Good morning, Lord Jesus. I embrace Your tender mercies and steadfast love, my heavenly Father. Come, Holy Spirit, and fill me, transform me, and overflow through me today with the love of my Father in the power of the name and the nature of Jesus, I pray.
"Brothers and sisters, God loves you, and we know He has chosen you, because the Good News we brought to you came not only with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with sure knowledge that is true" (1 Thessalonians 1:4-6).
Jesus, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your Power. Thank You for the Gospel, the Good News of Your forgiveness and favor, mercy and love, healing and deliverance, encouragement and strength, all by the power of Your grace. "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (Romans 1:16).
Jesus, I pray and earnestly hunger to see more of Your power in my life today. I pray to see You changing lives, changing my life, saving souls, healing hearts and bodies and relationships, breaking the chains of darkness, and displaying Your glory in the power of Your name. I want to walk out my door into where ever you lead me claiming your Spirit and Your power within me and expecting to see lives changed and the dead raised, because you are still raising the dead! "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead!" (Philippians 3:10 NLT) "All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time!" (Jude 25 NLT) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray as you go today may you go to places seeking to experience and expecting to see the power of the Gospel, the power of Jesus in your life today, in you and around you, giving all glory, honor, and praise to Him alone, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts, reflections, with us in the comment box below.
Resolve to Help
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
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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Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Lord’s Jesus I spend this quiet time with you this morning seeking your presence to guide my thoughts and steps and directions throughout my day
Today is the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks too four hijacked airplanes that are intentionally crashed into the two Twin Towers in New York, Ny, the Pentagon, and another downed plane in a field in Pennsylvania.. The attacks took over 3,000 lives. and impacted thousands of families, our country, and the world. The attacks also changed and shattered forever the way we feel and look at the security or our country. We remember and pray over those families that lost loved ones in the tragedy. That day is etched in my mind. I remember hearing about the first plane crashing into the North tower over the radio while driving down the road. Then rushing home to see it on the TV and watch the second plane crash into the Southr tower and the collapse of both towers. The shock, horror, chaos, madness, anger… so many emotions were involved.. Again, that day forever changed our views and reality of the world we live in today. Lord have mercy. Chrost have mercy, Lord have mercy.
We also are reminded that nothing is guaranteed in this life. As God’s word tells us:
“Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin”. (Jam 4:13-17)
Those that died, were injured, lost husbands, wives, son’s and daughters, or affected by 911 were engaged in their normal day of business and making a profit, running errands, having lunch with a friend, and in the middle of their normal routine when something unimaginable happened; the millions to one odds of a jet crashing into the buildings they were in.
With the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Ukraine women stabbed in Charlotte, and the chaos in the world today, Nothing is guaranteed today.
All of today is a gift. Hug family members that are close to you. Call those who our at a distance. Be present in “today” and don’t delay in doing the next right thing.
My family, I join you in prayer today over all the lives that were lost and everyone impacted by the tragic events of 911. I also pray today you embrace the amazing gift of today. Don’t delay doing the next right thing: of telling someone your sorry, you love them, your glad their in your life. Don’t delay sharing with someone who does not know Christ the love of Jesus who are just one event away from a Christless eternity. Please pray the same for me. I have been blessed by and love you all who God has allowed to cross my path in life and pray God’s blessing over you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are welcome here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory" (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT).
"Real life" is in You. "Real life" is when I allow You to be my life -- when I'm abiding in You and allowing You to abide in me, when I'm trusting You to know what's best, when I'm following You into the fullness of my destiny in You, secure in my identity in You (John 15:4). "Real life" is when I wholeheartedly embrace the One who is "the way, the truth, and the life" -- holding nothing back from You and fully taking hold of You (John 14:6).
So as I begin my day, I can either set my sights on the things above or the things below. I can choose to see with the kingdom eyes of heaven or the eyes of earth. I can chose the lens I filter things through as either Your perspective or the world's perspective. I can seek You first and Your kingdom and Your righteousness or I can seek to just go with the flow of the ways of the world around me or the ways of my flesh that are not yet crucified with Christ within me (Matthew 6:33; Galatians 2:20).
I choose You! Holy Spirit help me choose you! I choose my "new life with Christ." I choose Your perspective, to live into my day with Your vision and Your heart, to walk in Your ways and Your will, as best as I can and all by Your grace. I choose "real life" in You. And in the amazing mystery of faith and grace, You choose to live Your life through me. "This is the secret: Christ lives in (me). This gives (me) assurance of sharing His glory" (Colossians 1:27 NLT). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you keep it real, choosing your real life in Christ and allowing Christ to live His life through you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections on "Real Life" with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me and empower me to be more like You today.
