“The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” (Matthew 27:62-66)
Today is Holy Saturday, the day Christ was absent from us in the tomb and the whole world waited in hope and expectation and wondered what would happen next.
What will happen next for you?
We have spent 40 days of Lent together, 47 days including the Sundays, We spent this time reflecting, repenting, discerning our walk with Christ, praying, fasting, giving up things, taking on things, reading Lent devotions, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) preparing ourselves for Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and joining in His resurrection. We deepened our understanding that “We are not our own and that we were bought at a price and that we are therefore to glorify God with our bodies.” (1 Cor 6:19-20)
So why did you do all of it?
What is the unto?
How have you been changed through it?
If an Easter miracle could happen in your life tomorrow what have you prayerfully asked God for and what would it be?
My family, Easter Sunday Christ wiped your slate clean and gave you a “clean black board”go write the next chapter of your life . I pray you will take time today, to ponder, What will happen next in you obedient following Jesus? Where, what and how you sense He is calling you to rise with Him tomorrow, and walk out your front door as He walked out of the grave, and join our resurrected savior in redeeming the world? In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends.
Discerning God’s calling and direction to follow him in obedience can be a challenge at times. If you need someone to help you pray about it, simply listen to you as you talk it out loud, or confirm your decision, reach out to me and I will listen and pray with you. Or you may know someone who you trust to pray, listen and talk with you: a pastor, church member, friend, co-worker, family member. I want to encourage you to reach out to them. You will be so glad you did, and Jesus will be as well.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please 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!
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy..
Good morning, Lord Jesus. On this Good Friday, we remember our Good Shepherd, when You laid down Your life for Your sheep. ...
"Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).... And they crucified him.... When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'... Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:22-39)
Jesus, We truly have no idea of the suffering You endured for each one of us. For as much as we can take at a time, we begin to imagine the physical suffering and the emotional suffering you endured as You hung naked and rejected by the nails driven into Your hands and feet, gasping for breath and dripping with blood from Your shredded skin and nerves. But we can't even begin to comprehend the spiritual suffering You endured as the One who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, when You willingly took upon Yourself all the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In that moment, bearing the full weight of our sins, the full weight of my sins, You were separated from the holiness of God, so that we would never have to be separated from the holiness of God.. In unimaginable anguish of spirit, You cried out to the Father in the most heart-wrenching cry of all eternity, as the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world by taking them on to Yourself in the passion of the cross, determined before the foundation of the world and prophesied long before the coming of that day (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).
Carrying our sins, You descended into hell on our behalf to break the power of hell over our lives (Acts 2:31; 1 Peter 3:18-22 and 4:6). But hell couldn't hold You because Satan had nothing in You and no power over You (John 14:30). "Through death, (You defeated) the one who has the power of death, that is, Satan himself, and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14).
What an incomprehensible price You paid for each one of us. We may never fully comprehend for all eternity the depth of Your suffering for our sins so that we could dwell forever in the depths of Your love in the intimate presence of our holy God. But on this holy day, we stand amazed at the foot of the cross and in the Presence of God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, a family born out of the blood of the cross., I pray you take time on the journey to the joy of celebrating the resurrection of Christ to think on the suffering of Jesus and be filled with knowledge of the truth of how much God loves you and suffered for you to always be with you. Offer to Christ the idols, attitudes, behaviors and things you need to die from and place them on His cross, In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Please share you reflections on Good Friday throughout your day in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach
Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning family,
We are entering into the heart of Holy Week in the church. A time we as a church reflect and gather to remember the events that are at the core of our faith. Please set aside time these next few days for your own personal reflection and to join in your church as we reflect on them in community.
Today is Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” is Latin for “Mandate.” It is the day we remember Jesus’ institution of The Lord’s Supper and his mandate to “Do this in remembrance of me.”
The Lord's Supper first took place in the context of the Jewish Celebration of Passover. It flows out of it and is rooted in it. Read Exodus 12:1-14 then read 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. Scriptures tell us that when the supper was over Jesus took the cup of wine. This would be the third cup of 4 cups of wine drank during the Passover or Seder as it is called today. The third cup is referred to as the cup of redemption or the cup of blessing. It is the cup that represents the deliverance and redemption of the Jews by the blood of the lambs put on the door lentils of homes. It is with this cup and all it represents that Jesus declares that it is by his blood that now true deliverance and redemption will be made possible.
In the Lords Supper, Christ brings His passion to our remembrance and draws us into wonderful communion, Holy Communion, with the Father and with Himself and one another, proleptic of our life in the Kingdom of God, nourishing our faith “till He comes” (Lk 11:2).
