God and a Cup of Coffee

By Denese Teel-Sorna

In this devotional, the Holy Spirit inspires us to praise, helps us to voice our petitions, and provokes us to think deeper and move into a closer walk with God.There is no greater joy and peace than to begin each day communing with our Heavenly Father, praising Him for His great mercies and love toward us, and listening to the gentle, teaching voice of His Holy Spirit.There is an inspiration, a truth, a challenge to carry us through each day armed for whatever may come, confident in our place in Christ and clothed in victory.This book of "thought provokers" won't be for everyone. If you have grown comfortable in the place that you are in and don't really want the Holy Spirit to disturb or challenge you, you won't want to wade into these deep waters.Come on in. The water's fine. The water of the Holy Spirit will cleanse, restore, invigorate, and strengthen you.If we pull away from allowing the Holy Spirit to speak into every corner of our hearts, this in itself should be the most disturbing "thought provoker" of all.Shake me, stir me, challenge me, lift me, and cause my spirit to hunger for more of You. Lord, remove me from apathy and a man-pleasing spirit and set me on fire with love for You. Let me experience Your strong arms and loving voice so I might know Your security and deep abiding love. I ask this in Jesus's precious name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098053048

Book preview

January 1

Proverbs is an excellent place to begin the New Year. It is filled with wisdom, promises, and a strong awareness of the curses sin brings into our lives. Although our physical care and maintenance are important, let’s make our New Year’s resolutions concerning deeper things, things that pertain to our spiritual well-being. And unlike so many beginning of the year resolutions, let’s make determinations and commitments and ask the Holy Spirit to put us in daily remembrance of them. Don’t enter into these determinations lightly, but with sincerity of heart.

Happy is the man that feareth always; but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14)

Lord, let us always walk in reverence and honor of Your holiness that we may always be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and be led into righteousness for Your name’s sake.

January 2

It is far beyond time in our lives to get serious about our relationship with the Lord. There has always been that emotional surge that found us reading a couple of verses a day—for a couple of weeks—or even a stronger tug at our hearts that set us on course with the latest read through the Bible in one year program. But this is a different time in our lives. The Holy Spirit is sounding an alarm and planting a deep hunger within us that can only be satisfied with the fervent (Greek, zelos, meaning with zeal; Webster’s, intense) effort given to study and prayer.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

This hunger, strangely enough, brings even greater hunger as we satisfy it; and the nourishing of our spirit draws us to a closer relationship with God than we’ve ever known. There we find the place of miracles and blessings.

Lord, we pray above all else to know You better and follow You closer in this New Year and that nothing has more importance or significance in our lives than You. Open Your Word to us, to see more clearly and understand its meaning in an enlightened way.

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seeketh her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. The Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:3–6)

January 3

Lord, help us in this New Year to seek answers and direction from You and not to choose our path by our own reasoning and emotions. Give us discernment, Lord, to know the direction of our spirit rather than follow our soul. Our soul (mind, will, and emotions) is fickle and easily led by feelings and circumstances, but our spirit man is rooted and grounded in Your Word and led by the Holy Spirit. If we speak or act on our emotions, we will find ourselves in regret and remorse. If we reason the outcome of things by what circumstances currently surround us, we can become hopeless. Bring Proverbs 3:5–7 to our remembrance, Lord, if we are ever tempted to take over our own destiny:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

January 4

Now, here’s a subject that for some strange reason makes a lot of people uncomfortable: tithing. After all, I’m sure that being blessed in our finances this year has crossed the minds and entered the prayers of many. Tithing is such a simple commandment that carries such high returns in blessings that it seems ridiculous not to obey it. And please note it is not a suggestion or option, but a commandment. It goes without saying that God has no need of our financial support for He is the Creator of everything and the Giver of all good gifts, but rather, tithing demonstrates our level of submission and obedience to the Lord. Study Malachi 3:8–12 as one source of reference. But as we continue in Proverbs, look at Proverbs 3:9–10. Here, honoring the Lord with substance and first fruits refers to tithing:

Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase; so, shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Lord, You are so good to us. You require so little, yet give back so much. Open our minds and hearts to understand the principle of tithing so we may walk in obedience to Your Word and in Your blessing.

January 5

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the noisy screaming of an out of control child in the supermarket. Their tantrums and belligerence toward their parent are not only disturbing but also sad—sad in that the parent has mistakenly thought that refraining from discipline afforded the child freedom and self-expression, while, in fact, it has left the child unprotected from their own whims and self-will. Even more disturbing than the scene at the supermarket is the bleak future of the child who must go forth not knowing the benefit of restraint or discipline in their own life. In the same manner, we experience the leading and correction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This conviction of the Holy Spirit is welcomed, knowing that it leads to paths of righteousness, peace, joy, and blessing.

