Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my spirit, Lord; I'm listening.
"The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many" (Daniel 11:32-33).
Even in the darkest, most challenging of times, You will have a people who know You and are growing in knowledge of You, a people who understand Your ways and are growing in understanding of Your ways. These are the ones with great expectations for "great exploits" and for great adventures of faith in what may seem like a faithless generation. These are the ones that search for great encounters with the living God in the midst of a lifeless, godless generation. These are the ones who will experience Your "great power" because of Your "great grace" in measures we've yet to see in the authority of Your name and power of Your love (Acts 4:33).
Lord, as I begin a new week, I want to be a part of all You're doing this week. I want to take my place in the unfolding of Your eternal plans. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, here on earth and here in me. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Fill me up, mighty Holy Spirit. I am a child of God by the grace of God. So my Father God, I embrace with faith and great expectations the great exploits You will do through me in the name of Your Son and the power of Your Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you're anointed and empowered with great expectations of the great exploits God is going to do this week, because He is! May you be one of the “these are the ones” that searches for encounters with the living God, secure in the knowledge of our God and growing in the understanding of His ways for His glory in His His time, 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. Open the eyes of my heart and the ears of my spirit, as I begin my day seeking Your face and embracing Your presence.
"Jesus said to them, 'Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mark 12:24)
Lord, give me a deeper hunger to know Your Word. Give me a stronger desire to spend time reading my Bible. Why, so I can experience Your power. I want the Word of God be my authority and the power of God be my testimony. As it was with Your first followers, let it be also with me: "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:20).
I do not want to be part of a powerless, life-less form of Christianity. Your Word says there will come in the last days that some who will claim to be Your followers will insist on "holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1). Your Word exposes this is as a "counterfeit faith" taught by those who "oppose the truth" (2 Timothy 3:8).
Jesus You are the Truth, and Your ways are the only Way that leads to the Life we can only have in You (John 14:6). And Your ways are grounded in Your Word found in Scriptures and confirmed by Your power. "The Word of God is living and powerful" (Hebrews 4:12). So let Your Word and Your power come alive in me as I read your Words so it then thrives in me and my life. By the power of Your grace at work within me, may I be found faithful to be one of Your true followers who knows both the Scriptures and the power of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray over you a deep hunger and stronger desire to spend time today reading your Bible to know both the Word of God and the power of God in your life and everywhere you go to share the message of hope and love through Jesus Christ, 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!
Jesus, receive me, refresh me, and restore me in you, draw me close to you, then release me into the world today full of your glory.
“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world... so that the world may believe that you have sent me….so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:19-24
Jesus’ has a “train and release” strategy, while overall the church today has a “convert and retain strategy.” Our metrics we use to determine if a church is successful reflect this. As a pastor of a United Methodist Church, the weekly church reports I turn in include number of people at worship services and number of members. There is no incentive to “train and release.” If a church did this well the metrics we use would actually reveal this church as unsuccessful.
The challenge is to make the Gospel the center of our lives not just on Sunday mornings, but every morning of every week. This means ending the distinctions between “full time,” “part time,” and people with secular employment in our team and leadership structures, language, and teachings. We need to encourage all to model whole life, gospel-centered missional living who understand their workplace, homes and neighborhoods are the location of their mission.
The vast majority of Christians have not been helped or equipped by the church to see that who they are and what they do every day in schools, workplaces, clubs, and their neighborhoods is significant to God. Nor that the people they spend time with in those everyday contexts are the people God has called them to pray for, bless, witness to, and share the Gospel with. So we pray for our Sunday school teachers, and not our schoolteachers. We pray for our missionaries going overseas into their foreign mission field, but not the electricians, shop owners, accountants, and managers going daily into their local mission field. We simply have not envisioned, resourced and supported people to share the Good News of Jesus in our everyday context. We need to encourage and embrace the fact that during the week our church members are dispersed throughout their city and even the world. We are already infiltrating the kingdom of Satan. Day by day people in our churches are rubbing shoulders with unbelievers in their workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and clubs.
My family, I pray you see that as you head out this morning to school, work, the gym or wherever you are going, you are heading out into your mission field. You are heading out to meet the people God has called you to pray for, bless, witness to, and share the Gospel with. 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 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. 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.
