I hope you are having a good day and I hope you know how much the Lord loves you!  I have taken part in more many video conferences and been on camera more in the last 2 weeks than I have in my whole life.  And I have been noticing the backgrounds that everyone has for their home office.  I see nice pictures on the wall, I see a simple bookshelf holding a few books with some really academic looking titles.   And what I see in the picture frame looks so perfect.  And I think, how much cleaning up and decorating did they have to do to make their home office look like that?  How do I know they have been working hard to present just the right picture?  I know because I’ve been working pretty hard at it.  I’ve been working on “framing up” a real nice picture for everyone else to see on these video chats.  I try to have a nice backdrop of my diplomas, my best guitar and a few nice wall hangings.

But, what’s outside the frame?  What is there, what’s present that we don’t want the rest of the world to see?  Let’s look.  You can’t see it in the frame of the video I just shot, but over in the corner, just out of view I’ve got a total gym and a pair of stinky basketball shoes that I wear when I do my cardio sessions.  I’ve also got a dog bed over there, one that I tripped once while video taping a sermon.  I’ve got hats and paper and envelopes over here on this old TV stand.  I’ve got a TV tray that holds the guitar tabs and chord sheets for some songs that I’ve been working on.  I have the coat hanger on the wall that I use to hold the camera when I am recording a sermon.  There is so much stuff going on just outside of the frame, just outside of the picture that we present to everybody else.

All of us have a picture that we want to present to the world.  We work hard to “frame” things just right because we are afraid that if we don’t then people may not like us, they may not want to hear from us or be around us.  We work so hard to present the right picture.

I said all that to say this.  The Lord knows all the stuff that is outside of the frame.  He knows about all the stuff you try to hide from everybody else.  He knows all about you.  He has every hair on your head numbered.  He knows about the clutter, He knows about the stinky tennis shoes that you don’t let anybody else see.  He knows about the dog beds you’ve tripped over.

He even knows about the darker things; He knows about your sin.  He knows about the things you have done that you shouldn’t have.  He knows about the things you should have done that you didn’t do.  He knows all about you and He LOVES YOU!  He wants to fellowship with you.  He wants to walk with you and talk with you.  He invites you into a lifesaving relationship with Him.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”

Jesus knows that we need rest for our souls.  He knows that we need forgiveness for our sins.  He knows that we need help with the pains and problems we experience in this world.  He sees beyond the frame we show to others.  He knows all about us and He loves us and He wants to be our Savior.  I hope you know Him as your Savior.  If you would like to know more about what it means to know Christ as your Savior, send me your contact information in the comments.  I will be glad to discuss it with you and answer any questions you may have.

Thanks and may God bless you,

Pastor Phillip Stephens