I wasn't praying, brethren, still dealing with a little bit of a back issue, trying to stretch it out a little bit. You know, there was that second verse is really, really spoke to me because of the thoughts I have this morning. I believe that Christ, who was slain on the cross, has the power to change lives today. He changed me completely. A new life is mine, and that is why the cross, by the cross, I will stay. As usual, I have many thoughts and more thoughts than time to convey. But I do want to try to just at least share what the Lord has put on my heart and pray that it'll be a blessing. and pray for me that I can get through with minimal pain. Today's random thought is entitled Seeking God's Perspective. That's why that verse was so important. It's because God has totally changed my way of thinking, changed everything about my life. I'm not even close to the same person I was before. But I did have an interesting conversation an encouraging conversation, kind of a Q&A session with Alexander Pagliani last week. And it was instrumental in today's random thoughts, the conversation we had. And I do say I want to appreciate the passion that Alexander has for the Word of God, especially at a young age. One of the things that came up in our discussion was the fact that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. And therefore, the scriptures are written from God's perspective and from his vantage point. And whether we are aware of it or not, every level of our lives is about perspective. And that's really what I want to talk about is seeking God's perspective. And we live in an age of seemingly limitless information. But unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of the proper context and perspective. And I think the primary reason for that is man's perception is fundamentally flawed because he's limited only to his five senses and his personal experiences. which gives him pretty much only a subjective understanding of situations. And even with that understanding, our lives and our minds are riddled with biases and our own assumptions, which makes it very hard for us to have a true perspective about anything. And you may notice that the first place that a person's mind goes is to their own perspective of their lives. All of us are that way. what I value, what I care about, what's important to me, and what's interesting to me, or our focus. But the Lord tells us in Isaiah chapter 55, verses eight through nine, that there's a vast difference between the thoughts and perceptions that he has, and the thoughts and the perceptions of men. He says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So God not only has an expanded perspective, but he also has a vast information advantage over us. In Psalms 147 verse five, it tells us that he has understanding that is infinite. God's understanding is infinite. So he perceives things from the vantage point of one who is omniscient, who has an all encompassing perspective, not just of every action and event, but also of every thought and every motive of every creature. There's an interesting example. I was reading through the scriptures the other day in the book of Revelations. Interesting example of how man's perspective of themselves can be so much different than how God perceives them. In the book of Revelations, chapter three, talking about the church of Laodicea, and it's actually the last church in history that God mentions by name. Over 2000 years, I think about the last church he talked about wasn't good. In Revelations chapter three, verses 14 through 22, unto the angel of the church of Laodicea write, these things says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know that works that there are neither hot, that there are neither cold nor hot. I would that thou were cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth because Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. White raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that thy shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And to anoint thine eye with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh, I will grant him to sit in my throne, even as I also overcame and sat down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches. I've never really looked at this passage this way before, but it's interesting that the church of Laodicea, they had a perspective of themselves that was totally from the vantage point of their human perception. And Christ gives John the vantage point that he has. He gives it to them from his perspective, which is based in perfect knowledge of every man's heart and of every man's motivation. In fact, Hebrews 4.12 goes even deeper and says, for that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of thunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Now notice that one of the characteristics that John uses as he describes this church is that they were blinded. In other words, they lacked spiritual perception. They lack the ability to see beyond the outward appearance to the true spiritual reality of their lives. And as I speak these words, and trust me, I'm speaking to myself, but I think some of you can probably feel the force of it. This blindness led to their self-deception about their spiritual condition. And this just underscores our need for God to help us to see our perspectives and our situations through his eyes, rather than relying on our own perception and understanding. If we truly believe in the omnescence of God, it should inspire all of us to a much greater humility, realizing that God knows every thought, every action. And also, we should have, I think, a greater sense of security and confidence in knowing that he knows everything about our circumstances and there's nothing that escapes his attention. I know it's hard to imagine, but the events of this past week, a week ago, the Lord was fully present and he was fully aware of every emotion and every cry of those children and those people in Kerrville, Texas, as they pass from this life. And it's in times like those that we must understand, we must seek God's perspective and trust his character and not lean to our own understanding. And as difficult as it is to try to get your mind around it, we trust that God will always do right and that he loves every soul. Have you ever noticed that when you look at a picture or a portrait and you begin to focus in on just one particular thing or object, that all the surrounding areas become kind of fuzzy and blurry? That's because the thing that we focus on captures our attention, and everything else seems to just fade into the background. And that's how our lives are. For us to be able to see ourselves and our circumstances from the context of God's perspective, It requires that we intentionally place our focus on the right thing and have it in the right place. I try to make it a habit as much as possible to approach the scriptures from God's perspective. I really do seek his perspective as my single focus and that every thought that I read in his word is as though he was speaking to me directly because he is, because he is. The Lord speaks to us through his word and by spirit to bring us personally closer to himself. And in doing so, we find that the changes taking place in our lives are the things that he desires and not necessarily things that we perceive we need to change. For us to be able to maintain the right perspective requires a perspective of dying to ourselves and finding our lives in Christ. Paul reminds us in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, he says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." I think Paul would say that that's what it means to see ourselves from God's perspective. Also in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, in verses 14 and 16, Paul says, for the love of Christ constraineth us. Because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. I thought it interesting that Paul tells us that we which live, we which live, should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto him that died for us and rose again. That there should be a shift in our perspective if we are believers in Jesus Christ. That we no longer are to judge men based on their outward appearance or by the standard of the world, but through the lens of our identity in Jesus Christ as a new creation. As he said in verse 17, for behold, all things are passed away. and all things have become new. And that new is beginning with our perspective. Because at one point in his life, Paul saw Jesus Christ through his limited human perspective. But now, he says, we cannot look at ourselves and others from a superficial standpoint, but we must see the spiritual worth and potential of all people in Jesus Christ. And it just stands to reason that the focus of our life is through our natural perception that we will focus on our problems more than God's promises and his provisions. And I find that to be very much the case in my life. We will become fixated on our fears and our expectations more than the things that we know to be true. But as we walk by faith and not by sight, relying on God's perspective and what he has told us to be true rather than what we see, We will not be disappointed. We will not be disappointed. For we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4, 18. Amen? Amen.