"Fast God Chooses"

30 Day Challenge starting October 1st!

September 23, 2019

Last week we finished our year journey together reading through the whole new New Testament of the Bible. We read all of the Gospels and their stories and teachings from the life of Jesus. We read The book of Acts and its account of the birth and spread of the Church in the world. And we read all the letters from Paul, John, James, Peter, Jude and other books that spoke on how we are as followers of Jesus to what we learned about Jesus into our daily lives. Starting Tuesday, October 1st for 30 days we are going to challenge ourselves to live out and put into practice what we have spent a year reading about Jesus. For the 30 Day Challenge starting in October my daily post each morning will have us read that mornings Bible passage, a short reflection on the passage and watch a 3-4 minute short video. These will encourage us to do some type of action that day of following Jesus. I also want to encourage each of us to spend one day a week fasting and in prayer over our this time together and our Churches. I want to highly encourage everyone to commit and join in with me on this challenge. Invite your church, small groups, co-workers and classmates to join in with you! I will post each day’s challenge of Facebook. If you would like to receive the the link to each daily challenge by email message me yours and others email address. I am looking forward to where this will lead us as we intentionally follow Jesus.

Since we have finished reading through the New Testament, until next week begin praying into and preparing yourself for the next 30 days. Pray into what and where you want to get stronger in your Loving of God, Loving of Neighbor, and Making Disciples. Start contacting people to go through the challenge with you.

Much Love!

Gary

Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower

One Direction Community/ Toney UMC

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!

HOPE!

September 19, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let there be nothing between us, so I can hear Your voice and follow Your leading. ..

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

We are not created and called to merely have hope, to hold on to hope, to hope against hope. No, we're created and called to "abound in hope." Hope is to continually rise up in us, to overflow out of us, to change the atmosphere around us. And in that believing, overflowing, abounding hope, we are filled with all joy and peace in believing by the God of hope.

And thank You, Lord, that we don't have to manufacture this ourselves or try to talk ourselves into this perspective and attitude. This kind of hope comes "by the power of the Holy Spirit" and only "by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Come, Holy Spirit. Stir up hope within me today. Remind me of the promises of God. Remind me of the moments of supernatural provision and protection and power manifested by the God of my salvation. Remind me of the steadfast love and unfailing mercy of my God who forgives me of my sins, heals me of my wounds, and frees me from my chains. Remind me of the gifts and calling of God that are without repentance and for the building up of His Body and the reaching out to the lost to express His glory in the earth. And remind me of all my God has done by the power of His love and grace in me so that He can express His love and grace through me.

Let all of this rise up within me and flow freely through me, abounding in hope, filled with the joy and peace of my God. Let me never settle for getting by and getting along, but purposefully choosing to live in faith believing there's always more and the best is yet to come. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray you will abound in hope today! Be filled with the joy and peace of our God of hope, believing in Him that there's always more and the best is yet to come! 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!

"Tattooed Samaritan"

September 18, 2019

Good morning Jesus, I receive the love you desire to pour into me as it is my desire to pay it forward and pour love into those I encounter today.

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ʻTake care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.ʼ Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” (Luke 10:30-37)

I am in an accountability group with 5 men that meets weekly at 5:30am at a local Waffle House (WH). We share our lives from the past week and speak truth into each other for encouragement and re-directing as needed. Yesterday, our encouragement came not from or table, but from the WH cook, who I will call Bill, though that is not his real name. Bill is in his late 20s, has sleeves of tattoos on both arms and is your stereotypical WH cook. He has a “fiancé” of four years, who is a waitress there as well and is pregnant and due in a month. They are not married but live together and Bill laughingly call’s her his “fiancé.” We have been meeting their WH regularly and have gotten to know him and pray over him when we pray over our meal.

