Coffee With The Lord

Wells of Salvation!!! Think of it…

Isaiah 12… You need to read it > reflect on it > and respond to it today! This is an incredible, edifying, uplifting “hymn of praise!”

Your personal “well of salvation” is deep and full of wonderful, refreshing truths of times the Lord has rescued you, forgiven you, and been your healer, provider and deliverer!!! Think about those times today – I did!!!

And you’re not the only one… The term is plural… “WELLS of Salvation! Each one of us have wonderful stories to tell!!!

“Praise the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted! Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth!” (vss. 4-5)

Can you imagine the terror and tragedy of a person kayaking above Niagara Falls as they busy themselves with their something on their cellphone.  They drift past all the warnings, they ignore all the barriers, and came very near slipping over the falls to their death!

I thought of that kind of possibility as I read Genesis 19:1-29 this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord.  Hey,  this chapter is very difficult to read… It certainly is not uplifting!

Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family have drifted toward the decadent cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (apparently for economic reasons).  God has purposed He must destroy these cities for their sin. The Lord mercifully sends heavenly emissaries to Lot to warn them and lead them to escape God’s judgment. (I believe, in response to Abraham’s intercession).  However, it is clear that “spiritual drift” has set into Lot’s life and family. He, and his family, have enculturated to Sodom more than they recognized or even wanted to admit… and it shows!!! Sodom has influenced Lot’s family and it is only a merciful act of God that he is spared its complete destruction in judgment.  Lot and his family almost have to be dragged from the city’s destruction they are so reluctant to leave.  Then God’s judgment falls.

It’s a sad, sad chapter in the Bible and a warning to us all who live in a wicked time and sinful culture!  Spiritual and moral drift is dangerous (and left unchecked, disastrous)!  Resist it!  Avoid it!  Beware!!

From my Bible reading today…Genesis 16:1-16

Abram’s wife, Sarai, had a female Egyptian servant by the name of Hagar.

Sarai had not yet been able to bear a child, even in the face of God’s promise. So Sarai, suggested an accepted human strategy – “Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” Abram did, Hagar got pregnant, and then Sarai regretted her decision and harassed Hagar.

Hagar fled. “The angel of the Lord” found Hagar by a spring and asked where she was going. She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai!”

The “angel of the Lord” then directed her to do a difficult thing – “Return to your mistress and submit to her” and promised her a son. He said, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. His name shall be called Ishmael [God hears], because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

What did Hagar do? “She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ because truly here I have seen Him who looks after me!”

Listen, you may feel marginalized and used! You may feel unimportant and forgotten! But God sees… He sees you, He knows where you are at and what you’re going through, He cares about you, He loves you and has a purpose for your life! That’s the lesson I believe today for someone from Hagar!