Good morning, Lord Jesus. O come, O come, Emmanuel. Come into my heart and every moment of my day, O Lord, my God who is always with me.
"Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a Child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver the Child. And she gave birth to her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in bands of cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn" (Luke 1:4-7).
Joseph and Mary had to get up and go to a different place than where they had been in order to be in the right place at the right time for the purposes and plans of God for their lives. They lived in Nazareth, but their Child, the Messiah, was prophesied and destined by the Word of God to born in in Bethlehem. "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me One who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.... He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and He shall be the One of peace" (Micah 5:2-5).
And just as it was a different place than they would have expected, it was also at a totally different time than they wanted. They planned to be married and they planned to conceive a child together and Joseph planned to impregnate Mary. But Mary was to be pregnant with her Child before the marriage and bear a child as a virgin, as prophesied and destined by the Word of God. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look the virgin is with Child and shall bear a Son, and shall name Him Emmanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
And though there were so many prophetic words and dreams, angelic visitations and supernatural encounters surrounding this historic, divine event, it was not an angel or a prophetic word that moved Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be in the right place at the right time to fulfill their destiny. Rather, it was the command of a pagan ruler by a secular governmental decree that strategically positioned them for their divine purpose. "In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered" (Luke 2:1).
Though You are the God of the supernatural, Your means are often naturally supernatural -- using natural events, circumstances, and relationships to position us in the right place at the right time to fulfill Your purposes for our lives. And though You are sovereign and You see everything that will happen and You know every choice we will ever make, You also allow us the freedom to make our choices that position us for Your purposes (John 7:17; Galatians 5:13; Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:15).
Joseph had to make his choices (Matthew 1:24). Mary had to make her choices (Luke 1:38). And they had to make their choices together, which positioned them in the right place at the right time (Luke 2:5). Your hand was at work in it all; and at the same time, so was the freedom of will of the ones You had chosen to accomplish Your will.
Lord, give me grace to sense the leading of Your Spirit in line with the purposes of Your will for my life. Like Joseph and Mary, I want to be strategically positioned for Your divine purposes through me. It may required of me to go to a different place, and at a timing that is not what I wanted. However, let me be found faithful, in the right place at the right time, secure in my identity and fulfilling my destiny. "For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Ephesians 2:10). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you seek and sense the leading of the Holy Spirit, who desires to strategically and divinely position you in the right place at the right time to fulfill God's purposes for your life. And I pray in your freedom to respond you will have the obedience, courage and peace to go where He leads you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share you prayer requests in the comment box below.
As the year draws to an end, PLEASE give and help Nancy and I help them!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC.
Good morning Jesus, Lord of my life, Light of my life, Lover of my soul.
This coming Sunday December 3rd we began the season of Advent in the church. A time of anticipation and hope as we await Christmas and the birth of Jesus, Emanuel, “Christ with us.” Advent is also the beginning of the church year, “New Year’s Day” in the church calendar. And just as we will make resolutions and commitments of on January 1st, the beginning of the secular New Year, I asked for us to make resolutions and commitments to The Church and our faith as we begin the new church year.
I ask you, I ask us in the upcoming year, as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ in the world, if you are willing to be discipled by, and help disciple others in our church to imitate Jesus, so we in turn can disciple others to imitate Jesus. That for the next year to be obedient to a life of prayer and fasting that is extraordinary. To resolve to spend time in the Bible reading God’s word beyond the ordinary. That you will commit to join a Band group, an accountability group, and be willingly to become completely open, honest, and vulnerable to each other. Be willing to become both accountable to, and accountable over each other and to speak love and truth into each other. To be willingly to go deeply" inward," so we can be a church that leads others deeply "inward", a church that is not superficial.
I asked this coming year if you would be willing to make The Church the main thing you support with your tithing; tithes of money, time, prayer, and opening of your homes.
I ask in the coming year as part of The Church "outwardly," to agree to help be formed and form each other into missionaly focused lives. Who's heart weeps for their neighbors and the lost. Who's focus is not on themselves, but on others, on serving, on the cross. To be willingly to be stretched "outwardly," so we can be a church that stretches others "outwardly," and is not complacent in its view of the pain and injustice around them
I ask in the coming year if you are willing to make a covenant with each other in our faith, in The Church and with God, that to the best of your abilities and with the help of the Spirit, you are "all in" to the re-birthing and renewing of The Church. And if It sounds intense and serious to you, that is because it is. That is because there is an enemy, and adversary, Satan and his minions who are serious and intense in seeing that The Church does not revive and grow, or what does grow is worldly and self-serving church. The enemy wants nothing more than to see us: good, sincere, talented, gifted, and gracious people get destroyed or wounded, or help in the destruction or wounding of others, because they are trying to do a job they are not in covenant with God and committed to undertake. Trying to achieve this Holy objective without a covenant relationship and support of others, without prayer coverage or founded in God’s Word..
