Good morning, Lord Jesus. I speak out Your name over every moment of my day, that everything I encounter must bow it's knee to Your name (Philippians 2:9-22).
"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting in Him will be the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9 NLT).
Sometimes it may look like there is anything but "wonderful joy ahead." Sometimes it may look like things are growing worse, darkness is growing darker, division is growing deeper, and hope is growing fainter. Global shortages, rising prices, Covid, cancer, divorce, moral decline, rising violence.. and the list goes on. And it will, just as You said it would (Matthew 24:1-28). But at the same time, the light of the glory of God in those who believe, in those who love You and trust You, will arise and shine within us, as the glory of the Lord arises upon us! (Isaiah 60:1-3)
When "(our) faith remains strong through many trials," we see our faith grow brighter than the darkness; we see our hope overcome every moment of despair; and we see our God display His glory through every trial we face. That's how we can "rejoice with a glorious inexpressible joy" that the world around us can't understand and even our own hearts find hard to believe, as we see You bring us through the battles and storms and every trial of our faith. And that's worth so much more than any false peace or hollow victory this world could ever offer. That's the gift of God -- "the reward for trusting in Him" -- that lasts forever as eternal treasure in our souls "far more precious than gold!"
These days we live out on this earth, through the trials of this broken and fallen world, are the flames of the Refiner's fire (Malachi 3:2; Daniel 12:10; Revelation 3:18). But it's only in the fire You refine our souls into the pure gold of Your glorious love and "inexpressible joy" You've created us to know by learning to trust in You. Holy Fire of God, All "Consuming Fire," burn in me today, as I encounter and overcome ever trial I endure (Hebrews 12:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are filled with "inexpressible joy" as you faithfully endure every trial you face in the power of God's grace and love for you. Remember you are “set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christʼs blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!” (1 Peter 1:2), In Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You, as I listen for the leading of Your Spirit to begin my day centered in You--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:1-6).
I thank You that You know all about me. Nothing is hidden from You--the things I want You to know and even the things I wish You didn’t know. But You know it all, good and bad, through and through. And yet You love me. And You’re for me. And You want the very best for me.
So I can trust You to “Search me, O God, and know my heart” to “Try me, and know my anxieties” (v. 23). I can trust You to “See if there is any wicked way in me”--anything in me that’s wounded, broken, or bound, anywhere in my heart that stuck, hidden away, or buried--so You can “lead me in the way everlasting” (v. 24).
There’s healing and freedom in You, as I trust You to know me and search me. For You are my “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). And You’re going to keep pursuing me and loving me and healing me and freeing me to keep growing me up to become all You created me to be--whether I like it or not--because I’ve given You my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you trust the Lord who loves you and who's for you to search your heart to heal you and free you to be all He created you to be, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
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Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Serenity is a noun, it is not a verb. Serenity is the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. Serenity, the peace that passes all understanding, the ability to be at peace no matter what is happening in the world or what is going on in your life cannot be achieved through your will or “self-help” , but only by surrendering your will to Jesus and receiving His help.
God’s Word and Jesus himself speaks into the availability of serenity and complete peace in this world.
“Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed…” (John 14:27)
“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage - I have conquered the world.” (John 16::33)
Simply put:
No Jesus = No peace
Know Jesus = Know peace
My family, I pray you surrender your will over to Jesus, and put your complete trust in Him, so that “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ between me and every human being—their spirit, soul, body, their sin, warfare, and their household…
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every witch, cult, and coven, every channel of black arts to me. I cut them off in the name of the Lord; I send the glory of God to them to turn them in Jesus’ name…“
Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Answer: Allot of evil or mean spirited people who all about imposing their rule and glory into their domain instead of the rule and glory of Jesus Christ. You encounter them almost everywhere; work, school, family gatherings, even in church gatherings. They are person you dread having to deal with at work and gives you anxiety. The neighbor, family or church member with a sharp tongue. Or those around you full of hurt, hate or rage that last out to you while driving, on social media, or other daily activities.
As the prayer states above, you have the authority to cut off and rebuke any and all malice or evil thought of words directed or spoken over you. You have the authority to break off any control of your mind, spirit or identity these words or actions may try to inflect over you. And you should. What you should not do after such an encounter or attack, is “flip them the bird,” gossip to co-workers or friends about the person, or pray they get hit by a bus like Jonah did over the people of Nineveh. You have the authority to send the glory of God to them to turn them in Jesus’ name. Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:44, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
My family, I pray you ask the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind those that have hurt you or are hurting you, those that your dread seeing and are a cause of anxiety on your life. And in the authority given to you in your baptism in Jesus Christ, pray and send the glory of God to them to turn them to Jesus, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections this morning with us in the comment box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
My wife and I host a simple house church gathering in our home on Wednesday evenings. Last night after sharing a meal together and then a time of worship, we read together “The Daily Prayer of Freedom.” I have used it several times in my morning reflections. We have newly baptized members of our house church, new to their faith, and I am training them up in prayer.
As I read through the prayer again with our group, this phrase stood out to me, that is repeated throughout the prayer, “I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ…”
This phrase begins many paragraphs through the prayer:
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ over my life today, over my home, my family, my household, my vehicles, finances, over all my kingdom and domain…..
