THE DARK PLACE

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.” Psalm 139:7-12 (NASB)

 

As many around me and around the world, lately, I have felt like I’ve been in a dark place, a pit that I can’t seem to get out of. For many, this pit or dark place could be an emotional state because of strained relationships or emotional pain; it could be a physical state because of illness or a physical weakness or disability; it could be a financially dark place, because of loss of employment or lack of necessary income to survive or meet financial obligations. My dark pit has had to do with the difference between my financial obligations and our current income, while my desire is to be set free from debt there appears to be no progress in sight.

I’m learning a lot during this season of our lives, and so is the rest of my family. I’m learning what not to do in the future and what to do differently when I have the opportunity.

This week, I realized that while in the dark place, I’m beginning to gain wisdom and insight regarding financial matters like I’ve never seen before. This financial wisdom and opportunity for knowledge and understanding has always been available to me, and has been presented to me previously, but I haven’t paid attention to “the light” of this wisdom. Not until I couldn’t get out of the dark place did I begin to look for the light. It’s not that the light is shining any brighter; it’s that in the dark place, it’s easier to see the light and follow it out of the dark place, out of the pit. This week, I visualized this simple truth:

If you turn on a flashlight in the middle of the day, it’s hard to see its light, but if you turn it on in a dark place, it’s very easy to see the direction the light is shining, and what the light is illuminating.

Darkness is not dark to God as written in Psalm 139:12, but darkness helps us see the light more clearly. I think I don’t mind it so much anymore…. This season of darkness has been painful, but seeing the light is making it easier to survive with faith and hope for the day of deliverance!

As I sit here in Corner Bakery, having my Coffee with God, I’m reminded of the 33 minors in Chile who were trapped 2300 feet (1/2 mile) below the surface of the earth for 17 days, with no knowledge of their potential for survival, until they were located and were able to see their opportunity for salvation. I’m sure the remaining 52 days of entrapment were challenging and at times disheartening, but once they saw the light, they became full of faith and hopeful for their day of deliverance!

“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:19 Amen!

GOD IS GOOD!

   “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6

My number one goal every morning when I wake up is to read the word of God in the Bible and spend time talking with God and committing my day to Him. This “food for my spirit” is even more important than breakfast for my body, and without it I’m worse off than if I miss this meal or miss my morning coffee or tea. Until a person has fed their spirit man daily with the word and presence of God, they have no idea how much we as humans need this daily spiritual nourishment and time of empowerment from our Creator.

This morning I enjoyed a short 15 minutes of reading the word, but I wanted so much more. I wanted a morning breakfast date with the Lord, to enjoy my favorite “Corner Bakery” breakfast dish and some great coffee while God and I had some one on one. I wanted a Tea & Coffee with God experience.

My morning was full of appointments and obligations, but God knew I really wanted this time, and while in my car, getting ready to drive through a fast food restaurant, I received a call that my next appointment was cancelled and postponed for another time. I could hardly believe it, and guess what? I was across the street from Corner Bakery. At that moment I realized, God wanted to spend time with me just as much as I wanted to spend time with Him.

We have no real idea of how good God really is. Even more than a loving parent loves and enjoys their child, God loves and enjoys us. Even more than our desire may be for Him, His desire is for us.

God was, is, and will always be, but we may not always be hungry for His presence. We may not always have the time or opportunity to spend with Him, and we may not always be in a place of faith, where we want to seek Him. The phrase “seek the Lord” appears at least 29 times in the Bible, but this verse in Psalm 34:10 says it all:

   “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”

ENJOY GOD!

“The meaning of life is this: To live life and enjoy God.” Aaron Wilfong

My son Aaron and his wife Rachel recently graduated from Christ for the Nations (CFNI) Bible College and Aaron is now working as Chaplain to the staff at a local water park, as well as an assistant youth pastor at a church and a part-time retail sales person. He called me last week, and with excitement in his voice, he said, “Mom, I’ve discovered the meaning of life and the purpose of life. It is to live life and enjoy God.”

