Coffee With The Lord

How to be “right with God”… This is a supremely important issue!

I was having my time of “coffee with the Lord” today and part of the assigned Bible reading in “Necessary Food” (the Bible reading plan I developed) was Romans 3:21-31.  Every time I read this portion of Romans I realize just how far short we all fall of God’s righteous standard… I mean, how can a person be “right with God?”

God has declared, “As He who called you is holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy!’” (1 Peter 1:15-16; cp. Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7)  But the sad verdict we face is “There is none righteous no, not one!” (See the extended indictment in Romans 3:10-18)

Trying to be righteous and pleasing to God by scrupulously trying to keep a list of rules (“Law”) won’t cut it either… all that makes you is prideful and self-righteous (which is sin)!

God’s righteous demand – and my inability to meet it leads to a dilemma… My guilt is real and as a result I experience something called “conviction!”

There is “good news” however… and Romans 3:21-31 describes it!  Guilty sinners can be “right with God” – how they can have the righteousness that God requires through faith in Christ…

“But now the righteousness of God…is revealed – the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and upon all who believe!  For there is no difference; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [and all can be] justified [i.e. made ‘right with God’] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth as a propitiation [a Divine satisfaction – an atonement] by His blood through faith, to demonstrate… that He might be just and the justified of the one who has faith in Christ.  Where is boasting then?  It is excluded! … Therefore, we conclude that a person is justified [made ‘right with God’] by faith apart from the deeds of the Law!” (adapted from Romans 3:21-31)

What a deal!!!  This is really “good news!”  Though faith in what Christ accomplished when He died on the cross for our sins, guilty sinners can be “right with God!”  Just take it from one guilty sinner to another, I’m eternally grateful!  I sincerely hope you’ve taken advantage of God’s offer through Jesus Christ!

Those who have served in the military will understand this… They use the term “volunteer” differently than the general population! (Know what I mean?) Someone in high rank says, “Do I have any volunteers?” … and “volunteers” just seem to materialize miraculously and quickly.

I think Isaiah’s experience with the Lord (Isaiah 6) has some similarities with that situation…

Isaiah had just had a powerful (and I mean POWERFUL!) encounter with Someone of “rank.” (Did you notice that I capitalized “Someone”?) Here’s the account from the Bible…

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!’” (Isaiah 6:1–5 NIV)

Can you imagine having an experience like that with the Living God, Jehovah Himself, in all his holiness, splendor, and power – an experience that was visual, auditory and even felt physically? A couple of feeble words come to mind – sometimes overworked, but appropriate… Wow!! Awesome!!

Then think about what comes next in the passage…“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And Isaiah replied, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (vs. 8)

You know what, given what happened to Isaiah, I think I would have been inclined to respond with “Here am I, send me!” I don’t know though… I’ve seen how some people respond to authority. Isaiah’s experience with Jehovah probably helped, but his heart had to be inclined to respond to the Lordship of God.

I just want to go on record as saying this… When God calls, I want to be ready with my strong affirmation – I want to say “Yes, here I am! Send me!” I really need and appreciate awesome experiences with God! I want them to influence me powerfully! But I also want to have a heart of love and devotion that’s ready to say “Yes!” … Don’t you?

Here’s a BIG word for you at the beginning of 2021… “paradigmatic!” It refers to something that creates a pattern of behavior, something that is a model, or something that is exemplary.

Here’s how I’m using it… the way Jesus resisted and overcame temptation is “paradigmatic” for us in overcoming our temptations! The passage that prompted this reflection in “coffee with the Lord” is Matthew 4:1-11.Right after Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, followed by the Heavenly Father’s endorsement of who He was (“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”), Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness” where He was “tempted by the Devil!”

Have you ever faced temptation? I have… and so did Jesus! In fact, in many ways His temptation and how He overcame it is “paradigmatic” for us in the temptations we face! Let me suggest several ways…

1. The temptation Jesus faced was, first of all, an attack on His identity! Satan began this way… “If you are the Son of God…” (and He did that twice in two temptations). Often the temptations we face are an assault on our identity “in Christ!” We really need to know who we are “in Christ” in order to overcome the Satanic assault.

2. Jesus used God’s word to overcome the temptation! His response to the temptation (and the Tempter) was, “It is written…” Jesus, our example, did not use Scripture like some kind of a “spiritual rabbit’s foot” – He had internalized it’s message so completely it was the expression of His character, His values, and His core beliefs! It expressed who He was… the Word of God (John 1:1) And for us in temptation, God’s word needs to be more than a “spiritual rabbit’s foot” – it must be an authentic, inner core part of our belief and values – used with faith as a spiritual weapon.

3. Jesus also used (perhaps better “asserted”) His divine authority when tempted by the enemy! He spoke directly to the devil and said, “Away with you Satan!” And our authority “in Christ” when we face temptation is no less powerful! We must not take Satanic assaults “sitting down!” Scripture assures us, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!” (1 John 4:4) And we are urged, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you!” (James 4:7)

Believe me, using Jesus as my example, I am determined NOT to take temptations “sitting down!” I’ll depend on the Lord to provide the strength, the sense of identity (and authority I need), and remind me of the truth of Scripture needed to resist temptation and the Tempter! Let me say it again… the way Jesus overcame temptation is “paradigmatic!”