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Friday, September 27 2024
Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! AMEN! and PTL! Focus some thanksgiving today on your salvation and all Jesus did and is doing in, through, for and around you! Fix your thoughts on Him today and worship!
Because He Lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5h7KuPeMrg
Good Morning Saved by Grace through Faith Fellow Journeyers! Just keep contemplating all that means! What a gift! Bow in worship!
See Sarah's prayer update below. Pray for her as she prepares to bring the Word Sunday. Pray for our brunch fellowship after and that God draws some neighbors to come taste and see.
God awoke me early this morning to minister to my heart and to prepare His Word for us today as I spent time in prayerful worship and study. I spent time with Him in about 9 different devotionals and study and prayer. Man is He speaking. Ask Him to speak to your heart today and prepare you for the day ahead. If you are still alive, He has a purpose and plan for you. Ask Him to bring that alive and to prepare and use you well. I'm always amazed how God gives me opportunities all the time to bring His love, His Word and His wisdom alive. But I have to prepare and ingest His Word and dwell in His Love to be ready to pour out His love and truth. Be still in His presence today and ask Him to prepare you and the way for today and then just worship and praise as you see Him do just that. Amen!
Maybe you are traveling through the dark valley right now, or some hard stretching and molding as the Potter kneads and reworks you, His clay, into the vessel He wants you to be. Lean hard into Him and worship in this storm. Invite Him to carry you through and to reshape you. Ask Him to help you to endure and for grace to persevere in faith through the stretching. He will! He has chosen you and is calling you by name and wanting to lead you to His greater things that He promised we would do. He is redeeming your situation and life! Trust Him and cooperate. Fix your thoughts on things above. Turn off the noise and allow Him to speak peace and love over you as He carries you through this day one step of faith at a time. He is able. He knows and cares. He is with you always. Amen!
In some ways this has been a very hard week for me and for some of you. BUT GOD! As we shift our focus away from self and circumstances and ask Him to take all our anxiety and fear, He will. He will use you too, even in the storms. Fix your thoughts on things above and turn off the noise. Who are you allowing to speak into your life? Are they Truth-bringers, joy-bringers, life-bringers? Or are you listening to things of this world and lies, hate spewing, and divisive posturing? Turn of the noise and listen for that loving whisper from our Father. You can walk on water in this storm, if you keep your eyes on Jesus and allow God to have His way with you. Come! Help! Jesus! Amen!
During my travels this week, I encountered a few who are traveling through some hard things and weeping for this nation with remorse and fear. BUT GOD! Remember that. BUT GOD! Fix your thoughts and focus on Jesus and things above. Yes cry out in prayer for our nation and then ask God to reveal your part to bring Him, His ways and change alive one soul at a time. He has prepared someone just for you to help refocus to Truth and the Way. Please, turn off the noise! You know that our election is not a popularity contest. It is a war for the things of God. Who will trash the Bible and good ways of God? Who will allow us to continue to worship and pursue the things of God. Who is for life and who brings death? Who supports Israel? Vote for the things of God and let the rest in His hands. He raises up our leaders for His purposes. Pray for them to come to know Him and honor Him and His ways. Ask for strength to endure and wisdom and discernment and for His eyes and heart. And ask for strength to endure. Pray for revival in His Church! This world is deteriorating and will continue to get worse and worse until that Great Day of the Lord. Jesus said to expect troubles. His Church always grows and flourishes under persecution. He promises an End Times harvest even amongst the vilest and most perverse anti-Christ times. Stand firm. Pray for revival. And ask Him to use you for your part that He created you to do. And cast all your anxiety unto Him and receive His peace beyond understanding. Amen!
Geez, this is going long. I'm going to allow you to seek God and listen on your own today and not share all 9 devos. He is singing over you, His chosen child. He loves you with and everlasting love. He is speaking to you all the time and working all things together for good and His plans and purposes. Sometimes as we look back, we realize that the hardest times have also been some of the closest and sweetest with God. Focus on Him today and receive His peace and marching orders. He has some great custom made plans He is leading you to accomplish. Amen! The Kingdom of heaven is at hand and in you! PTL! This is the year of the Lord's favor! Step into it! You have been created for such a time as this and have received gifts and help to become who you are created to be and to live and love more like Jesus. Yes, turn of the noise of self doubt, fear, chaos around you and the media and fix your thoughts on things above! Count your many blessings and step out in faith! Amen and rejoice! Thank God I'm forgiven and being prepared to complete my and Jesus' mission. Come Jesus come! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu4VV54ZcFo
Sarah Update:
Good afternoon, everyone,
Here are a couple of folks that need our prayers:
Darlene Geiger is asking for prayer for her husband who is suffering from allergy/cold and also for prayers for her mother in law - she is at home however her heart is only functioning at 15% and her kidneys are not functioning well. She has nurses that come to the house to help care for her.
Chris Muiks - asking for prayers for his older sister who cared for him when he was young, and after his mom passed away. His sister is currently in the hospital with congestive heart failure.
The Canfield family - Caleb has a bad chest cold and the rest of the family is fighting to remain healthy.
Prayers for Houston and Gail - Houston has several doctor appointments over the next couple of weeks. Prayers for strength, for the physicians they will be working with, Patiences, perseverance.
While Pastor Don was doing his Homebound visits, he learned that Bert Richards is pretty sick, so he had to postpone his visit with them.
Nancy Bahr is doing okay, and sends her hellos to everyone.
Covid is beginning to ramp up in some of the facilities that Pastor Don goes to, please pray a covering over him, that the Lord will keep him healthy and protected from any illness.
Pastor Don and Karen have several family members that are in the Florida area. Terry and Jane, are two of those in the Florida area. Helena is headed into the Florida area, May God protect those that are in it's path.
Also prayers for Pastor Don's sister who is traveling in Italy. And we also want to pray for safety for Marshall Rehm as he is traveling in Spain, and Debbie and Gerry Siegfried as they are in Switzerland visiting family and sight seeing.
DON'T FORGET.....This Sunday is our brunch following our worship service!! Hope you can join us! Lots of yummy food. Keep Lori and Ramon in your prayers as they prep the food for us.
Okay I believe that is all for now.....hope you all have a great rest of your day and week.
Blessings,
Sarah
Friday, September 27 2024
Don't forget...Sunday is our Brunch after worship. All welcome! Bring a friend or two! Lord, may Acts 2:42 come alive in and through us as we gather! All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer.
Good Morning Worshipers! We do have so much to praise and be thankful for! We even bow in humble worship all the time! Who are we God, that You are mindful of us? Yet You are! Thank You! Today's devotionals lead through dwelling in His presence in praise and worship and allow His Word to inform our praise, prayers and actions. Check them out prayerfully. What's God saying to you?
Lately, I've been thinking about Job and how all that he loved was taken from him by the devil. And God allowed this stretching, refining, testing. But there is one thing not taken, Job's steadfast faith in God. No one can take that unless we surrender it. God promises to be with us always--on the mountain top and in the darkest valleys. Fix your thoughts on Him! Keep trusting! The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Praise be the Lord! And the Lord redeems and restores too! Many of us have traveled through some of these hard, stretching times. Some are right now. We get to be pretty good at putting on a happy face and hiding our hurts and fears. We need each other and to invite some into our pain and journey. If someone reaches out to you, don't be like Jobs friends who were no help. And don't be like Job's wife who said curse God and die. Come alongside in prayer with a listening ear and strengthening, helping heart. Ask God to help you help and for help if you need some. We all need some help! We all need each other! Amen! We have no idea what some of us are traveling through right now. Ask God to use you to be His comfort and peace and to help and strengthen others. Ask God to send help if you need it. Then open up to receive it. God knows, has allowed for His purposes and cares. he is able and is with you wanting to work all things together for good. trust Him! Worship! Come Lord! Send me! Send help! Deliver me/us! Your Kingdom come and will be done. Strengthen me and give me enduring faith. Thank YOU!
Here our our devos. They do speak into this! Be still and know. Listen to hear with open heart and mind. Ask for the Holy Spirit to guide you today. Amen! Last night at our Chosen huddle tears were shed. God was speaking because His love became very real to us. Hard things are part of life...BUT GOD! His love for you is an everlasting love! He is always with you. Lean on Him today! Follow Him today. Allow Him to help and use you today! he is able and has good plans just for you. he knows you by name and has chosen you to be His child. What lavish love He has shown us! Trust and worship today! Amen!
I just heard on the radio the thought and truth that when things seem to be falling apart, they are falling into place as we trust God and allow Him to work ALL things together and continue to worship! Amen! Rejoice always!
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UR: Breathe
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. - Psalm 150:6 (NIV)
On a recent road trip down the eastern coast of our country, we spent many hours on clifftops looking out to sea for a glimpse of humpback whales. These magnificent creatures that were once cruelly hunted have now returned to the warmer waters to give birth to their young. They are not always easy to spot, but the clue is in their first breath emerging from the depths.
I have heard that the sacred name YHWH, if correctly pronounced, sounds like the inhalation and exhalation of breath. This becomes profound when I consider that every living creature in their breathing proclaims the name of God.
From our very first breath to our final one, we are giving expression to the life God first breathed into the dust that became Adam. May we rejoice in the new life and hope we have — breathing deeply as we praise God.
Today's Prayer
Creator God, thank you that you are always with us. Help us to breathe your name in all circumstances. Amen.
ODB:
As favorite backyard neighbors, my mother and Mrs. Sanchez grew also into friendly rivals. The two competed every Monday to be the first to hang their freshly washed laundry on their outdoor clotheslines. “She beat me again!” my mother would say. But the next week, Mama might be first—both enjoying their friendly weekly contest. Over ten years of sharing a backyard alley, the two also shared each other’s wisdom, stories, and hope.
The Bible speaks with great warmth about the virtue of such a friendship. “A friend loves at all times,” King Solomon observed (Proverbs 17:17). He also noted, “The pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice” (27:9).
Our great Friend is surely Jesus. Urging loving friendship from His disciples, He taught them, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). The very next day, He would do just that on the cross. He also told them, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (v. 15). Then He said, “This is my command: Love each other” (v. 17).
With such words, Jesus “is elevating His listeners,” as philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff said, from lowly humans to companions and confidants. In Christ, we learn to befriend others. What a Friend to teach us such love!
By Patricia Raybon
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How do you experience love in your friendship with Jesus? How can you be a friend like Him?
You call me friend, dear Jesus. Please help me be a loving friend to others.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The apostle John referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; see 20:2; 21:20). It wasn’t that Christ loved him alone or the most, but most likely that John keenly felt Jesus’ love. Of all the New Testament books, John’s writing focuses the most on God’s love. He says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (3:16). The apostle also says, “the Father loves the Son” (v. 35; 5:20). Why? Because Christ laid down His life (10:17). In response, we’re to “love one another” (13:34) just as He loved us (15:12). By our love for each other, others will know we’re His disciples (13:35). If we love Him, we’re also called to “keep [His] commands” (14:15). In 1 John, the apostle’s emphasis is again on God’s love: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (4:8).
Alyson Kieda |
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TWFYT:
Friday, September 27 2024
TODAY 10-11 Zoom Huddle. All welcome.
Please find attached the link for Tues prayer for our Light in the Night Trunk or Treat Oct 25th. Leading up to the event Revival Church and St. Matts will be praying into the event every Tues at noon and 6:30 PM. Join when able and let us sow lavishly in prayer into this event. God has some great plans for us to unleash in prayer! This will begin next Tuesday Oct. 1.
Topic: Light in the Night Prayer Call Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet every Tues at noon and/or 6:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 985 238 1129 Passcode: prayer
Good Morning Dwelling in His Presence, Standing on His Word, Followers of the Living Word, Jesus! Amen! Jesus is always speaking to you and most often through times spent with Bibles open. We dwell in His loving presence daily with open Bibles. That enables us, informs us, our prayers and actions and as we hide His Word in our hearts we are better able to stand firm in Christ and Truth. We become accustomed to hearing His still small voice and are able to see Him more clearly at work around us and that leads to being in a state of prayerfulness all day. Yes and Amen! Check out this link to a Harvest Prayer blog today about developing an evangelistic outreach through prayer. We need to keep praying for the harvest and workers and for God to show us our parts in His Good News Delivery Co. Reaching Out by Reaching Up
What a great starting point for the thread through our devotionals for today. God is always at work and working all things together for our good. That is often evidenced by the way He uses study materials and our Bible time and prayer time to speak to our hearts. Today, He sure did that for me and I hope for you as well. What is He revealing to you this morning and what is your plan to do it?
My family has been praying through a very stressful situation, yet we know God is with us and will bring His provision, protection and justice. Amen. It is helpful for me to redirect to things of God. I often use the verse used in the Chosen from Isaiah 43:1-3. Maybe start there today as well as you begin your journey with Jesus today.
But now, listen to the Lord who created you. The one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave a ransom for your freedom;
How comforting as we embrace and pray through these truths. Jesus is calling you by name and He knows all you are dealing with and will deliver you. Promise! He has already ransomed you and reminds you that you are His! PTL! He created you for such a time as this and He's leading you to your fuller potential. PTL!
Sarah Young from He Jesus Calling devo continues this thought...focus on God. It is helpful to remember that we are in the world but not of it and that Jesus said to not worry for He has already overcome the world! Amen! Charles Stanley continues the thread with the reminder that God's Word is alive, active and healing! Satan accuses but the Holy Spirit convicts in love and leads us to repentance. God knows our struggles and burdens and promises to comfort us and that comes alive as we dwell in His presence and Word and with others to help too. Our Daily Bread reminds us that we need each other. We sure do! Check it out. Who might you help today? Who might you invite in to help you. (Start with Jesus and ask Him to send help or send you). The Upper Room reminds us that sometimes we have to step put of our comfort zones if we really want to know God, His Truth, enact His promises, and share ourselves with others or receive help we need. The Holy Spirit is given as our helper, comforter, revealer of truth. Trust Him! Invite Him to work in and through you today. All of this culminates with The Word for You Today's reminder that we are sent with Good News or to be the Good News as we help others. What's your part in God's Good News Delivery Co?
No matter what we are facing, or how far from God you feel, He is there and singing over you reminding you that you are known, loved and He is calling you by name. He has great plans just for you that are brought to life as He molds and shapes you. His Spirit is always at work and wants to help you and bring boldness to go live and love like Jesus. PTL! Yes rejoice! Fix your thoughts on things above and receive His love, grace, mercy and help today! Amen! Where does our hope come from? My hope comes from the Lord! May yours as well! He is able! He will! Amen!
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ODB:
Most of the three hundred residents of Whittier, Alaska, live in one big apartment complex, and that’s why Whittier is called a “town under one roof.” Amie, a former resident, says, “I didn’t have to step outside the building─the grocery store, notary public, school, and post office were on our ground floor, just an elevator ride away!”
“Because life there was so comfortable, I often wanted to keep to myself, thinking I didn’t need anyone,” Amie shares. “But the residents are so warm. They look out for each other. I learned that they need me, and I need them.”
Like Amie, we may at times want to keep to ourselves and avoid community. The latter seems less stressful! But Scripture says that a believer in Jesus should have a healthy balance of solitude and fellowship with other believers. The apostle Paul likens the body of believers to the human body. Just as each body part has a distinct function, every believer has a distinct role (Romans 12:4). Just as a body part can’t exist alone, a believer can’t live the life of faith in isolation (v. 5). It’s in the midst of community that we use our gifts (vv. 6-8; 1 Peter 4:10) and grow to be like Jesus (Romans 12:9-21).
We need one another; our togetherness is in Christ (v. 5). With His help, as we “look out for each other,” we can cultivate a deeper relationship with Him and show others His love.
By Karen Huang
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How has community in Jesus helped you in your walk with God? How have other believers encouraged you?
Dear God, thank You for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul wrote Romans to believers in Jesus living in Rome—a city steeped in the practices of pagan worship. Those pagans brought offerings of meat and drink to their gods hoping that the sacrifice would earn a bit of mercy. And those listening to the apostle’s letter for the first time would have immediately recognized his emphasis of “sacrifice” (12:1).
But the apostle upends the expected order of things. For the believer in Jesus, mercy comes first—not sacrifice—and it’s freely given. Paul made that argument throughout the first part of the letter, and it’s why he begins this section with “therefore.”
So, therefore, on account of God’s great mercy, we offer sacrifice. And that sacrifice isn’t the meat of a goat or cow; we offer ourselves. Paul doesn’t mean we climb onto an altar but that we offer the whole of ourselves as a gift to our merciful God.
Jed Ostoich |
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UR: The Power of the Holy Spirit
I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. - 1 Corinthians 2:3-4 (CEB)
I spent most of my life being painfully shy and terrified of taking risks. So several years ago, when God called me to be a Bible teacher, I resisted and refused to use my spiritual gift. I wrestled with insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. The thought of stepping out of my comfort zone made my stomach clench with severe anxiety.
