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 Father, Son, and Spirit, I begin my day receiving you love, grace and mercy.
Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate… So Pilate spoke to them (crowds) again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!...” So the soldiers led him into the palace….Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.… Those who passed by defamed him, (Mark15:1, 12, 16,19, 29)
Jesus, as I read this passage this morning it hits my heart and saddens me how completely alone and abandoned You were in your suffering. The chapter before tells us that when You were arrested, “all the disciples left him and fled.” (Mark 14:50) In this passage everyone else rallies together against you: Chief priests, Elders, experts in the law, the crowds, Pilot, soldiers, passers by, all wanted to humiliate and hurt You, You were completely alone.
All except one man, Simon of Cyrene. “The soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country” (Mark 15:21) One man stepped out, embraced your cross, entered into your suffering, and walked with you. The passage said he was forced, but he still did it.
Lord help me be Simon today and everyday of my life. Carrying your cross is not be the popular thing to do. Those in the crowd around me (my co-workers, classmates, family, friends neighbors) may ridicule me. Like Simon, honestly in my flesh it may not be what I want to do and it may be way beyond my comfort zone. Walking close with You, I will receive the brunt of people’s anger and get hit in the face by the spit that is intended for You. However today I have to make a choice; will I be like Simon, or will I be like the rest of the crowd. Holy Spirit give me the strength, fill me with love for Jesus and my neighbors, and instill in me a heart of worship to embrace Jesus, embrace His cross, and carry it into a a desperate world that needs its love and redemption.
My family, I pray today you choose to be like Simon and not like the crowds around him or the crowds around you. I pray you step out of your comfort zone, embrace Jesus, carry your cross, and speak the love of Jesus into the crowds today, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!
Please share your reflections and prayers on my post in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I relationally share the Gospel tothose 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. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and every moment of my day. ..
"Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 'Have You no answer? What is it that they testify against You?' But He was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked Him, 'Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?' Jesus said, 'I AM; and 'you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,' and 'coming with the clouds of heaven'" (Mark 14:60-62)
You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Word of God made human flesh like us, to walk among us and willingly lay down Your perfect and sinless life for us as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins that we might know You and live with You forever in the very presence of God. You are I AM (John 8:58; Exodus 3:14).
At that divine declaration, the high priest tore his garments in fleshly exasperation because he didn't believe You. But Your Holy Spirit compels all who would hear and believe to tear our hearts in holy desperation to welcome You in as Lord and Savior. "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing" (Joel 2:12-13).
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus! I tear it open to You today! Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Remind me of Your sacrifice that compels me in Your love. "For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.... As a result, He has brought (us) into His own presence, and (we) are holy and blameless as (we) stand before Him without a single fault. But (we) must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it" (Colossians 1:19-23).
By the grace of God, I'm a child of God, forgiven and free, through all You've done for me. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Thank You Jesus! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, in this season of Lent where we set aside time to re-tune our heart to God, I pray you are moved by the Holy Spirit to ago beyond re-tuning you heart and in holy desperation tear open your heart in ever-deeper surrender to the One who loves you and laid down His life for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers with us 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 In reaching with the Gospel of grace 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!
It’s not to late! IF YOU HAVE NOT YET, JOIN IN!!
We started 8 weeks ago beginning the journey of reading through the New Testament in a year and we still have 44 weeks to go! This plan has only one chapter to read each weekday. There are no assigned readings on the weekend. The plan we are using is from Bibleplan.org. Click the button below to go to the site, enter the starting date Sept. 17. 2018, enter your email, and a time you want to receive an email reminder, then click subscribe. Every weekday then you will receive an email reminder of the chapter reading for that day.
Good morning Lord Jesus, I begin my work week put my life in the hands of the one who loved me from the beginning.
Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews…. If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God - let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ʻI am Godʼs Sonʼ!” (Matthew 27:37,42-43).
There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, "save yourself!" and "come down from the cross!" They wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save His physical life, but it was indeed His staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life. Those passing by only believed what they saw. All of Jesus’ disciples only believed what they saw and fled and hid themselves. Jesus’ resurrection had not yet occurred in the world and they had no knowledge or faith in what happening before them and what was to come.
