Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the way that leads to the fullness of life in You today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 'See, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' ... (John, the messenger) proclaimed, 'The One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:2-8).
Lord Jesus, baptize me with the Holy Spirit -- this day and every day. Fill me afresh, saturate and soak me anew, through and through, overflowing with "rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
Come, Holy Spirit. Prepare the way of the Lord in my heart. Make the crooked places of sin straight; bring down the high places of my pride; and lift up the low places of seeing myself as anything less than the child of God I am in Christ. Fulfill Your Word in my heart: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed" (Isaiah 40:3; Luke 3:5).
Father God, what can I do to position myself to prepare the way of the Lord in my heart? ...
It seems I hear You saying in my spirit: "My son, I am the One who leads you to desire this and to pray this. Allow My Holy Spirit in your heart to move you to an ever-increasing hunger and thirst for Me and My Presence, so that you settle for nothing less than the fullness of My Presence in every area of your heart and life."
Yes, Lord. Let it be so. I now claim the promises of Your words in Scripture over me. Let me abide in You, as You abide in me (John 15:4). Let me "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). Let me "be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). Let me be "conformed to the image of (Your) Son" (Romans 8:29). Let me embrace Your will and yield to Your ways in trusting surrender to "become (one of Your) participants of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Let me "grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ," growing up "to maturity, the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-16). Let me "live to God" because "I have been crucified with Christ (so that) it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). Let Your Spirit "sanctify (me) entirely; and may (my) spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). I choose to believe the promise of Your Word, "The One who calls (me) is faithful, and He will do this!" (1 Thessalonians 5:24). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you are baptized in the Holy Spirit this day and every day, as You allow Him to prepare the way of the Lord in your heart. Claim these “let me“ passages over your life this morning, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice.
"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.... I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father" (John 10:2-15).
I open the gate of my heart to You today. You know me and I know You. I want to hear Your voice and sense Your leading, as You go ahead of me into every moment of my day. And at the same time, You not only go ahead of me, You also go with me because You're abiding in me and I in You. "Christ in (me)" (Colossians 1:27). By "the Spirit of Christ" abiding in me, You're "with (me) always" (Romans 8:9; Matthew 28:20).
Help me test and discern every word I believe I hear in my heart. I want to follow the voice of my Savior, not the voice of the stranger. Sharpen my discernment. Sensitize my spirit. Anoint me and empower me to "test everything" and "hold fast to what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Your Word invites me to listen attentively for Your words and also commands me to test carefully the words I believe I hear. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.... By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God" (1 John 4:1-3). ...
As I wait on You to listen for Your voice this morning, it seems I hear You saying: "My son, know My voice that always aligns with My Word, that reflects My nature, that bears good fruit, that leads you to Me. As you listen and hear, as you test and see, you grow in discernment and trust so that I can lead your heart by My Spirit."
Yes, Lord. The stranger doesn't lead me to Your Word, doesn't reflect Your nature, doesn't bear good fruit, and doesn't lead me to You. Let this test of discernment of the thoughts that come to my mind and the impulses that come to my heart be a plumb line of truth, so I can hold fast to what is true and reject what is not. Following You as we hear Your voice is one of the great blessings of the children of God. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray the Holy Spirit anoints you and empowers you to hear and discern the voice of God, holding fast to what is true in your journey with Him every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I wait in the silence of surrender before You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- I'm asking You to put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in the way of life in You today.
"God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.... and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised! ... So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed!" (Acts 19:11-20)
As I begin my work week, Lord, release Your power through my life today. Every way You would display Your glory flowing through my words and actions, let the name of the Lord Jesus be praised. You said "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" -- so let Your kingdom go forth through my hands and my heart (Matthew 10:7). You said, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). Lord, let it be so in every way You would express "the word of the Lord" through me into my world to see Your word grow mightily and prevail today.
Thank You for the extraordinary miracles of Your power and love. Thank You for the extraordinary miracles that move mountains in the authority of Your name (Mark 11:22-24). Thank You for the extraordinary miracles when we pray for those who persecute us, bless those who curse us, and love those who hate us (Matthew 5:44). Thank You for the extraordinary miracles that changes us and changes our world when we speak and act with "love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22). And thank You for the joy of allowing us to be a part of all Your doing in our world every day. "We are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
As we make ourselves available to You -- called and anointed according to Your purpose, which flows out of the intimacy of Your abiding Presence -- not only is the kingdom of heaven at hand, "the kingdom of God is within (us)" (Luke 17:21). So we carry Your kingdom everywhere we go! That's how Your word continues to grow mightily and prevail, through every generation and to every nation until "the earth (is) filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea!" (Habakkuk 2:14) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you see the extraordinary miracles of God released in the power of His love through your life today in every way He expresses His heart though you as His ambassador for 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.
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. Help me begin my day focused on You -- embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit.
"Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field of everyone" (Zechariah 10:1 ).