"This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God's people.... And this is the secret: Christ lives in you" (Colossians 1:26-27).
Come live in me, Lord Jesus Christ. You came into my heart on the day I was saved, when Your Holy Spirit filled my human spirit and I came alive in rebirth as a child of God. And at the same time, You want so much more--not just for You to be in my heart, but for my heart to become like Your heart; not just a moment on my spiritual calendar I look back on, but a moment by moment spiritual journey each and every moment throughout my lifetime.
As You are, so am I to be in this world (1 John 4:17). Your Spirit is at work within me--every moment of every day--making me more like You, conforming me into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29).
And I thank You that it's not by my power, that it doesn't depend upon anything I do or don't do, apart from simply welcoming You and Your Spirit to be at work within me. I'm not depending on myself or my goodness or my power; I'm "depending on Christ's mighty power that works with me" (Colossians 1:29). "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13). And I believe one of the things that pleases You the most, my Father God, is when I embrace the desire and the power of Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus each day.
By the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love, You've put this desire and power to work in my heart through Your Spirit--"that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:19-20). This is a great secret of faith that I'm finally fully discovering and embracing--"Christ in me, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you embrace the desire and the power of the Holy Spirit of God to be at work within in you, making you more like Jesus every moment of every day, fully knowing this secret of faith without a doubt that "Christ lives in you!" in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You, as I still my soul and listen for Your voice. ...
I believe I hear You saying in my heart: "Think on these things" (Philippians 4:8 KJV).
Lord, In this world and my day I can't choose with certainty all my circumstances or predetermine the difficulty of all the challenges I will face, but I can choose, by the power of Your grace, the focus of my thoughts. And Your Word this morning encourages me to think on the good things, to focus a little more on the best things, on the things that help me look up instead of down, to look forward instead of backward, and to start off my day on the right path, with my best foot forward, with a good attitude and a healthy perspective: "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.... Then the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8).
There will be plenty of time all too soon today to deal with the daily stuff, but right now at the start of my day, I'm going to take a little time with the Holy Spirit. In a few minutes I will gird up and go out into battle, but right now I'm going to settle in for some quiet time in the communion of prayer, centered in You, and surrounded in Your Presence. I'm going to open up my spirit and lift up my heart and welcome You into every thought in my mind, every desire in my heart, and every moment in my day.
I'm going to think on You and all You've done for me. I'm going to think on Your love for me, Your power within me, Your plans before me, and Your grace to sustain me through whatever comes. And then, when I have to start thinking about all the other things that will become a part of my life today, I'll not forget these good and precious things that You've sealed in my heart, here at the start of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will set aside some time now to rest in the Spirit, and allow the Lord to fill your mind and your heart with the good things of God in your life, as you begin your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of all I am and all I do.
"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with Himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead.... Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things" (Philippians 3:7-15).
Come, Holy Spirit. Bring me to the place in my heart where knowing Christ is the most important thing in my life. Bring me to the place in my heart where I see every struggle of suffering, every disappointment or delay, every failure when I stumble or fall, everything I experience during this small sliver of time of my journey while I'm on this earth in the flesh, as a opportunity to grow in spiritual maturity to become "one with Christ."
Let this be the one, most valuable thing I seek above all else. The treasure of "infinite value" - "the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." I admit, I'm not there yet. Like the apostle Paul, "I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things... but I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.... I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling (me)" (Philippians 3:12-14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit stirs in your spirit to this morning to pursue the treasure of infinity -- knowing Jesus and experiencing His Presence and power in your life as you are becoming one with Him. “Press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling (you)" in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen up for Your leading.
"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:1-5).
When we're "sharing in the Spirit," we're sharing in the mind and heart and nature of Christ Jesus. We don't insist on getting our own way; but instead, we yield to Your way. We don't "look out for number one; and “what’s in it for me” but instead, we look up to the One who is always giving, always loving, always seeking to build up others to help them see themselves in the way You see them. And when we're "sharing in the Spirit," we're sharing in Your joy so that our joy is made complete.
Lord, convict me of my self-centeredness, convict me of my selfishness, and awaken within me a heart of selflessness. Let that same mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus, who "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross" (v. 2:8). Let that same Spirit be in me that led You and empowered You to lay down Your life in love for the sake of others.
