“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
I was at the Waffle House (WH) talking to a waitress yesterday, I will call her Anna as not to use her real name. Anna is a good mom to her children. She shows up to the WH every shift on time, works hard, and cares about her customers. However, as a single mom raising 3 children, she struggles financially making ends meet, and lives paycheck to paycheck. Anna needs allot of dental work. Dentists hove told her she needs close to $10,000 worth of work which she does not have. Most of her teeth have some sort of decay, and she is constant pain. A month or so ago as we talked she told me about a program she found that helps people who need major dental work. They help pay for some on the cost, and then set up a payment plan for the balance. Anna applied for this program and was excited as she talked and though all the dental work would also be painful, she was so looking forward to have her teeth fixed and not be in constant pain anymore.
When I talked with Anna this morning I could tell something was wrong with her. She told me that her application for the program for some reason was denied. She was not sure why, but they would not help her. I reached out across the counter and held her hands and told her I loved her and how sorry I was. With sadness on her face and tears in her eyes Anna said thank you, and that she did not know what to do now.
That night before I went to bed as I brushed my teeth and looked at them, I thought of Anna. And I was saddened. We live in one of the richest countries in the world, we have to many resources, we are blessed with the ability to purchase so many things and live comfortably, yet we, including myself do such a terrible job of being generous and distributing this wealth.
Jesus, You Word tells me about your heart and your generosity with your resources and wealth. It tells me “I should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave,” 9Philippians 2:5-7)
If anyone could have an “entitlement attitude” that I work hard, I earned this, I deserve this, I am entitled to this and this is mine, it is you Jesus. For you are worthy of it all. But you did not. You resisted the temptation of comfort and entitlement, you became a slave, gave all and emptied yourself out of love for others, including me. Jesus, you modeled for me and gave me a tangible example that I am to deny the temptation that I am entitled to anything, and love and give with extreme generosity. If I claim to be your disciple, and to want to follow you and model my life after you, help me Lord to empty myself and my feelings of entitlement and love and be generous as you are.
My family, I pray today you will join me and reflect on your level of gratitude, feelings of entitlement and amount of generosity, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God HAS blessed you my friends!
Please share with me and others your reflections and what God is speaking to you from todays reading 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
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!
Lord I seek you this morning as my source of love, grace and mercy.
“I am overflowing with joy in the midst of all our suffering. For even when we came into Macedonia, our body had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way - struggles from the outside, fears from within.” (2 Corinthians 7:4-5)
Last year, 54 nations scored high enough to register “very high” persecution levels on Open Doors’s 84-question matrix. This year, for the first time in over 30 years of tracking, over 60 nations qualified. The listed nations contain over 360 million Christians living in places with very high or extreme levels of persecution, up from 340 million in last year’s list. Every day, 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked. And every day, 12 Christians are unjustly arrested or imprisoned, and another 5 are abducted. And these Christians are all sons and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren, spouses and friends, neighbors and co-workers, just like you and me.. Jesus, you remind me this morning that there is not the “persecuted” church over seas and the “un persecuted” church over here, there is just The Church. Your prayer to the Father for us as the church and the family of God was, “So that they may be one just as we are one.” (John 17:11). This, morning, I fall back down on my knees in prayer and mourning with my family members who are being persecuted for their faith. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Jesus, you remind me as I watch the news that we are all connected. Remind me that there is not a “persecuted church” and “the church”, there is just one church and body. Your salvation was not simply focused on me and love for me, but was one of global focus and love, “For this is the way God loved the world” (John 3:16). You remind me that my salvation I live out today, my holiness is a social holiness, that we are connected, and I cant rejoice completely in my salvation while my brothers and sisters are suffering around the world, and in my communities. Lord help strive to restore and live out the complete joy of my salvation by helping those who are suffering in theirs, or have not yet entered into a saving relationship with Christ.
My family, I pray today the global implications of “For God so loved the world” reminds you of your connectedness with your brothers and sisters in Christ around the world and in your community. I pray your prayers expand today with a global perspective for The Church to which we are all called to be one with, In Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
Please share with me and others your reflections and what God is speaking to you from todays reading 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
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. I speak out Your name and listen for Your voice, my Good Shepherd.
"As we work together with Him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For He says, 'At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.' See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!" (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
Teach me how to live more fully into the "now" of my salvation and into the "now" of time. Help me "see" and believe and embrace that "now is the acceptable time" and "now is the day of salvation."
