From the Kitchen Table

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 12

And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.             Luke 15:14

Sometimes the best thing love can do is nothing.  It seems like we have difficulty seeing our situation until we’re in one.  It wasn’t until the young man had spent everything that he found himself in a severe famine.  In a time of real need is a tough time to realize that we’re needy.  Honesty is the first of humility and humility is needed to walk honestly through life.  Hard times reveal the hard truths and in those moments it’s not time to complain but it’s time to contemplate.  Complaining rather than contemplating will lead to another bad conversation and another bad choice.  Take a moment to contemplate not just complain, God is waiting to talk to you.

The Kitchen Table

“The Prodigal”

Day 11

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

Luke 15:12-13

There’s only one person you can control and only your possessions can you spend freely.  Don’t give that freedom away.  All of this, our lives, and our possessions are given by our Father to enjoy for His glory.  It’s the Father’s love to give His luxury, but selfish gloom, greed, and guilt won’t let us see that truth.  There’s no luxury in loneliness and it’s easy to live reckless when we feel worthless.  Honesty is the first step to humility and humility is needed to see honestly.  Without humility, there’s only humiliation.  We can point at others but we’re the only ones responsible for how we live.  The Bible says that we will give an account for how we lived (Rom 14:12).  We can point at others but the life we’re living right now is the one we’ve chosen.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 10

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

Luke 15:12-13

When you step out the door this morning, know where you’re going and why.  If we don’t know why we’re leaving, we probably don’t know who we’re serving.  The younger son was leaving the one who loved him most.  Emotions run high when expectations run low.  One way to know we’re leaving out of sorts is that we want to live out of sight.  Walking out the door with guilt and greed is a bad way to start a journey in life.  Find your why before you get the where and what you don’t want to see.  Love doesn’t always light up the room, but it won’t leave you in the dark.  Never forget your Father loves you and leaves you with a why, a where and a what you won’t regret.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 9

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.               Luke 15:13

There is no end to the appetite of lust and greed.  Both are like empty stomachs that demand more and more.  And who knows for sure why these appetites exist but they do.  There is always a reason or rationale for this hunger but like sugar, they create a craving for more.  An independent spirit is vulnerable with its reasons, resources, and free range to do as it chooses.  The world becomes so small when we become so big.  The world calls independence maturity but maturity is found in interdependence and so are good decisions.  Before you step out the door, know where you’re going and why.  Bad choices can leave deep cuts.  You have a Father who loves you and wants you well.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 3

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.                           Luke 15:11-12

Be careful what you ask for!  With one decision, one choice, the younger son found himself with only a portion of the ranch and wealth that was available to him.  Living with his father he has access to the whole wealth of the ranch.  Living under the covering of his father he enjoys the full care and consideration of his father.  Sometimes we react to what we have before we recognize what we’re going to get.  Our defiance will leave us with a divided inheritance and life.  Whittling our relationships down to one may make us independent but leave us incomplete.  Don’t forget your Father loves you!

The Kitchen Table Devotional

“The Prodigal”

Day 2

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’                   Luke 15:11-12

Family and friends are a gift from God; Christian family and friends are a blessing from God.  Things get dangerous as our discernment dwindles to just ourselves.  Greed grows where there is no company or bad company.  Lust thrives in loneliness.  Without the help of his brother, friend or father the younger son sees the opportunity to seize the opportunity for himself.  Greed thrives on the gusto of the immature heart and head.  I’ll take rather than I’m thankful is the language of the selfish heart.  When we become self-centered, we become self-absorbed and suspicious about the second and third person in our lives.  It’s no way to live but it’s hard to see because we must see it before we seize it.  We reap what we sow.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Prodigal”

Day 1

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’                   Luke 15:11-12

Life has a way of whittling our prospects down to two choices.  In this particular story, there are two sons but three people.  There’s the father who offers a third choice in this life.  But when our eyes become so fixed on ourselves there seem to be only two options: religion or rebellion.  On the road of life there’s the ditch of legalism and on the other side is the ditch of lawlessness.  In the middle of the path is a relationship and love.  There’s a third person and a third choice and that is the lover who becomes the real prodigal here lavishly giving all he has to everyone he loves.  And that’s where we begin this story.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Resurrection”

Day 20

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.                      Philippians 3:10-11

The resurrection raises us to live this life.  But there is no resurrection without a termination.  Paul writes, “that I may know Him…”  There are people who have been raised to life, but they don’t live there.  Paul writes about knowing the power of the resurrection empowers us to live up to the life God has promised and provided for us. The power and the promise of the resurrection to live the resurrected life, Jesus provided us, belongs to those who believe in the resurrection of the resurrected One.  The only thing that keeps us from living in the power of the resurrected life is continuing to believe in the perspective of the un-resurrected life.  Without dying to the old there is no resurrected living in the new.  The power of the resurrection isn’t something that just happened but it’s something that is happening in the lives of those who believe.

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Resurrection”

Day 18

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.                      Philippians 3:10-11

The resurrection power is found in the resurrected Person.  If we want to know the power of the resurrection, we must know the Person who was resurrected.  We know about the resurrection, the apostles spoke about it, wrote about it, and live about it because they knew the One who showed us about it.  The resurrection power is found in the resurrected Person, Jesus.  And this resurrection power isn’t just something to believe happened, but it’s something that happens in the ones who believe.  It’s real and God can resurrect any part, problem, and piece of the lives of anyone who believes in Jesus because they’ve met Jesus and know Jesus personally. 

The Kitchen Table Devotions

“The Resurrection”

Day 18

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.                      Philippians 3:10-11

To be a resurrection there must be a termination.  What’s living doesn’t need resurrecting.  To know and live the life God has for us we can’t be afraid to die to what Satan’s given us.  But death involves suffering.  We weren’t created to die but sin brought the wages of death, and we suffer in dying, not just physically but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Giving up what we know to have what God knows involves suffering (dying) for what’s good and right and true.  Our flesh (skin) lives in fear and keeps us in fear to old thoughts, things, and worthless treasures.  Our spirit wasn’t created to live in fear or death but by faith in the voice of our Creator.  Let your spirit live!  Don’t be afraid of dying if you’re into living.