"THOSE DARN LITTLE SINS"

                                  

A personal memoir, wrought from solitude in the Santa Monica Mountains. (Malibu)

"Ah!" says our sin rationalizing conscience, "It is but a little pride, a little worldliness, a little uncleanness, a little lack of bible study..."  Ah yes, your flesh tells you, "It is only a very little sin that you stick with. You may commit it without any danger to your soul. It is but a little one; if you commit it, your soul shall yet live."

Solemnly consider, that those sins which we are apt to account small, have brought upon men the greatest wrath of God, for example the eating of an apple, gathering a few sticks on the Sabbath day, and touching of the ark. Oh! the dreadful wrath that these sins brought down upon the heads and hearts of men! The least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the glory of God…Consider, that there is great danger, yes, many times most danger—in the smallest sins. 

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor. 5:6). 

If the serpent sneaks in his head, he will bring in his whole body after him. Greater sins do startle the soul sooner, and awaken and rouse up the soul to repentance, than lesser sins do. Little sins often slide into the soul, and breed, and work secretly and indiscernibly in the soul, until they come to be so strong, as to trample upon the soul, and to cut the throat of the soul. 

For example, the greatest danger to our bodies is the least of diseases that hang around in us, because we are make light of them, (ie: a cold) and neglect the timely use of remedies (simple rest, drinking fluids, or medicines) for removing them, until they have grown so strong that they become fatal to us. 

So there is most danger often in the least sins...

 A lustful glance. A sharp response. A pattern to indulge. A failure to give thanks. A penchant for comfort. An ill-judgment passed. A tendency to spend materialistically. A bent towards impatience. A cowering to speak. An issue with selfishness. A proclivity to lie. .............A little hole in the ship sinks it. A little stab at the heart kills a man. A little sin, without a great deal of mercy, will damn a man!

Sin is pervasive (James 4:8). And deadly (James 1:15; 5:20). Sinning is believing a false promise from the world (pop culture) above a true promise from God. All our sins find their origin in the desires rooted inside our hearts (James 1:14–15). In our lives today, some sins are blatantly discouraged, some are deceptively praised, and others are acceptably common.

We are far too hospitable with our sin.  

When was the last time we looked our sin in the face and came away broken? When was the last time we felt the gravity of our sin as betrayal against a holy God?

Rarely do we weep.

Our hearts are callously numb. Though justified by the blood of Christ, we are still infiltrated with sin (Romans 8:13), and most of the time we appear okay with it. We need help. We need reminders.

A Reminder from James

The book of James was written to encourage believers back to faithful living instead of sinful wandering (James 1:21; 4:8–10;, 5:19–20). At the height of his letter, James cries out for the believers to see their sin rightly and act accordingly.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. (James 4:8–9)

James wants his readers to feel the weight and heinousness of their sin, and to mourn over it. But why as believers should we? Why should we weep over our sin? What benefit is there to turning our laughter into mourning? 

Seeing Our Sin Leads To Seeing Our Savior

James writes this way because he knows the gospel becomes glorious when the depth and power of our sin is understood as detestable and damning. When we see a clearer glimpse of our sin we behold a clearer glimpse of the cross. The horror of our sin magnifies the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice.

The reality is that the gospel is good news of great joy (Luke 2:10) because it invades dreadful news of great sorrow. It steps in and changes things, bringing us to God as his own (1 Peter 3:18). The result is that God gets the glory and we receive the joy!!

But instead of killing our sin we are feeding it. Instead of loathing our sin we are loving it. Instead of destroying our sin we are desiring it. The result: We belittle the cross and deceive ourselves. Our need becomes less and the enormity of Jesus’s sacrifice fades. The quickest way to loose the wonder of the gospel is to lose sight of the depth of our sin.

Yes, we should be weeping. We should be appalled, disgusted, shocked, and grieved in the depths of our hearts over our sin. All our sin is treason against God. Not just the prideful, lying, stealing, and lusting sins but sins of the tongue, sins of anxiousness, sins of bitterness, sins of partiality, sins of complacency, sins of jealously, sins of impatience, and sins of arrogance. We must grieve over them all. What we call little sins are deadly. 

