Coffee With The Lord

Look at the pics, read the following proverb, and reflect…

“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish!” (Proverbs 14:11 ESV)

What matters most is not where you live, but what is in your heart! I’m fully aware that there are righteous people that live in beautiful homes and that some wicked people reap the results of their behavior and live in poverty… but that is not the point of this proverb.   The point of this proverb is that down the road, justice will ultimately come – to the righteous AND the wicked! The righteous will flourish and the wicked will be destroyed.

Wonderful promise! Blessed assurance! What matters most is the state of your heart – not the grandeur of the house you live in! I’ve been in third-world countries and visited displaced godly people living in squalor… I’ve driven past opulent mansions belonging to evil tyrants… just wait!

Just acknowledging it… I am a recovering hypocrite.

By definition a “hypocrite” is… “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion; a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings; a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs.” (Merriam-Webster’s dictionary)

Here’s what I read this morning in the Bible…

“Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises Him.” (Proverbs 14:2)

This is what I jotted in the margin of my Bible beside that verse: “Don’t claim that you ‘fear’ (or reverence) the Lord and live a hypocritical (devious) life!”

Just saying… I don’t want to be a hypocrite! I want to be a Christian (a devoted, obedient, follower of Jesus Christ) inside – out! I want what I claim to be to match what I am in daily living! I’m not perfect, but He’s at work within, changing me! Where I’m not consistent (“hypocritical”) I’ve got to acknowledge it (“confess it”) and “repent” (i.e. turn from hypocritical behavior – in other words change!) and depend on God to work the change He desires within me… inside – out!

As I said earlier… I’m a recovering hypocrite. Anyone else out there identify?

Just wondering… Would you accept food from a raven?

Here’s the story in the Bible that prompted that question…

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.’ And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.’ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.” (1 Kings 17:1–6 ESV)

After all, where did the ravens get that food? You know ravens… carrion, road kill, dead rotting meat and stuff! In the natural stuff to be avoided! It could kill you or make you very sick! Ick!!!

But it was God’s provision for the prophet that obeyed. I know, when you obey the Lord and do His will (even when it’s difficult), you’re supposed to get the good stuff… prosperity, blessing, beef steak and caviar. But not Elijah… brook water and stuff a raven brought. Elijah delivered God’s message! It put his life at great risk! Ahab was out to get him and Jezebel wanted his head. God told him where to go hide and then sent the caterer to care for his meals… Ravens with meat in their beaks! Offer thanks and eat it prophet!!

Whoever said serving the Lord and obeying him would be easy – a walk in the park? Reminds me of a few verses of Scripture elsewhere…

“Peter began to say to him, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, WITH PERSECUTIONS, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:28–30)

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted! (2 Timothy 3:12)

“It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29)