The storm is raging, i mean the ocean spray across the deck is being blown so hard it stings your skin and eyes and there is nowhere to hide from the pounding, the thunder and lightning. Through squinted eyes you can see nothing but water and rain, sheets of rain driven in front of your eyes… just raging water and wind from every direction. Every now and then a huge wave hits the bow at a perfect angle and nearly rolls the small ship over, either way, the last time a wave hit like that, the ship rolled over far enough for deep green water to come over the side. Men are yelling for the bailers to bail faster and for the men rowing to put their backs to it. “Keep the nose into the wind!” the senior leader yells. The helmsman has tied himself to the post at the wheel so that no matter how bad things get he can hopefully maintain some semblance of steering, if there really is such a thing in that kind of storm.

There is a long tearing sound as you watch the sails rip like newspaper and blow off into the distance as if that sail can’t wait to be far away. This is bad… really bad. The order is given to toss some of the ballast over. Men scramble to the bottom and start hoisting up the heavy things which helped the ship stay upright, but also made it ride too low in the water for a storm like this. Everyone is scared, really scared. Everyone is wondering if they will ever see home and families again.

Everyone, even those who adamantly deny the existence of God, secretly search their lives to see if there is any sin in them which would incur such wrath from Heaven, the very abode of God almighty whom they gave no thought to until it looked as if they might be lost at sea. Each man has abandoned his idol gods, and from somewhere deep in his heart he knows there is only one true God. Funny how in the face of terror and death, men suddenly realize the Lord is God and are compelled to call on Him alone to help. Funny how there are no atheists in a fox hole when bombs are falling and bullets are flying. Fear has a way of leveling the playing field for everyone when death is so close. All hands on deck are tired, nearing complete exhaustion, blue with cold, sick with hunger, all trying not to panic. It truly is a defining moment in the hearts of everyone on board. If you were one of the numbers on that ship, consider, what would you do? You’re dangling at the end of your rope, it seems you’re out of options, life seems about to come to the end of the line. Maybe… maybe not. This evening’s program is about the Options At The End Of Your Rope.

In everyone’s life, there are times and maybe even seasons when it seems we’re out of options and we’re at the end of the line… crying doesn’t help, being indifferent doesn’t help… we’ve mustered our best faith only to be met with the same problem… we feel stuck and hung out to dry. Regardless of all our drumming up faith, and declaring scripture over ourselves, it appears nothing has changed and we think probably never will. Stay with me for a little while and let’s see what God has to say, how to act and not to act when life seems at the end of the road.

Genesis 4:6-8 “Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”

Alrighty then, right there is one idea for when you’re all out of options. Cain was in a spot, a tough place i’d say. The Lord was confronting Cain about his anger, and his bad attitude which probably made his eyes dark, his face long, and i’d guess maybe his face was in a perpetual sneer, not to mention he was probably really hard to get along with too. The Lord suggested the fix… my paraphrase here, “just do the right thing buddy and don’t let your bad attitude get the better of you.” Can you imagine yourself in that position? God is confronting Cain about himself… in Cain’s eyes, i reckon there was only two options left on his game board – either own his actions and change, or get rid of the problem, and in this case Cain figured Abel was the problem. Evidently, it was easier to get rid of Abel than it was to deal with his own attitude and actions. Yea, just get rid of the troubling people in your life and things will be better. Yea, just dis-fellowship those folks because they’re too honest and ask too many questions. Yea, that’s the ticket! Don’t deal with your stuff, just get rid of “them”, you know, the troubling, “them”. It was either checkmate for righteousness or checkmate for sin. There’s an idiom used occasionally meaning we are at the limit of our patience or endurance, the phrase is “i’m at the end of my rope”. So with Cain at the end of his rope, he figured Abel, not himself Cain, but Abel was the problem… so, in his mind, just get rid of Abel and he’s gotten rid of his problem. No good thing came from his attitude and actions, in fact, his attitude and problem followed him ever after.

There you have it, there is one thing to do while at the end of your rope: get rid of the other person you’re sure is causing you grief. Yea, that’s the ticket. That’ll sure fix it all right. Cain made a decision, refused to be responsible for his behavior, betrayed his brothers trust, lured Abel out to the field and took action… yea, he fixed it alright. It was a permanent fix to a temporary problem. Horrible as it is, believe it or not, some feel this is not a bad option, but it is surely at the top of the list of terrible ideas when at the end of your rope.

Another thing you can do while at the end of your rope is… nothing. Just hang there, hoping the knot doesn’t slip, hoping your hands don’t lose their grip…and just hang there, doing nothing other than thinking about all the other people who put you in that position, “what THEY did to me”, letting the obsession of bitterness overwhelm your heart. Don’t you think, when at the end of your rope, the option of “doing nothing” screams “victim” and “oh, poor pitiful me”?

In 2 Kings 24:8-16 we read the story of Jehoiakin. He came to the crown, not to have the honor of wearing it, but to the shame of losing it. As Matthew Henry would say, “He came in only to go out.” Jehoiakin was in power long enough to realize he was paying the price for his fathers’ poor choosings, and what’s worse, he continued in his fathers evil footsteps. Things were bad, he was at the end of his rope, but just like his father… he did nothing, he just suffered along, took no action to stop the curse, and as a result of his doing nothing, the curse just flowed down from the crown to the people. His lack of action to change things just made the end of his rope harder to hang on to, and the more things stayed the same, the more things stayed the same.

Let’s put that in today’s culture. One parent drinks like a fish and lives the part of an alcoholic, the other parent swears they will never drink a drop but exhibits all the earmarks of an alcoholic, which is called a “dry drunk”. The parents know they’ve got terrible problems and, are daily if not hourly, at the end of their rope with themselves and life, but rather than do something about themselves for their sakes and their children, they just… do nothing. The never admit their addiction, often blame others for all their struggles, never get counseling for their twisted thinking, never consider to change anything and simply continue as always in their fighting, drinking, blaming and chaos… they just let it all ride. The kids grow up with all the attitudes of the parents, after all, the parents were the model. From generation to generation, the chaos and catastrophically poor choices continue. Friends, it’s not a generational curse, but generational choice. They are choosing to perpetuate the sins of their parents. Personally, i am the first male in my family in four generations who is not addicted to something. Jesus stepped into my life and by His power, i chose to do something rather than do nothing. i’m not much on generational curses, but i think in terms more of generational choices. The horrible results that followed four generations through life in my family stopped with me. Thank you Jesus!

Doing nothing is an option… granted… it is another really bad option, but it is still an option. Are we in America and the church any different when we … do nothing? When our leadership distorts the truth, shows favoritism, does injustice, equity is nowhere to be found, and they do nothing, will their badness simply flow downhill to us? You know, like Jehoiakin, incumbrance flows down from the crown. And if we do nothing when we’re at the end of our rope, how are we any different?

When at the end of your rope, what are your options? So far, one is to be irresponsible and blame anyone and everyone else, the next thing to do is…nothing, taking no action to change anything, just let everything ride and become the well-practiced, consummate victim, heaving a heavy sigh, and resigning ourselves to the fate of the wind with a depressing “Oh well…”, trudging on, cold, hungry, and alone.

Here is a third thing to do: Take matters into your own hands, leaving God out of your idea of the fix, thinking “God is busy with important stuff. He probably doesn’t want me around… whatever, who needs Him anyway?” Some people say “we need to tend to our own business because God doesn’t busy Himself with the affairs of men.” It sounds more like an excuse to, once again, leave God out of the picture, because who needs Him anyway? Well… i do. SO… Let me understand better what is being said here, what we’re saying is we’re going to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps? Have you ever actually tried that? i have and not one boot ever came off the floor, and if anything, i ended up ripping the boot pulls off the side and hurting my back, all the while that boot never left the floor.

In 1 Samuel 13:10-12, in all his arrogance, all knowing-ness, and self importance, Saul took matters into his own hands… starting in vs 10, “Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash (mic-maws’), I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” When God didn’t move fast enough for Saul, he “felt compelled”; he took matters into his own hands. Saul did that sort of thing alot you know… but in the end, when at the end of his rope, this was another really bad option to exercise… needless to say, things didn’t go well for Saul.

For all us modern day Saul’s who take matters into our own hands, how is that working for you? For me, “Not too good!” How often do you wait for the poo to hit the fan full force before deciding that taking matters into your own hands was a bad idea? Once that poo has hit the fan, it’s impossible to get it back you know. It’s another poor option when you’re at the end of your rope, though truly an option, just not a good one by any means. How many times will we repeat the behavior i’ve just described before we get tired of being splattered in the face with our poor choices and bad ideas? How many times will we repeat our behavior before we do things differently?