Weeping Gives Way to Remembering

We mourn over our wicked sin by seeing it righty before a holy God. True grief over sin comes from contemplating our Savior, not comparing our character to those around us.

The quickest and most consistent way to grieve over our sin is by seeing Jesus for who he is and the worthy life he calls us to live. God has a standard for the redeemed to live by and we fail . . . often (Philippians 1:27). But godly grief must give way to repentance, which glories in God, the giver of grace, as we live under the gospel of salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). As we fight to see Jesus, we do so in hopes that our heart will be transformed, and by that, we put sin to death (2 Corinthains 3:18). And we fall more deeply in love with him, which spawns greater obedience. 

Allowing you to enjoy a large thermos of Vanilla Soy Latte with me and Jesus, in the woods, for three short days.  I hope it is still HOT! And that you enjoy it immensely. 

Robbs

WORSHIP or CURSE

In 2004 my friend and I huddled on the floor, in the bathroom with couch cushions over our bodies, away from all windows, under the direct path of category 5 Hurricane Charlie in Orlando, Florida. Airplanes and big trucks were hurled across the tarmac and streets, rows of magnificent trees were evenly snapped in half, by the 120 mph winds. 

During the eye of the storm we walked outside into a perfect sunshining calm to see the devastation. Then, about twenty minutes later, we hid again against the backside of  the storm as it brought down small homes, reduce mobile homes to kindling and crushed cars under snapped-off oak limbs as thick as hundred-year-old trees.

God strolled the beach—
Our legs and faces could not bear the piercing, blasting sand.

God stepped ashore—Palms waved, scattering branches in his path. 

God strode inland—
Magnolias, pines, and oaks,
Who’d stretched one hundred years toward God, Fell to the ground before him.

God stood and breathed— While we—in dark, closed closet— Feared to face his glory. 

 It was a heart-wrenching, prayer-filled, worship-filled moment in the face of raw, unstoppable power. (Selah) 

The losses were painful, though nothing like the destruction of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras in 1998, which took 10,000 lives—and which in turn was small compared to the cyclone that killed 131,000 in Bangladesh on April 30, 1991, and left nine million homeless. 

Beneath the wreckage of such wind you have two choices: Worship or Curse.

It was wind that killed Job’s ten children. “A great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead” (Job 1:19). 

When boils were added to that, Job’s wife said, “Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). But Job’s response to the death of his children was different: “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said . . . ‘The LORDgave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD’” (Job 1:20-21). And when the boils were added to his grief, he said to his wife: “Shall we indeed receive good from God and not receive adversity?” (Job 2:10).

Both, not just the one, are the work of God and the ground of worship. 

Later in Job, Elihu says it clearly: “From its chamber comes the whirlwind . . . the clouds scatter [God’s] lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction . . . or for love, he causes it to happen . . . stop and consider the wondrous works of God” (Job 37:9-14).

That's good advice. Stop and consider it. 

Psalm 29 considers and celebrates this one wonder: the thunderstorm. “The God of glory thunders . . . the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars. . . . The voice of the LORD . . . strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” (Psalm 29:3-5, 9).

It is the glory of God to bare his mighty arm in wind and thunder. “The LORD is great. . . . Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth. . . . [He] makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses” (Psalm 135:5-7). 

How about this verse?

“Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word” (Psalm 148:7-8). Isaac Watts had his feet on the earth and his head in heaven when he wrote, “Clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne.”

Therefore it is not surprising that when Christ came into the world, all nature bowedto his authority. He commanded the wind and it obeyed. And when the disciples saw it they wondered. And then worshiped. “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat. . . . And [Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. . . . [The disciples] were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?’” (Mark 4:37-41).

Water obeyed Jesus in more ways than one. When he commanded, it became “solid” under his feet, and he walked on it. 

When the disciples saw this they “worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:33). 

Another time, he commanded water, and it became wine at the wedding of Cana. In response, John says, he “manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Wind and water do what-ever the Lord Jesus tells them to do!

Be still. 

Bear weight.

Become wine. 

