Your Last Cup of Coffee.........

I know it has been a while since we last posted on here, this is proving to be more difficult than I had originally thought.  All that aside things are going great for the Reed's here in PHX.  The past couple of months have been busy but a blast, they have consisted of birthday parties, Bible Studies, Kids Klubs, Teen Nights, hiking trips, fall parties, and half marathons.

Recently we spent a week at a resort in Scottsdale for a mini family stay-cation.  We had a blast spending some quality time together as a family, we got to hang out by the pool, play putt-putt golf, and eat lots of ice cream.  As with any vacation there is a little bit of shock when you enter back into reality but Stephanie and I look back and know that God used that time to help us continue to grow as husband and wife and as a family.

Today I want to challenge every person that takes time to read this post.  Recently I was talking with one of our Pastors from City of Grace a local Church in Downtown PHX that Stephanie and I are a part of and he left me with some encouraging words.  I am rewording it a little to help paint a picture of how it looks for me.
Imagine with me that you were sitting down for one last cup of coffee (I love coffee, the darker the better) with your best friend, brother/sister, mom/dad, a non-believer, you fill in the blank.  Upon sitting down with this person you know that it is going to be a long time till you see them again and there is a possibility that you may never see them again.  What would you talk about?  How would you approach that last sit down to coffee?  For me and probably most of us it is easy to answer that question ahead of time, it is easy to think I am going to pass on as much knowledge and wisdom to them as possible.  When we get into the actual conversation if we are not intentional about every moment we have with that person we may miss an opportunity that God has placed right in front of us.  An opportunity to share the Gospel, to Encourage, and to speak life and truth into that individual.  Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 says "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."  Later in the NT James tells us in James 4:13-17 that our life is just a mist that appears and then vanishes, he says we don't even know what will happen tomorrow.  Is this how we approach every day and more particular every person we meet?  When Pastor Jon shared with me that he looks at every opportunity as possibly the last that he can share the Gospel. encourage, and speak what the Spirit leads him to speak it made me look at my own life.  Do I actually do that?  Do I take advantage of every opportunity?  Since our conversation I can definitely say that I am working on this and trying my best to take advantage of every opportunity God sends my way.  I don't write this to point a finger at anyone, I write to encourage and challenge each one of us that if we approach life this way that God will open up the Heavens and pour His love and grace out one each person.  If we approach life in this way we will see lives transformed, relationships restored, bondage's broken, and the list could go on.  Isaiah 55:11 (read the whole chapter) says: so is my word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.


We pray that this is as encouraging to you as it has been to us, have a great week and know that God's Spirit is living inside of you to go with you through every part of life.  Know that God has called each one of you to build His Kingdom, it is only by His strength and grace that we can even begin to do this.  Check out this video in closing.