If I'm focusing too much on my past -- whether my past failures or my past successes -- I'm not fully living into the "now" of my salvation. If I'm focusing too much on my future -- whether the fears of what is to come or the anticipation of what I hope to come -- I'm not fully living into the "now" of my salvation.
Of course, there of things of my past that make me who I am and give me a testimony of Your grace in my life, but I'm not to overly dwellon my past. And of course, there are things yet to come where I do need to plan and anticipate and even dream about with expectant faith, but I'm not to overly dwellon my future either. If I do, I'm in danger of missing out on all that You have for me "now" and all that You have for those to be influenced by You through my life "now."
Yes, Your promises are Yes and Amen today and every day forever (2 Corinthians 1:20). And Yes, You provide all that I need by the power of Your grace for me to fully live into all You've ordained for me each day, while it is still called "Today" in the "now" of my salvation. "Today (I) have obtained the Lord's agreement: to be (my) God; and for (me) to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and to obey Him. Today the Lord has obtained (my) agreement: to be (part of) His treasured people, as He promised (me), and to keep His commandments: for Him to set (me) high above all nations that He has made in praise and in fame and in honor; and for (me) to be (part of) a people holy to the Lord (my) God, as He promised" (Deuteronomy 26:17-19).
Lord, I thank You for my past and for my future, for all You've done and all You're going to do. And at the same time, I thank You for the power of Your grace to more fully live into the "now" of my salvation today -- not missing out on anything You have for me by overly dwelling on the my past or my future, but living fully "alive in Christ" each day (1 Corinthians 15:22). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you live more fully into the "now" of your salvation each day, including today, in the power God's grace at work and alive in you, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your thoughts 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. Be at the center of my heart and every moment of my day. ...
"Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.... For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And He died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them" (2 Corinthians 5:11-15).
We are "well known to God." And You know well the plans You have for me and each one of Your children (Jeremiah 29:11). ...
My Father, You know all about me. You've created me and saved me. You've loved me and corrected me. You've called me and anointed me, encouraged me and inspired me, equipped me and empowered me. You always go before me and You're always with me. You know every hair on my head and every hurt in my heart. You know every step that I'll take and every misstep I've taken. And yet You love me with "an everlasting love" (Isaiah 54:8).
The Bible says there came a time when "the Lord was sorry that He had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart" (Genesis 6:6). I know I've grieved You to Your heart at times. I wonder if You were ever sorry You made me. ...
But even as I write those words here in my devotion, I immediately hear You speaking to my heart. It seems I hear You saying: "No, My son. I chose to create you and never forsake you, even as I have chosen each one of My children. You are created in My image, but destined to struggle through your issues on your spiritual journey to maturity in Me. When you stumble and fall, when you falter or fail, I still love you and help you and even cause you to become more desperately dependent upon Me so that I can display My glory more completely through you. This is My way. This is My will -- that My children learn to trust Me and love Me and know My love for them on their journey to learn to love in the time they have on this earth."
Yes, Lord. "For this is the will of God, (my) sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). You desire that I would "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of (my) mind, so that (I) may discern what is the will of God -- what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2).
Though humankind grieved You, at the same time "Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). And by the power of Your grace through sacrifice of Christ, we are Your children who find favor in Your sight, despite all our sins and failures and all that grieves Your heart with us. "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given us this ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). In Christ, we are the message -- through our changes hearts and changed lives by the power of the grace of God at work within us! "So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making Hi appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
You want to bring me to the place here in my heart and soul where I am free to no longer live for myself, but live for You (2 Corinthians 5:15). And in living for You and allowing You to live in me, I am becoming more like You. "Anyone united to the Lord becomes one Spirit with Him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). This is the way of life and the will of God You've chosen for me and every one of us. "God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). "As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Lord, in desperate dependence upon You alone -- upon the One who knows me well -- make me more like You today, as I learn to love more like You today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, as we enter into a new week of a new month, I earnestly pray in a new deeper way, without a doubt you realize, you completely understand, and that you truly know how much God loves you and longs to live through you, making you more like Jesus as you learn to love more like Him each day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share with me and others your reflections and what God is speaking to you from todays reading 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
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. Be at the center of my heart and the center of my day.
"For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).