Yes, Lord. Let it rain! Let showers of rain come down -- everywhere we are weary and dry, thirsting for more, yearning for You. Let there be an outpouring of Your Presence -- here in my heart and here in our land!
"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory! Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You! Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips!" (Psalm 63:1-5 )
You're awakening a fresh hunger in my soul, a fresh thirst in my spirit. It's a fresh hunger and thirst that won't be contained or restrained, that won't be silenced or shut away or hidden out of sight. And it won't ever be fully satisfied because You are making me hungrier and thirstier still. In the mystery of my passionate pursuit for Your Presence, the more You let it rain, the dryer I become. And the dryer I become, the more my heart cries out, "Let it rain!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you keep growing hungrier and thirstier in your passionate pursuit for the Presence of the Lord. I pray you cry out to Him this morning in your heart, "Let it rain!", in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn my eyes upon You, as I still my soul and listen for Your voice. ...
I believe I hear You saying in my heart: "Think on these things" (Philippians 4:8 KJV).
Yes, Lord. I can't choose the certainty of all my circumstances or predetermine the difficulty of all my challenges, but I can choose, by the power of Your grace, the focus of my thoughts. And Your Word encourages me to think on the good things, to focus a little more on the best things, on the things that help me look up instead of down, to look forward instead of backward, and to start off my day on the right path, with my best foot forward, with a good attitude and a healthy perspective: "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.... Then the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:8 NLT).
There will be plenty of time all to soon to deal with the daily stuff, but right now at the start of my day, I'm going to take a little time with the Holy Spirit. I can gird up and go out into battle in a few minutes, but right now I'm going to settle in for some quiet time in the communion of prayer, centered in You, and surrounded in Your Presence. I'm going to open up my spirit and lift up my heart and welcome You into every thought in my mind, every desire in my heart, and every moment in my day.
I'm going to think on You and all You've done for me. I'm going to think on Your love for me, Your power within me, Your plans before me, and Your grace to sustain me through whatever comes. And then, when I have to start thinking about all the other things that will become a part of my life today, I'll not forget these good and precious things that You've sealed in my heart, here at the start of my day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will set aside some time now to rest in the Spirit, and allow the Lord to fill your mind and your heart with the good things of God in your life, as you begin your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Father, Son and Spirit, fall afresh on me this morning as I begin my week centered in the triune of your love.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20)
My wife and I are renovating a foreclosed house in a lower income neighborhood in Birmingham that are two daughters will live in while the attend Birmingham Southern College. It is an ongoing labor of love that has included to a few trials and also a few blessings, As part of the renovation we needed the HVAC system updated. I called a couple HVAC companies that came out and looked at our system. Thy either gave me a very steep price for doing the work, or never came back or returned my follow up calls. Nancy and I were driving around the neighborhood and I passed a house. It had broken windows in the front that were boarded up and looked run down. What caught my eye was there was three AC condensing units of various sizes sitting in the front yard. Nancy said, “maybe they are stolen.” I said yes, or maybe the person that lives there works for a HVAC company and brings the old units that he replaced with new ones home.
The next day I went back to the house. I walked up on the front porch in need of repair and knocked on the door (the door bell did not work). A young black man in his early 20’s came to the door, shirtless, with tattoos on his body smoking from a vape. He looked at me with curious surprise as why a white man was knocking at his door. I asked him about the units in his front yard and if anyone in the house does HVAC work. He said he and his dad does, and went back in the house to get his dad. A few minutes latter his dad, Nick came out. And as we started to talk about the HVAC units, and Nick told me his story, I began to be blessed.
Nick worked for an HVAC company for over 15 years. He said the owner treated him almost like a slave, but it was a steady paycheck and he was a hard worker, so he stayed with the company. Nick said not quite two years ago he had a stroke, it affect the right side of his body. His right leg would not work right and he walked with a limp, and his right arm if he did not consciously push it down would raise up and his hand curl up at his side like a T-Rex arm. The company owner called him and said if he did not get back to work he would be fired. So 4 days after his stroke, with one good arm and limping, Nick went back to work. He tried but he had a relapse. The Doctor told him he needed to quit work, get rest, and do therapy for 90 days or he could be crippled for life. Nick told this to his boss, told him I have worked for you for 15 years and asked for a 90 day leave from work. His boss said no, and fired him. The house he is living in was also owned by his boss. He lived in it for 11 years and was renting it to own from him. He only had a couple months payments left for the house to be his, and his boss went back on his word, and said he was not getting the house, but only could continue renting it. So Nick lost every penny he put into the house.
Nick said his father was a preacher. And he and his dad prayed over his condition daily. He said God did a miraculous healing of his body. He is back to perfect condition and use of his leg and arm are back to normal. He praised God for his healing and deliverance.
