Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and Savior, my Shepherd and Advocate, my Master and Miracle-Maker, and yet my Best Friend.
As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to all of Your disciples who would lay down their lives and take up their cross to follow You: "I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. You did not choose Me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last..." (John 15:15:16).
Yesterday evening I went to Campus 805 and Yellow Hammer Brewery to meet for a couple hours with a group of men for B3 @ 805 ( Brothers, Bibles and Beer). We meet every Thursday evening and spend time reflecting and discussing passages in the Bible and how they impact us as men who love Jesus. Yesterday we looked at Ephesians chapter 1, that amazing chapter of deep theological waters on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and our identity that is founded and formed by our relationship with this triune of God. This morning I spent time reading John 15 which also speaks into our abiding and identity in Christ.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we live out our lives in both the fear of the Lord and the friendship of the Lord. We fear You and at the same time, we love You. We serve You as Master and at the same time, we serve alongside You as Friend. We are both bondservants and also bonded together, heart to Heart and spirit to Spirit.
We fear You and honor You. We worship You and serve You. And yet, You invite us into a much deeper, much more intimate, much more humbling and honoring personal relationship with You. We're not merely servants, we're friends. We're not merely defined by what we do for You and Your Kingdom in our service and servanthood, because You desire so much more -- not merely our service but our complete surrender of all that we have and all that we are.
That's the friendship that's closer than blood (Proverbs 18:24). That's the friendship we have with You in both the fear of the Lord and the friendship of the Lord that's only possible through Your Sacrifice of Your blood and the powerful, unfailing, never-ending, steadfast bond of Your love.
To say You no longer call us Your servants but Your friends is to say our identity is no longer grounded primarily in what we do for You but in who we are to You. And when we get that settled in our hearts, we can't wait to go and serve You, to go and bear much fruit in the glory and honor of Your name -- in the name of our Master and in the name of our Best Friend! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be free to fully embrace the friendship of the Lord as You honor Him and serve Him with all that you are in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord., And may you go and bear much fruit that comes forth out of knowing His great love for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Next week I will be on vacation with my family so my posts may not be consistent. I encourage you to continue starting your mornings with your own reflection time in the Word and even sharing them with others!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Then (Jesus) lead them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He blessed them. While He was blessing them, He withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God!" (Luke 24:50-53)
On the day of Your ascension into heaven after Your resurrection from the dead, You gave them Your blessing, as You stretched Your hands over them and spoke out Your words into them. They worshipped You and welcomed Your blessing "with great joy!"
Your last words to them were weighty words. They were words full of significance for their identity in You and their calling and destiny in You, as Your witnesses and disciples. They were Your famous last words to them before the great day of Pentecost soon to come.
howTo a trial lawyer it is so important and significant the last words would be that they would speak to the jury before they went to their chamber to deliberate a client's case and reach their verdict. They would be perhaps the most weighty words of the trial. They were the words the lawyer wanted to fill their thoughts, to stir their hearts, and to set in motion their determination to do what was right.
With Your last words, Your weighty words to Your disciples on that day of ascension, You spoke words to fill their thoughts, to stir their hearts, and to set in motion their determination to do what was right --to be Your witnesses, to go make disciples, to go in the power of Your Spirit after they were endued with power from on high:
"And (Jesus) said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are My witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what My Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:46-49).
These are our days between the day of Ascension and the day of Pentecost on the Biblical calendar of this prophetic year of 2020 vision, as we linger and long to be clothed with power from on high, to be endued with power from on high, in a great outpouring of Your Holy Spirit, the great Promise of the Father.
Give us a deep hunger, an insatiable thirst, for more of You, more of Your Spirit, more of Your boldness to be Your witnesses and go make disciples of all nations--not in our power, but Yours'. As You said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). As we watch and wait with expectant faith, to be filled afresh with Your Holy Spirit and power (Ephesians 5:18), we worship You with great joy and we yearn to honor You and Your name in all nations with Your passion.
Holy Spirit, Promise of our Father, give us ears to hear the weighty words of Jesus in our hearts and minds to go and do what is right, to fulfill the final verdict of the victory of the cross, that all righteousness may be fulfilled! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be yearning and longing with deep hunger and insatiable thirst for a fresh outpouring and infilling of God's Holy Spirit, to be endued with power from on high as a witness of Jesus to go and make disciples, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I open wide my heart to You because You've opened wide Your heart, Your mercy, and Your love to me -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
As I listen and wait for Your leading, I hear in my heart, "Emerge!"
Yes, Lord. What comes to mind is it's time to emerge! It's time to come out, to spring forth, to emerge!
I know much of the world is still on "lock down" but our hearts are not locked down, our spirits cannot be shut down, our dreams will not be pushed down. We are sons and daughters of God! We are children of the King! We are ambassadors for Jesus Christ! And we will not be locked down, shut down, pushed down or put down in any way that's anything less than all You've intended us and called us to be!
