Coffee With The Lord

Springtime!  The time of year when the sun shines, flowers bloom, and stark trees put on their best spring finery for us all!  But also the time of year when quickly the clouds can slip over the horizon darkening the sky, the lightening can flash, the thunder can crack and rumble, the wind howl, twist and rush, and rain drive those enjoying springtime leisure quickly inside for shelter and safety… Springtime!!

What enters your mind when you experience all that springtime brings?  Well, in my Bible reading this morning, these thoughts from Psalm 29 entered my mind…

“Ascribe to the Lord you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name!  Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness!  The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders…The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic… The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening… The voice of the Lord shakes the desert… The voice of the Lord twists the oaks… and in His temple all cry, ‘Glory!’  The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned forever! The Lord gives strength to His people. The Lord blesses His people with peace.” (From Psalm 29 NIV)

Don’t know about you, but in the sights and sounds of Springtime I see and hear the Lord!!

As a young man preparing for the ministry, I believe I was led by the Holy Spirit to a very important life-verse… 1 Corinthians 9:27 (I read it again today during my time of “coffee with the Lord”).  It has served me well over the years and has assumed a pivotal role in my life.  In fact, after I realized the importance of staying in shape and working out daily in order to function at a maximum personal level, the surrounding verses near my life-verse became even more special to me.  This is not to say, I’ve never had a failure or stumbled from the principle and truth my life-verse expresses, but regardless of those failures it has continued to be a central, guiding principle in my life.  It expresses my life-quest and desire in service for the Lord.

Here is the passage with my life-verse included in all caps…

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it! Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So Ido not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I DISCIPLINE MY BODY AND KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL, LEST AFTER PREACHING TO OTHERS I MYSELF SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED!” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27 ESV)

I think we’ve all seen it at some time or other… A person with great promise in public life disgraced by a moral or ethical lapse or pattern of living.  A young talented entertainer self-destruct through an undisciplined lifestyle.  An athlete shooting for a world record or championship season disqualified for violating the rules.  A high profile pastor disgraced and disqualified for ministry because of a tragic “moral failure.”

I don’t want to be that kind of person!  With God’s help I want to listen to the warning of Apostle Paul in this passage and exercise Spiritual self-discipline… Hey, a “fruit of the Spirit” is … “self-discipline” (Galatians 5:22-23).  And if you’ve fallen, acknowledge it, ask God and others to forgive you, establish some accountability, and allow God’s grace to restore you and enable you to rebuild what sin has destroyed.  It can happen!!!

This morning I read one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture… Isaiah 65:17-25…  God’s prophetic message through Isaiah of the wonderful future ahead for God’s people!  A new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells!  A new Jerusalem!  Millennial blessing and God’s eternal kingdom all blended into one incredible scene! 

So here’s what I did… I “Googled” the phrase “new heaven and new earth” into “images” and looked at the pictures there… all someone’s mental images – their imagination of what “heaven” must be like – imagination run wild!  And all of them taken together don’t begin to touch the splendor, the beauty, the grandeur of what lies ahead for the people of God!  (I’ve included one sample just to tease your imagination.)

Here’s Isaiah’s prophetic vision of it all…  (Enjoy!  Savor it!  Relish the thought!)  I’ve included a “taste” of it below from the New Living Translation” … Enjoy!!

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! … The sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more. No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young! … For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the LORD, and their children, too, will be blessed. I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! … I, THE LORD, HAVE SPOKEN!” (from Isaiah 65:17-25 NLT)

Hey, a time like this is coming for the people of God!! It’s going to happen… “THE LORD HAS SPOKEN!“

And if that isn’t enough to blow your mind, check out Revelation 21-22 in the New Testament!  Wow!  What a wonderful future for the people of God!  I’d say it’s a great way to prepare for the upcoming Easter season wouldn’t you?!