God has brought me a long way by demonstrating that God can give me the words to speak and the grace to obey despite my inner turmoil. Opportunities that would have terrified me before don’t intimidate me as much now because God has proven to be faithful. God held my hand as I took small steps of faith and said yes to teaching opportunities. Every time, the Spirit gave me power over my fear and the words to speak.
If God calls us to do something outside our comfort zone, the Holy Spirit will help us. We are vessels for God’s glory. We can trust in the power of the Spirit and step out in faith.
Today's Prayer
Faithful God, remind us to trust in the power of your Spirit within us, and help us to move forward in faith today. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
TWFYT:
Friday, September 27 2024
Today:
Bread Ministry 10-12
Chosen Dinner Huddle and Family Ministries 6-8
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Good morning Friends! Maybe I should say good night? I had a very sleepless night and am writing this before, hopefully, getting a few hours sleep before the busyness of the day ahead.
Sometimes we just can't sleep and sometimes our minds are too active to shut down for the night. No matter, God is with you and listening to your prayers and wanting to bring His shalom and rest. God knows the plans He has for you and me today. I will need Him to carry me through and He is faithful to do that when we submit to Him. Amen! Jesus said, "Come to me all you weary and I will give you rest." Thanks Lord! I'm coming!
As I was sitting here reviewing our Philippians study, the reminder came to me to fix my thoughts on things above. We have a custom made purpose for today and that comes alive as we fix our gaze on Jesus with willing feet and summited hearts. May that be us today Lord! Come bring Your rest and be our Shepherd. Amen!
That's all I got. Running out of juice. Hope to see some of you at church later today and Sunday. God has some great things in store! rejoice! Amen and good night!
Friday, September 27 2024
Aug./Sept. 2024 St. Matthew’s Prayer Guide
Pray for St. Matt’s to become a house of Prayer for the Nations and for many to embrace their power and purpose in praying
Pray that we become a dynamic movement of God led by pastors and laity who have a burning passion for God and a missionary zeal to reach those who don’t yet know Christ
Pray we become a disciple making hub for the area.
Pray for small groups to be started in the building, homes, and businesses around the area. Pray for leaders for them.
Pray we find new connection points to our neighbors and start growing friendships. Pray we bring joy and love alive.
Pray for harvest workers to be raised up from the harvest that is coming. Thank God for the harvest. Pray for twelve new members by Christmas and that we connect them to God.
Thank God for His provision and protection. Pray we continue to sow lavishly while being the best stewards of all His blessings.
Pray for our Bread and Clothing ministries to connect to neighbors and meet needs. Thank God for the volunteers.
Pray we would grow in our relationship with Christ and for ideas to and people called that want to make Him known.
Pray for our Wed. night ministries and our Sun. 2 Peas in a Pod Brunches to flourish and connect people to God.
Friday, September 27 2024
  St. Matts Fall Happenings
Worship every Sunday 10 am. Come as you are! All welcome!
· Worldwide Communion Sun Oct 6th
2 Peas in A Pod Brunches After worship 11:30
 Sun Sept 29th, Oct 27th, Nov 24th, Dec 22nd
Bread Ministry every Wed 10-12
Donut and fellowship days: Oct 9th, Nov 15th, Dec 4th
Wednesday Evening Chosen Dinner Huddles 6PM
Gather for dinner, and Chosen Video Adult discussion group
 and Family Ministries Chosen study group
Clothing Closet Every 1st and 3rd Sat.
10-12 Rear entrance
Light in the Night Trunk or Treat Safe Zone
6-8pm Fri. Oct 25th, 5th St. lot
Come for safe trick or treating candy and fun!
Friday, September 27 2024
This Week:
Tue Zoom (only) Huddle 10-11 All welcome!
Tue Noon pray for Light in the Night and other activities and needs on Zoom!
Wed Bread Ministry 10-12
Wed Dinner/Chosen/Family Ministries Huddles 6-8. Bring a friend! Pastor Don's cooking and we begin season 4of the Chosen
See attached the Activities handouts and prayer guides for next few weeks/months we had in the bulletin. Mark your calendars, pray and ask God how He wants to use you or provide through you and your prayers.
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Good Morning Chosen. Loved, Forgiven, Cleansed, redeemed of the Lord! PTL! Right? Oh what wonder love, grace, mercy and forgiveness we know, can know and can share. God loves you and wants you to share that amazing love with others He has prepared just for you. Who are they Lord? How do You plan to use me? help me see, know and follow well today! Prepare me! Purify me to serve! Embolden me! Send me! Amen!
Today God really threaded through my/our devotionals and wraps it up nicely with Harvest Prayer's blog at bottom. (Below that are the links to the handouts) Spend some time at His feet today, listening, surrendering, receiving and be prepared for the day ahead with a thankful heart! TWFYT reminds us that we have a BIG God and need to work on having a bigger concept of God and praying some big prayers in big faith. God's ways are not our ways, are they? He is so much more than we can know or imagine. Prov. 3:5-6 reminds us to stop leaning on our own understand! Allow God to inform your prayers and actions today. Sarah Young reminds us of the freedom we can know in Christ and the importance of casting all our burdens to Him and receiving His healing forgiveness and loving freedom. Charles Stanley reminds us that God's Word will convict, counsel and guide us as it leads to freedom and walking in the ways of Jesus. ODB reminds us that we are part of the family--THE family of God, by His grace and through our faith. Amen! And the UR reminds us that God will encourage us along the way. Look for it and listen as others speak life and encouragement to you and receive it as God's gift. God really loves you and us and has great plans for today. Talk to Him about that and prepare your hearts to worship. trust and obey! What's God saying to you? What will you do about that? I'm praying for you! Shalom for you are very loved, accepted and forgiven!
TWFYT:
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ODB:
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“You don’t belong here.” Those words crushed an eight-year-old girl’s heart, and the pain stayed with her. Her family had emigrated from a refugee camp in a war-torn country to a new country, and her immigration card had the word alien stamped on it. She felt like she didn’t belong.
As an adult, although she put her faith in Jesus, she still felt alienated—stung by the feeling that she was an unwelcome outsider. While reading her Bible, she discovered the promises of Ephesians 2. In verse 12, she saw that old, troubling word alien. “You were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (nkjv). But as she kept reading, she saw how Christ’s sacrifice had changed her status. She got to verse 19, which told her, “You are no longer” a foreigner or alien. She was a “fellow citizen” with God’s people. Realizing that she was a citizen of heaven, she was overjoyed. Never again would she be an outsider. God had taken her in and accepted her.
Because of our sin, we’re alienated from God. But we don’t have to stay that way. Jesus brought peace to all who were “far away” (v. 17), making all who trust Him fellow citizens of His eternal kingdom—united as the body of Christ.
By Dave Branon
REFLECT & PRAY
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In what way do you feel alienated? What does it mean for you to know that God has called all His children to be united in Him?
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for allowing me to experience fellowship with You and with others who love and trust You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
As believers in Jesus, we have His promise that we’re not strangers to Him: “You are . . . fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Ephesians 2:19). In fact, His care for us is so intimate that at this very moment, He’s preparing a home where we’ll live with Him forever! Christ said: “I go and prepare a place for you, [and] I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). When we arrive at our eternal home, we’ll be in His presence forever.
Bill Crowder |
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UR: Encouraged at every Step
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. - Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
My home is Ukraine, but now I live in Estonia.
My friends and I still remember the horror we experienced during the first weeks of the war. We hid in the cellar of a high-rise building for 10 days during the air raids. Then we decided to start a long journey out of the country. We traveled through Romania, Hungary, and other countries to get to Estonia. Everywhere we journeyed we were met by people who helped us in countless ways. With God’s help we found our way out of danger and were encouraged by God’s Spirit at every step.
Once in Estonia, I decided together with my friends to get involved as a volunteer, helping to feed the refugees who were fleeing Ukraine. I find that the best way to deal with worries and haunting memories is to help other people. God has been good to us, and in turn we have tried to be good to God’s people.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for guiding us and walking with us always. Thank you for all the friends you send into our lives. Amen.
Harvest:
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September 23 - Walking with a Holy God
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Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.”
When we come into the presence of God, we will always behold one outstanding characteristic of His nature: His holiness. There is not a blemish in God; purity and impurity do not mix. If we are to have intimate fellowship with a holy God, then we must be clean before Him. David asked a question in Psalms 24, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?” He then answered his own question saying, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully” (24:3-4). Only the pure in heart will be able to enter into the presence of God and discover intimacy with Him.
Sin in the life of the believer hinders intimate fellowship with God. God is holy. When sin resides within the heart of a disciple of Jesus, it’s impossible for that disciple to walk in deep intimate fellowship with one who is absolute purity. We must confess our sins, and “He [will be] faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
Lord, continue to create a pure heart within me and help me to be continually aware of anything that has become an idol in my life. Search me and reveal anything that sets my soul on a sinful path. I want to walk in intimate fellowship with You, Father. Reveal insincerity or anything that threatens our relationship. Transform me by the renewing of my mind and give me the perseverance to lean into Christ-likeness for the sake of people who love You, and those who have yet to claim You as Savior and Lord.
--Adapted from Giving Ourselves to Prayer: An Acts 6:4 Primer for Ministry (Chapter 37, Hindrances to Effective Prayer by Sammy Tippit). This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise the name of Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide.”
- Thank God for having given you everything you need for life and health in this week.
- Confess to him the times when you have begrudged giving a kind word or encouragement or forgiveness to another person.
- Commit yourself to reflecting God’s generosity and openhanded love to a difficult person in your life.
- Ask God to give you an extra portion of his Spirit as you strive to reflect his character.
- If there is a specific need in your family that only God can provide, commit this need to him in the faith that he will supply it abundantly (2 Cor. 9:8).
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 27 2024
Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! Thank God everyday for His amazing love, grace, mercy and forgiveness! What does it mean to you to know that Jesus loved you so much that He was willing to endure the cross for you? Worship!
Good Morning Forgiven Much, Redeemed, Believer, Being Called by Name, Follower of Jesus! He knows you and is calling you by name right now--come! Who is this man, Jesus? How is He impacting your life? He knows you and has great plans for you! Be still and know! Talk to Him about your needs and concerns with grateful hearts fixed on Him. He is able! He will work ALL things together for good! Rejoice! Are you content? Trusting? Faithful? Walking in Peace! You can be! Who is this man that loves me, calls me by name and provides all I need? Yes, worship with much thanksgiving and walk in full surrender to Him and His ways!
Sunday we will wrap up our brief study of Philippians with chapter 4. In 4:11 Paul reminds us that he learned how to be content in good and bad times by keeping his eyes and heart fixed on Jesus. Who is this man that we can trust Him no matter what we are going through? He promises to be with you always and he knows the good plans He has for you. Trust Him! Check out Charles Stanley's teaching on Phil 4:11. We would benefit to spend more time studying this then we are as we just cruise through some of Paul's Epistles. Sarah Young reminds us, as Paul does in Phil. 4 to fix our thoughts on Jesus and things above. She reminds us how helpful it is to try to see things with God's heart and eyes. Sometimes, we have to still ourselves and refocus. Eventually, like Paul we are able to learn to be content as we fix our eyes on Jesus and pray to have His mind and heart. The Upper Room reminds of this truth and promise--God's got this--whatever the "this" is. Trust Him. Cast you anxiety to Him and ask for peace and contentment to overflow you. And know this, no matter the severity of things arrayed against you, God's justice is sure and coming. And His grace will be sufficient to carry you through. Check our Our Daily Bread on this and read Nahum 1 from it. He may be waiting for repentance but His justice and deliverance is sure and coming! Amen! God is with you. He's calling you by name and reminding you that you are His. His deliverance and help is at hand and He will redeem you and whatever you are going through. trust Him!
Fix your thoughts on things above. Choose joy! And ask for help to be content always. It is helpful to have some close journeyers traveling with you too. We need each other and especially when we are hurting or off track or derailed by some sort of chaos. Ask God for some helpers or how He wants to use you to help others to refocus, stand firm, choose joy and be content that God's got this. Then watch for His miraculous deliverance and workings! He is able--He will! Amen! He loves you and knows what's going on and is at work for your good. Trust Him! Fix your thoughts on Him as you turn off the noise and refocus from the chaos! I'm praying for you! And Jesus is interceding for you too! Rejoice! Amen! Thank God I am forgiven and He has opened the door for His deliverance and a deep relationship with the God who is Love!
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UR: God's Got This!
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. - Hebrews 11:1 (NRSVUE)
Five years ago, my husband of 26 years unexpectedly passed away. He was also the father of our three daughters and the primary wage-earner. Now when I think back on those dark days, I can see how I have been in God’s hands all along.
I prayed for my broken heart, and God gave me comfort. I prayed for guidance, and God led me to a job that would sustain me and give me purpose. I prayed for my girls, and God has led them along their own journeys. I prayed for help with having two mortgages on our family home, and God showed me how to eventually sell that house and move somewhere much more manageable. I continued to pray for direction, and God introduced me to the man who would later become my fiancé.
I do not need to doubt or fear any new hurdle. I’ve seen time and time again that God is in control. It’s easy to go back to worry when the path is unclear. But I know the Lord is with me every step I take. When I start to fret, I remind myself of what I’ve been through and take a deep breath. God’s got this!
Today's Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, even if we don’t see the answers we are looking for, help us remember your promise never to leave or forsake us. Amen.ODB:
God’s Justice and Grace
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. Nahum 1:3
READ Nahum 1:1-8, 15
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English Romantic painter John Martin (1789–1854) is known for his apocalyptic landscapes depicting the destruction of civilizations. In these fantastic scenes, humans are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction and powerless against the approaching doom. One painting, The Fall of Nineveh, depicts people fleeing the coming destruction of mounting waves under dark rolling clouds.
More than two thousand years before Martin’s painting, the prophet Nahum prophesied against Nineveh foretelling its judgment. The prophet used images of mountains quaking, hills melting, and the earth trembling (Nahum 1:5) to symbolize God’s wrath on those who’d oppressed others for their own gain. However, God’s response to sin is not without grace. While Nahum reminds his listeners of God’s power, he notes that He is “slow to anger” (v. 3) and “cares for those who trust in him” (v. 7).
Descriptions of judgment are hard to read, but a world where evil isn’t confronted would be a terrible one. Thankfully the prophet doesn’t end on that note. He reminds us that God desires a good and just world: “Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace!” (v. 15). That good news is Jesus, who suffered the consequences of sin so we can have peace with God (Romans 5:1, 6).
By Matt Lucas
REFLECT & PRAY
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How do you want God to defend the oppressed? How might your understanding of His wrath against injustice prompt you to speak up for the oppressed?
Father, I pray for those around the world who suffer unjustly.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Despite the gloomy and apocalyptic nature of Nahum’s message, God had offered immense grace to evil Nineveh. About a century earlier, He’d sent His reluctant prophet Jonah to warn Nineveh that they’d be “overthrown” (Jonah 3:4). The city repented, and God relented from destroying it (vv. 5-10). However, history shows how they relapsed into their old ways, their appalling cruelty earning them multiple enemies. This time their judgment would be final. In 612 bc, the city was overrun by the Medes and Babylonians. Today Nineveh is mostly a ruin located near the Iraqi city of Mosul.
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Harvest:
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September 20 - Jesus – the Ultimate Intercessor
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For Jesus prayer was a lifestyle. It seems that He prayed at every major juncture and before every key decision in His life. He prayed in the morning (Mark 1:35). He prayed at night (Matthew 14:27), and sometimes all night (Luke 6:12). He prayed when He was alone (John 6:15), when He was with others (Matthew 11:15–26), and at public gatherings (Matthew 14:19). Scripture records eight actual prayers of Jesus, fourteen teachings of Jesus on prayer, eighteen references to Him praying, as well as three references to His intercessory prayer ministry after He ascended. Every one of His prayers was faith-filled, heartfelt, and fervent. The writer of Hebrews compacts the essence of Jesus’ prayer life into one sentence: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” (5:7). Jesus was the paramount pray-er.
Jesus Christ was also the ultimate intercessor. Intercession was a major part of His prayer life. It’s from His intercessory prayer life and teaching that we especially want to learn.
Many passages of scripture record Jesus’ prayers for others. Matthew informs us that Jesus placed his hands on the little children that were brought to him and prayed for them (Matthew 19:13). Before raising Lazarus from the grave Jesus lets us in on the fact that He has been praying on the way there: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me” (John 11:41–42). After the Lord’s Supper Jesus reinstates Peter with the reminder, “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32).
