Keeping Perspective — A tool for our Journey

Transcript

but good evening everyone um i wanted to thank you again for having me back to lead again another uh bible class and i hope that we can all take something from our discussions this evening

when i started putting together my class it quickly became clear that my class was becoming less like a a bible class and and uh was turning out to be more like an exhortation and i i hope that this direction is okay with everyone um definitely i hope we you know when you're putting together bible classes or any kind of class you as as a speaker you get a lot out of it of course and um i definitely got a lot out of this myself um i actually don't even know how i even arrived at this this topic i guess over the years i've i've always been trying to to find perspective on things and um so i thought might as well do a study on it so hopefully everybody can um can get something

um so tonight i thought it would be

never mind

sorry um so tonight i thought it would be of value to discuss the concept of perspective in terms of the what why

how who and where aspects and why it's such a great tool to have on our journey towards the kingdom

can you guys see my screen what's next

excellent excellent so before we can proceed with our discussions this evening we need to understand the what or the perspective or the definition of of what perspective is um so

uh what is you know perspective a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something a point of view a way of thinking about something especially one that is influenced by your beliefs and experiences so more importantly we're always asking ourselves how do we gain perspective and how do we keep perspective which i believe is one of the hardest things to do on our journey to the kingdom

so what is our perspective on on things you know situations

people events do we do we have a finite view or a broad perspective you know what is our understanding of things in a given moment how do we perceive things uh more importantly how do we gain perspective quickly in a moment where we need to have it in order to make the right decision

are we concerned about the perspective of others you know have of us even though it may not be any of our business you know it's been said that often we can't see beyond the choices we don't understand how do we gain perspective into matters we can't fully wrap our heads around

so continuing on with with our our what uh you know what perspective is you know as a people that study the bible our first point of reference and answer to a lot of these questions can be found in what god's plan is god has a much closer perspective on individual lives he knows our life circumstances

our challenges and failings he wants to have a relationship with us and that everyone might know him uh let's turn to proverbs 3 um where we read in verse 5. actually we you don't have to turn to that one i think we probably most of us know that when um you know trust in the lord with all our with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding in all ways acknowledge him and he shall direct by paths so you know what is god's perspective this should be our starting point

and we will dig deeper into that idea later on in our discussion but god's perspective is beyond our finite understanding when looking at what is good about perspective we have to have we have we also have to look at what damages perspective

as as well of course so when we have an ego we damage our correct perspective on things and i guess you could look at ego as an acronym um

being e for edging g for god and o for out i i read that somewhere somewhere and i thought it was so applicable for for this situation you know when we lean in unto our own understanding and not of god's understanding we push him out of our lives and our perspective on things go off track

on an individual relationship basis of god's perspective i believe david sums up things very well for our understanding so let's let's turn to psalms 139 right now

and we'll read verses 1 to 6 and basically in verses 1 to 6 we see david discusses the perspective of his relationship with god

so reading verse 1 oh lord you have searched me and you know me you know when i sit and when i rise you perceive my thoughts from afar

you discern my going out and my lying down you are familiar with all my ways before a word is on my tongue you know it completely o lord you hem me in behind and before you have laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me too lofty for me to attain

we could read further in this psalm of david's perception on things but i believe verses one to six really gives a good feel of the perception of our relationship with god and the relationship we would want to have with him david was acutely aware of the connection he had with god and that connection and knowledge would bring a comfort to david and would be a guide for him at the forefront of his life

i was inspired by brother steve davis's expert a few weeks ago where he referenced that keeping bag company correct uh corrupts good morals you know i think taken from first corinthians 15 verse 33 this can be a threat to our perspective for sure brother steve also pointed out that out of the opposite as well where keeping good company with good people can also be a threat to our perspective on things in that we rely on someone else's understanding and not trying to find the answers for ourselves

and this is so true where we read um in 2nd timothy 2 verse 15 to study to show thyself approved

so perspective is something you have to fine tune along the way

i do a lot of riding

uh of my road bike my bicycle and i do a lot of kilometers i think there's someone on our class tonight that do the same thing and they may understand this concept but um i do a lot of writing um and sometimes what happens is the wheels can come at a true or not perfectly aligned for a smooth roll on the road

this happens when you hit a you know rough roads or you know bumps or potholes

when this happens it can make the journey to your destination

you know more difficult or less smooth and and this can be said about our lives as well

