Good morning Lord Jesus, fill my with your heart to love myself and others today before I walk out my door.
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:13-16)
Going into 2023 I have been reflecting on the basics and DNA of our calling as followers of Jesus Christ. In my reflection Wednesday I reflected on The Lordship of Jesus. Yesterday, I reflected on our call to be and make Disciples. This morning my reflection is on the life breath of all Christians, prayer. “
“No one can believe how powerful prayer is and what it can effect, except those who have learned it by experience. Whenever I have prayed earnestly, I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for. God sometimes delays, but He always comes.” - Martin Luther
“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer - of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat and blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.”….“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” -Samuel Chadwick
"The prayer of the feeblest saint who lives in the Spirit and keeps right with God is a terror to Satan. The very powers of darkness are paralyzed by prayer; no spiritualistic seance can succeed in the presence of a humble praying saint. No wonder Satan tries to keep our minds fussy in active work till we cannot think in prayer." -Oswald Chambers
Prayer is not a last desperate hope in a losing battle, prayer is the greatest hope on which all battles are won. Prayer is the life breath of Christians and the church. In our physical life, we breath or we die. In our spiritual life, we pray or we die. Something miraculous and powerful happens through Gods grace in us when we set aside a large block of time like an hour or more to pray. The enemy knows this and he will use anything from a dripping faucet to social media to interrupt it. Some of us just have a hard time focusing on prayer for an hour and our minds drift and wonder. Don't get discouraged, keep at it!
As a prayer aid I am giving you a great tool for prayer I received from Curtis Seargent, it is the Prayer Wheel. The Prayer Wheel divides an hour of prayer into twelve sections, each 5 minutes long. The prayer Wheel is a wheel or pie that has 12 slices. Each “slice” is 5 minutes long. It aides you in remaining focused in praying for an hour by breaking the hour down into 5 minutes sections. I have listed the 12 sections of the Prayer Wheel below. Before you begin set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes or look at you clock. Then begin and spend 5 minutes in #1. Praise. After 5 minutes move to spending 5 minutes in #2 Waiting. Continue praying this way through #12 and your hour of prayer will be complete. You can modify the time per section to 2 minutes each if you are at lunch or only have 30 minutes to pray, or add minutes to each section if you have more time to pray.
My family, I pray you will prioritize and commit in 2023 to increasing the time you spend in prayer. I pray you will commit and put in your calendar at least one day a week to spending at least one solid hour a week in prayer. In Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!! I have included a copy of the Prayer Wheel Below.
Please share your comments on prayer. I would also love to hear reflections from those who have spent an hour of time using the Prayer Wheel.
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
PRAYER WHEEL
Set a timer and spend 5 minutes praying in each of the 12 areas, When fininished you will have prayed for a solid hour!
1. PRAISE
Start your prayer hour by praising the Lord. Praise Him for things that are on your mind right now. Praise Him for one special thing He has done in your life in the past week. Praise Him for His goodness to your family. (Psalm 34:1)
2. WAITING
Spend this time waiting on the Lord. Let Him pull together reflections for you. Think about the hour before you and the things you want the Lord to do in your life. (Psalm 27:14)
3. CONFESSION
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life which might be displeasing to Him. Ask Him to point out attitudes that are wrong, as well as specific acts for which you have not yet made a prayer of confession. Now confess that to the Lord and claim 1 John 1:9 so that you might be cleansed for the remainder of the hour before you, and then pick up and read the Word. (Psalm 51:1-19)
4. READ THE WORD
Spend time reading promises of God in the Psalms, in the prophets, and passages on prayer located in the New Testament. Check your concordance. (Psalm 119:97)
5. PETITION
This is general request for others, praying through the prayer list, the prayer cards, or personal prayer interest on behalf of yourself and others. (Hebrews 4:16)
6. INTERCESSION
Specific prayer on the behalf of others. Pray specifically for those requests of which you are aware. (Romans 15:30-33)
7. PRAY THE WORD
Now take the Scriptures and start praying the Scriptures as certain sections of Psalm 119 lend themselves beautifully to prayer expression. (Psalm 119:38-46)
8. THANKSGIVING
Spend these minutes giving thanks to the Lord for things in your life, things on behalf of the church, things on behalf of your family. (Philippians 4:6)
9. SINGING
Take your hymnal and sing a prayer song, sing a praise song, sing a song regarding soul winning or witnessing. Let it be a time of praise. (Psalm 59:17)
10. MEDITATE
Ask the Lord to speak back to you and keep a paper and pen handy, ready to relate the impressions that He makes upon your life. (Psalm 63)
11. LISTEN
Spend time merging the things you have read from the Word, the things you have prayed, the things you have thanked the Lord for, the things that you have been singing, and see how the Lord brings them all together to speak to you. (I Samuel 3:9-10)
12. END WITH PRAISE
Praise the Lord for the time you have had to spend with Him. Praise Him for the impressions that He has given you. Praise Him for the prayer requests He raised up in your mind. (Psalm 145:1-13)
I begin my day in union with the triune of God, Father, Son, and Spirit.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? .... So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-28,33)
In my post yesterday I revisited and reflected on our claim at the heart of our faith that “Jesus is Lord.” I reflected on how this claim in reality is impacting and being experienced and lived out in our daily lives. Living out “Jesus is Lord” occurs when we imitate Him, follow him, become an apprentice of Him, a disciple ohf Him. Jesus talks about in the passages above what is required of a disciple. We hear that word “disciple” allot now these days in the church. Christians are to be disciples of Jesus. Yet to become a disciple, you have to first answer the question, "What is a disciple?" This morning I am going to revise a passion of mine, training people, groups and churches in becoming disciples of Jesus. Here is my definition of a disciple.
