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"Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.' But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
(Matthew 4:3-4)
Last week, I was blessed to meet Josh Wilbur, founder of Steeped Coffee. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, and when he made a quick trip Texas, we had a great breakfast together with a couple of other guys from GHBC. Josh reminded me of Toby Mac: a cool guy who is very sharp. A few years back, Josh stepped out in faith to launch his company. While raising money in those early, crucial years, Josh felt God told him to not receive money from non-faith-based groups or people. He shared with me that he was very tempted at one point because he and his family put everything they had into the company and they were in a tough spot. A man approached him and said he would invest so that all his financial concerns would go away. The man, however, was not a Christian, so even though it was a tempting idea, Josh said no thanks.
Josh shared that this season of his life felt like what Jesus endured when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness in Matthew 4. The Devil came to Jesus when He was physically weak and very hungry. But our Lord resisted the Devil and overcame. Josh believes that he definitely made the right decision in not taking this initial offer but instead waiting on God. God indeed blessed Josh at just the right time: they raised the money they needed to launch the company, and now they are going strong, and God's favor is evident in their company.
The concept of Steeped Coffee is, like using tea bags for hot tea, you can have hot coffee using the coffee bags they have created. Businesses and churches can have their logo and information on the packaging and use the coffee in their promotions. We have used their products this way in our church, and it has worked great. For more information about Steeped Coffee, check out these websites:
https://observer.com/2019/09/national-coffee-startup-steep-java
https://steepedcoffee.com/pages/business
No doubt, you and I are going to be tempted to compromise and do things in a way that is not exactly as God would have us do things. In those moments of temptation, let us do what Jesus did and also learn from Josh's example. Trust God even though it is hard. God will always bless us more than we could ever imagine. We simply have to resist the Devil, cling to Jesus, and trust in Him.
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