Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are my Good Shepherd; let me hear Your voice and follow the leading of Your Spirit in these first moments of my morning in prayer with You. ...
"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with splendor. He called out with a mighty voice, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! ... Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, My people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:1-5).
"Babylon" speaks to the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are tempted to become a part of her, tempted to give in to her ways and compromise with our faith. Toleration can soon become participation. Then our participation requires our rationalization. And sooner or later, our rationalization will ultimately lead to feelings of condemnation. If it were possible, our regret and shame would finally leave us dejected and defeated in a pit of despair, believing we're only deserving of the sentence of our ultimate damnation.
But Your heart says, "No!" And Your Spirit says, "Come out of her, My people! Before your conscience is too seared and your heart is too hardened, before you've given over too much of yourself to the ways of this world so that it's almost too hard to turn back, come out of her and come to Me!"
There is no sin You will not forgive, no defilement of our spirit You will not cleanse (1 John 1:9). Like the loving father always longing for the return of his prodigal son, never giving up, never letting go, You're always reaching out to bring us back into Your embrace (Luke 15:11-24).
Lord Jesus, in one of Your final prayers in this world You said to the Father, "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but I ask You to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in truth; Your word is truth. As You has sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (John 17:14-18).
We live everyday in the midst of this broken, fallen world because that's where You've sent us. But You've never intended us to be overcome by the world. You warned of the challenges we'd face as we seek to stand firm in the faith and the truth of Your word, but also declared the power of Your grace to bring us through it all in final victory. You continue to declare, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Because You have overcome, we can overcome because we are in Christ and Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27).
So even as we live in the midst of the world, because that is our calling, bring us out of the ways of the world, cleansed from the defilement and free from the ultimate judgment of the world, because that is our destiny. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be empowered to overcome and come out of the ways of the world, even as Christ in you shines His light to the world around you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I want to encourage you to join me by alsosharing with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me in the way that leads to life today. ...
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God…This is the conquering power that has conquered the world: our faith. Now who is the person who has conquered the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God “ (1 John 1, 5)
My faith in You empowers me to conquer the world. If I could fully trust You and fully entrust myself to You, there's nothing in this world that could hold me back or shut me down. Instead I would be part of Your movement to change the world with all who believe. I would be like Your first fiery disciples who were "turning the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).
Come, Holy Spirit. Help me trust Jesus more and more every day (John 16:14). Help me believe, and help my unbelief. Cause my faith to arise with a fiery and fearless passion to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth and turn this world upside down. In Jesus' name I pray.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit will increase your faith in Jesus more and more every day until you have faith to overcome the world and turn it upside down. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer each weekday by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage you to join me by also sharing with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).
Now, I am Your child--a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ, part of the bride and the body of Christ here on this earth and here in my generation. I don't have to wait until I get to heaven when I die or when You return at Your second coming. I am God's child now.
In the same way, You are already revealing who I am, what my true identity already is. I don't already see it all; I don't already see myself completely as You see me. But You are in the process of revealing my true identity to me more and more every day. And it happens as I see You as You are: "When (You are) revealed, (I) will be like (You), for (I) see (You) as (You are)" (v. 2).
I always thought of this as an end time Scripture--something to be fulfilled when I stand in Your presence after I die and go to heaven or if I'm part of that generation on the earth when You return. This Scripture includes those events--whether it's the end time for the world or just the end time for me. "Just as we have borne the image of the son of dust, we will also bear the image of the Man of heaven.... we will all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:49-52). But I believe Your Spirit is revealing to me that this Scripture is also for today and every day between now and that day to come as well.
Already You are at work in me, revealing to Me who You are and also who I am in You. Already this Word is being fulfilled: "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed in to the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17). Already You are pulling back the veil for me to see You and see myself as I truly am. And who I am is a child of God, being conformed into the image of the Son of God more and more every day, as I keep seeking You and You keep revealing Yourself to me (Romans 8:29).
Come, Holy Spirit. Keep opening the eyes of my heart--"so that, with the eyes of (my) heart enlightened, (I) may know what is the hope to which He has called (me), what are (my) riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power for us who believe, according to working of His great power" (Ephesians 1:18-19). More and more every day, may "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give (me) a spirit of wisdom and revelation as (I) come to know Him" (Ephesians 1:17).
It has not yet been fully revealed to me just who I am and just who Christ is, but You are at work in me doing just that. By the power of Your grace, give me "a mind to understand, eyes to see, (and) ears to hear" along with the faith to believe it and receive it (Deuteronomy 29:2). I am God's child now (1 John 3:8). Let me see that in myself and let me see that in the children of God around me, being conformed into the image of Christ as we all see with greater revelation who Christ is, who we are in Christ, and who Christ is in us. "Christ in (us), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). More and more every day, let me "see what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are"--our true identity (1 John 2:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will see more clearly every day who Christ is, who you are in Christ, and who Christ is in you, knowing the revelation of your true identity as a child of God, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Thank you for joining with me on this daily journey of prayer each weekday by the leading of the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage you to join me by also sharing with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, You are the same yesterday and today and forever. Steadfast and true, faithful are You. Empower me to be faithful too. ...
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful -- for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13).
Jesus, as I sit here and reflect on these verses this morning, a song I love is playing in the background with the lyrics, “Oh the overwhelming, never ending reckless love of God..” Some Christian songs today speak of Your reckless love -- reckless because it's so overwhelming and we're so undeserving. Some speak of Your unfailing love -- unfailing because it never ends and always wins. But above all, I've experienced Your relentless love -- relentless because You never relent, You never retreat in Your passionate pursuit of my heart -- no matter how undeserving or unfaithful, how timid or compromising, how I've been tempted to turn to the world or put up a wall or settle for something less than all You've desired for me. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23). That's relentless love.
So who could resist Your relentless love? Why would we run from Someone running so hard after us? What a picture You gave us in the parable of the prodigal son when You showed us the relentless love of a father running to embrace his lost son. "But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). You are that Father, just as we are that son that could never run far enough away and never do wicked, selfish enough things that could make You stop loving us. That's relentless love.
