Coffee With The Lord

Rescued from disaster or death! Ever experience it? What joy! What relief! God can and does do it! Perhaps He’s done it for you. Psalm 30 celebrates His ability to rescue…

“I will praise you, O LORD, for you lifted me up… O LORD my God, I cried out to you and you healed me. O LORD, you pulled me up from Sheol [or death]; you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. Sing to the LORD, you faithful followers of his! Give thanks to his holy name! For his anger lasts only a brief moment, and his good favor lasts for a lifetime*! One may experience sorrow during the night, but joy arrives in the morning… You have turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent; O LORD my God, I will always give thanks to you!” (from Psalm 30 the NET Bible)

If you’ve ever experienced the Lord’s rescue (and I have)… Perhaps today would be a good day to make the Psalmist’s words your words and sing out (with a Spirit-prompted personal melody) or say out from the bottom of your heart these words. If the Lord has rescued you from sin, disaster, disease, or death today would be a good day to praise Him!

This morning words from Psalm 29 in my Bible reading prompted a reminder of the words of a great worship anthem…

“Acknowledge the LORD, you heavenly beings! Acknowledge the LORD’s majesty and power! Acknowledge the majesty of the LORD’s reputation! Worship the LORD in holy attire! The LORD’s shout is heard over the water; the majestic God thunders… The LORD’s shout is powerful, the LORD’s shout is majestic. The LORD’s shout breaks the cedars! … The LORD’s shout strikes with flaming fire! The LORD’s shout shakes the wilderness! …The LORD’s shout bends the large trees and strips the leaves from the forests. Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” The LORD sits enthroned over the engulfing waters, the LORD sits enthroned as the eternal king. The LORD gives his people strength; the LORD grants his people security.” (from Psalm 29 the NET Bible)

Wow! God has the power to transform a life! Oh, the life-changing impact of a personal encounter with the living Christ! The gospel claims to be “the power of God for salvation to EVERYONE who believes! And there is no greater case study that exhibits and demonstrates that truth than Apostle Paul (I read about it this morning during “coffee with the Lord” in the Bible)…

By his own admission Paul said, “I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities!” (Acts 26:9–11 the NET Bible)

What an absolute contrast in 1 Corinthians 9:19-24! Talk about life transformation!! The “same guy” (no NOT the same guy) says…

“Although I am free from all, I make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law. To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law. To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some. I do all these things because of the gospel!” (from 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 NET)

I gotta tell you… if it could happen to Paul… I can happen to anyone. God has the power through what Christ accomplished to completely transform lives through the gospel. I’m convinced of it! I’ve observed it! I’ve got some people on a list that I’m praying for… I’m believing for it to happen to them!