A.W. Tozer insightfully writes,

I do not consider that it is my place as a Christian to stand around making judgments and calling other people “hypocrites.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only man I know who was holy and perfect enough to call the religious leaders of the day hypocrites.

I am just a man with faults and shortcomings of my own, and I must always consider myself lest I be tempted!

I preach to my own congregation about our faults and our failings, with the warning that some of our professions of blessing and victory may get into the area of “unintentional hypocrisy.” Through the grace of God and the kindness of our spiritual ancestors we may have spiritual light that some others do not have—but in all honesty, we are wretchedly far below what we should be in living up to it, day by day.

It helps us to be honest and frank and humble to know that the great God Almighty knows the secrets of every person’s heart!

Below is a picture of a wonderful bridge near where I live. It’s a great piece of architecture, almost a sculpture in its design!

Almost every time one of our grandchildren stay with us, grandpa likes to drive them over this bridge and we marvel at how it gets us from one side of this valley to the other, and, it does it with complete safety!

We might say, “It’s a ‘sincere’ bridge.” Our English word “sincere” comes from the Latin words sine cera, which mean “without wax.” Now, how did that come about for a meaning?

It was a common practice in ancient times to cover the flaws in pottery with wax. When you looked at the pottery it “looked” fine, solid, true, strong, usable. But, it was flawed with a weakness that being put under stress or putting it in the sun would disclose.

So, you took your new pottery home, filled it with hot water, and it was a disaster in the making, most often someone got hurt. We all want “sincere” pottery!

Let’s take this “waxing” and apply it to words and consider what that does. When we cover up and hide our words, that’s what we call a “lie.” It’s an untruth. It’s a word that has been “waxed” so it appears to be what it’s really not.

So, how does this relate to our bridge? I like to use a bridge as a model, picture, an illustration for truth. Let me explain.

When I need to get across the valley, maybe of confusion, maybe of danger, and take to you wisdom, assurance, love, compassion (and much more!), I need to travel the bridge of truth. Truth is something “without wax”! It’s “sincere”! You can count on it, rely on it, hang your very life on it!

Words that have been “waxed” can’t take the weight, handle the stress, deal with the intense pressure put on them, and they crumble when put to the test! It’s a disaster in the making!

When we lie, we damage, even destroy, the ability to get back and forth to one another with the things we need for life, assurance, comfort, compassion, wisdom, and love, just to mention some of our live support.

I would suggest that the bridge, a “sincere” bridge, is a great illustration of the truth we must have between us. Lack of this truth isolates us across that valley, relationship falters, weakens, even fails from untruth.

What a great confidence we have as believers in the Lord that He is Truth, and here we build our lives, lives that can span confusion, discouragement, disaster, even the darkness of fear! It’s done in Truth!

Ps 25:8–10.

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. ⁹ He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. ¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are loyal-love and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Ps 40:11.

¹¹ You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your loyal-love and Your truth will continually preserve me.

The hard truth is that no truth is of the devil, absolute opposition to the very nature and character of the Lord. Jesus said, Jn 8:43–47.

⁴³ “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. ⁴⁴ “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

In a world of relativism and softness, this “hard truth” may not be what we wanted to hear, but, as we’ve learned from the bridge, we can’t get across in relationship with another, or the Lord Himself, without truth! It is that solid, “sincere,” foundation upon which we indeed build life itself!

Take a look at that next bridge you cross, you’re absolutely counting on it being “without wax” if you want to make it to the other side! Such is the bridge of truth upon which we’ll transport life itself to one another in our world of relationships!

It is through truth we show others who we really are. It is with truth we touch others with the One in whom we believe, His Loyal-Love, and, they can count on it! It’s “without wax”!

As I was photographing some tulips toward the end of their season, I spotted this one particular bloom. It’s showing the signs of the “seasons” and its pedals are not what they used to be.

Now don’t ask me what happened in my head but it was almost immediately filled with a “poem.” And, poems are not my norm but we’ll leave the how it happened to another time.

Back to “beauty.” Our culture is obsessed with its search for this vapor we call beauty. It would be an astounding dollar amount to know what is spent in pursuit of the uncatchable!

I regularly pass a business whose name is the “Anti-Aging Clinic”! That truly has to be one of the oxymorons of our day! Even as amazing is the number of cars parked there, in pursuit of something which will never be found in a jar or crème!

As a photographer, it is a given that if you want to be known as a great photographer, photograph beautiful (here’s our word again!) people. When your photographic work is examined (by worldly standards), all will declare you are indeed a great photographer for the images are “beautiful”!

To combat the blatant vanity of this thinking we try on statements like, “Beauty is only in the eye of the beholder,” or “Beauty is only skin deep.”

The truth is that beauty is neither in the eye, nor in the skin!

A wonderful truth of the Word of God found in Proverbs 31.30 says,

³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

This is wisdom that is most applicable to “both” men and women!

