I made a bad error in judgment this Thanksgiving Day morning… I quickly checked the morning news on my cell phone before I opened my Bible for “Coffee with the Lord!” Suddenly I was exposed to political polarity, criticism, accusations and negativity (the positive and uplifting was sprinkled in, but it was rare!)… I quickly laid the cell phone down and grabbed my Bible…
And as part of my reading today… “an attitude check” – I admit it hurt a bit, but it was a necessary corrective to my own attitudes about leadership, government, failures, injustice and just a “complaining attitude” about “the way things are!”
See if this passage isn’t what you needed to hear on this Thanksgiving Day as we near the end of a painful, frustrating, and sometimes disgusting year… (It’s a bit long, but believe me, worth the read!)…
“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be [duly elected or appointed human leaders – my paraphrase]. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. LIVE AS PEOPLE WHO ARE FREE, NOT USING YOUR FREEDOM AS A COVER-UP FOR EVIL, BUT LIVING AS SERVANTS OF GOD. Honor everyone! Love the brotherhood! Fear [reverence] God! Honor the emperor. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. FOR TO THIS YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED, BECAUSE CHRIST ALSO SUFFERED FOR YOU, LEAVING YOU AN EXAMPLE, SO THAT YOU MIGHT FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (from1 Peter 2:13–25 ESV)
When I finished I said this to the Holy Spirit who inspired those words… “Thanks! I needed that!” And I wrote these words in the margin of my Bible… “Really good advice during this period in our nation’s history with its challenges! (and added this) “What an awesome example we have in Jesus Christ, son of God, our Savior!”
Coffee With The Lord 