Natural laws were made by Christ and alter at his bidding.

Are you smarter than the wind & water?

The composition of all things was not only created by Christ (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), but is also held in being moment by moment throughout the whole universe by his will. “He . . . upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). “In him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus Christdefines reality in the beginning and gives it form every second.

Fatalities, fevers, fish, food, fig trees. Anywhere you turn, Christ is the absolute master over all material substance! 

With a word he commands the dead to live again. “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43). “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14). “‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Little girl . . . arise’” (Mark 5:41). He rebuked a fever and it left Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:39). He planned for a fish to swallow a coin and then get caught with Peter’s hook (Matthew 17:27). He took five loaves and fed five thousand men (Matthew 14:19-21). And he made a fig tree wither with his curse (Mark 11:21).

Now you and I have a choice...how will we see God in goodness and suffering? 

Will you....

Worship or curse? 

There was a group at Lazarus’ grave whose facts were right and hearts were wrong. They said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37). The answer to that question is, Yes. Jesus timed his coming to Lazarus’ home so as to let his friend die. He waited two days, then said, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe” (John 11:14-15). Yes, he could have saved him. Just as he could have saved Job’s children, and ten thousand more in Honduras and Guatemala by commanding Hurricane Mitch to turn out to sea, the way he did in Galilee.

Will we worship or will we curse the One who rules the world? 

Shall sinners dictate who should live and who should die? 

Or shall we say with Hannah, “The LORDkills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol [the grave] and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6)? 

And shall we, with ashes on our heads, worship with Job, “Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21)? 

Will we learn from James that there is good purpose in it all: “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen thepurpose of the Lord, how the Lord is com- passionate and merciful” (James 5:11)?Should we not then face the wind and stand on the waves of all suffering and affliction and sing with Katharina von Schlegel,  

Be still, my soul! Your God will undertake To guide the future as He has the past; Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul! The waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

“BE STILL MY SOUL” 

Let's Pray together: 

O Lord, the suffering in the world is so widespread and the pain is so great! Have mercy, and waken the souls of suffering millions to the hope of some relief now and unsurpassed joy in the age to come. Send your church, O God, with relief and with the word of the Gospel that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and that no suffering here is worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to the children of God. Protect believers everywhere, Father, from callous thoughts about calamities that leave millions destitute, and protect us also from cowing to critics, like Job’s wife, who cannot trust the wisdom and power and goodness of Christ in the midst of inexplicable misery. 

Oh, help our unbelief. Incline our hearts to your Word and to its assurances that you “work all things according to the counsel of your will” and that “no purpose of yours can be thwarted” and that you are doing good and acting wisely in ways that we cannot now even dream. Keep us in peace, O Lord, and forbid that we murmur and complain. 

Grant us humble and submissive hearts under your mighty hand. Teach us to wait and watch for your final and holy purposes in all things. Grant that we would “rejoice in hope” even when present circumstances bring us to tears. Open the eyes of our hearts to see the greatness of our inheritance in Christ, and send us with tender hands to touch with mercy the miseries of the world. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

I love coffee with you! 

Robbs

 

 

WRETCHED

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!(Romans 7:24–25a, ESV).

This time of year, everyone is thinking about change. Even people who resolve not to resolve still strive to change old habits or adopt new ones when a new year rolls around. But the process of real change, authentic change, cannot start until you do what Paul did: face and admit the reality of what’s in your heart.

Look in the mirror and acknowledge, “I am my problem.” 

Let’s accept once and for all that our deepest issues are not due to our parents, our past, or other people, our work schedules, or not having enough time. Let’s see our sin the way God sees it, and take total responsibility for who we have become  and are going to become. Let’s admit like Paul did in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am!”

Are you willing to say that?

I am. And I have. And I still do. 

“Wretched” means distressed or miserable through exhaustion from hard labor. Given the context, Paul must have known what it was to be exhausted from trying to change himself. He reached a point of desperation where he basically said, “God, I want to be a different person. I’m not going to shield myself from the darkness in my own heart anymore. I really want to be the person you want me to be. I want to be righteous, godly, and true. So I’m going to face up to who I really am.”