Yesterday morning I asked Bill how the pregnancy is going with his fiancé and baby. He said fine, however though they need the money, she will have to cut her work shifts in half as the day is getting closer, she is getting bigger, and standing for 10 hour shifts from 9:00pm-7:00am on concrete it affecting her. He also said his church is throwing a baby shower for them after church this Sunday. I followed up and asked him where he goes to church? He said he goes to a small church in Mount Olive. (Now for geography info, Bill lives in North Huntsville and Mount Olive is in North Birmingham which is an hour and 20 minute drive one-way.) I said to him, you drive and hour and a half each Sunday to attend a church in Birmingham, why? He said about 6 months or so ago a man came into the WH for breakfast. He said he was from Bham up for business. The man attends the small church in Mount Olive and somehow in the conversation the church was brought up and how the church was struggling because it is small, averages 25 people on a Sunday, and does not have and can’t find anyone to lead worship. Bill plays guitar and sings, and during the conversation he said God put it in his heart he needed to help this small church. So Bill and his fiancé had their schedules changed to be off Sunday mornings (which if you know the WH working Sunday mornings is huge as they are one of the busiest times and all employees fight to work them because waitresses make good tips), took the financial hit to their budget which is a legit cost for them, so they can drive to Bham and back every Sunday to serve that small church. He said it is a long drive, but they are sweet people that minister to him and his wife as he ministers to them.

Compared to those who come into the WH after their church services in their church clothes for breakfast and lunch, Bill covered with tattoos and living with his unmarried, pregnant woman, looks like a “Samaritan.” However, like the widow who in Mark 12:38 put in a couple small coins and gave out of her necessity, Bill and his “fiancé” are serving Jesus in a way that actually costs them way more than just tithing like most do from excess. They joyfully drive 3 hours round trip to serve others unlike most church goers who look at their watch to see when the service ends, and they are “all in” and more real in their faith and level of discipleship than probably 99% of those that “look like they came from church” that come into the WH to be served. I would love to have a congregation of “Bills”, of Samaritan’s who are ok with it costing them to love their neighbors. God does not look at the outside of a man but into his heart, and I know the heart He sees in Bill is beautiful and brings Him great Joy!

I am going to do something I have never done before. Below is a link I include with every daily prayer and devotion I send out asking for your partnership in my ministry to those on the margins. My men’s accountability group will meet at the WH where Bill cooks again a week from today next Weds. morning Sept 25th. All donations given to that link from today until next Tuesday I will use to buy a Walmart gift card Tuesday evening and give it to Bill and his fiancé as a baby shower gift Wednesday morning to put towards items they need.

My family, I pray today you are inspired by Bill’s love and level of “all in” with loving his neighbor. I pray the Holy Spirit leads you to look past your outer appearance, and into your heart and reflect on what God sees, your level of love for your neighbor, and what actual sacrifice or cost you are bearing as a disciple of Christ, in Jesus’ name. 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. As I stated above, All donations given to the link below or checks received from today until next Tuesday I will use to buy a Walmart gift card Tuesday evening and give it to Bill and his fiancé as a baby shower gift to put towards items they need.

Thank You!

"Even In The Face Of Death"

September 12, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I thank You for the freedom to speak out Your name and lift up my prayers to worship my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- in spirit and truth. ...

"I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands" (Revelation 20:4).

As I read this verse the image came to my mind from 4 years ago of the twenty-one Egyptian Christians who did not cling to life even in the face of death, as the spirit of evil moved in the minds and hearts of their ISIS murderers to cut off their heads in the name of "global jihad." In their bloodlust, the terrorists were excited to send their video around the world with the title "A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross."

We are the Nation of the Cross. "From every tribe and language and people and nation" around this world and every generation who willingly choose to be called by Your name, we are the Nation of the Cross -- "a kingdom and priests serving our God" (Revelation 5:9).

"But they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death" (Revelation 12:11).

And Your Word specifically warns us there will come a time when many will be called to lay down their lives for the sake of Christ -- even in the face of having their heads cut off by the bloody hands of evil men trying to force them to bow down to a false god.

At times it may seem like evil is prevailing, but in the end the people of God will prevail in the grace and power of our mighty God: "As I looked, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them, until the Ancient of Days came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom" (Daniel 7:21-22).

Through every season of torment, testing, and tribulation that has come against the people of God, demanding faith and worship to a false god, You've always encouraged Your people to hold fast to their faith even the face of persecution and death: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 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. And this is the spirit of antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:1-4).

Give me courage to overcome. Give me the grace to stand firm in my faith no matter what may come. Give me the conviction to be convinced of the truth that Jesus is Lord and worthy of laying down my life even in the face of death. As You said long ago: "If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:34-38).

