Good morning, Lord Jesus. I welcome You, Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- into my heart and into my day. ...
“Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)
You are faithful and unchanging. You are "Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11). And I trust You and Your Word and Your will. I don't have to worry about You wavering. I don't have to be concerned about Your Kingdom collapsing. When all is said and done, Your Word will stand. And by the power of the grace of God, I will stand on Your Word, as I stand in You
"God is not a human being, that He should lie, or a mortal, that He should change His mind. Has He promised, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?" (Numbers 23:19)
You are my unchanging God. In You, "there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). You are "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). In You, all the promises of God are Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).
And You have spoken Your steadfast word. You have eternally declared, "I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled" (Ezekiel 12:25). "The Lord of hosts has sworn: As I have designed, so shall it be; and as I have planned, so shall it come to pass.... For the Lord of hosts has planned and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:24
My family, May you stand firm in the steadfast word of our unchanging God, I pray you will commit this morning to the “building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life” (Jude 2o-21), in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
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/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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus.
“Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers (even though they are strangers). They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone forth on behalf of “The Name,” accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we become coworkers in cooperation with the truth.” (3 John 5-8)
The saving grace of the Father was His Act of “sentness” which from His first saving act in Christ to His continued saving works today which flow through those same acts of Christ. “For this is the way God loved the world: He sent his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
From it’s very conception the church was not designed to be a location, but a movement, part of the missio deo The mission and movement of God. Jesus prayer to the Father over the church had movement and mission at its heart. “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, …Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.” (John 17: 15,18)
The Holy Spirit is always moving among us and when we as a church are full of the Spirit we will be caught up in His movement and hear His call to wear He is sending us. “While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off.” (Acts 13:2-3)
My family, I pray that through this passage and the Holy Spirit you will understand that”church” is not a location, the building your church gathers in on Sunday mornings that you see in your rear-view mirror as you pullout of it’s parking lot. :Church”is a movement, what you see out your windshield as you drive through your neighborhood. I pray you will embrace the movement of the Spirit as a sent one in “a manner worthy of God,” in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I want to encourage you to join me by also haring with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Continually come into my heart; continually flow out of my heart. Help me abide in You always, as You abide in me. ...
"Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 1:12).
Jesus, You've created us for relationships that are close, personal, and intimate at varying levels that are appropriate to the levels of relationship and trust You've established in our lives. And while we can communicate through texting, social media, electronic technology, gaming, and sometimes even paper and ink, there's something significant and ireplaceable in speaking face to face, looking one another in the eyes, extending a touch, and exchanging an embrace. Your Spirit draws us out of isolation, distancing and loneliness into friendship and fellowship with one another, "not neglecting to meet together ... but encouraging one another" (Hebrews 10:22). And then "our joy may be complete." We, the body of Christ were created for deep intimacy with each other. You prayed that we may have the same intimacy as you do with the Father, “so that they may be one just as we are one.” (John 17:11). We need to be in deep Christian fellowship with each other.
Lord, free us from isolation and loneliness in Your Body. Align our hearts and relationships with You and with one another according to Your sovereign purposes and plans for our lives. "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).
During this Holiday season when we are thankful for any things, one of the things we are most thankful for is the gift of personal relationships in our life. One of the most precious gifts you can give someone is the gift of personal, face-to-face conversation.
You're always with us to help; and at the same, You also position the ones You have chosen to cross our paths and to walk with us in the relationships of our journey to be an extension of Your hands to help us and an expression of Your face to look into our eyes and encourage us. And you’ve chosen each of us to do the same to others. And then, together, "our joy may be complete."
You're a God of personal relationship -- relationship with You and with one another. Give us courage and faith to trust You and to set aside time to allow others to have access to our lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray as the Lord established His personal intimate relationship with you, you will establish plans in your calendar to personally meet with people in your life to fulfill all His plans and purposes for you so that your joy may be complete. Please pray the same the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I want to encourage you to join me by also sharing with us your thoughts, comments, reflections, and prayers you received from today’s reading in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I'm seeking Your face and listening for Your voice, as I watch and wait for Your leading. ...
"Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.... If we love another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us.... God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.... because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:8-17).