In His final prayer with His disciples Jesus intercedes for their protection, their joy, their sanctification, and their future place with Him in glory (John 17:9–17, 24). In the same prayer He intercedes that future believers will be one and that they may “also be in us [that is, in the Father and the Son]” (John 17:20–23). On the cross Jesus asks the Father to forgive those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). Finally, forty days later, as He prepares to ascend to heaven, Jesus lifts up His hands and blesses those gathered (Luke 24:50). Intercession ran like a thread, maybe more like a rope, through the fabric of Jesus’ life.
Precious Christ Jesus, I am awed that You always live to intercede for me! How blessed I am to have the example of Your prayer life laid out for me in Scripture! Prayer was and is Your very life! I long for the kind of intimacy You have with the Father! What a mystery that Your prayer life is living within me and that You pray Your heart through mine if I will yield myself to the voice of Your Spirit. I entrust my prayer life to You now, and thank You for the promise that when I come near to You, You will come near to me! Light the fire of intercession within me as I continually seek Your face!
--Adapted from Praying God’s Heart (Prayers that Make a Difference) by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God as the source of all true wisdom and discernment (Col. 2:3).
- Thank him for supplying his church with the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and the ability to distinguish between spirits (1 Cor. 12:8-10).
- Confess those times when you have failed to discern the cultural influences that try to choke out spiritual growth and fruitfulness.
- Commit yourself to testing the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 Jn. 4:1).
- Ask God to make you more aware of the reality of spiritual warfare in your life (Eph. 6:10-12).
- Ask God to lift the spiritual blindness from political leaders in your country, that they may make decisions that help create a wholesome and God-honoring society.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 27 2024
Larry Paul News below
Good Morning Friends!
Very busy and hectic day and weekend with lots of ups and downs for our family and for many of you. I am reminded through our devos today to be still and wait quietly in the Lord's peace-bringing, instructing presence. he loves you, is with you always and always speaking. Turn off the noise as much as able in these chaotic, troubling days. remember Jesus told us to expect trouble and troubles can be part of our molding or God's redirecting and sometimes correcting. be still, know and receive. he is singing over you and whispering to your soul today. Worship! Shalom, very loved child of God! What's God whispering to you today? process that with a friend or two and go work at living and loving like Jesus! Amen!
Larry Paul:
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September 2024
Hello to all of our family, friends, and partners,
We enjoyed our time in the USA this summer. It was a great time with our family, friends and churches as well as meeting new people, and our boys enjoyed reconnecting with friends they made during our last home assignment. We also had time to visit colleges with Richard to help him plan where he'll be attending school next year. Enol and I are still getting used to the idea that he won't be with us next year.
Faith Academy's new school year started August 5. We have over 530 students enrolled this year from 20 different countries. We completed our accreditation review with ACSI last school year and it was approved for another 6 years! By receiving ACSI accreditation, Faith Academy graduates are accepted by colleges and universities around the world. ACSI gave us recommendations for ways to improve so staff will be reviewing them and working to incorporate them in how students are taught and how the school is run.
Larry's crew and contractors were able to finish most of the work to prepare the campus for the new school year (only the painting of the theater exterior was delayed due to weather). Every other Saturday afternoon during the summer work we offered a Bible study to the workers and a local church graciously donated Tagalog Bibles for us to hand out to them. We're praying a seed was planted in all of them and they'll continue to worship at local churches.
Richard is now a senior and Brayden is a sophomore at Faith Academy; they're enjoying time with their friends but are also doing well in their classes. They are both on the varsity boys volleyball team which is doing well this year. They are looking forward to going to the ACSC tournament in Indonesia in October to celebrate the season.
Enol is glad to be able to volunteer a few days a week at Faith Academy's Elementary division. She's reconnecting with old friends and making new friends while helping the teachers with their classes. She also enjoys being part of the team Moms for the boys volleyball team. The Moms are doing fund raisers to help reduce the cost of attending the tournament in Indonesia.
Praises
- Time with family and friends in USA
- Richard and Brayden doing well at Faith Academy, both with schoolwork and athletics.
- Enol can volunteer at Faith Academy
- God's provision for our needs and our good health
Prayer Requests
- Larry to continue to handle the additional responsibilities at Faith Academy
- Enol's sister Zeny, complete recovery from stroke, and her financial needs
Thank you again for your continued prayers and support of our ministry at Faith Academy in the Philippines.
Larry, Enol, Richard, and Brayden |
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Reconnecting with friends in the USA!
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Enjoying Chesapeake Bay at sunset
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Distributing Bibles to our contractors at our last Bible Study of the Summer!
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Awesome picture of our school opening flag ceremony from Faith Academy's media team. We serve students and staff from over 20 different countries represented by the flags on stage!
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| Richard and Brayden on the varsity volleyball team! |
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Financial Partnership
Mail a check to:
Wycliffe
PO Box 628200
Orlando, FL 32862-8200
www.wycliffe.org
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Friday, September 27 2024
Before we begin today, I have to share what a wonderful day of love and ministry I experienced yesterday an some good news too! God is with us for sure and working all things together for our good and for those who are yet to come! Keep praising and praying! God is with us!
Bread ministry was another awesome time of serving, loving, fellowshipping and prayer. God continues to bless and use us! PTL! We also continue to grow closer to each other and those God is sending. Pray for relationships to continue to blossom and lead to a deeper relationship with Jesus! Amen!
Last night we had an awesome time of Acts 2:42 type table ministry! We also made some great connections to the leaders of Revival Church as we began plans for our Light in the Night Trunk or Treat. I love how God is uniting us to go love and providing workers for the harvest. Remember we are collecting candy or donations for candy for this as we expect around a thousand moving through our lot that night. Keep praying in to this outreach and for God's favor and provision! We will be collecting candy (or donations) instead of stuff for the pantry in Oct.
We had some good news on the roof and are still assessing but it appears to not be as bad as first thought. We are getting some money back from insurance to help with damage replacement too! PTL! All of this may help for us to get insurance quicker too. Keep praying into God's provision and wisdom for that so we don't have to close our doors while roof is being repaired due to lack of insurance. God is our Source and Enough! Amen!
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Good Morning Discerning of the Times, Standing on the Word, Followers of the Living Word! Check out our devos below speaking into the importance of seeking, studying and standing on the Word of God in these dark, living-for-self days and days of deception. We know the Truth and He lives in us! PTL! Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Amen! That's Truth! Stand on it! Did you see the backlash of the Pope saying all religions lead to God? Ah sorry Pope but that is a false teaching! Jesus is the only Way! Sarah Young speaks about the battle going on for our minds. Are you listening to the Truth and do you know it well enough to discern false teachings? The Methodist Church leaders are another denomination that has tossed the Word of God and it's Truth and embraced false teaching and is embracing the way of the world. So many of their members are duped by these falsehoods and going along with this unbiblical teachings. And see no wrong in embracing things God detests. Would you know if I taught a false teaching or blow it off? I hope not! Jesus is the Way and the Truth! Open your Bibles daily and spend time in them and with our Living Word. Remember the only offensive weapon in God's armor is the Sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word. Jesus used God's Truths against Satan's twisting of the Bible to defeat him. May we be prepared to do the same. Study, know and hide God's Truth in your hearts and be ready to battle and stand firm against all kinds of falsehoods being touted as truth today. May we always stand firm in Truth! Amen!
We see all around us people who have no clue what the truth is anymore. People willing to drink the "Kool Aid" and swallow whatever is placed before them as truth. Many are seeking to have their itching ears tickled too. Check out TWFYT about that. Know God's Word and be ready to stand firm on it and wield that sword as needed. Charles Stanley reminds us to understand that God's timing is perfect and His promises are true. Some things will take time to come to pass. And we patiently wait and endure as we trust God to bring His perfect plans to life at just the right time. Know this! Studying His promises helps us to stand firm and on His Truth and not go weary or be deceived. The Upper Room reminds us that God is always with us even in the storms--ALWAYS! Focus on Him and stand firm on His Truth in the storm that living in America has become! Check out Psalm 16 from ODB reminder that we get to choose joy as we choose to trust God and His perfect timing. Ask Him to help you grow in trust and to choose joy today. He is able! And He wants to! PTL! And ask Him to keep uniting us with like-minded followers of the Truth to walk with! There is a vicious battle raging for our hearts and minds that keeps intensifying. Choose Joy, Trust and stand firm in Christ. He is coming back with His justice and deliverance for those who remain true to Him and His ways! May that be us Lord! Amen!
Put on that armor today in prayer. Prepare to stand firm in Christ. And remember to allow the Holy Spirit to produce His good fruit in you: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. Amen! Focus on what is lovely and true. Let us work at dying to self and crucifying our sin and foolishness daily as we follow Jesus. Pronounce and work on our salutation for today: We are...Discerning of the Times, Standing on the Word, Followers of the Living Word! Amen!
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TWFYT:
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UR: God Is with Us
I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. - Psalm 73:23 (NIV)
I was riding a bus along a twisting highway between cities. The bus bounced and swayed more than usual, and I didn’t feel well. As I tried to pray and hoped I wouldn’t throw up, I remembered that in Spanish, the same word is used for being carsick and seasick (mareos, from mar, the “sea”). I thought of the disciples in the boat with Jesus when a storm arose on the Sea of Galilee. They were frightened — and perhaps seasick — so they woke up Jesus who was somehow sleeping through it all. “Don’t you care if we drown?” they cried. And he promptly calmed the storm.
What strikes me is that though Jesus had the power to calm the storm and obligingly did so when they asked, he was already in the boat with the disciples. God is with us all the time — in the storms of life and on calm sunny days. God holds us by the hand in every moment and is ready to answer when we call for reassurance. When we trust in God’s loving presence, peace can fill our souls, even in the most difficult times.
Today's Prayer
Thank you, God, for being ready to answer when we call. Help us to trust in your continual presence. Amen.ODB:
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The pandemic was winning. That’s how it looked to Jason Persoff, an emergency room doctor at a large hospital committed to saving patients with Covid. How could he give his best? During off hours, he relaxed by taking enlarged photos of something small—individual snowflakes. It “sounds crazy,” says Dr. Persoff. But finding joy in something small but beautiful is “an opportunity to bond with my Creator and also to see the world in a way that few people take the time to notice.”
Wisely looking for such joy—to ease stress and build resilience—is a high value in the medical profession, the doctor said. But for everyone, he has this advice: “You’ve got to breathe. You have got to find a way to take a breath and enjoy life.”
David the psalmist expressed this thought in Psalm 16 as he declared the wisdom of finding joy in God. “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup,” he wrote. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure” (vv. 5, 9).
There are many unwise things people do as they try to decompress. Dr. Persoff found the wise path—one that pointed him to the Creator, who offers us the joy of His presence. “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (v. 11). In Him, we find joy evermore.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
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How does finding wise joy bless your life? As you read Psalm 16, how can it inspire you to name the ways you find joy in God?
In my life’s journey, O God, please bless me to wisely find joy that starts with You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
David’s joy in God, expressed so eloquently in Psalm 16:11, is a joy available to us as well. In fact, for the child of God, all we need for joy in our lives has already been provided—the indwelling Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul included joy in the list of the fruit of the Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Joy isn’t something we can generate ourselves; it’s the result of the Spirit’s work in us.
Bill Crowder |
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Friday, September 27 2024
Today: Bread Ministry from 10-12; Dinner Huddlen6-7:30 tonight we eat, fellowship and work on plans with Revival Church for our upcoming Light in the Night and pray into that. next week we begin the Chosen season 4.
Good Morning Drawing Close, Very Loved, Children of God! God is Love. He created us out of love to be in an eternal relationship with Him and fellow believers. He created, gifted, is preparing and molding us to be His vessels of love to the world today. We all matter to Him. Everyone does. And He's empowering us to go change the world with His love. PTL! Thank Him for His patient, correcting, love. Ask Him to prepare and send you to love well. Ask for His heart and mind to guide you as you work on living and loving more like Jesus. He really has some great custom plans for you today. Draw close and hear His loving directions for you today. He is upholding you in His strong right hand and leading you to His best. PTL! Today we get to practice sharing His love, our hope and help at the Bread Ministry and when we gather tonight to plan how to bring the Light alive in a few weeks. Dwell in His love this morning and receive His love and directions. Then go and live and love like Jesus as God leads you. Oh what a great day this will be! Amen!
Our devotionals for today speak into drawing close into God's love, staying focused on Him and praying to be His vessel. Check them out. What's God saying to you? What will you do about it? As for me and my house we will love and serve the Lord as we allow Him to love through us. Amen! God's grace is amazing and sufficient no matter what your day is bringing. he is always with you and waiting with open arms of love for you. Invite Him in today and dwell in His amazing grace and sufficient love. I'm praying for you! Shalom!
ODB:
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When I give our beautiful, fluffy Norwegian Forest cat, Mystique, belly rubs and play with her, or when she falls asleep on my lap in the evening, it’s sometimes hard to believe that she’s the same cat we met years ago. Mystique used to live on the streets, underweight and fearful of everyone. But that gradually changed as I started putting out food for her each day. One day she finally let me pet her, and the rest is history.
Mystique’s transformation is a reminder of the healing that can come with patience and love. It reminds me of God’s heart as described in Isaiah 42. There, we’re told of a coming servant filled with His Spirit (v. 1), who would tirelessly and “in faithfulness” work to establish God’s “justice on earth” (vv. 3-4).
But that servant—Jesus (Matthew 12:18-20)—wouldn’t bring God’s justice through violence or pursuit of power. Instead, He’d be quiet and gentle (Isaiah 42:2), tenderly and patiently caring for those discarded by others—those “bruised” and wounded (v. 3).
God never gives up on His children. He has all the time in the world to care for our wounded hearts, until they finally begin to heal. Through His gentle, patient love we gradually learn to love and trust once more.
By Monica La Rose
REFLECT & PRAY
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How have you seen transformation through patient love? How can you grow in experiencing and sharing God’s love?
Dear God, thank You for never giving up on me and for patiently loving and caring for my wounded heart. Please help me love others with that same patient love.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Isaiah 42:1-7 is an encouraging passage in the prophetic writings. It contains images and metaphors that reveal the patient and loving nature of the “servant” of God (v. 1). The servant of God is the one who carries out His mission of redemption and restoration. But we also see the split identity of the servant. Verses 1-4 are commonly understood to refer to a single individual, the predicted Messiah, fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Some commentators believe that verses 5-7 turn from an individual servant to a corporate servant, the nation of Israel, who will be “a light for the Gentiles” (v. 6). Both passages describe the same gracious God whose servant(s) doesn’t “crush the weakest reed” (v. 3 nlt) and who can “open the eyes of the blind” (v. 7 nlt).
J.R. Hudberg |
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Charles Stanley:
Sarah Young:
UR: Grounded in God's Grace
Paul wrote, “I pray that . . . Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” - Ephesians 3:16-17 (NRSVUE)
It had been a long time since I operated my model trains. One by one I started the three trains, but at a certain stretch of track, each one came to a complete stop. Because each engine was in good repair, I knew there must be a power-supply problem. The electrical current designed to operate the engines had been disrupted. In order to correct the problem, I had to clean the tracks so that the engines could maintain contact with the track and receive the needed supply of electrical current.
This process reminded me of our need to stay grounded in God’s grace. We remain grounded in God’s grace by not allowing anything to get between us and God, so that our connection with God remains uninterrupted. Just as I must take time to clean the train tracks, I must take time to cultivate and restore my connection with God.
When our connection to God is broken, we are diminished. The most powerful way to reconnect with the Spirit is through prayer. Indeed, daily prayer is our lifeline to God’s life-preserving grace.
Today's Prayer
God of the ages, keep us grounded in your grace so that we do not lose our connection to you. Sustain us on our journey. Amen.
Friday, September 27 2024
Good Morning Children of the All-Sufficient, Miracle Working God! He is able! He is enough! Jireh! He can do things way beyond what we can think or imagine. PTL! Believe it! Pray for miracles and the supernatural to come alive in our midst. Pray for chains to be broken. Addictions gone. Deliverance from depression, doubt, fear. Miraculous healings. Revival! God is able and with mustard seed sized faith, we can move mountains! Believe! Pray expectantly with thanksgiving today! God will provide, heck He is already at work, for our insurance and roof needs. Trust and pray expectantly with thanksgiving! He is at work in you right now transforming you into His image and your created potential! PTL! Pronounce out loud that He is enough for whatever you are facing and that you believe He is able to answer. He will in His perfect way and timing. Praise Him in the waiting and keep praying. Check out the Upper Room's reminder that He is just enough! Always is! He inhabits our praise and is always at work working all things together for good and according to His perfect plans. Rejoice and pray into whatever you are facing in faith! Cast all your anxiety to God because He truly does love you and care for you and wants to lead you to his best for you. He even walks with you through whatever molding and refining it takes to get you there. PTL! Use the prayer pointers from harvest to begin your prayer time and continue sowing in faith!