A disciple is a committed apprentice of the Lord Jesus Christ who is growing in Love for God and others, sent out to make disciples, all through the power of the Holy Spirit.
…a committed apprentice… of the Lord Jesus Christ
ODC’s definition of disciple rests on the confession of the earliest Christians: Jesus is Lord. If Jesus is Lord, then no one and nothing else can be. This implies exclusivity: Lordship excludes all other claims to loyalty; and totality: there is no area of life that is not under the rule of God. Jesus modeled total submission to his Father to the exclusion of all else and expects his followers to do the same. This is not something we can do by ourselves. We need each other and the power of the Holy Spirit.
…growing in love for God
We recognize discipleship as a life-long process of growing… becoming more and more like Jesus. As God reveals thoughts, attitudes, and actions that are not “Christ-like,” a committed apprentice responds by changing to be more like Christ.
The ongoing growth process is a series of baby steps of immediately obeying everything we hear Jesus commanded us to do. His first command was to love God.
Loving God includes all that we are (our soul), the expression of our emotions (heart); the exercise of our will to obey what Jesus commands (strength), and the content of our thoughts (our mind). It is not hard to see why loving God is a process that can be costly, or that seems radical. Nevertheless, it’s what Jesus expects of His followers, His disciples. (Matt 22:37)
…growing in love for others
ODC wants to form disciples who are growing in love for God (through Immediate Radical Costly Obedience) and others (by putting them first). (Mat 22:39)
Loving others extends beyond warm feelings or treating people with simple courtesy (although that is not a bad place to start). It involves listening (for many people, being heard is so close to being loved that they can’t tell the difference). We notice their needs, and take time to meet those needs by serving them.
Loving others by serving them often means inconvenience, and the sacrifice of personal time and resources. Radical hospitality… inviting our neighbors to enter into our lives… sets people at ease and fosters trusting relationships. “Welcoming the stranger” demonstrates our love for God by extending His love to those who are right in front of us.
Loving others by the practice of seeing them spiritually through the eyes of God. If we want to minister to them as Jesus would, we need to be able to see them as Jesus does.
….sent out
Jesus exemplified the Missio Deo or “The Mission of God.” That is the spreading of the gospel that the Kingdom of God is at hand and ushering in that good news in a tangible way. Just as God sent Jesus in to this world to proclaim this gospel, Jesus sends us out to proclaim it as well (Joh. 17-18). Disciples are to be missionaries. Missionary defined as someone who forsakes everything but the Gospel, for the sake of the Gospel. Discipleship is actively following Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit out into their neighborhoods and communities. (John 17:18)
….and making disciples
Jesus’ last commandment to his disciples was for them themselves to go and make disciples. (Mat 28:19) His commandment applies to all of us as well. It is a good thing when we come to know Christ. It is a better thing when we lead someone else to Christ. It is the Greatest thing, the most Christ like thing, when we lead someone to Christ and disciple them so that they then lead someone to Christ. Moreover, the goal of discipleship is to become the most Christ-like.
…through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, this definition of disciple reveals our total reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation and growth.
A core value of our House Churches is that truth is revealed through the study of scripture, in community with others, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Gifted teachers and great curriculum are valuable but can never replace the Holy Spirit’s work in exposing the truth of scripture. Reading a few verses directly, without external commentary, allows the Holy Spirit to flow through multiple believers whose various personal experiences, traditions, reason, and spiritual gifts reveal the simple and obvious meaning of the text.
How do you make a disciple?
First and for most in my desire to make disciples is to personally answer this question, “Am I a disciple worth multiplying?” God does not desire to multiply mediocrity. He desires to multiply those who exhibit Immediate, Radical, Costly, Obedience. Discipleship is the act and process of modeling and conforming yourself to Christ. I have come to understand that there is no “easy button” to achieve this; to become or make a disciple. It requires reading Scripture more than I ever have before, praying more than I ever have before, and being openly accountable to others in the body more than I ever have been before. How I become or “make” a disciple is simple, but it is not easy. If I am not willing to consistently embrace and model this, then I cannot effectively lead others to become disciples. I cannot lead them to a place I myself am not willing to go. And no program, training, technique or tool I try to use can replace lack of obedience. Am I a disciple worth multiplying?