He then said that he has started doing HVAC work on his own. He said the units in front of his house are from houses he has replaced with new units. He said because of how God has blessed me, I want to be a blessing to others. So he fixes the units, and then uses them and installs them in people’s homes in his neighborhood who are poor, their AC in their home has gone out, and cannot afford a new unit. So he installs these units for them. Nick is a blessing to his neighborhood. And he was a blessing to me. I asked him if he would look at my HVAC system and he did. And he and his son worked on and fixed my system, did an amazing job, and at a tenth of what the other “Christian companies with ICTHUS fish” on their business cards wanted to charge me.
Before I walked off of Nick’s porch that first time we met, we prayed together, praised God together, and I walked away having heard one of the best sermons I heard in a long time. We had “church” on his front porch, and I walked away both convicted of any prejudice thoughts I may have had, and totally blessed and encouraged by the presence of God I encountered. Jesus says all through out the Gospels, My ways are not like the ways of man. My kingdom does not look like mans kingdom. So why do I still think otherwise? Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
My family, I pray this morning you as you begin your week you will pray that the Spirit opens your eyes to see his kingdom around you. It is not where you think it is. I pray the Holy Spirit will lead you to encounter the poor. Not just so you can be a blessing to them, but so they can teach and be a blessing to you. In Jesus’ name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours'" (Mark 11:22-23).
You invite me to pray and say in faith. And the main focus of my faith is to be in You. You said "Have faith in God." So the main focus of my faith, my prayers, and my words is to be in You and who You are. Yes, I am to have faith in what I asking for and speaking to, because You said "believe that what you say will come to pass," but the main focus of my faith is not to be in what I'm seeking to come to pass but in the One I'm seeking. I'm to seek You first, and then these things I'm praying for and speaking to (Matthew 6:33).
Relationship first.
It's like when You sent out Your disciples to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God in Your name, praying for people and speaking to whatever held them bound and held them back from the fullness of Your mercy and love (Luke 10:1-12). When they returned, they were excited that even the demons submitted to their words
spoken in faith and the authority of Your name (Luke 10:17). But even as You rejoiced with them and thanked our Father for them, You reminded them that the main focus of their faith was to be in God and their personal relationship with You (Luke 10:21). You said, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that yhe spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke10:18-20).
Lord, increase my faith in You. Help me grow in my focus on You first -- on who You are, on Your nature and on the nature of Your relationship with me. It's out of this intimacy and communion of our relationship that I can pray and say in faith what's on Your heart and what's in line with Your will, because You're aligning my heart and my will with Yours. "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).
This is how I keep growing to the place in my relationship with You where I pray and say and "do not doubt in (my) heart, but believe that what (I) say will come to pass;" and this is how I keep growing to the the place in my relationship with You where I can "believe that (I) have received it, and it will be (mine)" (Mark 11:22-24). It's not by what I have done or will do, but all by You and what You have done -- the One who's written my name in heaven and on the palms of Your hands (Luke 10:20; Ephesians 2:8; Isaiah 49:16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are growing in your faith in God and your intimacy with Him that you can pray and say in faith what on His heart through your life, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and listen for Your voice to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.
"I, I am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.... Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:11-20).
Jesus You are my Savior. And I thank You for everything You have saved me from and saved me through -- from hell and through some hellish seasons, from myself and through all my selfishness, from a life focused on things that will have no lasting significance and through so many temptations to shrink back or settle for less than the fullness of all You've intended for me.
Thank You for saving me -- not just in that moment when I first gave You my heart, but also in every moment of every day that You keep on saving me. I needed Your saving works on the cross and the power of Your Spirit to initially be saved from myself, and I need Your same works and power of Your Spirit to be saved from myself this morning. I am forever in need of Your love and grace. And praise God I'll always have it, through every saving moment to come, for "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! ... The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.... Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to the God in heaven.... I called on Your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; You heard my plea.... You came near when I called on You; You said, 'Do not fear!' You have taken up my cause, O Lord, You have redeemed my life!" (Lamentations 3:22-58)
This morning I claim that promise in Your Word! And while You have done so much for me, You are always "about to do a new thing" because Your mercies are "new every morning." In Your mercy and grace, in Your power and love, in Your good plans of "a future with hope" for me, Your salvation is about to "spring forth" for me again today! (Jeremiah 29:11) Give me eyes to perceive it! Give me faith to expect it! Give me the wisdom to wait for it! Give me courage to embrace it!
As I wait on You in these first moments of my morning, in the deep communion of worship and prayer, I can't wait to see what You will do today! I'm excited to see how You'll "make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" to display Your glory in and through my life today, mighty Savior of my soul! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you perceive and embrace the new thing the Lord your Savior is causing to spring forth in your life today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak Your words of spirit and life into my heart and mind. Give me ears to hear and courage to follow in faithfulness and trust.
"He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame" (Proverbs 10:5).
Holy Spirit, awaken me! Stir in my heart and open my eyes to see the harvest at hand. Give me words to speak and hope to share, whether across the street or across the hall; around the world or around my neighborhood. Please wake up my heart and send me out into the fields of my family, friends, work and school places, my neighbors and unto the nations!
