Stay in the Kitchen by Chuck Swindoll

2 Timothy 4:5-8 "5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

As we have been discussing, homes and churches across the country today are haunted by ghosts of the Ephraimites, men who were skilled and fully equipped for battle but who turned and fled when the going got tough (see Psalm 78:9).

Yes, "Let's just quit" are household words. A marriage gets shaky and hits a few hard jolts—"Let's just quit." When a personal dream or goal in life is met with hurdles and hardship—both goal and dream are soon forgotten. Before long we begin to resemble Rome in its last days—a magnificent mask of outward, impressive stature . . . devoid of inner strength . . . soft and mushy at the core, desperately lacking in discipline and determination.

There is not an achievement worth remembering that isn't stained with the blood of diligence and etched with the scars of disappointment. To run, to quit, to escape, even to hide solves nothing . . . it only postpones a reckoning with reality. It may feel good now, but it's disaster when the bills come due.

Are you facing some difficult battle today? Don't run! Stand still . . . and refuse to retreat. Look at it as God looks at it and draw upon His power to hold up under the blast. Sure, it's tough. Nobody ever said the Christian life was easy. God never promised you a Disneyland. He offers something better—His own sustaining presence through any trouble we may encounter.

I've not been a great admirer of Harry S. Truman—but I did, at times, appreciate his gristle. The battle often raged during his presidency and on one occasion he responded to it with the words:

"If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

I've not met anyone who was able to stay strong without some time in the kitchen. Ephraimites are terribly undernourished. So my advice is a little different from Truman's:

If you don't like the heat—stay in the kitchen and learn to handle it!

Negative verses Positive

Our flesh is filled with negative flesh, the negative thought process of self, the destructive behavior that we are not worth something or we do not deserve it holds us down. The flesh talking is our worldly/sinful nature. We can nutrition the wrong thing, if we continue to feed into it, if we continue to walk in the flesh, we continue to be the puppet of the devil. Adam and Eve gave into the talk of the devil that displayed to them they could be like God, they desired the wrong thing, just as we are when we give into our flesh, when we feed the negative and we start cursing the very ground we walk on with negative talk, with destructive behavior. We are feeding the very thing that the devil wants us to feed. Can you imagine how the devil must feel when we complain about the very things that God has given us? Can you imagine how he must get when we are full of wishing that maybe the job I have isn't where God wants me, or doubting what God has done in my life? The devil must feel like he is winning. The devil wants us to feed the flesh, give into the desires of our feelings and to question our very life.

God is clear what He wants us to do. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything, not just in the good, but everything give thanks, that means that goes against our flesh, that is our very desire to ugh, I have to do this again, but God calls us to thank the Lord in all things. We need to stop feeding the flesh and start fighting for victory over the flesh. God knew and knows why He put that in the Bible. He knew that we would struggle with thanksgiving, He also knew that the devil loves negativity, loves us to hate what we are doing, to doubt our prayer life, to doubt our devotions. The devil wins every time that we use our feelings to control what we do, instead of doing it because that is what God calls us to do. We have to stop living by feelings and start living by the word of God and by what God is saying to us.

The devil will feed us lies and when we give into those lies we are allowing him to have a foot hold in our lives. He will tell us things and when we believe his lies, we are no longer standing for what God has called us to. It is time to have victory from it and no longer allow the devil to fill us with his lies, his negative talk, his self doubt, he is trying to destroy us each step of our day. Isn't it time to start allowing God to take back control of our lives? Isn't it time for a change? When do you think that change will start happening if you want it to?

It starts now, in the Name of Jesus devil you have no place in my life. In the name of Jesus Satan your lies need to be gone from my life. In the Name of Jesus, Satan you have no place and Jesus You have authority in my life, In the Name of Jesus, help me to see the truth of my wrongs and rights. In the name of Jesus open my eyes so that I may see the truth of my thoughts, words and actions. In the name of Jesus, Satan you have no authority over me, my family anymore and I stand for the truth in Jesus Name.

It is time to allow Jesus to take back control of the negative that is destroying Jesus's truth and that is by taking the power that Jesus has given us to use His name to get rid of the devils foot holds. It is time to clear them from our lives. It will not just be a one time thing, do this over and over again, allow Jesus to break the chains that is binding your heart, your life and to set you free so you will be free in deed.