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. 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. In these first moments of my morning that begins a new week, I want to take some time to start my day giving my full attention to You alone in the communion of prayer.
"The hand of the Lord came upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.... Then He said to me, 'Prophecy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live ... and you shall know that I am the Lord.... I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,' says the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
You told Ezekiel the dry bones were Your people who had lost their hope and felt cut off from the promises of God (v. 11). Showing him the dry bones, scattered in a valley, You opened his eyes to see the truth of their present reality. But in asking him, "Can these bones live?' You were inviting him to also see how You created them to be (v. 3). Those dry bones needed to be filled with a fresh breath from God (v. 5).
So You sent Your servant by the Spirit of the Lord to speak life to them. And as he did what a sight he saw! "Suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.... and the breathe came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude" (v. 7-10).
Daddy Abba, my Father God, fill me with Your Holy Spirit today (Ephesians 5:18). Send me to speak life. Open my eyes to see Your people; my neighbors, co-workers, classmates, and friends in the truth of how they are in their present reality; but at the same time, also open my eyes to see them as You created them to be. Give me words of hope for the hopeless, words of welcome for the lonely, words of encouragement for the discouraged and depressed, and words of life for all who need a fresh touch from heaven through the breath of Your Spirit.
You invite and call all of us to prophecy and speak life to one another (1 Corinthians 14:1). You invite all of us to encourage and comfort and build up one another with Your words of life, spoken in love, at the leading of Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:3). I embrace Your invitation, I embrace my call to speak life wherever You send me today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will speak life, in the power of the Holy Spirit, everywhere our Father sends you 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.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.comzmunity
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 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. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
"But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV).
At age 99, Rev. Billy Graham has fought the good fight of the faith and finished his race, fulfilling his ministry, giving his heart and life to do the work of an evangelist. He was an inspiration me and deeply inspired so many others to lay down their lives and follow Christ, sharing the love of God and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, from our neighborhoods to the nations and everywhere in between. All along the way, enduring many afflictions and overcoming many challenges, he lived out his faith with honor and humility, leaving behind an eternal legacy of integrity.
He lived a no fairy-tale life in some kind of supernatural immunity from the struggles and battles we all face on our journey through this broken and fallen world, but he did live a faith-filled life as a worthy ambassador of Christ and beloved son of God. I smiled when I heard the quote and famous story of his wife, Ruth, who was asked if she ever considered divorcing Billy Graham and replied with such humor and wit, "Divorce? No.... Murder? Yes!" Thank God for the grace that all of us need--even Billy and Ruth Graham.
In my own spiritual journey into full time ministry, as I have read over the stories and accounts of spiritual leaders and fathers in the faith, I was deeply moved by a story of Billy Graham's frustration with the fruitfulness of his ministry before the famous Los Angeles crusade that seemed to launch a fresh season of ministry. A couple of elderly saints, passionate women of prayer, spoke to him and prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and fervently prayed for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in his meetings, as the story goes. The legacy of souls saved and lives changed through the power of prayer and the move of the Spirit is life-long testimony to his desperate dependence upon God alone for the fruitfulness of his life of ministry. He humbly reflected that prayer made the way for any success he had.
Seeing the photos and reading all the stories this week moved me in a way that something stirred deeply in my spirit. I felt the same when I was so blessed to visit Wittenburg Castle where Martin Luther lived. There's something that can move us and inspire us when we honor those who have gone before us, when we welcome and embrace that same Spirit that moved in their hearts to move in our hearts, and when we lay down our lives for that same Spirit with that same message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to flow through us as it did through them. We honor our mothers and fathers of the faith, that their legacy may live on and the work of Your Spirit may continue.
This morning, I honor and esteem the life and ministry of Rev. Billy Graham. And I recommit my life to fulfill the ministry You've entrusted to me and are unfolding before me. Lord, give me grace to seek to live it out in humility and honor, in a legacy of integrity, desperately dependent upon You alone. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
My family, I pray you're inspired by the spiritual leaders and fathers in the faith who have gone before us. I pray you seek to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill your calling and ministry in the ways the Lord sends you just as He sent them, 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 begin 2018 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. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, here with me now and in every moment of my day.
"For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" (Isaiah 52:12).
