Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

We wait for something our whole lives. What are you waiting for this morning? Are you waiting for a job, debt to be paid off, a car that runs, a child to be born, a spouse to come home from service to their country overseas, kids to leave the nest, college to be done, college payments to be paid off, and finally, for the microwave to complete heating your coffee…okay, that last one was just this morning for me. 

We wait. Are we patient? And are our thoughts about what we are passionately waiting for misplaced? Should we place more thought into WHO versus what? Pastor James thinks so…

“Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.” James 5, Msg

This passage in the midst of warnings of how to behave, is the bottom line. Live to wait on the Master…He can come at any time!

I waited breathless each day on the porch for my Grandpa, who I adored, to come home in his rattled old truck. You could hear him coming before he took the turn down the long drive to the house. I would run to him at the top of the hill so I could jump in the back of the truck and ride down. As a kid, it seemed like miles…in grown up terms it was only a few yards. But I waited patiently for this moment, then I ran to Him.

I think of this moment when I think of our Master coming. Will I run to Him when He comes? Or will my head be so much involved in world stuff that I won’t even notice? This last thought makes me literally weep. 

Dear Heavenly Father, I run to You today. My mind, heart and soul are focused with expectation on You. I want to be ready, waiting on the porch, for Your arrival…and even hear You come before I see You. Yes, I wait. As patiently as I can. I wait. Your child loves you so much. Above all. I love you. I just wanted to tell you, again. I believe. Here is my life. Again. In Jesus Name, Amen

FULL OF…OURSELVES?.

Shocking, isn’t it?  Yes, we can be rather full of ourselves when things are going well. We can quickly give ourselves a pat on the back with many reasons why WE think things are going well. We love it when our plans come together. So we make more plans and ask God to bless them. Oops, did you read that? WE make plans and ask God to bless them? That is just a small example of being “full of ourselves”. Only God knows what is ahead. Pastor James reminds us of that…

“And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, ‘Today–at the latest, tomorrow–we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.’ You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.'” James 4, Msg

In Oklahoma, where I grew up, this sentence was translated…”Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll do it!” (With a bit of an accent applied.)

Pastor James continues to warn us about…ourselves. “As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, IS evil.” James 4, Msg

How do we know? If you are worrying beyond concern about tomorrow and the next days ahead…then you are probably on the edge of being full of yourself…like me…who thinks that I can take care of myself better than God, or at the very least, I need to help God out at times with my plans, purposes, provisions, protection and care for me. Oops, wait a minute. God’s plan is best and most excellent…even perfect. So why would I trust myself and my own plans…and THEN ask God to bless my mediocrity?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:25-34

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

See, it is so easy to be full of ourselves. Take Jesus advice, “Don’t worry about tomorrow…” (Matt 6) Take one day at a time. Pray expectantly to God, asking better questions, “Dear Lord, what do YOU want?” “What is YOUR plan, YOUR desire for me? Guide my thoughts, change my mind, light the path that you have for me today. In Jesus Name, Amen

It seems Pastor James knew this would be a problem–a consistent problem. So, he boldly tells us in many ways to just stop it! What is it? Our tongue that goes off before our brains engage. I have done it…even this week! After whipping myself back into shape by asking for God’s forgiveness, I read one more caution, like the warning light on a car’s engine, from our passionate writer, Pastor James.

“Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?”
James 4, Msg

Dear Heavenly Father,
The Message paraphrase by Eugene Peterson has concisely explained this passage. So there are no more words to be said…just action to behave like we believe. Help me to THINK…Will what I’m about to say True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and most of all Kind before speaking. Give us all your power within us to keep trying until it becomes habit for living…like breathing. This is our prayer, In Jesus Name, Amen.

JUST HOW SELFISH ARE WE?.

Selfishness is at the root of all sin. Most of our failures and missteps in judgment with our relationships, finances, and our work stem from wanting our own way and will do anything to get it. We even use God sometimes to get it. “Well, the Lord told me to tell you…” Oooh, avoid that like the plague. You can be there to listen, encourage as someone express what THEY feel God is leading them to, but you do not want to take on God’s work of telling them what that is. That is selfishness.

EXAMPLE…
Long ago, as a young married adult with a new baby, a toddler and a preschooler in my care, I received a phone call from a very influential woman in my church who was also related to me. She began to tell me, (as my children were crying or yelling because of wanting their own way in the background!), of what I should be helping her with at church. She went on to say that “The Lord told me what His will is with your life.” And then she began to tell me God’s will for me.

I was young, naive but even then was taken aback by these words. What? The Lord told YOU and not me? The bottom line was that church lady needed some work done and used God to selfishly get done what she was already doing but wanted it done her way…so she called me. That is bullying, by the way, the church way.

