I am fond of meeting people over coffee. It’s an intimate way to visit and get to know someone. You can relax and just chat when you meet over coffee or tea. Unlike formal meetings, coffee and tea meetings have a way of putting people at ease and lowering the walls we get so good at erecting.
When I suggest that we have coffee meetings with Jesus, I am not suggesting that we trivialize our relationship with Him or take a holy relationship and make it too casual. Instead, I suggest that we learn to personalize His word to us and not make it a general message. If we can do this, I believe it can change how we approach His Word and our commitment to Him.
Let’s take three expectations that people have struggled with for the last 2000 years since the Holy Spirit has spoken to us in these last days through God’s Son (Hebrews 1:2). None of us may be struggling with all of these things, but all of us collectively may be struggling with at least one of these things:
Pornography
Lying
Prayer
Now, we can read the Scriptures and quickly arrive at the truth of how we are to behave with each of these things, right? We have read the Scriptures, and we have heard the sermons. We know the truth, and yet, we still struggle with them. And our society doesn’t make it easy on us to overcome these sins, does it? In fact, our society seems to go out of its way to place enticements before us to encourage us to lie, commit sexual sins, and forget to pray. Yet, what does the Bible say?
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” (Ephesians 5:3-4 ESV).
And
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” (Ephesians 4:25 ESV).
And
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6 ESV).
These verses scratch the surface of things we learn about Pornography, Lying, and Prayer. But even though the Bible teaches how we are to relate to these things, collectively, we struggle with them, don’t we? We try to put away pornography and lying, only to fall into the vice repeatedly. We try to be people who pray without ceasing, but weeks go by, and we can’t remember the last time we have spoken to the Lord.
With our fictional coffee meeting with Jesus, He will speak to us about these things. In our mind, let’s imagine the Savior seated at the kitchen table, across from us, speaking His words to us as He calls us by name. He’s not going to teach general lessons we must learn to apply to ourselves. Instead, He’s going to make this personal.
When we have this coffee meeting with Jesus in our hearts, I hope we find that all of His Words are just as personal to us. We can insert our names whenever we read His will for us. We can see Him looking into our eyes as His word, for this moment in time, applies to me and me alone.
What if I hear Jesus tell me, “Tony, I want to talk to you about three things today. Grab a cup of coffee.” All of a sudden, what I am about to hear isn’t general teachings I need to find a way to make personal; instead, I hear His voice making it personal to me.
“Tony,” our Savior says, “I made you for a purpose. I made you to walk with Me and overcome sin. But I see that you’re struggling with sexual sins.” This language takes the words from the pages of the Bible and makes them personal. I see me in them. I hear Jesus illustrate me in His words.
He goes on, “Tony, I know Satan doesn’t make it easy for you, but I am stronger than Him. If you trust Me, I will carry this burden with you and help you overcome it. Tony, this sin is crouching at your door and desiring to overcome you. But you should overcome it. I will give you the grace to rule over it, but you must trust Me and seek My help. I have made you for so much more.”
This is what it means to “walk it off the page.” It’s finding a way to take what the Spirit writes and make it personal to me. Whether I imagine Jesus sitting with me at the table and speaking to me over coffee or not, I need to see me in His words.
He then turns His attention to lying. “Tony, you know my Word is truth, and those who follow me follow truth. Yet, I see you have been struggling with falsehoods. You know that Satan is the father of lies. Yet, I have made you for much more than lying and falsehoods. Lies tear down and destroy. Truth builds up and establishes.”
It’s much harder to hear the Words of Jesus addressed to me personally. It shows a clear path of accountability that doesn’t allow me to hide behind generic teachings. Jesus continues, “Tony, I need you to commit yourself to truth, My truth. I want people to be able to see Me when they see you. You are my representative on earth. I need you to trust that truth will set you free, even when you can’t see it at the moment or when fear tempts you to hide behind the lie. Hard truth is designed to refine you and make you better. If you are given to lies, you will never allow yourself to gain the wonderful benefits I have built into truth for you.”
I look at Jesus as we sit alone in my kitchen. I know what He says is true. I know He will help me. I know what He expects of me. But I have tried this many times before. It is so hard. I am ashamed of myself and my failures. I don’t want to look at Him anymore. I want to go back to generic lessons from the Bible. Making it personal is too painful. It reminds me of just how weak I am.
But Jesus is here to help me. He whispers in my ear, “Tony, I promise never to leave or forsake you.” Yes, even His great promises can be personal to me. I find comfort that I am not alone.
“Tony, talk to me. Every day when you get up, let Me start the day with you. You will find it much harder to give in to the sins of pornography and lying if you begin the day in prayer with Me.” I know He’s right. Not only have I struggled with sins, but I have struggled alone.
“When Satan tempts you, come to Me. Let Me carry that burden with you. If you only ask, I will give you the strength to overcome. Don’t worry about overcoming tomorrow or next week. You have enough to think about with today’s struggles. Let’s tackle this one day at a time.”
