Coffee With The Lord

The redemptive purposes and provision of God in Jesus Christ are for all peoples of the world! …. “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son that WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!  (John 3:16)  Apostle Paul declared that the “Mystery of the Gospel” was that “the Gentiles [all who are not Jews] are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakes of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.” (Read the entire passage – Ephesians 2:11 – 3:13!)  This should make us rejoice… The message of the Gospel is for all!  All can experience the life-transforming grace of God in Christ!  It is offered to all  – Jesus died for the sins of all mankind!  (Check out Romans 3:21-25!)

So this morning during my devotions I read a wonderful prophecy in the Bible!  A prophecy that some have tried to find partially fulfilled in the past, but admittedly never completely fulfilled to the degree described in the Bible!  I am convinced God intends a complete fulfillment – a miraculous, wonderful  fulfillment!  Here is what Isaiah, prompted by the Holy Spirit, prophesied…

“IN THAT DAY there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Hosts…

“IN THAT DAY there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border.  It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.  And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them.  And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and He will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

“IN THAT DAY there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

“IN THAT DAY Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’”  (From Isaiah 19:18–25 ESV)

That’s right… Israel, and also Egypt and Assyria!  Two historic Biblical nations that embrace an area that today is occupied by Israel’s arch adversaries – enemies bent on her destruction!  This prophecy will be fulfilled “IN THAT DAY!” – A future day in God’s great redemptive plan!  A wonderful day!  A glorious  day!  I don’t have the precise day of fulfillment circled on my calendar, (only God knows that day), but I have it in my heart!  Although it may seem absolutely impossible right now, one day it will be fulfilled – It’s part of God’s great redemptive plan in Christ Jesus!  If you really embrace and love the truth of John 3:16, Isaiah’s prophecy ought to make you want to dance with joy! … And pray earnestly for its complete fulfillment!

I was reminded during my Bible reading this morning during “coffee with the Lord” that sometimes, strong expressions of faith arise out of the ashes of our deepest trials! We flounder, we grovel, pain and suffering intensifies, and we think it will never end and we will not make it! Even those around us either give us false hope or seem to attribute our suffering to our failings. But sometimes in those moments, miraculously, out of the ashes heap of our suffering, confident hope in God arises and sustains us.

I was watching an adventure movie at home with Sharon, my wife. Things were not going well for the main character! Danger at every turn, enemies that seemed bent on his destruction, one problem and adversary after another, accidents, attacks, and frustrating events piling up until there seemed little hope of survival! … Would he make it? Would the main character prevail? You could almost feel the despair as you identified with the plot of the story as it played itself out! Finally, Sharon uttered what we both were feeling… “No!” she said, “They’re going to get him! How can he make it!?” … And then we remembered – whoever wrote the script for the movie had planned for the main character to prevail! It would all turn out alright in the end!

Well, this morning I read the Holy Spirit’s inspired script describing a Divine plot! It involves all of us who are followers of Jesus! It involves the attacks and evil strategies of an adversary called Satan… It includes the inner challenges we all face from temptation and evil inner inclinations… Suffering, frustration, and weakness are all in the plot… How will it all turn out for us who are following Jesus? How will it turn out?! …

Here’s what the Bible says…

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

“For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He called them to come to Himself. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He also gave them His glory!

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?! Since He did not spare even his own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself! Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us [or appealing to God on our behalf]! Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?

“Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love! No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (From Romans 8:28–39 NLT)

Whew! It doesn’t matter how bad, how frightening, how terrible it seems right now… The Bible tells me how the Divine script writer has planned for it all to turn out! And nothing… that’s right NOTHING… can keep it from turning out according to His plan… He makes everything turn out for good! … Nothing can separate us from His love! Take heart, it’s going to turn out alright! He’s planned it that way! Praise the Lord!!!