Good morning, Lord Jesus. I bow before You in my heart and look up to You in my spirit to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
Scripture lists “the names of the mighty men whom David had ... thirty-seven in all” (2 Samuel 23:8-39).
I have been reading through 1st and 2nd Samuel and the stories they contain of David and his battles, victories, and struggles. There are also the stories of the men of God who stood by him and fought alongside him. They were all at varying places of spiritual maturity, but all of them revealed a deep place of loyalty and faithfulness to the one they looked toward to lead them. They were the mighty men, the mighty warriors, of the army of David.
One killed eight hundred men in one battle. One stood his ground and fought off the enemies of the Lord until his sword stuck to his hand, as if his hand were welded to his sword. One chased a lion down into a pit and fought it to the death on a snowy day.
They were courageous. They were unrelenting. They were mighty men of David who chose to follow David and were willing to lay down their lives for David. And their lives speak to us as our calling to pursue You Jesus -- “the Son of David” (Matthew 1:1), the One who forever sits on “the throne” of David (Luke 1:32) -- both “Son of God” and “Son of Man” (John 1:34 and 12:23) -- the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” who “judges and makes war” at the head of “the armies of heaven” (Revelation 19:11-16).
All men and women baptized into the family of God today are to be Your mighty warriors (2 Timothy 2:3), courageous, unrelenting, faithful to You through every battle we face for our families, our communities, our nations, learning to weld “the weapons of our warfare (which) are not of the flesh, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). We’re learning, as You equip us and empower us by Your Spirit, to “put on the whole armor of God” and to wield “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” until our swords are stuck to our hands and sealed in our hearts to be released through our words in the days of our battles against the enemies of the Lord -- whether in our own flesh or in the world we face (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Let it be so Jesus for each of Your sons and daughters of God reading this reflection this morning; soldiers and warriors in the army of the Lord -- “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” and gives us the victory in every battle (Romans 8:37). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My Family, I pray as you rise this morning to begin a new week, you will rise into your calling to stand alongside snd fight with Jesus. I pray you may be empowered and equipped, with His Holy Spirit, filled with faith and courage as you walk out your door into a new week to follow Jesus at the head of His army in every battle you face as more than a conqueror in Him, in Jesus' name. God bless you my friends! Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. Arise in my heart and shine through my life today. ...
“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad” (Proverbs 12:25).
As I begin my day, fill my heart with Your Good Word. Let Your Word be a Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path (Psalm 119:105). The Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God will make me glad, as I hear it and as I share it (Luke 4:43).
Anxiety and depression fill the hearts and minds of so many people I talk to today. They cause fear, paradise the soul, and are ay the root and cause of many sins and disorders like hoarding, drug addiction, alcoholism, cutting, anorexia, suicide and others. As the root of anxiety bears the fruit of depression, we need to let the root of Jesus’s good words, rooted and grounded and springing forth from the Word of God, bear the fruit of gladness and peace and joy.
Your words are Truth; Your words are Spirit; Your words are Life (John 6:63).
You are Love (1 John 4:8). And Your words are expressions of Your love. And they are better than life.
“I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise you as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands” (Psalm 63:1).
So let Your words of Spirit and Life fill my heart. Let Your words of Love and Life cast out all fear, all anxiety and lift off all depression, all discouragement, all heaviness of heart. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). “For (You have) not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). So we can cast all our cares, all our anxieties upon You, for You care for us (1 Peter 5:7).
Jesus, uproot from within us all that bear the fruit of depression, discouragement, and heaviness of heart. In its place, comfort all who mourn in sadness or weariness or sorrow:
“To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3).
Let it be so in me. And let it be so in every heart who would receive any words You would speak through me today on my journey of faith with You.
My family, I pray you may be filled with gladness and peace and joy as God's Good Words are rooted in your spirit, uprooting any anxieties, washing away depression, and casting out any fear, in Jesus' name. God bless you my friends!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I speak out Your name, I listen for Your leading -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22 from 1 Samuel 13:14).
David was a man after Your heart. And by the grace of God, so am I. I’m after Your heart. I’m after Your character, after Your nature, after Your Spirit, after Your Presence.