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against Satan, against his kingdom, against every foul and unclean spirit…..
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every foul power and black art…
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ against every witch, cult, and coven, every channel of black arts to me. I cut them off in the name of the Lord….
I now bring the authority, rule, and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fullness of the work of Christ between me and every human being—their spirit, soul, body, their sin, warfare, and their household….
We have the Spirit of the living God inside of each of us that call Jesus Lord. We walk in that authority. We carry that authority into every room, gathering or situation we walk into, whether it is our living room at home, at work, school, social gatherings, Walmart, or wherever we step our feet. When was the last time you claimed, or even thought about this authority when you walk into a room?
My family, I pray you are remind of the authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ you carry within you and always walk in. I pray you speak it out loud and claim the authority of Jesus Christ over yourself and all the situations your feet will carry you into today, and everyday, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You first and Your kingdom in these first moments of my morning (Matthew 6:33). ...
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
With the wars in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine, and other areas of the world, a lot of people are talking about “the end” is coming right now. Even praying for “the end” to come. Or at least, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) One such discussion took place yesterday morning at the Waffle House bar with customers and staff that ler to this reflection this morning.
No one knows when “the end” will come. Jesus told us, “But as for that day and hour no one knows it - not even the angels in heaven - except the Father alone.” (Matt:24:36). However, say “the end” is near. My heart breaks when I think about my neighbors, co-workers, family members and friends who do not have a saving relationship with Jesus and without that when “the end” comes will be separated from Him and his love forever. If “the end” is near, it should compel us not to withdraw in fear and isolation, but to go out and speak out with urgency and love in our hearts of the saving love, mercy and grace of the Gospel of Jesus.
You’ve called and commissioned each one of us to minister wherever we are --whether at work, in our neighborhoods, our schools, our homes, and all our encounters along the way--with the same love and power and passion that You pour into the hearts of Your evangelists and missionaries--for that is who we are and what You’ve called us to do. Your Word calls us all to “sanctify Christ as Lord in (our) hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks (us) to give an account for the hope that is in (us), but with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 ). As You said to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to all of us who are Your disciples today: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...” (Matthew 28:19). “As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you!” (John 20:21)
Send us, Lord! Send every one of us! Let this good news of Your kingdom be proclaimed in our hearts and to the nations, and everywhere in between! In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the house of your faith be built on the Rock that will never fall, as you trust with complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone, through all you may encounter and overcome and proclaim, in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friends!
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good evening, Lord Jesus. You are my steady Rock and the Anchor of my soul. You are one with the Father, one with the Holy Spirit; and as I entrust to You my heart and my life, You make me one with You (John 17:21). ...
"Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:14-15).
Your Word compels me and commands me to pursue both peace and holiness -- not just peace and not just holiness; not peace without holiness and not holiness without peace. And it's only by the grace of God that I can attempt and do this.
In my pursuit of holiness, help me never become religious, self-righteous, and "holier-than-thou" in some kind of spiritual pride as if it's by my own goodness or wisdom. Holiness is Christ in me (Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Holiness is my heart surrendered to Your heart, allowing You to form Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, and Your nature in my nature. "For God is working in (me), giving (me) the desire and the power to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NLT).
And at the same time, in my pursuit of peace, help me never compromise with holiness and truth, just "going-along-to-get-along," being “politically correct” and excusing and condoning something less than Your will and Your ways, for the sake of being liked or not being rejected, called “intolerant” or misunderstood for simply seeking to walk in Your Truth and honor Your Word. That's appeasement, not peace. That's the world's peace, not Your peace (John 14:27).
Pursuing both peace and holiness -- all by the power of Your grace at work within me -- is impossible apart from a living, vibrant, and deeply personal relationship with You. Apart from You, I can do nothing (John 15:5). So I praise You and thank You that I never have to spend a single moment of my life apart from You. You are with me always (Matthew 28:20). I am in You and You are in me (John 15:4).
So Jesus, lead me by Your Spirit to walk in both peace and holiness, growing in grace and the nature of Christ, step by step, seeking to "follow in (Your) steps" on my journey of faith through every challenge and question I face (1 Peter 2:21). "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Romans 8:14). "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is reveled, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And all who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2).
My Father God, I welcome Your Holy Spirit to make me more like Jesus today. "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). As You do -- with "Christ in (me), the hope of glory" -- You empower me to pursue both peace and holiness with all my heart because You're changing my heart every day from the inside out (Colossians 1:27). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray your heart is being changed from the inside out every day in your deeply personal and intimate journey with God, empowering you to pursue both peace and holiness, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I am Yours and You are mine. Let me be of one heart and one mind with You today.
"Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet 'in a very little while, the One who is coming will come and will not delay; but My righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.' But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved" (Hebrews 10:35-39).
My confidence is in You, Lord. I'm confident that You love me, that You're for me, that You're always with me, that You always go before me preparing the way for me to walk in Your will and Your ways by the power of Your grace.