Today is the day the Lord has made. We get to worship, trust and follow Him in this day! PTL! Jesus is looking deep into your soul with love and longing to be invited into your day. Open that door and invite Him in. Spend some time with Him in His Word. Know His Truth! Internalize it. Believe it! Allow His Word to lead you into all Truth! One other devo to share today is The Word for You Today as they begin a few day teaching on Jesus being the source of enlightenment. So many of you are stressing over the state of this country and the election and all the lies being spewed about. It's hard to know what to believe. Turn off the noise and cast that anxiety unto the Lord. His Word teaches us that God places leaders in place for His purposes and we are to pray for them to follow Him and His ways. Start spending time with the Living Word, Jesus, in His Word and ingest His truths and promises. Allow Him and His Word to enlighten your voting. Who is honoring His ways. Unfortunately today, maybe the question is who fails to follow Him and His ways some of the time and who doesn't and is arrayed against Jesus and His people. Vote for the ones that honor God and His ways. Pray for Him to direct your vote and cast your anxiety to Him and allow Him to raise up the leader of His choice for His purposes. Obviously we live in some dark times. It's not much different than from times of old that God's people endured. Our purpose is to change the world by being His Light and allowing His Word and promises to lead you and comfort you as you reach the ones He has prepared for you to lead out of the darkness. Do it in faith with much thanksgiving!
Come Lord! Your will be done and Kingdom rise amidst this darkness. Help us to live and love like Jesus and be filled to overflowing with His Love, Word, Light and ways as we go change the world one soul at a time by living and loving more like Jesus. You are enough! Jireh! You are the God of miracles. Come! Deliver us and this nation from darkness, bring revival! be the Light through us! Come! You are the Way, the Truth and the Life! Only You! Come! Prepare us. Lead us. Deliver us! And use us for Your glory! Bring shalom to this chaos in and around me! Take my anxiety! Thank You! We know you have plans for each of us and us together. Come! Bring them alive and grow our faith and trust. Forgive our unbelief. May we be looking for, praying for and see your miraculous workings all around us and lift much thanksgiving and praise. Yes Come! Glorify Your holy name! You are able! I believe! Thank You! Rise and shine Lord! Amen!
UR: Just Enough
Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. - Matthew 6:31-32 (NIV)
When it comes to work and finances, I have always worried about not having enough. In my early twenties I developed chronic fatigue syndrome, and since then I have never managed full-time work. But I have always had just enough money to get by as a freelance writer. When I complete a project, I often have an anxious voice in my head that wonders, What if I don’t get another one? Yet the next one always comes.
These words from Matthew 6 remind me that I need to replace that anxious voice with the assurance that God will always provide. What seems miraculous to me is that there is always just enough; it feels like God has a hand in every situation.
I recently became a Christian. Before that, I was tempted by the idea that I could become rich by positive thinking. Yet I never did discover my dream life. When I became a Christian, I realized that what I really wanted wasn’t riches; I simply wanted to be safe. I was humbled, feeling gratitude for what I had. God had provided for me all this time, even when I hadn’t believed in God.
Today's Prayer
O heavenly Father, forgive us for our greed and doubt in your provision for us. Please receive our humble thanks for all that you have given us. Amen.
Harvest prayer starters! pray these earnestly today!
- Give highest praise to God as the all-sufficient one, “El-Shaddai.”
- Thank God for being the strength of your heart and your inheritance forever (Ps. 73:26).
- Confess to him your reliance on material wealth or possessions to make you feel secure and satisfied.
- Commit yourself to saying, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (73:25).
- Ask God to help you grasp how completely his love and presence surround you in this day.
- Ask God to reveal to you one person whom you should invite to worship this week or at least invite over for a meal or a cup of coffee.
Prayer Pointer
“It appears that God has so ordered life and the world that our praying is a vital part of his redemptive plan for individuals and the entire universe.” —Maxie Dunnam
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| Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount |
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TWFYT:
Friday, September 27 2024
This week: Tue 10-11 ZOOM Huddle (Zoom only this week)
Wed 10-12: Bread distribution
Wed 6-7:30 Dinner Huddle for adults and Family Ministries. All welcome! We will be meeting with Revival Church to work on plans for Light in the Night Trunk or Treat Oct. 25th.
Sat 10-1 Clothing Closet
Sun Worship 10 AM in person and on Zoom (Study Philippians 4)
Prayer needs:
Provision and favor for new insurance and roof replacement (our insurance expires Oct 15th and we need to have a new roof or at minimum a signed contract, start date and deposit for a new roof before we can get insurance for the building) We are working on getting liability insurance for the interim so we can keep the building open.
Wisdom, unity, provision and favor with Emmaus borough for Light in the Night Trunk or Treat with revival Church. (We are collecting bags of candy bars to be used with the many visitors we expect)
Pray for a smooth and easy transition back from vacation to work for Karen and me. Thanks! Thank God for Sarah, Mike and Sally covering last week and Sunday!
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Good Morning Reflecting, Friends of God! I pray God spoke to you last week as much as He did to me during vacation. It took a lot of restraint for me to disconnect and not write a blog each morning we were off. God was really speaking to my spirit. Thanks Lord! Wonder what you were hearing? I'd love to hear! Friday was a bit frustrating with dealing with the tyranny of the urgent concerning the roof and insurance. There is some much that needs to happen in the next few weeks or we will be forced to lock our doors until we get a roof and then can procure insurance. BUT GOD! He knows, has a plan and will provide and guide. Pray for His Kingdom to come, will to be done, wisdom for leaders and provision. And so we transition back to almost daily blogs thinking about our Friend, Jesus and becoming more like Him.
Yesterday Mike brought a great Word from Phil. 3. I stretched him a bit with assigning a text to preach on and he sought and heard God and shared about the Joy of our salvation and of knowing Christ more and choosing to live more for Him. Paul attacked the legalist mutilators of flesh (Those of the circumcision) and reminded us of the freedom we can know in Christ as we allow Him to circumcise our heats (cut away the flesh and hardness). God loves our soft, surrendered hearts and uses people with those. May that be us! Amen! To live is Christ involves crucifying our sins, dying to self, and allowing Him, inviting Him to be our Lord and Savior. He created you, me and has gathered us for such a time as this. Let us humble ourselves and keep seeking Him and allowing Him to mold us and lead us to His perfect plans. Amen!
Since you have had some practice this past week seeking God and listening on your own during your quiet time and with your devotionals, I will only share two you do not have and Harvest's blog this morning as a kick start to seeking, listening and discerning at Jesus' feet. What's God saying to you. Jesus is standing in your presence, looking deep into your heart and inviting you to come to Him, receive His, love, peace, wisdom and directions for the day. Be still and know how much you are loved! Sarah Young from her Jesus Calling devotional has a great word and reminder today. meditate on what she is reminding us this morning. Draw close to your Creator and follow Him to His purposes for you. Charles Stanley in his "God's Purposes for Your Life" devo reminds us about the dying to self and allow God to cut away the hard hearts and fleshly/worldly stuff in us. Stop striving in your own strength and trying to earn God's favor. be still, turn off the noise and allow Him to fasten Jesus' easy yoke around you as you choose to walk with Him through this day. Well. OK, here's Our Daily bread's reminder that We are being built on Christ. We are His living stones that He is using to build His Church. Will you allow Him to lead you and place you where he knows is best for His plans? Ok so then the Upper Room reminds us that God is always speaking. Are you listening and willing to trust and obey today? God has custom made great plans for you, me and us together! Let us surrender, listen trust and follow well! And let us find some team mates to travel with as we follow Jesus together! Please pray the prayer from Harvest as we seek God and long to do His will and purposes.
Mike shared this image from our vacation of the misty waters at sunrise. The Son is rising over us and wanting to reflect His glory through us! We may be a bit foggy but as we allow Him to shine through us we will reflect Him more clearly. We are being formed into His image. Surrender, draw close, listen, receive, and go live and love more like him today. That's all he asks. be you and allow Him to use you for His glory! Amen!
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ODB:
We have all sorts of names for groups of animals. No doubt you’ve heard of a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, or even a gaggle of geese. But some names may surprise you. A group of crows is called a murder. How about a congregation of alligators, or a crash of rhinoceroses? Have you heard of a building of rooks (Eurasian crows)?
Building, in fact, is one of the names in the Bible for believers in Jesus. “You are . . . God’s building,” wrote the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 3:9). There are other names for believers as well: “the flock” (Acts 20:28), “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), “brothers and sisters” (1 Thessalonians 2:14), and more.
The building metaphor recurs in 1 Peter 2:5, as Peter tells the church, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” Then, in verse 6, Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone.” Jesus is the very foundation of His building.
We may have the sense that it’s our job to build the church, but Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). We’re chosen by God to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). As we declare those praises, we become instruments in His hands as He does His good work.
By Bill Crowder
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What does it mean for Jesus to build His church? How can you participate in that work?
Dear God, forgive me for the times I think it’s all about me. Please use me to serve You and love others as You build Your church.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The apostle Peter describes believers in Jesus this way: “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). He wasn’t the only New Testament writer to utilize the building metaphor. In fact, Paul uses that imagery multiple times in Ephesians alone. In Ephesians 2:21-22 we read, “In [Christ] the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” God crafts His people into a “building”—a “spiritual house”—which is His dwelling place. Not only is this true of believers in Jesus collectively, it’s also the case for individual believers. The apostle also wrote: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Bill Crowder |
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The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. - Psalm 29:4 (NIV)
As part of my fitness program, I try to walk at least two miles each day around my neighborhood. When I first started, I would listen to music through my earphones. One day I decided to remove them and just enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. I began to notice different types of trees and flowering plants in my neighbors’ yards. I also saw different kinds of birds and the occasional deer.
As I approached the end of my walk, I entered the alcove of my front door. Then I heard a bird whose song sounded to me like it was saying, “Hear me! Hear me!”
As I thought about the bird’s song, I decided it was a reminder to listen for God. God can speak to us in many ways — through nature, a friend, or even a stranger. It may not be a direct conversation, but if we are willing to pay attention, we might just encounter God.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to seek and receive your guidance. We pray in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Harvest:
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September 16 - Spiritual DNA
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One definition of prayer is the conscious and unconscious connection between our self and God. As such, prayer is part of our soul’s DNA. It is the honest speech of the soul, that part of us created in the Divine image.
Much of my current play with my four young granddaughters involves showing them an object and asking, “What’s this?” I am delighted when they can name the object or picture. Even before they were able to name things I brought objects to them, often with cooing sighs of delight. I experience pleasure as their eyes follow the object and then return my gaze.
Those first smiles of recognition and connection are forever etched in my soul. This repetitive interaction is a form of basic speech and connection. It is both spoken and unspoken adoration. It is “primary speech.”
God creates us in His image, then invites us to notice, name, and respond to that Divine image as God’s desire for connection. As we increase this awareness, we also increasingly connect with that part of us that is God breathed, our spiritual DNA. Developing a lifestyle of prayer is increasingly attending to this inner image of the Divine, as well as to the reflection of God in the whole creation.
Majestic Father, Creator of all things, I am in awe of all that You are! I praise You for creating me in such a way that we are intricately connected through the prayer that is birthed from the depths of my soul. As Your creation, I yield myself to Your purposes. May my life be a reflection of Jesus, who lives in me and prays through me, yet who always lives to intercede for me…a divine mystery filled with love!
--Adapted from Giving Ourselves to Prayer: An Acts 6:4 Primer for Ministry (Chapter 34, Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer by Gerald Schmidt). This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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Friday, September 13 2024
Good Morning Abiding, Resting, Preparing Followers of the Way! Please Lord! May I be that and all You created me to be as I learn to follow Your way better. Thanks! Amen. Have your way with me as you trach me your good and healthy ways and rhythms. Thanks!
I had no intention of doing any blogs the rest of the week, But God! He spoke to me through several devos for today that He wanted me to share with you, especially since I awoke at 3 and everyone is still in bed. We got here late afternoon yesterday and after unload just had a wonderful time disconnecting and relaxing. It is so needed as the busyness of life and work for Karen, our daughter Lauren and me is a very present thing. Jesus got away, rested and even took naps as He recharged for work and busyness ahead. We honor God when we do that. Often we forget that or don't give ourselves permission to rest ad reload. Two Chosen devos I am using talk to us about the battle between choosing God's ways or our own. The battle is real. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to rest and abide/ Charles Stanley talks about choosing rest. I want to share this with you who are weary and overworked. And the ODB ends with two important questions we need to answer. "How should being a child of God affect you? And What will you do this week to live out your status and responsibility as His child?" Ponder those and choose well, my friends. I'm signing off now and going back to nap before the others awake. Chill! Relax! Rest in the Lord! That glorifies Him as much as working for Him! Rest, abide and find balance and His shalom! He loves you and says, "Come to Me and rest!" Amen!
Here's a great song to kick start your quiet time today! We can be an honest offering as we surrender to God and His healthy ways! Amen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPqqIDnjDKY
God is speaking! Was just ready to hit send when Harvest blog popped up! Check out these links!
Retreat to Advance
The Power of Silence
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ODB
Spiritual Royalty
To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
READ John 1:9-13
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When Jay Speights of Rockville, Maryland, took a DNA test, nothing could have prepared him for the results he received. They contained a big surprise—he was a prince of the West African nation of Benin! Soon he boarded a plane and visited the country. When he arrived, the royal family greeted and showered him with a festive homecoming—dancing, singing, banners, and a parade.
Jesus came to earth as God’s good news announcement. He went to His own people, the nation of Israel, to give them the good news and to show them the way out of darkness. Many received the message with apathy, rejecting the “true light” (John 1:9) and refusing to accept Him as Messiah (v. 11). But unbelief and apathy weren’t universal among the people. Some people humbly and gladly received Christ’s invitation, accepted Him as God’s eventual sacrifice for sin, and believed in His name. A surprise awaited this faithful remnant. He “gave [them] the right to become children of God” (v. 12)—to be royal children of His through spiritual rebirth.
When we turn from sin and darkness, receive Jesus, and believe in His name, we discover we’re children of God, adopted as royalty into His family. May we enjoy the blessings as we live up to the responsibilities of being the King’s kids.
By Marvin Williams
REFLECT & PRAY
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How should being a child of God affect you? What will you do this week to live out your status and responsibility as His child?
Father, it’s amazing that through Jesus’ death You invite me into spiritual royalty. I’m humbled and grateful.
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In the New Living Translation, John 1:1-18 has the heading, “Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word.” This section has been called a theological masterpiece, for its brilliance calls us to worshipful reflection and a desire to know and serve the one described. The term that John uses for Jesus before He entered the world is “the Word” (vv. 1, 14)—the creative self-expression of God through which all things came to be. A good subheading for verses 1-5 would be: “The Existence and Experience of the Word.” He existed as God and with God (vv. 1-2) and functioned as God (vv. 3-5). What God is credited with in Genesis 1—all of creation—is attributed to the Word as the active agent (see also Colossians 1:15-17). What follows in John 1:6-14 could be titled, “The Entrance of the Word into the World.” How was (and is) He received? With mixed reviews. But all who receive Him are welcomed into His family.
Arthur Jackson |
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Friday, September 13 2024
Pastor Don and Karen are on vacation this week. If you have a need, please reach out to Sarah. Thank you! We hope to disconnect and recharge as we retreat to a lake house in the Poconos. Prayers appreciated for that and health. Thanks! Pray for our Maggie to have peace at pet sitter too.
Good Morning Children of the Most Hight God! rejoice and be glad in the day and celebrate your life in Christ! As I PREPARE TO DISCONNECT, God leads us into to tracks through our devotionals today. They do tie together because we are so loved that God made a way for us to be forgiven. then Jesus commands us ti live like Him which means forgiving as we've been forgiven. Check out the devos below and meditate on them as we begin this week at Jesus' feet asking to live and like like Him more in '24.
The Upper Room reminds us that we are filled with God's love. This week Karen and I are recharging and reloading our tanks with a spiritual retreat with Jesus as He bless us with His refreshing love. Our Daily Bread reminds us to abide, to dwell, to rest in Jesus and His love. They remind us of the importance of journeying with others as we seek to follow Jesus more and go share the Good news that brings our hope and joy alive. As we encounter worldly people or deal with those who have hurt us, The Word for You Today reminds us to leave the judging to God. We really don't know people's hearts, do we? Ask Him to help with that and to bring discernment too. As leaders, we are called to be discerning. Some of us are dealing with that with someone who wants to be part of our fellowship, yet needs to be under church discipline nd repent of some things before that can even be entertained as a possibility. God convicted me that I need to be discerning, loving and forgiving. Is He at work in her heart? yes. We await to see how she responds to that drawing and allow Him to have His way, judge and forgive when she repents. And we ask fo rHis help to love like that. Charles Stanley expounds on the thought of the power of forgiveness. Help us Lord to love, forgive, be discerning and wise and follow You always and your ways. Thanks!