Learning to love is the point of it all. For You are love; and You've created us to learn and grow in our capacity to love and be loved. When we hold steadfast in faith through whatever comes, we grow in learning to love. Faith grows and love increases as we suffer through every challenge of persecutions and afflictions in the world around each one of us each day in the power and peace of Your grace.
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering" (2 Thessalonians 1:2-5).
I know the sufferings, afflictions, and persecutions of my world are pretty mild compared to the apostle Paul's or the first century Christians he was writing to, in order to encourage and inspire them. I know what I endure is hardly anything compared to what so many Christians endure around the world every day in our own generation. But whatever we endure at whatever level of severity is always an opportunity for each one of us in our own surroundings and challenges to learn to love and grow in faith.
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has be poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:1-5).
Holy Spirit, give me a right spirit and right perspective as I endure and grow through the opportunities that may come today. Whatever it is, no matter the source, You will use it to make me more like Jesus if I embrace the power and peace of Your grace and I continue to love God and others through it all. Thank You for the promise of Your Word, "'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in (your) weakness.' So I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
I know with all my heart, because I've seen it so many times, that my God is able to cause all things to work together for good for me if I continue to love God and obey and follow His calling on my life. (Romans 8:28). And I know with all my heart, because I've seen You confirm the truth of Your Word in my life so many times, that my God "is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all (I) can ask or imagine, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever!" (Ephesians 3:20-21) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray both your ability to give love and receive love increases and your faith grows through every challenge you face, becoming more like Jesus each day in the peace and power of God's grace for you, in Jesus' name! 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 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/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!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have is Yours -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:3-6).
In the freedom of Your grace, you give of the ability to choose to keep your commandments and walk in your ways. You're always leading me to choose You and Your will and Your ways. Even in grace, You desire obedience -- the obedience that freely flows from a heart that truly believes You love me and want the very best for me. This includes wanting the best people to surround me and for me to associate with.
"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals'" (1 Corinthians 15:33).
If bad company ruins good morals then good company inspires good morals. So I want to keep good company with You, Lord Jesus. You are my Companion and my Inspiration. You are my "Friend who sticks closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). And You fill me with Your Spirit so that my thoughts become more like Your thoughts, my desires become more like Your desires, and my ways become more like Your ways (Romans 8:9).
Some would imply that under a dispensation of grace, we are free to do what we want to do, to be with whom we want to be with, to go wherever we want to go. Who the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). Right? "All things are lawful for me" in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:23). Right? Yes, but not all things are good for me; and in the freedom of my salvation I still have the freedom to choose right from wrong, good from evil, to walk in Your ways or walk in the ways of the world, for me to be lord or for You to be Lord (1 Corinthians 10:23). So along with companionship always comes discipleship; and along with grace comes obedience -- as You're teaching me Your ways while I'm walking in deeply personal, intimate relationship with You.
Come, Holy Spirit of God. Move in my heart to give me a right heart. Keep creating in me a clean heart and renewing a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Keep transforming me by the renewing of my mind and conforming me to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29 and 12:2). May I never stop to "grow in the grace and knowledge of (my) Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever!" (2 Peter 3:18) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today in your freedom to choose today to simply read though this reflection and go about your day, or set aside time to personally read today’s chapter and reflect on it and keep good company with Jesus, you choose the later. I pray today as you have the choice to walk with Jesus and obey Him as your Lord, or walk away from Him and be your own lord over you life, you choose the later as well. At the end of the day no one will know what choice you made but Jesus, in Jesus name. 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 comments 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
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You into my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanse us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
As we move closer to a day to celebrate being thankful, one day we'll more fully understand just how thankful we should be for Your unspeakable grace that forgives our sins and saves our souls through the power of the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:25). And at the same time, You desire for us to love and honor You and one another, fully surrendering to Your will and embracing Your ways for our lives.
"For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
There will come a day when all of us "will have to give an accounting to Him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.... So then, each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:10-12).
In our personal relationship with You as Lord and Savior, we have our salvation and we also have Your invitation to each of us "so as to live for the rest of (our) earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). And what is Your will for my life? "This is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Your will according to Your Word is to make me more like You.
