Good morning, Lord Jesus. First thing in the morning, I turn to You first -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. I seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, that You may set things right in me and set the right path before me in all the steps of my day (Matthew 6:33). ...
My heart is full of gratitude today. Yesterday evening on the drive home from my men’s group, You gave such a strong sense that You were moving mightily on our behalf and our prayers. I strongly sensed You were calling me and so many to humbly pray and boldly proclaim in faith for restoration in the lives of your people. And while we may yet have a long way to go to Your second coming and complete manifestation on earth ,what You have done in heaven in response to the prayers of Your people around the world, we are seeing some rays of hope. We are hearing some good news of Your grace on some major fronts in the battle. And I give You all glory and honor and praise!
Ultimately, regardless of what the world says, You have the final say. And what You have to say for us is always, ultimately good: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, for your welfare and not for harm, to give a future with hope. Then when you call upon Me and come and pray to Me, I will hear you. When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
You are with us and You are for us. If God be for us, what can stand against us (Romans 8:31). You will turn everything all around for us in ways we can't yet see or even imagine (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:20). You're the God who hears and who answers! "To my God, I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice!" (Psalm 18:6)
"I love You, O Lord, my Strength.
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer,
my God, my Rock in whom I take refuge,
my Shield, and the Horn of my Salvation, my Stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
so shall I be saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry to Him reached His ears....
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered His voice! ...
He reached down from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of mighty waters
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my Support,
He brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me, because He delighted in me!"
(Psalm 18:1-19)
Thank You for hearing. Thank You for answering. Thank You for continuing to move mightily on our behalf. Thank You for giving us grace to persist in prayer and proclamation in the authority of Your name until we see the fullness of Your answers manifested on earth as they are in heaven (Mark 11:22-24; Matthew 6:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!
My family, may you be encouraged and strengthened in your faith and hope today, trusting in our God who hears us and answers us, who is moving mightily on behalf of us, in some ways we see and in so many ways we don't even see, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I would appreciate your prayer and also any support for support myself as we reach our neighbors with the gospel through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning Jesus, I seek you to guide me through my week ahead.
This morning I read through Mark chapter 4.
"A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him up and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You don care that we are perishing?' He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?' And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'" (Mark 4:37-41)
The photo in this post I took of the wall cloud of the leading edge of the rains that rolled through my community last week. Moments after I took this the bottom dropped out of the clouds and began to pour rain.
The following morning I sat on my front porch and I sipped coffee and looked at my yard and what I needed to clean up. And I thank God for all the times he has cleaned the debris up in my life after the bottom has dropped out of it. I want to thank you Jesus for all the storms in my life you have got me through. Thank You, Jesus, for every time You've been my miracle in the storms of my life. Thank You for every time You've been my miracle in every moment when I was about to be devastated by something I couldn't control that threatened to wash me away with everything around me. Every time, You arose to rebuke the storm. Every time You spoke to the wind and waves of my anxieties and fears, saying "Peace! Be still!" And I know You always will.
You never promised me there would never be any storms. But You did promise me that even when the storms come You'll be with me through them all. Like You say in Your Word that always gives me great hope and peace through every storm: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.... Because you are precious in My sight, and honored, and I love you.... Do not fear, for I Am with you" (Isaiah 43:1-5).
By the power of the grace of God at work within me, by the peace that comes from the One who rebukes my storms and settles my soul, I choose to trust in You today. Through every storm, I'm trusting You to empower me to choose to not give in to fear, but hold on in faith, excited to see the next miracle of Your power and peace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will keep choosing to trust in our God to be with you and empower you in His peace to overcome every fear through any storm that may be going through now, or that ever comes, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Lord of Lords, King of Kings, I come before your throne seeking your mercy, grace and protection over my family and my life this morning…
“He replied, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.” So he went into all of Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons” Mark 1: 38-39
As we read through the Gospel of Mark, we see it is full of examples of Jesus going out into his community with love and the outpouring of power and miracles: because he had compassion for them: Healing The Paralytic (2:1-12; Healing man with withered hand (3:1-6); Healing the Demoniac (5:1-17); Healing the woman who was bleeding (5:25-34); Raising from the dead a young girl (5:35-43)
Jesus, you loved people and wanted to meet their physical needs, but your main purpose was not meeting their physical needs, but their spiritual needs. The main words you desired people to hear were not that they were physically healed, but the Gospel, the “Good News” that they could be saved.
Jesus you know I am a decent person. That I have a desire to meet people’s physical needs for food, clothing, shelter, safety and healing. Yet people do not need simply my decency, they need you. They do not need to hear that I am a “nice man” but the Gospel of your saving grace.
Over this weekend on Saturday morning I went and served at the House of Harvest distributing groceries to those in need. I then took boxes of groceries and handed them out to Waffle House employees. If I simply meet these peoples physical needs out of my decency it would have been a good thing. I will be liked, be known as a “good person” and my popularity will increase. However, if I never mentioned Jesus and directed them to him as the source of my decency, my ministry will decrease. As my “decency” can not save anyone. Like you Jesus, help me keep the first thing first when I meet someone, which is sharing the Gospel and that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Help me push past nice, safe, conversations with my friends, neighbors and co-workers, that reflect my decency and enter into kingdom conversations that reflect your saving works of the cross and resurrection.
My family, I pray this week you intentionally go beyond the “nice” ”comfortable” level of conversations you have with those in which whom you work, play, hang-out with and serve. I pray you enter your calling not to simply be a nice person to the them out of your decency, but a harvester of their souls out the Gospel. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
.As we read through Mark, I would love for you to post what stood out to you or your thoughts/reflections from the days reading and reflection with myself or others using the comment box below. Thank you!