In the Lord’s Supper we remember. Jesus said to His disciples, “I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter… and He will bring all things to your remembrance” (Jn 14:26). At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). We remember in such a way that we see our participation in the past event and see our destiny and future bound up in it. We remember in such a way that we know by the grace of God we are the people for whom the Savior died and rose again; we are the people whose sins Jesus confessed on the cross; we are the people with whom God has made a new covenant in the blood of Christ; we are the Israel of God to whom God said, “I will be your God and you shall be my people” (Ex 6:7). The work of memory, of realizing our participation and fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, is the work of the Holy Spirit. We remember Christ, yet it is not so much we who remind ourselves of these events, but Jesus Christ, who brings his passion to our remembrance through the Holy Spirit, as our ever-living and ever present Lord.
Read Exodus 12:1-14 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. Reflect on the hope, redemption, and deliverance that was made possible for you when you drink of the cup. Attend a Maundy Thursday gathering at you church or find one that is hosting one, as well as Good Friday and Easter Sunday gatherings. I really want to encourage all of you to prioritize and set aside time to attend Holy Week services this week at your church. Whatever you do weekly on these evenings will be there next week. Don’t skip over Maundy Thursday. Don’t skip over Good Friday. Don’t skip over these deep, holy waters to splash in Easter. If your church does not have these services, sseek out and visit another church for tonights and tomorrows services.The Lord's Supper was instituted in community, and needs to be remembered in community..
My family, I pray as we remember Jesus’ institution on Holy Communion, you will seek for and ask for in prayer and in the Holy Spirit, a deeper communion with our Lord and savior, Jesus the Christ, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts, reflections and prayers as we remember together the events of Holy Week.
One Direction Community's Holy Week Schedule:
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please 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
Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have belong to You-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God.
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. " (John 6:63).
Holy Spirit, You are welcome here: here in my heart, here in my day, here in every moment of my life. Let the words of Jesus, revealing the will and the ways of my Father be my plumb line and my life line. "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, buy by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).
Lord, let Your words of spirit and life stir in my spirit and manifest Your life in me today. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12 ). I receive Your words of spirit and life, living and powerful, change me and shape me, live in me and live through me, conforming me into the image of the Son of God You've created me to be (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit stirs in your heart with the words of Jesus and the love of our Father, changing you and empowering you to be all you were created to be, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Light of the world and Lord of my life, make me more like You today. ...
"The hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).
I thank You that by the grace of Your mercy and love You're always seeking us to enter into true worship with You. You are always drawing us near to You. Even before we're saved, Your Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, with us in our worries, ready to assist us in our struggles, pursuing us to both convict us of our sins and convince us of Your heart to forgive us and cleanse us and restore us to a deeply personal and trusting relationship with You. And once we are saved, You continue Your work from within and all around us to keep drawing us closer still, deeper still into an ever-increasing intimacy with You where we worship You in Spirit and truth -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And at the same time, You also invite us to choose to "draw near" to You, promising You will then "draw near" to us. So it's not either You draw near to us or we draw near to You; it's both You draw near to us and we draw near to You. It's not just a passive relationship, where we just sit back and wait on You to pursue us. It's also an active relationship, where we also pursue You. "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him" (Lamentations 3:25).
Lord, let me not be a passive lover of God, just sitting back and waiting on You to love me. Like any one-sided relationship, that's very unfulfilling for both. Rather, stir in my heart to "pursue love" -- with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength (1 Corinthians 14:1).
Some of Your Words come to mind to meditate on Your call to for me to seek You and passionately pursue You in spirit and truth:
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).
"Abide in Me as I abide in you" (John 15:4).
"When you search for Me, you will find Me; if you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
"Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6-7).
"I love those who love Me; and those who diligently seek Me will find Me" (Proverbs 8:17).
"When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, O Lord, I will seek" (Psalm 27:8).
"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually" (1 Chronicles 16:11).
"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God" (1 Chronicles 22:19).
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Luke 11:9-10).
Jesus, I believe You've given me the gift and the wisdom to seek after You, to passionately pursue You in spirit and truth -- in my prayers, in my worship, from the beginning of my day and throughout the moments of my day. I believe that brings You joy. And I believe that gives me joy. "Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad!" (1 Chronicles 16:10) "Be glad that you are His; let those who seek the Lord be happy! (NCV).
So I will seek You and be a true worshipper of you in Spirit and Truth. I will pursue You. I will love You because You first loved me, but I will not just lay back passively waiting on You to love me in one-sided relationship. I will draw near to You. I will abide in You. And by the mercy of Your grace and love for me, I will be glad and Your joy will be my strength! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
My family, I pray you will ask the Holy Spirit in your personal Lent meditation time to remove any passiveness from your relationship with Jesus and replace it with passion for Him. May you be drawn to worship Jesus today, at this moment, in Spirit and Truth. I pray you will be glad and full of joy as you seek the Lord and draw near to Him with all your heart, 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.