This is why I am encouraging you to start Band groups as they are so vital. My wife Nancy and I have discussed what blessing it is to help lead the gatherings we lead in churches, in our and others homes, and out in our community in bars, laundromats and to have these become beacons of light in the darkness. We desire that you start up and help lead in these gatherings of light. To do so you need to be grounded in Word and prayer. For these beacons of light are also seen by the enemy, who rages against the light, and so he has placed a bullseye over churches, our community gatherings and over our house. When I pull out of my drive everyday and start to drive off, I always stop, and look back over at my house before I leave, and pray over my wife Nancy, daughters Paris, and Milan, and myself for protection and power. Satan rages against the light and the Jesus he sees in us. And as you commit to grow God’s kingdom, Satan will place a bullseye over you, as he also rages against the light in you, the love, the Jesus in you for our church and others, and, your participation in the birth of more light.
Yet we have nothing to fear if we covenant with God and put on the full armor of God. Because if Christ is for us, who can be against? Whom shall we fear? Nothing and no one, IF WE GO “All IN." "All in" in Christ, "All in" in prayer, "All in" reading the Word, "All in" Band Groups in supporting each other. It is when we think that we can play around and go "half in," "most of the time in, "some of the time in," against an enemy that is always "all in," that we are in danger.
You all have wonderful and amazing gifts and hearts open to God that can and will be used to building Gods kingdom and his church. I see it in each one of you. God see’s it in you. He created these gifts in you! The question you need you honestly answer this Advent is if it is The Church, at this season in your life, that God called you and created you into, that you are willing to go “All in” and help build for His kingdom. I pray it is so. If so, you do so knowing that you will experience both the immense joys and immense pain that is required both is giving birth and in re-birth. You need to know for certain you will experience both. They are as certain to happen, yet unknown as the joys and pains parents know they will experience from birthing a child. Yet they also know and understand the covenant it requires of them in giving birth.
Why am I asking for your commitment, why I am asking for these things to be your focus? Your souls and hence the soul of The Church, since it is made up of us, people with souls, will be affected.
Everything is coming together to confirm this in me.
And here’s the thing: God is going to grow his kingdom, regardless of what I or we in the church decide. Plain and simple: He is going to use those things, those people that are all in, and remove those things that are not.
God will use this same answering machine message towards his churches as He used in Revelations chapter 2 & 3.
“ʻI know your works as well as your labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have even put to the test those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false. I am also aware that you have persisted steadfastly, endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love! Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! Do the deeds you did at the first; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place - that is, if you do not repent.” Revelation (2:2-5)
Repent: turn, change, what you are focusing on, magnifying, submersing yourself in.
First Love: relationship with Jesus: prayer, Bible, Accountability.
Question: Where is the church of Ephesus today? Answer: It is gone, erased in the sands of time. It did not repent, it did not change, it did not return to its first love..it was shaken
It received a message from God asking it to go “all in”. It did not. So God removed from Ephesus its lampstand, its light, its influence…turned out the lights..
And if this can happen to mighty Ephesus, a church God once used mightily, if God removed its lampstand, its light, its influence, it can happen to any church, including yours.
Ephesus’s lampstand was removed by God, but He did was not destroyed it immediately, like He did with Sodom and Gomora with fire and brim stone or something. Ephesus simply slowly died over time. There are many examples of a church or ministry continuing on after the initial anointing of God, that birthed that church of ministry departed from it. Ephesus is an example. The Temple is another.
My family, As we move into the season of Advent and “New Years Day” of The Church. I ask you again, “What are we going to commit to, to go “all-in” with, and what are we going to magnify this year? I pray you seriously discern this, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share you prayer requests in the comment box below.
As the year draws to an end, PLEASE give and help Nancy and I help them!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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. As I seek to begin my day centered in You, grounded in Your Word and filled with Your Spirit, I look and listen with the eyes and ears of my spirit, waiting for Your leading--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
While I was sitting and waiting, on the news they showed videos of the bus stop shooting in Jerusalem, the war in Palestine, the war in Ukraine, People on different sides of these events and issues were lashing out at each other with hate and hurtful words. Then this Word from Your Scripture immediately came to my mind:”
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2)
We’re living in a world deeply divided opinions, coming from deeply divided perspectives, that keeps deeply dividing us from one another. And not only that, also lashing out at one another--even among family and friends, even among spiritual families and “Facebook friends”--not to mention among religious divides, political divides, and cultural divides.
