Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Savior and Strength, my Comforter and Counselor, my Father and Friend, my All in All -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. ..
"As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that those also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:21-24).
There's a oneness of intimacy that I desire because You've created me to desire it. There's a longing for trusting relationship that burns in my bones because it burns in Your heart. You created me for a relationship of love, just as You created me in Your image, because You are Love and it's the nature of love to be lived out in the intimacy of relationship (1 John 4:16).
Lord Jesus, You knew and You know that depth of intimacy with our Father, as both Son of Man and Son of God, both on earth and in heaven. And it's the longing of Your heart -- just as we hear in the yearning of Your prayer when You walked this earth as a model of intimacy with God for us -- that we would have that depth of intimacy as well.
We often read Your prayer "that (we) may be one" as a cry and a call for the oneness of unity among the church of Jesus Christ, among all believers from every tongue and tribe and nation throughout the world and throughout every generation. And no doubt, that is Your heart. But I also believe that the heart of Your prayer is a cry and a call for oneness of intimacy between our God and our hearts -- "that (we) may be one" with our Father, just as You were one with our Father (John 17:22).
This kind of intimacy with our Father can only come through our intimacy with You. As Your Word explains, in the expression Your prayer, "I in them and You in Me, that they may become completely one" (John 17:23). It's when we experience that depth of intimacy, in the communion of our relationship with You -- God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit -- that "the world may know" that God the Father sent Jesus, the Son, to love us just as the Father loves the Son (John 17:23).
In this sense, seeking to live our lives in intimacy with You is the most powerful means of evangelism we have to reach the hurting and the lost with Your message of healing and hope in the power of Your love. As You said, "I in them and You in Me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me" (John 17:23). You have "so loved the world" that You came into our world as Son of Man and Son of God to show us the life we can live forever in the eternal intimacy of a deeply personal relationship of love with You (John 3:16). As You said, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
I've heard of "street evangelism" and "relationship evangelism." Maybe this is an expression of "intimacy evangelism." But for the sake of those who are lost, as well as for the sake of those who have been found, may we all come to know You and Your love for us more deeply, more intimately every day. That's my prayer. And I believe that was Your prayer to our Father for me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, May you experience the depth of intimacy of the same love the Father has for Jesus, knowing He has that same love for you, in Jesus' name! Through your experience of "becoming completely one" in Him, my your world around you come to know that the Father has sent His Son to love and to save every one of them. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us n 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 begin 2020 by a 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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Every morning is a good morning in You. No matter what's going on in my world, You're always here in my heart.
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
As I enter in to our time of communion in prayer this morning, my heart is a little heavy with prayers for those who are experiencing tribulation in their lives: couples who are at war with each other and struggling; in-fighting among families; friends who have been hurt by the coldness and dark hearts of others and gossip; a co-worker at Lowes who was the victim of hateful racial attack, a friend of mine struggling with the realitity he has cancer, the violent acts of hate I see daily on TV news; those dying in Ithe Ukraine from the invasion by Russia, the war in Palestine still lingers, wars in Sudan, Yemen, Congo….and the list goes on.. In talking with those close to me experiencing tribulation I am asked why this is happening them? What darkness filled their attacker’s mind or is behind their spouses actions? But we know all too well and see all too often the darkness that seeks to invade any of our hearts to turn us against God and one another and ourselves. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10).
Ultimately, evil is not a person, but a spiritual force of darkness looking for every opportunity to divide and conquer and destroy. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). So it's only in You and the mercy of Your grace and the power of Your name that we can find the security and peace we need in these dark days to "stand against the schemes of the devil" through every onslaught of his tribulation, hatred, cowardice, and evil (Ephesians 6:11).
The only true shelter we have is "the Shelter of the Most High" as we seek to "abide in the Shadow of the Almighty," choosing to humble ourselves and call on Your name, to "say to the Lord, "My Refuge and my Fortress; my God, in whom I trust" (Psalm 91:1-2). You alone are our Comforter and Healer. You alone are our Redeemer of all that doesn't make sense and seams so out of our control.
You never intend or will the evil in our world. But at the same time, You are never unaware of our suffering and our needs, our fears and our fights. That is why you endured the horrors of Good Friday a week ago, to conquer evil and death and be a our source of life and hope. And You never leave us nor forsake us through whatever we endure in our lives or in our land through the darkness of these days. Evil will never have the last word or the find say. And You never back down from the promise and the hope of Your Word to those who choose to find Shelter in You: "Those who love Me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know My name. When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them My salvation" (Psalm 91:14-16).