However, we who call ourselves “Christians“ have knowledge of the death and resurrection of Jesus and it is at the core of our faith. We also understand that it is only by dying to ourselves that we also can experience resurrection from the dead into eternal life. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-26)
We too want Jesus to come down from the cross. Because if we truly believe that Jesus had to die on the cross, if we truly believe that it was through suffering that Jesus would redeem the world, then we must truly believe that in order to call ourselves a “Christian”, a follower and imitator of Jesus, we too must also “Trust in God,” we too must also pick up our cross, and we too must also suffer.
Jesus asked His disciples, “Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” (Matthew 20:22). This morning and every morning we are blessed to wake up to be part of another day on earth, as our feet are hitting the floor next to our bed Jesus asks the same questions of us. When was the last time you picked up your cross and suffered for your faith? When was the last time you did something that made you even a little uncomfortable, especially in this Covid world we find ourselves in now, for your faith? What are your plans for cross bearing today?
My family, As we approach the Cross and near the end of season of Lent, I pray you will reflect on your call to be cross bearers and the same irony that is only by you giving giving up the safety and comfort of physical life that you and those you encounter in the world will experience a resurrection from death to life in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers on your reflections from this mornings reading with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I seek to relationally reach with the Gospel 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. Good Shepherd, I'm listening. ...
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps" (Matthew 25:1-4).
My Father God, I thank You for Your Word. "Your Word is a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). And I thank You for the oil of Your Spirit, the Anointing of the Presence of God. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1-2). With Your Word and Your Spirit in our hearts, we are the body of Christ here in our world.
And at the same time, I want to be wise with all You've entrusted to me. I don't want to settle for the level oil of Your Holy Spirit I began with in my lamp of Your Word in my heart. I want more -- more of You, more of Your Spirit, more of Your Presence, more of Your heart, more of Your nature, more of Your anointing of Your power and Your love flowing more freely through my life. I want to be being filled with Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). I want "a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over!" (Luke 6:38)
So keep making me hungry and thirsty for more. More time in my Bible, more time in prayer, more time in serving others. More time sharing my testimony and Your Gospel with others. Thank You for the promise of Your Word: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). To be filled I have to be hungry. I want to be one who is filled -- filled up and ready for Your coming, ready to embrace You with my lamp full and my flame burning (Matthew 25:10). May You "fan into flame" the Gift of God within me (2 Timothy 1:6).
One day You'll come again in Your glory in the clouds (1Thessalonians 4:16; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-16). And at the same time, I hunger and thirst for You to come in Your glory here in my heart right now and every moment between this day and that day to comeIn Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, as we journey through Lent on the way to the cross, I pray you take time this morning to fill your lamp so it burns full with a burning flame of God's Word and God's Spirit. I pray you hunger and thirst for more of the anointing presence of God in your life, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Chapter 25 is an amazing chapter of parables. As we read through these chapters together, I can only share on a verse or two that spoke to me. I pray you will participate and add to what God wants to reveal from these chapters by sharing your reflections and prayers on my blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I relational reach out with the Gospel of grace to 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.
Thanks You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You, here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"When it was evening, He took His place with the twelve; and while they were eating, He said, 'Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.' And they became greatly distressed and began to say to Him one after another, 'Sure not I, Lord?' He answered, 'The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.' Judas, who betrayed Him, said, 'Surely not I, Rabbi?' He replied, 'You have said so'" (Matthew 26:20-25).
Sometimes I wonder what happened to Judas. Did he get too close to the money? (John 6:29) With his hand in Your bowl, did he become presumptuous of his access to Your greatness or begin to take his invitation to Your intimacy and his acceptance of Your grace for granted? Did being one of the “Big Twelve” give him the big head? Or did the seeds of sin and self-seeking sown into his fallen soul finally grow to full harvest in his heart of betrayal? In any event, somehow Satan himself entered his soul to consume his thoughts and influence his choices (Luke 22:3).
You know every choice we will ever make, seeing the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10). You know every heart and every motive of every choice (Acts 1:24; Jeremiah 17:10). Yet, the choices are ours in the freedom of will that a true relationship of love requires (Joshua 14:15; Deuteronomy 30:14-15; John 7:17).
And what if Judas had made better choices with all that was entrusted to him? Surely Your Word was true of him as It is with us all: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live" (Ezekiel 33:11).
Judas was not born a traitor, but he "became a traitor" (Luke 6:16). And by the time it was time for Judas to choose blessing or curse, life or death, "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray (You)" (John 13:2). In the end, "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place" (Acts 1:25).