My family, I pray this morning you will meditate on, "Am I a disciple worth multiplying?" Reflect on your level of discipleship and what becoming a disciple means to you. I pray you will re-commit to embracing your call to be a disciple of Jesus in 2023. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections below as in the comment box.
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, “Come thy fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing thy praise!”
“They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He (Jesus) saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” They began laughing at Him.” Mark 5:38-40
Last night at our ODC House Church gathering we went around the room and shared and prayed over what we are asking and want to receive from God in our lives in 2023. As I sat and listened during this holy time, many of the of the hopes shared flowed out of the understanding of the Lordship of Jesus in and over our lives. I have preached and taught an the statement, “Jesus Is Lord” many times. Neal Cole said, “ Preach a message, and keep preaching the same message until your congregation obeys it before preaching another message.” Andy Stanley said, “Tell them your vision, then tell it to them again.” As we begin 2023, my blog this morning is reflecting on the same message and speaking into the same vision I have spoke into many times throughout the years.
If I were to ask you, ask those in the church the question, "How many believe that God can raise the dead?” I think most if not all hands would go up. If I asked the question, “How many expect to see God raise the dead before the end of today?” I believe many fewer, if not all hands would remain at people’s sides. Having a belief, the “head knowledge” that God can raise the dead is a very different thing than the expecting faith that God will and is raising the dead.
Our belief for many in the church that God can raise the dead comes out of our cognitive brain. It is a fact or data we hold to be true. It is a fact we believe like other info we get on the internet. It is like our belief in the fact that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the USA. Is our belief in this fact accurate? Yes. Yet what possible impact does your belief in the fact that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president have on your live today? None. Is your cognitive belief that Jesus can raise the dead correct? Yes. What impact does your simple, cognitive belief that God can raise the dead have on your life today? None. The churches simple, factual-based belief in the fact or truth that God can raise the dead has not and cannot have an impact on our daily life today without an expectancy and faith that God will and is raising the dead today.
In Matthew 9:18-26 is the story of Jesus raising a young girl back to life. When Jesus tells the crowd of the girls family members, friend, church members, and bystanders that he was going to raise the girl back to life, the crowd around Him, all faithful Jews who rightfully believed in the one true God, the great “I Am,” did not believe or support Him but they laughed at him. If you were in a hospital waiting room and a doctor came out and walked up to the stranger sitting next to you and told them unfortunately their daughter had died. The stranger then stands up and says that they were going to go to her body, lay hands on it, and pray and see if God would raise her from the dead. The stranger then asks you to come pray as well, would you join them in prayer over their dead daughter with expectant faith it will happen? Or would your thoughts be similar to those of the crowds around Jesus? And if your thoughts would be similar to those of the crowd, how can you believe that Jesus can raise the dead?
In the same way the Church is THE PLACE that professes Jesus is Lord, but it does not do “Jesus is Lord” well. Can I say that? It is because we say Jesus is Lord the same way we say Lincoln was the 16th president. We say it absent for the most part of any expectancy of power and presence of the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. So our profession that Jesus is Lord does not impact our day-to-day life when we walk out of church anymore than our profession that Abraham was the 16th President. If in a conversation with a non-believer, they asked you, How do you know that Jesus can raise the dead?” or even more simply, “What difference does it make in your day-to-day life that Jesus is Lord? What would you answer them?
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said before he died looking into the future of the church, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”
Please take time to read Matthew chapters 8 and 9 and see the expectancy and power of Jesus. I want to encourage and awaken a movement of God in your life to move from a community with the knowledge that Jesus is Lord to a community full of the power and expectancy that is experiencing Jesus is Lord!
My family, I pray today you will reflect on this question, “What difference does my belief that Jesus is Lord make in my day-to-day life?” and more specifically, “What impact or difference do I expect my belief that Jesus is Lord will have on my life today?” 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Jesus, this morning I choose you over me for my decisions made today…
“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:26-27)
All throughout the New Testament “amazement” describes the emotions and reactions of those who encountered you. “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching” (Matthew 7:28). People were amazed at His authority over evil. “After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” (Matthew 9:33). People were amazed when they took time to listen to him, “And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.” (Matthew 22:22) Even government officials were amazed by Jesus, “And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.” (Matthew 27:14).
This morning I can call you Lord and say I love you. I can say I believe in you, but Jesus I want to say more than that, I want to say I am amazed by you! I stand up in a church service, raise my hands and sing “Amazing Grace”, however when I leave the service and I am on my way to lunch, do I anxiously expect to encounter that amazing grace I sang about just a few minutes ago? When I open my Bible and hear your words written in it, do I stop at amazement at what I am reading? When I walk out my door this morning do I really expect to be amazed by the power and presence of you at work around me and at the end of the day have stories to share of how you are casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead, because you are!
