On a Kairos weekend a team goes into a prison for four days to share the Gospel of the love and grace of Jesus with the inmates inside. Thursday evening, he first evening after all the inmates who will be participating have gathered and introductions are made, the weekend begins with a quiet time of reflection and meditation in the prison chapel. I have been asked a few times to give the first mediation of the weekend. The meditation hopes to begin to open the inmates up to self -examination and prepare them for the talks and discussions to come. The first meditation is titled “Knowing Yourself”. I have included the meditation here today as my post. Set aside some quiet time to meditate on how well you know yourself?
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:43-51)
I want you to think for a moment about what’s going on with Nathaniel in this story. As the story begins, we have Philip bringing Nathaniel to Jesus. At that point, Jesus has seen Nathaniel before, but Nathaniel had not yet seen Jesus.
Where had Jesus seen Nathaniel before? All we really know about that is that when Jesus saw him, Nathaniel was sitting under a fig tree, apparently by himself. I like to think he was meditating… getting to know himself.
That seems terribly unimportant, doesn’t it? But it was important enough for Jesus to have made a mental note of it. There was something about the fact that Nathaniel was just sitting quietly there by himself that got Jesus’ attention. We know from many occurrences in Jesus’ later life that he considered time alone to be very important.
When was the last time you tried to get off to yourself just to think?
Especially to think about yourself, take some time now and slowly, quietly meditate:
about who you are?
about how you feel?
about what’s important to you?
and about who is important to you?
think about what makes you happy?
and what makes you sad?
About what things make you feel good about yourself?
And what things make you feel bad?
About what you like?
And about what you don’t like?
In short, you need to think about who are you?
Do you know yourself?
How well do you know yourself?
Well, when Nathaniel was seen by Jesus, he was just sitting and perhaps thinking. And Jesus turned in to his thoughts and knew him.
And when Jesus greeted Nathaniel, Nathaniel knew that Jesus knew him. In that moment he thought of himself in a new way. Under the fig tree he had looked at his life from the inside. Now it was like he was seeing his life through the eyes of Jesus. It was like he was another person looking at his life from the outside.
Have you ever tried that: looking at your own life sort of from the outside? You should try it.
Try a game of imagination with me for just a little bit. Imagine that you are sitting quietly under a tree somewhere just thinking about your life. Now imagine that your mind can move somewhere outside of yourself and you stand off to the side looking down at yourself, at your own life.
There is no one else around. There is nothing there to distract you, so take your time. Take a good close look at yourself…at your life. What do you see? Whom do you see? What’s that person like when you look carefully? What mood can you read from the face… the eyes? Can you look into the heart? The soul? What do you see there?
When we are honest with ourselves, we may be surprised to find that we have many more good qualities than bad. When was the last time you have thought about your good qualities… the special gifts you have that no one else has?
We will also discover some qualities we wish we did not have. Yet, it is important that we be honest with ourselves and accept ourselves as we are, including our weakness. The first step toward overcoming our weaknesses is to admit that they exist.
It is very important that we know our condition if we hope to model our life after that of Jesus. This means being humble. The word humble comes from the Latin word humus, which means earth. To be humble is to be like the earth, open and receptive. The foundation upon which discipleship builds upon is honest self-knowledge which comes through humility and openness the Holy Spirit.
My family, I pray you will take time to now begin to know yourself. I pray you will continue to reflection this throughout your day, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share any reflections or insights you have gained from this meditation in the comments box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
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Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!” Psalm 50:23
I have been spending much time praying and reflecting on the Kairos team I served on this past weekend. One thing serving inside a prison does is instills gratitude into your life. It make you remember how thankful you are for all the simple things we take for granted that we have living free in our daily life.
On this past weekend serving in Tutwiler women’s prison, we make and serve the inmates fruit trays as part of their meals. A women inmate picked up a strawberry and started crying as it had been years since she saw or tasted a strawberry. Another woman inmate when she saw the salad that was served with a meal asked my wife, “Is that Romain lettuce?” When my wife said yes, tears came to the woman’s eye as she told my wife ”I Love romain lettuce” and then filled her plate with it and cherished every bite wile eating it.
On a Kairos weekend, the inmates are served lunch and dinner. Woman back at our team location cook home-made dinners for the inmates and runners bring them into the prison. At St. Clair Prison, all the inmates have long sentences. Most 40 years or more, 70% have life without parole sentences and are never getting out. For these men, it has been years since they had a home cooked meal, and the ones they receive on this weekend will be the last ones of their life.
I remember one Kairos I served on inside St. Clair prison for men.. One of the team members I served with owned a McDonalds restaurant. He donated hundreds of quarter pounders with cheese for a lunch meal. I was sitting at a table with 6 inmates eating, and one of the inmates asked if he could have my quarter pounder. I said' "Sure, I can stop on the way home and get one if I want, you can’t." As I slid the burger across the table to the inmate he said “Thank You.” I told him, “Your welcome.” He said, “No really, I mean thank you. You see I have a life without parole sentence and it has been 23 years since I last had anything from McDonald’s, and this burger you gave me will be the last one I eat before I die.”
We bring in metal folding chairs for the inmates to sit on. Folding metal chairs are far from a “luxury” item to you and II that we are thankful to have, and actually we usually hate sitting in them for an extended time period. However, to the inmates they are something special. At St. Clair, none of the places they sit have a back on them. The cafeteria and common areas where guys watch TV have tables with those built-in round seats with no backs. Out in the yard and other areas of the prison are picnic tables and benches. Except for the one or two times a year they get called into a prison administrators office, for the inmates this weekend will be the first time, and possibly last time they sit for an extended time in a chair with a back on it. They say it makes them feel like men.
There are so many things we receive a during every minute of every day we eat, use, wear, own, and experience in our day to day life we do so thanklessly and without gratitude. I am sure everyone of these men or women in prison did so as well. Until these things were taken away from them. The ability for me to sit here in my recliner and write this blog post, and you read it wherever you are sitting now, and to communicate on a cell phone is one I do daily without thinking about it. Cell phones are not allowed in prison.
Read Psalm 50:23, 60:30, 95:2; 1 Cor. 1:4; 2 Cor. 2:10-12; Philippians 4:6 Then take time to reflect to on all the things you have to be thankful for today.
My family, I pray as you go through the day today as you eat, wear, use, experience everything that is available to you, after reading this post, you will do it with a greater appreciation and a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Post any reflection, questions, words of thanksgiving in the comments section below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good Monday morning!