Father, forgive me for ever resisting Your relentless love. Forgive me for ever taking it for granted. Forgive me for ever squandering the blessing and invitation of a lifetime of intimacy with You. You are so worthy of my relentless love in return. I love You because You first loved me; I pursue You because You first pursued me (1 John 4:19). You "have loved (me) with an everlasting (relentless) love" when there's nothing I could ever do to ever earn it or deserve it (Jeremiah 31:2). So this day, here in a deeper surrender of my heart and vulnerable intimacy in Your presence, I embrace Your relentless love for me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
My family, I pray you fully accept the invitation embrace the relentless love of our passionately pursuing God in a deeper surrender of your heart and vulnerable intimacy in His presence, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Jesus. Here’s my heart Lord, speak what is true….
“But the aim of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion… But we know that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately, realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, sexually immoral people, practicing homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers - in fact, for any who live contrary to sound teaching. This accords with the glorious gospel of the blessed God that was entrusted to me… even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief, and our Lordʼs grace was abundant, bringing faith and love in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” - and I am the worst of them! But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. Now to the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.” (1Timothy 1:5-17)
As I read these words of Paul the Holy Spirit stirs in me and reminds me that I could be saying these same things about my life. For many years of my early life I lived “contrary to sound teaching” and rebelled against God. Several years ago my daughter’s were watching TV and the news was showing criminals who hurt people. My daughter asked me “Why does not God immediately get rid of those people?” I answered her that if he did, you would not have a father now. Jesus Christ demonstrated “His upmost patience” with me. I was “treated with mercy.” And His patience and mercy continues over me today, as I am far from complete obedience to my Lord and repent of sin daily.
And as Paul confirms, why was I shown mercy and patience? Why was I saved from myself by His works of grace on the cross? To use me and my life “as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.” Jesus’ mercy, patience, and salvation was not simply to give me a “get out of hell card.” My salvation has to be more than my personal knowledge that I am not going to hell, which has no impact on my neighbors or co-workers. There was an plan why I was shown patience and mercy and it was not simply that I rest silently in my good gift of grace of salvation over my life, Jesus never intended that. He intended His gift of salvation to be shared by me with others “as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.” And Jesus intended the mercy, patience and salvation given to you for the same reason, to share the gift with others. “But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of Godʼs grace.” (Acts 20:24)
My family, I pray that as you reflect through the Holy Spirit on all the ways and times in your life Jesus has lovingly shown mercy and patience over you, and saved you from hell into eternal life through the suffering love of the cross, you will be compelled and motivated to show mercy and patience today, and share “the good news of God’s grace” with those you encounter today, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!!
Please share your reflections, comments and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Jesus, I come to you this morning desiring that through your Spirit you teach me something new about you, and teach me something new on how I am to love those in my life today…
In my reflections on the first 4 chapters of Ephesians we have read I have put together from Paul’s words a commissioning over your life as a person in Christ who is a disciple of Christ. Insert your name in the blanks and read this commissioning prayer out loud as if Jesus was speaking it over your life. Set your alarm on your phone to remind you to pray it over your life several times today.
____________, you are a fellow citizen with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom you are being built into a dwelling of God in the Spirit and a temple of the Lord.
For ____________, you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that you would walk in them.
For by grace __________, you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you___________ no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
But ___________you did not learn about Christ like this…. You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in Godʼs image - in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you,___________, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, and that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Ephesians 2:8,10,19-22; 3:14-19, 4:17-23.
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart. Make me more like You today. ...
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you" (2 Corinthians 13:13).
Lord, out of Your grace and Your love, help me learn to live more deeply in the communion of Your Spirit. Help me to truly trust You and allow You to be alive and at work within me, to guide me and empower me in the ways that lead to life throughout the moments of my day. "For it is God who is at work in (me), enabling (me) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
So come, Holy Spirit. You are welcome in this place; You are welcome within me. Come commune within me, come fellowship with me. Come be at work within me to will what is right and to do what is right, by the power of Your grace and Your love at work within me, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray you will deeply surrender and abide in the communion of the Holy Spirit through the grace and love of God, allowing the Lord to empower You from the inside out to will what is right and to do what is right, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
A Note for New Friends to My Daily Devotional:
Friends, for 5 years now, I've begun my morning with these simple prayers and reflections. My spirit comes to attention and I speak out a few words to direct my heart and my thoughts to the Lord alone, as best as I can. Then, unless we are going through series of Scriptures like we are now going through the New Testament, I wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit to bring a Scripture or image or word to mind so that I can pray according to the leading of the Lord for me or those He wants to touch through me by these simple prayers each day. Then I write a simple prayer for you at the end, asking you to pray it for me as well, and send it out. I write these in the morning because that's how I try to start my day -- embraced by the Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. My hope has been that it will encourage others to start their day in the same embrace. Thank you for joining with me on this journey. Please forward these on as you are led to encourage someone else. God bless you!
Please share with me and others your reflections and what God is speaking to you from todays reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and the moments of my day. ...
"It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised us" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
Holy Spirit, enable me and empower me to stand firm for Christ today. Deliver me from my two-facedness; awaken me from my wavering; call me out of my complacency. Set me ablaze with a fiery passion to proclaim the name of Jesus and live into this day in the nature of Jesus. "We (are to) live like Jesus here in this world" (1 John 4:17).
"The Spirit who lives in (us) is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.... We belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception" (1 John 4:4-6). So by the power of Your grace at work within me, the spirit of this world will not intimidate me or silence me or keep me from standing firm for Christ.
By Your Spirit, I will stand and I will speak and I will shine with the light of Your glory in my heart -- not in my power, but Yours; not in my goodness, but Yours. "For God, who said, 'Let there be light in the darkness,' has made this same light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). As You keep shining, I will keep standing -- standing firm for Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that in the power of the Holy Spirit you stand firm for Christ and let the light of the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ shine through you today, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I shared my insights and prayers from todays passage with you. Please share your insights and prayers with me and others in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Join in!
On September 17th we began the journey of reading through the New Testament in a year. This plan has only one chapter to read each weekday. There are no assigned readings on the weekend. Use that time for other studies or to catch back up on chapters you may have missed during the week. The plan we will use is from Bibleplan.org. The website address for it is https://bibleplan.org/plans/new-testament-in-a-year/ or you can get to it by clicking the button below. Go to the site, enter the starting date Sept. 17. 2018, enter your email, and a time you want to receive an email reminder, then click subscribe. Every weekday then you will receive an email reminder of the chapter reading for that day.