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!
“Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ὥστε τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ’ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.” (Ιωάννης 3:16)
Translation:
“For this is how so LOVED God the world: That the Son, the only begotten, He gave so that everyone believing in him, should not perish but have life eternal”. (John 3:16)
This morning’s reflection flows out this morning’s reading and from a conversation I had with a person at the Waffle House about “this world is not my home” and what he called his “yo-yo” struggle between turning towards God and turning towards the world.
This morning’s reflection contains diagrams and is a little more structured than most of my reflections. However, I wanted to make what I was saying more understandable.
Most people have this paradigm and diagram of their life as it relates to God and the World. Allot of churches teaches this diagram as do many contemporary worship songs and books. People feel they are caught in the middle between the two pulls of God and the world. Their diagram looks like this:
God <-----------Them -------------> World
God <------------Them: At times they feel they move in the direction of God and God is moving close to them. They attend a spiritual weekend or retreat, participate in an amazing prayer or worship gathering, or something else they feel moves them closer to God and in the opposite direction of the world.
Them --------------> World: Then they feel they slip back into the world and its daily life, struggles, and temptations. As the world pulls them towards it, they feel they are being pulled away from God. Moving towards the world they feel necessitates them moving away from God.
God <---------> Them <----------> World: Because of this diagram that many people have embraced of their life, they live in this constant struggle and strain of the tug-of-war of being pulled into God and being pulled towards the world. Moving towards God requires moving away from the world.
However this diagram is not correct. Nor is it Biblical. The whole movement of God as John 3:16 states and the salvation plan of God in the incarnation of Jesus, his becoming human, and his death and resurrection reveals is God moving into the world.
So let me show you what I believe is the correct diagram:
------------> God ------------> :The previous diagram focuses on us. First, let’s take ourselves out of the center and move God into the center were he belongs.
-------------> God -----------> World: Second: the mission of God, the movement of God, and the movement of the church is into the world, not away from it. God did not come into the world to set up sanctuaries set apart from the world, place his light hid under a basket separate from the world, but he came to set up mangers, and shine his light in the world.
Us-------------> God --------------> World: We are to move in the direction of God who is moving into the world. The mission of the church is to join in the Missio Deo, (the mission of God( which is to reach every nation, tribe and tongue, (Rev. 5:9) with the Gospel and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19). “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:8), So Loved God The world.. (John 3:16)
We are called through the means of grace of prayer, searching the Scriptures, fasting, and sharing in the Lord’s Supper to move more intimately into God to more fully join in his mission of moving more intimately into the world. If you attend a church service on Sundays, you are moving towards God. If when you leave you isolate yourself from the world, you are moving against God.
The same John who wrote John 3:16 also wrote 1John 3:16. He writes:
“We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians” And he goes on to say in verse 17, “But whoever has the worldʼs possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person?” Again, John’s focus is the sharing of our love we received from Jesus with those in the world. I can’t help but wonder, What if it was 1John 3:16, “We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians” and not John 3:16 that was the most well-known, memorized and recited verse by Christians around the world. How would Christians live and evangelize differently?
My family, Read the Gospels and look at the examples of Jesus’ life. Read Philippians 2:5-7. Then pray and reflect over what diagram controls your life. During this season of Lent where we fast and pray to more intimately encounter Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how you can more fully join in with Jesus and this movement of God. I ask that you please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and questions 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.
Thank You!
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“Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people. He did not need anyone to testify about man, for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:23-25)
When I these words of Jesus in this passage this morning my mind also went to these words Jesus.
“Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ʻLord, Lord, didnʼt we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?ʼ Then I will declare to them, ʻI never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!ʼ”
(Matthew 7:21-23)
Jesus “knows” and “sees” into the heart of every person who ever walked this planet, including those people who claim to walk after Him, and that includes you and me. The issue in the passage of John is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what the object of their faith truly was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political figure of some sort. They did not understand how he would usher his reign on earth, what his revolution would look like, that he did not come to be served but to serve. They saw him as a holy man and miracle worker. Their concept of "Messiah" was was not the same as Jesus' own, or the concept of Jesus John had that he is trying to convey in his Gospel. Jesus, as he states in Matthew, sees the heart of these people and he has full knowledge that they do not truly know him, understand who he is: the sacrificial lamb, the bearer and redeemer of their sins, the man of the cross. They did not know him.
