Coffee With The Lord

One of the great challenges of life is trusting God in a crisis.  Everything is up for grabs!  It is as if the ground shakes and wobbles beneath you uncontrollably.  Everything you have grown to depend on is unstable.  Every principle and precept that worked before is now in question.  Nothing seems to work right – one thing after another fails.  One minute faith… the next minute frantic!  You try this… and then you try that… You cry out to God!  You read the Scripture!  You ask for the counsel and advice of friends!  You feel panic!  You pray some more!  You ask, “will this situation never end!?”

David, the Psalmist, knew those feelings!  I read the words he penned in Psalm 27 this morning during “coffee with the Lord” and I identified… I think you will too.  Why not make his words your own today?

“The Lord delivers and vindicates me! I fear no one! The Lord protects my life! I am afraid of no one! … Even when an army is deployed against me, I do not fear. Even when war is imminent, I remain confident.  I have asked the Lord for one thing— this is what I desire! I want to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, so I can gaze at the splendor of the Lord and contemplate in his temple.  He will surely give me shelter in the day of danger; he will hide me in his home; he will place me on an inaccessible rocky summit… Hear me, O Lord, when I cry out! Have mercy on me and answer me!  My heart tells me to pray to you, and I do pray to you, O Lord.  Do not reject me! … You are my deliverer! Do not forsake or abandon me! … Even if my father and mother abandoned me, the Lord would take me in.  Teach me how you want me to live; lead me along a level path! … Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?  Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!  (from Psalm 27 the NET Bible)

So here’s what I believe… I believe the Lord can help me!  If I call out to Him – If I depend on Him… I believe He can turn my “frantic” into faith!

It’s the beginning of another work-week… Here’s how the work of God moves forward in our world… It’s as old as Exodus in the Old Testament… Read about it this morning during “coffee with the Lord”…

Giving what you can… Doing what you can…

“Moses spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded:  Take an offering for the Lord.  Let everyone who has a willing heart bring an offering to the Lord… Every skilled person among you is to come and make all that the Lord has commanded…  So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Moses.  Everyone whose heart stirred him to action and everyone whose spirit was willing came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments.  They came, men and women alike, all who had willing hearts.”  (from Exodus 35:4–22 the NET Bible)

I want what the Lord is seeking to do in our world to be at the very top of my “to do” list!  So, here’s the deal for me… I’m going to give what I can… and do what I can.  If we all pitch in under the leadership and empowerment of the Holy Spirit the work of God in our world will get done!!  It’s Monday… up and at ‘em!!

Just thinking today about unsung heroes… wonderful people, simple saints, those who love the Lord with all their heart and others (regardless of their ethnicity, culture, station in life, education or lack of it, wealth or lack of it, their religious background or anything else) and serve them in the name of Jesus without fanfare, notoriety or media attention (and sometimes with appreciation).  But God notices!  I read about them this morning in my Bible reading…

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.   All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for Me!’” (Matthew 25:31–40 NET)

That’s right… Righteous, godly, loving, caring unsung heroes serving in Jesus’ name around the globe… worthy of the highest honor!  Today I salute you!  And one day the Living Lord of Glory will honor you before the assembled host of heaven and the assembled nations of the world and the entire universe!

On the other hand there are those whose religion (whose Christianity) is in name only… (read the next verses…)