So whether it's time or not to come out into the open of our neighborhoods or marketplaces, You'll be speaking to us with Your wisdom and empowering us with Your faith, as we pray for our leaders around the world to be listening for Your leading and to lead us by Your Spirit. But no matter what the governments of man may choose for the wellbeing of our bodies and health, I believe You are calling forth Your people in our hearts and our spirits to emerge! Whether at home or at work or working from home, it's time to emerge!
Your Word comes to mind from the story of Job. What a season of challenge and testing and humbling and spiritual attacking he went through! Yet even in all he was enduring and all he was learning, You gave him hope of the day to come when he would emerge from that hard season and boldly take hold of the next season. Even in the midst of his questions and expressions of all his emotions and thoughts, he knew his time would come to emerge from the fiery furnace he was going through:
"But He knows the way that I take;
when He has tested me, I shall come out like gold"
(Job 23:10).
You dealt with his pride. You dealt with his doubts. You dealt with his enemies. You dealt his friends. But in the end, You called him forth, out of the fire, refined like gold, ready to shine with the light of Your glory, full of thanksgiving and praise to You! You called him to emerge!
Lord, let us emerge! Refined by Your Fire -- wiser than before, more humble than before, more faithful than before, more obedient than before, more like You than before -- but never the same as before!
I pray this for myself. I pray this for my world. And most of all, I pray this for the body and the bride of Christ to emerge and to be all You've called us and created us to be!
The prophet Isaiah spoke of these days and said it like this:
"Arise, shine! For your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and His glory will appear over you!
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.er to
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice! ..."
(Isaiah 60:1-5)
Lord, let it be so -- all according to Your Word and Your will for me and for each one of us, all in Your time and in Your way! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you emerge! Refined by the Holy Fire of God-wiser than before, more humble than before, more faithful than before, more obedient than before, more like Jesus than before -- but never the same as before! in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name, I open up my spirit to listen for Your voice and hear what's on Your heart. ...
"'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scripture say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:13-15).
I was thinking the other day about the old Amy Grant song that You bring to my heart at times to give me comfort in hard times. It's goes something like this -- "We believe in God. And we all need Jesus. Because life is hard and it may not get easier. But don't be afraid to show it... If you believe in God, if you say you need Jesus, He's be where you are and He never will leave you...."
We believe in You, God. We all come to know sooner or later that there's Something much greater than ourselves and that we can't really control much of anything in our lives, at least not for very long. Sooner or later, we come to the end of ourselves and cry out to You to hear us and help us.
And there You are. You've been with us all along, You're never far from any of us--no matter our culture, our language, our economic status, our belief system, our world view, or even our parents' religion (Acts 17:27). In Your mercy and love for us You've come to reveal Yourself to us in the Person of Jesus--fully God as One with You, Father and One with Your Holy Spirit, yet choosing to humble Himself as fully man to be One with us, that we would know the true nature of the invisible God (Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-18).
We believe in God and we all need Jesus. We all need the mercy and grace of God that forgives us from our sins and removes from us our walls so that we can all know we're loved and forgiven and free, welcomed into the embrace of Your Presence, where nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God, revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).
Lord Jesus, because You came and You died on the cross for our sins and You rose again, we can call on Your name and be saved. "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The Scripture says, 'No one who believes in Him will be put to shame' ... For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:9-13).
Lord, open the eyes of my heart to see You as You are and put my whole trust in You alone for my salvation, every moment of every day. And open they eyes of my sight to see the heart of my neighbors and their struggles, their questions, and their desperate need to believe God and come to the end of themselves and acknowledge they need Jesus.
And there You will be, so ready to come into their heart, as their Lord and their Savior. You'll be so ready to embrace them in Your love, forgive them of their sins, to take away their fears, to begin to answer their questions, and to fill them with Your Spirit and all Your love and peace and joy like they never really known.
But how will they believe, unless they hear? And how will they hear unless I tell them? And I will I tell them unless You send me? ... Oh, that's right... You did send me--all in the power of Your grace and the mercy of Your love to share the hope You've poured into my heart and made so real in my life (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15). We're Your messengers of hope to share the mercy and love of Your good news. Here I am, Lord. Send me today! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be filled afresh with the hope and love of God, as you share the hope that is within you of His mercy and love with your neighbors and everywhere the Lord sends you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, I begin my day desiring you to pour Your Spirit into me, not simply for my benefit however so that I may then our it into someone else in my day.
I was looking line for a couple new books to read. As I did, I noticed most off them were mainly focused on spiritual growth . As I looked through more of them, they were mainly about building character as well. Both focused more on a Bible study type format and spiritual formation. There was very little on spiritual reproduction. Character and spiritual growth are something that the church is heavily slanted towards today.
Now I want to say that I do believe that spiritual growth and looking at our character are extremely important, and a key necessity to you and I becoming disciples and making disciples of Jesus Christ. I spend over an hour and a half each morning in the word and prayer. In my past couple blog posts I have encouraged you to eat from the “Bread of Life” found in God’s Word. I also have encouraged you to grow in your spiritual maturity. And I always will continue to do so. However, our spiritual growth is only a part of our growth as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ. Spiritual growth alone by itself is not our end goal, Discipleship is, and becoming disciples that multiply and make disciples. In His Great Commission, Jesus did not tell us, commission people to just to help them become obedient (character and spiritual formation) He commissioned us to make disciples, and to make disciples requires spiritual reproduction.