Lord Jesus, let Your face shine through my face today! I welcome you and your light to pierce through my darkness and push back any darkness around me today. Let Your glory overcome my simple clay and Your Spirit consume my flesh to make me more like You today. And let Your power--Your extraordinary power that comes only from You--be made perfect in my weakness, as I rest in Your grace to shine with Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you let the light of Christ pierce through your darkness and allow the face of Christ shine through your face every day, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Please share your thoughts 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 speak Your name and seek Your nature, as I begin my day embracing Your presence -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people's minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the Old Covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so that they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses' Writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord -- who is the Spirit -- makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:13-18 NLT).
Spirit of the living God, come fall afresh on me, come rise up within me, come awaken me to "see and reflect the glory of the Lord." Come remove the veil of everything that would keep me from seeing and hearing and sensing the presence and power of the Lord, my God. You're the One who "makes (me) more and more like Him" as I am being "changed into His glorious image" -- morning by morning and moment by moment on my daily journey of worship and prayer.
Let my heart be tender and my mind be clear to hear Your voice and sense Your leading. Where my heart has grown hardened or my mind has grown dull through complacency or compromise, through passivity or rebellion, through settling for something less than the fullness of "Christ in (me), the hope of glory," come move again with a passion to persistently pursue the presence and the glory of God (Colossians 1:27).
May I never stop crying out from my spirit to Your Spirit, from deep to Deep -- every morning and throughout the moments of my day -- "Show me Your glory!" (Exodus 33:18; Psalm 42:7) Open the eyes of my heart, for as I see You and pursue You, so I seek to become more like You (Ephesians 1:18). As You are, so am I to be, so am I to become -- "changed into Your glorious image" to "see and reflect the glory of the Lord" (1 John 4:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, As we begin read through God’s Word I pray you will not just read through these chapters and my reflections but take time to allow them to move through and in you. I pray the Holy Spirit moves and rekindles a fire in your heart. I pray you ask the Holy Spirit to remove your veil this morning and every morning by morning and every moment of your day to passionately, persistently pursue the presence of the Lord and be changed into His image, as you see and reflect the glory of the Lord. I pray you then reject and share the Glory of God in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share in the comments box below your reflections from 2 Corinthians Chapter 3, prayers for removing of veils, or how else God leads you.
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. Your words are spirit and life. Speak to my heart as I listen for Your leading and begin my day in the communion of prayer. ...
"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.... For we are not peddlers of God's word ... but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence" (2 Corinthians 2:15-17).
Like a fresh, hot loaf of crusty, seasoned bread brought to my table at an Italian restaurant, break open my heart and dip it in the pure annointing oil of Your Holy Spirit. I want to soak in Your words and sit awhile in Your presence. I want to "taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in Him" (Psalm 34:8).
Then I'll be ready to carry the aroma of Christ wherever I go, out into my day. May it be the nature of Your Spirit instead of the nature of my flesh that invites my world into relationship with You -- the God whose presence smells so welcoming and whose words taste so good. "God's kindness is meant to lead (us) to repentance" (Romans 2:4).
Let my words and my heart, throughout the moments of my day, be an expression of Your words and Your heart that You impart to me as I first soak and rest in Your presence in these morning moments of prayer. "Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him!" (2 Corinthians 2:14) In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray the Holy Spirit will soak you in the heart and words of our Father God, then send you out into your day carrying the aroma of Christ everywhere you go, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
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. Be at the center of my heart and the moments of my day. ...
"It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised us" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
Holy Spirit, enable me and empower me to stand firm for Christ today. Free me from the any paralysis of fear or anxiety from situations in the world. Awaken me from my wavering; call me out of my complacency. Set me ablaze with a fiery passion to proclaim the name of Jesus and live into this day in the nature of Jesus. "We (are to) live like Jesus here in this world" (1 John 4:17).
"The Spirit who lives in (us) is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.... We belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception" (1 John 4:4-6). So by the power of Your grace at work within me, the spirit of this world will not intimidate me or silence me or keep me from standing firm in Christ.
By Your Spirit, I will stand and I will speak and I will shine with the light of Your glory in my heart. It may be through texts, emails, or online that my voice is heard but I will speak your name -- not in my power, but Yours; not in my goodness, but Yours. "For God, who said, 'Let there be light in the darkness,' has made this same light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). As You keep shining, I will keep standing -- standing firm in Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that in the power of the Holy Spirit you stand firm for Christ and let the light of the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ shine through you today into this world that desperately needs your light! In Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I shared my insights and prayers from todays passage with you. Please share your insights and prayers with me and others 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!
“Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. Everything you do should be done in love…. Greet one another with a holy kiss….The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” (1 Corinthians 16: 13,20,23)
This morning we read the last chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth and his closing words of encouragement to the church. I read his words this morning and I apply them to The Church today. As I read them I wonder how much “staying Alert” is part of the daily life of the average church goer today as they walk out their door to begin another week. To walk out your door “staying alert” you first have to know, understand, recognize, and watchful of the spiritual warfare and battle you are walking out into. You have to care enough to “be alert” that you have prepared yourself by intentionally spending time reading Scriptures, in discerning prayer, claiming the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, and time spent in gatherings with other Christians equipping, strengthening, and encouraging yourself and others so you will be prepared and willing to enter into and embrace the darkness, (which is a metaphor for pain) you are alert to see and encounter.
It is only in such preparations that you can have any chance to “stand firm in the faith.” It is only in such preparations that you will have the and “show courage” to stand up against any evil, oppression, injustice, hate and have the courage to step out and be the extraordinary love and grace that is required. It is only in such preparations before you step out your door, (like the required time spent in a gym to become physically strong) that you can “be strong” spiritually and in in your faith. It is only with such preparation that you can do everything, not some things, not occasionally, but everything you do “be done in love.”
Paul encourages us today in the church with these same words, “Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. Everything you do should be done in love.” Because the situations we see and will encounter in the world if we are “alert” to what is going on around us desperately needs a church that not only sees what’s going on and comments on it in social media posts and in pews, but is prepared and willing to enter into these situations and stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong, and be the presence of the sacrificial love, hope, and grace of their Lord Jesus Christ whom they claim to follow.
My family, I pray you will meditate on and take to heart Paul’s words of encouragement before you walk out your door and begin a new week, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections or experiences in “saying Alert” 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
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- help me sense Your presence, hear Your voice, and follow Your leading, as I begin my day seeking You. ...
"For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' This sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
In the past years I have lost family members and dear friends of mine: my mother, my father, my brother-in- law, and some close friends. All were unexpected a few years ago. They passed on from this side of eternity to the next. And in their last breath of their last battle here on this earth, death had no victory and death had no sting. They were delivered through death into eternal life in You, the One who is "the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25). Truly they have "fought the good fight" and received his eternal reward in the fullness of Your presence (1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Corinthians 5:8).
So I join with my friend’s families, and families who have lost someone and all who love them dearly to both celebrate their victory and their life in the Spirit with Christ in heaven, even as we also mourn and grieve our loss of their lives here in the flesh with us on earth. Thank You that in You, we do not have to "grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have died" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).
Through Your victory of the resurrection, we will all rejoice with You and with one another again. In that way, even through hard times like this when our hearts are both full of hope and sorrow at the same time, we hold fast to the promise of Your Word, "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5). My dear family members and friends are experiencing the healing of the resurrection; and at the same time, we need the comfort of Your resurrection love here in our hearts as we celebrate their victory in You.
Holy Spirit of God, comfort us and strengthen us through the night times and hard times we endure through the battles of this world, as we look forward to that glorious morning to come. "Thank be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you are strengthened and comforted through every battle you'll face through the night time, knowing joy comes with the morning in the resurrection love of God in Jesus Christ, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I shared my insights and prayers from todays passage with you. Please share your insights and prayers with me and others 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!
http://www.easytithe.com/dl/?uid=onepob279
Good morning, Lord Jesus. In worship and prayer, I wait you're your leading as I seek Your face and listen for Your voice -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ...
"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
I look forward to the day when I will see You "face to face." Not just a fleeting glimpse, not just a reflection in the corner of my eye, not just an indirect glance as though looking through a dark mirror dimly, but "face to face." My eyes looking directly into Your eyes and Your eyes looking directly into mine. My heart completely unveiled to Your heart and Your heart completely unveiled to mine. Nothing between us, nothing of the sin or shame, the fears or failures, the doubt or unbelief -- but fully present in Your presence. "Face to face."
That day will come. "Se we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord -- for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:6-10).
But before that day comes, You've given us Your Spirit, who moves in our hearts to long for a deeper, more intimate experience of Your presence now. "He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 5:5). Your Holy Spirit stirs in our human spirits with a longing, yearning hunger for more, "longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling" as we're longing to encounter Your heavenly embrace.