Lord you know me, I know me. “I know my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3) I know I have far to go to truly have that kind of selfless and humble desire. But I welcome You in Your amazing grace to keep putting Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to align my will with Your will and my ways with Your ways, a little more each day. When I'm "sharing in the Spirit," I'm allowing Your Spirit to keep changing my spirit from the inside out, as You continue Your faithful work and purposeful plan of conforming me into Your image (Romans 8:28). Lord I surrender all, have Your way. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, The Lord knows you. You know you. I pray this morning you allow Him to have his way in you. So you're being conformed into the image of the Son of God, sharing in His Spirit and growing in His nature, a little more each day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Make me more like You today. ...
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:3-6).
As we begin a new day I want it to feel like a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning. I want to begin it well. To begin well is to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. This is the way of humility instead of pride, depending upon You instead of myself, trusting in Your plans instead of mine, embracing Your will instead of insisting upon my own. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
So as I begin by seeking to humble myself in your sight, I can trust that You will lift me up (James 4:10). As I allow You to be at work within me, I know I can confidently trust Your promise that He who began a good work in me with be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). "For it is God who works in (me) both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
Come be at work within me today and every day, Lord God. By Your Holy Spirit at work within me, make me more like You today and each day. Cause me to will what is right and to do what is right, all for Your good pleasure, as You put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart.
I thank You for all You've already done and for all that is eternally done. But at the same time, I thank You for all You are doing and will be doing in me now and throughout today and the days to come. "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press to toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind..." (Philippians 3:12-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you will joyfully trust the One who began a good work in you to be faithful to complete it, making you more like Him as you beging your day, throughout your day, and every day to come, 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.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
This Monday is Labor Day. Always the first Monday in Sept.
Labor Day, Government web sight: is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Work is Important. Working is Biblical. There are many passages in the Old and New Testament on working, earning your wages, being self sustaining, not being lazy…ect. In most of the world, if you don’t work, you go hungry and end up homeless. But as important as working and you job is, and how much time you send at your job. Your work does not define you. It is not who you are. It is not what identifies you.
However and unfortunately, one of the primary identifiers in this country and what we then convince ourselves is important is that “You are what you do.” Go to where two strangers are meeting each other and eaves drop on their conversations for 30 seconds. What do they ask each other? What do you do? Not only do we identify ourselves by what we do but we identify others by what they do.)
Say two men came into this church dressed the same, both neat and well groomed. In a conversation you ask them “What do you do?” One man says he maintains Porta-potties….. The other man says he is a neuro surgeon, or the Mayor of Huntsville. You are going to use that info to identify them and “rank them.”
“My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?” (James 2:1-5)
Who we are, our false self, so identifies with what we do that we make up important names for our work. A Porta Poty man = Waist Removal Specialist. A Janitor = Sanitary Engineer…ect
Look at all the things of our false identity we try to cover ourselves in: Our career, education, boards we are on, where we volunteer or serve. Material things like; houses, what I drive, What I own.. “As if I were an invisible body, that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface”” This is what we want people to see.
But this is not who we are. This is not our true self. It is a False self. This is an ego centric self, trying to put forth position or importance. That can only give us false peace and false security in our identity. Because it separates us from God. “the false self stand between the true self and God”
Look at those, celebrities” who’s identity were in their doing and materialism: Robin Williams, Michael Jackson, Prince…they had the titles, they had the wealth, they had the materialism, they had the ultimate false self. But they were miserable, had anxiety and depression, and died
Those families who make $32,400 or more a year are in the top 1% of wealthiest family income in the world. If you make $32,400 or more a year,, you are making more than 99% of families in the world makes. I would dare to say almost everyone who is reading this post is in the top 1% club.
The Bible tells us,” By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground,” (Genesis 3:19) The definition of the word “sweat” in in the passage does not mean physical sweat. It means sweat from anxiety, fear, stress.
We are all in the top 1% income wise of the world. So why are we all so anxious, fearful, and stressing, (by the sweat of our brows) making ends meet? In many of the conversations with people I have they tell me, ”I have bills to pay”. They are worrying about this financial situation and trying to make ends meet. And we are all in the top 1%! America is in the top 1%, one of the highest income countries in the word. but we also are the country that is highest in depression, anxiety, suicides, bankruptcy, divorce….
