Coffee With The Lord

Some of you will remember the instructions you received from your Mom as you prepared to leave for a date, or go on a trip, or when you left to go to college… One tidbit of final instructions after another (in “rapid fire”)! 

Well, I read a passage this morning written by Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration designed to prepare us to live the way God want us to in “community” before the Lord returns… (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22) I counted 7 general instructions)…

1. Honor and esteem highly your spiritual leaders!
“Respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you! Esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

2. Get along with each other!
“Be at peace among yourselves.”

3. Help each other along as you live the Christian life!
“And we urge you, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all.”

4. Don’t try to get even for wrongs you’ve experienced – instead do good to each other!
“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another – and to everyone.”

5. Be a praying, praising, grateful Christian… all of the time!
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

6. Welcome the Holy Spirit’s activity among yourselves – test and affirm what is genuine!
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good.”

7. Steer clear of anything and everything that would displease the Lord!
“Abstain from every form of evil.”

Good stuff it seems to me! Don’t want to do with these what I sometimes did to Mom’s advice… “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! (and then ignore what she said). I want to be ready when He comes!

Fouled up again! Failed the Lord! Promised myself (and the Lord) I wouldn’t do it… but I did! Feel awful! What should I do?

Let me recommend turning Psalm 130 into a personal prayer for forgiveness – a “song” of mercy and plea for grace…

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?! But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared! I wait for You LORD, my soul waits, and in Your word I hope; my soul waits for You more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. He will redeem me from all my iniquities!” (adapted from Psalm 130)

What a prayer! Is it effective? You bet! Apostle John gave this word of assurance to Christians who fail and fall – BUT acknowledge their sin and ask for forgiveness… “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!” (1 John 1:8-9)

Ever work the “graveyard shift” as a security guard or in a job that simply requires that you watch gauges and dials? I have! Sometimes the hardest thing on earth to do is stay alert – stay awake at 3:30 in the morning! But I can tell you from personal experience, that’s when things can go wrong – that’s when the unexpected happens – that’s the “witching hour” for emergencies!

The Bible emphasizes the need to “watch” – to “say alert” – for Christ followers as the end of time approached. Apostle Paul spoke of “the day of the Lord” – that time when God will say, “Enough!” When He will judge sin, deal decisively with the devil, rescue those who are faithful to Him, and usher in His eternal kingdom. He warned about spiritual “sleepiness” when a false sense of security, prosperity, and well-being slips in and Christians lose their spiritual edge. Here is the warning…

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape! But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober… “Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, … Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (from 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 ESV)
Lord, help me stay “spiritually alert!”