Good morning Lord Jesus, let Your word flow into and out of my heart today.
Jesus’ teaching called the “Sermon on The Mount” is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law. You may have noticed that my reflection for Monday was from the first verses of The Sermon on the Mount found in chapter 5, and my reflection yesterday was from the last verses of it found in chapter 7. These 3 chapters can be read in 15- 20 minutes. I read them weekly to ground my life and ministry and reflect on where I am straying. I suggest you read them at least weekly as well.
My reflection this morning is on Matthew 6:25-24. The first posting of these verses comes from The New English Translation, which is a word-for word translation that tries to come as close to the original Greek text as possible in English. The second translation is from The Message Bible, which focus is not trying to give a word-for -word translation, but a reflective translation of its contents. Read them and allow these two translations to speak to you this morning.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isnʼt there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Arenʼt you more valuable than they are? And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, wonʼt he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? So then, donʼt worry saying, ʻWhat will we eat?ʼ or ʻWhat will we drink?ʼ or ʻWhat will we wear?ʼ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34 New English Translation)
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Matthew 5:25-34 The Message)
My family, I pray the reading of God’s Word in these two verses will encourage you to release the control of temporal things which when we concentrate on them always bring anxiety, and to meditate on the eternal things of God which always bring peace, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, cleanse me this morning to be a vessel of your use throughout today.
“When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them by saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”
(Matthew 5:1-9)
I was blessed to perform the wedding this weekend of two friends I love. During their ceremony I read the passage from Matthew called “The Beatitudes” above over them.
The word beatitude comes from the Latin beatitudo, meaning "blessedness." The beatitudes introduce and set the tone for Jesus' Sermon on the Mount by emphasizing the humble state of humans and the righteousness of God. Each beatitude depicts the ideal heart condition of a citizen of God's kingdom. In this idyllic state, the believer experiences abundant spiritual blessings.
The phrase "blessed are" in each beatitude implies a current state of happiness or well-being. This expression held a powerful meaning of "divine joy and perfect happiness" to the people of Christ's day. In other words, Jesus was saying "divinely happy and fortunate are those who possess these inward qualities." While speaking of a current "blessedness," each pronouncement also promised a future reward.
For us in Christ today, these verse are the still the key to finding and living a life of divine joy and perfect happiness.
Blessed (divinely happy and fortunate) are the parents and children and the family who are peacemakers for joy will fill their house.
Blessed is the husband or wife and will be their marriage, if they are poor in spirit, humble, and serve each other.
Blessed is the boss, manager, worker, and co-worker that is pure in heart, for respect and dignity will be in their place of work.
Blessed is the neighbor, citizen who is merciful and generous towards people they know are suffering and struggling, for their acts of kindness will being a happiness to their soul placed their by God.
Blessed is the man or woman who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for men and woman who are disciples of and madly in love with Jesus and their spouse needs, their children need, their grandchildren need, their world needs.
Blessed are we when we mourn the state of others and act on it, for to mourn others, you first have to love others, and to act on that love for them is acting like Jesus.
Jesus tells us latter in the this sermon from the mount, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
My family, I pray you are blessed today, Jesus wants to bless you today. I pray you experience the divine happiness, fortune and joy that is available to you today. Jesus’ saving works on the cross made the possibility of you experiencing them, everyday of your life, possible by His saving works on the cross. Jesus’ life exemplified all the beatitudes listed above. I pray you will seek, knock, and align your life with Jesus’ life, for if you do, you will open the door to receive all blessings including a life of joy, peace, hope, and happiness, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is above every name and every moment of my day. ...
"We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the third day with their own hands they threw the ship's tackle overboard. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, 'Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss. I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.' So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told" (Acts 27:18-25).
I pray for all the people being "pounded by the storm" in Florida and along the East Coast the face of the hurricane. Many of us have vacationed along these beautiful coasts and have family memories made on their beaches. May they "keep up (their) courage" and "have faith in God" as You bring them through the storm. May You stir hearts with compassion and empower Your servants with wisdom to help the hurting, assure the fearful, and provide for all that is needed according to Your riches in glory and the mercy of Your grace.
Paul went through a storm he never chose and was even warned against. But there he was in the midst of the aftermath nonetheless. And Your were right there with him through it all -- confirming Your word and leading by Your Spirit. Others were in a panic, but Paul was at peace "giving thanks to God in the presence of all" so that "all of them were encouraged" (v. 35-36).