As I begin a new week, there are situations and decisions in my family and ministry that will need to be addressed. Those I know of now, and those that will present themselves during the week. However, when challenges come, when battles are fierce, when the enemy of my soul tries to press his attack, I will press on until I press through, by grace through faith, not shrinking back. "Through faith and patience (I will) inherit the promises" (v. 6:12). May I never surrender and never retreat, but always advance with the endurance and confidence of the faith You're building in me. "So (I) can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?'" (v. 13:6. The lyrics from the song “Surrounded” come to my mind. “It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by you.” In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My Family, I pray you may begin your week renewed in your understanding the “The Lord is my Helper” confident in faith, never shrinking back, that you never surrender and never retreat, but always advance into the fullness of the God's promises for you, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your comments, reflections, and prayers from today’s reading with us in the comments box below.
Here is the link to the song “Surrounded” by Upperroom. Play it over you this morning.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Tuesday was Halloween. My wife Nancy and I put on our 10 th annual Halloween gathering for our neighborhood from 6:00pm-10:00pm. We went all out on decorations in the front yard. We rented a mechanical Bull and operator to give kids and adults a thrill. We moved our fire pit onto our driveway and surrounded it with chairs for neighbors to cook hotdogs and s'mores.. Our neighbor let us use tieir front yard as well to set up folding tables and chairs in their front yard. We served and went through over 350 hot dogs that people grilled over the fire. we went through over 70 large Hershey chocolate bars, bags of marshmallows, and boxes of graham crackers and I have no idea how many, s’mores were made. We had two 8’ tables of cupcakes , cookies, snack cakes, and bags of chips. We put out 3 coolers of drinks and gave out LOTS and LOTS of candy. And we set set up a table of T shirts we gave away for free. We had over 500 people with kids come and Trick or Treat us throughout the night, hang out around the fire, cook a hot dog or s’more with a stick over the fire, and get a drink. Hands were shaken, introductions were exchanged, and “Where do you live?” “What do you do?” questions were asked and life stories were connected.
And it was these interactions with our neighbors, the stories shared around the fire, and the smiles of delight on the children that made all the days of work setting this up worth while.
I was handing out candy to a 9 or 10 year old girl when the woman accompanying her, whom I later found out was her grandmother said to me, “Wow, This all looks great!” Her granddaughter looked up at her and said, “This house is always like this, it’s awesome! it’s my favorite!” And after an invitation they went over to the fire pit gathering and joined in s’more making.
Another mother with her children walked up to my wife and looked and the spread of food and treats and asked me, “Is this for everyone"?” My wife told her, Yes! The woman shocked her head in disbelief and said WOW!. then her and her kids enjoyed the spread.
A father with three kids came up with them later to get candy. The father said, “The kids all discussed before we headed out they wanted to go to this house last. Save the best for last! Plus once we come her we usually hang out awhile.” Then they headed towards the fire pit and fun.
Another woman who came trick or treating with her daughter-in-law and grandkids. She came up to me and Nancy as she was leaving and said, “Thank you so much! I am so grateful for the fact that you offered such great hospitality and welcomed into your home a stranger you just met. I wish more people would do this!”
And I don’t know how many people and youth stopped and took time to take family pictures and “selfies” in our front yard as a background for their memories.
No one asked or cared that I am a pastor of house churches or that I was an Elder in the UMC. I was dressed in a costume as a hippie with a long blonde hair wig. My neighbors who came they just cared that I cared about them and their neighborhood. No formal sermon or liturgy was given and our gathering did not require people to “come to us” and take place in a church building, but around the fire in our front yard in the sharing of stories. However a gathering of around of more than 500 people of parents and children took place “in the community” and God was glorified. And we obeyed Jesus’ command to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” And we invited our neighbors to come back to our house this coming Wednesday to share another meal and join us in the simple church gathering we hold in our home every Wednesday evening.
How are you known in your neighborhood? If you were to move out would your neighbors or those in your apartment complex miss you? Would they grieve the loss of you in their lives? Or would they not even notice that you left? If you are part of a church and attend a church, that is good! However, Your were not sent by God to a church. You help serve and participate in a church, but it is the neighborhood and neighbors that you find yourself living amongst are to whom you are called and sent by God. You are sent into your neighborhood to be to them a tangible example of the kingdom of God in their lives. You are sent to be to them examples of salt and light, justice and mercy, love and compassion, partying and banqueting, laughter and dancing.
My family, I am asking you to take time to pray over this today, but not in your house or apartment on on your couch with a cup of coffee, but out in your neighborhood. Go outside and spend time prayer walking your neighborhood. Take your spouse, children or roommate with you. Go sit at a picnic table in your community’s public area, playground or community center. As you walk, pray over the houses and apartments to which you have been sent. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to connect with your neighbors. Pray and come up with ways and events you can be to them tangible examples of salt and light, justice and mercy, love and compassion, partying and banqueting, laughter and dancing, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Grounded in Your Word, filled with Your Spirit, I begin my day centered and focused on You. ...
“Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negeb and on Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag, burned it down, and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great; they killed none of them, but carried them off, and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was in great danger; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in spirit for their sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:1-6).
On a day of shock and terror, on a day of national tragedy for all who were part of the heart of David, they found their city devastated by destruction and “their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.” At first all they could do, as they were dazed by trauma, was raise their voices in aguish and grief “until they had no more strength to weep.”
