Coffee With The Lord

It’s an important, big event – I mean BIG event! – They’re the ones called “the catching away” [or the “rapture” and “the Day of the Lord” – 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 5:11)!

In light of this, Apostle Paul – the Thessalonian believers Spiritual parent (Acts 17:1-8 cp. 1 Thessalonians 1:1 – 3:12) writes his Spiritual children like a caring “Mother” (1 Thessalonians 2:7) or a concerned “Father” (1 Thessalonians 2:10-12) would!

He gives his Spiritual children these important, final instructions to help them prepare for “the BIG event” – the biggest event of all, the “Day of the Lord!”

Now, you remember those final parental instructions from Mom and Dad as you prepared to go out for a big event – I mean a “BIG EVENT” – don’t you!  Oh, the reminders, the cautions, the assurances – even their final touches to your appearance while they were talking to you!  Well, Apostle Paul, their Spiritual parent, has a similar conversation in his letter to the Thessalonian believers to prepare them for “the BIG EVENT!”

And it’s a conversation we should heed as we prepare for our future with Christ as well!  Here are the aspects of it (From 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22)…

• Respect and honor for those “who are over you in the Lord!”
• Maintain peace and unity with fellow “brothers and sisters” in the Lord!
• Admonish the idle!
• Encourage the discouraged!
• Assist those who are weak!
• Show patience (not impatience) with one another!
• Don’t fall into the trap of retaliation – repaying evil for evil!
• Seek to “do good to one another (and everyone else)!”
• Rejoice! Rejoice!! Rejoice always!!!
• Pray continually about everything and anything!
• Give thanks to God in all circumstances!
• Don’t do anything that would grieve the Holy Spirit!
• Test everything (do determine what is genuine)!
• Keep – cling to what is good!
• Steer clear – avoid – every form of evil!

Now, I paraphrased Apostle Paul’s final instructions a bit, but I think I’ve treated them fairly!  The “BIG EVENT” is near for all of us – “just around the corner!”  I know the list is long, but we do ourselves (and others) a favor if we heed Apostle Paul’s instructions!  Don’t get frustrated with the “final instructions” of a concerned Spiritual parent… let’s listen closely and heed what they urge us to do!!

One of the shortest chapters in the Bible – Psalm 134 – but a chapter that teaches two profound and important truths about worship…

Psalm 134 is one of a group of psalms (Psalms 120-134)  that bear the designator “A Song of Ascents” – Psalms that were sung as pilgrims approached Jerusalem and the temple in preparation for worship.

So here’s the deal… We speak of “blessing” the Lord… and we seek the Lord’s blessing… This psalm emphasizes these two important aspects of worship that must be kept in mind for worship to be meaningful and profitable… Here they are along with the supporting message directly from the Psalm…

1. When we worship, we “bless” the Lord – We proclaim – we acknowledge – His goodness, His grace, His character in our praise! … “Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord … Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!” (vss. 1-2)
2. We, however, must remember and acknowledge, His “blessing” is always prior to ours!  The recognition of His rich “blessings” ought to prompt our blessing! … “May the Lord bless you – He who made heaven and earth!” (vs. 3)

Two important and complementary truths that I always want to acknowledge and keep in focus as I prepare to offer acceptable worship to the Lord!

A few years ago I recall during my time of “coffee with the Lord” at the cabin, while my wife Sharon was having her devotions upstairs, she called out to me and said, “Honey, you know what?  We need to have Psalm 133 posted as a motto in the cabin!”  At the very time she said that, I was reading the passage for myself… She was right!  Here is what it says…

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!  It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore!”

Now neither Wes nor I (nor our spouses) anticipate a problem – we are not only brothers, we are the best of friends!  But I am sure there will be differences of opinion sooner-or-later that will arise.  We’ll have to guard ourselves so that those things never become a problem.  We’ll need to defer to one another and practice “give-and-take” for the arrangement to work.  Love for one another must rule!  We want the “goodness and pleasantness” of unity to be felt in our cabin.  We want our summer place of “get-away” to be a place where the “anointing of the Holy Spirit” (i.e. the “oil” spoken of in the passage) can be sensed.  We want our cabin to be a place of “blessing” (perhaps intended by the imagery of “the dew of Hermon” in the psalm).

And you know what?  I really believe the message of Psalm 133 needs to be fulfilled EVERYWHERE!  In every Bible-believing church… In every family… in every home… and in every marriage!  Don’t you?!  Let’s depend on God to help us with that… Let’s cooperate with Him to make it a blessed reality!  Eh?