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction. For whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Proverbs 3:11–12)

Correct us, Holy Spirit, guide us, teach us, and cause us to stand uprightly before the Lord, our God. We receive Your conviction, knowing that You are preserving us from the harm and misdirection that we are being led into. Thank You, Lord, for loving us enough to shine the light of Your Holy Spirit into our lives.

January 6

Lord, help us go forward in the New Year with confidence, not in ourselves or our own ability, but in You—in Your joy being our strength, in Your Holy Spirit being our direction, and in Your grace working through us. Let us find our self-worth in what Your Word says about us, not what man might think. Give us confidence in knowing that the Holy Spirit puts a guard on our mouth and halts us from speaking harmful or foolish words while inspiring us to speak words of enlightenment and encouragement. Let us never allow an inward confidence to become an outward pride, for without You, we can do nothing. But with You, Lord, all things are possible.

For the Lord shall be my confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. (Proverbs 3:26)

January 7

Lord, help us surround ourselves with friends who give us godly counsel and lead us into Your light. Let us be in iron sharpening iron relationships that bring us ever closer to You. Give us wisdom and courage to stand strong and speak things that bring glory to Your name when we encounter those who don’t know you, just as Jesus did. Help us to understand that what once was a friend in the darkness is no longer the same. We are to intercede for them and let them see You in us. In Proverbs 4:16 there is a cautionary verse that speaks of the danger involved with people whose desire is to see us fall away from our relationship with You:

For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

Lord, help us not to judge, but to discern by their fruit whom you have put into our lives as a godly relationship that should be nurtured and those people who require strength and integrity on our part that we might minister Your Word to them. We pray that all should come to know You as Lord and Savior.

Give us strength to walk away from dark relationships that pull us down and out of Your will.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness and what communion hath light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)

Stir our hearts to intercede instead for their enlightenment and salvation. Let the light of Your Holy Spirit so shine in us that it casts its light on all those around us.

January 8

We may walk and live on this earth, but we are not of this world. We are spirits living in mortal bodies. Earth may be where we are now, but heaven is our home. The assignments against us and challenges we face are here, seemingly won or lost here on earth. But, in fact, the outcome of these battles is fought in the spirit realm.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (physical), but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. (2 Corinthians 10:3–4)

Everything of this earth is temporal; it will someday be gone. What may have seemed important at one time will fade away into obscurity in the presence of God. Center your life on the eternal things, and God will see to it that everything else is taken care of.

Help us today, Lord, to focus our hearts on You. As we do, all the things of this world become dim and unimportant. Only in You are the peace, joy, and security that we seek to find.

January 9

The closeness and strength of our relationship with God not only affects our level of integrity and moral values; it directly affects our quality of life and the health of our body. Our dedication to spending time in His presence and studying His Word has the capability of raising the standard of our life on every level. This quality time spent has a far higher level of results than time spent on any other endeavor we might attempt to improve our lives. Put in its proper order of importance, time with God and His Word should always rank the highest priority.

My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20–22)

Let our lives be centered and founded in Your Word, Lord. That is the one true source to find direction, peace, provision, and joy. Help us to align our priorities in life according to Your plan for our lives. Let our faith rise up to let everything else fall to the ground and being in Your presence and Your Word to rise.

January 10

Many of us remember things our mothers would say to us as children, even the sound of their voice. Have you cleaned your room yet? You know it won’t clean itself—a loving parent instilling a godly principle in their own vernacular. This particular lesson was on not letting procrastination get a foothold in our lives. When allowed to have a place in our lives, it spreads to many other areas. As the scriptures says, a little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf (1 Corinthians 5:6). So it is when we find ourselves being comfortable in putting off things, whether it be household duties, physical disciplines, and, most importantly, time with God. Take charge of your body, mind, and soul and discipline it to be vigilant and productive. You will find greater peace in your spirit because of the time you spend in the Word and because the Holy Spirit is being allowed to instruct and guide you.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall they poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6, 10–11)

Lord, give us strength today and discipline to live lives that are in order and productive. Your Word says that Your joy is our strength, so as we acquire more of Your joy through Your Word, we gain more strength to help lead fulfilled lives. Thank You, Lord.

January 11

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

Hope deferred is when disappointment comes and sucks the happiness out of our heart until it feels empty and is despondent and void of peace. We’ve all experienced this at one time or another in our lives. A trust may have been broken, or a plan may have fallen flat. Whatever the circumstance, it affects our heart both spiritually and physically. This verse describes the downtrodden, hopeless state we might find ourselves in, but please note it does not leave us there. Read on! "…but when the desire comes…" The Lord has promised us that if we seek Him first, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). It is not if, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. In other words, hold on. It may be bleak right now, and your heart may be disappointed; but God will see you through to life and joy, hope, and fulfillment. Trust in the Lord, believe His Word, and watch Him perform!

Lord, we place our trust and hope in You. No matter what things may look like now in the natural, we know that You have a plan for us to come through in victory. You take every challenge and change it into an opportunity to grow and experience more of Your power. Lord, let this test become a testimony!

