Coffee With The Lord

It’s Good Friday, 2015, and my Bible reading today included two incredible miracle stores about Jesus, my Savior and Lord… First, the story of a synagogue ruler named Jairus and his appeal to Jesus to come and heal his little daughter who was at the point of death.  And second, an interruption by a woman along the way, who had a chronic hemorrhage.  One physician after another had tried to treat her but she was no better.  Two individuals… a child near death and a desperate adult.  (The accounts of these miracles are found in Mark 5:21-43 in the Bible.)

In both cases Jesus brought life and healing!  In the case of the little girl, before Jesus got to her bedside, she died! … Jesus looked at her dad and said, “Do not be afraid; just trust me!”  He took the little girl by the hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” And the little girl got up at once!  In the case of the desperate lady with the chronic hemorrhage, she pressed through the crowd following Jesus, just reached out and touched the edge of his garment as he was hurrying to the home of the religious leader, and “presto” … Instantaneous healing!  Jesus felt healing power go out from him and the women felt healing power enter her body!  Jesus stopped and told the woman, “Daughter, your faith has made you well!  Go in peace, and be healed of your disease!”

As I read these stories today I think I experienced their intended effect… I found myself believing that God could do anything!  That Christ has the power to heal and help in crisis (even chronic) situations today!  And then I thought… What if Jesus had simply died on the cross on Good Friday, and NOT been raised from the dead on Easter?  I would not be able to trust Him for miracles today!  He would not be alive and I would not have that hope!  But the good news is… He is alive!  He conquered death!!  He lives forever and is still able (and willing) to do the miraculous in response to faith!  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)  What was it that he said to the synagogue ruler?  “Do not be afraid; just trust me!”  (Don’t know about you… I intend to do precisely that!)

Today during my Bible reading during “Coffee with the Lord” I was reminded that God’s people are not their own… they have been “redeemed!”  They are not to conform to the culture around them… they are to be “counter-cultural!”  They march to a different drum.  They live by a different set of values.  The broader culture may affirm (even applaud and approve) certain behaviors.  However God’s people – those He has redeemed (much like the Children of Israel had been redeemed and delivered from Egyptian bondage) – cannot approve them or practice them.  And it really does not matter what the broader culture thinks of those limitations – it really doesn’t matter the criticism or ridicule they may heap upon Christians for their convictions.  Devoted, Bible-believing Christians live by a different set of rules – they are God’s people.

Here’s what Moses was instructed to say to those that God had redeemed from Egypt… 

“The Lord spoke to Moses: ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ʻI am the Lord your God! You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes. You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God. So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord!” (Leviticus 18:1-5 the NET Bible)

This reminded me of two key verses that were written directly to Christians…

“Jesus Christ gave Himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good.” (Titus 2:14 NET) And…

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are Godʼs people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NET)

What was my response when I read what Moses was directed to say to those God had redeemed in the Old Testament?  I embraced it!  I realized that I too have been redeemed by the sin-sacrifice of Jesus.  It doesn’t really matter the values and mores of the broader culture.  I’m called to live a holy life – exhibit a distinctive lifestyle – embrace Biblical values and morals in a pagan culture!  With God’s help I’m going to do it!

You try to hold it in, but sometimes you just blurt out what you’ve been thinking about – what’s on your heart! I read a passage during “coffee with the Lord” in which David, the Psalmist did just that… I have to admit, I agree wholeheartedly with what David blurted out… Here’s what he said…

“O LORD, help me understand my mortality and the brevity of life! Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor (in fact he said that twice in this Psalm – must have been something that really impressed him about that)… But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying? You are my only hope!” (Psalm 39:4–7, 11 the NET Bible)

I’ve watched people who seemed to exhibit vitality and health in a few months of disease waste away and quickly die! I’ve watched fortunes disappear overnight and turn rich, affluent, seemingly secure individuals into paupers. A freak car accident can turn a vibrant youth into a paraplegic. An aggressive virus or bacteria can rob a brilliant mind and leave it vacant and confused… What can I say? The Psalmist’s blurted word are true! His prayer is appropriate for us all. How does the Bible put it… “No one knows what a day may bring forth!” (Proverbs 27:1)

Months ago I stood at the top of a mountain… one moment I couldn’t see anything! A cloud covered everything from view. Seconds later, and a slight breeze dissipated the vapor of the cloud… a beautiful mountain scene greeted my gaze with majestic wildlife all around! Life is like that… one moment a tragedy… but with God the next moment can be eternal glory! Oh God, help me live this brief life (and make it count) with the eternal hope and horizon in view!