That's enough to meditate on and apply today. may God speak to your heart this week and help you to live and love more like Him! I'll be praying and praising for you! Shalom!
Maggie says to have a great week! Dog spelled backwards is God! She reminds us that he is always watching, just like she is always watching Karen! Sometimes during Karen's quiet time, she lays on her Bible. May we abide in His Word, rest in Him and keep our eyes on Jesus always! Amen!
UR: Filled with God's Love
[God] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. - Isaiah 40:29 (NIV)
When I was growing up, gas stations were called “service stations” or “filling stations.” When you drove in, an attendant would come out to your car and ask you what you needed. My dad would always answer, “Fill ’er up!” The attendant would then pump the gas, check the oil level, check the air in the tires, and clean the windshield. Dad would never let his car get below a half tank of gas. He said, “You never know what might happen, and you might end up somewhere without a filling station close by.”
Dad died two years ago. When I pulled into a gas station recently, recalling his care for his cars made me think about my spiritual health. Do I let my tank get more than half empty before I turn to God for spiritual nourishment? I realized that, at any time of day or night, wherever I am, whenever I’m feeling low, all I have to do is turn to the Lord. God will not only restore my spirit but also supply all my needs (see Phil. 4:19).
Today's Prayer
O Lord, our God, when we are down and our spirits are empty, remind us to turn to you for hope and strength. Thank you for being our rock and our redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
ODB:
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A fire burned Balsora Baptist Church to the ground. As emergency workers and community members gathered after the blaze subsided, they were surprised to see a charred cross standing upright amidst the smoke and ashes in the air. A firefighter commented that the fire “took the structure, but not the cross. [This is a reminder] that the building was just that, a building. The church is the congregation.”
The church is not a building, but a community united by the cross of Christ—the One who died, was buried, and rose again. When Jesus lived on earth, He told Peter He’d build His worldwide church, and nothing would destroy it (Matthew 16:18). Jesus would gather believers from all over the globe into a group that would continue throughout time. This community would face intense difficulty, but they’d ultimately endure. God would dwell within them and sustain them (Ephesians 2:22).
When we struggle to establish local churches only to have them stagnate and sputter, when buildings are destroyed, or when we’re concerned about believers struggling in other parts of the world, we can remember that Jesus is alive, actively enabling God’s people to persevere. We’re part of the church He’s building today. He’s with us and for us. His cross remains.
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
REFLECT & PRAY
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In what ways might you support fellow believers? How does sharing the good news relate to God’s plan for the church?
Dear God, please strengthen Your people everywhere. Fill them with wisdom, protect them, and help them stay faithful to You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
How are we to interpret Jesus’ reference to “the gates of Hades” (Matthew 16:18)? The setting for Christ’s great question to Peter, “Who do you say I am?” (v. 15) is Caesarea Philippi, which lies at the southern base of Mount Hermon. The area in and around Caesarea Philippi had historically been known as Bashan, which scholars and the Scriptures connect to the worship of several false gods and to child sacrifice. People commonly believed this region to be the entrance to the underworld—the place of the dead. Jesus knew that the phrase “the gates of Hades” would be understood as our great enemy—death. Christ’s statement is a declaration that He’s the Messiah who overcomes even death. Peter answered Jesus’ question by saying, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Christ called Peter “blessed” for this response (v. 17).
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TWFYT:
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Shalom!
Friday, September 13 2024
Note: Pastor Don and Karen are on vacation/spiritual retreat this week. Pray for health, refreshing and abiding in Christ. Thanks
There will be no Tuesday Zoom Huddle or Wednesday evening dinner huddle this week. We resume next week. There may or may not be blogs as God leads.
Pray for Sarah as she covers for the week and Mike Laise as he prepares to bring God's Word next Sun.
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Good Morning Reborn in Christ Transformed Disciples and Apostles! Amen! May we enter His courts with thanksgiving today as we remember with much gratitude all the blessings of new life and help to become more like Jesus and to go make disciples! We are created for God's purposes. We are custom made, gifted, and prepared to do the things God created us to do. Man what a blessing to walk in the sweet spot of being who you are in Christ and allowing Him to use you! Yes rejoice and worship in Spirit and Truth today!
PRAY FOR GOD TO REACH OUT AND GRAB THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE WE ARE CONNECTING WITH AND TO SOFTEN THEIR HEARTS AND OPEN THEM TO HIS LOVE. MAY HIS LOVING INVITE BE IRRESISTABLE TO THEM. Amen! Ask Him to tear down all strongholds and hindrances for them to come. Pray that He would use us and grow our connections to those He is drawing. Pray for our table fellowships to grow as disciple making opportunities as we put into action Acts 2:42 (They studied the apostle's teachings and prayed as they fellowshipped and ate around the table). God has a custom made plan for you with that and He has some new things to discover and try as we seek more connection points to those not yet here for all of us. We are His Good News Delivery Co. sent to live and love and make disciples like Jesus and we all have a part in that. PTL! Prepare to go love like Jesus.
Check out the Upper Room's reminder about new life in Christ available to all who will come. And The Word for You Today's reminder of how God transforms trash to treasure and those who come with surrendered hearts. Charles Stanley reminds us of the things we know we are called to do as Christ's surrendered, all-in servants--things to disciple others with. We know we are crated by Love to love and to be who we are created to be as we allow God to love through us. That's Jesus' easy yoke! Put it on as you worship this morning and prepare to go live and love like Jesus more in '24. Amen!
This morning there will be an opportunity for some to step into new life in Christ. pray into that and pray for God to draw some to His love today. Pray he would use you too and maybe help you to recommit to Him more earnestly. As we study Philippians 2 today we are reminded of the need for tender hearts filled with compassion as we choose to live Christ--incarnate Him and His love. Amen! Come! Let us worship our King and commit to walk in His love to those He is drawing. Amen! He does have great plans just for you! Rejoice!
UR: New Life
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny spring day, and I took the opportunity to ride my bike around a lake. One of my favorite parts of such rides is looking at the trees, plants, and lovely views. This time I particularly noticed all the new spring leaves and the blossoms on the trees. As I marveled at this abundant new life, my mind turned to the new life offered to us by our Savior Jesus Christ.
Zacchaeus experienced this new life in a dramatic way after climbing a tree to see Jesus and having Jesus invite himself to his home. Zacchaeus’ experience with Jesus changed his life, leading him to repay his debts to the people he had cheated in the past.
If we follow Jesus’ teachings and get to know him as a personal friend and Savior we, too, can find ourselves transformed and able to live in a new way. Through reading the Bible, prayer, and joining in fellowship with other Christians, we also can be equipped to serve God in new ways and to make a difference in our world.
Today's Prayer
Loving God, draw us closer to you as we seek to follow Jesus. Help us to share with others the new life you offer us all. Amen.
TWFYT:
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Friday, September 13 2024
Sarah Update below
Good Morning Different, Refined, Renewed, Redeemed, Focused on the Lord Worshipers! Amen! I awoke this morning thinking about being different. We talk about getting used to different and sometimes, how you guys persevere through a "different" type of pastor with a chuckle. I am so thankful for the grace you have shown to allow me to become who I am created to be and to work on doing the things I am created to do as God's sent servant to lead St. Matts. people through the Jordan to the Promised Land of God's abundant life in Christ contextualized for our gathered fellowship and to minister to those yet to come. Think about that...we are different in many different ways by the grace of God and He is using that to expand His Kingdom and to incarnate His love, Word, and hope to many around us. PTL! In Philippians 2 that we will study tomorrow, Paul asks, "Are your hearts tender and compassionate?" that flows from belonging to Christ, the comfort of His love and the fellowship we have in the Holy Spirit. I think that describes us! PTL! We are different from the world--united, kind, loving, compassionate, and focused on following Jesus together doing what we can with what we have been given. Amen! We are different from the world and different from what we were as His gathered Body just a few years ago. He has redeemed us and is refining us, renewing our thinking as we stay focused on Jesus and following Him! We were one way and now another and it's all because of Him! PTL! We are unique--different! What's God saying to you about that? Rejoice and keep focused on Him with a supple heart and willing feet to step into some new and different things He created us for. I am so encouraged by God and you, circumstances, and the new things He is stirring in you and us to try as we travel yoked to Jesus together. He really does have great, all be it different than what we could think or imagine, plans for you and us. PTL!
Many of us have and some of us are traveling through some very hard, refining, stretching things that have and are causing us to stay focused on our Redeemer and His plans. He is preparing us for some hard things to come and to make us usable for His plans. Charles Stanly talks about our being unshakable in these times of shaking. It is obvious that we are in a time of shaking...BUT GOD! Keep choosing trust and joy and just worship in the storms. He inhabits our praise, holds us in His strong right hand and is lifting us up out of the pit. Well, He wants to. Will you keep focused and invite Him into your journey? Someone will look at you in your storm grounded in God and say, "Well, that's different!" and possibly be intrigued enough to talk to you about your joy and hope. My Max Lucado calendar has this great reminder for today: "God's solution to any challenge is simply this: a grateful spirit. No mist is so thick that the sunlight of appreciation cannot burn it away." Amen! Praise today--always!
It can feel very different from what we are used to to praise in the deep valley. But doing so leads to a different mindset and frees us to let go, forgive, and choose to trust and walk with Jesus through whatever. He will redeem that and use us and our experiences to minister to others too. Shift your focus from grumbling, anger, fear, isolation to trust and the hope only found in Christ by praising. Try it. It's so unworldly--different from what we are used to and refreshing. I was one way and as I praised in the storm God led me to another and brought me joy and hope. Amen!
The Word for You Today continues the challenge to different things. There is so much noise, chaos, divisiveness being spewed about stirring us to hopelessness and fear and anger. Turn off that noise! Still yourself and know that He is the God who is speaking in a way that we can only hear as we quiet our souls. What is He whispering to you today? Be still and know! Ask Him to quiet your spirit and for the trust to turn off the noise and keep focused with open ears and hearts. He does have different plans for you to lift you out of the muck and place your feet on the Rock. Amen! Sarah Young reminds us that Jesus is calling you to come sit in His peaceful, loving presence. Will you? She reminds and maybe corrects me from using a bully pulpit or beating people over the head with God's Word and pharisaical demands. Please pray I never do that or to repent quickly if I do. God is Love. He speaks healing love over you. He is not demanding and sees you cloaked in Jesus' righteousness. He's whispering come to me you weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest for your souls. How different is that from what many have come to expect! "Be still in My love, Jesus invites, as you begin to remember and recount to Me your many blessings and you will find rest for your souls." Can you hear that inviting whisper?
Our bishop has reminded us from when Joshua was ready to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, to break camp. For healing and deliverance and revival there needs to be movement towards the new and different things God has planned. What camp might you need to break to be able to step out in faith into the overflowing Jordan and see God make a way through? Check out Our Daily Bread's reminder that we need to choose to step out in faith to experience the breakthrough and experience God's different plans. Try it. Our journey is one step at a time in faith with focused grateful hearts. We can walk on water if we keep our focus on Jesus! Man that sure is different! Yes we were one way, maybe even camped out in anger, fear, depression, hopelessness, confusion, but we can be another way and experience God's different and better plans by worshiping and taking that first step of faith. The parting of your Jordan awaits!
Oh my, God sure had a Word for me and you today, eh? What's He lovingly whispering to you today? Who might He be partnering you with in this journey? Remember all of Israel crossed the Jordan together. We not only need our Good Shepherd, but each other too. He leads us together beside the still waters and wants to restore our souls. He has something different ahead for each of us and for our Body. PTL! Be still and know and then go in faith as you step into your Promised Land. Amen! In Philippians 1 Paul said, "For me to live is Christ..." Yes! You can choose to be different! Allow Christ to live in your heart, lead you and live and love through you today! What love! Rejoice! You are made for such a time as this! It's time to live Christ!
Charles Stanley:
TWFYT:
SY:
ODB:
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The guest speaker spoke on the wisdom of trusting God and “stepping into the river.” He told of a pastor who trusted God and chose to speak the truths of the Bible in a sermon despite the new law of his land. He was convicted of hate crimes and spent thirty days in jail. But his case was appealed, and the court ruled he had the right to give a personal interpretation of the Bible and to urge others to follow.
The priests carrying the ark of the covenant had to make a choice too—either step into the water or stay on the shore. After escaping Egypt, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. Now they stood on the banks of the Jordan River, which was at flood stage and dangerously high. But they took that step, and God caused the waters to recede: “As soon as . . . their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing” (Joshua 3:15-16).
When we trust God with our lives, He gives us the courage to move forward, whether choosing to speak the truths of the Bible or to take a step into unknown territory. During the pastor’s trial, the court heard the gospel through listening to his sermon. And, in Joshua, the Israelites crossed safely into the promised land and shared about the power of God with future generations (v. 17; 4:24).
If we step out in faith, God will see to the rest.
By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
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When have you faced a frightening situation and were afraid to take the first step? How did God help you to move forward?
Dear God, I need Your courage. Please help me to step out in faith.
For further study, read When Fear Seems Overwhelming.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Crossing the Red Sea was the definitive miracle reminding the Israelites of God’s power: “When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord . . . [they] feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (Exodus 14:31). To encourage them to trust Him and their new leader, Joshua, God parted the Jordan River (Joshua 3:7-17): Joshua explained, “The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea . . . so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful” (4:23-24).
K. T. Sim |
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Harvest:
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September 7 - Discern the Times
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On face value, the Pharisees, Sadducees, disciples and others during Jesus’ time didn’t glean the true meaning of His acts and words. They couldn’t discern the spiritual times and the changes ahead for the world.
The Sign of the Times. . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew 16:2-4 “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”
The Identity of Jesus. . . . . Matthew 16:13, 15, 17-19 “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” … “But who do you say that I am?” … “You’re blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”
The Betrayal of Jesus. . . . . . . . . . Matthew 17:22-23 “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.”
God won’t withhold wisdom when we ask for it. Unfortunately, many times we evaluate situations and Jesus’ words by the flesh and not by the Spirit. We need to analyze all things by the Spirit so that we can discern the times.
Lord, I repent! I repent for not correctly evaluating the signs of the times. I repent for every time I’ve applied my fleshly perspective to a situation, instead of Your Word. I repent for when I’ve used my authority in an unrighteous manner to influence people. I repent for any time I acted as a hypocrite. I repent for reacting poorly to Your communication and not seeing You for who You are.
I declare I will know the signs of the times. I declare I won’t be ignorant or a hypocrite. I declare my life will coincide with what You’re doing. I declare I will practice repentance and celebration of who You are. I declare when You share things with me, I won’t be emotional, but put my trust in You and align with Your will. I do ask You, Lord, for wisdom concerning every circumstance in my life and especially in understanding Your Word and the times. I declare I will have a deep knowing of who You are.
I thank You for answering Word-based prayer. I thank You that when I’ve thought, spoken, or done wrong, You’ve never abandoned me. I thank You I will be a bearer of Your truth and help others to rightly gauge the times, Your Words, and Your person. I love You, Lord.
--Adapted from Praying What Jesus Says by Natasha Miller. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God as the one who protects you from life’s roaring waterfalls and waves (Ps. 42:7).
- Give thanks that even in the stormy times of life God is always near.
- Confess those times when you’ve questioned God’s presence or doubted his protection.
- Commit yourself to staying by his side no matter what comes your way.
- Ask God to lead and guide you through the stormy as well as the calm seasons of life.
- Thank God for the work and witness of missionaries around the world. Pray that they will go on the wings of a praying church back home.
- Intercede especially for world missionaries supported by your church.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Sarah update:
Good evening, everyone,
I have a few things to share with you.....
Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Jameson, the 10 year old boy who was taken to CHOP because of a cancerous tumor at the base of his brain. ( I do apologize, that I wasn't able to get this prayer request out to all of you as I was not near my laptop, to access the whole warrior list. But to those of you who I was able to text, thank you very much for jumping on to this. And praying for Jameson.)
Jameson did have his surgery, and they were able to get all the tumor, the only place the cancer might have spread into would be his spinal cord. They will be checking into this within the next two weeks.
May we continue to prayer for his family and medical team and that there will be no impairments.
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Ruth Guldner has been dealing with COVID. She has had a couple of rough days with coughing and congestion, but yay God she is on the mend. May we continue to pray for her for full complete healing and strength returned.
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Continue to Pray for Josie's friend who is dealing with having to make some serious decisions regarding her cancer
treatment.
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Pastor Don has been meeting with several folks regarding the roof, and what needs to happen. Several folks on the Support Team has meet with Brian who is helping us to work on a new insurance policy. And we are grateful to those that have stepped in to help give guidance and direction with this situation. Continue to pray for the situation, and remember we all know that God is in control!