You've created us to seek You, to pursue You, to be willing to settle for nothing less than You. You are drawing us near to experience You as closely as we possibly can in our hearts. Moses experienced you. "The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend" (Exodus 33:11). Abraham did. "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, 'I am God Almighty, walk before Me, and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1). Jacob did, even as he sought to wrestle You until You blessed him, saying, "I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30). Doubting Thomas did, as You changed his doubts into faith in his deeply personal encounter when he cried out the highest declaration of Your Deity in all the Scripture, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). Paul did, when You confronted his hardened heart to forever change his life on his Road to Damascus experience (Acts 9:5).
You've put it in our hearts to pursue You and seek You, even to seek Your face, even knowing "No man can see (God) and live" (Exodus 33:2). There's something in us that must die, for us to see You. And there's something You're speaking to us about pursing Your presence when You say, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). "Who will ascend the hill of the Lord? And who will stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts.... They will receive blessing from the Lord.... Such is the company of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob" (Psalm 24:3-6).
I don't yet understand how it all fits together -- how I'm stirred to seek Your face and pursue Your presence, as those before me have, while yet no one can see God and live. Right now, on the one hand, I can only know in part (1 Corinthian 13:9) and "see in a mirror, dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12). But on the other hand, at the same time, I'm moved to passionately pursue You as deeply, as personally, as intimately as I can on this side of heaven, as with the heart of David: "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple... I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:4-13). By the grace of God, I will settle for nothing less. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you settle for nothing less in your passionately pursuit of the Lord than the most intimate encounter you can have with Him on this side of heaven, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections or experiences on silence and prayer 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
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Good morning, Lord Jesus. Lead me by the heart into Your will for my life today.
“Now you are Christʼs body, and each of you is a member of it. And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues” (1Corinthians 12:27-28)
Father, You've given me the gift of Your Holy Spirit. And at the same time, along with each of Your children, You've given me spiritual gifts to express Your heart and dimensions of Your nature through my life as Your son (1 Corinthians 12:7).
"Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress" (1 Timothy 4:14-15).
Stir up Your gifts within me; fan them into flame, as You "rekindle the gift of God that is within (me)" (2 Timothy 1:6). Let them flow out of a secure and confident identity in You as a child of God, called by God and gifted by God, with Your good gifts bearing Your good fruit through my life for the glory of Your good name (John 15:5). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray that our great God will stir up and fan into flame His good gifts within you to display the glory of His name through your life today. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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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!
I am going to give the devotion this morning and I an going to reflect on the Lord's Supper. My reflections from my time in 1 Corinthians 11 that I will use as the center of my devotion.
"Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lordʼs Supper. For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lordʼs death until he comes.
For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.“ (1 Corinthians 11:17-32)
At the Lords Supper, Christ brings His passion to our remembrance and draws us into wonderful communion, Holy Communion, with the Father and with Himself and one another, proleptic of our life in the Kingdom of God, nourishing our faith “till He comes” (Lk 11:2). "Proleptic" is a word we do not use much in our conversations. It means, if you do some thing then it will cause something else to occur and or enter in. Also a future event to be manifested in the present. Example: Say there is a road with 45 MPH speed limit and a half a mile down the road is a speed trap and a billboard with a police car behind it waiting. If I tell you, "If you go 65 MPH down that road you will get a ticket." It is a proleptic fact of a future event that will take place if you do a present action." A police car will enter in and you will get a ticket. Jesus words to us will proleptic, If you do this, share in the Lord's Supper, then I will enter in and so will my kingdom.
In the Lord’s Supper we remember. Jesus said to His disciples, “I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Comforter… and He will bring all things to your remembrance” (Jn 14:26). At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). We remember in such a way that we see our participation in the past event and see our destiny and future bound up in it. We remember in such a way that we know by the grace of God we are the people for whom the Savior died and rose again; we are the people whose sins Jesus confessed on the cross; we are the people with whom God has made a new covenant in the blood of Christ; we are the Israel of God to whom God said, “I will be your God and you shall be my people” (Ex 6:7). The work of memory, of realizing our participation and fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, is the work of the Holy Spirit. We remember Christ, yet it is not so much we who remind ourselves of these events, but Jesus Christ, who brings his passion to our remembrance through the Holy Spirit, as our ever-living and ever present Lord.
Jesus said of the Lord's Supper, 'Do this often...." I pray you do. I pray you will today. I pray you will remember in a proleptic way today and allow Jesus through the Holy Spirit in enter into your life and situation and allow you to tangibly enter into his kingdom, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your reflections and thoughts on the Lord's Supper below.
Grace and Peace
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. You are One with the Father, One with the Holy Spirit, be One within me today. ...
