The story of your own walk with the Lord who loves you is one of the easiest and most helpful ways to help others become aware of the same Lord! Sharing your story may be a simple as mentioning something that happened in your life with words of affirmation such as, “The Lord encouraged me by…” God comforted me with…”  “The Lord who loves me was with me in this situation…“ More profoundly your faith story includes the beginning of your faith journey with Jesus. If you have no memory of when your trust in Jesus began, then your story involves how you became aware of your trust in God, whenever that was, although you don’t recall the beginnings. If you know when and how you heard about Jesus in such a way that you were moved to embrace and follow him, then that is part of your own faith beginnings and thus your story. Looking for casual and conversationally appropriate ways to affirm God’s work in your life or to share your story of coming to faith in Jesus are ways you may encourage the people in your life with the Lord of your life!

You walk into a room of people – perhaps a party in a home or a church sanctuary or a school program. Someone standing at the door greets you and immediately looks past you at other people who are coming. You feel  both welcomed and ignored! Further into the room you pass someone else who also greets you and then looks past you? Again, you feel immediately welcomed and ignored! Imagine bumping into a person who has the people eyes of Jesus, who welcomes you and stays alert to you as long as you stand there, showing real interest in you! Be that person!

In the midst of the people flow that swirled around him, Jesus remained awake to the individual persons who were near him. Whether it was Zacchaeus in a crowd, Bartimaeus in a crowd or an ill woman in a crowd, Jesus saw and paid attention to each one with his “people eyes.” Sometimes the people flow is a people flood and at other times a trickle, yet always every single person you encounter has a story and is a thread in God’s greater story.  In the midst of the people flow of your own life, are you awake and aware of the persons right in front of you? How might you receive the people eyes of Jesus if you discover that in your coping with whatever task is at hand, you are actually people blind? Every morning as you awake, pray a simple prayer along this line, “Lord, please help me remain awake to the people in the people flow of this day. Help me to see people with your people eyes and be an encouragement to each one.”

A moment came in which Jesus remarked to the twelve apostles,“I have called you friends.” In that moment he did not call them students or disciples or followers, and they were all of that. Nor did he use the language of today, calling them parishioners or clients or patients or subjects. He called them friends! Jesus held them in his heart and they held Jesus in theirs! It’s what real relationship is all about! Think for a moment about the people who are close to you – family members and friends, both near and far. Who are the people who would call you, “friend, who hold you in their hearts? A great exercise is to stop reading this for a moment and make a list of the people in your life who would call you friend. They are those who hold you in their hearts and you hold them in yours! After you’ve made the list, read over it, offering each person to your Lord and then ask yourself the simple question, “Is Jesus on my list?”  He should be your list! He said to those who followed him, “I have call you friends!  Hold Jesus in your heart. He holds you in his!

Of all the marvelous words the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, among the most meaningful to them must have been “I hold you in my heart!” To hold you in my heart, have you in my heart is not passive, it’s highly active! There are countless people you have met, known and know, who reside somewhere in your mind. You think of them when something sparks a memory, but I would suggest that to hold them in your heart is to go beyond remembering them! If I say, "Marty is in my heart but I never think of Marty, never connect with Marty, rarely pray for Marty", then perhaps Marty is in my heart but in a passive mental filing cabinet sort of way.   To hold you in my heart is active. Its to be aware of you, to pray for you, to love you in every appropriate way. It’s to pray for you, that it is well with you and more significantly, to pray that you and Jesus are close to one another. Jesus and God the Father hold you firmly in their hearts – go and do likewise for the people God gives you - while being glad and grateful for the people who hold you in their hearts!

Who is with you when you walk through the valley of the shadow? It is Jesus the Good Shepherd! He is your ultimate valley-walker! Who else are the valley-walkers in your life? They are the people who walk with you through whatever valley of the shadow lies before you. You can also be a valley-walker for someone else. Who are the folks who need you to be their valley-walker? May you experience refreshment and the renewal of heart even as you walk with others! Jesus said, “I am with you always.” Matthew 28:20

Jesus helps us cope and gives us hope as he lifts the brokenhearted and those who seek him. If the people in your life were to be interviewed about you, would they say you are a people-lifter? I’ve been thinking about Dick Feiertag, a life-long friend of mine who recently slipped away to be with Jesus. Dick was a people-lifter who, like Jesus, helped people cope and gave them hope! Dick showed how the blend of friendship and leadership is not only possible, but that it leads to life-long relationships of encouragement. Jesus said, “I have called you friends” to the very people to whom he said, “follow me!” While you focus on the goals you want to see accomplished with other people, also focus on the people as people – people to be valued – people to be friends with – people who cope and who need hope, as we all do.

The verb “to lift” occurs some 200 times in the Bible indicating various ways we lift our eyes, lift our heads, lift our voices, lift our hands and lift our faces. Above all we learn that the Lord who loves us loves to lift his people!      The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. Psalm 146:8            The Lord lifts up the humble. Psalm 147:6                     Jesus came and took Simon’s mother-in-law by the hand and lifted her up. Mark 1:31 When you find yourself drained, depleted, diminished, or damaged, you need someone to lift you – to help you cope and give you hope! Jesus offers his hand to you! Just as Jesus is “the” people lifter, so we, like Jesus, give people a hand - to lift them – to help them cope – to give them hope! Ask God to give you the people eyes of Jesus to see those who need a lift – and lift them up!

When we observe the methods of Jesus, we see him regularly popping into peoples’ lives, unannounced and uninvited. He popped in to offer words and presence that brought the kingdom of God into their lives. As his disciples, we are to live as Jesus lives, so observing him practicing this Pop-in Principle, we also look for ways to pop-in to the lives of people. Rude? Impolite? Well, perhaps at times, but then when you think about Jesus, he often popped into lives unannounced, uninvited, in ways that may have been perceived as a bit rude, or impolite, yet for the purpose of bringing them the joy of the kingdom of God. The “people eyes” of Jesus do not see people in order to ignore them, but to pop-in and bless them. Whether we view ourselves as introvert or extrovert is beside the point if we are to become like Jesus. Each of us, according to our own personality and approach are given many opportunities to pop-in to the lives of people, to offer a good word and or deed and follow up in any way that becomes apparent and appropriate. Would you appreciate it if somebody put aside their discomfort at the thought of popping into your life in order to encourage you? Of course, you would, so when you think of popping into to someone’s life, be strong, be of good courage, and DO IT! (1 Chr. 28:20) “Lord, give me the “people eyes” to see people and to have the courage to practice the Pop-in Principle! I trust you to bring joy.”

Reading through the words of consolation and desolation  the prophet Isaiah speaks to Israel, there are many marvelous sentences that seem to jump off the page! For example, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary,” Isaiah 50:4 Wow! How wonderful to know there is a word – words – that sustain the weary. It reminds me of the wonderful Job 4:4, “Your words put people on their feet!.”   Do your words lift people, put steel in their backbones, love in their hearts and hope in their heads? Do you know words, use words, that sustain the weary. That is at the core of building one another. Isaiah is telling us that the Lord gave him a “well-instructed” tongue. In other words, Isaiah learned the words that lift hearts and sustain the weary! Ask the Lord who loves you to, “Please teach me what to say,” and open your ears, so that you may become aware of, and use, the words that will put people on their feet with hope in their hearts!