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the heart of my heart and in the middle of every moment of my day. ..
“Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and at once the bleeding stopped…
“And Jesus said, ‘Who touched Me?’ ’….When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
There’s so much to see in this story, so much to embrace in our own story of pursuing Jesus. But the main thing I am seeing this morning is her desperate determination of persistent, persevering faith.
She wasn’t just sick and wanted to be well. She has had her “issue of blood” for twelve long years. And under the Law, her condition made her “unclean” -- which meant unwelcome, unseen, unworthy, unable to be in the presence of other people and participate in a normal life (see Leviticus 15:25-27). She could have been severely punished for coming out in public to come after You. So her faith was full of risk. She was risking everything in her desperate determination, in her persistent, persevering faith.
She was taking hold of You with passionate faith -- fastening herself to You, adhering to You, clinging to You. You stopped everything. You turned to her and gave her Your full attention, just as she was giving You her full attention in her passionate, persistent, persevering faith.
The power of God in You responded to the passionate faith in her.
She trembled in fear, maybe in fear of what might happen to her now that she was exposed as someone who was not satisfied to sit back, being an outcast or kept hidden away. But You saw her and spoke to her. You honored her for her faith and her persistence before everyone.
Your perfect love cast out her fear and healed her body, as well as her heart and soul from her twelve long years of pain and shame and poverty and everything else that she endured until that moment of her encounter with You. She was made well. She could now go in peace, filled with fresh joy and good cheer.
Lord, give us that kind of passion to pursue You -- not even just seeking a “touch” from the Lord, but pressing in, taking hold, risking everything for an encounter with You in a desperate determination to settle for nothing less. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray as you begin a new day you may be filled up and stirred up with a desperate determination for an encounter with Jesus--reaching out to Him in passionate, persistent faith, taking hold of Him, clinging to Him, settling for nothing less than Him, in Jesus' name Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
Good morning Jesus, Lover of my soul. I start my day in that complete assurance of your love for me.
“While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue rulerʼs house saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any longer?” But Jesus, paying no attention to what was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”…. When he entered he said to them, “Why are you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they began making fun of him. But he put them all outside and he took the childʼs father and mother and his own companions and went into the room where the child was. Then, gently taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.” The girl got up at once and began to walk around ... They were completely astonished at this. “ (Mark 5:35-42)
At our House Church gathering we have several teenagers and college students who come Wednesday evenings. They drive and prioritize on Weds evenings to come into the living room of an “old” 60 year old couple, with other member that same age to hang out, share life around a dinner table, worship, pray and study discuss the Word. They love the simplicity of the love and pouring out we give them, and we love their enthusiasm and seeking truth. I hear stories of what some of these teens are going through. So my heart and mind this morning is on our youth. Our teenage and college age sons and daughters who are growing up in raw and unfiltered exposure to the world through the unlimited access to social media. Teenagers, who because of the proliferation of divorce, the break down of the family and the re-defining of family lack the safe place to be loved, mentored and guided through these experiences. Teenagers being exposed to “Sexting” and other sexual perversions. Teenagers, who because of societies perversion of what is “success” have egotistical and narcissistic role models to follow. Teenagers, who the ruler of the world is subversively whispering into their parents, teachers, and pastors ears, “Your daughter is dead.” V.35.
Over our teenage youth I cry out, Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord have mercy! I pray the Holy Spirit will surround them and protect and empower them. I pray that through men and women in love with Jesus, and direct revelation form the Father in prayer, they will experience Jesus taking them by the hand, bring them back to life, and get up and walk, run, and lead a renewal in our churches. communities and families.
“Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10:14-16)
My family, I pray today you will seek out a teenager who needs the love and guidance of a mentor who is in love with and guided by Jesus. You may be 80, and they may be 16, however both of you will be richly blessed by the time you spend together. Pray over this today. in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I would appreciate your prayer and also any support for support myself as we reach our neighbors with the gospel through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let me hear and see and sense Your Presence here with me, here within me, as I begin my day in the communion of prayer -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
"Then Jesus said, 'There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to celebrate!" (Luke 15:11-24)
When the prodigal son came to the end of himself, he said, "Here I am dying.... I am no longer worthy." He was giving up hope, believing his sins were too dark, his heart was too hardened, his character was too tarnished, his faith was too weak, his life was too wasted. He believed he was too far gone and began to give up to hopeless despair.
But then a thought came to his mind of the father he knew. And though he felt so much rejection from within him, so alone and so unworthy that surely he would be unloved and unwanted, he chose to "get up and go to (his) father, and (speak) to him" (v. 18). He was sure in his mind and convinced in his heart that he would only face more shame, more rejection, more disappointment, all in confirmation of all the negative things he'd come to believe about himself and his worth in the eyes of his father and everyone else. Yet, something drew him to come and see, to take a risk to come receive, to humble himself come and ask for his father's help.
And the amazing reception from his father was beyond what he ever imagined! His father ran to him and hugged him and kissed him and welcomed him home in the embrace of his love. He father was filled with joy at his son's return -- the one who was dead was now alive, the one who lost was now found!
