the atrocious short-term side effects not to mention the long-term use side effects?

One of the goals of the FDA is to ensure that drugs marketed in this country are safe and effective. But c’mon, have you read those side effects? Oh my gosh! The side effects of so many drugs approved by the FDA, is absolutely terrible, in fact so horrible it’s like a comedy to read the list. If i take medication which causes me to bleed through my skin, from my position that is so VERY not safe, and often, the horrible side effects seem to far outweigh the effectiveness. Yet the over watch governmental agency has approved it as safe and effective. Safe according to who? Their profit margin?

Many have such daily anxiety over everything, they are literally trembling inside, to the point of taking drugs to reduce their anxiety and depression with such longevity, they now are dependent on those drugs to make them somewhat functional in society. We are trepidacious over going to the store, leaving the house, walking in public, being noticed and not being noticed. We have an uncertain agitation about our finances or the lack thereof. It is incredible the number of people who are apprehensive over any close relationships because of what someone might know about them. This is going on, on a national scale. Don’t believe me? Do your own survey, really listen to the people you interview and you’ll begin to hear the thread.

Hebrews 12:26-27 “ … this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern. This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain”

But in the middle of all the shaking going on, in the middle of all our internal trembling, arduous uncertainties, and apprehensions we need to hold on to Colossians 3:1-3, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Is it possible so many in our nation are trembling in the foundations of their hearts because, as a whole, we no longer listen to or trust in God? Is people’s disquiet and apprehension due to their general unbelief? Do we not actually believe God is who He says He is and we’re sort of satisfied to keep living in tourist-type Christianity? Satisfied to merely walk on the beach looking for interesting things but never going out in the water? At what point will we, as a whole, turn our eyes to Jesus? You know, we don’t have to wait until the sky is falling to turn and embrace the Lord.

Most folks sort of skip over the book of Daniel. It’s literal and metaphorical, it’s very pointed and speaks a bit cryptically at the same time. Most don’t seem to understand it, including myself concerning parts of it, so we all do what we usually do when we don’t understand, we smile, move away, and keep silent.

But, on the long shot no one will be inclined to close their ears, let me read what is for many people, a very uncomfortable scripture: Daniel 12:1-3,  “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.”

Hmmmm … do you believe we are in the last days? And don’t listen to manipulative people who have changed the definition of important words in order to make old prophecies fit their agenda. How do we stop the apprehension and trembling in our hearts? We need to stop the bleeding.

The 12^th chapter, vs. 1-3 of Daniel basically says that God’s people are to let their testimonies shine before men, and they are to lead people to Christ in the last days. He went on to say in vs. 10, “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand”.

In the last days, evil people will continue to act with evil and to live in darkness. But God’s people will understand what’s really going on. God’s people will not live in fear and confusion, but will have wisdom and insight on how to live in a world filled with turmoil and change. We are to have a close relationship with God and do great things in His Name. It’s not enough to simply be near Jesus, we’re supposed be knowing Him in a relationship, a full blown, everyday walk around relationship. Dan 12:12a says “blessed is he who waits”.

Focus on the Lord, set your eyes upon Him. Psalm 123:2 “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He comes and has mercy on us.” Strength will come when we wait upon the Lord!

In Titus 2:12-14, Paul tells us we should, “live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

There it is, Jesus is how we stop the trembling in our hearts and minds. He alone is the stay and stanchion, He is our hope. Jesus alone, Jesus alone, and there us not another. Think about it.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Thank  you for joining me here at Outposts, a fine establishment by the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge and every evening is pleasant. i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Miss Jackson at the

De-Luxe Beauty Shop, Frank Edney at the Hot Spot Cafe’, Bruce and Mildred Harrell over on Fleming Street, the amazing Paul Powers, and of course, our greatly beloved Jeff and Karen at Trinity Bakers where there’s always something good in the oven.

Music was by Bill Bruford, and Jazz for a Rainy Day.