I’m after Your whole purpose for my life, after all Your will through my life. I’m after all the plans You have for me -- for my good and not my harm, for my future full of hope (Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 139:16; Romans 8:29).
I’m after You. Pursuing You. Pressing into You. Holding nothing back from You. Hungering and thirsting for more of You.
And by the grace of God, I believe I’ll catch You. Because You’re the very One who’s put this desire and passion to pursue You, to go after You with all my heart and mind and soul and strength within me. You give us the desires of our heart because You’re the One who puts Your desires in our hearts.
As Your Word invites us, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). “Pursue love” (1 Corinthians 14:1).
David had his issues. and believe me, so do I. But despite his issues, despite his failures, he never let down and never slowed up in his passionate pursuit of what mattered the most -- his passionate pursuit of the One who mattered the most. And despite my issues and despite my failures, neither will I.
It’s all by Your grace (John 15:5). And I thank You every moment of every day for that grace -- the grace of God to be a man after God’s own heart -- as Your Spirit keeps working in me to keep making me more like You every day (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Philippians 2:13; 1 John 4:17; 2 Peter 1:4). Lord, let it be so -- here in my heart and here in my pursuit today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be filled with a passion to pursue the heart of God, and despite your issues, never letting down, never slowing up, by the grace of God, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your name is above every name; and I speak Your name over everything in my life and every moment of my day (Philippians 2:9). ...
As I wait for the leading of Your Spirit, an image comes to mind from the Garden of Gethsemane. When Judas who betrayed You came with “a detachment of troops ... with lanterns, torches, and weapons” to arrest You, You said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” (Luke 18:1-4)
When they answered they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth, You simply said, “I am He” (v. 5). And immediately, they “drew back and fell to the ground!” (v. 6)
All their lanterns and torches couldn’t hold a candle to the One who is the Light of the World (John 8:12). All their weapons formed against You could not prosper in the face of the One who is the Word of God (John 1:14; Isaiah 54:17).
And now, by the grace of God, in the mystery of faith, the One who said “I am He” lives in me. “Christ in (me), the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). “The Spirit of Christ” abides in me (Romans 8:9) and I abide in You (John 15:4). The same Spirit who raised You from the dead, the same Spirit that pushed back and knocked over that detachment of troops in the Garden now dwells in my heart and in the heart of every one of Your disciples (Romans 8:11).
Lord Jesus, release Your words of power through us today. You are the Word of God made flesh (John 14:1). And at the same time, Your words are made flesh through the words of the sons and daughters of God who are called by Your name, who abide in You, and Your words abide in us. As You said:
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:7). You said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (v. 11).
Speak Your words through me and every one of Your disciples, the sons and daughters of God, today, I pray, Lord Jesus. Shine forth Your Light. Push back the darkness. Overcome the enemies of the Cross and the kingdoms of this world, as a foretaste and foreshadow of the age to come when “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (who) shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15) In Jesus’ name, ahem!
My family, I pray the word of God may be released through you in the power and authority of the name of Jesus, who abides in you, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
I would love if you would share your reflections on this devotion with us in the comment box below.
This song came to me as I was writing this devotion. Take a few minutes to let the Holy Spirit sing these words over you and claim them.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Subscribe to ODC Daily Devotions
Would you like to receive my daily devotions in your email inbox every weekday morning? I can add you to the email subscription list if you message me on FB or email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I begin this day seeking Your face, listening for Your voice, and waiting for the leading of Your Spirit. ...
“The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning He awakens; He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4).
“Morning by morning” You awaken me and bring me into this place of Your Presence, as I listen and wait for Your leading and your daily message You have for over 10 years now of this spiritual journey of growing in spiritual intimacy with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. And then I follow Your leading to share the words I hear in my heart and the impressions and images and Scriptures that come to my spirit with those who join me on this journey.
I do pray these simple prayers help them draw nearer to You, to be sustained with a word when they’re weary, encouraged and lifted up when they’re discouraged or stuck, filled with a deeper hunger and pursuing thirst for closer intimacy with You, and set ablaze with a fiery passion for more of You -- just as You’re doing with me “morning by morning” before I send out these words of prayer to them.