As I am writing this, the song, “How Deep the Father’s Love for us,” right on cue from God! “How deep is our Father's love for us,How great, how vast beyond all measure” The song of worship says:
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(Songwriter: Stuart Townsend)
My Father, I thank You for never giving up on me. Thank You for never letting me give up on myself. Thank You for Your sacrifice of love for me and for all, through Jesus Christ, that there is no sin You won't forgive, no wound You won't heal, and no bondage You won't not break if we humble ourselves to turn to You, to call on Your name, and ask for Your help. When we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up (James 4:10).
Thank You for Your everlasting promise and unfailing love: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:22-25). In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
My Family, I pray you embrace the Father's love for you--His unfailing love, poured into your heart by His Spirit through His Son, every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends! Take three minute to listen to the song.
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
We need your help! Please support and partner with my self and my family as we serve as local missionaries to those in our community with your one-time or monthly financial gift by clicking link below.
Link to our Newsletter and photos of our ministries.
Good morning Lord Jesus, with all I am, and all I have I seek to start this day giving glory to you.
I read through the same passages in Mark's Gospel this morning and my reflections center around the same two verses as my last two blog posts.
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” Mark 5:19-20
Just like in the world when Jesus walked it, we also live in a world of great needs: physical, spiritual, emotional, and the like. People all around us are crying out in search of a source of hope. As believers, we know exactly what they need: Jesus. He is the only one capable of bandaging their wounds, healing their hearts, and, most importantly, forgiving their sins. Given this, telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ is all the more urgent. Here are some lessons I’ve learned and thoughts I’ve had on how to be more effective at sharing the gospel.
First, we must find our ‘sailboat’.
Bill Hybels, who founded Willow Creek Community Church, often references his passion for sailing and his excitement about his boat in speaking. He has made a habit of using his sailboat as a means to tell people about Jesus. Hybels uses his sailboat and his love for sailing to evangelize to others who love sailing. Everyone needs to have a similar example.
So the question is: What’s your sailboat? Not all of us have our own boat, but most of us have a house or apartment. Maybe some of us have a really neat backyard, a pool, of and a whole community of people around us to invite. We may belong to a gym, club, professional network or other social group. If you do not, you need to join something.
My sailboat happens to be my neighborhood. I go to my neighborhood Waffle House almost every morning and spend time talking and listening to my neighbors who meet there. I became a member of our homeowners association board to invest in our community and hear of needs of my neighbors. At one meeting a resident came and complained about the state of her neighbors yard. The grass had not been mowed in a month and its shrubs and landscaping were over run with weeds. Before the board gave them a notice I told them I would talk with the homeowner. I found out the owner had to have heart replacement surgery. So to avoid them getting a fine, I walked back over with my lawn mower, edger, weed eater, and chain saw and spent a afternoon getting their lawn and yard in shape.
Second, it helps to make a list.
Given the hectic, fast-paced nature of most of our lives, it’s easy to place things—people, even—on the backburner. In the heat of the moment, we think to ourselves, I really want to connect with that new neighbor across the street or I need to dedicate myself to praying for that struggling parent in my church small group. But sometimes we let hours, days, and even weeks go by before suddenly remembering all the people we forgot to reach out to and pray for.
I tell everyone to write down a list of 100 names of people they have influence and a connection with them: family members, friends, co-workers, classmates, all the way down to the mailman. Then write after their name if they are Christian, non-Christian, or unknown. Then pray over the list daily and begin to intentionally reach out to people on your list who don’t know Christ. If we are serious about the gospel, our natural response shouldn’t be to bottle up the gift we’ve been given in our hearts and keep it to ourselves. The message of Christ’s love and redemptive work on the cross was meant to be shared and it’s our job—not someone else’s—to testify to its power.
Third, Those who are in leadership areas of your church: we need to dedicate ourselves to leadership in this area.
It’s not enough for us to talk about evangelism from the pulpit, in a class or a meeting,. We need to make sharing the gospel a priority in our individual spheres and circles if we want to inspire our congregations and our familes to do the same. We need our churches to be places of accountability where churchgoers, staff, and leaders come together with one common desire: reaching people. This is because, at the end of the day, sharing the gospel isn’t just a side job—it is, arguably, one of the most important of our Christian responsibilities. The command to love God and neighbor is most fully expressed when we bring the message of his love directly to those who need it most.
My family, when it comes to evangelism, you can’t lead what you won’t live. I pray today and over this weekend you will set aside time and intentionally pray over your “sailboat, make your list of 100, and dedicate evangelism to be part of your life starting next week. In Jesus’ name, amen. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please support and partner with my self and my family as we serve as local missionaries to those in our community with your one-time or monthly financial gift by clicking link below. Donations can also be mailed to One Direction Community, PO Box 1293, Madison, Al 35758
Jesus, I am in no hurry as I wait here in your presence and seek to hear your voice.
“Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him…..For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”…. people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind….Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.” So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.” (Excerpts from the story found in Mark 5:1-20)
The verses above are part of the passages in Mark’s Gospel about a demon possessed man in chains . I read through the story of the demoniac again this morning and these last two verses in the story stood out to me. They tie in with and build upon my posts this week reflecting on serving with Kairos in prisons. The cause of Christ and are calling to bear witness to the world the truth of Jesus.
The man in the story was broken and controlled by, and identified by the evil inside of him. When he encountered Jesus, he was free of all that bound him, he was no longer recognized by those who knew him by his past, and given an amazing new life and future. Jesus then told him to tell his family and friends what He did for him.