Lord, turn our storms into opportunities to display "the peace of God which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Let our hearts be steady and secure, built on the rock of faith that cannot be shaken and overcome by the storms we endure (Matthew 7:24-25). You are our "Refuge and Shelter from the storm and rain" (Isaiah 4:6). Empower us to be Your heart and hands to minister Your peace and provision to those in panic or pain, to those suffering great loss and in need of hope and help and healing. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are steady and secure on the rock of your faith in the One who is your Refuge and Shelter through every storm. I pray you will cover those affected with prayer and be willing to help as the Spirit of God leads you in His mercy and love, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, I surrender all , so that I can receive all from you.
“Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the LORD shines on you!
For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the LORD shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.
Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When Isaiah walked the earth and looked out at his world approximately 3,000 years ago a deep darkness covered his world and his nation as well. Isaiah’s answer was not for the people of God in his time to retreat from the darkness, withdraw and isolate from the deep darkness, but to arise and go out and shine, and be beacons of light that drives out the darkness
Approximately 800 years after Isaiah and 2,000 years ago Jesus walked the earth and when He looked around the world, his nation was occupied by a foreign army and a deep darkness of sin covered his nation and the world. Like Isaiah, Jesus’ answer was not for his followers to isolate themselves, withdraw in their churches, and withdraw from society. But to be His light, one that illuminates and turns back darkness. Jesus said,“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:1516)
Looking at the news today, you probably get the sense that the world, our nation appears to be a scarier, darker place. And what is the answer today? For us to isolate, withdraw from the world, social isolate ourselves inside out homes and churches? No, it is same answer Of Isaiah and of Jesus. We are called to go out and light our world. Be a light in the darkness. And light being a metaphor for pain, be a source on love, hope, and joy in the lives of our neighbors and communities.
My family, you are the light of the world. Because the same light of the Lord that both Isaiah and Jesus declared shines in you! You carry the splendor of God in you! I pray you may enter into darkness, enter into the pain in this world, and bring and be a beacon of light, healing, hope and Joy, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus, I set aside tie with You, to allow you to set me aside for your glory today.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ʻGod, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.ʼ The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ʻGod, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!ʼ I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee.” (Luke 18:10-14)
This passage speaks to me, and it speaks to I would say most in the church in America. and it haunts me. Putting us in the place of the Pharisee on our knees before God we would say, “I tithe consistently”. (But do we? do we give God our first fruits or just our left overs, what is convenient to give. Look at your bank statements.) “I attend church faithfully”. (But do we? or is it when there is nothing better going on that day, when I feel like it, or maybe I will sit and drink coffee and watch on line.) “I fast regularly in prayer.” ( But do we? When was the last time we consistently and intentionally set aside regular scheduled days to fast? Look at your calendar, where are they?) “We are Christians.” (When was the last time you consistently imitated Jesus in picking up your cross and lived a life of sacrificial love for your neighbor? Look in your heart.)
The Pharisee was not justified because he relied on his acts of righteousness instead of humility before God and used them to separate himself from his neighbors instead of serving his neighbors. However, at least he was honest, honorable, obeyed his covenant with God, obeyed God, and actually did what God required, though out of the wrong heart posture. At least he was actually faithful to his religion. If God did not justify the Pharisee, what does he think of us? As we in the American church are even worse than the Pharisee! We have the same wrong heart posture, and we are faking our way of obeying God and posers as true practicers of our religion.
We do not have at least the integrity of the Pharisee or the broken humility of the tax collector. So where are we in this story when we come before God with our prayers?
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
My family, I pray you read this passage of the words of Jesus. I pray you may not think the “we” in this reflection applies to “someone else.” I pray you will with an honest heart, meditate what it would look like if Jesus spoke about you in this story, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
This past Saturday morning I served at the House Of The Harvest. It is a ministry that volunteers meet every Saturday out of their love for Jesus and their neighbors and they hand out groceries, frozen foods, a hot breakfast, personal hygiene items and clothing. Our neighbors in need get a shopping cart and go through the line where volunteers give them items they need. After they have gone through the line other volunteers in vests help them walk to the car with their carts full of goods, cross the street, help them load their car, and then ask if they need prayer. As a “cart boy” is where I prefer to serve.