Maybe you’ve been there, too.

Oh, “wretched man”—or woman—godly change begins with your daily, genuine, humble, contrite admission: “It’s me. I’m my problem, the dark guest in my heart is my issue.” Once you’ve faced this reality, there is only one thing you can do: turn to God every moment of every day! Only He can change your heart. Notice these words: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

As Christ followers, we can get frustrated that Paul doesn’t say more. “Can’t you break that down and add some stuff, Paul? You have me in this desperate condition and I want the answer, and all you say is ‘thanks be to God’?!”

In reality, God’s solution is so simple we often miss it. The answer is Jesus Christ. He is waiting to do a work of change in your heart. Get desperate, go before Him, and ask Him to do what only He can do for you—and in you, constantly throughout every day. 

God is in the business of transformation and He wants to change you. 

Victory will come when you offer yourself alive to the Lord moment by moment. 

True life change comes only through hanging out with Him. Resolve to pursue authentic change this year. Admit where you are and turn to God. Your wretchedness will fade (not go away completely) while your heart fills with the abundance of life in Christ! 

Fight the good fight of faith, beat your flesh and make it your slave and submit to all that God is for you in Christ! 

I've got my coffee in one hand and my bible in the other! Lets do this!! 

Robbs

*a friend asked me to write out a prayer in response to this, so here is my prayer. 

Let's pray together: 

Lord, I know I’m not nearly as much like Jesus as I should be. I am seeing that no matter what else has happened in my life, the root of my problem is me. Help me to stop blaming people or situations and be willing to take a hard look at my own heart and what truly is the wretchedness in it. No matter what I try, I can’t really change unless You’re at the center of every single effort. (Eating, reading, sleeping, meeting people, exercising, drinking water.)  I know You want to change me, so please help me! Thank you for paying such a high cost to redeem me, and for the fact that You won’t abandon any work You start. I trust You and ask You to help me be surrendered to that work You’re doing in me. In Jesus promise keeping name, I pray, so be it.

WHAT'S IN YOUR BIBLE?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17,ESV).

The greatest verse about biblical inspiration is also a great verse about biblical application. Second Timothy 3:16–17 not only tells us who gave us the Bible but also why it was given. God breathed out His Word for our benefit. Every part of it is profitable. Waiting in its pages is a wealth of blessings ready to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness.

We call the Bible “God’s Word” because it contains what He wants to say. He speaks into our lives through it. Each verse and every word accomplishes at least one of the purposes listed above. No matter what our need, God has provided a response in His Word.

The Bible teaches us. The word used here has often been translated doctrine—meaning core teaching. Whatever we find in Scripture is truth that’s worth being taught. Every time we read it we should be asking, What is God teaching me in this passage?

God’s Word reproves us. It is the precision instrument of the Holy Spirit, often stopping us in our tracks through the conviction of sin. When the Lord says “don’t” in Scripture, it’s like He is saying, “Don’t hurt yourself.” He graciously reprimands us.

God’s Word also corrects us. It not only points out the wrong, it also provides the right response. The Bible straightens out our lives like nothing else. On our own we steer in wrong directions, but God consistently directs us in the way we should go.

Scripture trains us in righteousness. It is an unerring guide for the lifelong process of discipleship God wants to bring about. We will never outgrow our need for His guidance.

Truth, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness are all ways God brings light to our lives by His Word. When we need to see where we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going, it is our trustworthy source of guidance. This is the picture described in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

But there is a catch in this great promise about the benefits found in Scripture. Note this phrase: “. . . that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” What God has for you in His Word only comes to you if you dig into it. If your Bible remains closed, though the benefits are all there, you have not accessed them.

Amazing things can happen when you open your Bible. Get familiar with it. Figure out how to find your way around. Ask for help. The spiritual maturity you long for will never be a reality until you practice regular, careful study of Scripture.

Becoming a mature disciple of Jesus—one who is equipped to carry out the tasks He places before you—will always involve His Word. When you are reading His inspired thoughts, the Lord is breathing into you His truth, loving reproofs, gracious correction, and the guidance you need.

What's in your Bible? 

