Grace Pulls Up Another Chair
A chair pulled out and a plate set, grace making room.
Devotional Credit: eManna, Witness Lee
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Matthew 9 shows Jesus noticing a man everyone else would rather ignore. A tax booth. A simple invitation. Follow Me. Matthew stands and goes, and before the day is over his house is full of guests that polite society calls sinners. Jesus is there at the table, not scolding from the doorway, but reclining with them as a friend.
Witness Lee highlights the surprise of grace. Matthew was not just a struggler, he was despised. Yet Jesus calls him, then sits in his home, then turns a man of low reputation into an apostle. That is the sweetness of the gospel. Jesus does not wait for us to climb to Him. He brings His presence to our address and says, Come with Me.
This is the kind of mercy that changes identity. The old labels do not get the last word. In union with Jesus we are made new, not polished versions of our past. The call to Follow Me is not an invitation to try harder, it is an invitation into shared life, His life in us. As we abide, His kindness, purity, and courage begin to show up through us.
Thank you, Witness Lee, for pointing our eyes to Jesus at the table, shaping a new family around Himself. Your reflection helps us see that grace does more than forgive, grace makes room. It lifts the overlooked, then sends them to lift others with the welcome they have received.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I see you where you are, and I call you to follow the Son. I do not call the worthy, I call the ones who know their need. I choose what the world considers weak and low, so that no one may boast before Me. I am rich in mercy, and I have made you alive together with Jesus. I wash you, I sanctify you, and I justify you in My name and by My Spirit.
You are joined to the Lord, one spirit with Him. The old has passed away, the new has come. Christ lives in you, and the life you now live in the body you live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. I have raised you with Him to walk in newness of life. There is now no condemnation for you in Him, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free.
Abide in Me, and I in you. Apart from Me you can do nothing, yet as you remain in Me you bear much fruit. I am at work in you, both to will and to do for My good pleasure. I began a good work in you, and I will carry it to completion. I have brought you near, made you a fellow citizen with the saints, and a member of My household. The welcome you have received becomes the welcome I now express through you.
Open your table, your schedule, and your heart. Present yourself to Me as one alive from the dead. I will express the kindness of God through your words, your eyes, your patience. Not by your effort, but by grace. The Son will never cast you out, and He delights to dine with you. As He is, so are you in this world, a living sign that there is a seat for the overlooked at My table.
Real-Life Analogy
Dinner is almost ready. An unexpected neighbor knocks. You pull another plate, add a fork and a glass, slide the chairs so there is space. The room does not grow bigger, yet the table feels larger because welcome showed up. That is a picture of how the indwelling Jesus expresses His life through you. He does not ask you to perform, He makes room through you, and people sense a quiet invitation to belong.
Try this today. When the coworker others avoid steps near your desk, pause, lift your eyes, and whisper, Lord, I trust You to extend Your welcome through me right now, be my patience and kindness in this moment. Offer a seat. Use their name. Ask one sincere question, then listen without rushing. That simple act is Jesus expressing His hospitality through your ordinary day.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that Your Son noticed me at my own tax booth moments and called me into His life. Thank You that in Jesus I am clean, wanted, and seated at Your table. Your Spirit lives in me, so welcome and mercy are not distant goals, they are present resources. I rest in Your fullness. Today I walk in the good works You have prepared, trusting You to love through me with the same grace that found me.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Matthew 9:9 to 13; Luke 5:29 to 32; John 6:37; John 15:4 to 5; Romans 3:24; Romans 5:8; Romans 6:4; Romans 8:1 to 2; 1 Corinthians 1:27 to 29; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:4 to 10; Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 1:6; Philippians 2:13; Titus 3:5 to 7; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 4:17; Revelation 3:20