You're the God who goes before me. You're the God who comes behind me. You're the God who's always with me, even within me--never leaving me, never forsaking me, but forever seeing me, knowing me, and understanding me, even with all my quirks and needs, even with all my sins and failures. You're the God who created me and loves me and has plans for me that will come to pass, all in Your way and all in Your time. You are God and You are good and You are a good God to me.
So I don't have to worry about what lies ahead, and I don't have to worry about what's left behind. You've already been there, just like You'll always be there. My part is to simply trust in You and embrace Your mercy and love for me. As I do, there's joy in the journey and anticipation in the adventure; there's peace in every step and there's hope in every challenge. You've already gone before me and You remind me every day it's a good place You've prepared and set before me (John 14:1-3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me. (St. Patrick Breastplate Prayer)
My family, I pray this morning for great joy in your journey, anticipation in the adventure, peace in every step, and hope in every challenge, knowing the love and Presence of our good God who goes before you and behind you and always with 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.
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 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. 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, during this time of Lent, 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.
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 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. My Lord and Savior, my God and King, come have Your way in my heart and life today.
"Moses said to the Lord, 'See, You have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.' Now if I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your ways, so that I may know You and find favor in Your sight....' He (the Lord) said, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' And he (Moses) said to Him (The lord), 'If Your Presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people, unless You go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and Your people, from every people on the face of the earth.' The Lord said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name'" (Exodus 33:12-17).
As I sit here in the quiet of my morning, I thank You Lord that You know me by name, that Your Presence is always with me wherever I go, that I have found favor in Your sight, that I am one among Your people who are distinct from all other people on the face of the earth--not because of anything I've done, but all because of what You've done for me, not because of who I am apart from You, but because of who You are within me.
Those who know me, know I usually begin my prayers with. “I thank you Lord for Your love, grace, and mercy that constantly surrounds us.” So show me Your ways and empower me to walk in them. Show me Your Presence and remind me I'm never apart from You. You've blessed me and favored me, You know me by name and go with me to live out my destiny in the security of my identity as a child of God. I've found favor with You because You found me, because You've lavished Your love, mercy and grace upon me, and because You've called me Your own. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that like Moses, you will earnestly ask of God, “show me Your ways, so that I may know You and find favor in Your sight.” Then you walk in the ways of the Lord, embraced by His Presence every day, surrounded by his love, grace and mercy everyday, having found favor in Him as the child of God you are, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
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. You are worthy of it all--all my heart and mind and soul and strength, O Lord, my God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
"Then Peter began to speak to them: 'I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. You know the message He sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses to all that He did both in Judea and in Jerusalem" (Acts 10:34-39).
Anointed "with the Holy Spirit and with power," You "went about doing good" everywhere the Father sent You, as You walked this earth as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man living in compete communion with the living God. "Being born in human likeness" and "being found in human form," You are our Model and Mentor, for the Spirit-filled life lived out by a child of God (Philippians 2:7). You were fully yielded to the will and ways of God, doing what You saw the Father doing, speaking what You heard the Father speaking, always available and completely empowered to go about doing good with the heart of God.
Anoint me today with Your Holy Spirit and with power! Empower me and send me to go about doing good, with the authority of Your name and nature of Your heart. As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to me and every one of Your disciples in every generation: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses (wherever I send you)" (Acts 1:8). Lord, let it be so in me today and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you begin your day spending time one-on-one with Jesus and receive his anointing and empowering by the Holy Spirit of the Living God, to go about doing good as a witness and disciple of Jesus Christ in the authority of His name and nature of His heart, 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!
“The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Cor. 15:47-49)
A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isa 40:6-8)
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. On this day we receive a gift, a reminder, one that we only hear in the church. That we are all going to die. In a world that continually advertise living longer, products that take “years off your life”, and contain the “secret of the fountain of youth” and immortality, the church is the only place left that reminds us we are going to die. We are not immortal, we do not control our own destiny. Has death been defeated by the Jesus’s works on the cross? Absolutely. Will death be completely destroyed and trampled away in the new age to come? Absolutely. Has death been de-clawed, put on a leash and domesticated in the world today? Absolutely not, as the horrible school shooting in Florida yesterday confirms.
Ash Wednesday reminds us of this. It reminds us we are going to die to remind us how truly priceless is the gift of life. It reminds us we are going to die, so today at this very moment, we can truly live.