Our coffee cups are about empty. I know it’s time for Him to leave and for me to live up to His expectations for me. And by making His words personal to me, I know the strength and grace He promises are not generic promises. They are promises to me, Tony. I know when I pray to Him, He will be listening to me, Tony. I know when He shoulders burdens, they are not generic but my burdens.
Perhaps imagining Jesus sitting across from you in a personal meeting like this is not your cup of tea. I get that. But however we read His words for us, it is essential that we somehow find a way to hear Him speaking to us personally when we read them. We need to see Him as our Champion Who stands ready to help us in all ways. He is cheering me, Tony, on to succeed. And He is ready to help me succeed in all He asks of me.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 ESV).
In a land where we value rugged individualism, we must remember the importance of God in our lives. We can try to lean on our own might and understanding, but in the end, we must understand that without God, we are living a futile life.
Our purpose is found in the understanding that all we do must be with God at the center of our life.
“A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2 ESV).
I love the book of Proverbs. Every time I read it, I gain new insights. I love this one in particular; it gives me instruction and wisdom with whom I should choose to keep company:
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20 ESV).
What do these verses have in common?
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17 ESV).
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV).
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13-14 ESV).
In order to repent and ask forgiveness, there must first be a sin against God.
Often, we look at our sins and mistakes and do not give ourselves the grace to forgive. Sometimes, we turn the humility that God seeks in us into humiliation.
We should cry over our sins, but we shouldn’t forget that God is pleased when we humble ourselves before Him.
Do not let Satan help us turn our humility into humiliation.
Humility will reconcile us back to God, which is what God is seeking.
Humiliation plays into the devil’s hands because it makes us give up on believing that God can get past the sins we have committed against Him.
I came across an interesting thought from Solomon in his book of Ecclesiastes. If we read it in isolation, it may be hard for us to understand what it is saying. But if we read the book in a single sitting, perhaps the context of the book’s message gives us help:
“Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 ESV).
Solomon is casting the vanity of all that is under the sun in his book. No matter what we pursue, we all end up the same.
Great knowledge will give us no advantage over simple ones when our time comes to die.
Great riches will not keep us from experiencing the same end the poor man will experience.
Under the sun, all of our pursuits will lead to the same end.
So, when Solomon says do not be overly righteous or too wise, it seems to be in the context of pursuing these things to the neglect of enjoying what the Lord blesses us with while on the earth.
If we pursue righteousness and wisdom while denying the joys we can get from this earth, then we miss out on the totality of blessings that God intends for us while we live in the world He created for us.
It seems that Solomon may be telling us that God wants His children to enjoy a balanced life; one that seeks righteousness and wisdom while not doing so in a way that causes us to miss the joys He intends us to have while we spend our limited days on the earth He created for us.
I don’t think that God is telling us that we can be too righteous or wise, but that we need to pursue these things while enjoying the totality of the blessings He has made for us.
In the end, Solomon concludes,
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV).
As we pursue righteousness and wisdom, and as we enjoy the fruits of our labors and the world that God created for us, let us remember that God will hold us accountable for doing all these things while keeping Him first.
What angered God in the past angers Him today.
What pleased God in the past pleases Him today.
Let us learn from the lessons of those before us.
Listen to the state of the nation in Judah before God brought judgment to that nation:
“For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.” (Isaiah 3:9 ESV).
There has never been a more vital time for us to be the salt of the earth and a light in a dark nation.
Let us be careful to be light and salt and not to cast our lot with the wicked.
If I have a terminal illness, the doctor may prescribe medication, not to cure my incurable condition, but to deal with the symptoms.
Every time I take my medication, it’s a reminder to me that I am sick. I know that the medication is not curing the illness, but it’s still there.
The sacrifices in the Old Testament were like that. Every year, during the Day of Atonement, the nation offered sacrifices for sin. But these sacrifices didn’t cure the underlying problem:
“But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:3-4 ESV).
And so, these sacrifices happened over and over and over because they could not cure the underlying sickness of sin.
Just like I am reminded of my illness every time I take my medication, so were the people reminded of their sins every time they sacrificed to the Lord.
But Jesus became the sacrifice that was better than the sacrifices of bulls and goats. His was a perfect sacrifice of His own life and His own blood.
When He died on the cross for our sins, His sacrifice did what the blood of bulls and goats could not do. His sacrifice didn’t cover up the sins, but it cured the underlying disease of sin.
Where the sacrifices of bulls and goats were a reminder of sins every year, Jesus died once to remove sins forever, and God says I will remember their sins no more.
“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10 ESV).
We all have a past. We all have done things we are ashamed of.
Jesus would have us come to Him so His sacrifice can take away our sins. His Father will remember them no more.
Satan, however, wants us to fixate on what Jesus has removed.
Don’t let Satan cause you to remain paralyzed in your past. You don’t have to worry about the things you did anymore.
When we come to Jesus, He is good enough and powerful enough to remove the most shameful parts of our lives and replace them with a new, pure, and spotless life with no blemish.
With the help of Jesus, forget the past and keep your eyes fixed on what our King has in store for us.
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 ESV).