Get Out Of My Kitchen!

Years ago, we lived in a pretty small house with four kids and a large dog named King, a Labrador/Irish Setter mix. Between us and the kids, there were lots of other people in and out, too. One of King’s favorite places to stretch out was right in front of my stove. That would have been fine, except that the kitchen was not that big. It was a corridor kitchen with so little floor room that if I opened the stove or dishwasher, you couldn’t walk through! When I was standing at the sink – which was quite often – there was a door to the hallway on my right, and an entrance to the eating area on my left.

(As a side note, the dog and cat often loved to chase each other around and around this path, until the cat got bored and jumped up on the counter to watch the dog running round and round. LOL)

Inevitably, as I was working, people would inch closer and closer to me from both directions, until every time I turned to do something, an uninvited guest was almost on top of me! At that point, I would often stomp my foot and yell, “Get out of my kitchen!” That worked for a little while, at least, until they would slowly inch their way back.

The other day I was thinking about Jesus dying, descending into hell, taking the keys of Death and Hell from Satan, and rising again with the Old Testament saints. When the stone was rolled away from Jesus’ tomb, it wasn’t to let Jesus out. It was to allow Mary Magdalene, Peter, John and the Roman soldiers to see that Jesus was no longer there! So Jesus leaves hell and stops back at the tomb to appear to Mary Magdalene (a woman, by the way.)

Jesus had defeated Satan.
Death and hell could not hold Him.
The Kingdom of God had prevailed over the kingdom of darkness.

Why did Jesus NOT stomp His Holy Foot and yell at the enemy, “Get out of my world!”

I could not help but ask Father God, “Why?” Here are my thoughts.

Even if satan and all his demonic forces were kicked out of this world, all evil would not go away. The world would not automatically become Paradise. Why? We still live here! Jesus defeated Satan and paid the price for all our sin. He redeemed us. But that doesn’t mean the hearts of all mankind turned to the Lord and suddenly became unselfish, loving, gentle, and righteous. We still have a free will choice to follow God … or not. If we didn’t still have a choice, free will would be a joke. God gave us the power to choose as a gift, and He doesn’t take His gifts back.

Secondly, even those who choose to believe and trust Jesus still have to grow. Remember the story of what happens to a butterfly if someone helps it out of the cocoon? The “help” actually cripples it. The struggle serves to strengthen it and pump up the wings so they will fully expand, enabling the butterfly to actually fly.

After we choose to trust Jesus, we still have a lot of growing and maturing to do. We need to learn to live in God’s Kingdom. We need to discover who (and Whose) we actually are. We need to learn to fly. In satan’s kingdom there is anger, fear, selfishness, depression and many more lies. These don’t willingly die. In God’s Kingdom those can’t operate. Love, peace, joy, truth and wholeness abound in the Kingdom of God.

Maybe we are the ones who should “yell” at the enemy and tell him to get out of our lives, out of our families, out! Jesus said the Father put everything under His feet. We are His Body, and that includes His feet!

Romans 16:20 says “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” How does this happen? We do the stomping. Whether or not we actually stomp our feet, like I did in my kitchen, we stomp by using the authority and power that Holy Spirit gives us. And that power comes out our mouths. We may not see or hear anything, but in the spiritual world, when we speak with His authority, in Jesus’ Name, we are like the superheroes in our movies and comic books.

“Pow!” “Smack!” “Kapowie!”

The enemy doesn’t have a chance. Remember, in Matthew 16 when Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus tells him, “…you are Peter, and on this rock (his declaration of faith) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” He didn’t say there wouldn’t be a fight, but He did say His church would win. That’s us!

What comes out of mouths is important, and powerful.

Make sure the right stuff comes out.

Holy Spirit,

Thank You
That You came to live with us
When Jesus went to be with Father God.

Jesus said the Father gave Him all things,
And that You would declare those things to us.

Please show us how You see us and
how to speak according to Your Kingdom.

Thank you that we are the winners
Because of what Jesus did for us.

Amen.