Coffee With The Lord

Look at the pics… ever see those expressions on the face of a child?… What a contrast, eh? Rebellious child… and a repentant child.

What does true repentance get you?

Read the following passage from Hosea 14…

“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, ‘Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips… We will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands…”

Then God speaks… “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely for my anger has turned from them! … They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the win of Lebanon!

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.”
(from Hosea 14 ESV)

I think I’ll choose the way of the repentant and avoid the attitude of the
rebellious!

Here I am on Monday morning thinking about yesterday – Sunday, “the Lord’s Day” – and what went on… I got up early and had a wonderful time of personal devotions (I call it “coffee with the Lord”). Then Sharon and I went to the house of worship where we gather with fellow Christian friends. We sang to the Lord with all our hearts, and heard a wonderful, uplifting message that challenged us to “live out our identity ‘in Christ’!” Immediately following that, we met with a wonderful group of people for Bible Study (they call themselves “the Truth-Seekers Class), enjoyed some refreshments together and explored the significance of the “covenant” David made with his dear friend, Jonathan, and it’s powerful, positive impact on Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son. Finished out “the Lord’s Day” in the evening at our house with an incredible, uplifting time of fellowship and prayer with a small group of Christian friends. (Can’t beat “BBQ, the Bible, and ‘bearing one another’s burdens!”) The Lord’s Day … don’t want to bore you, but what a way to spend Sunday!

So here’s the deal… It’s Monday morning and I read these words in the Bible during devotions…

“Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water! Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful! And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together (as the habit of some) but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day [of His coming] drawing near!” (from Hebrews 10:22-25)

That’s what happened yesterday! That’s what Sharon and I and a lot of other fellow Christians participated in! It’s going to be a busy week filled with a lot of challenges and opportunities! I want to live out the Christian life with consistency and maximum impact – don’t you?! We need each other! We need “the Lord’s Day” – we need Sundays!

Ah, sweet memories of life on the farm as a boy… Dad would rise early (and I mean early!) and go out to milk the cows… then came the daily tasks of farm life… haying, preparing the fields for planting, harvest… a full day of hard work – dawn till dusk with only time for meals… then milk the cows again. Finally, after the daily grind of farm work the grand moment… Dad would sit down in the “easy chair” in the living room with his Bible… But after sleep at night, another day of the same thing… “day in – day out.”

But not with Jesus… In completing the task the Heavenly Father sent Him to do, the scene was different… Here’s how it reads in the Message paraphrase of the Bible passage…

“Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. But as a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process.” (Hebrews 10:11–14 The Message)

Wow! What a day’s work! He has every right to sit down! His “It is finished!” on the cross was the exclamation mark! (John 19:30)