When all of us encountered Jesus we were in some form of brokenness and bondage, and when we did Jesus set us free as well. In the same way as the demoniac in the story in Mark, we are called to share with others what Jesus has done for us. Paul tells us, “Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach. Persevere in this, because by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” (1 Timothy 4:16) We all have a testimony to share. When we share it with someone wether we are in prison or our place of work, those listening to it always have one question they want to hear an answer to, “What difference does my relationship with Jesus make in my life?” They want to hear the tangible truth of who Jesus is to you and in you, how it affects the way to live today, and how that truth then can be applied to them.
When you came to Christ and were baptized the Holy Spirit fell upon you and you were filled with his presence and power. Your filling with the Holy Spirit has a purpose, a “Because” by God and that is, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; “ (Isaiah 61:1-2)
My family, I pray today you will share what Jesus has done for you in your home, and then to the people you encounter today. I pray over you Paul’s words, “Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak - that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel…Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak. “ (1 Corithians 6: 19-20) Please pray the same for me, God bless you my friends!!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
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Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
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One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Jesus, tune my mind and my heart to you so I can play your melody throughout my day.
“And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” (Mark 5:19-20)
In my reading through the story of the demoniac in Mark 5 this morning, these 2 verses I stood out to me. In this story we have a man who was broken, insane and in evil bondage and Jesus sets him free. Jesus immediately sends him back to his home and to the cities around him to tell them what Jesus has done for him. He goes from a demon processed lunatic to a traveling preacher. And he was doing an amazing job as the story says the people “marveled” at him. I suppose he could have stood before the people and pointed to the scars all over his body he made and said, “Do you see what kind of deranged creature I was?" Look at me now!”
I want to say that is the heart of Christian witness. The heart of Christian witness is not, "Let me argue with you and try to persuade you in the logic of why God exists." It is not, “Let me persuade you how bad society is now.” It is not, "If you die today do you know where you will go?" And it is not explaining to them, "Why you should go to church." None of these are at the heart of Christian witness. The heart of Christian witness is like the response of the man in John 9:25, “I was blind, but now I see.” Here you have a person saying, “I was once insane! I was cutting myself in a cemetery! Look at me now!”
There really can not be real Christian witness until there is real Christian experience. Not until we have met Jesus. Not until we know what it is like to be rescued. Not until we know what it is liked to be saved can we attempt to save anyone. Not until we have lived through being one thing and becoming another. It is kind of hard being a witness to Christ when we do not know what that is. And I would say maybe for some of us reading this blog, we need to sign up again from the very beginning and say, “I am not a new person. I have been acculturated to church, I go to church, I give my money, I help out, I am a good gear in the church “machinery” and programs, but to be honest with it, I never have ever been actually rescued by Jesus.” That would be a great place to start or restart the journey. To start the journey at the beginning by being rescued by Jesus.
My family, this story in Mark is a story of the beauty of deliverance, the beauty of witness, and the beauty of peace being drawn right out of the midst of death and chaos. I earnestly pray that this will become your story today. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please support and partner with my self and my family as we serve as local missionaries to those in our community with your one-time or monthly financial gift by clicking link below. Donations can also be mailed to One Direction Community, PO Box 1293, Madison, Al 35758
Good morning Lord Jesus, Set me free today from anything that would bind me from laughing and running through the fields of life with you today…..
“On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Letʼs go across to the other side of the lake.” So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him. Now a great windstorm developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped. But he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, donʼt you care that we are about to die?” So he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then the wind stopped, and it was dead calm. And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?” They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!” “So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him.” (Mark 4:35-44, 5:1-2)
The photo above is was taken the last day of one of my family’s trip to the Dominican Republic. The owner of the resort out of his generosity, gave us for free a 45 minute trip on his yacht that ended literally 30 minutes before we jumped in the van that took us to the airport. This wonderful, short yacht ride came to my mind as I read in the Bible the story of Jesus and his disciples boat ride on the sea. In the story from Mark, Jesus gives his disciples the same gift and asks His disciples to go for a boat ride with Him. And they all said yes. I mean who would not want to take a cruise on a boat with Jesus!!!! As wonderful as our yacht ride was in the photo above, a boat ride with Jesus would have to be 100 times more amazing! I am sure the disciples imagined this boat ride would be absolutely wonderful! It would be like a scene of The Little Mermaid with fish jumping all around them, dolphins spraying water around the boat and birds swooping around in the sky singing to them. This is Jesus after all! However, instead Jesus headed the boat straight into a storm in life. The winds and rain pounded the boat, the waves were swamping it, the disciples were afraid they were about to die and cried out to Jesus. They thought he may be able to help by maybe miraculously producing buckets for the to use for bailing the water out of the boat or something like that. But what Jesus did was far beyond anything they imagined. Jesus said 2 words, “Be Still!”, and In an instant the chaotic and powerful storm with huge waves, strong wind, thunder, lightning and rain stopped. All became calm and quiet. And a smooth slick came over the ocean like glass. The disciples were afraid when they found themselves in the storm, however when Jesus calmed the storm and in an instant they went from being tossed by waves to sitting rain-soaked in still water, they were even more terrified than in the storm, and asked “WHO IS THIS THAT IS IN OUR BOAT?”
And after they got through the storm, and their fears had begun to subside some, I am sure they figured this boat trip with Jesus could not get any worse and they would head back to a safe familiar harbor. But No, instead Jesus sailed the boat to an unsafe, unknown beach where lived scary, un-clean people. When they landed on the shore they were immediately met my a raging maniac who lived in the tombs. Jesus got out of the boat, but the disciples looked at the scene and said, “No, way in hell” and they remained cowering in the boat and did not follow Jesus. When this new challenge in life came up they so quickly forgot “Who was in their boat”, abandoned Jesus and did not trust Him enough to follow Him.