My wife Nancy and I got back into Madison last night from our time of serving the past four days on the Kairos Prison Ministry team going inside of Tutwiler women’s prison to share the Gospel of the love, grace, and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. For those four days the 30 women who attended were greeted each day with a welcoming smile of love and respect. They sat at 6 tables with 6 inmates and three team members at each table. They listened to talks and testimonies shared by the team and then at their tables shared their thoughts and personal connections and reflections on these talks. They were led to the prison chapel for times of prayer and meditations. They were led through forgiveness meditations where they were guided through how to forgive those who have inflicted pain and abuse into their lives, and as important, forgive themselves for the bad choices they had made, and receive the freedom and peace that passes all understanding only attainable in Jesus Christ.
The women were given an opportunity to share things and release things in their life that had scared and crippled them emotionally and physically. And for many, they were given a gift that most had not received in a long time if ever, the gift of simply being listened to without judgement, shame or fear of being humiliated or labeled. And this atmosphere led to a place both the listener and speaker entered into their deep brokenness, and through tears, hugs and prayers, release and restoration was made possible.
One women at my wife’s table shared she was caught in an abusive relationship with a man for 17 years. Both her and her children went through the hell of being physically and mentally abused that ended when the man committed suicide and she was placed in prison. The women was so broken she did not trust anyone and hardly talked at all the four days. Yesterday, on the last day of the weekend in a conversation the woman said to my wife in a soft voice, “I think I can trust Him, I think I can trust Jesus.” It was moments like this that made the getting the long days of getting up at 5:30am and getting back to rooms at 10:00pm more than worth it.
Listening = loving. So who do you have in your life to listen to you where you can honestly share the hurts, brokenness, fears, and challenges of your daily life? And who are you giving the gift of simply listening in love and allow them to share? We all need a safe small group of Christian men or women depending on your gender, where in holy confidentiality, honest sharing, encouragement, accountability, and prayer we can receive healing and encouragement on our daily walk with Jesus. No one is self-sufficient. Christianity is not a solo journey. Jesus modeled this for us in his small group of men he journeyed with.
My family, I pray this morning as you sit here and read this, the Holy Spirit will compel and convict you of your essential need to form a Band group, a small band of a few men or women to share, support and encourage each other in their daily walk with Christ. I pray the Holy Spirit will bring the names of those few people into your mind, and give you the courage to call them. Most will be honored that you thought of them to call. So by the end of this week a date and time for your first meeting will be set, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections on this blog post in the comments box below!
Below is an outline you can use for you small group to follow.
Begin with all praying together:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Those in the group then take turns answering these questions.
PIETY:
1.Overall, How is it with your soul?
2. Share one spiritual aid with which you have nourished your vital union with Christ and share how it nourished this union.
A. Personal Prayer B. Meditation
C. Song or music D. Spiritual Direction
E. Family Prayer G. Prayer Group or Church Gathering
G. Retreat or Quiet Day H. Other
3. Share one moment in which you felt closest to Christ, and why.
4. Share one moment in which you felt distant to Christ, and why.
STUDY:
5. Share one thing you have done to increase your understanding of your relationship with God and His Creation. What have you learned?
A. Scripture Readings B. Devotional, Theological, Christian living or other books
F. Group Study H. Other
ACTION:
6. In your attempt to witness or serve the Lord, what apostolic success did the Lord want you to accomplish through you this week?
* in your family * in your neighborhood * in your environment
7. With what failure/challenge did the Lord want to test you this week?
* in your family * in your neighborhood * in your environment
8. What unexpected opportunity to witness has the Lord offered you?
9. How was your plans for last week fulfilled? Plans for this week.
CLOSING PRAYER after all have answered questions and shared:
We give you thanks, almighty God, for all the benefits you have given us. You who live and reign forever and ever. AMEN
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
“Fan into the flame the Gift of God, which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6).
Holy Spirit, You are the Gift of God, which is in me. You’re the very Presence of the Living God, here within me and within every son and daughter of God who’s opened their heart to let You in.
“Or do (we) not know that (our) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within (us), whom (we) have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) “(We) are not in the flesh; (we) are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in (us)” (Romans 8:9).
Be fanned into flame, Holy Spirit of God. Burn in my heart, as I carry the Fire of Your Presence with me everywhere I go. Let the Life of Your Spirit bring the Life of God to all who’d touch with Your Flame through me. Give me a deeper understanding and greater revelation of all that it means to carry Your Presence and give away the Gift of God that’s in my heart. As The Message version expresses this revelation of Truth:
“If God Himself has taken up residence in (my) life, (I) can hardly be thinking more of (myself) than of Him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for (us) who welcome Him, in whom He dwells--even though (we) still experience all the limitations of sin--(we ourselves) experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into (my) life, He’ll do the same thing in (me) that He did in Jesus, bringing (me) alive to Himself? When God lives and breathes in (me)--and He does, as surely as He did in Jesus--(I am) delivered from that dead life. With His Spirit living in (me), (my) body will be as alive as Christ’s! (Romans 8:9-11 The Message)
Flame of God, residing and abiding in me, let me be fanned into flame, set ablaze, to burn for You today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray there may be an awakening of this desperate hunger for the heart of God in you right where you are and then everywhere God sends you, in Jesus' name. Please pray there same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I’m hungry for You and more of Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). ...
Back in February members of our House Church went together to see the release of the new movie Jesus Revolution, about the birthing of the Jesus Movement of the ‘70s. It’s based on the true story of a true revolution that made us laugh and cry and applaud out-loud with everyone else in the theater at the end. I received an email last night to purchase the movie that included the movie’s trailer which I watched. So as I get into my prayer chair to begin my day with Jesus today, Your Spirit is reminding me of another revolution from the Book of Acts:
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” (Acts 17:6)
And Your Spirit is stirring in me Your desire for another revolution in our day.
Come, Holy Spirit. Turn my world upside down and inside out until “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ!” (Revelation 11:15) Come set things right again -- in our hearts, in our communities, even in our churches, and across this land and to the ends of earth. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face” (Psalm 89:14).
Like the ‘70s, many are searching for the truth today in a world of confusion and deception. Many are searching for what is real and genuine, authentic and true, in a world of chaos and counterfeits, filled with fakes and phonies. Like in the 70’s, the world is ripe for another revolution, another Jesus Revolution! We’re hungry and thirsty for the Presence of God to come fill our hearts and turn our world upside down again. And from the outbreaks of revival, from the stirrings of awakening already breaking out before our eyes and in our hearts, that revolution of revival is already here and growing stronger by the day!
As You declared during the Jesus Revolution of Your day, when Your Light stepped down into the darkness of our world to turn the Roman world upside down and the Jewish world upside and the Gentile world upside down with Your Words of Spirit and Life and Truth, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).
