Coffee With The Lord

Sometimes, as time passes we forget things that are important and we need reminders.  I wish we’d never forget, but sometimes we do.  Where did we put that item?  What did that person tell us?  What was that telephone number?  How did I do that?  When did that happen? And names!!!… You’ve had a few “forgets” too, I can see! J  What’s frustrating is they tell me it gets worse as you as you get older! J

Thought about all of that as I read these words from the Bible this morning during “coffee with the Lord”…

“Listen to me! … Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He!  I am He who will sustain you!  I have made you and I will carry you!  I will sustain you and I will rescue you! … Remember this! Keep it in mind!  Take it to heart! … I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please… What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do!’” (from Isaiah 46)

God said that!  I can’t afford to forget it!  (And most of all, I’m very grateful for His reminder!!)  Don’t let me EVER forget this Lord!!

What a wonderful, powerful, ALMIGHTY God we serve! 

Every time I read Isaiah 44:24-28 in the Bible I am encouraged.  This prophecy, given before Jerusalem was destroyed and the Babylonian captivity – 150 years before Cyrus lived and became king of Persia – predicted how God would use this Persian king to bring His people back to their homeland after His judgment, and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple!!  Awesome!!  Now, go ahead and read the prophecy below, and worship!!  Nothing!  Absolutely nothing is too hard for the Lord!!  He knows the end from the beginning!!

“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners… who carries out the words of His servants and fulfills the predictions of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited!’  Of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt!’ And of their ruins, ‘I will restore them!” … Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please!” (notice He is called by name 150 years before he is even born!) He (Cyrus) will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt! And of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid!’” (from Isaiah 44.24-28)

Wow!!  Praise the Lord!!

Do you have loved ones and friends who “just don’t get it”?  You’ve tried time and again to share with them about your love for the Lord, your devotion to Jesus, the “Gospel,” or your excitement over some spiritual truth and you get that “you’re a weirdo” look, or the “what planet did you say you’re from” look, or kind of a condescending “be kind to the crazy people” smile … Let’s face it, you’re just “not on the same wavelength!”

I read a passage this morning during “coffee with the Lord” that I think helps explain it.  Here’s what the passage says…

“As it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ (quoted from Isa. 64.4) – the things God has prepared for those who love Him – these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God… No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.  The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness.  They cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (From 1 Corinthians 2.9-14)

It’s frustrating, isn’t it? … You want them to understand and grasp what has happened in your life, what is deep in your heart, what you know to be real and true … and they just don’t get it!  What they need is “for their eyes to be opened”!!! 

Don’t be frustrated!! Why not pray Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians for them? … “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” (Ephesians 1.18)!  God can do it!! Here’s what Scripture says… “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4.6)  He opened your eyes, didn’t He?  He can open theirs!!  Thank God, huh?