Coffee With The Lord

Thus was born my daily practice (usually very early in the morning) of “coffee with the Lord.” I get up early, make myself a good cup of coffee (NW style – dark, rich, and mellow), take my Bible, find a comfortable chair, and have an ongoing conversation with the Lord – He speaks to me through His word and I visit with Him in prayer, praise and worship. It started at about 30 minutes to begin with and has grown into about an hour and a half of fellowship with Him. Best 1 ½ hours of my day! My almost daily posts in “coffee with the Lord” flow out of my daily times with Him.

A number of years ago, I developed a Bible reading plan that I titled “Necessary Food” based upon Job’s testimony in the Old Testament about his time spent with the Lord. He said, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food!” (Job 23:12 NASB) Using the “Necessary Food” reading plan you read a passage from each of the major parts of the Bible daily: Old Testament historical books, Biblical poetry, the Old Testament prophetic books (and Revelation), the New Testament narratives (the Gospels and Acts), and the epistles. Follow the plan and you finish the Bible in a year! The plan is designed to provide kind of the MDR (minimum daily requirements) of Spiritual nutrition – the “Necessary Food” for your Spiritual well-being.

I recommend it! Of course I’ve personally used it for nearly 20 years. Each year I offer a pdf copy of the plan to anyone who desires it. If you’d like a copy for your daily Bible reading – your Spiritual “Necessary Food” simply message me on Facebook (giving me your e-mail address) or send me an e-mail at leroybartel@gmail.com or LBartel@sagu.edu and I’ll send you a free pdf copy.

The second, a “bride, who has made herself ready… clothed in fine linen, bright and pure (the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints)… she is prepared “for the marriage of the ‘Lamb’).” (Revelation 19:6-9) The “bride” is pure, virtuous, chaste and righteous – she has devoted herself to present herself as a “pure virgin” for her Heavenly groom – the “Lamb” – Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 11:2).

The first is labeled “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” She is “drunk with the blood of saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” When she experiences God’s judgment and is destroyed “in a single hour of a single day,” world rulers, business leaders, and economic centers weep and mourn! She has enriched them and granted them power!

But Heaven rejoices! “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are His judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants!’” (Revelation 19:1–2 NIV)

What a contrast though for the “bride!” “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready!’” (Revelation 19:6–8 NIV)

As we face the new year, I know which of the two “women” I want to align myself with! The “bride of Christ” – definitely not “the prostitute!” In fact, the challenge to God’s people is… “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues, for her sins are heaped as high as heaven, and God has remember her iniquities!” Believe me, I want to be on the right side of this issue!