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We hope that you have a good weekend and look forward to seeing you in worship on Sunday!
Blessings,
Sarah
Friday, September 13 2024
Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! PTL! Get out those gratitude lists or start one! God is always good and worthy of all praise and glory and honor. Thank God we are forgiven, made new and enabled to go love like Him! What's on your list?
Good Morning Worshiping in the Storm and Praising for the Mountaintops Redeemed of the Lord! Amen! Check out Harvest Prayer blogs and start there today ad we enter His courts with thanksgiving. Let's just leave it with that for today. You can open your Bibles and other devos and worship and pray. Maybe even read through Phil. 2 prayerfully for Sunday. How about some worship time to prepare your hearts. God does inhabit our praise! Worship! Rejoice! Receive! Follow! Today is the day the Lord has made. We get to worship and follow Him in it! PTL! Invite Him in and worship today. He is standing at the door of your heart and knocking. Open that door and invite Him in!
Come Jesus Come! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu4VV54ZcFo
Harvest:
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September 6 - Giving Thanks Builds Faith
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Thanksgiving is an important component of prayer. As you develop in your prayer life, you need to continually remind yourself of what God has done for you.
Luke 17 recounts the story of Jesus healing ten lepers, only one of whom came back and thanked Jesus for what He had done. It made quite an impression on Jesus.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (verses 15-19)
Other versions of Scripture translate the word praise as glory. In other words, thanking God for what He has done in our lives brings Him glory.
Offering thanks does two other things as well. First, it builds our faith. As we recall God’s goodness in the past, we can believe Him to move again. Because we remember God’s faithfulness, we believe Him for the future. In his classic book Prayer, Ole Hallesby said, “If we have noted the Lord’s answers to our prayers and thanked Him for what we have received of Him, then it becomes easier for us, and we get more courage, to pray for more.” Second, being thankful removes pride and replaces it with humility. Remember, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; see also Proverbs 3:34).
God who hears and answers, please pour thankfulness into my heart so that I will continually praise You for Your goodness in my life! Remove pride and replace it with deeper humility. Grow my faith in Your faithfulness! Help me to recognize when You are at work and to recognize each grace-filled act that touches my life so that You alone will receive glory!
--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God as the one who lifts your soul up from the depths of despair and discouragement (Ps. 42:5).
- Thank him for being your Savior and your God.
- Confess those times when you’ve chosen not to allow God to wipe away the tears of distress.
- Commit yourself to praising God every day for his tender mercies.
- Ask God to keep you from becoming downcast in your soul.
- Ask God to cause many around the world today to “put their hope in God” (Psalm 42:5) and thus be able to confess with believers in every land “my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:11).
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 13 2024
Sat 10-1 Clothing Closet
Sun Worship 10 AM Study Philippians 2
Sun evening we are invited to join Revival Church for an evening of worship and ministry beginning at 5
Pray about the possibility of combining wit Revival Church and CRU to do Light in the Night Trunk or Treat again this year. Ask for God's direction and favor and our unity to bless others together, bless God and each other. Watch for details
Keep praying for God's favor and provision with roof and insurance. there were some signs of promise and breakthrough yesterday. PTL! The insurance adjuster is coming tomorrow to assess our loss.
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Good Morning Worshipers! God inhabits our praise, is with us always, loves us eternally and is working all things together for good! PTL! He is with you right now and as you still yourself at His feet, open His Word prayerfully and converse with Him, His peace and love will overwhelm you, His presence and His instructions will become very real in this quiet place. Amen! What's God saying to you right now? Worship! Celebrate. Follow well from the abiding to the fruit for today. Psalm 16:11 says, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with the joy of Your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Amen and PTL! I love the Upper Room devo for today (below) Look for God's presence and the "dust of His feet" as a reminder that He is with you, making a way, and taking away with Him your anxiety, pain and sin. Amen!
What a day of ministry and moving of God yesterday! PTL! It was a day for me of God's overflowing love and presence. God was so real and close and directing my prayers, words and ministry. He was speaking to and encouraging my heart. He provided, guided and used me. PTL! I began with an encouraging time and praying for some brothers and sisters in the Lord in a zoom huddle at 6. I had an amazing time of God using me and watching Him use some of you as we had donut day fellowship. I heard testimonies of how God used one of our timid members and gave him wisdom and words to speak about the gospel to some Muslims at the Allentown fair, It's a cool story of how God set up this encounter and used him. (Talk to Gary B about how God blessed and used him.) He has plans for each of us, will direct our steps and give us words of life to share. PTL! He's writing your story and giving you stories to share. Watch for Him to be at work and allow Him to use you. God sent an adviser to me to inform and direct regarding the reality of our roof, next steps and to help me with the process of overseeing that as your new property manager. (pray that goes well as I jump right into this). PTL! (Thanks Houstin!)
At noon some gathered in person and on zoom for our EC day of fasting and prayer led by our bishop. It was a great time of prayer and will become the norm as the bishop gathers us on zoom the first Wed. of the month and leads us in prayer. Watch for details for Oct. Keep praying for our denomination and our church to become a dynamic movement of God, anchored on God's Word and focused on making disciples like Jesus did.
One of our prayers and something I believe God is leading us to develop is for our building to become a house of prayer for the nations. We had prayers lifted during our donut fellowship, during the bishop led prayer and later in the day (get to that in a minute). During donut day I was approached by Pastor Cheri about renting our fellowship hall on Sat. evenings to hold their worship services. They are a small church that has been meeting in a fire house. Pray for God's will and plan to be evident and come to life to both of us. We now have our blending pot of a church, the Revival India church in our building and the possibility of an Afro American church worshiping on premise. Keep praying for God to build us as a house of prayer for the nations and for unity of ministries in our building. That would also be some of His provision with rent. Keep praying for His provision and for us to bless others and sow lavishly and welcome with open hearts and minds to the new/different things God is doing.
Yesterday afternoon Pastor Danny from Revival and Matt Kay from CRU and I gathered to pray and seek God for what He has for us together. Let me tell you, the Holy Spirit fell upon us as we gathered around the sanctuary piano to worship and pray. God is on the move! There were some prophetic proclamations over me and our church. God is on the move! Revival is at hand, new life is coming and drawing many to our gatherings from up and down our streets. As we were wrapping up and praying for our unity and how t serve together, God led us to the possibilities of us coming together to do the Light in the Night Trunk or Treat again. We are all excited for what God wants to do as we come together as His Body and bless our neighbors. So pray into that. We are working out details. Start thinking about how to decorate your trunk and how to bless neighbors. Share your thoughts. Pray for a coordinator for favor with the borough to close our street again and for connections to fire and police departments and their willingness to join us.
Then last evening about 20 of us gathered to eat and fellowship and it was a fun and refreshing night. We will be off next week due to my vacation but resume in earnest Sept. 18 and start the Chosen and Family Ministries again Sept 25th. Pray into these opportunities and our Two Peas Brunch Sun Sept 29th after worship. God is on the move, guiding, providing, building and present. He is using us and has great plans to discover and plan as we follow Jesus and join with others to be His hands and feet. PTL! He is our provision and some of you and some yet to come are part of that provision! PTL! Pray for boldness to share your ideas that God may be stirring--want to have an exercise huddle, knitting huddle, craft fellowship? Whatever. Talk to God, some friends and us and let us fill our building with worship, fellowship and discipleship as we connect to new people and connect them to God! Yes rejoice! God is on the move! Seek first His Kingdom and He will add all things He has planned and we need. Amen! What a mighty and awesome God we serve! Rejoice! Worship! Seek! Pray! And determine to always follow well! Amen
UR: The Dust of God's Feet:
The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. - Nahum 1:3 (KJV)
I was watching the clouds with my grandfather one day, looking for shapes in them. My grandfather asked me, “Do you know what clouds are?” I thought, Clouds form when water evaporates. But before I answered, my grandfather said, “Clouds are the dust of God’s feet,” and he explained that this was in the Bible. This gave me a sense of wonder. If the clouds were the dust of God’s feet, then it was as if God had passed through wherever I saw a cloud!
I thought about this repeatedly throughout the week. I even found the Bible verse my grandfather referenced. Then on a day filled with anguish and frustration, I went out to the porch of my house, looking for clouds. I felt restored as I watched gigantic clouds pass over my head. That cloudy day no longer seemed so bad — in fact, it felt freeing. “God has already been here,” I repeated to myself as I watched the sky until my neck hurt. The wind carried the clouds away in time, and my anguish went with them. I went back inside feeling grateful and inspired.
Today's Prayer
Lord God, guide us out of trouble, and help us to see signs of your presence. Thank you for all you do for your servants and for inspiring us in every way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.Harvest:
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September 5 - A Place of Deep Surrender
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It is easy to speak of surrender sitting in a nice chair in an air-conditioned auditorium. These are not unmeaningful times and often are incredibly legitimate. But look at Jesus. He knew—with full realization—what was before Him. He faced the suffering with reality. And, He found that reality in a place of prayer.
He also knew that this path would bring glory to the Father and deliverance to those He had come to save. In the greatest act of surrender ever experienced by mortal man, Jesus cried out, "Not my will but Thine be done."
Deep distress is often the pathway to deep surrender. God hears our distress and will meet us where we are, but He does not always deliver us from the suffering. This life is brief, and He has purposeful places for us beyond our understanding. They are most often pathways that open the gate to bring salvation and life to others.
So, what should we do when we find ourselves in such a place? We should "fall on [our face] and pray" as He did. We should face the reality squarely, without silliness or false hopes. We should take others with us to pray (even if they may fall asleep, not knowing the depth of what we are experiencing). And, if we are to be used as our Firstborn Brother was used to glorify God, we must come to the blessed place of full surrender to God's will.
But we must also know that, at the end of suffering, there is joy! Jesus was the One, "who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 12:2). The will of God is always best for all concerned, even though the path to its acceptance may be painful.
Joy comes in the morning! We must remember this, and gladly go to this sacred place in prayer.
Holy Spirit, show me what step or steps of surrender I am needing to take right now! Teach me how to have the humility to prayerfully release whatever I need to bring to You in both good times and seasons of suffering. Give me greater faith to believe You always have the best possible outcome in Your heart, even if it means I don’t get answers that I want. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done in my life!
---Adapted from Prayer with No Intermission by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.
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- Praise God for the privilege of coming to him in worship and praise today.
- Give thanks with “shouts of joy and thanksgiving” (Ps. 42:4) for God’s many benefits.
- Confess your occasional lack of enthusiasm in devotion.
- Commit yourself to “festive” times of personal worship.
- Ask God to meet with you on those occasions.
- Ask that the devotional experiences of your family and friends will be characterized by joy. Pray that the Spirit will enliven their walk with God.
Prayer Pointer
“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” —John Bunyan
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 13 2024
Today:
10-12 Donut Day Ministry at the Bread Ministry
Noon-12:30 ish: Fasting and Prayer for the denomination led by our bishop on Zoom and live from my computer in the Fellowship Hall (what's God wanting you to fast? For m it's lunch. But no need to fast, always a need to pray) See link below
6-7:30 Dinner Huddle and fellowship in the Fellowship Hall (it's called that for a reason!)
Good Morning Gathered Community of Jesus Followers! Amen! We need each other and are sent with Jesus to others to build community and fellowship with Him, the Father and each other. Jesus said, "Love God and others" and commissioned us to go make disciples as He did. The early Church modeled how as Luke tells us in Acts 2:42, "They met together constantly studying the apostles teachings, praying and eating and fellowshipping together, and welcoming others into their fellowship as God grew their numbers daily." May that be us Lord! May we live and love and welcome like Jesus and make disciples in His way together! We are Your family following You into our mission field. Lead us! Prepare us! Use us well! and add to our numbers those being saved daily. Teach us and excite us to make disciples. Thanks! Your Kingdom come and will be done in, through and around me/us today for Your glory! Thanks. Come Jesus Come!
Busy day and I am late. Only one devo to meditate on and then Harvest Prayer blog to pray through. The Upper Room today reminds us we were designed for community and we will have several opportunities to choose to do that today! How cool! God is speaking all the time and leading us to His perfect plans. Our easy yoke is to be who God made us to be and allow Him to use us for the things we are created to do. It's a true joy when you find that sweet spot! Solomon reminds us that our purpose is to love God and enjoy life. Amen. May that come alive today as we gather and allow God to use us throughout this day to bring to life Jesus, His love and His way. Amen! Come join the fun, prayer, and fellowship! God has a part just for you today.
See you soon! Shalom!
UR: Designed for Community
Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)
When I was in college, I participated in a volunteer program in Thailand with a group of 20 other students where we helped teach English to children in local daycare centers and schools. One weekend our group hiked through a beautiful jungle. At one point we needed to cross a turbulent, 4-foot-deep river.
Many of us were hesitant, and when someone in the group attempted to cross, he quickly lost his footing. It was clear that the current was far too strong for us to maneuver on our own, so we all linked arms and crossed the river together. When one of us lost our footing, the two people on either side helped them back on their feet. Without one another, we wouldn’t have made it across.
While I haven’t literally had to hold on to others like this in many years, I have faced challenges since then that I couldn’t have endured alone. God didn’t design us to go through life on our own; we need others. Jesus himself demonstrated the importance of community through maintaining a close group of disciples. We need God first and foremost, but we need others too — to lean on and to allow them to help lift us up.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, help us to lean on you as we not only lift others up but allow them to lift us up too. Thank you for designing us for community. Amen.
Harvest:
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September 4 - Walking Faithfully with God
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We know that Adam and Eve walked in the Garden with God (Genesis 3:8) and that Noah, despite living in a sin-affected society, “walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). The Bible gives us plenty of examples of what this walking-and-talking relationship looks like so we know what we’re aiming for.
In the Old Testament, we are introduced to a man named Enoch who had just such a relationship with God. Enoch made a brief appearance in the book of Genesis. We don’t learn much about him, but what we do find out is this: “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:22–24; Hebrews 11:5; Jude 14–15).
Interestingly, Enoch’s name surfaced amid a genealogy. It was at a time when people lived upwards to 800 and 900 years. So Enoch might have been middle-aged, as it were, when “he was not.” Yet he was a person—a living, breathing human being, just like us. He is a powerful example to us in how he walked and talked with God: Day after day and year after year, he was faithful to his God, well pleasing to him. A future psalmist would well describe the kind of life Enoch lived this way: “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!” (Psalm 128:1). Then . . . one moment he was praying, praising, and pleasing God; the next he was gone. I once heard someone say that God said, “You know, Enoch, we’re closer to my home than yours. Let’s just go there!” I want to be walking with God so closely that that’s what I hear when the number of my days is up! Eventually the search was called off; Enoch was nowhere to be found.
Holy Father, I long to have the kind of relationship You had with Adam and Eve in the garden before sin entered into the world…and to have spent the kind of intimate time with You that Scripture indicates Enoch did. Walking in such a beautiful fellowship with You moment by moment, day after day and year after year must have been the most incredible experience! May the passion of my worship, adoration and conversation with You continue to grow until one day I am “no more” on this earth, but swept into Your glorious presence in heaven.
--Adapted from Walking and Talking with God: A Simple Way to Pray Every Day by Dean Ridings. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise God for his constant presence with you every day.
- Thank him for always being near you even in times of extreme difficulty (Ps. 42:3).
- Confess those times when you’ve doubted God’s loving presence.
- Commit yourself to seeking his face every morning in prayer and meditation.
- Ask God to go with you throughout this day.
- Pray for all the leaders in your congregation: your pastor, elders, deacons, ministry heads, and others who come to mind. Pray for God’s obvious presence in their lives.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 13 2024
This week:
Today Zoom and in person Huddle 10-11.
Wed. Bread Ministry Donut Day 10-12
EC Day of Fasting and Prayer to become a dynamic movement of God on zoom or in person 12-12:30. We will click this link and join our bishop as he leads our prayer time.
Hello EC Family,
Join us on Wednesday, September 4th for the monthly EC Day of Prayer & Fasting. Bishop Randy will be hosting a live guided prayer experience from 12:00-12:30(Eastern) via Zoom focused on our vision of being a disciple-making movement. Click the button below to join the meeting.
Meeting ID: 821 6318 1677
Passcode: 262172
Wed evening 6-7:30 Dinner Huddle all welcome
Sat 10-1 Clothing Closet
Good Morning Very Loved, Known, Redeemed, Empowered Child of the King of the Universe! Amen! Meditate on the richness of that today! You are eternally loved, known and you matter and have purpose. God hears us, brings shalom ti the chaos and leads us as we humble ourselves and sing His praise! Amen! He informs our prayers and steps as we dwell in his love and wisdom and ask for Him to be our Lord and Shepherd and to teach us to live and love like Him--sacrificially, extraordinarily. Start with our devos below and work your way through the harvest prayer stuff as you spend some amazing time at Jesus' feet this morning and prepare to walk with Him through this day and the chaos around you. he is our Shalom and Good Shepherd! Amen
Walk in Love and be His peace and joy bringers to the confused and lost world today. You are crafted and empowered to go transform the world by His love. Amen!
