Coffee With The Lord

I’m just trying to do my part to preserve some of the great legacy of gospel music and hymns the church has enjoyed!  (It would be tragic to completely neglect it, abandon it and forget it!) …

I had my devotions this morning (I call them “coffee with the Lord”) and read the following words in my Bible (a psalm of David)…

“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.  I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.  I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God… O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you… But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.  Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.  Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.  Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.  Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me!”  (From Psalm 69)

After reading those words this morning I was reflecting on how I felt when I became aware of my own sinfulness and spiritual poverty!  I rehearsed my own sense of helplessness, lostness, and depravity!  I felt like I was sinking in sin and despair and I was helpless to save myself from sin’s grip and consequences!  And as I thought about the feelings I had before I experienced the mercy and grace of God, this old gospel song came to mind (and the words expressed my sentiments perfectly – along with the message of Psalm 69!)…

“In loving-kindness Jesus came
My soul in mercy to reclaim,
And from the depths of sin and shame
Through grace He lifted me!

“He called me long before I heard,
Before my sinful heart was stirred,
But when I took Him at His word,
Forgiven!  He lifted me!

“His brow was pierced with many a thorn,
His hands by cruel nails were torn,
When from my guilt and grief, forlorn,
In love He lifted me!

“Now on a higher plane I dwell,
And with my soul I know ’tis well;
Yet how or why, I cannot tell,
He should have lifted me!

“From sinking sand He lifted me!
With tender hand He lifted me!
From shades of night to plains of light,
O praise His name, He lifted me!

–Chas. H. Gabriel, 1905

This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read an interesting (yet difficult) chapter in the Bible… It is chapter 27 of Jeremiah.  In that chapter, at God’s command, Jeremiah addresses Israel’s surrounding neighbors, but especially Judah. The king is addressed, the prophets are addressed, the priests are addressed, as well as all the people of the nation.

Here is the crux of the difficult message Jeremiah delivered…

“Thus say the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me! Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon… If any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine and with pestilence, declares the Lord… So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers…who are saying to you, You shall not serve the king of Babylon. For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you!’” (From Jeremiah 27)

Believe me, that is NOT a message they wanted to hear and accept! They wanted a message of deliverance, and freedom, and supernatural victory… and quickly!

Here’s the truth of the passage, as difficult as it may have been to accept…

Sometimes we have to accept things that we don’t want to accept!

Sometimes is our own fault we have to accept those things (in this case it was the consequences of persistent rebellion and sin).

Sometimes what we have to accept runs counter to what everyone else is trying to tell us (and they may be telling us deliverance from the consequences of our actions will come quickly).

But, the fact is, God is in it all and His purposes are good and faithful – God is at work for our good and what we may be going through right now is not the end of the matter! In fact, in just a couple of chapters later – Jeremiah 29 – we have one of the most distorted and misapplied Scriptures in all of the Bible! It is often used to proclaim a speedy deliverance from problems, when in fact the exact opposite is true! In it the inspired prophet speaks to Judah and says…

“For thus says the lord: ‘WHEN SEVENTY YEARS ARE COMPLETED for Babylon, i will visit you, and I will fulfill my promise and bring you back to this place! for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!” (Jeremiah 29:10-11)

Listen, I had a conversation with a young man in prison just the other day who was incarcerated for some terrible personal errors. While In prison he dedicated his heart and life to the Lord… completely! I could not tell that young man his release from incarceration would come quickly… (I would have loved to have given him that prophetic message but I couldn’t!) But I could tell him God’s ultimate purposes for him in it all for his life were good – not destructive. And cooperating with God and his grace, the Lord was making him into a mighty “man of God!”

Heartfelt congratulations to all the Spring 2018 SAGU graduates from an ol’ prof! Here is my prayer for you right out of the Bible! “We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (from 2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 ESV) And to that I add a hearty “AMEN!” (So be it! )