 

Wow! “Live life and enjoy God.” What does that mean? Does it mean to look for God in every situation, or look at His creation and see Him within it? Does it mean to see the goodness of God in others and enjoy His goodness in the exchange of relationship?

Yes, I believe that is part of it, but I also believe it goes much deeper than that. If God gave me this life to live, I need to choose to live it to the fullest every day, for every day is a gift. If I’m having a hard time or a “bad day” there’s something I am to learn through it, so again I must choose live life and get the most of each day, even the difficult ones. And while I’m living life, I have the privilege of enjoying God. Because I’ve given my life to Him, He shares His presence with me every day through His Holy Spirit. That means I can talk to Him and He hears me; I can listen for His voice, for His leading, and He is here to lead me and speak to me. I can see Him and enjoy His presence in others who know Him also, and I can enjoy the image of His glory in His creation around me. Man is that good!

So when I’m taking time to have Tea or Coffee with God, I’m choosing to enjoy Him. I’m choosing to “live life and enjoy God.”

LET EVERYTHING…PRAISE THE LORD!

A few evenings ago, I went to visit my parents at their home on the golf course, when my dad stepped behind the couch to step on a bug. He immediately notified us that he had just been stung through his sock by a scorpion. My dad is a healthy 81-year-old, but when I grabbed a jar to capture the bug and saw that it truly was a scorpion, I was concerned. He immediately took off his sock to reveal the injured toe; we put alcohol on it, and then took him to a nearby urgent care where we were quickly informed that the venom wasn’t poisonous and wouldn’t harm my dad unless he was allergic. We were very relieved.
Back at their home, I was ready to smash the demon creature, but my dad had other plans. He kept the small scorpion for a few days, fed it a bug and enjoyed watching the battle in the jar, and then he said something I couldn’t believe. “I’ve decided I’m going to pardon the scorpion and let it go.” What???


I had to laugh, because that’s just the way my dad is. When I was growing up, he’d tell me his life motto was: “Whenever I meet up with someone, I never want to leave them worse off than were when they met up with me. I want to leave them better off or unchanged.” He didn’t only speak that motto, he’s lived it.

So back to the scorpion…my dad said it wasn’t the scorpion’s fault that it stung him, because it was only trying to protect itself while my dad was trying to step on it, and he wanted to let it go. This morning, he was excited to tell me that he went out golfing early and took the scorpion in the jar to release it into the woods. He found a big tree with bark peeling off the trunk and opened the jar to let the critter crawl out onto the bark. My dad was so excited to tell me that as soon as the scorpion realized it was free it immediately stretched out completely and raised its pinchers to the sky as if saying, "Thank you God, I’m free!"

As I sit here in my office, sipping my coffee and talking to God about this, I’m quickly reminded of the scripture that says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6

I recall the joy of leading worship throughout the years in churches, schools, conference centers and hotels and watching the faces of men, women, teenagers and children as they worshiped God with raised hands and voices. I can still picture the tears running down the faces of some as they were touched by God and were so thankful for His love and presence. I can feel my emotions rising up as I think about my own incredible encounters with God during worship services that left me undone because of the love of Christ I experienced and that sense of thankfulness for His forgiveness.

My dad received great joy watching that creature react to its new found freedom, and I have always received incredible joy watching people react to their freedom in Christ as they worship God!

Every one of us becomes a worship leader when we show someone the way to freedom in Christ and how to give thanks for that freedom.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

INTROVERT or EXTROVERT?

Throughout the summer, we like to camp out at Lewisville Lake during holiday weekends and simplify our lives for a few days, while enjoying the beauty of nature with family and friends. This past Fourth of July weekend, we had our reservation set, but Dave had to work so he wanted to cancel. I didn’t. I truly needed to get away from suburbia and relax, so I decided to go it alone with the crickets, ducks, squirrels and raccoons, and do a little fishing, just me and the Lord.