“God hath given to man a short time here upon Earth, and yet upon this short time Eternity depends…” Jeremy Taylor
Ash Wednesday reminds us we are going to die so we can prepare and order our life for our time of death.
“Have we not had all our life-time to prepare to die; so many years to make ready for one hour; and are we so unready and unwilling yet? What have we done? Why have we lived?” Richard Baxter
Right now do an exercise that may seem strange. Close your eyes right now and create a picture in your mind of your physical death or being physically dead. Take a few minutes to do it. What did you see? How did it make you feel?
Today death and dying are isolated and removed from society, homes, families, and unfortunately the church. The dying are isolated in hospital rooms, and nursing homes. They are cared for by dying “professionals” and Hospice workers. And in doing so the amazing gifts, wisdom, mentoring, and teaching from one who has walked a life alongside Christ and are about to encounter him soon are lost and never heard. The holy experience of death is removed from family homes, and churches to funeral homes. The name “funeral home” itself is our way of rationalizing that people are still dying in a “home.” It is not a home, it is a place of business. If we called it a “funeral store” that sounds to cold. If we call it a “funeral church” then theologically we are creating two churches that separate the living from the dead. So we call it what by rationalization makes us feel good, a home.
The dying are not social outliers but are an integral part of the community of faith. Why should not a living Christian be exactly of the same spirit with a dying Christian? The dying have something valuable to teach the community of faith, they serve as resources for the entire faith community. Death highlights the significance of every person’s life. The dying remind us of the value of life. Death does not need to be frightening experience but can be a time of gratitude and joy for believer. Freedom from fear of condemnation. Spending time with the dying helps to prepare us for our own death, A pattern to follow.
Take some time now and throughout your day and reflect on these passages of Scripture that look at death. John 11:23-26; All the resurrection narratives; Romans 8:38-39; Romans 14:8-9; 2Corinthians 5:6-8; 1Corinthians 15 (esp. 15:19); Philippians 1:20-24; Philippians 3:20-21; 1Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1Thessalonians 5:9-11; 1Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 21:3-5
My family, I pray today you will spend time today reflecting on something you rarely do, "you are going to die." How does that make you feel? How does that influence your priorities? How does that influence your stewardship of your finances and resources? How does that effect the way you allocate your time, live your life, express your love? 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 Jesus, fill me with your Spirit and l renew your presence in me.
“We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:9-10).
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 40 day season of Lent. As I have been explaining in previous posts, in the Lent season, people give up physical pleasures like chocolate, sweets, dining out. …ect. Since it falls on Valentines Day, at ODC we are holding our “Ash Wednesday” gathering tomorrow. We are not that legalistic in religion practices and at the heart of God is love, therefore we hope you will spend a special time with the one you love today, and tomorrow we will hold our solemn gathering.
As I have reflected on this week, Lent is a time of reflection and preparation of our hearts to one that earnestly desires God
In previous posts I have examined how we become disciple of Jesus worth multiplying. The answer was simple; Spend more time in prayer than ever before, spend more time in the word than ever before, spend more time in Christian accountability than ever before. Spend more time in service than ever before. Simple, but not easy. The season of Lent basically is a 40 day period that we re-focus and re-center our lives around being a disciple worth multiplying.
Spending time in the Word and prayer is how we allow the Holy Spirit to “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) Use these 40 days to re-commit and re-form your will to daily time in prayer and the Word.
One of the reasons people say as to why they do not spend time daily in prayer and reading the Bible is they forget. We seem to dismiss things that we forget as not being a sin, as how can we be held accountable for something we forget to do? Say you pull into your company’s parking lot and park in the presidents parking space. You receive a memo saying please do not park in that space to which you reply, “Sorry, I forgot.” The next day you park in the presidents spot again and you get the same memo not to park there to which you reply, “Sorry, I forgot again.” If you continued to park in the presidents spot all week claiming to forget, the president of the company is going to call you in, as there comes a point that it is not a matter of forgetting, but a matter of your will. If you are not spending time daily reading the Bible and in prayer, you may one day forget, or because of some crisis not have time to do it, however, if you neglect to do it consistently, it is no longer a matter of you forgetting or not having time, it is a matter of your will that is set against it. And then you find yourself in a place that your will is set against God’s. For who’s will is it that does not want you to pray or read God’s word, God’s or Satan’s? The word Satan means “apposer.” It is a “heart issue.”