It's hard to hold your peace. It’s hard to know when to be silent, when to speak, when to pick your battles or when to just step back and walk away. It’s hard to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), hard to turn the other check (Matthew 5:39), hard to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21), and hard to trust that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), even as we fight the good fight of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
So You speak to our hearts to keep looking up. You remind us to keep seeking Your heart, letting You put Your thoughts in our minds and Your desires in our hearts. You encourage us to let Your Spirit put Your words in our mouths, to show us what to say and when to say it or what not to say and when not to say it (Luke 12:12)--not some organization’s talking points coming from the spirit of the world instead of the Spirit of God (James 3:15). “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
By the power of Your grace, keep my heart looking up to You, even if someone is lashing out at me or at the things I believe or at the One in whom I trust. By Your Spirit--not by my own power or might--I choose to keeping looking up and to keep from lashing out (Zechariah 4:6). “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may keep looking up to the One you can trust, even in a world that's lashing out. Call or text someone today with kind words. They may be the only ones they hear today, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please share you prayer requests in the comment box below.
As the year draws to an end, PLEASE give and help Nancy and I help them!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC.
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace! (Numbers 6:24-26)
I am so thankful to the Lord and to you for your friendship as we journey together in these daily reflections. I thank God for all your encouragement, prayers and support for my family and One Direction Community that help us minister the healing love of God—healing from the inside out, preparing the way of the Lord. With your encouragement and support we are able to with “boots on the ground” both meet people out in our community and invite them into our home and help people beset free from all that would hold them back from being all God created them to be in their identity, maturity, and authority.
May the love and blessings of God our Father overtake you and His favor rest upon you in this season of Thanksgiving and the hope and joy of Christmas to come. May you receive today all the goodness of God.
Please let me know if there are any particular ways my family and those of One Direction Community can be praying for you. This evening will gather in my home to share a meal, worship, open God’s Word, and pray. I would love to offer your prayer requests up at our gathering for us to petition the Lord on your behalf in prayer. Post your prayer requests in the comment box below to grant us, and others join in these morning reflections the opportunity to pray over your requests. You can also email your prayer requests to garyl@onedirection,community. We couldn't do this ministry and fulfill our calling and destiny in Christ without your encouragement, support and prayers, and you can not fullfill your calling and destiny without encouragement, prayers and support.
My family, I speak Paul’s prayer over you this morning and pray you receive and claim it. “I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, - since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened - so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe…” (Ephesians 1:16-19) In Jesus name. Please pray the same over me. God bless you my friends!
Please share you prayer requests in the comment box below.
Yesterday was Giving Tuesday. As the year draws to an end, PLEASE give and help Nancy and I help them!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC.
Marriage is the main mega narrative throughout scripture: It begins in Genesis, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family.” and runs through Revelation 21, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!” Next to the cross, marriage is God's closest example of what his love. and our relationship with him should look like. Love, sacrifice, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, faithfulness, and hope.
Besides their initial saving covenant with God in Jesus Christ, the covenant of marriage is the holiest and most important promise a man or woman will make in their life. Marriage is the most holiest of services as in it a person will make a promise in a church before witnesses gathered there and before God. And it is not to be entered into lightly.
Marriages is Holy
In marriage, children, who are eternal beings with eternal life and have eternal significance are created. They need to be created, formed, and nurtured in the holiest place
Marriages is one of the most Holiest service because in it, you actually see prayers answered by God before your eyes. Before we met Nancy and I both have prayed for and over situations in our lives. We had gone to church and prayed over things in life, seeking God's answer, a tangible sign He knows and hears us..
We have asked friends and family to pray over for areas of our life.
I prayed at times for God to help me. Cried out to God, “I need your help!”
God heard my prayers, and he sent me Nancy.
God heard Nancy’s prayers, and He sent her me.
We as a couple are a tangible example of a prayer answered by God!
I may say, “Jesus, if you are real, let me see you, reveal yourself to me.” There will never be a more visible sign of this than the woman I am blessed to look at everyday. This woman who has pledged to sacrifice everything, and place my needs above hers and all else, and to love and cherish me forever. That is amazing love!
That is marriage. That was what marriage was meant to be when you who are married were joined by God. That is what marriage means and it represents and I am reminded today of this as we celebrate our wedding anniversary and I want to remind you all of this as well.
At many weddings the questions is asked, “ Is there any reason why these two should not be married.” And there is an awkward silence….However, this is a question we who are married need to daily ask ourselves and and honestly personally reflect on daily.
“Do I know of any reason today that is keeping me from living into my marriage?”
Is there a; person, situation, attitude, thought, emotion, desire; Anything that is perverting or weakening your marriage, the vows you took, and is keeping you from fully experiencing and being fully present in your marriage, which is a holy gift of God and his grace. And if there is, immediately deal with it with God.
Marriage is not easy, Why? because it is the closest, most holiest relationship and example of Christ to the world. However, my marriage to Nancy is also the closest, most holiest, tangible, amazing example of the love and grace of God in my life. And your marriage is as well.