Let’s get down to options that work then: A fourth option is to – (tada)  !Call upon the Lord!. Of course, most listeners this evening are probably believers, and we all know this option when at the end of our rope, but, really… honestly… is that what we do? Often what we say we do and what we actually do are different things. In Psalm 50:15 the Lord sez, “… call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

It is never wasted effort to trust in God, in fact, it’s the best idea we’ll ever have, to call upon Him in the day of trouble; those who do – often find the issue much better than they expected, God will give them wisdom about the best course of action when at the end of their rope. Repeat with me: With God, good idea. Without God, bad idea.

Here is wisdom: If you can’t get out of the storm with Jesus, then be in the storm with Jesus, with God being the key phrase there. Grip to Jesus with all your heart, and then, like Paul said in Acts27:15, “let her ride”. Lean into the wind and trust Him. Jesus will not forsake us, not now, or later. Let faith do it’s work. Let God be God, allow yourself to be persuaded by His counsel. He’s really really good at what He does ya’ know.

Here’s another great option when at the end of your rope: Wait on God. Oh, and don’t we all know that is also an excellent option but it’s also one of the most difficult, especially when your back is tired from rowing and wrestling with the storm as the ship seems it will sink at any moment. Let me encourage you, just keep rowing, keep steering, keep bailing, i can assure you, Jesus will show up at the right time, not at the final minute, but right on time. i’ve heard some refer to Him as the “God of the Final Hour” and i object… He’s the God of “right on time, every time”. Psalm 123:1-3, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven, we look up to you for help. Like servants, alert to their master’s commands, like a maiden attending her lady, We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath, awaiting your word of mercy till You come and have mercy on us. Mercy, GOD, mercy!”

Here’s another r-e-a-l-l-y good option, while we’re calling on the Lord in our day of trouble, while we’re waiting on the Lord to come and have mercy on us… let’s pray. i want to add something at this point: maybe it would be good to not wait until deep water is coming over the side before we pray; maybe we shouldn’t wait till our business is collapsing before we invite others to join us in prayer; maybe it would be good to ask the Lord for work before our checking account is empty. The Lord is not a dry ditch that only runs full when it rains, which would be a fair-weather friend, nor does He only come around when the weather is bad. i’ve got a buddy who only calls me when he’s in crisis, but soon as good weather breaks through, he sort’a quits praying and cruises until bad weather again. We’ve got to row the boat while we can, not just when it looks like we might sink. One translation of the word prayer literally means “i cannot but God can.”

Oh, and there is one more option and it is the crème de la crème …(tada)… simply let go and trust God. That’s the ultimate option and you know it, but it’s also a real scary one for those of us who have a hard time trusting, which is most everyone. Jesus said in Luke 9:24, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Stop saving your own life and let go… just… let… go. Learn to live life without a net, trusting the Lord implicitly for all your needs.

2 Chronicles 7:14, “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 will heal their land.” And then the text continues reading, “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
Mind you, that part about “heal their land” doesn’t mean the Lord will make things like they used to be and we’ll all get our houses, boats, and stuff back. When the Lord heals our land, things will not be like they were but will become like they will be… better, holy, righteous and men will sing a new song and speak a new language. (Revelation 5:9)

Zeph3:9, “For then I will restore to the people a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord.” Think about it.

Our options when at the end of our rope are not too widely varied. i think the most basic option when at the end of your rope, when the storm is howling, the ship is taking on water, the mast is cracked and the sails are torn, the most basic and foundational option is to simply believe on the Name of Christ. Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It all may not happen like you’ve imagined, dreamed, or wished, but God is good for His word. When we’re at the end of our rope, believing in Christ, calling on His Name, and holding onto our relationship with Him no matter if the ship sinks or not, that is the key. i love this verse: John6:18-21, “A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.” Do you see that?! When they believed, suddenly they were where they were going. When you’re at the end of your rope, and all out of options, Jesus is your answer. He is always your answer and there is never a time He is not your answer.

i’m Social Porter and thanks for joining me here at Outposts  .

If your down to the wire, your boat is taking on water, and you feel fresh out of options, Jesus is the answer, really really, actually actually.

Go with God this week, read your Bible, pray for your friends and take the Lord seriously when He says He is the Lord. i’ll talk to you next time.

Lately i’ve had many things on my mind which i’ve been discussing, on and off with the Lord, like “the value of church”. Think about it, we go to a central location with other people whom we suppose are somewhat like minded for about an hour to an hour and a half on a particular day of the week, and for some it’s twice per week if their lucky enough to have the opportunity. We sing together for a while, and somehow in that space of time folks are supposed to get it together enough to corporately engage with the Lord and be passionate and raise their hands … for 20-40mins. We sit down, pass the hat to give tithes and offerings, then we listen to someone expound on the scriptures while we nod our heads understandingly, maybe even take a few notes for some undetermined time in the future to be reviewed. There is an offer for prayer if anyone wants it, at which time we gather our stuff and go home. My question to myself was, “Is that really church? Is that what God had in mind when He said in Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Yet, on the other hand Acts 7:48, “Howbeit the most High dwells NOT in temples made with hands. . .”, and “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells NOT in temples made with hands,” Acts 17:24.

i’ve been think about what we’re supposed to be doing, and considering the question to myself which is, am i accomplishing the purposes of the Lord in the time frame known as “all my days”? i’ve been part of fellowships that met for the corporate church body meeting on Sunday, and they loved being together so much that when the service was over, they just all continued church at someone’s house, many times the fellowshipping of the saints continued on into the evening. Now see, to me, that’s church, that’s the model of communal table, house to house, believer to believer that was spoken of in Acts 5:42 and Acts 20:20. But what is this other thing we do where we meet for a short time then just leave, some going away so fast it seems they can’t wait to be somewhere else … what is that?

i believe that we’re looking for Jesus. In all our congregating short or long, singing high or low, hanging out, and studying, we’re looking for Jesus, looking to connect with the Lord somehow. We’re not sure how to get “there”, where ever “there” is, hopefully it’s “somewhere” and it’s definitely better than “nowhere”. The topic on the table is titled “looking for Jesus”, and how are we going to do this? Sticky statement for pondering: If we look for Him, He will find us.

Isaiah 58:9-10, “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live production for your edification, think-worthy conversation addressing life in Christ about 3” below the surface of your presentation face. And in case the idea of “presentation face” is perplexing, what i mean is that everyone has a “face” they give to the world around them, and then there’s the real face where they live, the one which presents the reality of where we really live in all our concerns, confidences, fears, difficult questions, yea … all that, i reckon you get my drift.

Come go with me. By the way, your comments are welcome…i don’t mind. i think i’ve been hammered so much, there isn’t much that could slap the Holy Ghost smile off my face anymore, or, at least not nearly as often as in days past.

Where’s Waldo?, as taken from Wikipedia, is a series of children’s books created by the English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens or more people doing a variety of amusing things at a given location. Readers are challenged to find a character named Waldo hidden in the group. Waldo’s distinctive red-and-white-striped shirt, bobble hat, and glasses make him slightly easier to recognize, but many illustrations contain red herrings involving deceptive use of red-and-white striped objects.

i think, part of our going to church, initially, was looking for Jesus like people search a picture, looking for Waldo. We look, trying to focus, our mind wanders a little looking at the different characters doing things in the illustrations, then we re-focus, undertaking a renewed effort to find the character Waldo.

In our search for Jesus, some just get tired after a few days, others seem to last longer, yet there are those who find, what i call, a “passion trail”.

i have asked myself a pretty pokey question many times when i feel my interest fading a little, “Just how interested are you in connecting with God?” To be honest, as if there’s any other way to be, it’s a great question, but i rarely like my answer. Am i just peeping around the corner at him….am i facing Him but looking more at the ground or other places, am i looking for Him with anticipation, or is my search just a passive looking around like watching a video while simultaneously playing on my phone?

1 Chronicles 15:29, “and as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window…”. Where the English word there is “looked”, in Hebrew it speaks of a very different heart posture than merely openly gazing like looking out across a meadow. It literally means to “peep at” or to “to lean out and gaze from a high window, as surveying a spectacle”, looking with interest while staying out of sight.

The “high window” says to me she was looking down on David from her high place of dignity. Not eye level, but peering at him who was “down low” implying a sense of he was somehow less than. i wonder how often i look for Jesus from the elevated platform of my own making, and rather than really chasing after Him, i peep at him from around the corner of my high place? Is this a question you’d be willing to entertain, and if you did, what is your answer to yourself?

Michal’s attitude towards David dancing before the Lord spoke volumes of her heart towards the Lord. The Hebrew word used in reference to Michal in 1 Chronicles 15:29, is the same word used of Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:30 in that she peeped at Jehu, gazed down at him from her high window. She lost her life from that high place she had gotten for herself. i would imagine Jezebel, like Michal, had a habit of looking down at the little people from a place where she could see them but the people couldn’t necessarily see her.

