Welcome To The Feast

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Today’s blog is written by new friends, Tray and Melody Lovvorn who are featured in the movie “The Heart of Man”. Touching Hearts will show this movie on Friday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. All ladies are invited to join us at the table. Even if you can’t join us, the invitation below is open to every man and woman, boy and girl. Don’t miss the most wonderful invitation ever given.

Welcome home, loved one. Come, taste and see all the goodness I have spread before you. There is no need to clean up before you arrive, so come as you are. I have flung the door open wide & prepared this day, this moment, to bless you and to remind you that you always have a seat next to Me at My table, no matter the places where you’ve been. The moment you step in the door, all has been forgiven. As you come and sit and eat with Me, fill your empty, aching soul with the truth of my unwavering love--a sweetness and satisfaction you will not find at any other table. Money cannot buy it, and no one can steal it from you. It is yours forever. My gift given to you each day to nourish your body and Spirit, lending you My strength for this day to walk in the power and victory that comes from being My child. The door is always open, your seat always reserved for you to come and rest in My presence where validation, affection, and deepest intimacy abounds with Me, you are always home.

The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises & faithful in all He does.

The Lord upholds all who fall & lifts all who are bowed down.

Psalm 145:13b-14

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness & love will follow me all the days of my life, & I will

dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:5-6

Through the beauty of God’s Word, the light of truth will lead you to understand how desperately your Abba Father loves you. Delights in you? Freely run into His arms & let Him embrace you fully with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. As you risk that vulnerability, God promises to meet you right where you are–in whatever state you are–and envelop you with loving arms that never let go.

You are His. You are home. You are safe.

Come feast with me at the TABLE!

*Taken with permission from “The Journey Home” a free devotional @ UndoneRedone.com.

Sermon In A Bag

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It’s not every day that the local restaurant preaches the sermon to you, but it happened to me just a few weeks ago. It didn’t come through the background music that was playing. There was no Bible verse stenciled on the entrance wall. I don’t even know it to be a Christian owned company. But I do know that as my husband and I met our friends at Chili’s, the sermon was at our table.

After placing my order, I reached to slip my silverware from the brown paper sleeve. I wasn’t looking for it and certainly not expecting it, but there it was. It was not only bold but also loud and I almost felt like I needed to hush it a bit. No one else at the table saw or heard it, but I certainly did.

“We were put Here to Serve.”

The font was extra large and bold, intending to be seen. There below it was a small knife and fork and words of thanks to patrons for giving millions of dollars to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. I’m sure it was an advertising campaign that men and women had spent untold hours around a dream table perfecting.

I smiled running my fingers across the words and carefully ticked it away in my purse. On that December night, it was a sermon in a bag that I greatly needed. In the holiday frenzy of trying to get everything done, I was rushing past people and taking care of me.

The bag reappeared a few days ago and God spoke loud and clear once again. This time it came with a verse I had memorized over 30 years ago.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,

and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45

Most of our days are spent trying to get our own needs met and our own list accomplished. We especially want our food servers to be kind, quick, and accurate. Well, actually we want perfect service bringing perfect food at just the perfect temperature delivered by a perfect human being. Often times I can’t even recall the face of the one who served me. We don’t give much grace for mistakes when it comes to the way we want our food.

It goes way beyond food and restaurants and marches into our everyday lives. I want to be first and I want to be treated right. More often than we choose to admit, we are selfish to the core.

I don’t usually enjoy service that costs me a lot. Too much money; too much energy; too much time; too much effort. I am prone to choose the most effortless way. I want to get things done quickly and efficiently and I often miss the people that God put me here to serve.

Jesus came simple, plain and ordinary as a brown paper bag, yet He is God. He emptied Himself and gave all that He had. He poured out His life on the table of surrender to serve and save those around Him. Actually, before He ever got to the tabletop, he went down low beneath the table and washed feet.

He always served love to all people. No matter who they were or where they were from, He gave love. This love is incomprehensible and hard to swallow without choking up with gratitude.

We are invited to the table to eat and drink of His lavish love daily. We lick clean the plate of grace. We eat every bite of forgiveness, but are very selfish when it’s time to forgive others. We find our bowl empty, spent, hurried and worried. We quickly excuse ourselves from the table, passing over brokenness, desperation and hunger right in front of us. We belch with selfish satisfaction, forgetting that we too are put here to serve.

Jesus preached the sermon best with no words. He lived serving.

Lord, forgive me for being so self focused, missing hurting people all around me. Give me your heart of love and your eyes that see and care. Give me a desire to serve others with your love. Pick me up as a utensil in your hand and feed a hungry, hurting world around me every day.

Feed the hungry. Heal the sick. Love the broken. Encourage the weary.

I am yours, Lord. Use Me!

“You Put Me Here to Serve.”

Who Stole It?

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“The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I am come that you may have life and have it to the full – abundantly.”

John 10:10

The storage container cabinet was spilling over again. The familiar frustration escalates as I cannot locate a single lid that matches to store the few left over green beans. I plop to the floor and the matching game begins when it occurs to me this must be related to the missing sock drawer. I’ve concluded that a sock thief lives in every washer and dryer who sneaks over to the storage cabinet snatching lids and containers. I guess there is a dark hidden hole someplace that has my socks neatly stored away.

Can I get a witness?

The only consolation is that all of our socks and containers must be hanging out together.

I deal daily with another thief that comes to steal from me. Trust me, he roams about like a roaring lion looking for more than socks and lids. He comes to snatch my joy, peace, passion and purpose, leaving behind a cloud of heaviness, irritability and confusion.

What in the world happened? Minutes ago I was filled with faith, hope and vision. The next minute I show up for the meeting and realize my vision is missing. My commitment has wavered. My purpose and call have dwindled. My belief disappeared.

Where did it go? Who Stole It?

While I wasn’t looking, busy with busy, staring at things that really don’t really matter, the thief stole from me. He is sneaky and watches for the slightest crevice to creep into and steal.

I plop to the floor, with tear stained face, calling out to God and attempting to take back what the enemy has stolen. I am reminded of God’s promises to me and begin to preach the sermon to myself for the thousandth time, that I am His and He is mine and His plans cannot be thwarted. I find the treasure contained within my heart. The treasure of Jesus Christ.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

The Spirit reminds me that the enemy isn’t really after me, the container, but the treasure hidden within. He comes to steal the truth from me, attempting to hinder my belief in God’s promise.

It didn’t work, Satan. I found the truth on the floor. There where the Lord sat with me and one by one He ordered my thoughts reminding me of His truth in my life.

Jesus is the power and the victory within.

He is Truth.

Greater is He that is in me, than he who comes to steal, kill and destroy.

No weapon formed against me will prosper.

I am a child of God hidden in Christ Jesus.

His call on my life cannot be revoked.

He is the Overcomer.

All spiritual blessings are mine in Christ Jesus.

One by one I stack them high in my heart, knowing that this is what I live from. This is WHO I live from.

“Grace and peace to you God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Ephesians 1:2-3

The enemy is messing with me, but he is a loser. He can have my socks and containers. He can even have my cold green beans, but He can never have my heart. It belongs to Jesus.

In victory, I rise up and STAND in His mighty power.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes.” Ephesians 6:10-11

Who is STANDING with me, even with mismatched socks?