Thank You for the freedom to be honest and real, transparent and true, in these morning expressions of my heart in my pursuit of Your Presence. Right out of bed, with my first cup of coffee, sinking into my prayer chair with my spirit and my laptop open for the leading of Your Holy Spirit, You’ve given me a persistent passion to spend these first moments of every weekday morning with You.
Take me deeper, Lord. Lift me higher, Lord. Draw me closer, Lord.
As David expressed his morning prayers to You:
“Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up” (Psalm 5:1-3).
This is my way of looking up, of listening up, of lifting up my heart to You in worship and prayer in these first moments of my morning to start of my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit of the Living God. You meet me here -- Heart to heart, Spirit to spirit, Deep to deep -- in the communion of prayer “morning by morning.”
And this is one of Your ways of making me more like You, “morning by morning,” step by step, one day at a time, “from glory to glory:”
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
“The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Make me one spirit with You, Lord. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, Your words in my mouth, as You sustain me with Your words and draw me near by Your Spirit “morning by morning” on my daily journey with You. And make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29; 1 John 4:17; 2 Peter 1:4). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be drawn close to God and conformed into His image from glory to glory as you pursue Him -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- in the deep communion of prayer "morning by morning", in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with readers your thoughts on this reflection this morning in the comment box below!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Subscribe to ODC Daily Devotions
Would you like to receive my daily devotions in your email inbox every weekday morning? I can add you to the email subscription list if you message me on FB or email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Good morning Lord Jesus, I connect myself in union with You, the Father and The spirit this morning. Speak to me before I speak to others..
“He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts.” (2 Kings 3:16-17)
Most weekday morning for over 10 years now I have been walking into the Waffle House sitting at the bar, and talking with customers and waitresses.. There is a man in his 80’s who is a regular at the bar. I talk to him almost every morning. He was raised and holds “old south views.” In conversations he often gets angry and loud. “he says things like, “Send all those foreigners back where they belong,” “Those so and so’s are all lazy, no good, welfare bums” Those sos and so are all nothing but criminals and I wish they’d go back to were they came from” and so on. He often makes other customers at the bar uncomfortable with his racist remarks. I try to respectfully counter his racial remarks. Many times he just tells me, “ If you don’t like what I am saying, well you can just go back up to Cleveland where you came from1” This has been going on for years and I have prayed, loved, and tried to soften his heart. The other morning I was sitting at the low bar next to him and he quietly and politely told me about an inmate health struggle he and his wife are going though. He had tears in his eyes as he shared. And instead of telling me to “go back where I came from” he asked me to pray for him, his wife, and so I sat at the bar and prayed over him.
I have never saved anyone in my life. Salvation is in and through Christ alone. Only He through the Holy Spirit can flip the switch of faith in a person. Only he can make it rain with the water of life that fills a dry, parched, dead clay of a persons heart to bring forth new life,. However, we are commanded by God and required by our faith to participate in cultivating His saving grace of new life.
We are called to be ditch diggers. To love our neighbors and go out and interact, have conversations, end break into the dead soil of their hearts, share are faith, plant the seeds of the Gospel of grace to prepare those seeded hearts to receive the water of life. In the passage in 2 Kings, God told the three Kings through Elisha tohave thier men dig ditches in the valley. The valley was hard, dry, and not bearing any life. But Elisha told them to dig ditches to hold water.. He said as you dig you will not see any rain, the hot sun will be above, the ground will seem to hard, you may feel like you are waisting your time, but if you are faithful to dig, God will bring the rain. God provided the miracle of rain, but it came about because of the obedience and participation on the part of the kings. If they had not dug the ditches, God would not have brought the rain. In the story on the Public man God allowed me to enter into, if I had not kept digging ditched of love in the man over receiving, even if it look like it was a waste of my time as I was not seeing any results, an opening in the soil of his heart would not have occurred to allow the love of God to soak in.
We understand this about agriculture. If we just stare at a piece of land, do not hoe it, make rows and plant seeds, but just sit, watch and pray for plants to reproduce, it will not happen We know this is true. Why don’t we understands this about our faith? As a church, if we look at our neighbors and drive or walk by them, and don’t go intentionally interact with them and share seeds of our faith, but just sit and pray for our churches to grow and reproduce, it will not happen. Watching a piece of land is not going to produce bushel baskets of vegetables Watching our neighborhoods is not going to produce churches full of life.
