Coffee With The Lord

Several years ago I posted this in “Coffee with the Lord” – The passage in Malachi was part of my Bible reading again this year, today… thought it timely and worth posting again… see what you think.

I’ve done a lot of pre-marriage counselling over the years… Also done a lot of counselling with couples desiring to enrich and improve their marriage. And I’ve had to counsel a lot of couples after a failure, helping them to reconcile and try again, or simply “pick up the pieces” or “bandage the wounds and heal” after a divorce. I’ve seen some successes and observed some disappointing failures. In most cases I wished I’d had an opportunity to help them make good decisions, with eyes open and honest hearts, on the front end of their decision to marry.

This morning during “coffee with the Lord” I read a passage that affirmed one of my core values and communicated a word of warning to us all regarding the issue of faithfulness in marriage. In fact, I jotted a comment in the margin of my Bible as a result of reading the passage.

First, my personal, non-negotiable core value (and it is the first of seven I’ve articulated for myself):1. I value my marriage and family

Faithfulness and fidelity in marriage and family life are infinitely more important to me than any competing human loyalty.

Second, the passage: Malachi 2:14-16 ESV

“The Lord was witness between you and the wife [or husband] of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she/he is your companion and your wife [spouse] by covenant. Did He not make you one, with a portion of the Spirit in your union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife [or husband] of your youth. For the man/woman who does not love his wife/husband but divorces her/him, says the Lord, the God of Israel [His covenant people], covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless!” [includes some editorial broadening I’ve added to include both spouses]

Finally, the comment I jotted in the margin of my Bible…”Faithfulness in marriage is a Spiritual matter! It is a covenant issue!”

Violating our marriage vows – being unfaithful to our spouse has Spiritual consequences (as well as personal, relational, emotional, financial, familial consequences [i.e. its impact on children] as well as other collateral consequences).Final comment? With God’s help I am determined to live by my first personal core value! The broader culture may not, but I will!

What happens when God speaks?

I read the following words at the beginning of a prophetic passage today during my time of “coffee with the Lord” and they captured my attention and got me thinking about what happens when God speaks…

“The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares… (Zechariah 12:1) …and then what follows is a prophetic word from God regarding His people, Judah, and Jerusalem.

So what happens when God – the Living God, Creator God, Almighty God, and Covenant-Keeping God – speaks and declares something? Well just let me say IT WILL COME TO PASS!

Look around at the world around you, look up on a starlit night, pause and reflect on the intricate beauty of a flower or ponder the complexities of the human body… then read Genesis 1 and 2 in your Bible… And if you believe the Bible at all, just consider what happened when these words were uttered by the Almighty God… “Let there be…”And it doesn’t end there… The prophetic word fulfilled, the purposes of God accomplished, the miraculous things that occurred when God’s decree was declared! And it began in eternity past, was uttered in creation and will continue on into eternity future!

So let me say it one more time… When God – the Living God, Creator God, the Almighty God and Covenant-Keeping God – speaks… IT WILL COME TO PASS! Take heart! Believe it! Trust it! Depend on it! Prepare for it… IT WILL COME TO PASS!!!

2020 has been a rough year! I’ve seen “cute” attempts on Facebook and other social media to draw comical parallels between the frustrations and unpleasant things that have transpired this year and other dreaded experiences… You’ve seen them as well!

But tomorrow is THANKSGIVING! Figure!!! (And even a dark cloud has appeared over it – limited social gatherings, curfews, travel advisories, and COVID-19 positive tests! And the list of “unpleasantness” goes on! A year that started out with high expectations (it’s 20-20 after all!) has for many people ended up “in the ditch!”

What to do?

Perhaps we should take a clue from a Hebrew king in the Bible – Jehoshaphat! (I read his story just this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord.” Check it out in 2 Chronicles 20 in your Bible!

The Moabites, Ammmonites and the Meunites – “a great multitude” encamped against King Jehoshaphat for battle against Judah – a terrifying situation!

Jehososhaphat did the right thing though… The Bible says, “Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord!” Not only that, he appealed for others to join him in fasting and prayer! In fact, Jehoshaphat’s prayer is a model prayer in times of personal and national crisis (read it in 2 Chronicles 6-12)

God’s answer came with a powerful, encouraging prophetic word! “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed… for the battle is not yours, but God’s! … You will not need to fight in this battle! Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord!” (Vss. 15-17)

But where does “Thanksgiving” come in you might be saying? How does this help me in this “sewer of a year – 2020?”

Well here’s what Jehoshaphat did (and on this Thanksgiving eve in 2020 I think it’s a good pattern for us!)…

“Jehosophat appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him… they went before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endure forever!’ And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir… and they destroyed one another… none escaped! …

“When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah [Blessing], for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah [Blessing] to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 20:21-28 ESV)

Hey, I think it’s a plan for Thanksgiving 2020!!! – Pray fervently! Then trust God’s promises and obey His word! And then SING, WORSHIP, PRAISE, AND GIVE THANKSGIVING IN THE FACE OF OUR CHALLENGES – AND CERTAINLY AFTER GOD GIVES US VICTORY!!! Who will join me in living out that strategy?