ODB:
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The first grader called the number for emergency dispatch. The 9-1-1 operator answered. “I need help,” said the boy. “I have to do take-aways.” The operator proceeded to assist, until he heard a woman enter the room and say, “Johnny, what are you doing?” Johnny explained that he couldn’t do his math homework, so he did exactly what his mother had taught him to do when he needed help. He called 9-1-1. To Johnny, his current need qualified as an emergency. To the compassionate listener, helping the young boy with his homework was top priority in that moment.
When the psalmist David needed help, he said, “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4 nlt). He said, “My hope is in” God (v. 7). So, he pleaded for Him to hear and answer his “cry for help” (v. 12). Then, strangely, he asked God to “look away from” him (v. 13). Though David’s needs remain unspoken, throughout Scripture he declared that God would always be with him, hearing and answering his prayers.
Our confidence in God’s constancy allows us to process our fickle feelings, while affirming there’s no request too big or too small for the unchanging One. He hears us, cares for us, and answers every prayer we utter.
By Xochitl Dixon
REFLECT & PRAY
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How has God demonstrated His love for you by answering prayers you thought would be too small to bring to Him? Which of your needs seems too big or too small?
Loving God, thank You for hearing and answering every prayer I place in Your hands.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
That our life on earth is “fleeting” and “a mere handbreadth” (Psalm 39:4-5) is the consistent reminder of Scripture (see Job 14:1-2; Psalm 144:3-4; James 4:14). In Psalm 90, “Moses, the man of God,” asks God to “teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (v. 12 nlt). David offers the same wisdom: “Show me, Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (39:4). The wise know their own end and understand how brief and uncertain life is (vv. 5-6). But their trust and hope is in God (v. 7).
K. T. Sim |
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UR: Maintaining Peace
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. - Romans 12:18 (NRSVUE)
Every Saturday I go out for dinner with my family. One family member always wants Chinese food, but I enjoy trying different cuisines. It is challenging to pick a restaurant we all enjoy. Instead of arguing, I always suggest we eat at restaurants that serve a variety of foods. This way we can enjoy our time together rather than wasting time arguing.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul stated how important it is for us to maintain good relationships with others, however hard it might be. With God’s peace in our hearts, we can find ways to prevent quarrels that only cause enmity. When we open our hearts to the Lord, the Spirit can help us create peace in every disagreement so that small matters don’t develop into big matters.
We will still experience conflict, but God’s wisdom can help us know how to react. With the help of the Spirit, we can find solutions to our troubles so that we can remain at peace in our relationships and enjoy the beauty of God’s love all the time.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, inspire us with your wisdom and peace so that even in difficult moments, we can find serenity and joy in you. Amen.TWFYT:
Harvest
The Practice of Extraordinary Love by Kim Butts: The Practice of Extraordinary Love
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September 3 - Prayer Initiated By the Spirit
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So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him … I speak the things which I have seen with My Father.”
As mentioned before, effective prayer is a loop that begins in heaven, travels through our hearts and minds and returns to heaven. Jesus always did and said what His Father was initiating. The activity did not begin with the man, Jesus, but with the Father to the man and through the man. In this way, Jesus was constantly doing His Father’s will and His prayers were perfectly aligned and stunningly effective.
If you want to be heard, listen first! Find out what the Spirit is saying and then pray in alignment with Him. God always answers prayers that He initiates!
Lord Jesus, may I be a good listener when You speak and an obedient follower when You give instruction to my mind and heart. Thank You that You never leave me alone in the midst of difficult or confusing circumstances. My desire is to do Your will just as Jesus taught through Your word. I never want to act in my own strength, but only to do what is in Your good, pleasing and perfect will.
---Adapted from Simply Prayer by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.
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- This week, meditate on Psalm 42 each day.
- Today, praise God as the one who quenches your deepest spiritual thirst (42:1-2).
- Thank him for being the living water in your life.
- Confess times in your life when you’ve passed by God’s streams of water and settled for Satan’s stale pond instead.
- Commit yourself to quenching your thirst in the living God alone.
- Ask him to meet with you in prayer today.
- Pray that your own thirst for a closer relationship with God might draw others to him.
- Ask God to get you out of the way so that they might see Jesus clearly and drink deeply of him.
Prayer Pointer
“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.” —Charles H. Spurgeon
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 13 2024
Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest for your souls." Amen! I think about that on Labor Day as we get to have a day of rest from our work here in the world--well some of us get off. Thank God and pray for all our military and their families, all our first responders, medical field workers, retail and restaurant workers who are out there carrying on and laboring to serve you. We had our family picnic on Saturday and actually get to rest today. PTL! But picnics and family gatherings can be wearying, especially if you are hosting (and expensive!). Sometimes we have to choose rest, find different days to sabbath, or even choose to nap sometimes. Jesus took naps and got away by Himself to recharge and rest. He bids all of us who are striving in our own strength or trying to work our way to salvation to come rest in Him. He said that His yoke of labor is easy and he is gentle and that we can find rest for our weary souls. Amen! I find that I have to make time to rest and I have to start my days abiding in His rest before I am ready to go out and love like Him.
Good Morning Resting in Christ, Abiding in His Presence, Slaves! Sometimes in our work-a-day world we can feel like slaves, right? I worked with a guy at a job with very hard, physical labor who said, Lincoln freed the slaves!" as he quit after a day and a half. Yesterday we looked at Philippians 1 and thought about what it means to be a slave to Christ and to live our lives for Christ and as His representative as Paul said, "For me to live is Christ..." How's that going? Are you feeling like an obligated/forced slave trying to earn God's favor or like you're working for a hard taskmaster? Or are you thinking about how we are so blessed and want to align ourselves with the gentle master, Jesus, as more like a willing indentured servant. Put on that easy yoke this morning! But a yoke is an instrument of labor. But it's easy as it's designed to fit us perfectly and for the things we are made to do. PTL! And we get to choose to put it on and walk with Jesus at our side. How awesome! And He gave us gifts, a Helper and His promises to be our gentle Shepherd. Amen! PTL!
I had this long blog in my mind for today with all kinds of devotional tie-ins to attach. BUT GOD! He said that today I need to chill, let go of my agendas and allow you to rest in Him as He leads you. So, have at it as God leads. He is speaking His love over you, calling you by name to come and rest in Him and His loving presence. So rejoice and rest, weary slaves. His yoke is easy and custom fitted to you. Yes rejoice and rest in Him. Refresh and sine bright today as you live and love like Jesus, just as you are. Amen! Shalom!
Friday, September 13 2024
Prayer Pointer
“Front-line prayer meetings are battle stations in which the prayer warriors themselves are changed.” —The Praying Church Sourcebook
Joe Toy Update below
Worship today at 10 live and on Zoom
Wed is not only donut day at the Bread Ministry but also our EC fasting and prayer day for the denomination and our church (noon live in the fellowship Hall and on Zoom. (You don't have to fast to pray, but consider how God wants to have you pray. Maybe I need to fast some donuts)
The Wed evening is our dinner huddle and fellowship at 6. All welcome!
Sat 10-1 is our Clothing Closet
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Good Morning Praising, Worshiping, Prayer Warriors! Amen! God inhabits our praises and offering thanksgiving changes us and our focus. Yes PTL! Rejoice! Begin with this praise song to help you focus and prepare to worship today! This is the day he has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Thank You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL0uwYFJ3Bk
Focus on the great blog from Harvest prayer as we keep lifting powerful praise as we engage with God through our devotional time this morning. Then check out The Word for You Today which speaks about songs of deliverance and singing as we go. Chuck Swindoll reminds us that God is with us always no matter what we are feeling or facing and Sarah Young refocuses us to God with the reminder that He is always with us. The Upper Room reminds us to praise God for and to receive His Courage and Strength. Joyce Meyers reminds us that we have and can use the mind of Christ in us. God is Wisdom and Wisdom dwells in us. Charles Stanley reminds us to turn off the noise and tune into and listen to God.
Yes keep praising and worshiping as you prepare your hearts for today and invite God to inhabit your praise, open your mind and to bring wisdom, courage and His plans alive in and through you today. He loves you and has some great plans for you. Worship! Prepare and keep singing His praise as we drive back the darkness and shine bright! Amen! Come Lord! We love You, worship You and seek to have Your heart and mind as we seek after Your greater things for us and our ministries. Come! provide and guide! We love you and praise Your holy name. Amen
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September 1 - The Power of Praise
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Adoration and praise are powerful spiritual warfare weapons. Satan hates it when we praise God. Why? Because he wants to be worshiped instead! When we worship God, Satan runs. Psalm 8:2 tells us, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” When we praise God, the enemy is silenced! Psalm 149:6-9 indicates that praise in our mouths works to “inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron. . . This is the glory of all his saints.”
Second Chronicles 20 contains an amazing story of the power of praise. When faced with a powerful enemy—too powerful for his armies—King Jehoshaphat called for a time of fasting and prayer during which God revealed He would bring victory. Somehow Jehoshaphat got the crazy idea (it had to come from God) to march against these armies with singers in the front of his army. The singers lifted beautiful praises to God: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever” (20:21). The result? The opposing armies began attacking each other. The army of Judah didn’t even have to fight! That’s the power of praise! Make it a regular part of your prayer life.
Worthy Father, thank You that when we give You all the praise and glory, the Devil MUST flee! You have given us an amazing gift that has the power to bring victory into every situation we face. Help me to worship when I am faced with opposition, danger, or seemingly impossible circumstances.
--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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TWFYT:
Swindoll:
Young:
UR:
I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.” - Isaiah 41:13 (NRSVUE)
When I was 70 years old, my doctor told me that I had a hernia and would have to undergo an operation. Prior to that I had not experienced any health issues. When I was told that I would need an operation, I was very frightened. But my doctor told me there was no alternative.
On the day of the operation, my fear caused my blood pressure to increase. They could not operate until my blood pressure came down, so another patient was taken in for surgery before me. My family members waited and prayed for me. I prayed as well.
Soon I experienced God’s presence and felt that God was reminding me that because Jesus suffered and died, he understood my fear. At that time my fear vanished, and when they checked my blood pressure, it was back to normal. My operation was successful. Praise be to God.
When we face difficult situations, we can remember that our great God is always with us and will provide us with courage and support. Praying to our living God, we find new hope and strength.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, thank you for giving us courage during difficult situations. Please provide courage to all those in need. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.Meyers:
Stanley:
Joe Toy update:
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“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him.”
August 2024
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Dear Friends,
A few weeks back our outreach team was at the Moore Square Bus station, which is one of our regular locations. As usual we had our sign which reads, “Free Bibles. If you need prayer just ask.” A young man came up to me and asked for prayer and upon asking about his request, he stated, “I need to be saved!” After spending time with him going over the gospel he began to cry as he began to see how he had let sin ruin his life and it was now time to turn to the Lord. He called out to the Lord right then and there to be saved. I have seen him a few times since then and he is remaining true to his new found faith. PTL. We sow much gospel seed at the bus station through preaching, conversations, literature distribution and free Bibles being picked up by those who need them. There are many lives being changed by our team who share Christ faithfully at this needy area in Raleigh.
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One of our prayers is for the Lord to add workers to our outreach team. Recently, we have had the help of students from Southeast Seminary at many of our outreach events. We have been out at the Galaxy Con Convention, the Packapalooza Street Festival and Friday Night on White Street events. With their assistance, we are reaching many more people with the gospel. Nate is the point man for these teams and is always seeking to recruit a team. This has been a great partnership and provides them opportunities to share their faith and develop a love for the lost. Also, it allows us to mentor the next generation in keeping their eyes on the mission, which is for the church to be a rescue station for the lost. These young men are full of zeal and boldness,which can be seen in their willingness to engage people in gospel conversations. They are a great asset to our work in Raleigh.
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In late July into August, I was blessed help Mark Johnson train a group of five young men in Ocean City, MD. It was awesome to see two fourteen-year-old young men grow in their faith. In the beginning of the week they were timid and as the week progressed you could see them boldly pass out tracts and engage people in conversation. It is always awesome to see such young men preach. One man in the crowd approached Luke and asked, “How old are you son?” And when Luke replied, "Fourteen," the man shook his head in astonishment and then encouraged him to keep on. One college student on our team has been with us for seven summers. The depth of his preaching and his devotion to Christ are amazing. What a blessing to see his spiritual growth over the years.
These guys were a blast to work with and many folks heard the gospel at the board walk in Ocean City, MD over the summer. It is a great place to make Jesus known.
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We have already been on the campuses of UNC and NC State this semester. We have given out hundreds of gospel tracts and have had numerous conversations already. It has been also cool to see some of our Christian friends again and get caught up. Stephen Brock was sharing the gospel with one young lady, who professed faith in Christ right there and then. She stated, “I believe that you are the answer to my mother’s prayers.”
One of our good friends, Michael, who is a grad student boldly shared his testimony on the campus of UNC as we were there. The Lord is doing many amazing things in the lives of the students on these campuses.
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Abortion ministry is always a tough go, but we are glad to support those dedicated to this work. Recently, as we were at Jones Franklin abortion mill, Peter had been offering help to the women. A young woman approached Peter and she confided that she wanted to keep her baby and was feeling pressured into abortion. She stated, “I have been praying to Jesus to give me a sign to help me and here you are.” This is one of those spiritual "Wow" moments. After talking to her Mom on the phone she was headed for home.
Thanks so much for your prayers and support in spreading the gospel. God Bless!
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Friday, September 13 2024
Prepare your hearts to worship and to enter His courts with praise and thanksgiving as we gather to worship in person and virtually tomorrow at 10. We will be discussing Philippians 1. What does it mean to choose joy in suffer as we choose to live as a slave to Christ? What does it mean to you when Paul said, "To live is Christ and to die gain?" How is that showing up in your life and choices? Some deep stuff to ponder! Father, prepare us to learn to live and love more like Jesus as His slave. Come! Amen!
Don't forget we will collect for Everlasting Life Ministries tomorrow as well.
Good Morning Wonderfully Made, Sold-Out, Slaves of Christ! Please Lord! May that be me as I learn to live and love more like Jesus and make disciples like Him and Paul. Cleanse me. Prepare me to Serve. Move me with You. Use me well for Your glory. Come! Thank You for creating me for such a time as this and for preparing me to serve with You and others. Bring revival and may it begin in me! I worship You and long to be Your vessel as I am and as I have been created to be. Help me to live and love and make disciples like Jesus. Inform my prayers and direct my steps. Lead me to my co-laborers and unite us on Your mission as we grow more like You. Thanks You! Your Kingdom come and will be done in, through and around me! yes Come! Amen! Earnestly seek Him, pray like Him and follow Him today. He does have great plans just for you and for us together! PTL!
Jesus is inhabiting your praise right now. He is looking deep into your heart reminding you that He has chosen you, redeemed you, and is calling you by name to come sit at His feet as you put on His easy yoke prepared just for you. How awesome is that! You are so loved and blessed. Dwell in that love as you prepare for the day and year ahead. Turn off the noise and walk away from the chaos as you still yourself and learn to know what it means that he is your God! meditate on these devotionals attached below as you sit at His feet, seek His face and prepare to follow Him. he does have an awesome plan just for you, His masterpiece. You are being made new and enabled to go fulfill your purposes. You matter. Step into your anointing and find some friends to travel with through this life as you work on living and loving like Jesus and becoming His sold out servant. Amen!
Chuck Swindoll reminds us that God is totally trustworthy. Start there and remind Him and yourself of that fact in prayer and praise:
Charles Stanley reminds us from the Eph. 2:10 passage that has become part of our true identity and reminder of His plans for us. You are His handiwork:
Sarah Young reminds us how God uses our weakness to make us strong and exhibit His power and strength to a watching world. When we are weak, He is strong! Stop leaning on your own understanding and ask for His wisdom and strength
One more today from the Upper Room's truth that God is all we need. He is enough and all we need. Seek and thirst after Him. Be still and cry out for His presence to overwhelm you right now and to be ready to walk in it throughout this day. he loves those kinda prayers and heart of surrender!
O God, you are my God; I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. - Psalm 63:1 (NRSVUE)
My vision blurred, and everything looked yellow and green. I felt like I would be sick and might fall down on the basketball court. I could hardly recognize anyone and struggled to walk in a straight line. Training under the hot sun had gotten to me.
The coach told me to sit down, and I drank some water. After I had a drink, I began to feel better. This experience reminded me just how essential water is.