When all is said and done, when I stand to give an account for my life before the judgment seat of Christ, I believe You will ask me, "Did you seek to become more like Me?" (John 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:7)
With all my heart I want to be able to say Yes to You. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to be more like You each day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Spirit of God will move in your heart to empower you to commit and seek to become more like Jesus each day, starting today. May you be filled with joy when you give an account at the judgment seat of Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, I bow my heart and bend my knees for you to make me humble to walk out my door as your slave in service to you in my world today.
“Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. “ (2 Peter 2:1-5)
In the time frame of mankind, there is a vast difference between one day and a thousand years. Yet, for God, who is eternal outside of the confines of time, there is no difference. All things past, present, and future, are ever before him: a seemingly delay of a thousand years cannot be so much to him, as putting off any thing for a day or for an hour is to us. For us, humanity, who can’t wrap our heads around “eternity” and people who have no knowledge or belief of the eternal God, they will place God into their time constraint and think of Him as they think of themselves. How hard is it to form any thoughts of eternity! What men count neglect, not caring, failing to act, is actually God’s long-suffering, and love to us-ward; it is giving more time to Hs own people, to advance in knowledge and holiness, and in the exercise of faith and patience, to abound in good works, doing and suffering, what we are all called to do, that they may bring glory to God. You need to come to the complete understanding and resolve in your hearts that one day you shall certainly be called to give an account of all things done while you are alive in your body, whether good or evil. And adopt a life that is a humble and diligent walking before God, and daily reflect and judge of yourself and your walk through the Holy Spirit. And live life with a firm belief of the future judgment, though many none believers and believers live as if they were never to give any account at all.
My family, I pray you read this chapter as many times as it takes to firmly understand that only the diligent Christian who daily walked out their door into their community and embraced the good works of doing and suffering that they were called to do will be the happy Christian in the day of the Lord. Our Lord will suddenly come to you, or shortly call you to him; and I pray he does not find your life is one of idle complacency centered on working and building the comfort of your kingdom, instead of your calling to the good works of building His kingdom, 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/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!
After your first read 2 Peter chapter 2 in your Bible, read the portions of the interpretations from this chapter I have included below. They read as a commentary in today’s news and speak into the voices of so called “truths” that today flood social media. It is also a strong warning to those who’s mouths are behind these voices that they are being heard by God, and he does not play. And a warning to followers of Jesus who listen to and are swayed by these voices.
“But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you (today). They’ll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They’ve put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction, but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can’t tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name. They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won’t, of course, get by with it. They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.
God didn’t let the rebel angels off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day. Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people—Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.
God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left—grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life. But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued. Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, that righteous man was in constant torment. So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.
God is especially incensed against these “teachers” who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists, they don’t hesitate to speak evil against the most splendid of creatures. Even angels, their superiors in every way, wouldn’t think of throwing their weight around like that, trying to slander others before God.
These people are nothing but brute beasts, born in the wild, predators on the prowl. In the very act of bringing down others with their ignorant blasphemies, they themselves will be brought down, losers in the end. Their evil will boomerang on them. They’re so despicable and addicted to pleasure…. They’re obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they’re experts at it. Dead souls!
They’ve left the main road and are directionless…There’s nothing to these people—they’re dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell. They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they’re dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they’re addicted to corruption—and they are—they’re enslaved.
If they’ve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they’re worse than if they had never left. Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command. They prove the point of the proverbs, “A dog goes back to its own vomit” and “A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud.”
My family, I pray you will reflect on what voices you are listening to and allowing to influence your life, and what voice you are speaking, or failing to speak into the lives of others, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out these words, my spirit comes to attention, to wait and to listen for the leading of Your Spirit. ...
“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with Godʼs words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10-11)
Father God, my Sovereign Lord, give me ears to hear what Your Spirit is speaking to my heart and through my words so that I may glorify You. Your words of wisdom are weighty words. Your words of wisdom are "alive and powerful ... sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow ... and expose our innermost thoughts and desires" (Hebrews 4:12 NLT
"The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will" (Isaiah 50:4 NLT).