in our perspective where we constantly have to do maintenance on on our perspective on things or keeping the wheels of our lives true as it relates to our journey towards the kingdom

so why is it important to have the right perspective um you know good or bad obviously we want to stick to the good um but there are so many obvious answers here really you know why is having perspective important having the right perspective is often a difficult thing to do but it is a major component in our navigation system as we are rolling along on our journey towards the kingdom

without perspective we cannot make the right decisions that will get us to our destination when we plan a road trip somewhere do we pick a route that is is slow

does that route have a lot of dirt roads no gas stations

restaurants

sketchy areas that could be dangerous to us will our route take us on a path that is longer when perhaps we may be in a hurry we need to have the right perspective in order to get to our destination

now let's let's face it the the past couple of years have posed some significant challenges and struggles for everyone's perspective whether it's covid uh the collateral damage that has come of it or you know world events with with wars uh social and political unrest but having the right biblical perspective is is super important

you know if we were to take the idea of being blind your perception of things would be difficult visually of course if you don't have the right perspective of sight you could stumble easily easily through this world so let's let's turn to ii corinthians 4. so i'll read we'll pick up at verse 4 actually

the god of this age has the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of christ who is the image of god

so we read of we read here of the minds of unbelievers being blinded by today's concerns and so they are not able to see the true light of the glory of christ to us this would be sad of course to not have this awesome vision or perception because we have our eyes open and our perception of the of the things that are to come and a possible place in the kingdom

verse 6 reads for god who said let light shine out of darkness

made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of god's glory displayed in the face of jesus christ

this is such a strong reason why we want god's perspective so that we can see the light that the glory of god shines in an otherwise dark world that we live in the blindness of this world can offer us nothing

of course you know we can take an even simpler step back and probably even stop our class right here and say the bible itself is our perspective on life our guidebook

that we carry in our pack on our journey to the kingdom putting on of these bible glasses would and should change our perspective on life

but if only you know if it only were that easy

as we'll see in the next section of our who's who of our discussion tonight

so as we discuss the who's who section of our discussion tonight we see there are so many great examples of people who had the right perspective their whole lives and even in the most impossible situations tonight we're going to look at we're going to focus on five people that stood out for me as people who had the right perspective but again there are so many others you know we can look at of course in the bible um

and that and obviously these ones for me resonate uh very much with me with and you know with during our character studies and maybe later on we can discuss maybe even some more examples in our discussions but i picked six six examples and i went light on the bible reference in order to stay track on time so hopefully the timing on this all works out

now times were very different for these people compared to our times you know we have several distractions in our lives such as you know social unrest

there's the distractions social media bills to pay traffic to deal with the day-to-day life struggles and so much life noise that it makes it hard to keep focus or have a bible perspective

i know what you know looking at the the wars in the war in ukraine it can be so you know consuming when you look at the unfairness of what's happening but at the same time you know the perspective is you know god it's god's will and he's in ultimate control

i'm sure if we ask noah or abraham or solomon or paul about the distractions and challenges that they had in their lives they would say that their struggles were quite real as well

and and that keeps the right perspective at times but again it depends on the perspective of things or life at that moment as it would with us

so we'll start off with noah um the story of noah and the flood is you know we all know this one pretty well is a a story of obedience and judgment in salvation

um you know let's turn to genesis 6. we'll start with that

so genesis 6 and we'll read verse 5 and 6. the lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time the lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain

so noah lived in an era of overwhelming wickedness much like we have today noah sets himself apart from the wicked world by living his life in faith in obedience to god

and let's read verse 11 to 14 just for a moment

now the earth was corrupt in god's sight and was full of violence god saw how corrupt the earth had become for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways so god said to noah i am going to put an end to all the people to all people for the earth is filled with violence because

of them i am surely going to destroy both them and the earth so make yourself an arc of cypress wood make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out

noah had the right perspective the perspective of what god wanted for his people and god acknowledged noah's efforts god was displeased with the way society was going at that moment and decided it was time for a reset noah was given a difficult task on

on building an ark and to save a select group of worthy people and animals but noah faced you know ridicule for what seemed in in preparation for an unbelievable event you know no one could act you know no one could fathom anything this was like this was going to take place