Here in my heart, here in our land, be our Shelter again. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you seek the safety and security in the shelter of the Most High which only comes through time spent in The Word and prayer, knowing God is with you through whatever you tribulation you endure, making sure His Word will have the final say over your life. After reading today’s chapter John 16, Read Psalm 91 over your life this morning and claim God’s promises of protection, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of 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
Give A Gift!
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.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Welcome into my heart and the moments of my day.
"Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).
What could be more important than learning to abide in You? You said if I abide in You, You would abide in me, and I would bear much fruit.
So much of the time, we get that so wrong. So much of the time I struggle and and get it wrong. I tend to focus on the fruit, when you tell me to focus on You. I gravitate to focusing on what I can do for You instead of how I’m living in You. I have many “hats” that I wear in my walk with You Jesus. I have my “servant” hand that I put ones I minister to people with “boots on the ground.” I have my “warrior” hat I wear as I fight for people who are being oppressed. I have my “pastor” hat I wear as I preach, teach, and shepherd people. However I am coming to realize in my walk with you the most important hat I need to put on daily for my life to have any hope of truly becoming all you desire for me is a baby bonnet. In which I put on a a child that is simply content to rest in the arms of the Father and be transformed in that embrace.
It's like seeking first to build the kingdom of God instead seeking first You and our right relationship with You (Matthew 6:33). It's like trying to do so many good things instead of seeking the One Thing that makes all things work together for good. It's like trying to do it all ourselves instead of letting You do it all through us. And ultimately, all that we do apart from You, no matter how good or helpful it may seem at the time, amounts to nothing of eternal significance. Just like You said long ago, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
So teach me to abide in You. Teach me to seek You first and focus most on my relationship with You. Lord Jesus, as I seek to abide in You right now in the beginning of my day, what do You want me to hear or see or sense in this moment? ...
It seems I hear You saying in my heart: "You abide in Me as you open your heart to Me, allowing Me to abide in you. That's the key. Allow Me to abide in you. Welcome my Spirit within you. Embrace my life within your life. Allow Me to put My thought in your mind and My desires in your heart. Allow Me to express My words, My power, My heart, My nature through your life. I am the Vine. You are one of My branches. Seek to be one with Me, one in the Vine, and My Spirit will flow through your life. Then I will cause My fruit to be borne through you. Let your focus and your passion be upon abiding in Me. Then trust Me to bear My fruit through your life. Not by your power, not by your might, but by My Spirit."
Yes, Lord. That's sounds like You speaking to me, as I seek to discern Your voice from my own thoughts, the leading of Your Holy Spirit from the merely the desires of my own human spirit. As I test these words first against the Word of God, these Scriptures come to mind: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). "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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
So as best as I can and all by Your grace, as my Holy Week goal, I seek to abide in You, Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Vine and I am one of Your branches. As I begin this Mon5day and life out the moments of my adventure of faith, I want to be embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit -- abiding in You as You abide in me. Let this be more than a moment, but a lifestyle of living in You and allowing You to live through me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will prioritize today time to welcome Jesus’ Spirit within you and embrace his life within your life. I pray you will be stirred by the Spirit of God to abide in Christ in a lifestyle of abiding and living in 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.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Communit
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift!
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.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God; You are One and You are with me. I welcome You here within me and every moment of my day.
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.... Rise, let us be on our way" (John 14:27-31).
Every morning, I can rise and be on my way with You because Your peace is within me. As You promised to Your first disciples, You continue to promise every disciple, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 NKJV).
The first disciples world under Roman control was a world full of foreboding and fear, chaos and confusion, injustice and inhumanity, troubles and tribulations. Sound familiar? You invited them and You invite me to find my peace in You. You remind me You are the "Prince of Peace" -- my "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). You encourage me to overcome by embracing the One who has already overcome (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).
The mornings I begin my day in word and prayer centered in your peace, there's a shifting in me, long before there's any shifting in the world around me I am about to go out and enter into. It's a shifting of perspective that gives me peace in the confidence and assurance of Your Presence. You're with me through it all (Isaiah 43:2; Psalm 23:4). You never leave me, nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). You're with me "always" (Matthew 28:20).
And at the end of my day when it's all been said and done, when I see with my eyes what I've known in my heart, that You've been with me to the end, I will look and see that none of the things of this world that tried to overwhelm me and overcome me to steal my peace had the last word or defined my life. You did. You always have and You always will. And Your word over me is always good (Jeremiah 29:11). You are the Living Word of God, who is always with me (John 1:14). And that's what gives me "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard (our) hearts and (our) minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will know the peace that surpasses all understanding through every trouble and tribulation you ever endure, safe and secure, encouraged and overcoming in the One who is your Prince of Peace, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you my friends!