Lord, sanctify my heart and sanctify my tongue. Show me "what to say and how to say it" as an expression of Your heart and Your hope to the weary who need Your words of comfort and encouragement (John 12:49 NLT). As You waken me in the morning, I welcome You in my spirit and set apart my words to be Your words, as You make my heart to be more like Your heart and align my will with Your will.
As I behold You and embrace Your Word and Your Spirit to divide my spirit and soul, to expose my most innermost thoughts and desires, to remove the scales from my eyes and the veil from my heart, You are changing me into Your image. "Whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord -- who is the Spirit -- makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image" (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 NLT).
Surrounded and yielded to You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace -- I can allow Your words to flow though my words, as my nature becomes more like Your nature and my ways become more like Your ways. You've given us Your gifts to serve Your people and glorify Your name. And You give us the grace to grow in these gifts, to express them in love, and see them bear fruit that honors Your heart: "God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever!" (1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT)
So I pray for weighty words that carry the weight of the glory of God to inspire hope, to heal wounds, to break chains, to awaken courage, to save souls, to advance Your kingdom, and to glorify Your name. I pray my words would be Your words, the words of the One who is the Word of God abiding in me (John 1:14 and 15:4). So keep crucifying my flesh, keep sanctifying my heart, keep purifying my words, so that my nature becomes more and more like Your nature each day until I can say "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20 NLT). Then my words will truly be weighty words that make a difference in my world. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family,I pray your words are weighty words that flow from heart of God being formed in your heart by the power of the grace of God at work in you to crucify your flesh, sanctify your heart, and purify your words, 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!
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Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are Godʼs people.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Together in You Christ Jesus, we are all your family, we are all Your priests, we are all Your sons and daughters, we are all "heirs according to the promise, faithfully serving You in the ministry of faith, hope, and love to You and Your people” (Galatians 3:25-29). "All glory to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding His blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God His Father. All glory and power to Him forever and ever!" (Revelation 1:5-6 NLT)
Our priestly garments are "the garments of praise" (Isaiah 61:3 NKJV). We are clothed in Christ (Galatians 3:27). And the anointing oil of our consecration and ordination is the anointing and abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit. " (We) have been anointed by the Holy One.... As for (us), the anointing that (we) received from Him abides in (us)" (1 John 2:20-27). Your "glorious and beautiful" nature covers us and changes us from the inside out to be priests of our God and "ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
In You, we are "holy partners in a heavenly calling" looking to "Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1). You are our faithful "High Priest of the good things that have come" -- the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, here in our world and available to be right here in hearts (Hebrews 9:11). And as You are, so are we to be in our world (1 John 4:17). In Jesus' name I pray.
My family, I pray you ask the the Holy Spirit to remove any lies spoken over you that you yourself have claimed as your identity, and look in the mirror this morning free in Christ to fully embrace your identity and destiny as a child of God and one of His glorious and beautiful anointed priests of God, because that is who you are! 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!
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name over every moment of my day, that everything I encounter must bow it's knee to Your name (Philippians 2:9-22).
"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting in Him will be the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9 NLT).
Sometimes it may look like there is anything but "wonderful joy ahead." Sometimes it may look like things are growing worse, darkness is growing darker, division is growing deeper, and hope is growing fainter. Global shortages, rising prices, Covid, cancer, divorce, moral decline, rising violence.. and the list goes on. And it will, just as You said it would(Matthew 24:1-28). But at the same time, the light of the glory of God in those who believe, in those who love You and trust You, will arise and shine within us, as the glory of the Lord arises upon us! (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When "(our) faith remains strong through many trials," we see our faith grow brighter than the darkness; we see our hope overcome every moment of despair; and we see our God display His glory through every trial we face. That's how we can "rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy" that the world around us can't understand and even our own hearts find hard to believe, as we see You bring us through the battles and storms and every trial of our faith. And that's worth so much more than any false peace or hollow victory this world could ever offer. That's the gift of God -- "the reward for trusting in Him" -- that lasts forever as eternal treasure in our souls "far more precious than gold!"