Pastor James reminds us that most quarrels stem from selfishness from local to world problems. He boldly tells us to GET SERIOUS about laying down our wants by accepting God design, His wants, and purposes for us. God is waiting to lead us and desires His best for us. When we do…His gift of peace, that we all long for, will be given in abundance. Life will get hard, but God will always be there with us, smiling down on us, encouraging us. His way, His thoughts are always higher than our thoughts. Why would we not want what God, who knows everything, wants for us? 

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud NO to the Devil and watch him scamper,. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really SERIOUS. Get down on your knees before the Master, it’s the only way you’ll get back on your feet.” 
James 4, Msg 

Been there, done that..many times. And just yesterday. It’s the only Way to go…

Dear Heavenly Father, Your Word in James is tough this week but so needed to clarify our needs and wants once again. Thank you for yet another less in selfishness versus selflessness. You laid down your life for us. I give my life back to you…all of it, the good and the bad…I’m running to You…catch me in your arms! In Jesus Name, Amen

WISDOM – WORLDVIEW vs GOD’S VIEW.

Wisdom. We ask for it. God gives it. Do we use the wisdom He so generously gives? Or do we fall back on our humanness when pushed into a corner of pressing, overwhelming circumstances? It is at these very moments that we see who we are and to Whom we belong. 

Pastor James gives us two examples to chose from…the world’s view of “wisdom” and God’ view. It seems our inner motivations of our hearts and souls has a lot to do with which one we will choose.

WORLDVIEW
“Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t’ wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’ the furthest thing from wisdom–it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.” James 3, Msg

GOD’S VIEW
“Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results ONLY if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” James 3, Msg

There’s more to come in the next passage, (chapter 4) that takes us “to the mat” in this self-adjustment. But, we will stop here and just chew on the passage for today. Some days we can only handle this serious teaching one bite at a time. 

CHALLENGE FOR ALL OF US
As we go about this day…think, live well, ask for God’s wisdom, then go with it. 

Dear Heavenly Father, Give us YOUR wisdom. We cry out for it today. Your Word clearly states the difference in your wisdom and the world’s view of wisdom. Help us to choose wisely, always relying on Your guidance. Then help us to take your wisdom and seriously live it, by your power living in us. 
In Jesus Name, Amen

BITE YOUR TONGUE?.

As a child, walking behind my mother at the grocery store, we came near the meat section of the store. While mom was deciding on the best, possible buy for a roast for Sunday’s meal, which always took awhile in kid-time, I explored and peered over the glass refrigerated case and saw something I had never seen before. 

A huge tongue was wrapped in see-through plastic right in front of me at eye level! Loudly, I’m sure, I yelled to mom, “WHAT IS THAT!?”. She turned quickly from bargain shopping and ran to where I was…because the whole store probably heard it. The butcher heard me. She calmly said, “Oh, that is just a cow’s tongue.” “What is it doing with the meat?” I yelled. “Shh!, people cut it up and eat it. Some people grind it and have it on sandwiches.” I almost threw up. That was the most disgusting new information I had ever come across in my short life. “Well, I will never put that disgusting tongue in my mouth!” “EVER!”

Well, this morning, Pastor James comes along and reminds us just how disgusting our own tongues can be! They can build up…or destroy. Harsh but needed words. God used James to get our attention about how our tongues can maim others and take our focus from God’s purpose for us. 

“Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Remember that playground taunt? Not true. Sometimes we go to the grave with the memory of hurtful words. 

This is long, bold, and to the point…and reminds teachers at the beginning of this passage to be careful with their words as they are held accountable to those they teach for what comes from their mouths…what a responsibility we have!

“Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us are perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.” James 3, Msg

“A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything–or destroy it!” James 3, Msg

“It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.” James 3, Msg

“This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue–it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God, our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!” James 3, Msg

“My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t’ gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hoe and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?” James 3, Msg

One more example, that I have experienced….since this is Monday…don’t amen the preacher’s words on Sunday then talk badly to others about the work he is doing and rag on his family the rest of the week. Yes, gossip like that reeks havoc and destroys. (Mostly it reeks.) Build each other up. Encourage each other…as Paul writes many times…with sweet words, even hymns sung over them…as they work hard at the work before us all. We are actually all ministers of God”s Good News of salvation and abundant living. 

Dear Heavenly Father, Please help us. We are all guilty. Our tongues are not fit to be in our mouths at times. Help us to THINK…before we speak! And ask ourselves before we speak…Is what I am about to say Truth? Going to be Helpful to the person? Inspiring to their work? Necessary to say? And most of all is what I am about to say going to be Kind? THINK…Truth, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind. Help us all, dear Lord. Seriously.
In Jesus Name, Amen