That’s not a violence of division and strife grounded in hatred and evil, lawlessness and sin, confusion and chaos. It’s a violence of love that conquers all (1 Corinthians 13:8). It’s a violence of love that unrelenting and everlasting (Lamentations 3:22). It’s a violence of love that’s unafraid to stand up and speak the truth even when it costs you something (Ephesians 4:15). It’s a violence of love that will keep reaching out to every heart, keep speaking up of the One who is the Truth, keep burning with Holy Fire to set hearts ablaze with a renewed and revived passion for God, turning this world upside down until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father!” (Philippians 2:9)
Come, Lord Jesus. Start Your revolution in me!
The final Chapter of the final Book of the Bible expresses this hope and battle cry of this Jesus Revolution like this: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely!” (Revelation 22:17)
Jesus, As the Leader of this revolution, as the conquering King of this cultural war that been raging since the nearly the beginning of time, You declare to us and encourage us: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22:12) And as the final Words of Your final Book decrees: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with (us) all. Amen!” (Revelation 22:20-21) In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray may you be set ablaze with Revival Fire for the Jesus Revolution of our day, 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.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, break my heart today for that which breaks your heart.
“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage - I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33)
I watched the updates from the earthquake in Morocco with now over 3,000 dead and 6,000 injured and that number will rise Many of the cities and villages destroyed were in remote mountain regions that are extremely difficult to reach. My heart breaks for those living their in near poverty have lost family member and everything they own. A man trapped in the rubble of his home that was rescued tells how he heard his father and sister trapped in the rubble somewhere near him screaming in pain for hours until they died. The Winter rains are coming which will turn these areas to mud, and people there have no place to live.
Then comes the updates from the flooding in Libya caused by sever storms that caused two dams to burst with the count now of 6,000 dead and that number could rise to over 20,000. And tens of thousands more injured and now homeless. The dams broke around 3:00am in the morning while people were sleeping and washed away entire families. The dead in body bags lay open along the streets, mass graves are being dug for the dead, and they are running out of body bags.
And I mourn for them, my heart brakes for them, I pray for them and ask how can I help them? And as I pray I am reminded that these great tragedies are only a part of the ssever suffering of people taking place as I write this devotion: Those still suffering in Turkey from recent earthquakes; The Soviet invasion into Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians suffering. Civil wars in Darfur Sudan and many other African countries causing more suffering, starvation, gang rapes, and horrific conditions who live there; and the list of impoverished people suffering in countries caused terror, violence and war seems endless: Haiti, Lebanon, Pakistan, …..ect.
And all I can speak as I pray from the comfort of my recliner is Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
My family, God has a global view of suffering and salvation, “God so loved the world…” I pray you will Join me in prayer today for those in Morocco, Libya, and our brothers and sisters, around the world living in impoverished, horrific condition with little or no hope. Pray for the end of violence and peace, generosity and the sharing of resources with those in need, pray for repentance, restoration and renewal in the world, in Jesus name. I end every devotion with “God bless you my friends”. I pray this over my brothers and sisters across the world.
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
Lord Jesus, please be my vision as I begin my day.
“Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’ But the worker answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)
The elapsed time in this parable is around 5 years total since the man planted the fig until he checked for figs again and found none. It takes a fig tree two years before it is mature enough to begin bearing fruit and the man would started to look for fruit. And the parable states the man looked for fruit for 3 years. The point in any case is that more than enough time had been given to expect the tree to bear fruit. The purpose of a fig tree and why it even exists is to bear fruit. If it does not, as the man stated, what good is it? Cut it down and let’s plant and cultivate another tree that will bear fruit. In this parable, it is not actually fig trees Jesus is talking about, the parable uses a fig tree to represent his disciples, you and I Christians in the church. There are many more passages in the Bible that state the purpose of a Christian is to bear fruit. We read some of these passages in earlier chapter of Luke.
“Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (3:9)
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, “ 6:43-45)
I am continuing to reflect on our baptisms. There was an “unto”, a purpose for our baptism, that purpose is for us to bear fruit. And what is the fruit you are to bear? Jesus tell us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Making disciples of Jesus is the fruit we are called to bring forth.
For the fig tree, it takes 2 years before it is mature enough to bear fruit. For us, it is immediately after we are baptized. Compared to the parable, for some of you reading this it has been way longer than 2 years since you were baptized plus 3 years of Jesus checking to see if you are bearing fruit. Some of you it has been 10, 20, 30 or more years since you were planted by your baptism in the vineyard of God, natured, and expected to bear fruit. So, how much fruit in all that time have you produced and is in your basket? How many people have you shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with, then granted access to you lives and nurtured into a disciple of Jesus until they are producing fruit? How many pieces of fruit (disciples) have you produced in the last year? Last two years? If the owner of the vineyard looked at your walk as a Christian as he did the fig tree would he say, “I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?”
Listen carefully. Let those who have ears hear. If you are reading this devotion there is a good chance you call yourself a Christian. At the core of why you are calling yourself a “Christian,” and why you were created, baptized, redeemed and set apart was not to: attend church services on Sunday or watch them on line; attend house churches; attended Bible studies; attend men’s and women’s small groups;; attend Christian concerts and raise your hands in worship; attend retreats like Emmaus, Cursillo, Paseo, New Room, or other conferences; pray and read your Bible alone in your living room; read this and other devotions; read other books on Christianity. Yes, you need to and are to participate in these good things. And many of you have been participating in these good things for decades now. However, these things are all the “digging around” and “fertilizer” as described in the above passage to help you produce fruit and do what you were created, baptized, and redeemed to do, and that is make disciples. If you are not bearing fruit, you are “depleting the soil” and not fulling the purpose for which you exist.
Now this is where most people in their minds go into the rationalization, comparison to others, excuses, and self- justification for why they are not bearing fruit, making disciples. If the above passage applies to you as a Christian, please don’t go there. Just simply and honestly repent, ask Jesus for forgiveness, and intentionally make plans to make disciples. For some of you, you may not be bearing fruit because you have stopped, stepped away from, or gotten lazy in all those things that I listed that are the “digging around” and “fertilizer” that are needed to help you produce fruit and you need to start an intentional “fertilizing routine.” For some of you, you may not know how, and I’d love to help you.
My family, I pray you set aside time to honestly look at your walk with Christ and if you are bearing fruit, I pray you will not turn to rationalization but to repentance, not to comparison but to the cross and spend time with the Holy Spirit discerning how you will intentionally, without delay, going to begin bearing fruit and making disciples, 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.
Let me help you!
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community.. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Thank You!
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
This past Sunday I had the holy pleasure of baptizing 4 youths in good friends of mine’s swimming pool. I invited a neighbor and his family to come to the baptism and one of his children asked to be baptized and He himself went into the pool to remember and be renewed of his original baptism. As each youth came down into the pool and after they came up under the water those attending clapped and cheered. When all were baptized they lined up along the edge of the pool and the father of some of the youth anointed all the youths head with oil and another person spoke over them how they are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. We all then laid hands on them and prayed over them. It was a beautiful day of celebration of new life in Christ for these youths and a reminder of all those present of the new life we received in our baptism.