1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” Let yourself be known to the Lord, expose to Him your heart, mind, and body. His mercy endures forever and there is no way He’s going to hammer you. He thinks you are beautiful. How bad do we want to find Him? He’s not going to allow Himself to be found so easily, as long as we peep at Him through the curtains of our high windows. Our purpose and reason is not to discover our purpose and reason but to discover and apprehend Jesus, and it is nigh impossible if we’re always hiding and looking down on the little people.

           Psalm 38:11, “My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.” Matthew 27:55, “There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him,”

Both scriptures pass along to the reader a sense of looking on and observing… it’s more than gazing from a high place, but an earnest, continued inspection. The whole mood is one of interest, not just passive observance, but being attentive to what was going on to understand the situation, yet not wanting to get “too involved”. Do you see it? It is still from a distance, not wanting to exactly be involved altogether. Sort of like watching a friend get arrested … you dare not get directly involved, you’re not completely removed with indifference, but not exactly over there intervening and preventing harm to your friend.

In Matthew 27:55, the women had been attendant to Jesus, they were following, but they didn’t dare get too close lest they incur the wrath of the Roman guards who were doing the crucifying in case they get a beating for appearing to intervene, or worse, get crucified themselves for good measure.

Are we seeing Jesus in our lives but we’re not getting too close? Maybe we are afraid of being known, fearing maybe others will see us for who we are and they won’t like us so we hold ourselves at a distance, being careful to not get too involved. Maybe we don’t get too involved with the bankrupt and blind, the poor and prodigal sons lest some of their bad juju rub off on us. i mean, the attitude is like, “i hope all those homeless guys come to know Jesus, but, well, i’m not sure i want to shake hands with a really smelly guy with bad teeth, wild hair, and unknown sticky stuff on the side of the hand he wants to use to shake hands.”

i’m looking for Jesus, however i have to get there, and i pray God will give me courage to go where i need to be in order to connect with Him. How important is it to you to find Him? How far are you willing to go to find Him? Many folks only seem to look for Jesus in the obvious places, looking in the ground floor windows which are easy to get to, knocking on the doors which aren’t behind fences. In their quest for the Lord they seek Him among people which look clean, nice, and friendly.

And then last Monday, the day after traditional church, there was the homeless man, standing at the red light, holding out his hands or holding up a sign, asking for handouts. As is our custom, we cast our eyes away from him. It’s a pretty uncomfortable moment, isn’t it? We say within ourselves, “We gave at the church already, gosh.” So in the moment, we stopped looking at Jesus standing there, with His hand out.

i think a lot of the church is looking for Jesus, but it’s from a distance, sort of aloof from really being involved. I don’t know what we’re going to do next week in worship. Maybe as it turns out, we’re much more interested in feeling spiritually high and lifted up than we are in actually seeing Jesus in his actual “glory.”

Matthew 25:35-46, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Jesus is being painfully pointed here. Notice, He called the first group brothers, but there was no such relationship mentioned with the second.

Mark 1:37, “… Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”” In Luke 2:49, when Jesus was in the temple and His parents were looking for Him, He asked, “Why were you looking for me?” i believe He knew the answer to the question and His question was meant to inspire them to examine their own faith concerning His true identity. The Greek word for “looking” used in both scriptures doesn’t mean looking, as in peering at, but looking in the sense of seeing with their eyes with the intent of seeking and searching to apprehend.

Today, in this season we live in, whether people admit it or not, everyone is looking for Jesus, seeking to connect with Him, just like in the days when Peter said those words to Jesus, “everyone is looking for you”. i’d say nothing has changed much since then. Mankind still acts the same as they did back then, and we’re all … still … looking for Jesus.

There is a different sort of looking for Jesus found in Mark15:43where Joseph of Arimathea was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, in other words not only was he seeking the Kingdom, but it’s a word which also implies he was looking in earnest and waiting with confidence. It was the passion of his life to find Jesus, and when he did he was bold and courageous to request the body and prepare it for burial.

Some folks seem to think the Lord is typically found in real big fancy places with mega seating, and mega sound systems run by mega technicians, managed by mega pastors and mega in-house mega marketing committees. Others think He’s found in old beautiful stones of ancient places, all with incredible art and high arched ceilings. They say God is surely in this place considering all the prayers that have gone up from that old stone building. Well, in that case, the county jail is probably twice as spiritual as the big beautiful churches. Think about this, prison and jailhouse walls are saturated with the prayers of desperate people who pray day and night, 7 days/week.

In another way, according to Paul, “high and lifted up” is precisely where God is not to be found, maybe we find Him among the lowly and down trodden instead of among the “high and lifted up”. We often find Him in unexpected places, sometimes He is looking at us out from under the eyelids of the most unlikely people. Some folks are always looking for Jesus in wondrous signs and others think they’ll find him in glorious wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:22-23, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.”

Now in Hebrews 11:26 there is another interesting use of the word “looking” which i think is relative to understanding this thing we do, “looking for Jesus” and what does it mean for our lives? To me, it’s important we understand our “looking for Jesus”. It is obsessive, and passionate, day in and day out. It seems important to know something about how we do it and why. Don’t you think?

Can we shape our “looking for Jesus” habits to be more productive? In Hebrews 11:26, Moses is spoken of as having considered the reproach of Christ a greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, because he was “looking to the reward”. The word “looking” is unique here in that it means Moses looked away from the riches of Egypt, he looked away from everything else and fastened his eyes on the Lord. And because the word “looking” is an imperfect tense it wasn’t a onetime thing, it was a continual and repeated action. There, right there is a major clue in not only how we “look for Jesus” but also how we successfully find our savior.

Then in Hebrews 12:2 Paul uses a Greek word for “looking to Jesus” that’s not used anywhere else in the Bible, only there. It’s a two-part verb, the first part meaning a separation from the whole, and the second part means to see with the eyes, to see with the mind, to stare at and discern clearly. It is not only a physical action but a mental action, both. The Hebrew equivalent means to “experience by perception, BEHOLD!”

Peter uses a different word for looking in 1Peter 3:12 and again in vs 14, but in this case the translators called it “waiting for” because this concept of “looking for Jesus” comes with the idea of confidently watching, looking for and anticipating.

Now you see, that’s how i want to go about “looking for Jesus”, with all breathing, all my thinking, and all my feeling. That’s it right there, “experience by perception … BEHOLD!”, turning my eyes from this world and fixing them on Jesus and the Kingdom of God. That’s looking for Jesus to me. Yea.

Another example of how i want to “look for Jesus” is in Jeremiah 13:16, “Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.” The phrase “look for light”, meaning we wait, collect with expectation, anxiously looking for His return, weaving together the facts and stories of God while waiting in anticipation. i don’t know about you, but to me that is fascinating.

Isn’t that sort of what we do while we’re “looking for Jesus”? We wait, we collect information about the object of our affection while waiting in confident anticipation of finding our beloved, touching Him, seeing His eyes. We know if we find Him, He will have found us first, and as long as we can see Jesus, everything will be ok.

Don’t we review the facts and stories of His exploits in our minds, and we retell to others the great things He has done? When we review we also relive the moment and emotion of the memory. It’s not like we are alone in our memories of His great deeds either. When we re-live the stories and weave together facts we’ve gathered while “looking for Jesus”, suddenly the memories become Holy Ghost charged, He assists us in our remembrance of Jesus. God inhabits the praise of His people. i figure, besides learning how to renew our minds, when Paul wrote those famous words in Philippians 4:8-9, he knew it would be more than just renewing, he was encouraging us to re-weave together the stories of Jesus which would inspire us to continue, with diligence, our pressing on “looking for Jesus”.

When i think of noble things, my highest dream is of Jesus. When i review what is just, pure, and lovely, my highest memory is of Jesus. When i put together the facts i’ve found while “looking for Jesus”, it’s not long before i began to sense God’s riveting virtue, redemptive goodness and, before i know it, anything praiseworthy starts coming to mind…shortly, a little fire is burning in my heart and my mind follows after. His presence draws all things together in His wake, and the hem of His robe and the glory of the Lord fills the temple. If we look for Him, He will find us. Do you get it?

i can’t speak for you, but i want to find what i’m looking for. i don’t believe i’ve ever met anyone who was searching for something they didn’t want to find. What person searches for something they earnestly don’t want and truly have no interest in? No one searches for what they do not want in the same sense that no one knowingly and willingly dies for a lie.

Our purpose and reason is not to discover our purpose and reason but to discover and apprehend Jesus. We have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people who will believe in their heart and confess with their mouth Jesus is Lord. We have tasted and have seen, therefore we search and “look for Jesus” because there is no one and no thing who satisfies our souls and makes us right before God.

How do we “look for Jesus”? We call out to Him with our voice and actions, we pour ourselves out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted. We praise and worship Him, we study to find Him in scripture for He is revealed in the Bible and inhabits the praises of His people, “If you look for Him, He will find you.” We look for Him with the seeing of our eyes and the vision of our mind and heart with the intent of seeking and searching to apprehend. To see what we see, we’ve got to be interested to know what we’ve found.