Lord Jesus, You explained that "the harvest is the end of the age" (Matthew 13:39). And You encouraged us that "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). So I am asking You, my Lord, I am your laborer, send me out!
My Father God, Lord of the harvest, send out Your laborers into Your harvest. It's Your harvest, not ours. But we are Your laborers who go and lead and love, just as we are Your intercessors who watch and pray and ask, all in in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let us not sleep through Your harvest! "Sleeper, awake!" (Ephesians 5:14)
There will be "a great harvest" (2 Corinthians 9:10). And I want to be a part. I want to do my part. I want to be one of Your servants and sons "found faithful" and wise, not "shameful" and "sleeping" (1 Corinthians 4:2; Proverbs 10:5). Whether I'm one of Your intercessors praying or one of Your laborers going, I want to be one who hears Your voice and obeys Your command to "look around (me), and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting!" (John 4:35) The harvest is at hand; the harvest is here! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you awake and arise to watch and pray and ask, to go and lead and love as the Holy Spirit leads into the FAther's harvest in the mighty name of Jesus! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Master, Savior, Lord and King, as best as I can and all by Your grace, I yield my will to Your will to begin my day walking with You.
"Kind words are like honey -- sweet to the soul and healthy for the body" (Proverbs 16:24 NLT).
As I begin another week I ask you Jesus to anoint my words with kindness today. I desire to speak Your words through my mouth to everyone I encounter this week, words of spirit and life, powerful words to encourage and comfort and edify (1 Corinthians 14:3). Sanctify my tongue to "sustain the weary with a word" (Isaiah 50:4).
Kindness is part of Your nature, for "the Lord is just in all His ways and kind in all His doings" (Psalm 145:17). And it's a part of Your nature that You desire to express through my nature. You desire that we "show kindness and mercy to one another" as an extension of Your heart and Your words through our lives every day -- especially on the days and with the people where it's hardest to be kind and merciful (Zechariah 7:9). As you said as You walked this earth in the flesh as our example, "Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:35-36).
"The fruit of the Spirit is ... kindness.... If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-25). So I need You to guide me by Your Spirit to be kind and merciful, to speak kind words, even as I am "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). "Love is patient; love kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4). If I speak kind words, it will be sweet to the soul and healthy to the body -- for theirs and for mine. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are anointed and guided by the Holy Spirit to speak kind and powerful words today as you begin the week, words that encourage and comfort and build up all those you encounter, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my heart, Lord -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- as I listen for the leading of Your voice to begin my day in the communion of prayer with You. ...
"In accordance with His promise, we wait for 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 the glory both now to the day of eternity" (2 Peter 3:13-18).
One day -- at "the day of eternity" -- righteousness will be "at home" on this earth and throughout the heavens. You will set things right -- right with God, right with one another, right within ourselves. At the time You have ordained since before the foundation of the world, there will come a day of "the final restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21 NLT).
Between this day and that day, I want to have a heart that welcomes Your righteousness to be at home here in my heart. I want to grow in grace, grow in peace, grow in the knowledge and the nature of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I thank You for Your patience with me.
In my own nature, apart from Your nature at work within me, righteousness is not yet "at home." That part of my heart not yet sanctified and softened by Your Spirit, that part of my heart that still remains hardened to Your will and Your ways would like to tell righteousness to "Go take a hike." Like even the Apostle Paul confessed of the inner conflict in his own soul, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.... For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.... For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members" (Romans 7:15-23).
But in humility, Paul acknowledged his daily condition; and in faith, Paul acknowledged his daily need of his Savior. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25). That's a prayer and proclamation that You answered in the power of Your grace for him every day. Living in the power of the grace of God every day, he encouraged us to rely upon You and Your righteousness to be at work in us: "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For it is God working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.... Hold firmly to the word of life" (Philippians 2:12-16 NLT).
Come, Holy Spirit. Every day, I need the mercy of my Father and the power of the blood of my Savior. Keep crucifying my flesh. Keep softening and sanctifying the hardness of my heart. Keep giving me the desire and the power to let You be at work within me until I come to the place "where righteousness is at home" in my heart. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that ask God this morning for righteousness to be at home in your heart, and allow the Holy Spirit to keep softening and sanctifying your heart today and every day in the power of the blood of Jesus, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done -- here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
When You rule as King in my heart, there is righteousness in the Holy Spirit. You're setting things right -- right between me and my God, right between me and others, and right within myself.
When You rule as King in my heart, there is peace in the Holy Spirit. It's Your peace, not the world's peace -- peace between me and my God, peace with others, and peace within myself.
When You rule as King in my heart, there is joy in the Holy Spirit. It's the fullness of joy You desire me to have when my joy is made complete and the joy of the Lord is my strength -- joy between me and my God, joy with others, and joy within myself.
You said, "The kingdom of God is within (me)" (Luke 17:21). I need more of Your kingdom within me. I need more of Your righteousness, more of Your peace, more of Your joy. I need more of Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). I need more of You ruling and reigning as King in my heart.