Lent is a season we address “heart issues.” Lent's emphasis on conforming your heart’s will to desire to spend time in the Word and prayer is not as some legalistic task or something you are to do, however it is something you are to become, because abiding in Christ is a life giving source from which you receive. Jesus tells you, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Jesus tells you, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10).
My family, I pray today as we begin this 40 day season of Lent, you will through the searching of the Holy Spirit, examine the will of your heart. Where it aligns with God, where it opposes God, and repent and re-shape your heart to one that’s will is to earnestly desire God. 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!
I begin my day entering into your presence Jesus my Lord.
I will continue my reflection from yesterday on the season of Lent and Ash Wednesday. In yesterday’s blog I explained what is the season of Lent in the church. It is a 40 day period of self reflection and, repentance and preparation while looking ahead to Easter and the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and conquering of deqth. During Lent, most Christians use three things as aides to help them focus, listen and pray to God: Fasting from things, Service/taking on things, and Prayer
FASTING: Some people have been known to go without food for days. But that's not the only way to fast. You can fast by cutting out some of the things in your life that distract you from God. Some Christians use the whole 40 days to fast from candy, tv, soft drinks, cigarettes or meat as a way to purify their bodies and lives. You might skip one meal a day and use that time to pray instead. Or you can give up some activity like worry or reality tv to spend time outside enjoying God’s creation. What do you need to let go of or “fast” from in order to focus on God? What clutters your calendar and life? How can you simplify your life in terms of what you eat, wear or do? Read Isaiah chapter 58
SERVICE: Some Christians take something on for Christ. You can take on more times set aside to read your Bible. You can collect food for the needy, volunteer once a week to tutor children, or work for reform and justice in your community. You can commit to help a different stranger, co-worker or friend every day of Lent. Serving others is one way we serve God. Read Isaiah chapter 58.
PRAYER: Christians also use Lent as a time of intentional prayer. You can set aside times to pray daily, prayer walk, use the Prayer Wheel daily, create music or art as a prayer to God, or savor a time of quiet listening. All can be ways of becoming more in tune with God.
I am going to reflect deeper on the means of grace of fasting. I believe it is the one thing of the three above most people have the most difficulty understanding. Isaiah chapter 58 is my go to chapter when trying to explain fasting.
"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
3 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
(Isa 58:1-11)
God, when I read your inspired words through Isaiah, I understand the fast that You choose for me is a fast from my flesh, a fast from selfishness and self-centeredness. It's a fast that frees me from the tyranny of my self and turns my heart to the things on Your heart.
Give me Your heart, Lord. Open my eyes to see the needs of those around me and fill my spirit with the power to do something about it. Give me time and passion for people like you have, in the ways that I can make a difference. Let me be part of the move of Your Spirit in my city and spheres of influence to rebuild the "ancient ruins," to "raise up the foundations of many generations" and "be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets" (v. 58:12). Let me first seek these things in me.
Fasting is not about ancient rituals or even faithfully executing spiritual disciplines. Fasting is about putting You first, as Your Spirit overcomes my flesh so You can change the world around me through my life. This is the fast You choose. (v. 5) So by the power of the grace of God at work within me, let this be the fast I choose. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you will reflect on the question, “What is the fast you choose for me God?” I pray you will reflect on what forms of fasting, service and prayer God wants to use in these upcoming 40 days to draw you back into deep discipleship with him. in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting 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 begin 2018 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!
Father, Son and Spirit, as I begin to move and breath at the start of a new week, create in me a clean heart…
“And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:14-15)
Jesus, at the beginning of the Lord's Supper says to those around him, "And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." v.15. Jesus in complete love earnestly desired to be with and pour into the lives of those around him. And he earnestly desires to be with you. In two day we will enter into the season of Lent in the church. A good question for each of us to honestly discern this Lent is, "What do I earnestly desire?" “What is it that you earnestly desire in life?” The answer to that question is incredibly important because what you desire will control the one thing that controls everything else in your life; your heart.