Then, in great danger of betrayal and the twisted irony of blame-shifting, it was David himself who was nearly stoned to death, as everyone’s rage and pain was turned against him instead of their enemies. Even though it was David’s enemies, the enemies of Israel who hated him and his people, who invaded their homes and burned their city and carried away their families kidnapped as captives, everyone turned on David. Everyone began to blame the victim instead of those who came to steal and kill and destroy.
Spirits never die; and those same spirits are still at work in our world stealing and killing and destroying and trying to turn the hearts of the world against the very ones who have been horrifically, unimaginably terrorized by hatred.
But “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (v.6).
David turned to You. In the humility of desperate dependence upon You alone, he “inquired of the Lord” (v. 8). He waited on You for Your answer, Your wisdom, Your guidance. He didn’t have any Answer but You, no Hope but You.
And then he obeyed everything he heard, as best as he could and all by Your grace. You called him to get up from his grief and be girded up with faith to “pursue” his enemies until he had taken back all that was stolen from him and his people (v. 9).
Some were too weary to go with him; some refused to stand with him. But he gathered those who were of one heart with his to trust God and obey, and “went on with the pursuit” (v. 10).
By the power and the grace of God, David found his enemies, still gloating over their plunder (v. 16). And with unrelenting faith in the word of the Lord and the power of Your might, he and his army engaged their enemies in the fierce courage that only You can supply, until “not one of them escaped” (v. 17). He took back all that was taken. “Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back everything” (v. 19).
Your Word says that all that happened to those under the Old Covenant in former times and all that happened in the battles and struggles against their enemies of flesh and blood speak to us of the spiritual principles in our battles against our spiritual enemies today. Their struggles and battles, their failures and successes, “serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
So come, Holy Spirit. Give us Your wisdom, Your guidance today. In our families, friends and neighbors, let every kidnapped captive by malign spirituals, depression, emotional attacks be brought home. Let all that was taken be restored. Let none of the perpetrators of any terror inflicted escape.
And the leaders and people of Israel, like their father David before them, may they turn to You to “strengthen (themselves) in the Lord.” May we all turn to You, to be strengthened in You, restored in You, with nothing missing and nothing broken, through the peace of our salvation in You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may strengthen yourself in the Lord, turning to Him as your Answer and Hope and Salvation for all you need and the restoration of anything taken from you by our spiritual enemies who come to steal and kill and destroy, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. And I ask you to continue to pray over Israel and the destruction of Hamas. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Father, Son, nd Spirit, this morning I press into your deliverance from everything that may harm me including myself, and rest in your peace and protection.
I have posted my reflection before on “The Daily Prayer of Freedom.” And I will post on it again. It is one of my favorite prayers thatI I read and say att least once a week over myself and my family, more often during the week depending on what I or my family are experiencing. I have a lot going on this week. I have conversation appointments with people dealing with depression, addictions, and spiritual and emotional issues. I don’t go into these conversations without first being covered in the Holy Spirit, as you never know the spirit that may be behind these encounters. As you do not know the spirit s in others you will encounter at your work place, school, or interactions with others. And with what is going on in Israel, Palestine, and Ukraine, this prayer speaks into these conflicts.
My family, I pray today you read this prayer over yourself and your family and claim all the power and freedom that is available to you by, in, and through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
After you read the prayer, I would love if you would share your reflections on it in the comment box below.
Daily Prayer of Freedom
My dear Lord Jesus, I come to you now to be restored in you – to renew my place in you, my allegiance to you, and to receive from you all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this day. I honor you as my sovereign Lord, and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to you. I give you my body as a living sacrifice; I give you my heart, soul, mind, and strength; and I give you my spirit as well.
I cover myself with your blood – my spirit, my soul, and my body. And I ask your Holy Spirit to restore my union with you, seal me in you, and guide me in this time of prayer. In all that I now pray, I include (my wife, and/or my children, by name). Acting as their head, I bring them under my authority and covering, and I come under your authority and covering. Holy Spirit, apply to them all that I now pray on their behalf.
