Coffee With The Lord

“Just too good to be true!”

Have you ever uttered that phrase (or simply thought it)? Perhaps you were in one of those “story swapping” conversations where one person tells a story, then another tries to top it, and then someone tells a “real doozey” and you find yourself thinking… “That’s just too good to be true!” You found yourself thinking the word “incredulous” about their account (look that one up in the dictionary !)

You almost feel like a story like that defies belief… Hey it just couldn’t happen!… It couldn’t be true!… Someone is exaggerating here!!!

But what if what is “just too good to be true” … IS TRUE?

Well I read an account in Scripture this morning that was just like that…

“He [Jesus] appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her THEY WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT!

“After these things He appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, BUT THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THEM!

“Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and HE REBUKED THEM FOR THEIR UNBELIEF AND HARDNESS OF HEART, BECAUSE THEY HAD NOT BELIEVED THOSE WHO SAW HIM AFTER HE HAD RISEN.” (From Mark 16:9-14 ESV)

Hey this is a big deal! It’s not just about swapping stories around the water cooler at work or the campfire!

Romans 10:9 in the Bible puts it this way… “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!”

In another place this declaration… “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain! We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:14-18 ESV)

It may seem “just too good to be true” but your eternal welfare and mine depends on being true! Apostle Paul had to believe it for his salvation… so do I!

This is what he said, “I delivered to you AS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than 500 at one time, most of whom are still alive… then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared to me!” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV)

Hey, I BELIEVE IT! More than that, I STAKE MY ETERNAL FUTURE AND SALVATION ON IT BEING TRUE! Hope you do as well!

This “sip” from “Coffee with the Lord” today says it all…

“And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” (Mark 16:15–18 ESV)

Tragically, it is possible to become hardened to human need!!!  We can walk past the homeless, the beggar, the needy and become dismissive!  We can use the excuse that there are so many that “stage need” and are actually “working the emotions” of others.  They’re not actually in need, we tell ourselves, they are preying on the generosity and compassion of others.  And to our shame, we become calloused and insensitive!

True, there are people who do prey on the sympathies of others.  And some of the most needy are not out on the street begging – they are huddled alone trying their best to get a job, find a place to live, and feed a family.

But that doesn’t mean we can, as Christians, harden our hearts and ignore the needs around us!  In my Bible reading during “coffee with the Lord” today I read this challenge in Psalm 82…

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless!  Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute!  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked!” (From Psalm 82:3–4 ESV)

And as I was reflecting on those words, I was reminded of a probing, penetrating passage in the New Testament… “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?  Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth!  (From 1 John 3:17–18 ESV)

Granted, I cannot help EVERYONE!  But I can depend on the Holy Spirit to prompt me to help SOME who are in need!  And just take it from me, I’d rather make a mistake and be taken advantage of, than develop A HARD HEART!!!