But what if instead of becoming "the one destined to be lost," Judas would have humbled himself in repentance and faith, seeking Your healing and freedom of all that would hold him back of being a faithful follower instead of a condemned traitor (John 17:12)? His confession and repentance came too late when finally acknowledged, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" (Matthew 27:3) What if he could have become a son of God instead of the "son of perdition" (John 17:12)? What if he was to spill out his heart to lead others to Christ instead of spilling out his guts after hanging himself on a tree (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18)? What if even the Book of Jude could have been the Book of Judas, sharing words of encouragement and exhortation from a life that was changed and surrendered to God to fulfill a destiny to honor Christ (Jude 1)?
You are "longsuffering” toward us (all), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). So before I judge Judas for the speck in his eye, give me a humble and teachable heart to see the log in my own eye (Matthew 7:5). Let me "judge not," so that by the measure I judge I will not also be judged and that very thing come up me (Matthew 7:1). Let me never take my grace for granted or presume upon my place of intimacy with You. Convict me of my sins and keep me sensitive in my heart to the leading of Your Spirit, so that it's never too late to choose well and live well in the destiny You desire for me (Ephesians 1:11). By the power of Your grace, may I grow to be much more like Jesus than Judas (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you you will honestly and openly confess, repent, and be restored of any sin that is festering inside you. I pray you will seek God’s grace and forgiveness and then seek to grow in the grace of God to become more like Jesus every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers to this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I seek to relationally reach with the Gospel 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!
Isaiah Chapter 33
Most scholars put this chapter in history between the time the Tribute was Sennacherib (2 kings 18:13-16) and when the final attacks on Jerusalem had begun. The leaders of Judah have tried everything to free themselves from the grip of Assyria. But everything they tried failed. Egypt has been defeated, Sennacherib has refused bribes and to be bought off; he took the money, but still remains and is now preparing for battle against them. In this moment, Hezekiah leads his people to repentance and God gives his response which Isaiah records here.
Israel found themselves caught up in a really bad situation that was threatening to destroy them. And they tried everything they could on their own, used all their own strategies, hard work, and resources to get out of it. But it was only as a last resort, after everything else failed, in desperation did they call out to God. Because of a worldly view, pride, ego, and self-reliance, the first thing they should have tried for deliverance and the first person they needed to ask for help, God, was the last thing they tried.
Sound familiar? What was true in the lives of the "church" thousands of years ago is true in the lives of Christians today. We don't like to repent, we don't like to admit we can't fix it, and only in desperation after we have completed messed everything up and find ourselves without hope do we fall on our knees and pray. Only then can we hear God's response.
Also, it took one person, Hezekiah, to stand up and be the spiritual leader and convince the people the need to repent and lead them back to God. You and I need to be that one person in our marriages, families, circle of friends, work places, neighborhoods and especially our churches. We need to be the one to help them see the error of their striving in themselves and seek God's support and direction through prayer, reading the Bible, and gathering with believers for support.
My family, I pray after you read this, you will not just click the "Like" tab on FB, and continue on in your own means, but take some time to put these reflections into action, seek God, and pray over your life. In this season of Lent, reflect on how and with what you are fighting your battles? How you are a “Hezekiah” leading and calling those you have a relationship with and influence over to turn back to God, repent and pray, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
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Isaiah 10
“Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead,
those who are always instituting unfair regulations,
to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,
and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice,
so they can steal what widows own,
and loot what belongs to orphans.
What will you do on judgment day,
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. “ vs.1-4
I am not a “doom and gloom” preacher. I don’t try to scare people into falling in love with Jesus. I don’t center my messages around judgement. However, as passages like these from Isaiah remind me, there will be a final judgment They speak of a coming reality, I don’t like passages like this one. Congregations do not like passages like these. They don’t preach well and they are not easily swallowed. All things belong to and are under the hand of our creator. We are not entitled to anything. Everything is all a gift of grace. We are only stewards of these gifts for a very short time. And all of us must sooner or later give an account to the creator on how we used and shared these gifts of grace we received. Isaiah says on the “visitation” (judgement) day there will be no help or hiding. One’s position, power, status, wealth, possessions, pensions are all meaningless before the judgment of God. Especially those listed that are gained at the expense of the poor. God’s glory is ultimately for our good. But it has a standard. We either obey his standards and live in his glory, or we deny his standards and die smashing against his glory. For his glory will not me moved.
