Look Again

Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Let's read it together.

Starting in verse 22.

When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.

Then, and I like this part, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, Can you see anything now?

The man looked around.

Yes, he said, I see people, but I can't see them very clearly.

They look like trees walking around.

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his eyes were open.

His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.

The title of today's message is this Look again.

Look again.

And we're going to talk about a miracle that many of us need.

Now you may have come into church this morning and you're thinking, I need this particular miracle.

I'll tell you what most of us could use more than whatever miracle we came in asking God for.

The miracle of perspective.

Jesus touches the blind man's eyes and Mark 8.

And the question is, did it not work?

The first time he doesn't see clearly, and then Jesus touches his eyes again, and the Bible says he could see everything clearly.

I believe that not only did Jesus give this man the miracle of sight, he also gave him the miracle of perspective.

And I'm going to show you how I think Jesus did it at the end of the message.

But we're not just going to talk about this blind man in Mark 8.

We're going to talk about you.

Have you ever looked at something and you thought you knew exactly what you were looking at?

And then certain events transpired and you realized you had absolutely no idea what you were looking at anymore.

Did you ever feel like you knew something?

And then certain events transpired and you realized you had no earthly idea what you were talking about.

This next question, if you're married, whatever you do, do not answer this question verbally or even physically in the affirmative.

Okay?

Because it will wreck your marriage, alright?

Have you ever looked at your spouse on a great day and said to God, this person is perfect for me?

And then several months later, in the midst of an argument, in the midst of a rough patch in your marriage, looked at your spouse and then looked at God and said, God, was this the best you could do?

If you've ever wanted to know, if you've ever had that thought and ever asked God that question, I'm going to tell you what his response is every single time.

If you've ever looked at your spouse and said, God, was that the best you could do?

Here's his response every single time.

Nope.

That's not the best I could do.

That's just the best you could do.

Perspective.

Oftentimes the miracles we ask God for may not be miracles we actually need.

They're just miracles we think we need because our perspective is not what His is.

You can tell what a Christian believes about God by how they perceive their situation.

If I can help you change your perspective, it might affect the miracles you're asking God for.

Here's how important it is, because the number one thing we need to see and know clearly is God.

Here's how important it is to see and know God clearly.

I'll give you two great reasons why it's so important.

Here's the first one.

If you ask many believers, what's the goal of being a Christian?

You'll hear them typically say something along these lines.

To know God and to make him known.

Well, if that's true, if that's one of the big goals of Christianity, then that makes truly knowing God for who he really is extremely important.

Here's why.

Because if the God you know isn't the God he is, then the God you make known will never be the God he wants to be known as.

Some of you, this is a 9 o'clock service.

You need to hear that again.

Because that took a lot of time to get right there.

If the God you think you know is not the God he actually is, then the God you make known will not be the God he wants to be known as.

I'll give you another reason why it's so important to see God and know him for who he really is.

You were made in his image.

Let me say that another way.

You will never truly understand who God made you to be until you first learn to understand who God already is.

How you see God affects how you see yourself.

Your perspective on who God is affects your perspective in every area of life.

And since it's so important to see God and know him for who he really is, this message is going to be about three areas where you think you know God and I think you're wrong.

Welcome back, Preston.

Here's the first one.

Point number one, you think God is boring.

You think God is boring.

So many believers think that God is 100% certifiably boring.

Why?

Have you ever thought about this?

Because we may not say I think God is boring, but in the back of our minds, I think many of us actually believe it.

And here's why.

Because he's holy.

Because he's holy.

1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 2, Hannah says, No one is holy like the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:2

Psalm 99, verse 5 says, Exalt the Lord our God, bow low before his feet, for he is holy.

Psalms 99:5

Here's a picture of what that holiness looks like in 1 John 1, 5.

This is the message we heard from Jesus, and now declare to you God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

Here's the dangerous thing about seeing God as boring.

It's not just that you see God as boring.

If you think God's boring, it's because you think holiness has to be boring.

And if you think holiness has to be boring, then whether you realize it or not, you've already become convinced that the only way to be exciting is to live like hell.

The word holy means set apart.

Let me give you the picture of this right here.

What we've turned, God is holy.

It means he's set apart.

Here's what we've turned this into.

God's over here in the corner.

He's kind of the divine buzzkill, the eternal party pooper.

And he's over here in the corner while everyone else is over there enjoying his many blessings.

God is over in the corner doing this right here.

Just don't break that, please.

Don't have too much fun.

That's not God.

God is not the divine buzzkill.

God loves to have fun.

I'll show you in scripture.

Psalm 104, verse 31.

Psalms 104:31

The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made.

It means he walks around and looks at everything he's created and goes, ha, that's awesome.

