Coffee With The Lord

Can’t get ahead? Regardless of how hard you work, what you do, or what advisors you consult, or how many stars they have after their evaluations, you try hard but seem to be getting nowhere! What’s wrong anyway?

Interesting… I read an account like that this morning in the little book of Haggai. Here it is…

“Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: You have sown much and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes… You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away!” (Haggai, 1:5-6, 9 ESV)

And the assessment of the problem? God speaks through His prophet, “Consider your ways (stated twice!)… Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house [the temple] lies in ruins… Thus says the Lord of hosts… Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord… My house lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.” (Haggai 1:4-5, 7-8, 9b)

Misplaced priorities! Self before the Lord! Pre-occupation with MY house, MY security, MYprovisions, MY prosperity, MY pursuits – and neglect of the Lord’s concerns!

Jesus gave the solution for this problem in “the Sermon on the Mount”…

He said,“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (From Matthew 6:25–33 ESV)

I’m so glad that God’s people listened to the prophet and heeded God’s word (read Haggai 1:12-15)! God blessed them and prospered them powerfully and miraculously when they obeyed! Oh Lord, as a follower of You, may I always keep my focus and priorities straight… “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU!”

As I was reading my Bible this morning I thought of a car I once purchased. Nice car, new model, great customer satisfaction reports. But I began to have trouble with mine the very first week. It would run fine until I hit a bump, went over a railroad track, or experienced anything that would jar it in any way. Then the motor would begin to cough, begin to die, I’d have to pull it over to the side of the road and have it towed. Over 40 hours of shop time (thank God it was under warrantee)!! They tried everything! Couldn’t find the problem, examined everything imaginable, took this off and then that, replaced this and then that, one day I came into the shop to discover they had removed the entire dashboard assembly trying to find the problem. Finally they discovered the difficulty… a tiny faulty computer microchip smaller than a dime… (actually it was a miniscule sliver of metal on that microchip that caused the problem)…

Although the examples given in Scripture aren’t the same, the truth they teach are the same…

“IF WE COULD CONTROL OUR TONGUES, WE WOULD BE PERFECT AND COULD ALSO CONTROL OURSELVES IN EVERY OTHER WAY! We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” (James 3:2-6 NLT)

HELP ME LORD! “LET THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART BE ACCEPTABLE IN THY SIGHT!” (Psalm 19:14)

I just finished reading apostle James great passage dealing with faith and works this morning (James 2.14-26).

Maybe I’m the only one who would enjoy this, but I would LOVE to sit in and listen to apostle Paul and James have a “one-on-one” discussion on the relationship of faith and works! I think it would be intellectually stimulating, spiritually enlightening, and highly practical for our understanding of salvation and a life of discipleship… and probably it would be a highly “animated” discussion as well (they’re dear “brothers in Christ” after all)!  (Reminds me a little of the “discussions” I have had with my brothers whom I dearly love).

Listen to the two sides of the issue today in their own words…

James: “What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead! Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. Look at Abraham… His faith and his actions were working together. His faith was made complete by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness… You see, a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone… As the body without the spirit is dead so faith without deeds is dead!” (From James 2.14-26 NIV)

Paul: “We maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law… What then shall we say that Abraham… discovered in this matter? What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ To the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, faith is credited as righteousness… For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast!” (From Romans 4 and Ephesians 2.8-9 NIV)

I know what you’re thinking… He’s going to try to resolve this age-long theological issue for us today! NOT!!! In fact this issue reminds me a little bit of the response of Charles H. Spurgeon when he was asked to resolve two apparently opposing theological truths… His response? “I NEVER RECONCILE FRIENDS!”