We look for Jesus in earnest and wait for Him with confidence. Finding Jesus is the passion of our lives, and we are bold and courageous to break out of our church model to be where He is. i will break your rules to touch the hem of His garment if i have to, but i must touch Him above all things. i will lose my titles, platforms, and positions of honor, i’ll call Him Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, or all of the above, whatever it takes to get close to Him, using everything i am to know Jesus. Are you willing to walk alone in the wilderness to find Him, or maybe sail violent seas, or camp in a desert place that’s just dry as far as you can see in any direction because the Lord said “wait here”, willing to look away from everything else and fasten our eyes on the Lord?

We are “looking for Jesus”, so we wait, collect details of His presence with expectation we will see our Savior, we anxiously look for His return, searching the sky for the fulfillment of His promise to return for us who love Him. We relish weaving together the facts and stories of God, recounting His extraordinary exploits.

The only way we’ll stand is on our knees with our hands raised, being strong and courageous to attain the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.

This could gloriously go on and on, so i’m going to say “think about it” and bounce. Think about it.

Mark 16:6, “And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

i don’t know how to tell you how i feel in my “looking for Jesus”. The closer He gets to all things, the more all things become like Him. You don’t need to go out and look for a guru that claims to have some special revelation. You can find everything you need to know about God in the pages of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit will guide you on a path, especially for you, to find Him whom you seek. As you pray and study His Word, you can begin to know Him, and He will begin to work in your life, He will open your eyes to see Jesus. It may be a glimpse here and there, but every time we see Him, we are changed from glory to glory, when we see Him, we shall be like Him.

One-way Jesus, He’s the only one i could live for. i tried the others possible gods and found, conclusively, they are all lifeless hulks of imagination and stone, and were so corrupt they were no one even the worst of humanity should follow after.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, broadcast from the deck of a rural cafe at the end of Old Field Road which overlooks the beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge and every evening is pleasant.

Are we “looking for Jesus” like someone who simply has a passive regard for what they see, or are we looking for Jesus with eyes wide open, gazing at Him like looking at something amazing? Are we watching for Him with anticipation, looking with eyes, mind, and heart, straining to hear the wisdom of God’s heart. We all are looking for Jesus in one fashion or another, whether we know it or not….He is the desire of the ages and one day, every eye shall see Him and none can turn away.

Be strong and courageous this week, take your time, breath easy, one step at a time, it’ll all come around. Amen, and amen.

Living Like Jesus

And they all sang, “i just want to be like Jesus.” It was a glorious thing to sing, and i believe everyone was truly sincere. Yet, i’m certain if we want to live like Jesus, we’ve actually got to know something about Him, more than only what we’re told from the pulpit on Sunday. We’ve got to dig in our Bible to read, and we’ve got to pray and be involved with God to know His attributes, preferences and standards in order to actually live like Jesus. If you think it’s impossible to live like that, let me assure you that if you’ll try, God will meet you on that path and empower you to live as you’ve only sung about and wished over.

We are so often implied to by Hollywood, advertising, our state and federal government, and self-help guru’s, that if we’ll just imitate highly respected, highly motivated role models, we’ll get life back in good working order. It’s like telling people that some form of good works will get us living the high life, and nothing could be further from the truth. We’re told saying right prayers making sure to end our prayers with some magic words will do the trick. When i was a new believer a man told me that if i didn’t end my prayer saying, “In the name of Jesus”, God wouldn’t hear me, nor could He hear me. That’s foolishness. We’re told if we do the right things, long enough and loud enough, that will somehow meet the qualifications of being a good person, God will approve of us, and that will be sufficient, implying if we try hard enough it will be good enough. That’s foolishness. That’s not what God said at all, and we would know that if we’d read our Bible. We’re told that if we’ll “just do the rules”, keeping these high days, and eating that certain food, saying those special words in a special way, and using the more technically correct names, that will be enough to live the life of Christ or that somehow, it gives us an extra-special connection with God. Again, that’s foolishness. Galatians3:21, “For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.” It’s not.

No amount of good works or religious deeds or ceremonies can ever save anyone. If grace did not come by Jesus Christ then grace did not come at all. No one can earn salvation, and yet it’s available to everyone, not because we went and got it, but because Jesus gives it.

We are told that if we’ll just change our behavior, supplying all our own effort, life will change. While that may be a little true for a short while, really, it’s nothing lasting. God says He, Himself will give us the power to change, and it’s not just change He’s after but a complete metamorphosis, a total transformation. We can’t rescue ourselves…. power for salvation and transformation come from God alone. Bottom line…if God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it.

i believe too many are spinning their wheels trying to transform themselves into some semblance of Jesus, but it never really sticks because without the power of the blood of Jesus in our lives, our inclination is to always revert back to our original state of godlessness. We have to let the Lord do it in us. The power to change is from God living in us, Jesus Christ living in us, and that power comes from Him, not from within ourselves. It is totally His work and nothing we, by any means, can take credit for.

We live like Jesus by worship, and that means not by simply lifting our hands and dancing around, but in how we lead our lives, how we present ourselves, as seen most evidently in our conversation, conduct and character. That is worship…it’s when you adore someone so much, you emulate all things about them.

We live like Jesus by prayer. Philippians4:5-6 reads, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Prayer is integral to the cultivation of our relationship with the Lord, and honestly, we won’t get far without it.

We live like Jesus by studying our Bible. Jesus knew, He KNEW the scriptures, in fact He WAS and IS the scriptures. He used the words of scripture to resist temptation and said in Luke4:4 we don’t live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. To live a spiritually upright life requires we get spiritually upright nourishment.

We live like Jesus by connecting with the Body of Christ. i didn’t say to necessarily attend a brick and mortar facility, i’m more saying we have to connect, position ourselves to have deep and meaningful dialogue with people who are honest and transparent. i believe we learn from those interactions about how to express ourselves, how to employ our giftings, and how to appreciate others who may have gifts different than ourselves. For all our criticism of the church, God loves the church and created the entire concept for more than just preaching the gospel but to help us grow.

Want to live like Jesus? Choose to be patient, to be considerate, extending yourself to others. Take time and make time to pray. Read your Bible, Jesus has a lot to say about our conversation, conduct, and character.

The Lord our God is the one who created man in His own image. We were designed to not only look like His image but to also reflect His heart. He’s the only who can finish His work in us, not just for change but for transformation.

What do you think?

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

         Isaiah 2:4-5  He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

As long as we wear skin, and as long as there is a devil, life will be a fight, it will be war in every capacity and corner of our mind and the universe. i have been at war since i was born, and so have you. So I guess war is in everything about us. It’s in our thinking, our “want to and don’t want to”, it’s in our despair and hope, it’s in our dreams, even how we go about achieving our aspirations…it all somehow involves war of some sort. There is conflict and contention on every corner every which way we turn with a constantly rising noise floor of conflict. The idea of “not learning war and no more war” is a completely foreign thing to think for people. And just how deep is the concept of war, or conflict embedded in is? Ponder that question and i think you’ll come to the same conclusion i have. If we are all in a constant state of conflict resolution, that means there’s war and conflict which needs resolving. It is painful and exhausting to always be at war. In fact, scripture bears out that war is agony in the sense of Philippians1:30, Paul uses the word conflict, which is the Greek word “agon”, where we get our word agony from. Within the word “agon” are five distinct consistent divisions contributing to all our war and conflict: deceit, treachery, corrupt passions, a traitors heart, and lying. War is stressful, full of grief and difficult decisions, it is rife with enemies living and dead, spies, and dark things which hunt us in the night. We can run from our circumstances, but eventually we will return to our sadness and war unless we resolve our conflict. It is a battle close to the gates of our heart where we are continually besieged by the enemy of our soul who’s will is fully set against us. There is even war in our ethics and principles, as a result there are college classes on situational ethics. Situational ethics, as example, might be that we teach our kids that lying is wrong, which is correct and wise, yet there are extenuating circumstances where they would have to consider to lie in order to save the life of their family or friend. We are all inclined toward warfare and it seems it is in everything we humans are about… physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, so much so, that a state of war is what we are born into, and the truth is, we’ve had to learn to practice peace, to see the value in doing so, and to do those things which promote peace.  There are some who believe we’re all born “good people” and we become bad, but that’s just an outright lie. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Like i said, all my life i have been at war either in my spirit, in my head, or my body, and many times a dark symphony of all three. Upon trying to imagine “perfect peace”, to me, that says “no war” with a non-existent noise floor. i have had a few times where i’ve truly been at “perfect peace” and it was absolutely astounding. Sadly, it was also foreign and the contrast between -war- and -no war- felt like it was pulling my head apart. i like to imagine i usually operate at about an 80% peace, at least that’s what i’d like to believe, but the truth is likely far less than that, and wildly swings from all out war to sometimes being too exhausted to keep the roar of war going. If we’re being real honest, i think most of us don’t have peace like we think, but more we simply have found a way to turn the volume of conflict down a few notches, and then we decide we’re at peace, “beyond our understanding” simply because the volume of war has been turned down. I don’t believe simply turning down the volume of war and strife is what Jesus was talking about…at….all. For me, real peace as Jesus gives is a place God takes me occasionally, that place of “no war” and “perfect peace” and there is no effort on my part which could ever achieve “perfect peace” or “no war”. We’ve been at war so long we can’t hardly imagine “no war”, and the place of “no war” is descibed in Ps23 where the writer states, “He leads me beside still waters.” Do you see what i’m saying here?

i think that i am only truly as close to peace as i can get, short of being in Heaven, is when i trust God fully and permit Him to work in my own personal situations. Through a long, long series of very difficult trials, i’ve come to the conclusion God can and will eclipse any wrong ideas which have stuck to me from birth. So much of what i learned as a child inspired war and my lack of peace. i was taught to keep the rules and that is how you live at peace. But rule keeping didn’t make my heart and mind cease from all conflict and strife. i was taught going to church and giving my tithe was how you live at peace. But going to a brick and mortar facility, doing a weekly program, and giving money didn’t make my heart and mind cease from all war, conflict, and strife.