so but you know in the end noah had the right perspective he had god's ex you know perspective noah had to follow specific instructions on how to build the this giant boat and went about doing just that

noah gathered the animals

and kept his perspective on what god wanted noah had everyone boarded the ark and the reins came and he kept perspective noah then waited and waited but kept his perspective until it was safe to leave the ark

noah labored faithfully to build the ark of god's command faith in god help sustained noah's perspective on the big picture that god gave him about his family and the future role he could play

noah is an awesome example for us under huge life adversity to maintain your perspective and keep the faith god worked through noah so that his will could be done

if we look at genesis verse 6 verse 9 you know this is you know this is the account of noah noah was a righteous man blameless among the people of his time and he walked with god

we read in the king james version that noah was a just man and the hebrew word and i hope i don't you know mess this up um the hebrew word for just is

uh to ascetic or to make it right so noah's actions resulted in things being made right god used noah to assist with making the world right and fine-tuning the ultimate perspective that god is in control and that following him will lead to salvation

when we look at the world events today you know world events today sometimes we scratch our heads and wonder what is going on but again like we were discussing before

you know god works through the through people or rulers

or what have you to make his plans right god rules over the kingdoms of men to fulfill his own will and perspective on life what an awesome and excellent perspective

this is for us

so abraham's our next example

um he was definitely given a task that was would be impossible for most our next and so

let's look at genesis chapter 22. and we'll read verse 2. then god said take your son your only son isaac whom you love and go to the region of moriah sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains i will tell you about

so now as a parent with children of my own one of my biggest goals in life is to make sure they are safe and out of harm's way at all times

in verse 2 abraham is instructed by god to offer his son up as an offering as a test of his faith in verse 3 we read of how he's he makes preparation to eventually go out and offer his son isaac

early the next morning abraham got up and settled his donkey he took with him two of his servants and his son isaac when he had cut through the through wood enough wood for the burnt offering he set out for the place god had told them about

now if we were in this situation would we be so calm as abraham

i i know i wouldn't be although the account here doesn't seem to relay emotion or abraham's demeanor i would suggest he was very calm as he navigated through this difficult moment

so further on down in the chapter we read in verse 9 and to 10 when we reached the place god had told him about abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it he bound his son isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood then he reached out of his hand and took the knife to slay his son

thankfully an angel calls out abraham and stops him from taking his son's life and provides a ram as a substitute for the offering abraham was obedient and had faith that god will will will deliver him from this difficult task

interestingly enough in the end abraham knew and took stock of the situation by naming the place the lord will provide in verse 14. let's read that quickly abraham looked up sorry verse 14. so abraham called that place the lord will provide and to this day it is said on the mountain of the lord it will be provided

so abraham was challenged with a difficult task but stayed focused through obedience and faith in god and had perspective on the bigger picture of what god's ultimate plan was

what a lesson for us in perspective

all right

one of my favorite characters from the bible and i know that i spoke on this last time but one of my favorite characters from the bible is the life of solomon a solomon was the king

was known as the king who built the the first temple in jerusalem you know he was the king to unite israel solomon was extremely wealthy and had more money than anyone could ever hope for in worldly terms solomon had wisdom and understanding that was unprecedented a man of peace his power and influence with other rulers around him was well respected you know he had a very different perspective on life because for the most part life went really well for him however it's interesting to note that all his blessings we see he still felt as though something was missing

with all his blessings he was worried about his wasted time and carnal thinking that chasing after meaningless pursuits can lead to the wrong path let's turn to ecclesiastes 2 for a second

so ecclesiastes 2 verse 4 and i'll read down verse 11. i undertook great projects i built houses for myself and planted vineyards i made gardens and parks and plant all kinds of fruit trees in them i made made reservoirs to water groves of flower flourishing trees

i bought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house i also owned herds and flocks

than

anyone in jerusalem before me i am amass silver and gold for myself and the treasures the treasure of kings and provinces i acquired men and women singers and a harem as well the delights of the heart of man i became greater by far than anyone in jerusalem before me and all this my wisdom stayed with me i denied myself nothing my eyes desired i refused my heart no pleasure my heart took delight in all my work and this was the reward for all my labor yet when i surveyed all

all my hands had done and what i had toiled to achieve everything was meaningless a chasing after the wind nothing was gained under the sun

