Month: April 2024

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 3 Day 1

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Understand this, fruit is not what we think we’ve changed or done but what others see changed and done in our lives.  This isn’t about pleasing man, that would be vanity, but about honoring God in who we are and what we do.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 2 Day 5

For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

2 Corinthians 2:17

Let Jesus be your motivation, all the time, with anyone you’re with, in every situation, and you’ll always find yourself on the right side of the issue.   Don’t use Jesus to buy favor but let Jesus use you to find favor.   There is a difference.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 2 Day 4

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. ¹⁵ For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

As we live for the pleasure of God, rather than under the pressure of man, we become the sweet aroma of the presence of God in this world. 

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2 Corinthians 2 Day 3

But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

Relationships are complicated!  Forgiveness is the cure.  But we can’t release something we haven’t received, or we can’t give something we haven’t been given.  Jesus is the great Forgiver and when we have His forgiveness, we have forgiveness to share with others. Forgiveness is a death blow to our foe.  Without forgiveness, he has a hard time fooling us.  Forgiveness is the key and it’s the key to every other door in heaven; we cannot travel through heaven without forgiveness. 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 2 Day 2

But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. ⁶ Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, ⁷ so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

2 Corinthians 2:5-8

We cannot walk in love and not operate in truth, and sometimes the “truth” hurts.  The key is to apply the right truth to the right person.  It’s easy, especially when imposing punishment, to place the right truth on the wrong person or persons.  For instance, sometimes it’s easier to blame the faithful person for the failure of an unfaithful person because the punishment, which the unfaithful person deserves, is hard and the unfaithful person is now experiencing unwanted pain.   The second key, be motivated by love for the person being disciplined.  It’s an important lesson.

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1 Corinthians 2 Day 1

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

2 Corinthians 2:4

There’s no joy in making people sad but we can’t walk in love and not operate in truth.  It’s our motivation that changes everything.  If our motivation isn’t to bring joy, then maybe it’s best to keep that message and its motivation to ourselves.  Just saying.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 1  Day 5

But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him.

2 Corinthians 1:18-19

Our first allegiance is to Jesus.   Sin for us is anything that grieves or quenches the voice and leading of the Spirit of God.   People may not understand that but that is our primary objective.  All we can do is communicate our convictions clearly and consistently with compassion.  We must follow Jesus, not the will and want of man.  Understand that and you can begin to understand me.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 1 Day 3

¹² For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

2 Corinthians 1:12

There is always the voice of our conscience that works into our confidence.  Your conscience is the voice and the awareness of your spirit, that knows, not only your actions but your motives  Nobody in this world completely knows us but God does and our spirit does.  Keep things good there and you can live with things here.  To keep your spirit free, let Jesus be the Motivator of your motives. 

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2 Corinthians 1 Day 2

And He will yet deliver us, ¹¹ you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:10-11

Don’t camp in your negative feelings.   God who can raise the dead can deliver us from the grip of the flesh or the foe.  Feelings have the power to foil, frustrate, and forget what’s most important.  Let your pain or your problem drive you to pray.   Prayerlessness will end in vanity but prayerfulness will end in victory.  God doesn’t need us for anything but He wants us for everything.  Don’t let anyone or anything rob you of prayer.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

2 Corinthians 1 Day 2

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ⁶ But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; ⁷ and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:5-7

Ever walk into an intense conversation?  That’s what’s happening here.  There can be a lot of feelings in the air during an intense conversation.  Sometimes we have to do the “right” thing, the “God” thing, rather than the “people” thing. Don’t be afraid to follow God; those feelings, they help us understand what we’re facing but faith helps us understand what we’re doing.  One ends in vanity and the other in victory.