Month: September 2022

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 19

Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.       Matthew 18:22

How much forgiveness is there?  In the house of heaven, there is no limit to forgiveness.  In fact, when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He released forgiveness to anyone who would receive it for all things and all times.  There is no limit to the forgiveness of God.  And His forgiveness isn’t requested, it is received.  Here Jesus is preparing Peter for the other side of the cross.  On the other side of the cross, on this side of the cross, forgiveness is unlimited and once we can receive His unlimited forgiveness, we can begin to live this unlimited life.  However, it all begins with forgiveness and forgiveness is the key to every other door in heaven.

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 18

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21-22

We’re so quick to set limits.  “How many times must I forgive my brother.?” We set a limit as if we will find some sort of joy at the end of mercy.  The House of Heaven has no end to mercy and grace.  There is no peace or pleasure at the end of mercy and grace but rather resentment and regret.  Seven times could be because it’s a perfect number, but seven times only takes us back to Cain, not Christ.  Why go back to the beginning of sin rather than to the end of sin.  Limits take us back to the beginning of sin, not to the end.  The end of sin is the limitless love of God where Christ stands with His arms of mercy and grace stretched open to us who are in constant need of His love.

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 17

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21-22

It’s easy to talk about heaven and the Kingdom of God until it involves us and our own existence.  Anybody can talk big but not everybody can live big.  Coming into agreement with God will require embracing the forgiveness of God.  Forgiveness is the master key to the house of heaven.  Forgiveness is the key to every other door of heaven.  And forgiveness is not about what we can accept but about what we agree with God about.  We work with limits, but God works with the limitless.  When we agree with God, we can live and love in the limitless peace, power, passion, perspective, and purpose of God.  We live and work in the limits when we make it all about us and we live and work in the limitless when we make it all about God.

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 16

For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”           Matthew 18:20

When the Bible repeats itself, it is revealing the importance of something we need to know.  Three times Jesus has spoken of the power of agreement here.  Where there is agreement, there is authority, and the more agreement, the more authority.  We can see this in the family and in the fellowship of believers.  The more faith, the more followers.  As faith grows, the Lord’s presence and power appear in us, through us, and around us.  This is one reason why the church is important.  Where there is agreement, there is the attendance and authority of God to crush the drama, darkness, and disease of sin and Satan.  And here is where we find the freedom to live forgiven, forgiving, and free. 

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 15

“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.      Matthew 18:19

It’s worth saying again; that there is authority & power in agreement.  If we can agree on the basics, we can ask for the bank.  Where there is forgiveness there is freedom and where there is agreement, there is authority.  Don’t just think about what can be done for our flesh, but think about what can be done in our flesh and our lives.  The freedom and the force to walk through life knowing love, being loved, and showing love, no longer worried & worked up over what someone else said, did, and wanted to do.  The freedom and force to bring heaven here and overcome hell.  If only we would believe & agree on the basics, there’s no telling where we could go.

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 14

Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.            Matthew 18:17-18

There is power in agreement.  Where there is agreement there is authority.  When we agree on how we’re going to live and how we are not going to live, there is authority to live as we believe.  When we agree on what we are going to believe and what we are not going to believe, there is authority to believe and behave in a way that brings life.  What’s happening here is that the church is coming into agreement with God and the brother living in sin, about how each will believe and behave and how they are not going to believe and behave.  It’s not about rejection, it’s about resolution.  From this point on, the church will see this man as an unbeliever and relate to him in that way.  Is he lost?  Yes.  Is he to be despised?  No!  He is to be loved as any lost person is loved and the church continues to live in the authority of God’s kingdom.