Coffee With The Lord

Does the name Onesiphorus mean anything to you?  Probably not in a personal way… But if you’d had the privilege of a personal conversation with Apostle Paul late in his life – in prison in Rome, just before his martyrdom – He’d have told you just how much this guy and his entire household (probably meaning the members of the church that met in his house) meant to him!

Here’s what Paul had to say about it in 2 Timothy…

“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains!  On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.  May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus!”

 People who help others in their time of loneliness and need are very special!  Their expressed concern and care is like a “cup of cold water” on a hot day to a thirsty and parched throat!  It’s like the healing hand of Jesus extended – more than that – it’s like His loving presence, His comforting voice, and His personal ministry in the time of deepest need.  Not only did Onesiphorus get involved in helping Paul… his entire “household” (probably the congregation or “church” that met in his home) ministered to his need!  They were “the body of Christ” to Paul in his deepest need.  How did Jesus Himself say it… “As you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to Me!”  (Matthew 25:40, 45)

Oh what a challenge!  What an honor to be an Onesiphorus (or a member of his “household”) to a member of the “body of Christ” in need!  Gotta tell you… I want to be one!  And as passionately as I want to be a member of his household… I want to avoid like the plague being like those in the province of Asia… especially like Phygelus and Hermogenes – who abandoned Paul in His time of need…  ashamed of him… ashamed of the gospel (see 2 Timothy 1:8)!

No fear! Not ashamed! Bold – not intimidated! These need to be more than just bumper sticker slogans!

That’s the kind of people God wants and the Holy Spirit produces in a culture that is increasingly anti-Christian and a world where followers of Christ who openly live out and share their faith are persecuted!

I know you’ve seen them… wounded people, cowering souls, who almost seem ashamed of themselves – afraid of almost everything, reluctant to look up, fearful of speaking up and terrified of getting involved in any cause…

God’s presence and transforming influence in a life doesn’t produce that kind of person! His grace is at work within lives, where He is invited, to produce wholeness, health, integrity, love, joy, peace, and hope!

I just read it this morning… “The Spirit God gives us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner [Apostle Paul speaking to Timothy]. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God… This is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day!” (From 2 Timothy 1.7-12 NIV)

In another place Apostle Paul put it this way… “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes!” (Romans 1.16)

Arrogance is sin! But a confident, bold Christian, with a healthy self-concept in Christ is a good thing! We need to be Spirit-filled, grace transformed, oozing love, walking in faith, living out the mandate of Christ to take the gospel to all people – all nations! Lord work within me by your Spirit to become that kind of Christian!

Here’s a “Sip” that will challenge and build your faith!

“A man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. He said, ‘Sir come down before my child dies!’  Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.  As he was going, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering!  So he asked them the hour when he began to get better… they told him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’  The father knew that was the hour when Jesus told him, ‘Your son will live.’  And he himself believed, and all his household.” (From John 4:46-54)