From the Kitchen Table

Kitchen Table Devotional    The Spirit-filled Life                    Day 15

And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

John 14:21    

There’s hardly any greater gift that the Holy Spirit brings us than the ability to see.  Without sight we walk blindly through life with no concept of what’s down the road, at our side, or in store for us.  The Bible says, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” 2 Corinthians 4:4.  The Holy Spirit brings us sight because the Holy Spirit reveals His love for us.  Love reveals life.  Love lets us see and see the truth.  It’s not about having eyes because we do.  It’s about being able to see and having the desire to see because of love.  Love doesn’t hold back but gives it all.  And the sight of the Holy Spirit reveals what’s ahead, what’s behind, and what is around the corner and in the room.  Jesus knew this, and the Holy Spirit enables us to see Jesus and see like Jesus.  The most important visual is the true visual of Jesus and who He is, really. 

Kitchen Table Devotional    The Spirit-filled Life          Day 14

Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

John 14:21    

This is a life of love, this life with Jesus.  There is no labor; we merely choose to love Him, His words, and His way.  Love believes!  Loving His words and His ways are critical to this life.  None of us really love someone we don’t like.  Everything in this life centers around love, and it all begins with loving what He says and what He has done for us.  There’s no labor in this relationship like there is in every other religion.  We can’t earn our relationship with Jesus; He gives it to those who believe and love Him.  Look at what Jesus has told us and done for us.  Who offers a better life than Jesus?  No one!  He is the total package.  And we can’t love Him and not love His words and ways.  It can be difficult to follow Jesus; we’re not used to a life like His.  So, He doesn’t just take us along for the ride; He comes to us and lives in us to bring His love around us. So that we can embrace and enjoy this life personally. Understand this, and we can begin to understand the Spirit-filled life.

KTD                         The Spirit-filled Life                               Day 13

Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.                John 14:19

The Holy Spirit, we cannot see, enables to see Jesus and know God.  See and understand this: Jesus will not leave us as orphans who have no one to see, hear, and know.   The Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, comes speaking to us and seeing for us.  Maybe the first gift of the Holy Spirit is the ability to hear and see the Son of God, our Lord and Savior.  This changes everything.  This separates us from the fear and foolishness of this world to walk in His world.  The Holy Spirit is given to us, for us to hear and see God, and He is bringing abilities with Him for us to mimic Jesus in and through our lives.  The Holy Spirit will bring to us the perception and perspective of God for the passion and purpose of God by the power of God.   Walk in Him today.

KTD          The Spirit-filled Life            Day 12

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:16-17

This is what this life is all about, living in the Holy Spirit by letting the Holy Spirit lives in us.  Jesus came to reveal God to us, redeem us for God and to realize the Spirit of God living in us.   Many don’t ever realize this because they are not looking for this, but it’s true and it’s real.  He lives with us and in us, we’re never alone and never without hope.  He lives in us.   We know Him just as we know God, through Jesus.  But to know Him, we must look for Him.  God wants to bring His super into our natural.

KTD                      The Spirit-filled Life                Da 11

If you love Me, obey My commandments.

John  14:15

Here is the crux of the issue.  Do we love Jesus?  Who do we truly love and what do we truly love?  The answer is obvious but the truth can be so obscure.  This isn’t a head decision; it’s a heart decision.  Our true love will lead our lives around this life.   The riches of heaven await those who love the Lord with all their hearts and minds and strength.  Love is something that grows but it’s also something that starts somewhere.  In fact, love, true love, creates hope, real hope, that inspires faith that really believes.   Those who love God, love His presence, His passion, His perspective (truth), and His power in there lives and that love sets us up for His will for our lives.  Do we love Him or do we love the idea of God and His plans for our lives?

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.