My family, I pray those of you who are married will take a moment to thank God for the gift of love and grace of your spouse. I pray you will reflect on your marriage and ask yourself the question, “Do I know of any reason today that is keeping me from living into my marriage?” And if there is, deal with it immediately. Those of you considering getting married, I pray you will reflect on the most holy covenant you about to enter into of love, sacrifice, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, faithfulness, and hope, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please post and share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
As the year draws to an end, PLEASE give and help Nancy and I Help Them!
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart to lead me in Your steps today.
"And David said, ... 'Is there not a cause?'" (1 Samuel 17:29)
The armies of Israel and their king were trembling in fear before the Philistine giant, Goliath. But David was stirred in his spirit with passion for the honor of his people and with faith in the power of his God. "Is there not a cause?" was his battle cry. "Is there not reason to arise and shine, to walk by faith, to move in the power of God, trusting in the victory of His will?" was the declaration of his heart. "Then David said to Saul, 'Let no man's heart fail because of (this giant); your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.... The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (v. 32-37).
While others were trembling in fear, paralyzed by the puniness of their faith in the face of their enemies, David ran to the battle. His cause was to be the one, by power of the grace of God "who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel," saying "who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (v. 26)
Full of faith and inspired by the power of Your Spirit, David had a cause and a reason to act and his heart would not fail and David's aim would not miss. Neither did his words fall to the ground empty. "David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel! Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands! (v. 45-47)
What is my cause? What is my reason? Lord, let there be a cause in me! Stir up my faith, inspire me and empower me by Your Spirit. Give my life meaning and purpose, with a strong sense of direction, to honor Your name and advance Your kingdom through my life each day. Give me courage to face my giants and faith to speak Your Word with authority through my words and my actions that inspire others to remember their identity and fulfill their destiny. Give my the assurance and direction in my life by the Spirit of Christ, arising and shining through me, I can say with You, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you reflect on this morning “What is you cause?” “What is your reason?” Then inspired and empowered by His Spirit, I pray you will come to the full understanding, put a stake in the ground and declare from this day forward, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please post and share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
As The Year Draws To An End, PLEASE Give and Help Us Help Them!
My wife Nancy and I in our ministries are pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in our lives and that of our family and ODC. Please partner and support us and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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, open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you.
“So I will give you thanks, O LORD, before the nations!
I will sing praises to you.:” 2 Samuel 22:50”
Thanksgiving is not just a day on the calendar, it is to be a permanent condition of our heart. My reflection this morning is this short 2 minute video that ran on the CBS news. It is a reminder of how many blessings we take for granted and just how blessed we really are.
My family, I pray as you walk out your door to begin your week your eyes will be open wide with amazement of the “Second Heaven” you are about to walk out into! May you walk out embracing all of God’s creation. May you be grateful for all the modern amenities this country provides like the car you drive off in. Like the parents that adopted the two brothers, may you be a source of God’s blessing to somehow today in for which they thank God, a glimpse of heaven on earth, in Jesus’ name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
Please share your reflections and prayers with us in the comment box below.
My prayer every morning is, “Please send me the ones no one else wants.”
As The Year Draws To An End, PLEASE Give and Help Us Help Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation now for next year, or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
.
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
I was sitting at the Waffle House bar drinking coffee and entering into conversations with customers and waitresses. The conversation turned toward the upcoming holidays. One of the waitresses said this holiday season would be sad as her mother, whom she was very close to, passed away earlier this year and this would the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without her. Their family always went to her house for holiday gatherings and meals and this year she does not know what she will do.
Holidays are a season of joy, love, and gatherings with families and friends. It id s time we are reminded to be grateful for all the blessings we have received. For some people though, like the waitress above, they can be difficult and a source of sadness remembering the loss of a loved one. The loss of a spouse or other family member, a recent divorce, loss of a job, a recent move away from family and friends and having no one to gather with can all create emotions of sadness, isolation and even depression during the holidays. My father passed away this past May. My mother two years ago. So this will be my first holiday season that does not include visiting and the love of my parents.
I post a blog daily to in someway allow us to be in conversation together and it is usually a one- way conversation in which I am the one talking, you are the one reading. So you have heard me say this before, However,I want you to know again I am here for you. I want you to remember you can call or email me anytime. If you live near 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 of my ODC family, friends, neighbors, Waffle House employees, whoever.... 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. You never have to go through a difficult Holiday season 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.
And my family, you in Christ are created to be a source of love and listening as well. You are to be known in your workplace, school, or neighborhood as the nice person with the open door willing to listen. is there a friend or family member you know that is going through a situation now? Do you know someone who recently lost a loved one? Is there a co-worker who recently transferred to your company from out of town? Fo you know a neighbor who just moved from another state? Your willingness to reach out to them could be a glimmer of light into their darkness and joy into their loneliness and grief.