Robbs

*free cup of coffee if you connect with me for a walk in the Word. 

AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FAH DAT!

I’m a busy person. I interact with busy people all the time. Chances are, you’re a busy person (which is why you’re not even reading this introduction . . . you’re already skimming below to get the goody out).

Busyness is in the air. 

Not many of us like it, but few of us have managed to escape it.

Busyness isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s dangerous. There are few things as damaging—and potentially soul -destroying, as busyness. I'll allow Blaise Pascal to tell you why it's dangerous. He once noted, "busyness sends more people to hell than unbelief."

DOH! 

The draw of busyness is that it gives us a sense of importance or value. When my schedule is full, I feel like I’m in demand. Without me, we think, all of this would fall apart.  As Christians, we all too often baptize this idolatry by assuming that busyness equals faithfulness. And all the while we’re "serving The Lord" or “burning ourselves out for Jesus,” we’re really running on the fumes of our own self-importance. We are all about the work of The Lord but have forgotten about The Lord of the work.  I  know this first hand, as I used to "pass myself crossing the street!" And tell my friends, "if you're going to be exhausted, be exhausted with serving." 

Meanwhile, Jesus is unimpressed.

Jesus shatters the myth that busyness equals faithfulness; he confronts all of our fears that lead to our busyness, then he points us to a better way forward—resting in him. 

We sit at the feet of Jesus, find our sufficiency in him, and only then fill our schedules with whatever he tells us.

But how can we do that? 

Here are four precepts from Scripture and other wisdom that can help us diffuse busyness and sit at Jesus’s feet.

1. Sleep. Psalm 127:2 says, “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.” The sign that you are God’s “beloved” is that you are wise about going to sleep. It is not your busyness that indicates closeness to God, but your ability to rest in the midst of a restless culture. 

Many times, our inability to sleep comes from the myth that we have "so much" to do. We need to learn that while we are sleeping, God is building the city. A lack of sleep doesn’t just lead to physical problems; it quickly fosters a spirit of cynicism that ruins our spiritual life. It’s no good burning the candle at both ends if it sours our view of God, deprives us of our joy, and ends our life prematurely. As a mentor of mine once told me, “Sometimes the most holy thing you can do is to just take a nap.”

2. Refuse to worry about tomorrow. This one comes directly from Jesus: “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matt. 6:34). I used to find this verse a little odd. “Tomorrow is worrying about itself, Jesus? Well, that’s exactly what I was worried about!” Jesus is saying that he’ll be with us tomorrow just like he’s with us today. 

The Israelites in the wilderness were only given manna for one day to teach them that God would provide for their tomorrows. And he’s still trying to teach us the same lesson! Learn it and experience true joy! 

3. Set Right-eous Priorities. You’ve heard of the “big rocks” and “sand” metaphor. Fill a jar with rocks and the sand will fill into the cracks. Start with the sand and you’ll never be able to fit the rocks in, too. It’s a simple metaphor, but it’s still an insightful one: prioritize the “big rocks” of your life and allow yourself margin for the “sand.” 

Make sure your 1st BIG ROCK is Time Alone With God (read bible & pray). 

Here I'd like to actually insert this suggestion: 

SOLITUDE. 

Stress and busyness are a cultural trap.  To  ensure that you have time for the “big rocks” of your life, and keep the peripheral items peripheral, you need to take control of your day upon waking, because if you don’t, someone will take control of it for you.

4. Observe the sabbath. Keyword here is OBSERVE, not KEEP (before you have a fit and give me your LAW dissertation). There are a number of sabbaths that God has given: one is the weekly sabbath a day of rest and worship.

The principle of the sabbath given to Israel was to intentionally cease from labor, and rest—paradoxically—God promised that he would multiply their efforts on the other six days. (That's a good deal!) 

Each of these is like a pill to take to remind yourself that you are not God; to remind you that you do not bear the strain of providing and taking care of . . . YOU! 

GOD DOES! 

The more we remember that these sabbaths are gifts and privileges, not duties, the more they will lead us to rest in Christ.

Ahhhhhhh..... You slowed down to read this! I hope you feel better already! Your soul and eternal destiny depend on it. 

