Coffee Talk With Jesus: Book Review

You could very well call me a "devotional junkie!"  LOVE THEM!  Can't get enough of them!!!! 

I am just a firm believer in using good devotionals of all styles to usher me into my morning time with the Lord!

SO,  when I saw Barbie Hernandez Swihart  31 Days Of Coffee Talk With Jesus in October of 2012, I thought to myself, 'that would be a good devotional!'  NOW, a year later,  HERE IT IS! 
Coffee Talk With Jesus: Intimate Chats With The SaviorI  am so ELATED to be a part of this Coffee Talk With Jesus Book Launch!  If you have followed Barbie's blog @ My Freshly Brewed Life; you will quickly pick up that this woman loves her God, is a servant in the highest form,  a devoted wife through the thick & thin, and adores her children, and is a gifted writer & artist, and has a heart for women to experience an intimate relationship with God!

We can perceive that the trials of life that Barbie has gone through has given her a firm foundation of seeking the Lord herself.  Now, it has given her this dynamic platform to help others. I am sure she feels the words, "NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND!" 

It seems to me that the heartbeat of God is for freeing women of the lies and misconceptions we have about Him and about ourselves.  These 31 days address areas of our very soul that we can go back and grab for ourselves and for someone else.  I already know this is a devotional I will continue to use for encouragement, soul searching and comfort; things I need MEGA DOSES of!

Barbie uses the style/method of  "Listening Prayer", a practice of personal conversation with the Lord, which DRAWS you in to a beautiful encounter.  First of all, she/God invites us to COME!  That is a neverending struggle for many, just to get there!  The drawing IS FROM GOD!  For (to draw) is to cause to move toward a force; steadily and gradually.  Barbie gives reflective questions which prod you to DIG DEEPER, so often a place we don't want to go!   But God's Word says, in Psalm 51:6  "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."



Coffee Talk With Jesus is available on Amazon in softbook and on Kindle.

AND A BONUS OR SHOULD WE SAY TREAT is that Barbie inserts these wonderful recipes which all have the common ingredient of COFFEE!  How great is that?

Barbie personally is very dear to me, as she is the reason (through God) that I am blogging today!  The first of this year, the Lord put me on her heart, only knowing me from the internet & initially me commenting on her blog.  She reached out to me and  LITERALLY   SET ME UP with this very blog place, and made one of my hearts desires come to pass.  She made a trip from Fremont, Calif to Stockton, Calif. to give me "HANDS ON HELP!"   She gives of herself undonditionally!  I consider her a mentor and a friend.  I am so proud to know her in the way that I do! 

I GET IT!

As I was looking back over my journal entries this month, I saw that I had felt inadequate in some areas of caring for my son.  I repented and said to God, "Can we start OVER AGAIN?" This was on Oct. 3rd.  The nurses that come in each week were making me feel overwhelmed by all they expected me to do!

Now looking in hind-sight, I believe God answered my prayer immediately and got the ball rolling, since that I had FINALLY relinquished my control over the matter, as I was not getting anywhere my way!  Not that He brings sickness; but He brings us through it and we become better and whole; of which both my son and I are in the process of wholeness!

With the fact that my son has been a quadriplegic since 1994, when he fell backwards off porch 2 ft. due to a seizure and hurt his spine.  With all these years of not being able to have much movement, his bowels have suffered immensely! We have spent years of treating constipation. Now this was all coming to a head, by my son appearing to be sick, however, not knowing how very sick he was!

Now after 3 weeks of being here in the hospital, I can talk about it. We actually have no way of knowing how long he has had a bowel obstruction.  But God just let everything fall into place , with different tests being given, and put an amazing team of doctors together for his best interest!  On Oct. 21st he had surgery, a colonoscopy and it turned out even better than they had hoped for. 

Now (this week) we are just waiting to be discharged, as he is eating now and keeping it down.  SO, we are starting a new chapter in our lives.  Can't you just see a HEALTHIER  diet in the plan for both of us?  But that's another blog post!

I simply never pass tests with flying colors like I see so many do!  I tend to worry, waver in my faith and be absolutely reluctant to change!  I just thank God for His Great Mercy towards me!  "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."  Lam. 3:22-23

I have such a large community of friends and family that I have made contact with especially on FB.  My personal chatgroup of Flybabies,  my morning accountability group, Hello Mornings  my Hide His Word group.  The list really goes on and on! Then there are the personal ones that contribute into my life with their posts; it might be a verse, a quote, a picture, a blog. But it all speaks volumes to me and daily nurtures my very soul!  SECRETS OUT!  I SPEND A LITTLE TOO MUCH TIME ON THE INTERNET!  Lol!

