Coffee With The Lord

Today I’m sharing a wonderful promise and word of assurance I’ve depended upon over the years.  Can’t remember the first time I discovered it, claimed it, and found it true, but the times since then that I’ve relied upon it have been numerous.  Just take it from me – it works!  I read it again this morning in my Bible reading and just paused and offered thanks for the wonderful truth it expresses.

I’m going to share it from the old Living Bible paraphrase: 

“IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO, ASK HIM, AND HE WILL GLADLY TELL YOU, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him; He will not resent it.  But when you ask Him be sure that you really expect Him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that.  If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.” (James 1:5-8 Living Bible)

We all need wisdom.  Those who “fear (or reverence) the Lord desire to know and do His will.  This wonderful passage lifts discovering God’s will out of the arena of stress and anxiety and transfers it into the domain of confident assurance and faith.  WE CAN ASK GOD FOR WISDOM AND HE HAS PROMISED TO SUPPLY IT!  We are not told precisely how He will supply it – simply that He will.  He has an innumerable number of ways at his disposal… clear direction from His word, counsel from Godly leaders and friends, circumstances, a prophetic word, researching your options bathed in an atmosphere of prayer, or just simply “faith walking” through the issue every day with the Lord… and that’s just a handful of possibilities.  But the truth is, God WILL supply the wisdom you need!  ONE OF MY FAVORITE TRUISMS IS… “THE WILL OF GOD GROWS ON YOU!” 

Trust Him!  Ask for His wisdom!  Believe that He’ll do what He said and supply it!  Then expectantly watch, wait, listen, visit with Him about your options and His leading… and obey!  It works!

This morning during “coffee with the Lord” I was intrigued by the topic “The Art of Influence.” Big topic!! Believe me I don’t have all the answers!! (If anyone has a great bibliography of good books on the topic, I’m interested!)

When it comes to influencing others, the only thing some people have going for them is money. Here’s a challenge… Put away your money and see what you can accomplish without it… “stash the cash – boycott the bribe” and see how influential you really are! Me thinks, for many people, it’s about all they’ve got going for them and their ideas.

This is what I read in the Bible about “influence” this morning…

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.” (Proverbs 25.15 NIV)

My interpretation of the advice? Lower your voice (don’t sound so strident and pushy). Think process, exercise patience, and hang in there when you’re trying to influence a decision or a key leader… (might not be a bad idea to bathe things in prayer either 😉 … ask God for “Divine favor!”)

Good stuff from the book of Proverbs this morning, eh?

We were in Jerusalem… they took us to what has been referred to as “the Upper Room” – a rather non-descript room there – where the special “God-event” we refer to as “the Day of Pentecost” is reputed to have taken place… An event that is a “watershed” in Church History… An event that fulfilled Bible prophecy… An event that signified what God desired to do for all believers from that time forward… empower them to be His effective witnesses in the broader culture to all nations!!

As I stood in “the Upper Room” with fellow Christians, I thought… Something special – something earth shattering – happened here in this ordinary room! Something incredible happened to ordinary people! Something with the power to transform ordinary lives, give courage to the timid, gift those who ordinarily feel inadequate, work the miraculous, and fulfill God’s redemptive mission in the world! … And the fire ignited there has spread worldwide!! Wow!!

Here’s how the world-wide, people-group including, movement we call “Pentecost” began…

Jesus told his followers… “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit! … You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth…

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…

“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all who whom the Lord our God will call!”

(From Acts 1.4-5, 8; 2.1-4, 39 NIV)

And to think it all began in a non-descript room in Jerusalem, with a few ordinary people who were followers of Jesus!!

How will it all end? In heaven… “And I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before God’s throne and before the Lamb (Jesus). They were wearing white robes and we holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Jesus).’” (Revelation 7:9-11)