So how do i find a closer version of peace than what i’ve got? Is26:3-4, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”

Are you tired of being at war, striving, and continual contention, then ask the Lord to settle your heart, and i mean really pursue Him on it until things change. As a result, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only.

What do you think?

          Ahhh, yea … it’s another of those hypnotic evenings with the sun having settled down to a rosey glow at the horizon and the clouds are parceled out across the sky, looking like the porches at the entrance to Heaven’s gate … This evening the lilacs from down the road a piece are so fragrant, i can smell them all the way over here at the deck, overlooking the Ockluhwahhah River.

The view from here reminds me of part of a poem by Francis Duggan that goes: “A beautiful evening the birds chirp and sing, The wonders of Nature is a magical thing. The sun going down red in the western sky, And the roost bound starlings wheel and turn as they fly.”

The idea of our dialogue here is to speak to our issues about three inches beneath the surface of where we really live, waking up reality and perseverance, encouraging us to stop being compelled by panic and fear, to trust God – to stop and think … think before you act as best you know how. i mean, take a moment and play the entire movie out before you jump off that high place.

i knew a man, many years ago, who, when he was very young and wild (meaning he didn’t think much), was out carousing with some other young buddies late one evening. They stopped at a high bridge and decided to do some bungy jumping … but they didn’t have any bungy cords. Off to the side of the bridge they found an old rope, and being young and foolish they really didn’t realize there is absolutely no bounce or give in a large diameter rope. Without considering the outcome of his actions, the unthinking young man tied the rope to his ankle and jumped … yea, you guessed it, he lost his foot that evening. If he and his pals had simply thought about it, taking a moment to think ahead just a little bit, he would still have his foot today. That certainly was a humiliating and permanent lesson of “look before you leap”, or “play the whole movie” before taking action.

Luke 14:28-30, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.‘”

A few weeks ago our program topic was “Foresight, Insight, Hindsight”, and tonight’s topic is sort of about those three elements of understanding, but more from another angle maybe. i think most people think of “foresight” in the context of a prophetic gift, by the Power of the Holy Spirit predicting a future outcome, or confirming the Word of the Lord that is already operating in someone’s heart …  but tonight’s focus is more on the practicality and employment of foresight, insight, and hindsight. When we have understanding, putting into motion the wisdom of “look before you leap”, that means we are taking a circumspect view of things to gain insight when the Lord gives it to us.

Dr. Henry Cloud wrote a book in 2004, “Nine Things You simply Must Do” in which he probes the mystery of why some lives really work and others don’t. One of the chapters is labeled, “Play The Movie”. A moment ago, i gave a quote of Luke14:28-30. In the idea presented in that scripture, “… sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it”, that means to “play the movie”, pencil things out to see where they go, find the hidden costs if any, see and perceive, asking ourselves the question, “Is this really what i imagined? Does it look like what i believe the Lord showed me?”

How often do you make a “knee jerk reaction” about something without considering the consequences? i mean, c’mon, we’ve all done crazy stuff in life at some point or another without considering the consequences of our actions; bought a car, spoken rashly, voted without weighing reality, drinking and driving, running with a crowd we know better than to hang with, etc.

A friend of mine and i were at coffee this morning and we were recounting past decisions that we made in a moment of haste without any thought as to the possible outcome … we also remembered the miracles in that we weren’t killed and how the Lord, in His everlasting mercy, protected us from ourselves. The Lord brought to my remembrance the time i needed to load a bull in a trailer, a really big bull, but he didn’t want to get in, of course. i had him corralled in a very small space and he just wouldn’t get in. In my frustration and anger, i grabbed a big stick and just jumped in the pen with the bull and whacked him round and round the little space until he got in the trailer. Only afterwards, only !afterwards! did it dawn on me the complete and utter foolishness of my actions. i didn’t play the movie, i didn’t look before i leapt … it never occurred to me that i was in close quarters with an aggressive animal weighing in excess of 2000Lbs who, at any moment, could have effortlessly crushed me. i think the Lord delivers us from ourselves more often than we comprehend. Ha! Ya’ think? Thank you, Jesus, for your mercy and kindness. Amen?

           Luke 14:31-32, “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.”

Within that scripture are the ear marks of someone who is looking ahead some, using a sharp pencil to find out the actual cost of performing their idea, has understood the potential outcome, and even made an alternate plan.

The word “circumspect” is an interesting word for us to get a good solid grasp on when employing the idea of “look before you leap”. Webster’s Dictionary simply says, basically, to take all things into account, but the word used for “circumspect” in Exodus 23:13, means so much more than that. The word says, “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect.” The Lord means for us to not only take all things into account, but to look at the noted details narrowly, scrutinize the information, and above all, do what the Lord says. We weren’t born being circumspect, so, let me add that if we know Jesus, God !will! teach us to be circumspect.

God’s idea of being circumspect comes into play in other scenarios. How about “think before you speak”. How many times have you spoken quickly, and, OH, didn’t you wish you could just get those words back? It’s sort of like sending someone an unkind remark by email … once you hit “Send”, it is gone baby, gone, and you can’t unring that bell. There is no “unsend” for email, nor is there an “unsay” for words that have hastily come out of our mouths.

The concept of being “circumspectful” is what is meant when i say “play the whole movie”.

Take Judas as an example, who acted so dishonorably by betraying Jesus. i believe he wished so bad he could take back his words and actions. But, in arrogance and blindness, he acted rashly and spoke unwisely. Look at his words, and actions in Matthew 27:3-4, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied in a sneering tone looking down their long judgmental noses at him. “That’s your responsibility.” They got what they wanted, and their attitude towards Judas was like saying, “Too bad, too sad for you buddy!”

i’m not sure, but it appears to me Judas … possibly … thought if he gave the money back and confessed his wrong to the Pharisee’s, that maybe he could somehow undo what he had done. A paraphrase of Psalm32 is that confession is good for the soul, unless, it is confession to the wrong person or group. Judas not only didn’t play the whole movie concerning his actions but he also confessed his error to the wrong people. Need it be said, Judas did not take into account the life and miracles of Jesus, he did not carefully consider the details of what he had witnessed for the years he walked as one of the disciples … Judas was not a very circumspect man, he failed to play the movie beyond the part where he saw himself as having saved the day. There was no “unsend” button, nor was there any “unsay”, or “undo” option. And if anything, the Pharisee’s used his confession against him, were delighted at his brutal mistake, and i believe they were pleased he took his own life. i believe the Pharisee’s found it delicious to close the trap and watch him squirm. He couldn’t un-ring that bell.

How often have we made, on the spur of the moment, spiritually impacting decisions without considering the outcome? A man and his wife bought a car on the premise that if the loan was approved, it must be God. Well, of course the loan was approved. A bankrupt felon could have gotten approval. Six months later they went bust and wondered why God would do this to them. Was it really God who did this to them? Had they played the movie, and scrutinized the details, they would have never suffered the catastrophic outcome.

i knew a man who had a dream that went like this: in his dream he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He only saw the nose and mouth of someone who sort of looked like him, but it wasn’t him. He woke up the next morning sure God gave had given him a vision of his future wife. He went about his day as usual, and that evening he went to a Bible study. There at the Bible study was an attractive young woman whose lower half of her face appeared exactly like the face he saw in the dream in the mirror. Immediately he had the idea he was supposed to marry that woman. Afterall, he was in the market for a wife, she was pretty, and she seemed to like him. He set himself on marrying her. He told her his dream and his intentions of marrying her, she bought into it, and two weeks later they were married. It turned out, after years of misery and struggle, he had done a knee jerk reaction, failing to play the rest of the movie, failing miserably at being circumspect.

