Coffee With The Lord

Wow! Had an awesome experience in Bible reading a couple of days ago!! The passage? 1 Peter 1.3-12 (especially 3-9). It was one of those mornings when you read God’s word, pore over the text, God is there by his Spirit, you see things you’ve not seen before, and truth just explodes in your mind and heart in such a way that you have a “Hallelujah spell”!!

This is one of the reasons I meet with Him daily and enjoy something that I call… “coffee with the Lord”! Let me see if I can trace the experience I had so that you get a “taste” of what I experienced… (Oh, and for your preachers… I think this just might preach!)

1) Undeserving as we are He has shown us GREAT MERCY…

2) This results in a GREAT EXPERIENCE… “New birth”!

3) But more than that, we are kept by His GREAT POWER

4) This sustains us through GREAT TRIALS that we may experience as we follow Him, which makes it possible for us to…

5) GREATLY REJOICE (in fact “great rejoicing” is mentioned twice – vss. 6 and 8!)

6) And I’ve just got to say … (and so does Peter) this is an awesome, GREAT SALVATION!!

HOPE! A LIGHT AT THE END OF A DARK TUNNEL!! (And the light we see there is NOT a freight train coming our way! 😉 It is the Lord, our Savior, coming our way!)

Hope is wonderful… Apostle Peter, however, spoke of “a Living Hope” which is even better! Here are his Holy Spirit inspired words…

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into A LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9 NIV)

So… here are my reflections on that passage: The resurrection of Jesus from the dead has given us a reason for hope! This is a hope that NOTHING can diminish or take away – it will never perish spoil or fade! It is our hope of heaven and is kept there securely for us. In fact, He is keeping it for us and us for it! Right now we might face all kinds of trials, but all those things can do is prepare us for the incredible future that is ahead for us as Christians! What a wonderful salvation! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE HOPE – A CONFIDENT EXPECTATION!! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!”

I’M FEEL’N GOOD ABOUT MY FUTURE AS A CHRISTIAN, I TELL YA’!

Just an observation from my Bible reading today… It’s easy to miss the point of the overall, collective challenge by only paying attention to the specific, individual challenges…

First I’ll focus on the INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGES of James 5:13–18…

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

“And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (ESV)

But here’s the COLLECTIVE CHALLENGE of the passage…

Prayer is powerful when offered in faith and in all kinds of situations… When we’re suffering, when we’re happy, when we’re sick, or when we’ve sinned… Hey, the thing we should do in all kinds of situations, circumstances, issues and times is… PRAY!!! As we’re urged in another location… “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) And “Do not be anxious about anything, instead pray about EVERYTHING!” (Philippians 4:6-7)