What is Lent? At Jesus' baptism the sky was violently torn open, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and landed on Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, My Beloved, with whom I am pleased." Afterward, as told in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was sent, literally driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. There he fasted and prayed for 40 days. During his time there he pressed deep into the Holy Spirit so when he was tempted by Satan, he had the power, found clarity and strength to resist temptation. After his 40 days of prayer, he was ready to begin his ministry and announce for people to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Lent is a 40 day period before we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus when we set aside 40 days to more intentionally focus on prayer, repentance, pressing into the Holy Spirit, and discerning clarity of our lives and ministries. Maybe you needed some time with God to sort through the major changes happening in your life. Maybe you needed to set time away from family, friends and your familiar routine in order to see God more clearly. Perhaps you want some intentional time with God to search for direction and answers of your calling. Like Jesus, we need to take some serious time to pray and listen for God.
Unless the Spirit moves me in another direction, I am going to spend the next couple days meditating and reflection more on Lent and are need to set aside time to fast, pray, repent, and spend time in the Word.
My family, I pray this morning you will set aside a block of time and be bold enough to ask the Holy Spirit to help you honestly reflect on the question, What are the things I am desiring now that are controlling my heart? And then, “What do I earnestly desire?” 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. Guide my heart and guide my steps as I look and listen for Your leading today. ...
"They brought in the ark of God, and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being.... He appointed certain of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.... Then on that day David first appointed the singing of praises to the Lord by Asaph and his kindred: O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him, tell of His wonderful works. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His Presence continually!" (1 Chronicles 16:1-11)
The first Psalms sung out from the tabernacle of David were songs of thanksgiving and praise, of Your glory and power, with the promise that all who seek You and Your strength and Your Presence would rejoice forever in their hearts. For 24/7 they lifted up their praises in worship and prayer to You and for 24/7 You poured Your peace and Your joy into their hearts. As they rejoiced, they were continually "re-joyed"--"re-joyed" 24/7.
Re-joy me every day, Lord. Re-joy me today!!! Rebuild the tabernacle of David in me each day (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16). Let my heart be the tabernacle of your joyful presence. Let me begin every day lifting up my praises to You in worship and prayer and then continue 24/7 in deep unto Deep of constant communion with You, as I abide in You and You abide in me (John 15:4).
As I'm "re-joyed," the joy of the Lord will be my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). And as I live out the moments of my day--"re-joyed 24/7," may I be a source of “Re-joy” to those around me who are in desperate need for joy . In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you are "re-joyed" 24/7, by beginning your day abiding in the Lord as He abides you. Praise him from the tabernacle of your heart in worship and prayer throughout the moments of your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of 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 begin 2018 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. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King of my heart and Lord of my life this day and every day. ...
"But Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.' Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Whey do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the seas on the dry ground.... Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.... Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.' So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. AS the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained" (Exodus 14:13-28).
The physical warfare the children of Israel faced under the Old Covenant speaks to us of the spiritual warfare we face under the New Covenant. All that they endured and learned in the physical realm of their day "serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us" for all we endure and learn in the spiritual realm today (1 Corinthians 10:11). Pharaoh and his armies speak of our spiritual enemy and his armies who pursue us to destroy us--"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (You) came that (we) may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
In the example and lesson of Moses, You told the Israelites to stand firm, to stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord. And at the same time You told them to go forward through the sea when You rolled back the waters. In standing firm and standing still, they were not to be merely passive in Your deliverance. They were to be actively obedient to take their steps of faith through the waters to the other side. Likewise, You were the One who parted the waters for Israel to pass and then closed the waters to destroy her enemies. But at the same time, Moses was not to be merely passive in his faith, but actively stretching his rod over the waters to open then and then to close them. You were their Deliverer, the battle belonged to the Lord; and at the same time, they were called to be actively engaged in their deliverance through the warfare they faced. And so it is with us.
Moses stretched out his rod over the waters. What is our rod of authority? The Israelites walked in obedient faith through the waters. What are our steps of faith? They walked across on safe and dry ground that had been at the bottom of the sea. Where is our place of our safe and holy ground?
Lord, you have armed us with the "weapons of our warfare" (2 Corinthians 10:4). Thank You for "humility," that we can humble ourselves in Your sight to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone to be our Salvation, our Healer, and our Deliverer. Thank You for "intimacy," that we can draw near to You, forgiven from sin and secure in our identity as children of God, favored by our Father and resting in Your Presence. Thank You for "authority," that we can pray and speak in the power of the name and the blood of Jesus, grounded in the Word of God, confident in the certainty of Your promises and provision and protection. Thank You for "praise," that we can worship You in spirit and truth, looking up to You to behold Your glory as You change us into Your image from glory to glory, setting our minds and hearts on the things that are above, on the things that are eternal, seated with Christ in the heavenly places, and forever abiding and embraced in the unfailing love of Your Presence.