My family, “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48). I pray during this season of Lent you will reflect on the gifts of grace and light you have received and your heart of generosity towards them and with them. You will have to do it one day in the not so far future, why not do it today? In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Isaiah 9
Good morning Lord Jesus, I rest in your peace this morning as I need your peace as I begin my week.
“For a child has been a born to us,
a son has been given to us.
He shoulders responsibility
and is called:
Wonderful counselor (Extraordinary Strategist)
Mighty God, (God is Warrior)
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. (And to peace there will be no end)
His dominion will be vast
and he will bring immeasurable prosperity.
He will rule on Davidʼs throne
and over Davidʼs kingdom,
establishing it and strengthening it
by promoting justice and fairness,
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord ʼs intense devotion (Zeal) to his people will accomplish this.” Vs.6-7
Yesterday I preached on the identity of Jesus. I used Daniel’s prophesy in 7: 13-14 as my main text. These verses in Isaiah written over 700 years before the birth of Jesus also contain one of the most remarkable prophesy’s of Isaiah on the birth Immanuel. That somehow a virgin-born child would demonstrate that God is with us. Isaiah says, “A child is born to us…” in doing so he admits his sin and includes himself with all people in the need of deliverance. As do I. The child is presented as the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign.
Wonderful counselor (Extraordinary stategist): throughout these first chapters we have been reading the failing of human wisdom as folly, failing, and deceiving has been shown. By contrast, the Coming One, the “Wonderful Counselor” has a great depth of wisdom. True wisdom that knows in weakness there is strength, in surrender there is victory, and in death there is life.
Mighty God (God is Warrior) the coming Immanuel will have God’s true might. His true power so great he can absorb all the evil which Satan and his demons hurl against him until he has nothing left to hurl, then defeat and crush his enemy.
Everlasting Father: Some kings have claimed to be :the father of their people”, but this was only temporary. Immanuel’s fatherhood would be forever. A fatherhood that does not impose itself on his children, but rather sacrifices himself for them.
Prince of Peace: It is fitting that after all we have read of the chaos, disruption, and warring we read about other kings, the last title given Immanuel is Prince of Peace. He is a peaceful king. One we know now because of our understanding of the cross, did not establish his peace by brutally squashing all defiance, by the means and example of complete transparency and vulnerability which makes defiance pointless. Some how through Immanuel’s reconciliation between God and man, there is now the possibility of reconciliation between man and man.
“from this time forward and forevermore” Isaiah has an eschatological (study of end times) figure in mind in his prophecy. This king will not be another king among kings in the list of kings of Israel. He will be the final king, the king to end all kings, the king of all kings!
To all above I have written I say Amen! Amen!!!
My family, as you begin your week I pray you will meditate on these verses in Isaiah and affirn your understanding of the presence of Immanuel in your life today, i Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
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Good morning Jesus,I need your Spirit to draw me to embrace you this morning , so I cn embrace others throughout my day.
Stop and read the 12 verses of Isaiah 53
Who would have believed what we just heard?
When was the Lord’s power revealed through him? V. 1
The nations will be shocked because they have never heard of a deliver who would be willing to humble himself and fall so low in order to save and deliver the people he rules over. Who could have believed that when the “arm of the Lord” was made known and came to deliver his people it would look like this? The answer is, no one. The shocking essence of the Servant is expanded to include the entire unexpected nature of his ministry.
This man does not fit our picture of God’s deliverer at all. We are not drawn to him or his plans, “He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block.” V.7, rather we are repulsed by him and his plans that we are to pick up a cross as well and follow him..
Jesus’ birth did not shake the Roman Empire. He was not born in a palace destined to be a military leader, he was born in the back of some stable of a village Inn. The revelation of him to the world did not take place in a coronation ceremony with trumpets blasting and crowds cheering. It was simply that of a man quietly coming to the great evangelist of the day, out in the wilderness, and asking to him be baptized. We were expecting a costumed drum major to lead a triumphal parade. We got a broken man carrying a cross. Our eyes get caught up in and prefer superficial splendor. This man, says Isaiah, will have none of that.
“He was despised and rejected by people….v3” He was considered someone worthless, unworthy of attention. In the eyes of the world, He is not one of the winners, he is one of the losers. And losers can not deliver other losers. Thus the revelation of the Servant of the Lord who will deliver the Lord’s people is met with shock, astonishment, distaste, avoidance, and dismissed.
Yet in this Servant, God has found a way to both gratify his love and satisfy his justice.
