Coffee With The Lord

According to the Bible we all are sinners and need to GET RIGHT WITH GOD! … “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (made ‘right with God’) as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

So who is REALLY “right with God?”

Not self-righteous, arrogant, religious snobs who look down with disdain on others!

Jesus told a parable about people like that – read it this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord!

“Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee (a scrupulously religious person) and the other a tax collector (culturally viewed as a wicked, despicable sinner). The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God I thank you that I am note like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get…” (Come on, use your imagination! … this guy was religious arrogance personified, don’t you think?)

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven! He beat his breast and said, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!” (Can you picture it – humble, contrite, genuinely sorrowful for his sin!)

So of the two, who was REALLY “right with God?” Jesus did not leave us in doubt! “I tell you, this man (the humble, despised, repenting sinner) went down to his house justified (right with God), rather than the other, for EVERYONE WHO EXALTS HIMSELF will be humbled! BUT THE ONE WHO HUMBLES HIMSELF will be exalted!” (From Luke 18:9-14)

Gotta tell you, I NEVER – NEVER want to be like the first guy – the self-righteous religious snob! We are all sinners! We all need a Savior! It’s the humble who realize their abject moral and spiritual poverty without Christ that God “justifies” (and makes “right with God”)!

Just a word of caution to my “faith healer” / “faith formula” friends from an ol’ guy who regularly prays for the sick to be healed (James 5:13-15)… Healing in Scripture is NEVER a matter of “Spiritual entitlement!” Instead, most often in Scripture it is the gracious response from God to this cry uttered in faith… “HAVE MERCY UPON ME…!) That is why it has always been my practice to “pray in faith for the sick and suffering and leave the results to God.”

Here’s a bit of a different “Coffee with the Lord” post today… The subject? “Fiscal responsibility” or “stewardship” – the responsibility of followers of Christ regarding the management of the resources they have (property, capital, investments, and personal finances) in a God-honoring way.

What prompted a reflection on “fiscal responsibility” or “stewardship” you ask? Reading the parable of Jesus entitled the “Dishonest Manager” found in Luke 16:1-13. (I urge you to take a few minutes and read it and reflect on teaching Jesus provided there.)

Here’s what Jesus said after giving the parable…

“…The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (From Luke 16:8–13 ESV)

Hey, the wisdom and skill with which we handle the resources God has given us and allowed us to have matters! Everything we possess comes from Him (cp. Psalm 24:1) God expects us to be “wise stewards” of those resources – all of them! We are accountable – not to a “dishonest manager,” but to a loving, holy God!

After reading Luke 16:1-13 today during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I jotted this in the margin of my Bible…

“EVERY FOLLOWER OF JESUS NEEDS TO LEARN TO BE A WISE STEWARD OF THEIR MATERIAL RESOURCES!”

Now think about that! Rich or poor, plenty or lacking, privileged or underprivileged – we are accountable as stewards for what we have been granted. Personally, before God, I must demonstrate wise stewardship. I must not only sustain (or keep) what I have been granted – I must seek to invest it and increase it “for the glory of God” and the benefit of God’s kingdom. And I would add that the “Church” has a responsibility to teach “wise stewardship” and effective “fiscal management” to those who are seeking to follow Jesus.

Believe me, I want to hear my Lord speak these words to me personally: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master!’ (Matthew 25:21 & 23)