On Wednesday evenings my wife and I host a simple house church at our home for One Direction Community (ODC) members and guests. As people gather we share a meal and catch up on life from the week before. We then move into the family room for a time of worship and prayer. After that we spend time reading and reflecting together on whatever passage of Scripture we are on. Last night we did our Palm Sunday gathering and read through a compilation of the passion narratives from all four Gospels I put together in chronological order.
We had just moved from the dining room into the family room when a 15 year old girl who is a member of ODC received a text from a friend. She read the text and told us the friend had texted he was in a dark place of depression and was thinking of committing suicide. The girl said I need to go see him and pray with him now. One of her friends, who is also 15 and a member of ODC said yes we do. They asked if it would be ok if they went right now, and we said absolutely! So the two girls, plus another girlfriend of theirs who they invited to come and has been only coming for two weeks, the girls dad who would drive them, and my wife all got up to go. We put them all in a circle in the middle of us, laid hands on them and prayed over them, and they left to go to the boys house who texted that lived close by. While they were gone the rest of us prayed of them, the boy who texted, and the boys parents.
The group that left returned in about an hour and shared how they found him in a dark place. They talked with him and prayed with him. The boy was not completely receptive, however seeds of light were planted in his darkness and he was grateful they had come.
Here is the thing that I was praising God about. The two girls who are members of ODC are new to their faith. I just baptized them both in my friends swimming pool 6 or 7 months ago. They do not yet have The Lord’s Prayer memorized but read it from a sheet I printed out when we say it together at House Church. They have just began studying the Bible and could not name the 4 Gospels if asked them. However, at our house church they both have celebrated The Lord’s Supper, said the prayers, broke the bread and served us communion. On Ash Wednesday they placed the oil and ashes on my head, and laid hands on me and prayed. On Saturdays mornings they go with us to the House of the Harvest and hand out food to the poor and those in need and pray over them. They have gone with us prayer walking our neighborhood praying with our neighbors and our community.
So though they do not have the book and head knowledge of Jesus yet, and that will come. They have the heart knowledge and obedience knowledge of Jesus. They know Jesus. They know who they are in Jesus. They know He hears their prayers. They know they are filled with the Holy Spirit. And they know from their baptism just a few months ago that they received the power and calling of Jesus to go run into darkness with light.
I was praising God that just a short 6 months ago if they received a text like this from a friend they would not have gone. For they did not know then Jesus or who their identity was as daughters of the King of Kings. And here they were wanting to go and pray for someone. And not only that, they brough along their friend who has just started coming to House church now for a couple weeks with them to take part and witness them praying over this boy. It was those two 15 year old girls, not a pastor, not a youth leader, who were modeling, teaching and introducing their friend what it looks like to follow Jesus. In my time pastoring churches I know of people who have been in a congregation for years who would not jump up an do what these two young ladies did. To which again, almost in tears I said Praise God!
And finally, after they returned to our group last night and shared with us what had happened, we went ahead and read through the long Palm Sunday narrative of the Passion of Christ from all 4 Gospels. And one of the girls who was a member asked if she could be the narrator and the new girl who just started coming asked if she could be Jesus and read all his lines! So these two young ladies, who could not tell you from where in the Bible the verses are found they were reading, led our hour time together in the Word. God is so Good!
My family, I pray today you’re a reminded and realize that you also have what these 15 year old girls have. That you have the heart knowledge and obedience knowledge of Jesus. That you know Jesus. That you know who you are in Jesus. That you know He hears your prayers. That you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And that you know from your baptism whether it was a few months or many years ago, that you received the power and calling of Jesus to go run into darkness with light, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please post and share your thoughts and reflections with us in the comment box below.
Partner with us!
As we begin the year, if you have the ability to be generous, I invite you to partner with me, my wife, and One Direction Community to support our ministries of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over our ministries and outreaches into our community. We would be so grateful for your one time gift or monthly support. 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
I begin my morning centering my thoughts and desires on you Father, Son and Spirit,
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20"
In this popular passage of Scripture, Jesus commissions everyone there in hearing of his voice to go and make disciples of the nations, and he promises them through the presence of the Holy Spirit, that he will always be with them. All who hear his voice today are called to the same commission, to go and make disciples of the nations by and in the same continuous power and presence of the same Holy Spirit.”
What does it mean to “Go and make disciples” in the power of the Holy Spirit? For my main reflection today I am going to allow Fracis Chan to speak to you in short 9 minute video on experiencing, the calling and sending of the Holy Spirit. Please take 10 minutes now to watch it. Then if you have time through the day read Acts 1:4-8, Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21-22.
My family, I pray today the Holy Spirit opens your ears to hear you call to “go” and opens your eyes to “see”those around you to whom you are sent. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!
