Coffee With The Lord

Hey, it’s not a myth, not a fairy tale either, Peter wasn’t hallucinating – no “pipe dream” induced by bad pizza either!  Peter saw the outshining of the glory of Jesus, the divine Son of God, and he heard with his own ears Jehovah, the Heavenly Father’s, attestation of who He was!  It wasn’t made up!  He, along with James and John, who were there saw it and heard it! (Check out Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36; and John 1:14)  They knew who Jesus REALLY was!

Here it is in Peter’s own words right out of the Bible:  “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty!  For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain!  And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit!  (From 2 Peter 1:16-21 ESV)

And Apostle Peter’s message to us?  “Com’on listen up!  Pay attention to what Jesus had to say and what He did… Also pay attention to what the prophets had to say!  It’s all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God and Savior of all who believe!”  I don’t know about you, but I’m going to do it!

Hey, I know that not every day following Jesus if filled with incredible excitement and adventure! I’ve been following the Lord now, since my “new birth” experience, for over 65 years. Some days were days of trial, temptation, and testing… “Walking” (Apostle Paul’s favorite word for the Christian life of discipleship) – one foot in front of another – one day after another! “Faith” (trusting the Lord) and “grace” (His divine enablement and provision – undeserved, I might add).

But once in awhile you hit one of those incredible, exciting, days in your Christian experience! A day – an experience – an encounter with the Lord that just blows you away! A scary, miraculous, awe-inspiring day all that the same time! You go from your knees knocking and palms sweating – to shouts of “Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!! and dancing and singing, all within one 24 hour period of time! Defining moments in your life of following the Lord…

I read about one of those this morning in the life and ministry of Apostle Paul and his ministry entourage…

It began with a demon possessed slave girl (she practiced divination and fortune-telling and made a lot of money for her “owners”). Prompted by the demon she began following Paul around and shouted in her deranged, demented voice “These men are servant of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation!” Happened several days… Finally Paul had enough! He turned around and spoke directly to the demon, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”

She was instantly delivered! And her “owners” were not happy! They dragged Paul and Silas into the marketplace, made accusations against them to the rulers, stripped them bare, and beat them unmercifully with rods…

And then begins the adventure… (here it is right out of the Bible… Fasten your seat belt – it all happened in one 24 hour day of following and serving Jesus!)…

“And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

“When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!’ And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

“Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (From Acts 16:23–34 ESV)

I’ve got to tell you, I’ve had a lot of “ordinary” days “walking” with the Lord… But every once in a while, I have one of those absolutely incredibly, scary, exciting, adventure-filled days! Let me tell you, following the Lord is a wonderful, satisfying experience. Wouldn’t trade it for anything! I think Apostle Paul would recommend it to you… I know I would! Hint: Fasten your seat belt!