Coffee With The Lord

I think we all tend to think of some people as especially “holy” – “saints” if you want to use the term.  (Incidentally, that is what the word means in a literal sense … “holy ones”)  Truly “holy” people, in our estimation, are very righteous, prayerful, “tuned into God,” knowledgeable about God and His word, kind, generous, given to compassionate acts and recognized as “holy” by others. 

I’m OK with that … there are people like that.  But I think all of that leads to a misconception about who ought to be considered “holy” if we’re not careful. 

In my opinion, one of the really good things about the Reformation was that it led to emphasis that EVERYONE who followed Jesus – that put their trust in Him for salvation and had experienced “new birth” was “holy” – a “saint” if you pleased.  The leaders in the Reformation spoke of “the Priesthood of all believers.”

Sometimes we think of that idea as simply a New Testament idea.  That’s not true…  In my Bible reading this morning I encountered these words in Leviticus in the Old Testament of all places…

“The Lord said to Moses, “SPEAK TO THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY OF ISRAEL AND SAY TO THEM: ‘BE HOLY, BECAUSE I, THE LORD YOUR GOD, AM HOLY!” (Leviticus 19.1-2)  And then a phrase follows over and over again in the following verses that establishes the basis for their “holiness”… “I am the Lord your God!  … I am the Lord your God! … I am the Lord your God!”

So really this is a consistent pattern and principle in the Bible.  Holiness is not something limited to a special caste of people!  It is something that applies to everyone who is a follower of the “Living God”  And the practical application of that in my life is the principle – that truth – that reality – needs to influence and govern every aspect of my daily living!  Oh, I want to be that way in my life, Father God!!

Sharon, my wife, did it just the other day (and believe me, she’s not the only one… I’ve done it too) … So I said to her, “What did you say Dear?” … Her response?  “Oh I was just talking to myself – don’t mind me!” 

You’ve done it too!  And sometimes what you say really matters!

There are two Psalms (many scholars believe they were originally one) where it happens – Psalm 42 and 43.  I read them during my Bible reading during my time of “coffee with the Lord.”

We aren’t sure what “the sons of Korah” (the attributed authors) were going through… several clues pop up through the Psalms… Here’s a few of them…

• A longing – thirst for the Lord, the “Living God”
• Remembrance of times when God’s presence seemed incredibly real as they were going to the house of God – the temple.
• Struggles and taunts from the reproach of enemies: “Where is your God?!”
• The desire and need for God’s vindication and deliverance.
• An inner longing for God’s help and leadership during the oppression of enemies.

So you ask, “What did the writers of this Psalm say to themselves?”  Here it is… and believe me, it’s a healthy form of “self-talk” (three times it is repeated in these two Psalms)…

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God!” (Psalm 42: 5, 11; 43:5 NIV)

My recommendation?  When you’re going through a trial or experiencing discouragement – or the Lord seems distant or silent… look in the mirror, talk to yourself, and with faith and conviction affirm it to yourself!  Believe me, you’re not the only one who needs to do this a time or two – or three!

This is an extended post in preparation for Holy Week and Easter in “coffee with the Lord” today…

This morning I read Leviticus 16 about the exacting protocol that had to be followed in the Old Testament on the annual Day of Atonement to atone for the sins of the High Priest as well as the people of Israel.  Every year they would go through this ritual carefully so that their sins could be forgiven and they would become acceptable to a holy God.  As I read about it, I tried to imagine what all of this must have been like – extremely demanding, repetitive, tedious, (and I could go on).  Then I thought about “the new and living way” that Jesus inaugurated when He became the sacrifice for our sin on the cross and fulfilled all that the “Day of Atonement” prefigured!!  (You should read it for yourself!)

Hebrews 9 and 10 in your Bible, however, talks about what Jesus did for us…

^”When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the Holy Place as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance… This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established. So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever… For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

“For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.  And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice… Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.” (From Hebrews 9:6-28 NLT)

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can now boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. (Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT)

As we approach Holy Week (especially Good Friday and Easter) I just want to thank God personally (and urge you to do the same) for THE “NEW AND LIVING WAY” THAT JESUS OPENED UP FOR US “ONCE FOR ALL” when He offered up Himself for our sins on the cross!  Now, because of the resurrection he “ever lives” to “intercede” on our behalf as “our Great High Priest!”