An elderly lady with a cane came through the line and I asked her if I could help her and she said, “Sure, Thank You.” She was parked across the street so we walked and talked. She said her name was Elizabeth and she was so thankful for this cart of food as it helps her so much and the box of Depends underwear for her brother. I asked her about her brother. She said his name was Julius. He was born with cerebral palsy. When he was born, the doctors said he would not likely live more than 5 years, 10 at the most. She said he is 63 years old now! Elizabeth said Julius lives with her and she takes care of him. She said Julius lived with his mom until she passed 15 years ago. Before her mom died, she made Elizabeth promise she would not put Julius in an institution, and Elizabeth said she is honoring that promise.
She said it is hard. Her brother Julius cannot use is arms or legs, They are locked almost in a fetal position. And she said he cannot talk. He just hoots and groans. She said she has to feed him, bath him, carry him to the living room, bedroom and into the car for trips to doctors and other places. And she is a lady in her 70’s who walks with a cane! My heart ached for her. She got quiet, and tears flowed down her cheeks. She said she felt terrible because the other morning she wished to herself that Julius was not in her life. Tears flowed as she said sometimes I wish I just a week, or a couple days, or a day to just rest and take care of me. She whispered it is hard. By this time I had tears running down my face. She said again she felt so guilty. Elizabeth said the morning after she said those things she had to take him to Mississippi. She said he Julius “Sang” the whole way there. Not with words, but with howls and hoots. She said he made her laugh, brought her joy, and regretted again her thoughts the day before.
Elizabeth then told me she has cancer. She pulled down the neck of her shirt to show me the scar of where they had to put a port in her chest for medicine. She said she went through treatment for it three years ago. She said as she was going through it she was so scared for Julius, as who would take care of him is she died. She said she prayed to God to heal her so she could take care of her brother. And she said with a smile through her tears, “I am still here!”
I finished loading the groceries into her car and I asked Elizabeth if I could pray for her. She said absolutely. I told her Jesus loves her and she replied boldly, yes He does! She raised her fist that was not holding her cane and declared, “We serve a might God!” After we finished praying I gave her a hug and told her I loved her. I watched her drive off, grabbed the empty shopping cart, and pushed it back to the serving line. As I walked I thanked God for my encounter with Elizabeth. I thanked God for what was an encounter with Jesus. I thanked God that he is forming in me a heart that mourns and weeps for my neighbors.
To mourn for your neighbors you have to personally encounter and enter into the lives of your neighbors and love them. To encounter Jesus and mourn with Him you have to go out and seek Him in your neighbors and love them. This can’t happen through Zoom. This can’t happen in a sanctuary. This can’t happen from your back deck.
My family, I pray you may be blessed today to mourn. I pray today you will be one of those Jesus speaks of as blessed are those who mourn as they will be comforted. I pray you will seek to encounter Jesus by an encounter with your neighbor, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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 LISTEN To Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let my week and my day begin here in the communion of prayer, immersed in Your Presence, seeking You and Your leading--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
As I listen, I hear in my heart the sound of a mountain stream. This thought comes to my mind--"the sound of many waters." ...
"Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across His chest. He head and His hair were white as wool, white as snow; His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining with full force" (Revelation 1:12-16).
Like the many waters of a mountain stream, let the Word of God wash over me and pour through me, cleansing me and refreshing me. Let the words of Your voice purify me and sanctify me "with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26). "As the deer longs for flowing stream, so my soul longs for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" (Psalm 42:1-2)
When John heard Your voice like the sound of many waters, he fell down at Your feet, in deep humility in honor of Your manifest Presence of Your glory (Revelation 1:17). But then You lifted him up and told him not to be afraid, but to be about the work of the Kingdom You set before him (Revelation 1:17-19). When we humble ourselves in Your sight, You lift us up (James 4:10). When we draw near to You, You draw near to us (James 4:8). When we listen for Your voice to be led by Your Spirit as the children of God, You speak and You lead (John 10:3; Romans 8:17; Isaiah 30:21).
Thank You for the sound of many waters rushing through my spirit like a mountain stream this morning. Thank You for reminding me to forever be seeking Your Presence and listening for Your leading throughout the moments of my day. "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High" (Psalm 46:4). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, , I pray the Holy Spirit cleanses you and refreshes you with the washing of the water by His word flowing through you, listening for the voice of the One who speaks like the sound of many waters, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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 LISTEN To Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. You’re with me always. And I seek to begin my day intentionally, deliberately looking to You and listening for Your leading, as I press in to Your Presence in the communion of prayer. ...
