Coffee Times, Episode II

Every day, I feel like my mind is getting blown with lessons from God.
I don't even know what to write about half the time, because there are so many things He, as well as others, have been teaching me or bringing to my attention.  I do know that God is growing me, and in the course of that, things are thrown at me right and left.  Illness, time-wasters, crazy people, crazy occurrences, mean people - and yet, there's Jesus always there.  And it always comes back to Him.  I want Him more than anything.  That's what these Coffee Times are all about.  Everything goes back to Him - any question you ask or fear you have, I HAVE THE ANSWER TO:
          "Jesus."

                  "Jesus."
                          "Jesus."

If it's all about Him, there are a few practical things He's been showing me that humanity tends to keep a tight hold of.  We hang onto ideas or aspects of life that He wants to control or use.  Today, in this episode, I'm just going to speak of two lessons which God's been teaching me.

PERFECTION IS OVERRATED
As I mentioned in my first Coffee Times, I'm reading through Genesis.  This time, something which keeps sticking out to me is how God's people were constantly messing up!  If He were human, He probably would be bald!  haha!  Because He would have pull out all his hair by now.  I've got a short little list:  Lot's wife disobeyed and became salt,  men slept with their maidservants, daughters slept with their father - AH; there were jealousies, murders, deception, lies, unbelief, affairs, favoritism.  Yup!  You name it, it's there.  And yet, many of the people involved are used as examples.  If God can love them, how much more does He see us as precious who are washed and purified by the blood of JESUS!  In the book of Genesis, the law was the standard of holiness...and each of the influential people broke it in one way or the other.  Still, God had grace even then, for He declares,

"If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn form their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).  

And for us, we have even an extra measure of grace, for JESUS covers over a multitude of sin...it is already FORGIVEN through His sacrifice.  However, the thing I want to point out is that even before Jesus' perfect sacrifice, serving God was not about perfection.
     We can't be humble and pliant when we are trying to be perfect.  Perfection keeps us holding onto pride - thinking we can do it on our own.  How much better is it to GO TO GOD instead and let Him shape us, lead us, guide us?  Pray and seek Him instead of chasing perfection!  After all, being perfected is a lifelong process, for through trials and persevering we grow to "not lack anything."  We, in fact, gain wisdom when we go to God first, and He gives "without finding fault."  Our only prerequisite to gaining wisdom and purification is to not doubt our Jesus...and that kind of faith takes humility because we must acknowledge HE is GREATER than any limitations, even our own limiting imperfections. (James 1:2-8)  Perfection is overrated and leaves us stressed and ineffective.  Being perfected by God is the only way!
      We have failed.  We will fail.  Adam and Eve - who walked with God, David - who was a man after God's heart, Peter - who was loved by God, Paul - who was the founder of the modern church...they all failed...they were imperfect.  And yet God used them anyways.  He chose them and perfected them through His grace alone!

WORDS ARE FREE - YET BEYOND VALUE
We use thousands of words everyday, and receive the same.  Especially in my job as a waitress.  Words are the greatest exchange going on between people on a daily basis, and they're free...yet extremely valuable.  Words have power!  For, "the tongue has the power of life and death" (Proverbs 18:21).  They may be one of our most powerful possessions, yet we don't always use our words wisely.  At least I don't.

    Kind words and actions cost us nothing, but they reap us a profit of contentment and give invaluable joy to others.  So, if words are free, and yet they are one of our most powerful (therefore valuable) possessions, we should be using them for good everyday.  I've been working not only on what I say, but HOW I say it.  Why not build someone up if I can?  I can be so selfish with this power of language...sometimes in the name of "protecting myself," I would not speak what would benefit another.  I don't want to be that way; instead, I want to give freely the power that's been given to me, because it will bring LIFE to another.  How awesome is that!  
   For me, the thing which started this whole realization of the power of words was when I started learning Sign Language. I have encountered a lot of deaf individuals and I've noticed that my ability to share only a few word-signs with them means the world.  It caused me to understand that I can share even more words with others around me who speak!  Many people aren't used to receiving LIFE from the words of another.  Just as those who are deaf have a limited exchange with people, it seems the exchange of meaningful words in our society are also limited. And for no good reason, either!  It's a self-imposed limitation.  I want to be one of the few who uses my words for good.  After all, God has freely given me the power to speak, and I don't want it's value to go to waste!

THE COFFEE HAS RUN OUT
For now, my coffee time is up.  But, the lessons have only just begun.  The more I allow Jesus to be perfect within me, instead of me being perfect for Jesus, the more I'll speak and act like Him.  You see, it all goes back to "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."  The more we know Him and the more we surrender to Him, the more we will see things, such as our words, in our lives being maximized.  Your potential is as great as His potency inside of you!  You don't have to reach it by being perfect, just as you don't have to be responsible for the power of your words alone, you maximize your potential and life by making JESUS the answer for everything!
Make this your mantra today:
      People snap at you - "Jesus."
                        You get sick - "Jesus."
                                 You are tempted - "Jesus."
                                          The enemy comes at your thoughts - "JESUS!!!!"