Don’t let our trepidatious nation get to you. It’s not an accident these things are happening. None, i repeat none of the present day, arduous uncertainties are happen stance. The Lord has pointed to these days from long, long ago, so let’s not be surprised. Jesus is our fountain and foundation, not the structures nor designs of men. He is supreme, superseding “all things” – He is holy and righteous above all nouns, all pronouns, all adjectives, all cases and numbers, all forms of manners, methods and times and seasons, above all titles, positions, and platforms. Prov 8:22-31. He is the appointed one, the radiance of Glory, the representation of God’s person, He is all things by the power of His Word, He provides purification from sin, and sits at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit in absolute governance of the universe. All things.

He, Jesus, is our starting and stopping point, every time, without fail, it is Jesus, and there is not another. Cling to Him and Him alone, not your friends, not your job, not your pastor, or your ideals, but to Jesus. Rest assured He knows exactly what to do and that is exactly what He will do. Let’s count on it with all our heart. What a super idea, huh?

Until we meet again, be blessed and wise. Amen!

Accents. Life is bright more often than we think. The glow of fellowship after a meal, the warmth of coming home to a friendly place, going to sleep knowing God has got your back and things are well with you.  Seeing friends who are glad to see you and you them. That’s some of the wonderful things we gather to ourselves when we know God. Let’s not forget the glow of the goodness of God in the midst of all the distressing circumstances around us.

i was in a meeting yesterday and i noticed there was much talk about the things that might not be, the fear of what might not happen, or the fear of the bad which might happen. i noticed the lifestyle of deep concern over the phrase, “might be”, or “might not be”. i realized people don’t take out insurance because of the good things that might happen. All the same, it’s true, unkind things can and do happen to us all, but what about the good things which come our way also, what about the bad things which didn’t happen? There are many bright things in my life and i was thinking how easily i forget those times.

What bright moments have been salted into your day this week?

In the news a while back there was a story about a young man on a motorcycle who was in an accident and became pinned underneath the burning car. The bystanders rallied together and literally lifted the car off of the man then pulled him free. Presently he’s alive and recovering. That certainly was a bright moment, but how about the smaller ones, little things, the smell and flavor of your coffee or tea this morning? Fresh baked brownies, the leather smell of a sports car, being warm when the snow is blowing outside, the bird that came and sang outside your window? The phone call you got from someone who didn’t want anything from you and was just calling to say “hello, how are you?”? Maybe the view you had of the sun rising across the other side of a pasture, or the laughter of children playing? All of those are things worth remembering as well as the negative accents. It’s not like we should forget anything that wasn’t good which happened to us, after all, we don’t grow and mature when everything we do is a success. But let’s take a moment to remember the good times, the pleasant moments, the colorful accents of our days.

When i was growing up my sister had an old Brownie camera, and then one Christmas she got a Polaroid. You know, the one which, after you take a picture, it slides out the film that develops right in front of your eyes. i think i’ve got thousands and thousands of Polaroid pictures in my head – the time the neighbor boys, myself and my brother played football all afternoon. In my head is a snap shot of us all laughing, dirty, skinned up, but laughing. Forever in my mind as a good time. Or my son’s favorite hunting dog when he tree’d his first racoon. i’ve got a snap shot in my head of that moment! i can still see the pleasure on my son’s face and the dog’s face. Or my wife’s eyes reflecting in the stripe of sun light coming through the shades in the morning.

