Wednesday October 24th, 2012



2

Stage One

            You only need two ingredients, coffee grounds and water.  That’s it.  For us, “A type” personalities don’t jump ahead in your mind and start listing all the ingredients one can add, I will get to that.  As stated earlier, the grounds are God’s inspired Word “The Bible” and the water is our “Prayer Line”.  There are days in our lives when we use a little more water because perhaps we think we know what the day ahead of us looks like and we need to have two or three cups, or maybe there may be that day we add more grounds to make the coffee have a stronger punch.  There have been and will be times a single cup of coffee just won’t be enough to get us through a long and stressful day.  Please note, we must learn to step away in the middle of a day, when the world is bearing down and it seems too much to bear and pray and pray some more.  Jesus in His darkest hour when He knew it was more than His human body could bear, He prayed. 

Mark 14: 32-36

³² They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.   ³⁴ He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”   ³⁵ He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.   

³⁶ “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.   ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Mark 11:24-25 (Jesus is speaking)

²⁴ I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.  ²⁵ But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

•What would happen, if you used the same grounds and just ran new water through them every morning?  Obviously over time, the coffee would be weak and have no flavor. 

God wants an intimate relationship with each one of us; reciting an exact prayer each day is not building an intimate relationship.  He wants to hear our hearts, not our heads. 

•What would happen, if you poured new coffee grounds in, but never ran the water through them?  You could never achieve a finished product. Your pitcher would be empty.  You would have started the process but never reaped the benefit of a filled pitcher.  Some of us might even get angry at the coffee maker, I put new grounds in, and why can’t I get what I want????  Perhaps we read the Word every day, maybe a snip-it of scripture and pray on Sunday.   Shouldn’t that be enough, I’m reading the Word and praying on Sunday?

            Let me interject by saying this; Our God is a God of balance.  Many of us Christians sit on our “sides”, instead of building an intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior.  We may say, “I read my bible everyday or I pray every day” this may be true, but what I have learned is God doesn’t fit into our box.  This isn’t a test or an action for a re-action, it is about a relationship.  We are incapable of earning God’s love, but we are capable of loving Him and being loved by Him.  We cannot hug Him or hold His hand (even though I would love to), but we can read His “Word” and pray from our heart every day. 

So often we stop here, these are only the first steps to building our relationship and carrying out His will for our lives. 

            Let me ask you a question.  Have you ever been in a hurry to get out the door, and because you were running late you just didn’t have time for your morning cup of coffee?   I’m sure we could all say “yes” to that question.  Now, let me ask you another one, have you ever stopped as soon as you could to finally go get that cup of coffee because you seemed a little sluggish and you just knew that if you could just go get some coffee it would help you finish your day?  Once again, I am sure we could all answer “yes” to this one too.  Our daily prayer and reading are no different.  God wants an intimate, personal relationship with us and the only way to achieve and stay in His presence and protection is for us to start, continue and finish our day with Him.  If we really want something in this life, what do we do?  We focus our thoughts, energy and inner drive to seek out the things we want in this life.

           

            Well, you may not want to hear this next statement, but…instead of saying “I wish I knew what God’s purpose and will for my life is” stop wondering, and start doing!  We focus too much on making money, acquiring things, climbing the corporate ladder, earthly relationships, hobbies and the list goes on and on.  If we put the same type of focus and drive on our Lord, although sometimes very difficult because of the fallen world we live in, we would join with the Lord with the greatest calling of all humanity, the harvesting of souls for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I can say with great confidence, the homes that we should be building, yet unseen, are the homes we will live in for all eternity and we have the choice to live in Heaven or Hell.  Let me ask you a question, at this stage in your life, what does your home of eternity look like?  Have you laid your foundation or do you even have a piece of property with your name on it?  We cannot earn Gods’ love, only by His grace and His son Jesus Christ can we spend eternity with Him but the Bible tells us that through our actions and obedience to Him, we are however, building our treasures in heaven!  What does your home look like?  What condition is it in?  What street is it on?  What is the view like?  How big is your piece of property and more importantly, is your property in Heaven? 

            

The awesome news is, the answer to these questions require no money whatsoever to be able to acquire the greatest treasures in Heaven!  All He asks is that we put Him first in all things and to love one another.  It is not about being most popular, best looking, fame, fortune, status or titles after our name. 

Mathew 6:33

³³Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

It is about our service to Him.  That’s the greatest news we could ever want to hear. 

   

Mathew 6:24

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

We have a choice, on “what” and “how” our homes will look in eternity by our actins here on earth.  Our choice and actions wow!  Don’t you wish it was that simple here on earth?

Mathew 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

to be continued.....