Please post your comments and reflections in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support for One Direction Community, my family, and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, I begin my work week put my life in the hands of the one who loved me from the beginning.
Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews…. If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God - let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ʻI am Godʼs Sonʼ!” (Matthew 27:37,42-43).
There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, "save yourself!" and "come down from the cross!" They wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save His physical life, but it was indeed His staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life. Those passing by only believed what they saw. All of Jesus’ disciples only believed what they saw and fled and hid themselves. Jesus’ resurrection had not yet occurred in the world and they had no knowledge or faith in what happening before them and what was to come.
However, we who call ourselves “Christians“ have knowledge of the death and resurrection of Jesus and it is at the core of our faith. We also understand that it is only by dying to ourselves that we also can experience resurrection from the dead into eternal life. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-26)
We too want Jesus to come down from the cross. Because if we truly believe that Jesus had to die on the cross, if we truly believe that it was through suffering that Jesus would redeem the world, then we must truly believe that in order to call ourselves a “Christian”, a follower and imitator of Jesus, we too must also “Trust in God,” we too who follow Jesus must also pick up our cross, and we too must also suffer.
Jesus asked His disciples, “Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” (Matthew 20:22). This morning and every morning we are blessed to wake up to be part of another day on earth, as our feet are hitting the floor next to our bed Jesus asks the same questions of us, “Are you willing to drink my cup today?” “Are you willing to pick up your cross and suffer for your faith?” When was the last time you picked up your cross and suffered for your faith? When was the last time you did something that made you even a little uncomfortable for your faith? What are your plans for cross bearing today? For this weekend?
My family, As we approach the Cross and near the end of season of Lent, I pray you will reflect on your call to be cross bearers and the same irony that is only by you giving giving up the safety and comfort of physical life that you and those you encounter in the world will experience a resurrection from death to life in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers on your reflections from this mornings reading with us in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I seek to relationally reach with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I worship You and welcome You, here in my heart and every moment of my day -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"When it was evening, He took His place with the twelve; and while they were eating, He said, 'Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.' And they became greatly distressed and began to say to Him one after another, 'Sure not I, Lord?' He answered, 'The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.' Judas, who betrayed Him, said, 'Surely not I, Rabbi?' He replied, 'You have said so'" (Matthew 26:20-25).
Sometimes I wonder what happened to Judas. Did he get too close to the money? (John 6:29) With his hand in Your bowl, did he become presumptuous of his access to Your greatness or begin to take his invitation to Your intimacy and his acceptance of Your grace for granted? Did being one of the “Big Twelve” give him the big head? Or did the seeds of sin and self-seeking sown into his fallen soul finally grow to full harvest in his heart of betrayal? In any event, somehow Satan himself entered his soul to consume his thoughts and influence his choices (Luke 22:3).
You know every choice we will ever make, seeing the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46:10). You know every heart and every motive of every choice (Acts 1:24; Jeremiah 17:10). Yet, the choices are ours in the freedom of will that a true relationship of love requires (Joshua 14:15; Deuteronomy 30:14-15; John 7:17).
And what if Judas had made better choices with all that was entrusted to him? Surely Your Word was true of him as It is with us all: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope" (Jeremiah 29:11). "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live" (Ezekiel 33:11).
Judas was not born a traitor, but he "became a traitor" (Luke 6:16). And by the time it was time for Judas to choose blessing or curse, life or death, "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray (You)" (John 13:2). In the end, "Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place" (Acts 1:25).
But what if instead of becoming "the one destined to be lost," Judas would have humbled himself in repentance and faith, seeking Your healing and freedom of all that would hold him back of being a faithful follower instead of a condemned traitor (John 17:12)? His confession and repentance came too late when finally acknowledged, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" (Matthew 27:3) What if he could have become a son of God instead of the "son of perdition" (John 17:12)? What if he was to spill out his heart to lead others to Christ instead of spilling out his guts after hanging himself on a tree (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18)? What if even the Book of Jude could have been the Book of Judas, sharing words of encouragement and exhortation from a life that was changed and surrendered to God to fulfill a destiny to honor Christ (Jude 1)?