Good morning Jesus, I seek you power this morning as it is the only key that will allow me to live today free of sin.
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.... For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me…For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:14-25)
Jesus, you know Paul’s words are my words as well, “for I am not practicing the want I like to do, but I practice the very thing I hate” (v.15). There are at times thoughts, attitudes, desires that creep into my mind that I have to rebuke and say “why am I doing that?” There are times in a conversation my flesh takes over and I have repent and say “Why did I say that?”
In my flesh; my heart and mind, thoughts and actions, I am weak and drawn to sin. Who can free me from this, change my heart and give me strength to not sin? As Paul asks the same question, “Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v.24-25). Yes Only Jesus! Jesus is the key to unlock me from the chains of sin. But like any key, it has to be taken out and and used. It does not work sitting in a bowl on a shelf.
Yes I was saved from sin and death when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and fell in love with Him. However, just as I could not on my own initially save myself from sin and death but had to rely on the power of the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, daily I cannot free myself from sin unless I daily rely on the power on the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the key needed for my initial Salvation, and Jesus is my key to live daily in that Salvation. If I did not use that key initially I would be eternally doomed by sin, and if I do not use that key daily, I will be daily doomed to sin.
That is why I spend this time in the Word. That is why I write these devotions every morning, to embrace the key of life and encourage those who read this to do the same. Time spent daily reading and searching your Bible, time spent daily in extended times of prayer is how you grasp the key, grasp and hang on to Jesus. If your Bible sits unopened for a day, week, or month; if your hands have not been lifted for and extend time of pray for a day, week, or month, you are not embracing the key, not embracing Jesus, dooming yourself to sin. Jesus, even told His disciples, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) That watching and praying is looking and seeking God in Scriptures and in deep prayer. Even Jesus says if you do not, you will enter into temptation.
My family, yesterday was Ash Wednesday and we are now in the 40 day season of Lent. I pray you will use these next 40 days to recommit to grasping the key, grasping Jesus in extended daily times in The Word and prayer. I pray you will seek the power of the Holy Spirit in you life so you can live in your salvation today. In Jesus’s name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I never intended this morning Blog to be a one way conversation, but one that encourages responses and reflection from those reading to bless me and others as well. I encourage you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below on this page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Begin The Year With A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
http://www.easytithe.com/dl/?uid=onepob279
I begin my day lifting the name of Jesus for the name of Jesus is the weapon I will use to fight my battles today.
Acts 19:13-16" But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."
The song, "There is power in the name of Jesus, to break every chain..." came to my mind as i read this chapter. There is power in Jesus. In the battlefield of spiritual warfare, claiming the name of Jesus, claiming the power of Jesus, claiming to be in Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you is the ultimate weapon. But the Holy Spirit is a consuming fire. He is not a lap dog that you can beckon to come and go, and there is nothing domesticated about Him. There is nothing domesticated about Jesus. So you do not "play" with The Holy Spirt or flippantly throw out the name of Jesus. Like handling a powerful, explosive weapon, there is a sense of awe, respect, and fear involved
When I went to Darfur in Sudan, Africa, the region was then and still is now a extremely dangerous and violent region. Some team members requested permission to carry a hand gun. We were told you can bring a hand gun, but once you carry one, in the view of the military forces in the area you are no longer a civilian on a mission trip, you are a soldier on a mission, and the enemy do not play around. You do not carry it for show. If you are going to carry a gun, you better make sure in your inner being that you are willing to use it, without hesitation on another human being because the Islamic military personnel will not even blink an eye at using their weapons on you.
What you need to understand, is that when you accept Christ into your life and your call to participate in and grow a church and choose to carry a cross, the way you are viewed in the worlds eye is changed. You are no longer a civilian in the world’s economic and political system empathetic and selfishly withdrawn and docile. To Satan, the Ruler of the World (John 16:11), you are viewed as a soldier under the command of Jesus your Lord. You enter into the battle field of spiritual warfare. And just as real and plain as my Darfur illustration, is the seriousness and the life and death consequences of your decision. You do not carry a cross and follow Jesus for “show” or for “status.” We are trying to take back territory and communities from the enemy. We are trying to liberate families and individuals from Satan’s rule. We are part of the revolution of Christ. If you are going to carry a cross you need embrace the serious military and spiritual warfare implications of Ephesians 6:10-18. Take seriously its call to put on the full armor of God and arm yourself with the sword of the spirit. For there is an enemy who has come to kill, steal and destroy (Jn 21:25) who also will not blink an eye in using weapons at his disposal on you. He wants nothing more to see good hearted people get hurt and hurt each other. Press into Jesus who's battle it is and who's victory it is. So when the evil spirits look at you, with terrified eyes they will see Jesus, and tremble with fear.
Prayers:
Pray and reflect on,”If were one of the 7 brothers in the story in vs 13-16 and the evil spirit looked at you, would he recognize you by your obedience and walk in life as a disciple of Christ?”
Pray into a full understanding of your answering “yes” to your call to follow Christ. Not that all the details and timings involved in it need to be made known. But an understanding of the new view as a cross bearer for Christ you now have in the world's eyes.
Read Ephesians 6:10-18, pray yourself into the full armor of God. Then close your eyes and visualize the victorious Christ reigning in your family, your neighborhood, and Huntsville and Madison.
Read Ephesians 6:19-20. Pray those two verses over yourself, and each member of ODC, Toney, and your church. Pray then also right now, over 5 people you know who are Gospel bearers in their community..
Please share your reflections on your time in Acts 19 in the comments box below.
I have included Ephesians 6:10-20 below. I spent time reading through it and added to it other verses in Scripture that support its message. Read through it and meditate on it as you have time.