Dear God, holy and victorious Trinity, you alone are worthy of all my worship, my heart’s devotion, all my praise and all my trust and all the glory of my life. I worship you, bow to you, and give myself over to you in my heart’s search for life. You alone are Life, and you have become my life. I renounce all other gods, all idols, and I give you the place in my heart and in my life that you truly deserve. I confess here and now that it is all about you, God, and not about me. You are the hero of this story, and I belong to you. Forgive me, God, for my every sin. Search me and know me and reveal to me any aspect of my life that is not pleasing to you, expose any agreements I have made, and grant me the grace of a deep and true repentance.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and choosing me before you made the world. You are my true Father – my Creator, my Redeemer, my Sustainer, and the true end of all things, including my life. I love you; I trust you; I worship you. Thank you for proving your love for me by sending your only son, Jesus, to be my substitute and representative. I receive him and all his life and all his work, which you ordained for me. Thank you for including me in Christ, for forgiving me my sins, for granting me his righteousness, for making me complete in him. Thank you for making me alive with Christ, raising me with him, seating me with him at your right hand, granting me his authority, and anointing me with your Holy Spirit. I receive it all with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Jesus, thank you for coming for me, for ransoming me with your own life. I honor you as my Lord; I love you, worship you, trust you. I sincerely receive you as my redemption, and I receive all the work and triumph of your crucifixion, whereby I am cleansed from all my sin through your shed blood, my old nature is removed, my heart is circumcised unto God, and every claim being made against me is disarmed. I take my place in your cross and death, whereby I have died with you to sin and to my flesh, to the world, and to the Evil One. I am crucified with Christ, and I have crucified my flesh with all its passions and desires. I take up my cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, unbelief, and idolatry. I put off the old man. I now bring the cross of Christ between me and all people, all spirits, all things. Holy Spirit, apply to me (my wife and/or children) the fullness of the work of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my new life, my holiness and sanctification, and I receive all the work and triumph of your resurrection, whereby I have been raised with you to a new life, to walk in newness of life, dead to sin and alive to God. I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. I now take my place in your resurrection, whereby I have been made alive with you, I reign in life through you. I now put on the new man in all holiness and humility, in all righteousness and purity and truth. Christ is now my life, the one who strengthens me. Holy Spirit, apply to me (my wife and/or my children) the fullness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Jesus, I also sincerely receive you as my authority and rule, my everlasting victory over Satan and his kingdom, and I receive all the work and triumph of your ascension, whereby Satan has been judged and cast down, his rulers and authorities disarmed, all authority in Heaven and on Earth given to you, Jesus, and I have been given fullness in you, the head over all. I take my place in your ascension, whereby I have been raised with you to the right hand of the Father and established with you in all authority. I bring your authority and your kingdom rule over my life, my family, my household, and my domain.
And now I bring the fullness of your work – your cross, resurrection, and ascension – against Satan, against his kingdom, and against all his emissaries and all their work warring against me and my domain. Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Christ has given me authority to overcome all the power of the Evil One, and I claim that authority now over and against every enemy, and I banish them in the name of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, apply to me (my wife and/or my children) the fullness of the work of the ascension of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
Holy Spirit, I sincerely receive you as my Counselor, my Comforter, my Strength, and my Guide. Thank you for sealing me in Christ. I honor you as my Lord, and I ask you to lead me into all truth, to anoint me for all of my life and walk and calling, and to lead me deeper into Jesus today. I fully open my life to you in every dimension and aspect – my body, my soul, and my spirit – choosing to be filled with you, to walk in step with you in all things. Apply to me, blessed Holy Spirit, all of the work and all of the gifts in Pentecost. Fill me afresh, blessed Holy Spirit, I receive you with thanks and give you total claim to my life (and my wife and/or children).
Heavenly, Father, thank you for granting to me every spiritual blessing in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
I receive those blessing into my life today, and I ask the Holy Spirit to bring all those blessings into my life this day. Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Wash me once more with his blood from every sin and stain and evil device. I put on your armor – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation. I take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and I wield these weapons against the Evil One in the power of God. I choose to pray at all times in the Spirit, to be strong in you, Lord, and in your might.
Father, thank you for your angels. I summon them in the authority of Jesus Christ and release them to war for me and my household. May they guard me at all times this day. Thank you for those who pray for me; I confess I need their prayers, and I ask you to send forth your Spirit and rouse them, unite them, raising up the full canopy of prayer and intercession for me. I call forth the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ this day throughout my home, my family, my life, and my domain. I pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, with all glory and honor and thanks to him.
Amen.
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Would you like to receive my morning devotion blog?
Email your name and email address to garyl@onedirection.community and I will add you to my ODC Daily Message distribution list to receive an email of these reflection every weekday morning.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I have a hope in God (a hope that these men themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. This is the reason I do my best to always have a clear conscience toward God and toward people.... (Acts 24:15-16 )
I am not a "hell and damnation" preacher.
However, the Bible is full of references to hell:
In hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
In hell where worms will eat your flesh
Luke 16 Story of Richman and Lazarus
“The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire”
The Bible is full of references to Hell.
However, I don’t pretend to know anything concrete about the referent to that word “hell” so carelessly tossed around by some Christians. But I do know that it has a referent. And there is enough description surrounding it to indicate that whatever hell is, it is a big problem. I also know that I am not God, so how I may handle this problem is irrelevant. God handled it by sending his Son to be killed by and for the world. He only requires the gratitude due, which, if genuine, will produce a commitment to the truth and a commitment to the way. Only to the grateful will the resurrection of life be granted.
I cringe inside when some uses manipulation like, "If you get hit by a bus tonight, do you know where you will go?". Jesus or Paul, never used shame to coerce people into belief. Yet Paul reminds us that when we die, none of us will just be “dead as dirt.” Ourselves, neighbors, co-workers
We all, both righteous and unrighteous, will be resurrected to a coming judgement. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29).
Paul understands that he is an eternal being. He also understands that all people he has contact with throughout his life: his neighbors, co-workers, and friends, are eternal beings. So that all his actions and interactions with people have eternal consequences. This understanding dictated every decision he made in his life.
How often do thoughts of resurrection enter into and mold the basis of my interaction with people? How often do I remind myself that all people I contact everyday are eternal beings and that all my actions and interactions with people have eternal consequences? Unfortunately, not often enough .