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one Bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16).
Jesus, in these days of division and strife, even in The Church, remind us that we are one in You. Though we are many, we are also one. Though we may have different forms of worship, different traditions of expressions of our faith, even different understandings and interpretations of Your Word at times, we are also one. There is "one bread, one body," united through the body and blood of one Savior, our Lord Christ.
"There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist" (1 Corinthians 8:6). And in You, we "have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as (we) were called to the one hope of (our) calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:1-6).
Come, Holy Spirit. Unite us in the oneness of Christ as the sons and daughters of our Father God we are created and called to be. May the bond of Your peace break down our walls, heal our divisions, and set things right in our hearts for the sake of our witness to our world. Lord Jesus, may Your prayer from Your last days before Your sacrifice as the Son of Man on this earth be answered in us: "That they may all be one. As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given them, so that they may be one, as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me" (John 17:21-23). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray may you be one in Christ and seek to be one with the body of Christ throughout the world and all generations as a witness of our Father's love in our world by the bond of peace in the unity of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
I would love for you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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!
Lord God, I thank you for your love, grace and mercy.
“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)
This weekend my wife and I have another one of the 7 all-day Kairos Team meetings to prepare for the four days we will serve going into Tutwiler Women’s correctional Institution in September. I have been blessed to serve on many Kairos weekends of going into prisons for four days like the onecoming up in September. During this time we spend in the prison it includes sharing meals, our life stories, listening to those of the inmates, sharing our love for them and sharing the love of Jesus. All the men or women in the prison are suffering the consequences of bad decisions they made in their life.
In the sharing with the inmates, one theme is always the most prevalent in the inmates stories; love, or the lack of love. Almost all of the men or women, with hardened hearts have built up walls of strength around them as required to survive in prison. They end up with tears running down their face said they had never experienced love like this shown to them during the weekend before in their life. Or they said they had forgotten for a long time ago what real love felt like. They also said they wish they had a person show them this kind of love when they were growing up, a mentor, someone to look up to who showed them love and taught them how to model love and Christian values. They probably would not be in prison now if they did.
Unfortunately, there are so many children, young men and women, single mom’s, children of single parents, and single men in our communities that have not experienced love or have a mentor in their life. You could be that person that “if only someone had shown me love and taught me how to love” that changes the direction of a person’s life. We may not all be called to write letters like Paul, launch a church planting network or lead a church congregations, however we are all called and capable to open our hearts, our homes, and invest margins of time to love and mentor one or two men or women who need role models. The only way we will stop having to spend weekends going inside prisons to reach men in women imprisoned there and share with them love and the Gospel of grace in Jesus Christ, is to start spending time on weekends to reach men or women outside in our neighborhood and community and make time to embrace them, mentor them, and share the Gospel with them, and change the direction of their lives.
My family, I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you to the one or more persons you can simply love, listen to, share life, mentor and intentionally invest time in their life as a tangible presence of the grace and hope of of Jesus Christ, in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
I would love for you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
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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!!
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. 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
Good morning Lord Jesus, drench me in your love and peace this morning!
“Let each one remain in that situation in life in which he was called…. Do not worry about it…. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. In whatever situation someone was called, brothers and sisters, let him remain in it with God.” (I Corinthians 7:20-24)
In writing this Paul did not mean that a Christian should take a fatalistic view of life and regard his or her condition as something he or she should definitely remain in forever. If we have the opportunity to improve ourselves for the glory of God, we should do so. If we do not, we should not fret about our state but bloom where God has planted us. We should regard our call to Christ as sanctifying our present situation.
In our day today upward mobility has become a god to many Christians. Our striving for and belief we deserve and are entitled to a bigger home, fancier car, nicer cloths, more things has become a form of worship, and as Paul declares its worship has polluted the church. We need to be content to serve the Lord, to live out our calling, whether in marriage, singleness, a white collar or blue collar job, or whatever socioeconomic condition we may occupy. Our calling as Christians, to bear witness to Jesus Christ, is more important than our calling in life, namely, the place we occupy in the social, economic, and geographical scheme of things. It is unfortunate that many Christians today choose to focus on their limitations rather than on their possibilities as representatives of Jesus Christ. We should use the abilities and opportunities that God gives us rather than feeling sorry for ourselves because we do not have other abilities or opportunities.