I continue to join with you in prayer for all those who do not know peace: in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine and many other areas of the world
Please share your reflections and prayer requests over trials and tribulations in your life 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.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your sheep hear Your voice. I seek Your voice to Lead me today, Lord Jesus. ..
“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).
Jesus, there’s a depth of humility in Your heart that I know is not yet in my heart. As much as I like to think I give and love and serve, I know the honest truth is I’m still very focused on me -- how do I feel, how do I look, how will this help me. And the really, really honest truth is, sadly, that even when I’m giving and loving and serving, I’m still even very focused on me while I’m doing that!
Lord, help me. Holy Spirit, change me. Crucify me of more of my flesh and fill me with more of Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Set me free from the idolatry of this unholy trinity of me, myself, and I. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10; Ephesians 4:23).
Put Your thoughts in my mind. Put Your desires in my heart. Let me “be transformed by the renewing of (my) mind” (Romans 12:2). Let me “be conformed to (Your) image” (Romans 8:29). Make me more like You today, “because as (You are), so are we (to be) in this world” (1 John 4:17).
So whose feet will You lead me to wash today? Whose life will You lead me to serve today? Whose hearts will You lead me to touch this week? Open the eyes of my heart to see them and not myself, to serve You and not my own self interests. As I walk out my door into this new week help me Holy Spirit to not seek to promote myself, but others in my workplace, and all the places my schedule leads me. “A servant is not greater than his master,” so let me be about my Master’s business of giving and loving and serving today -- from the heart of my Master abiding in me (John 15:4). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray may you be filled with the heart of our Master, imagine a wash basin in your hands, and seek today to wash feet, give and love and serve others with His heart today, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
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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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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm at my post, positioned in my morning place of prayer, listening for Your leading, as I begin my day deliberately seeking and embracing You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?' So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, 'Father, I thank You for having heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that You sent Me.' When He had said this, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.' Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him" (John 11:40-45).
I want to believe bigger. I want to see Your glory more. I want to trust in Your words with faith in Your heart to display Your glory in the power of Your love all around me today. Open my eyes to see it and stir in my spirit to expect it. "What was promised through faith in Jesus Christ (will) be given to those who believe" (Galatians 3:22).
As the father said, just before You set his son free from the spiritual attack trying to destroy his son's spirit, soul, and body, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). You told that father, just as you tell every one of us, "All things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). It's just as You told Mary, who was heart-broken and disappointed over her brother's death, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)
Set me free from any doubts or disappointments that would try to dampen my faith. Let me begin my prayers with fresh faith, grounded in Your Word, led by Your Spirit, rather than any unfulfilled experiences of the past. There's much mystery on this journey of faith, but let my expectations be firmly established in Your promises, rather than my problems, and in Your Word, rather than the ways of my world. Help me when I walk out my door in the morning to really expect for God to do amazing things so that by the end of the day or the end of the week I will have amazing stories to tell of what God is doing? Because He Is! And I have been invited to be part of it.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). By the power of Your grace, I'm seeking You and I'm believing You. Help me seek more expectantly and believe bigger. I'm believing Your Word -- "As it is written, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'" (1 Corinthians 2:9 from Isaiah 64:4 NKJV). In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
My family, I pray the Lord will empower you to believe bigger, be expectant bigger, through trusting in His Word and His Spirit, to be at work mightily in the the things on your heart that you bring to Him in prayer, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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 wake up this morning still celebrating Resurrection Sunday of Holy Week! The season in the church calendar of Lent his over and we are now in the season of Eastertide. During these days of the remembrance and celebration of Easter, let my joy encourage me to come closer to You with excitement and expectancy to hear what You'll say and see what You'll do in my life through the power of Your resurrection. -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
"Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know you seek Jesus who crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said! Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that His is risen from the dead! ..." (Matthew 28:1-7)
God's not dead. He is alive!
Death and the devil didn't win. Hell couldn't hold You down. The grave couldn't keep You hidden away. The stone couldn't seal You up. You overcame it all in the victory of the cross and the power of the resurrection!
And because You overcame, we can overcome. Because You had victory, we can have victory. Because hope and faith won the day by the power of God in You, hope and faith by the same power of God in us will win the day for us! Because You live and are Holy, even after Holy Week all our days are Holy because your live in us!
"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).
Father, You sent Your Spirit to raise Jesus from the dead. And You send that same Spirit in that same power to raise us from the dead every day-- to give is the victory of life over death, of hope over despair, of faith over fear. By the power of Your grace at work in us, at work in our world, hope and faith will win the day! You are our Hope. You are our Faith. You are our Answer and only Hope for all we face, as we put all our faith in You alone.
