Coffee With The Lord

Fouled up again! Failed the Lord! Promised myself (and the Lord) I wouldn’t do it… but I did! Feel awful! What should I do?

Let me recommend turning Psalm 130 into a personal prayer for forgiveness – a “song” of mercy and plea for grace…

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?! But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared! I wait for You LORD, my soul waits, and in Your word I hope; my soul waits for You more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. He will redeem me from all my iniquities!” (adapted from Psalm 130)

What a prayer! Is it effective? You bet! Apostle John gave this word of assurance to Christians who fail and fall – BUT acknowledge their sin and ask for forgiveness… “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!” (1 John 1:8-9)

Ever work the “graveyard shift” as a security guard or in a job that simply requires that you watch gauges and dials? I have! Sometimes the hardest thing on earth to do is stay alert – stay awake at 3:30 in the morning! But I can tell you from personal experience, that’s when things can go wrong – that’s when the unexpected happens – that’s the “witching hour” for emergencies!

The Bible emphasizes the need to “watch” – to “say alert” – for Christ followers as the end of time approached. Apostle Paul spoke of “the day of the Lord” – that time when God will say, “Enough!” When He will judge sin, deal decisively with the devil, rescue those who are faithful to Him, and usher in His eternal kingdom. He warned about spiritual “sleepiness” when a false sense of security, prosperity, and well-being slips in and Christians lose their spiritual edge. Here is the warning…

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape! But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober… “Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, … Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (from 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 ESV)
Lord, help me stay “spiritually alert!”

Was out a few days ago in Hungry Horse, Montana taking a walk with my wife, Sharon and passed this “flower garden.” I placed quotation marks around the term “flower garden” because this little plot of “flowers” is a prime illustration of another term…. “Hypocrisy”!

As Sharon and I walked past it the first time the flowers looked vibrant, alive and flourishing. About half-way past it Sharon remarked, “Those are artificial flowers!” She was right… they are “fake”! The only thing alive in that flower garden is the weeds!

How like some professing Christians! They go to church fairly often (some even every week). They know the “lingo,” they know the liturgy, they know the songs, when to stand up-sit down-and raise your hands, ” they can pray with a quiver in their voice, they have all the religious expectations down pat… but they don’t know the Lord and aren’t living for Him! What they do in private, what they do in business, what they do in the privacy of them home – what they do Monday through Saturday is a contradiction to what they do on Sunday! If the truth were known, the only thing alive in their lives is the “weeds” … If you get to know them close up they’re a big disappointment… a “hypocrite!”

Don’t want to be like that! Help me Lord to be the genuine, authentic article – a growing, fruitful Christian!