God on our side and what type of coffee are you?

God on our side and what type of coffee are you?

1 Sam 14:1 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

:2 And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibean under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.

:3 Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Johnathan had gone.

:4 Between the passes, by which Jonathan sough to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the other Seneh.

:5 The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.

:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armour, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”

:7 So his armourbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.:

:8 Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.

:9 If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.

:10 But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us, then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.

:11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they were hidden.”

:12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armourbearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armourbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Isreal.”

:13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armourbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armourbearer killed them.

:14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.

 When you first start reading this, you think “Oh no! This is not gonna turn out well.” But he had God on his side, and that is all we need.

1 Pet 1:16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

I think everyone agrees on what a bad cup of coffee is like. It can be weak, bitter, stale, cold or soured by something we put in it and it tastes bad.

Just like no one likes a bad tasting cup of coffee, they don’t like bad tasting Christians.

Let’s look at the different kinds.

1.       Weak

Weak Christians don’t have much faith. Sometimes it’s because they don’t know the Word of God enough because they are new Christians. They need to add some grounds. Dig into the Word of God and get grounded on the principles formed in the bible. Study the attributes of God. Lean and figure out what you really believe. Pray a lot. Build up your prayer life. Rely on God’s strength and not your own.

2.       Bitter

I’ve known bitter Christians, and unfortunately there have been times I have felt bitter. But if it isn’t dealt with, it grows and eats up your life. It doesn’t smell nice. There isn’t much you can do to fix a bitter cup of coffee. No matter how much cream or sugar you add it is still bitter. You have to throw it out and start over. Isn’t that like our lives? No matter how many good things we add, if we don’t deal with and get rid of the bitterness, it will hinder our growth. We need to empty ourselves and let the Holy Spirit fill us up.

3.       Stale

Stale means tasteless. Have you lost that first love? It’s easy to do, especially if you have known the Lord a long time. Do you get weary in well doing? We need to freshen up.

4.       Cold

You may go to take a drink and realize your coffee has gotten cold. Have you gotten that way in your desire to serve Christ? There are lots of reasons this happens.

We slow down in praying and reading our bible. We stop going to church.

What do you do to the cold coffee? Most of us go to the pot (unless we have a Keurig) and add a lot hot coffee.  We need to go back to our Source, Christ. Talk to the Lord. Draw closer to Him and He will warm you back up.

5.       Sour

Ever tried something new in your coffee that left a sour taste? It’s the same when we allow wordly or ungodly things into our lives. Spending time with the Lord brings a sweet aroma. We must spend more time in the presence of the Lord. We do this through prayer, bible reading, bible study, devotionals.  Sometimes we take our time with the Lord lightly. When we approach it as being in the presence of the Lord it puts it in perspective.