Coffee With The Lord

Sometimes things come together in such a way that you find yourself exclaiming, “That had to be God orchestrated synergy! This morning during “coffee with the Lord” Sharon, my wife, and I experienced such a neat moment…

I had just finished reading the following verses from Psalm 119 when she said, “Honey you got to hear what the late Bill Bright wrote…

Here are the verses from Psalm 119…

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day… I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word… How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”

I just had underlined those words in my Bible when Sharon read me these words from Bill Bright’s little book “FIRST LOVE: Renewing Your Passion for God”…

“Please do not think you can rediscover your first love for God without immersing yourself in His Book. There is the place where we feel the Spirit’s touch most powerfully! That is where His great teachings for us are recorded. The words will seem to jump off the pages and galvanize your life. Begin a new, exciting study of the Bible… Go to a Christian bookstore and look for a volume that will jump-start your devotional times. Once again, think of the things you first did – the ‘flowers and candy’ of your early times with God. How did your practice His presence in your daily life back then?”

Excellent advice! I don’t know about you, but the daily devotional time I call “coffee with the Lord” has become the life-blood of my relationship with the Lord. It is a delightful time of reflection on God’s word, a time of worship, thanksgiving and fellowship with the Lord I look forward to every day – a “centering time” that helps put my entire day in perspective! “Oh how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day” – it is the “flowers and candy” that brighten and sweeten the ordinariness of life!

You know what? I can’t remember a day in my life that the sun didn’t appear in the morning! (Even on a very cloudy day, when I couldn’t see the blazing globe we call the sun, I recognized the evidence of it because daylight dawned.) Same with the stars at night… they’re always there (and even when I can’t see them because of an overcast sky, I know they’ll reappear when the clouds clear away!) In fact, the reliability of the stars are tools that from times immemorial, navigators have used to fix their location and guide their journeys. The sun has never risen in the west in the morning and set in the evening in the east! The North Star has never been located in the South! They’re reliable – “firmly fixed” in the heavens…

The Psalmist put it this way…

“Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants. If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life… I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.” (from Psalm 119:89–96 ESV)

Here’s what I’m banking on… Just as the heavenly bodies are “firmly fixed” and we depend on that (even assuming that because of their regularity every day of our lives); God’s word… God’s faithfulness to His word, His character, and His people – is even more reliable! I’m depending on it! … Yup, just checked – the sun came up this morning over the rugged Rockies in Montana (Oh, and it was the east … and I’m pretty confident it will set in the west)!

As a child I was fortunate to have a wonderful father… He was both “tough and tender” – certainly no “pushover” – he was more concerned about developing character in his sons than giving them everything they wanted. Looking back in retrospect, I am grateful – it wasn’t always pleasant at the time, however.
As a “child of God” I have a wonderful Heavenly Father! And He is no “pushover”! If my earthly father was concerned about the development of my character, think about how devoted to the development of my character my Heavenly Father is! I thought of that as I read the following verses from Psalm 119:73-77 this morning…
“Your hands have made and fashioned me! Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant. Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.”
I think that’s why the writer of Hebrews wrote this reflection…
“Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:5–11 ESV)
Yes, “tough and tender” described my earthly father – In even a greater way it describes my Heavenly Father!