Jesus, forgive me for my lack of amazement in my relationship with you. I do not want to simply look at you with eyes of faith and love. I want to look at you through eyes of amazement as well!
My family, I pray you will seek in this new year to br a Christian who is amazed at the Christ you claim you are a follower. I pray you will begin today by taking time to listen to Jesus with a Bible on your lap and your heart turned in prayer so you can be amazed at what He reveals to you. I pray you may ask the Holy Spirit not to simply fill your heart with faith and love for Jesus, but with amazement and expectation to experience his amazing presence in your day today and every day. 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I set out to seek You before I seek anything else today.
"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. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11).
I want to experience God; His Son, His Holy Spirit, His presence, His assurance, His peace, His Joy, His blessing, more than ever in 2023. Jesus you tell me in the passage above that those who ask are the ones who receive. Those who seek are the ones who find what they pursue. Those who knock are the ones invited to walk through the open doors. This is one of Your spiritual principles, the principle of pursuit. You are "a rewarder of those who diligently seek (You)," those who passionately pursue You (Hebrews 11:6). "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2).
May I never stop seeking, never stop pursuing, never stop searching. Give me a passion for truth, a passion for the presence of God and an insatiable hunger for more of You in my life every day. May I never grow content or satisfied, passive or complacent, in my relationship with You. May every day be an adventurous day on my spiritual journey with You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you place at the top of your “to do list” seeking Jesus and never stop passionately pursuing the Lord your God with all your heart. If you do this first, then all the other hopes, plans and dreams you have for today, 2023, and every future day of your life is possible, 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As for me and my house, I seek to serve You, Lord. I seek to honor You and worship You, entrusting my life to You and loving You with all my heart and mind and soul and strength--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).
As I begin the New Year I reflect on the question this morning, “Do I treasure You, Lord?” Do I truly treasure Your Word in my heart? (Psalm 119:11) Do I put You first--first in my thoughts, first in my desires, first in my choices--with no other gods before You? (Exodus 20:3) Do I seek first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness before seeking to build my own kingdom and seeking after all the trappings of the false treasures the kingdoms of this world have to offer? (Matthew 6:33) ...
It seems I hear You speaking in my heart: "My son, I AM your Treasure. It is true that at times I am not what you treasure most in the moment, but you are willing to let Me remind you of your true treasure--that your name is written in My book of life, that My Spirit lives in your heart, that you are My child, My disciple, and even My friend, living every day throughout all eternity in personal, passionate relationship with Me. And you remember that there are no greater treasures then these." ...
Yes, Lord. Thank You for Your patience with me, Thank you for all for all Your mercy and grace for me, Thank you for Your unfailing, everlasting love for me. Help me by your Spirit treasure You more every day. By the power of Your grace, may I faithfully "guard the good treasure entrusted to (me), with the help of the Holy Spirit living in (me)" (2 Timothy 1:14). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you treasure the One who lives in you and knows you intimately as His child and disciple and friend. I pray this morning as you continue to make plans, and resolutions going into this new year, that you also reflect on . “What will I treasure in 2023?” I pray you recommit to live today and everyday throughout all eternity in a deeply personal, passionate relationship with Him who treasures you, 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.... Then the devil took Him to the holy city.... Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain.... Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.'' Then the devil left Him, and suddenly angels came and waited on Him" (Matthew 4:1-11).
Lord, help me learn to discern when I'm in a place where the Spirit has led me or where the devil has taken me. Even You, holy and without sin, were both led by the Spirit to places at times and taken by the devil to places at times, according to the Word of God. You were "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15 ). You always knew how to respond. You always embraced all the Spirit had for You and always rejected all the devil had for You. By the power of Your grace, may I learn to do the same.
Thank You for the promise of Your Word, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). And for Your promise, "When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide (me) into all the truth" (John 16:13). I am Your child and You are my Father. Come lead me by Your Spirit into Your truth. Empower me to discern and resist every temptation of the devil. "No temptation has overtaken (me) except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow (me) to be tempted beyond what (I) am able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that (I) may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Let me be faithful this coming year to read Your Word, that Your Word will be hidden in my heart so that I can declare what is written; and let Your Spirit guide my spirit so that I'm certain where I am and who led me there or took me there. Then -- no matter whether it was You or the devil -- You'll cause it all to work together for good in the fulfillment of Your plans and purposes because no matter where I go, I will be called according to Your purpose. (Romans 8:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are resolving in 2023 to daily intentionally setting aside a devotion time reading the Bible and in prayer so you may be led by the Spirit through every temptation with God's Word hidden in your heart and God's Spirit guiding your spirit, 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I want to start my day seeking Your face, listening for Your voice, and following Your leading here in the communion of prayer.
“In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.' This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, 'The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.' " ... (John said), 'I baptize you with water for repentance, but One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and will gather His wheat into the granary; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire' " (Matthew 3:1-12).
