Welcome to Coffee with Christ. I’m your host, Nikol Jones.
My favorite time of the day is early in the morning when I sit down and have coffee with Christ. Yes. It sounds cheesy and weird, but it has been a life changing experience for me. I covered my experience with it in the Intro if you want to go back and listen.
Basically, I started to apply everyday, ordinary relationship tools to my relationship with God, and that meant sitting down and having a cup of coffee and listening.
I don’t do it every day, but on the best days, I do. So, I thought it would be interesting to help you do the same.
Maybe for you it isn’t sitting in your favorite chair and drinking a cup of coffee.
Maybe you’re driving down the road or getting ready for bed. Maybe you’re listening on your commute in to work, while you’re cleaning the house, or getting dressed for the day.
Wherever your are and whatever you are doing, I hope this becomes part of your routine and part of how you come to know God just a little bit better than you did the day before.
First, we’ll start with a few minutes of silence. The key word is minutes – not seconds, so, prepare yourself accordingly.
This will help you slow down and settle in;
to clear the cluttered thoughts from your head;
and to just breathe.
Then, I’ll ask you some questions to get your conversation with God started.
After a few more minutes of quiet, I’ll read a passage of scripture. Since this podcast is just beginning, it makes since for us to start in the beginning of the Bible: Genesis.
I love the New Living Translation, so that is what I’ll use. It is more conversational and uses common English which is helpful.
You can follow along in your Bible, but my hope is that you’ll just listen. That’s actually how God’s people heard it when it was brand new.
If you’re not driving or operating heavy machinery, you might want to grab a pen and a notebook to keep track of things that jump out at you. Listen for words that repeat and reflect on those. If you need more time to think about something you heard, hit the pause button and take your time.
At the end, I’ll guide you through some questions to help you ponder the passage more.
Since this time is for you and God to get to know each other, I won’t share my thoughts or insights with you. If there is something I want to share, I’ll post it on my blog, coffeewithchrist.org. If/when that happens, I’ll let you know and put a link in the show notes, so you can access it quickly, but this is YOUR time to listen to God’s Word and to what His Spirit might be stirring inside you.
I truly believe, God’s Word changes people. It changes them verse by verse and chapter by chapter. It is a magnificent and marvelous thing – these ancient words that are written for us and have stood the test of time.
So, let’s get started by being still.
Tell God what is on your heart today.
Has he called you to do something?
Are you struggling with fear?
What keeps you up at night?
Use these next few minutes to listen as God brings things to mind. Jot them down or confess them aloud.
As I read, listen carefully to what God is doing. What does this teach you about who He is?
Genesis 1 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Account of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[a] 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[b] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[c] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings[d] in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
May God bless the reading and hearing of His word.
Did anything surprise you as we read the story of creation? Did a phrase jump out at you? Did you learn something you didn’t know before?
What questions do those things stir inside you? Did they stir fear or comfort? Was there anything that brought you hope or peace of mind? Tell God about those things.
Did you hear anything new about God’s character? What is it? Have you experienced Him in that way? Or do you need to experience Him in that way? Take the next few minutes to thank Him for who He is.
In light of what you learned about who God is, how do you think He wants you to respond? What is keeping you from responding in that way? Talk it out with Him.
As you ease back into your day, give yourself a few minutes to be quiet again. The world will wait just a few more minutes.
Bring your thoughts to God and who he is; how He works; and how those things might apply to what is on your heart today.
I hope you enjoyed this first official episode of Coffee with Christ. If you did, I hope you’ll pass it along to your friends. Join me tomorrow for the next episode.