When we take what we see in our foresight and give ourselves time to consider the details of what we have observed, getting insight, we’re typically not so quick to readily jump on popular trends and don’t tend to accept common advice as necessarily God’s wisdom. Proverbs 19:21, “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless it is the LORD’S counsel–that will stand.”

This is not about being cautious but about being wise – and understanding the ramifications of a proposed course of action. While others are ready to quickly decide an issue, looking before we leap often causes us to wait for a period of time, evaluating all sides of the issue, being neither proponents or opponents but simply keeping an open mind so that when a decision is made it is a wise decision. Playing the movie allows us to evaluate with objectivity rather than taking a position. i have a three day rule for buying a car, and what that means is that i figure Jesus rose from the dead in three days, and so in three days i can make a decision to buy or not. So far, it has worked out well. In those following three days, there is time to consider carefully and get a circumspect view.

How about the man and woman who were friends and went to a conference? While at the conference the speaker called them out of the crowd and prophesied that they should be married. They didn’t take into account the myriad of details that should have been carefully weighed before marriage, they didn’t count the cost … they failed to play the movie. They didn’t use a sharp pencil, scrutinizing the details, instead they took the conference speaker at his word, and got married straight away. It was a disaster which grew to super-volcano proportions quickly. How much different was that type of irresponsible behavior than the unthinking young man who went bungee jumping from a bridge with an unyielding rope tied to his foot?

          In a foreign country a priest, a lawyer and an engineer were about to be guillotined. The priest puts his head on the block, they pull the rope and nothing happens. He declared that he’d been saved by divine intervention, so they let him go. The lawyer was put on the block, and again the rope didn’t release the blade. He claimed he couldn’t be executed twice for the same crime and he was set free also. They grabbed the engineer and shoved his head into the guillotine. He looked up at the release mechanism and said, “Wait a minute, I see your problem … ”

Oh, gosh, he just had to open his mouth. Obviously, the engineer didn’t weigh and consider carefully before he spoke, and once his words were out there, he couldn’t unring that bell.

My mother used to tell me that it was better for me to be quiet and only be thought foolish, than it was for me to open my mouth and be known foolish. For much of my life … i didn’t listen.

Ephesians 5:14-17 “Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Mark 4:23-24 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear.” God’s meaning of “consider carefully” means to take in all the details, scrutinize them, leaving nothing out. And as to the use of the word “consider” in Greek … it means to “ponder to conclusion”, play the whole movie, or “look before you leap”, and we should do it carefully. To summarize that scripture it reads, “after you have taken in the details and, so to speak, penciled it out and perceived, after you’ve been to the Lord about what is in your mind, come to a conclusion and take action.” That is considering your hindsight, getting insight from the Lord, taking note of your foresight, draw it all into a conclusion, and then setting out to accomplish your task.

That method is the way the Lord does things. He is our example of “play the movie”, or being circumspect.

Isaiah 46:9-10 9 “I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning.” Our God is circumspect. He knows the end from the beginning, and takes all facts and intents of the heart into account.

Imitating the Lord, we are called to be wise and to take into account the ramifications of our possible actions ! before ! we jump and run. i’ll ask again, How often do you make a “knee jerk reaction” about something without considering the consequences? Think about that, and after you’ve thought, then think about it all some more.

When we take God seriously and practice the conclusion of our foresight and insight, life gets radically better. We may not be too good at it now, but the more we practice “looking before we leap”, counting the cost before we go to war, the better we get at it. To “play the movie” is one of the things alcoholics learn to do in order to succeed. Like Dr. Henry Cloud said, “Going to the movies can save your life by preventing bad things from happening, and it also enables us to see the good things that can happen also.”

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, a beautiful evening on the deck overlooking the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over and every evening is pleasant.

Pick up your cross this week, afterall, no one can bear it but you. Look before you leap, see your options before hand and be circumspect about what you perceive. As you go your way, take the time to pray for someone with words that make a difference. Be strong and courageous, and i’ll talk to you next time.

We’ve GOT to stand up. Stand up church, get to your feet and let the goodness of God loose in the world around you. Rare-back and let it fly! C’mon people, stand up church, stand up in life, stand up in your businesses and let your Godly character shine; stand up in your conference meetings and BE the people the Lord has called you to be; stand up in court, stand up in school, stand up and live His Name out loud; stand up in your secret places and do the right thing ‘cause it is always the right time to do the right thing. We’ve GOT to get up off our pews, get up out of our indifferent places, get up from our leisure…put that fishin’ pole down and let’s get down to business with the Lord. Get up and move out! Put on our “git ‘er done” clothes, and move out. Stand up church, get to your feet and let the righteousness of God loose in the world around you. Let’s stop talking about the wonder working power and go out from your safe places and do the wonder working power.

There is a dark cloud on the horizon, impending darkness moving in the direction of the world and in the direction of the church. It looks like a dark sand storm engulfing everything around it. The days of trial are near to our hand, Stand up church, The night is far spent and the day is at hand, stand up church, get to your feet and walk the walk as never before. BE the people of God! Open your mouth in truth, honesty, reconciliation. Augustine said “Truth is like a lion , you don’t have to defend it; let it loose and it will defend itself.” Stand up Church, you’ve GOT to stand up! We can no longer allow ourselves to be complacent and indifferent to what’s going on within us and around us. Polish your armor, sharpen your word skills. Quit complaining about Jezebel being in your midst and simply quit holding hands with the her.

Tell the world about the justice of God, about the grace of God, testify of what you see and hear. Testify, testify, yes, testify of His goodness. Stand UP church, get to your feet, position yourselves before the Living God and be determined to dance the dance or righteousness. Get up! C’mon! Get up! Wake up, we’ve GOT to stand up!

It’s high time to wake up! Get up from you beds, stand up Church, stand up. Get to your feet and move out.

We’re make a clarion call to the people of God…. Stand Up Church! i say no more white noise living, no more non-response to encroaching evil. We MUST stand up, the Lord is with you… you can do this church. Wake up and catch His rhythm….

Nehemiah 9:5 “Stand up and bless the LORD your God Forever and ever! “Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!”

Let your true colors show…..fly your colors, wear your colors, let the world know by your love and character to whom your allegiance lays.

In Psalm 94:14-17 the word says, “ “For the LORD will not cast off His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance. 15  But judgment will return to righteousness, And all the upright in heart will follow it. 16  Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17  Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul would soon have settled in silence.” ”

“Silence is golden” is a shortened proverbial saying with an obscured origin. The first example of it is from the poet Thomas Carlyle, who translated the phrase from German 1831. His translation was, more accurately, “Speech is silver, but silence is golden”, maybe romantically stated, but it is NOT always true…. there are times, like the day we live in, where silence is NOT golden….in fact….our silence, our lack of response, our “white noise” is often taken as our being complicit with darkness and that just will not do.

In Isaiah 48:12-13i believe the Lord is speaking to us, “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called, I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand that has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has spread out the heavens above; When I call to them, They stand up together.”

How closely is your ear to the ground at the Lord’s feet? Is your ear even on the ground to hear His going forth? Can you hear the sizzle of the cymbals which have been struck in His presence? Can you hear the cadence of Heaven’s drum beat, or are you sitting in a pew somewhere hoping all the world’s badness will miraculously pass you by?How many of us just go home having done our due diligence of going to church and giving our tithe….we hang up our shirt in the closet, make ourselves a sandwich and sit back in our chair believing someone else will do the work? To whom do we hold an allegiance? Are we allied to the world, committed to our own comfort and money? Do we have an attitude that refuses to be inconvenienced by getting involved with what God is doing?  ….or are we committed to the values of God Himself? Stand up Church! Get to your feet and find out where God is working. Find out where the Lord is working and join Him there.

The word for “standing up” and “standing” was used extensively in the O.T., in  over 1000 times this expression is used in one capacity or another…. many times the entire nation of Israel was called to “stand before the Lord” in solemn assemblies…. the phrase “stand before Him” is an expression of dedication, allegiance, and service. Joseph stood before Pharoah, David before Saul, etc, etc and so the believer stands before the Lord in a position of obedience, respect, and readiness to serve. When at church and the music starts, do most of us even know why we stand? Is it because someone told you to? Is it blind habit, something we do because… well… it’s what we always do? Maybe it’s that we see others stand and we don’t want to be the odd one out… and if no one told you to – would you stand anyway? Why would you do that? The wise take the time to carefully consider their motivations….do you stand for righteous reasons?…..what are your reasons for standing, or not?