My family, I pray today as you begin your work week, you resolve to go out into the field God has placed you over: your neighborhood, your work place, your school, your “waffle Houses” and start digging relational ditches of love. Even when it seems hopeless, even when it is scary, just keep digging, just keep digging, and watch how God will bring the rain, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share with readers your thoughts on this reflection this morning in the comment box below!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Subscribe to ODC Daily Devotions
Would you like to receive my daily devotions in your email inbox every weekday morning? I can add you to the email subscription list if you message me on FB or email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead my heart and my thoughts in Your will and Your ways this day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all Your work,
and muse on Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
You have displayed Your might among the peoples.
With Your strong arm You redeemed Your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
When the waters saw You, O God,
when the waters saw You, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
Your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
Your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
Your path, through the mighty waters;
yet Your footprints were unseen.
You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Psalm 77:11-20).
When torrents of doubt seek to flood our minds, when winds of worry seek to topple our faith, Your Spirit stirs us to "call to mind the deeds of the Lord" and "remember Your wonders of old" (v. 11). We "meditate on all Your work" and "muse on Your mighty deeds" (v. 12). For You are the God of miracles! "You are the God who works wonders!" (v. 14)
You're the God who makes a way where there seems to be no way (v. 19). You're the God who has His say no matter what the world around us has to say. And in ways where "Your footprints" are "unseen," Your Spirit and Your Word, Your angelic hosts of heaven, are at work in ways not yet revealed and in ways yet to be unsealed (v. 19). Yes, You are at work! And Yes, You will make a way -- Your way "through the sea" and Your path "through the mighty waters!"
You will lead Your people like a flock (v. 20). And though You alone are the One leading, You will lead "by the hand of Moses and Aaron" -- by those You've positioned in places of authority, places of courage, places of intercession, and places of spiritual leadership for just such a time as this, for a nation of Your people You will vindicate and redeem "with Your strong arm to "display Your might among the peoples" (v. 14).
God of miracles, God who works wonders, strengthen our faith and our resolve to keep looking to You, to keep trusting in You, with persevering prayer and expectant faith. Even now, this battle still belongs to the Lord!
So let the waters be "afraid!" (v. 16) -- both the intimidating waters that rise up against Your will and Your word and the stagnant and swampy waters that would drag us down and hold us back from all You've created us to be. Let "the very deep tremble!" (v. 16) -- all that's hidden in deceit, entrenched in the deep, and lying in wait to ensnare and entrap the truth You'll reveal and expose for all to see! With thunder and lightning, with signs in the heavens and shakings in the earth, let all that cannot stand in Your Presence and Your Truth "tremble and shake!" (v. 18)
There's no surrender and no retreat for those who are called to pray and to fight, to persevere in the faith -- no matter what we face and no matter what they say. God of miracles, God who works wonders, we still believe! And we're still excited to look and see what only You can do! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
My family, may you persevere in the faith, no matter what we face and not matter what they say, trusting the God of wonders who makes a way where there seems to be no way -- all in His time and all for His glory, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. And I continue to join with you in prayer for our nation through these challenging times. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with readers your thoughts on this reflection this morning in the comment box below!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Subscribe to ODC Daily Devotions
Would you like to receive my daily devotions in your email inbox every weekday morning? I can add you to the email subscription list if you message me on FB or email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, and Your words in my mouth, as I wait for Your leading in these first moments of my morning. ...
As Your disciples, we’re all on a journey of spiritual maturity to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head -- (into) Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). You’re growing us up by the power of Your grace at work within us, individually and together as a whole, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man or woman, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (v. 13).
As The Message version of The Bible expresses it, it’s Your desire that we embrace Your power to become “fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are easy prey for predators. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love -- like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love” (Ephesians v. 13-16 The Message).
I have a long way to go. And truth be told, so do we all as the body of Christ. But You are work in the hearts of the willing. And by the grace of God, I’m willing. Grow me up, Lord. I desire to “grow up in all things into” You -- Your nature, Your character -- in my thoughts, my desires, my words, and in every dimension of my being until I am “fully mature, fully developed, fully alive like Christ.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may keep growing up into the full measure of the stature of Christ, "fully mature, fully developed, full alive like Christ", in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Subscribe to ODC Daily Devotions
Would you like to receive my daily devotions in your email inbox every weekday morning? I can add you to the email subscription list if you message me on FB or email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I look to You and listen for Your leading. ...