Water brings us relief, nourishment, and replenishment. God does the same for believers. Without water, we would have no vitality, restoration, or even life, especially during an arduous undertaking.
In Psalm 63, David was in a state of great difficulty and turmoil and wrote about how his soul thirsted for God.
A life without fellowship with God is like a life without water: it is impossible. Like David, let us learn to thirst for and seek God like our lives depend on it.
Today's Prayer
O God, guide us so that our hearts will always seek you above all else. Amen.May God bless you with His presence, peace and love overflowing today as you surrender to Him and invite Him to have all of you and to direct your steps today. he is able, even when you can't fathom how or why! He loves you and custom made you for His special projects for today. rejoice and dwell in his love today! Amen!
Friday, September 13 2024
Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! What are you thankful about concerning your forgiveness, new life in Christ, eternal hope, communion with the Father, Son and Spirit, and your gifts and empowerment to encourage, build up and serve? PTL! Build those gratitude lists. God is always good, full of love, mercy and grace and our wisdom to worship and respond in faith. Amen!
Roof and Insurance updates: We have been given a claim number and will be scheduling a visit with an insurance appraiser. Next week we start the process of securing new insurance. Please keep earnestly praying for God's provision, our wisdom and discernment and God's directing favor. Thanks!
PTL Sarah has completed a rigorous week of jury duty and is sabbath resting today!
Sunday we collect for everlasting life ministries during worship at 10. We begin our journey through the book of Philippians with discussing Philippians chapter 1. Read and study that for Sunday.
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Good Morning Saved By Grace, Redeemed, Enabled Saints! Yes rejoice for we are saved, made new and being made new in Christ and empowered, gifted and enabled to do all the things God created us to do! Yes rejoice! Meditate on all the facets of that saving grace and new life and just worship today! Here's a great worship song to begin this TGIF Friday: Thank You! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2qUoZKxC9s
And this one as we worship through it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBeivKtQ0RM
As we begin this day and enter His courts with worship, praise and thanksgiving, we still ourselves at His feet and talk to Him through our prayerful time with our open Bibles and hearts and devotional quiet time. He always inhabits our praises and is always there speaking and singing love over us, informing our prayers and steps for the day, and wanting to just hang out with us even when we are going through some hard things! He loves you, has redeemed you and is calling you by name. He reminds, "You are mine!" Come! Dwell in my love today." What an awesome, praise-worthy God we know and serve and walk with! He is the Living One who sees you wherever you are and calls to you to come and be loved. He says, "I take great delight in you and rejoice over you with singing." Amen!
The Upper Room reminds us how God loves when we ask Him questions and He answers and directs us with the truth that He has great plans for you and us to discover, ponder and step into. The Word for You Today carries on the theme of seeking, questioning and listening to our Wisdom as He teaches and informs and directs. Our Daily Bread reminds us of His wanting to use us and that He provides and guides even as we wonder how. We can trust Him and He will use what we offer Him as we use what we are given for His glory. He is enough and our provider and guide, even our help in times of trouble. Be still, submit and surrender as you die to self and follow Jesus to his best for you and those He loves. Charles Stanley and Harvest Prayer finish our quiet time with reminders of the power in prayer that flows from fellowship with the Father and allowing Him to inform our prayers and direct our steps. Keep seeking, knocking and praying in power, even worshiping in the storms! And open your heart and mind to hear and receive and follow through. God does have great plans for you and us, His beloved children! Yes rejoice, be glad in this day, pray in power for His Kingdom to come and will to be done, watch for Him to move and prepare to join Him throughout today. He has some great stories to share through you of His faithful love! Rejoice!
UR: Questions
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. - Jeremiah 29:11 (CEB)
Most days when I get up, I grab a cup of coffee, my Bible, and my journal. Journaling my prayers and thoughts in a spiral notebook has become my habit. I like to start the page with the date, day, and year. This helps me organize my day and allows me to look back to see what I was thinking or how God worked through my prayers.
I realize my desires are not always in line with the Creator’s will. I’ve become intentional about asking God questions. Stating my concerns in the form of a question instead of always asking for help or blessings to do what I have in mind changes the way I look at my day. It’s a subtle shift in attitude that makes it feel less stressful when things don’t happen as I envision. Questions make my prayers open-ended, allowing my mind to receive the gift of grace instead of trying to seize it. This practice leaves an open window for the Holy Spirit to flow through my day.
Today's Prayer
Loving God, thank you for this day and the lessons you provide for us in scripture. We welcome your guidance when we have questions. Amen.TWFYT:
ODB:
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A few years after I received salvation and dedicated my life to God, I felt Him directing me to lay down my journalism career. As I put down my pen and my writing went into hiding, I couldn’t help feeling that one day God would call me to write for His glory. During my years of wandering in my personal wilderness, I was encouraged by the story of Moses and his staff in Exodus 4.
Moses, who was raised in Pharaoh’s palace and had a promising future, fled Egypt and was living in obscurity as a shepherd when God called him. Moses must’ve thought he had nothing to offer God, but he learned that He can use anyone and anything for His glory.
“What is that in your hand?” God asked. “A staff,” Moses replied. God said, “Throw it on the ground” (Exodus 4:2-3). Moses’ ordinary staff became a snake. When he grabbed the snake, God turned it back into the staff (vv. 3-4). This sign was given so the Israelites would “believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you” (v. 5). As Moses threw down his staff and took it back up again, I laid down my career as a journalist in obedience to God. Later, He guided me to pick up my pen again, and now I’m writing for Him.
We don’t need much to be used by God. We can simply serve Him with the talents He’s given us. Not sure where to start? What’s in your hand?
By Nancy Gavilanes
REFLECT & PRAY
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How can you use your talents to serve God? How can you use your resources to bless someone today?
Father God, please help me to use my life to honor You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
We would think that the staff turning into a snake would be convincing to Pharaoh and his court when Moses and Aaron appeared before them. Note that it was Aaron, not Moses, who threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-10). However, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to replicate this miracle (v. 11). How did they do it? Some scholars say it was through trickery and deceit. Others, however, believe it was through the power of the evil one, the devil. Intriguingly, the apostle Paul notes how “Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses” (2 Timothy 3:8). Although these names aren’t recorded in the Old Testament, they were known to Paul, a highly educated man, through other Near Eastern literature and were likely two of Pharaoh’s magicians. Regardless, Aaron’s staff in the form of a snake devoured the snakes produced by those magicians (Exodus 7:11-12), proving the vast superiority of the one true God.
Tim Gustafson |
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August 30 - Fellowship with the Father
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“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” —John 12:49–50
What exactly is a walking-and-talking relationship with God, and why should that be our goal? In the simplest terms, it is fellowship with him that lasts all day. It is being mindful that he is with us, that we are never alone, and that any time is a good time to strike up conversation with him. Let me illustrate.
My wife and I love to take long walks together. This is our time not just to be together, side by side, but to talk about everything in our lives. As our relationship has grown and matured through the years, so have these
cherished times together. As with parents everywhere, while we were raising our four children, life became very busy. We would often save up all our words for the “unopposed time” our long walks allowed. At times it seemed like we were just running through a list of things we had saved up over the course of the week, checking items off our to-do lists. There wasn’t much time for getting beyond the surface issues of raising our kids.
Now that the kids are married and starting their own families, we often enjoy our talks over morning coffee or dinner, but we still like to take our walks. It’s just that now we’re not as likely to have as much to say. So
sometimes our walks are mostly in silence, except to point out something that grabs our attention or to share something that just came to mind. Here’s what I’m getting at: Whether we are walking and talking about the pressing issues of our lives or simply spending time together in silence, we are aware of one another’s presence and absolutely enjoy one another’s company.
This is a picture of a walking-and-talking relationship with God. The conversation may be quite different depending on what’s happening in your life. At times, you may need to go through a “list” of things you need to talk with him about, or he may bring to mind things he wants to talk to you about. Sometimes your prayers will feel relaxed and unhurried. At other times, your prayers may be more urgent and focused. At still other times, you may enjoy sweet fellowship with him in which you quiet your heart and simply listen. He might point out some unique part of his creation, for which you can express joyful appreciation. Above all, God desires that we walk and talk with him all day, every day.
Father, just as walking and talking with people I love and enjoy being with, I want to have special times with You. Sometimes we can talk back and forth…sometimes I will be quiet and listen…and sometimes, I just want to be quiet in Your presence without either of us having to say anything at all. Show me how to “be” with you continually in all of these ways as You show me new things about Yourself and Your beautiful creation.
--Adapted from Walking and Talking with God: A Simple Way to Pray Every Day by Dean Ridings. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise Jesus as the righteous one.
- Thank God that “you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).
- Confess any desire to dabble in unrighteousness in any corner of your life.
- Commit yourself to hungering and thirsting for righteousness, asking God to fill you (Mt. 5:6).
- Pray that the righteousness of Christ will shine through you so clearly and consistently that those around you “see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (5:16).
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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Friday, September 13 2024
Good Morning Growing in Trust, Sacrificial Followers of Jesus! Dying to self and taking up cross as we grow in trust and follow Jesus is imperative for a life lived well in Christ. It's part of running our races well both individually and as a church. Often it takes stilling ourselves, turning off the noise, seeking God earnestly and sitting at His feet to be able to redirect to His best and to hear His directing whispers. It's how we receive His shalom and choose joy despite circumstances and how we know what he desires and requires of us. Such is the morning for me today. Where do I begin? What should I/we do? What are you teaching me/us? I surrender all. You are Enough, Provision, All-Knowing Wisdom, Leader with great plans. Come! Amen!
So...yesterday was an awesome day of ministry at Bread and dinner huddle, especially with the new air conditioning on the very hot and humid day. Thank you to all who gave to provide so we can have ministry year round around the table in the fellowship hall! In spite of some unnerving news we were able to enjoy a great day serving, fellowshipping and praising the Lord. This morning I've been sitting at God's feet seeking what to do and what He desires me to share in this blog and to do today. Let me elaborate...I have promised to always keep you informed of what is going on in and with church and our building and with what I believe God is leading us to. So here goes...
A few weeks ago we received a notice from our church insurance company that when our policy expires Oct. 15th they are cancelling our policy due to roof issues. Today insurance companies use satellite images to determine things without physically inspecting. We knew of no roof issues but hired a roofing company to do an inspection. (PTL! They waived the $450. inspection fee and did this for free--they are a Christian company with connections to a member) Well the results were worse than expected. Our roof was last done almost 25 years ago after the explosion. The whole roof is in very bad condition and needs to be redone ASAP. A very rough estimate is that it could cost up to $150,000 to repair. OUCH! They suggest trying to file a claim with the insurance company since some hail and wind damage is evident. Today, I will attempt to file a claim. Pray for God to open their hearts to provide some coverage. Due to the age of roof, I expect not, BUT GOD! The roofer will go on the roof with their adjuster to point things out if they send one. Pray for God's provision! Earnestly! This needs to be done before winter as there are some leaks and potential leaks immanent. God promises to provide for our needs. Remind Him of that in prayer and supplication. There is financing available, which we will need. Pray for our support, property and finance teams to have wisdom for how to proceed. God could be testing our faithfulness to trust Him, choose joy and do what we can with what He's given as we steward well all our blessings. We have been praying to grow in trust and joy and to steward well all His blessings. He is giving us an opportunity to grow in those. PTL! (Yes PTL, even in the storms!) Pray for provision for new insurance as we are also working on that already. New insurance will require a new roof as well. So there is the honest truth of our reality. Also know that we have been annually running at a budget deficit and need to borrow from our investments to cover that yearly (around $20,000). I know God is able and will guide and provide as we seek, trust and follow Him. Amen! We all need to be praying and trusting and doing what we can. Pray for us to connect to many new people and connect them to God as they join our fellowship and will be part of His provision as they give and serve. Seriously, God does have very good plans for us and we have begun to see the fruit of seeking, trusting and following Him. May we continue that and pray expectantly with thanksgiving for what He is and will do--even in this stretching of faith and faithfulness! Amen! Thank Him for counting us worthy of this stretching. He is doing a good work in us as He prunes, we abide and He keeps preparing us for the great fruit to come! Rejoice!
Now, exhale. Still yourself at His feet and receive His insight, wisdom, blessings, direction and shalom. We know what is and we know Jireh--God is or provision and enough! Amen! Still yourself and begin your time of prayer with worship. He is faithful. I believe He is always able: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPf4G0OtAws
Now, let's take some time to move through our devotionals for today. God is speaking to you, to me, to us this morning. Trust. Believe. Receive His wisdom, direction, and peace. Keep seeking Him and choosing joy no matter what. He is always able and will carry out His good plans. I believe He is already providing and guiding us to His perfect plan, provision and revival. Amen! He is holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Jireh! Shalom. Amen! Prayer warriors, now is your time to fulfill your purposes and the rest of us are called to seek, pray with thanksgiving and grow in trust that God will provide.
Sarah Young reminds us that God is calling us to demonstrate our trust in Him. It's a call to sit at His feet no matter the storm and allow Him to restore our souls, peace and lead us to His direction. Charles Stanley reminds us of the path to peace by acknowledging our trust in God and releasing control. Yes we need to do what we can and He will lead us to that. BUT there are things that we have to release control of and trust God to know Him and His peace more as we see Him respond, lead and provide. Amen! The Upper Room reminds us that God WILL bless us and that even in the most challenging storms, as we trust and grow in trust, God will fill us with joy as we see Him respond. Amen! We may not be able to conceive how but we can have faith that when we let go, trust God and allow Him to steer, He will lead to His best and many blessings to come. PTL! That's enough for today. Be still and know! Earnestly seek Him and His provision and protection. He is able! He is enough! He is our joy! Amen! End your time of prayer, praise and worship with praying through the Harvest blogs today as God is calling us to surrender, seek, trust, and follow Him. It's time to worship!
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UR: I Will Bless You
[God] said, “I will certainly bless you and multiply your descendants.” So Abraham obtained the promise by showing patience. - Hebrews 6:14-15 (CEB)
2022 was a very hectic year, filled with unpleasant events. War broke out in my home country, Ukraine, and I realized that I could not cope on my own. I decided to go wherever God would lead me.
By the end of the year, I was living with friends. They were in the process of moving to a new house. It meant a lot of hustle and bustle — dirt from construction, struggles with finances, and problems in the family.
Despite the challenges of the move, my heart was filled with joy for my friends’ new home, which they received as an answer to prayer. I felt at home there. I loved to spin yarn in their kitchen and warm myself near the cozy stove. We celebrated the new year in prayer — with a circle of friends and my spiritual family. Thankfully, I had enough money for everything I needed — even for the traditional Ukrainian Christmas table. God has indeed blessed me. God is always faithful.
Today's Prayer
Dear God, thank you for helping us to grow in faith. Even if the process of blessing and multiplying means hardships, your way is always best. Amen.Harvest:
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August 29 - Where Is Your Place of Surrender?
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Do a quick scan of the Scripture and you will notice that men and women were placed on purpose by God in various environments. Adam and Eve in the Garden, Abraham in Canaan, Moses in the bulrushes—God put people where He desired to accomplish things that could have happened nowhere else. And, He does the same with each of us.
Often we don't see our geography as such and we resist and run from these places. But we must be wise to God’s greater agenda. If we are to experience all God has, we must embrace each environment, even if it’s hard.
Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed.
Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:36-39)
Jesus knew what lay ahead. The deepest suffering any human would ever experience was His to drink. The man, Jesus, looked at this cup with dread. He "fell on His face" in prayer. Another gospel writer says that before this time of wrestling was over, His sweat became like great drops of blood.
Although He could have, God did not deliver His Son from this place. The Father could have swept in and rescued Jesus from this painful night of prayer and the events that were to follow. But for Divine, world-changing reasons, this cup was Christ's to drink.
There are times when God knows we must go through such wrestling as we face the possibilities of following God. These times are not random, but deliberate, just as it was with Jesus.
Almighty, All-Knowing God, who am I to blame You for anything that I must walk through when Your only Son went to a gruesome and brutal death for me! Help me to willingly lay down my comfort for Your purposes, knowing that You have a bigger plan than I could ever know or comprehend. Give me a willing heart to follow You no matter where that journey leads me. Teach me to trust You without doubting Your goodness and love, even when there is suffering or discomfort attached.
---Adapted from Prayer with No Intermission by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.
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- Praise the Lord as the one who owns the earth and everything in it (Ps. 24:1).
- Thank him for making it part of the inheritance of the meek (Mt. 5:5).
- Confess aspects of your life where you do not have the meekness of submission to Christ’s Lordship.
- Commit yourself to being filled and controlled by Christ.
- Ask him to properly bring the areas you influence under his influence.
- Pray for any in your circle who are “out of control” or merely under the control of themselves. Ask God to reign in your home.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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