The whole idea of “standing up” has vision and choosing in it.To stand up means to confront fearlessly, oppose boldly, to take a stand for or against; to hold one’s ground or principles in the face of a challenge. With two eyes which connect to one brain we “see” and we choose our actions. We have the choice to sit in silence and conceal the truth of God, or we choose to stand up and reveal the truth of God –God concealed/God revealed, Deus Abscontitus/Deus Revelatus. In the action of our “standing up” there comes an enabling of the underlying power of the spiritual which is brought into the physical life. To “stand up”, from the Lord’s perspective isn’t in arrogance, but in humility, for the whole idea is to stand for something…..i’m sure you’ve heard the saying that if we don’t stand for something we’ll certainly fall for anything. Can you hear me?

Count the cost and don’t be afraid. The Lord has the cost covered….we have everything to gain in Christ, and nothing to lose. The word of the Lord in Isaiah 40:8, where it says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever,” that scripture gives us a picture that His Word is not sitting in repose or idle…. it is standing and will forever stand, it is active and ready. If His word stands, then we should also. ….and having done all, to stand, Stand therefore… Stand up Church! Get your feet underneath you and stand up

We might say to ourselves that we can be equally effective when we sit, which is quite possibly true, but standing up is a physical action, it implies a mental and spiritual action with a posture of readiness.

Look at the N.T. hero’s of faith. Were they idle, where they casual in their faith, did they lead a life of repose because “standing up” and being firm about the gospel was too scary or too inconvenient?

In Acts 2, Peter stood up with the eleven….he lifted up his voice and testified… it would also appear that the eleven were already standing…they were ready, feet planted, committed and determined.

Acts 4:14, the healed man was standing with the others.By his standing up he was making a declaration…. he took action, testifying of God’s wonder-working power and grace.

In Acts 5 the apostles were seized and thrown into common prison, but then an angel came and rocked that place….prison doors thrown open and they were brought out….then the angel delivered the word of the Lord to them saying, “”Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”

“GO STAND” is significant. It was a posture of readiness, a position of declaration, they arose and took action. “GO STAND” was a command not to be at leisure nor to be silent or complacent, but to rise up in the power of their testimony.

Now we come to Stephen. Great day what a testimony. In Acts 6 Stephen is revealed as a man of God, full of grace, having done many signs and wonders among the people. The Pharisee’s secretly got some people to lie saying Stephen had used the Name of the Lord tritely with cursing and they stirred up the people and elders against him; they grabbed him and took him to the council for judgment. There….Stephen stood up, do you see that? He stood up, held his ground and testified. As he was standing, all witnessed a physical change in his demeanor. Acts 6:15 says they observed him to have the face of an angel – i take it that he was radiant. Acts 7 reveals that he stood up, radiant in the power of the Holy Spirit and preached quite a piercing sermon….so much so that they were all cut to the heart. Acts 7:55-56, “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56  and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

The Lord was standing, ready…..He was not sitting at rest and it is significant that the Lord was standing. In anger and rage they grabbed Stephen and stoned him, meaning they hit him with rocks breaking skin and bones until someone came with what is called “the headstone” which was the stone used to crush the head of the stoning victim.

Before he died, incredibly, he asked the Lord to not lay this sin to their charge. Stephen was no victim i’ll tell you that! How many of us would have simply been silent from the start, hoping that these accusations would just pass over us, being silent little sheep trembling in fear?

Stephen was committed to God’s values…. he stood up, firm in faith and delivered the words the Lord gave him.

Continuing on of course there was Paul who stood firm to the end. Peter and John stood up in the power of the Holy Spirit. All the apostles stood up in the Name of Jesus and are among the thousands of martyrs across history who stood firm for their faith in Christ. As they did, we must do also…. stand up church. Albert Einstein said, “The world as we know it will not be destroyed by evil,  but by those who watch without doing anything about it. ”Revelation 12:11 11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Get to your feet and be strong, testify of God’s goodness. Be silent no longer and stand….. up!

Imagine with me for a moment …. imagine in one large picture a vision of the United States; now imagine all the churches in all the cities, towns, and communities, some large, some small, some in homes, some in huge buildings….see all the people who come in and go out again, some walking, some riding, some rich, some poor. Imagine what it would be like if the churchstood up and began to seriously stand for God’s values and the testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

How different would our nation be if we, the church stood up, spoke out, and took action….. no longer being scared little sheep who feared they might not have their comfortable life or might not be liked by others if we lived out righteous character

2 Thess2:, “ So then, brethren, be constantly standing firm and holding fast to the teachings which were delivered to you….”

The Lord establishes us, meaning He causes His ways to stand up in us, His appointments “stand up”, they are made known and declared, they endure and persist. Church…. stand up….declare your colors, whose side are you on?…. be determined to endure and persist, make His values and appointments clear to the world around you…..it is righteous.

Friends – stand up from among the dead! We are not called to pander to the world, nor are we called to live passive lives. He asked us to stand up for righteousness, truth, honor and honesty; He asked us to be lights to the world and no light is ever passive in the dark – it shines where it shines in every place it can illuminate, not in brutal attacks but in grace and love….persistent, enduring, firm,  and unwavering.

Daniel 2:44, “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

The Lord establishes all that His Kingdom represents and it will endure and persist forever…. as will the people who occupy the Kingdom with Him. Standing up gives evidence to the validity of our testimony.. He gives us our substance that He would establish us in the face of the world and darkness

Stand up from among the dead and get to your feet. It’s time to wake up from your slumber, from your passivity, from you indifference, from your laziness that says it’s too much trouble to be involved with God. Let your hands be strong those who have been hearing and stand up in these days. Our Redeemer will “Stand Up” for His people, Zechariah8 says, “So I will save you, and you s hall be a blessing. Do not fear, Let your hands be strong.’” Amen.

The Lord says in Psalm that His throne endures forever, His throne as the days of Heaven, His Name to all generations will stand up and persist. Psalm 104:31, “May the glory of the LORD stand up forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works.”

He has put His words in our mouths and has covered us with the shadow of His hand that He would plant Heaven in us as fragrant flowers in His Name. He will call us His People!

This has been Outposts, broadcast live from the late evening banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees lean over the rivers edge and every evening in pleasant. This production has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

We’ve GOT to stand up. Stand up church, get to your feet and let the goodness of God loose in the world around you. Rear-back and let it fly! Stand up church, stand up in life, stand up in your businesses and let your Godly character shine; stand up in your conference meetings and BE the people the Lord has called you to be; stand up at court in truth, stand up at school in honesty, stand up and live His Name out loud; stand up in your secret places and do the right thing ‘cause it is always the right time to do the right thing. We’ve GOT to get up from our pews, get up from our indifferent places, get up from our leisure…put that fishin’ pole down and let’s get down to business with the God. Put on our “git ‘er done” clothes, and step up. Stand up church, get to your feet and let the righteousness of God loose in the world around you.

The days are upon us friends, take this seriously, please, think about it. Amen.

The Lord is offering us His Face to gaze into like a Father looks into the eyes of His children that we would see Him and He would see us.

Kelly Koshatka of Denton, Texas wrote that, “God’s heart is crying out through the scriptures that we would see Him. This is not about “imagining or visualizing the face of Jesus”; rather it relates to a heart searching to know God, “face to face” by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Only God Himself, by His Spirit, can open the eyes of our understanding to see the Lord in this way. What is something if it does not have a face? Anything that is faceless is without identity. What is our relationship with the Lord like if it is with a faceless God? What kind of walk do we have if we relate to God below eye level?” Who or what is your focal point and where is your horizon? Do you see the Lord through a veil which hides your face from the very One who desires with all His heart to live everyday life face-to-face with us?

Many years ago i was involved with a street level ministry. It was a real hands on thing, as with any street level ministry….there were many who seemed unwilling to be anywhere else doing anything different …. some had physical problems, many had mental issues….a lot of folks just seemed wedged in a crack and couldn’t seem to climb out….it was a great opportunity to practice compassion, grace, and often a real exercise in keeping good boundaries. Over time i had gained an attitude that “i” was “in ministry”, that “i” was the “helper” and “they”, yes….. the infamous “they”, were the ones being helped….“I” (with a captial “I”) was stooping down to help the “little ones”. Mind you, i didn’t consciously see it that way, but being where i am now and looking back at myself, my attitude, and past actions i can see my secret posture. Not only do i see what was in my underlayment, i also remember the significant moment when the Lord challenged me and my attitude, and how, in that one moment, the Lord struck and cracked my outer shell. One day i met an old black fellow, skinny, nearly toothless, cataract in one eye, he was homeless and liked it that way….. yet there was something real about him. He went by the name Tabb Roberts…who knows if it was his real name…. either way, once a week i’d buy a couple cups of coffee and go by Tabb’s place (which consisted of a tarp with some blankets) and we’d talk about Jesus, laugh and carry on for a while till he would usually announce he had some stuff to do. One day he was telling me about another guy who was so lazy that if the man had a job tasting pies at a pie factory he wouldn’t show up. It was a pretty good laugh, but then he got all serious, turned to me and said, “You know Capt’n (his nick name for me was Capt’n), we need to be careful what we say and how we act because we never know out from under who’s eyelids God is lookin’ at us from.”