A song I sing, my Mom taught me when I was young and still sing it.
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus,
We have the victory. Hallelujah!
In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus,
Satan will have to flee.

When we stand in the name of Jesus,
Tell me who can stand against us.
In the mighty name of Jesus,
We have the victory.
Who can tell what God can do.
Who can tell his love for you.
When we stand in the name of Jesus,
We have the victory.

In the name of Jesus,
In the name of Jesus
We have the victory,
In the name of Jesus,
In the name of Jesus
Demons will have to flee,
When we stand on the name of Jesus
Tell me who can stand before,
In the mighty name of Jesus,


We have the victory.Sing it, Jesus has won and wants us to win in His name.

Swearing/Cursing

I work in the world, I am in an environment that it sounds like there are people that only love trash talk, and trashy mouths. It is easy to hear it and think that it is OK to speak like that, but the Bible has other things to say about swearing and/or cursing. It isn't just something that Christians should not do, but it is something that the Bible talks about.

In Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk (unwholesome words) come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Corrupt talk is unwholesome words, well what is unwholesome words?
Matthew 15:11 ""It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man"" We are defiled when our words are not pleasing to God. Is swearing pleasing to God?
James 1:26 "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." Wow, so if I can't control what comes from my mouth, I am lying to myself. This is a difficult thing to do, but with the Holy Spirit living in us, He will help us walk in freedom.

Ephesians 5:3-4 "3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

I don't know about you, but the Bible is very clear about cursing and we must make sure that our lives our pure and that is by what comes out of our mouths too.

What is more important?
A. What God thinks
B. What people think about the words that come from our mouths

Who is more important?
A. God
B. People

If we are more worried about people, we do not worry about what comes from our mouths.

Bottom line is this:
Psalm 19:14 "14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Relationships

Our relationships take work, it is a give and take thing. We must be willing to give to form a relationship with someone, just as we take from them. We can't very well think that when we are forming a friendship with someone that all we do is listen, we must invest, take time to make it grow, we must be willing to do both. It isn't a very good relationship if all we do is take from the person and are never willing to give back to it. We must be willing to invest time into it, maybe even money for things to work. If all I do is expect from the relationship and never do anything to help it grow, that relationship will shrivel up and sooner or later die. If the other person is investing all they have into it and I am doing nothing, it is a very one sided relationship right? Have you ever had a friendship where all you felt like you did was give to the other person and they never did anything to help it grow? How did that make you feel? I for one have had that happen, it makes me feel used, like it isn't much of a friendship, it is just like an obligation that person must feel to keep talking to me.

Can you imagine how Jesus feels? He has given us everything, He is always with us, He goes before us, He is speaking to us daily, but when we don't speak to Him, don't learn about Him and feel like we have to do something, we are not wanting a friendship with Him, we are just wanting to take from Him and never give back. That must break His heart. He wants a friendship with us that isn't one sided, He wants to love us and wants to be loved by us. But it takes action, it takes work, just like our physical relationships take work.

We need to be willing to give to Jesus and that is our time, our thoughts, our thanksgiving, our praise, our surrender to Him. Just like in a physical friendships if we are not willing to give to help them grow, they will die, just as our relationship with Jesus Christ will be. It will grow to be like something we have to do, instead of yearn to help it grow and change. Our physical relationships will not grow if we don't invest into them, so how can our spiritual relationships grow if we do not invest time into them?

Our relationship with our Heavenly Father is a direct representation of our physical relationships. Are our physical relationships suffering too? Are we willing to invest into them or are we only takers? We take but never give back?

Is it time to change our thinking about what relationship looks like? It isn't about taking, it is about giving and taking. The more we give, the more we have, but the more we take, the less we have. Kind of a reverse thought, but it is the truth.

If you say it is to much, remember these truths:
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

Ephesians 3:14, 16 "For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father . . . that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His spirit in the inner man."

2 Peter 1:4 "He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature."

And one more:

1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

My final thought, in our personal relationships, you get out of them, what you put into them. If you want more, put more in. Same with our relationship with Jesus Christ, if you aren't getting what you think you should get back, look at what you are putting into it.