So come, Holy Spirit. You are the One who moves in my heart to manifest and advance the fullness of the kingdom of God within me the kingdom of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit within me. The more I yield and surrender, embracing Your Presence and Your plan, entrusting my heart to You and Your will, the more the kingdom of God advances in me. That's how Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, on earth (and right here in me) as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
Father God, let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done. Fill me afresh with Your Spirit, with Your righteousness and peace and joy. I open my spirit and bow my heart before You, " Let the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of my heart "become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the fullness of the kingdom of God comes in you in a fresh filling of the Presence of God with His righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name! May the King of glory come into you and every area of your life! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
Time flies! Hard to believe it was a year ago that I posted this blog. I still hang out in this Waffle House and see "Chuck" every week.
My morning office is the Waffle House. About 3 months ago I went into the Waffle House (WH) and I sat down in a chair at the “low bar,” the bar you can sit at that is at normal chair height. I did not notice the used coffee cup that was on the bar in the back next to the menu rack in front of the chair I sat in. It belonged to a man I will call Chuck., who happened to have gone outside to smoke a morning cigarette. Chuck is a man who comes frequently to the WH. He is a “rough” and crude man in his late 60’s. He cusses allot and gives the waitresses and customers a hard time and is sharp with them when he is “in that mood.” Chuck walked back into the WH, saw me sitting in “his chair,” walked up to me and said coldly “Hey mother F*%ker you are in my seat!” I turned to him and before I could say a word the two waitresses who were standing there almost jumped over the bar and verbally attacked Chuck. One said, “Now you listen here you mother F&%ker this man here is a f*#king man of God and if you ever talk to him like that again I will kick your f*cking @ss!!“ The other waitress jumped in, “ Ya you d#ck, he is my f*cking pastor! What the f@ck is wrong with you.!” Show some f@cking repect! The waitresses high fived each other and one said to the other. “Sword of the spirit b#tch!” And Chuck turned and walked out.
I sat there and processed what had just happened! First, the waitresses have never come to an ODC gathering, though I have invited them many times. And I never told the waitresses I was their pastor. But because of my coming into the WH four or five mornings a week and talking, listening, and praying with them it appears that is how they saw me. The other day the waitresses were talking about how life seemed to be attacking them. I took out my phone and I read to them from Ephesians 6 about the armor of God and explained it to them. And the one waitresses shouting “Sword of the spirit b#tch” shows they were listening and retaining what I told them, I just need to work a little more on their application of that verse!
Fast forward to a month ago. I was walking in the WH and Chuck was outside in the front smoking. I said good morning to him as I was walking by and Chuck kind of quietly and nicely (especially for Chuck!) asked if I had a moment. I told him sure and stopped by him. He said quietly as he looked at the ground, “I know you are kind of a religious guy and it’s not that big of a deal but I was wondering if you would pray for me for something. “I said, “Sure what’s up?” And he went on to say that the Doctors think he may have prostrate cancer and he had a test today to confirm it. I said, “of course,” but before I could say anything else he opened up and told me a story for about 10 minutes. The short summary of it was that he used to go to church a long time ago and was kind of close to God. Then he was drafted to Vietnam to fight in the war. He said he did some things there he was not proud of, things God could not forgive him for. He said in attacks on villages he shot and killed enemy soldiers who were just kids, also women, and elderly. He saw children killed and witnessed and participated in other atrocities of war. He stopped praying after the war and has never gone back to church since he came back to the states. When I asked to pray with him there he said no, he had to leave, but for me to pray as you feel God will listen.
As he walked away my heart both mourned for him and was convicted for me. I had joined in with others at the WH at times commenting on Chuck and his behavior. However, the reason Chuck was an angry, and hurtful man is he was filled with guilt that separated him from God. Guilt from things he did he thought were not forgivable. And I thought, I know and preach that God can forgive anything, I have never put him to “the test” of his forgiveness like Chuck has to. If I was the one looking down an M-16 and watching bullets splatter bodies of kids and women from my gun and trigger I was pulling, the event might make me an even bigger, hateful, guilt filled ass than Chuck. It reminded me that people are never the enemy.
Fast forward to yesterday morning. I was in the WH at the bar talking with customers and the waitresses when Chuck walked in. He walked over to a side bar he never sits in by himself and sat down. No cussing, no loud comments to people as he came in the restaurant. He looked devastated. One of the waitresses said they heard his son had died the previous night. My spirit told me to go sit in the chair next to him and I did. I said good morning to him and he said hey, and his eyes began to fill with tears. I told him I had heard that his son had died and if it was true, and if so I was so sorry. We talked again for 20 minutes. Summary, he told me his son who was 31 years old and some of his friends, Chuck, and Chucks wife, (his son’s mother) were out on the front porch talking. His son told his friends how he had bought a new pistol. They asked to see it. He went into his truck and got it out, removed the clip, and thought the gun was empty. It was not. He came back to the porch and in handing the gun to his friend when somehow it went off and the bullet hit is son in the head from less then 2 feet away. They rushed him to the hospital but he died a few hours after he arrived. Chuck said he and his wife witnessed it. He could not get the sight out of his mind. It reminded him of the war. He had to come home from the hospital and clean his son’s blood, hair, and other parts from the side of his house and porch. Tears were flowing down his face. He asked me if this was God’s punishment for the kids he killed in Vietnam. I said of course not and we talked awhile. His son had a wife and two kids 8 and 10 years old.
