Episode 1669: Behold the Face

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,669 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Karim Kerachni: I'm Karim Kerachni and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to live your own calling in life, in business, and in faith is key, and one way to be inspired is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, with my friend Scott Maderer.

Scott Maderer: others. We should see the people that we love and the people who we struggle with. We should see in the faces of all people the face of God. [00:01:00] That is what we're called to do. That is where praise lives

Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship podcast. If you truly desire

to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world

In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about Psalm 17, verses one through seven and verse 15. I share how we are called to praise throughout the day, and I also share how praise and calling are invitations to action, not passivity Psalm [00:02:00] 17, verses one through seven and verse 15 says, "Hear a just cause, O Lord.

Attend to my cry. Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. From you let my vindication come. Let your eyes see the right. If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me. My mouth does not transgress. As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.

My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God. Incline your ear to me. Hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness.

When I awake, I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness." Have you ever asked yourself what does it mean to [00:03:00] behold the face of God? In Exodus 33:20, there's actually a passage about seeing the face of God and not living through the encounter. So is seeing the face of God terrifying or is it a source of comfort and strength?

And I would think like so many things, the answer is yes, both And maybe for a moment we should focus on how. How do we see the face of God? How do we perceive God? Psalm 17 seems to be full of advice on this topic. This is a, a p- praise break, so to speak, and I don't know about you, but I, I need to remind myself at times that we should break for times of praise, not just every once in a while, not just on [00:04:00] Sunday, but pay attention beyond just weekly worship and regular times for opportunities to praise throughout the day.

The idea of cultivating an awareness of God's presence that then comes forth in moments of spontaneous praise, either loud or more often quiet. But that requires awareness, right? That requires seeing. That requires paying attention. And how do we cultivate that? How do we make room in our busy, noisy lives for praise?

I think oftentimes people say, "Well, you become more spiritual. You, you tune out the world. You focus on the, the everlasting. You focus on heaven. You focus on what is yet to come. You look beyond. You look past the stuff that's going on in your life, the geography, your job, your [00:05:00] relations. Seek the face of God in that eternal moment in the beyond."

But if we look at Psalm 17, I don't know about you, but notice how physical this psalm is. It, it talks about ears and lips and eyes and hearts and mouth and feet. It, it's an inventory of praise through the anatomy. There's a call that grounds us in the physical even as we're trying to see the face of God.

I don't think it's about ignoring where we're at or ignoring what's going on in the world or ignoring what's going on in our life that allows us to see the face of God. In fact, I think it's through our very faces, our very actions, our very words and thoughts, our very activity that shows us and others the face of God.

And it's through action. It's, it's not just a [00:06:00] static thing. The lips are speaking, the feet are walking, the heart is passing the test. It's putting faith and praise into action. There's an act to the act of praise. There's movement, there's action, there's effort. Yes, there's a time when stillness is needed, "Be still and know that I am God," but it's not the only way, and I th- would argue not even the main way to always see the face of God and encounter God I've had moments when I've prayed for a right answer, when I've wanted to find out what God wanted me to do, and I've sat and I've thought and I've worried and I've thought and I've prayed and I've thought more and I've prayed.

But a lot of times, God seems to work best with a moving target. Meaning, once I get up and start doing something, then I get echoes back from God [00:07:00] that, yes, that direction is good or this direction is not. Course corrections are easier when you're already moving. You've gotta have a course to correct. Yes, you should give your ear to prayer, meaning keep praying.

Let your eyes see the right. Keep looking, keep listening, keep discerning, and allow your steps to hold fast to your path. Walk as best you can. Walk by the light you can see. Move forward. And in that light, in that moment, then the Lord will show you steadfast love. We've got to find the strength to praise and see the face of God, but we do it by putting things into practice.

We don't wait around. We don't wait to see God and then act. We act to see God. We don't wait until everything's perfect, all the pu- all [00:08:00] the little pieces are put in place, and the plan is perfect and content and correct. No, we seek it out. Whether we feel threatened, whether we feel secure, whether we're on the top of the mountain or the bottom of the valley, We praise when we feel satisfied.

We praise when we feel unsettled. We praise. That's the beauty of praise. It comes from within many sources within us. It carries many moods. All of the emotions are there

We honor our relationship with God and with each other, and in our faithfulness to that relationship, we see God. Not just in our faithfulness to God, but in our relationships and honor to each other. When we serve others, we serve Christ. [00:09:00] When we see others, we see Christ, particularly when we see the ones that someone else overlooks.

We behold Jesus' face, God's face, in acts of righteousness and mercy When we wake, we will be satisfied beholding your likeness. That's what it says. Does that mean we woke up from a dream? No, it means we face God in our face-to-face moments with ourselves, with others. We see likeness of God in the activity that we do, and when we see that, then we are satisfied.

When we look up at the mirror, when we get ready for the day, if we see ourselves, we should see also our loved ones. We should see others. We should see the people that we love and the people who we struggle [00:10:00] with. We should see in the faces of all people the face of God. That is what we're called to do.

That is where praise lives. Thanks for listening.

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