It’s in communion with You that my spiritual eyes are opened, that my spiritual heart catches fire with Your Spirit and comes life in Your Word -- just as You showed us on Your encounter with Your disciples on their walk to Emmaus:
“As they came near the village to which they were going, (Jesus) walked ahead as if He were going on. But they urged Him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the Scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and He has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how He had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (Luke 24:28-36).
Thank You for the gift of communion with You -- not only here in these moments at the beginning of my mornings, but every moment of every day. You’re with me always (Matthew 28:20). You abide in me and I abide in You (John 15:4). You make Yourself “known to (me) in the breaking of the bread. And You are the Bread -- the Bread of Your Word, the Bread of Your Spirit, the Bread of Your Abiding Presence, “the Bread of Life” as I live my life in communion with You (John 6:35). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you live your life in communion with Jesus, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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 LISTEN To Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34)
Yesterday morning I walked into the Waffle House. I sat down at the low bar next to a man named Dennis. He is a regular at the Waffle House. When my family and I moved to Madison, Al back in 2012 and I first walked into and was greeted to Madison by the words “Welcome to Waffle House,” Dennis was at the low bar. So I have been having morning conversations with Dennis now for almost 9 years. During those 9 years some things have changed, Dennis, who is now 77 years old, has needed the assistance of a cane to walk for the past year and a half or so, and about the same time ago his wife developed breast cancer.
In the 9 years I have been sharing life with Dennis at the low bar, I have never met his wife. He retired from working at the city, she still had a part time day job, so she never comes. Yesterday, morning sitting next to Dennis, I asked how his wife is doing. In a quiet voice he said today was her last radiation treatment. She had to go through several rounds and almost a year of chemo treatment. Then she had the surgery to remove her breasts. Then she had to go through rounds of radiation on the areas she had surgery. He said next week they have to go to a liver doctor as the chemo treatments damaged her liver and they are not sure if she will need dialysis or not. I told him I was so sorry and I asked him how he was doing?
Dennis’s eyes teared up as he talked. He said he hates seeing his wife in this condition. She has been reduced to skin and bones. She is so weak and frail. He raised his one arm and pointed to his bicep area and said her skin just hangs from her arms when she lifts them. And she has been so sick. He said taking care of her and all the daily trips to chemo, radiation, blood and other treatments takes all his time. They had plans to travel with their children, but those are gone. Dennis said has thoughts at times and complains that this is not fair for this to be happening to him at this late of time in his life. With a tear running down his cheek he said, but then I look at her, and she is going through a whole lot worse than he is, and she is the one to be saying this is not fair, and I stop complaining and keep on loving her.
By this time my eyes were tearing up, and I asked Dennis if there was anything I could do for him; bring him a meal or something. He said no, but thank you so much for asking him about his wife, and then taking the time to just sit and listen to him.
We are called by Jesus to “Love our neighbors.” Loving othersextends beyond warm feelings or treating people with simple courtesy when we are out in community (although that is not a bad place to start). It involves taking time and listening (for many people, being heardis so close to being lovedthat they can’t tell the difference). When we simply listen to someone we our placed in a holy moment were we enter their lives, enter their pain, enter their joy, we enter their needs, we become an example of Christ in their live, we love our neighbors.
My family, I pray this morning you will ask the led Holy Spirit to lead you into the ministering and serving other and obey Jesus’ command to love your neighbors, by placing in your heart and mind the names a few people to call, meet up with, and simply love them by listening to them, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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 LISTEN To Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Arise in my heart with Your Spirit as I seek to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
“Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,and they shall name Him Emmanuel,’
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a Son; and he named Him Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25).
We don’t really hear that much about Joseph, maybe because he’s not mentioned again in Scripture after Your birth and early years. But he was a man of faith and obedience. He was a man of honor and character, compassion and mercy. He was a man with prophetic dreams and supernatural encounters, willing to make life-changing decisions based upon his faith in God and seeking to discern the will of God above his own.
We think of Abraham as the father of faith (Romans 4:16). And maybe we should think of Joseph as the stepfather of faith. In a sense he was the stepfather of Jesus -- not the biological father because You were conceived by the Holy Spirit rather than by a human father, but entrusted to Joseph to “father” You as an expression and extension of Your heavenly Father.