This day was a true example of the great commission by Jesus to all of us who are baptized in Christ to “go” baptize and make disciples. As none of these youth baptized ever attended an ODC Church Gathering and the conversations and explanation of the Gospel of Christ did not take place in a classroom but in the workplace. The father of some of the youth is a co-worker of mine at Lowes. And this day of baptism flowed out of our conversations on the Lowes sales floor and in the break room. through time spent sharing stories of our lives and family, I then was able to share my faith with him and allow him to share his faith with me. I learned hos his children and their friends were not baptized. So I contacted them, and invited them not to church, not to meet my pastor or youth leader, but invited them to my house for pizza. Where my wife and I shared our faith and simple testimonies of how our lives have been changed by Jesus and we answered their questions. Our personal time and love for these youth led to them being baptized.
My neighbor and his family who came to the baptism also came from my wife and I getting out and knowing our neighbors and sharing out life and faith with them. And I told you haw my neighbor wanted to be immersed again to remember and by renewed in his baptism. I had these youths who were just baptized themselves, speak the words and dunk my neighbor. To help them realize that though they had just been baptized minutes ago, they are now completely capable though the Holy Spirit in them to immediately start making disciples.
They are all invited back to our house tomorrow evening for chicken finger dinner and to share together about Jesus.
You all were called in and by your baptism into Christ were not simply called to go to church. But to obey Jesus’ commission to “go” make disciples. If each member of a small church of 100 people would each simply go and lead one person to Christ in a year, that church would double to 200 people. If they all would again simply just lead 1 person to Christ the next year, the church would grow to 400 members. If those 400 each simply lead 1 person to Christ in a year, at the end of 3 years that small church of 100 would have 800 members, be needing to build a new building or launch a new campus. It they do this for 5 years, they will have 3,200 members in there church and most likely now be the largest church in their community. And if they continue it will be the church Jesus envisioned that walls could not contain. Those in the church “going” and being the movement of God in their community is how The Church grows. Failure to “go” is why churches stagnate and die.
Have you personally through your connections and areas of influence and sharing of your life and faith led just 1 person to Christ this past year? Past 3 years? Past 5 years? Has it been more?
My family, I pray today you reflect on your commissioning by Jesus in your baptism to “go” and make disciples and honestly look at your level of obedience to this commission. Then don’t dwell or regret, but GO make disciples, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections with us in the comment box below!
Here are some photos from Sunday!
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel With Truth And Love
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of Godʼs utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil. Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity….teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this is what we intend to do, if God permits.” (Hebrews 5:11-6:4)
As I mentioned in my post yesterday, this Sunday I will have the joyous honor of baptizing 5 teenagers in a friend’s swimming pool.. They will each become a new child of God. The thought of a new infant comes into my mind.
For a new born baby to survive it is completely reliant on their mother. They are too young to feed themselves. To be fed they need to be embraced and coddled and the mother needs to place her infants mouth to her breast to receive milk. A mother breast feeds her child for a season out of necessity however, her child’s continued relying on her to breast feed it is not her goal. A mother’s goal is to ween and encourage her child into eating solid food and to grow into being self-sufficient. The season a mother breast feeds her child is around a year to 18 months. These days some mothers have extended this season to two years or so. However breast feeding a child for 4-5 years would be very questionable, weird and not in the child’s best interest. A mother breast feeding her child for 9-10 years would not be damaging to the health of the now grown child and discouraged. If a mother breast feeds her child when they are 15-18 years of age or older, they are both going to jail! Can you imagine a mother still breast feeding her 20, 25 or 30 year old child?
The author of Hebrews in these verses above applies this illustration of breast feeding to the Christian congregation in the church. When a person falls in loves with Jesus and accepts Him as their Lord, like the teenagers I will baptize Sunday, they become a new child in Christ. For the first year or so they need to be “breast fed” by the church. They rely on the church to teach them what their baptism entails and the Gospel; how to pray and seek out the Holy Spirit; how to read their Bible and search Scriptures, how to live out their Christian faith by tithing, serving others, sharing their faith and loving their neighbor as themselves; the need for repentance and being accountable to each other. However, just like a mother, the goal of the church is not to continue to breast feed its members, it is to disciple them, train them up to be able to self-feed themselves in the Word and prayer, to train them up to release them to share their faith and the Gospel with others, to grow them out of being a consumer in the church who asks, “What does the church and programs offer for me? Into a contributor who ask how can I offer and lead now in the church like leading small groups, leads and participates in ministries, gets in solved in community outreaches, mission trips, and begins to function as an adult, mature in their faith. This season of breastfeeding a new Christian varies from a few months to a year or so. However, Christians who after 4-5 years has not been weened by the church from consumer into contributor, those Christian are not healthy in their faith. And if a Christian who has been in the church for 10 years or more, who is not self- sufficient and mature in their faith, leading small groups and ministries, sharing their faith and baptizing others, and functioning as an adult, both the church and that Christian needs to be held accountable.
Yet unfortunately, I see way too many in the church today who have been members for 5, 10, 20, 30 years of more who still have to be breast fed by the church and have not matured from consumers to contributors in their faith. They still think, “Why has the pastor not called me to check on me” instead of “I need to call the pastor and check in on how I can help.” Or like a needy child they attend a church for what programs or ministries it has to offer them, instead of offering to lead a program or ministry. Or expect to be fed the Gospel from someone from a pulpit on Sunday’s, but fail themselves to share the Gospel and feed others Monday-Saturday.
My family, I pray over this weekend you will reflect on this. If you have been a Christian for 5 or more and attend a church family I pray you read and meditate on these verses this morning. “For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, yet you still need someone to teach you the beginning elements of Godʼs utterances! You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food! Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity….teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment! 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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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.
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Holy Spirit, come this morning and set a fire inside my soul, that I can’t contain, that I cant control.
This Sunday I will have the honor to baptize 4 teenagers in a good friend of mine’s swimming pool. It will be a joyful day of celebration! I prayed of this day and these youths this morning and my thoughts turned to baptism.
All throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament anointing of people, altars, places, and ministries was an act in which they were set- apart, commissioned, consecrated, sealed as God’s chosen instruments for his glory and his purpose. In you baptism, you also were set-apart, commissioned, consecrated, sealed as God’s chosen child for his glory and his purpose and you were also seals by the fire of the holy Spirit.