If there was a “discipleship gauge” with spiritual growth on the left side of the gauge and spiritual reproduction on the right side, the needle that represents you as a disciple should be in the center of that gauge with equal value placed on both. What I see when I look at what the church is teaching, and what is then replicated in its parishioners, is a needle pegged way to the left on spiritual growth. And I also observe that because of this neglect on pursuing spiritual reproduction, it is rare for people to walk out there church doors intentionally seeking out persons to invest what has been invested in them into others. They do not prioritize sharing their faith with others and have the confidence in themselves to do it. This is evident by the very low rate of baptisms in most churches and multiplication of disciples.
As we move in our personal life out of social isolation into re-connecting with society we need to move our personal and church lives out of spiritual isolation. We need to create a culture that moves from mainly heavily valuing spiritual growth to one that also equaly values spiritual reproduction. We need to move the needle that is swung way towards goodness, back to the middle towards reproduction. A move from information to transformation.
Looking at your own personal “discipleship gauge” where is your needle pointing? I pray you are daily spending time working on your spiritual growth in time in the Word and prayer, If not you should. However, are you spending equal amount of time in spiritual reproduction? If not you should.
If you took the stories in ACTs of all the works and miracles that were taking place; the reproduction stories of people hearing, receiving and accepting the Gospe, people being saved and coming to Christl and put you finger over who was doing them, you would think Jesus was doing it! He was but through His disciples, Christians who prioritized reproduction as well. And if you removed these stories of spiritual reproduction from the book of Acts it would reduce it to a lifeless text book. It would reduce Christianity and the Gospel from a movement that no walls could contain to secluded in a monastery.
My family, I pray you spend time reading through passages in the Book of Acts. Then spend time in prayer looking at your walk as a disciple. What does spiritual reproduction look like in your walk? What is the results and goal of your spiritual growth? How are you, where are you and to whom are you intentionally setting aside margins in your life to share your faith in reproduction and discipleship of others? In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Then (Jesus) said to them, 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.' And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44-45).
After the Day of Your Resurrection and before the Day of Pentecost, You were speaking to Your disciples. You spoke of what had been and what was to come. And You were speaking from the Scriptures of the Word of God -- the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms. But You were not speaking to them from these Scriptures in general, You were speaking specifically from these Scriptures about You. You were expressing and explaining how what was written was coming to life and being "fulfilled" in You.
As they listened in, You "opened their understanding." As they leaned in, You helped them "comprehend the Scriptures." And what You were helping them hear and understand and comprehend was that the Word of God is fulfilled in You. You are the Word of God (John 1:1). You are the Word made Flesh, to come and dwell among us and open up the Word of God to us (John 1:14).
In these days for us, between the Day of the Resurrection and the Day of Pentecost, draw me nearer to You, Lord Jesus. With all Your disciples around the world in every tribe and tongue and nation, I am eagerly waiting with expectant faith for the Day of Pentecost soon to come. Like so many around the world, I'm stirred with great desire for a fresh outpouring of Your Holy Spirit in our day.
So between now and then, give me greater hunger for Your Word, a deeper thirst for Your Presence. Give me a passionate desire to seek You and see You in the Scriptures of the Word of God all that is written of You. Give me "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of (You)" (Ephesians 1:17). Then "with the eyes of (my) heart enlightened, (I) may know what is the hope to which (You) have called (me)" in these unprecedented, unfolding days (Ephesians 1:18).
With all Your disciples yearning to be awaked and come alive in a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit in these days, place in me a yearning to spend time daily in the Bible and open my understanding, that I might comprehend. I open my spirit to opening Your Word that I might receive all that You desire to pour into me and into all Your disciples around the world in the days to come. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be stirred with great hunger for revelation of Jesus in Scriptures. I pray you will not just read my reflection from my time in the Word, but you will open your Bible this morning and every morning with yearning and expectant faith for a fresh outpouring of His Holy Spirit today and in the days to come, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections with us this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. From praise to worship to deeply abiding intimacy with You, I want to come close and hear what's on Your heart and follow where Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of the Holy One, the True One,
who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut,
who shuts and no one opens:
I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet have kept My word and have not denied My name.... Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (Revelation 3:7-13).
Like the church in Philadelphia in the days You spoke Your words of Revelation to John, let us be faithful to keep Your word and never deny Your name. Even when it seems we've had little power in the face of all that's come against us, even when it seems it's increasingly harder to stand firm in Your Word without compromise and in faith, give us courage to be faithful, give us power to persevere.
There's great promise for those who overcome in the power and authority of Your name (v. 12). There's great victory over the kingdom of darkness that would seek to overwhelm us and force us to bow down to it and the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil (v. 9). But in the face of it all, You encourage us hold fast and stand firm: "Because you have kept My word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown!" (v. 10-11).
