CoffeeBreak With The Word

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Lost Love?

I was ‘in love’ with Bev for four decades! Our love changed a great deal in that time. Like any couple we were, at first, infatuated. That stage is intense, more an obsession, isn’t it? The object of admiration fills our thoughts and triggers feelings of intense pleasure. For some, that is the definition of love so they go from relationship to relationship seeking a perpetual high. Like most couples, we realized that the person we married was not the princess or prince of whom we dreamed. She was an ordinary mortal who could disappoint and delight in equal measure. We made choices along the way to accept, to grow, to change, to adapt, but always to love in deeper ways! The foundations we laid in those years supported our relationship when sickness arrived uninvited and through those months when we understood that death was coming to take her away. It is hard to describe what emerged as we faced what we knew was the end; a love unlike any we had known before, one that was deep, sweet, even more intense than the infatuation of the early days. During those 4 decades times came when both of us wondered about the wisdom of our choice to marry. But, we put the covenant above the question, pressed through hard times, and found grace to the end.

The Scripture frequently adopts marriage as a metaphor for our relationship with God. The Church is His Bride. Words of love and devotion define our relationship with Christ. And, just like marriage between mortals, trials and temptations come that stress our relationship with Him. Jeremiah, inspired by the Spirit, spoke of the choice of the people of the Lord to wander from their covenant. "This is what the Lord says: “I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness." (Jeremiah 2:2, NLT) "Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the Lord. “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!" (Jeremiah 2:11-13, NLT)

Those words about lost love stand as warning for you and for me, don’t they?
Will we trade the Glory of a living God for lesser things?
Will we, in a moment of disappointment or discouragement, give away the Living Water to look for refreshing in empty wells?

Our Christian experience, just like marriage, will not always be full of wonder and delight. For numerous reasons, seasons will come when we serve God because we choose to love Him, not necessarily because we feel like loving Him! Seductions will dance through our lives, too, offering us distraction, promising us a new thrill. Oh that we would seek God, wait on Him, learn of Him, and grow deeper in devotion to Him. He can be frustrating when His ways are hidden. Though He is holy and perfect, we can fail to see it when we are struggling with life. And, in those moments, we are vulnerable to wandering.

Jesus appeals to us, in these words first spoken to an ancient church in the city of Ephesus: "I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first." (Revelation 2:4-5, NIV) It is not always difficulty that separates us from loving Him. We find here an apathy born of familiarity and routine. These Christians had settled into a dutiful experience that they were allowing to deaden their delight! That remains a possibility for us, too. We can remain morally upright, keep up appearances of religious devotion, while gradually moving away from the Lord, forgetting what it means to really love Him. This disappoints our Husband Who longs for our real love, for us to keep Him as the True Love in our life.

God is not vengeful. Even if we, like those ancient Jews, wander from Him, He offers restoration. Jeremiah, after some harsh words about spiritual infidelity, speaks for God. “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God. Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." (Jeremiah 3:22-23, NIV)

Our word from the Word was an answer commended by Jesus, when a young man asked the way to Eternal life. "He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.” (Luke 10:27-28, The Message) Oh, may we see His love on the Cross, invite the fullness of the Spirit, and live in devotion that never wavers. Amen.

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Oh love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee.

I give You back this life I owe

That in Your ocean depths its flow

May richer fuller be.

George Matheson
Public Doman

Monday, January 16, 2017

It’s just impossible!

When the leadership team looked at the figures in the financial report a hush fell on the group. The deficit is sizeable and there are no reserves. The unspoken question that hung in the air was, “What are we going to do?” None of the obvious solutions are appealing. Each would change the way our work is done in ways that would cause some need to be unmet. Part of me wanted to just admit, “it’s just impossible.” Except that I have experience with God creating possibilities where none appeared to exist. Sixteen years ago I arrived at a new call to find that the church was on the edge of financial collapse. There were unpaid bills in excess of $100,000, no money in the bank, and commitments that were increasing the deficit monthly. We faced the situation with faith and courage, made some real tough decisions, and over the next 18 months saw God and the faithful of His people turn things around.

So what’s your impossibility? Is your marriage ‘beyond repair’ to all appearances? Have you felt a call to change your life in some way in response to God’s call, but feel like to do so is all but impossible? Have you worked at rebuilding a business only to find as you solve one problem, another appears to take its place? Or, perhaps your struggle is with faith itself and you wonder if you can ever reclaim that confidence in God you once owned?