Isaiah 53 is an amazing premonition, written thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, of who are servant savior would be. It is a revelation of both the extreme love and the extreme justice that is at the heart of God’s desire to save his people, and the instrument through which he will save his people, the Servant, Jesus Christ.
I have spent time in “church” today. This chapter has drawn me to read it over and over. And I could write pages of thoughts on it that are filling my heart and head. I shared just a little of them. I would love to hear your thoughts and revelations from this chapter.
My family, I pray as you read today this chapter that reveals one man’s revelation of who the servant savior of the world will be, you will take time to reflect on who the servant savior, Jesus, is to you. Are you repulsed by Him and His plans that you are to pick up a cross as well, humble yourself, fall low, and follow him? Or are you embracing Him and His plan? And if so, how does your life reveal that you embrace Him and his plan, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
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Good morning Lord Jesus, I pulled off my covers and climbed out of bed and now sit and in prayer and reading Your Word to come under Your covering of protection and grace.
“This is what the Lord says to his chosen one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings,
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed.” 45:1
In the midst of the challenges of our lives: pandemics, social upheavals, war, chaos, overt sin, and all the uncertainty we find our selves in, instead of turning to “Facebook Prophets” for direction I have been turning to Scriptures and reading how Prophets of God spoke into a nation that was experiencing these same issues. The past week or so I have been reading through The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In chapter 45, the great issue Isaiah addresses in this section is convincing God’s own people that He can deliver them, and He will, but it will be in his own way, not theirs. Those who heard Isaiah’s words were shocked at Cyrus being called a shepherd, And they must have been even more outraged when Isaiah called him His chosen and anointed one. This title had previously been reserved for priests, prophets and kings of Israel. Surely God could only use persons from His own people, His own elect to accomplish his purpose. Isaiah’s point that shocked them was that God is not the Lord of Israel alone, He is the God of the world. Israel was not God’s chosen people because of anything in themselves, and neither will their deliverance be because of anything in themselves. Their deliverance, then, as with ours today, occurred not only outside of themselves, but in spite of themselves. It is God who chooses, God who delivers, and He will by the means God desires.
God can choose anybody for a time, including all today, to be a type of “messiah” to a people, situation, a community, or even a nation. God can choose anyone to be an instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes will be accomplished and revealed to the world. Messiahs do not only come from the “good crowd,” nice neighborhoods, your “clicks.” your church or denomination, or those with “religion”. Messiahs do not have to look like you, talk like you, dress like you, smell like you, They don’t have to listen to Casting Crowns, attend church on Sunday’s and drink sweet tea. John the Baptist was a type of messiah, a God chosen instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes were accomplished and revealed to the world, and he was way outside societies acceptability and church conduct or dress codes. David was the runt of his family. who they all looked down on. Those in the church were shocked at the thought of Jesus being THE Messiah. They smirked and sarcastically said to each other in their church click,, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?! (and we in the church today would say the same thing, just add, “Bless his heart!”) You, as hard as it may be for some people to believe with all your quirks and short comings, through your baptism into a new creation of Christ and being filled with and indwelled with the iHoly Spirit, are also anointed and called to be a type of messiah, a God chosen instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes are to be accomplished and revealed to the world,
Deliverance is from God and He can and will deliver you, but in his own way, not yours.
“Does clay talk back to the potter:
‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”
Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
“Do you question who or what I’m making?
Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth, and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” (Isaiah 45:9-13 The Message Bible.)
My family, I pray you will not put God into “Your box” of those He can use to speak light, truth, and grace into our nation, including you, I pray during this time of Lent you will re-claim your anointing of your baptism and hear your call to be an anointed one in your community, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
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Good morning Lord Jesus, Yours is the Lordship I choose to obey as I begin my Day. Give me the strength through your Spirit to obey you only today.
“ Any weapon that is forged against you will not succeed, and any tongue that rises up with you, you will find guilty. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness from me, says the Lord.” V. 17
I love this verse! It powerfully sums up and concludes this chapter: Whoever attempts to use a weapon or tongue against the people of God will not succeed, as all things must eventually serve God’s purpose. They may be able to injure God’s people, and appear to destroy them, but they will never be able to do so. It appeared Babylon had destroyed Israel, but God delivered them. In modern times, it appeared the Nazis and their holocaust had destroyed Israel and Judaism. Yet the main final result of its horrific acts was the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel, which had not existed for 2,000 years.