Gracious loving God, we recognize that we live in a false-self culture in which one of the primary identifiers is “we are what we do.” Lord from your words we know we are not what we do, we are what you speak us forth to be. That we are not primarily human “doings” we are human “Beings” who find their true identity in you and you alone.
My family, I pray the Lord though His Holy Spirit, will help you divest yourselves of all the trappings of the false self, that you may find yourselves, your identity, our true self, hid and defined in and by Christ alone, In Jesus’ name, Amen! Please pray the same for me. God bless You My Friends!
I would love for you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- help me start this day and live out each moment centered and grounded in You….
Therefore be very careful how you live - not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil…Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things Godʼs wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord…Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention…. (Ephesians 5: 7-15)
I got up this morning and my heart was saddened saw the scenes and heard the sad stories coming from the shooting at the school in Minneapolis Then in today’s reading of Ephesians chapter 5 Paul’s tell his readers that “the days are evil.” Though his words were written 2,000 years ago, the speak truth to those who read it them this morning. Look around the world today, watch the news. Evil actions of hatred and violence, along with simmering cauldrons of chaos seem to be invading and infusing the soul of our nation. Even in our personal relationships and everyday encounters, patience runs thin, nerves are frayed, road rage, and tempers flare. A thin veneer of pretended politeness often covers seething emotions ready to erupt with even the slightest expression of a differing of opinion. Lord, help us. We need You now as much as ever, maybe even more than ever.
It is as You said it would be in these days, ever-nearing Your return, since You first spoke the words to warn us (Matthew 24:2-14). It is as Your Word prophesied long ago, that "darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples" (Isaiah 60:2). Yes, "the days are evil" because of the evil choices made by those willing to embrace the darkness rather than the light (Ephesians 5:16). But even in the midst of the evil, Your Word tells us to welcome Your Spirit, to worship through the wickedness, with gratitude for Your goodness, "giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:18-20).
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).
This is how we "overcome evil with good." This is how we "shine like stars in the world" even "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation" (Philippians 2:15). This is how we "Arise, shine; for (our) light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon (us)" even when "darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples" so that "nations will come to (our) light, and kings to the brightness of (our) dawn" (Isaiah 60:1:3). This is how we can embrace and live out the promise of Your Word even in the midst of our dark and angry world: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows" (John 16:33). But with our faith in You and Your nature being formed in us, we can "take heart, because (You) have overcome the world" (John 16:33). "For every child of God defeats this world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5)
Come, Holy Spirit. Empower us with nature of Christ in our hearts to shine with the light of Christ in our world. Give us courage to speak the truth and to speak it in love -- neither truth without love, nor love without truth. "We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ" and by the power of the grace of God at work within us, "(we will) let the Spirit renew (our) thoughts and attitudes" seeking to "put on (our) new nature, created to be like God -- truly righteous and holy" in the midst of our world in these dark and evil days (Ephesians 4:15-24 NLT).
Only in Christ, can we smile and pray for those who honk or flip us the bird while we drive or customers in stores who lash out with hate. Only in Christ, can we rot get sucked into firing back when someone posts lies or attacks on character on the internet. Only in Christ, can we not engage in gossip that cuts down people. Only in Christ can we pray for those who persecute us, bless those who curse us, and even love those who hate -- loving our enemies, overcoming evil with good, calming the chaos with peace, while standing firm in our convictions and true to our consciences -- just like You (Matthew 5:43-48). We are in Christ and Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). So Christ is in our world because the "Spirit of Christ" is in us -- having already overcome this world and, at the same time, still overcoming this world through our attitudes and our actions every day (Romans 8:9). The World needs Christ. Our nation needs Christ. Our Neighborhood needs Christ. Our churches need Christ. You and I need Christ. And we need to be sharing Christ.
"Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.... In Christ, we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence" (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). In our world, "we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). Lord, let it be so in our hearts and through our lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you “worship through the wickedness” and shine with the light of Christ in you everywhere you go, overcoming evil with good, praying for those who persecute you, blessing those who curse you, loving those who hate you; and please join with me in praying for our nations, 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.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today.
"We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:14-16).
"No longer children ... we must grow up." Give me grace to grow up, Lord. From every place where I've been stuck in the development of my mind and will and emotions, help me grow up. From every place where I allow myself to be tossed to and fro by the winds of doctrine or the will of others trying to impose their will or their sense of truth or their plans for my life on me, help me grow up. From every place where my selfishness and my self-centeredness and my self-righteousness wants to rear its ugly head in pride rather than humility or insisting on my way rather than fully surrendering to Your way, help me grow up. From every place where I'm tempted to compromise with Your truth out of some sense of false compassion or settle for something far less than Your very best out of complacency, laziness, lukewarm-ness, apathy, or self-pity, help me grow up.