Each morning, including this morning, Jesus is asking you and me to “get into the boat” with Him. And He asks us to trust Him enough to sail with Him out of our comfort zone into places that are strange to us and to people who our foreign, maybe even a little scary to us. Why? Because that is where we will find the people who are “living and trapped in the tombs” of this world’s evil and chaos without Jesus. That is where we will find people who are desperate for us to help them break loose from their chains of sin. That is where we will find Jesus.
My family, do you really believe that saying “Yes” to following Jesus, means that Jesus is calling us to follow Him on Sunday mornings into church sanctuaries and sit in pews? Seriously, Do you really believe that? Or that he wants us to stay in our comfortable, safe crowds who drink Starbucks and listen to Casting Crowns? NO!, He is calling us into a “holy fear” where we remember not just “Who is in our boat”, but “Who is actually in us” through His Holy Spirit breathed into each of us in our baptism. My family, I pray you choose to follow Jesus, and pick up your cross and plant it as the mast in your rescue boat, and sail out into the storms of your communities, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning Jesus, this morning I choose your words of life.
“When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet and *implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him…..While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”….. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. “ (Mark 5:21-42)
In the past month I know several people who have died. Throughout the Bible, throughout the Gospels, and in our life death is the ultimate enemy. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy….” (John 10:10) And tomorrow is Ash Wednesday when we reflect on our mortality.
Our I am helping lead our house church through spending spending 32 weeks going through the Gospel of Mark. One of the recurring conflicts that Jesus wars against in this Gospel is death. We have seen that Death operates like an octopus, using its powerful tentacles to draw it’s pray towards its sharp beak of death and destruction. These tentacles must be seen for what they are. They are independent powers, but unified and cooperative, under the control of a single power. They cooperate with each other, often joining together to create multilayered bondages to entangle their pray as they draw them inwards towards ultimate destruction. The names of the 6 major tentacles of death are:
1. Satan and demons
2. Human structures of injustice, evil, violence, and warfare.
3. Sin itself, with its own corrupting and corrosive effects.
4. Sickness and disease of all kinds (including mental illness and addictions.)
5. Human ignorance, both in general and in relation to God’s character, God’s truth, and God’s love.
6. Nature “gone wild” in a destructive mode (storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, flood…)
Death is the ultimate goal and outcome of each of these tentacles.
Yet Jesus demonstrates through the gospel stories his power to overcome and defeat all these tentacles. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). Jesus defeats them by:
1. Exorcism vs. Satan and his demons
2. Justice vs. injustice
3. Forgiveness vs. sin
4. Healing vs. disease
5. Teaching vs. ignorance
6. Rescue vs, natures furry.
Jesus’ life and resurrection functions as the fundamental reversal of death itself, not only in the raising of Jairus’s daughter as in the passage above, but also in Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead by the power of the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, you ultimate goal is life, and not simply life, but abundant, full, joyous, life in which I move and breath in the world fully alive! I want that life today! I desire that life today! I need that life today! In the face of death, The world, needs me and others in Christ to be examples of that life today! Jesus reveal to me now the tentacles of death that have attached themselves to me and are drawing me in and hindering or keeping me from the abundant life you have for me. In the name of Jesus I claim complete and total release from my body, heart, mind, and soul of all demonic control and the grip of the tentacles of death. I claim the power of Christ’s resurrection over my life. “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.” (1Cor. 6:14)
My family, I pray today you will claim the power of Christ’s resurrection over your life, and release from any tentacles of death you are experiencing, and live today in abundant life, completely alive! In Jesus’name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support of reach with the Gospel of gracethose on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, speak to me in the silence of my morning.
“because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:19-22)
Paul declares that the general revelation of God through creation has been made available to all people. How many people? All, including you and me.
What Paul says is the reality of God is evident in every country, city, town, and neighborhood in the world. The reality of God and the power of God have been made evident to all. The problem is not people have not heard the gospel, it is what they have done with what they do know about God. Here is how Paul puts it. That though they knew about God, they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. You can’t exchange X for Y unless you have X. There is no person born who does not have some knowledge of God. The problem is they do not have knowledge of God but acknowledge God. They Exchanged the truth for a lie. They did not change true religion for no religion, but for Idolatry. We are living in a country full of idolaters. They are not secular people, they are idolaters. The truth may have dawned on them in small measures, but they do not like it. They have exchanged truth for a lie. The reason missions and evangelism is necessary is because the world has truly chosen darkness over light. John 1 says it. The light shines in the darkness, but the cockroaches in the basement preferred that darkness. They know about the light, to run from it.
What I would say about people in remote places who have not heard or heard little of the Gospel? Or on the other side those of us here in the USA who’s currency says on it “In God we trust”, have churches on almost every corner, have been born into Christian families, attended church all our lives or for years, have publically accepted Christ, attended Bible studies and been mentored in our faith? Each person will be judged according to the light they have received and what they have done with that light. They are judged on what they have received ”To whom much has been given much is required”….and judged on what they have done in their life with the light they have received.
Have they acknowledged it and accepted it with joy? Have they begged God for more light and prioritized prayer and Bible reading in their life. Have they consistently shared the light of the Gospel with others? Have they with urgency sought out those in their communities in darkness and witnessed to the light and lead people to Christ? Have they mentored, discipled, and given people access to their lives and light to learn about it? Have they served and loved their neighbors as themselves? All people will one day stand in the throne room before Christ and their life opened up and examined. Each person will be judged according to the light they have received and what they have done with that light. Those of us who have frequently and consistently heard and received light will be judged more than those in a remote region on the earth who little light has be revealed to them. To those much has been given much is required.
