From the Kitchen Table

The Spirit-filled Life     Day 10

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

John 14:13-14      

Only believe!  In the presence of God is the privilege of God by the power of God.  Jesus is setting us up for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He’s laying a foundation for the Spirit-filled life.  It’s real and He is always true.  Believe it!  And just like Jesus brought glory to the Father in His life, the Holy Spirit will bring glory to the Father in those who only believe.  God did it through Jesus and God will do it through us.  Jesus carried the passion, purpose, power, and perspective of God within Him and we will do the same when we believe.  Don’t be afraid to ask anything in Jesus’ name; God wants to do something wonderful us you. God’s not afraid of our requests; He only asks us to believe.  Prayer prepares our hearts for His presence, passion, perspective, power, and purpose, which comes with the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit-filled Life     Day 9

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.            John 14:12

God not only wants to be with us, but He wants us to be with Him.  The Lord has big plans for us today.  He has chosen to reveal His passion, His power, and His purposes in us and through us who believe.  Jesus revealed the heart and hand of God in this world and now wants to do the same thing in us and through us.  The hand of God is here to save, heal, and deliver.  That’s why He is giving His Holy Spirit to those who believe Him.  Are we ready for that?  Do we want that?  Those who are willing to believe will see the power of God’s hand working in and through their lives.  That’s the truth.  But we must want if we are going to believe it.  Maybe this is where we so often fall short of God’s great power; we don’t really want it.  Don’t be the person who likes God’s ideas for life but doesn’t see the need in our lives.  It sounds crazy, but it’s true: those who believe will do because they share the heart of God for the hand of God by the Spirit of God.

The Spirit-filled Life     Day 8

Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

John 14:11

Just believe!  All of us come to that point where we just need to pull the trigger and trust someone.  This life isn’t lived in what we see, but in what we hear to be true.  Jesus finally just says it, “Just believe!”  These things happen, not because of what you see, but because of what you don’t see.  God lives in Me.  Jesus is saying that there is a person, a passion, and a power living within Him that makes the things you see happen.  The unseen can change the seen, but the seen cannot change the unseen.  As Jesus prepares us for the Spirit-filled life, He wants us to know that when we receive the Holy Spirit of God into our lives, the person, passion, power, and perspective of God will live in us for us to live for Him in this life.

The Spirit-filled Life     Day 7

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.

John 14:10         

Here’s our glimpse into the Spirit-filled life, it’s Jesus.

The Spirit-filled life is a life where God lives in us by His Holy Spirit and we live in God by His Holy Spirit.  Christianity is the only religion where God comes to us and lives in us, empowering us to live in Him and for Him.  It’s a mystery that happens by believing Jesus.  But we must surrender this heart so that this home can be His house completely.  The life we’re living right now is the one we’ve chosen.  Believing Jesus, we choose Jesus to be like Jesus, hearing the word of God and constantly doing the word of God by the power, perspective, and passion of the Holy Spirit.  It’s not a matter of God’s will but of our want.

The Spirit-filled Life     Day 6

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?               John 14:9

This Spirit-filled life doesn’t work by what we see but by what we know.  If our faith is dependent on what we see, then we’re living by proof, not faith.  Faith brings the proof, but the result isn’t what we believe in, it’s the cause of the result that we believe in.  Philip couldn’t see God in Jesus because Philip hadn’t put his faith in what Jesus had said.  The first disciple to put his faith in Jesus’ words was the one who didn’t see Jesus in the tomb.  Jesus had done what He said; He had risen from the dead.  This is how the Spirit-filled life will work, by faith in what the Holy Spirit mentions to us and moves in us according to God’s revealed word.  We are no longer living by sight, but by the sound of God’s voice.

The Spirit-filled Life          Day 5

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:7                

Herein lies the secret to the Spirit-filled life.  Can you hear so that you can know?  The key to knowing God is to know Jesus, and the only way to really know Jesus is to hear Jesus.  The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17).  The disciples didn’t know God because they couldn’t hear Jesus.  We won’t know the Holy Spirit if we can hear Jesus either.  To hear Jesus, we must trust Him fully.  Go back to verse one: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe (trust) in God; believe (trust) also in Me. (John 14:1) The Spirit-filled life is going to require hearing and seeing spiritually, from the heart.  We can only know God by hearing and seeing Jesus, and we can only know the Holy Spirit by hearing and seeing Jesus.  Everything Jesus did was because God wanted us to know Him and His love.  And everything the Holy Spirit does is because Jesus wants us to know Him and His love.  Faith (trust) comes by hearing and then seeing.

Kitchen Table Devotional Day 4

The Spirit-filled Life

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.      John 14:6

The Spirit-filled life begins with Jesus and only Jesus.  You can’t fill this life with any other religion or recipe of our own making.  It is the Spirit of Jesus that fills our hearts, so it only makes sense to begin and end with Jesus.  He is the One who made this life possible and makes this life a reality.  If we can’t believe Jesus and bow our will to His, we can’t know the presence, power, passion, perspective, and plans of the Holy Spirit.  For the Holy Spirit to be Lord over our lives, Jesus must be the Lord of our lives.  There is no other way to know God’s presence, passion, power, perspective and plans than through Jesus our only Savior.  Begin here; believe Jesus!

How have you made Jesus Lord? 

And you know the way to where I am going.”

John 14:4          

Heaven isn’t a place we fall into; it’s a place we follow into to.  And this life isn’t about what we know, but who we know first and foremost.  Eternal life is knowing God (Jn 17:3).  Jesus said, “You know the way…” (Jn 14:4) and then said, “I am the way…” (Jn 14:6).

What we know is what we put our faith in.  We know something because of what we believe about something.  What we know about a person is what we believe about a person.  The Bible says that by faith we understand (Heb 11:3).  The first step toward the Spirit-filled life is know Jesus.  This means that we don’t just believe in a Jesus, but we believe Jesus and He determines then what we know about Jesus and from Jesus.

How well do you know Jesus?

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.                    John 14:2-3

Here’s why you want to Spirit-filled life.  Jesus wants to be with you constantly.  That should be encouraging today as you walk though this day.  You don’t have to walk alone.  Jesus doesn’t want you to ever live alone, so He’ gone to prepare an eternal place for you and He’s already made sure there is room for you.  There has always been room for you in the heart and home of God, but He won’t make you live there.  Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you even if you don’t want to live there and He’s even got plans to come get you, if you want to join Hm. Until that time, He will send His Spirit to live in you until you go to live with Him.  I like these words, “I will come and get you…”  That’s His promise to you.  No matter where you go and what you do, Jesus will come get you the moment you call on Him.

What’s that mean to you?

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”              John 14:1

It’s one thing to be troubled on the outside and another to be troubled on the inside.  The trouble on the outside can be resolved but trouble on the inside stays with you every step of the way.  Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled…”  Start on the inside and you’ll overcome what’s on the outside.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience.  Life begins here.  We are spirit beings first and foremost and this spirit we are, comes from God who is.  It comes from God to live with God forever.  But we have a choice.  Jesus tells us to believe in God and to believe in Him.  Spiritual relationships are not formed by touch but by trust.  Don’t just believe in God, believe God.  Trouble exists where trust exits our hearts.  Trust in God today.  Trust what He has said and in what He has done.  His words are true.  Get ready for the Spirit-filled life by choosing today to trust in God’s revealed word. 

Who are you trusting today and how?