He takes joy.

And following you around, going, I love when you do that.

He loves to have fun.

And he loves to have fun with you.

Listen to Psalm 65, verse 4.

Psalms 65:4

What joy for those you choose to bring near?

Those who live in your holy courts.

What festivities, otherwise known as fun activities?

What festivities await us inside your holy temple?

God loves to have fun with you.

Well, Preston, if God loves to have so much fun, what does he do for fun?

What are his favorite things?

I'll give you what I think is one of God's favorite hobbies.

When he has a little bit of free time, when he's not messing with my mistakes, he's got a little free time.

Here's what I think one of his favorite things to do is Jack with you.

President, that's not, I don't, is that Hebrew?

Is that Greek?

No, that's just Preston.

God loves to jack with you.

Where is that in the Bible?

Let me read it to you.

Keep going in Psalm 65, verse 5.

Psalms 65:5

You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds.

O God our Savior, you are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas.

You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength.

You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations.

Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders.

I'll give you what I think.

If there were a biblical definition for the word jacking, or the phrase jacking with you, here's what I think the definition of that term would be: to render you speechless by the works of his hand or the words from his mouth.

One of God's favorite things to do is to render you speechless by the works of his hand or the words from his mouth.

This is all throughout Scripture.

Nearly on every page, God jacks with somebody.

Remember what he says to Moses?

Moses, get these people out of Egypt.

God says, great.

Where shall I take them?

God says, the Red Sea.

Moses says, okay.

Heads towards the Red Sea.

And I honestly believe the entire way to the Red Sea, Moses was expecting God to pull a divine GPS and hear God say, re-calculating, recalculating, turn left, turn left.

That order never came.

Moses got all the way to the edge of the Red Sea, and I just imagine him throwing up his arms, going, Lord, can you hear that?

Do you hear that Egyptian army chasing us down?

What were you thinking, God?

Why did you make me walk to the edge of an immovable obstacle while being chased by an army who wants to kill us?

And here's what I think God said to Moses.

Because Moses, one of my favorite things is to watch the look on your face.

As my power and my faithfulness come together on your behalf.

Moses, put your hands up.

I'm gonna part that sea.

Moses puts his hands up and they they cross the Red Sea.

And just as the last person gets across, the sea collapses in the Egyptian army.

And here's what I think God did as the waves just envelop the Egyptian army.

I think he turned around with Moses and he goes, now Moses, that right there is fun.

God loves to have fun.

All throughout Scripture, God has fun.

And if you think God is boring, you need to look again.

Here's the second area where you may think you know God, but I think you're wrong.

Point number two, you think God is distant.

You think God is distant.

Oh no, I don't, Preston.

Oh no, no.

Because my Bible says God will never leave me or forsake me.

Yeah, I understand that that's what you've heard, but what I want to know is, is that what you know?

I know you've heard that, but do you actually know that?

That God will never leave you or forsake you?

Is it something you've heard or is it something you know?

How many of you have ever asked God for something and and his response took a little bit longer than you expected it to?

Can I just see all campuses?

Show of hands.

Yeah, all of us, right?

When we talk about God's being distant from us, many of us measure God's distance from us by the amount of time it takes him to respond to our request.

Here's the problem with that, though.

I might be doing something that negatively affects how clearly and how quickly I hear God's response to my request.

Just because it takes him a little longer than I expected to respond doesn't mean it took him that long to respond.

It just means I might have had a little spiritual earwax that slowed down the process.

God is not distant.

He's right there with us every day, never leaving us, never forsaking us.

But have you ever wondered why?

If that's what the Bible says, that God never leaves us or forsake us, why sometimes does it feel like he's so far away?

The answer is very simple.

Let's pretend this podium here is God.

Alright?

Hello, Lord.

God will never leave me or forsake me.

Let me give you a picture of that.

Right here.

Hip to hip, always, everywhere we go.

Then, Preston, how come it seems like God seems to be so far sometimes?

Let me give you a picture that answers that question.

Never leave me or forsake me.

God, where are you?

You're supposed to be close to me, oh, Preston, I am.

Where are you?

I'm right here.

Listen to me closely.

Anytime I'm doing life my way, it will always seem as though God is far out of the way.

But isn't it amazing that one of the definitions for the word repent means to turn?

If you think God is distant, he's not far.

It just may be that you're trying to do life your way.

What does it look like?

That God is close to us, that he never leaves us or forsakes us.

I've told this story before.

One morning years ago, my oldest uh little girl was three, and I went into her room before I was going into the office, and she was still asleep.

And I was just thanking God for her, and and I said, Lord, out of all the daddies in the history of the world, thank you for letting me be hers.

And I just started to thank God for her.