I am an extrovert, as all who know me will attest, but this past weekend I decided to introvert, and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in years. While having Coffee with God at the lake, I read in Mark, chapter 6, that after Jesus had healed the sick, raised the dead, taught the multitudes and fed the five thousand plus, he sent everyone away, including His disciples, and He departed to a mountain to pray. Jesus was an extrovert and an introvert. He enjoyed his time with his intimate friends, had great love and compassion for the people, but often went away to be alone with the Father and pray. I can only imagine what those private times were like, and we read that whenever he returned to his friends and others, Jesus was refreshed and ready to touch lives with the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.

Tea & Coffee with God is all about taking time to be alone with God, wherever we are and no matter how busy our lives become. We as humans need to rest, we need to be restored and we need one-on-one personal time with our Creator who loves us, wants to bless us and wants us to get to know Him.
Are you taking time to be alone with Him and get refreshed and empowered to take on the world?
Are you having Tea or Coffee with God?

THE SOLID ROCK

“On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” (Edward Mote, c.1834)


It is Friday morning and every time I think about the Lord this morning, those words come to mind, bringing focus and peace to my troubled thoughts. All week, I’ve felt as though the ground around me has been shifting like sand, especially this morning, as one of my largest business transactions of the year is in the balance, leaning towards collapse. In addition, my family is experiencing stress with several issues, revealing my personal weaknesses in dealing with them rightly and with grace. On a global level, the current government leaders of this country are making decisions and establishing into law, policies and procedures that appear to be causing our Nation’s foundation and proven structures to deteriorate right before our very eyes. To some, those words may appear to be an overreaction, but to those of us who are experiencing the stress of our country’s spiraling economic decline, it’s reality. We see the writing on the wall, with every new decision and policy.

Daniel of the Old Testament saw the writing on the wall when God’s finger declared the destiny of the current day leadership/government (Daniel 5). He understood what was forthcoming, and looked to God, not to King Belshazzar for his provision, position and future. Daniel had such an intimate and trusting relationship with God, that it didn’t matter to him who was king, or what was going on around him or with the government of the day. He looked to God, trusted God and obeyed the word of God in every situation he faced, as recorded in the book of Daniel. Daniel stood on the Solid Rock and when everything around him was sinking, he remained strong and prospered. The Angel of the Lord, Gabriel called him, “greatly beloved”.

As I sit here this morning in my booth at the CB Café, having breakfast and coffee with God, I realize that I too must look to Him as my source of joy, peace, provision, wisdom, guidance and strength. I must stand on the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ, my Savior and His Word, for His Word is truth. I must trust God above all others. And if I build my house on this Rock, all the sand around me may sink, but my house will remain standing, for God will ALWAYS sustain me!

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” (Mat. 7:24-25)

Welcome Friends

A few years ago, I was having coffee with a great friend, and as we talked about our relationships with God, I told her that one of my favorite things to do was to sit with a cup of coffee and my Bible and talk with God. I said, "I love having coffee with God!"

Then a few months ago, I starting writing a book reflecting on those private and amazing conversations with God. When I shared the first few chapters of the book with my friend Wendy, she suggested that I include details about where I am when I'm having these wonderful moments and conversations with God. I listened and recently starting thinking, "Why not start a Blog and write about these encounters with God as they happen. And while I'm writing, take a picture, because we all know, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

So today, I decided to go and have breakfast at one of my favorite cafe's, the Corner Bakery and have some Coffee with God. I took a picture of my cup and delicious breakfast; however, I must confess... I spent so much time getting this Blog started, that I didn't get to talk to God much. But...I did have a great breakfast, a great cup of coffee, and loved the atmosphere.

So this is my "Welcome Post" to you my fellow bloggers. As you follow this Blog, I hope you are encouraged, exhorted, prodded and inspired as we share, "Tea and Coffee with God" together.