Coffee With The Lord

I’ve watched it over the years… God deals with a person about something in their life, and rather than soften, mellow, and repent, they stiffen, resist, rebel and harden.  God deals with them some more… and they harden… and harden… and harden!  Until it seems there is no remedy – no recourse – other than a collision course with the Living God!  Tragically there are those who will never yield to God, experience His mercy and grace, and salvation… They self-destruct and face only God’s wrath, having rejected His love.

I’m reading Exodus 5-12 right now during my time of “coffee with the Lord” daily… It is the sad, sad, story of such a person – Pharoah, king of Egypt.  There were 10 occasions where God gave him an opportunity to yield to His will and become an agent of blessing and release for the children of Israel… but instead he resisted, and became harder… harder… and harder… until there was no remedy!  Each plague could have become a redemptive opportunity – instead it became a resolute, resistant step closer to judgment and wrath.

If you have someone you know who is on a sad trajectory of this sort, may I appeal to you to pray fervently for them, act redemptively as the Lord leads you, and exhibit “Christ-like character” even under provocation and persecution.  God will lead you – God will provide opportunities!  It may be that they will yield and repent and God will save them and transform their life!

Listen!  Five minutes before Apostle Paul encountered the Lord, repented, and was transformed by the grace of God, no one would have guessed he would have!  Here’s how the Bible describes him: “As for Saul (i.e.. Paul) he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women committing them to prison… And Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the ‘Way’ (i.e. Christians) he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (From Acts 8:3 and 9:1-2) … And then He met the risen Christ and in a moment of time was changed!

I know some “hard hearts” … I’m going to pray!  I’m going to believe!  I’m going to trust God to work in their lives, deal with them in mercy, and provide opportunities for them to repent, believe and be transformed by God’s grace and power!  Do you have any people like that you’re aware of?  God can do it if they’ll stop resisting, respond to His grace, and turn to the Lord!

Whenever I read Matthew 13.1-9 (the parable of the farmer scattering seed and the various soil types) and its explanation (vss. 18-23) I usually pay attention to various types of soil Jesus identified and the difference in fruitfulness.  Today, however, during “coffee with the Lord” I was impressed by the enemies of spiritual growth and fruitfulness Jesus identified… I want to be especially alert to them in my life!!

1) The “evil one” himself, who if he has his way will find a way to snatch away the good seed planted in my heart. (vs. 19)

2) My own lack of “deep roots” so that problems I face or persecution that comes my way will keep me from bearing fruit. (vs.21)

3) The “thorns” – i.e. the worries of life and the lure of wealth and materialism – that choke out spiritual growth and fruitfulness.

I want to be alert to these enemies of spiritual growth and fruitfulness in my life!  I want to hear the message of the Kingdom, understand it, believe it and embrace it and produce a bountiful harvest for my Lord!! (After all, it’s His field, isn’t it!!)

To use an overworked adage, SOMETIMES THINGS SEEM TO “GO FROM BAD TO WORSE” when you’re trusting the Lord… EVEN WHEN deliverance from a bad situation or circumstance is near!  I was reminded of that this morning as I read the account of the Israelites in Egypt in Exodus 5 and 6.

Moses, at the direction of God Himself, had gone to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and said “Let my people go so that they can worship Me.”  Pharaoh’s response?  “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him – I do not know the Lord! … Why are you taking the people away from their labor?!  Get back to work! … They are lazy, that is why they are crying out ‘Let us go and sacrifice tour God.’  Make their work harder!”

And Pharaoh did make their work harder!  Things went from “bad to worse”!  The people of Israel didn’t understand!  They complained bitterly to Moses!  And Moses, in turn, complained to God!  He said, “Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not recued your people at all!”

“THEN THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, “NOW YOU WILL SEE WHAT I WILL DO to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will DRIVE THEM OUT of his country. ^… I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.  Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!'” (From Exodus 6.1-8)

And the Lord did!  He did exactly as He promised!  So this morning if you’ve been trusting the promises of God and yet things seem to be going “from bad to worse” just remember, that may mean that deliverance is near!  GOD IS FAITHFUL!  HE WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE!  The Children of Israel discovered that!  God was faithful… He kept His promise.