My heavenly Father, as I move into the new season of 2023 that you have prepared for me, let my heart be prepared for the way of the Lord. Come have Your way in me. Make my paths straight. Make my heart right. Let me fully embrace the mercy and power of Your grace in the fullness of Your love as a child of God, forgiven and free through the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9). I want all that You have for me, with nothing separating me from the fullness of Your holy Presence.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus -- not just in the clouds of heaven at the sound of the trumpet one day, but also here, today, now in my heart and everyday. "Baptize (me) with the Holy Spirit and fire." Burn "the chaff" out of me with Your "unquenchable fire." Give me courage to embrace the fiery flame of Your holy Presence in every area of my life.
Come, Holy Spirit. I want to be cleansed and purified from everything that would hold me back from the intimacy You desire in my relationship with You, O Lord, my God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. "Who will ascend the hill of the Lord? And who will stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:3-6).
Holy Spirit, baptize me with Your holy fire. "Sanctify (me) entirely" in "spirit and soul and body" that I may be "sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls (me) is faithful, and (You) will do this" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Set me ablaze in the new year to come with a passion to "love the Lord (my) God with all (my) heart, and with all (my) soul, and with all (my) mind, and with all (my) strength ... (and to) "love (my) neighbor as (myself)" -- as best as I can and all by Your grace in the power of Your Spirit (Mark 12:30-31). Set me ablaze with the confidence to know my identity and fulfill my destiny as the child of God that I am (Romans 8:16). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit will prepare the way of the Lord in your heart to be continually baptized with the Holy Spirit and His holy fire, embracing the promise of the Father empowering you to be a faithful witness of Jesus everywhere He sends you today, each day of 2023, and each day of your life, 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.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Happy New Year my family!
I love you all and I was so blessed by your friendship, love, and life we shared together in 2022. However, I am EXCITED at the sense I have of what God has in store for us this coming year. I also sense it may be the most trying season of our life, but I know it will be one we will never forget and we will recount to all as a time God made himself known to us.
Lord Jesus, as I begin these first of many mornings in 2023, let my soul awaken as I speak out Your name and lift up my heart in the communion of prayer with You, Lord God -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
… Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19)
"When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Child lying in a manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about the Child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them" (Luke 2:15-18).
The shepherds couldn't wait to go and see what God had done! They "went with haste" to see what was said to them by the angels. The word of the Lord, spoken through the angel of the Lord, who broke into their loneliness of life, "living in the fields," changed their fear to faith and they said, "Let's go now" and see! (v. 8) And when they had seen the Child who brought such "good news of great joy for all the people," they couldn't wait to go spread the word (v. 10). "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen" (v. 20).
Holy Spirit, as I read the words of the Christmas story again; my prayer, my desire, my "New Year's Resolution" for the coming year is that you awaken my soul again with the excitement of faith! Return to me a longing for my first love! (Rev.2:4) Stir up in my spirit the desire, like that of the shepherds, to go, see, and meet you in reading the Bible and time in prayer! Stir up my spirit to go share all You've done for me! Empower me and compel me to not back in sharing in every opportunity of 2023 the good news of great joy that turns fear to faith and loneliness to praise! Let me truly be amazed at all You have done in and around me and be excited to go and see this God at work in my Community. This God who longs to bring that same good news and great joy into the lives of my neighbors through me! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My brother and sisters, I pray the Holy Spirit will awaken your soul with an excitement of faith and a passion to tell all what the God of good news and great joy has done for you, 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.
Begin 2023 by resolving to partner in o!
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, my desire today is more of you, less of me.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new! ” (Revelations 21:1-5)
God’s love and grace always offers us the hope of change,of newness, of impossible hope. He is a God of second, third, and unending chances. He is a God that also offers us 2023, a gift we did not earn. God offers us another year with a clean slate of possibilities for our lives. As we prepare to go into another year, take a few minutes now to reflect on all blessings from the past year. Not just financial and materials blessings, but the times you were forgiven by others for mistakes you made and things you said. The times by God’s grace you did not get what you deserved. The times you had the gift of both receiving love and giving undeserved love. As you reflect back, if there comes to your mind a family member or friend you are at odds with and you need to reconcile with them, get in the car, pick up the phone and do it today. Maybe it is God who you feel you have been at odds with, your relationship with Him is not what it should be and you need to reconcile with Him, then get on your knees now and do it! Nothing is guaranteed and now is always the time to do the next right thing. “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)
My family, I pray today as you end this year you will seriously do what I asked of you. I pray you will spend time looking back at how truly blessed you are. I also pray you will spend time today preparing for the coming year by reconciling relationships with others and if needed with God and making things right before the new year comes, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me.
And again, I thank God for all of you who read and journey through these daily reflections The Holy Spirit guides me through every morning. I thank you for any encouraging comments you have posted, and any partnership though prayers or financial support you have given me and my family. We raise our own support as local missionaries to our community, and you are a gift to us! God bless you my friends in 2023!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Please Partner with us Before the year ends!
