Audio cheerfully provided by the author.

What if we could see beyond the wondrous beauty and terrifying cold raw power of the world at hand. What if that nagging thought that there is something beyond us could be proven? I am not speaking ufo’s and little green men here, but of that reality which echoes in our spirits and gives us the sense of immortality – those nagging longings for meaning and purpose. Would it make any difference if we saw it? One would think so! Would we believe One Who came from that realm and told us about it? Possibly!

Without a framework of resistance to merely natural perception, we insistently substitute our own personal values for truth, turning inward for fulfillment rather than outward for involvement. Like blinders on a horse that keep him focused only on the race ahead, cultural and intellectual bias obscure the larger picture that God wants us to see. For many Christians there is also a misunderstanding of grace which provides a ticket for personal security upon the exit from this present life, but does little to attach them moment by moment to the fountain of living water that could be springing up from their souls and watering a parched world. To achieve Jesus’ life of connection with both God and man, spiritual disciplines are required. Unfortunately that pursuit of holiness is largely regarded as legalism. Hence love and forgiveness take a back seat to moralism and tribalism. The big picture is veiled by our shallow conceptions of God. Without intervention we persist in trusting only our opinions. Proverbs speaks of the man who is wise in his own eyes – more hope for a fool than for him. We need the humility to accept the otherworldly perspective of the kingdom Jesus came to proclaim. He was pretty adamant about this: “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.” John 9:41 Amplified

Any fool can spot a problem, so here I am. As believers we all need to be reminded that what we see is not all there is – not even close. I pray for all of us the same prayer that Elisha prayed in 2 Kings 6:17  “‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Wow! There are more for us than against us, a great cloud of witnesses, as well as a God Who is the literal king of the universe – including nature, physics, angels and demons. Humans alone have the choice to be ruled or not – for now anyway. So why do we risk misdirection when our literal destiny hangs in the balance? Living without vision of God’s celestial intention is like getting our water from a broken well – one poisoned with lies and doubts and empty promises. 

I guess we have to adjust what we are looking at. The author of Hebrews encourages us to ‘look away unto Jesus, the initiator and finisher of our faith.’ Jesus Himself tells us that whoever follows Him ‘…will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life’. Staying connected to Him enables us to see beyond the matrix, to live out His kingdom here and now and to confidently invite others to join us. John is pretty forthright when he says “The man who is so “advanced” that he is not content with what Christ taught has in fact no God.” 2Jn 9 jbp 

Following rules, abandoning rules, trusting our natural instincts, rejecting God because of His peoples’ failures – this is all self destructive. Jesus didn’t come to be just a nice moral teacher, a good example, a revolutionary thinker – He came to connect us to eternity – and at what personal cost!  If there were another way He could have avoided  brutal betrayal and humiliation. In fact, He would not have had to take the time, trouble and aggravation of reducing Himself to become human, be maligned, mistreated, misunderstood, mocked, misquoted, ignored, dismissed, and hated. Maybe seeing His humiliation and humility and realizing that this is the path He called us to follow repels us and tempts us to seek an easier, more comfortable theology. This is an illusion and a denial of reality. The Truth Himself calls us come and die so that we might live. We can die now or later. The former has immeasurable joy attached, the latter, not so much.

So that is my two cents. I wonder what you are thinking!

P.S. “Look unto Me and live…”   God