Like many who will read this post, I have been blessed to be a father. Many others reading this post have been blessed to be mothers. You may have been blessed to be fathers and mothers through the birth of your children or by becoming step-parents like Joseph. Or maybe you find yourself in the blessed season of being a grandparent. Either way, I pray that by the grace of God, I as a man can “father”, and those who are a woman can “mother” like Joseph as a man faith and obedience, honor and character, compassion and mercy, led by the Spirit to seek and obey the will of God for my life and to be a godly influence in the lives entrusted to me. I pray the same for each of us called to be an expression and extension of the father or mother heart of God in our world through these times. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be filled and led by the Spirit to walk in faith as an extension and expression of the heart of God in every relationship entrusted to you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses to the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer” (Psalm 45:1).
Let everything I write, everything I speak, everything I do be an offering to You, my Lord. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, Your words in my mouth. Express Yourself through my life every day.
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). “Whatever (I) do, (I willing choose to) do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). By the power of Your grace, working in me, in “whatever (I) do, (I) work at it with all (my) heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since (I) know that (I) will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ (I am) serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
So as I begin my day, I rededicate my life, my words, all that I am and all that I have, to You -- the God I love and the God I serve, with all glory to God, my Savior, my Lord, my King. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be anointed by the Spirit and Ever-Abiding Presence of the Lord in all you write and speak and do this day and every day to the glory of our God and King, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good Monday morning! Lord Jesus. I welcome You here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done” (Revelation 22:12).
One day soon, You’ll come again. One day soon, You’ll set things right again. And at the same time, as we yearn for Your coming, we also can’t help but wonder just what You mean by “soon.” It seems it’s been over 2,000 years since You spoke those words to the Apostle John and through John to us.
The Apostle Peter wrestled with the same question. And it seems You gave him this revelation, which he recorded by Your Holy Spirit in the Word of God, to help guide our hearts as we ponder Your sense of timing. He wrote to Your disciples in that first generation of the promise of Your coming, and continues to speak to Your disciples in every generation who are longing for Your coming:
“This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity!” (2 Peter 3:1-18).
That’s the key -- “be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.... Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Every generation of Your disciples has that same sense of urgency in their spirit -- that You are coming “soon.” Your sense of days and our sense of days are not the same. Neither is our sense of “soon” and the timing of “the day of the Lord.”
But every day is “the day of the Lord” between today and the day You come again. Every day is the day to be growing in grace, growing in our knowledge of You, growing in the surrender of our heart and sanctification of our souls, seeking to live out each day forgiven and free, with Your peace in our hearts, as we pray for and even hasten the coming of the day of God.
So give me grace, Lord, to be found faithful in You -- as best as I can and all by Your grace. Come soon, Lord Jesus! “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’” (Revelation 22:17) In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may keep growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to be found faithful in Him by His Holy Spirit at work with you until the day of His coming, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up -- here in my heart and every moment of my day (John 12:32). ...
Sometimes I find myself thinking of the regrets of my past. And probably “regret” is just a manifestation of past sins, past failures, past mistakes. But You’re always so kind to come to my rescue. You’re always so loving to remind me of Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your grace.
In those moments, I often think of the words of David in his Psalm of repentance and prayer, seeking to be restored to his relationship of joy with You. He cried out:
“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from Thy Presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit” (Psalm 51:7-12 KJV).
You “renew a right spirit within me” when I come to You like David, in confession and repentance, to embrace the grace of Your forgiveness.
And You are so ready to forgive, to cleanse our hearts, and to restore us to the joy of our salvation in You. You love to bring us back out of the darkness and lift up back up into the high place of Your Presence, when we turn to You with the gift of repentance to embrace the beauty of holiness of heart and life in You. As You said in Your Word through the Apostle John Your early Church:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
So why do we hide in our sins or get stuck in regret or squander the gift of repentance? As You also said in Your Word to Your early Church, when we “Humble (ourselves) in the sight of the Lord, and (You) will lift you up” (James 4:10 NKJV). So Your Word invites us to “Cleanse (our) hands, (as) sinners; and purify (our) hearts, (as) double-minded” so that we can once again “Draw near to God and He will draw near to (us)” (James 4:8).
When You spoke through Your Revelation to John to the seven churches of Your early Church, You called them to repentance so that they could overcome their sins and fulfill their calling, secure in their identity and fulfilling their destiny in You (Revelation 2:1 to 3:22). You reminded them that they had already been forgiven through the finished work of Your Cross, as the One “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to (our) God and Father” (Revelation 1:4-6). And at the same time, You called them to repentance, so they could walk in the light and be Your light in their world.
You said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.... To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:19-22).