She was everything I asked for and more, and I just lost it.

I started crying and just thanking God, and I felt the Lord say, Preston, do you realize this is what I do over you every morning of your life?

I stand over you, gushing.

Did you know God does that over you every day of your life?

He stands over your bed, gushing over you, simply waiting for you to open your eyes and tell him good morning.

I'll show you where that is in scripture.

139th Psalm, verse 17.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They cannot be numbered.

I can't even count them.

They outnumber the grains of sand, and when I wake up, you are still with me.

My kids hate when I travel.

And especially the boys, they hate when I travel when it causes me to miss one of their games.

They're disgusted with me when I miss a game.

Have you ever wondered why God is omnipresent?

Think about this.

Why is God omnipresent?

I think many of us believe it's so he can play eternal police officer, roaming to and fro to catch us in the act.

But I don't believe that's why God's omnipresent.

I believe he's omnipresent, which means he's everywhere.

I believe he's omnipresent because he doesn't want to miss even one moment of your games.

Think about it.

If God were not omnipresent, it would mean this.

If he were present at my game, he would have to be absent from yours.

But God loves you too much to miss one moment of your precious little life, and so he's everywhere, so he misses nothing.

God is not distant.

And if you think he is, you need to look again.

Here's the third area where you think you may know God, but I think you're wrong.

Point number three, you think God is angry.

You think God is angry.

Lots of people believe that God is in desperate need of plastic surgery.

Didn't know if you knew this.

Many, many believers believe that God has furrowed his brow for so many thousands of years that he's in serious need of eternal Botox.

That the only way to fix his angry furrowed brow is rat poison.

Why do we believe that God is so angry?

Is it because we read the Old Testament and we see fire consume people?

Is it because we we read moments in time where God was angry and then we become convinced that if God was once angry, he's always angry?

Is it that we read passages like Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16?

Proverbs 6:16

There are six things the Lord hates.

No seven things he detests.

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

Yes, there are things that make God upset.

But but here would be my question: Do you see God as angry because that's your perspective, or are you seeing some of God's anger because of your behavior?

I knew it, Preston.

I knew it, you just proved it.

God hates me.

Every time I do wrong, God hates me.

I've felt it all these years and now you just proved it.

I didn't prove that.

Read Proverbs 6, 16 again.

There are six things the Lord hates.

No, seven things.

Not seven types of people he detests, seven things.

Proverbs 15 9 says the Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue godliness.

A few weeks ago, I was spanking my oldest son, and he he was in uh a season that I affectionately like to call season de la spankoso.

He was he was on a roll a little bit.

He's mini me, and so I'm helping him become a better version of me.

And that does require spankings every once in a while.

He was getting a bunch of them, and this after this.

Particular spanking, I had him sitting on my lap and I was just loving on him.

He was on a bit of a hot streak, so I just wanted to make sure he knew Daddy loved him, so I'm loving on him.

And I said to him, Buddy, do you know why Daddy spanks you?

And here's what many of me did.

Because you hate me.

You hate me.

The honorary version of me wanted to say, you figured it out.

When did you know?

But I didn't.

I said, son, I don't spank you because I hate you.

The Bible says I spank you because I love you.

But many of us, because we get some spankings more than we'd like to from God, we've become convinced that since he spanks, it's because he's angry.

And some of us have become convinced that he's always angry.

And if that's you, if you think God always has a furrowed brow when he looks at you, I want to read you a verse that hopefully will help you never to look at God that way again.

Isaiah 57, verse 16.

Isaiah 57:16

God says, For I will not fight against you forever.

I will not always be angry.

If I were, all people would pass away.

All the souls I have made.

How do you know God isn't always angry?

The answer is simple.

Because you're still breathing.

That's what we just read.

God is not as angry as you think.

Now, I'm gonna give you an equation that's going to change your life.

If you think God's angry, if you think he's always angry, I'm gonna give you an equation that's gonna change your life.

You ready for it?

You should be ready to write this down.

When you say you're ready for it, it means you're gonna write it down.

Okay?

You ready?

Here it is.

A plus B equals C.

It didn't go over the way I was hoping it would go over.

I'll say it again.

A plus B equals C.

Let me explain.

1 John chapter 4, verse 7.

1 John 4:7

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another.

For love comes from God.

Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God, but anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

That's A.

A equals God is love.

Here's B.

Psalm 139, verse 7.

Psalms 139:7

I can never escape from your spirit.

I can never get away from your presence.

If I go up to heaven, you are there.

If I go down to the grave, you're there.

If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there, your hand will guide me and your strength will support me.

B, God is everywhere.

A, God is love.

B, God is everywhere.

Equals C, God's love is everywhere.