Thank You for the victory of the cross and the victory to come. In the end, as You showed John in the visions of what is to come, even those beheaded by evil for the sake of Christ and the gospel of the kingdom of God "came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years" as "priests of God and of Christ" (Revelation 20:4-6). Let me not wait for the end or the moment I'm forced to make a choice to be settled in my heart of my faith and unfailing commitment to You. Every day between now and then, give me the power of Your grace to take up my cross and follow you, not seeking to save my life, but willing to lay it down, in the face of every challenge, for sake of Your name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray by the power and grace of God you will be convinced in your heart of the truth of your faith that Jesus is Lord, willing to lay down your life, take up your cross and follow Him every day, in Jesus' name. 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!

"Fallen Babylon"

September 9, 2019

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!

"Conquer The World"

August 9, 2019

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!

"My True Identity"

August 7, 2019

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!

To Give Click here

"I Am A Slave"

June 24, 2019

Good morning Jesus, I come before you and your spirit desiring to be healed, restored, and refreshed as I begin a new week that is a gift to me..

“From Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of Godʼs chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began.” (Titus 1:1)

Jesus, the background for the concept of being the Lord's slave or servant is found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew the concept of being a “slave to God” did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times, “You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe in me and understand that I am he” (Isa 43:10). But being "servants (or slaves) of the Lord" was title of honor that was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses, who Joshua honored by saying of him, “I was forty years old when Moses, the Lordʼs servant sent me from Kadesh..” (Josh 14:7), God declares this title of David, the man with a hear after Him, “The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant (Ps 89:3I; as well as in 2 Sam 7:5, 8). And God spoke the same title over Elijah, “The Lord had done what he announced through his servant Elijah” (2 Kgs 10:10). All these great men were honored to claim the title of "servants (or slaves) of the Lord."

Lord Jesus, today in this world and the kingdom of man the word “slavery” has a negative connotation, and for many good reasons. However in Your Kingdom, being called your slave or servant is a title of honor and privilege. You Yourself set the example of the honor of being a slave to the Father. “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).

By Your Spirit Lord, humble me to surrender all that I am and all my rights to you as my Lord and master. My wife and my children do not need a man who leads by control or dominance, but out of sacrifice and love. Those I encounter today do not need to encounter a person who looks down on them, but stoops down before them and washes their feet. I don’t want the people who’s path I cross, to encounter a prideful self made man, but a man formed by surrender to your cross of love. And being a man who’s heart lives for the applause of men, all this is only possible in and through your starting my day in the washing presence of Your Spirit in me.

My family, I pray today you reflect on something you probably would not imagine as you start your day, of becoming a slave, a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ and savior. As only in total surrender to Him, will you achieve complete freedom in your life, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends

Please share your reflections and prayers on this passage 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

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!

"Cleanse You Itching Ears"

June 21, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my heart and lead me in Your ways -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.

"For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

In these days and the days to come, just knowing the truth will not be enough. "Even the demons believe -- and shudder" (James 2:19). No, we need more. We need to "love the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). We need to love the truth, just as a wise person loves correction and discipline (Proverbs 13:1). That's our antidote to the power of deception -- a love for the truth.

"The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, and lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Come, Holy Spirit. Give me a love for the truth. You are "the Spirit of truth" who "comes (to) guide (me) into all the truth" and "glorify (Jesus)" (John 16:13).

Loving truth is different from loving what we want to hear, loving what fits our feelings, or loving what we think is right despite what You say is right. And You've already warned us that we will be tempted to give into the pressures of our world to turn from the truth in the times to come:

"The truth" is not simply a statement of faith or mental assent to accurate doctrine. The truth is a Person. You are the Truth. You are "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 15:6). You are the One we need to love. Loving You, loving the One who is Truth, is the Way You've provided to lead us through the confusion, deception, and temptation to compromise to come.

You said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And 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 14:15-17).

As I grow in my love for You, I grow in my love for Truth. May my love for You, my love for Truth, keep me from being deceived in these days to come -- even by "the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, and lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray you ask the Holy Spirit, The Helper to help you discern and grow in your love of truth so you can embrace by faith the fullness of life our Father has for you, forgiven and free from bondage of lies and sin, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!

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!