This is a refreshing Mocha Frappucino with Whip! 

(See my posts "Distracted to Death" for more assistance on breaking free from busyness and distraction.)

Robbs

FRIENDS, HOW MANY OF US HAVE THEM?

One of the most fundamental truths about the Christian life is that we were created for relationship. Yet many of us, even active church members, often struggle to form and maintain true, solid friendships. (Majority of the "friendships" are superficial, or only *group deep or church deep; if you leave that group or church the friendship dissipates.)

Then, we can compound our problems by being afraid to admit it. We readily imagine that if we don’t have such friendships, we must be deficient or unlovable, or ________ (fill-in-the-blank).

Partly this stems from a sense that genuine friendship should “just happen” among believers, as if it were our default setting as Christians, an automatic perk of conversion.  This is a false assumption, and there are many others. 

Firstly, deep and meaningful friendships don’t come easily—even within the church, and sometimes *especially within the church. And because from time to time we all sense that things ought to be different, we can find the challenges of biblical friendship perplexing, frustrating, and discouraging.

Ministry leaders are aware of this, and many have tried to fill the void. How, you ask? The current emphasis on small groups and accountability partners is one result. But programs can only put people together, they can’t build relationships.

I'll even share this telling observation: 

I have never once seen an accountability relationship work unless it was built on a pre-existing biblical friendship.

Let me interject and clarify what biblical friendship is and is not. Here is a working definition:

Biblical friendship exists when two or more people, bound together by a common faith in Jesus Christ, by his grace, pursue him and his kingdom with intentionality and vulnerability. Rather than serving as an end in itself, biblical friendship serves primarily to bring glory to Christ, who brought us into friendship with the Father. It is indispensable to the work of the gospel in the earth, and an essential element of what God created us for. (1John 1)

Let me expose the counterfeits; things we mistake for true biblical friendship. These include similar-stage-of-life and common-interest friendships, social-media “friendships,” and selfish friendships, the kind we pursue because of what we can gain personally. 

These are the sorts of things upon which the world bases its friendships. While some of these can be positive and enjoyable in a common-grace kind of way, my burden is to give us a vision for friendship that is higher, better, truer, and explicitly God-centered; friendship that brings us joy and draws us close to others because it’s  *main focus* is the kingdom of God.

Could there be anything more important than friendship?

When we reflect on our lives, they are measured not by our incomes or good works, but by our relationships—by our friendships. 

This is true for everyone.

I'm going to dive deeper into this and make some resolves. For, it is one of the deepest desires of my heart!

Stay tuned to Coffeecup Theology...I've got more studying to do...but I will be back to give you God's "theology of friendship" that we can eat and drink!

Time to perculate,

Robbs 

A WEEK OF PRAYER

I have learned, one of the main reasons so many Christians don’t have a *significant life of prayer is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to. 

If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go to Disneyworld today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to stay. 

Nothing has been planned.

But that is how many of us treat prayer. 

We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be a part of our life, but nothing’s ever ready. We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. 

And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is a rut. If you don’t plan a vacation, you will probably stay home! 

The natural, unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer, you must plan to see it.

This definitely has rung true in my life. 

To that end, I offer up this sample prayer plan that I adopted some time ago to add structure to my own personal worship time alone with God. 

I’d like to share it with you, not as something to be rigidly followed, but as a suggestion to help get you into—or back into—a thriving, regular, consistent time of worship and communion with God in prayer.

Wake up: 5:30 am
Time: Daily, 6:00 am to 7:00 am
Place: Kitchen Table/Car/Beach 

6:00-6:05 – Drawing Near & Confession

• Come before your Father in the name of Jesus Christ, on the basis of the work He’s done in the Gospel.
• Acknowledge your dependence upon the Holy Spirit in your prayers (Rom 8:26–27). Ask for His leadership and help in the coming hour.
• Pray that the Father would receive this time as worship from a heart gladdened by His glorious grace.
• Confess the darkness in yiur heart & your sinfulness in light of God’s holiness. Ask for forgiveness on the basis of Christ’s shed blood on the Cross (Matt 6:12; Heb 10:19–23).