You are "longsuffering” toward us (all), not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). So before I judge Judas for the speck in his eye, give me a humble and teachable heart to see the log in my own eye (Matthew 7:5). Let me "judge not," so that by the measure I judge I will not also be judged and that very thing come up me (Matthew 7:1). Let me never take my grace for granted or presume upon my place of intimacy with You. Convict me of my sins and keep me sensitive in my heart to the leading of Your Spirit, so that it's never too late to choose well and live well in the destiny You desire for me (Ephesians 1:11). By the power of Your grace, may I grow to be much more like Jesus than Judas (Romans 8:29). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you you will honestly and openly confess, repent, and be restored of any sin that is festering inside you. I pray you will seek God’s grace and forgiveness and then seek to grow in the grace of God to become more like Jesus every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and prayers to this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community/
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
I could use your financial support as I seek to relationally reach with the Gospel those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Jesus, touch my heart with your love this morning so I can touch the hearts of others with your love.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ʻCome, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.ʼ Then the righteous will answer him, ʻLord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?ʼ And the king will answer them, ʻI tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.ʼ (Matthew 25:31-39)
Lent invites us together to find ways to serve and find ways to change the lives of homeless people in our community or the community you live in. It’s a time to draw attention to the needs of our neighbors on a local level. The poor and homeless had a special place in Jesus’ heart, and as followers of Jesus desiring to have a heart in us that imitates Jesus’, they need to have a special place in our hearts as well. There are many ways you can participate in this season of Lent.
Volunteer to serve at a local homeless shelter or a ministry that serves meals or in some other way helps out the homeless community that allows you to interact with. Or if you see a homeless person on the street, invite that person out for lunch or for dinner. If they do not want to go to a restaurant, offer to purchase you both a meal, then go back and sit, talk, and share a meal with them. I am sure you will learn more about Jesus from your time spent with them. Or invite them to go shopping with you and take them to a groceries store and buy them a few food items. Or invite them to a Walmart and buy them a couple clothing items.
The key thing is as Jesus speaks to us in his words in Matthew 25, spend personal time with that homeless man or woman. When Jesus says above ”When I was hungry you gave me something to eat” He did not mean you dropped off some canned goods to a food pantry or your church. He meant you invited Him to a meal with you and you fed Him. When Jesus says, “I was naked and you gave me clothing” He does not mean you dropped off clothes at a Good Will or thrift store, He meant you personally got me clothes. Read Jesus words above again: I was a stranger and you invited me in; I was in prison and you visited me…these are all personal, intimate moments with Jesus. So when Jesus says, ”As you did it for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me,” He means the “it” is the personal, intimate, encounters of love you entered into with the poor and the homeless. We cannot try to disconnect this meaning or rationalize we have done this when we drop off outdated cans of food to our churches food drive or clothes that no longer fit us to thrift stores. Such rationalization does not honor Jesus, and It does not honor our least of these brothers and sisters. Both Jesus and them deserve more. Such rationalization is what the “Goats” of the passage above do, not the “sheep.”
Such rationalization by people are at the basis of these words by Jesus. “Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ʻLord, Lord, didnʼt we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?ʼ Then I will declare to them, ʻI never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21)
Giving food, clothing and money donations to organizations and ministries is absolutely a good thing! However, these donations should not help contribute to, or lead to your justifying that you obeyed Jesus’ words in both passages above and then isolating yourself from the least of these, isolating you from Jesus. The Kingdom of Heaven is a place of intimacy and love, entrance into it flows out of intimacy and love with Jesus. This is found and flows out of intimacy and love for our neighbors, the least of our brothers and sisters.
My Family, I pray on during Lent you will sit in the Holy Spirit’s leading and simply reflect on Jesus’ words, “just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.” In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Watch this 3 minute video.
I would love for you to please share your reflections with myself or others using the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Help Us Help Them!
My wife Nancy and I are in a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this season in my life and that of my family. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You Thank You!
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. I seek You first and Your kingdom in these first moments of my morning. ...
“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 led 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 that as Lent draws us near to Holy Week, Good Friday, The Cross and Easter, which are at the core of our faith, you are compelled to share your faith with those you encounter throughout your day. Our knowledge of these things and the gift of salvation was meant to be shared, in Jesus' name. Please pay 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, speak to me, your servant is listening.
This morning we have a convicting chapter to read. No passage in the Bible is more biting, more pointed, and more severe than these seven “Woes” in Matthew 23 spoken by Jesus Christ upon the Pharisees. The Pharisees, while attempting to honor the Word of God and manifesting an extreme form of religious observance, were actually the farthest from God. The theme of the Sermon on the Mount was righteousness, the theme of these woes is hypocrisy. There is a common strong emphasis in both addresses on the leaders’ failure to understand and submit to the Scriptures. Jesus gave both addresses to contrast the true meaning of Scripture with the Pharisees’ interpretation and application of it. The Pharisees professed to teach the Scriptures accurately but did not do so. They were therefore hypocrites.
Every one of the seven ‘woes’ is an exclamation like the ‘blessed’ of the Beatitudes. It does not state a wish but a fact. It is not a curse that calls down calamity but a calm, true judgment and verdict rendered by the supreme Judge himself, Jesus. Six of these judgments have the evidence attached by means of a “because” which illustrates the full reason for the verdict ‘Woe’” and in the remaining judgment.