It was a defining moment….i thought i was getting “Eye Level” with those who were “street level”, but really i was more hovering over them, forcing them to be in something less than a “face-to-face” relationship.

“Eye level” means getting next to people where your eyes and their eyes are on the same level, physically, metaphorically, and spiritually…. just like the Lord did with mankind through Jesus Christ…He got eye level with us. 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 “meetingpeople 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 horizon is 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.

As in all good art, having no clear view of the horizon or focal point tends to skew and distort everything….little things are too big, distant objects are too near, irrelevant positions and postures seem too detailed, and the important things are set at a distance and made too small and insignificant. It seems that everything is just…..”too” something. Too big, too little, too far, too near……just “too” something.

Can you see the twisted world view that can happen when something as simple as having an obscured horizon and confused focal point occurs? The world around us is no longer “eye level”. The value of things change as our “eye level” changes.

When Jesus came to town, our potential relationship with God was miraculously changed. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God came to us as Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, crucified under Pontius Pilate, died and was buried yet rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty. He is Emanuel, God with us.

God got “eye level” with those who were “street level”. He looked them eye-to-eye, walked and talked with people face-to-face; He heard their voices and they heard His, ear-to-ear; He touched people, skin-to-skin; and He felt with them, heart-to-heart. When Jesus came to town, His very presence changed their horizon and focal point, drew the universe into right perspective and sharpened the focus on all things relative to the Kingdom of God.

In the world we live in today, there is such a fight going on for what is on the landscape of our lives…..the more walls and obstructions we allow to block ourframe of reference, the easier it is to have a confused horizon and difficult to keep a righteous perspective. Leonardo di Vinci said, ‘Perspective is to painting what the bridle is to the horse, the rudder to a ship‘. Jesus, Messiah, the Christ of God became our horizon and focal point, He is our frame of reference, the righteous bridle for our perspective. The closer He gets to all things, the more all things become like Him.

John 1:16-17, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Jesus had some guys He hung out with….early on in Matthew 5 they are referred to as disciples and by Matthew 10 they are called apostles. God didn’t stand over them and hold Himself aloof and untouchable….He was there, “eye level” with the world and anyone who was willing to hold His gaze.

Jesus and the guys went places together, sat and ate together, and had conversations late into the night. They were more than just at “hand level”, meaning they didn’t hang out with Him for what they could get from Him. They were more than just “mouth level”, meaning they didn’t hang out with Him for the cool stuff He said; instead it was a day-to-day “eye level” life, meaning they hung out with God because of who He is. They went on camping trips, like in Luke 9 when they went out to a desert place, or in John 6 when it says they went up on a mountain, and “there He sat with His disciples”.

They even went on some short term mission trips, like in John 4 when they went to Samaria and an entire town heard the gospel. God, Jesus Christ, was “eye level” with the stumbling, the floor sweepings of society, the distraught, wounded, sick and dying. He even….are you ready?…. He even touched the diseased. It was against the rules for anyone to put their hand on a leper, but God touched a leper in Mark 1:40. Jesus broke the rules and actually touched the ones who were, according to society, below “eye level”, or even below “street level”…maybe just “gutter level”.

i find that the Lord addresses the motivations of our hearts, our attitudes and posture far more than our actions, and getting “eye level” with the Lord is about the motivations of our hearts. i figure if we really want to know someone we look into their eyes, hoping for a glimpse of character and intent. When Jesus got “eye level” with this world He was pressing past all our external junk, all our agenda’s, all our props and poses to meet with us, eye-to-eye, that we would encounter His face, that we would look into the eyes of God and see His true heart, and get lost in the star systems and galaxies of who He is. i really believe something amazing happens when we have an encounter with God’s Presence….the Hebrew for “presence” literally means “to encounter The Face”….it is a life changing encounter, a world and destiny changing event. Our faces identify us and reflect our attitudes, passions and opinions, and i believe the Lord wants to be known by us, for we are the object of His affection.

The Lord chose to come and be “with us” that we would know Him. So much of the world chooses to live below “eye level” with God, a place where there is always a short supply of passion, truth, and honesty.

Less than “eye-to-eye” with the Lord, relationships seem to eventually lack persistence and solid content, but when He is the focal point of our horizon and we take Him up on His offer of living at “eye level” with Him, it is amazing how life simply seems to roll smoothly together.

In Mark 8 Jesus healed a blind man. Verse 25 says, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” In the man’s “looking up” he looked into the face of Jesus, he got “eye-level” with God, and in the moment things changed forever; when He looked into the face of the Lord, in the instant …..he was restored and, i like this phrase, he “saw everyone clearly”. Now wouldn’t you really really like to have a big dose of seeing things clearly?

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

When the Lord is our horizon and focal point it draws all things into right perspective. Job 42:5, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.” How many of us are only on “ear level” with God, hearing but never seeing?

Don’t get me wrong, being able to hear Him is both wonderful and imperative, but according to Job’s statement, there is more of God to be had by going beyond “ear level” to beholding His face at “eye level”. It seems that Job’s circumstances were very perplexing to him. What’s worse, he had some friends who tried to clarify it all for him, but truth be told, they made even less sense in the end. In fact, and this is just what i think, Job and his buddies suffered from their faces being veiled. But at the end Job has a radical change of heart  from “ear level” to “eye level”.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18, “Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13  We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14  But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15  Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. 16  But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” Some of the key words there are “see” and “reflect”. With our eyes on the Lord and being “eye level” with Him, we are changed.

2 Corinthians 4:3, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,”

People who’s eyes are veiled seem to easily slip into bitterness, and confusion…..their forward momentum only runs just so far. They know God, they hear Him, and there is a relationship, but there is often something missing for lack of a face-to-face relationship….. they aren’t “eye level”. When we rest our eyes on the face of the Lord, old things pass away.

With an unveiled face we are consistently pursuing the things above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God Almighty, we are steadily setting our minds on the things above, which is “God level”, not the things on the earth, which is “earth level”; for we died, and our life has been hidden with Christ in God.

If we’ve got an “eye level” relationship with Jesus, He is being made visible and we are being made like Him.1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

The words of my mouth have long been, “Jesus is the answer, He is always the answer, and there is never a time when He is NOT the answer. ”If Jesus is our answer, then we will seek His face, becoming “eye level” with God, that we might reflect His image in all our bearings and postures. Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ”Who or what IS your horizon, your focal point that influences your perspective on everything? Think about it.

Secrets build fences, confession builds bridges. Early in lifei didn’t know the Lord, i lived with a veiled face below “street level”…..as a resulti had to learn to live within my own fences. When i was younger, there were things…. secret things in my life that i was so ashamed of i simply couldn’t look some people in the eye.It may have appeared i was looking at them at times, but honestly their gaze was just too penetrating for me.  Not until i got “eye level” with Jesus, and learned to behold His gaze were any bridges built across my fences. My veiled face changed because i did more than hear, i beheld his face. Ahh….to behold His gaze has more in it than just glancing at Him when we think He isn’t exactly looking at us. To behold Him, meaning to consider, to contemplate and discern…. it is not only a looking upon, but clear discerning. Living “eye level” with God is more than just a momentary seeing but is a way of having and keeping our communication and affiliation steady; it is more than just a passive thing, it is alive and active…… the more we look at Him, the more we want to look at Him, and the more we see Him, the more we want to see Him. Paul had a burning desire above all things and that was “To know Christ”. He was “eye level” with God…..and you?

When Jesus walked among the crowds of people in Matthew9, He was at “eye level” where they could look straight into His face. He wasn’t sitting somewhere way over yonder beyond the blue, unseeableand untouchable….God was amongst men, they could see Him and He could see them….He lived this life as we live this life in all it’s goods and bads. There is no affliction in the realm of men which our High Priest cannot sympathize with, for in all points He was tempted as we are, but yet He is without sin….. When the disciples were in a boat in a storm and Jesus was resting in the bow, He was “eye level” with them, they lived and breathed in the gaze of God. In Matthew26:6, when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, he was “eye level” with who was considered in that day as the “scum of the earth”…. the leper didn’t get on Jesus, Jesus got on the leper, darkness didn’t get on Him, He got on darkness. He was “eye level” with the floor sweepings of the world. As Andy Squyres writes in his song “Not In My Strength”, “Has He not called the disqualified, the poor and the prodigal sons; scum of the earth, the bankrupt and blind, the lost and unfortunate ones.You know me well, i’m all of these things, yet He still calls me His own. He’s washed me in blood, under the cross, so i boldly come to His throne.”

What or who stands at your horizon? What or who is your focal point which causes all things to come into rightperspective? Are you “eye level” with God? Eyes that are shut and hearts that are turned in the wrong direction will not be aware that God is in the house. Let us get “eye level” with Jesus and let Him take us up to get “eye level” above the world, up to the mountain tops and down into the ditches, compelling all we meet to come home.