There's not a spiritual gift of spiritual maturity; it must be developed and deepened on the daily journey of faith. There's not an anointing or impartation of spiritual maturity your pastor can pray over you. Spiritual maturity comes out of your personal decision to put in the time seeking God. it must grow from seed to harvest, through every season along the way - both the good and the bad, the easy and the difficult. But it does come to those who seek it, to those who seek You God, to those who embrace the call and command of Your Word that "we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). It does come to those who spend time daily searching the Scriptures. It does come to those who spend time daily in prayer. It does come to those who invest time weekly in deep accountability with one or two others. It does come to those who serve and love their neighbors. It does come to those who are willing to step out of their safety and comfort and pick up their cross and follow You.
The Apostle Paul expressed his spiritual journey like this: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became and adult, I put an end to childish ways" (1 Corinthians 13:11). He did that by growing in love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). He did that by embracing and "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). And he grew in love and truth because he grew in grace -- the power of Your grace alone that can grow us up into all You've created us to be in You -- by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Lord, help me "grow in grace" so I can grow in truth and love (2 Peter 3:18). I want to grow "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" through every opportunity You set before me on my journey of faith through this world. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you seek spiritual maturity and desire above all else to keep growing in grace, growing up into Christ, more like Jesus each day, into the spiritual maturity of the child of God and disciple of Christ you were created to be, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. And remember I am here for you to help encourage, equip, mentor, and walk with you to grow spiritually mature. Please use me! God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. First of all, I seek You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. I look to You, to worship and pray, to watch and wait, to listen as You lead, to begin my day fully surrendered to You, as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19).
Yes, Lord. I receive this prayer from the apostle Paul, inspired by Your Holy Spirit and imparted into my human spirit. Every dimension of the trinity of God, the tri-unity of God, is mentioned and moving in this flow of power and love from heaven to earth and from Your heart to mine -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
O Lord, my God, I gladly receive this prayer, because I desperately need this prayer. I desperately need to bow my knees in humble surrender and trusting faith before You, my Father. I desperately need to be strengthened in my inner being with Your power through Your Spirit. I desperately need You, Lord Jesus the Christ, to be Lord of my life, as You dwell in my heart through faith in You. I desperately need to be rooted and grounded in Your love, so I can love You with an undivided heart -- with all my heart and mind and soul and strength, loving You and loving others, as an unhindered expression of Your nature through my life. I desperately need to comprehend with my mind what You're doing in my heart, as You're teaching me and empowering me to experience and know the love of Christ, more and more every day. And in all these ways, I desperately need to be filled with all the fullness of God. I took the photo above when I was in the midst of Your presence at Your revival at Asbury University. Revive my souls again with your presence this morning oh my God!
What more could I pray? What more could You desire? This may be a perfect prayer that perfectly expresses Your heart for my heart and Your will for my life. Lord, let it be so. "Now to Him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever!" (Ephesians 3:20) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I am on my knees as I pray Paul’s prayer over you, I pray “that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"( v.19), in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to Act” Deitrich Bonhoeffer
“To ignore evil is to become accomplice to it.” Martin Luther King Jr.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke
“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Albert Einstein
Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice and wait for Your leading.
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:1-7).
There is a so-called "prince of the power of the air" who is a "spirit;" an evil and destructive spirit (Ephesians 2:2). It's the same spirit who is "the thief" who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10). It's the same spirit Jesus called "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31). And it's the spirit of destruction and death at work in our world, seeking to destroy and defile God’s creation by every means possible and at every opportunity available. "We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now" longing to be "set free from its bondage to decay" (Romans 8:19-23)
These past days have contained some battles. Our youth group that has been growing and flourishing has been under attack by personality differences, Marriages that are under attack. Workplace challenges are growing deeper, feelings of isolation, depression, fear are in many conversations I have with people, and the list seems to go on.