For death is swallowed up in victory! ... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:54)
We're not overcomers unless we've overcome something. We don't have a testimony unless we've been tested. We can't be more than conquerors unless we've had something to conquer. And the empty tomb is the eternal witness of the power of God to empower us to overcome whatever we're going through in our world today and in our world to come!
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love" (Romans 5:3-5).
Let the same Power that raised Jesus from the dead stir up the hearts of God's people around the world to release Your power of hope and faith to overcome as never before! Let everything we're going through develop endurance and character and hope in us that can be held down or sealed off or shut up. Let Your resurrection life and power arise in us to shine in our world as we remember and celebrate what You have done!
Myself and my family in the Dominican Republic, you in the USA, and around the world, as we remember the victory of the cross and the empty tomb, let us receive and embrace Your promise and power of faith and hope: "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!" (Romans 15:13) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, as we begin a new week after Easter may you be filled afresh with hope and faith in the One who overcome the grave and the devil so that we can overcome all that we face in the resurrection power of the risen Christ, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share you reflections on this passage and your Easter experiences 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
Help Us Help Them
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.
Thank You!
“The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” (Matthew 27:62-66)
Today is Holy Saturday, the day Christ was absent from us in the tomb and the whole world waited in hope and expectation and wondered what would happen next.
What will happen next for you?
We have spent 40 days of Lent together, 47 days including the Sundays, We spent this time reflecting, repenting, discerning our walk with Christ, praying, fasting, giving up things, taking on things, reading Lent devotions, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) preparing ourselves for Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and joining in His resurrection. We deepened our understanding that “We are not our own and that we were bought at a price and that we are therefore to glorify God with our bodies.” (1 Cor 6:19-20)
So why did you do all of it?
What is the unto?
How have you been changed through it?
If an Easter miracle could happen in your life tomorrow what have you prayerfully asked God for and what would it be?
My family, Easter Sunday Christ wiped your slate clean and gave you a “clean black board”go write the next chapter of your life . I pray you will take time today, to ponder, What will happen next in you obedient following Jesus? Where, what and how you sense He is calling you to rise with Him tomorrow, and walk out your front door as He walked out of the grave, and join our resurrected savior in redeeming the world? In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends.
Discerning God’s calling and direction to follow him in obedience can be a challenge at times. If you need someone to help you pray about it, simply listen to you as you talk it out loud, or confirm your decision, reach out to me and I will listen and pray with you. Or you may know someone who you trust to pray, listen and talk with you: a pastor, church member, friend, co-worker, family member. I want to encourage you to reach out to them. You will be so glad you did, and Jesus will be as well.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
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 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!
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy..
Good morning, Lord Jesus. On this Good Friday, we remember our Good Shepherd, when You laid down Your life for Your sheep. ...
"Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).... And they crucified him.... When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'... Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:22-39)
Jesus, We truly have no idea of the suffering You endured for each one of us. For as much as we can take at a time, we begin to imagine the physical suffering and the emotional suffering you endured as You hung naked and rejected by the nails driven into Your hands and feet, gasping for breath and dripping with blood from Your shredded skin and nerves. But we can't even begin to comprehend the spiritual suffering You endured as the One who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, when You willingly took upon Yourself all the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In that moment, bearing the full weight of our sins, the full weight of my sins, You were separated from the holiness of God, so that we would never have to be separated from the holiness of God.. In unimaginable anguish of spirit, You cried out to the Father in the most heart-wrenching cry of all eternity, as the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world by taking them on to Yourself in the passion of the cross, determined before the foundation of the world and prophesied long before the coming of that day (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).
Carrying our sins, You descended into hell on our behalf to break the power of hell over our lives (Acts 2:31; 1 Peter 3:18-22 and 4:6). But hell couldn't hold You because Satan had nothing in You and no power over You (John 14:30). "Through death, (You defeated) the one who has the power of death, that is, Satan himself, and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14).
What an incomprehensible price You paid for each one of us. We may never fully comprehend for all eternity the depth of Your suffering for our sins so that we could dwell forever in the depths of Your love in the intimate presence of our holy God. But on this holy day, we stand amazed at the foot of the cross and in the Presence of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, a family born out of the blood of the cross., I pray you take time on the journey to the joy of celebrating the resurrection of Christ to think on the suffering of Jesus and be filled with knowledge of the truth of how much God loves you and suffered for you to always be with you. Offer to Christ the idols, attitudes, behaviors and things you need to die from and place them on His cross, In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Please share you reflections on Good Friday throughout your day 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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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.
Thank You!
Good morning family,
We are entering into the heart of Holy Week in the church. A time we as a church reflect and gather to remember the events that are at the core of our faith. Please set aside time these next few days for your own personal reflection and to join in your church as we reflect on them in community.