Let me say this a different way, and hopefully you never forget this if you are someone who thinks God is always angry.

Everywhere you think or expect God's anger to be, God's love already is.

Every time you make a mistake and you think God's gonna be angry, I have news for you.

You're going to see his love more than you see his anger.

Everywhere you expect God's anger to be, his love already is.

God is not angry.

And if you think he is, guess what?

You need to look again.

I've learned a lot about life.

I've learned a lot about God.

I've learned a lot about myself planting this church in Scottsdale.

And the lowest point that I experienced early on in the first two months happened on a weekend.

It just so happened to be the weekend where uh Cody wasn't leading worship, and we had one of my favorites here from Southlake, Matt Birkenfeld, leading for us.

And Matt walks out onto the stage with uh a worship team of five other people.

There are six people on the stage, and when service started, there were seven people in an 850-seat room.

As Matt started the service, my wife leaned over to me and she said, Babe, where are all of the people?

And the minute she said it, I went off.

For two straight songs during worship, I yelled at God as loudly as a quiet person possibly can.

God, what were you thinking?

I don't understand.

I was a part of something you were doing in Southlake.

Why did you make me move a thousand miles?

I don't get the math.

This seems to be a waste of resources.

Why did you send me here?

Two songs.

I went off on God.

I let him have it.

Then I'll never forget what happened at the beginning of song three.

I felt the Lord say, Preston, it appears as though you are more concerned with who isn't here than you are with who is here.

And if you'd like Preston, I can leave.

The moment he said it, I collapsed on the front row.

I was sobbing.

I mean, I was shaking, I was crying, I was so humiliated, I was so embarrassed before the Lord.

Because, see, I was praying for a miracle.

God filled this room with people.

I'd convinced myself I was praying for a miracle, but here's what I was really praying.

God don't make a fool out of me.

And the entire time I was praying for a miracle, God was praying that I would get his perspective.

And you might be here today begging God for a miracle, but it's entirely possible that what God is hoping for is that you'd get his perspective.

Jesus takes the blind man in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

And he lays his hands on his eyes, and he says, Can you see now?

And the blind man says, I can.

I can see.

I see people.

But they look like trees.

Was it because Jesus didn't have the power to heal this guy that it didn't work the first time?

Absolutely not.

I think the man's problem was his perspective.

Here's what I think Jesus did.

He lays his hands on the man again.

The first time the man is looking all around.

I believe Jesus grabbed his face, put it right online with his, touched his eyes again, and said, Now can you see?

And the Bible says the man's sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.

How is it possible that the second time the man saw everything clearly?

Here's why I believe he saw everything clearly.

Because for the first time in his life, he saw Jesus closely.

The key to having God's perspective is knowing who God really is.

Not just who you think he is, and how you see God will determine how you see everything in your life.

I get it.

I know some of you are facing some really tough stuff, some difficult situations.

But I'm encouraging you, no matter what you're facing, look again.

You might be facing a divorce that goes final next week.

Stop staring at an unresponsive spouse and start staring at a completely responsible God.

You may be in a situation where you have no idea what to do.

Stop staring at what you know and start staring at a God who's never been out of the know.

You may be facing impending bankruptcy.

Stop staring at a number you don't have.

And start staring at a God who's never met a number he didn't have.

You may have gotten a horrible report from a doctor this past week that said, the disease you have means imminent death.

Stop staring at a doctor who can't stop staring at your charts and start staring at a God who can't stop staring at your face.

You may be here today in church, and you're so overwhelmed by your sins that you can't even lift up your head, let alone lift up your hands.

Stop staring at a pile of sins that you think no one can forgive you of, and start staring at a God who sent his son to die for you to show you he does forgive you.

Look again.

No matter what you're facing in life, no matter what miracle you think you need, look again.

Too many times we get caught staring at the things that constantly change when the key to life is fixing our gaze on the one who never changes.

No matter what miracle you need, if you don't like what you see, look again.

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

In a moment, we're gonna continue with one more song of worship.

And when we do, after I'm done praying, we're gonna have people at all of our campuses at the front of the altar.

And if you need someone to pray with, if you're up against something that you can't stop focusing on, a seemingly immovable obstacle, and you're sick and tired of fixating on that obstacle and you just want to see Jesus.

Listen, many of us came into church today thinking we needed a miracle, but the miracle we need is just to see Jesus.

Changes the way we see everything else.

If you're here today and you need prayer for anything at all, I want to encourage you, when I'm done here praying in just a moment, to leave your seat and come pray with someone and let God give you his perspective.

Holy Spirit, I pray right now that you'd help every person who needs to see things the way you do.

Lord, give them your perspective.

Give every person who needs to receive ministry today the boldness and the courage to come forward and receive it.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.