There is today only one proper Christian use of the “Woe” sayings of this chapter. It is found not primarily in the application of the passage to the historical Pharisees, and even less to modern Judaism as a religion, but in the application of the passage to Christian members of The Church today. Hypocrisy is the real enemy of these woes, not the scribes, the Pharisees, or the Jews. If, on the application of these woes, a finger is to be pointed, a bitter woe is to be pronounced against anyone today, it must be directed solely against we Christians and the hypocrisy in the church. Here is a translation of a “Woe” from this chapter from the GRV Bible (Gary’s Reflective Version).
Woe to you Christians! For they go to church so that their faith may be seen and approved by people. They love to be greeted as “brother” or “sister” as they fellowship before the service with a cup of coffee in their hand and Hillsong playing in the background. They wear crosses around their necks, and put crosses and Icthus fishes on the back of their cars that they ride in comfort to their churches with windows rolled up as they drive past the homeless, poor, the widows and orphans. After church, they fatten themselves at lunch, have struggling single-mom waitresses to serve them, and the only sharing if any of their faith all day with others is they show their church bulletin at lunch check out to get 10% off their meal. They then pull into safe garages who’s door close out their neighbors they are called to go out and serve but instead walk into living rooms with a picture on the wall that says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Woe to you! You Christians, you hypocrites!
My family, Paul in 2nd Timothy tells us, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2Timothy 3:16). Even the Scriptures that hold a mirror up in front of us and make us access the true level of our discipleship as a Christian. Lent is a season of reflection. I pray you will read and spend time guided by the Holy Spirit reflecting on this chapter and looking in the mirror. “It’s a me. It’s a me, it’s a me Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer,” In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I want to encourage you to please share your reflections and prayers on my 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
I could use your financial support as I relational reach out to those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good morning Lord Jesus, bring new wine into me today.
“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ʻTell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”ʼ But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.” (Matthew 22:1-6).
Lord as adopted sons and daughters into the kingdom of God through the atoning work of the blood of Jesus in His death, resurrection and ascension, you do not only invite us to your banquet, we are all those for whom the banquet is celebrated. We are the ones the Father ran to, embraced and said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:22-24)
This morning, we are invited to the banquet of “Today.” Today we are all invited to “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8). When you walk out your door this morning do you accept His invitation and do you really expect for God to do amazing things so that by the end of the day you will have amazing stories to tell of what God is doing? Because He Is! And you have been invited today to be part of it! What is the banquet of God except a day by day, moment by moment invitation to step into something that God wants to do in somebody’s life and you have the privilege of seeing it happen? Do you accept His invitation to experience His banquet of love and grace and truly expect and receive it in your own life today enough to be able expect it anywhere else?
My family, I pray you will accept the invitation to participate in the banquet God has set before you called “Today.” I pray you will both seek out a time alone with God to taste and see that He is good, and walk out your door with an expectant heart ready to participate what God is going to do in, though and around you today, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I want to encourage you to please share your reflections and prayers on my 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
I could use your financial support as I relational reach out to those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
Good Monday morning!
As we draw nearer to Easter, I will be reading through the7 passion narrative chapters in The Gospel of Matthew (21-27) and reflecting on one chapter each morning.
“The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matthew 21:9-11)
Matthew chapter 21 is a convicting chapter to read . The crowds welcomed Jesus into their city, into their lives shouting, “Hosanna” which mean means “save us” or “deliver us.” Jesus did come to save them, however the people inviting Jesus into their lives and welcoming His salvation, they did not realize what the results would be. “The whole city was thrown into an uproar” (v.9) is what Jesus’s arrival did. Jesus’s entry demanded a clear and honest assessment and revelation of their current life and worship, a calling out of their sins, and repentance and cleansing. It was the beginning of a revolution.
Jesus confronted them with the way they had perverted and materialized their Holy prayer and worship of God. “Then Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written, ʻMy house will be called a house of prayer,ʼ but you are turning it into a den of robbers!” (v.12-13)
He saw where and what not was bearing fruit, and took down that which looked good, but produced nothing. “After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once.” (V.19)
He revealed the wicked intentions of those “in the church” and exposed them for what they were- hypocrites. “They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ʻFrom heaven,ʼ he will say, ʻThen why did you not believe him?ʼ But if we say, ʻFrom people,ʼ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We donʼt know.” (v.25-27)
He called out those who on Sunday mornings sing, “Mighty to Save”, cheer Jesus, and say “Amen” to the pastors benediction to go into the world and make disciples, and then do nothing. “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ʻSon, go and work in the vineyard today.ʼ The boy answered, ʻI will not.ʼ But later he had a change of heart and went. The father went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, ʻI will, sir,ʼ but did not go. Which of the two did his fatherʼs will?” They said, “The first.” (vs.28-31)
Jesus knocked down those who rely on their religion and traditions and leveled the playing field for those who will enter into heaven. “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!” (v.31)
Jesus declared the fate of those who enjoyed living in the wonderful world He created but reject His Lordship. “Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.” (vs. 40-41)
He states that those who do not obey Him, do not pick up their cross and follow Him into the world and redeem the lost , that they will not enter the kingdom.“For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (v.43)
My family, I know after I read this chapter that I will meditate on this chapter all day as Jesus words convict and asses the true nature of my heart, worship, and obedience to Him. I pray that you will do the same. In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!!!