Yet I am a person of the Creed. We are a church of the Creed. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. I need to let this sink in and affect the way I live today, the way I interact with people today, how I share my faith today, and not just as a way to hopefully get me out of hell after I die.
Our existence, our church’s existence, any hope of this church growing at all, as a source of life, that baptizes people, and the relevancy of our church, of all Christianity rests completely on the hope of the resurrection and sharing this hope with others. If we do not share this hope, it will not happen. We need to be living in that hope today and sharing with others that hope today as resurrected people, and the future hope with those who are in Christ Jesus.
Take time in silence to ponder the resurrection of Christ.
Take time to ponder your resurrection in Christ.
As your knees get weak as you try to take in the enormity of it all, be thankful.
Be thankful to the Father who's unbelievable love conceived it.
Be thankful to the Son who's unbelievable love endured it.
Be thankful to the Holy Spirit who's unbelievable love empowered it.
Pray that you will begin sharing this resurrection through Jesus you are so grateful to have received with others.
Pray that you and that your church full of thanksgiving, can be a visible and living testimony to the resurrection hope in Christ to the world.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will remind you and give you an eternal perspective with every person you encounter in your day.
My family, I pray you reflect starting this morning and throughout this weekend on your belief in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Claim this belief again over your life, the life of your family, the life of your church. Then write down the name of at least one person you plan to share your belief in the resurrection with this weekend, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same over me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Fill my mind with Your thoughts and my heart with Your desires, as I begin my day centered in You. ...
In the days that David prepared for war, he gathered among him “men of war, who could keep ranks” and came with “a loyal heart” for “all the rest of Israel were of one mind” for what was to be done (v. 38). And David took time to consult with “every leader” (1 Chronicles 13:1). Among those leaders where The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32)
In our times, Israel is again at war. And the leaders of Israel desperately need to know what to do. They need to know how to root out the terrorists but also save the captives, how to pursue justice while remembering mercy, how to defend herself completely while honoring all with dignity and humanity.
Lord, raise up the prophets, the “sons of Issachar” who understand the times to speak into the hearts and minds of her leaders. Give her leaders ears to hear the truth and strategies that come from Your heart. You are the Wisdom she needs and the Power she needs, as Your Word declares: “To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
So come in Your mercy, come in Your Spirit, come and speak through Your prophets what needs to be heard and done. Probably most of Israel’s leaders do not yet know You, but all can humble their hearts to pursue the guidance of God. What You said to the leaders and the children of Israel long ago, You still speak today:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
May You even turn their pursuit of You in these desperate times into opportunities of salvation that comes from Jesus alone. In their seeking of understanding the times and knowing what to do, let them find You Jesus. And we know Your Word will one day be fulfilled, that “All Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27).
In Christ alone, there will be “one new man from the two, thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). If all those in Palestine and Israel find Jesus and He becomes their Lord, then there would be real peace. It would take a miracle, it would take a movement of God. Yet God still reigns and Jesus is still Lord today, so let it be so even in our time. Let all the leaders and children of Israel understand the times. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Mt family, I pray you may seek with all your heart the One who alone can give us understanding of the times, and I join with you in prayer for Israel, for the Palestinian people, and all the people who need to know Jesus and know Peace in these time, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my life, now and in every moment of my day. ...
“How great is the goodness
You have stored up for those who fear You.
You lavish it on those who come to You for protection,
blessing them before the watching world.
You hide them in the shelter of Your Presence,
safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in Your Presence,
far from accusing tongues.
Praise the Lord,
for He has shown me the wonders of His unfailing love.
He kept me safe when my city was under attack” (Psalm 31:19-21 NLT).
There’s no safer place than “in the shelter of Your Presence.”
And Your Presence if available to all who call upon You, who fear and honor You, who put their hope and trust in You. “For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13).
No matter who conspires against us, no matter whose accusing tongue condemns us, no matter who seeks to steal and kill and destroy us, You show us “the wonders of (Your) unfailing love” to keep us safe “before the watching world.”
In this broken and fallen world, we will go through tragedies and tribulations, maybe at times even unimaginable, horrific assaults and attacks. But You are with us, if our hearts are with You; You “come close to us”, as we “come close to (You)” (James 4:8).
Your Word calls us to “continue in the faith” knowing that “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 NKJV). And the Promise of Your Words assure us, just as You spoke to Your first disciples, You continue to speak to us: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Fill our hearts with faith to trust in You, to turn to You, to find our security in “the shelter of Your Presence.” For that’s the only place in this broken and fallen world, full of tribulation and terror, enduring increasing darkness and evil, that we can find the peace and security our hearts long for.
Even as we obey Your calling and command to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6) and pray for the peace of our city, our family, our people and the people of every land and nation, we are truly praying for the peace of Your Presence that we can only have when we find our Shelter in Your Presence--no matter where we are or what’s going on around us. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may you find the peace your heart longs for in shelter of God's Presence every moment of 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 with us from todays reading.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
Good morning Lord Jesus, mold me, make me, fill me, use me..
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)
The Message Bible paraphrases these two verses this way. “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.”
You are never hidden from God. Whether in public, inside a church building, inside your home, sitting in front your computer screen or away on vacation; All your thoughts, desires, intentions, actions, attitudes, true character, honesty, and conversations are known to God. You can’t close the door to Him or step into the shadows where He can’t see you.