Ephesians 6:10-20 (in italics) with corresponding Scriptures inserted.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20-21
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2Tim 2:1
“I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” 1 John 2:14
Put on
“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.” Job 29:14
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Rom. 13:12
the whole armor of God,
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” 2 Cor.10:4
that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Eph 4:14
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” Col. 1:13
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
“When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Luke 22:53
"in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” Eph 2:2
Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” 1 Pe 4:1
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
“making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:16-19
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” 1 Pet. 1:13
“Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” Isa. 11:5
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,” Isa 61:10
“He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.” Isa 59:17
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation,” Isa 52:7
“And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Rom 10:15
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith,
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1Joh 5:4
with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.“ Heb 4:12
“He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.” Isa 49:2
praying at all times
"And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" Lk. 18:1
in the Spirit,
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit" Jude 1:20. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26
with all prayer and supplication.
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak" Col 4:2-4
To that end keep alert with all perseverance,
"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake." Mark 13:32-34
making supplication for all the saints,
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people," 1 Tim 2:1
and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth
"At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—" Col. 4:3. "Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you," 2Th. 3:1
boldly to proclaim
"And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness," Acts 4:29
the mystery of the gospel,
"how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly." Eph. 3:3
for which I am an ambassador
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" 2Cor. 5:20
in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
"For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” Acts 28:20
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Begin The Year With A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also… “ vs.12:1-3
All of the 12 disciples ended up enduring persecution and suffering.
· Peter: A Fire in Rome, under Nero, He blamed Christians and began persecuting them. In 60AD, Peter, was crucified. He is stated to have said he was not worthy to be crucified the same way as Jesus and asked to be crucified upside down. He was crucified with praise coming from his lips
· James: Son of Zebedee, faithful, and he was beheaded for his faith. The martyrdom of James is recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, in Acts 12:1-2. He was executed, with a sword, by order of King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44 AD:
· Phillip: "He labored diligently in Upper Asia, and suffered martyrdom at Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into prison as a crippled, and afterwards crucified, A.D. 54."
· Matthew: served in Parathia and Ethiopia, among the cannibals. In the latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60."
· Andrew: the bashful brother of Peter, he did not end up bashful. He became a missionary to many lands. He was the first missionary to Russia, The cythians, probably the most barbaric people of the first century. Andrew might have been martyred in Achaia or Patrae, both of which are places in the western part of Greece. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, It is generally agreed that he was crucified by order of the Roman Governor, Aegeas or Aegeates, at Patrae in Achaia. Taken under arrest and scourged by 7 men with rods. And then he was bound, not nailed, to the cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. The cross on which he suffered is commonly held to have been an X shaped cross, the decussate cross, now known as St. Andrew's Cross. His crucifixion martyrdom took place during the reign of Nero, on the 30th November, A.D. 60.
· Thomas: Called Didymus, Doubting Thomas, no. He preached the Gospel in Parthia and India, where exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was imprisoned, tortured by the priests, and martyred by being stabbed repeatedly with spears.
· John: ministered in Emphasis for many years, founded churches in Smyrna, Loudiosia, Thia, Pergamous, Philidelphia, and others. He was Captured by the emperor who threw him into a pot of boiling oil. Miraculously he escaped with scars.. The emperor was superstitious of him. So he put him on The Island of Patimous where he was haunted and hunted by enimies for his faith. Only apostle we believe to die from natural causes.
· Bartholomew: According to Eusebius, Christian writer who lived during the 4th Century of this era (about 1600 years ago), Bartholomew traveled to India to preach to the people there, leaving behind a copy of the Gospel of Matthew. Bartholomew was martyred by King Astyages in Armedia: He ordered the holy apostle Bartholomew to be beaten with rods; and after having been scourged, to be beheaded."
· James son of Alphaeus: according to Foxs' Book of Martyrs, was beaten, stoned and clubbed to death.
· Judas: Judas Iscariot was not a martyr. He killed himself after betraying Jesus.
· Thaddeus (Jude): was crucified, "Jude, the brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was crucified at Edessa, A.D. 72."
· Simon: Surnamed Zelot, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified, A.D. 74.
I don’t know what your future is, and I do not know what mine is. We may see a day when we are called to pay for our faith with our own blood. However, I know one way you can pretty well make sure you won’t be called to martyrdom. That you won’t be persecuted, that you won’t endure suffering. How?
Do nothing.
Continue to adhere to and follow the others idols in the world as well as Jesus.
Continue in materialism and drive new cars, but put an Ichtus on the rear bumper.
Continue To build and live in nice, comfortable homes with back decks, but hang a cross on an interior wall.
Continue to invest, in wear, and advertise materialism to the world, but wear a gold cross hidden under your shirt.
Continue to believe that “church” is a building and being a “disciple of Christ” simply means attending that building once a week.
Continue in to be silent in conversations when Christ is being mocked or sin is being exhalted.
Continue to be silent in sharing the talking about Jesus to your co-workers, classmates, family, and friends.
Continue to turn you head and cling to your resources when confronted with injustice, starvation, homelessness, and suffering in the world and your neighborhood.
If You continue to do all this, I can almost guarantee you will never be persecuted or suffer for your faith.
But then nothing will ever come of your faith.
Everyone of those who were martyred Exhibited Immediate Costly Radical Obedience (IRCO).
Everyone of those who were martyred, were active in their faith.
Everyone who died was an “all in” disciple of Christ.
Everyone who was martyred could have avoided it.
None had to die! None had to go through Persecution or suffering for their faith.
Everyone that did, went through it because they knew Jesus is worthy of it.
We cannot on our own, no matter how religious we may try to become or what restrictions we place on ourselves in our flesh, without the indwelling of and pushing deeper into and receiving the Holy Spirit personally into our lives, form a heart and soul that truly trusts, risks all, obeys, and believes that God is worthy of all and any suffering and persecution we may endure for our faith.
My family, I pray today that you as an individual and we as a church can embrace lives of faith in which Jesus is worthy of it all. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what that looks like in your life and us as a community of faith. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections to this post or the verses and reflections the Holy Spirit led you into in Acts 12.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Begin The Year With A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
I begin my week surrendering my will to your Lordship Jesus to align myself with your will and receive your power and protection.
