#Coffee&Jesus by: Julie Wicker
I love Coffee and Jesus, probably too often in that order. I go to the Lord daily during my morning routine of Coffee and Jesus. As probably many Christians, am I just going through the motions or am I truly going to the Lord with my undivided attention and getting my cup filled? How can God fill our cups to the brim, overflowing with his redeeming love and grace if I am only giving half of myself to him. We read in Psalm 23:5, our cups will overflow with blessing once we rest in his presence as we read in Vs. 2; “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters”.

One my goals for 2019 is devoting more time to writing. In order to devote more time to my writing I need to be more intentional with my time with God. In Luke 10: 38-40 we find the story of Martha opening her home to Jesus and her sister Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said while Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. Am I a Martha or a Mary? Recently I read my November 18th Jesus calling, “When you cater to expectations real or imagined your efforts to win their approval will exhaust you. You offer these people dry crumbs rather than the living water of my spirit flowing though you”. From this I am reminded that I need to me a Mary and sit at God’s feet if I want to be a positive influence for others and daily show up with the best version of myself.

During the recent Hurricane and flooding when we chose to stay due to Hollie’s job, we had friends and family were concerned for our safety. At one point, I was told the joke about the guy who decided to stay home when his house was expecting to flood. He trusted that God would save him and send him a miracle. As he prayed, God sent him 3 different opportunities to be rescued & the guy turned away the miracle God was providing him.

Just the next week after Hurricane Florence had come through, I was listening to a book by Rachel Hollis called, “Girl Wash Your Face”. She tells this same joke in her book, but she relates it to learning how to ask for help and learning how to accept help. She says, “When someone offers help, accept it. God is sending you all kinds of Life rafts”. She goes on to say, “sometimes we need to get in the boat”. Rachel relates it to, “why is it so hard to accept help?” Why is it so hard to get in the boat in the first place? My mind automatically went to thinking about Peter stepping out of the boat and walking on water in Matthew Chapter 14, however I have never thought about what it might mean to get into the boat in the first place.

Later in the week around the time we started preparing for the flood, a devotional by John Ortberg titled, “Learning to Wait” came through my email inbox. It included the scripture Mathew 14:32; “When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped”. He related this vs. to waiting. I’ve never thought about it before, but the disciples initially got into the boat in vs. 22, just before sundown. Yet Jesus did not come to rescue them until vs. 25 around 3:00pm the following day. He ponders the thought, why did Jesus delay? Why did Jesus show up after the storm?

Three years ago, we started this blog with our name originating from Matt 14:29 when Peter walked on water. It was also inspired by one of our favorite authors, Mark Batterson when he refers to people who step out of their boat as “Water Walkers”. We are all Disciples of Jesus, called for a specific purpose. This year I want to focus on getting into the boat because if I get into the boat of Jesus presence, I can hear his calm voice to call me out to walk on water. If I get into the boat of waiting, I know Jesus will rescue me with His out stretched hand in His perfect timing. If I get into the boat and strap on a life vest, I know my friends and family will be there to help me when I start to sink. I want you to take a moment to close your eyes and envision getting into the boat today. I want you to turn over your worries to Jesus. Breathe His presence in and worship Him.
Recently Deborah and I asked each other, what do we want to be known for. Our first response was, we want to be known for Jesus. The song that comes to mind is, “Only Jesus” by casting crowns. The silly side of me says, “Coffee and Jesus”. I just need the T-shirt and the coffee mug! I get more overflowing joy from writing this blog than you probably do receiving it. My prayer is that you will read this and be reminded to be intentional with your devotional time so that you can show up in the space God has placed you, whether that’s at home, work, or at church.

I leave you with some questions to ask yourself throughout the coming weeks;
Have you climbed into the boat of Jesus’s presence today?
Did you get your cup filled so that you can be the best version of yourself today?