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
"The spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let everyone who hears say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17)
Lord Jesus, one day You will come again. One day the promises of the Word of God and Your return will be fulfilled: "For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). O glorious day! Come, Lord Jesus, come!
But even today -- even every day between this day and that glorious day to come -- You come again and take us to Yourself here in every heart that's open to You, here in every life that's surrendered to You as Lord and Savior. Even today You invite every one of us to open the door of our hearts wide to welcome You come in and abide intimately with us: "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me" (Revelation 3:20). In that invitation, You were speaking to "the church in Laodicea," not just the "un-churched" and "non-believers," and not just to the children of God of that age, but to the children of God of every age (Revelation 3:14).
So come, Lord Jesus! Come today. Come here in me. Come again and again and take me to Yourself (John 14:3). Fill me afresh with "the Spirit of Christ" every day (Romans 8:9). Never stop coming, never stop moving, never stop loving and living and saving and encouraging, here in us, here in the ones who are called by Your name, here in me. "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, as we look forward to the new year I pray it will be a new season on “coming” in your life. I pray it will a year you come to the realization you desperately need Jesus to fill your life I pray your wish and desire for 2023 is be filled afresh with the Spirit of Christ even day, and that He comes again and again into your heart I pray it is a year your faith awakes and comes out of the Covid sleep and isolation and comes alive again! I pray come to the realization you need other in your walk with Jesus, and come back to church, come back into holy fellowship, I pray You come out into the world and be an agent of Christ in our world and be part of a movement of God that fills our communities that desperately need Jesus with His good news of love, hope, peace, and joy. Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
I want to thank who have been for journeying with me wether just this past year or some of the 9 years before as I share my reflections and prayers I receive from The Holy Spirit in my morning devotion times with God. I hope they encouraged you in your relationship with God and your neighbors. You are a gift to me. I love you all and want to remind you that Jesus loves you as well!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Partner with us Before the year ends!
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, pour Your Spirit into my heart to allow me to poor into others.
“For so loved God the world, His only begotten Son He gave, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
As we reflect back on the birth of Christ and Christmas, and look ahead to the coming New Year, remember God’s complete desire--that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is for us to be one with him, and as importantly, one with each other (John 17:11). The Casting Crowns lyrics come into my head. “Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt.” But as hard as it may seem sometimes, He does! At Christmas, in and through Christ we see God’s desire to know us and be known by us. Our relationship with our God is not like that of other religions of one of master to slave. Or like the beliefs of others of a vague form of deism where God is “out there”, detached, and impersonally directing the universe. Our God, The God, desires an intimate relationship with us, one in which we know and desire Him intimately as well. Jesus tells us, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends (Joh 15:15). How remarkable is that! “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27 ESV) How amazing is that when you wrap your head around it!!
And God Proved his desire to have an intimate relationship with us, to be one with him, through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus the Christ. God sent the Son to be born of a woman. He walked this earth, lived our life, bore our sins, carried our cross, suffered, was crucified, died, descended into hell, and was raised from the dead to create and restore a path, a way for us to an intimate, loving relationship with a God. Our God who intimately, madly, loves us. SOOOO LOVED GOD THE WORLD, (you and I ), that he sent His Son to demonstrate it. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
However, The works of Jesus on the cross and the salvation and oneness with God it made available to us is not the end into itself. Jesus’ hope is for our oneness and intimacy with him to be an “unto” something else. Jesus tells us,
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. You are my friends if you do what I command you. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. As God sent me into the world, so I have sent you into the world. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8, 9, 14,12; 17:1). Our relationship of oneness and intimacy with Jesus is completed through a relationship of oneness and intimacy with our neighbors.
My family, I pray today you will reflect on your relationship with Jesus? Is it one of a deep embrace, oneness and intimacy? What is your relationship with your neighbors? As the new year approaches, What is your plan to seek intimacy and fall deeply into a more loving relationship with Jesus making possible a more loving relationship with you neighbors in 2023? 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.
Partner with us Before the year ends!
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Jesus, my desire today is more of you, less of me.
I spent a week reading through and reflecting on the stories of the birth of Jesus in the gospels of Luke and Matthew.
Two days ago we Celebrated Christmas and Emmanuel, God with us. From his birth in a manger and forever onward, Jesus now has become central to the identity of the church. Christians have always agreed that the church is all about Jesus—her very existence, identity, purposes, and functions are all completely bound up with this person who is at the core of it all. He is our Founder, Redeemer, Lord, and our Head.
If Jesus is God’s will in human form and the perfect expression of who He is and His nature, then we cannot bypass Him and still remain in the faith. Our understanding of God is fundamentally changed by Jesus’ birth: Whatever we now seek to know about God must be seen through the lens of this particular person—Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is “The Father’s ‘summary statement.” (John 14:7) Or as we put it in theological language, “Jesus is preeminent.” To get a feel for the importance of this, listen to Paul who in order to communicate something of the revelation derived through Jesus and His meaning on the church, had to resort to some pretty dense and deep theological statements.