Yesterday morning I did not post a reflection blog. It is beaus I got up at 4:30am, and left at 5:30am, and I took myself and 4 other guys and we drove two and a half hours to Dalton, Ga to attend the Tuesday morning weekly prayer, worship and healing gathering. I have attend these gatherings in Dalton several times. At the gathering was a large, clear, 4 or 5 gallon tub with a Bible in it that oil is slowly flowing out of and fills the container. The oil is flowing out of it at the rate of 1 ½-2 gallons a week. You can get more complete details on this story at this website; https://hisnameisflowingoil.org/story-of-the-oil/ There were around 200 people from all over that came to the gathering. Word of this miracle are spreading and there were people there who drove up from Florida and drove down from Michigan to attend. All were allowed to dip their fingers in the oil and then spent time worshipping and laying hands and praying over each other. I felt the presence of God in the room. Many people including myself were prayed and prophesized over and received words from God. All were given vials of oil to take home and I would guess around 500 vials were handed out.
I have been asked by several people my thoughts on the oil. If I believed it was a miracle or not and if the oil held special healing powers. Here are my reflections on the oil and the gatherings.
I believe that the oil is flowing out of the Bible is a miracle. That God is allowing oil to flow from this Bible for the anointing of his people. Do I believe there is special healing powers in the actual oil itself, yes and no. Let me explain. The oil was created by a miracle of God, the same as yours and my creation are also a miracle of God. What is a greater miracle that is harder to explain; oil that is created and flowing out of a Bible, or life that is created and comes out of a womb? The oil that is miraculously flowing into the container is just that, oil. It has no power of its own sitting in the container. When I dip my fingers into the oil and it covers my hands and runs down my arms I am not necessarily overcome by any special feeling. What it did was focus my hands, my mind and my heart on God and his presence and I went into a time of deep worship and prayer. And as I allowed others to lay hands on me and anoint me with oil, and as I laid hands on other and did the same, the Holy Spirit was activated and active and present among us and we felt the presence of the healing and restoring power of God among us. A man named Jerry prayed over me and I felt the Holy Spirit in an amazing way. The oil in itself was not what healed people and from which prophetic words flowed from, however it was the catalyst which brought living tabernacles of the presence of the Holy Spirit together in prayer.
Is God using the oil to bring revival and healing? Absolutely. Why on a Tuesday afternoon did 200 people from across the country drive, for us two and a half others, for some six-ten hours, to attend a gathering to pray? As that in itself is a miracle. It was to see the oil. It brought people together hungry and expecting to see God. As the gathering began, people shared testimonies of healing and restoration that occurred in people they anointed with oil and prayed over. These testimonies further increased the expectancy and anticipation of those gathered that God would move among them that night and instilled an atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit was invited and encouraged to move and be present. When the gathering ended, as I mentioned earlier, around 500 vials of oil were handed out to people as they left. And those who left, while receiving the vials, where excitingly naming the people they were going to anoint with the oil and pray over: parents, siblings, children, neighbors, co-workers and church members. If each vial of oil can anoint around 40 people, then it leads to the possibility of 20,000 people that are going to have hands laid on them and anointed with oil and prayers. All that flowing out of one Tuesday morning gathering is a miracle.
I believe God is making oil flow from the Bible to gather, remind, and encourage his people to excitedly and expectantly give and receive the power and presence of the Holy Spirit among each other. God has always desired that his people gather together in his presence and power and then to "go" and bring his power and presence to others. And He is quite aware of the decline not only of the numbers of those gathering in churches in the U.S., but the decline of the expectancy of the power and presence of God in His churches by those that are gathering in His churches. And if He has to miraculously make oil flow out of a Bible into a large Tupperware container to get people to gather, then He will. Which leads me to the questions, Why is that?
To be honest, the only reason we drove two and a half hours to Dalton, Ga to this gathering was to see the oil. To see the oil is why 95% of the people gathered yesterday morning. If it was posted on social media that there was going to simply be a prayer and worship gathering yesterday at the same location, we would not have drove there, and very few of the others that attended would have either. And that convicts me. Why do we need a “Draw” to gather us, besides the opportunity to pray, worship and experience the presence of God together? Why do we need the draw of either a well known praise and worship band, a well known speaker or author, an amazing theatrical performance or pro presenter presentation, a comfortable venue or other catalyst. Why do we need a Tupperware container full of oil?
I am also convicted: Why do we need “special vials of oil” from God to encourage us and get us excited about laying hands and praying over those in our community? We who call Jesus Lord are all vessels of the very presence of God in the Holy Spirit. Its is that inward presence, power and anointing of the Holy Spirit that flows from us, that the act of outward anointing of oil represents.
So again, is the oil a miraculous sign from God, yes. However, I am convinced if that tub of oil was not our "draw" and not present yesterday, and that the same 200 people who gathered together yesterday morning, gathered together with the same excitement and expectancy, and worshipped together, laid hands on each other and anointed each other with whatever oil they had in their pocket, spoke healing words and prophetic words over each other, the some powerful presence of the Holy Spirit would have fallen on that warehouse. And if all those gathered left without being given a vial of oil, but with the same excitement and expectancy to lay hands on and pray over loved ones, friends, and neighbors, the same healing renewal and rival would take place. I think this is the main point God is trying to remind and restore in His Church through the flowing oil. I believe God allows it to flow to encourage and remind his people of His active presence in the world, and more importantly, in each of us. And God will continue the oil to flow until it stops becoming a referent to His presence and glory and we make an idol of it, which we as people always inevitably do. As Gog is the one in control, He could stop the oil from flowing at any time. I would encourage you to go attend a gathering in possible.
My family, I pray today you understand and realize that the simple “Draw” of the opportunity to pray, lay hands on, and worship together in the presence of the Holy Spirit is enough. That you will make it the center of why you gather and you will excitedly and expectantly seek these simple yet powerful gatherings together. In prayer may the Holy Spirit remind you that you are a vessel of the very presence of God and that your were created to pour out onto and anoint those around you with His healing and grace, and go and do it today. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and comments and my blog below in the comment box.
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.
Thanks You!
Or Three practical ways to be missional this halloween
Halloween is coming upon us. This week I will be getting my Halloween decorations out of my attic and decorating my yard for our annual Halloween yard party. It’s interesting to me that for many this becomes a “hot button” topic to discuss. I was sitting in the Waffle House yesterday morning talking with a couple Christians at the bar. Our talk over coffee came to Halloween. One man stated how he hate's Halloween and went on to explain why. I was driving with another Christian the other day and they stated how their family does not do Halloween.
