Coffee With The Lord

Easter’s just around the corner! Next Sunday is a wonderful day of celebration for Christ followers! I believe the resurrection of Jesus actually happened and that it has an incredible impact on my life – right now and in the future. The following passage which was a part of my Bible reading today has everything to do with that!

“Let me tell you something wonderful – a mystery we’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You’ll hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again! … In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death is swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening… But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

“With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground! Don’t hold back! Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort” (from 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 the Message)

Yahoo!! Finished 67 miles this morning about an hour ago in celebration of my 67th birthday this week (67 miles in a week – almost the length of 3 marathons in a week). Felt good! No tendon swelling – Praise the Lord! Lessons learned… Patience is more important than speed… The Bible puts it this way… “Let us run with endurance (patience) the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith!” (Hebrews 12.1-2) Bartel’s definition of patience? … “Sustained intensity!” I’m looking forward to next year!!

Imagine being one of “The Twelve” that followed Jesus every day, heard his absolutely mind and spirit bending teaching, and saw all of the wonderful things He did! One miracle after another… He puts off a Gentile woman by throwing a racially charged slur her direction to see if she will let the offense stand in the way of her faith but heals her demon possessed daughter when she persists in faith in spite of the obstacle. He touches the tongue of a deaf man who could not speak clearly and simply speaks to the ears and tongue, “be opened!” and the man could hear and speak plainly.

He cautioned those who saw these and other mighty miracles to not tell anyone (He knew and realized the mounting opposition and that His time had not come). Good luck on that! … They proclaimed what He had done and was doing zealously everywhere! One awesome miracle after another! Words that left you spellbound, shaking your head and mulling over their significance all day long! Following Jesus… What a trip!!

What does the Bible say? “They were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well!” (Mark 7:37)

Now I’ve got to tell you… I’ve been following the Lord for a while (in fact I first gave my heart to Jesus at 4 years of age in family devotions). I’ve seen a few things in those years… I can truthfully say, “He cares! He’s powerful! Nothing is too difficult for Him! He’s faithful!” One miracle after another! His words profound and life-transforming! Hey… What a trip!