Coffee With The Lord

Some of you will remember the instructions you received from your Mom as you prepared to leave for a date, or go on a trip, or when you left to go to college… One tidbit of final instructions after another (in “rapid fire”)! … “Remember!… Don’t forget!… Now be sure… Be careful!…” 

Well, I read a passage this morning written by Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration designed to prepare us to live the way God want us to in “community” – “in the last days” before the Lord returns… (I counted 7 general instructions)…

1. HONOR AND ESTEEM HIGHLY YOUR SPIRITUAL LEADERS!

“Respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you! Esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

2. GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER!

“Be at peace among yourselves.”

3. HELP EACH OTHER ALONG AS YOU LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE!

“And we urge you, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all.”

4. DON’T TRY TO GET EVEN FOR WRONGS YOU’VE EXPERIENCED – INSTEAD DO GOOD TO EACH OTHER!

“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another – and to everyone.”

5. BE A PRAYING, PRAISING, …A GRATEFUL CHRISTIAN… ALL OF THE TIME!

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

6. WELCOME THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ACTIVITY AMONG YOURSELVES – TEST AND AFFIRM ONLY WHAT IS GENUINE!

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good.”

7. STEER CLEAR OF ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT WOULD DISPLEASE THE LORD!

“Abstain from every form of evil.”

Good stuff it seems to me! And I sure don’t want to do with these what I sometimes did with Mom’s advice… “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” (and then ignore what she said). I want to be READY when He comes!

Today’s post from my time of “coffee with the Lord” is from an ol’ guy who’s been “around the block” a few times in ministry (as a pastor, denominational leader, and educator for over 55 years)…

When you hear these words… “I HAVE A WORD FROM THE LORD”… you may be hearing something that is true and valid – but on the other hand you may be hearing something that someone “concocted” out of their own prejudices, passions, and pride! In fact, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel have extended passages warning about those who make such claims falsely and threatening them with God’s judgment!

But NOT SO with Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (the passage of Scripture I read this morning in my devotions! It is a great inspired and hope producing “WORD FROM THE LORD” directly from Him through Apostle Paul – it is A SURE WORD that certainly will be fulfilled!

So I urge you to read the following “WORD FROM THE LORD” carefully, ponder its message, consider its impact, and allow it’s encouragement to lift you in hope regarding your certain future as a follower of Jesus – dead or alive!!!

“I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers [and sisters], about those who are asleep [have died], that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. FOR THIS WE DECLARE TO YOU BY A WORD FROM THE LORD, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, AND SO WE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD. THEREFORE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS!” (From1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV)

So take heart – be encouraged – This is a “SURE WORD FROM THE LORD” that will be fulfilled!! Hey, read your Bible, the time is near!!!

Devoted Christ-followers are challenged in the Bible, not to conform to the broader culture, but to LIVE TRANSFORMED LIVES WITHIN THE BROADER CULTURE – TO BE “COUNTER CULTURAL”! Tragically – sadly – all too often we do not do a very good job of that.

This is especially true regarding sexual behavior and practical Christian living. I tremble at the degree to which professing Christians are allowing themselves to be intimated by sexual mores of the broader culture and allowing the broader culture to set the agenda for what is considered acceptable behavior sexually and sexual orientation.

The apostolic witness is very different from that… Apostle Paul’s letter to new Christians in Thessalonica is an example…

“Finally, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God… that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles (i.e. the broader culture) who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother (or sister) in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For GOD HAS NOT CALLED US FOR IMPURITY, BUT IN HOLINESS. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you!

“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. For that indeed is what you are doing… But we urge you to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs (i.e. business), and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 ESV)

THERE IT IS… THE WILL OF GOD NOT ONLY FOR FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS, BUT FOR CHRISTIANS TODAY! SEXUAL PURITY, CHRIST-LIKE LOVE, AND PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN LIVING. Not conformed to the broader culture – but Holy Spirit empowered counter cultural living! Not conformed – but transformed.

Here’s how Apostle Paul put it in another well-known passage: “I appeal to you brothers (and sisters), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12.1-2)