These days we live out on this earth, through the trials of this broken and fallen world, are the flames of the Refiner's fire (Malachi 3:2; Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:18). But it's only in the fire You refine our souls into the pure gold of Your glorious love and "inexpressible joy" You've created us to know by learning to trust in You. Holy Fire of God, All "Consuming Fire," burn in me today, as I encounter and overcome ever trial I endure (Hebrews 12:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are filled with "inexpressible joy" as you faithfully endure every trial you face in the power of God's grace and love for you. Remember you are “set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christʼs blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!” (1 Peter 1:2), In Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good evening, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name as one of the last words from my mouth today, as I intentionally end this day centered in Christ. ...
“Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up - and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.“ (James 5: 13-17)
As Your church, Your body, we are to continue to express Your heart through our lives. "So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20). You continue to call us and commission us. You continue to equip us and anoint us to reach out to all who are suffering or sick, lost or afraid, wounded or bound and welcome them, teach them about the kingdom of God, and minister Your healing love in the power of Your name as they have need.
"On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with Him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed Him; and He welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured" (Luke 9:10-11).
You modeled ministry for Your first disciples. When the lost, the hurting and the broken came to You for ministry, You welcomed them, You taught them about the kingdom of God, and You healed them.
Just as You modeled it, You sent forth the first twelve apostles to continue to Your ministry in the power of Your name (Luke 9:1-2). And after they returned, You sent forth seventy more to do the same ministry in the same of power (Luke 10:1). And after those seventy returned, You expressed Your heart for more and more of Your disciples to go forth and continue Your ministry, saying, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Luke 10:2).
Today, You're doing the same. Today as Your church, we are Your body on this earth -- the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, continuing the ministry of Christ. The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is now at work within and at work though us (Romans 8:11). You continue to send us forth into the harvest of the lost, the hurting, and the broken, saying to us what You said to Your first disciples, "As the Father sent Me, so I send you" (John 20:21).
Just as You have done for us, so we are to do for others (Matthew 10:8). Just as You have comforted us, so we are to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Lord, let us be faithful and obedient to Your heart and Your command. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may the Holy Spirit equip you and anoint you to welcome, teach and heal in the name and power of Jesus. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. King of kings and Lord of lords, be King of my heart and Lord of my life this day.
As we "humble (ourselves) in the sight of the Lord, (You) will lift (us) up" (James 4:10 )
Humility is such a gateway to all You have for us. As we come to the end of ourselves to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone, You fill us up and grow us up -- "that (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). .
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you be strengthened in your inner being through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:14-17).
In these few verses, Your Word speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Your Word speaks of power, purity, and purpose; Your Word speaks of faith, hope, and love; Your Word speaks of identity and destiny, of intimacy and maturity. And it all begins with humility -- "I bow my knees before the Father."
To humble ourselves is to agree with You and Your Word that "apart from (You), (we) can do nothing" (John 15:5). And to embrace our identity, rooted and grounded in the security of Your love, so we can grow up into maturity is to agree with You and Your Word that we are never apart from You, that "(You) are with (us) always" (Matthew 28:10). Then to live into our destiny is to agree with You and Your Word that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13 ).
Through our spiritual journey of learning humility, security, identity, destiny, and maturity, we come to the place where "all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23 NKJV). This is a gate of greater faith that must begin by first going through the gate of deeper humility.
Your life on earth as the Son of Man shows us the way of going through the gate of humility first: "And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:7-9).
You exalt the humble. You give us our name as we take on Your nature. And the heart of Your nature is humility, faithfulness, and obedience, all rooted and grounded in sacrificial love. "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). As Your Word commands us, "Let the same mind be in (us) that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). That's the way that leads through the gates of all You have for us and to the fulfillment of Your Word "that (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19; Isaiah 62:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are growing in deeper humility, desperately dependent upon God alone, that He may lift you up and take you through every gate of His promises for you, that you may be "filled with all the fullness of God," in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me! God bless you, my friends!
"Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You're with me always and everyway. I welcome Your Presence as I begin my day in the intimacy and communion of prayer with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ...
"Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do His will, working among us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever" (Hebrews 13:20).
You are the great Shepherd of the sheep and the great Shepherd of my soul. I'm one of Your sheep, seeking to hear Your voice and follow Your way in what is pleasing in Your sight -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. "The sheep hear His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice" (John 10:3-4).