This morning, I pray this verse over the country and people of the Ukraine “ Any weapon that is forged against you will not succeed, and any tongue that rises up with you, you will find guilty. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness from me, says the Lord.” V. 17. Lord Jesus, we pray a prayer of protection over the people of Ukraine against the attacks of Russia. Send your warring angels down to fight for them.Release your created forces of nature against them. Empower us watching this horrific event in comfort with the boldness to do the next right thing in support and assistance of our brothers and sisters in the church of Jesus Christ who are being persecuted and suffering as a result of Russia’s evil actions. Lord have mercy on them, Christ have mercy on them, Lord have mercy on them.
My family, This is verse is the inheritance of those in the family of God, those in Christ Jesus, this is the inheritance of you and me!!! You may find your self in a situation now that is destroying your joy. It may even be one as the result of your deliberate sin. Israel’s exile into Babylon was a result of their deliberate sin against God. But when you repent and turn back to God, turn back to Christ, the destruction stops and healing begins as your relationship to God is renewed. I pray this verse this morning over your lives as well, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Jesus, Let your Spirit blow on me and through me to breath live into me as I begin my day
“Servant” is the theme of this chapter. However Isaiah’s focus on this theme of “a servant”is not on servants as we generally think of them. “Servants” as people who are passive and weak, who’s destruction and captivity is evidence of the failure and inability to be delivered by the lesser gods they followed. In this chapter Isaiah introduces to us the “Servant,” the true representation of Israel, who comes with power and who will be God’s agent and bring His covenant to the people and restore justice to all the nations. This Servant of Israel will Himself lead Isreal and it’s people to become what they had always desired to be.
The mighty hand of God is about to be revealed in His deliver of Israel. But instead of it being a military, armor bearing,, laced boot, ass-kicking destroyer of the enemies of the nations, he will be a tender plant, a shoot off Jesse’s root (11:1), an apparent failure, a meek lamb to be slaughtered, However, he will be the one to atone for the sins of the nation and those of the world. And beginning here and in the chapters to follow, salvation is no longer something to be anticipated and longed for but now Israel is being invited to participate in something that has already been achieved. What is the means it will be achieved? The substitutionary death of the Servant for Israel and the world.
God has said that the lives of His people in Israel, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, would be the evidence to the world that he alone is the Holy One. Our lives as people of God, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, who’s name we know, Jesus, are to be the evidence to those we encounter in our daily life that God alone is the Holy one and Jesus is Lord. What God revealed to Isaiah and which Isaiah then spoke about as a future prophecy to come, Jesus confirmed, spoke into and lived out in reality:
As we begin another week of Lent, Isaiah’s prophecy speaks into the season to reflect on an pray over the saving acts of our suffering servant, who became our sacrificial lamb on the cross, and by His resurrection, this servant became our savior and redeemer,
My family, Jesus“ main characteristic by which He was known was that of a servant. God sent Him into the world to serve. In Lent, we not only give up things and fast to re-connect with Jesus, we take on ways of serving our neighbors as well. As Jesus said, “Just as the Father sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…. “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony…. so that the world will believe that you sent me.” ( John 17:18-22). I pray as you begin your week you will seek out and enter into ways to serve those in your community and be a tangible example of the sacrificial love of Christ in their lives, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
“Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully measured the sky,
or carefully weighed the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?
Who comprehends the mind of the LORD,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?
From whom does he receive directions?
Who teaches him the correct way to do things,
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?
Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust.
Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.
All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing.
To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
A craftsman casts an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make an idol that will not fall over.
Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earthʼs foundations were made?
He is the one who sits on the earthʼs horizon;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,
and spreads it out like a pitched tent.
He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earthʼs leaders insignificant.
Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
“To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.
Look up at the sky!
Who created all these heavenly lights?
He is the one who leads out their ranks;
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me,
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.
He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.