Today is Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” is Latin for “Mandate.” It is the day we remember Jesus’ institution of The Lord’s Supper and his mandate to “Do this in remembrance of me.”
The Lord's Supper first took place in the context of the Jewish Celebration of Passover. It flows out of it and is rooted in it. Read Exodus 12:1-14 then read 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. Scriptures tell us that when the supper was over Jesus took the cup of wine. This would be the third cup of 4 cups of wine drank during the Passover or Seder as it is called today. The third cup is referred to as the cup of redemption or the cup of blessing. It is the cup that represents the deliverance and redemption of the Jews by the blood of the lambs put on the door lentils of homes. It is with this cup and all it represents that Jesus declares that it is by his blood that now true deliverance and redemption will be made possible.
In the Lords Supper, Christ brings His passion to our remembrance and draws us into wonderful communion, Holy Communion, with the Father and with Himself and one another, proleptic of our life in the Kingdom of God, nourishing our faith “till He comes” (Lk 11:2).
In the Lord’s Supper we remember. Jesus said to His disciples, “I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter… and He will bring all things to your remembrance” (Jn 14:26). At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). We remember in such a way that we see our participation in the past event and see our destiny and future bound up in it. We remember in such a way that we know by the grace of God we are the people for whom the Savior died and rose again; we are the people whose sins Jesus confessed on the cross; we are the people with whom God has made a new covenant in the blood of Christ; we are the Israel of God to whom God said, “I will be your God and you shall be my people” (Ex 6:7). The work of memory, of realizing our participation and fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, is the work of the Holy Spirit. We remember Christ, yet it is not so much we who remind ourselves of these events, but Jesus Christ, who brings his passion to our remembrance through the Holy Spirit, as our ever-living and ever present Lord.
Read Exodus 12:1-14 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. Reflect on the hope, redemption, and deliverance that was made possible for you when you drink of the cup. Attend a Maundy Thursday gathering at you church or find one that is hosting one, as well as Good Friday and Easter Sunday gatherings. I really want to encourage all of you to prioritize and set aside time to attend Holy Week services this week at your church. Whatever you do weekly on these evenings will be there next week. Don’t skip over Maundy Thursday. Don’t skip over Good Friday. Don’t skip over these deep, holy waters to splash in Easter. If your church does not have these services, sseek out and visit another church for tonights and tomorrows services.The Lord's Supper was instituted in community, and needs to be remembered in community..
My family, I pray as we remember Jesus’ institution on Holy Communion, you will seek for and ask for in prayer and in the Holy Spirit, a deeper communion with our Lord and savior, Jesus the Christ, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts, reflections and prayers as we remember together the events of Holy Week.
One Direction Community's Holy Week Schedule:
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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 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
Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have belong to You-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. " (John 6:63).
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here: here in my heart, here in my day, here in every moment of my life. Let the words of Jesus, revealing the will and the ways of my Father be my plumb line and my life line. "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, buy by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).
Lord, let Your words of spirit and life stir in my spirit and manifest Your life in me today. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12 ). I receive Your words of spirit and life, living and powerful, change me and shape me, live in me and live through me, conforming me into the image of the Son of God You've created me to be (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit stirs in your heart with the words of Jesus and the love of our Father, changing you and empowering you to be all you were created to be, 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.
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 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.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Light of the world and Lord of my life, make me more like You today. ...
"The hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
I thank You that by the grace of Your mercy and love You're always seeking us to enter into true worship with You. You are always drawing us near to You. Even before we're saved, Your Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, with us in our worries, ready to assist us in our struggles, pursuing us to both convict us of our sins and convince us of Your heart to forgive us and cleanse us and restore us to a deeply personal and trusting relationship with You. And once we are saved, You continue Your work from within and all around us to keep drawing us closer still, deeper still into an ever-increasing intimacy with You where we worship You in Spirit and truth -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And at the same time, You also invite us to choose to "draw near" to You, promising You will then "draw near" to us. So it's not either You draw near to us or we draw near to You; it's both You draw near to us and we draw near to You. It's not just a passive relationship, where we just sit back and wait on You to pursue us. It's also an active relationship, where we also pursue You. "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25).
Lord, let me not be a passive lover of God, just sitting back and waiting on You to love me. Like any one-sided relationship, that's very unfulfilling for both. Rather, stir in my heart to "pursue love" -- with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Some of Your Words come to mind to meditate on Your call to for me to seek You and passionately pursue You in spirit and truth:
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).
"Abide in Me as I abide in you" (John 15:4).
"When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
"Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6-7).