Right now, corona wants to wear the crown. In the next wave of darkness to come, something else will want to wear the crown. But You are the One who wears the Crown! You are the King of kings and Lord of lords! You are the King of glory! You are the King who holds the Key to the of David, the Key of the Kingdom of God! You are the One who is sovereign over all! And You are the One who will have the final say and the last word over all we go through in our world until the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ!
Lord Jesus, we crown You with many crowns! We crown You Lord of All! In the authority of Your Word and the power of Your name shut the doors of darkness and open the doors of Heaven in this hour! By the power of Your grace, You'll provide all the power we need! And by the power of Your grace will hold fast, we will overcome, we will keep Your word with patient endurance and victorious faith! And the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen!
My family, I pray you may be encouraged and empowered to hold fast and stand firm, to rise up and overcome, as you worship the One who wears the crown and holds the key of the Kingdom of God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and reflections this morning in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good Morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27). ...
"Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.' So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, 'Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.' As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, 'Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.' But she said, 'As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.' Elijah said to her, 'Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jar of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.' She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke by Elijah" (1 Kings 17:8-16).
Father, You didn't sent Elijah to steal the last meal from this lady and her son. All that he said to her, he spoke "according to the word of the Lord that (You) spoke by Elijah" (v. 16). He was there because You sent him there. He was there because she needed hope in her heart, food in her belly, and security for her family.
But You didn't sent Elijah with a hand out. You sent Elijah with an opportunity for her to stretch her hand out -- to take what she had and give it to You. You took it and You multiplied it. The jar of meal was not emptied and the jug of oil did not fail. You were saying to her, "I will guide and I will provide."
It's still true for us in the "famine" and "plague" of our day. We're tempted to give in to worry and fear and anxiety about our needs for provision and security. We're tempted to give in to confusion about our next steps and the choices set before us. And You say to us, "I will guide and I will provide."
Come, Holy Spirit. Let us hear the word of the Lord in our hearts. Let us trust You in faith and follow You in obedience -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. We may think we have nothing left, but we have You. We may think there's no way to come through what we're facing now, but You are the Way.
Show us how to stretch out our hands to offer what we have -- love, hope, encouragement, an offer of help, a smile (even if we have to lift up our face mask for a moment for somebody to see it). As we stretch out our hands, show us how to lift up our hearts to You, to lift up our faith in You, and trust You to guide and to provide. Just like You always have. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be encouraged in the Lord, listening for His leading, trusting Him to guide and to provide for all you need and all He desires to do through you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts and prayers with us in the comments box below. Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and here in my world today.
"Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish'" (Luke 14:28-30).
As many have seen and said, there's a time of great advance ahead, a time of great harvest to come. We're excited and we're praying we'll be ready!
But part of being ready is taking time to count the cost. A builder must count the cost before he builds. Just as a commander of an army must count the cost before he goes into battle (v. 31-23). And a disciple must count the cost before he can say with sincerity and whole-hearted surrender to the master, I will follow You wherever lead (v. 33).
The disciples who will choose to follow You into these days that are ahead -- days of great advance and great harvest to come -- will be those who have taken time to count the cost. There's a cost in our priorities, a cost in our attention, a cost in our possessions, a cost in our relationships, a cost in the surrender and sacrifice of our plans, our hopes, our goals, and anything else in our lives that we have set in place above Your place as First Place in our lives.
As You said, "So therefore, none of you can become My disciples if you do not give up all your possessions" (v. 33). You weren't just talking about our money, home, our cars, our furniture, and all our other stuff we surround ourselves with. You were talking about everything we claim as our own. When You said, "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple," You were talking about complete surrender of all we have and all we are, holding nothing back from all You desire (v. 27).
That might be more scary than the coronavirus! But You don't give us fear; You give us faith. You don't give us confusion; You give us clarity. You call us to courage and commitment -- but not to muster it up on our own or try to make it happen by ourselves. You invite us to ask You for all we need -- even the very faith and clarity and courage and commitment we need to take up our cross and follow You as Your disciples. You invite us to humble ourselves and ask for what we need. And what we really need is the guts to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus. I surrender all to You. I sacrifice all to You. My life is no longer my own, but Yours alone."
That's a high cost of discipleship. But that's also the highest calling of our lives. A builder or a commander is not afraid when they take time to count the cost. They're being wise. They're being responsible and accountable. They're making sure they're committed so that their Yes can be Yes and they can persevere to the end to accomplish the goal and get the job done.
There's a goal of a great harvest set before us! I'm excited and expectant because I want to be a part of all You're about to do in our world! So in this time we have to count the cost, I'm asking You, Lord, for all I need. In all honesty with You, I'm sure I don't even know all that is. But You do. And I trust You and love You and ask You to pour it into me, to stir it up within me. And above all else, I know I need You! So I open wide my spirit to be filled with Your Spirit! I lay down my life to arise in newness of Your life in me. "Christ in me!" -- this day and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be filled with the Spirit of Christ as you take time to count the cost to rise and follow Jesus into this time of great advance and great harvest ahead, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with us your thoughts on counting the cost in the comments box below. Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You with all my heart -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. . I hear in my heart, first thing this morning, "Seek Me first." ...