January 12

There are several ways that we can study the Word of God. Let’s see the Word as water (it is referred to as water often in scripture). As a child we enjoyed water. Not having been taught to swim and enjoy the deeper waters, we were content to find puddles and jump joyfully with both feet into them and laugh at the refreshing sprinkles as they splattered us. As we grew, we overcame our fear and stepped into the pool to be taught to swim and enjoy the fruits of time spent learning and practicing. This time was well spent, knowing now that we would not drown and we could cross to new places with our diligently acquired knowledge. As time passed, we saw beyond this puddle, beyond the pool, to a vast horizon before us. This was an ocean with depths beyond our ability to measure, with foreign shores that we had never explored. Conquering these waters would require more than our own head knowledge and skills could accomplish. This is when we put our trust in a ship (the Holy Spirit) to carry us into waters deeper than we could ever go on our own, the ship with instruments to direct us, food to sustain and grow us, and maintenance requirements to strengthen us, a ship strong enough to weather any storm, vast enough to have no limits, and solid enough to stand on with no fear. My heart cries for those who are content to jump in puddles or swim across a pool, when God has prepared so much more for us.

Lord, let us be that explorer of the sea of Your Word who cannot be content standing on the shore.

Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law. (Psalm 119:18)

January 13

The heart of the righteous studieth to answer; but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. (Proverbs 15:28)

How often have we hastily opened our mouths and let every emotion and thought spill out only to find that we have poured gasoline on the fire? The very thing that we have given to God we have snatched back in a moment of anxiety. Instead of bringing enlightenment and clarity to the situation, we have heaped coals of fire and closed doors. The only safeguard against this reoccurring is pouring God’s Word into our hearts so that the only thing that spills out of our mouths is an overflow of His Word. If you wait until situations strike to seek His wisdom and guidance, you are in danger of your emotions overtaking your spirit. As long as we are living here on earth, we will continue to be faced with these challenges. Knowing this, wouldn’t it be wise to prepare by strengthening our spirit and expanding our wisdom by time spent in the Word? Hopefully, that is a primary resolution for the coming year.

The preparation of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:1)

Lord, let Your Word be so strong in our spirit man that our soul (mind, will, and emotions) responds accordingly. The tongue is hard to tame, so we ask for Your strength and the Holy Spirit to set a guard over our mouths. Let our mouths be in line with Your Word and speak only things that bring glory to Your name and line up with Your will.

January 14

As we move forward into the New Year, it is important not to carry old baggage (hurt, anger, disappointments, etc.) with us. We need to stop at the doorway of the New Year and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any of these weights that we are carrying so we can discard them and leave them behind. Perhaps you’ve done that. Let’s say it’s a hurt that you suffered and asked God to heal, yet it seems to continue to linger and cause pain. There is a daily battle going on between the spirit and the flesh (soul—mind, will, and emotion). When our spirit focuses on God’s promises of healing, we feel peace and release from the deep pains of hurt. But if we allow our thoughts to rehearse and relive the reason for our hurt (perhaps even talking it over again with someone), we feel the hurt return. Like a scab that has been picked, it must begin the healing process again. It takes strength of spirit to win the daily battle, but by the grace of God and continually feeding our spirit, we will see it begin to rule and reign in our lives.

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul (mind, will, emotions). O my God, I trust in Thee, let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. (Psalm 25:1–2)

Lord, You are our Healer. You provided not only for our physical healing on the cross but You also made a way for us to have emotional and spiritual healing. Help us to release all of our past hurts and pain to You, to leave them at Your feet and receive Your healing as we go into this New Year.

January 15

Lord, help us to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit burning brightly in our lives. Let it illuminate every dark corner and bring warmth that shields us against the cold of this world and energizes and motivates us to walk stronger in Your will. The world tries to lure us into complacency. It dulls our hunger for more of You with busyness, preoccupation, and self-indulgence. Quicken our spirits to Your words of warning if we begin to slip into melancholy and apathy, for how can we who have experienced Your great love, seen Your hand of power, and walked in Your grace ever, for one moment, not burn with exuberance for more of You?

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would that thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15–16)

I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees (stagnant); that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. (Zephaniah 1:12)

Light the fire of the Holy Spirit in our soul that we constantly hunger and thirst for more of You. Let our desire to taste more of You never be quenched. We long to be constantly in Your presence and submerged in Your indescribable love.

January 16

Lord, You know me better than I know myself. You know the number of hairs on my head and my deepest, darkest thoughts. Your knowing of me began before my time here ever began. That You know me so well and yet still love me is beyond understanding. Your endless mercy and grace toward me continues without measure although undeserved. Endless love, amazing grace, forgiving Father, all eternity spent praising You cannot be enough. There is none like You in all the heavens and all the earth. Let my life bring glory to You.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. (Psalm 103:1)

I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my