Coffee With The Lord

I can remember the experience like it was yesterday!  I was just a boy, my first year of swimming lessons, at the dock on the golf course at Flathead Lake, Polson, Montana.  I didn’t know how to swim yet and was standing on the dock out where the water was way over my head.  A “smart aleck” came by and was pushing people off the dock just to be “funny” – he walked past me and pushed me off into the deep water… I panicked as the water enveloped me!  I began to thrash around, gulp water, and was absolutely sure I was going to drown!   I didn’t know how to swim!  Just then I felt the strong arms of a lifeguard around my waist and in a moment he brought me to the surface and took me safely to shore… I owed him my life!

I recalled that terrifying experience this morning as I read the words of Psalm 124 during  “coffee with the Lord”…

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive…  Then the flood would have swept us away!  The torrent would have gone over us!  Then over us would have gone the raging waters!  Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth!  We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth!”  (from Psalm 124 ESV)

Perhaps you can recall an experience like that… The situation seemed hopeless!  Disaster seemed immanent!  You were panicking!  It seemed you had no place to turn – no help was in sight – you were staring death or disaster in the face!  You did the only thing you knew to do in a situation like that… You cried out to Jesus to help you – to rescue you!  And He did!!!

It may have been a situation of your own making – the consequences of bad choices!  On the other hand it may have been “people who rose up against you” with evil designs.  Or you may have no idea what caused the crisis… but the fact was you’re facing one!

You may be facing a situation like that right now!  It doesn’t matter where the crisis has come from… Cry out to God and let the words from this Psalm sink deep into your mind and heart!…

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side! … They would have swallowed us up alive!  The floods would have swept us away!  The torrent – the raging waters – would have gone over us! … We have escaped… we have escaped!!! … Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth!”

My Bible reading this morning reminded me of some of the wonderful fellow Christians and faithful servants of the Lord (“ministers” if you please) with whom I have had the privilege of serving the Lord…

Paul recalled with affection several and he drew his letter to the church in Colossae to a close…

“Tychicus… a beloved bother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord!

“Onesimus… a faithful and beloved brother – one of you!

“Aristarchus… my fellow prisoner (a Christian brother with Paul in prison).

“Epaphras… one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, who has always struggled on your behalf in his prayers, that you will stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God… he has worked hard for you!

“Archippus… who needed to be sure to fulfill the ministry that he had received from the Lord.

And finally to all those who served alongside him… “Remember my chains (i.e. my imprisonment – it’s cause and purpose), Grace be with you!”

(from Colossians 4:7-18)

It brought to mind several I’ve served alongside (and received ministry from) – fellow servants of the Lord I treasure and love deeply (and if I start I just know I’ll overlook a lot of people who are really important to me! … So this list is just a starter – many more will come to mind as I reflect on it…

Delmer Guynes… learned more about leadership from him than any living person.  Mighty in prayer and passion for the advancement of the Kingdom of God worldwide.

Paul Brooks… Deeply committed to the authority of Scripture and passionate that Pentecost be a living reality within the Church

John Wyckoff… a faithful friend if there ever was one, whose concern for spiritual vitality among God’s people is evident in every conversation.

Bruce Rosdahl…  one of the finest Bible scholars and theologians I know who continually exhibits servant leadership and a gentle spirit.

Amy Alexander… gifted writer and teacher who continually exhibits the fruit of the Spirit in all its beautiful variety

Fred and Brenda Kuntz… a ministry team as home group leaders who are exemplary in every way – sacrificially caring for the spiritual and practical needs of those who are a part of their small group.

John and Naomi Brady – Incurably pastors!  Always exhibiting the loving heart of a “shepherd” to anyone they have the opportunity to serve!

That’s just a few that immediately popped in my mind today…. Who would be on your list?  Why not make one and jot down a few notes about them as Apostle Paul did as he finished  writing Colossians… Perhaps even jotting them a note of thanksgiving or telling them about your esteem and appreciation personally.

When I became a Christian, put my trust in Jesus to forgive me sin, and decided to follow Jesus, and was baptized, the Bible describes a new reality – a life-transforming reality – that happened to me! I was “born again!” I took my “old self” to the cross and it died with Jesus there (His death was somehow my death to the old way of life). But I also was “raised with Him” – in other words, His resurrection was in a very real way my resurrection to a new life! All of this was witnessed and illustrated by my baptism – death to self and sin and resurrection to live a new life.

Then the challenge began… Considering this Spiritual reality true in my life and living it out every day! Death to the old way of life and living out the new life His resurrection had given me! This morning during my devotions (my time of “coffee with the Lord”) I read all about it again. And I dedicated myself to “putting off” – putting to death the old way of life (much like I put off the old, wet, garments after I was baptized) and “putting on the new self” (like I put on fresh, new, clean clothes after baptism).

All of this is a life quest for me now – putting off the old way of life (considering it to be dead with Christ on the cross) and putting on the “new self” at work within me through the resurrection power of Jesus at work in my life. Here is how it’s described in Colossians 3:1-10, my Bible reading this morning:

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these things the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”

Hey, that’s what I’ve dedicated my life to today… Working out in daily living what Christ began within me through His death, burial, and resurrection! Away with the old (It’s dead and buried with Christ!) And putting on the new (the tomb is empty – He’s alive and working within my life through the power of the Holy Spirit” I’m living out what baptism pictures every day of my life! Hope you are too!