"I love those who love Me; and those who diligently seek Me will find Me" (Proverbs 8:17).
"When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, O Lord, I will seek" (Psalm 27:8).
"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually" (1 Chronicles 16:11).
"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God" (1 Chronicles 22:19).
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Luke 11:9-10).
Jesus, I believe You've given me the gift and the wisdom to seek after You, to passionately pursue You in spirit and truth -- in my prayers, in my worship, from the beginning of my day and throughout the moments of my day. I believe that brings You joy. And I believe that gives me joy. "Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad!" (1 Chronicles 16:10) "Be glad that you are His; let those who seek the Lord be happy! (NCV).
So I will seek You and be a true worshipper of you in Spirit and Truth. I will pursue You. I will love You because You first loved me, but I will not just lay back passively waiting on You to love me in one-sided relationship. I will draw near to You. I will abide in You. And by the mercy of Your grace and love for me, I will be glad and Your joy will be my strength! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
My family, I pray you will ask the Holy Spirit in your personal Lent meditation time to remove any passiveness from your relationship with Jesus and replace it with passion for Him. May you be drawn to worship Jesus today, at this moment, in Spirit and Truth. I pray you will be glad and full of joy as you seek the Lord and draw near to Him with all your heart, 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 with us from todays reading.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
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.
Thank You!
“Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.” (Ιωάννης 3:16)
Translation:
“For this is how so LOVED God the world: That the Son, the only begotten, He gave so that everyone believing in him, should not perish but have life eternal”. (John 3:16)
This morning’s reflection flows out this morning’s reading and from a conversation I had with a person at the Waffle House about “this world is not my home” and what he called his “yo-yo” struggle between turning towards God and turning towards the world.
This morning’s reflection contains diagrams and is a little more structured than most of my reflections. However, I wanted to make what I was saying more understandable.
Most people have this paradigm and diagram of their life as it relates to God and the World. Allot of churches teaches this diagram as do many contemporary worship songs and books. People feel they are caught in the middle between the two pulls of God and the world. Their diagram looks like this:
God <-----------Them -------------> World
God <------------Them: At times they feel they move in the direction of God and God is moving close to them. They attend a spiritual weekend or retreat, participate in an amazing prayer or worship gathering, or something else they feel moves them closer to God and in the opposite direction of the world.
Them --------------> World: Then they feel they slip back into the world and its daily life, struggles, and temptations. As the world pulls them towards it, they feel they are being pulled away from God. Moving towards the world they feel necessitates them moving away from God.
God <---------> Them <----------> World: Because of this diagram that many people have embraced of their life, they live in this constant struggle and strain of the tug-of-war of being pulled into God and being pulled towards the world. Moving towards God requires moving away from the world.
However this diagram is not correct. Nor is it Biblical. The whole movement of God as John 3:16 states and the salvation plan of God in the incarnation of Jesus, his becoming human, and his death and resurrection reveals is God moving into the world.
So let me show you what I believe is the correct diagram:
------------> God ------------> :The previous diagram focuses on us. First, let’s take ourselves out of the center and move God into the center were he belongs.
-------------> God -----------> World: Second: the mission of God, the movement of God, and the movement of the church is into the world, not away from it. God did not come into the world to set up sanctuaries set apart from the world, place his light hid under a basket separate from the world, but he came to set up mangers, and shine his light in the world.
Us-------------> God --------------> World: We are to move in the direction of God who is moving into the world. The mission of the church is to join in the Missio Deo, (the mission of God( which is to reach every nation, tribe and tongue, (Rev. 5:9) with the Gospel and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:8), So Loved God The world.. (John 3:16)
We are called through the means of grace of prayer, searching the Scriptures, fasting, and sharing in the Lord’s Supper to move more intimately into God to more fully join in his mission of moving more intimately into the world. If you attend a church service on Sundays, you are moving towards God. If when you leave you isolate yourself from the world, you are moving against God.
The same John who wrote John 3:16 also wrote 1John 3:16. He writes:
“We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians” And he goes on to say in verse 17, “But whoever has the worldʼs possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?” Again, John’s focus is the sharing of our love we received from Jesus with those in the world. I can’t help but wonder, What if it was 1John 3:16, “We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians” and not John 3:16 that was the most well-known, memorized and recited verse by Christians around the world. How would Christians live and evangelize differently?
My family, Read the Gospels and look at the examples of Jesus’ life. Read Philippians 2:5-7. Then pray and reflect over what diagram controls your life. During this season of Lent where we fast and pray to more intimately encounter Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how you can more fully join in with Jesus and this movement of God. I ask that you please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and questions 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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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.
Thank You!
