Coffee With The Lord

In America we LOVE polls! We nearly idolize them! We want to know which way the political and cultural wind is blowing! Often the unwritten, but implied message is, “Com’on! Get on the bandwagon! Everyone is embracing it…doing it…believing it… and voting this way! … So should YOU, you antiquated, out of touch, egghead!”

The problem is, polls (even elections!) don’t determine what is “right” and “good!”

Just let me make this observation… Paying attention to a “poll” in America will NOT get you to heaven or win the Lord’s favor!!!

Here’s what I read in the Bible this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord”…

“Enter by the narrow gate! For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 5:13-14 ESV)

Believe me, I’m not going to determine the way I ought to live, what I ought to believe, what life values I ought to embrace, what decisions I ought to make, or who I ought to follow, based upon “polls!” I’m going to seek what God’s infallible word has to say, I’m going to make those things a matter of prayer, I’ll seek dependable counsel from godly leaders, and I’ll trust the “Holy Spirit’s nudge” informed by God’s word… That’s what I’ll do! How about 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… DO NOT BE ANXIOUS, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ … DO NOT BE ANXIOUS about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself! … But SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you!” (From Matthew 6:25-34)

Anyone who has read much of the Old Testament knows that Egypt has been a perineal problem nation for Israel and Assyria has been an archenemy of God’s people… That’s why when I read Isaiah 19 this morning I was blown away by the mercy, grace and redemptive purposes of God! One word… WOW!!!

Here’s what Isaiah 19:18-25 has to say about an “undated but inevitable future for Egypt and Assyria” (to quote the comments from the ESV Study Bible)… NOTE: Each of God’s sure, prophesied redemptive purposes throughout this passage are introduced by the words, “IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE…! (i.e. these prophetic words WILL be fulfilled)!

“IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction. IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. IN THAT DAY ISRAEL WILL BE the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance!” (ESV)

I tell you, the redemptive purposes and provision of the Lord blow me away! And it brings to mind this wonderful, inspired declaration in the New Testament… “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance!” (2 Peter 3:9) And another well known verse: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him!” (John 3:16-17)