After we finished, I went home and my wife and I took the chicken I had grilled for dinner, along with sides, bread and a dessert, and I put it in a box and took it up to the WH. I also wrote a note to the family stating I was praying for them and asking to let me know if I could help in anyway with my phone number on it and put it in the box as well. I pulled into the WH just in time as Chuck was walking to his car to leave. I parked, got the box and gave it to him. Chuck teared up again as he took it. He said I did not have to, but I insisted, told him I was praying for him, and I left.
Fast forward to today. I received a call today from Chuck. He thanked me for the food. He then said he and his family do not have any money. They are getting the cheapest cremation they can, and just going to do a remembrance service at their home. Their family does not attend a church, they do not know many church people, let alone preachers, and he asked if I would be willing to come to their house and share from the Bible and some words over their son and their family. I told him I would be honored to.
“I have been going to the WH regularly for over 3 years now. Sometimes I wondered if I needed to continue going. Only one or two people, employees or customers, have ever came to an ODC gathering. So if you go by traditional church metrics, my time investment has not led to “church” growth or increased “numbers in the pews.” It has not resulted in one penny going into our offertory plate or pastor support. Yet God reminded me of my prayer I say to him every morning, which is, “God, please send me today the ones that no one else wants.” No one wanted Chuck, even I found it hard to be around him. But God through just being faithful has given me an amazing opportunity; to be welcomed into his house; a house, a circle of family and friends that no other pastor has ever been invited into, and share the love of God with them. And that is my hearts desire, not to see them as an “evangelists projector opportunity” but a family in pain that simply needs the love of God, and to love them. I pray I may honor this.
My family, I pray today you will be led by the Holy Spirit not to seek and enter into some structured ministry with people, but just simply enter into life and the lives of people. That in your daily set schedule you will allow and come to expect, even long for interruptions from two things: God and people. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections on the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family as we minister to and with those on the margins God has placed in our path we refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're welcome here in my heart and in the moments of my day. ...
"Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know Me? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How an you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? ... I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you" (John 14:9-17)
Lord Jesus, when I see You, I see my Father. When I abide in You, Your Spirit abides in me. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, help me see and abide; help me abide and see. I become like the One I see -- "being transformed in the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18). And I become one with the One I allow to abide within me -- "anyone united with the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17).
I read the passage in John’s Gospel and I can picture Jesus standing in front of me like He did with Phillip and saying, “Gary, you claim to be a Christian and I have been with you since the day you were born, and still you do not truly know me.” So I fall on my knees this morning and cry out to you, Jesus, open my eyes to see you!!! Open my heart to abide in you!!! Let me see You more clearly each day and let it begin this morning!! Let me abide in You more deeply each day and let it begin this morning!!! Make me more like You each day -- "because as (You are), so are we in this world" (1 John 4:18).
"God is faithful; by Him (we) were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9). So by the power of Your grace at work within me, may I see and abide; may I abide and see; I in You and You in me. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of (us)" (2 Corinthians 13:13). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you earnestly cry out to Jesus this morning to see Him more clearly and abide in Him more deeply each day, starting today. So that you can become like the One you see and allow to Him abide in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest…Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him…Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ (Luke 10:1-9)
Last night Rodger and Pete, a couple members of ODC, and I prayer walked a neighborhood in Huntsville that has seen better days. We have been prayer walking this neighborhood for a month now. We gathered one evening over a month ago, and prayed where did God want us to go. His Spirit directed us to this neighborhood none of us live in. We walk the neighborhood and pray. We talk to and pray with people we see, knock on doors we feel led to knock on, and look for a “son of peace” (v.6) in the neighborhood. Last night Pete and Rodger introduced me to Ben, (not his real name) a man they met last week who was in his yard as they walked by. Ben was a man who had struggled with alcoholism and spent time in prison. However, he has fallen in love with Jesus, gone on an Emmaus Walk, They entered into a conversation with him that was Spirit led. They discovered Ben’s love for God, his desire to give back to God who has given so much to him, an he wants to transform his neighborhood and start a house church in his home. We all shared testimonies from our lives, prayed, and had church in his front yard. Couples taking a walk in the evening in front of the house looked on as they walked by. Bem is coming to my house Wednesday night for our house church gathering.