“He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.” (1 Cor. 4:5)
“Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence?
If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.
If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn,
and settle down on the other side of the sea,
even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.
If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,
and the light will turn to night all around me,”
even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,
and the night is as bright as day;
darkness and light are the same to you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
For God to be our “ever present help in time of need” (Psalm 46:1), he has to be present with us at all times.
“for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.” (Matthew 10:26-27)
A day is coming for all of us in the future, where in the presence of everybody we’ve ever met, and everybody we’ve never met, we will stand before them in the throne room of God, with Jesus sitting on the throne. And our whole life, with every second and detail of it will be shown and revealed. Every second and every secret revealed. Before our spouse, parents, our children, our co-workers, friends, and neighbors … all will be revealed. All of God’s promises are true, including: “He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts.” “And no creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must render an account.” Does this scare you? Does this makes you think? It makes me think. Some Bible passages are warm and fuzzy. Some like this mornings are “sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.”
My family, today God is your ever present help in time of need, and he is also ever present throughout every second of your day including any fakeness, things you do for show, or things you don’t do as your ignore them or pretend you don’t see. God Knows. I pray you will meditate on this and walk in the light in all you do today and everyday, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers in the comment box below with us from todays reading.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Put Your thoughts in my mind, Your desires in my heart, Your words in my mouth, as You lead me by Your Spirit through every moment of my day. ...
“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:27-36).
Being more like Jesus is as much about becoming more “merciful” as it is about moving in the miraculous. It’s as much about allowing Your Spirit to develop our character as it is about anointing us with charismatic gifts.
And at the heart of that supernatural character development is the evidence of how we treat people -- especially the most challenging people, like the ones that hate us and hurt us, curse us and mistreat us, judge us and misunderstand us, or even just flat out ignore us. Embracing the true character of Jesus is the most challenging choice we’ll ever face in this life.
We all know the Golden Rule, “Do unto other as you would have them do unto you,” which is taken from this very Passage of Scripture. But we don’t always remember just how challenging and counter-cultural this command of Yours really is. Being “merciful” as “children of the Most High” is marked by being much more radically loving, extravagantly giving, and graciously forgiving than even most of the most committed followers ever come close to living out.
We, of course, can’t even begin to do this or even desire to do this apart from You. It’s not in our nature. And that’s point. You want to change our nature, as You develop our character into the nature and character of Christ (Romans 8:29), as we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
This transformation is not just a little tweaking here and there. It’s a crucifixion of our flesh (Galatians 2:20); it’s a circumcision of our heart (Romans 2:29). It’s resurrection of our new self as a “new creation” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), but it’s a resurrection lifestyle not merely a one-and-done prayer, as we “die daily” to our old ways of thinking and living, of loving just those who are easy to love and being merciful only to those who we think deserve our mercy (1 Corinthians 15:31). It’s answering a call and commitment asked of every would-be disciple and follower of Christ, as You continue to set before us this choice every day: “If any wish to come after Me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).
It’s not an easy road, even as we rest in You and trust in the finished work of Your cross. It’s not meant to be. In fact You said, “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Pressing even further, You said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from Me, you who behave lawlessly’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
How I need Your grace every moment of every day. I thank You for the grace that saved me, but I’m also desperately dependent upon Your grace to sanctify me, to make me more like You every day. Apart from You, I can’t begin to do this or even desire this (John 15:5). So I thank You that I’m not apart from You, that Your Spirit is living in me, changing my heart and developing my character to make me more like You, giving me both the desire and the power to please You and honor You with this sliver of time with the opportunities I have on this side of Heaven (Philippians 2:13).
My family, I pray you may choose daily to embrace the challenging character of Jesus, by embracing the power of God's grace and the work of His Spirit in you, making you more like Jesus each day, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections on this in the comments box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
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!!
GIVE TODAY, CLICK HERE
Let me help you!
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. I would also love to help you start a simple church in your home. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“And now he’s found Jesus, which we do not want to hear about at this time. He’s apologizing to the mom, saying he’s found Jesus, we don’t care about that”
Yesterday morning, CBS Morning Show aired a story on Natalee Holloway murder confession. Joran van der Sloot admitted killing Natalee in 2005. It was a horrible, gruesome murder and Joran absolutely deserves to be punished for his crime. However, in the 18 years since Joran committed this murder, he repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior. It is this conversion to Christ which convicted him to come forth and confess he committed this crime. At the end of the news story, CBS anchor Gayle King went off the script and said referring to Joran, “And now he’s found Jesus, which we do not want to hear about at this time. He’s apologizing to the mom, saying he’s found Jesus, we don’t care about that”
Again, let me be clear that the murder of Natalee by Joran as horrific and Joran deserves to be punished for his crime. However, we must celebrate that Joran “was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.ʼ” ( Luke 15:32)
Author Max Lucado stated on the trial of serial killer Jeffery Dahmer: The most difficult thing for me about the trial of Dahmer is not the fact that he killed, mutilated and ate so many people; not the fact that he had no remorse, no apologies for his acts and to the victims families, not the fact that he sat cold-hearted, unemotional throughout his trial, The most difficult thing for me to accept and wrap my head around is that while Dahmer was in prison, he repented, confessed, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord. And if that conversation was honest and real, Dahmer will be standing next to me and all the saints in heaven.