My family, Jesus knows your heart. This Sunday is Palm Sunday when enter into the holiest time in the season of the church, Holy Week. I pray you will set aside time to these coming days to read the passion narratives in the Gospels, pray, and ask the Holy Spirit to open up you heart to truly know Jesus, and know in your heart what your calling to follow him entails, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me! God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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!
“A man came, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.” (John 1:6-7)
“Witness” is one of the major themes of John's Gospel. The Greek verb for “witness” is μαρτυρέω (mature). It occurs 33 times in John’s Gospel. When compared to the other three Gospels we have read, it appeared only once in Matthew, once in Luke, and zero times in Mark. And the noun for “witness”, μαρτυρία (marturia), occurs 14 times in John as compared to zero in Matthew, once in Luke, and 3 times in Mark. So “witness” occurs 47 times in John’s gospel as compared to 6 times in all of the three other Gospels combined.
The witness of John’s gospel testifies to the deity of Jesus and that "He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world." This witness has a world view in mind. As we will read later in John 3:16, “God so loved the world”
“He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.” (v.11) His own people did not receive him. There is a subtle irony here: When the “Word” came into the world, he came to his own, literally "his own things" and his own people, who should have received him, but they did not. John does not say that "his own" did not know him, but that they did not receive him. The idea is one not of mere recognition, the people recognized Him, witnessed who he was in his teachings and miracles, but they did not acceptance and welcome that witness into their life.
“The Word became flesh” (v.14). This verse constitutes the most concise statement of the incarnation in the New Testament. John 1:1 makes it clear that the Logos was fully God, but 1:14 makes it clear that he was also fully human so that Jesus could witness to us in person.
We are over half way through 40 days of Lent leading up to Holy Week and Easter. For these past weeks we focused inwardly on ourselves and our “receiving” of Him. We have personally meditated. We fasted, gave up and let go of things that were keeping us or are a distraction from personally receiving Him. We took on things that helped us personally receive Him. We will soon stand up on Sunday morning and declare personally and collectively as a church that we receive Jesus as a resurrected Lord. Now it is time to witness to others what we received.
“On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”(v.29) This is now are calling if we are truly a people of Easter,; to go and witness to others through sharing our testimonies, our witness, and the Gospel of grace and open up to others and invite them into the living scriptures and testimonies of our and say, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
The one time in Luke’s Gospel that the noun “Witness” is used is at the very end of the chapter right before John’s Gospel where it states,“and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”(Luke 24:47-47)
My family, the “You” in Jesus’ words, “You” are witnesses to these things” is YOU! The person’s reflection you see in the mirror! I pray you will not set aside these days of personal reflection and your preparation to celebrate the risen Jesus on Easter and just continue in life, but embrace your call to be a witness and today! Seek out at least one person and share with them “The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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. Open the eyes of my heart to see You--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God--as I look and listen for Your leading today.
"Now on that day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.... So He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the Scriptures to us?'" (Luke 24:13-32).
The two disciples were on their walk back to Emmaus after all the events of the cross in Jerusalem. Jesus, they had known You and loved You, but in their grief and sorrow and disappointment, they couldn't see You. They "had hoped" that You were the Messiah, but now they thought all their hopes and dreams were shattered (v. 21). They had even heard stories of Your resurrection, but they were still "slow of heart to believe" (v. 22-25). Even when You came alongside them, they couldn't sense that it was You, they couldn't recognize Your voice, even though they had had such a personal relationship with You.
That may be a picture of many of us at times along our journey of faith. It has been mine at times in my life. We know You, we have a real and personal relationship with You, we know the stories of Your resurrection; but at the same time, down deep inside, we still find ourselves "slow of heart to believe." When our dreams and hopes are shattered, when tragedy strikes, when we find ourselves in those times of grief and sorrow and disappointment, we find it hard to see You and hear You. We can't even recognize and remember that You are with us--that You're with us "always," just like You promised (Matthew 28:24), that Your sheep "hear (Your) voice," just like You said (John 10:3).
But even in those times--maybe even especially in those times--You'll come near and go with us (Luke 24:15). You'll come in and dine with us in the communion of our hearts if we'll simply invite You in to come abide with us (v. 29). Just as You did with those two discouraged disciples who desperately needed an encounter with You, You're ready to come and commune with all who would "urge (You) strongly" to come and stay (v. 29).
In the breaking of the bread with them, "their eyes were opened, and they recognized (You)" (v. 30-31). In the breaking of the Bread of the Word of God with them, "(You) interpreted to them the things about (Yourself) in all the Scriptures" (v. 27). Then their hearts burned within them in fresh fire and faith, in renewed hope and excitement, from their personal encounter in Your Presence with Your Word (v. 32).