So this morning I say enough is enough! This morning in the power of the resurrected Jesus I am shouting at the devil! I am pushing back and calling out in prayer and the name of Jesus and calling out to you to also push back in prayer, in the laying of hands and anointing of oil and call out and push back against "the prince of the power of the air." To call out and push back against "the thief who comes to steal and kill and to destroy." To call out to and turn our hearts and our prayers and our hope to the One who says "I came that (you) may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). To call out and claim over our lives the One who is "rich in mercy," who reaches out to us in our distress. Who wars with us even in our sins, even in the places our own destructive acts, even where we have opened the door to destruction in our hearts or in our land throughout our generations to the accusing enemy of our souls and of Your creation. This morning we call and claim and invite and call on the God of angel armies to battle and push back against the darkness! (Ephesians 2:4).
O God, hear our prayer. Crush "the prince of the power of the air!" Grant us mercy in the face of its attempt to destroy. Stir in the hearts and prayers and proclamations of Your people who are called by Your name to take a stand in faith to speak against mountains of destruction, even as we humble ourselves to be desperately dependent upon You alone. “And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” Mark 11:22-25).
And as You bring us through no matter what we may endure, as we groan with all Your creation for the redemption of our broken, fallen world, may we continue to turn to You to be our Hope and our Help. "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 124:7). May You continue to fulfill Your Word through these days of what seems like unrelenting catastrophes: "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with (us)" (Romans 16:20). In Jesus' name we pray.
My family, I pray in faith in agreement with you that our God who is rich in mercy will give faith and grace to all to endure and overcome the "prince of the power of the air" and its destructive forces, in Jesus' name! And I join with you in prayer that lives would be restored and those caught in the storms of this season would experience the protection and provision of our God, in Jesus' name! May the presence of God in His mercy and love and through His people be evident in the midst of it all. God bless you my friends!
Please share with us your reflections in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that You are Lord, raised from the dead and raising me up to live my life in You this day.
"He destined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:5-8).
I can’t think of a better way to start a Monday morning than reading the amazing, wonderful, life changing words above and speaking and claiming them over your life as we begin a new day and a new week! I am destined to be a child of God! It's God’s "good pleasure" to pour out His grace into my life! I am God’s beloved! I am redeemed and restored in God! God’s desire is to lavish me with the riches of his grace! And God does not do this with any conditions, but freely; and not in scarcity, but in abundance. Out of the riches of Your grace, You lavish me with Your goodness -- all in Your joy and "good pleasure." "O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!" (Psalm 136:1)
So out of complete joy my response is Thank You! Thank you! Thank you Lord! You are a good God, in a good mood on the Monday morning! 'He who sits in the heavens laughs!" (Psalm 2:4). It was "for the sake of the joy that was set before you Jesus that you endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2). And despite what's going on around us -- even in the things that break Your heart and ours -- You're always inviting us to know the truth of Your Word: "In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore!" (Psalm 16:11).
O Lord, my God, "restore unto me the joy of Your salvation" every day (Psalm 51:12). Speak Your words of spirit and life into my heart that "(Your) joy may be in (me), and that (my) joy may be complete" (John 15:11). Though every moment and challenge of today and every day, help me see You and see myself in the light of Your truth and Your amazing grace and the "good pleasure" of Your will. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you take a moment of reflection and open your spiritual eyes to see God as He is and see yourself as He sees you, that His joy may be in you and your joy made be complete in Him as you walkout your door into the gift of today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice to begin my day pursuing Your presence. ...
"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:7-9).
We all know the saying in life, “You reap what you sow.” Like a farmer sowing seeds in his field, what we sow is what we will harvest. Cactus seeds don't grow up into apples and apple seeds don't grow up into cactus. And if we sow nothing, we will reap nothing. What we sow today determines what we'll reap at harvest.
Lord, give me wisdom to sow good seeds today. Give me a heart to sow to the Spirit and not to the flesh. Let me sow words of spirit and life through the words I speak and sow thoughts of expecting good things in the thoughts I think. Let me sow into my spiritual life, spending some time in prayer, the Word of God and devoting some time to seeking the presence of God. Let me sow into the lives of those around me through my time and my prayers and all You've entrusted to me.
There will come a time of harvest for all that's been sown. And I want my harvest to be good. I want my harvest to matter. I'd rather eat apples than cactus. And I'd rather live in the peace of mind and the expectancy of heart that I didn't just squander away every seed of opportunity I had to make an eternal difference in the fields entrusted to me during my time on this earth. I don’t want to have to lower my eyes when I stand before Jesus and he asks me. “I called you out into fields ripe for the harvest, What did you plant? What did you sow? I will stand before you one day and I want to hear those words from Jesus, “Welcome my good and faithful son, you really were “all-in” with the life I gave you! You with joyful enthusiasm obeyed my commission to “Go and make disciples”” (Matthew 28:19). "For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
By grace we are saved through faith -- "it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). And at the same time, You invite us to live out our grace every day, to live out our faith every day, as You increasingly move in our hearts with Your desires, growing us up into maturity in Christ (Philippians 2:13). We've been given much; and to whom much has been given, much is expected (Luke 12:48). "On the day of judgment (we) will all have to give an account for every careless word (we) utter; for by (our) words (we) will be justified, and by (our) words (we) will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37). "So then, each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:12).