Thank You for the gift of repentance and beauty of holiness. Thank You for restoring unto us the joy of our salvation when we turn our hearts over to You and return to the high place of Your Presence where You set us free from all regret. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be free from regret and restored in the joy of your salvation in Jesus through all He has done for yo, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
Preaching In Arab, Al This Sunday
I have a friend, Keith Monk, who is the pastor at Pleasant Grove UMC in Joppa, Al. Keith is out of town this weekend serving on a Kairos team in St. Clair prison and he asked me to fill in and preach for him this Sunday. I will be in the Arab neighborhood preaching at their 11:00am Sunday morning service if you are able to come visit and support/listen to me. Pleasant Pleasant Grove UMC is located 25 Pleasant Grove Rd off Hwy 67 at Joppa, AL 35087
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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- You are One and You are here with me. I worship You and welcome You into my thoughts, my desires, and my day, as I entrust them all to You, my Lord and my God. ...
I was at the Waffle House and a waitress who is a Christian told a customer something was bad Karma. The waitress looked at me and asked if I believed in Karma. I told her I do not. Karma is Hindu and Buddhist belief that ties into their belief of reincarnation that the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, are viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect) Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier rebirths (reincarnations)while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and bad rebirths. As a Christian, I do not believe in reincarnation and a cycle of rebirths based on your actions. That means that your salvation and destination when you die is based on you and your works and your accomplishments. I confirm that my future and salvation has nothing to do with my works or accomplishments but complete on the works of Jesus Chris in his accomplishment of salvation on the cross. However, the Bible does tell us we will reap what we sow.
"Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith" (Galatians 6:7).
As it turns out, how I spend my time, how I speak my words, how I invest my resources, how I live out the moments of my days that I have here on this side eternity have eternal consequences. I praise You for Your mercy and grace that I never have to earn or work for my salvation -- "for by grace (I) have been saved through faith, and this is not (my) doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast;" but at the same time, "(I am) what He has made (me), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be (my) way of life" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Even our "good works" that follow and flow out of our salvation -- the very seed You give us to sow, as well as the desire and the power to sow it and grow it -- is all by Your grace, inspired and empowered by Your Spirit at work within us. "For it is God who is at work in (us), enabling (us) both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12). Even when I'm sowing the "good works" of prayer, it's by Your grace and the leading of Your Spirit. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).
Our part is to participate with You. Our part is offer ourselves as willing vessels for Your light to shine through us and Your love to flow through us. That's the good seed we sow and the good works we do, deliberately choosing to align ourselves with Your will to fulfill Your purposes prepared beforehand to be our way of life, to produce the good harvest of the good fruit that comes from Your grace flowing through our lives. You continue to speak to Your disciples and sowers of Your seeds of every generation: "Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.... Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing.... My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples" (John 15:4-8).
Father God, in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, give me grace today to "sow to the Spirit" and not "sow to (my) own flesh." Let Your priorities become my priorities, Your thoughts become my thoughts, Your desires become my desires. Let me see what You're doing and hear what You're saying so I can follow and participate in Your leading (Romans 8:14). I pray for Your good seed to produce a good harvest that pleases You this day, in Jesus' name. Amen.
My family, I pray you may receive the Holy Spirit who inspires and empowers you to sow good seed that produces a good harvest that please our Father today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, Your words in my mouth. Make me more like You today. ...
“And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21).
The issues of our day and the challenges we face are new every morning. The cultural landscape, the political pitfalls, the clashing of accusations, the suspicions and suppressions, and all that would seek to divide us and conquer us, to steal and kill and destroy us -- all swirl around us and strike at us like a snake full of poisonous venom.
But our God is greater! And “the One who is in (us) is greater than the one who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4)
Every generation fights its battles. Every age has to come of its own, through all it endures and overcomes. But we cannot overcome and come of our own in the ways of Your Spirit if we’re trusting in the ways of our world.
More than ever, we need to hear Your voice. We need to learn to lean in to Your Presence, more deeply and intimately than ever before, so that we know that it’s Your voice we’re hearing and discern how You’re leading. For “(we) have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4).
But just as our issues and challenges are new every morning, so is Your grace and guidance, Your mercy and love:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in Him.’
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul that seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:22-25).