The first night we went prayer walking a few weeks ago we met a young man named Conner, (not his real name) who was working on a car outside in an apartment parking lot. He said he is an auto mechanic and he goes to people's homes/businesses and works on their cars at their locations for a living. He lived in a small one bedroom apartment with his wife and step-daughter. We spent time talking then praying with Conner. I have stayed connected with him. Yesterday, he came to my house and put new rear brakes on my truck. It is something I can do, however I figured it would give me a chance to talk with him more while he worked, connect with him more,and help him financially. He actually did a real good job. I bought the parts and he charged me $40 to install them which is very cheap. Tonight when we prayer walked we stopped by his apartment. We talked with him for awhile. He asked if we would pray for him. He called his wife outside, and in front of his apartment, with people in other apartments looking on, and a Mexican roofing crew 10 feet from us, Conner and his wife Ashley held hands with us in the open and prayed. I was so proud of them and I felt the Spirits presence. As we prayed, the roofing crew got quiet and listened. Who knows when the last time, if ever the name of Jesus was lifted up in that apartment parking lot. Hopefully Conner and Ashley will also come to HC Wednesday.
We also stopped by and prayed with Matt, who Pete prayed with and made friends with a couple weeks ago.
Building relationships and connecting with people and being a presence of Christ in a neighborhood, your neighborhood is simple and just takes getting out of the house and doing it. In a few short weeks we have made a presence in this neighborhood. What neighborhood have you made a presence in? Have you walked, reached out, and prayed with the neighbors in the neighborhood you live in? Jesus did send out people and tell them to go attend services in their synagogues (churches) on the Sabbath, he sent them out into the streets. Jesus is not sending you out telling you to attend a church service on Sunday morning, he is sending you out into the streets as well. You are to be a tangible example of The Church among your neighbors and “Heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (v.9)
My family, I pray this morning you pray into “to whom an I sent?” You are not sent to a church. That is where you receive encouragement and are equipped to be sent out. I pray you listen to who and where the Spirit is leading you, then obey what you hear and go. In Jesus’ name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, be Lord of my life and every moment of my day.
"When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if You say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.... Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.' When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him" (Luke 5:4-11).
It takes some effort to "put out into deep water." You don't get there by accident and it's never easy -- especially when you're tired or discouraged or disappointed. Even when you're tired and weary from the exhaustion of fruitfulness and success, it's hard to say, "Let's do it again! Let's go deeper still! Let's go further than last time and beyond our expectations!"
But to "put out into (the) deep water" of Your Spirit, is to seek to hear Your voice, to call You "Master," and obey the nudges of Your guidance in trusting faith, no matter the circumstances of how things appear at the moment. We need not be afraid. And we need not hold back, because there is always an abundance that follows obedience. Peter obeyed Jesus' nudge, and his obedience resulted in abundance.
Part of living life in the "deep water" is being willing to not always see the abundance that follows obedience at the time. So often, we have to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). If we insisted on only believing what we see and trusting only what we feel and always playing it safe to never take a risk on our sense of Your leading in the still, small voice we'd never get past the shallow water. And we'd never know the abundant treasures that wait for us in the deep water. Lack of obedience always results lack of abundance.
You've prepared a treasure of abundance for us in the "deep water" of Your Spirit. There's a great catch if we're just willing to be caught up in the arms of Your embrace to live in trusting faith. That's the place where "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him ... God has reveled them to us through His Spirit ... yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). That's the place where we hear and respond to Your Word: "Call to Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known" (Jeremiah 33:3).
So when "Deep calls to deep," we can respond and put out to the deep water -- no matter how tired we are or how the circumstances appear -- or we can just settle for what we have and just stay where we are, content to live out our lives in the shallow water (Psalm 42:7). It's safer for sure. We have a lot more control when the water is only up to our ankles instead of over our heads (Ezekiel 47:3-5). But my, what great treasures we would miss. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray this morning you take time to position your spirit to hear the Master call and sense the nudging of His Holy Spirit to put out into the deep waters of all the He has for you and desires to do through you. There is an abundance God has created you to bring forth but it will only come about by your obedience, 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.
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. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice.
"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.... Very truly, I tell you, I am the good shepherd" (John 10:2-11).
As I look to You in worship and listen for You in prayer this morning, Your Holy Spirit opens the gate of my spirit to welcome You into every moment of my day. You call me by name; You know my nature and my needs; and You speak into my spirit what You want me to hear and to know.
I'm both a sheep and I'm a son -- a sheep of Your fold and a son of my Father. Help me listen and hear, so I can rise and follow You into Your will for my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
As I look and listen to begin this day, it seems I hear You saying: "My son, you always have the freedom to open the gate of your heart to Me or close it, to watch and wait and worship or not, to take time to listen and trust and obey or choose to do your own will. Choose well Gary. Seek Me first and My righteousness and My kingdom. Then all you need will be added unto you; and all I desire for you will be fulfilled through you."
Yes, Lord. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I choose to seek You first (Matthew 6:33). As a sheep of my Good Shepherd, I seek to hear Your voice and open my heart (Hebrews 3:7). As a son of God, I seek to be led by Your Spirit. "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.... For (we) have received the spirit of sonship (Romans 8:14 RSV).