My family, go back up to the beginning of this reflection and read the passage from 2Corinthians again. Then I pray you will reflect on your life situations today. Maybe your prayers will stir in you a need to call someone today to listen to a situation your are going through. Maybe your prayers will stir in you a need to call someone you know may be struggling this holiday season I know if you pray to the Holy Spirit, he will lead you to a name you need to call who will simply listen to you, or you can 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.
My prayer every morning is, “Please send me the ones no one else wants.”
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You into my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanse us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
As we move closer to a day to celebrate being thankful, one day we'll more fully understand just how thankful we should be for Your unspeakable grace that forgives our sins and saves our souls through the power of the blood of Jesus (Romans 8:25). And at the same time, You desire for us to love and honor You and one another, fully surrendering to Your will and embracing Your ways for our lives.
"For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:10).
There will come a day when all of us "will have to give an accounting to Him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.... So then, each of us will be accountable to God" (Romans 14:10-12).
In our personal relationship with You as Lord and Savior, we have our salvation and we also have Your invitation to each of us "so as to live for the rest of (our) earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2). And what is Your will for my life? "This is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Your will according to Your Word is to make me more like You.
When all is said and done, when I stand to give an account for my life before the judgment seat of Christ, I believe You will ask me, "Did you seek to become more like Me?" (John 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:7)
With all my heart I want to be able to say Yes to You. As best as I can and all by Your grace, I want to be more like You each day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Yes, Lord Jesus. I want to be like You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Spirit of God will move in your heart to empower you to commit and seek to become more like Jesus each day, starting today. May you be filled with joy when you give an account at the judgment seat of Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name over every moment of my day, that everything I encounter must bow it's knee to Your name (Philippians 2:9-22).
"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting in Him will be the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9 NLT).
Sometimes it may look like there is anything but "wonderful joy ahead." Sometimes it may look like things are growing worse, darkness is growing darker, division is growing deeper, and hope is growing fainter. Global shortages, rising prices, Covid, cancer, divorce, moral decline, rising violence.. and the list goes on. And it will, just as You said it would (Matthew 24:1-28). But at the same time, the light of the glory of God in those who believe, in those who love You and trust You, will arise and shine within us, as the glory of the Lord arises upon us! (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When "(our) faith remains strong through many trials," we see our faith grow brighter than the darkness; we see our hope overcome every moment of despair; and we see our God display His glory through every trial we face. That's how we can "rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy" that the world around us can't understand and even our own hearts find hard to believe, as we see You bring us through the battles and storms and every trial of our faith. And that's worth so much more than any false peace or hollow victory this world could ever offer. That's the gift of God -- "the reward for trusting in Him" -- that lasts forever as eternal treasure in our souls "far more precious than gold!"
These days we live out on this earth, through the trials of this broken and fallen world, are the flames of the Refiner's fire (Malachi 3:2; Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:18). But it's only in the fire You refine our souls into the pure gold of Your glorious love and "inexpressible joy" You've created us to know by learning to trust in You. Holy Fire of God, All "Consuming Fire," burn in me today, as I encounter and overcome ever trial I endure (Hebrews 12:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are filled with "inexpressible joy" as you faithfully endure every trial you face in the power of God's grace and love for you. Remember you are “set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christʼs blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!” (1 Peter 1:2), In Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You, as I listen for the leading of Your Spirit to begin my day centered in You--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:1-6).
I thank You that You know all about me. Nothing is hidden from You--the things I want You to know and even the things I wish You didn’t know. But You know it all, good and bad, through and through. And yet You love me. And You’re for me. And You want the very best for me.
So I can trust You to “Search me, O God, and know my heart” to “Try me, and know my anxieties” (v. 23). I can trust You to “See if there is any wicked way in me”--anything in me that’s wounded, broken, or bound, anywhere in my heart that stuck, hidden away, or buried--so You can “lead me in the way everlasting” (v. 24).
There’s healing and freedom in You, as I trust You to know me and search me. For You are my “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). And You’re going to keep pursuing me and loving me and healing me and freeing me to keep growing me up to become all You created me to be--whether I like it or not--because I’ve given You my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you trust the Lord who loves you and who's for you to search your heart to heal you and free you to be all He created you to be, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Serenity is a noun, it is not a verb. Serenity is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. Serenity, the peace that passes all understanding, the ability to be at peace no matter what is happening in the world or what is going on in your life cannot be achieved through your will or “self-help” , but only by surrendering your will to Jesus and receiving His help.
God’s Word and Jesus himself speaks into the availability of serenity and complete peace in this world.
“Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed…” (John 14:27)
“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)
Simply put:
No Jesus = No peace
Know Jesus = Know peace
My family, I pray you surrender your will over to Jesus, and put your complete trust in Him, so that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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
“I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ between me and every human being—their spirit, soul, body, their sin, warfare, and their household…
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every witch, cult, and coven, every channel of black arts to me. I cut them off in the name of the Lord; I send the glory of God to them to turn them in Jesus’ name…“
Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Answer: Allot of evil or mean spirited people who all about imposing their rule and glory into their domain instead of the rule and glory of Jesus Christ. You encounter them almost everywhere; work, school, family gatherings, even in church gatherings. They are person you dread having to deal with at work and gives you anxiety. The neighbor, family or church member with a sharp tongue. Or those around you full of hurt, hate or rage that last out to you while driving, on social media, or other daily activities.
As the prayer states above, you have the authority to cut off and rebuke any and all malice or evil thought of words directed or spoken over you. You have the authority to break off any control of your mind, spirit or identity these words or actions may try to inflect over you. And you should. What you should not do after such an encounter or attack, is “flip them the bird,” gossip to co-workers or friends about the person, or pray they get hit by a bus like Jonah did over the people of Nineveh. You have the authority to send the glory of God to them to turn them in Jesus’ name. Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
My family, I pray you ask the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind those that have hurt you or are hurting you, those that your dread seeing and are a cause of anxiety on your life. And in the authority given to you in your baptism in Jesus Christ, pray and send the glory of God to them to turn them to Jesus, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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
My wife and I host a simple house church gathering in our home on Wednesday evenings. Last night after sharing a meal together and then a time of worship, we read together “The Daily Prayer of Freedom.” I have used it several times in my morning reflections. We have newly baptized members of our house church, new to their faith, and I am training them up in prayer.
As I read through the prayer again with our group, this phrase stood out to me, that is repeated throughout the prayer, “I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ…”
This phrase begins many paragraphs through the prayer:
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, my vehicles, finances, over all my kingdom and domain…..
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit…..
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every foul power and black art…
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every witch, cult, and coven, every channel of black arts to me. I cut them off in the name of the Lord….
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ between me and every human being—their spirit, soul, body, their sin, warfare, and their household….
We have the Spirit of the living God inside of each of us that call Jesus Lord. We walk in that authority. We carry that authority into every room, gathering or situation we walk into, whether it is our living room at home, at work, school, social gatherings, Walmart, or wherever we step our feet. When was the last time you claimed, or even thought about this authority when you walk into a room?
My family, I pray you are remind of the authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ you carry within you and always walk in. I pray you speak it out loud and claim the authority of Jesus Christ over yourself and all the situations your feet will carry you into today, and everyday, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You first and Your kingdom in these first moments of my morning (Matthew 6:33). ...
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
With the wars in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine, and other areas of the world, a lot of people are talking about “the end” is coming right now. Even praying for “the end” to come. Or at least, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) One such discussion took place yesterday morning at the Waffle House bar with customers and staff that ler to this reflection this morning.
No one knows when “the end” will come. Jesus told us, “But as for that day and hour no one knows it - not even the angels in heaven - except the Father alone.” (Matt:24:36). However, say “the end” is near. My heart breaks when I think about my neighbors, co-workers, family members and friends who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus and without that when “the end” comes will be separated from Him and his love forever. If “the end” is near, it should compel us not to withdraw in fear and isolation, but to go out and speak out with urgency and love in our hearts of the saving love, mercy and grace of the Gospel of Jesus.
You’ve called and commissioned each one of us to minister wherever we are --whether at work, in our neighborhoods, our schools, our homes, and all our encounters along the way--with the same love and power and passion that You pour into the hearts of Your evangelists and missionaries--for that is who we are and what You’ve called us to do. Your Word calls us all to “sanctify Christ as Lord in (our) hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks (us) to give an account for the hope that is in (us), but with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 ). As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to all of us who are Your disciples today: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...” (Matthew 28:19). “As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you!” (John 20:21)
Send us, Lord! Send every one of us! Let this good news of Your kingdom be proclaimed in our hearts and to the nations, and everywhere in between! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the house of your faith be built on the Rock that will never fall, as you trust with complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone, through all you may encounter and overcome and proclaim, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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
Good evening, Lord Jesus. You are my steady Rock and the Anchor of my soul. You are one with the Father, one with the Holy Spirit; and as I entrust to You my heart and my life, You make me one with You (John 17:21). ...
"Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Your Word compels me and commands me to pursue both peace and holiness -- not just peace and not just holiness; not peace without holiness and not holiness without peace. And it's only by the grace of God that I can attempt and do this.
