From the Kitchen Table

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew `8

Day 20

For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.

Matthew 18:23

There are no unresolved issues in the House of Heaven.  It’s an amazing thing what results when things are resolved.  All the blessings of heaven are free to flow where conflicts are resolved.  And Jesus is the One who opened the door of forgiveness for all of us who believe.  But the comforts of heaven don’t flow where the conflicts of the earth are allowed to live.  Forgiveness is the only answer to the conflicts of man.  God wishes to settle the accounts, our accounts.  It will start with Him and end with us.  Forgiveness begins by receiving God’s forgiveness and ends with us releasing that forgiveness to others.  Settle your accounts, it will keep heaven flowing to us, in us, and through us.

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.

Kitchen Table Devotions

Matthew 18

Day 14

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.                           Matthew 18:17

Bring the love!  This seems like anything but love but it is love.  Here’s the gist of it.  Let a person own what they believe.  Let a person have what they hope for but don’t give up on them.  They are going to be treated like a Gentile & a tax-collector who were people Jesus hung out with in His life.  Gentiles &  tax collectors were lost & left out of God’s kingdom.  That was their choice.  But we don’t love people by letting them believe they know God and His salvation when they don’t.  Love lets a person know they own their belief, but it doesn’t let their belief own us.  Love speaks the truth, but it doesn’t give up on the truth and operates from that truth. 

Kitchen Table

Matthew 18

Day 13

But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED

 Matthew 18:16

Bring the love and keep bringing it.  Love is the only answer to the issues and problems we face in this life.  God’s love just keeps coming to us.  He never gives up, walks away, or curses us.  Follow Him!  Keep bringing the love.  Go back.  Go back, not to condemn, but to confirm the facts of what has happened and what will happen.  Discernment is difficult from a distance.  Just not talking is not an option.  This love is going to lead us to discuss, discern, and decide how each of us wants to live in or out of God’s love.  But don’t give up; keep bringing the love.

Kitchen Table

Matthew 18

Day 12

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

Matthew 18:15

Bring the love.  It all begins with how we see people.  If people are merely strangers, we might treat them right, but if they are siblings, we will hopefully talk to them right.  Bringing the love begins with how we see others, not what we have to say to them.  God’s love has the power to change our perceptions.  Praise God.  And if we love people, we will show them rather than merely scold them.  How much better is it when we are shown what’s right or wrong rather than scolded for it?  It makes a difference, but it takes a deep love that creates real courage.  Think about that!  Deep love creates real courage.  We must let the love of God show us how to love others.