Month: May 2020

The Kitchen Table    Day 91

Today’s Reading:  Ps 31; Ex 3:1-12; Acts 7:1-6

For you are my rock and my fortress; and for you name’s sake you lead me and guide me.  Ps 31:3

Never forget that God loves you.  Nobody loves us like He loves us!  No matter what is going on or around your life, know that God is working for His name’s sake.  Continue to let His love create hope that inspires faith.  It’s the only way to live in His love.  He is the Lord of promise and power.  Let Him be your rock and fortress.  Let Him be your refuge and your strength.  God is working because that’s what love does, it keeps walking  towards us and working for us.  Commit your spirit into His hands; He loves you like nobody else.

The Kitchen Table    Day 90

Today’s Reading:  Ps 31; Gen 12:1-3; Acts 6:8-15

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;  let me not be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!   Ps 31:1

Never forget that love creates hope that inspires faith and faith is what gives us hope to live in love.  To take refuge in God and His word is to place our trust and hope in Him.  Those who take refuge in God, the Bible says, will not be put to shame.  Abraham put his hope and trust in God and became the father of nations and blessing.  Stephen put his hope and trust in God and his face shown like an angel in the face of death.  When God is our refuge and our strength obstacles become opportunities to live a life that shines on the inside and the outside.

The Kitchen Table    Day 89

Today’s Reading:  Ps 100, Jer 23:1-8; Mt 20:17-28

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.

Mt 20:26Hidden motives stir the water.  Once again, the waters get muddied when the mission becomes about us rather than all of us.  Jesus was crystal clear in His mission and ministry, no hidden agenda, just love and life.  God had prophesied that this leader would bring people home and that would be His heart.  James & John couldn’t resist and neither can we, especially when we believe with all our hearts in the mission and ministry.  They wanted a position, besides, that’s where the decisions are made, that’s where you can really make a difference.  Control!  The kingdom of darkness is always about control.  The kingdom of light, of God, is always about service.  Hidden motives muddy the water and even though we struggle to be like Jesus, God can use us best when our mission and ministry are about Him, not ourselves.  Be honest today with yourself about yourself and give God the glory.

The Kitchen Table    Day 88

Today’s Reading:  Ps 100; Ezekiel 34:23-31; Heb 13:20-21

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen        Hebrews 13:20-21

Don’t go to muddy water, God has something much, much better than that for us.  He has equipped us for everything GOOD that we might do His will.  Jesus didn’t drink muddy water and neither should we.  Just on the other side of good lies muddy water.  Once we give up on good we find ourselves in muddy water where it’s hard to see and easy to fear.  God has equipped us to do good and that happens when we live in His glory with a heart of gratitude and a mouth of praise.  Those are two characteristics of people who drink good clean water.

The Kitchen Table                Day 87

Today’s Reading:  Ps 100; Ezekiel 34:17-28; 1 Peter 5:1-5

Know that the Lord, He is God!  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are the His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Ps 100:3

Nobody likes muddy water.  It’s not appetizing or appealing in any way.  But that’s what we get when life becomes about ourselves rather than our God.  Selfishness and pride muddy the waters.  It becomes hard to see and believe in people who muddy the waters,  They, like the sheep in Ezekiel, walk on what we need and muddy what we want.  Jesus never muddied the water and never does.  It’s crystal clear and good to drink.  Our lives should be the same if He is our Lord and Shepherd of our souls.  The problem comes when we make it about us rather than about Him.  Love, life and the light get blurry when pride steps into the picture.  Today, know that He is God, that He is the One who made us and that we are His.  Keep it simple and don’t muddy the waters.

The Kitchen Table            Day 84

Today’s Reading:    Ps 23; Ex 3:16-22; 4:18-20; 1 Pt 2.13-17

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.  Ps 23:4

There are those who go the way that they think is right and blame God and there are those who go God’s right way and bless God.  Like Moses, it’s an amazing thing to see God do His thing in our lives.  But it is so easy to let fear force us off God’s road and it is so easy to say that fear is faith when it’s not.  If you want to live in the blessing of God let your faith in God lead you.  Let His word and His Spirit guide and comfort you.  Hold out for His word and His will and you will bless Him, not blame Him, in the end.