In the lexicon BDAG, Baptism, in Greek “Baptizo” from the word “Bapto,” means to dip or dye. A person in the first century would take his plain cloth to a “bapto” and if they dipped it in a pot of red dye, the dye would penetrate every fiber of the cloth and the cloth that came out would forever be identified as the color red. You in your baptism were covered in the blood of Christ through the Holy Spirit that penetrated every fiber of your being and you are forever now identified in Christ. (Rev. 13:19)
Baptizo, baptism also has another meaning. As a military term it means “to completely overwhelm, annihilate, and conquer”. Josephus, Antiquities, a Jewish historian at the time of the life of Jesus, wrote in 70AD describing Rome’s invasion of Israel and destruction of the Temple, “Israel was baptized by Rome.” The Temple was completely overwhelmed, conquered, and over-run by Rome.. When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit “invaded” every aspect of you spiritually and physically and your flesh was overwhelmed, conquered, and over-run by the Spirit. Just like the “Baptism” of Christ in his death and resurrection was a violent and cataclysmic event, so was your baptism, as you were baptized with and in Christ. (2Cor .5:17)
In Matt 3:11 John the Baptist cries out, “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am - I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. You were anointed by the Holy Spirit at your baptism and marked, set apart, consecrated, and sealed for God’s glory. You were overwhelmed and over run by the Holy Spirit and surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. How long has it been since you were baptized? Do you remember it? Are you living out that anointing and setting apart you received for being washed by the blood of Christ?
My family, I pray you read Acts 2:1-13, Joel 2:28-32 and the passages I’ve listed above. Then spend some time this morning in prayer remembering your baptism, and the anointing you received. Ask the Holy Spirit for a new anointing and refilling of his Spirit into your life. If you never have yet accepted being baptized and receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus and been made new, I pray to will accept it today. I’d love to talk to you about it, and I am sure your pastor, youth leader, spouse or a friend would as well. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!
Please share your reflections with us in the comment box below!
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel With Truth And Love
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I call on Your name and listen for Your leading, as I seek to begin this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
“We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-17).
Part of growing up into spiritual maturity, which is growing up into the image of Christ, is learning to speak the truth in love. Not just speaking truth, but also speaking it in love. Not just loving, but also speaking the truth. And part of that growing up is also getting the courage to speak up and stand up, even when it costs you something.
That’s how I felt last night as I was sitting in the break room at work and a conversation came up how they we should counsel our children on questions of their gender identity. In the conversation was a school teacher, a leader in another local church, and several other people.
In my understanding of Your Word and Your heart for Your children, we are created by God as male or female (Genesis 5:2). Our gender identity is at the heart of our humanity. Our gender identity is at the foundation of our sense of security, self-image, and true identity. And of course, there is a spiritual onslaught against our true sense of identity, at the heart of our humanity. “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10), and this is one of the primary targets of the enemy of our soul. And that attack is the most vicious against our most vulnerable -- our children. And that attack is most destructive when they are at their most vulnerable time during the formation of their understanding of their identity, especially in their school age years.
People in this conversation spoke positively about bringing into the minds and hearts of our children the dangerous and destructive principles and philosophies of what is masked in terms of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) -- which actually advocates for just the opposite. Their own words boldly declare their true intention of their “Commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion” which includes “gender expression” under what they call “diversity”.
In fact, “gender expression” means gender confusion. “Gender expression” means blurring the lines of our children’s true gender identity, when our children desperately need to know in the security of their true identity that they are created by God as either male or female, as either boys or girls. And that’s just one of the important issues involved and only one of the reasons why the initiatives of DEI are dangerous and divisive in identity of our nation.
Children’s brains are far from fully developed when they are in their school age years, needing security and stability, rather than confusion and subjection to dangerous agendas and ideologies. As parents and communities of the Christian faith, we are called and commanded to train up our children in the way they should go, according to the Word and Heart of God for them (Proverbs 22:6). So if we are to trust a partnership with our schools to help do that, we must express our voices, despite the outcry that our voices be silenced if they are contrary to the voice of this age.
I’m thankful for the hard-working teachers and administrators in our community who love our children and desire God’s best for them. But I am honestly concerned about hidden agendas of groups that say they want to help but their help comes at a great cost.
To say that our voices being expressed in questions and concerns for the protection and security and identity of our children are the voices of “a fringe group” would be dishonest. To say that our voices are an expression of merely a loud and scarry minority with extreme views would be spreading misinformation. To say that God-fearing, God-loving parents and community members expressing their God-given, constitutional, inalienable rights should just sit back and shut up for fear of retaliation and cancellation would be malicious intimidation.
These are not political issues; these are moral issues. These are not nonessential matters; these are matters at the heart and souls of the lives of our children.
Some of our Christian examples of speaking the truth in love fearlessly in the face of the voice of the age are Rev. Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And our greatest example of all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I believe Your Holy Spirit is giving me a growing conviction in my own conscience to follow their example to stand up and speak out -- “speaking the truth in love” -- as part of my personal spiritual journey of growing up in the spiritual maturity of Christ. Your Example is to be both as self-sacrificing as a Lamb and as bold as a Lion at the same time, as the Holy Spirit leads, according to the will and heart of the Father. No doubt, it will cost me something. But I put my trust in the One who has already paid the price. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may keep growing in spiritual maturity, speaking the truth in love by the Character and Example of Jesus, in Jesus' name. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel With Truth And Love
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, I seek you this morning so that the words “Lord Jesus” will not just be words that I speak but define the life I live out today.
But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesusʼ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For Peter and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so were James and John, Zebedeeʼs sons, who were Simonʼs business partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” So when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:20-31)
My daughter and her boyfriend each have a dog. They drove up together from Birmingham to spend Labor Day weekend with me and Nancy. Yesterday, I grabbed a fishing rod and took the dogs for a walk over to one of the ponds in a small park in our neighborhood. While the dogs ran around, I made a few casts and caught a couple small bass. I love to fish. However, the kind of fishing envisioned in the passage above is not the fishing we envision today with a fishing pole, line, bobber, and hook with bait or a lure. It was not a relaxing hobby of a fun outing that dad’s take their children to enjoy or people do to forget work and get out on the water.
The fishing in this passage is net fishing. It involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter that was cast out into the water and dragged back in over and over again. The occupation of fisherman was not fun or relaxing, but labor-intensive, hard work and this imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long , hard, hours, and often resulted in the disappointment on little or no catch of fish. Jesus called Peter out of his calling of a fisherman and the catching of fish; into the calling of of sharing the Gospel and the catching people. However, in catching people; the strenuousness of evangelism, the time, the work ethic that it required, the persistence and the dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal “catch” orresults) is the same as in catching fish. Yet the infinite value of the new "catch" (the people), and of snatching people from judgment into grace and new life has eternal significance. Then catching people in a way is the opposite of catching fish: The fish that were caught would be destroyed: killed, cooked, and eaten. The people that will be caught would be saved, rescued, removed from eternal destruction, and given new eternal life. In His saying, "You will be catching people", Jesus turns the miracle into a metaphor for mission for all who follow Jesus, including you and me today. We also accepted Jesus’ call to become “fishers of people” when we were baptized.