But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
And more ... I hear You say to me, "Don't look to a person. Don't look to a source of security or provision or satisfaction or anything else that would be a source for anything you need or desire. Look to Me. Seek Me first." ...
It's a simple word, but so significant. It's a simple principle, but so profound.
"Seek Me first." You tell me Jesus in Your Word, and your Word is true, ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7) So this morning I knock, I seek and I ask for Your presence. So before I read my emails or the news, before I start checking my texts or look at social media. Before I turn on the news and look to see what's going on in my world or think about what's on my schedule before me in my day, I choose to seek You first.
I seek Your face. I listen for Your voice. I watch and wait for Your leading. I enter Your courts with thanksgiving and praise, then surrender in the silence of worship in communion with You -- heart to Heart, spirit to Spirit, deep to Deep. Then from that place -- connected with You, in deep communion with You -- I'm ready to follow You into the moments of my day. Then I'm ready to hear what's on Your heart, to be part of what You've planned, to go where You lead.
That's how I see what You're doing and hear what You're saying and follow where You're leading -- step by step, moment by moment, along the journey of my day. Prioritizing You and Your presence in my day. Then all that will come along in my day as second and third and fourth and following will only come along in my day after I've first come near to You. When I seek You first "all these things" that I may need or that may need me will be added into my day on top of the firm foundation and deep connection You've already made in me.
Thank You, my Father, for speaking Your simple truth into my spirit, as a loving father speaks to a beloved son. Thank You, Lord Jesus my Savior, for reminding me of Your profound wisdom and powerful Word. Thank You, Holy Spirit of the Living God, for abiding within me and leading me in the ways of spirit and life and truth, as You teach me to love well, empower me to live right, and make me more like Jesus each day. O Lord, my God, may I seek You first every day. May I keep seeking You first throughout all the moments of every day. And may I fully trust that all I really need will be added to me -- all in Your time, all in Your way, all from the One I seek first. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be stirred in your spirit to seek God first before anything else you do this morning and prioritize spending real time with Him before anything else you do today, trusting in Him to lead you and provide for you in all that you need and all that you do, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections with me and others on seeking God first and your prayers 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 myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"For I know my Redeemer lives, and at last He will stand upon the earth" (Job 19:25).
You don't just restore, You redeem. You don't just give back what was taken away, You multiply it and magnify it into something that's even more than it was before. You don't just repair was broken, You take those very places of our deepest brokenness and turn them into the places of Your greatest breakthroughs!
You are our Redeemer. And You come to stand in the middle of whatever we're facing. By the same faith You give us to know that You live, You give us the faith to know You will redeem all we're living through. You'll turn it all to good, as You turn our brokenness into Your breakthroughs.
You did it for Job. You'll do it for us. His challenges were real. His pain was real. His losses and brokenness after wave after wave of spiritual attack was real. But there came a day when You redeemed it all -- not just restoring what was lost, but redeeming it all into much more than he ever had (Job 42:10).
In humble surrender and trusting faith, Job turned his heart, his eyes, and his ears to You (Job 42:4-6). And Job turned his future over to You, even after all he'd been through, declaring with the heart of one who knows his Redeemer lives, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).
Lord Jesus, You are my Redeemer. And with Job and all who are trusting You to come through, to turn our brokenness into Your breakthroughs in our hearts and in our world, I declare -- "I know my Redeemer lives! And at last He will stand upon the earth!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you know with humble heart and trusting faith that Your Redeemer lives and He stands with you in the midst of all your facing to turn your brokenness into His breakthroughs, 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
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE, CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I humble my heart so I can hear Yours -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
In days that can feel a little bit like these days, the Psalmist cried out to You in frustration and hurt from his feelings of isolation and judgment: "You have taken from me my closest friends.... I am confined and cannot escape!" (Psalm 88:8 NLT)
Sounds like he was in a season of social-distancing, under quarantine, and sheltered-in-place. Sounds like he was feeling more like a victim than victorious, more like being overcome and being an overcomer,, more like being in darkness than in light, beneath and not above.. Sounds like it felt like his world was upside down, out of his hands and out of control. So in the raw, honesty of prayer, he needed to get these words out of his mouth so he could get them out of his spirit.
He speaks of feeling "helpless and desperate" (v. 15), "overwhelmed" (v. 16), "paralyzed" by "terrors" (v. 16), "engulfed" by "floodwaters" (v. 17) like "wave after wave" (v.7). He speaks of his questions that don't seem to be answered and his prayers that don't seem to be heard (v. 9). He questions Your wisdom and motives (v. 10). He even finishes his prayer with the mournful expression, "Darkness is my closest friend" (v. 18).
If there was ever a place in the Bible that gave us permission to be real and raw in our prayers, to be unflinchingly honest with all our our feelings and frustrations, all our hurts and disappointed hopes and dealings with despair, surely this is it.
But what frees him to be so honest with You, so free to express his prayers of lament and cries of injustice and cries against all that seems wrong in his world? It is the simple truth sealed in his heart at the very beginning of his prayer: "O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to You by day. I come to You at night" (v. 1).