Please share your reflections and prayers on my 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
I could use your financial support as I relational reach out to those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758.
Thanks You!
Good morning Jesus, Let your Spirit blow on me and through me to breath live into me as I begin my day
“This is what the LORD, the protector of Israel, their Holy One, says
to the one who is despised and rejected by nations, a servant of rulers:“ (Isaiah 49:7)
Isaiah’s focus on this theme of “a servant”is not on presenting servants as we generally think of them. “Servants” as people who are passive and weak, who’s destruction and captivity is evidence of the failure and inability to be delivered by the lesser gods they followed. In this chapter Isaiah introduces to us the “Servant,” the true representation of Israel, who comes with power and who will be God’s agent and bring His covenant to the people and restore justice to all the nations. This Servant of Israel will Himself lead Isreal and it’s people to become what they had always desired to be.
The mighty hand of God is about to be revealed in His deliver of Israel. But instead of it being a military, armor bearing,, laced boot, ass-kicking destroyer of the enemies of the nations, he will be a tender plant, a shoot off Jesse’s root (11:1), an apparent failure, a meek lamb to be slaughtered, However, he will be the one to atone for the sins of the nation and those of the world. And beginning here and in the chapters to follow, salvation is no longer something to be anticipated and longed for but now Israel is being invited to participate in something that has already been achieved. What is the means it will be achieved? The substitutionary death of the Servant for Israel and the world.
God has said that the lives of His people in Israel, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, would be the evidence to the world that he alone is the Holy One. Our lives as people of God, because of the atoning sacrifice of the Servant, who’s name we know, Jesus, are to be the evidence to those we encounter in our daily life that God alone is the Holy one and Jesus is Lord. What God revealed to Isaiah and which Isaiah then spoke about as a future prophecy to come, Jesus confirmed, spoke into and lived out in reality:
As we near the end of another week of Lent, Isaiah’s prophecy speaks into the season to reflect on and praying over the saving acts of our suffering servant, who became our sacrificial lamb on the cross, and by His resurrection, this servant became our savior and redeemer,
My family, Jesus“ main characteristic by which He was known was that of a servant. God sent Him into the world to serve. In Lent, we not only give up things and fast to re-connect with Jesus, we take on ways of serving our neighbors as well. As Jesus said, “Just as the Father sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world…. “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony…. so that the world will believe that you sent me.” ( John 17:18-22). I pray as you end your week you will seek out and enter into ways to serve those in your community this weekend and over Spring Break, and be a tangible example of the sacrificial love of Christ in their lives, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
I was sitting au the low bar at a Waffle House. A man told how he just got back last week from a trip to Jamaica with his wife. I told them how my family and I are leaving next month to spend a week in Jamaica. One man sitting at the bar two persons down to my right told me to be careful, you see on the news all the time of the terrorist attacks. The discussion at the bar then turned to terrorists, the war in Gaza, Palestinians, Muslims and Islam. The conviction, passion and joy with which these Christians talked about God damning Muslims to burn in hell troubled me. I countered back biblically and theologically, even tried rationally, but I was out numbered, and the heated debate I found myself in was not one I was going to win, or change any hearts of those with whom I was engaging. Madison/Huntsville with Redstone arsenal and all the military contractors and suppliers can be a city over the top with American patriotism and mob mentality towards non-Christian cultures and people. I walked out thinking, there still is allot of work left to be done for the kingdom of God!
When I walked outside I noticed the back on an SUV in the parking lot. It had several bumpers stickers on the back of it. One said, “I’d rather be waterboarding terrorists.” The one that saddened me the most was this one, It had a smiley face then the words “If you are a Muslim, you will burn in hell! (John 14:6).”
This verse John 14:6, is the one most quoted by those who enjoy the thought of their enemies (typically the Muslims and the Democrats) burning in hell, is the verse in which Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I don’t pretend to know anything concrete about the referent to that word “hell” so carelessly tossed around by some Christians and so carelessly tossed out by others. 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 life be granted. As one old preacher once said, “This is God’s universe and God does things his way. You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.” So the next time you proclaim John 14:6, make sure your mouth and your body; the truth you profess and the way you live, are in sync with your bumper sticker. And if they are not, sit down and shut up until you become grateful. Do the world a favor and just be still until you know that you are not God.
