The Banquet Before You

September Teaching Letter from Denise Renner

Dear friend,

This year has just been going by so fast! 

I pray that you and your family have been safe and blessed as you’ve made your way through the year so far, and I also want to say that I’m praying that any teachers, students, and parents have settled in after this transition into a new school year. 

At this point, I’m sure we’ve all seen so many things happen in our lives during this year, things that are beautiful and that we are so grateful for as well as things that have been hard or frightening. There is always so much happening all around us, but that is why we need to be aware of the unchanging promises of God.

As I write about His constancy, it just reminds me of something that He does for us, something that is set up for our benefit every single day. Friend, I believe this letter is going to be so encouraging to you, because today we are talking about the table set before us in the very presence of our enemies.

[If you started reading in your email, begin here]

You’re probably familiar with Psalm 23:5, which says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” The table that this verse talks about is set right now for you and me, and on it is everything you need.

Just imagine with me this magnificent table. It is covered with the finest of tablecloths and set with the finest napkins, silverware, and dishes, and all over this table are these bowls. Friend, there are bowls filled with healing, peace, joy, financial provision, and soundness of mind — and it’s all set on the table just for you!

Now, when you see this beautiful table, you can choose to stand back and just look at it. You can decide to just stand there and say, “Oh, nice table. Oh, look at that beautiful bowl of healing over there, and there’s some peace over there. Oh, that looks so good.” But if that’s all you do, then you’re not going to get anything from it.

Friend, God doesn’t want us to just look at the table — He wants us to sit down and take from it. You didn’t come up with this idea — the Bible says He’s the one who prepares it, so why would He do that if He didn’t want us to have it? But it doesn’t matter how much He wants it for us if we refuse to sit down at the table and start eating.

It reminds me of what the Bible says in James 1:22-24:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

Of course, these verses use the picture of looking in a mirror and then forgetting what we saw, but we can apply this idea to the table in Psalm 23 as well. If we are just looking at the table and saying, “Oh look, there’s a bowl of healing. Praise the Lord that by the stripes of Jesus, I’m healed,” but we’re not actually reaching out and taking from that bowl, then we’re being hearers only. If you want to be a doer, then you have to reach out and take from those bowls that God has provided for you.

He is giving freely, friend, giving so much that our cups should be running over, so just reach out and claim it! If you think that you’ve been eating from the bowl of joy, but you’re not joyful yet, then just take some more. Keep taking and eating until you are full of joy! Maybe you have taken from the table and been filled up before, but now your plate is almost empty. Well, there’s still more on the table, so God can fill your plate right back up! The provision has never run out, and the blood of Jesus has never lost its power, so that bowl of courage or love or patience is still on the table, ready for you and I to just dip in and start eating.

Maybe you wonder what I mean by eating. Well, the Bible says that we are to renew our minds (see Romans 12:2), and part of how we do that is by being in the Word. When we get into the Word, it opens our eyes to let us see everything that is set on the table for us. We become able to say, “That bowl of mercy right there has my name on it, so I am going to take of it until I see it manifest in my life. Just because I got sick doesn’t mean that healing isn’t on the table. Oh no, it’s there, and I’m going to eat of it.”

I was challenged about a year ago to try reading through the Bible multiple times in one year. Now, reading all the same things multiple times in one year might seem like it would get a little repetitive. You might be saying, “Denise, haven’t you already read those scriptures? Don’t you know those things already?” Well, yes, I do know a lot from reading the Bible many times, but oh, how I need to know more! How we all need to know and experience more of His Word!

Maybe you’ve read through the whole Bible, but have you really discovered what it says in Ephesians 3:18 about the width, length, depth, and height of His love? Have you experienced the truth of “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)? Have you personally found all of these things yet?

Friend, I have read through the Bible a few times in my life, and I still only know a tiny bit of what’s on the table. There are still things I am discovering and experiencing from His Word, and you still have things to discover too. We always will, but as long as we keep going back to the table, even if we didn’t see it before, we will find a bowl full of whatever provision we are in need of. 

Even the enemy can’t stop us from taking from these bowls of provision, friend. Even if the devil comes with sickness, strife, confusion, or serious financial problems, the table has been set in the presence of those problems! God is so unintimidated by your enemies that He doesn’t just give you the answer, but He sets it on a table where you can sit down and eat without fear.

I want to encourage you to make it a priority in your life to read God’s Word. This book is the table that He has set before you in the presence of your enemies, and it’s up to you and I to start taking it in. Let’s make the choice to renew our minds and sit and eat what the Lord has provided for us.

I am so grateful to be able to share this encouragement with you today, and I want to remind you that if you ever need another believer to stand with you as you believe for His promises, our team is here for you. Every weekday from 8 AM to 5 PM CT, our Partner Care team is available by phone at 1.844.473.6637 or by email at denisesocial@renner.org, and we are eager to come alongside you and come before the Lord for whatever you need right now.

As always, I also want to invite you to come watch my weekly program live on Mondays at 7 AM CT on both Facebook  and YouTube or on Facebook at 12 PM CT on Wednesdays. I am starting a new series this month on Psalm 23 that is just so precious, and I can’t wait for you to see the ways God acts as your Shepherd, so I hope you will join me for TIME With Denise Renner and be encouraged by the truth about this amazing, providing, protecting God that we serve.

We are moving forward together,

Denise Renner