Thank You for walking with me on my journey with You, Lord Jesus. Thank You for opening up the Word of God to me, for revealing Yourself in Your Scriptures to me, "beginning with Moses and all the prophets" (v. 27). Thank You for coming to abide within me, for opening the eyes of my heart to see You, for making me more and more sensitive in my spirit to hear You. Thank You for the grace and faith to believe in my heart from my personal encounters in Your Presence with Your Word that "the Lord has risen indeed!" (v. 34) And thank You that every day You want walk with me and to arise in me! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you strongly urge Jesus to come enter the dwelling of your heart so your heart burns within you with fresh fire and faith, in renewed hope and excitement on your journey with Jesus. Encounter His Presence by spending time in His Word, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
If you have attended a Three-day weekend such as an Emmaus, Cursillo, or Paseo, please share your experiences and reflections from your weekend in the comment box below. Have questions about the weekend, contact me and I'd love to talk to you.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please 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!
Fill my cup this morning Father.
“The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35-37)
Jesus, the irony in the statement “Let him save himself” is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross. It was not by the avoidance or removal of suffering that God’s would show His love, but through suffering that God’s plan of salvation and love would be manifested.
Jesus, remind me of my call to suffer for your kingdom and out of love for my neighbors. Your Word says, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29) It is ok for me to ask for the suffering to be removed, Jesus you did in the garden. However, it is not ok for me to use whether the suffering has been removed or not as a measure of God’s love for me. Just like Jesus, sometimes my salvation and sanctification does not come by the avoidance or removal of suffering, but through the suffering.
If I surround myself with everyone who agrees with me and likes me, my character and formation as a person will not grow. If I am never tested by something that tries to knock me off my feet, how will I learn to stand firm? I would rather be sent to an elaborate buffet and feast, and I like to pray that way. However, it is in the gym that I am strengthened, so help me to pray that way. As difficult as it is in my will, and despite how “tough I may talk the talk,” help me “walk the walk” and to rejoice in my suffering.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
My family, I pray you embrace the fact that if we have a savior who God demonstrated His love through His suffering, that He will demonstrate His love through you in the same way. I pray as counter to your flesh as it sounds, you will embrace that it is sometimes through suffering, not the removal of suffering, that your walk with Christ will lead you. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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!
Fill my cup this morning Father.
“The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35-37)
Jesus, the irony in the statement “Let him save himself” is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross. It was not by the avoidance or removal of suffering that God’s would show His love, but through suffering that God’s plan of salvation and love would be manifested.
Jesus, remind me of my call to suffer for your kingdom and out of love for my neighbors. Your Word says, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29) It is ok for me to ask for the suffering to be removed, Jesus you did in the garden. However, it is not ok for me to use whether the suffering has been removed or not as a measure of God’s love for me. Just like Jesus, sometimes my salvation and sanctification does not come by the avoidance or removal of suffering, but through the suffering.
If I surround myself with everyone who agrees with me and likes me, my character and formation as a person will not grow. If I am never tested by something that tries to knock me off my feet, how will I learn to stand firm? I would rather be sent to an elaborate buffet and feast, and I like to pray that way. However, it is in the gym that I am strengthened, so help me to pray that way. As difficult as it is in my will, and despite how “tough I may talk the talk,” help me “walk the walk” and to rejoice in my suffering.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5)
My family, I pray you embrace the fact that if we have a savior who God demonstrated His love through His suffering, that He will demonstrate His love through you in the same way. I pray as counter to your flesh as it sounds, you will embrace that it is sometimes through suffering, not the removal of suffering, that your walk with Christ will lead you. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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. Make me more like You today.
“Then Jesus went out and made his way, as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him…He went away from them about a stoneʼs throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:39-40)
In humility of heart, I want to willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. Set me free from my selfishness and self-centeredness, from my insistence upon my independence apart from Your wisdom and authority in my life. Forgive me for my pride that says I'll do it my way, instead of Your way and demands my will instead of trusting Your will. Give a heart that honestly says, "not my will, but Yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).
You are the God who "leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble (Your) way" (Psalm 25:9). You are the God who "adorns the humble with victory" (Psalm 149:4). And it's to the humble You grant Your favor and Your blessings (Proverbs 3:34). And Your Word says, "God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble.... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:6-10).
God, I admit I need a more humble heart. In you Holy Spirit, help me have the courage to boldly entrust my heart into Your hands and commit my will to Your will today as I begin my week, and every day. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may you experience the blessings and favor of God, and seek his will to be done in you life. I pray you humble your heart in His sight and allow Him to lift you up and lead your life, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift!