So today I want to address the question: Should we as Christians engage in Halloween or should we abstain? I am copying and pasting allot of this blog from a similar blog I posted last year at Halloween. In actuality if you start reading about Halloween’s roots, it’s hard to find an answer of where it came from. But, regardless of where it comes from, the question at hand should be: Why is Halloween celebrated today? For most of us, Halloween isn’t a time where we celebrate the dead and go and skin a goat and sacrifice it to Satan. For most of us, it’s a time to dress up our kids as a super hero and send them to strangers’ houses to get free candy.
It has become just part of our culture in the West and has very little to do with the “darkness”…it’s not good, it’s not evil…it’s just something we celebrate, like the 4th of July. I know we might have stories of darkness, but there are also many stories of overdrinking and evil happening on our other holidays as well.
The whole of the Bible talks of God bringing reconciliation and redemption to all things back to himself. To bring peace to all things. Not only that but Paul speaks (1 Cor 8) to us about pagan festivals and says that there is nothing in them that is powerful, because there is only one God and everything and everyone comes through him and are because of him.
Paul then talks about eating food sacrificed to idols…saying…it’s no big deal, unless you have a brother who would be deeply hurt by it because they struggle with the idol and eating of that meat because they actually used to do those things.
Here’s how to contextualize for Halloween: If you have a brother who used to worship Satan and they used to sacrifice goats and drink its blood, then it might be a good idea to walk through Halloween with them and whether or not it would make that brother stumble. This does NOT mean, if you have a brother who thinks it’s merely wrong to celebrate Halloween then you should put it to the side. That’s never the intent with any of the passages of making a brother stumble…if that was the case, many of us would be in sin because of all the things we do that make other Christians merely uncomfortable. Jesus was not about making people comfortable.
And Jesus would have made many people stumble with the life that he led around sinners as he ate and drank (yep wine) with them. Again…making a brother stumble and making a brother uncomfortable are completely separate issues.
With all that said, what are we to do with Halloween? If we are to look to redeem Halloween, what does that mean? If we are to do all things to the glory of God, what does that look for Halloween?
First, a few things you should probably STOP doing:
1. Dressing your kid up as St. Paul or Moses to try to prove a point.
2. Calling the Halloween Party at your church building a “Harvest Festival.” It is like an atheist calling a “Christmas Party” a “Holiday Party.” It’s just calling the elephant in the room a squirrel and it’s weird.
3. Taking all your people away from their neighborhoods and into your building.
4. Wrapping a tract around an apple and handing it out to the kids who are trick or treating and calling it “evangelizing”
None of these things redeem anything, but just add to the notion that Christians want to be apart from the world and create their own subculture. Instead, let’s be like Jesus and celebrate it like he would have.
When we look at the life of Jesus and our God, we see that they always pursued the sinner and the world. They loved us right where we were and engaged us in the ways that we’d understand who God is and what He has done.
Not only that, but Jesus used the everyday celebrations as a way to build relationships so he could speak into the lives of those around him. He was continually at parties. So much so, that when Matthew was called to follow Jesus, it seemed normal to Matthew to invite Jesus and all the apostles back to his house to party with all his “sinner” friends. (Matthew 9:9,10; Mark 2:14-17) People knew that Jesus was about celebrating, he was about truth, he was also about pursuing and about building relationships with people. With that in mind, how can we then show people THAT Jesus to our communities during Halloween?
1. Be THAT House
You know “that” house. When you were a kid and you went to a house and said “trick or treat” and they handed you a full size candy bar, it was like winning the lottery. It was such good news, you’d tell strangers dressed up like a clown zombie where to find the goods. Everyone knew that house in the neighborhood and if you didn’t have one in your neighborhood, you’d travel what seemed to be miles to get to that house. Be THAT house. We have been blessed to be a blessing. Think about how this shows people the Father. Everyone is expecting to get a small fun size bar. It’s what they’ve earned by dressing up and having the courage to knock on your door and say “trick or treat.” What they know they haven’t earned is a full size candy bar…it speaks to this idea of grace and blessing.
You don’t need to tell the kids this, but it starts to tell the story of what your house is about to the neighbors. It tells a different story than what they expect or are used to and this is exactly the story of the gospel. Spend the extra cash to make that happen. If you can’t afford it, get your Missional Community to all pitch in. Ask your church to put it in the budget for next year…whatever you gotta do…be that house! You’ll be amazed at what doors that opens with your neighbors.
2. Be a Welcoming Presence
If our God is about pursuit, blessing and welcoming then what would it look like to be about pursuit on Halloween? How about instead of staying inside your house, be in the driveway or front porch. I know this isn’t available for everyone because of weather, but what would it look like in your neighborhood for people to feel welcomed to come to your house and feel blessed by it?
For The Liederbach's, we are going to have fire pit in our front yard. We will be cooking hot dogs over the fire and making s’mores. We put invitations in all our neighbors mailboxes. Last year we had over 280 kids trick or treat our house and over 100 or so hang out and cook a hot dog or s’more. It’s a way for us to come together and hang out and bless our neighborhood. It shows that we are more than about handing out candy, but we are here to bless their entire family and in a sense, welcome you into our lives.
Again, it shows something quite different than every other house. Last year a father with three young kids came up with them to our front porch to get candy. The father said, “The kids all discussed before we headed out they wanted to go to this house last. Save the best for last! Plus once we come her we usually hang out awhile.” The kids put candy in their bags then they headed towards the fire pit and fun. We have been doing this for 5 years and the neighborhood now expects it and people come and hang out and have a great time meeting their neighbors.
If you can’t be outside, how can you bless the families that are walking around your neighborhood? Maybe offer coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. to the parents and trick or treaters that come to your door. Again…think, “How can I be a blessing and show that we are a welcoming and pursuing people like our Dad?”
3. Celebrate
It is not secret that Jesus loved to party. So much so, that people kept inviting him to parties. Pretty amazing to think about. If we have a Dad in heaven that loves us and accepts us, not for what we do or have done, but because of what his Son has done for us and now we are heirs to the throne of heaven…don’t we have the most to celebrate?