So give me a harvest perspective. Give me an eternal perspective. And from that perspective, give me a heart to sow to the Spirit every chance I get through every opportunity You give. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will sow seeds today, I pray you will be “all-in” with your life Jesus gave you. I pray you will start discipling someone, and reap a great harvest by the grace of God. I pray you will obey God’s call to go out into your “field” of today and allow His Spirit to plant seeds through your life this day and every day, 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.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up my eyes, open up my heart, and call out Your name as I start my day centered in You. ...
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
Jesus, As I live in the land of my inheritance, being salt and light in the spheres of my influence and fulfilling my destiny in Christ, I can rest secure in my true identity as a child of God. My security doesn't depend on my good works, but on my relationship with You. And at the same time, You're a good God and You want to do good through me and use my life each day to bless others through the fruits of Your Spirit in me. To my neighbors, co-workers, family and others you connect me with, help me not only bare those nine fruits listed above, but also be an example to them of justice, mercy, banqueting, hope, partying, laughter and compassion. In short help me be an example to them of You Jesus.
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security" (Psalm 37:3). Lord, I trust You to show me how to do good today. Let my good deeds and my good works flow out of the good heart You desire to form in me.
Come have Your way in me and through me today. Give me Your good heart to do all the good You put in my heart to do today and bear all the fruits of Your Spirit by and through the grace of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray our good God will do good things in your heart so you will bare good fruit by His Spirit through your life today. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear Your heart as I watch and wait for the leading of Your Spirit in our morning communion of prayer. ...
"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because (we) are children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So (we) are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God" (Galatians 4:4-7).
Abba! Father! I cry out to You from my heart as a child of God, an heir of God in Jesus Christ my Lord. I cry out to You because Your Spirit moves in me to lift up my eyes to You, to open up my heart to You. And You lift me up into the heavenly realms of Your truth and Your Presence, where I know that I am in Christ and Christ is in me, where I'm seated far above everything that would try to steal my sense of identity and destiny, my hope and faith, my peace and joy, at the very right hand of God my Father.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead though our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace (we) have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Through the blood of Jesus, I'm forgiven and free. By the ever-abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit, I'm filled the assurance my salvation and my identity as a beloved child of God, created to live out my life now and forever in the intimate, personal relationship with the One who created me and loves me as a son of God. I'm a son, not a slave; I'm a friend of God, not merely a servant (John 15:15).
Empower me to know my identity and live out my destiny today, rejecting every false identity the world, the flesh, and the devil would try to offer me. Today and everyday, I'm a child of the one true King. Lord Jesus, You are the "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Revelation 19:16). You are my King and Lord. And I welcome You as "the King of glory" to come in to my heart today and every day (Psalm 24:7). In Jesus' name I pray.
My family, I pray that with the ever-abiding Presence of God's Holy Spirit abiding in your heart, you cry out Abba! Father! I pray you may always know in your heart and be content in your identity as a child of the one true King. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with me and others your reflections and what God is speaking to you from todays reading in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak into my heart; lead me in the way that leads to Life. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. ...
“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)
You are my "white garments." You are my "robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). Because I abide in You and You abide in me by the Spirit of Christ within me, I am clothed with Christ. In Christ, my name is in Your Book; and in Your Book it says I am one who is empowered to overcome.
"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Revelation 3:5).
You've called me and equipped me and empowered me to overcome. By the power of the grace of God at work within me to will what is right and to do what is right, I am an overcomer. I'm in a personal, powerful, passionate relationship with the One who has overcome the world, and so by the grace of God. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Thank You, Jesus! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, In this time of Marvel Avenger’s movies and super heroes, I pray you when you look at yourself in the mirror you will see that you are a “spiritual super hero.” That you are clothed in Christ, clothed in the armor of God that “the ruler of the world” and those entities aligned against God see and fear. I pray you may know and experience the power of God within you to overcome all that may ever come against you. You are more than a conqueror in Christ (Romans 8:37). 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.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Abide in me, as I abide in You; come into my heart, as I give my heart to You; be Lord of my life, as I acknowledge You as Lord of all. ...