My family, This world we find ourselves in today is desperate for the light you have received. I pray this morning you will reflect on the light you have received, what you have done that light and more importantly, what you are doing with that light, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please post and share your thoughts, reflections, questions, or prayers with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please support and partner with my self and my family as we serve those God crosses our path with in our community with your one-time or monthly financial gift by clicking link below.Become our partner and support us in our ministries by becoming supporting us monthly or with a one-time gift. Thank you!
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7
In Deuteronomy God reveals through Moses what the Greatest commandment of all is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And what is the first thing God tells his people to do to obey this commandment? Teach this to your children. God’s first = to his people after placing loving God at the core of their being is not plant churches, cast out demons, heal the sick, or set the captives free, but to teach your children. And that to teach is not just directed to your biological children, but all children. And not just to people with children, but all people.
Today, especially in the USA and Western cultures I believe we do not do a good job of teaching and mentoring our children. Especially by providing them access to those who are “seniors” in our churches and communities. Seniors have attended and graduated life’s “School of Hard Knocks.” They “paid” the full tuition required to graduate this school. They paid the tuition of pain, mistakes, heart break, bad decisions, disappointment, financial loss, struggle, anxiety. They have a wealth of knowledge gained from life’s school of hard knocks they can mentor and share with children and youth so that they do not have to pay the full tuition. Their life’s wisdom and knowledge they can pass on are amazing “Grants” or Scholarships” that if shared with youth can enable them to avoid and not pay all of the required tuition I listed above.
However, in the USA and western culture and western church structure there are very few intentional opportunities for youth to “hang-out” and be mentored by seniors and adults in general. Most children and youth’s opportunities throughout the year to interact with seniors is the half a dozen or so times they see their grandparents at holidays, birthdays, funerals, and special occasions. In our churches efforts to excel growth and numbers of those attending they have launched contemporary services and most churches now have a contemporary service and a traditional service. So the minute people enter the church youth are separated from seniors as youth go to contemporary service, seniors to the traditional service. Youth go to youth groups, seniors go to Bible studies, and the only time the two meet again is in the parking lot headed to cars. I think most churches never look at the theology behind separating youth and seniors in their gathering structures.
The reality is that today's youth have very few real, intentional opportunities to to contact and connect with adults and seniors in their day to day, year to year American structure of life. The reality is that we in the USA and western church are not doing well at “ Teach this to your children.” The reality is that we all need to be more intentional, and intentional being the key word, at making opportunities to not just teach in a classroom setting, but to do life with and mentor our children and youth. And remember God commanded all of us, not just those ”gifted with children” to teach our Vhildren.
My family, I pray thismorning as you begin your week you make a priority this week to invest time pouring into, mentoring or encouraging children. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the chidren an opportunitiy to meet with them then put it in your schedule for the week. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!.
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
http://www.easytithe.com/dl/?uid=onepob279
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with my Father, One with the Holy Spirit, and I welcome You here in my heart to be One within me, as I begin my day looking to You and listening for Your leading.
The more I find myself desperately dependent upon You to be my Source of peace and security in the world I find myself in now, the more I'm moved for those who are trying to get through this life depending upon themselves. And in the moments when it feels like You're not there or not acting on our behalf in the ways I feel You should, is when it makes me press in even that much more deeply to come even that much closer to You, the more I'm deeply burdened for those who do not know you or feel distant or forgotten or even forsaken.
The story of the bride-to-be and her beloved in the Song of Solomon comes to mind this morning, of her yearning for his presence in times when it feels like he's not there.
"Upon my bed at night, I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
I called to him, but he gave no answer.
'I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.'
I sought him, but found him not.
The sentinels found me, as they went about in the city.
'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?'
Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
until I brought him into my mother's house,
and into the chamber of her that conceived me"
(Song of Solomon 3:1-4).
The bride-to-be is not a casual acquaintance of the one she seeks. He is her beloved, her bridegroom-to-be, the one whom her soul loves. And at the same time, she feels like he isn't there. She seeks him, but doesn't find him. She calls to him, but he doesn't answer.
But she doesn't give up on her relationship. She doesn't give in to any feelings of distance or rejection or abandonment. She doesn't settle for something less than her hopes and dreams for intimacy and security that she longs to come from only him.
She says in her heart, "I will rise now and go.... I will seek him." And even then, it feels like she's having a hard time finding him. She goes to others who may have been seeing him and experiencing his presence in the ways she longs to see him and experience him.
And then she finds him! With great relief that was worth the waiting in the pursuit, with great joy that was worth the sorrow of the feelings of separation, she must have shouted out for all to hear, "I have found him whom my soul loves!"
Father God, You've sent Your Holy Spirit to prepare the bride for Jesus, our Bridegroom. It's not a gender thing or sexual thing; it's a spiritual thing. Men are part of "the bride" of Christ (Revelation 19:7), just as women are part of the "many sons being brought to glory in growing up into the maturity of the body of Christ (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus is our Beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
We're created to long for Him, to pursue Him, to even feel empty and alone and lost without Him. But He is not far from any of us -- even before we come to know Him and humbly open up our hearts to Him. "God has done all this, so that we will look for Him and reach out and find Him. He isn't far from any of us, and He gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. 'We are His children'" ... (Acts 17:27-28).