My family, instead of delighting or regretting that those of another Religion do not know Christ, let’s join together and love and pray for them. The Islam holiday of Ramadan starts this Sunday March 10th at sunset. Millions and Millions of Muslims will fast and pray for one month, most earnestly, trying to hear the voice of God. Let’s join together in prayer that they hear from the one true God and encounter Jesus Christ.
I did; now you all need to go to the link below; watch the video; sign up; share this with your friends; and let’s join together and start praying over our Muslim brothers and sisters starting this Sunday
Please share your thoughts on this reflection in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
Good morning Lord Jesus,, lead me toto the place people and practices that will glorify you today
“I, I am,. the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.” 43:11-12
This chapter reminds us that God’s act of salvation on our behalf and our call by Him to be his chosen people, was an act by God out one of purest grace. God’s saving act in Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago and today was not because of anything people have done. It is not because the people 2,000 years ago or we today have become more perceptive of God or more obedient towards him. Nor was God’s salvation made conditional on their repentance back then or ours today. He did not require that the world repent before He sent the Son. Actually, they rebelled while God sent His Son and they killed Him. God does not condition his sending of the Son into the world today on its repentance, as the world still rebels against God. This chapters overall theme, like chapter 44 that follows, is the gracious (un-earned, un-deserved gift) salvation of God and that God’ has the ability and desire to save. The problem is not on God’s side, it is on ours.
Isaiah also announces to Israel, and reminds us, that God created and shaped their nation, He created and shaped you, and desires to have a special relationship with you where you experience His grace. And that God’s people need not fear that His acts of discipline or correction signals a negation of their salvation or a suspension of God’s loving care and grace towards them. Just as the corrections a mother gives her child do not signal a lessoning of her love for her child. But rather the opposite.
My family, people say to each other, “Have a blessed day!” or simply, “God bless you!” like it is an option wether or not that God will or wants to bless you. God desires to bless you today with the grace of his salvation and have you experience it and live in it! So I pray today you let him! Let him! I pray you will, in Jesus’ name. Please pray that I will as well. God bless you my friends!
I hope during Lent you will start posting your thoughts and reflections as well in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Give A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
TO GIVE CLICK HERE
“Now, listen, Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen!”
This is what the LORD, the one who made you, says -
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Donʼt be afraid, my servant Jacob…
For I will pour water on the parched ground
and cause streams to flow on the dry land.
I will pour my spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,
like poplars beside channels of water.
One will say, ʻI belong to the LORD”…
One will write on his hand, ʻThe LORDʼs”…
This is what the LORD, Israelʼs king, says,
their protector, the LORD who commands armies:
“I am the first and I am the last, there is no God but me.
Who is like me? Let him make his claim!
Let him announce it and explain it to me -
since I established an ancient people -
let them announce future events!
Donʼt panic! Donʼt be afraid!
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock; I know of none…
Remember these things…O Israel, I will not forget you!
I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud.
Come back to me, for I protect you.” (Isaiah 44)
I love Isaiah! He is the Lenten prophet and I love chapter 44! Open your Bible and read it! For it expounds on the completely unmerited nature of God’s salvation. God through Isaiah reminds the people that their sin has removed any obligation He has whatsoever to them. He owes them nothing! They cannot demand anything from God especially that He deliver them. But this does not mean that God will not deliver them, it means that what God does is a free, unearned gift flowing out of His own deep love.
What is the message God wants his people, the Israelites to hear,? Do not fear! v(s.44:2; 8) The world says to the Israelites that God has rejected them. That they are an abandoned widow and their reputation is rotten and they are to be mocked and put to shame. God however speaks to them words of encouragement. He says they are his chosen one, and that “I will pour water on the parched ground and cause streams to flow on the dry land” v.3 And God speaks this same message and words of encouragement over you and I this morning!
The images of water in a dry land are all throughout the book pf Isaiah. It is a metaphor for the pouring out of God’s spirit, his water of life into hearts that are dead from sin and dry from no hope in life. God’s outpouring of his Spirit was ultimately fulfilled on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out into all humanity and made life-giving water available to those dead in sin. Including you and me.
My family, I pray throughout today you will pray and meditate on this::
Remember, the salvation you receive today is a total gift of grace out of God’s amazing love for YOU!
Remember: God’s message to you today is DO NOT FEAR!
Remember: The refreshing water of the Holy Spirit is available to pour into the “dry places” in your life and heart if you simple ask,
As and as we remember these things, let us give thanks and praise to God! In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. It is God’s desire to bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections on this devotion with us in the comment box below.
Resolve to Help in 2024
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
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
“Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully measured the sky,
or carefully weighed the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?
Who comprehends the mind of the LORD,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?
From whom does he receive directions?
Who teaches him the correct way to do things,
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?
Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust.
Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.
