Coffee With The Lord

Some things can be so deceptive… Doors or gates are like that.  Entering them is one thing… what you find on the other side can be quite another!

Some entrances look so inviting, so attractive, so good … but once you enter, they’re actually filled with terrible danger and death.  After you enter, you’d like to leave – you’d like to escape, but you’re trapped – the door seems locked!  Fear grips you!

Other doors are quaint and plain – even weathered and uninviting… Who would choose to enter this house anyway?  You grab the knob or take hold of the latch to the gate with a little bit of anxiety… What’s on the other side?  Someone you trust told you how to get to this door and that it was filled with warmth and treasure… Could it be?  You reach out, depending on their word… You open it and find a room filled with bounty – a place of wonder and untold blessings!

Jesus used an analogy like this to describe two ways:  The way to “destruction” – and the way to “life” (abundant life).  Here’s what He said…

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13–14 ESV)

 I want to choose wisely.  I’ve been warned… I’ll take His word for it (rather than follow the crowd) – I believe He knows what He’s talking about, don’t you?

Persistence in prayer pays off!!  (Especially believing persistence – persistence that clings tenaciously to the revealed character and promises of God!)  Jesus said…

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened … If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT)

There are things I’ve been praying for a long time!  Things I truly believe are in keeping with the revealed will of God.  Things that are honoring to Him.  Today I purpose to “keep on asking… keep on seeking… and keep on knocking” in keeping with the encouraging words of my Savior and Lord, Jesus.  He encourages me to continue praying persistently depending on the fact that my Heavenly Father is more willing to give “good gifts” to His children than I am to mine! 

Prayer for me can never be an exercise in persuading a reluctant, stingy God! … He isn’t a God like that!  I refuse to stand before Him timidly, cringing over whether or not He is willing to hear my request compassionately.  I must approach my Heavenly Father as a trusting child, believing in His generosity, appealing to His willingness, and resting in the fundamental goodness of His character!

I’m so impressed this morning by the simplicity of God’s plan to save us! It was simple enough that when I, as a small child, heard the story of Jesus and the plan of salvation, I believed it with all my heart and have never been the same … a life transformed by the grace of God. On the other hand… intellectuals, who have wrestled with the issue of God’s existence (i.e. C. S. Lewis) were brought to the simplicity of the story… Would they believe Jesus came, offered Himself on the cross for their sin, rose from the dead, was alive, and had the power to save them? Every person… yes, every person, who is saved is brought to the simplicity of that story… I’m grateful for the simplicity of it all…

During my time of “coffee with the Lord” this morning, this wonderful truth was reinforced by my reading in Romans 10:9-17… “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved! For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified (i.e. made right with God), and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved… There is no difference … the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him. For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!’ … Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (from NIV)

Simplicity! Believing a simple story – the story of God’s love expressed in Christ – results in profound change!