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!
Jesus, with all that I am, I sit here this morning seeking all that you are.
“As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!”…But stay alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
So every day Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, …And all the people came to him early in the morning to listen to him in the temple courts.” (Luke 21:6,37-38)
Jesus, in almost all of this chapter you are giving us a warning of the uncertainty of life, yet at the same time you give us the certainty of persecution and suffering, institutions being torn down and you call us to “stay alert at all times” (v.36). This world is a broken world. All of creation was broken in the Garden of Eden and the fall of mankind. That brokenness and corruption on the world still exists today. People ask me from time to time, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” That questions comes from the assumption that the world is ”good.” However, the world we live in is broken with sin. So we should not question why a baby dies at birth, we should question why any at all live. We should not be surprised when a marriage ends in divorce, we should be surprised any remain faithful and in tact.
Jesus, you tell us that, “Nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (v.10). However, you also tell us, “when you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be afraid. For these things must happen first” (v.9)
You tell us, “There will be great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.” (v.11). But you also tell us, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (v.33)
You tell us that, “they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons.” (v.12). Yet you also tell us, “But when these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (v.28)
And you tell us how we can overcome all this and not be “weighed down with the worries of this life” (v.34). How we do this is by drawing close to you and finding our strength in you. “So every day Jesus was teaching in the temple courts…and all the people came to him early in the morning to listen to him in the temple courts.” (v. 37-38)
We over come this broken world by coming to you everyday, early in the morning, and spending time in your word and in prayer. We over come our struggle “against powers, evill spiritual forces, the world and its rulers of darkness” (Ephesians 4:12) by spending time daily in Scriptures and payer putting on the armor of God.
“For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) Why does Paul say we put on the armor of God? Not so we receive anything else but the ability to Stand! To not be knocked down by the upheavals in this broken world and simply yet powerfully stand strong in our faith as a testimony to the presence of God in a broken world. That is why I invest time in creating and sharing these morning reflections with you. It is because I want you to see the absolute necessity of spending time daily in your Bible and prayer and I want you to be able to stand! And I need you to stand, and so do others around you, because none of us can stand alone. I need others to link arms with and help me stand strong.
My family, I pray today you will come to understand the absolute necessity to spend time daily in your Bible and in time of prayer. I pray you will spend time today in God’s Word and prayer so you can Stand in this broken world, and lift those who have been knocked down up, dust them off, and help them stand with you. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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 Jesus, I desperately need your light today…
“As all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the experts in the law. They like walking around in long robes, and they love elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ property, and as a show make long prayers. They will receive a more severe punishment.” (Luke 20:45-47)
Jesus warns us against pride. The Greek word for “Beware” or “Be on guard against" above is a present imperative and indicates that pride is something that is constantly lurking and something we need to be constantly on the watch for and guarding ourselves against. Pride separates. It separates us from others and from God. Pride in things you have leads you to covet them, forget that everything you have is a gift from God, and cause you not to be generous. Pride in finances and professions leads to entitlement and a false rationalization that “I deserve this because I worked hard.” Pride in your heart leads to narcissism and placing yourself above others.
Our guard against pride does not come from comparison to others. We read this parable on pride Jesus taught a couple days ago in Luke chapter 18:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ʻGod, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.ʼ The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ʻGod, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!ʼ I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (Luke 18:10-14)
Our measure of our pride or lack of pride does not come from our comparison to any others or anything, but solely by our comparing ourselves to Jesus who gave us the example when; “He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!” (Phillipians 4:8) We Compare ourselves to the cross. It was only in His complete obedience, complete humility, complete absence of pride that He was able to do the will of the Father. You can not be full of pride and endure people cussing you, spitting in your face, striping you naked in public, smacking you around, beating you, then slaughtering you on the cross. I would have “Bowed up”, Jesus bowed down.
