Coffee With The Lord

This morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read Psalm 90 and jotted this down in my journal… Life is so short and eternity so long that I can’t afford to foul up!

Here is the profound, inspired truth of God’s word in Psalm 90 that prompted that personal comment!

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God! … For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night… You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away… So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom… Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (From Psalm 90 ESV)

This great Psalm is attributed to “Moses, the man of God.” He had seen it all… The power of God, the mighty miracles of God, the sin and rebellion of God’s people, their complaining and faithlessness, and the sad consequences – 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as an entire generation died. He personally suffered the tragic consequences of a moment of rash anger that kept him from entering the Promised Land. And so he utters this Psalm – this prayer at the end of his life… “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom!”

My personal paraphrase and prayer? “Oh Lord, life is so short and eternity so long that I can’t afford to foul up! Help me now! Help me tomorrow! Help me every day – every moment of my life – to be faithful to You until I enter Your presence!”

OK, I’ve been a university professor for a long time… I’ve got at least 35 years of teaching ministry under my belt! This is how it usually works… A class is created, course objectives or outcomes are written, supporting textbooks are chosen, a syllabus is written, classes are held, reading assignments are made, lectures are given, discussions over the material are held, assignments or projects are created, and finally tests are given. Based upon the assignments and test grades a final grade for the course is given. That’s the way it usually works… and if you asked most students, it’s those test scores they feel matter the most – they think if they pass the tests they should pass the course. So they try to keep up with the assigned reading, attend class, do their assignments, and study like crazy for the exams – especially the final exam!

But the key question is this… Is the final exam what really determines whether or not you’ve learned what you should – does it determine your mastery of the course… Or is life, and the integration of what was learned into service, employment and living REALLY the final test? Does the final grade on your transcript really reflect course mastery?

What if how we live is the “final test?”

I just finished reading Deuteronomy 8 this morning during “coffee with the Lord” and jotted this in the margin of my Bible… “Obedience is a big deal! It’s really the ‘final test’ determining whether or not we really trust, love, and reverence [or “fear”] the Lord!”

Here it is right out of the Bible…

God spoke to His people as they prepared to enter the “Promised Land” … He said, “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, TESTING YOU TO KNOW WHAT WAS IN YOUR HEART, WHETHER YOU WOULD KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS OR NOT. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:1–3 ESV) And the whole chapter (and the next) reinforces that core truth… Obedience in life (flowing out of trust, love, and reverence for the Lord) is the final exam!

That’s not just an Old Testament idea either! Here’s how Jesus put it, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me!” (from John 14:15-24) And Apostle John echoed Jesus’ words, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

So obedience flowing out of a heart of love and trust is a big deal – Say what you will, in the course we call “Discipleship 103” it’s the “final test!” Just saying… I REALLY want to pass that course with flying colors! Every day of my life is a test!

I am convinced that one of the key indicators of a transformed heart through new birth is generosity as worship.  Not simply generosity, mind you, but generosity as an act of stewardship and worship.  (There are individuals who are generous and aren’t “born again” – it’s their natural inclination or trained response… fortunate people!)

Money and possessions are a big deal!  The natural, unredeemed, response to money and possessions is idolatry – the tendency is to worship them!  Humankind, left to themselves, will tend to do one of two things:  Either envy others because of a lack of money and possessions; or be eaten up with greed and materialism with an insatiable desire for more and more.  In either case the issue is idolatry – money and possessions have become a “god!”

I just finished reading a wonderful exhortation and tribute to some wonderful, generous Christians in II Corinthians 8 & 9!  (Take it from me, those two chapters are worth reading and reflecting upon!)  First of all, Apostle Paul applauds the believers in “the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part… they gave according to their means and beyond their means of their own free will… giving themselves first of all to the Lord.”  Wow!  What a wonderful testimony to transformation through the gospel!  What authentic generosity! (II Corinthians 8:1-5)

Then Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth, “See that you excel in this act of grace also!” (verse 7)

He uses Jesus as the model – the prime example of selfless generosity:  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” (verse 9)  From heaven’s glory and wealth to earth to ultimately give Himself on the cross for our sins!  What selfless giving!

Tragically, we are sometimes inclined to get a little self-occupied and a bit proud over the size of our gifts and the extent of the sacrifices we have made.  Apostle Paul fixes that problem with his final words in chapter 9…  Think you’ve given a lot?  Think you’ve made a lot of sacrifices?  “Thanks be to God for His INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT!  Next to His giving, yours and mine is meager and paltry!

Here’s my prayer… Oh Lord, may I guard my heart!  Transform me, so I always have a generous heart like Yours!  I never want my giving to be “reluctant or under compulsion” for I know, “You love a cheerful giver!” (II Corinthians 9:7)