Help me keeping growing in knowing Your voice. Sharpen my spiritual senses and refine my spiritual discernment. Help me learn to discern, so I can sort out the source of every thought and image and sensing -- what's of You, what's of me, what's of something else. "(His sheep) will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:5).
As I listen, it seems I hear You saying, "Discern My voice by testing what You hear against My Word and the nature of My heart. I Am Truth; and I Am Love. If it's not Truth, if it's not Love, it's not Me." ...
Yes, Lord. As Your Word says, "Test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). "Those who are spiritual discern all things" (1 Corinthians 2:15).
So I seek and welcome Your gift of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10). I embrace the gift of my identity and my inheritance as a child of God to be led by the Spirit of God, "for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). By the power of Your grace, what You speak, I will hear; and where You lead, I will follow -- my great Shepherd. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you will grow in the gift of discernment, seeking to hear and trust and obey the voice of the great Shepherd of your soul, following where He leads as the beloved child of God that you are, 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!
Good evening, Lord Jesus. You are my steady Rock and the Anchor of my soul. You are one with the Father, one with the Holy Spirit; and as I entrust to You my heart and my life, You make me one with You (John 17:21). ...
"Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Your Word compels me and commands me to pursue both peace and holiness -- not just peace and not just holiness; not peace without holiness and not holiness without peace. And it's only by the grace of God that I can attempt and do this.
In my pursuit of holiness, help me never become religious, self-righteous, and "holier-than-thou" in some kind of spiritual pride as if it's by my own goodness or wisdom. Holiness is Christ in me (Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Holiness is my heart surrendered to Your heart, allowing You to form Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, and Your nature in my nature. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
And at the same time, in my pursuit of peace, help me never compromise with holiness and truth, just "going-along-to-get-along," being “politically correct” and excusing and condoning something less than Your will and Your ways, for the sake of being liked or not being rejected, called “intolerant” or misunderstood for simply seeking to walk in Your Truth and honor Your Word. That's appeasement, not peace. That's the world's peace, not Your peace (John 14:27).
Pursuing both peace and holiness -- all by the power of Your grace at work within me -- is impossible apart from a living, vibrant, and deeply personal relationship with You. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). So I praise You and thank You that I never have to spend a single moment of my life apart from You. You are with me always (Matthew 28:20). I am in You and You are in me (John 15:4).
So Jesus, lead me by Your Spirit to walk in both peace and holiness, growing in grace and the nature of Christ, step by step, seeking to "follow in (Your) steps" on my journey of faith through every challenge and question I face (1 Peter 2:21). "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). "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 reveled, 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).
My Father God, I welcome Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus today. "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 4:17). As You do -- with "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- You empower me to pursue both peace and holiness with all my heart because You're changing my heart every day from the inside out (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray your heart is being changed from the inside out every day in your deeply personal and intimate journey with God, empowering you to pursue both peace and holiness, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, I begin my day seeking more of you.
If your plans are not intimidating to you, they are insulting to God. God delights and honors big faith. God delights and multiplying those of big faith. Faith that is exhibited in and through Immediate Radical Costly Obedience (IRCO.) We cannot afford to be a people of small faith.
A faith that is not altered or affected by how things end for us in this side of Glory. You do have those who’s great faith ended happily in this world, on this side of glory; Daniel's deliverance from the lion's den in Dan. 6 and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being saved from the fiery furnace Dan. 3, And you have those mentioned in Hebrews 11:17-35a
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.”(Hebrews 11:17-35a)
But we can’t stop reading there, for you also have the continuation of others mentioned in Hebrews 11:35b-40. For them, it shows that though they had the same great faith, It does not always end in a happy ending in this world, on this side of glory.
“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
You have the story in Acts chapter 7 of the stoning of Stephen. In Acts chapter 12 Peter was arrested. The church prayed and he was miraculously set free. In Acts chapter 12 James is also arrested. The same church prayed in the same power of the Holy Spirit yet James was beheaded.