In my pursuit of holiness, help me never become religious, self-righteous, and "holier-than-thou" in some kind of spiritual pride as if it's by my own goodness or wisdom. Holiness is Christ in me (Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Holiness is my heart surrendered to Your heart, allowing You to form Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, and Your nature in my nature. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
And at the same time, in my pursuit of peace, help me never compromise with holiness and truth, just "going-along-to-get-along," being “politically correct” and excusing and condoning something less than Your will and Your ways, for the sake of being liked or not being rejected, called “intolerant” or misunderstood for simply seeking to walk in Your Truth and honor Your Word. That's appeasement, not peace. That's the world's peace, not Your peace (John 14:27).
Pursuing both peace and holiness -- all by the power of Your grace at work within me -- is impossible apart from a living, vibrant, and deeply personal relationship with You. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). So I praise You and thank You that I never have to spend a single moment of my life apart from You. You are with me always (Matthew 28:20). I am in You and You are in me (John 15:4).
So Jesus, lead me by Your Spirit to walk in both peace and holiness, growing in grace and the nature of Christ, step by step, seeking to "follow in (Your) steps" on my journey of faith through every challenge and question I face (1 Peter 2:21). "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is reveled, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2).
My Father God, I welcome Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus today. "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). As You do -- with "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- You empower me to pursue both peace and holiness with all my heart because You're changing my heart every day from the inside out (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray your heart is being changed from the inside out every day in your deeply personal and intimate journey with God, empowering you to pursue both peace and holiness, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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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.
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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 am Yours and You are mine. Let me be of one heart and one mind with You today.
"Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet 'in a very little while, the One who is coming will come and will not delay; but My righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.' But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved" (Hebrews 10:35-39).
My confidence is in You, Lord. I'm confident that You love me, that You're for me, that You're always with me, that You always go before me preparing the way for me to walk in Your will and Your ways by the power of Your grace.
As I begin a new week, there are situations and decisions in my family and ministry that will need to be addressed. Those I know of now, and those that will present themselves during the week. However, when challenges come, when battles are fierce, when the enemy of my soul tries to press his attack, I will press on until I press through, by grace through faith, not shrinking back. "Through faith and patience (I will) inherit the promises" (v. 6:12). May I never surrender and never retreat, but always advance with the endurance and confidence of the faith You're building in me. "So (I) can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?'" (v. 13:6. The lyrics from the song “Surrounded” come to my mind. “It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by you.” In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My Family, I pray you may begin your week renewed in your understanding the “The Lord is my Helper” confident in faith, never shrinking back, that you never surrender and never retreat, but always advance into the fullness of the God's promises for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Here is the link to the song “Surrounded” by Upperroom. Play it over you this morning.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Tuesday was Halloween. My wife Nancy and I put on our 10 th annual Halloween gathering for our neighborhood from 6:00pm-10:00pm. We went all out on decorations in the front yard. We rented a mechanical Bull and operator to give kids and adults a thrill. We moved our fire pit onto our driveway and surrounded it with chairs for neighbors to cook hotdogs and s'mores.. Our neighbor let us use tieir front yard as well to set up folding tables and chairs in their front yard. We served and went through over 350 hot dogs that people grilled over the fire. we went through over 70 large Hershey chocolate bars, bags of marshmallows, and boxes of graham crackers and I have no idea how many, s’mores were made. We had two 8’ tables of cupcakes , cookies, snack cakes, and bags of chips. We put out 3 coolers of drinks and gave out LOTS and LOTS of candy. And we set set up a table of T shirts we gave away for free. We had over 500 people with kids come and Trick or Treat us throughout the night, hang out around the fire, cook a hot dog or s’more with a stick over the fire, and get a drink. Hands were shaken, introductions were exchanged, and “Where do you live?” “What do you do?” questions were asked and life stories were connected.
And it was these interactions with our neighbors, the stories shared around the fire, and the smiles of delight on the children that made all the days of work setting this up worth while.
I was handing out candy to a 9 or 10 year old girl when the woman accompanying her, whom I later found out was her grandmother said to me, “Wow, This all looks great!” Her granddaughter looked up at her and said, “This house is always like this, it’s awesome! it’s my favorite!” And after an invitation they went over to the fire pit gathering and joined in s’more making.
Another mother with her children walked up to my wife and looked and the spread of food and treats and asked me, “Is this for everyone"?” My wife told her, Yes! The woman shocked her head in disbelief and said WOW!. then her and her kids enjoyed the spread.
A father with three kids came up with them later to get candy. The father said, “The kids all discussed before we headed out they wanted to go to this house last. Save the best for last! Plus once we come her we usually hang out awhile.” Then they headed towards the fire pit and fun.
Another woman who came trick or treating with her daughter-in-law and grandkids. She came up to me and Nancy as she was leaving and said, “Thank you so much! I am so grateful for the fact that you offered such great hospitality and welcomed into your home a stranger you just met. I wish more people would do this!”