Leviticus 23:40 has a Polaroid picture in it of a bright accent. “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook;” Hmmmm, beautiful trees. Does just saying that inspire a picture in your mind? It’s as if the Lord is pointing out beauty. He calls them “beautiful trees”. Do we notice? Do you remember the big old tree in the park, or behind your house? The bark, the leaves, the shade? Remember how it looked and when you played near it or in it? Can you see it? All through the Bible God speaks of beautiful things, like He’s pointing them out for us to notice. God does not tell us things or point things out to us just so we can know. “Seeing” is very different than “purposefully taking note”, and then there is the idea of “seeing” meaning “to look with eyes wide open in amazement”. Can you see? Take note of beautiful words like in Genesis 49:21, beautiful cities in Deuteronomy 6:10, beautiful houses in Deuteronomy 8:12, beautiful children, women, or men, Queen Vashti in Esther 1:11, “was beautiful to behold”. Psalms says the city of our God is beautiful the way it is positioned, that praise is beautiful, that holiness not only is itself beautiful but make us beautiful, and that God makes all things beautiful in its time. God points out to us that Moses was a beautiful child. 1 Peter 3:5 speaks of a beauty not necessarily seen with our eyes, it speaks of an inner beauty that was gentle and gracious. Colossians 3:11-12 reveals to us that the glory-strength God gives, is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

What is beautiful in your life? All through out the Bible, God is pointing out these types of things that we would take notice of the beautiful, the bright, the accented, His highlights. Star filled skies, sun rise, sun set, little girls eyes, seasons – like winter and spring, summer and fall, holidays, eating together, good companionship, the smell of the forest and the flowers, fresh cut lawns, evenings on the front porch, or the spiritual flavor of faith and a promise. Do we notice that God is highlighting those things to us, or are we so neck deep in the mire of the world we constantly miss the bright and beautiful around us? The Lord set the Proverbs 31 woman as a standard of beauty … her accents are a glowing luster of goodness.

God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside. All the things around us which God has made beautiful and bright, none compares to Jesus. Psalms 50:1-2, “The Mighty One, God the Lord, Has spoken and called the earth From the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.”

He is called “the perfection of beauty”. He is more beautiful than flowers, and according to God, as far as earthly things go, flowers take the cake. Do you notice? What kind of snap-shots to you have of the beautiful and bright things in your life?

In Psalms 90:17 we are beautiful when the beauty of the Lord is upon us. Isaiah 28:5: The Lord, Himself, will be our crown of glory and beauty.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Amid the media barrage of bad news, vicious circumstances, and questionable reporting, let’s lean into Jesus, think on the bright and beautiful things around us. Remember the memories you’ve got of good times, good friends, good fellowship, worship and praise. Like Philippians 4:8 says at the end, “…think on these things”.

What do you think?

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

All my life, at least as far as i’m concerned, i’ve felt misunderstood. What is even more interesting is that among many Christians i have met, i don’t know it but i’m fairly certain, many also feel largely misunderstood. What is up with that? It seems no matter how much i try, other people just don’t get me, and i’m left feeling pretty sad. Can you relate?

What started this ponderance upon being misunderstood actually began in a different conversation concerning belonging and connecting, and even though most say they belong and connect, at least somewhere, by far and large, if you’re allowed to ask and given an honest answer, those same people can’t actually tell what belonging and connecting mean, and they themselves don’t actually feel like they belong anywhere. Why? After many conversations i’ve also concluded that more people than i imagine feel largely misunderstood. There’s grief in it. The unbelonging and unconnected quietly suffer repeated longing for a connection that almost happened but didn’t. It’s kind of like being witnessed but without translation.

The phrase “the weight of being misunderstood” captures one of the quietest, heaviest burdens a person can carry. It’s not dramatic or loud like anger or grief — one author describe it as more like an invisible backpack you never asked for, one that grows more dense every time you realize your words, actions, or intentions landed somewhere entirely different from where you meant them to. Even in a room full of people, sometimes it feels like there’s this private exile where no one quite sees the version of you that actually exists. The more you try to clarify, the more tangled it all gets — i think it’s like trying to untie a knot with gloves on. And to make matters worse, people tend to fill silences with their own assumptions, fears, or stories, and your reality gets overwritten. We can try and reframe ourselves but our reframing doesn’t erase the immediate, human cost: the loneliness, the fatigue, and the temptation to just go quiet forever. i have been that lonely, tired person who just went quiet for a large part of my life. Yet God intervenes, He steps in. Thank you Jesus.