Why I started to list groups was because of the overwhelming response of prayers and wellwishes for us from so many who I so lovingly look up to!  My own church, Tabernacle Of PraiseCOGIC, whose prayers have literally sustained me!  Oh how they KNOW ME!  What a mess I am when it comes to my son!

I started this post on the 23rd of October.  We spent  3 weeks, 4 days in hospital.  We left on the 29th. He had made such progress after surgery and has continued to do so since we have been home this past week,  GOD IS SO FAITHFUL!  We are both sleep deprived, but it is so great to be home in our "NEW NORMAL!"

I titled this post "I GET IT!" because God has been speaking to me loud and clear all through this experience, showing me myself for real!  It seems to me like He FINALLY was able to get my full attention!  I can say like Job said,  "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee."  Job 42:5   But now I do really get it!  God just wants our all; heart, soul, mind and body.  He wants to be my 1st priority! It's just not as hard as I have been making it!

My son got a new bowel construction.  I got a new heart surgery from the Master Surgeon!  I have a new lease on my life, added purpose and a fresh recommitment!  I simply intend to SHOW GOD how very greatful I am!

JUST GET OUT OF THE BOAT!

In Matthew 14:22-33 we have a very familiar story of Jesus rescuing the disciples in a storm. What I just LOVE about our omniscient God, I just happened up on this one this past Wed. morning (10/9/13) as I was intending to do some study on the Bread Of Life, which was the devotional in Our Daily Bread Devotional.

If I could just paraphrase; the disciples were in trouble far away from land. 
A STRONG WIND had hit them and they were fighting HEAVY  WINDS!          THIS  IS FOR  ME!   I am in a storm with my precious 40 year old son, who so graciously God has allowed me to care for the past years of his life, & as a single parent!

Last week, I fell into OVERWHELM  as the wind and waves of sickness hit his body!

In verse 26 of this passage,   "in their fear, they cried out, 'it's a ghost!'
We MUST BE so very careful of  WHAT WE SPEAK  when we are in fear of the unknown!
When we don't realize Jesus is ALREADY THERE!  I remember the song, "He was there all the time!"  When sickness hits, you see symptoms & hear such bad reports, that take your eyes off of Jesus and His Word!  Jesus reassured them that HE WAS THERE!

He is as close as His Word!  Rom. 10:8  "The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is the word of faith which we preach!"

It only states that Peter initiated walking on the water by asking Jesus to call him to come.  Now, looking in hindsight, HOW LONG have I been hearing Jesus bidding me to 'come closer?' In Mt. 11:28, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Every morning Sara Young  bids me to come  closer in her devotional, "Jesus Calling."   Diane Stortz has gathered us together in profoundly charging us to memorize 52 scriptures from A to Z.  The 3rd scripture was this very Mt. 11:28.  The 2nd one was Is. 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God!"  I can personally learn much more on the (be still) part; however, God is simply showing me that HE IS GOD!  In living color!

Being still and resting in God is one of my passions of interest!  I want to come closer inspite of distractions. I am perfecting this desire by being accountable to my "Hello Mornings" group who are studying Ephesians.  Started with "Hide His Word" in memorizing Eph. 1, but now with this crisis I may be too behind.  But God knows. 

BACK TO PETER..........when the strong winds and the heavy waves hit him, it practically knocked him out!   SO ME!  As much Word as I do know, as strong of a regimen I try to engage in, one more time, I about  FELL OUT!  I know it is shameful after 40 years of facing quite 118:17 a few crisis with my sons life and I KNOW GOD TO BE FAITHFUL!

Jesus simply stated, " You have so little faith!" "Why did you doubt?"  Verse 32 says "When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped!"  This was the Rhema Word for me, climb back into the boat, don't let the fear paralyze you into not wanting to get back into the saddle!    GUESS WHAT?  It's not all about this we are going through.  God is showing me my real self, and that ugly underlying fear I tend to allow to control me in many areas of my life.  AGAIN I am on the attack of this fear that immobilizes me from blogging, telling our story, declaring God's goodness and AGAIN I rise to the occasion in the name of JESUS!  AND I WILL be posting on the progressive healing of my son.