so we see that solomon talks about how he's built himself houses planet vineyards and these are vain pursuits there is not a part of the bigger and better and these are our pursuits that are not part of the bigger picture he talks about amassing treasures in verse 8 again not the path or perspective that would lead to the glory of our lord or help others the rewards that solomon sought after were of this life

at the time i'm sure we all have a feeling of self-gratification when the rewards of this life come along the question we should ask ourselves though is do the rewards of this life align ourselves with god's perspective and the bigger picture

will it help on our journey even though there's no challenge or struggle here for solomon the blessings of riches fame and power of this life you know possess a challenge to his perspective

and what god's ultimate plan is and what a valuable lesson for us of course

moving on to paul in prison

next we see the struggles of paul

and silas let's turn to acts 16. and we'll pick up

in verse 22. the crowd joined in the attack against paul and silas and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten after they had been severely flogged they were thrown into prison and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully

upon receiving such orders he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stalks

so paul and cyrus silas were ordered by the local authorities to be beaten and flogged and thrown in jail and put in stocks so that they couldn't move i don't know about you but i would not do well about

you know being put in stocks i'd probably start to have a panicked a panic attack and and that'd be awful you know considering you know that terrible confinement

so what do you think these two guys did next in verse 25 we read they started to sing and pray this activity got the attention of the prisoners which created a moment an opportunity to preach and show their faith in an impossible situation

then we read in verse 26 another chaotic opportunity arose where an earthquake happened and the prison was shaken the doors flew open and things quickly got out of hand for the prisoners and the prison guards as we as we read so what happened next is extraordinary the prison guard out of fear decides to try and take his life because he feared that the prisoners had escaped he he feels like he just he totally did not do his job paul yells out don't harm yourself we are still here the prison guard then takes them out of their confinement recognizing their faith and perspective on things and asks what he needs to be to do to be saved an opportunity of chaos brought upon calm and faith in paul and silas because they have a bigger perspective on things they had god's perspective singing and prayer were attributes of this right perspective that they had even though they were in an impossible situation

would we be able to have the same perspective as these two individuals i would say it would be tough and a challenge for sure what an excellent example of keeping god's perspective

next we'll look at jesus and just a few examples of of how focused he was on the bigger plan

you know at 12 years old you know he was teaching an attempt in a temple you know truly an ult our ultimate example of someone who had the right perspective was our lord jesus let's turn to luke two for ex for a moment

two

and we'll look at an early example of how on target that jesus

was with his perspective and we'll pick up in verse 41. leaving classes when he was 12 years old they went up to the feast according to the custom after the feast was over while their parent while his parents were returning home the boy stayed behind in jerusalem but they were unaware of it thinking he was in their company they traveled on for a day then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends when they did not find him they went back to jerusalem to look for him after three days they found him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions everyone who heard him

was amazed at his understanding and his answers when his parents saw him they were astonished his mother said to him son why have you treated us like this your father and i have been anxiously searching for you

why were you searching for me he asked didn't you know i had to be in my father's house

but they did not understand what he was saying to them

so jesus was very focused on his father's plan even so much that when questioned about what he was doing in the temple by his parents he says to his parents in verse 49 why are you searching for me did you know i had to be in my father's house and even more interesting is the lack of perspective his parents had in understanding what he was saying to them in verses 49 and 50. you know from the beginning jesus knew what he had to do he knew that he had to fulfill his father's will be obedient sinless and follow through to the end

jesus perspective compass was set in unwavering through trials and tribulation we could never ever even imagine ray up to his last breath on the cross

we see in luke 23 jesus tested beyond what any of us could have managed could possibly manage for he was on the cross being crucified he had people watching in verse 35 in back in luke 20 in luke 23 saying if if he's the god if he's if he's the god's messiah then why doesn't he save himself but jesus kept his perspective on god's plan in verse 34 of luke 23 we we even read let's let's actually go there now we'll go to luke 23 and we'll read verse 34. and jesus said father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing

jesus had a personal plea from one of the criminals who was beside him and said to jesus in verse 39 and 40 save yourself and us

