The Table is for Everyone

It feels like we are being drawn into a fight we are not supposed to be in.

So what do we do and what are we supposed to be focused on?

Ted Hanson’s blogs:

Bloggs = https://ted4you.com and https://ted4leaders.com

https://christlifetraining.org

Living in the comfort seeking societies of the world often blinds us to the truth of the spiritual reality that we face in life. We live in a visible world, but there is a realm that is invisible to our natural eyes that is the true issue of our wrestle in life.

We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but most of our conflicts in life come in packages of flesh and blood. Those packages are human lives that are often manipulated, controlled, and deceived in some way.

Our adversary seeks to destroy love. He seeks to destroy relationships. Relationships are the most valued treasure in life. Our love for God and for one another is the true value of life. God is a giver. He is not a taker. He gives life, breath, and all things for the purpose of life. As children of God, we were created to be in our Father’s likeness and image. We must seek life and live our lives as a part of the family tree of life. As leaders, we lead others in clinging to life and giving life to each one’s world.

“When we fall for the trap of thinking that our enemy is flesh and blood, we fall for a deception that only leads to dysfunction and death.”

Ted Hanson

Finding purpose amongst what appears to be our enemies.

Psalm 23:5–6 (NASB95)

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Table = a place of community, a place for food and drink.

Table = a place of community, a place for food and drink for you and your so called enemies.

“We were born into our world to bring God’s life into our world.”

Ted Hanson

“You Anoint My Head With Oil”

Sheep can get their head caught in briers and die trying to get untangled. There are horrid little flies that like to torment sheep by laying eggs in their nostrils which turn into worms and drive the sheep to beat their head against a rock, sometimes to death. Their ears and eyes are also susceptible to tormenting insects. So the shepherd anoints their whole head with oil. Then there is peace. That oil forms a barrier of protection against the evil that tries to destroy the sheep.

Do you have times of mental torment?

Do the worrisome thoughts invade your mind about others?

Do you beat your head against a wall trying to salve your problems?

Have you ever asked God to anoint your head with oil?

He has an endless supply! His oil protects and makes it possible for you to fix your heart, mind, and eyes on Him today and always! There is peace in the valley! May our good good Father anoint your head with oil today so that your cup overflows with blessings! God is good and He is faithful!!

We must always keep in mind that (just like anointed sheep) we have also been anointed and protected (sealed) by our Shepherd.

Anoint my head = give us authority to overcome and protects us against pests.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (NASB95)

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Closing:

Your enemies are not flesh and blood even though it appears that the people you love are acting like your enemy.

Dont get drawn into the fight we are not anointed for.

We are not anointed to pursue comfort.

Are you sitting at the table of the community God has called you to?

Are you letting God feed you in the middle of you facing your enemies?

Read James 4

Activation:

Jesus, Will You set the table before me and my enemies?

Jesus, Will You anoint my head with oil to give me authority and protection?

Other Resources:

Psalm 78:19–20 NASB95

19 Then they spoke against God; They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? 20 “Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?”

1 Peter 2:11–12 (NASB95)

11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

James 4 (NASB95)

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.