My family, I pray as we celebrate Labor Day and our whatever different callings and careers (fisherman) we have, you will be reminded and recommitted of your calling you promised to enter into in your baptism of being a fisher of people. I pray you will reflect on the level of your work ethic, persistence, and dedication currently in your life to catching people. I pray you will realize the infinite value of your “catch”; your neighbors, co-workers, classmates and others, in Jesus name. Please pray the for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me In Fishing For People!
Help Me Share The Gospel With Those In Troubled Waters!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
This morning I read a report on the struggles of The Church and Christians in an area of India. They are trying to overcome social, political, religious and caste system limitations and persecutions. While reflection on these Christian’s struggles the the Lord spoke to me iand this passage in the Beatitudes came to me from Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” I started meditating on how I can help instill my church and others the DNA to desire and a hunger for sharing the Gospel.
As I meditated on this it struck me, “How do I instill a DNA of a hunger and thirst for Jesus into a community that has never experienced true hungered or thirst before?” This illustration worked great for Jesus in his context, because almost all of those he was speaking to knew in a nation occupied ny a Roman army and had experienced many time starvation and true hunger and thirst. It was part of their daily lives. They had experienced and knew the true desperation for something to eat or drink, like their life depended on it. How many reading this post have experienced long periods of true hunger and thirst and smuggled to find enough food or drink to survive? I never have. Yes, on my mission trip to Southern Darfur there were days we did not eat because there was no food, and I was hungry and thirsty, but I knew it was temporary. I knew in a few weeks I would be flown out back to Kenya and eat my fill. And I have have fasted for many times for various lengths of days and was hungry but it was intentional, food was available around me if I chose to eat it. There was no desperation, life-threatening drive in me to seek out food and water. Again, most of those reading this letter, have never felt this true desperation in hunger and thirst. We do not know how to relate to it.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” But what would that mean if he was speaking to the crowd reading this post who were already blessed materialistically, have fridges and pantry’s full or food, and are satisfied? We in our comfort and materialism are already satisfied! We don’t know how hunger and thirst for food, so we sure don’t know how to hunger and thirst for Jesus! And then to go another step further and to hunger and thirst for others to know Jesus. We lack true desperation and true urgency.
So How do I lead and instill a hunger and thirst for Jesus in a community that has never experienced hungered and thirsted? Lead them to experience the authentic Jesus. Lead them into a place where through the interaction of the Holy Spirit with their Spirit they will Like Saul, have a Road to Damascus experience and encounter Jesus. That experienced changed the identity of Saul to Paul. It is actual holy, paradigm shattering, identity changing encounters with Jesus that create a hunger and a thirst for more of him. More Jesus, more righteousness, more of a heart that breaks for the lost, more desperation share our faith with unbelievers. Where they “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8) and experience “Our God is a consuming fire. (12:29). Wherethey hear Jesus and experience Jesus calling out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38)
Leading people to experience the actual, living Jesus in a real tangible way so that the good news of Christ is not just “The Gospel story” but “their Gospel story” is my calling. And the calling of everyone of you who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good.”
My family, I pray as we enter into the long Labor Day weekend, you take time to meditate as I am doing on “What do I hunger and thirst for? How do I increase to the point of desperation my hunger and thirst for Jesus and the lost? And then just don’t meditate on it, but actually go, spend some time in that hunger sharing the bread of life with others this weekend, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel With Those Who Are Hungry!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I declare the power of Your name over every moment of my day (Philippians 2:10). ...
“Now on the same day two of (Jesus’ disciples) were going to a village called Emmaus.... While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself came near and went with them.... Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things about Himself in all the Scriptures... 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?’” (Luke 24:13-32).
“All the Scriptures” speak of You. The words of Moses. The words of the prophets. The words of Paul,. As it turns out, it’s all about You!
Holy Spirit, come like a Fire, as I sit here this morning with my Bible open, You burn in my heart and open my eyes to see Jesus in “all the Scriptures” ...
Lord Jesus, You’re the Point of every parable. The Hero of every Old Testament Story. The Object of Our Affection in every Psalm and every Song of Solomon. The Nugget of Wisdom in every Proverb. The Glory of God revealed and perfectly expressed as human form in every Gospel. The Author and Finisher of our Faith of every Epistle of Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude. The Soon and Coming King and Ultimate Restoration of All Things in the Book of Revelation.
My Heavenly Father, in every Word of Your Scripture, let me see Jesus. Let me know Jesus. And as Jesus Himself draws near to me in every Word about Him, let my heart burn within me with Your consuming, eternal Flame of Holy Fire. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may open your Bible this morning and throughout this weekend and your life and the Flame of Holy Fire burn in your heart as You see Jesus in all Scriptures and let Him draw near to you in every moment of Your day, in Jesus' name. God bless you my friends!
Pease share your reflections and prayers with us in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me Making Disciples!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2Cor. 1:3-6
If you read my reflection blogs fairly regularly, you know that many of my morning posts flow out of encounters with people were by simply listening to them I was granted Holy entrance into their lives. I was at Lowes Monday, and they are already setting upend putting out their Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. I was talking with a fellow employee setting up a Thanksgiving display. The conversation turned toward the upcoming holidays. The employee shared her mother had passed away this past June. She was very close to her. She said this would the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without her. Their family always went to her house for holiday gatherings and meals and this year it will be so different and she does not know what she will do. I just listened and let her share “life” with me. Then there in the seasonal aisle of Lowes, I prayed with her.
We all, including myself suffer from loss. Loss of a spouse or other family member, a recent divorce, loss of a job, a recent move away from family, can all create emotions of sadness and depression. And we al, including myself, need others, someone to simply listen to us share our feelings to get through it. Real conversations, not just on online Facebook or other post and comments.
