Month: April 2020

The Kitchen Table            Day 73

Today’s Reading:    Ps 16; SOS 2:8-15; Col 4:205

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.” Psalms 16:2

Choose God today and every day.  Spend time with Him and just talk.  He is our counsel, instruction, security, joy and love. We won’t know this unless we know this.  Relationships live and die based on time and talk.  We can know a lot about this life but until we experience it, it’s just thoughts.  Many people run around with only ideas but no involvement, or no recent involvement.  This life of faith is as much experience and it is education.  Romance is kindled as through time and talk.  The Psalmist makes it clear today that in our time with Him, He makes the path clear and the joy real.  Choose to just stop and spend time with Him today.  

The Kitchen Table            Day 72

Today’s Reading:    Ps 118; Jos 3:1-17; Mt 28:1-10

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! Psalms 118:26

There’s a reputation we all walk in.  When people see us or feel us come into the room we come in with that reputation.  That reputation is something we’ve earned through our decisions, actions and words.  The Psalmist says, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.  Those who come in the name of the Lord come into the room or on the scene in His anointing, authority and with His applause.  Those who come in His name live for His name and by His name.  They live in His power, purpose and with His passion.  Israel crossed the Jordon in the flood season in His name.  Jesus rose from the dead in His name.  We can live this life in His name when we live for His reasons, in His revelation and under His reign over our lives.  Live in His reputation; He has a reputation for defeating death.

The Kitchen Table `Day 71

Today’s Reading:  Ps 118; Ex 15:1-18; Col 3:12-17

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

If you’re happy and you know it, say “Amen”.  Live like it!  Look like it!  What a sad use of a day to be happy and not show it.  If you’re unhappy and you show it, well, okay then.  But if you’re saved, safe and sold out for Jesus, then let your heart inform your face and show it.  What good does it do to look unhappy when you’re happy?  Be happy like the Israelites after God brought them through the Red Sea (Ex 15).  Let Christ rule in your heart and be thankful (Col 2:15).  Let your life show what your heart knows.  It will keep you and empower you to make the best decisions today and it will bless you to be a blessing to others today too.

The Kitchen Table            Day 70

Today’s Reading:    Ps 118; Ex 14:10-31; Col 3:5-11

The LORD is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. Psalms 118:7

Jesus makes all the difference.  When He is on your side, and you know it, victory is in your future.  Over and over again that truth plays itself out.  The Israelites found that to be true at the shore of the Red Sea.  God delivers us from our enemy but we must be willing to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Colossians 3:5)  Fear is earthly and love is heavenly.  Fear keeps us tied to the earth and intimidated by the demonic.  Faith lifts our eyes above the problem to see the promise and know the love of God.  God is on your side; He is working for your success.  Just believing that will lift your eyes off this earth and into heaven.  Now you must trust in Him as your helper.

The Kitchen Table            Day 69

Today’s Reading:  Ps 22; Is 52:13-53:12; Jn 18-19; Heb 4:14-16

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

The life worth living is the life Jesus died for.  And when He did, He paid the price for all our sins against others (transgressions) and the sins against ourselves (iniquities)  Jesus did all the right things to save us from all the wrong things.  In doing so He saved and healed us on the inside and He saved and healed us on the outside.  Psalm 22, which Jesus quoted from the cross, says, “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD!  May your hearts live forever!” (Psalms 22:26)  Jesus did all the right things to save us from all the wrong things that go wrong in our hearts, in our minds, in our bodies and in our world.  Praise the Lord!

The Kitchen Table            Day 68

Today’s Reading:  Ps 116; Ex 12:1-14; Jn 13:1-17, 34-36, 1 Cot 11:23-26

I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD, Psalms 116:13

If you don’t want to be deceived by what is wrong, celebrate what is right.  God has given us celebrations to celebrate.  There was the Passover for the Hebrews and there is the table of communion for the Christians.  If or when the celebrations of the Lord become unappealing, look for what’s unwanted in your heart.  Repent and Rejoice in what Jesus has done for you, for us.  Jesus said that as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Cor 11:26)  Celebrate the right things and you will conquer the wrong things.  God is good.

The Kitchen Table            Day 67

Today’s Reading:  Ps 70; Is 50:4-9; Jn 13:21-32; Heb 12:1-3

Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him … John 13:27

Sin survives on morsels.  It’s the little things we do and the little agreements we make with Satan that keep sin alive in our lives.  It only takes a little thing or two to ruin the whole experience, the whole day.  Judas came to the table just like everyone else, looked like everyone else, ate like everyone else, but there was this little morsel of deception that led to his death.  Judas thought he could take the morsel, like everyone else, and hide the fact that he wasn’t really happy with Jesus.  Jesus saw it, that little thing in his heart, and called Judas on it.  Like so many of us, we hate to be exposed, we fear it, and in a split second we make that simple decision to walk away from Jesus rather than toward Him and it makes world of difference on who we are and where we go.  If we want to live the big life Jesus gives us, we must be willing to deal with the little things that keep us down, unhappy and deceived.  Live like Jesus, with a big picture of the joy set before Him and don’t let the little things mess with your window on life.

The Kitchen Table            Day 66

Today’s Reading:  Ps 71:1-14; Is 49:1-7; Jn 12:20-36; 1 Cor 1:18-36

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

The light of the world hung from a tree on a hill.  It’s here that we can see what makes life work and what doesn’t.  The Light for the world hung from a cross on a hill. And only those who come to that cross or that tree can see what life is really about and where to find it It’s foolishness to those who like darkness but it’s the miracle performing power to save for those who make that walk to the foot of that tree to be in the light of the world. 

The Kitchen Table            Day 65

Today’s Reading:  Ps 36; iS 42:1-9; Jn 12:1-11; Heb 9:11-15

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds Psalms 36:5

God doesn’t have love; God is love.  God is never without love and that love reaches higher than the heavens (Ps 36:5) and deeper into the heart (Heb 9:11).  Our part is to let that love reach into our lives and into this life.  Those who love God, sit at His table (Jn 12:2) and abide it what His love says, wants, does, and means.  His love becomes precious (Ps 26:7) and powerful for each and every day.  Today, just let His love flow in you and through you.  That is what happens as we trust in what God has shown us.  When we trust in what God has said and shown us, He will teach us and show us even more.  There’s always more because His love reaches to the heavens. 

The Kitchen Table            Day 64

Today’s Reading:    Ps 31; Job 13:13-19; Phil 1:21-30

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Living up requires laying down.  Jesus said that we can’t serve or live for two masters.  We must choose the life we trust and then turn from the life we don’t.  Laying down our lives isn’t so much about turning from as it is trusting in.  The Psalmist wrote “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” Psalms 31:14  Job said, Though he slay me, I will hope in him; Job 13:15  It’s a whole new way of living this life by trusting in God and not the garbage of this world to make life here and there work forever.  What makes the Christian life so difficult for so many is that they have decided to turn from sin but not trust in Christ.  No, we need to trust in Christ and then we will turn from sin.  We turn to what or who we trust in.  Trust and Turn!