COFFEE BEAN CLUB
I love the author Jon Gordon. I have read many of his books that always uplift and teach you how to shift and transform into being the best you. The latest book I read of his was the Coffee Bean.
I am sure you have heard this story before. You have a choice to make in life. Life is difficult, harsh, and stressful. Situations can do one of three things to us. They can weaken us, harden us, or transform us. Jon visualizes this for us by comparing three items placed in boiling water. If we place a carrot in boiling water, it becomes soft. If we place an egg in boiling water, it becomes hard. If we place a coffee bean in boiling water, it becomes transformed.
We have a choice in life what we want to become when we have been placed in difficult circumstances. We can be like a carrot and be weak and feeble. We can be like an egg and become hard, mean, angry, cynical, and numb. Or we can be like that coffee bean. We can be transformed into something wonderful.
I saw an example of this on a video from Americas got talent. An 11-year-old boy started playing the violin at the age of 7 because he had been bullied at school. Why had he been bullied? He was bullied because he had cancer and the other children made fun of him because he was balled and because they said cancer was contagious. Tyler saw a flyer at school that said free violin lessons, so he signed up. His mom said that once he started playing his sunshine was back. Julianna Hough told him before he performed, “Taking something that has been one of the hardest things you will ever go through and turning it around and finding something that brings you joy!”
Tyler had turned into a coffee bean. He didn’t allow the outside world to impact him.
When we turn in the Bible and think of those that are weak, those that are hard and those that are transformed, there are several.
We know Peter was weak when it came to standing up for Jesus. He denied Him three times.
In the old testament we read about so many kings. All of these kings were hard. They were mean, and they bullied. God stated that King Ahab did eviler in His eyes than any other king. He married a foreign woman named Jezebel who worshiped Ball. He built a temple in honor of this God. He built altars and idols. He allowed Jezebel to kill Godly priest, and he created problems for Elijah.
Who was the coffee bean? My favorite is Paul. Paul had a dramatic, radical transformation that not only turned him from a coffee bean to coffee but a robust, bold cup of coffee. He was transformed not only on the outside and inside but spiritually. Paul offered his body as a living sacrifice, and his physical trials were legendary; shipwreck, beatings, and anger, to name just a few. (2 Corinthians 11:24-30)
God wants us to be coffee beans. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds. He wants the best for us. We should joyfully give ourselves as living sacrifices for his service.
Romans 12:2 New International Version (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Resist the world and be transformed, renewing our minds with God’s word. When we dive into his word, and our knowledge deepens the Holy Spirit will transform us.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 New International Version (NIV)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
It is your choice to be transformed or to stay weakened or hardened.
Brother David posted a quote on Facebook last week that was this, “The bible was not given for our information but our transformation.” D.L. Moody
The power to be transformed is within you. We gain this power through God’s word. We can change culture through loving people. When we are filled with fear and worry, we are weakened and hardened, but when we follow God’s word, we are transformed. God gives the ability to lead with love and not live with fear and worry.
So, the next time adversity hits and your foundation is shaking, and fear is present open your Bible and go back to him that transforms and become the coffee bean.
CHALLENGES OF THE WEEK
- Keep your daily appointment
- Dive deep in the word
- Grab some coffee beans
- Fill your cup with Christ so you can fill other cups
Extra Reads:
Watch Tyler’s violin performance on America’s Got Talent:
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