Prayer To Christ The Prisoner
Lord, because you wanted to save the world, you decided for the following things to happen:
· You became a man
· You were born a human
· You were circumcised
· You were rejected by your neighbors
· You were betrayed by a close friend, a traitor
· You were cuffed and shackled and led stumbling to court
· You were forced to stand in front of judges and prosecutors, with no attorney to help you
· You were accused by lying, paid witnesses
· You were tortured with beatings, insults and whippings
· You had men spit in your face
· You had sharp thorns shoved into your scalp
· You were punched in the face, and sticks beat your body and head
· You were not allowed any medical treatment
· You were blindfolded, had your clothes stripped off your body and forced to carry the thing which with you were killed, almost half a mile
· You were nailed through your hands and feet to a heave piece of wood
· You were hung on a cross between two criminals, in front or the whole ciry, and your family and friends
· You ere offered bitter wine to drink, had a spear shoved into your side and left to die with no appeal
Lord, you willingly allowed these things to happen to save the world and to save me. When I think of these things that happened to you, your sufferings, I ask you to bring me to the same paradise that you brought the thief that was killed with you. .All he asked of you was to be forgiven. This I ask also. Amen. (Taken from the Kairos Freedom Gud=ide)
So forgive me Jesus when in my pride I read the passages above in Luke 20:45-47 and 18:10-14 and others come to mind and I don’t think they apply directly to me, in Jesus’ name. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
My family, as we head deeper into the final weeks of Holy Week and you honestly reflect on your true level of walking with Jesus, I pray you will confront the pride that resides in you. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I really would love to hear your reflections, and I believe they would encourage others. So please share your reflections and prayers with us from chapter 19 in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift!
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. Help me hear what You're saying, see what You're doing, sense Your Presence and follow Your leading.
“Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ʻLook, here it is!ʼ or ʻThere!ʼ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21)
You tell me Jesus that the kingdom of God is here, right now, today, all around me. “As I reflect on this the question then comes to my mind, “Why am I here?” What is my purpose in this kingdom and God’s grand plan for this earth? God, You've given each of us a skill to build up Your people and extend Your kingdom across the earth. With our freewill, we're invited to offer our gifts in service to You with "whatever gift each of (us) has received" (1 Peter 4:10). Together, we are the sanctuary You're building, the place of Your abiding Presence on this earth. And Your kingdom is within us (Luke 17:21).
Jesus, as I and those who read this devotion, through Your Spirit you have given me, as we seek You, this morning show us our gifts and our place of service to You wherever we are. Let Your Spirit stir in our hearts to come do the work of the kingdom of God. Wherever we are, we carry Your kingdom with us, for Your kingdom is within us -- at home, at work, in the market, in the church, down the street and across the oceans. And as we each do our part in this labor of love with the gifts of God, we find we are fulfilled. We find we have "much more than enough for doing the work that he Lord has commanded us to do." And we find Your heart for us is, "Well done" (Luke 19:17).
"Our God will make (us) worthy of His call and will fulfill by His power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in (us), and (we) in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today as a good thing to reflect on in Lent, you will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your skills and the gifts of God within you. I pray He will stir in your heart to fully offer yourself and your gifts for the work and glory of the kingdom of God wherever you are. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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, with all that I am and all thart I have I desire to honor you today..
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19-31)
Jesus, you have a way of not letting us be at peace and emphasizing a message. As I read this convicting parable above I am drawn into my reflection again from yesterday on the value of “the lost;” those that do not know Jesus and will enter into a Christless eternity.
In the parable above the Rich man passionately pleads to Abraham,
“The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment… And he (Rich man) said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’…. if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”
The rich man is in hell yet he is actively and compassionately trying to save those who do not know Christ from going to hell. Why can’t our churches today at least have the compassion of hell for those that are lost?
"In July of 1854 a man by the name of Charlie Peace was to be hung in London. He was a well-known criminal, whose choices had finally caught up with him. On the day of his hanging, a ceremony was held by the local church. As Charlie marched through the streets of people toward the gallows, the priest was reading from a prayer book saying, "Those who die without Christ experience hell, which is the pain of forever dying without the release which death itself can bring." At that Charlie looked back at the priest with a piercing look and shouted, "Do you believe that? Do you believe that?" The priest was shocked by Charlie's verbal assault and cautiously answered, "Well...I...suppose I do." Then suddenly Charlie said something amazing, "Well, I don't, but if I did, I'd get down on my hands and knees and crawl all over Great Britain, even if it were paved with pieces of broken glass, if I could just rescue one person from what you just told me."
Charlie confronted the preacher, and said to him; you talk about it in sermons, you sing about it in hymns and say yes and amen about it in church services, and you read stories about it in the Bible, but what are you actually doing about it? If you really believed that those who die without Christ will experience eternal hell, why aren’t you desperately and compassionately, daily sharing the Gospel of Jesus with people to rescue them from what you believe is true?
My family, the words of Charlie Peace that confronted the priest now confront and are spoken to you and me this morning. I pray these words directed now by Jesus, you will not rationalize away or push aside but take time to needed to reflect on them. I pray you will repent, which means to turn and go the other way, and walk out your door and share Jesus with at least one person today, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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!
Father, Son and Spirit, I thank you that you delight in this time I shre with you this morning.