Holding on to Him means humbly surrendering - perfectionism and words included!

EDEN Heart

"Today, Jesus is my Gardener."

Pastor Wilkerson Jr. declared these words as he spoke a message from John 20:10-18...and my heart stopped.

In his message, he spoke of when Mary went to Jesus' tomb and found it empty, except for this lone man she did not recognize.  She made the "mistake" of thinking this man, who was really the Savior Jesus Christ, was the gardener and demanded He reveal the location of Jesus.  Essentially she was asking, "Jesus!  Where is JESUS?" as Pastor Wilkerson put it.  However, as soon as Jesus spoke her name - "Mary" - she recognized Him and became the first time to spread the news of a Living and Risen Jesus to the world!  Then, came the heart-stopping moment for me...the moment when Pastor pointed out that it was no "mistake" that Mary saw Jesus as the gardener that day.  He went onto explain that Mary, a former prostitute, needed someone to tend to her heart - to weed out the old, rid of the pests of the past, and till the soil until it became soft.  She also needed someone to plant a seed of faith and hope within her; to care for, grow and water that seed; and then she required that seed to be harvested so she could share it with others.  Jesus did all these things for her by coming to her as "the gardener" and speaking life growing, harvest-producing words of faith into her.  He became the Gardener of her heart because Jesus becomes who you need Him to be (Jehovah Rafa, Jehovah Jirah, Jehovah Nissi...these are powerful names of who Jesus is for us, but they are for another blog, another time).  Then, THE sentence came, "TODAY, JESUS IS MY GARDENER!"  Pastor Wilkerson was speaking my declaration - from his mouth confirmed an aspect of who Jesus is to me, and to you, that I had a vision of the night before, during worship with Parachute Band...

THE NIGHT BEFORE:
I'm worshipping God.  I don't even know what the song we're singing is.  I just know I'm seeking to connect with this One who I know has plans He's weaving for my future, but in the meantime I've been asking, "What are you doing in my life today, God?"  And suddenly everything around me fades but this vision of Jesus.  He gives me a picture of my heart - and it's a garden.  There are flowers of bright colors, trees, greenery.  It's immaculate and WILD at the same time; tended but rugged.  Within the center of it all is Jesus, My Gardener.  He's tending and pruning my heart.  He's growing things of beauty and harvest-producing seeds.  It's beautiful.  It's peaceful.  And, it's inspiring.  Then I see Jesus, the Tender of my heart, look at me.  With His hands dirty, from removing all the weeds and hard patches still within me, He beckons me.  Then, He speaks.  He speaks my name.  "Krinda."  And, I understand, like Mary, what the Gardener of my Heart wants of me.  He's telling me, "Krinda, I am creating this beautiful garden in your heart for us to meet.  I want you to MEET WITH ME HERE, to walk with me and dwell with me in The Garden."  Like God's original plan to walk with mankind in the Garden of Eden, God is inviting me to the same intimacy with Him today.  To enjoy the process of what He's creating.  He also is asking me to realize that a Garden is not to be kept secret and locked up forever.  Just like in the book The Secret Garden, eventually the gate must be opened to others.  In this moment of worship, I understand Jesus is telling me that today, I am to walk in intimacy with Him in the beauty He's forming within my heart, while understanding that this beauty is not to be kept.  That tomorrow - whenever tomorrow may come - He will ask me to unlock the garden and invite within who He asks me to invite within.  I understand, Jesus IS my Gardener today, who prunes, cares for, and produces a product of wild-beauty and unorthodox-perfection in my heart when I let His hands possess all of it!  He's growing seeds of faith soon to be harvested...

I share this with you, so you also may know that JESUS IS YOUR GARDENER.  Today, He wants to begin cultivating your heart.  He wants you to surrender it all to His hands so He can weed the things which suck life from you, so He can fertilize and break the hard ground, and hence He can begin growing life giving, sustaining things inside of you.  Yes, this vision was for my today, but I believe it is also for your today.  If you long for Jesus to create inside you something wild, something unprecedented, and yet a place of peace where you can spend time in His presence, He wants you to recognize Him as your Gardener as well.  He's speaking your name...
You don't have to ask, "JESUS, where is JESUS?" because He's within you.  
Working away.  
And He's asking you...come walk with me in this Garden I'm creating.  
It's your Eden with Him.

Coffee Times, Episode 1

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP."
5am.
Time to roll out of bed.
Straight to the coffee pot - switch to on.  Light the candles.  Start the worship music.  Drink a lot of water.

This is my coffee time with Jesus, where we spend time together process life and learning.
And learning I am (that was an awkward sentence...just saying).  So, I decided to begin a series called "Coffee Times," to record a few of the things God teaches me while the world is still dark and the mass still sleeps.

Episode 1, we're going to talk about COMFORT and FAITH.