Father, fill me with Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Holy Spirit of the Living God, stir in my heart to pursue Jesus (John 14:26), to listen for His voice (John 10:27), and to deeply abide in and embrace His Presence (John 15:4). Lord Jesus, I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. You are my Beloved and I take hold of You to never let You go and I thank You that You take hold of me and never let me go -- even, and especially, when it feels like You're not here or acting in all the ways and in all the timing that I feel You should. Through it all, You are Lord of all. "There is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you come closer to Jesus every day, more passionately pursuing Him and more deeply embracing Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I join with you in prayer for all who need to know Jesus and God's love for them today and through every moment. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Last night at our house church gathering that was hosted in the home of a sweet 84 year old widow who opened her heart and home to us, we read the Parable of The Sower together in Mark 4:1-20 and we reflected and discussed on “Sowing.”
As I read the passage one more time this morning, I reflected on that all through the Gospel in the NT we see God's extravagant sowing in people and in the church.
After the stoning of Stephen in Chapter 7, men scattered from the persecution that followed from Cypres and Syrean, they went out and sowed the Gospel into the weeds and thorns, to gentiles, who would believe it. Their sowing establish the great church in Antioch that later sent Paul out to be the great missionary. (Acts 11:20)
In the 4th century the whole church is brought to its knees by Barbarians that invaded and sacked the Roman Empire. What did the church do? They sowed to the barbarians. And they became better Christians than the Romans!
Fast forward to recent time: Africa was known as "the grave yard of missionaries”, but the real story was God's extravagant sowing into Africa. China called us "foreign Devils." But the real story is the Gospel took root in China, and today the most dramatic growing churches are in Africa and China.
All through history the story is the remarkable spreading of the gospel through individuals and churches who extravagantly and wildly sowed God's seed.
And we come to the present, to our church One Direction Community and to your church. What if a handful of 4 or 5, or dozen people gathered in our or your church had one wild idea: “What if we actually became a church that served and wildly sowed to the people in Madison, Huntsville, Harvest and other communities in your area?”
What if we asked the mayors or officials what are their problem areas? Their weedy, thorny areas, that give them the most headaches: the barbarians, the missionary graveyards, the foreign devils and we sowed there?
What if when your church gathers next your pastor is greeted by a handful or more of people who tell him, “Lets start sowing!!”
What if in our churches we didn't just focus on collecting and acquiring God's seed in Sunday morning Bible Studies and our worship services (which are good), but spent most of our time looking forward to who we need to be sowing the seed we collected? And then hold each other accountable to sowing the seed.
What if we did not form a Missions committee in our church, but we formed and became a church of missionaries all sent on mission with God to sow?
What if we did not form a wonderful prayer committee in our church, but we actually sought to be a whole church that fasted and prayed?
What if we sought not to be known as the church to go into with the amazing worship team or worship service, but as a church that collectively goes out into and continuously sows and worships out in its community?
What if we actually formed a church who’s heart breaks for the lost, and that was concerned that one marvelous day, when we stand together in the new earth among the millions before the lamb and worship Him, that because of our extravagant sowing into their lives, our neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and others from our area, are there as well, along side us proclaiming:
That God’s sowing is more consistent than the Devil’s snatching!
His sowing is more powerful than the devil’s eating!
His sowing is more enduring than the devil’s tribulation!
His sowing is more persistent than the devil’s choking!
My family, I pray this morning after reading this you ask the Hoy Spirit to give to you the names of the handful or dozens of people to ask to join you in Wildly Extravagantly Sowing in your community, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
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The Holy Spirit led me to re-read this morning again and the Parable of the Sower found in Mark 4:1-20 and to continue self reflecting on the extravagant sowing of God.
The extravagant sowing of God is at the core my Wesleyan understanding Christianity and of God’s grace, election and salvation that differs from my Presbyterian and Calvinist brothers.
His grace is not like a cruise missle of election, where God enters all the data and details, and launches it. And it cruises around all the hard hearted people, It swerves around the rocky and shallow soiled people, it ducks under the thorny covered people, and finally hits the heart of the one person who has been elected by God.
Actually, in a Biblical sense as I see it, the election of God is in the heart of every man and woman, including you, and including me.
God sows in every heart, and there are a variety of responses to his Grace, some rejection, some hardening of heart, some can’t hear it, but God keeps on sowing, Halleluiah.
Jesus explained to his disciples that parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.
That is the only way to makes sense of this text from Isaiah that is included in this passage that most sermons skip over, never talk about and ignore: Isaiah 6:9-10. Yet this very difficult text is found in Mark, Matthew and Luke,
“so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.” (Mark 6:12)
The fact that previenent grace is both enabling and disabling. People who hear God's word receive it with Joy, others hard hearts, but sometimes, it takes hardening of hearts for a later opening of the Gospel.
Sometimes even a hardening of heart is God's grace to us, waiting of the right time for it to take root and bloom.
The original text in Isaiah 6 9-10 reads:
“Listen continually, but donʼt understand!
Look continually, but donʼt perceive!ʼ
Make the hearts of these people calloused;
make their ears deaf and their eyes blind!
Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”
In the following verse, Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah says after hearing these horrible and shocking words asks God, "How long, sovereign Lord?"
For he knows this is not God's last word.
And the Lord replied, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated, and the LORD has sent the people off to a distant place, and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned." (Isa 6:11-12)
Until the devastation is complete and only a stump is left. Until a person loses it all, surrenders it all, until all our other sacred pillars are thrown down. Until their heart is completely abandoned, Until a person is in the pit, at the very bottom of it where there is nothing, where all there is, is Jesus
The holy seed God is extravagantly sowing does not come from or is found in the lofty grandeur of a trees branches, it comes from and is in the stump, the stump of Jessie.
