From the Kitchen Table

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?

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 131

And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. ¹¹ Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”

1 Samuel 25:10-11

When you’ve been on a long journey, it’s easy to be distracted by the little things.  David had come all this way, faced all those issues, and waited patiently for God to meet all his needs.  All those things develop character in the man or woman of God.  But it’s hard to overlook outright disrespect.  Nabal is just being Nabal; no one expected anything but his nasty response.  David’s about to let a nobody take down a somebody in the will of God for His people.  Don’t just let anybody decide what kind of somebody God wants you to be.  Don’t let the words of the ignorant make you arrogant.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 130

Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

1 Samuel 25:8

If you want to be taken seriously, don’t send someone else to do your business.  Take care of your business, yourself.  It’s easy to turn down the help.  If it’s important to you, it’s important for you to do the work.  David will end up loading up and going anyway, so why not go the first time?  If it’s important for you, make the person important to you by talking to them yourself.  Just a thought.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 129

David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. ⁶ And thus you shall greet him: ​‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have

1 Samuel 25:4-6

It’s easier than you think to slip back into the mindset of the world around us.  God was David’s faithful provider, and yet it made sense to David that Nabal should care and provide for David’s men.  Why shouldn’t those who have share with those who don’t?  That might be God’s character, but that’s not necessarily God’s way.  David let his feelings rule over his faith.  He’s about to kill a man, act violently, and take what he wanted rather than receive what God had for him.   We must be aware of ourselves; it can look easier to play politics than pray, but God wants us to pray.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 128

Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.

1 Samuel 25:3

There’s always more to the story than what meets the eye.  Abigail is one of the more in this story, and when David sees her, he’ll want her just like Nabal had done earlier.  Beauty is defined by what’s good.  Abigale was discerning, a huge word that means she had a good heart, a good mind, a good attitude, a good name & a good witness.  She’s able to move mountains because, obviously, people respect and revere her.  Good makes beauty beautiful.  How in the world did she end up with Nabal?  Maybe it’s because good people can see the possibilities and not just the problems.