Another example of this principle Paul addresses would be on a person’s striving for head knowledge about God above experiencing God through the serving of God. Those in the church in Corinth were valuing education about God over obedience to serving God. This is true in the church today. Paul believed, and I also believe that studying God’s Word and spend time in prayer are very important. If I did not believe so I would not be spending time writing these reflections every morning or leading a house church gathering in my home on Wednesdays or a men’s Bible study on Thursday nights. However, like those in the church Paul was writing to back then, those in the church today place an unbalanced emphasis and preference on Head knowledge about God over obedience to serving God. They spend time daily and numerous hours weekly in devotion times reading their Bible, in prayer, attending Sunday church services and other gatherings, watching on-lines services and teachings, and attending small groups. Head knowledge. All of this is Good! However, they only show up to serve the Lord for an hour a month if that in some ministry, they do not prayer walk their neighborhoods or spend as much time sharing their knowledge and faith as they do studying it. And they do not prioritize and intentionally set aside time daily and weekly, put in their calendars as they do for their devotion and worship times, to serve the Lord and share the Gospel. That is why marked in my calendar is also everyMonday to serve at Manna House for 4 hours, every Saturday morning serving at House of the Harvest for 3 hours, and why I go to the Waffle House every morning to have an opportunity to share with people.
Obedience. Paul stated that time spent seeking head knowledge about God and time spent obediently serving God must be balanced and equal.
My family, Paul speaks into the practical, day to day application, practice and sharing of a person’s faith. I pray today you will allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in reflecting on areas of discontent in your life that should not be there, were you are striving for and worshipping things you should not, and the unbalances of head knowledge and obedience in your walk with Christ, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
I would love for you to share your reflections and prayers with us on this blog in the comment box below.
Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
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. Thank You for the invitation to abide in You as You abide in me, beginning my day seeking Your face and listening for Your voice. ...
"Anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.... Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glory God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:17-20).
Unite my heart with Your heart, my thoughts with Your thoughts, my desires with Your desires. I abide in You, as You abide in me (John 15:4). In the holy of holies of my heart, reveal and remove everything in me that is a hindrance to my communion with You, that You can replace it with the Presence of Your Spirit (Exodus 26:34; Hebrews 9:3). Make me one spirit with You--more and more every day.
As You are, so am I to be (1 John 4:17). "(We) have been anointed by the Holy One.... Let what (we) have heard from the beginning abide in (us), then (we) will abide in the Son and the Father. And this is what He has promised us, eternal life.... As for (us), the anointing that (we) received from Him abides in (us).... And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming.... When He is revealed, 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 2:20-3:3). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, I pray you may become one spirit with the Lord, more and more every day, abiding in Him as He abides in you in the holy of holies of your heart, in Jesus' name! Please pray the same of me. God bless you, my friends!
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
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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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“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. In no way did I mean the immoral people of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you would then have to go out of the world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
For over 5 years now I have been leading a Thursday evening men’s Bible study and accountability group we named Brothers, Bibles, and Beer (B3). We are a group og guys from various church backgrounds, some none, who meet at local breweries in the Huntsville/Madison area. We share life, our successes and struggles, read and discuss a passage from the Bible seeking advice and encouragement over our lives and marriages, and we pray over each other.
Last night we met at our “regular” brewery we frequent the most. The bar tender, staff, and some of the regulars are “colorful” people. They are adorned with tattoos, piercings, alternative hair styles and colors, and some alternative life styles as well. The bands that play there are rage metal, goth, and punk and the crowd of youth that attend are all dressed in black with tattoos, piercings, hair colors, and explicative slogans on their shirts. While we are meeting at our table in the conversations we over hear around us “F bombs” and other explicatives are frequently dropped. It would be safe to say most of them would never attend a traditional church. Our B3 group of men do not dress or look like them. When I was asked what I do for a living I did not throw out the pastor card, but told them I do “Community Development.”
The first few times we met there they watched us. They heard us read the Bible out loud, talk about Jesus and our faith, and watched a we all bowed our heads and prayed for each other. Our life style seemed as “radical” and different to them, as there’s did to us. At first they did not know what to think about us. However, as we kept coming back, we always treated those we met with love and respect. We smiled as we greeted them, did not pass judgement on them, asked about their lives and day., and listened to their responses. The young bartender and staff in their 20s now all say “Hello Mr. Gary” when we walk into the brewery and “We hope to see you next Thursday” when we leave.