We should be defined as Jesus was defined: a glutton and drunkard. He was celebrating so much that the religious saw him as a glutton and drunkard but the sinners and the world saw him as a dude that they’d like to hang with. Where have we gone wrong here? Christians shouldn’t be the ones avoided for parties, but should be the ones that people are most excited to have come around because they bring the “better wine.”
We made it almost a rule in our house that if we are invited to a party…we are going and we are going to think through how we can bless that party as much as possible. We are always invited to parties because of this. People know what Nancy and I are about, they know we love Jesus. But they also know that when we enter a room we won’t make it weird, but we hopefully make the room more enjoyable by being there. We have literally had people say, “if Jesus is like this…he was a lot different than we’ve ever been told.”
If you aren’t invited to parties…this Halloween is a great time to throw one. Throw a costume party, a pumpkin carving party, a cookie decorating party, have a photo booth at the party, have a party with games for kids. You can do all kinds of things for Halloween…it’s a party holiday. By doing this, meaning throwing an awesome party, you start to show off something different about you as a follower of Jesus and showing off who Jesus was and what he was about.
He was about parties because that’s where people were and that’s where people connect and share stories and start and continue relationships. Halloween is a really funny holiday when we think about it. But, it’s a holiday that is so easy to build relationships and bless the community and start (or continue) to show off what our Dad is like.
If instead, we turn off our front porch lights, lock our doors, go to our church buildings and we have a “harvest festival” we show the world exactly what they’ve always seen about our God. He is closed off, judgmental and waits for us to come to him. This isn’t our Dad…he is quite different. He is welcoming, he is gracious and merciful and he pursues us and can’t wait to celebrate with us. Don’t use this holiday to make a point. Use this holiday to point to the true reason we all get to celebrate and bless…Jesus.
My guess is that if Jesus lived in our neighborhood, everyone couldn’t wait to go to his house to see what he was going to hand out this year. Everyone would be excited to go to Jesus’ Halloween party and couldn’t wait to invite him over to their party. My only question I wonder is “Who would Jesus dress up as for Halloween?” Who knows…but you know it’d be a killer costume.
Please add your thoughts or questions in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach-Lead Follower
One Direction Community
My daily prayer is, “Lord send us the ones no one else wants.” Please give, support and partner with us as reach out to those in our community.
Photos from our neighborhood Halloween party last year. Click on and scroll through the photos.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and the center of my life. And give me the grace to live into all that means.
We are on day 2 of our year-long journey of reading through the New Testament, looking at Matthew chapter 2.
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.... The star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:1-11).
The wise men were going to see the King. They followed His star and when they found Him they took Him into their hearts. They "rejoiced with exceedingly great joy!" They "fell down and worshiped Him" and "opened their treasures" before Him to offer their gifts to Him.
Lord Jesus, You are the King - "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15). Give me the wisdom to pursue You every day. Give me the humility to open the treasures of my heart and offer the gift of my life completely to You. As I worship You and welcome You into my heart and the moments of my day, Your Spirit will fill me with the peace of Christ and "with exceedingly great joy!" Let me be among those wise men and women who are ever seeking to see the King! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit may stir in your heart this morning to go and see the King today and every day, giving Him the gift of your heart, as He fills you with His peace and exceedingly great joy, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us in the comment box below.
JOIN IN!! We started yesterday beginning the journey of reading through the New Testament in a year. This plan has only one chapter to read each weekday. There are no assigned readings on the weekend. The plan we will use is from Bibleplan.org. Click the button below to go to the site, enter the starting date Sept. 17. 2018, enter your email, and a time you want to receive an email reminder, then click subscribe. Every weekday then you will receive an email reminder of the chapter reading for that day.
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.
Thanks You!
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. …And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2: 42-47)
Last night we had a church service where we worshipped, prayed, Baptized 3 people, shared the Lord’s Supper, and shared a pot-luck agape feast afterward. This gathering did not take place in a church sanctuary and fellowship hall, but my back yard. The amazing image given above of the powerful movement of the Holy Spirit in the early life and birth of Christianity gives us this description of “church.” “attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,”(v.46)
The gathering of believers did include periodic times spent in a public place of worship, “attending the temple together”. This was for a gathering of corporate worship. To share and hear stories of how God was working in other peoples lives , to receive teaching, and to be encouraged in their sharing of the Gospel of Jesus to their neighbors. The gathering of believers also included meeting in peoples homes, “breaking bread in their homes.” It was here, around a dinner table and in a living in the intimate and real sharing of their love and struggles of living life for Christ where their faith was forged and they were formed into disciples of Jesus.
Discipleship does not take place in an hour Sunday morning service. I am going to be be bold enough to speak the truth that you cannot become a disciple of Christ if all you do is attend a Sunday morning church service The intimate sharing, modeling, and pressing into our calling that is required in forming disciples cannot take place in a lecture-type setting with 40, 200, 500, 1,000 or more people. As the Scriptures tell us, public worship is an important part of the discipleship process, however it is only one part of the process. A part that has become the complete image of what “church” is for most Christians today.
As believers we tithe a portion of our resources to be used for the spreading of the Gospel and “adding to the number those saved.” However tithing a percentage of your resources does not just apply to what you put in a basket passed around, it applies to your major resource, your home. We are all called to tithe a portion of our home, to open it up and give it to God to use for his glory. How are you using your home for spreading the Gospel? Who are you inviting into your home to share the love of Jesus and make disciples? There are neighborhood kids, and youth you can invite in to start mentoring. A co-worker, classmate, gym member to ask over to read the Bible together. Invite a couple or two from your church over your house to share Christ in your life together. Church gatherings are not just something you find in a church calendar, but in your home or apartment.
My family, I pray this morning as you read this, many of you in your home or apartment, you will offer that space up to God to use for his kingdom, and pray for the Holy Spirit to place the names or faces of those you are to invite into you home, then act on it. In Jesus’ name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support 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.
Thanks You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek to humble my heart in worship and prayer to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
"The Lord says, 'Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon! ... The Lord says, 'Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you!" (Zechariah 2:6-10 NLT)
We live out our faith every day in the midst of the Babylonian world around us. It's a world that encourages pride rather than humility, self-promotion rather than preferring one another, building our own kingdoms instead of seeking first Your kingdom. Like in the days of the tower of Babel, the mindset of our world is to exalt ourselves in our own power and wisdom, insisting on our own ways in rebellion to Yours (Genesis 11:1-9). And so we are scattered -- scared and insecure even as we outwardly project our false confidence in the allusion of our control apart from trusting submission to the Lordship of Christ.
