We have so much to be thankful for yet so often we lose sight of this reality slipping into an alternative reality of complaining. Today we’ll see that the context of the “Table of Demons” we’ve been discussing actually involves complaining.
1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. ESV
The context of this verse is seen in the verses that precede it. Notice just eleven verses earlier complaining destruction that results is explained:
1 Corinthians 10:10 (Do not) complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. NKJV
When you use your voice to worship God it actually attracts the spirit realm into your life? (Ps 22:3). Complaining also attracts the spirit realm into your life but it’s the wrong realm.
The devil was cursed in Genesis to crawl on his belly and eat dust. You and I were made from dirt. Your flesh is devil food.
The table of demons is fed by your fleshly, carnal, self-absorbed attitudes. 2 Timothy reveals nineteen characteristics of people that will turn away from the table of the Lord in the last days.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! NIV
Notice the first thing listed is how people will be lovers of themselves. That’s really the sewer pipe from which all the other garbage flows. When you are around someone who is a lover of self all they do is talk about why things aren’t working out for them. They can’t stop talking about themselves. They can’t stop thinking about themselves.
Any of us that just focus on ourselves will ultimately become depressed. If I spent a lot of time staring at myself in the mirror, I’d just fixate on everything I don’t like.
We are designed to stare at him. That’s what liberates us into being everything he designed us to become. Get your eyes off yourself! Get your focus of yourself! Are you a lover of money? If so, then why? So you can spend it on yourself. Are you proud? If so, then why? because you’re proud of yourself.
The Bible speaks of a day when people won’t go into church looking for how they can use their gift to bring transformation or encouragement to others. They will be looking for a church that pleases them that cares for them that feeds them well. There will be a migration away from any form of gratitude and it will all become about complaining.
Why can’t the church do more of this or less of that? Why can’t the music be more of this or less of that? Why can’t the preaching be more of this or less than that?
Complaining about my house my car my wife my husband my kids my job. Instead of I am so thankful that I was dead but now I’m alive and I get to serve the eternal purposes of God. Are you kidding me? This is my life? I get to use gifts that God gave me to serve the lives of people around me! I have so much to be thankful for and as I cooperate with that gratitude and generosity my life only gets more and more enriched. As I cooperate with complaining my attitude erodes and my life is diminished.
Are you complaining or are you believing because you can’t do both? To complain is to not believe. If all things truly do work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes, then why are you complaining? Don’t let the enemy trick you into misappropriating the resource of your voice. Your voice should be a thermostat to change the atmosphere rather than a thermometer to broadcast it.
Stop complaining about your giants and sit at the Lord’s table in the presence of those enemies.
Numbers 14:9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And o not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." ESV
Giants in your life are bread! Your enemies are bread for you. They are preparation for what’s ahead. Your giant is your next meal designed by God to provide for you the strength to step into the next dimension of the call of God on your life! Goliath wasn’t there to defeat David. He was there to promote him.
We want God to give us strength for the battle. God gives us strength from the battle.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Correct yourself every time you complain this week purposing to feast at the Table of the Lord instead.
THE TABLE: COMPLAINING
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: A shared meal could be the activity most closely tied to the reality of God’s kingdom, just as it is the most basic expression of hospitality. It comes as no surprise that many significant
stories of Jesus are centered around a dinner table.
When Jesus wanted to explain to his disciples what his death was all about, he didn’t give them an informative lecture. He gave them a relational meal.
In a society that has grown so relationally disconnected, an invitation to Biblical hospitality might be one of the most compelling and irresistible aspects of Christianity. The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It’s about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment.
God’s plan is for us to hear his voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with the first question:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Don’t move on to the next question until everybody who is willing to share has had the opportunity to give their perspective.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! NIV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. Have each person give a 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, in their own words.
3. What do these verses teach us about God?
4. What do these verses teach us about people?
5. What should you do this week in response to what we are reading and what God is revealing?
6. Who comes to mind when considering a person you might share this with this week?
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Correct yourself every time you complain this week purposing to feast at the Table of the Lord instead.