God Perspective

I just moved back from Texas about a month ago. Since I have been home the Lord has really been purifying my perspectives. The way that I perceive the world around me, the people around me, and the God around me. This has taken place through a number of teachers - Jesus, My Pastor - Russ Miller (I-tunes James Island Christian Church - A picture of the True Gospel), Matt Chandler (Pod-cast from village church), Francis Chan (book - Crazy Love).



First and foremost my perspective of God has been re-focused. The re-focus has occurred in the revelation that Jesus... God... The triune God. He owes me NOTHING. Now when I say nothing I mean that the fact that I have been given life for 23 years so far without begging for food, always having a roof over my head, never in need... but simply in want. He owes me nothing because He created a world with laws and guidelines that we are to follow. It doesn't matter why He created it the way He did honestly, the point is that He did. And the simple fact that I have already been given all these things is only by His amazing grace.



Now I have heard arguments such as, "Why would God manipulate me into having a relationship with him? If he threatens me with Hell to have a relationship with him." The perspective of this person is apparent. They are looking at life through their eyes instead of God's, because if we could see all that He is capable of then we would not ask this question. A good way to keep things into perspective is to read Job 38 - 41 which has verses like - "Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?"; "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place..."; and "Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this." We should rejoice in the fact that the God who creates something from nothing with words alone... would even let me in on his plan. That he has a plan and he would tell me how to avoid eternal torment and have the esteemed privilege of then spending it with Him! The one that is from everlasting to everlasting. The one that knows all mysteries whether of the human body and how it sustains life or the creatures that inhabit the depths of the sea that we can't even get to yet.



Another inquiry, more popular than the previous, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Again, wrong perspective. You see once again whether we are happy with the conditions that He set on His creation doesn't so much matter. (You don't have to like the law of gravity but regardless of if you believe in it, or agree with it - it is still going to perform the way it was created to perform.) So with the understanding that He is deeply offended when we don't follow His laws and precepts and with the fact again that he created us... He honestly has all right throughout the universe to wipe us off the face of the earth for any one sin that we have ever committed. BUT... in his mercy, that is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22 & 23) he continues to let us live in hope that we might find Him. Yes, so that we can be re-united with the one that knew us before anyone else did... in the womb, (Psalm 139:13-16) but also so that we can meet & know the one who created us with such depth. Depth that is unknown to any other part of his creation. Depth that distinctly sets us apart from animals and all other forms of life. So that he can then fulfill that depth as he is sufficient in every way for every need.


I originally planned on talking about the three topics in my opening paragraph (the world around me, the people around me, and the God around me), but I decided that would be rather lengthy so I'll break it up a bit.

Nothing Else Matters

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last..." Rev. 1:12-17 (emphasis added)

John sees the LORD and is immediately overwhelmed! From the time he sees the fullness of the LORD he collapses as though he were a dead man. Like the first round in a Mike Tyson fight, except he falls face first toward the only other person in the ring and then has no movement outside of his lungs expanding and retracting. And the only reason this simple necessity of life is happening is because the one who's presence demands this reaction sustains his every breath.

If you are in the place where John is...
...there's no showing off here
...there's no pride here
...it doesn't matter if you're married here
...it doesn't matter what kind of car you have
...it doesn't matter where you live
...it doesn't matter how many friends you have
...it doesn't matter what sickness or disease, what race or royalty, what frailty or power - NO MAN is moving without His permission in HIS presence.

You see, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:3 (emphasis added) The only way I can perform a normal day is by the release of His grace. "'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring,'" Acts 17:28 (emphasis added) "For by him all thins were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers of authorities; all things were created by him for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Col. 1:16 & 17 (emphasis added)