Thought for the Month - May 2014

"Hands down for coffee!" by Barry Adair
(Decaffeinated Christians)

"Hands down for coffee" - I guess this is something of a derogatory term. And I must confess, I may have mentioned this phrase once or twice to a Pentecostal friend of mine! Many Christians, Baptists among them, would look down on those 'fired up' Christians who raise their arms in the air during prayer and praise times.

I was mulling over a couple of things this week and that "hands down for coffee" phrase kept jumping into my head. I thought about the vibrant and happy faces worshiping the God who saved them from their former lives, alive and engaged in God's presence. Then I thought about how we all can 'go off the boil' in our Christian lives. Lastly, I thought about the effects of that coffee mentioned in this Thought's title.

I'm a big fan of real coffee. When my wife and I have an hour or two together on a Saturday afternoon it usually involves going for a decent strong cup of coffee. And none of that decaffeinated stuff. Who doesn't need a perk up these days with busy lives centred on work, kids, church, and parents (to name a few)?

Just this week, I read a really good description of decaffeinated coffee -

"Decaffeinated coffee won't wake you up; it won't perk you up; it won't keep you up; it won't get you up; it's just there. It looks like coffee; it smells like coffee; it tastes like coffee; it just doesn't do for you inside what coffee ought to do. It is a coffee substitute."

The description may have been about decaffeinated coffee but all I thought about was my own personal faith and my walk with God. Have I a real 'honest to God' kind of faith? Have I become lukewarm to the things of God? Off the boil when it comes to my prayer life? Gone cold with my daily Bible reading plan? Allowed other things to replace my quiet time with God? Feeling a bit run down, spiritually speaking?

Another Brother has summed it up this way -

"We have decaffeinated our religion by giving away the power because we are afraid of what the power will do to us. I don't have any fear of what the power of God will do to us. I have fear of what we will do if we don't have the power of God in our lives."

I was reading about a new power station in the Mojave Desert in Nevada. Its 170,000 mirrors can provide electricity for up to 140,000 Californian homes, just by using the power of the sun. But of course, only when the sun shines! For us to rely on the power of God we must let the Son (of God) shine in our lives. No sun, no power. No Son, no power!

Our own Pastor is presently away visiting a Pastor whose church was badly burnt in a fire. It got me thinking, when is the last time we saw our church on fire for God?

That only happens when God's people are on fire for God. That only happens when God's people are full of the Spirit of God.

If we are born again Christians, then we are sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 'Fired-up' Christians are on fire for God, full of His Spirit. They worship Him in spirit and in truth, some with hands raised and some with hands by their side. They rely on Him for everything, continually being strengthened within. God is in control of their lives and they shine for Him.

Hands down for coffee?

No, holy hands raised up to a loving and forgiving God!

"Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."
(1 Tim. 2:8)

"I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit."
(Eph. 3v16)

Until next month then (DV)…

(All Bible quotations are from the NASB)

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