"Word and Spirit"

June 20, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear what You're speaking into my spirit to begin my day centered and grounded in You and Your Word--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

Every good and perfect gift comes from You. And two of Your greatest gifts are Your Word and Your Spirit. In Your Word, I'm grounded in truth. In Your Spirit, I'm empowered to live it out in my life.

"Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of His own purpose He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of His creatures.... and welcome with meekness the implanted word of that has power to save your souls" (James 1:17-21).

Thank You for the gifts of Your implanted Word and Your empowering Spirit. Let the Word of God be implanted deep within me as I read and meditate upon Your Scripture as the very Word of God and the standard of truth for my life. And let the Spirit of God fill my heart to form my thoughts and shape my desires to live out Your Word through the words and actions of my life each day. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13).

Like the two wings of an eagle, let Your Word and Your Spirit lift me and move me, empower me and guide me, in a life that freely and fully soars in Your will. As I embrace the good gifts of Your Word and Your Spirit, You move mightily within me and move mightily for me to align my life with Your good will. "The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.... He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray the truth of the Word of God and the empowering Spirit of God would lift you up every day and cause you to soar into the fullness of the good life the Lord has for you in the center of His good will for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of 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!

"Relentless"

June 19, 2019

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!

'I know the One in whom I have put my trust"

June 18, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit. Be One within me today, as You lead me in the way of life in Christ. ...

"I know the One in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to Him" (2 Timothy 1:12).

Last week my mother Carol went to have an endoscopy to look for some tiny area of bleeding that may be causing her low iron levels in her blood. Instead what they found was an area of cancer. Today they are doing a CAT scan on her to see if there is cancer anywhere else in her body. Being diagnosed with cancer hit her, hits all in her position hard. This mornings Scriptures speaks into my prayers for her and those who find themselves in difficult situations and/or seasons in their lives.

Lord, I know You and I trust You. The more I know You, the more I trust You. The more I trust You, the more I love You and thank You for all You've done for me and all You've done in me.

And though life can be hard and the challenges can be tough, though the battles against our hope and faith can be very real and very intense, we don't lose heart as we keep entrusting our hearts to you. You never promised it wouldn't be hard, but You promised You'd always be with us no matter how hard it gets.

You said, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall be burned, and the flame shall not consumer you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isaiah 43:1-3). You said, "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). You said, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

I believe You. I trust You and I love You. And by the power of the grace of God, I will "guard the good treasure entrusted to (me), with the help of the Holy Spirit living in (me)" (2 Timothy 1:14). "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" (2 Timothy 1:12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray what ever deep waters you may be going through that your heart will not be troubled and your faith and hope will be secure in the One You've come know and trust, who always loves you and is always with you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. I have never asked for personal prayer in the years I have been writing my morning blog, I ask you to pray in agreement with me for complete removal by God of all cancer in my mom Carol’s body. 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!

"Rich In Good Works"

June 17, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to start my day deliberately inviting You into the center of my heart and at the front of my mind. ...

"As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Compared with ninety-nine percent of the world, I'm sure I'm considered "rich" in Your eyes -- as well as just about everyone I know and all of you who who read this blogs this morning. We have food and shelter and more than we need almost all the time. You "richly provide us with everything for (our necessities and far more) for our enjoyment."

And at the same time, You're not comparing me with anyone else just You and Your cross. You're looking into my heart and invite me to do the same. You invite me to ask myself if I have a desire and the power to "do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share." And You invite me to consider how well I'm stewarding my heart and these resources You've entrusted to me.

Have I been "storing up for (myself) the treasure of a good foundation for the future? Have I been "(taking) hold of the life that really is life" or taking hold of things far less generous and setting my hopes on things far more uncertain?

"The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good..." (Luke 6:45). Come, Holy Spirit. Come be at work in my heart, giving me good desires in alignment with the heart of my good Father, who’s heart is extremely generous with me. Give me the desire and empower me with opportunities to "do good, and to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share" today. Let me be a good steward, a faithful son, and a fruitful disciple with the "good treasure" You've entrusted to me. Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray our generous God will pour out His Spirit in you and instill in you a generous heart. May you who have been richly blessed allow His blessings to flow through your life today and richly provide for the needs of others, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

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!

