Coffee With The Lord

SILENCE! – I mean dead silence! You could have heard a pin drop! After a long, profound pause here is what Jesus said…

Listen… “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all!” And then he playfully motioned for a child nearby to come over, He picked up the child in his arms and said in so many words, “Are you willing to care for children? Are you willing to do children’s ministry? Are you willing to accept the task of serving them and meeting their needs? Because, “Whoever receives a child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me, but Him who sent me.”

Wow! As I read about that event in Capernaum today, I thought to myself, you know, I’ve gotten involved in some discussions like that! … Swapping stories that end up really being competitive conversations about who is the greatest… trying to impress others with my exploits and accomplishments. But Jesus that day really defined the “bottom line” of true greatness! Am I willing to be “servant of all?” Am I willing to faithfully serve wherever… whenever… and however needed… Even caring for children in the nursery instead of singing in the “worship team” … or something like that… Am I willing to be “servant of all?” Oh, help me Lord to learn the lesson of true greatness!

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too… Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. [The experience I went through taught me] to rely, not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (From 2 Corinthians 1:3-11)

So here are a few observations from that passage about comfort that matters…

First of all, it comes from God! Comfort that matters ultimately comes from “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort”

It also can be facilitated through caring people who have experienced the pain of sorrow and the comfort that God provides! We experience God’s comfort in order to share it (and not always with words – often with our confident, caring, empathetic presence). If you’ve been through the pain of loss, and endured it with God’s help, you need to know that you can be a reassuring, faith-filled presence to someone who is experiencing loss.

There is also another benefit of real comfort – the comfort God gives: As painful as the sorrow is, it helps us learn to rely, not on our own resources, but on the wonderful, supernatural, sustaining resources that God provides.

And finally, comfort that really matters also comes in answer to the prayer support that others provide in times of sorrow.

So what does Apostle Paul say at the close of His letter to believer’s in Corinth? What did he feel like he needed to say to them? …

“Be watchful!” (Keep spiritually alert!)

“Stand firm in the faith” (Know what you believe and don’t compromise it!)

“Act like men!” (“Don’t be a wimp! Man up! …or if you’re a woman, be a godly woman!)

“Be strong!” (“…in the Lord, and the power of his might!” Check out Ephesians 6:10)

But be sure you don’t lose sight of this last thing: “Let all that you do be done in love!”

(From 1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

It’s a call to courage, commitment, conviction and character! And it seems to me it’s an appropriate challenge for Christian men (and women) in the world in which we live today! Ya think?!