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“Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. He did not need anyone to testify about man, for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:23-25)
When I these words of Jesus in this passage this morning my mind also went to these words Jesus.
“Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ʻLord, Lord, didnʼt we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?ʼ Then I will declare to them, ʻI never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!ʼ”
(Matthew 7:21-23)
Jesus “knows” and “sees” into the heart of every person who ever walked this planet, including those people who claim to walk after Him, and that includes you and me. The issue in the passage of John is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what the object of their faith truly was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political figure of some sort. They did not understand how he would usher his reign on earth, what his revolution would look like, that he did not come to be served but to serve. They saw him as a holy man and miracle worker. Their concept of "Messiah" was was not the same as Jesus' own, or the concept of Jesus John had that he is trying to convey in his Gospel. Jesus, as he states in Matthew, sees the heart of these people and he has full knowledge that they do not truly know him, understand who he is: the sacrificial lamb, the bearer and redeemer of their sins, the man of the cross. They did not know him.
My family, Jesus knows your heart. This Sunday is Palm Sunday when enter into the holiest time in the season of the church, Holy Week. I pray you will set aside time to these coming days to read the passion narratives in the Gospels, pray, and ask the Holy Spirit to open up you heart to truly know Jesus, and know in your heart what your calling to follow him entails, 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
Give A Gift
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.
Thank You!
“A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.” (John 1:6-7)
“Witness” is one of the major themes of John's Gospel. The Greek verb for “witness” is μαρτυρέω (mature). It occurs 33 times in John’s Gospel. When compared to the other three Gospels we have read, it appeared only once in Matthew, once in Luke, and zero times in Mark. And the noun for “witness”, μαρτυρία (marturia), occurs 14 times in John as compared to zero in Matthew, once in Luke, and 3 times in Mark. So “witness” occurs 47 times in John’s gospel as compared to 6 times in all of the three other Gospels combined.
The witness of John’s gospel testifies to the deity of Jesus and that "He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world." This witness has a world view in mind. As we will read later in John 3:16, “God so loved the world”
“He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.” (v.11) His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the “Word” came into the world, he came to his own, literally "his own things" and his own people, who should have received him, but they did not. John does not say that "his own" did not know him, but that they did not receive him. The idea is one not of mere recognition, the people recognized Him, witnessed who he was in his teachings and miracles, but they did not acceptance and welcome that witness into their life.
“The Word became flesh” (v.14). This verse constitutes the most concise statement of the incarnation in the New Testament. John 1:1 makes it clear that the Logos was fully God, but 1:14 makes it clear that he was also fully human so that Jesus could witness to us in person.
We are over half way through 40 days of Lent leading up to Holy Week and Easter. For these past weeks we focused inwardly on ourselves and our “receiving” of Him. We have personally meditated. We fasted, gave up and let go of things that were keeping us or are a distraction from personally receiving Him. We took on things that helped us personally receive Him. We will soon stand up on Sunday morning and declare personally and collectively as a church that we receive Jesus as a resurrected Lord. Now it is time to witness to others what we received.
“On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(v.29) This is now are calling if we are truly a people of Easter,; to go and witness to others through sharing our testimonies, our witness, and the Gospel of grace and open up to others and invite them into the living scriptures and testimonies of our and say, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The one time in Luke’s Gospel that the noun “Witness” is used is at the very end of the chapter right before John’s Gospel where it states,“and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”(Luke 24:47-47)
My family, the “You” in Jesus’ words, “You” are witnesses to these things” is YOU! The person’s reflection you see in the mirror! I pray you will not set aside these days of personal reflection and your preparation to celebrate the risen Jesus on Easter and just continue in life, but embrace your call to be a witness and today! Seek out at least one person and share with them “The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” 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
Give A Gift
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.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to see You--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God--as I look and listen for Your leading today.
"Now on that day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.... So He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the Scriptures to us?'" (Luke 24:13-32).
The two disciples were on their walk back to Emmaus after all the events of the cross in Jerusalem. Jesus, they had known You and loved You, but in their grief and sorrow and disappointment, they couldn't see You. They "had hoped" that You were the Messiah, but now they thought all their hopes and dreams were shattered (v. 21). They had even heard stories of Your resurrection, but they were still "slow of heart to believe" (v. 22-25). Even when You came alongside them, they couldn't sense that it was You, they couldn't recognize Your voice, even though they had had such a personal relationship with You.
That may be a picture of many of us at times along our journey of faith. It has been mine at times in my life. We know You, we have a real and personal relationship with You, we know the stories of Your resurrection; but at the same time, down deep inside, we still find ourselves "slow of heart to believe." When our dreams and hopes are shattered, when tragedy strikes, when we find ourselves in those times of grief and sorrow and disappointment, we find it hard to see You and hear You. We can't even recognize and remember that You are with us--that You're with us "always," just like You promised (Matthew 28:24), that Your sheep "hear (Your) voice," just like You said (John 10:3).