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"Patience and Mercy"

June 10, 2019

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!

"Love Truth"

June 6, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Speak to my heart and lead me in Your ways -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.

"The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, and lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Come, Holy Spirit. Give me a love for the truth. You are "the Spirit of truth" who "comes (to) guide (me) into all the truth" and "glorify (Jesus)" (John 16:13).

In these days and the days to come, just knowing the truth will not be enough. "Even the demons believe -- and shudder" (James 2:19). No, we need more. We need to "love the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). We need to love the truth, just as a wise person loves correction and discipline (Proverbs 13:1). That's our antidote to the power of deception -- a love for the truth.

Loving truth is different from loving what we want to hear, loving what fits our feelings, or loving what we think is right despite what You say is right. And You've already warned us that we will be tempted to give into the pressures of our world to turn from the truth in the times to come: "For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

"The truth" is not simply a statement of faith or mental assent to accurate doctrine. The truth is a Person. You are the Truth. You are "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 15:6). You are the One we need to love. Loving You, loving the One who is Truth, is the Way You've provided to lead us through the confusion, deception, and temptation to compromise to come.

You said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And 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 14:15-17).

As I grow in my love for You, I grow in my love for Truth. May my love for You, my love for Truth, keep me from being deceived in these days to come -- even by "the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, and lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray you grow in your love of the truth, in your love for the One who is the Truth every day, so that you are not confused or deceived to give in to the temptation to compromise with God's truth, now and in the days to come, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!

Please share your comments, reflections, or 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

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!

"Entirely Sanctified"

June 2, 2019

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God--I worship in every dimension of Your Being and welcome You into every dimension of my being--spirit, soul, and body. ...

"For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification.... For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness" (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7).

By the power of Your grace, Your Holy Spirit is at work within me to purify and sanctify me in my spirit, in my soul, and in my body. And not just a little bit, but entirely, wholly, and completely. You are faithful and You will do this, because this is Your will for me--that I would be entirely surrendered so that I could be entirely sanctified.

"May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

You are the God of peace, the God of shalom. By the power of Your grace You bless me and anoint me and empower me to be at peace with You, at peace with one another, and at peace within myself.

By the power of Your grace that I desperately need every moment of every day, I want to be "kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Your blood cleanses my sins as I admit them and turn them over to You (1 John 1:9). And Your Holy Spirit keeps sanctifying my soul as I keep surrendering my mind and will and emotions to You and Your mind, Your will, and Your emotions--filling me up to the degree that I keep making more room for You (Ephesians 5:18). "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).

One day will be the day of "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). And by the power of Your grace, I want to be one of Your children of God who is passionately prepared for You--one of the many "sons" You've been bringing "to glory" (Hebrews 2:10) and one of those who are part of Your bride of Christ who has "made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7)--not in my power, but Yours; not in my righteousness, but Yours. It's "not by might, nor by power, but by (Your) Spirit, says the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6).

So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I willing choose to entrust as much of me to You as I can and to receive as much of You within me as I can. Baptize me with Your Holy Spirit and Your holy fire (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:4). Consume everything in me that's not yet like You (Matthew 5:48). Conform me into the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29).

Lord Jesus, make me more like You each day. As You are, so am I to be in my world. "God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.... God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.... God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:12-17).

Lord Jesus, "the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17). One day You'll come again in Your glory in the skies (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11). And every day between this day that day to come, I pray You'd come in Your glory here in my heart--"Christ in (me), the hope of glory!" (Colossians 1:27) Come and keep baptizing me with Your Holy Spirit, keep setting me ablaze with the fire of Your passion, keep sanctifying me entirely in spirit and soul and body, keep perfecting me in Your love, and keep empowering me by Your Presence! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

My family, I pray you are continually being sanctified entirely in the fire and power of the Holy Spirit, that you be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by the One who is faith and who will do this in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!

Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.

Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower

One Direction Community

Email: garyl@onedirection.community

Website:https://www.onedirection.community

Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC

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!

"Commissioned in Christ"

May 14, 2019

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!

"You Are Welcomed Within Me"

April 30, 2019

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

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Email: garyl@onedirection.community

Website:https://www.onedirection.community

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I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.

Thank You!

"Stand Firm For Christ"

April 12, 2019

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.