But those who wait for the LORDʼs help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eaglesʼ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.:
they walk without getting tired.Like the two wings of an eagle (Isaiah 40 12-31)
The description of who God is in the verses above reminds me of all that is “God”. It both brings me to my knees in awe over who you are, and compiles me to leap for joy as I am reminded who is the God that is on my side! Like the wings of an eagle Your Word and Your Spirit lift me and move me, empower me and guide me, in a life that freely and fully soars in Your will. As I embrace the good gifts of Your Word and Your Spirit, You move mightily within me and move mightily for me to align my life with Your good will. "The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.... He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the truth of the Word of God, of who God is, and the empowering Spirit of God would lift you up today and every day and cause you to soar into the fullness of the good life the Lord has for you in the center of His good will for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC / Toney UMC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Isaiah Chapter 44
“This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says-
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Donʼt be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun, a whom I have chosen”
Chapter 44 continues the same subject of chapter 43, the completely unmerited nature of God’s salvation. God through Isaiah reminds the people that their sin has removed any obligation He has whatsoever to them: they cannot demand anything from God especially that He deliver them. But this does not mean that God will not deliver them, it means that what He does is a free, unearned gift flowing out of his own love.
What is the message God wants his people, the Israelites to hear,? Do not fear! V.44:2 The world says to the Israelites that God has rejected them. That they are an abandoned widow and their reputation is rotten and they are to be mocked and put to shame. God however speaks to them words of encouragement. He says they are his chosen one, and that “I will pour water on the parched ground and cause streams to flow on the dry land” v.3
The images of water in a dry land are all throughout the book pf Isaiah. It is a metaphor for the pouring out of God’s spirit, his water of life into hearts that are dead from sin and dry from no hope in life. God’s outpouring of his Spirit was ultimately fulfilled on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out into all humanity and made life-giving water available to those dead in sin.
Today as you pray:
Remember, the salvation you receive today is a total gift of grace out of God’s amazing love for you.
Remember: God’s message to you today is do not fear!
Remember: The refreshing water of the Holy Spirit is available to pour into the “dry places” in your life and heart if you ask, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me!
As and as we remember these things, let us give thanks and praise to God!!It is God’s desire to bless you my friends
Good morning Lord Jesus,, lead me toto the place people and practices that will glorify you today
“I, I am,. the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.” 43:11-12
This chapter reminds us that God’s act of salvation on our behalf and our cal by Him to be his chosen people, was an act by God out one of purest grace. God’s saving act in Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago and today was not because of anything people have done. It is not because the people 2,000 years ago or we today have become more perceptive of God or more obedient towards him. Nor was God’s salvation made conditional on their repentance back then or ours today. He did not require that the world to repent before He sent the Son. Actually, they rebelled while God sent His Son and they killed Him. God does not condition his sending of the Son into the world today on its repentance, as the world still rebels against God. This chapters overall theme is the gracious (un-earned, un-deserved gift) salvation of God and that God’ has the ability and desire to save. The problem is not on God’s side, it is on ours.
Isaiah also announces to Israel, and reminds us, that God created and shaped their nation, He created and shaped you, and desires to have a special relationship with you where you experience His grace. And that God’s people need not fear that His acts of discipline or correction signals a negation of their salvation or a suspension of God’s loving care and grace towards them. Just as the corrections a mother gives her child do not signal a lessoning of her love for her child. But rather the opposite.
People say to each other, “Have a blessed day!” or simply, “God bless you!” like it is an option or that God will or wants to bless you. God desires to bless you today with the grace of his salvation and have you experience it and live in it! So let him! Let him! I pray you will, in Jesus’ name. Please pray that I will as well. God bless you my friends!
As we read through Scriptures together it is not my intention that it be a lecture or a blog, but a conversation. I hope you will start posting your thoughts and reflections as well in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC/ Toney United Methodist Church
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Acts 24
Good morning Lord Jesus, fill me with the hope that can only come from your presence in my life as I begin my day…
"I have a hope in God (a hope that these men themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. This is the reason I do my best to always have a clear conscience toward God and toward people....While Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.” vs. 15-16,25
I am not a "hell and damnation" preacher. I don’t pretend to know anything concrete about the referent to that word “hell” so carelessly tossed around by some Christians. But I do know that it has a referent. And there is enough description surrounding it to indicate that whatever hell is, it is a big problem. I also know that I am not God, so how I may handle this problem is irrelevant. God handled it by sending his Son to be killed by and for the world. He only requires the gratitude due, which, if genuine, will produce a commitment to the truth and a commitment to the way. Only to the grateful will the resurrection of life be granted.