But even in those times--maybe even especially in those times--You'll come near and go with us (Luke 24:15). You'll come in and dine with us in the communion of our hearts if we'll simply invite You in to come abide with us (v. 29). Just as You did with those two discouraged disciples who desperately needed an encounter with You, You're ready to come and commune with all who would "urge (You) strongly" to come and stay (v. 29).
In the breaking of the bread with them, "their eyes were opened, and they recognized (You)" (v. 30-31). In the breaking of the Bread of the Word of God with them, "(You) interpreted to them the things about (Yourself) in all the Scriptures" (v. 27). Then their hearts burned within them in fresh fire and faith, in renewed hope and excitement, from their personal encounter in Your Presence with Your Word (v. 32).
Thank You for walking with me on my journey with You, Lord Jesus. Thank You for opening up the Word of God to me, for revealing Yourself in Your Scriptures to me, "beginning with Moses and all the prophets" (v. 27). Thank You for coming to abide within me, for opening the eyes of my heart to see You, for making me more and more sensitive in my spirit to hear You. Thank You for the grace and faith to believe in my heart from my personal encounters in Your Presence with Your Word that "the Lord has risen indeed!" (v. 34) And thank You that every day You want walk with me and to arise in me! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you strongly urge Jesus to come enter the dwelling of your heart so your heart burns within you with fresh fire and faith, in renewed hope and excitement on your journey with Jesus. Encounter His Presence by spending time in His Word, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
If you have attended a Three-day weekend such as an Emmaus, Cursillo, or Paseo, please share your experiences and reflections from your weekend in the comment box below. Have questions about the weekend, contact me and I'd love to talk to you.
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 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.
Thank You!
Fill my cup this morning Father.
“The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35-37)
Jesus, the irony in the statement “Let him save himself” is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross. It was not by the avoidance or removal of suffering that God’s would show His love, but through suffering that God’s plan of salvation and love would be manifested.
Jesus, remind me of my call to suffer for your kingdom and out of love for my neighbors. Your Word says, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29) It is ok for me to ask for the suffering to be removed, Jesus you did in the garden. However, it is not ok for me to use whether the suffering has been removed or not as a measure of God’s love for me. Just like Jesus, sometimes my salvation and sanctification does not come by the avoidance or removal of suffering, but through the suffering.
If I surround myself with everyone who agrees with me and likes me, my character and formation as a person will not grow. If I am never tested by something that tries to knock me off my feet, how will I learn to stand firm? I would rather be sent to an elaborate buffet and feast, and I like to pray that way. However, it is in the gym that I am strengthened, so help me to pray that way. As difficult as it is in my will, and despite how “tough I may talk the talk,” help me “walk the walk” and to rejoice in my suffering.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
My family, I pray you embrace the fact that if we have a savior who God demonstrated His love through His suffering, that He will demonstrate His love through you in the same way. I pray as counter to your flesh as it sounds, you will embrace that it is sometimes through suffering, not the removal of suffering, that your walk with Christ will lead you. 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
Give A Gift
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.
Thank You!
Fill my cup this morning Father.
“The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35-37)
Jesus, the irony in the statement “Let him save himself” is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross. It was not by the avoidance or removal of suffering that God’s would show His love, but through suffering that God’s plan of salvation and love would be manifested.
Jesus, remind me of my call to suffer for your kingdom and out of love for my neighbors. Your Word says, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29) It is ok for me to ask for the suffering to be removed, Jesus you did in the garden. However, it is not ok for me to use whether the suffering has been removed or not as a measure of God’s love for me. Just like Jesus, sometimes my salvation and sanctification does not come by the avoidance or removal of suffering, but through the suffering.
If I surround myself with everyone who agrees with me and likes me, my character and formation as a person will not grow. If I am never tested by something that tries to knock me off my feet, how will I learn to stand firm? I would rather be sent to an elaborate buffet and feast, and I like to pray that way. However, it is in the gym that I am strengthened, so help me to pray that way. As difficult as it is in my will, and despite how “tough I may talk the talk,” help me “walk the walk” and to rejoice in my suffering.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
My family, I pray you embrace the fact that if we have a savior who God demonstrated His love through His suffering, that He will demonstrate His love through you in the same way. I pray as counter to your flesh as it sounds, you will embrace that it is sometimes through suffering, not the removal of suffering, that your walk with Christ will lead you. 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
Give A Gift
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.
Thank You!