Being misunderstood comes with weights not wings. What will we do with that? Because being indifferent doesn’t actually solve the problem, and caring too much just makes us needy and will break us in half eventually. Being misunderstood is actually quite painful, it strikes at our core need to be seen, known, and accepted for who we really are, and when we aren’t seen, it triggers a whole cascade of difficult feelings to deal with. If our identity is not in Christ, well, then, who are you?

There is another side to the weight of being misunderstood that is strictly within our own responsibility and control, and that is when being misunderstood drives an addiction in us to be seen, the desire to be recognized and respected, to be important, to be admired and celebrated beyond us being wounded, it now becomes a driving need. We can be led by the Spirit, Luke 4, or be driven by darkness, Luke 8:29. Scripture says in Matthew 6 that “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”, and when we turn the weight of being misunderstood into taking action for ourselves it can be very destructive. Kathryn Kulman once said, “We want the reward without acting in secret before God; we want the platform without the prayer life, we want the nobility without brokenness, and honor without humility.” Sitting in our sad place feeling alone and misunderstood is one thing, but when we decide to m-a-k-e people notice us, m-a-k-e people listen, and m-a-k-e them understand, little by little our desperation begins to sink our boat. Think! Leah was unloved and overlooked, Hagar was cast out and forgotten, Rahab was labeled by her past. All were misunderstood. It hurt. It gave them grief. But God has a better idea.

Maybe our propensity for feeling misunderstood is why God is also known as El Roi, God who sees me. The Biblical Counseling Coalition has this to say: “Over and over again, in the grand narrative of the Bible, God reveals Himself as the God who sees us personally and intimately, but the first time He reassures a struggler with this truth, she uses a new name for Him that seals this attribute as an unchangeable part of our understanding of God: El Roi.

Through Hagar’s story of pain and desperation, found in Genesis 16, God reveals Himself to be the One who knows us intimately, seeing our sorrows and struggles and caring about the specific details of our lives in ways that move Him. For Hagar, when life was as desperate as it could get, God saw her. It is more important that God sees us than all the platforms and titles in the universe. It is more important God understands us than if the whole world suddenly understood. For Hagar this was not the “seeing” like merely being observed, but rather, this was a “seeing” of inestimable, limitless love. God saw Hagar and Hagar knew she was seen. God saw her for who she was and God El Roi was gracious and kind to her by making her to know she was seen. Her despair of being completely unknown had turned into something amazing and new. El Roi, God who sees me made Himself known to her.

When she realized the King of the Universe knew her and saw her, she no longer needed to carry the invisible backpack full of the weight of being misunderstood. You know of course, on some low level, we are choosing to let the backpack ride. She saw with new eyes, her heart was strengthened, and courage replaced her bitterness, fear, and disappointment.

Don’t even let yourself blow off Hagar’s story because it’s Old Testament. Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”. Let us take courage from the story of Hagar and her encounter with El Roi, God who sees me. Hagar’s hope can become ours by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus.

And here’s a great angle to see this. Jesus was foreshadowed in Hagars story that she was seen by El Roi, and then Jesus came to us and got eye to eye with all mankind, all at once. For the first time in history God came to us and got eyelevel for one of several reason but this one in particular: so we would know God sees us. Jesus foreshadowed in Genesis 16 as being El Roi for one person, and then Jesus, getting eye level with us, being El Roi once and for all forever in the New Testament. Do you see it?

What if we decided that it was enough for us to be seen and understood by God, even if we’ve been misunderstood all our lives? God doesn’t misunderstand us, He sees us perfectly and clearly and loves us regardless of all the reasons we think He shouldn’t. It’s your lucky day! God didn’t ask you if it was ok to understand you and get eye to eye with you and love you beyond the vanishing point.