6:05-6:10 – Praise & Thanksgiving

Spend time simply delighting in all that God is for you in Christ. Meditate on the beauty of His manifold perfections and His wondrous deeds throughout the ages. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name (Ps 96:7–9), and honor Him as God by giving thanks to Him (Rom 1:21) for all His good and perfect gifts (Jas 1:17).

6:10-6:20 – God-Centered Petitions

• Pray for God’s name to be glorified above all things by all peoples (Matt 6:9).
• Pray for His kingdom to increase through the ministry of the Church (Matt 6:10a).
• Pray for His kingdom to come in its fullness (Matt 6:10a; Rev 22:20). That is, pray for His second coming and the establishment of His consummated reign upon the earth.
• Pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10b); namely, without hesitation and full of joyful zeal.

6:20-6:35 – Meditation

Choose a passage of Scripture to meditate on and pray through. This should be regular. That is, don’t just pick a random passage every day. You might choose to meditate on the main text and the supplemental texts of your pastor’s sermon from the previous Sunday. That would be a great way to be an expositional listener. You might also do a Psalm per day.  For example: Psalm 119 is nicely broken into 8 verse stanzas! 

• Monday – Psalm 119:1–8
• Tuesday – Psalm 119:9–16
• Wednesday – Psalm 119:17–24
• Thursday – Psalm 119:25–32
• Friday – Psalm 119:33–40

Really pray these texts into your soul. This is not reading merely for exposure or content. This is reading to see and know and worship God. This should be different than your daily Bible reading, and should be a small enough passage that you can pray through it in 15 minutes.

6:35-6:45 – Personal Petitions

• Pray for growth in grace and godliness (2Pet 3:18). Be specific with your particular needs for growth.
• Battle in prayer against specific sins. Engage in the work of mortification (Rom 8:12–13).
• Pray for opportunities of personal ministry, that your light would shine before men to the glory of your Father (Matt 5:16).
• Pray for God to provide (and to continue to provide) for your daily necessities (Matt 6:11): for food, shelter, employment, etc.
• Pray for freedom from temptation (Matt 6:13), and, when temptation comes, strength to endure it without falling (1Cor 10:12–13).
• Pray for the strength to persevere and endure in trials (Jas 1:2–4), whether they be present or future, or both.

6:45-6:55 – Intercessory Prayer

During this time, pray for the requests of particular circles of friends and family. This may involve keeping a prayer list and referring to it as you’re praying. Pray for different circles on different days. 

For example, on a 7 day cycle:

• On Mondays, pray for your immediate and extended family.
• On Tuesdays, pray for your closest friends, ace boon coon buddies, (text their requests to you).
• On Wednesdays, pray for your pastors, believers, and seekers. Pray for God-fearing friendships for yourself.
• On Thursdays, pray for the requests of those whom you interact with at your job. What a great way to both minister and witness to those at your job! ("Hey guys, I'm praying for you today, text me!")
• On Fridays, pray for false teachers and specifically for the salvation of unbelievers you know. (Because, frankly, no one should be excluded from prayer!)
• On Saturdays, pray about the people you see as you go through the day. "Stranger Day!"
• On Sundays, pray that God would open the eyes of those sitting in churches everywhere to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God, as the word is preached. (Prayers are being prayed from 8a to 7p at Reality LA for God to manifest his truth in the hearts of many. Join in!)

6:55-7:00 – Summarize

• Thank God for the time spent with Him and for His gracious revelation of Himself in His Word.
• Express your trust in Him to grant the things you’ve prayed for according to His sovereign, wise, and good will, and according to the glory of His name.
• Pray again for strength and grace to glorify Him and serve people in His name throughout your day.

We have never structured our week of prayer like this before. I hope you find it to be a great catalyst for how you will begin your miracle mornings for the rest of your life. Change it up, have some fun, and enjoy God. If God isn't the top priority in your short life on earth, you may not have understood the gospel. If that's the case, I am always available to help you. Connect with me in the comments. 

Love God and love everyone. And hear Him say.....

Here's to miracle mornings!

Robbs