Sep. 17, 2008 - A funny thing happened on the way to the coffee pot this morning ...
I did the things that I typically do ... stopped for my Bible, got a cup, stuck two pieces of bread in the toaster ... and settled in at the counter.
I've received several 'encouragements' of late to spend more time in the Word. So I flipped open to Psalms for 5 chapters ... Proverbs for 1 chapter ... and topped off with some time in Ephesians. DONE ... checked off the list for the day. In 20 minutes flat- and I was reading more than I usually do.
Such encouragement ticked me off a bit because I am consistently checking Devotions off my daily to do list. And while I received such encouragement from each person readily- okay, with a side of "I'm doing that" , this morning there was a new understanding ...
you see yesterday, I cleaned out my coffeemaker. It didn't look nasty, but it was sluggish in brewing ... the coffee wasn't tasting as good as it had in the past and even though we'd changed filters and coffee ... things were still askew in my coffee loving world. As I cleaned the pot and all the easily reached parts ... I realized they'd been well maintained with a wipe down or rinse every so often.
But the internal workings, well, I wasn't sure. So, I added a pot full of white vinegar to the machine and let it start to work. First of all ... it smelled awful ... that scent of coffee and vinegar together. It brought AJ out to see what was going on! Something was not right and he could tell. When the pot was finished brewing, it was obvious what the problem was ...
there was too much junk in the inside for the coffee to taste good- regardless of the quality of the coffee.
There was, scaly stuff, white chunks, black chunks and a sludge of the top of the water. (If you had coffee at my house in the last month or two, I'm so sorry) ...
So, I rinsed out the pot, added another dose of vinegar and repeated the process. Surely, this would finish it off.
Again with the crud at the bottom of the pot. What the heck ... I ran one pot of vinegar through! I'm a little grossed out at what I'm seeing. So I run third pot through ... significantly less crud ... and a fourth ... almost none at all ... and 3 pots of water though until it's running clear and vinegar scent free. I was pleased, but really didn't think too much beyond, 'wow, the coffee will run through 3x's as fast tomorrow morning' ... and went on with the rest of my day.
This morning, the coffee ran through more quickly ... and it tasted better than it had tasted in months. I didn't even realize the bitter taste we were getting ...
probably because the taste deteriorated over time I surmised.
And then it happened. Standing at the coffee pot, I ran into the Cross.
Why did my friends encourage me to spend more time in the Word ... because what I was spitting out was bitter(Likewise, if you've sought fellowship and encouragement at my house in the past few months, I apogize ... it might have been more bitter than the coffee!). Ephesians 4:31-32 says ... Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
When I asked Sandy, "How do you know I'm not spending time talking to Him?" the response I got was this ...
Guess I don't think the despair, anger anxiety and loneliness you've been experiencing can grow to the magnitude it has in the light of His face. I'm not saying I don't understand why you're feeling them. The Accuser of the Brethren is rubbing your face in past sins that your heavenly Father has paid for and put out of his mind.
About the antithesis of the verses in Ephesians, huh?
This morning, I realized that there have been more gentle reminders from some along the way ... "keep reading and writing, that will help you work through some of this" ... "what are you using for your quiet time?" ...
all of which would have been met with an answer to satisfy the question ... but the evidence was in- regardless of the minutes or hours I'd spent with the Word beside me, around me, near me ... I wasn't allowing the Word to get in me.
Just the same as the coffee pot ... I could have poured the vinegar on the outside and made it shiny, I could have put it in the pot and made it look better ... I could have even run it through once and cleaned it out a little ... but the inside would have still produced bitter coffee. Because the remedy wouldn't have been thoroughly applied.
So, this morning, I went back to the Remedy ... I found myself re-reading Psalm 1-5 ... and Proverbs 1 and 2 ... and back in Ephesians 3 ... reminded again of how deep and wide the Love of Christ is ... settling in Ephesians 4 over the verses I shared earlier ... confessing the sin, bitterness, unforgiveness and anger that I've let build there over the past months. Laying it down, allowing His love to wash over it in a way that cleanses. Realizing that this will require continual reapplication ... afterall, that's where the problem started. I wasn't attending to the inside ...
but today I'm hopeful that my friends will find their place beside me in life as the song states,
"There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this placeAnd I know that it’s the Spirit of the LordThere are sweet expressions on each faceAnd I know they feel the presence of the Lord Sweet Holy Spirit... sweet heavenly dove...Stay right here with usFilling us with Your loveAnd for these blessings We lift our hearts in praiseWithout a doubt we knowThat we’ll have been revivedWhen we shall leave this place"