So God has given us access into the lives of these youth and regulars in which we can talk into their lives and ask how we can pray for them. We are only there a couple of hours, one day a week, but at least for that short time they are exposed and have access to our faith, Jesus is spoken out lord and prayer takes place in that place. And myself and the other men who attend are learning and being blessed by our interactions with them.
Paul tells us earlier in Romans 10:14-15, “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.” But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?” There are so many people, so many young adults in our communities who do not know who to call out to, who to trust, because no one is entering their space to be trusted enough to share with them whom they can trust.
My family, I pray as we head into a weekend you will ask the Holy Spirit to reveal and guide you to the “brewery”, whatever that place may be or look like, where you can be a trusting source of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Please pray the same for me, God Bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and comments below. Also share and encourage us with examples of your “brewery” experiences.
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!
“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” 1 Corinthians 4:14-17
Jesus’ life was one of discipleship by allowing people to have access to his life to be able to model it and become disciples themselves. Jesus’ Great Commission to us at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, vs. 28:19, is “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations….” Discipleship, becoming and making disciples is at the heart of out Christian faith. The word “disciple” is contained throughout the four Gospels and all through The Book of Acts of the Apostles up until chapter 21:16, then the word “disciple” never appears again in the Bible. Paul never uses the word once in his letters. Neither does the word “disciple” appear in John, Peter, Jude or James’s letters, or Hebrews or Revelations. Did making disciples cease to be important to Paul and others? Absolutely not!! His whole ministry and journey in life was creating disciples!
Paul however, was focusing and sent to converting gentiles, non-Jews, to faith in Christ. These non-Jews did not know the word “disciple” in the way the Jews and we do. The Jews back then, and we in the church today have heard this word most of our lives. The gentiles did not. They did not know of the Rabbi-student process of modeling and imitation. So Paul used words, terms and action familiar to these non-Jewish people. I posted above 1 Corinthians 4:14-17. Read it again. Paul does not use the word “disciple”, but it oozes of discipleship. “be imitators, remind you, my ways, teach them, guides, in Christ, father, beloved children” all these speak and model discipleship in ways those listening could understand. Paul urged them to “imitate me.” For him to urge this of people means he had to have given them access to his life where they could walk with him and observe his life and his daily rhythm, to be able to imitate it.
When I meet someone out in the community at the Waffle house of somewhere and someone asks me what I do for a living, I rarely answer I am a “Church Planter”, “Elder”, or “Pastor.” They of loaded words that carry allot of baggage and that only have meaning in a church gathering. I usually reply I am in “Community Development.” And then through sharing and giving them access to my life I bring the conversation around to their story and the Gospel story in a way that is relevant and they can understand. I firmly believe that Christians failing to allow non-Christians and those in the church access to their lives in real tangible ways is why creating disciples in the church is such a struggle.
Church leaders, Sunday school teachers, and others in church services and Bible studies use the word “disciple” and give listeners massive information, definitions, and theologies on “Disciple.” But they never allow people real access into their daily lives, their daily rhythms and walk as a model and allow them to imitate it. So people leave those church gatherings full of information and knowing where in the Bible to find the verse on “Love your neighbor” without ever seeing or experiencing what it is like to actually “love your neighbor.” The church gives people vast information on Sunday, and expects them to be disciples and innovators on Monday. The church lives on the tread mill of new information. If people can just get enough information, hear the word “disciple” enough times in sermons, read it in power points, newsletters, mission statements and various other ways, it will promote transformation and create disciples.
Discipleship however does not require simply access to information, it requires access to imitation. Moving from downloading of information to imitation of a person, mentor, teacher, or parent who gives them access to their lives; their morning, day and evening routines, rhythms, characters, and competencies. Timothy was a disciple of Paul, an imitator of Paul, because Paul gave Timothy access to him, and Timothy went on to greater things than him. We in the church have to give people access to out lives.
Read I Cor. 4:114-17; Acts 17:16-23, heck read the Gospel stories of the life of Jesus.
My family, I pray you then reflect on this in the presence of the Holy Spirit, “Who am I giving access to my life?” To where and to whom am I intentionally stepping outside of my home (and going to church does not count) and inviting into my home to allow others to be exposed to my life, see it, and have discipleship modeled to them so they can imitate it? Who are your Timothys? Also, who is your Paul? Who are you intentionally spending time with to help module your life after Christ? Jesus’ great commission began with the word “go.” He knew for the people to make disciples, they had to go and give people assess to their lives.
Please share your thoughts and comments below. Also share and encourage us with examples and ways you intentionally create margins in your life to allow others to have access to your life.
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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