Month: June 2022

Kitchen Table Devotional

“The Prodigal”

Day 32

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. Luke 15:25

There’s always another side, another story to tell.  There was another son who never celebrated.  We know that by verse 29.  Listen, if we don’t celebrate with our Father, we will become centered on our efforts and our emotions.  The bible says to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil 4:6)  Here was a guy that never left the land but never learned the love of his father.  That’s what happens when we don’t celebrate with our Father in heaven.  The young son tried to celebrate without his father and the older son never celebrate with his father.  The older son mimicked the young son but just in the opposite direction.  Neither knew their father at first and only the one who could repent and rejoice knew him at last.  Take time to celebrate with Father every day.

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 31

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.             Luke 15:24

Know what you’re celebrating and don’t celebrate death but life.  Our Father celebrates life and it’s very clear here that the father wasn’t just happy to see his son but that his son had chosen life.  The son had returned, not just to the property but to the passion, perspective, and practices of the farm.  The son had repented and that’s what’s required of us (2 Cor 7:10).  We don’t celebrate death on the home place, we celebrate life for anyone and everyone who chooses it.  The son was dead, and now is alive and he was lost but now he is found.  That’s what we celebrate.  Don’t just be happy to see someone, be happy to see that person born-again, back on the ranch, and in the Father’s love.  Don’t be content with a reunion, celebrate redemption!

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 30

And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate                                            Luke 15:23

You’ve got to love the way our Father celebrates.  He only brings the best because He only wants the best for us.  We can know what we cherish by what we celebrate, and we can know what we believe by what we bring to the party.  The father doesn’t just bring a calf, he brings the special, fattened calf.  Only the best for us.  Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.”  In fact, Ephesians 1 is a picture of the Luke 15 reunion.  James 1:17 says that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.  Our Father brings the best for us and we celebrate the best with Him when we bring our best too.

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 29

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.                 Luke 15:22-23

We can tell what we cherish by what we celebrate.  There’s no doubt about what the Father cherishes.  Jesus is telling the story is it’s about His Father and ours.  He loves it when we come home.  The most important thing is us and not what we’ve done.  We’ve come home where He can lavish His love on us once again.  He never quit loving us, we had just decided to live outside of His love.  That’s how it works.  And the secret to living in the love and riches of our Father is to be grateful and to celebrate like He does.  Celebration should fill the heart and house of every believer for what our Father has done.  Why not?  He is!

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 28

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet                 Luke 15:22

It doesn’t take time and it’s not a process for our Father in Heaven to respond in love.  His love is ready and able to be loosed in our lives.  We just need to stay there and receive what He has for us and wants for us.  It’s that easy.  He knows our needs, He saw us before we saw ourselves, and He will respond to the faith no bigger than a mustard seed.  All we need to do is stand still and let Him do His thing.  Receive His word, His work, and His will.  Quit trying to explain, make it right, and help Him.  God knows what He is doing, and He wants to do it.  He has us in His heart!  Believe it!  Receive it today!

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 27

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet                 Luke 15:22

The love of God, our Father, is instantaneous; it doesn’t have to be persuaded, prodded, or proved.  That’s how great the love of God is in all creation.  God lets love live and we struggle with that because of fear. It’s fear that leads us to ask for just a little of God’s love, but God is a big lover (Ps 57:10). It’s scary to us but simple for Him.  It’s simple because there are no levels to God’s love; He just brings the best and that’s it.  The problem is that we nibble on God’s love.  Let love live!  Let love live by letting His word come into our spirits as the breath of life. 

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 26

And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Luke 15:21

Self-justification often shows up as self-condemnation.  We can’t let it fool us, it will take us directly to religion rather than a relationship with the Father.  It’s not who we are but who He is and it’s not what we think but what He knows that matters.  No one tells Him who and how to love.  And we don’t want to try to feel good by feeling bad about who we are and what we’ve done.  It makes the conversation all about us, not Him.  There’s a place for feeling bad but we don’t want to live there.  We want to let godly sorrow stir us to godly steps toward the Father. 

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 25

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.          Luke 15:20

Songs of Songs 7:10 says, “I am my beloveds, and his desire is for me.”  Can you hear the feet of your Father running?  Real love and compassion move and if you’ll listen you can hear it coming.  Move toward it; He is coming to embrace you.  His desire for us is greater than our desire.  But it’s important to move, to get up and leave that pig stye and the noise of those pigs.  You can hear the love of the father coming before you see it, he is running toward you.  There are a lot of people running around but the Father’s step is distinct.  It’s the footsteps of love we don’t deserve, but we can’t let that dissuade us.  The one who loves us best is the one who knows us most and He is coming.  We can hear Him when we leave them

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 24

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.          Luke 15:20

This is a great picture.  God, our Father, sees us well before we see Him.  That means He is looking before we are lifting our eyes.  But here’s the thing, we’ll never see the future God has for us until we get up and go.  Anyone can stay in bed.  Faith acts.  The Bible says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17).  If we believe that God is love and He’s looking for us, then we need to get up and out of our bed of guilt, regret, hopelessness, and despair.  We only lay in that bed as long as we want to lay in that bed of bedlam   Not only is our Father the God of love, He’s the One who is looking for us to make us alive again.  The Bible says, “Awake O Sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you (Ephesians 5:14).  Get the picture?

Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 23

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.          Luke 15:20

Get up and go!  We can never be content with our own words and window on life.  We are not God; we can’t see all things like He does and we don’t know all things as He does.  Get up and go to God the Father.  That’s the only place to really know Him.  Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  The young man is about to find a whole different scenario than he imagined because the father is a whole different person than we are.  Jesus said, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:47)

Get up and go to God yourself!  He is more than we can even imagine.