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:5-7 ESV).
Let my life proclaim the surpassing power of Your life today. You’re Lord, not me. You’re the Savior, not any of us. You’re the One with the surpassing power to save souls, heal hearts, break chains, push back the darkness with the Presence of Your glorious Light.
You’re the Treasure. Yet by the grace of God, in this mystery of faith, You’ve chosen to hide Your Treasure in our hearts and display Your glory through our lives. We’re like simple, fragile jars of clay, made from mud though made to be handled with care, but often dropped, mishandled, set aside and broken in the rough and tumble of life in a broken and fallen world. And at the same time, created to carry the Light of the glory of God in us.
You are the Light of the world (John 8:12). And at the same time, You said of us, as Your disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill (that) cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). Just like You are the Light of a Candle, shining out of our jars of clay; and You are the Treasure, laid up in our hearts as Your treasure chest. That’s all part of what Your Word means, “Christ in (us), the hope of glory” -- Your glory, shining through us (Colossians 1:27).
And some of the most amazing ways You display Your glory through our lives is through the cracks in our pots, the brokenness of our jars of clay. The broken places become the glory places, because that’s how the Light of Your Glory shines through us for others to see. That’s how a hurting and broken world around us sees Your Light shing through us.
As this Scripture of our nature of “jars of clay” carrying Your treasure in our hearts and displayed through our lives goes on to say:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).
It's worth it all, because You’re with us through it all -- displaying Your glory through our lives, drawing lost souls and broken hearts to the Light of Your glory and the Love of our God through the brokenness of our lives lived out trusting in You. Just as Your Word goes on to say, encouraging us to continue and empowering us to shine with the Light of Your Glory through our jars of clay.
Lord, let your Light of glory shine through me -- even through my brokenness, even especially though my brokenness -- today and every day on this side of eternity. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you let the light of the glory of God shine through your heart and life, even through your brokenness, especially through your brokenness, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Your sheep hear Your voice. I seek Your voice to Lead me today, Lord Jesus. ..
“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).
Jesus, there’s a depth of humility in Your heart that I know is not yet in my heart. As much as I like to think I give and love and serve, I know the honest truth is I’m still very focused on me -- how do I feel, how do I look, how will this help me. And the really, really honest truth is, sadly, that even when I’m giving and loving and serving, I’m still even very focused on me while I’m doing that!
Lord, help me. Holy Spirit, change me. Crucify me of more of my flesh and fill me with more of Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Set me free from the idolatry of this unholy trinity of me, myself, and I. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10; Ephesians 4:23).
Put Your thoughts in my mind. Put Your desires in my heart. Let me “be transformed by the renewing of (my) mind” (Romans 12:2). Let me “be conformed to (Your) image” (Romans 8:29). Make me more like You today, “because as (You are), so are we (to be) in this world” (1 John 4:17).
So whose feet will You lead me to wash today? Whose life will You lead me to serve today? Whose hearts will You lead me to touch this week? Open the eyes of my heart to see them and not myself, to serve You and not my own self interests. As I walk out my door into this new week help me Holy Spirit to not seek to promote myself, but others in my workplace, and all the places my schedule leads me. “A servant is not greater than his master,” so let me be about my Master’s business of giving and loving and serving today -- from the heart of my Master abiding in me (John 15:4). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray may you be filled with the heart of our Master, imagine a wash basin in your hands, and seek today to wash feet, give and love and serve others with His heart today, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart to see You--here in my heart right now and with me throughout every moment of my day (Ephesians 1:18), for You are with me always (Matthew 28:20). ...
“Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:13-14).
The Book of Esther contains the story of Esther, Queen of Persia, a hidden Jew who exposed the plot of a governmental leader named Haman to destroy the Jewish people through an evil attack of genocide.
The verses above from the story is where Mordecai, Esther’s adopted father, tells her of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews, and speaks these famous words.