Gayle King in her remarks stated ‘We”do not want to hear about it…; “We” do not care….. I do not know who, or identify with the “We” that she is referring to.
Paul remarks about another “We” in Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while “We” were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That “We” I can identify with; as that “we” includes me, and it includes you, and all those who were saved, redeemed, and given new life by and through the blood of Jesus. I am not God. I do not complete understand or have to agree with, be completely comfortable with, or like God’s plan for our salvation. It is God’s plan, not mine. All I am to do is fall on my knees in complete surrender and gratitude and receive His salvation for me. As I to was dead and now alive, I was lost and now am found. To which I say, Thank you Jesus!
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:22-24) And that all includes Paul, Joran, Dahmer, Gary Liederbach, and you.
My family, I do not know the last time in prayer you thanked God for His plan of salvation for the world through Jesus, which includes you, and thanked him for saving you. I pray today and throughout this weekend you take time to read the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. And as you do replace yourself in the story for the son, and fall on your knees in gratitude, and say Thank you!, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections on this in the comments box below.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
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!!
GIVE TODAY, CLICK HERE
Let me help you!
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. I would also love to help you start a simple church in your home. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
“Therefore Go, and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19)
Just over a month ago I was so blessed to baptize 4 teenagers in a friends swimming pool. Since then they have started coming on Wednesday nights to the simple church held in my wife Nancy and my home. As they were new in their faith, we shared simple times of worship with them they entered into for the first time. We share the Lord’s Supper every week and they shared in that for the first time. We all say the Lord’s Prayer together as [part of the Lord’s Supper/. The teenagers just looked at each other as the rest of us recited it by heart. I was convicted in my assumption that everyone knows the Lord’s Prayer. They are new to the faith, my mistake. So next week I provided it to them to read along with us. Last week I taught them on prayer and it’s necessity as the life breath of a Christian. I led our group through an hour time of prayer. For the teens it was their first time in a long block of prayer.
Last night our simple church met at our house again, however we did not meet inside. I did a short teaching on prayer walking, we circled up and prayed in our front yard, then we divided up into groups and headed off in different directions to prayer walk our neighborhood. I was so proud of these teens! They were only baptized a month ago, yet they took up their mantle of authority they received in their baptism and went out into the streets to pray over and with their neighbors. They stopped and asked to pray with people out walking, in their front yards, and working in their garages. They prayed over houses and various know situations of neighbors. We prayer walked for an hour then all met up back at my house to share meal, the Lord’s Supper, and discuss their experience. I told them how proud I was of them! That they are new to the faith so they do not know how huge what they just did was compared to allot of Christians in the church. I told them how I pastored churches where many members had been baptized 20, 30, 40 or more years ago, have been Christians decades longer than they were, yet when I suggested we leave the church and go out in the streets and prayer walk and pray over our neighbors, they would not do it and looked at me like I was crazy. These teens just weeks into thier faith embraced a high level of obedience as disciples of Jesus. During our meal together they asked if we could go prayer walk their school sometime? I said absolutely!
After our gathering two of the teens came up to me and asked me if they could lead the group in the Lord’s Supper next week. I again said absolutely! And I gave them both print outs of the service to read over this week to prepare for leading next week. Praise God!
See, the goal of our missional life is not to grow churches. The goal of the church is to grow missionaries. The goal of the gospel is not to get people to church. The result of the gospel is that people will find each other and gather because of the deep meaning of a common experience. This is why I myself and I advocate other church planters not to start the church by launching a church service. Instead, I advocate that they launch people out with the Gospel and add the gatherings as needed. The challenge for a church is to sensitively "not provide" things at the gathering that you want people to experience in the world, and slowly reestablish the meaning behind weekly church service. Maybe, it should not be called a "service." That communicates, " You come here to get what you need." The key is to not let your gathering become something more than it is supposed to be, not let people depend on the gathering for things it wasn't supposed to provide in the first place.
I am reflecting on this simply to encourage you to think outside the box. To see church as a movement throughout your day instead of a location on one given day. But be prepared that if you pray for God to lead you to minister outside the box, he will honor that and show you what real out of the box faith, worship, and grace looks like. It is challenging me right now. I pray you are now or will come to the place it challenges you as well.
My family, we are all members of The Church. We are all part of the movement of God. We are all missionaries. The definition I use of a missionary is; “someone who is willing to sacrifice everything except the Gospel, for the sake of the Gospel.” I pray you will pray to the Holy Spirit and ask Him for guidance, then reflect throughout today on these questions:
Is your church life based on movement or a location?
How are you participating in the movement of God?
Where is church as the movement of God happening around you?
Where is God calling you to enter into his movement?
Please post your reflections as a comment below.
Also please connect with me as I would love to help, train, and walk with you, your small group, your church, in becoming movement.
Please Partner With Me!
Help Me Share The Gospel and Make Disciples!
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!!
GIVE TODAY, CLICK HERE
Let me help you!
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. I would also love to help you start a simple church in your home. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