Just a word on what it means to “fear the Lord.” First and foremost, this is not terror. It’s an attitude of our heart I like to paraphrase as “the awesome, reverential, trustful, obedience” of the Lord. Those who “fear the Lord” have put Him first.

Let me put that another way, they’ve been captivated by the Lord’s beauty! The psalmist writes, Ps 96:4–6.

⁴ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

True beauty is when we’ve been captivated by the Lord’s beauty and live out our lives for His glory.

So, back to the tulip and that poem. When I looked at this “late in season” tulip, I thought to myself, wow, I’ll bet this bloom was really spectacular sometime back. But, no, it’s spectacular right now. This bloom is serving the Lord as the Lord designed, through all its seasons, some of which might catch our (vain) eyes more.

And, the poem flowed . . .

When the season is past, know well, that if you served the Lord with your fleeting glory, you have served (beautifully and) well.

This bloom had done it all, and even now was serving the Lord with awesome, reverential, trustful, obedience. There can be no greater beauty!

Take time to reassess your concept of what is truly beautiful, it’s way more than skin deep! Set a course for true beauty like you find in Ps27.4.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.

Beauty is reality. Beauty is truth. Beauty is the Lord, and, it’s in our lives as we serve Him, whatever the season!

If you find time for a video exposing the superficiality of our cultures thinking, check out this one: http://bit.ly/w8BKg

It’s really easy to “see” the big things, the mountains and those great moments of life. They so stand out, so demand our attention, and often demand our exalation! The greatness of life grabs us!

Yet, I would suggest “learning to see” begins in the small places. Sometimes it’s places we just think are too insignificant. Other times it’s places to which we really need to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

One such place I spent some time was watching a cormorant in Everglades National Park. I must confess, cormorants are seemingly a little less desirable when you’re in the midst of many very beautiful species. Yet, when I got a little closer, took a little longer, looked a little deeper, these birds began to show some beautiful uniqueness.

One such uniqueness is their eye. It’s like an emerald in the most unlikely of places! In this place I’d long considered insignificant, there began to unfold great beauty I’d missed completely.

Oh, the mountains just scream the greatness of the Lord, likewise those great moments of life, yet, His powerful and precise hand is as close as “learning to see” Him in the things I may well have dismissed. Such it is with the case of a cormorant’s eye! A jewel of the Lord testifying to His majesty and creativeness, even in the smaller places!

The Word of God says, “¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Col 1:16.

Let me add one more scene that has really marked me about “learning to see,” especially the hand of the Lord on my life. It’s from David’s life in Psalm 3 that I also learned to look a little closer at life. Psalm 3 describes a time when David is running for his very life from the rebellion of his son, Absalom.

One night David lay down to sleep somewhere in the wilderness and when he awoke, he “looked a little deeper” at life and wrote, “⁵ I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.” Ps 3:5.

During the night, David didn’t get run through with a spear or have his throat slashed! He just awoke, “for the Lord sustains me.”

I would suggest that until we learn to see the hand of the Lord in the small things of life, we’ll really miss His greatness in even the great things of life! David learned and affirmed, “³ But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” Ps 3:3.

Well, I haven’t run for my life in the wilderness, but I have learned to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

The Lord’s greatness and power and sufficiency is absolutely all around us as we “learn to see.”

The "Z" Tree

Here’s a very unusual tree I recently photographed in the Florida Everglades. At firsts glance, this dwarf cypress is a little, maybe a lot, weird! It looks deformed, out of place.

The more I looked at this tree, the more it was causing me to open my eyes, and my heart! The tree has obviously been through a great deal, probably several hurricanes!

It has obviously been broken, damaged severely, even deformed in its life. Yet, even with the hardships it has stood its ground, grown as the Lord provided, and stands today lifting its branches toward the heavens!

Clearly, faithfulness and steadfastness may not be demonstrated in the tallest, sleekest, most well developed (on the outside!), but there’s no question of the faithfulness and steadfastness of one who shows the scars of life and yet stands firm in whatever the Lord has allowed!

The more I thought of this little “Z” tree, the more lessons for my life began to unfold. I often think those scars, hurts, and heartaches don’t really belong. Yet, I know the Lord has allowed them, and, I know He wants to be glorified in my life, even with those things.

My heart was turned to the words of the Apostle Paul who had a “thorn” in his flesh. He even sought the Lord to remove it, but, the Lord said, “No.” Instead of that “fix” that seemed so desirable at first, the Lord promised, in the midst of the “thorn” (or scar, or hurt, or heartache) an even greater glory, His grace would be displayed as sufficient!

For, God is able to take us “Z” trees and demonstrate clearly His grace is sufficient! When the Lord said to the Apostle Paul, . . . , “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,” Paul responded, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Co 12:9–10)

The “Z” tree had a message for me and maybe it has a message for you too, for the Lord’s grace is truly sufficient to those sustained by what He faithfully provides, even in the storms of life.