You're not the God of our destruction. You're the God of our salvation. You're not a god who is distant, blind, and uncaring. You're the God who invites us to cry out to You by day and come to You by night. You're not a god who gets offended by our questions and retaliates against our honest expression of raw emotions and deep frustrations. You're the God helps us get it up and get it out and so we can give it over to You.
With all that's going on in our world and all that's going on in our hearts, You're the God who is with us and the God who will get us through this. Thank You for the freedom to express our frustrations along the way. And thank You for the grace we don't have to get stuck in that place, but we can openly and honestly give it all to You. We can get it up and get it out and give it all to You -- "O Lord, God of (our) salvation!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be free to be real and raw in all your prayers and all you're feeling from all we're going through in our world right now -- getting it up and getting it out and giving it all to the God of our salvation, in Jesus' name. And my you let Him replace all that with His simple truth and assurance of His Presence sealed in your heart. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You in my heart and every moment of my day. Now I ask You to lead me as I pray -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: 'Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed'" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8).
Father, we thank You for the past generations of faithful leaders and faithful followers of Jesus. We thank You for all they have done, all by the power of Your grace and the guidance of Your Holy Spirit to establish and build the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and extend the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. We honor our fathers and mothers in the faith. We honor all those who have been mentors to us in our Christian walk. And we honor their faith in You. As Your Word says, "Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12 and Ephesians 6:2-3).
And now it's time to move on. Now it's time to press in. Now it's time to advance and possess the "land" that You have set before us in our generation today. It's time to look and see what You are doing in our day. It's time to receive Your anointing as Your faithful leaders and faithful followers of Jesus. It's time to embrace Your commissioning to go forward in the ways of Your will, in the guidance of Your Spirit, and all in the power of Your grace.
Like the army of the dawn, may we arise and advance, "strong and bold," knowing You are with us, knowing You will lead us, knowing You are within us by the presence and power of Your Spirit. You will not fail us or forsake us. You will lead us to possess all You've purposed to fulfill in Your heart for our generation.
Holy Spirit of the Living God, cast away our fears and fill us with faith. Deliver us from doubt and clarify our focus. There will always be questions, but You provide the answers. There will always be battles, but You provide the victory. In You, we will not be afraid and we will not be dismayed. In You, we will be bold and we will be strong.
In preparation for the great advance of Your kingdom, You are making us ready -- more sensitive to the Your Spirit, more grounded in Your Word, more obedient to Your will, more unified in Your truth, more ready to advance and overcome at the command of Your word as the army of the Lord.
So as we honor Moses, we arise as Joshua. As we thank You for all You've done in the past, we're excited and expectant to see all You will do now and in the days to come -- in the day of the dawn now set before us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be filled with faith and free of fear, bold and strong in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit -- honoring the generations of the Moses' in your life and now arising as the generation of Joshua -- to arise and advance at the command of the Lord as the army of the dawn, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me to walk in Your ways today -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"But now hear, O Jacob My servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon your descendants, and My blessings on your offspring. They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, 'I am the Lord's,' another will be called by the name of Jacob, yet another will write on the hand, 'The Lord's,' and adopt the name of Israel" (Isaiah 44:1-5).
Even when it's dry, You lift our eyes to see the time to come when new life will "spring up." Even when we're thirsty, You fill our hearts with hope of the living water that will flow again like rushing streams across our land.
There's no need to fear, for we are chosen. There's no need to give in to worry or fret about what will happen, for we were formed in our mother's womb to be alive and on the earth for just such a time as this.
Even when we're concerned for our children -- for their well-being, for their physical and emotional and mental and spiritual health through such unprecedented times and whatever times are to come -- there's no need to lose our peace or lose our hope, for You have said You will pour out Your Spirit and Your blessings upon them. All in Your time, all in Your way, Your heart is to take everything they are going through to turn their hearts to You. "And we believe they will say, "I am the Lord's." You'll call them by name and they will find their identity in You as children of God. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Father, thank You for allowing me to be alive in these days. Thank You for choosing me to be one of those who will have the opportunity to love You and serve You and glorify You with my life and the lives of my children through these unprecedented days. You'll provide all the grace and guidance I need, for Your grace is always sufficient for me and Your power is even made perfect in my weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Holy Spirit of the Living God, fill me up with Your Living Waters. Give me grace to keep looking up, to keep looking forward, to all You are doing in me and in my world in these days. "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be (ours) made careful search and inquiry.... It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but (us), in regard to the things that have now been announced to (us) through those who brought (us) good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things into which angels long to look!" (1 Peter 1:10-12).
Praise You, Lord Jesus! It's an honor to be chosen to be alive in these days! With You in our hearts, may we exalt Your name in our world today!. The fields are ripe for the harvest! With every soul that is saved, with every life that is changed, may You receive Your reward for all You've done for all of us! May we be astonished by the magnitude of Your grace in our days in fulfillment of Your promises and Your heart for our world for all who will turn to You. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with (us), not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,, may you be filled with joy and hope and excited anticipation of all the Lord will do in us and through us in our world in these days He chose in His sovereignty and love for us to be alive and make a difference in Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I begin my day, I take some time to come away with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for He steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those He redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south"
(Psalm 107:1-3).