But You say, "Come away with Me! Come trust in Me; come yield to Me! My ways are good; My yoke is easy; My burden in light. Come find rest for your souls. As you humble yourselves in My sight, I will lift you up!" ...
Bring us out of Babylon! Deliver us from the spirit of Babylon and fill us with the Spirit of the Bride! (Revelation 21:9) "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word, so as to present the church to Himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind -- yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). "Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself!" (Revelation 19:7 NLT
Father God, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to prepare the bride of Christ. Come, Holy Spirit. Call us out and fill us up! Come, Lord Jesus! "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!" (Revelation 22:17) And we embrace the hope and promise of Your Word, "He who is the faithful witness to all these things say 'Yes, I Am coming soon!" (Revelation 22:20) So in faith we respond with the final words of Your Word: "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's holy people!" (Revelation 22:20-21) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are filled afresh with the Holy Spirit of the living God this morning and set free from the spirit of Babylon that surrounds you. Through the Holy Spirit may you be made ready and prepared as the bride of Christ in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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.
Thanks You!
"Let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, so that those who love Your name may exult in You. For You bless the righteous, O Lord; You cover them with favor as with a shield" (Psalm 5:11-12).
When I was at the Waffle House bar the other morning, the lady sitting next to me turned to me and asked me what I do for a living. I told her I am in Community Development. I don’t tell anyone I am a pastor in the beginning, as when I do, They will, put out their cigarettes, pour out their beer, change the way they talk, and just act weird! The lady said, "Well, you just seem like a genuinely happy person." I thanked her and smiled and told her that was really nice to hear.
I know, I probably should have invited her to church or led her to Jesus or offered to minister healing and deliverance or something; but honestly, at that moment, I was just thinking about what a great blessing You've given me. I thank You, Lord, because You're the One who gave me that joy. Despite everything I've ever been through, and You know I have been through allot, You've never let my joy be taken from me. I'm genuinely joyful because You've put that joy in me. It's like the Sunday School song says: "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart to stay." I like that other verse too -- "And if the devil doesn't like it, like it, like it, like it, he can sit on a tack today!" --or something like that.
Even when I was a general contractor, I loved to joke and laugh." I've still got my old jokes and I've still got my laugh! But Your joy has always been my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). And Your joy has always been at the heart of my experience of You and the growing fulfillment of Your kingdom in my life. "For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
You've allowed me to see one of the great purposes of Your words of Spirit and life are "so that (Your) joy may be in (me), and that (my) joy may be complete" as I learn to obey You and abide in You (John 15:10-11). And even though on our daily, spiritual journey through this broken and fallen world "(we) have pain now ... (but at the same time, our) hearts will rejoice, and no one will take (our) joy from (us)" as we live out our days in the conscious awareness of Your Presence (John 16:22-24). "You show me the path of life. In Your Presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore!" (Psalm 16:11)
You're the God who makes us genuinely joyful! You take all our sins, what can be more Joyous than that? You remove our sorrows to give us freedom and joy to display Your glory through our lives. "(You) give (us) beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that (we) may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified!" (Isaiah 61:3 NKJV) In You, You fulfill in us the promise of Your Word: "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away!" (Isaiah 35:10) Thank You, Jesus! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this Monday, you begin your weekday genuinely joyful, that the joy of the Lord may be your strength, and that no one can take your joy from you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections on joy 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.
Thanks You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my thoughts and desires, of all I say and do, and of every moment of my day. ...
"Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory!" (Psalm 24:7-10)
I lift up my head to You in worship. I open up the gates of my heart to You in praise. I welcome You in, King of glory.
Strong and mighty One, come fill my spirit with Your Spirit. "You, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head" (Psalm 3:3). You are mighty in battle and majestic in Your glory. You've already defeated any enemy I will face today and You've already given me the victory through the deliverance of Your cross. "Deliverance belongs to the Lord; may Your blessing be on Your people!" (Psalm 3:8)
Your Word says, "The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet!" (Romans 16:20). I claim this promise over my life this morning. I claim this promise over anything that will try to rise up against me today. I claim my enemy is under my feet because I'm standing in You and You are standing in me -- "Christ in (me), the hope of glory!" (Colossians 1:27) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you see the glory of the One who is mighty in battle defeating your enemies before you today, as you welcome the King of glory into your heart this morning and every moment of your day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers God battling for you with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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.
Thanks You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your leading, for Your sheep hear Your voice and the children of God are led by the Spirit of God. ...
"Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called: I am He; I am the First, and I am the Last.... Assemble, all of you, and hear! ... Draw near to Me, hear this! From the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go" (Isaiah 48:12-17).
Lord, teach me how to listen. Teach me how to humble my heart to watch for Your coming and listen for Your leading. Don't let my words get in Your way. Instead, let Your words of spirit and life enter me and effect me; let them transform me and renew me; let them teach me and lead me. ...
As I listen this morning, it seem I hear You saying: "Listen, My beloved one. I form My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart, as you invite Me and embrace Me. This is how I form in you the mind of Christ. This is how I remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. This is how I make you more like Me every day. Give yourself completely over to Me and I am free to form My nature in you and express My nature through you." ...
Yes, Lord. I am transformed by the renewing of my mind and the softening of my heart by the moving of Your Spirit within me (Romans 12:2; Ezekiel 36:26). As I behold You in the worship of surrendering my soul and entrusting my heart to You and Your will and Your ways, You are changing me into Your "same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18 ).
In listening, I can hear. In yielding, I can follow. In surrendering, I am strengthened to become all You've created me to be, secure in my identity and fulfilling my destiny in You. So give me the grace to keep listening, to keep drawing near, to keep surrendering my soul and entrusting my heart -- morning by morning and moment by moment. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you draw near and listen to the Lord, surrounding your soul and entrusting your heart, be changed into His image from glory to glory -- morning by morning and moment by moment, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support 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.
Thanks You!