God called a man named Jeremiah to go to His people with a difficult message: “Change your ways or face destruction!” It was not a sermon that would attract enthusiastic audiences in Jerusalem. Jeremiah saw the impossibility of the call and raised his objection. “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (Jeremiah 1:6, NIV) Who’s going to listen to me? What credibility do I have? I’m just a kid and these old guys around here will just laugh! “It’s just impossible.” God’s answer did not coddle the young man nor would the Lord confirm his fears. Instead, He challenged Jeremiah to refocus his faith. “Don’t say you’re too young,” the Lord answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don’t leave out a word! I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.” (Jeremiah 1:7-8, CEV) Jeremiah took up the charge. It was a hard call, demanding much of him, involving trials and suffering, but he did it and we admire his faithfulness to this day. God’s promise was not for an easy life, but that He would not leave the preacher alone.

God calls us to follow Him, to become builders of His kingdom, peace makers, people who are whole and holy in a world that is broken and sinful. The way ahead sometimes looks impossible. Like Paul, we wonder aloud, “who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:16) And to those impossibilities, His answer is the same that He gave Jeremiah: “I will be with you!”

Here is a word from the Word. Match the promise to that situation that appears impossible. Don’t run, don’t fret, don’t fear. Instead, wait, trust, and be confident in Him. "God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NLT)

“Stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17)

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Build Your Kingdom Here

Come set Your rule and reign

In our hearts again

Increase in us we pray

Unveil why we're made

Come set our hearts ablaze with hope

Like wildfire in our very souls

Holy Spirit come invade us now

We are Your church

We need Your pow'r in us

We seek Your kingdom first

We hunger and we thirst

Refuse to waste our lives

For You're our joy and prize

To see the captives' hearts released

The hurt the sick the poor at peace

We lay down our lives for heaven's cause

We are Your church

We pray revive this earth

Build Your kingdom here

Let the darkness fear

Show Your mighty hand

Heal our streets and land

Set Your church on fire

Win this nation back

Change the atmosphere

Build Your kingdom here we pray

Unleash Your kingdom's pow'r

Reaching the near and far

No force of hell can stop

Your beauty changing hearts

You made us for much more than this

Awake the kingdom seed in us

Fill us with the strength and love of Christ

We are Your church

We are the hope on earth

Rend Collective

CCLI License # 810055

Friday, January 13, 2017

Steady, Pointing the way

The scene at the White House was touching. The President invited his VP to come for what he thought was a personal visit in the final days of their administration. In a surprise, a shocked and tearful Joe Biden was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. It was moving to watch. Biden was a Senator since 1973, and Vice President since 2009. A genuinely likeable man, amiable and talkative, he has become a beloved part of the Washington scene. Like his policies or not, you have to admire his service, especially given the personal tragedies he has lived through. He lost his first wife when he was just 30 years of age and two years ago his oldest son died. He has served well.

I am inspired by stories of people who do their job, stick with something to completion, through all of the up’s and down’s of this thing we call ‘life.’ We are tempted to chase excitement, go for the money, or quit when things get tough but those who find the richest rewards do the ‘ordinary’ stuff – showing up, working hard, loving their family, and serving their God – year after year. In his book, Ordinary, Michael Horton writes about a common urge to do some great thing, to find some great experience of Christianity, when in reality there are opportunities to discover and serve the Lord all around us. "Taking a summer to dig wells in Africa is, for some, a genuine calling. But, so is fixing a neighbor's plumbing, feeding one's family, and sharing the burdens and joys of a local church. What we are called to do every day, right where God has placed us, is rich and rewarding."

When the nation of Israel was forming out of a motley band of ex-slaves, Moses found the task of leadership overwhelming until he brought some gifted and faithful people to serve alongside of him. One of those men was a young man named Joshua. For 60 plus years, Joshua showed up, led faithfully, honored God, and lived in faith. When Moses died, he became the leader of the nation with the challenge of taking them into the Promised Land and leading the battles for conquest. He did that well, too. Knowing that his death was approaching, he called the nation’s leaders together to give them this charge - "“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15, NIV) His epitaph underscores the power of a faithful example in leadership. We read that "Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel." (Joshua 24:31, NIV)

Go steady on, friend, letting your life, more than your words, point the way. Set aside the need to find the next BIG thing. Refuse to be captivated by the ‘revivalist’ ideas of Christianity. Reject the call of charisma that promises some revelation at the feet of a religious superstar! Instead, serve the Lord, with gladness, in your home, at your place of employment, and in the local church where you can form deep, rich, and lasting partnerships for the work of the Lord.

Here is a word from the Word. Ponder the call from the Spirit. "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved." (Hebrews 10:35-39, NLT)

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Leaning On The Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship what a joy divine