Celebrating His Abundance

Restore Monday Musings is excited to be back! We have spent the summer and early fall studying and planning for a wonderful year for the ministry. We hope that you will join in the celebration as we share what the Lord is teaching us through the blog in the months ahead!

Special note ***This blog has lots of pictures and a slide show. Please click the Restore butterfly to take you to the website for viewing.

They feast on the abundance of your house; 
you give them drink from your river of delights.
​ Psalm 36:8

Jesus was all about the table. Throughout the Scriptures He was forever feasting with His disciples, the religious leaders, the tax collectors and the sinners. Last spring when I was reading through the gospel of Luke I came across this verse spoken by Jesus in Luke 7:34, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors, and sinners. But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”  
I wondered, what is the real meaning behind that verse? And so began my journey in Luke through the lens of feasting in the gospels.

Recently, I was visiting with a woman about Restore Ministries plans for this year and she asked me how we came up with the idea of “A Feast for Your Soul” for our Women’s Night of Worship and Home Bible Study theme. I told her about my experience and how Sherry and I had spent the summer exploring how we might engage in the "Feast."

I think Jesus believed that celebrating life around the table is one of the greatest ways to share the gospel message and I agree. He loved a good party, He attended a lot of feasts in His ministry! Around the table we tell our stories, build memories, and share our faith journeys. 
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But we’re in danger of losing the connectedness, community and faith building power of life around the table in our fast food, grab and go culture in America today.​

In Genesis, God commands human beings to “Eat freely...” (Genesis 2:16) and in the final chapter of Scripture He says,  “Drink freely....”  In between these two bookends of the Bible, throughout the Scriptures, God lays out for us a table where He serves us a life-course meal. It is a meal where we have the privilege and opportunity to feast in our hearts on the very Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation: Jesus Christ. 
We must let our hunger take us to the Bread of Life. 
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Sometimes, don’t you feel like you are just living to check off your to do” list. I know I do. It’s so easy to get caught in that trap of just surviving the days, as if that will satisfy. But Jesus offers so much more...He offers us Himself! 
We are to drink freely of the water of life, Jesus, the living water for our souls for He alone can satisfy.​

Around the table we build community that nurtures our faith within our families and among believers and those who don’t yet know the Savior.

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Throughout the Old and New Testaments we find the thread of redemption leading us to Jesus. Our salvation comes through a God who comes to eat with us at a table and to feed us with His very presence. 
The Scriptures are written to exalt and reveal the glory of God, to bring us a revelation of His worth, beauty and excellence that we might bow our hearts in worship of Jesus as our Savior and Lord. As we choose to feast on Jesus as Savior, we learn how to live our lives for His glory, transformed by the power of His Spirit and grace. We have the privilege of exploring the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:8) As we draw near, we learn the beauty of surrender in the worship of Jesus as His beloved Bride! 

This beautiful story of redemption is one that we should read, see, and savor! The stories in Scripture are designed to shape us, if we will only allow ourselves to enter in, use our minds, our imaginations, and our senses to taste, see and smell and feel the stories.

For He satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul He fills with good things.
 Psalm 107:9 ESV 

God willing, throughout the year, in our blog we hope to take you along with us in our "Feast" study as we travel with Jesus and his disciples through the pages of God’s pursuing love story.  We’ll use our imaginations and visit places like Galilee, the little village of Bethany, Jericho, and Jerusalem as we enter into stories of feasting in Scripture and explore the amazing truths and lessons the Father has for us. The locations of these meals move from  the homes of Pharisees to followers of Jesus and tax collectors, to hillsides and shores by the sea. Wherever Jesus gathered for a meal with the people, He filled them with the wonder of His transforming truth. In the course of the meal He shares life-giving lessons for us all.
Our prayer is that as you read along with us, you will feel like you have joined with us in the Feast in your hearts even though you may live far away or cannot attend our monthly “Feast” gatherings. It will be a great joy to savor together the nourishing words of Scripture and in the process we will “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8

These beautiful pictures were taken by the amazing photographer, Sage Veach during our Women's Night of Worship Feast on September 7th at Community Bible Church. Over one hundred women from at least twelve different churches came to join in our celebration. I think the photographs capture the hearts of the women as we gathered to worship, fellowship, and feast on the Word of life. We enjoyed a pretty amazing Mediterranean meal too! Our hearts and tummies were full! We are so grateful for the serving teams that helped to make it such a glorious night. In the future we will gather with about fifty women once a month in my home for our "Feast" study. We are expectant that the Lord will move powerfully by His Spirit as we seek His heart for us in community.

I hope that today’s blog has been like an appetizer for you. In the months ahead we will endeavor to celebrate the abundance of the feast of Jesus as He reveals Himself in Scripture. We are praying that as we engage in some of the stories of His life and ministry, the menu will nourish our spirits and restore our souls.

Meanwhile, why not schedule a “feast” in your own home?

• Invite some friends, or neighbors and prepare a meal, set a lovely fall table. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be special. 
• Simply choose to savor the beauty of this season and purpose to speak words of love and truth to those who gather with you. 
• Engage in life- giving conversations around the table. Serve up His grace. You might be surprised at how enriching feasting on the Word and a delicious meal can be in your own life!

Feasting on Jesus and His abundance in our lives,
Kathy

Resources: John Piper, John Bloom, Sally Clarkson, Leonard Sweet

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