I post a blog daily to in someway allow us to be in conversation together, Though I ask for readers to share their reflections and thoughts, it is usually a one- way conversation in which I am the one talking, However, I want you to know I am here for you. I want you to remember my door is always open, the coffee pot is always on and my sofa is always warm and a place of peace and non-judgement. Any one,, whoever you are.... who simply need to chat are welcome to contact me anytime. It's no good suffering in silence. I have cold drinks in the fridge...tea & coffee in the cupboard and I will always be here....You are never not welcome!! Starbucks and Waffle House are open where we can gather to talk as well or go grab a beer. You never have to go through a difficult season in life alone. You never have to suck-it-in and push through a gloomy overcast day of depression, loneliness, addiction, fear, frustration, or thoughts of suicide alone. It's always good to talk but its even better to listen, and to be listened to. Some days this hits closer to home than we think. I'll always lend an ear and a shoulder and my heart. My hands are always ready to raise in prayer. Call/text me Gary Liederbach at 256-302-3785
My family, I pray you read the passage from 2Corinthians again. Then reflect on your life situations today. Maybe you need to call someone today to talk. I know if you pray to the Holy Spirit, he will lead you to a name you need to call and simply listen. OR maybe the same Holy Spirit will lead to a person’s name you know may be going through a life situation you need to not text, not FB, but actually call and talk to. Or a co-worker or class mate you need to step in and ask to listen to them, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Pease share your reflections and prayers with us in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me Making Disciples!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I was in the Waffle House talking to a waitress. A man walked in and sat down at the other end of the counter. The waitress walked over to him, chatted with him, took his order, poured his some coffee, then came back to where I was sitting . She asked me if I knew the man and I said no. She said you should go and meet him because he is “A Good Christian.”
At hearing the words, “A Good Christian,” my discipleship mindset kicked in. What is a “Good Christian?” We in the church both hear and and say that phrase when people are described. “You need to take your car to get worked on by Bill, he’s a “good Christian.” Or “Your child is lucky to get Ms. Sally as their teacher at the school, she is a “good Christian.” We say and hear it all the time, but what does that mean? Does being a good Christian equate to being a disciple of Christ? How are the characteristics and competenciesthat a person exhibits through the lens of the church the same and/or different than the those exhibited as a disciple of Christ through the eyes of Jesus? Is a good Christian someone who imitates a church or Jesus? Is a church creating those they describe as good Christians, the same a church creating those Jesus would describe as his disciples?
See, I went to church consistently for the first 16 years of my life. I was a “Good Christian.” The church baptized me, taught me the creeds, taught me the liturgies, confirmed me, taught me the seasons and rhythms of the church, and taught me when to stand up, sit down, and kneel. I was awarded and accepted or my ability to jump through these hoops. I knew some Scriptures but I did not know Jesus. The church never discipled me, It did not have an apprenticeship process, but gave me lots of information and class room settings. It never invested the time walking me through my garbage, creating places where I had to confront Jesus, had to confront what needed healed, confronted what needed loved, so I never fell in love with Jesus. When I was 18, I chunked the church in the trash. It wasn't until 7 years later, around the age of 25 because of some "God" events, that I began slowly returning to church again. And I once again began doing the "good Christian” things of going to church services, singing the right songs, attending class rooms and jumping through hoops again. I was again a "good Christian." Yet I was still an unhealed, white washed tomb. It wasn't until I was 34 that I encountered someone who made me realize that it is not simply about the service, the songs, the hoops, or my comfort, but confronted me about becoming open and honest before God, confronted my “good Christian” life as compared to a life of a disciple of Christ:, confronted me and took the time to mentor me like Jesus would.
If I asked you Identify between 8-10 core competencies that represent the bare minimum standards for every disciple of Jesus, what would you say they are? Ccompetencies that are simple, repeatable, transferrable and scaleable. The minimum standards a disciple needs to be fairly competent possessing.. If I were to make a list, my top 7 would be:
1. Personal Prayer: The ability listen to and speak to God
2. Bible Reading: Ability to self feed in the Word, and get proficient in the Word
3. Public Prayer: Ability to pray over others
4. Personal Testimony: Ability to Share with someone, to be able to answer this question, “What difference does it make in my life today by following Jesus?”
5. Gospel: Ability To Share the Gospel, Good news of Jesus from creation, to fall, to crucifixion, resurrection and assencion of Jesus and how if applies to a person’s life and after death.
6. Discipleship: Ability to disciple another individualThen think, What is the process by which someone
7. In an accountability group. Be Accountable to others.
The How? How will I/others develop these minimum competencies? Have you developed these competencies? What is in place in your life, your church, small groups now, to intentionally grow in each area? What needs to be created or entered into that will instill these? Also, what are you doing that is not developing these, and why then are you doing them?
What tools may help reaffirm and cultivate each of these competencies? Do you possess them? Does your church possess them? If not, where do you find them?
How are you provided support & accountability for growing in these areas? How are you providing support and accountability to others to grow in these areas?
Jesus is constantly trying to find out who really wants to be his disciple. And so he keeps pushing and prodding and questioning and putting it out there until some leave, some commit and go all in. or some exist in complacency.. If I am honest, most churches I attended in my past did not do this, but left the option to simply attend, tithe, and be a “good Christian” open to me. What about your church? If you are in the Huntsville Alabama area, I would love to help your church or small groups grow in Discipleship of Jesus Christ.
My family, I pray this morning you will pray then reflect on your level of competency of basic, minimal competencies of a disciple of Jesus. You ability to mentor other in them, and how and where you are doing it, in Jesus name.
Please post and share your thoughts, reflections, questions, or prayers with us in the comment box below.
Please Partner With Me Making Disciples!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
My reflection from 6 years ago.
My morning office is the Waffle House. About 3 months ago I went into the Waffle House (WH) and I sat down in a chair at the “low bar,” the bar you can sit at that is at normal chair height. I did not notice the used coffee cup that was on the bar in the back next to the menu rack in front of the chair I sat in. It belonged to a man I will call Chuck., who happened to have gone outside to smoke a morning cigarette. Chuck is a man who comes frequently to the WH. He is a “rough” and crude man in his late 60’s or 70’s. He cusses allot and gives the waitresses and customers a hard time and is sharp with them when he is “in that mood.” Chuck walked back into the WH, saw me sitting in “his chair,” walked up to me and said coldly “Hey mother F*%ker you are in my seat!” I turned to him and before I could say a word the two waitresses who were standing there almost jumped over the bar and verbally attacked Chuck. One said, “Now you listen here you mother F&%ker this man here is a f*#king man of God and if you ever talk to him like that again I will kick your f*cking @ss!!“ The other waitress jumped in, “ Ya you d#ck, he is my f*cking pastor! What the f@ck is wrong with you.!” Show some f@cking repect! The waitresses high fived each other and one said to the other. “Sword of the spirit b#tch!” And Chuck turned and walked out.
I sat there and processed what had just happened! First, the waitresses have never come to an ODC gathering, though I have invited them many times. And I never told the waitresses I was their pastor. But because of my coming into the WH four or five mornings a week and talking, listening, and praying with them it appears that is how they saw me. The other day the waitresses were talking about how life seemed to be attacking them. I took out my phone and I read to them from Ephesians 6 about the armor of God and explained it to them. And the one waitresses shouting “Sword of the spirit b#tch” shows they were listening and retaining what I told them, I just need to work a little more on their application of that verse!