Come, Holy Spirit. Father God, speak to my heart. Lord Jesus, help me hear Your voice. I’m waiting on You and listening for Your leading to guide my steps and let me know in my heart, “This is the way. Walk in it.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you lean in to the Lord in deeper intimacy than ever before to recognize His voice and follow His leading, knowing in your heart, "This is the way. Walk in it", in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
“My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?” (James 2:1-5)
There is a false-self that tries to control, I would dare to say, everyone in this country. It is the false-self that tries to convince each of us that we are what we do. Does that ring a bell that resonates in you? Do you have a false-self that convinces itself that it is what it does? That is one of the primary identifiers in this country. You are what you do. Go to where to strangers are meeting each other and eaves drop on their conversations for 30 seconds. What do they ask each other? What do you do? Not only do we identify ourselves by what we do but we identify others by what they do.)
Hence the more someone does, achieves, and experiences, the more real the false-self becomes. All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my egocentric desires is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered. So I use up my life in the desire of pleasures, and thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge, and love to cloth this false-self and construct its nothingness into something that is objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself, cover myself in pleasures and glory like bandages, in order to make my self acceptable to myself and to my world like I was an invisible body, that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.
Tdoay is Labor Day. It is always the first Monday in Sept. Labor Day. The Government web sight: states Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Work is Important. Working is Biblical. There are many passages in the Old and New Testament on working, earning your wages, being self sustaining, not being lazy…ect. I have always been a hard worker. I got that from my dad. I function best at 110% of capacity. In most of the world, if you don’t work, you go hungry and end up homeless. But as important as working and your job is, and how much time you send at your job. Your work does not define you. It is not who you are. It is not what identifies you.
Especially in America where we so value titles, celebrities, status, people who make lots of money. America is where the first thing we ask each other is “What do you do?
Two men came into a church dressed the same, both neat and well groomed. In a conversation you ask them “What do you do?” One man says he sucks the human waist out of Porta-potties, cleans and maintains them.. The other man says he is a neuro surgeon, or the Mayor of Huntsville. You are going to use that info to identify them and “rank them.”
“My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?” (James 2:1-5)
However our false-self this is not who we are. It is a False-self. This is an ego centric self, trying to put forth position or importance that can only give us false peace, and false security in our identity. Because it separates us from God. “the false self stand between the true self and God”
Look at those, celebrities” who’s identity were in their doing and materialism: Robin Williams, Michael Jackson, Prince…they had the titles, they had the wealth, they had the materialism, they had the ultimate false self. But they were miserable, had anxiety and depression, and died
I have a brother who committed suicide. My brother’s suicide at its core was because his false egotistical self that took over his life. He wanted and sought after his experience and pleasures. Drugs helped him create and re-structure his reality. Another woman besides his wife is what his false-self needed to cover himself with. Providing materials things for his family, the other woman, having materials things: home, cars, was how he identified himself, so when he failed at providing them, that identity was taken away from him, to him he was nothing, no good to anyone, and better off dead.
My brother put his identity in his false-self and separated himself from God. So when all that made up his false-self was taken away, He was left with nothing but his own nothingness and for the false self which claims to be everything, such a discovery would be his undoing.”
This sin was as the beginning of the fall of man. Adam and Eve, egocentrically wanting their own experiences, own identity as eaters of the fruit, and this sin separated themselves from God.
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground,” (Genesis 3:19) The Hebrew word for “Sweat” in this verse does not mean physical sweat. It means sweat from anxiety, fear, stress
Are you in the top 1% of family income in the world? Those families making $32,400 or more a year are in the top 1% of family income in the world. Making $32,400 or more means you are making more money than 99% of families in the world makes. I would dare to say almost everyone reading this reflection is in the top 1% club. It’s a reminder of just how prosperous developed countries are compared to the vast majority of other people who share our planet.
We are the in the top 1% income wise, so why are we all so anxious, fearful, stressing, (by the sweat of our brows) making ends meet?
Everyone I talk to.stresses over the bills they have to pay, financial situations, if/when I can retire…ect. And we are all in the top 1%! America is in the top 1%, one of the highest income countries in the world yet we are also the country that is highest in depression, anxiety, suicides, bankruptcy, divorce….
It is because of this false-identity we place ourselves in.
My family, I pray gracious loving God, that those reading this recognize that we live in a false-self culture in which one of the primary identifiers is “we are what we do.” Lord from your words we know we are not what we do, we are what you speak forth for us to be. We don’t find our identity in our false-self but our true self in who God spoke us to be. That we are not primarily human “doings” we are human “Beings” who find their true identity in you and you alone. Lord help us divest ourselves of all the trappings of the false self, that we may find ourselves in you, our true self, hid in Christ with you. This we ask in the name of the father son and spirit, amen. Please pray this for me as well. God bless you my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, Your words in my mouth. Make me more like You today. ...