it would have been so easy for him to do the you know obviously to do this and and take the easy way out but jesus had the right perspective of the bigger picture and what he had to accomplish he even pled with with our heavenly father you know forgive them for they know not what what they are doing he's talking back and forth with with other people on the other crosses who are being crucified you know the conversation continues back and forth with these people and you know with jesus on the cross who seem to have an understanding of of jesus perspective one of them did in you know in particular in this situation as he says as this other person says to me remember me when you come into your kingdom and jesus says to him in verse 43 truly i tell you today you will be with me in paradise

so our lord had perspective which is god's perspective and plan even with his last words about what he had to do

we cannot find a better example of someone who had perspective and followed it right up to his last his last breaths on the on the cross of course

so our heavenly father you know it goes without saying that our heavenly father is the key to all perspectives as it is his will that is being done let's let's turn to matthew 6 for a second

and uh we'll look at verse nine

this then is how you should pray our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and liaison temptation would deliver us from evil from the evil one

so jesus teaches us about praying i remember in school

at a very young age we used to say this prayer at the beginning of every day it's it's a funny it's a funny perspective being given that we were you know given these prayers at a very young age and you know it was such a simple start to our lives and at such an early age that this this plan and this this instruction was given to us at such an early age this you know this prayer is so powerful and can't be more straightforward for us to see what the bigger picture is if we look at this prayer that jesus is speaking of from this perspective we can break down the components of the prayer we acknowledge that god is to be revered our immediate position in relationship to him

praying that the kingdom will be here soon it talks about providing our daily bread and other life necessities that the perspective is that god provides even as abraham acknowledged earlier in our in our discussions tonight our heavenly father has the power to forgive our sins and that we need to ask for forgiveness that god ultimately has the power to provide to us strength to overcome temptation where we see the greater perspective and i'll read it in the english standard version in matthew 6 your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven so god's perspective and plan for us and the earth is ultimately that his will be done not our will but his will

that is our perspective and aligns ourselves with someone who's fully in control and that our lives are in his hands for his plans and his purposes this is so powerful

so key takeaways i think we're

we might finish a little early but um we're getting there but um some key takeaways here you know what are some of the themes that we we see in just a few examples that we have looked at tonight we saw people who had you know perspective on behaviors and activities that kept their eye on the bigger picture with paul and silas and and singing and we can't do this alone there is a bigger difference there is a big difference really in the times of the apostles and the new testaments compared to today as we already talked about and as we all would agree when looking at how to keep or gain perspective we first of all have the bible as our guidebook we have this in front of us to lead our way or our bible glasses as i mentioned earlier in our talk tonight to keep our perspective

just with some of the of the people we looked at tonight and so many other examples in the scriptures of those who endured hardships like noah and moses daniel job david we see a theme of faith in god that god knows what's best for us and has the bigger picture perspective

we see the example of solomon who was obedient and had humbleness and gratitude for what he he had knowing that all things come from god who has the right perspective we saw paul and silas in an impossible situation turn to prayer and sing praise

and involve themselves in activities that encourage the right frame of mind to keep the right perspective that the trouble that they were having at that moment was short term for them and that there was a bigger plan and picture for them in life

and also created a preaching opportunity of course

these people including jesus all had huge faith in god

turned to prayer saw the bigger picture that god has planned and are ultimately our mentors and guides on how to keep perspective god works through us to fulfill his purpose and perspective our lives are in god's hands even though our lives may be going well and many things are provided that we still need to follow our lord and acknowledge that god is in control keeping his perspective

so finally our last slide here

you know the kingdom is a huge part of our perspective that all things lead to this goal in having a place

in part in god's great kingdom even if it's a small one

i would hazard to say looking at the struggles that we read of tonight in the scriptures and and and other examples of course uh throughout the scriptures and in our own lives also created a clear perspective

to us about what god's ultimate plan is the testing of our armor or life struggle created a better path for us and those in the scriptures that we that struggled for something ultimately more important down the road

we could take this concept one step further that when we go through struggles

a new perspective is coming for us which helps us mold our direction on our journey towards the kingdom

in closing let's turn to matthew 5 in this passage you know jesus gives the disciples and us you know simple instructions on how to keep perspective god's perspective and focus on the on the ultimate goal so let's turn to matthew 5 for a moment

and we'll pick up in verse 3. blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled

blessed are thee merciful for they will be shown mercy bless blessed are the pure in heart for they will see god

blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of god blessed are those who who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

blessed are you when people insult you persecute you and falsely say all kinds of things of evil against you because of me