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-21).
Live in me today, Lord Jesus. Keep forming me into Your image; keep conforming me into Your character; keep transforming me into Your nature.
It is the desire of the whole triune of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that to transform mr completely into the image of Jesus the Christ. To completely transform my mind, heart, will and emotions and my very soul into the fourth member of the trinity. The Bible is full verses that state this desire and hope. Through your Holy Spirit living ing me You're changing me from the inside out to have "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), to "bear the name of Christ" (Mark 9:41), to be filled with "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9), "sharing in the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16), "sharing in the body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:16), releasing the "aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15), urged on by "the love of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:14), steadfast in "the truth of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:10), living each day in "the grace of Christ" (Galatians 1:6), sharing "the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27), joining my fellow workers and servants as "partners of Christ" (Hebrews 3:14), seeking to be "a faithful minister of Christ" (Colossians 1:7), letting the "peace of Christ" dwell in my heart (Colossians 3:15) and the "word of Christ" dwell in my spirit (Colossians 3:16), empowering me to be "crucified with Christ" so I can live my "life in Christ" more and more each day (1 Corinthians 1:30). As You are, so I am to be in my world (1 John 4:17). And I could go on and on.
I was created for this and called to this, you were created and called for this -- to be "conformed to the image of (Jesus Christ)" (Romans 8:29). Everything I do, everything I encounter, everything I overcome, and everything I become is for this purpose -- for You to make me more like You each day. Every choice and challengeAs I begin this new week and throughout every moment of my day is an opportunity for me to grow "to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" as I "grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-16). I can't do this, but "the One who calls (me) is faithful, and He will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:24). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you begin this day and week with the complete understanding of what the love and grace of the The Father, Son and Holy Spirit desires you to became and wants to help you become. I pray you prioritize and set aside time daily for to spend in your Bible, on your knees in prayer, and in accountability with others more and more every day, growing up into Christ, into the full measure of the stature of Christ, I pray you desire that it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and 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, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning Jesus, my rock and my redeemer. I come to you this morning in a heart posture of worship.
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel - not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!” (Galatians 1:6-10)
The apostle solemnly denounces, as accursed, every one who attempts to lay so false a foundation. All other gospels other than that of the grace of Christ, whether more flattering to self-righteous pride, more favorable to worldly lusts, more preferable to current lifestyles, or simply based on religious traditions are devices of Satan. Even if from an Angel whose authority is the highest possible next to that of God and Christ. A new revelation, even though seemingly accompanied by miracles, is not to be received if it contradict the already existing revelation. For God cannot contradict Himself
“The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satanʼs working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved“ (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). “For false messiahs and false prophets more preferable to will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Mat 24:24) “Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” - gods whom you have not previously known - “and let us serve them.” You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation on which your salvation and faith is built upon. Knowing this Gospel, Understanding this Gospel, and being able to share this gospel is a basic necessity of all who call themselves Christians. Yet I am amazed at how many Christians I encounter, Christians who have attended churches for 5, 10, 20 years or more that can’t do this basic necessity of their faith, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Believers that when asked to share the Gospel that they supposedly believe in, get “deer in the headlight” expressions on their face! The Gospel is what saved them, redeemed them ,and is at the very core of their faith and something they should be able to share within the first week or so of coming to Christ! If Christians can not share this basic Gospel with others, then obviously they will not be sharing it with others, and I believe it is major reason why our churches are declining. Churches do not grow by pastors sharing the Gospel from pulpits on Sunday mornings. Churches grow by its members sharing the Gospel at their place of employment, to their classmates, neighbors and friends Monday-Saturday.
Do you know the Gospel of Jesus Christ? If someone were to ask you to explain to them the basic Gospel of your faith from creation through the resurrection are you comfortable, confident and excited to do it? As importantly, if someone where to share with you a gospel, even if it were accompanied by a miraculous act, could you discern if it was a false gospel? Have you asked of them and do you know the gospel being taught by your church, its leaders and your pastor? Is it the Gospel of the grace of Christ?
My family, the Gospel of grace in Jesus Christ is at the core of your salvation and faith. I pray you commit time in your Bible, in prayer, and in study to come to a solid understanding of the Gospel so you have a true foundation on which both to build your faith, and from which to share your faith with those around you, and not be false prophets and Satan’s workings, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
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