13 "He [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by and through him all things were created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he existed before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the ecclesia (church). He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col.1:13-20)
The ecclesia (church) therefore ought to be the one place in human existence where Jesus is to be taken with the utmost as possible seriousness, enough to make Him central to absolutely everything Christ-ian. For all Christians, salvation depends on identifying with Christ. Christian Identity follows from Christian faith. Who could deny this? And yet, the church has consistently failed to fully represent Jesus in the world. As Alan Hirsch puts it, “One can perhaps say that any church is dysfunctional to the degree that it lacks focus on Jesus. In other words, the lack of Jesus’essence and presence lies at the root of all dysfunctional religion.”
Religion has a way of marginalizing the central role of Jesus in the life of his people—apparently he is too difficult to deal with. You might think that all this is basic Sunday School and goes without saying. But it’s truly astounding how churches forget their very nature and purpose as Jesus’s people.
Jesus is, and must remain, the defining criterion for everything important about the church. Where else can we go to gauge whether we are truly Christ-ian people and we are truly witnessing to the Jesus revealed the Gospels? Are we really consistent with the examples, teachings, model, and agenda of our Founder?
Paul states, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Cor.3:10-11
Therefore, any attempt to go around or diminish the "preeminence of Jesus" in our lives (individual and communal), means that we inevitably end up with something far less than what God intended through us in the first place. We are either diciples of Jesus or we are not. We are either defined by Jesus or we are not. And history is clear when we are not defined and shaped by Jesus, other cultural and spiritual forces quickly will fill the gap and we move to becoming a false, illegitimate, and toxic religion.
By declaring our identity in Jesus whos birth we just remembered and celebrated, we clarify the most important aspect of the church…that it consists of the people who are redeemed by Jesus, who belong to Jesus, are led by Jesus, and are willing to be defined by Jesus in every way possible.
"We are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2Cor.3:18).
My family, As we move forward and into a new year after celebrating the birth of the one who's identity now defines our Christian faith, take some time today to reflect on, "Am I willing to be defined by Jesus in every way possible?" 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.
Partner with us Before the year ends!
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning Lord Jesus, lead me in your love today to love as you love.
“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
For God to take on flesh and the birth of Jesus to take place, it required everything that was impossible to be made possible. With the birth of Jesus, everything that was and is impossible in your life is also now possible. It took an impossible amount of love of God for you. such as will never be matched again, in the sending of Jesus to save you. In the birth of Christ, all that humanity hoped for became a reality. Because of the birth of Christ, all that you may have settled for as the reality in your life can now be changed by the hope of Christ. When you read the Christmas stories in Luke and Matthew, you see it is a few small things, done by a few small people, in a few small places that launched the kingdom of God on earth. In Christ’s story for you and I that continues to be written this morning, God plan is still for a few small people like you, doing a few small things, in a few small places to continue His movement of God.
It is the intimidating plans, purposes, dreams and visions of God entered into by meek and broken people that insult the visions of mankind and the proud. If you are not entering into dreams and plans that are intimidating to you, you very well may be insulting to God.
My family, I pray this morning as you remember and celebrate Christ coming into the world, you will be reminded that though Christmas day has past, the Christmas story in you life continues on. I pray you receive and celebrates the love that God has for you. I pray you realize and seek with reckless abandon all of the hope joy, and unlimited possibilities of Christ in you in Jesus' name, who is Emmanuel, “God with us.” Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends and Merry Christmas!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Help Us Make The Impossible, Possible!
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. All that I am and all that I have, I give to You in trusting surrender--as best as I can and all by Your grace. ...
"The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, He said to them, 'What are you looking for?' They said to Him, 'Rabbi' (which translated means Teacher), 'where are you staying?' He said to them 'Come and see.' They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day" (John 1:35-39)
Lord Jesus, I want to know where You're staying, so I can come be with You. I want to know where You're going, so I can come be with You. Where You are is where I want to be. You're the One I'm looking for.
So I accept Your invitation to 'Come and see,' so I can "Come and be"--come and be with You. To me, that's one of Your greatest promises in all of Scripture: "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
Holy Spirit, take away my wordly blinders, interrupt my schedule, and open up my eyes and my heart to see Jesus in the people around me today. Guide and lead me to the places and encounters where I will walk away from them blown away by the “God thing” that just happened. Remind me that Christmas was a “Come and see” day. Wise men, shepherds and others all had to leave their place of comfort to see Jesus. And Jesus left the comfort and familiarity of heaven, took on a human body, the same as yours and mine, and went into a world that was dangerous, (it killed him) so he could be with and encounter the gift of humanity, the gift of people like you and me.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit will take away your wordly blinders, interrupt your holiday schedule, and open up your eyes and heart to “Come and see” Jesus in the people around you today. I pray that you come and be with Him and allow Him to come and be with you in all you are and all you do, 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.
Can You Be Generous?
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In these first moments of my morning, I want to give You first priority in my day. ...
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).
