My Annual Birthday Prayer Run is just around the corner! This year I’m celebrating 75 years! So beginning next weekend, I will be running 75 miles the week of my birthday (April 8)… It amounts to about a half-marathon each day. As always I’m inviting people to send me prayer requests they’d like someone to pray with them concerning… I pray about your needs as I run. You may email me your requests at leroybartel@gmail.com or via LeRoy R. Bartel on FB Messenger regarding your requests (as always they are treated confidentially).
There are some things that Christians do during the season that leads up to Holy Week that are incredibly special and meaningful!! One of those, to me, is the celebration of “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion.” I’ve got to tell you, I’m looking forward to celebrating it with family, friends and fellow Christians this year!! Here’s why…
According to Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11.23-34 this is what it provides an opportunity for us to do…
· For remembering. Recalling what Jesus went through, what he did on our behalf at the cross. We need to remember that and never forget it!
For reflecting on its significance. It isn’t simply what He did – it is the incredible things His death, burial and resurrection (and ascension) accomplished! Salvation from sin, access to God in prayer, a bright hope for the future, empowerment for the present… and I could go on and on!!
For the “proclamation” of what He did – what He accomplished to a world that tends to marginalize and forget about Him! The Lord’s supper gives me an opportunity to say, “Hey, this is important! This is what Easter is all about! Let me tell you about it!!”
Finally, for realizing and deepening my relationship with fellow Christians – what Paul called “the body of Christ”! It is because of what Jesus Christ accomplished that I have a spiritual and organic relationship with other Christians. This relationship is more than sociological … It is a “blood bond” because of what Jesus did – a spiritual connection too deep for words “in Christ Jesus”!
Yes, I’m looking forward to doing what 1 Corinthians 11.23-34 talks about this Lenten season! Jesus Himself is the one who instituted it!! Why don’t you take your Bible today and read the passage, savoring the words … then “REMEMBER, REFLECT, REHEARSE it and finally REALIZE” what it’s all about one more time… “AS OFTEN AS YOU DO THIS, YOU PROCLAIM THE LORD’S DEATH UNTIL HE COMES” is what Apostle Paul said.
One of the most helpful things that can happen to any of us that are going through a great time of challenges or trials is to have had the privilege of watching a faithful fellow Christian navigate those stormy waters. You learn so much by just watching their lives!
Fortunately, even if we’ve never seen that with our own eyes, we have the wonderful record of people who have done it successfully in Scripture. If you’ve ever read the stories of David in the Bible you know he was not only a person who experienced great victories – he also faced great trials. We learn so much from the stories of his life – we can also learn from the gut wrenching prayers he prayed in those times recorded in the Bible…
Here’s some snippets from one of them I read this morning during “coffee with the Lord”…
“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me… you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God… I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul… But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in your hand’… Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! … Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you! … I had said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from your sight.’ But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (from Psalm 31 ESV)
So here’s my advice, if you’re going through a difficult trial, recall the life of a faithful Christian you know who has navigated a trail successfully and learn from their example. And even if you don’t, learn from someone in the Bible like David, who penned the prayer recorded in Psalm 31 in the middle of one of his trials and make his words your own.
Coffee With The Lord 