Month: February 2020

The Kitchen Table            Day 39

Today’s Reading:  Ps 51; Jonah 4:1-11; Rom 1:8-18

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  Rom 8:16

Sometimes we all just need someone to ask us the right, hard, question.  Count on God to do that.  God asks Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?”  Do yo want to be angry?  Do you want to live angry?  Truly broken people don’t carry around anger.  Anger doesn’t serve them well.  It doesn’t serve anyone well.  Jonah waited for God to break out against the city of Nineveh.  Paul wanted God to bring our His goodness and kindness toward Rome.  When we begin to want judgment rather than forgiveness, something is needed in us, not others.  That anger doesn’t and won’t serve us well.  Want what forgiveness brings, not what anger leaves.  Forgiveness will serve you well.

The Kitchen Table            Day 38

Today’s Reading:  Ps 51; Jonah 3:1-10; Rom 1:1-7

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.      Psalm 51:17

We must be broken to believe.  Until we see this life as being broken we will struggle to believe His life is what we truly need.  Nineveh became broken before God and believed in Him and God relented of His judgment.  They were broken and because they were broken, they could believe.  This relationship with Jesus isn’t just an appendage to our lives, it is a whole new life where we believe in Him, not us and live life His way, not our way.  Don’t be afraid of being broken, you’re in a place to believe, to be made new and to have a new life to live.  Drama is the result of people trying to live with broken lives.  Destiny is the result of people living with belief.

The Kitchen Table            Day 37

Today’s Reading:    Ps 78:17-20, 52-55; 1 Kings 19:1-18; Rom 11:1-6

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. Romans 11:5

Sometimes the better question is “What are you doing here?”  It’s tempting to run and hide when things get hard and ugly, but remember, you have been chosen by grace.  Adversity precedes advancement.  Don’t let the hard, the hateful or even the humiliating cause you to hide.  You’ve been chosen by grace.  And we serve a God who calls forth rivers from a rock.  Don’t be consumed by what you see but rather convicted by what you hear.  Elijah heard the still small voice of God.  He has saved us by grace to live in grace.  We serve the God who brings rivers from a rock.

The Kitchen Table            Day 26

Today’s Reading:  Ps 78:17-20, 52-55; Ex 33:7-23; Acts 7:30-34

He struck the rock so that water gushed out  Ps 78:20

Don’t be afraid of adversity, it’s the first step to advancement.  God is advancing His cause in us and through us, adversity prepares us for the journey.  In the story of Moses, the adversity grew before the advancement gained ground.  Our enemy doesn’t want us living in God’s promises and sometimes we become content with the promise rather than in the promise.  Adversity is the opportunity for us to see our need and for us to see God meet our needs.  Moses’ parents were in the midst of adversity when they saved Moses’ life.  Moses and the nation were in desperate times when God brought water from the rock that made streams in the desert.  But adversity, if you let it, will adjust our self-reliant attitude and cause us to look for God’s saving ability in the face of our enemy.  Don’t be afraid of adversity, look to Him with the ability to advance us into His promises.

The Kitchen Table            Day 35

Today’s Reading:    Ps 2; Exodus 19:9-25; Heb 11:23-28

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling  Ps 2:11

Sometimes God asks us to do things that are strange to us, like serving with fear and rejoicing with trembling.  Usually, fear and trembling take our minds off God rather than put our minds on Him.  But this life is lived by faith, faith in who God is and what He can do.  Faith is God serves Him as Almighty and rejoicing that we are on His side.  Moses, the Bible says, lived for God and left the Pharaoh believing in His invisible presence and power more than the Pharaoh’s visible presence and pressure.  See, man operates in terms of pressure, but God operates in terms of power.  Man intimidates but God inspires us with His mighty passion, power and presence.  Live in God’s inspiration, not man’s intimidation, and rejoice!

The Kitchen Table            Day 34

Today’s Reading:    Ps 2; Exodus 6:2-9; Hebrews 8:1-7

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.  Ps 2:12

His promises, not our problems, shape our success.  Faith operates in terms of words.  Words are the currency of the spiritual world.  The life of Jesus is more excellent than the life of this world because the promises are more excellent than the promises of this world.  And the promises of God are more excellent because the power of God is more excellent, perfect, than the power of this world.  God operates in and through our lives with promises that we either believe or doubt.  Blessed are those who believe, who take refuge in Him.  This life operates within promises that we believe.  We make promises in marriage, family, work, banking, borrowing, bowling, and to our baseball team but so many neglect the promises of God and to God.  Don’t be afraid of promises, just be aware of the promises you believe in.  Even the enemy operates with promises that we call lies.

The Kitchen Table            Day 33

Today’s Reading:    Ps 119:9-16; Prov 2:1-15; Mt 19:1-12

For the Lord gives wisdom; and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.          Proverbs 2:6

Understand something, the heart was created to believe.  The head is a different story, but the heart was made to live by faith.  The key to success in this life is to bring the head and the heart into agreement about life.  Where there is agreement there is authority.  Because the heart was meant to live by faith and faith operates in terms of words, we are susceptible to bad words.  Listen to the word, let them travel through the head before you treasure them in your heart.  The Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.  The Psalmist writes I” will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”  Choose good words today!

The Kitchen Table            Day 32

Today’s Reading:    Psalm 119:9-16; Duet 23:21-24:4; 10-15;

James 2:1-13

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  Ps 119:10

Living from your whole heart means living with your whole life.  This isn’t just a feeling, it’s a doing.  If we want to live for God with everything we have, we must give everything we have to live for God.  This life we find in Jesus isn’t just about saying the right things, it’s about doing the right things and if we say we are believers in God then there’s a need to serve as believers in God.  We protect what is precious but practicing what was promised.  Let your walk reflect your words.  God works in our lives according to our words.  This will make us think about what we say.  The words of Deuteronomy and James today remind us that our words must be reflected in our walk if we are to live in the power of God.  Speak highly and live heavenly.  Our words release God’s work in and through our lives, so must think about what we say, but not be afraid to speak.

The Kitchen Table            Day 31

Today’s Reading:  Ps 119:9-16; Exodus 20:1-21; James 1:2-8

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to His word.  Ps 119:9

You’re going to have to figure out what is precious and what’s not in this life and then protect what is.  It’s one of the most important duties you’ll ever have in this life.  Purity is the prize for the person of promise.  Where there is purity there will be promise, power, purpose and possibilities.  That’s what the 10 commandments guarded in Exodus 20 and what God’s word of wisdom is for in James 1.  God’s word will reveal to us what’s precious and what we can do to protect it.  Promiscuity poisons but purity protects all that is precious.  And God pardons us so that we can participate in what’s precious.

The Kitchen Table            Friday, February 14, 2020

Today’s Reading:  Ps 119:1-8; Leviticus 26:34-46; 1 John 2:7-17

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.  Ps 119:1

We must understand something, that judgment is woven into the creation of this world.  We can’t escape it.  It’s part of God’s creation.  That’s why the Bible says that we will reap what we sow.  And we can either live in the judgment of this world or we can live in judgment of this world.  We live in judgment of this world by living loving the Creator, not the creation, by living in His way not the way of this world.  Leviticus 26 says that even the sound of a rustling leaf will send the disbelieving and disobedient running, but God will not forsake nor forget those who repent of their disbelief and disobedience.  We live in what we love.  John writes, “And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.” 1 John 2:17.  Remember that judgment is woven into creation.  We can run from God, but we can’t get away.  Today we can live in the judgment or in judgment.  Love God!