I cringe inside when some uses manipulation like, "If you get hit by a bus tonight, do you know where you will go?". Jesus, Paul, never used shamed to coerce people into belief. Yet Paul reminds us that when we die, none of us will just be dead as dirt. We all, both righteous and unrighteous, will be resurrected to a coming judgement. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29). Paul knows that everything he does will be revealed to God. He understands that he is an eternal being. He also understands that all people he has contact with are eternal beings. So that all his actions and interactions with people have eternal consequences. This understanding dictated every decision he made in his life. While Paul was discussing this as the bases of his daily quest for righteousness, self-control, and a clear conscience before God, The Governor Felix became convicted, frightened, and sent Paul away.
How often thoughts of resurrection enter into and mold the the basis of my interaction with people? How often do I remind myself that all people I also contact everyday are eternal beings and that all my actions and interactions with people have eternal consequences? Not often enough unfortunately. If Paul was discussing resurrection, righteousness, self-control, and having a clear conscience before God with me, I would probably be uneasy, and send him away as well. Telling him we will talk again when the time is better. When the Holy Spirit starts the same revelation in my heart, I usually do not follow him, or use rationalization, or comparison of myself to others to justify myself, and then go in another direction. I am a person of the Creed. We are a church of the Creed. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. I need to let this sink in and affect the way I live today, not just after I die.
My existence, your existence, the existence of all Christians and Christianity itself rests completely on the hope of the resurrection and Living in that hope today as resurrected people, and the future hope with those who are in Christ Jesus.
My family, take time in silence to ponder the resurrection of Christ. Take time to ponder your resurrection in Christ. As your knees get weak as you try to take in the enormity of it all, be thankful. Be thankful to the Father who's unbelievable love conceived it. Be thankful to the Son who's unbelievable love endured it. Be thankful to the Holy Spirit who's unbelievable love empowered it.
Pray that you and that our churches full of thanksgiving, can be a visible and living testimony to the resurrection hope in Christ to the world. Pray that the Holy Spirit will remind you and give you an eternal perspective with every person you encounter in your day today and everyday, in Jesus’ name. Please,please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!.
Please share your thoughts and comments on chapter 24 with others and myself in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/Toney UMC
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC/ Toney UMC
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Acts 22:19-21
And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.' And He said to me, 'Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"
In Chapter 22 Paul gives his testimony. Paul tells how he came face to face with Jesus and heard his condemnation, ““I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (v 9:5) He also heard Jesus' calling upon his life, to get up and go where I tell you. He then he went to Annais, and he was baptized and confirmed the calling on his life. (9:18) Later he went to church (the Temple) and he was praying to Jesus, and Jesus again called to him. And what was Paul’s response? He looked back into his past, and focused on his past, the things he had done in his past, and tried to back out of his calling. Jesus, however saw his future and the things he would do. Paul saw his past. Jesus saw his future. Paul focussed and lived into his past failings, and misguided plans. Jesus focussed lives into his future successes and great plans for him. Paul remembered and retained. Jesus forgot and forgave. Paul saw himself through eyes of condemnation. Jesus saw Paul through the eyes of grace.
Paul accepted Jesus' grace and forgiveness. He surrendered his past to Christ and Jesus then anointed his past, covered it with his blood, broke any chains it held on Paul, and sanctified it as an instrument to be used to his glory and the spreading of the gospel of grace and forgiveness. Paul accepted Jesus as his Lord, and surrendered everything to Christ including his past, and the result was this amazing testimony of his we are reading about now in Acts.
My family, Insert your name into these three versus and read them slowly out loud to yourself for a few minutes. And embrace the truth Jesus is speaking over you.
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Therefore if _________ is in Christ, he/she is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Revelation 21:5
And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making _________ new "
Romans 8:1-2
Therefore there is now no condemnation for ________ who is in Christ Jesus.
If you accepted Jesus as your Lord, then you need to surrender everything to Christ including your past. The result will be an amazing testimony of how Christ used you to spread his gospel of free grace and forgiveness. We are in a time of praying together as a church to be guided by the Holy Spirit into new areas of ministry for us. This is only possible if we step out of the old areas. If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and allowed him to set you free from your past, please pray into that today.
Now, go back up to the three verses and insert the names of at least one friend, co worker, family member, or someone you know who needs to hear these words, and pray these versus out loud over them. Ask the Holy Spirit for the boldness to call/text and share these versus with them, in Jesus’ name. Please pray I do the same. God Bless you my friends!
We are in the final chapters of Acts. Remember we are committed to:
Spend time daily in searching in the daily chapter reading.
Fast one day a week in prayer.
Spend at least one solid hour a week in prayer.
Add a lunch + prayer over your church and your ministry.