Esther replied with courage and commitment to speak up for her people, to go before the king in his inner court of governmental authority, even though she had not been summoned as was required under penalty of death under the law of the land, saying:
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).
As the Biblical story unfolds, she did not perish but rather prevailed. Wicked Haman’s plot was exposed and turned against him. He was hung on the very gallows he had built to hang Mordecai (Esther 7:10). The very place of governmental authority that Haman held was given over to Mordecai (Esther 8:2). And the very day Haman had planned to destroy the Jews on a national day of genocide was turned into a day of great victory and redemption for the Jewish people in that land (Esther 9:1).
What a story--a story of true events of how God turned the tables on the devil, how good triumphs over evil when courageous people bow in prayer and then speak up in faith, and how You take what was intended for evil and use it for good (Genesis 50:20). “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
That’s what Jesus did at the cross. What Satan intended for evil, God used for good and for His eternal plan of redemption to the turn the tables on the devil and his plot of destruction. “None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).
And that’s what You do Jesus in us and in every heart that will turn to You in faith. With Your faith in our heart, You move us with humility to bow in prayer and You move us with courage to speak up in faith for what is right and true. We get to see the promise and truth of Your Word come to pass again and again:
“Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
“For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.” (Ephesians 2:10). We remember who is in us and remember our identity, we begin to realize and embrace our identity and our calling in our day, just like Esther did, that we were chosen and created by our God to be here in our world at this time “for just such as time as this” (Esther 4:14). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray may you be moved in humility in prayer and in courage to stand up and speak up in faith for what is right and true, knowing you are in this world for just such a time as this, which includes this weekend, 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!
In July I will step out of pastoring Toney UMC and pour completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation 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 YouI!
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me hear Your heart. Help me have Your heart, as I entrust my life and my day to You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)
I’ve had much, and I’ve had little. I’ve lived in a mansion, and I’ve lived in a cabin. I’ve tasted and seen the things of this world, and I’ve tasted and seen the things of God. I’ve passionately pursued the hopes and dreams of my culture, and I’ve come to find my peace and pleasure in the One whom my soul loves (Song of Solomon 3:4).
Thank You for taking hold of my heart and giving me a heart to take hold of You. Thank you for aligning my soul with the priorities of heaven and putting a heart for heaven in my soul.
It’s so freeing to my heart to pray, “Your kingdom come” instead of trying to build my own. It’s so restful to my soul to pray, “Your will be done” instead of insisting on my own (Matthew 6:10).
As it turns out, the kingdom that really matters, the whole world that really worth pursuing, is right here within me, as I entrust my plans, my hopes, my dreams, my priorities of my life to You. “The kingdom of God is within (me)” (Luke 17:21). “For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
By the grace of God, by the salvation of my soul, that’s the kingdom I’m pursuing. That’s the kingdom I want to come and the will of God I want to be done -- here on earth, here in my heart, here in the priorities of my soul each and every day, as it is in heaven. For what good would it be to gain the whole world and all this broken and fallen world has to offer, but to lose my own soul? ... In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may be at rest in your soul with the priorities of heaven in your heart, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I turn to You to begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).
In You, we’re citizens of the kingdom, companions on the journey, the construction of something You began when You set Yourself as the chief cornerstone of all You’re building up in each one of us. Our hearts are now Your home; our lives are now where You display Your glory, as Your glory comes and fills the temples of our souls.
As The Message expresses it:
“That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all--irrespective of how we got here--in what He is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now He’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day--a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.”
It’s good to belong. It’s good to be a part of what You’re building--“brick by brick, stone by stone,” moment by moment and morning by morning. It’s good to be home in You and to know You are at home in me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family,, I pray you may be filled with peace in the knowledge of the truth that You belong to God and He abides in you with your heart as His home, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please take a minute to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Lord I seek you this morning to receive your peace, and give me no peace today unless I share it with others.
“Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Also greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my compatriots and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my good friend Stachys. Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my compatriot. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, laborers in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother who was also a mother to me. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the believers who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” (Romans 16 1-15)
I get so excited when I read Romans chapter 16! Matthew and Luke in their Gospels contain the genealogy of Jesus. Paul in Romans 16 gives the genealogy of the birth of the church. It contains the names of ordinary people, who in and through their faith in Jesus planted churches, spread the gospel and birthed the church. And when you read this list of church planters and leaders you see there are people missing we today think of when we think of church leaders. The list of people contains no names of ordained pastors, Elders, ministers, priests, bishops, or popes. No Jewish Rabbis, Scribes, Pharisees, or members of the Sanhedrin. There is not listed any titles from denominations, mission agencies, evangelist organizations, or church planting agencies. The names are those of “gentiles,” ordinary men and women, who were not chosen by a board, ,ordained by a committee, or given the title “Reverend” by anyone or any denomination. They were given thier position by their baptism in Christ, by God alone through their faith in Jesus.
The names are a list of ordinary women, men, sisters, brothers, married couples, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbors who simply imitated Jesus as his disciples, made disciples, and shared their faith and love of Jesus with others. The churches they birthed where not in buildings filled with pews, chairs, a stage with video screens and a band, or a holy altar to gather around,. Their “churches” were their simple homes with couches and sofas and their holy altar was their dining room table to gather around. “Church” was not something that they invited people to attend an hour on Sundays, that was not even a concept in their minds! “Church” was their home, their neighborhood. They did not invite people to “come meet my pastor,” but “Come meet Jesus.” They invited people into their lives and gave access to their lives every day. They were simple people, using simple homes, with a simple knowledge and theology, who simply loved Jesus with all their hearts, souls, minds an strength, and loved their neighbors. And the “church” they birthed walls could not contain and spread like holy fire.
My family, I pray that as you read the list of the names of the people in Paul’s letter, you deeply understand that they are ordinary people, the same as you and me. I pray the Holy Spirit will convict and encourage you to add your names and write them into this letter as men, women, married couples, mothers, fathers, families, who out of love for Jesus and neighbors, re-evaluate their understanding of church” and open up their lives and their homes and simply share your love of Jesus with others, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please take a minute to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In the deep communion of prayer, help me begin my day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit. ...
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).
After I read this, I believe I hear in my heart this morning Your Spirit speaking these words: "Gary, be hopeful." As I take time now in silence to meditate on Your Word, I close my eyes and listen in my heart. I believe I see these words written like this: "Be hope full." And it seems I hear You saying, "Be full of hope Gary”. Not as something that is wishful thinking, but in assurance and expectant waiting. Not passively waiting, but purposefully awaiting what is to come and who you are to become in Me. Embrace My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart, that I may guide Your steps in My will and bless your days with My favor and my hope."
Yes, Lord. I want to embrace every word that's of You, every word of spirit and life and truth. As I hear Your voice in my heart, I am abounding in hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit. You are filling me afresh with all joy and peace that comes in believing in You. By the power of Your grace at work within me, I am "hope full" of all that is to come and all I am to become in You. And I can be a person of hope that brings hope into all my encounters with people I will have today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, In my prayers over you this morning, I pray that as you begin both a new week and a new morning your heart will seek a new anointing from the Holy Spirit and be "hope full" today. May you walk out your door into your day full of hope, filled afresh with all joy and peace in believing by the power of the Holy Spirit moving mightily in your life and on your behalf, especially in ways you don't yet see but choose to believe by faith, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Won’t you please take a minute to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Let Your kingdom come and Your will be done -- here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"For the kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).
When You rule as King in my heart, there is righteousness in the Holy Spirit. You're setting things right -- right between me and my God, right between me and others, and right within myself.
When You rule as King in my heart, there is peace in the Holy Spirit. It's Your peace, not the world's peace -- peace between me and my God, peace with others, and peace within myself.
When I choose to prioritize listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and reading the thoughts and theories of King Jesus, instead of presidents, world leaders, and internet experts and conspiracy voices, I chose to allow my heart to be guided by The Way, The Truth, and The Light (John 14:6).
When You rule as King in my heart, there is joy in the Holy Spirit. It's the fullness of joy You desire me to have when my joy is made complete and the joy of the Lord is my strength -- joy between me and my God, joy with others, and joy within myself.
You said, "The kingdom of God is within (me)" (Luke 17:21). Jesus, I need more of Your kingdom within me. I need more of Your righteousness, more of Your peace, more of Your joy. I need more of Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). I need more of You ruling and reigning as King in my heart.