All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing.
To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
A craftsman casts an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make an idol that will not fall over.
Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earthʼs foundations were made?
He is the one who sits on the earthʼs horizon;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,
and spreads it out like a pitched tent.
He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earthʼs leaders insignificant.
Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
“To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.
Look up at the sky!
Who created all these heavenly lights?
He is the one who leads out their ranks;
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The LORD is not aware of what is happening to me,
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.
He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.
But those who wait for the LORDʼs help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eaglesʼ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
(Isaiah 40 12-31)
The description of who God is in the verses above reminds me of all that is “God”. It both brings me to my knees in awe over who you are, and compels me to leap for joy as I am reminded who is the God that is on my side! Like the wings of an eagle Your Word and Your Spirit lift me and move me, empower me and guide me, in a life that freely and fully soars in Your will. As I embrace the good gifts of Your Word and Your Spirit, You move mightily within me and move mightily for me to align my life with Your good will. "The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.... He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless…. those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:28-31). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the truth of the Word of God, of who God is, and the empowering Spirit of God would lift you up today and every day and cause you to soar into the fullness of the good life the Lord has for you in the center of His good will for you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections on this devotion with us in the comment box below.
Resolve to Help in 2024
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
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
The destroyer is as good as dead, you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you!
LORD, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning!
Deliver us when distress comes…..The LORD is exalted, indeed, he lives in heaven;
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom;
he gives all this to those who fear him. (Isaiah 33:1-6)
Most scholars put this chapter in history between the time the Tribute was Sennacherib (2 kings 18:13-16) and when the final attacks on Jerusalem had begun. The leaders of Judah have tried everything to free themselves from the grip of Assyria. But everything they tried failed. Egypt has been defeated, Sennacherib has refused bribes and to be bought off; he took the money, but still remains and is now preparing for battle against them. In this moment, Hezekiah leads his people to repentance and God gives his response which Isaiah records here.
Israel found themselves caught up in a really bad situation that was threatening to destroy them. And they tried everything they could on their own, used all their own strategies, hard work, and resources to get out of it. But it was only as a last resort, after everything else failed, in desperation did they call out to God. Because of a worldly view, pride, ego, and self-reliance, the first thing they should have tried for deliverance and the first person they needed to ask for help, God, was the last thing they tried.
Sound familiar? What was true in the lives of the "church" thousands of years ago is true in the lives of Christians today. We don't like to repent, we don't like to admit we can't fix it, and only in desperation after we have completed messed everything up and find ourselves without hope do we fall on our knees and pray. Only then can we hear God's response.
Also, it took one person, Hezekiah, to stand up and be the spiritual leader and convince the people the need to repent and lead them back to God. You and I need to be that one person in our marriages, families, circle of friends, work places, neighborhoods and especially our churches. We need to be the one to help them see the error of their striving in themselves and seek God's support and direction through prayer, reading the Bible, and gathering with believers for support.
My family, I pray after you read this, you will not just click the close the tab and continue on in your own means, but take some time to put these reflections into action, seek God, and pray over your life. In this season of Lent, reflect on how and with what you are fighting your battles? To whom are you be a “Hezekiah” and leading and calling those you have a relationship with and influence over to turn back to God, repent and pray, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
ODC is reading through the Altar’d Lent Devotion book. My reflections this morning contain part of Day 9’s devotion with my personal adaptations mixd in.
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gatatians 5:19–21)
“In his letter to the Galatians, Paul affirms that because of grace through Jesus, believers have been given a life of freedom. That’s the good news of Jesus. Those who have confessed faith in Christ are not bound to the penalty of sin because Jesus has paid the price. However, Paul warns them that their freedom does not mean they are free to behave any way they choose. They must deny acts of the flesh because the way believers live is a reflection of Christ. Just as what comes out of the mouth reflects our hearts, our actions reflect our lives as followers of Jesus. “
As we skim Paul’s list, we may be tempted to brush it aside and claim that those are sins we would obviously not commit. Surely, we can all agree not to participate in depravity, idolatry, and witchcraft. However, if we look at Paul’s list in vs 19-21 in The Message Bible to pull out more nuances, it tells us:
“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.”
Believers who are practicing the way of Christ must surrender any habits, behaviors and lifestyles that do not reflect their lives of freedom. If this Lenten season is going to have any lasting impact on our life with Christ, if it is not just going to be some ”religious thing” we participated in for 40 days then “go back to our usual routines”, then we need to be intentional in surrendering our habits, behaviors and lifestyles to the cross of Christ. We need to be willing to place in front of God, those acts of the flesh which do not reflect the nature of Christ. Jesus did not give Himself up for us so we can abuse the freedom of grace and continue to act as though we have not been released from sin.