Help me keep learning and living into all You've provided for my deliverance from my spiritual enemies in every spiritual battle I'll ever face. Thank You for Your unbreakable promise in Your unfailing love that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). "Thanks be to God, who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:57). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you continue to grow and lead in the mighty weapons and means of grace the Lord has given you in humility, intimacy, authority, and praise that you may know His victory and deliverance in every spiritual battle, 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. O Lord, my God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--take hold of me and every dimension of my life--spirit, soul, and body.
"They said to him, 'Where is your wife Sarah?' And he said, 'There, in the tent.' Then one said, 'I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.' And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, 'After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?' The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son'" (Genesis 18:9-14).
Last night God’s grace came to me in an unexpected phone call from a friend of mine who is an amazing an prayer warrior and prophet named Ken. He called to say he was in town and headed to my neighbor Wayne’s house, who is also lover of Jesus. I walked two houses down to Wayne’s house at 9:00pm and walked back to my house at 12:30am after spending over 3 hours in deep prayer together over seasonal issues in our lives. This time we spent together was set by God. The passage above from Genesis came up in our prayers so this morning I turned to it and read it again.
Reading the passage, I was reminded that there is a "set time ... in due season." And God You're the One who sets the time and the season, not me. Sometimes Your promises seem "too wonderful" and even impossible. Sometimes when I look at my life through my eyes it seems my chance has passed, I missed the moment, my ship has sailed, my window of opportunity has closed. Sometimes it even seems likes the door of destiny has been slammed in my face. "But God..." (Genesis 8:1; 20:3; 21:12; 31:7; 45:8; 48:21; 50:24; ect., ect., ect. throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelations; over and over and over again; more than I could ever ask or imagine...).
"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, 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 immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7). To which I say praise God!!!
Give me grace to firmly believe and patiently wait for the "set time ... in due season" for every promise You've spoken to my heart by Your Spirit and through Your Word. Whenever I'm tempted to be the setter of my times and seasons; whenever I am tempted to question or laugh, to scoff or doubt, remind me of every time it looked so impossible and unbelievable "but God...." For this saying is sure and this Word is true, "For God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25).
There is a time and a season for all things, according to Your will and Your ways for every one of us (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). You make all things beautiful in Your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And You have shown Yourself so worthy so many times of my patience and my trust. So as for me, I will put my trust in You--in the God whose promises are always Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you begin your day by looking back in your past and remember every time something seemed impossible, “But God…” I pray you see every promise of the Lord to you by His Spirit and through His Word come to pass and make all things beautiful for you in His time and in His way, 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. Help me hear Your heart and let my heart be one with Yours--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"In accordance with His promise, we wait for a new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.... Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" (2 Peter 3:13-18).
This morning I will walk out my door surrounded by your grace. Help me keep growing in grace your today. Show me where I'm not a peace within my soul, where I'm not yet without spot or blemish, where righteousness is not yet fully at home here in my heart.
As I sit here and close my eyes, I don't have to wait very long for the answer or look very deep for some hidden secret sin. I'm aware of my struggles and so are You. And at the same time, You help me to be just as aware of Your grace and the power of Your love that never leaves me as I am but always empowers me to keep growing in grace, growing in my sanctification everyday of my spiritual journey with You, as I "pursue righteousness and a godly life" (1 Timothy 6:11).
I hear you speak Paul’s words over me, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set (me) free from the law of sin and death." So in Christ I can go out my door and "walk not according to (my) flesh but according to the Spirit.... (I am) not in the flesh; (I am) in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in (me).... for if (I) live according to the flesh, (I) will die; but if by the Spirit (I) put to death the deeds of the body, (I) will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:1-14).
Your will for me and for all who are called by Your name is that we would come "to maturity, the measure of the full stature of Christ"--to Christ-like-ness (Ephesians 4:13). "For this is the will of God, (our) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
My family, I pray you keep growing in grace every day, growing up in spiritual maturity into Him who is our head, into he full measure of the stature of Christ, as best as you can and all by His grace at work within 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.
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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