So this morning I cry out, “Come Holy Spirit!” You are the One who moves in my heart to bring forth and advance the fullness of the kingdom of God within me -- the kingdom of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit within me. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT). The more I yield and surrender, embracing Your Presence and Your plan, entrusting my heart to You and Your will, the more the kingdom of God advances in me. That's how Your kingdom comes and Your will is done, on earth (and right here in me) as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
Father God, let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done. As we prepare tomorrow to celebrate the day of the birth of our county, what our country needs the most is a re-birth of its desire for you to fill us afresh with Your Spirit, with Your righteousness and peace and joy. A nation who’s people open their spirits and bow their hearts before You, "that the King of glory may come in!" (Psalm 24:7) A nation who’s citizens celebrate the blessings of the country they live in, however the claim these blessings flow out of their primary embracing and identity as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you ask as well that the fullness of the kingdom of God comes in you in a fresh, new way this morning and filling you with the Presence of God, with His righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name! May the King of glory come into you today and everyday of your life! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Help Us Help Others!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, for Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:3); and the sons and daughters of God are led by the Spirit of God.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).
As I’m waiting, what comes to my heart -- into my spirit and up to mind, in the communication of Your Heart to my heart, Your Spirit to my spirit -- is this:
“Draw near to Me. Pursue Me. Press in to Me. Position yourself to hear Me and trust Me and obey Me, as I transform you by putting My thoughts in your mind and My desires in your heart. This is how I change and transform you into My image and transform you with My mind renewing your mind.” ...
Yes, Lord. I know every word I ever believe I’m hearing in my heart must be tested against the Word of God as my Plumb Line and Standard (1 Thessalonians 5:21). And this written Word immediately comes to mind to confirm Your spoken word:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert...” (1 Peter 5:6-8).
By the leading of Your Spirit and in the power of Your grace, I do choose to position myself to hear You and trust You and obey You. I do choose to humble myself before You in prayer, to press in to You in worship, to allow You to transform my nature into Your nature, my character into Your character, and transform me by the renewing of my mind. I do choose to be positioned to be changed by the Presence of God.
Let this be my discipline in obedience and submission to Your discipleship. In this way, may You make me more like You each day (Romans 8:29). For as You are, so are we to be in our world (1 John 4:17).
“Thus (You have) given us, through these things, (Your) precious and very great promises, so that through them (we) may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust and may become participants of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). Lord, let it be so in me and in the heart of every soul who is called by Your name -- day by day, step by step, morning by morning, “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you be positioned to be transformed by the Presence of God, to be conformed into His image and participate in His nature, from glory to glory, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the Comments Box below..
Help Me Help Others Out Of Their Graves!
Help Me Share The Gospel!
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community and my family to jump down into the pits and help lift up those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!!
TO GIVE , CLICK HERE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Help me begin this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit.
"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:9-18).
I read Paul’s words and I think to my self, wow! Lord, is my love genuine? Does it come from a heart that's been wholly surrendered to You? Does it honestly express a true desire to be genuinely concerned for the needs and hopes of those around me You bring into my life? Or do I only love to be loved; do I only give in order to get; do I only act like how I think I ought to look in the eyes of others; do I only say what I think someone wants to hear if it will advance my cause and serve my plans? Or is it a little of both?
If I'm really honest with You and honest with myself, I'd have to admit I still have a long way to go to have a heart like You, completely genuine in love. "The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse -- who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
But at the same time, "(You) test the mind and search the heart" (Jeremiah 17:10). You long to "create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). And Your Spirit pours Your love into my heart to make my heart more like Yours every day that I continue to open my heart to You (Romans 5:5). So by the power of the grace of God, "(I) do not lose heart. Even though (my) outter nature is wasting away, (my) inner nature is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Throughout the moments of my day, You offer me the choice to embrace the heart of genuine love You continually offer to me. You continually invite me to live into the truth of the new and clean heart You've created in me. "For the love of Christ urges us on ... So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) And praise God that even includes my heart and the genuineness of my love. Thank You, Jesus! I love you Jesus! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray today you live into the genuine love of the renewed heart given to you by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, 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.
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
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