Would you be willing for God to break through a dark place in your life? Would you be willing to give up that invisible backpack of all your reasons to isolate, be sad and overwhelmed in feeling so completely misunderstood, there sitting on the back porch, staring at the garden and beyond, just wishing things were different? God can take your burden. Let…It….Go! Give Him your long woundedness of being misunderstood. Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

i’ll go with you on getting free if you want cause i’m in the same boat. Let us daily live in the reality that we are seen and known by Jesus, He’s the one who truly matters the most. El Roi, God who sees me.

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

Psalm 32:7, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”

Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of need.”

John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Trouble. Oh man, there’s enough of that going around for everyone, everywhere a thousand times over, and sometimes it comes in singles, or triplets, and other times in droves and herds.

From the small trifling town of Greatly there was the Trouble family, making the Greatly Trouble family a most well established clan in the area. There was Big Trouble who was married to Pretty Petty Trouble, and they had a child who’s name was More Trouble. Pretty Petty Trouble also had a sister, and therefore a niece named Even Worse Trouble, whom they called “Even” for short. The Trouble family were always bad news, no one was glad to see them and all sighed the sigh of great relief when they left the party. They were always in the middle of some turmoil, in fact, they seemed to literally breathe drama, and they were constantly in the middle of arduous uncertainties. Oh yes, the arduous uncertainties.

There is a subtle dread to even saying, “arduous uncertainties”.

The Bible is absolutely filled with stories of people who faced arduous uncertainties — long, grueling periods of not knowing what would happen next. It seemed to involve prolonged waiting, intense trials, and what appeared to be even silence from God, or what i would call “life altering unknowns” which severely tested their faith. So, for you and i, what will we do in the middle of our times and seasons of arduous uncertainties? And it’s real easy to quote someone a bible verse or two that, if they’d just believe this or that, their troubles would be over. Maybe they are technically correct, but often their scripture quoting is really hard to do. Jobs friends did that and Job called his friends actually no friends at all and the worst counselors there ever was. Job 16:2. But i tell ya’, when we are in the middle of a terrible storm, the mast has snapped, and God appears to be asleep, the miracle that is about to happen doesn’t look much like a miracle until it happens.

“Arduous” meaning steep, difficult, and requiring strenuous effort, and “uncertainty” is the lack of sure knowledge concerning the future outcome of something. It is not just not knowing, but suffering through the not-knowing over time, often with high personal stakes. In other words, if things don’t go like i hope and God doesn’t come through like i wish, i am doooooomed.

We love to quote Psalm 116:2, “Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live“, which is absolutely true, but in the late hours between awake and asleep, we toss and turn and worry to God. We know Jesus is the answer, but actually trusting God to supply help to us in our time of need and us actually coming to full rest in that … Well, yea, that’s another thing in itself.

Many are wholly disturbed in their inner most person. Yes, arduous uncertainties sift through our thoughts and dreams. We love to quote Romans 10:12, “… for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him“, which is absolutely true, yet, there we are in the mirror with worry lines on our down turned faces.

The idea of arduous uncertainties captures seasons where God’s promises seem distant or impossible — like Abraham waited decades for a child, Joseph seeming he would likely perish in prison, regardless of prophetic dreams, and the longer he was there the farther away the possibilities of those dreams would come true. The Israelites wandering 40 years in the wilderness even though God made daily provision, yet they constantly doubted about the promised land, and the longer they were in the wilderness, the farther away the idea of promised land became.  i’ve had my share of arduous uncertainties, but i need to say, 40 years, 40 years! of not merely uncertainty but arduous uncertainty is beyond my ability to even imagine.

For us today, arduous uncertainties might appear as years of job instability, on going chronic illness possibly without diagnosis, many in what i would call “relational limbo”, even global crisis that just drags on and on. The idea of the phrase captures pretty well seasons where God’s promises seem fairly distant or even impossible. Friends, if God said it, we can stand on it.