My family, I pray you allow the Holy Spirit to search you and reflect with you on what are obvious examples in your own life of a habit, behavior or lifestyle which does not reflect Christ. I pray you are willing to fall to your knees, confess and repent of them, and surrender them at the foot of the cross today, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Please commitment to partner and support myself and One Direction community through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, PO Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758. Thank You!
CLICK HERE TO GIVE
“Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead,
those who are always instituting unfair regulations,
to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,
and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice,
so they can steal what widows own,
and loot what belongs to orphans.
What will you do on judgment day,
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. “ (.Isaiah 10:1-4
I am not a “doom and gloom” preacher. I don’t try to scare people into falling in love with Jesus. I cringe inside when I hear people sharing Jesus with someone beginning by saying, “If you get hit by a bus today do you know where you will go?” I don’t center my messages around judgement. However, as passages like these from Isaiah remind me, there will be a final judgment They speak of a coming reality, I don’t like passages like this one. Congregations do not like passages like these. They don’t preach well and they are not easily swallowed. All things belong to and are under the hand of our creator. We are not entitled to anything. Everything is all a gift of grace. We are only stewards of these gifts for a very short time. And all of us must sooner or later give an account to the creator on how we used and shared these gifts of grace we received. Isaiah says on the “visitation” (judgement) day there will be no help or hiding. One’s position, power, status, wealth, possessions, pensions, house’s square footage, church status; are all meaningless before the judgment of God. Especially those listed that are gained at the expense of the poor. God’s glory is ultimately for our good. But it has a standard. We either obey his standards and live in his glory, or we deny his standards and die smashing against his glory. For his glory will not me moved.
My family, “To whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48). I pray during this season of Lent you will reflect on the gifts of grace and light you have received and your heart of generosity towards them and with them. You will have to do it one day in the not so far future, why not do it today? In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website: https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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Good morning Lord Jesus, I pulled off my covers and climbed out of bed and now sit and in prayer and reading Your Word to come under Your covering of protection and grace.
“This is what the Lord says to his chosen one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings,
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed.” 45:1
In the midst of the challenges of our lives: pandemics, social upheavals, war, chaos, mass shootings, overt sin, and all the uncertainty we find our selves in, instead of turning to “Facebook Prophets” for direction I have been turning to Scriptures and reading how Prophets of God spoke into a nation that was experiencing these same issues. For Lent I have been reading through passages in The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In chapter 45, the great issue Isaiah addresses in this section is convincing God’s own people that He can deliver them, and He will, but it will be in his own way, not theirs. Those who heard Isaiah’s words were shocked at Cyrus being called a shepherd, And they must have been even more outraged when Isaiah called him His chosen and anointed one. This title had previously been reserved for priests, prophets and kings of Israel. Surely God could only use persons from His own people, His own elect to accomplish his purpose. Isaiah’s point that shocked them was that God is not the Lord of Israel alone, He is the God of the world. Israel was not God’s chosen people because of anything in themselves, and neither will their deliverance be because of anything in themselves. Their deliverance, then, as with ours today, occurred not only outside of themselves, but in spite of themselves. It is God who chooses, God who delivers, and He will by the means God desires.
God can choose anybody for a time, including all today, to be a type of “messiah” to a people, situation, a community, or even a nation. God can choose anyone to be an instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes will be accomplished and revealed to the world. Messiahs do not only come from the “good crowd,” nice neighborhoods, your “clicks.” your church or denomination, or those with “religion”. Messiahs do not have to look like you, talk like you, dress like you, smell like you, They don’t have to listen to Casting Crowns, attend church on Sunday’s and drink sweet tea. John the Baptist was a type of messiah, a God chosen instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes were accomplished and revealed to the world, and he was way outside societies acceptability and church conduct or dress codes. David was the runt of his family. who they all looked down on. Those in the church were shocked at the thought of Jesus being THE Messiah. They smirked and sarcastically said to each other in their church click,, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?! (and we in the church today would say the same thing, just add, “Bless his heart!”) You, as hard as it may be for some people to believe with all your quirks and short comings, through your baptism into a new creation of Christ and being filled with and indwelled with the iHoly Spirit, are also anointed and called to be a type of messiah, a God chosen instrument through whom God’s gracious purposes are to be accomplished and revealed to the world,
Deliverance is from God and He can and will deliver you, but in his own way, not yours.
“Does clay talk back to the potter:
‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”
Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
“Do you question who or what I’m making?
Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth, and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” (Isaiah 45:9-13 The Message Bible.)
My family, I pray you will not put God into “Your box” of those He can use to speak light, truth, and grace into our nation, including you, I pray during this time of Lent you will re-claim your anointing of your baptism and hear your call to be an anointed one in your community, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Resolve to Help in 2024
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
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You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
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.
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Please share your thoughts and experiences on fasting 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