“And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21).
I briefly turned on the news this morning as I made my coffee. The issues of our day and the challenges we face are new every morning. The cultural landscape, the political pitfalls, the clashing of accusations, the suspicions and suppressions, and all that would seek to divide us and conquer us, to steal and kill and destroy us -- all swirl around us and strike at us like a snake full of poisonous venom.
But our God is greater! And “the One who is in (us) is greater than the one who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4)
Every generation fights its battles. Every age has to come of its own, through all it endures and overcomes. But we cannot overcome and come of our own in the ways of Your Spirit if we’re trusting in the ways of our world.
More than ever, we need to hear Your voice. We need to learn to lean in to Your Presence, more deeply and intimately than ever before, so that we know that it’s Your voice we’re hearing and discern how You’re leading. For “(we) have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4).
But just as our issues and challenges are new every morning, so is Your grace and guidance, Your mercy and love:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘therefore I will hope in Him.’
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul that seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:22-25).
Come, Holy Spirit. Father God, speak to my heart. Lord Jesus, help me hear Your voice. I’m sitting here in the quiet of my morning waiting on You, longing for you, and listening for Your leading to guide my steps and let me know in my heart, “This is the way. Walk in it.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may again make it a priority in your daily life to lean in to the Lord in deeper intimacy than ever before to recognize His voice and follow His leading, knowing in your heart, "This is the way. Walk in it", in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows what is good to do and does not do it is guilty of sin.” (James 5:13-17)
Last night my wife Nancy and I went and visited a friend of ours and grandmother. We brought her a meal for her family. Her 19 year old grandson tragically died at a party late Saturday night from what unfortunately appears to be an accidental self-inflicted gun wound. I was introduced to her grandson, I will call him “Adam,” around 5 years ago when he was 14 years old. He “dated” my daughter for awhile. Adam was a good kid at heart. He had a kind and loving heart who wanted to do the right thing. Unfortunately, Adam did not have the most upright role models in his life for which to model. His two brothers drank, used drugs, committed crimes, were in and out of trouble with the law and in and out of jail. He did not grow up in a “church family” that instilled morals and values. So he grew up imitating and being discipled by what he knew. In the year and a half my family had access to him we loved him and poured into him. Adam attended many of the house church gatherings in our home. When he was 15 he made the decision to accept Jesus and I baptized him. My family continued to love and share life with him. When Adam and my daughter “Broke Up” as teens do, my access to him grew less and less.
There were many issues and layers that led to the death of 19 year old Adam. As I sat in the living room of his crying grandmother my mind went to “I wish I had done more, poured into him more.” I am still reflecting on that this morning. Four years ago I performed Adam’s baptism. This Saturday I will perform his funeral. Today 40% or less families attend church or are active in their faith. That number declined more because of covid. That mens 60% or more of our children and youth are not raised knowing the OT Bible stories of Noah, Daniel, or Joseph. They have not participated in a Christmas story of the birth of Jesus or His resurrection at Easter. In the lives of our youth their may still be a grandparent, aunt or other family member who can pour into them the love of Jesus. But as time passes, these family members do as well. We need to be missionaries, not to a foreign country, but to our youth and to our young parents. We need to actively and intentionally seek to interact into their lives. As they need us in their lives.
My family, I pray as you sit there and read this reflection, you will ask the Holy Spirit to place in your mind and heart the names of children, youth, or young parents you have contact with like neighborhood kids and those of friends. I pray you will open your life to them, open your homes to them, and intentionally seek out and support outreaches in schools and other places that allow you to be present in their lives. “But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” And he placed his hands on them” (Matthew 19:14). I pray you imitate Jesus, and let the children come to you, in Jesus; name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using 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!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and every moment of my day. ...
This morning I’m reflecting on the goodness of God and the closeness of Your love from Romans Chapter 8 in The Message Version:
“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing Himself to the worst by sending His own Son, is there anything else He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us--who was raised to life for us!--is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing--nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable--absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:31-39 MSG).
Yes, Lord. With God on our side, how can we lose! “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!” (Romans 8:37).
And that gives me courage. That gives me confidence. That fills my heart with joy, fills my eyes with tears, and fills my mouth with praise! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be filled with joy in your heart, tears of joy in your eyes, and the praises of God in your mouth, as you know and realize His powerful, unending love for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!