How the story turns out on earth has nothing to do with whether God is glorified or not. It may not have a happy ending on this side, but on the other side God is glorified. But whether it turns out happy or sad by earthly standards, cannot take away or hinder the glory that comes from big faith. God delights and honors that faith. All those listed, whether in the first or second half of Hebrews 11 were admitted into God’s Hall of Fame. They did not gain entrance into his hall of fame by how their life ended, but how their life was lived. They all were admitted because of their big faith exhibited through Immediate Radical Costly Obedience. God delights and multiplying that kind of faith. Faith that is exhibited in IRCO. You get in God's hall of fame through big faith exhibited in IRCO
Look at Caleb and Joshua’s story and actions in their entering into Canna found in Numbers chapter 13. They are not looking at the problems; they are looking at their big God with big faith. Without a faith like this we pray for everything man can do but not for what only God can do. We have to be obedient to him if we want to see him at work.
I keep coming back to the same question as I sit here, “Do I exhibit my love for him in a big faith exhibited through immediate, radical, costly obedience?”
My family, I pray you spend time today and again this weekend reading these stories of big faith found in Daniel chapters 3 and 6, Hebrews 11:17-40, Acts chapters 7 and 12, and Numbers chapter 13, and others as well. Then with the Holy Spirit meditate on your level of Faith. Do you have big faith? Is your faith based and influenced by hope of fame in this world, or hope of entering God’s hall of fame in the new earth? In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends.
Please share your reflections and questions in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Let me be of one heart and one mind with You today.
"Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet 'in a very little while, the One who is coming will come and will not delay; but My righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.' But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved" (Hebrews 10:35-39).
My confidence is in You, Lord. I'm confident that You love me, that You're for me, that You're always with me, that You always go before me preparing the way for me to walk in Your will and Your ways by the power of Your grace.
So when challenges come, when battles are fierce, when the enemy of my soul tries to press his attack, I will press on until I press through, by grace through faith, not shrinking back. "Through faith and patience (I will) inherit the promises" (v. 6:12). May I never surrender and never retreat, but always advance with the endurance and confidence of the faith You're building in me. "So (I) can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?'" (v. 13:6) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My Family, may you be confident in faith, never shrinking back, that you never surrender and never retreat, but always advance into the fullness of the God's promises for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be in the midst of my heart and my thoughts and every moment of my day-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain.” (Hebrews 8:5)
The ark of the covenant of the Lord was made of wood, covered with gold, and carried the law of the Lord and evidence of the power of the Lord in its chest (Exodus 25:10-22; Hebrews 9:4). But today the ark of the covenant of the Lord seems to be lost or hidden from view, though many have searched for it. Yet even the ark of the covenant of the Lord--carrying the ten commandments of Moses, the budded staff of Aaron, and the manna of the wilderness journey, sealed with the mercy seat and covered by the holy cherubim-was but "a shadow of things to come" pointing toward "the substance of Christ" (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:5).
"I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord.' It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another be made. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the Presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall not longer stubbornly follow their own evil will" (Jeremiah 3:15-17).
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Presence of God. You are Immanuel, God with us, always with us, always within us, abiding in us as we abide in You, that we may carry the Word and the Spirit of God in our hearts and along our journey (Matthew 1:23). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God, You are One and Your are holy and You are within us (John 14:18). We don't seek after or worship a box covered in gold; we seek after the One we were created to worship in spirit and truth-for "the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
Thank You, Lord, that our bodies now contain the evidence of the power of the Lord and our bodies are your temple and our hearts are Your ark of the covenant of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16). You surround us with Your holy angels and lift us up into Your holy Presence, where we are safe and secure, forgiven and free, in the fullness of Your salvation (Psalm 91:1-16). Thank You that in Your Presence there is fullness of joy!" (Psalm 16:11) Thank You for Your shepherds after Your own heart who lead us into Your truth to feed us with knowledge and understanding of Your Word and Your Spirit (Ephesians 4:11). "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" which is "the surpassing grace of God that He has given (us)" in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 9-14-15). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit reveals to you just how precious you are to God, that your body is His temple and your heart is the ark of His Presence, as He abides in you and you abide in Him, worshipping the Lord our God in spirit and truth, 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
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