Coffee With The Lord

I think there is something perverse in those video clips that find it funny when someone stumbles and falls… (Yes, and I’ve laughed too). I guess there is humor in the antics we go through as we’re headed for the ground. It may be that a person ignored something that would trip them up – they just weren’t careful. Or it may be that another person put something in their pathway purposefully to trip another person up (now that is perverse!) At any rate when we see the video clip there are snickers and giggles … until we hear some say… “That was NOT funny!… OUCH!)

I’ve often wondered why we don’t have clips of the person that helped the fallen up? That isn’t nearly as entertaining is it? But it is really important and helpful – a kind act that often goes unnoticed and ignored.

There’s a short passage in the Bible that addresses that issue as it relates to spiritual and moral “stumbling”… I read it this morning in my devotions:

“If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ [which is the law of love… my comment].” (Galatians 6:1–2 ESV)

Listen… there is NOTHING funny when a fellow “pilgrim” or follower of Jesus stumbles and falls… There should be NO video clips of that allowed! There should instead be just a lot of caring hands reaching out to help them up! And did ya’all pick up the word of caution and warning in this passage… Bartel’s paraphrase of it… “Don’t get cocky… if you think about it a minute you know how susceptible you are to stumbling and how many times you’ve been tripped up by temptation!” … Just say’n! Hey I don’t EVER want to snicker when someone “falls”… I want to extend a helping hand! Don’t you?

I drove by an orchard last summer in Montana… There was no sign designating what kind of orchard it was… Looked like an orchard of sweet cherries though (beautiful Bing cherries it appeared to me)… We stopped by the little stand and bought several pounds… got back in the car and decided to sample them… They tasted exactly like I expected! They were NOT apples… or oranges… not pears… or grapes… or pomegranates… They were Flathead Valley Bing cherries!!

Didn’t need a sign out in front of the orchard to determine it either. They guy in the stand didn’t even need to tell me! I didn’t have to decide by a logo or a “bulletin/program” … the flavor and characteristics of the fruit were enough for me!

Thought about that this morning as I read this passage during “coffee with Lord”… Luke 6:43–45 (ESV)

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43–45 ESV)

Oh, how I want the “fruit” of my life to match my “label” … I don’t want people to be surprised when they experience me… I want “the fruit of the Spirit” (“Love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” … Galatians 5:22-23 – another passage I read this morning) to be exhibited in my life if I call myself a “Spirit-filled Christian.” (In fact, probably labels shouldn’t be necessary eh? … Shouldn’t need a sign out in front 😉 …

Here’s all I got to say… Help me Lord to “bear GOOD fruit! If I’m going to claim being “Spirit-filled” I want to look like it, act like, talk like it, and live like it!!!

A joyful celebration – the result of a grateful realization!

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!  Know [realize – be aware] that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!  For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations!”  (Psalm 100 ESV)