It's a Birthday! With Presents!

I am so excited....it is a bloggy birthday!

A Cup of Joe is turning ONE tomorrow!

Last night I sat and reflected on what the Lord has done in my life in ONE YEAR.

Take a minute to do that. Wow.

I am so thankful to Him. And so in love with my God. Mmm.

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. 2 John 1:6a

I made a commitment to Him, to obey Him, no matter what it looks like. I commit to offer myself as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).

Not because He is an Iron Fist God, but because I love Him. My love leads me to obedience.

Disobedience doesn't mean "harsh punishment"....it means I'm missing out on something He has for me. Heaven forbid it.

If I had talked myself out of this blog, I would have done just that....missed out.

Is the Lord giving you unction to move into an unfamiliar place? DO IT. Oh, he will NOT let you fall. His plans are so much greater than our eyes can see.

Here's my first blog post. Kind of embarrassing...
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Let me just start by saying.....this was God's idea.

If you know Jesus, then you know what he does....makes us do crazy things. Outlandish at times! Out of our comfort zones....Like starting a blog...a blog about me and Jesus drinking coffee, at that. SO! This blog is NOT about me....its about Him and this amazing journey of life.

So, how did it all come about? In the mornings, I get up....make coffee, grab my Bible, journal, computer and spend time in the Word. So many of you do the same thing. But every now and again I feel as if I have no place to go.

Do you know what I mean?

I go through seasons of life where I just HAVE to be in a Bible study! I crave fellowship with other women and love the structure a study offers. Other times (usually at the end of that study) I am just ready to be on my own with the Lord. Just go wherever I want to go in the Word, journal, pray, etc.

But after a while of that I get lazy.

And distracted...I start to google. And facebook. And look at Ebay....and craigslist...and iTunes. And if you asked me if I had a quiet time that day I would say, "yes, I sat quietly for a time :)" But let me tell you....when I have a place to go, a verse to read, a moment with the Lord, it is NEVER a waste of time. Some days we all need a place to start. In light of that, this blog idea kept coming up during our little chats in the morning...I pushed back and God pressed in. So here we are.

Our times over coffee in the morning are often the best times of my entire day. So rich and life-changing. One thing about the Word is...it doesn't take much. Even if you haven't cracked your Bible in years, He is faithful to bless you with his Word.

No matter where you are, where you've been or where you think you're heading.
You now have a place to start. I invite you to join us for coffee in the mornings.

Grab a cup of joe and let the Word of God transform your life....as it does mine.

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So...Thank You. Thank you for joining me. He has used YOU to transform my life.

And what is a birthday without PRESENTS?!

I bought this CD for you last night. By far MY MOST FAVORITEST worship CD in years. I mean it.


Hillsong Chapel: Yahweh

So I'd love to share it with you. Leave a comment to enter.

The drawing will close Sunday night at 9pm. The winner will be announced Monday morning!

Thank you for joining me on my journey. Thank you for your friendship, encouragement and comfort. I love the body of Christ. The distance of the country can not keep us apart!

Literally.

This blog is not about me...

Sometimes I have to regroup. What exactly am I doing with this blog? When the Lord stirred this blog in my heart, my prayer was to open up a piece of what God was teaching me to hopefully bless someone else. A place to grab a cup of joe and read some Bible. What a great way to start the day.

But over time, I must be honest....the blogging world can be very intimidating. There is so much out there. So many talented writers. So many Biblical scholars. So many creative thinkers. So many artsy people.

And all of this makes me want to curl into a spiritual fetal position....

...and doubt what the Lord started.

Here's my original blog prayer - that the Lord would use me and use what He is teaching me to encourage, refresh, renew and challenge someone else, based on His Word. Not my life. Not my family. Not my marriage. Not my boys. HIS WORD.

Now I do talk about those other things because He is constantly using them to refine me. But the day this blog becomes about me, and not Him, that is the day you post a comment below saying, "Becky - hang it up."

So it is with life. The day I believe the lie that this life is about Becky Crenshaw is the day I miss the mark completely. This life is all about Him. My family. My boys. My parenting. My house. My ministry. My hands. My feet. Every tiny detail. About Him.

I told you that I started reading Forgotten God, by Francis Chan. The book's focus is about "reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit." Now let me tell you...the Lord has been on a Holy Spirit mission with me for the past eight months. Last November, to be exact, I really started to seek out what it means to be filled with/led by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this pursuit has changed my walk with God.

I won't go into it all right now, but worry not....my next post will not be titled "How to handle snakes."

In his book, Chan mentions Acts 4:13.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

This verse encourages my socks off.

Peter and John were standing before the Sanhedrin. We are talking about the Spiritual big wigs of the day - the elders, the rulers, teachers of the law, the high priest and members of the high priest's family. Big. Wigs. But Peter and John did not shy away. The Word says, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people! Salvation is found in no one else [speaking of Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved'." Acts 4:8,12

Peter - this takes some spiritual guts.

But Peter was not standing before them in his own power. The Word says he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter had 100% confidence in everything he said to them because he was given authority and courage through Jesus.

This is what the Holy Spirit is capable of doing in our lives.

We all need to hear this. With all respect, I would say that at least 99% of Joyful Java readers (and the writer) are average, common, somewhat Biblically uneducated men. But the Lord still reveals Himself through us, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The world can still be astonished......because we've been with Jesus.

Lord, let this be the prayer of our lives (and this blog). That, yes, we may be a bit common and some of us less Biblically educated than we'd like, but that you would still use us. Astonish others, by the power of you Holy Spirit. Give us courage to stand before the Sanhedrin of our day and proclaim you as our God. I pray that this scripture would encourage us in our moment to moment lives. Give us courage. Remind us that this life is not about us. Nor is this blog. Its about You.

This was not my idea!

Let me just start by saying.....this was God's idea.

I love to write--always have. I was an English major in college with a creative writing emphasis, bla bla bla. But! I do not think so highly of myself to think anyone would really care what I have to say.

However, if you know Jesus, then you know what he does....makes us do crazy things. Outlandish at times! Out of our comfort zones....Like starting a blog...a blog about me and Jesus drinking coffee, at that. SO! This blog is NOT about me....its about Him and this amazing journey of life.

So, how did it all come about? In the mornings, I get up....make coffee, grab my Bible, journal, computer and spend time in the Word. So many of you do the same thing. But every now and again I feel as if I have no place to go. Do you know what I mean? I go through seasons of life where I just HAVE to be in a Bible study! I crave fellowship with other women and love the structure a study offers. Other times (usually at the end of that study) I am just ready to be on my own with the Lord. Just go wherever I want to go in the Word, journal, pray, etc.

But after a while of that I get lazy.

So I start to google. And facebook. And look at Ebay....and craigslist...and iTunes. And if you asked me if I had a quiet time that day I would say, "yes, I sat quietly for a time :)" But let me tell you....when I have a place to go, a verse to read, a moment with the Lord, it is NEVER a waste of time. Somedays we all need a place to start. In light of that, this blog idea kept coming up during our little chats in the morning...I pushed back and God pressed in. So here we are.

Our times over coffee in the morning are often the best times of my entire day. So rich and life-changing. One thing about the Word is...it doesn't take much. Even if you haven't cracked your Bible in years, He is faithful to bless you with his Word.

No matter where you are, where you've been or where you think you're heading.
You now have a place to start. I invite you to join us for coffee in the mornings.

Grab a cup of joe and let the Word of God transform your life....as it does mine.