Coffee With The Lord

The Bible is the centerpiece of my time with the Lord every day… As you know, I call it “COFFEE WITH THE LORD.”  It’s a time I open with a season of worship.  Then I take my Bible and pray this prayer… “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things out of Your Law (i.e. God’s Word” – Psalm 119.18)  Then what follows is a time of Bible reading, reflection, conversation with the Lord, and journaling.

One of the passages I read today contains a wonderful invitation and promise for those who are truly hungry for what ultimately satisfies.  An invitation to leave the “spiritual junk food” that we sometimes fill our bellies with and instead eat and drink the spiritually delicious, nutritious feast spread out on God’s table in His word.

The passage I read today urged us to listen closely to God’s voice – to seek Him with all our heart.  The result?  Life!  And the promise of experiencing God’s incredible love fulfilled in our lives. 

God’s plans for us are so much higher than ours – they’re in a totally different dimension – higher and better than we can even imagine!  And the good news?  If we’ll cooperate with what He’s trying to do in our lives He’ll surely fulfill His purpose and promise – just as surely as the spring rains water the earth and seeds that are sown there spring up and produce a harvest. 

And the outcome of living this way… Joy, celebration, rejoicing… an incredible party “here on earth, just as it is in heaven!”

Just let me say, you REALLY should read Isaiah 55 for yourself today!  But just in case you haven’t I’ve posted most of it for you below…

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“Come, everyone who thirsts!  Come to the waters!  And he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price!  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food!

“Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love…

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Good, eh?!

Just let me make this declaration after having read Psalm 16 this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord”… IT PAYS TO SERVE THE LORD!!!  I’m convinced I’ve chosen the best way – the only really good way!  Not much comment today… mostly Scripture – it says it all, it says it best!

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.  I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight!

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply…

“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.  I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore!” (From Psalm 16 ESV)

One more time… IT PAYS TO SERVE THE LORD!!!

We are in Lent… a time set aside for Christians around the world to prepare their hearts for Holy week – celebrating and remembering the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  This morning my Bible reading included Isaiah 53 – a prophecy about the sacrificial suffering of the “Servant” (Jesus) for the sin of the world.  I’ve got to tell you, as my eyes pored over the words and my heart absorbed what they said, I was speechless!!  I thought of the gut-wrenching portrayal of these events in the movie “The Passion of the Christ.”  The only thing that came to mind was… “Thank you!  Thank you!!  Thank you, Lord!!!”

Here’s what impacted me so powerfully today from Isaiah 53… “Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering…He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all… By His knowledge my Righteous Servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities… because He poured out His life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors.  For He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”

So here I am, sitting with my Bible in my lap, with tears welling up in my eyes and a sob in my heart, with nothing to say to my Heavenly Father, and to Jesus, my Savior, but a heartfelt “Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!”