Fast forward to a month ago. I was walking in the WH and Chuck was outside in the front smoking. I said good morning to him as I was walking by and Chuck kind of quietly and nicely (especially for Chuck!) asked if I had a moment. I told him sure and stopped by him. He said quietly as he looked at the ground, “I know you are kind of a religious guy and it’s not that big of a deal but I was wondering if you would pray for me for something. “I said, “Sure what’s up?” And he went on to say that the Doctors think he may have prostrate cancer and he had a test today to confirm it. I said, “of course,” but before I could say anything else he opened up and told me a story for about 10 minutes. The short summary of it was that he used to go to church a long time ago and was kind of close to God. Then he was drafted to Vietnam to fight in the war. He said he did some things there he was not proud of, things God could not forgive him for. He said in attacks on villages he shot and killed enemy soldiers who were just kids, also women, and elderly. He saw children killed and witnessed and participated in other atrocities of war. He stopped praying after the war and has never gone back to church since he came back to the states. When I asked to pray with him there he said no, he had to leave, but for me to pray as you feel God will listen.
As he walked away my heart both mourned for him and was convicted for me. I had joined in with others at the WH at times commenting on Chuck and his behavior. However, the reason Chuck was an angry, and hurtful man is he was filled with guilt that separated him from God. Guilt from things he did he thought were not forgivable. And I thought, I know and preach that God can forgive anything, I have never put him to “the test” of his forgiveness like Chuck has to. If I was the one looking down an M-16 and watching bullets splatter bodies of kids and women from my gun and trigger I was pulling, the event might make me an even bigger, hateful, guilt filled ass than Chuck. It reminded me that people are never the enemy.
Fast forward to yesterday morning. I was in the WH at the bar talking with customers and the waitresses when Chuck walked in. He walked over to a side bar he never sits in by himself and sat down. No cussing, no loud comments to people as he came in the restaurant. He looked devastated. One of the waitresses said they heard his son had died the previous night. My spirit told me to go sit in the chair next to him and I did. I said good morning to him and he said hey, and his eyes began to fill with tears. I told him I had heard that his son had died and if it was true, and if so I was so sorry. We talked again for 20 minutes. Summary, he told me his son who was 31 years old and some of his friends, Chuck, and Chucks wife, (his son’s mother) were out on the front porch talking. His son told his friends how he had bought a new pistol. They asked to see it. He went into his truck and got it out, removed the clip, and thought the gun was empty. It was not. He came back to the porch and in handing the gun to his friend when somehow it went off and the bullet hit is son in the head from less then 2 feet away. They rushed him to the hospital but he died a few hours after he arrived. Chuck said he and his wife witnessed it. He could not get the sight out of his mind. It reminded him of the war. He had to come home from the hospital and clean his son’s blood, hair, and other parts from the side of his house and porch. Tears were flowing down his face. He asked me if this was God’s punishment for the kids he killed in Vietnam. I said of course not and we talked awhile. His son had a wife and two kids 8 and 10 years old.
After we finished, I went home and my wife and I took the chicken I had grilled for dinner, along with sides, bread and a dessert, and I put it in a box and took it up to the WH. I also wrote a note to the family stating I was praying for them and asking to let me know if I could help in anyway with my phone number on it and put it in the box as well. I pulled into the WH just in time as Chuck was walking to his car to leave. I parked, got the box and gave it to him. Chuck teared up again as he took it. He said I did not have to, but I insisted, told him I was praying for him, and I left.
Fast forward to today. I received a call today from Chuck. He thanked me for the food. He then said he and his family do not have any money. They are getting the cheapest cremation they can, and just going to do a remembrance service at their home. Their family does not attend a church, they do not know many church people, let alone preachers, and he asked if I would be willing to come to their house and share from the Bible and some words over their son and their family. I told him I would be honored to.
I have been going to the WH regularly for over 4 years now. Sometimes I wondered if I needed to continue going. Only one or two people, employees or customers, have ever came to an ODC gathering. So if you go by traditional church metrics, my time investment has not led to “church” growth or increased “numbers in the pews.” It has not resulted in one penny going into our offertory plate or pastor support. It actually costs me money every week. Yet God reminded me of my prayer I say to him every morning, which is, “God, please send me today the ones that no one else wants.” No one wanted Chuck, even I found it hard to be around him. But God through just being faithful has given me an amazing opportunity; to be welcomed into his house; a house, a circle of family and friends that no other pastor has ever been invited into, and share the love of God with them. And that is my hearts desire, not to see them as an “evangelists projector opportunity” but a family in pain that simply needs the love of God, and to love them. I pray I may honor this.
My ODC family, I pray today you will be led by the Holy Spirit not to seek and enter into some structured ministry with people, but just simply enter into life and the lives of people. That in your daily set schedule you will allow and come to expect, even long for interruptions from two things: God and people. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please post and share your thoughts, reflections, questions, or prayers with us in the comment box below.
Please Help Me Reach The “Chucks” In My Community!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Lord Jesus, I begin my morning in desperate need of your presence in my life.
“Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
My devotions this week began with out need to know our families intimately and pray specifically for them. The following days God’s Spirt led me to share devotions on marriage and faithfulness, then our need for community and connection, then God’s Holy Love taking the long view. As our house church reflected on in our den last night over the Beatitudes, “Bleesed are the pure in heart”, those hearts pure in love All my reflections this week can be traced back to love: Love go God, family, in our marriages, with our neighbors, in determining out outcomes. As Paul states above, Lord Jesus let my love for You and my love for others be pure -- untainted and undefiled by self-seeking and self-serving motives. Let my love for You and for others include patients, kindness and not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude, not insisting on my own way, not irritable or resentful, never rejoicing in wrongdoing to others but always rejoicing in truth, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things to never end.
"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor" (Romans 12:9-10).
Lord Jesus, form in me a love that is genuine. And as I genuinely love You and love others, help me love genuinely myself as well (Matthew 22:37-39). Help me love with a genuine, authentic love that shifts the spiritual atmosphere, that changes hearts and minds to change the world, beginning with our own. This is the Spirit and the Presence and the power of God living true through us (1 John 4:16). Lord, increase my capacity to love and be loved genuinely today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Lord may increase your capacity to love and be loved genuinely today. May the Holy Spirit give you boldness to love others and allow others to love you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I shared my insights and prayers from todays passage with you. Please share your insights and prayers with me and others in the comments box below.
Please post and share your thoughts, reflections, questions, or prayers with us in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Weekday morning Devotions are also published daily on my “ODC Daily Message” Facebook page.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