But think, what is the end result if we trust God as He asked? i believe it all builds resilience, and profoundly builds faith. When clarity is absent, when we don’t know what tomorrow brings, the testing refines our character through sustained pressure. The arduous uncertainties strip away any illusions of control we might have had and builds a deeper understanding of our absolute dependence on God for growth and fulfillment in Christ beyond what we were, of ourselves, able to imagine.

In those long trials, through thick and thin, beyond high and low, we come to see Proverbs 3:5-6 as one of our stabilizers, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.”

One author wrote, “If we don’t learn how to look to God and rely on God, it will be difficult to see the work God does in us, and if we can’t see these things, then the matter of whether or not God exists, whether or not He guides everything in our lives, will, in the depths of our heart, will likely always end with a question mark. Not with a period or an exclamation mark but a question. If, by doubt, distraction, or becoming mired in arduous uncertainties, if we don’t allow our own true belief in God to rise, then the question marks will forever be there with everything God does, and there will be no periods.

God’s absolute, infinite goodness is everywhere. He is not influenced by any people, events, or things, or other distracting elements of this life which we habitually give more power to. As long as we truly rely on God, He will be our ever-present help. It may take a while of struggling forward in faith, but stand firm, He was our ever present help in the beginning, He is our ever present help in the now, and he will be our ever present help in the future. Just as the Bible said, Psalm 18:2, and believe this, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” That is the truth and i’m not lying. Jesus is Lord and there is not another.

Let us get rid of the question mark at the end of our thoughts about God’s goodness and trustworthiness, and let Him be who He is: God.

i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name Ministries

[Chaplain Steve Welborn spoke on this topic, and i thought it was very relevant for today]

Poverty is one thing, but being so greedy we’re too poor to pay attention? Yea, that is another story. Seeing poverty coupled with greed paints a picture of the heart and soul of many in our world today who seem totally inspired by the without-Jesus corrupt world we live in. Yea, inspired by being godless. If being godless is an inspiration then it is not inspiration at all. Ridiculous! The flashing lights, “have it your way! You rule” advertisements, we are lost in the dazzle, the glowing images in clothing stores implying “if you had this shirt or that dress you’d be amazing and everyone would want you!”

C’mon friends, put on your thinking cap and think. Living our lives holding Jesus as central to all we do flips worldly ideas upside down: It’s not, not, not about self-promotion but self-denial, where righteous exaltation comes from the idea of “humility comes before honor”, or, Jesus comes before our wants and desires. If your hunger for needing a person or church system to validate you is always working in your character, know that it likely stems from insecurity or comparison, and could easily veer into increasing permissiveness and even immorality. What fertile ground are we rooted in? If it’s rooted in glorifying God and serving others, it’s a healthy part of faith. Look, Jesus Himself sought glory from the Father, showing it’s not the desire that’s wrong, but the source and spirit behind it. John 17:1-5, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

To reiterate, it’s not desire that is wrong but the object of desire, and don’t even do that black and white thinking thing, letting yourself think all objects of desire are twisted because many of us have a longing, a desire to know Jesus, so desire isn’t the problem. Let us use our discernment to see this correctly. When any person or object becomes competitive with God, ahh, now it is called idolatry and sin. When the object of my desire is all about counting congregation size with a heart to build an empire, as in those lost in church mega-world, when the object of my desire gives power to my spirit over my flesh, giving power to my greed to be more than i am in order to claim a title, platform, or get a book deal, right there we’ve got a problem. It is the face of greed and it will drive us, not lead us but drive us to become those whom God considers, “poor”. In Mark 4 Jesus was led, in Mark 8 the demonized man was driven. Faith leads — greed drives.