And I don’t know how many people and youth stopped and took time to take family pictures and “selfies” in our front yard as a background for their memories.
No one asked or cared that I am a pastor of house churches or that I was an Elder in the UMC. I was dressed in a costume as a hippie with a long blonde hair wig. My neighbors who came they just cared that I cared about them and their neighborhood. No formal sermon or liturgy was given and our gathering did not require people to “come to us” and take place in a church building, but around the fire in our front yard in the sharing of stories. However a gathering of around of more than 500 people of parents and children took place “in the community” and God was glorified. And we obeyed Jesus’ command to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” And we invited our neighbors to come back to our house this coming Wednesday to share another meal and join us in the simple church gathering we hold in our home every Wednesday evening.
How are you known in your neighborhood? If you were to move out would your neighbors or those in your apartment complex miss you? Would they grieve the loss of you in their lives? Or would they not even notice that you left? If you are part of a church and attend a church, that is good! However, Your were not sent by God to a church. You help serve and participate in a church, but it is the neighborhood and neighbors that you find yourself living amongst are to whom you are called and sent by God. You are sent into your neighborhood to be to them a tangible example of the kingdom of God in their lives. You are sent to be to them examples of salt and light, justice and mercy, love and compassion, partying and banqueting, laughter and dancing.
My family, I am asking you to take time to pray over this today, but not in your house or apartment on on your couch with a cup of coffee, but out in your neighborhood. Go outside and spend time prayer walking your neighborhood. Take your spouse, children or roommate with you. Go sit at a picnic table in your community’s public area, playground or community center. As you walk, pray over the houses and apartments to which you have been sent. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to connect with your neighbors. Pray and come up with ways and events you can be to them tangible examples of salt and light, justice and mercy, love and compassion, partying and banqueting, laughter and dancing, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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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
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Grounded in Your Word, filled with Your Spirit, I begin my day centered and focused on You. ...
“Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negeb and on Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag, burned it down, and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great; they killed none of them, but carried them off, and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:1-6).
On a day of shock and terror, on a day of national tragedy for all who were part of the heart of David, they found their city devastated by destruction and “their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.” At first all they could do, as they were dazed by trauma, was raise their voices in aguish and grief “until they had no more strength to weep.”
Then, in great danger of betrayal and the twisted irony of blame-shifting, it was David himself who was nearly stoned to death, as everyone’s rage and pain was turned against him instead of their enemies. Even though it was David’s enemies, the enemies of Israel who hated him and his people, who invaded their homes and burned their city and carried away their families kidnapped as captives, everyone turned on David. Everyone began to blame the victim instead of those who came to steal and kill and destroy.
Spirits never die; and those same spirits are still at work in our world stealing and killing and destroying and trying to turn the hearts of the world against the very ones who have been horrifically, unimaginably terrorized by hatred.
But “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (v.6).
David turned to You. In the humility of desperate dependence upon You alone, he “inquired of the Lord” (v. 8). He waited on You for Your answer, Your wisdom, Your guidance. He didn’t have any Answer but You, no Hope but You.
And then he obeyed everything he heard, as best as he could and all by Your grace. You called him to get up from his grief and be girded up with faith to “pursue” his enemies until he had taken back all that was stolen from him and his people (v. 9).
Some were too weary to go with him; some refused to stand with him. But he gathered those who were of one heart with his to trust God and obey, and “went on with the pursuit” (v. 10).
By the power and the grace of God, David found his enemies, still gloating over their plunder (v. 16). And with unrelenting faith in the word of the Lord and the power of Your might, he and his army engaged their enemies in the fierce courage that only You can supply, until “not one of them escaped” (v. 17). He took back all that was taken. “Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back everything” (v. 19).
Your Word says that all that happened to those under the Old Covenant in former times and all that happened in the battles and struggles against their enemies of flesh and blood speak to us of the spiritual principles in our battles against our spiritual enemies today. Their struggles and battles, their failures and successes, “serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
So come, Holy Spirit. Give us Your wisdom, Your guidance today. In our families, friends and neighbors, let every kidnapped captive by malign spirituals, depression, emotional attacks be brought home. Let all that was taken be restored. Let none of the perpetrators of any terror inflicted escape.
And the leaders and people of Israel, like their father David before them, may they turn to You to “strengthen (themselves) in the Lord.” May we all turn to You, to be strengthened in You, restored in You, with nothing missing and nothing broken, through the peace of our salvation in You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may strengthen yourself in the Lord, turning to Him as your Answer and Hope and Salvation for all you need and the restoration of anything taken from you by our spiritual enemies who come to steal and kill and destroy, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I ask you to continue to pray over Israel and the destruction of Hamas. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
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