O Lord, my God, put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Guide my steps by the leading of Your Spirit into the path of life You have for me today (Psalm 23:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you hear God speak to you now by name, “_______ choose well.” I pray you open the gate of your heart to Jesus, and seek God first, that you may hear His voice and be led by His Spirit in the path of life He has chosen for you this day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself 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. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.... Then the devil took Him to the holy city.... Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain.... Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.'' Then the devil left Him, and suddenly angels came and waited on Him" (Matthew 4:1-11)
Lord,. Even You, holy and without sin, were both led by the Spirit to places at times and taken by the devil to places at times, according to the Word of God. You were "in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). You always knew how to respond. You always embraced all the Spirit had for You and always rejected all the devil had for You. By the power of Your grace, may I learn to do the same.
Thank You for the promise of Your Word, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). And for Your promise, "When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide (me) into all the truth" (John 16:13). I am Your child and You are my Father. Come lead me by Your Spirit into Your truth. Empower me to discern and resist every temptation of the devil. "No temptation has overtaken (me) except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow (me) to be tempted beyond what (I) am able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that (I) may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Let Your Word be hidden in my heart so that I can declare what is written; and let Your Spirit guide my spirit so that I'm certain where I am and who led me there or took me there. Then -- no matter whether it was You or the devil -- You'll cause it all to work together for good in the fulfillment of Your plans and purposes (Romans 8:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray spend time in prayer and reading God’s Word this morning to help you learn to discern when your in a place where the Spirit has led you or where the devil has taken you. I pray this so you will be led by the Spirit through every temptation with God's Word hidden in your heart and God's Spirit guiding your spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
“As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” (Mark 5:18-20)
I can imagine what a testimony the man who used to be possessed would have when he returned to his village. He would take off his shirt and point to the raw skin on his wrists and say, “See these marks on my wrists?” I used to be a mad man out of my mind chained like an animal but Jesus set me free. See these scars all over my arms and body, I used to be a cutter, mutilating my body until Jesus made me whole. I used to be possessed and haunted by thousands of demons until released me from their control. Let me tell you what the Lord has done for me and what a difference it makes in my life today that I am saved by Jesus."
Yesterday I shared my testimony as part of my message at Toney UMC. In front of the congregation I told them of the demons of my past that controlled my flesh. The addictions, attitudes, lies, and behaviors that had me living a death like existence “among the tombs.” (v.3). “Martha said of her dead brother Lazarus, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead for 4 days.” (John 11:39) For a time in my life I had been spiritually dead for years, and there was a stench coming from my life and I was a rotten person. But like Lazarus, I heard the voice of Jesus calling me in my darkness, and he raised me back to life. And yesterday, like the demon possessed man in Mark’s Gospel, I went and stood before those gathered, and I showed them my scars, and I told them how much the Lord has done for me, and how he has had mercy on me. I told them what difference it makes in my life today that I am in Christ Jesus.
All of us who have been saved in Christ Jesus have a testimony to share. To be “saved” means you have had to be saved from something to something else: death to life, darkness to light, pain to comfort, sadness to joy, bondage to freedom, selfishness to giver...ect. All of you have a testimony of all that the Lord has done for you and the mercy he has shown you. You were “saved” for the mission of sharing your testimony with others. All of us, no matter what your proficiency in Scriptures or gifting of evangelism, are called to simply go home, to work, to our friends and tell them what Jesus has done for you.
“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” (Revelation 12:10)
My family, I pray starting today, you tell at least one person each day this week what is the difference in your life today that you are in Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. When I'm centered in You, I'm confident in You. You are my Security and Strength, my Conscience and Companion, my Father and Friend, my "All in All" (1 Corinthians 5:28).
"Say to my soul, 'I am your salvation" (Psalm 35:3).
O, Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You are my Salvation. You bring me out of darkness and into Your light. You bring me out of death and into Your life. You break every chain and heal every wound. You are the God who saves and heals and delivers, as You say to my soul, "I AM your Salvation."
You alone, O Lord, are my Salvation. "There is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). But what a powerful name You have! And what a mighty God You are!
So I humble my heart to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. I turn to You and cry out in faith to the God of my salvation.
I speak out the name of Jesus. I proclaim the power of Your name over every battle I'll fight, every enemy I'll face, and every challenge I'll overcome by the power of Your grace and to the glory of Your name. All must bow before the One who forever proclaims, "I AM" (John 8:58). Yours is "the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11 NKJV).
You are my Lord and Savior, my Healer and Deliverer, my All in All. And as my soul embraces You and the fullness of Your salvation for me, I will "shout for joy and be glad, and say evermore, 'Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of His servant!' Then my tongue shall tell of Your righteousness and of Your praise all day long" (Psalm 35:27-28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you experience the power of the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior over all you encounter today and every day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself 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.
