a cappuccino, a moleskine, and my esv bible…

I love when God shows up! He surely did, while I was in Salzburg! As I headed out of Prague to Cesky Krumlov then Salzburg, on my short holiday I had a prayer that God would bring refreshment, encouragement and some peace in the midst of sight seeing, reading, train rides, caffeine, walks and life as of late. Surely, I wish I could have had some more time to work, process, pray, journal and more through the things that have taken, and that are going on right now, in life, but the moments I had were great.

The Saturday I was in Salzburg, I sat at the cafe capp&ccino (which was also the only place I could find WIFI) and over a cappuccino, my moleskine, and my esv bible app on my iPhone I had a sacred moment. It was almost like I should have taken my shoes off, for the place I was sitting felt holy to me. I love that my God isn’t a distant God that is aloof, but that is present and meets me! There at Capp&ccino the God of the universe met me. I sat there, reading through Colossians and writing page after page in my moleskine, God seemingly flooded me with the encouragement I needed.

The theme – love. Simply put, it was like God was whispering to my soul, “I love you. Relax. Take a deep breath. Through everything that has happened I love you. Did you hear that? I love you. I loved you, as you received criticism, as you made mistakes, as you wallowed in your pool of self-pity. In the midst of all of this – I loved you. Zach, hear this – I love you. I hung on a Roman cross for you, and punched death squarely in the jaw knocking him out, because I love you. Hear that Zach…” So, so good…. It was a couple hours of the Gospel being preached to me via the Holy Spirit, and also preaching the Gospel to myself. I once again, was reminded how badly I need the Gospel and why Paul said this to the Roman church (yes, the church, made up of believers, not simply nonbelievers), “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:15)” Oh, if I was eager to constantly preach the Gospel to nonbelievers, believers and myself, what would life look like around me? I’m not sure, but I’m grateful for another wake up call to the Gospel!