Uncomfortable Comfort:
Sometimes to receive comfort, you must become uncomfortable.  For example, in my life right now, I need to hear from Jesus more than ever.  I know that in the coming months, there's so much to do:  from finishing my book, to moving, to possibly starting a new job and getting further education, and being open to, well, opening up my heart.  All of this requires the comfort of KNOWING God's heart, and knowing I'm following His guidance.  Which is why my alarm now goes off at 5am.  I had to be willing to be uncomfortable to receive the comfort of drawing close to Him.  Sure, by 8pm I'm tired - since it means I've been up 15 hours straight, and yet I feel as if I have more energy than ever because I feel Jesus by my side throughout the day.  By sacrificing the comfort of an extra hour or two of sleep, I receive an even better comfort!  The trade off is worth it!  Even when I want to throw my phone across the room at it's "BEEP BEEP BEEP" in the morning, I don't! haha!  But I'm not some saint, just so you know.  With this new thing God's asking of me, coffee is the lifeblood!  Ok, I'm derailing.  The point being, the best things in life often come from the greatest places of pain, discomfort, and upheaval.  After all, our Salvation and ability to have a relationship with God came out of Him going through the extreme discomfort of the CROSS.  The church was established in discomfort - with constant persecution and the threat of death.  To receive comfort or connection with anyone, we must become uncomfortable for a time by bearing our heart and vulnerability.  And, for the presence of God and the guidance of His hand throughout our entire day, we must be willing to do the uncomfortable if God asks us!
    As an oh-so-wise friend of mine put it - "You could spend your whole life reaching for the box of glazed donuts, because you always have and it's safe, or you could go for something a little wild.  Sometimes you just gotta take risks and try something new.  Sometimes you gotta reach for a different donut and see what happens" (thanks for the revelation, John!).  Anotherwards, we could stick with the same thing we've always known and remain safe, or we could step into the discomfort of the unknown, because that's the only way our life is going to explode with new FLAVOR and ZEST!  Oh the profoundness of a box of processed sugar!  Ha!  But, in sticking with the metaphor, God may be asking you to try a new box of donuts because in that risk and discomfort that change brings, there's a whole new level of sweetness and flavor He desires to bring to your life with His presence and plan!  So - don't go for the comfort of the glazed!


Faith Unfailing:
Right now, in my Coffee Times with Jesus, I'm reading Acts and Genesis simultaneously.  For example, today I read Acts 14, thus I read Genesis 14.  It's interesting to contrast the beginning of mankind to the beginning of the CHURCH.  One thing stands out to me as remaining the same - unchanging - and that is FAITH.  The people who had God's favor on their lives and whom God anointed were those with unfailing faith.  It didn't matter if it was in the time of Noah, or the time after Christ, faith was required to fulfill what God had for these individuals.  By faith, Abraham believed for a son past the age of it being possible, by faith Noah built the ark in spite the mocking, by faith the Apostles healed many, by faith Peter followed an angle out of prison and escaped, and by faith many preached despite being threatened and stoned!  There is a BOLD FAITH throughout the Bible where, no matter what the circumstance looks like, the individuals CHOOSE (because it IS a choice) to believe in God.
They choose to stand.
     They choose to worship.
          They choose to surrender there lives.
All because they have a faith that God is greater than the mockers, the impossible, and even greater than DEATH.  I want that kind of faith!  I want the faith that says, "oh my word!  This seems completely impossible, I'm deathly afraid, yet I KNOW God is greater so I'm going forward anyway."  This has become my time with God lately...I look at the insanity.  I look at pain.  I look at impossible odds.  I look at the things I don't understand.  And then I LOOK AT GOD; in His presence I see ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.  "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father" (John 14:13).
I choose the way of faith, because it's about Him anyways.  It's not about me.  And the way of faith is the only way to forget about yourself and release everything to the unfailing faithfulness and amazing plan of Jesus.

Coffee-Shop Closing
Alrighty.  Krinda's little coffee chat here is coming to an end.  I can feel the caffein in my bloodstream needing me to get up and MOVE.  However, I want to invite you to become uncomfortable for the comfort of God's presence - this spurs us to live by FAITH.  The more you talk with God and spend time with Him, the more you're willing to give up for Him, the more you just believe what He says.  Quick testimony on that:
Just this morning, I felt God was asking me to write today.  However, I had to work all day and wasn't sure how I was going to fit it in.  I released my work shift at 6am anyways, hoping by some miracle someone would be up early and want to work.  As I was waiting, God told me, "You won't have to work today."  In my heart, I just knew He was right.  And, an hour later, someone picked up the shift and now I'm free to write.

Yes, the more you surrender to Him, the more you listen for Him, the more you know His voice.  And then, you can't help but KNOW that He is in control and that His promises are going to come true.

So, go get your own cup of coffee and spend a little time learning from and listening to Jesus today.  Even if it means 5am!  Remember, coffee is the lifeblood (and that's TOTALLY from the Bible, ahaha - I hope you didn't believe me when I said that!).  YUP, caffein is speaking to GO live out these lessons!  Until the next,
"Beep, beep, beep..."
I'm signing out.