“So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ʻRejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.ʼ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.” (Luke 15:3-7)
Jesus, as I read this parable and the one that follows it in vs. 8-10, I see that to you the lost, those that are caught up in sinful lifestyles and don’t know you as Lord, have extreme value to you. They are a treasure so great to you that you leave behind all that you have and the safety of your church friends to go seek them and find them. You went and hung out at places they hung out, invited them to share meals at your table, and proclaiming the good news of deliverance to them was at the heart of your ministry. You loved them. You even said “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
I do not see that value for the lost as a treasure to be sought out in the church today. The “lost” are something to avoid and stay away from and people use the term “lost” towards others in a derogatory way or gossip about them in parking lots or small groups. We desire to be in a “Sanctuary”apart from the lost. Yet a church-going Christian’s personal knowledge that they “saved” and their attending church services has absolutely no impact on those who do not know Christ around them.
Jesus, if you had one day to physically come back to earth, you would not visit my church, or any church, you would visit prisoners in jail. You would not want to hear a church choir practice, but the hear stories of the homeless and addicted in the streets. You would not share a meal at a Wednesday night church gathering, but at the happy hour of a bar with those who have no church family. We in the church, we read the stories like these in Luke 15, we know that is what you did, we know you hung out with prostitutes and sinners, we know we are called to imitate our lives after yours, so why don’t we value and seek out the lost like you did? When was the last time you planned a day or activity that was centered around seeking, finding, and sharing the Gospel with your brothers and sisters that do not know Christ? When was the last time you valued a co-worker, neighbor, classmate, or anyone who does not love Jesus enough to have a conversation about Jesus with them? When was the last time your heart truly broke and mourned for the lost, that you spent time on your knees praying for them? When was the last time you shouted with joy and rejoiced because you had led someone into the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Earlier this week? Last week? Last month? Last Year? 5 Years ago?
I would truly rather no one show up at a service on Sunday and instead; they go out intentionally to share their faith and visit their local jail, hang out and pray with people in the Emergency waiting room of a hospital, go into a bar, walks the street with the homeless, walks the mall praying over and with people and workers, or in some other way actively seeks “lost” treasure. And so would Jesus.
My family, I pray today as we enter deeper into the season of Lent your heart will break and mourn in prayer over your brothers and sisters who are perishing without Christ. I pray today as an act of Lent you will intentionally and actively plan out, set a date, time, and place when you will leave your “99”; (your church family, routine and comfort) and imitate Jesus and go out seeking lost treasure. What would be a better way to deepen your faith during Lent, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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!
“Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ʻCome, because everything is now ready.ʼ But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ʻI have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.ʼ Another said, ʻI have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.ʼ Another said, ʻI just got married, and I cannot come.ʼ” (Luke 14: 16-20)
Jesus, in the parable you gave above, the people who were invited to the great banquet feast gave excuses why they could not attend. You invite all of us who call ourselves Christians into a banquet with you of your grace as well. An intimate gathering where we receive your Joy, peace and all the glories of the Kingdom of God. However, though we will receive the gift of God’s grace, attending Jesus’ party is not about us getting all we want it, is about us surrendering all we have to Jesus. So before any one of us say “Yes,” and accept His invitation into His banquet as a disciple of Jesus, each one of us needs to carefully read the invitation contained in chapter 14 before we accept it. In Your invitation You plainly state the conditions::
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (v.26)
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (v. 27)
“not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.” (v.33)
Before you head off to the banquet, consider all it will cost you, and if you are not willing to give it all, turn around. (My paraphrase of vs. 28-29)
Saying you are a Christian is good, as long as you continue to surrender, obey and imitate Christ. If you stop and are a Christian by name only, your witness stinks like crap. (My paraphrase of vs. 34-25)
After reading and understanding what Your invitation to Your banquet actually says, what the cost to attend the great banquet actually is, I can understand why those asked to attend the banquet in the parable above made excuses not to attend. It made me reflect on how I have cut and pasted Your invitation to make it imitate the world and read that it is all about me, and my agenda, instead of imitating Jesus and being all about You. How I have cut, pasted and removed your words of cross bearing, suffering, and surrender as conditions to attend your banquet from your invitation. I am sorry about that. This morning Jesus, help me remove all the excuses I have made not to attend Your banquet of discipleship. Let people not identify me as a Christian because that is what I say I am, but because my life has the “banquet flavor” of a Christian, in which they can, “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8). In Jesus’ name. Amen.
My family, as we move through the season of Lent reflecting on the suffering love the passion of Jesus in his death and crucifixion, I pray today you take time to read Luke chapter 14 and understand what His invitation to His banquet of discipleship actually says, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift
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, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