You are the One who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. You are the One who is fully God and fully Man, Son of God and Son of Man, the One who set aide the glory of Heaven to humble Yourself in the likeness of human flesh and blood to live and to love among us as Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). “You are Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” -- all from Your mercy and love for us (Philippians 2:6-8).
I can't truly conceive and all it means that You willingly humbled Yourself to be conceived in the womb of woman for me. "The sufferings of Christ" began in the womb, not only at the cross or the tomb (1 Peter 1:10). You had it all, yet You chose to sacrifice it all for me and for all who would embrace Your sacrifice of love and grace -- "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 2:9).
In Your humanity, You showed us the way to the Father -- how to live a life by the leading of the Holy Spirit, only doing what the Father was doing and saying what the Father was speaking, as You lived a life in the fellowship of the Father and in the communion of the Holy Spirit (John 5:19 and 12:49).
And as Immanuel, you were both born to live for us, and willing to die for us, that in Your death as a sinless sacrifice for us, we might live forever with You in the power and glory of Your resurrection. "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His suffering by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection form the dead.... I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own" (Philippians 3:10-12).
Son of God, Son of Man -- One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit -- come be One within me. Immanuel, God with us, come live in me, that I can live for You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray, you will completely open up your heart up this morning to the One who is Immanuel, and allow Him to live within you, as you live for Him today in the fellowship of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit, 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.
Can You Be Generous?
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice to begin my day deliberately, intentionally embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah" (Luke 2:25).
Simeon longed for the coming of the Messiah. He longed to see and embrace the One who would bring consolation and comfort, healing and hope, forgiveness and freedom to all who would welcome Him into their hearts.
He knew from the prophecies of Scripture that this Child to be born - the Messiah, the Christ --would be fully God from the glory of Heaven, but also fully man in the likeness of human flesh and blood. "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" -- meaning "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14, fulfilled in Matthew 1:23). By the Spirit of the Lord, Isaiah had prophesied long ago: "For a Child has been born for us, a Son given to us; authority rests upon His shoulders; and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.... The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).
In the 400 year season of waiting between the Old Testament and the New Testament, before the birth of Christ, the Israelites grew weary and longed for God to act in their lives. In this Christmas season of Advent, we long for the coming of the Messiah. Like Simeon, we long to see and embrace the One who finally brings consolation and comfort, healing and hope, forgiveness and freedom to all who welcome Christ into their hearts. And at the same time, we no longer have to wait for a future day on the calendar to finally embrace you and welcome to You into our hearts. We can do it this morning! For you are with us always (Matthew 28:20). You are Immanuel -- God with us (Matthew 1:23). So what are you waiting for? Take time, right now and embrace Jesus! Every moment of every day, You are our "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). So as we long for Your coming in the celebration of Christmas, we also celebrate Your Presence with us now, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray this morning you will stop what you are doing and intentionally embrace Jesus through simple prayer with Him and opening you Bible to allow God’s words to speak to you. I pray you embrace Jesus and experience the Presence of Immanuel --the One who is your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Can You Be Generous?
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind and Your desires in my heart, as I seek to follow in Your steps today. ...
"In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the Child who has been born King of the Jews? For we observed His star at its rising, and have come to pay homage'" (Matthew 2:1-2).
Before hope was fulfilled, the wise men saw hope from afar.
Long before the day of the birth of Christ, they looked up to the sky and saw a star of hope in the heavens. As the star was rising in the sky, hope was rising in their hearts. So they followed that star until their hope was fulfilled.
There was something unique about this star that spoke to their hearts that there was something unique about this Child. They probably didn't know that the fulfillment of their hopes was destined to be the fulfilment of the Promises of God and the hope of mankind.
"For so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a Ruler who is to shepherd My people'" (Matthew 2:5-6).
The wise men followed their hearts and hopes. They followed "the star they had seen at its rising until it stopped over the place where the Child was" (Matthew 2:9). And on that day, their hopes were turned to joy. "When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they knelt down and paid Him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:9-11).
Holy Spirit of the Living God, come fill our hearts with hope. Come lift up our eyes to the heavens, from where our help comes from. Give us courage and faith to keep following the star of hope You cause to shine in our hearts until our hopes are fulfilled in You. "Hope deferred make the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled in a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12).
Fulfill the desires You've put in our hearts, Father. Fill our hearts with Your new life. Like wise men on a journey going to see the King, we believe with expectant faith and hopeful hearts that our journey will end in joy! And we will bow down and pay homage to the One whose hope does not disappoint.
"Hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). So arise and shine in our hearts, Holy Spirit of God, O Star of Hope, who always leads us to the King. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, i pray as you begin a new week that hope may rise in your heart with expectant faith and courage to pursue the promises our Father has put into your hearts by His Holy Spirit on your journey to the King and His kingdom purposes in your life and our world, 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.
Can You Be Generous?
As we close out the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you tp partner with me and One Direction Community to support our ministries. My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