Lord, You are good. And Your love does endure forever. Whatever we face, You are still good. Whatever we go through, Your love still endures -- forever through whatever.
But as Your redeemed, as those You've "redeemed from trouble," as those You've "gathered in" from wherever we've been lost or scattered, at our wits' end or at the ends of the earth, You call us to "say so." Not just think so in our minds. Not just silently pray so in our hearts -- but "say so" with our mouths.
Our words have power. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). Out of our mouths can come words of blessing or words of cursing, but You call us to use our words to bless and not curse what You desire to bring forth (James 3:10). When our tongues and our hearts are sanctified by Your Spirit, when we have the mind of Christ, when we speak with heart of our Father, then our words are like Your words -- "they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:3). Then Your words, spoken through our words, change the atmosphere around us.
Come, Holy Spirit. Sanctify our tongues. Anoint us and empower us to "say so." Heavenly Father, teach us how to take our authority in Christ -- as the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ -- submitted to the will of our Father to speak the words You give us to speak with the responsibility You've entrusted to us (John 12:49). Lord Jesus, You are the Word made Flesh, come express Your Word through our words and our Father's will through what we speak in the authority of Your name (John 1:14). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
Lord Jesus, You taught us to pray and to say. You said in Your Word, "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
By the power of Your grace at work within us, by the nature and character of Christ being sanctified within us, we are to speak with authority for what needs to be built up and speak with authority to what needs to come down. By the same Spirit that filled the mouth of Jeremiah "to pluck up and to pull down ... to build and to plant," Your Holy Spirit fills our mouths with Your words to speak words of spirit and life in our world (Jeremiah 1:9-10; Ephesians 5:18). Like You did with Isaiah, take a burning coal from the altar of Heaven and touch our lips to sanctify our words (Isaiah 6:6-7). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
Lord, in Your goodness and in Your steadfast love, we give You thanks and we give You praise. And in our obedience we take our authority and responsibility to be Your good stewards in our world to speak the words we hear You speaking in our hearts and into our world. We are Your "ambassadors" in our world -- "we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Your Word calls us and commands us, commissions us and empowers us, to take this authority and responsibility, in submission to Your will: "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen!" (1 Peter 4:10-11).
Just has You are teaching us to pray, You are teaching us to say -- with expectant faith, in the authority of Your name, in submission to Your will, in the power of Your words spoken into our world through us. I encourage you to speak as you pray. Prayer walk your neighborhoods and say prayers over the homes and families as you walk. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you speak words of spirit and life with a sanctified tongue and sanctified heart in your authority and responsibility as a disciple and ambassador of Christ, from a place of deep intimacy in prayer, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in" (Isaiah 58:12).
These are ancient Words of hope for the nation who turns to You and chooses to walk in Your ways once again. These are prophetic Promises of God for the land who's healed by the hand of God when her people seek Your face and listen for Your voice and obey Your will.
For a time, the streets of our land have been empty. There have been breaches in the walls of our sense of security and peace. In many ways, we've been shaken to our foundations and much of what we depended upon seem like they've been left in ruins.
Yet, there are signs of hope and words of encouragement. There's been a National Day of Prayer and endless days of prayer, as Your people who are called by Your name have humbled themselves to seek Your face and pray in repentance as we cry out to You for help (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Lord, let us learn the lessons You're teaching. After the shaking, let what remains be of You (Hebrews 12:27). After the sifting, let what is left be of You (Luke 22:31). You are our Foundation, not our personal finances. You are the Repairer of the Breach, not our health care system. You are the Highest Authority in our Land, not our politicians. And You alone are the One who can hear us and heal us and restore us to our calling and destiny in our hearts and in our land.
Each of us has set aside hours since the corona virus began seeking toilet paper, hand sanitizer, masks, food and other necessities. Hours on line reading posts and information on the virus and preventive measures. Hours watching news on the restoration time lines for our nation. Since the corona virus began have you set aside an hour of time with just you and God to seek out in prayer the absolute necessity in your life and the only true source of restoration for your life and our nation? Let us turn to the One who is our Wisdom, our Strength, our Healer, our Deliverer, our Savior. Let Your ways become our ways and Your will become our will, as You hear our prayer and heal our land. As we hear Your Words of hope, as we embrace Your prophetic Promises, let our generation be a generation who learns and returns to the One who is sovereign over all -- the "King of Kings and Lord of Lord" (Revelation 17:14 and 19:16). May we be a nation who seeks You and turns to You in trust and obedience "without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about a the right time -- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.... To Him be honor and eternal dominion!" (1 Timothy 6:13-16) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray on this Monday morning as you begin your week you will be encouraged, filled with faith, and cry out to the One who can heal and restore our land by spending an hour in prayer for our land, our hearts, and our world to be healed by the hand of God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for myself, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day here in the deep communion of prayer -- embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
I hear in my heart, "Look to Me for your wisdom and provision." ...