That is what baptism symbolizes. Life, Death, New life in Christ.
You Can’t be raised from the dead, until you die.
You Can’t be saved, until you admit you need saved.
My family, the election of God is in sown into the heart of every man and woman, including you. I pray you will seek a place and time to empty yourself, so there is nothing, nothing but you and Jesus. Please pray tge same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
You Can Help!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for reaching with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
To Give Click Here
This parable in Mark 4:1-20 has never been called the parable of the soils. It is of the sower.
It is a parable about the sower. God is sowing his seed into the world. His sowing was behind all the past saints and behind the present and future saints of you and me. His sowing into the world.
God's persistent sowing:
We think about Moses: If we took a snap shot of his life when he murdered the Egyptian. Aren’t you glad (and Moses as well) that he was not defined on that day as one who the bird ate up the seed? But God kept sowing seed into his life and he became the deliver of Israel.
Gideon was in the pit, fearful, scared, afraid and cowardly. A snap shot of his life at that time and he would be defined as one who in the worries and anxieties of the day, the seed was snatched away. But God kept sowing seeds into his life and he became one that the Angel declared as a mighty warrior.
Saul of Taurus was holding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death. If he was identified by that one moment in his life it would be a person of a hard heart. God kept sowing seed into Saul (Paul) and he became the great missionary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the world.
Peter,in the temple court yard denied Jesus three times. Defined by that moment in his life he would be labeled one who the thorns and persecution choked his faith away. But again, God kept sowing into Peter and he became the one who declared of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, and who Jesus said, “Upon this Rock I will build my church.
The real story of Peter, Paul, Moses, and so many others in the Bible is not about a particular day and the soil of their heart, but the extravagant sowing of God into their lives.
Some of you have heard my testimony. I was 34 years old when I came to Christ. Many snap shots in my life the soil of my heart was choked, snatched, thin, unable to hear God. However God never stopped sowing in my life. And you are not defined by a particular time or act of the soil of your heart. God has never given up on any of you but he consistently is sowing into your life. Whether your heart is like a fertile plowed field not, or a hard parking lot.
Here is the thing: it is the weeds, thorns, rocks, shallow soil that are the target of the sower. He is we not sowing the seeds there carelessly, but on purpose.
I need his seed sowed in me when the soil in my heart is good to produce fruit 30, 60,10 times, Without the Holy Spirit I can produce nothing,
However, I need His seed sowed in me, maybe even more so, when my heart is hard, when I am chocking, and I am under pressure and persecution
Again, The real story about them and this story is:
That God’s sowing is more consistent than the Devil’s snatching
His sowing is more powerful than the devil’s eating
His sowing is more enduring than the devil’s tribulation
His sowing is more persistent then the devil’s choking
My family, I pray you remember this morning that who you are, how you are defined and your story is not defined by a snap shot of your life of the soil of your heart, but as one who is never abandoned of foretokened, and one in whom God is constantly sowing into His seeds of the Gospel of his love and grace. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my freinds!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
You Can Help!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for reaching with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
To Give Click Here
Good morning Jesus, I begin my day opening my heart to allow you to pour your blood of the love, grace and mercy into my life.
“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:5-8)
If you have been in the church for awhile, you probably heard many sermons on this text. They all focus on the different soils, which result in Sermons focus on which heart conditions which are yours:
Are you that thorny hearted person?
Are you that Rocky or Shallow hearted person?
Are you the hard hearted person?
Are you the good soiled hearted person?
Well if I took a spiritual snap shot of your heart right now, a spiritual photo, I guess it could be true that at this moment perhaps your heart is hardened now on some point or another. Or you may have a rocky heart, or a thorny, choking heart now, or a good heart now.
But life is not a static snap shot is it, it is a moving picture. There are times in our lives that we can’t hear God’s word, sometime we won’t hear it. Some times we hear it, and we lose it. There are times that anxieties and fears choke it. Sometimes we receive it with Joy..
When I hear this parable and read the story about the seed that falls on the path and is eaten up, when I hear it I say to myself, That’s me!
When I hear about the story of how the seed fell on rocky places and there was shallowness, and the first time, persecution or suffering comes they fell away I say to myself: That’s me too.
When I hear the story about how one receives the Word and lets the worries of the world and materialism choke it away, I say to myself: That’s me too.
And when I hear the story of the seed falling on the good soil and it produces fruit 30x, 60x, 100x, I say to myself: Praise God that’s me too!!! Because in so many ways these soil represents various times in my life.
Yet this parable has never been called the parable of the soils. It is of the sower. It is a parable about the sower. God is sowing his seed into the world, his sowing was behind all the past saints, and behind the present and future saints, and behind you and me, sowing into the world!
The real story is: That God’s sowing is more consistent than the Devil’s snatching. His sowing is more powerful than the devil’s eating. His sowing is more enduring than the devil’s tribulation. His sowing is more persistent then the devil’s choking. The real good news of this parable is that God is the great extravagant sower in all the world, including you and me.
My family, I do not know what the snap-shot condition of the soil of your heart looks like this morning. However, I pray you open your heart, open your Bible, open your hands in prayer, and receive the seeds of love, grace, mercy and hope your Father, the extravagant sower, who is madly in love with you wants to sow into your life today. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
You Can Help!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for reaching with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