Thus, we come to the “poverty of greed”, and what is at the root. i love giving surveys so i went around asking the question: “what is at the heart of the poverty of greed?” The following are some of the replies: Byron Wicker wrote, it is fear and the lack of trusting that God is enough and sufficient. i say: That same fear and lack of trust will slowly drive us into abject poverty of spirit, thinking, and eventually in our body, possible even to our own demise. Eugene Peterson said, “greed is the assumption that everything is for me and about me.” Henry Nouwen wrote “greed is rooted in the fear of not having enough.” An anonymous reply was, Greed is the delight of self-sufficiency and reliance over simple contentment of Grace. Nate Seabury wrote, “greed is disordered love, trusting and craving something other than God for security, joy, and identity.”

The poverty of greed, is the gnawing need growing in our arduous uncertainties, that eventually make us live as those who are called “poor” and “poverty stricken”.

Sharing your bread with the poor, is a kindness indeed, but we truely do need to have some bread to share. Got bread to share?

Those who are poor, are not as those who don’t have stuff, but those who are poor in spirit, wearing too big shame clothes, and the worn out shoes of walking far but never getting anywhere, tired of being tired, from running against the wind, and feeling like everything is closing in.

Here are some more things i believe are firmly at the root of the “poverty of greed”. The fear of not being seen so i act out making sure others see me; Fear of not being heard so i watch YouTube preachers in order to get cool stuff to say and pray, then i repeat it all in my small group meetings. And all the people said together, “Wow!”; It is fear that God doesn’t love us like He says, so i turn into a constant Debbie-downer; Fear of not having value and so i shoulder my way into relationships which no one asked me to participate in. i want, i want, i want, gimme, gimme, gimme, but then we are confronted by the “i shall not want” of Psalm 23. Greed isn’t merely about wanting more, oh no — it also stems from fear of losing control, and fear of what lies ahead; it’s an act of self-protection rooted in the fear that God will not provide, and, i say, the poverty of greed is also rooted in supremely misplaced trust in, what i call, “accumulated resentments”. We all need to know that accumulated resentment always wants vindication, and all that accumulated resentment, piled up, stinking and steaming, one on top of another will drive us to the poor house in our mind and spirit.

Again, friends, in order to share our bread with the poor, we must have some bread to share. How are we going to do that? We say we know the answer but how often do we humbly act like it? Clement of Alexandria wrote: “poverty of greed is one of the cruelest ironies in human experience: the more fiercely someone chases endless accumulation, the more profoundly impoverished they become—not in wallet, but in everything that actually makes a life feel rich.” Imagine someone with big barns, many followers, and big congregations that all just keep expanding to look like mega-church, for mega-people, singing mega-worship songs, with a mega-worship band, doing mega-things for mega-reasons, ensnaring people by asking them to pledge loyalty to their denomination. Looks more like taking slaves in a way, except it seems every new gain sharpens the bottomless hunger for the next one. The pleasure mill doesn’t just spin, it literally accelerates. Those hungry mega-believers may look like abundance on the outside but they often suffer from chronic scarcity on the inside: there is never enough.

Don’t you know greed lives in the future of “what if”, or in the past, the fear of what might be lost, but is rarely actually present and in the room. True rest requires we trust God, but the poverty of greed whispers you don’t trust Him and then anxiety becomes your baseline.

Proverbs 30:15-16, “The leech has two daughters: Give and Give, more and more. Three things are never satisfied, yes four which never say, “Enough”:

hell, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

i think — when “more” is the only measurement left, i don’t know this but i do believe it, life flattens into an empty, pointless single dimension. Seneca, a philosopher from a very long time ago captured the poverty of greed perfectly: “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, THAT is poor. They end up with full hands and empty spirits.”

We need Jesus really bad.

If we don’t trust God to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, then the swirling, downward whirlpool of desperation is ever drawing closer to us. And you know the saddest part? Most people don’t notice they’re living in it until the hunger has already eaten up everything else.

We simply must choose and we must be responsible for our choices. Trust God or not? Believe God or not? Friends, we’re down to the wire and the line of choosing is bearing down upon us. What say ye?

Isaiah 49:4, “I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the LORD’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”

i’m Social Porter for Living in His Name Ministries