Coffee With The Lord

Avid readers love their books…  If asked, in a moment they can give you the short list of their favorites.

Well, at the top of my short list is the Bible!  No, more than that… the Bible for me is a book of a completely different kind! … It may have human writers, but behind it all is the “inspiration” of the Living God!  He is its ultimate source – prompting, guiding and superintending the entire writing process so that what we have in Scripture (another word for the Bible) is the infallible, authoritative, completely reliable Word of God!

Over my years as a prof, teaching a course called… (you guessed it…) “Bible Study,” I’ve urged each group of students to write these words in the flyleaf of every Bible they owned:  “This Book is my all-sufficient guide for faith [my relationship with God] and daily living!”

I’ve got a short list of favorites of other stuff I read… But the Bible?  There’s no other piece of literature like it! … It’s GOD’S WORD!!

How do I feel about the Bible?… In my Bible reading this morning during “Coffee with the Lord” I read Psalm 19 and a portion of it “took the words right out of my mouth!” about how I feel about the Bible! … In fact, I’d like to post those words today, not simply as David, the psalmist’s, words… but as MY personal tribute to The Bible…

“The law of the Lord is perfect and preserves one’s life! The rules set down by the Lord are reliable and impart wisdom to the inexperienced!  The Lord’s precepts are fair and make one joyful! The Lord’s commands are pure and give insight for life!  The commands to fear the Lord are right and endure forever! The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy and absolutely just!  They are of greater value than gold, than even a great amount of pure gold; they bring greater delight than honey, than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb!  Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there and those who obey them receive a rich reward! (From Psalm 19:7-11 NET)

Gotta tell you, I don’t just like the Bible… I LOVE the Bible!!!

Rescue!!  I guess I am just a visual guy… I’ve been reading Psalm 18 the past several days and a graphic picture has come to mind… A victim struggling in swirling, violent, treacherous waters of a storm… Hope is gone!  Death seems certain!  Plaintive cries of despair barely heard above the howling wind and roaring waves!!  In sweeps a huge, powerful, apocalyptic-Divine rescuer who reaches down and snatches the victim from the terrifying waters and flies away to a place of peace and safety!!!  Kind of a combination of scenes from “Lord of the Rings” and “Narnia” movies…

My daughter, Shari Dresselhaus, knows a little bit about that… What started out as a personal victory in the Mission Trails Regional Park near San Diego, climbing the North Fortuna Peak, turned into an emergency and the need of a terrifying air rescue almost 2 years ago! (See the pics)

Here’s the deal… scenes like that – language like that is found in your Bible!  In fact, it is used to describe how the Living God recues us when we are in deep distress!!  Psalm 18 describes it (you should read it for yourself this morning… I did!)  How encouraging!  I can only give you a taste of it here…

“I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise and I have been saved from my enemies! … In my distress I called to the Lord!  I cried to my God for help!  From His temple he heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears! … He parted the heavens and came down … He reached down from on high and took hold of me!  He drew me out of the deep waters!  He rescued me from my powerful enemy – from my foes, who were too strong for me.  He brought me out into a spacious place!  He rescued me because he delighted in me!” (from Psalm 18.1-19 NIV)

He can and does that for those who “cry out to Him!”  Don’t know what you’re going through right now – how desperate, discouraging, demanding and frightening it is – but here’s one voice urging you to “cry out to the Lord for help!”  He can help you – He can deliver you – He can rescue you!!!

Lent, 40 days leading up to Good Friday and Easter, is kept as a time a spiritual preparation, self-denial, and selfless service.  It is not too much to say that Lent and fasting are linked together.  In fact, my friend, Alicia Britt Chole, has written a wonderful little devotional and prayer guide that many use during Lent entitled 40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast.  I recommend it highly!

This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read and reflected on a great Old Testament passage in which the Lord Himself speaks to the issue of the kind of fasting that He desires!  It prompted me to write this principle in the margin of my Bible: “True fasting is not simply what you deny yourself of, it’s what you devote yourself to!”

The passage?  Isaiah 58:6-12

“This is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.  Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.  Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.  Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ He will quickly reply.  Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!   Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.  The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.  Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” (From the New Living Translation)

In other words, God through His prophet warns us… Beware when fasting simply becomes an institutionalized religious exercise – something thought of as an expected “religious activity” practiced during “Lent” – it needs to be more than that for God to be impressed and honor it!  Don’t know about you, but during Lent I want to do the kind of “fasting” that makes a difference – the kind that accomplishes what God desires!  Help me Lord!