Yes, Lord. You are the Source of all I need -- wisdom and provision, to discern what I'm to do and how I'm to rest in what You will do, trusting in You to be working in many ways, whether through me or apart from me or both. Whichever way You work it out, You will be the Way it all gets worked out. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). "My God shall supply all (I) need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
You're bringing to mind the story of Your wisdom and provision for the widow women who lost her husband and then her family faced all the grief of the loss of life and also the fear of economic collapse.
"Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead; and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.' Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?' She answered, 'Your servant has nothing in the house, except a jar of oil.' He said, 'Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not just a few. Then go in, and shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.' So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another vessel.' But he said to her, 'There are no more.' Then the oil stopped flowing She came and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest'" (2 Kings 4:1-7).
So many messages of hope leap out at me from Your Word: when we are being honest with our questions about our grief and loss and disappointment, the unfairness of seeming lack of protection for the people of God and servants of God and their families, how the thief comes like a creditor to steal and kill and destroy as he tries to take us into the bondage of slavery to him, the offering our hearts like empty vessels to be filled with the oil of Your Holy Spirit, to go out and engage our neighbors so their empty vessels can be filled with the oil of Your Holy Spirit as well, and of course, Your miraculous provision of all she and her family needed, as they heard and obeyed the word of the Lord.
But what strikes me the most this morning is that You gave both Your wisdom and provision as she actively participated in Your plans with what she they had. All of it from You. There was her part and Your part, but You were the Source; and there was nothing she could do apart from You.
Also, I see that the miracle began when she and her family were "sheltered-in-place." She was first to "go in, and shut the door behind (her) and (her) children" (v. 4). She had to first surrender up all she had, her only jar of oil. If she did not first give up all she had the miracle would not have happened. She was first to offer up her own empty vessel and the empty vessels of her family. That's when the oil started to flow. That's when the miracle of provision started to happen.
And then came the next stage of divine strategy for her provision -- to go out to the neighbors and bring their empty vessels. All of that took time, all of that unfolded in stages and steps of obedience and trust, with You doing Your part and her family doing their part. But You provided all the wisdom and provision they needed to get them through their crisis.
Come Holy Spirit of God, draw us into the deeper place of intimacy and prayer. Lead us in to the Holy of Holies of the Presence of God with the door shut behind us. As You taught, Lord Jesus, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:6).
Father, reward us with Your wisdom and Your provision, as we seek You and listen for the leading of Your Spirit to hear Your wisdom and experience Your provision. Help us completely surrender all we have to you to allow your miracles to flow in us. Show us when to come in and when to go out. Let us not waste a moment of our time sheltered away from the world and hidden away in You. That's where our hope comes from; that's where our help comes from; that's where our wisdom and provision comes from. "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth!" (Psalm 121:2)
Lord Jesus, You said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5). And we praise You that we never have to be apart from You! You are with us always (Matthew 28:20). But when we come apart from the world to seek Your face and listen for Your voice, You provide us with Your wisdom and Your provision for all we need -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
As we seek You and receive Your wisdom and provision, let our debts be paid and our hearts be free. Let us come closer to You than ever before. And in its time, let even our neighbors experience that same great outpouring of Your Holy Spirit that Your doing in our hearts as well. Grief of loss and fear of economic collapse will not prevail. You will get us through this crisis. And You will turn it all around to display Your glory in Your unfailing love! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may draw nearer to God in deeper intimacy with Him during any crisis you face to receive His wisdom and provision for all you need, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in Your ways today--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
"When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.' When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them. 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained'" (John 20:19-23).
Jesus, just as the Father sent You to us, now You send us to those in our communities. Just as the Father sent You to proclaim the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God, so You send us to declare the same Gospel. You send us in the same authority and the power of Your Holy Spirit as God sent You.
As You are, so are we to be in this world (1 John 4:17). We are the "body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are filled with the "Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9). And now we continue the "ministry of Christ" through our lives for Your glory in Your name (Romans 16:13; Matthew 28:18-20). All who truly believe in You will continue to honor and obey You by doing the works that You do in the same power of the Holy Spirit You had when You walked this earth (John 14:12). "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.... He went about doing good and healing all were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38).
Though You were crucified, buried, raised from the death, and ascended into heaven, You are with us always (Matthew 28:20). Your Spirit--"Spirit of Jesus Christ"-- is with us and within us (Philippians 1:19). As the Father sent You, so You continue to send us--in Your Spirit, in Your power, in Your name. In obedience to you call I reply, Here I am, Lord. Send me today. Social distancing has not closed down our opportunities to share the Gospel. You said the gates of hell would not prevail against your Church and neither will the coronavirus. All the other institutions and businesses have adapted to function and get their message out into the world, The Church must do so as well. And since we, you and I are The Church, you and I are called to adapt and use means of communications still available to us: phone, text, email, social media and others to share the good news of the Gospel into a world desperate for good news. Now is not the time for voices speaking this good news to go silent, but to get louder!. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray in obedience of your risen Lord Jesus, you say “Send Me” this morning and share His Gospel with boldness, faith and joy everywhere and to everyone possible as the Lord sends you in His Spirit, in His power, and in His name, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commit in 2020 to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
