Setting Out Outline

2-28-16

Rabbi Jason Shulman said, “There are many books that tell us how to find God but the truth is that God is not lost or hiding. In fact, it is the actual, continuous, omnipresence of God that is so hard for the human mind to fathom.”

As we are setting out, we need to be available for God—we need to be able to allow our experiences and the environment to speak to us. We need to pay attention to what is happening around us and within us. Only when we fix our eyes on what He is doing around us and focus within us are we able to continue on the path He has designed for us.

For this reason, my morning walks have been such a blessing.

Psalm 19– everything that exists praises the Creator

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Job 12:7-10—“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lordhas done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

All of life is bathed in beauty and sacredness

We either….

Don’t See
See, miss message, do nothing
See, misinterpret, wrong path
See, understand, move forward

Why do we miss Jesus?

We make false division between sacred and secular– REMEMBER GOD IS EVERYWHERE

We consider God stuck between the pages of Bible– REMEMBER GOD IS ALIVE
1. Exodus 29:45 – “Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God”
2. Ezekiel 37:27 – “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

We don’t have the kind of relationship that results in recognition– REMEMBER YOU CANNOT RECOGNIZE WHAT OR WHO YOU DO NOT KNOW

His appearance is different than our expectations– REMEMBER GOD DOES NOT THINK AS WE THINK
1. God spoke through
  1. Burning Bush (Exodus 3)
  2. Plagues (Exodus 7-11)

Balaam’s Donkey (Numbers 22)

God’s Sign Language
1. Noah and the Rainbow (Genesis 9)
2. The Exodus – the pillar of cloud and fire (Exodus 13)

We are too focused elsewhere to notice – something else has priority
1. Fear of Missing Out – DISTRACTIONS
2. Focused on temporary – PRIORITIES
3. Don’t understand what really matters –BUSYNESS
  1. Leonard Sweet – “We are so busy. Usually too busy for God.”
4. To pay attention means you are no longer the center of attention.
5. Hebrew 2:1– “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

We do not want to see Him– REMEMBER YOU WON’T SEE GOD IF YOU TRULY DON’T WANT TO – DISINTEREST
1. Matthew 6:21 – Jesus said our hearts follow what we treasure / pay attention to—“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

Examples of Missed Boats

Samuel thinks God is Elithe Priest (1 Samuel 3)
Birth of Jesus(Old Testament) – the Jews just didn’t get it
Pilate– what is Truth? (John 18)
Thief on the Cross– “One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. ‘Save Yourself and us!’” – Luke 23:39
Walk to Emmaus(Luke 24) – two fellas walking with Jesus had no clue

What does the Bible say?

Proverbs 8:34– “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.”

Listen – Prayer- Prayer is fully paying attention to God
1. Show Up
2. Slow Down
3. Shut Your Mouth
Watch – Requires you to be INTENTIONAL
Wait – Requires PATIENCE

Habakkuk 2:1– “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”

I will stand on my guard post
I will keep watch to see what He will say

Habakkuk 2:20– “The LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Silence
1. absence of sound
  1. Your mouth is quiet
  2. No noise
2. absence of movement
  1. You aren’t doing
    1. You aren’t focused on the next thing
    2. You aren’t multitasking
    3. All of you is still