Coffee With The Lord

Well, Praise the Lord!  I finished reading the Bible through again in 2021… Have read it through every year since age 17… Now I’m 74.  Has been a tremendous blessing in my life… “The Bible is my all-sufficient guide for faith [my relationship with God] and daily living!”

So it just seemed appropriate today to give five (5) brief observations from my journaling – one for each passage I read today as I finished reading the Bible through – a part of the “Necessary Food Bible Reading Plan” I developed a number of years ago… (An observation from the Old Testament Historical Books, Biblical poetry, the prophets and Revelation, the Gospels and Acts, as well as the epistles).

I sought to focus on devotional observations appropriate as we leave 2021 and enter the New Year…

From the OT historical books… I finished reading Esther and was overwhelmed with the truth that regardless of opposition, danger and circumstances, God is sovereign and has the ability to turn what appears to be bad (even fatal) into blessing!

From Biblical poetry… Sharon and I will have been married for 54 years on May 12.  She is a wonderful wife, and daily I am seeking to be a devoted and loving husband.  We’ve been through a lot together as many of you know.  I don’t know how many years we will ultimately have together… but I know this: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it!  If a person would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly condemned!” (Song of Solomon 8:7)

From prophecy (the book of Revelation)… “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with me… the Spirit and the bride say ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ … Surely I am coming quickly! AMEN! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (from Revelation 22)

And from Acts (NT historical books)… Apostle Paul is in Rome, imprisoned and in chains but continuing to serve the Lord, regardless of circumstances, with the gospel!  “Paul received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence!”  Paul you are my spiritual hero!  Faithful regardless!

And then this wonderful benediction and doxology (and word of assurance) from the epistles – the little book of Jude:  “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy – to God our Savior, who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever!  AMEN!!!” (Jude 24-25)  He has brought us though this year and years before it – He will “keep us” bring us through “faultless” regardless of what lies ahead!

Have a God-blessed New Year!  (I’m starting through the Bible again tomorrow! … Gonna be GOOD!”)

I’ve had some pretty awe-producing (the word is “awesome!”) audio/visual experiences in my life (after all, I was raised near Glacier National Park – the “Alps of America” – see the pic)!  You’ve probably had some awe-inspiring experiences as well.  They leave you breathless!  You never forget them!  And if you’re a Christ-follower and God-believer you always experience a heightened sense of worship, praise, thanksgiving, faith and a determination to live your life for the glory of God!

Apostle John had such an experience!  He, assisted by the Holy Spirit, attempted to describe his experience and put it into words for us.  Get this: He was NOT located in one of the world’s favorite vacation spots at the time of this experience – He was on Patmos, which at that time was a very barren island in the Aegean Sea used to isolate and exile prisoners (Revelation 1:9).

That’s what makes John’s experience to significant and noteworthy!  It is as though God pulled back the heavenly drapes and allowed John to see, hear and experience a heavenly reality!  Don’t get me wrong… what John saw was REAL!  The language he used to describe it… Well there are really no adequate words for it – it was “out of this world” – but REAL!  In fact, the words he used to describe it really require your understanding it was REAL, but also your imagination!

Now here’s where I want to stop and challenge you… Pick up your Bible on this next to the last day of 2021 (a very challenging and difficult year) and read the passage I read this morning – Revelation 21:1 – 22:6.  Read it slowly… read it reflectively… read it with your “imagination on”… But read it like it’s REALITY!  Finally, read it like you’re right there with John on Patmos… Then do what I did, underline a few really significant things, jot a few reactions… And above all respond to the God behind that reality (worship, praise, thanksgiving, prayer and commitment)!

For what it’s worth, here are a few comments I jotted in the margin of my Bible this morning…

“Wow…  what a day that will be!!!  Beyond imagination!!!”

“Oh Lord, help me!  I want to be an “overcomer!”

“Imagine it… the curse of Genesis reversed (Genesis 1-3) – Eden restored (no, more than that – Eden on steroids!!!)”

Wow!! Bet it’s been a while since you heard the words to this old gospel song!!  I was reminded of them by my Bible reading during “coffee with the Lord” this morning… (see the Scripture reading below the words of the old gospel song).

“Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold;

 I would make sure of Heaven, I would enter the fold.

 In the book of Thy kingdom, with its pages so fair,

 Tell me, Jesus, my Savior, is my name written there?

Refrain

 “Is my name written there,

 On the page white and fair?

 In the book of Thy kingdom,

 Is my name written there?

“Lord, my sins they are many, like the sands of the sea,

 But Thy blood, O my Savior, is sufficient for me;

 For Thy promise is written, in bright letters that glow,

“Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them like snow.”

“Oh! that beautiful city, with its mansions of light,

 With its glorified beings, in pure garments of white;

 Where no evil thing cometh to despoil what is fair;

 Where the angels are watching, yes, my name’s written there!

And the Scripture I read this morning…

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it… And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. ANOTHER BOOK WAS OPENED, WHICH IS THE BOOK OF LIFE. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books… each person was judged according to what he had done… IF ANYONE’S NAME WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, HE WAS THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.”  (from Revelation 20:11-15)

I want to be sure my name has been written “in THE BOOK OF LIFE!”